The opulent house in the middle of the street was an indicator enough of what was going on. Mixed with the actual well-groomed and well-equipped guards in the center plaza spoke a lot about the state of the town—the reasons why as well.

Still, I would need to get a better understanding before I truly began to meddle. Actions in ignorance rarely move your Karmic Balance, because usually quick fixes from your first impressions are often worse in the long run, both for the individual and their surroundings.

Surprisingly enough, there was a tavern that seemed to be doing well.

The name surprised me even more. I didn't think many people would be so blatant about nepotism.

The Mayor's Brother Inn was an unusual name by all accounts. Not inherently proof or a bad name if it was in a flourishing town. The fact that this was the only Tavern in the town, with the vast majority of people starving to death, however, spoke to other things.

I couldn't help but think they were losing money. There was no way they were breaking even with their current expenses. The town had no taxable sources left anymore. You couldn't get much more from people who had only the clothes on their backs.

The tavern itself was also in a state of disrepair. The sign had long since lost most of its color. The wooden walls are filled with gouges and marks, showing at least one or two severe fights outside the place.

I could feel no energy imprints from either the Tavern or the Mansion a stone throw away. So I could be pretty sure that these people were utterly mortal.

The inside of the Tavern was pretty horrid as well, None of the classic charm you would expect from a small town tavern.

The tables and chairs were rotting. The walls had long since lost any of the splendor they once had. The only new and pristinely kept things were pictures of what I would assume to be the Mayor, looking very well, along with his family. Those portraits were everywhere here. Some of him performed heroic deeds, like killing some low-level monsters, saving people in distress, and the largest in the back being very funny to me. A giant picture that nearly covered the whole wall. Of him in front of a glowing town.

His name for the town was a little different from the official name on the sect maps.

He had decided to rename it after himself, I would say.

Rather than High Plains town, what we had seen in the map, the moniker TrevorVille was proudly marked behind his head, above the visage of a glowing and golden town, obviously filled with prosperity.

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It seemed the leadership was a little off his head.

That much was expected from the slums of the town. Still, the delusions of grandeur were a nice extra touch.

The clientele didn't seem any more impressive.

Most had a few pieces of armor. The others seemed the generally dishonest sort. Clothes that were quite out of sorts with their other mannerism.

Folk playing at being more important than they truly were was what I got from this.

Still, that would make it a great font for information. With the state of affairs, I couldn't see how I could leverage this place to get a greater response from the Demon Hair Sect.

Moving up towards the Bar, the bartender, a tall, gangly man, seemingly without an ounce of fat on him, nodded at me as I walked towards the very dusty and badly maintained bar.

"What can I get you."

"The best you got, and some information with that."

He gave me an inquisitive look. I wasn't sure what he got from the look.

"That will cost you then, our strongest isn't cheap, our information even less so."

All I did was take out a few basic soul stones.

That changed his tune pretty quickly.

They were the lowest currency possible for cultivators, even the poorest Qi Gathering cultivator would probably have more than that. Still, to a mortal, it was worth triple its weight in gold.

With a flash of his hand, they were off the counter.

"You definitely overpaid for what I can give you, but I'll tell you what I can. What in particular are you looking for."

"What has happened to this place?" was all I started with. I figured it would take some time just for that answer.

"The mayor happened."

"I gathered that competent rulers don't usually have their face plastered around everywhere while their people are starving."

"Yes, that is a rather strange quirk of his. Still, it was more than just, in just under ten years, Trevor has managed to turn the Town from quite a little prosperous affair to one of abject poverty."

"Why hasn't anyone deposed him, or a mass mob try to take power? There seemed to be enough people."

"He has your sort around him at all times. I don't know why, but he always has at least three cultivators around him at any one point. Any rebel actions are immediately subjugated by them."

Right, that was an interesting situation. So the Mayor had some connection to some nearby cultivation powers. There were no medium sized sects other than the Flowing Stream Sect and the Demon Hair sect, they had long since driven out any other schools.

So it seemed there was an opportunity to get a little more attention here.

I wouldn't think that the Flowing Stream sect would be connected to this kind of place.

Either way, though, I would be able to turn this to my advantage.

Any other source of the attack was useful. With options, it was far easier to plan on a few different fronts.

Now I would just need to find the connection between Trevor and the sect behind him, no matter how small the backing.

"Who's backing him?"

"Demon Hair sect, their insignias say that proudly enough. No other sect has any needs for such a small town, so generally, they both used to leave us alone, until Trevor and his younger brother came."

"Let me guess the owner of this bar."

"Was, he was killed by some unknown group about two years ago, ever since then, Trevor has just been more paranoid, raising taxes year after year. Luckily this place is exempt. Still, the town won't exist for much longer at this rate."

"Well, I will see what I can do."

"Good luck, Cultivator."