‘Firmament…!’

　　BOOM!

　　A bright flash of light from the Eternal Axe dissipated in the skies. Under the formidable slash of the Eternal Axe, the beasts ahead were annihilated without any words.

　　‘Ding…Congratulations on killing utmost celestial upper-level beast.’

　　‘Ding…Congratulations on killing utmost celestial full cultivation beast.’

　　‘Ding…’

　　‘Holy shit! That was dangerous! To think that I would land in a nest of beasts!’ As Lin Fan treaded through the forest, he had no intentions of going easy on anything. After all, these beasts were ferocious beyond anything else. However, even though he did encounter plenty of low levelled beasts, the amount of experience points he could gain were pretty limited.

　　At the same time, Lin Fan was starting to realise an issue. Beasts that were earth celestial and above showed signs of intellect and wisdom. In fact, this very issue might be the reason why most of those high levelled and smarter beasts would leave the boundaries and gather in the central regions.

　　After all, places which were crowded were usually more affluent. This was something that these beasts sought for as well.

　　‘Absorb…!’

　　The dense amount of Demonic Qi was all absorbed within the Demon City.

　　The core of this semi-finished, pseudo-legendary weapon, Demon City, was the big ancient demon. And the big ancient demon himself was the king of the Demon race. However, Lin Fan did not know if the Demon race was the same type as the Ancient beasts.

　　Or, could it be that they were once part of the Ancient beasts as well? They might have evolved to a point where they broke free and became an extraordinary race of their own.

　　Ever since he ascended to the Ancient Saint World, Lin Fan had come in contact with many different sorts of races. At the same time, he had learnt that there were all sorts of wonders in this world. Therefore, it was hard to say. The big ancient demon might indeed just be an evolved race that had originally stemmed from Ancient beasts.

　　Looking at the corpses of the beasts around him, Lin Fan flicked his robes and swept them all into his storage.

　　He had already made up his mind to leave tomorrow. Therefore, he was just putting in more effort so that he could kill more beasts and provide more food for the village.

　　Even though the villagers themselves couldn’t be considered as absolute weaklings, they were still inadequate compared to the Ancient beasts. Therefore, each time they had to group up together to hunt down a beast was still a pretty dangerous task for them altogether.

　　Lin Fan was especially concerned about Xuan Er. This cute little fox brat, this sweet little young girl, she was the most adorable kid he had met since he came to the Ancient Saint World, and she was really loveable for the villagers as well.

　　Even though she might seem like a proud kid, that only served to enhance her cuteness to Lin Fan.

　　In fact, the thought of keeping her by his side as a disciple after he took down the Ancient race did cross Lin Fan’s mind. With such a cute little fox girl around him, life would definitely not get too boring.

　　Creak. Creak.

　　Just then, there was a little movement in the woods before him as the grass ruffled. Swinging out his Eternal Axe, Lin Fan cleaved a deep trench in the ground.

　　A rabbit-like animal stood froze in its tracks, as though it was completely rooted with fear by this scene.

　　‘Eh? What’s this thing?’ Lin Fan took up this snow-white little thing. This rabbit-like thing was only the size of his palm.

　　Two long ears and red eyes! Wasn’t this just a rabbit?

　　‘Heh. Interesting. To think that there would be such beings in the Ancient Saint World as well.’ Lin Fan looked at this little thing with immense curiosity.

　　Harmless… Even its claws weren’t sharp. All four of its limbs were short and stumpy too.

　　‘This looks really cute. Xuan Er should like this!’ Dangling this cute little being, Lin Fan thought of her.

　　Kids were all prone to forgetting things. Perhaps the presence of this cute little thing by Xuan Er’s side could ease the pain of him leaving her.

　　“Rabbit! You better be obedient, or I’ll roast you over fire!” Lin Fan slung the Eternal Axe on his shoulders. At the same time, he headed back to the village happily while dangling the rabbit on his finger.

　　Even though it was still pretty early, he was going to leave tomorrow. Hence, he wanted to spend some time playing with Xuan Er while imparting some moves to her at the same time. After all, the Ancient Saint World was fraught with danger. It was hard to say whether anything bad would happen in the future.

　　The sun shone brightly in the skies. Lin Fan hummed a tune while he walked within the woods with ease.

　　…

　　‘H-how…?’

　　Standing before the village entrance, that relaxed face of Lin Fan was no longer. All the blood drained from his face as he stood there motionless like a fool.

　　The ground was spilled with blood while flames raged everywhere in the village. Every single house was stained with blood stains.

　　Lin Fan’s face turned extremely grim as he rushed in.

　　The village was extremely messy, as though it had just been pillaged.

　　The only things that were laying all over the village were the corpses of the villagers.

　　Each and every one of those familiar looking faces were now lifeless corpses spread out all over the place.

　　Lin Fan spotted a body ahead of him. That was the village chief.

　　He hurried forth, “Village chief! What’s going on…!”

　　But it was too late. The village chief had long passed away. On that frail, elderly face was a look of fury. There was a deep wound in his chest, and all his blood was dried up.

　　‘Ancient race…!’ Lin Fan seethed.

　　He gripped his fist. His face changed as he suddenly recalled, “Xuan Er…!”

　　Suddenly, Lin Fan burst up from the ground and looked around anxiously.

　　“GODDAMMIT! NOTHING MUST HAPPEN TO HER!” Lin Fan was howling within his heart as he checked out the bodies one by one.

　　“No…”

　　“There’s hope…”

　　“Not this either…”

　　“Hope. Please give me some hope!” Lin Fan’s body was shivering uncontrollably right now. The rabbit that was dangling in his hands was crying out because of Lin Fan’s grip strength. But right now, nothing registered within his mind. His only priority is to find Xuan Er.

　　“No…NO! NO! NO! NOTHING! XUAN ER! WHERE HAVE YOU GONE TO?” Lin Fan screamed out in the desolate village.

　　“No…she must have been taken away by the Ancient race, that’s all! There should still be hope…!” Thinking of how cute Xuan Er was, the Ancient race shouldn’t do anything that harsh to her!

　　The moment this hope appeared in Lin Fan’s mind, it grew stronger by the second. Lin Fan was so nervous that he was pushing this hope to be a truth in his mind.

　　“No…no! I must hurry and chase after them! Or it’ll be too late!” Lin Fan turned around and prepared to head out immediately.

　　“Uncle…uncle Lin…”

　　Just as Lin Fan was sprinting off, a weak and feeble voice rang out from some bushes nearby.

　　“XUAN ER…!” Lin Fan’s entire mind woke up with a startle as he moved away everything that was near the bushes.

　　“This…no…!” From the yellow ground beneath the bushes, fresh blood began to flow out downwards. Lin Fan shook his head massively and continued shoving the debris away furiously. But the sight before him caused his entire blood to run cold.

　　There was a half mooned crescent saber that was pierced through Xuan Er’s body, as fresh blood gushed out from the wound.

　　“H-how could this be…?” Lin Fan reared his head into the skies as he shut his eyes close. He did not dare to believe the sight that was right in his face.

　　“U-uncle Lin…” That cute little devilish face of Xuan Er was now paler than a sheet of paper. Tears were dripping from those big, wide eyes of hers.

　　“Grandpa…he told me to stay here and not make a sound…but…it hurts…Xuan Er feels pain…” Xuan Er’s face was squinting really hard as she bit down on her lower lips with her bloodstained teeth. It was as though she had been bearing the pain all this while.

　　“How could this be…?” Looking at the state Xuan Er was in, that firm heart of Lin Fan could not stop crumbling in sorrow. He tried his best to infuse lifeforce over to Xuan Er from his Mythical Parasol Tree.

　　However, the moment the lifeforce entered Xuan Er, it gushed out as quickly as it entered and dissipated out into the world.

　　“U-uncle Lin. Xuan Er is strong… Even though it…it hurts…Xuan Er did not make a single sound…! A-am I great?” The light in Xuan Er’s eyes were gradually fading as she closed them gently.

　　“Yes! You’re great! Xuan Er is the greatest…!” The only thing that Lin Fan could feel right now was pain, a deep, tormenting pain. It was a really, really long time since he had last felt pain like this.

　　The reason why Lin Fan had been working so hard to become stronger was so that he would never have to experience pain like this ever again in his life.

　　“U-uncle Lin…”

　　“M-me and…and you…”

　　“We…are…friends…”

　　Thud.

　　Those feebly, thin hands of Xuan Er’s tried to caress Lin Fan’s cheeks. However, like a kite that has lost its strings, they dropped onto the ground lifelessly before they could reach him.

　　With that, the final shimmer of light disappeared entirely from Xuan Er’s eyes.

　　“XUAN ER…!!!” Lin Fan could feel himself about to explode right now.

　　How could a cute, lovely girl as such have to go through such a tormenting life?!

　　“YOU MOTHERF*CKERS OF THE GODDAMNED ANCIENT RACE! YOURS TRULY SWEARS THAT I WON’T F*CKING BE CALLED A HUMAN IF I DON’T EXTERMINATE YOUR GODDAMNED RACE OF DEGENERATES!!!”

　　‘Ding…The Strongest System’s Hidden BUFF initiated: Berserk Ascension Sword. Time Limit: 1 day.’