Swish!

Running through the grassland, Lin Xiao headed back to the village. His legs agilely stepped on the available road without letting himself fall down. Grabbing the hanging root, Lin Xiao jumped to the other side of the cliff and then continued to run towards the village.

That cliff separated his house with the village, but he could actually turn around the mountain. But since it was further, he chose the shorter route through the cliff and also the tree.

"Wah, everyone is here?" Lin Xiao blurted out when he saw that the others were also running to the center of the village.

"Ah, you're here, Little Xiao?"

"Gee, you sure are quick."

"Hehehe."

Glancing around, Lin Xiao could see familiar faces everywhere around him. He grinned and put his hands on the back of his head as he walked to the crowd. The village might be small, but there were still more than a hundred people in total inside this village.

Lin Xiao noticed the elder was standing at the center, on top of a large rock. They would always use that rock as podium that they could use if they wanted to announce something. Sometimes it would be good news, but seeing from the grave expression of the three elders, Lin Xiao felt that it was something bad.

'Elder Mu, Elder Xu, and Elder Su, all have solemn expression.'

As a youngster, it would be impolite for Lin Xiao to reach the center of the crowd when the adults were already anxious like that. There were a few other youngsters near him, all hesitant to get closer.

More and more people came, but the atmosphere didn't get any better.

"Oh, you come, Little Xiao."

Lin Xiao turned around and saw a tall young man around the age of 18 years old. The young man wore purple robe that looked expensive. Compared to many villagers there, it was clear that he was among the best from the rest.

"You're here to get another beating, Su Han?" Lin Xiao asked as he flexed his fingers. He didn't mind having a bout here.

Su Han snorted. "Aren't you saying that you're the one who got beaten."

"Heh, I'm no longer as weak as before."

Crack! Crack!

Seeing Lin Xiao's aura, Su Han immediately realized that Lin Xiao had reached fifth stage. He sneered. "Took you so long to reach fifth stage. Unfortunately, I'm already at the sixth stage now. You won't be able to defeat me."

"Shall we test it" Lin Xiao was not afraid.

"You two, stop it!"

The high pitched voice caused Lin Xiao's brows to crease. On the other hand, Su Han's face light up as he glanced to the side. There was light within his eyes that if one didn't know better, they might think that they could lit up fire with the help of his eyes.

"Qin'er."

"Oh, it's you, Xu Qin," Lin Xiao greeted without caring.

In front of the two of them stood a young girl at the age of 15 years old. She had fair complexion and well developed body. For a girl at her age, she was starting to bloom to be a beautiful flower. There were many people who admired her beauty, especially youngsters their age who had just started to grow.

The young girl, Xu Qin furrowed her brows. "Don't create trouble here, you two. This is a serious matter."

"Yes." Su Han became as docile as a lamb when he heard what Xu Qin said. Despite being at a higher rank, he had a crush on the village's most beautiful girl. Needless to say, he would try to always stay in Xu Qin's good side.

On the other hand, Lin Xiao merely snorted and focused his attention back to the three elders. He wanted to know what they wanted to tell them today.

"Everyone, we have message to tell all of you," Elder Mu spoke first. He glanced to the side where Elder Xu was standing with a letter on his hand.

Looking at that letter, Lin Xiao's eyes narrowed. If he was not wrong, it was the letter from Taiyi Sect. The paper quality could only be produced by rich people and those from village like them could never afford something like that. He had seen that paper when Taiyi Sect announced that they would be accepting new disciple.

It should be impossible that the Taiyi Sect would be accepting new disciples again at this time.

So…

Was there something urgent from the sect?

At that thought, Lin Xiao felt that it was almost certainly true. There would be no way that the sect sent urgent letters to them like that.

"I received news from Taiyi Sect this morning. They're under attack and there's no survivor."

What?

Excuse me?

Everyone was stupefied as they looked at the three elders in front of them.

In their entire life, everyone always regarded Taiyi Sect, who had a long history too, as the most powerful sect in the entire world. But now that they were facing the harsh truth that the sect was destroyed, they felt as if their world crumbled into pieces.

That was… a joke, right?

"Elder Mu, is Elder Xu joking?" A villager raised his hand and asked with quivering voice.

Elder Mu passed a sad look at Elder Xu and slowly shook his head. As much as he wanted it to be lies, it was the truth.

Taiyi Sect is no more.

"Unfortunately, we received this news from the best source. This is the truth."

Almost immediately, the entire village was in uproar.

On the other hand, Lin Xiao stood silently while looking at the letter on Elder Xu's hand as his brain worked much harder.