Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

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The sea breeze swept past gently. The white waves were calm, too. A few stalks of flowers close to the beach were swaying slightly. A pair of old slippers were cautiously placed to the side to avoid damaging the flowers that were adding some color to the beach.

An old lady had her back to the sun. Her slim figure was sitting on a chair that she had brought along with her leisurely.

The sound of someone crying came from nearby. Before the old lady could enjoy some peaceful moments, a little girl beside came up to her with tearful eyes.

"What is it? Xiao Dongxia?" the old lady asked confusedly.

"My Xiao Fei is dead. He had always been obedient. He would show up every day at this time to play with me, but he didn't show up after I finished school today. I went to your garden to find him, but I found him under a tree. He wasn't flying or skipping around. I kept calling him, but he didn't respond," the little girl was overwhelmed by sorrow.

"How did he die?" the old lady asked.

"I don't know. I buried him under the tree. No one is going to wait for me to come home after school every day," Xiao Dongxian cried.

Chen Yi's grandmother let out a sigh. Xiao Dongxia's parents were both Hunters. They were usually away because of their work, thus they seldom looked after Xiao Dongxia. The little girl used to have a grandmother around Chen Yi's grandmother's age waiting for her to come back from school every day. After her grandmother passed away, Xiao Dongxia kept an intelligent sparrow as her pet. The sparrow would wait for her in front of her house every afternoon. He was the lonely girl's best friend.

Chen Yi's grandmother was surprised to learn that the sparrow had died. The sparrow seemed to possess a little of the lineage of the demon creatures. Although it would not grow into an aggressive demon creature, it was unlikely to die so easily...

"It's alright, I'll be waiting for you from today on. Grandma Yan still has a few years left, I can look after you until you have grown up," Yan Shi said.

"Really?"

"I promise. You can come to my house when your daddy and mummy are away. Chen Yi can teach you lots of things too!"

"Sure!" Xiao Dongxian nodded and wiped her tears off with her hand.

Xiao Dongxie left after she stopped crying. Yan Shi looked at the little girl as she left and let out a sigh.

It was heartbreaking to see a little child treating the joy and company that a little sparrow was giving her so preciously.

Why couldn't the younger generation be more sensible? If they couldn't give up pursuing wealth blindly or seeking thrills in life, they shouldn't have given birth and left the poor little child to grow up alone... Shouldn't they feel guilty about it?

Yan Shi had lost the mood to relax. She rose to her feet and slowly made her way back to her garden.

She saw the traces of the ground being dug up under a tree. It was obviously where Xiao Dongxia had buried the sparrow. Yan Shi hesitated for a moment before she crouched in front of the tree and slowly dug up the sparrow's body to see how it died. She would not allow anything to pose a threat to the peaceful town!

She might be old, but she would have no problem taking out some demon creatures...

"How strange," Yan Shi had dug up the remains of the sparrow, but its body had already started to decompose, as if it had been buried for more than a week. There was only a pile of feathers and rotten meat...

How did the body decompose so quickly?

Yan Shi slowly re-buried the sparrow and fell into deep thought.

A few minutes later, Yan Shi suddenly looked around her garden. Her dim eyes flickered with astonishment. Her hands began to tremble too.

"Could it be... could it really be!?

"But… there are no other possibilities!

"I should have known, I should have known!" Yan Shi kept smashing the things around her as if she had gone mad.

She soon calmed down. However, she was now emitting a formidable aura. She was clearly withholding her power, but it still knocked over the things in the garden. Even the tree had bent away from her!

She looked towards Mount Kunyu. Her crooked body suddenly unleashed a shocking power and soared a thousand meters into the sky. The old woman who looked so weak that even the wind could blow her away had flown into the sky like an enraged eagle!

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The Dandelion Grass was still drifting in the wind, like elegant little fairies dancing around their protector.

The Giant Purple Sacred Linden reflected a purple light under the sun. The blue sea of grass had no visible ends to it, and the sacred tree in the center of it was breathtaking. However, under the rays sprinkling down from the tree, bright red blood was flowing along the roots and the ground like a river. Dead bodies beyond recognition were scattered across the place. The wind was brimming with the scent of death...

"It seems like the Giant Purple Lindens doesn't welcome these brutal Hillmen. Let's take them all out with the help of the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows!" Nie Lengshan's voice echoed in everyone's ears.

The area between the branches and the roots was relatively spacious. There were currently lots of Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows flying around. They seemed to have reached the end of their patience after the Hillmen intruded on their territory. They had launched a huge attack to take out the Hillmen.

Meanwhile, the human soldiers had found the Giant Purple Sacred Linden by following the Dandelion Grass. Most of the Hunters that had gone to the outer slopes of Mount Kunyu had ended up here. The brutal deaths that the Hillmen had inflicted on them had greatly infuriated the humans. They split into squads under the leadership of the government and the military and swore to take down every Hillman. They would reclaim the dignity they had lost and avenge those that had died horrible deaths!

The Hunters had gotten used to being undisciplined. They might be stronger than the average soldier, but since they had not undergone systematic training, they did not have an advantage facing the thousands of demon creatures, unlike the soldiers!

When Mages worked together in groups and set up barriers as their defense while attacking with destructive spells from a distance, it was usually more effective than fighting the demon creatures in small teams or on their own. Most importantly, some Mages were able to set up magic formations against the demon creatures. The comparison of one Warrior-level creature to seven Intermediate Mages was no longer valid!

The Commander leading the army was an outstanding leader. Meanwhile, Nie Lengshan, the expert with the Sound Element, was asserting control over the battle too. More than two thousand Hillmen had died so far...

The cunning Bronze-Fang Hillmen could not afford to hide any further. There were seven of them, each holding back the troops of soldiers with their Commander-level strength...

"We shall avenge Shao Ru and our fallen brothers. Kill these sons of b**ches!" the Captain with rough facial features roared.

He was leading a hundred elites of his company to forcibly clear a path among the Hillmen. The Summoned Beasts charged forward like a strong wave, crumbling the oddity effect the Hillmen were abusing. The Hillmen were forced to retreat to the roots of the tree constantly.

More blood was pouring out like rivers and streams. It permeated the ground and reached the thick roots of the tree...

The remains of the Hillmen, feathers of the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows, and limbs of humans were stacked up together. The place had suddenly turned into a bloody Hell.

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"Let's make our way down too. How could we miss the party?" Zhao Manyan said excitedly, looking down from atop a great branch.

The guy had reclaimed his arrogance after his energy recovered. He was once again full of himself, as if he could take the whole world on!

Mo Fan looked at the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows that had suddenly engaged the Hillmen. Not long ago, they were trying to figure a way to get the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows to fight against the Hillmen after learning the species were enemies. To their surprise, the hot-tempered Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows simply dove down from the tree and engaged the Hillmen before they could do anything!

The Hillmen were suffering heavy casualties after they were flanked by both the humans and the Rainbow-Tailed Demon Sparrows!

"The army below is pretty strong. Who's leading them?" Lingling asked.

Not many armies were able to take on a horde of Warrior-level creatures. A group of Warrior-level creatures could easily eliminate a group of a hundred Battlemages when attacking at the perfect time, but even though the army below did not consist of a huge number of soldiers, each of them was very strong. It was obviously not an ordinary army!

"Nie Lengshan is giving orders, and the Commander is an experienced General too. They must be Yantai's Ace!" Shao Ru said.

"Nie Lengshan? I think I've heard the name before," Mo Fan remarked.

"He's one of the strongest Advanced Mages in our country. Since he's a Sound Mage, he is actually more useful than some Super Mages in a battle," Lingling said.

Lingling was familiar with some of the reputable people of their country. She was surprised that Nie Lengshan was put in charge of the operation. It explained why the horde of Hillmen was struggling to hold their ground...

"Houndman or Nie Lengshan, who's stronger?" Mo Fan had to ask.

Houndman was the strongest Advanced Mage that Mo Fan had encountered so far. He had little chance of beating Houndman on his own. He had only managed to defeat Houndman because Mu Ningxue was around!

"Houndman is pretty strong in the Advanced Level, but he's definitely not at the top. I believe Nie Lengshan could take out Houndman in just ten rounds," Lingling said.

Lingling had some idea how strong the Dreadful Curse Cerberus was, so she was able to make the comparisons even though she did not watch the battle between Mo Fan and Houndman.

"That means he's really strong… there are quite a lot of experts in our country!" Mo Fan exclaimed.

"You might have a chance against him after Little Flame Belle advances to the next stage," Lingling admitted.

Mo Fan's eyes glittered at the mention of Little Flame Belle!

"So, are we going down or not?" Zhao Manyan asked impatiently.

"Have patience; the Bronze-Fang Hillman that attacked us hasn't shown up yet. It's our target," Mo Fan answered.

Mo Fan would not forget the injuries it had inflicted on him!