At this moment, the crowd surrounding the scene quickly made way.
"Lord Fu," Andrew from the Earth Dragon Empire greeted with a smile as he saw Fu Xiaohu, the city lord of Star City, approaching.
"Lord Andrew," Fu Xiaohu responded with an ingratiating smile, his demeanor resembling that of a sycophant.
"This is just too pathetic," Ye Fan muttered, shocked by the sight.
"Lord Fu, these men just killed our Star City warriors and even beat an old man to death..." a man in the crowd couldn't help but speak up.
"Shut up!" Fu Xiaohu barked coldly at the man. "These lowly peasants dared to offend Lord Andrew. They deserved to die!"
Hearing Fu Xiaohu's words, the people of Star City felt their hearts sink.
Fu Xiaohu observed their reactions and smirked inwardly. The Earth Dragon Empire was the most powerful in the world, and if he offended the Earth Dragon people, even his position as city lord might not be safe. Causing a conflict would only bring more trouble. As for the deaths of a few lowly peasants, they were of no consequence.
"Lord Andrew, please come to my residence," Fu Xiaohu said with a smile, inviting Andrew and his men. "I'll explain everything to Lord Andrew and his men. This is likely just a misunderstanding."
"This matter ends here. Anyone who dares to spread rumors will be severely punished!" Fu Xiaohu's voice was cold and authoritative, leaving no room for argument.
As Andrew and his men left, the warriors and citizens began to murmur among themselves.
"This is infuriating! Why grovel before a few Earth Dragon Empire people?"
"Fu Xiaohu is a spineless coward!"
"Our Heavenly Tyrant Empire has a Blade God at the ninth rank, we're no weaker than the Earth Dragon Empire."
"It's like he's been on his knees so long, he's forgotten he has a spine!"
The warriors around were seething with anger but felt utterly powerless. In this world, weakness was a sin.
"If I had the power of a Sword God, I'd behead them all!" Lin San thought coldly. What he witnessed today was utterly disheartening. The city lord of Star City was truly despicable. He had heard rumors of Fu Xiaohu's misdeeds before, but to see him so spineless before the Earth Dragon Empire was beyond contempt.
The Earth Dragon people had committed such heinous acts in broad daylight, yet Fu Xiaohu invited them to the city lord's residence for hospitality.
"In this world, only strength truly matters," Lin San muttered as he gripped the Demon Slayer Sword tightly.
"You're absolutely right," Ye Fan agreed, though he knew Lin San couldn't hear him. "Let's go hunt some beasts so I can get stronger too," Ye Fan urged, eager to evolve. If he reached the highest level, he might finally be able to speak directly to others, no longer needing to rely on energy. The current situation was quite frustrating for him.
Lin San had already made up his mind. He would head into the wilderness to become stronger as quickly as possible.
The Black Forest lay to the south of Star City. It was a place where most of the trees and plants were dark in color, hence its name. The Black Forest was far more dangerous than the Forest of the Furious Python. While the strongest creature in the Forest of the Furious Python was a single six-rank Red-Eyed Furious Python, the Black Forest was home to many powerful beings deep within.
Lin San knew he couldn't afford to let his guard down.
"Twenty thousand gold coins... How many beasts will I need to kill?" Lin San sighed, realizing the daunting task ahead. But he had no choice; he needed the sword sheath. Without it, his sword would draw too much attention.
Just as Lin San ventured into the forest, he heard a strange noise up ahead.
"Something's there," Lin San thought, his senses alert. He hadn't been in the forest for long when he encountered his first beast. Judging by the sound, it was likely a Flame Cluck, a second-rank beast known for the peculiar noise it made.
As he moved closer, he spotted a group of large, black-feathered creatures, each the size of a bull.
"Wow, these chickens are huge!" Ye Fan exclaimed in surprise. The Flame Cluck looked like a giant version of the black chickens from Ye Fan's previous world.
Suddenly, one of the Flame Clucks spat a stream of fire from its beak, charging at Lin San.
Lin San's eyes narrowed as he quickly dodged and dashed forward. As he neared the Flame Cluck, he swung the Demon Slayer Sword, slicing through the beast with a single stroke. Blue blood spattered as the creature fell.
[Absorbed second-rank beast blood, gained 0.2 energy points]
[Killed second-rank beast, gained 200 evolution points]
But the Flame Cluck wasn't alone. More of the creatures began to appear, surrounding Lin San.
"Perfect!" Ye Fan thought excitedly. The more beasts they killed, the more evolution points he would gain.
Second-rank beasts posed no challenge for Lin San. In no time, he had slain around seventeen of the Flame Clucks.
"I've accumulated over three thousand evolution points. Not bad," Ye Fan remarked, satisfied. If they could gain around ten thousand evolution points a day, he could evolve within ten days!
"Wait, can the sword absorb blood?" Lin San noticed something strange and was surprised. He had thought the sword remained clean after battle, but now he realized it was absorbing the blood.
"Are you just figuring that out now?" Ye Fan thought, amused.
"Go ahead, absorb all the blood," Ye Fan urged, eager to gather more energy.
As the sword trembled in his hand, Lin San was surprised. "What's happening?" he wondered aloud.
"Just absorb the blood, buddy," Ye Fan muttered in frustration.
"The sword seems to grow sharper after absorbing blood," Lin San observed, placing the sword into the pool of blood. As the blue blood was absorbed into the sword, its blade seemed to grow even more sinister and powerful.