’I was planning to pick a more formal day to come pay my respects and sweep the tombs, but I guess I couldn’t help myself and just wandered over.’

Li Xiang gazed at the spot, his eyes welling up slightly. It was a cenotaph for his parents. Not far from it was his grandfather’s grave.

However, his grandfather had died young, so he had never actually met him.

According to his grandmother, Li Xiang’s father wasn’t even an adult when his grandfather passed away. His grandmother had raised her children all by herself, helping them start their own families and careers. She had endured countless hardships.

His grandmother had also lived a hard life, a widow for most of it. In ancient times, she would have at least earned an archway in honor of her chastity.

’And my own father’s life was just as bitter, wasn’t it? He lost his father as a child, then died alongside my mother in middle age. Grandma had to endure the pain of a parent burying their own child.’

’And me? My fate’s been just as cruel. I lost both my parents before I was an adult, too.’

’It seems like our whole family is cursed with tragic fates.’

But the past was the past; life had to go on. Even the impending Apocalypse hadn’t scared him. Li Xiang was actually quite content with his current pastoral life and was truly enjoying it.

’Live each day to the fullest, take good care of Grandma, focus on my Cultivation, improve myself, and find inner peace. These quiet, peaceful days are numbered. There are only a little over three thousand of them left.’

As Li Xiang got within a few meters of his parents’ tomb, a notification box suddenly popped up in his mind. "Discovered one Tier Two Mutated Creature: Iron-Headed Ant Queen. Discovered thirteen Tier One Mutated Creatures: Iron-Headed Black Ants."

However, while the system had alerted him, it hadn’t specified their location.

The area was overgrown with weeds. Even his parents’ grave mound was covered in weeds and shrubs. Finding an anthill in this mess wouldn’t be easy.

’The anthill isn’t going anywhere for now. I should focus on what’s important first—sweep the tomb and pay my respects to my parents.’

His parents came first. Li Xiang decided to put the search for the Iron-Headed Black Ants on hold for the moment. He drew his High-Density Blade and began clearing the weeds and bushes from his parents’ grave mound and the surrounding area.

His blade skill was superb. With every slash, a cold light flashed, and large swathes of weeds and shrubs were cut down.

He then cut down a few branches to make a makeshift broom and swept away all the debris he had just cleared.

Then, he knelt and kowtowed. He sat before his parents’ grave and told them about his recent life. He believed that if his parents could hear him from the afterlife, they would surely support his decision to give up his opportunities in the big city to come back and care for his grandmother in her final years.

Suddenly, his left hand stung with pain. He looked down and saw a huge black ant, the size of a housefly, had crawled onto his hand at some point and just bitten him.

’Damn, I’d almost forgotten about you guys. I wasn’t bothering you, but you came looking for trouble with me?’

’Are they asking to die?’ Li Xiang thought.

He swatted it lightly with his hand, killing it instantly.

System: "Congratulations, Host. You have slain one Tier One Mutated Creature, an Iron-Headed Black Ant. You have received 10 Achievement Points."

Li Xiang stood up and scanned the area. He saw quite a few large black ants crawling around nearby. He searched carefully, tracing them back to their source, and finally found the nest.

It was under a rock about two meters from his parents’ grave.

He moved the rock, revealing a portion of the nest underneath.

Li Xiang patted his waistband with a look of regret. He had just taken a leak a little while ago, so a reenactment of the grand "Drowning of the Seven Armies" was probably out of the question.

Besides, these Iron-Headed Black Ants were bigger than the Blazing Flame Ants from his backyard, and their nest was wider. His "reserves" probably wouldn’t have been enough anyway.

’How about a little "Fire Burning Red Cliffs," then?’

But one look at the mountain forest and Li Xiang immediately abandoned that foolish idea.

The autumn air was crisp and dry. Starting a fire in the forest was far too risky.

He was reasonably confident he could manage the risk, perhaps by clearing a firebreak.

But you could never be too sure with things like this. If something went wrong, he would be the one to blame.

So, Li Xiang opted for his shovel. Employing a bit of "Violent Aesthetics" and his advanced Body Techniques, he completely destroyed the nest, crushing all the Iron-Headed Black Ants.

A stream of notifications popped up from the system: "Congratulations, Host. You have slain three Tier One Mutated Creatures, Iron-Headed Black Ants. You have received 30 Achievement Points."

"Congratulations, Host. You have slain one Tier One Mutated Creature, an Iron-Headed Black Ant. You have received 10 Achievement Points."

...

"Congratulations, Host. You have slain one Tier Two Mutated Creature, an Iron-Headed Ant Queen. You have received a surprise reward: three Tier One Mutated Spirit Grass, Golden Chanterelles."

Chanterelle: Possesses a delicious flavor and a unique fruity aroma. It improves vision and benefits the digestive system. It can be used to treat rough or dry skin, keratomalacia, xerophthalmia, and night blindness caused by Vitamin A deficiency. It can also treat certain respiratory and digestive tract infections. Contains numerous amino acids and trace elements, making it of extremely high nutritional value.

"Achievement Points Balance: 370."

Li Xiang couldn’t help but smile.

’Heh, the 100 points I spent on the Mutant Creature Identification Function have already paid for themselves.’

This add-on function had greatly increased his "monster grinding" efficiency. Before, he just got lucky; now, he could actively hunt.

Still, Li Xiang found it a little strange. He had walked all this way and had only run into this one nest of mutated ants?

Even if Mutated Creatures were rare, the sheer number of life forms in the forest was enormous. It shouldn’t be this difficult to find them.

He even had several Mutated Creatures back at his house.

But after a moment’s thought, Li Xiang quickly understood why.

He could only detect Mutated Creatures within a ten-meter radius. The animals in the forest were very wary; they probably sensed that Li Xiang was not to be trifled with and had fled long before he got close.

The ants, on the other hand, had their nest right here and couldn’t migrate long distances on short notice.

"Dad, Mom, your son has been unfilial. I didn’t bring any offerings or joss paper this time. It’s not convenient to burn paper money in the mountains, anyway. I’ll pick a proper day to come back and make a real offering to you both."

Li Xiang bowed several more times. He placed two large handfuls of wild chrysanthemums he had picked nearby in front of the grave, then continued deeper into the mountains.

His grandfather’s grave wasn’t far, only four or five hundred meters away, so he headed there next. He did the same thing: clearing the grave mound and the surrounding weeds and shrubs, then placing a large handful of freshly picked wild chrysanthemums on it.

To his surprise, he found something at his grandfather’s grave as well.

System: "Discovered one Tier Two Mutated Creature: a Red Dragon Centipede."

Li Xiang quickly scanned the area and soon spotted it: a giant, crimson centipede, as long as an adult’s palm and as thick as a finger, darting rapidly through the grass. He rushed forward in a few quick strides, his shovel whistling through the air so fast it left a trail of afterimages.

SCHLICK~

With a whoosh of air, the descending shovel sliced the massive Red Dragon Centipede in two.

As the saying goes, a centipede’s legs keep twitching even in death. Both halves of its body were still writhing and thrashing on the ground.

System: "Congratulations, Host. You have slain one Tier Two Mutated Creature, a Red Dragon Centipede. You have received a surprise reward: three Tier One Mutated Spirit Grass, Purple Coral Mushrooms."