Chapter 546: World Eaters Appear

"Something they were talking about? Which part?" Xiao Shou asked in confusion. He had no idea what her beloved disciple meant.

Tushan Shanhe whose sitting nearby raised his silver eyebrows slightly and looked at Fu Young as well.

Fu Young wheeled Xiao Shou over to the table and helped him sit down. As he brewed her some tea, he explained, "Before I left, I planted a tiny osmanthus sprout on that man surnamed Mo. It was so small that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. Through the connection, I was able to sense what they were saying. I was just a little surprised by what I heard."

"What could they have said that surprised you so much?" Tushan Shanhe asked, looking at Fu Young. A glimmer of light passed through his silver eyes.

Who would have thought this little brat had also left a hidden trick in that room, just like me? Tsk, tsk! The more someone doesn’t want us to know something, the more we want to find out. That intense curiosity and desire for control really do remind me of Ah Gui and myself.

Fu Young looked at Tushan Shanhe with a faintly amused smile.

"Lord Shanhe, are you pretending not to know?"

"What are you two talking about? I can’t understand either of you!" Compared with the two exceptionally shrewd foxes, one large and one small, Xiao Shou was utterly bewildered. He stared at them, unable to figure out what they were hinting at, and urged them impatiently, "Well? What exactly is it?"

Fu Young and Tushan Shanhe exchanged a silent glance. Then Fu Young’s lips curled into a slight smile as he explained, "The cultivator surnamed Mo told the City Lord of Brightcrest City that his friend had contracted a strange evil affliction while entering a public secret realm called the Myriad Ghosts Grotto. The medical cultivators couldn’t cure it, spiritual energy had no effect, and even seventh-grade noble spirit energy, which could dispel all manner of evil influences, was ineffective. At best, it could only alleviate the symptoms a little."

"Young Master Xuanji has been famous since his youth, earning a reputation rivaling that of some powerful experts. That’s because his noble spirit energy is very different from that of other Confucian cultivators. Even at a low level, his noble spirit energy can neutralize all kinds of impure energies and unusual forces, including evil influences. It’s practically the kind of noble spirit energy that can resist all techniques. Usually, only rogue immortals of the Confucian school possess such an ability," Tushan Shanhe added.

Only then did Xiao Shou finally catch on.

"Ah! So you were eavesdropping too, Great Granduncle Shanhe!"

"Tsk! Why call it eavesdropping? That sounds terrible. I call it gathering information. We have to be on our guard in case they secretly plot something against us. People can be treacherous. What’s wrong with taking precautions?" Tushan Shanhe demanded, glaring at Xiao Shou.

Xiao Shou hurriedly shook her head, though he grumbled inwardly.

Eavesdropping is eavesdropping. We’re all on the same side, so why dress it up to make it sound so noble?

Then he turned to her beloved disciple.

"Young’er, it’s just a small matter. What’s there to be surprised about?"

"Master, it was the dark skinned man’s description of his friend’s symptoms that surprised me."

In truth, Fu Young was astonished that Ximen Xuanji could cultivate noble spirit energy with an effect similar to his own ability to suppress all techniques, despite possessing only a tiny fragment of the original power. He wondered how wide an area Ximen Xuanji’s noble spirit energy could affect, and how it compared with his own.

Xiao Shou raised an eyebrow at his words. Could this be another event related to the plot?

Unfortunately, this was only one arc in a quick transmigration novel. Everything was written in a concise, straightforward manner. Events that were considered unimportant, or had nothing to do with the female protagonist, were simply omitted. What kind of symptoms could the friend have?

Curious, he asked, "What symptoms?"

"An infection caused by a strange energy. It’s making the Confucian cultivation within his body continuously regress while rapidly spreading throughout him. According to Mo Han, the medical cultivators believe that if the infected person weren’t a Confucian cultivator but an ordinary cultivator, the strange energy would probably consume their entire body the instant they were infected," Fu Young explained casually.

At that moment, Fu Young gave the matter little thought. He had no idea that this strange energy was closely connected to him and would soon drag him into a tangled mess of trouble, causing his plan to leave the Mystic Jade Realm to become increasingly distant.

Seeing Xiao Shou’s curiosity, Tushan Shanhe, who doted on his younger relative, offered a more detailed explanation.

"His friend was fortunate to have cultivated noble spirit energy within his body. That was the only reason he managed to make it back and seek help. The medical cultivators have already extracted some of the strange energy from his body and tested it on wild beasts. As soon as the energy entered a beast’s body, it spread throughout the entire creature, rapidly turning every part of it to stone. In the blink of an eye, even its bones were gone, leaving nothing but stone powder."

"It’s World Eaters!"

Xiao Shou cried out in shock, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Weren’t these things supposed to emerge more than a hundred years from now, bringing a great calamity upon the Mystic Jade Realm? Why are World Eaters appearing already?

Thinking of the devastation they could cause, he stood up anxiously.

"No! We have to find a way to leave this realm as quickly as possible!"

Seeing his intense reaction, Fu Young looked thoughtful. Tushan Shanhe, however, immediately asked, "World Eaters? Ah Shou, you know about this strange energy? What exactly are World Eaters?"

"The infected person hasn’t been afflicted by some strange energy. It’s World Eaters. They’re tiny living creatures so small that even spiritual sense cannot clearly perceive them. According to legend, they’re extraterrestrial creatures left behind on an ancient battlefield beyond our realm. These bizarre creatures begin stealing the life force of other living beings from the moment they enter their juvenile stage. They’re already troublesome enough now, but things become far worse after they’ve absorbed sufficient nutrients from other living creatures, formed cocoons, and emerged from them."