Chapter 558: The World Eaters Appear

Perhaps his ability was simply too powerful, or perhaps it was because it had only recently advanced. Whatever the reason, it did not reach another level. Instead, the core of his ability doubled in size, allowing him to create twice as much as before.

The Evil Breaking Eyes, however, underwent a transformation. Without any preparation on his part, the combination of his enhanced soul and his use of seventh-grade ice sand caused his Evil Breaking Eyes to evolve into Evil Exterminating Eyes.

In addition to greatly expanding the range and power of its original abilities to repel evil and purify malevolent energy, the Evil Exterminating Eyes had gained a new ability: instantly killing any being that the Heavenly Dao’s laws identified as evil.

This unexpected evolution gave Xiao Shou quite a shock when it suddenly awakened.

At first, he was delighted. However, after carefully considering this new ability, he quickly lost interest.

The ability to instantly kill evil beings? The Terrestrial Fox’s Black Flame could do that too! Wasn’t this completely useless?

That was what he thought at the time. Only later did he discover that this ability was not useless at all, and that it was entirely different from the power of the Terrestrial Fox’s Black Flame.

These gains made all three of them even more enthusiastic about collecting materials for Soul Nourishing Jade.

At the same time, Xiao Shou felt increasingly reluctant to part with the Soul Nourishing Jade he had set aside for repairing the fragmented souls. Although he hated to waste such precious treasures, he had already made his decision. Even if it broke his heart, he would see it through.

With this thought in mind, he felt as though he were crying an entire ocean of tears inside, yet he continued storing away the Soul Nourishing Jade for the future restoration of the fragmented souls without letting any of his reluctance show on his face.

They continued this way for several more days.

On the twenty third day of their first month inside the Myriad Ghosts Grotto, the three of them were still collecting materials. They had yet to find any trace of the World Eaters, and they still had no idea where Wen had been when he was infected by a World Eater larva.

Suddenly, all three stopped what they were doing at the same time. They quickly put away the materials they had collected, flew toward one another, and looked up in the same direction.

Two breaths later, more than a dozen figures swept past overhead. Sensing the auras of the three people below, the leader immediately transmitted a warning to them.

"Fellow Daoists, leave quickly! There’s danger behind us!"

After delivering the warning, he continued flying without looking back.

"Danger? I didn’t sense anything at all!" Xiao Shou asked in confusion.

Tushan Shanhe stood with his hands behind his back, looking completely relaxed. "It’s outside the range of your spiritual consciousness."

"Someone is fighting them, and they’re people we know. Master, extend your spiritual consciousness and sense the west direction."

Fu Young glanced at Tushan Shanhe before moving closer to Xiao Shou and pointing toward the west direction.

Hearing this, Xiao Shou stretched his normally circular field of spiritual consciousness into a long, narrow range, focusing it specifically in that direction.

"Huh? I can sense them too! It’s Ximen Xuanji and the others. And the ones fighting them are... World Eaters! The World Eaters have actually appeared, and they’re fully mature! How could this happen? They’re at a disadvantage and retreating while fighting!"

"So these are the World Eaters? I’ve never seen a demonic beast with such an appearance before. I didn’t even encounter any on the Extraterritorial Battlefield." Tushan Shanhe shook his head.

Xiao Shou furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Although they’re fully mature, judging by their size, they haven’t consumed much. If they had eaten enough, it would be perfectly normal for them to grow a hundred times larger than they are now. Where did they come from?"

Fu Young raised his sword like eyebrows and said, "Master, now isn’t the time to think about that. The important question is whether we should retreat or help them. It won’t be long before they fall back toward us."

"Don’t retreat. We’ll fight them." Before Xiao Shou could answer, Tushan Shanhe spoke firmly. "We must first test the World Eaters’ strength and find their weaknesses. If we retreat without knowing anything about them, then our journey here will have been a waste. Don’t forget the original purpose of this expedition."

At the same time, on a distant mountain outside the Myriad Ghosts Grotto, a plainly dressed young woman gazed at the enormous stone monument engraved with the words Myriad Ghosts Grotto.

"If I remember correctly, this secret realm will suddenly self destruct in three days. The reason is unknown, and the Murong Kingdom has remained silent about the incident."

"Back then, I was busy dealing with that person and gathering intelligence. I only heard about this through the conversations of people around me. Apparently, the explosion happened so suddenly that many cultivators who had come to train inside couldn’t escape in time. Their souls and spirits were completely annihilated."

"It seems this place is hiding some kind of secret here. Should we investigate?"

[ Replying to the host,The system cannot scan the conditions inside this independent space from the outside and therefore cannot make a judgment. A detailed scan will only be possible after entering the space. However, based on the information provided by the host, only three days remain. Time is limited, so the system does not recommend entering the independent space. ]

The mechanical voice spoke in a stiff, matter of fact tone.

The plainly dressed young woman pursed her lips in boredom. "System, you’re still so rigid. How boring! You should have a little spirit of adventure. Let’s go inside and take a look. We’ll leave on the second day. The explosion isn’t supposed to happen until the third day, right?"