Old Yang’s face turned ashen. He took a step back and asked, "Could it be that you and Diandian..."
Chu Tian nodded. "I'm afraid so. What exactly is that?"
"Sandworm eggs..."
"Is it contagious?" Chu Tian asked, seeing his expression.
"Mmhmm..."
Old Yang nodded again.
"Don't just keep saying 'mmhmm.' How do we get rid of them?"
Chu Tian was also getting anxious. The system had alerted him to a deadly microorganism. It was one thing if he died; at worst, the mission would fail, and he'd be teleported out. But Diandian was a living, breathing person. Chu Tian was no longer the same as when he first entered. He now understood this was a real world. Even if he didn't grasp why the Heavenly Dao world allowed him to travel between places, he couldn't stand by and do nothing when he knew someone was alive and in danger. Especially since Diandian was so cute, only five years old, and had just lost her father...
Old Yang’s face was ashen as he shook his head. Chu Tian was stunned by his reply. Could it be another unsolvable problem?
"Sandworm eggs will gradually grow inside the body, devouring flesh and blood for nourishment, and finally hatch..." Old Yang explained. Chu Tian felt utterly disgusted. The thought of how many creatures might be inside him right now made him feel nauseous.
"I don't believe it..." Chu Tian said, sitting down on the sand. He took out a vial of high-grade antidote and tossed it into his mouth. He crunched it down. The outer casing of the vial tasted like candy and was quite delicious, but he didn't have time to savor it.
After swallowing the antidote, the system gave no notification. Chu Tian's face turned pale; he knew the antidote was useless. Was he supposed to take insecticide? Let alone that there wasn't any, he wouldn't dare drink it even if there were. Those were highly toxic substances. He’d likely die before the worms did.
Since they were eggs, couldn't they just be removed? Chu Tian closed his eyes and drew all his spiritual sense back into his body. He began to scan his body from the inside. First, Chu Tian scanned his lungs, finding nothing. Then, his spiritual sense, akin to X-rays, meticulously swept through every inch of his flesh and blood. Finally, as he amplified his spiritual power, he detected an anomaly within his blood vessels. They were extremely tiny yellow dots. If they hadn't moved, Chu Tian wouldn't have noticed them. These things moved slowly, whether in his veins or arteries. They clung to the vessel walls, refusing to be flushed away by the blood.
Realizing this, Chu Tian exhaled a sigh of relief. He activated a divine soul secret technique, condensing his spiritual sense intensely within the blood vessels and crushing the countless small worms. However, the moment his spiritual sense latched onto them, the swarm of little worms suddenly erupted. Numerous suction cups gripped the walls of Chu Tian's blood vessels tightly. If he forcibly pulled them out, his blood vessels would likely be riddled with holes. For a moment, Chu Tian held his breath, not daring to move. He retracted his spiritual sense, fearing the worms would escape, but dared not exert more force, afraid of crushing them and contaminating his blood.
"Let me..." A faint, ethereal voice suddenly appeared in Chu Tian's mind.
"Who?" Chu Tian jolted. This voice wasn't Daotian's. It was a girl's voice.
"Me..." The voice was faint, but Chu Tian heard it clearly.
"You? Who are you..." Chu Tian was speechless. You only say "you," how am I supposed to know who you are?
"I am me!" The voice sounded exasperated. Chu Tian calmed down, sensing a familiarity in the voice. Where had he heard it before? Suddenly, Chu Tian's eyes lit up. While controlling the worms, he opened his inventory. His gaze settled on the dragon egg Daotian had given him. He now had four dragon eggs in his inventory; three of them were snatched. With a thought, he took it out.
"Is it you?" Chu Tian attempted to communicate with the Azure Dragon egg.
"It's me... I can help you with what's inside you, but..." She stopped speaking. Chu Tian quickly asked, "But what?"
"I don't want to stay in that dark backpack anymore. I want to live in your divine platform."
"Alright, no problem..." Chu Tian thought, there were already many things in his divine platform; one more dragon egg wouldn't matter.
"And..."
"Anything else? Can you say it all at once, okay?" Chu Tian replied.
"I sense there is something I need over there. You must take me there and help me obtain it!" The place she mentioned was the direction Chu Tian and the others were heading. Directly west... Could it be that in the Myriad Beast City, there was something this little Azure Dragon needed? Since they were going there anyway, Chu Tian nodded and said, "Alright, no problem!" Saying this, he put the dragon egg into his divine platform.
[Ding... System Prompt: Accepted [Pet Egg (Azure Dragon)'s Commission], Reward: Top-tier Pet Hatching Stone x1.]
A top-tier pet hatching stone... What a treasure! Finally, a proper reward. A top-tier hatching stone not only guaranteed successful pet hatching but also increased the pet's growth potential. However, Chu Tian suddenly remembered that the worms in his body were resolved, but what about Diandian? Even Nie Yun and Old Yang might be infected. What would happen to them? Just as he was about to ask, the dragon egg that had entered his divine platform turned and landed on the treetop of the divine platform island. It shook twice, as if making a nest, and then a green light emerged from the egg. Slowly, it dissipated within Chu Tian's divine platform.
[Ding... System Prompt: Mental Power upgraded, imbued with Dragon Might! Acquired Skill: Azure Dragon Deterrence.]
...
After Chu Tian sat down cross-legged, Old Yang had been watching him intently. Seeing him suddenly open his eyes, then a football-sized green egg appear, he was about to ask Chu Tian when the egg flashed with light, rapidly shrinking and disappearing from Chu Tian's brow. Afterward, he saw Chu Tian emitting a green light all over. A few minutes later, Chu Tian opened his eyes again. He took out a knife and cut his fingertip. Black, viscous blood spurted out with a *swish*. Two minutes later, the blood flowing from his fingertip turned from black to red.
[Ding... System Prompt: Detected that all deadly microorganisms within the main character's body have disappeared.]
Chu Tian breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a great burden lifted. "It... it's okay?" Old Yang stared with wide eyes. Although he couldn't believe it, he was certain in his heart. Chu Tian had truly resolved the issue of the sand worm eggs entering his body.
"Mmhmm!" Chu Tian nodded. Although he still felt a bit dizzy, it was a sign of depleted blood qi. Lack of blood was easily remedied; a few healing spells fixed his blood qi instantly. Just moments ago, when the system had informed him of his mental power upgrade and the dragon might, his divine soul underwent a qualitative change. The most apparent manifestation was the worms he had enveloped with his spiritual sense. In that instant, they instantly contracted, released their grip on the blood vessel walls, and trembled. Chu Tian used his spiritual sense to gather these disgusting things and moved them to the tip of his finger. Then, he let out blood to expel them, easily resolving the problem!
After casting a rejuvenation spell on himself, he ignored Old Yang's shock and rushed into the tent. Amidst Nie Yun's panic, he grabbed her hand. With his other hand, he took Diandian's small hand. Nie Yun struggled slightly, but after feeling a green light flash from Chu Tian's hand and enter her body, she stopped resisting. Moments later, he released Nie Yun. As expected, she was infected. However, her internal worm eggs were truly just eggs, not yet hatched.
"Sister Yun... please wait outside for a moment. I'll treat you then!" Hearing this, Nie Yun asked in confusion, "Treat?"
"Mmhmm... Diandian doesn't have a fever from wind-heat; she has ingested sand worm eggs..." Upon hearing this, Nie Yun's body trembled. Tears instantly streamed down her face. If it were just a fever from wind-heat, there would still be a 50% chance of survival, but ingesting sand worm eggs meant certain death! Seeing her reaction, Chu Tian quickly comforted her, recounting his own infection. He also promised that he could save Diandian. Nie Yun looked at Chu Tian deeply, then fell silent. She stood up and walked outside. In Nie Yun's final glance, Chu Tian saw the word "trust." As he led her out, Chu Tian handed her an N95 mask. She looked at it in her hand and then put it on. Chu Tian smiled; this woman was much smarter than Old Yang. When Old Yang received the mask, he fumbled with it for a long time, unable to put it on correctly. Chu Tian had to help him. Nie Yun, holding it, could discern the front and back just by looking at it. She even knew to pinch the nose bridge, which would provide complete protection.
Old Yang, who was leaning by the doorway, also froze for a moment. A sense of inferiority welled up within him. He stepped aside, making way for Nie Yun, and then zipped up the tent.