Chapter 32: The Strength of the Inuyasha World, Human Good and Evil

It was precisely because the fragment sensed this desire that it spontaneously absorbed the life force of surrounding plants and animals to sustain the ancient tree’s vitality and aid its continuous growth.

Yet

“This thing is useless to me.”

Ye Xuan sighed helplessly.

Whether a fragment or the complete Shihun Jade, it held no value for Ye Xuan—he lacked a pure soul like Cuizi or Jie Jing; using it might briefly amplify his power, but over time, he would almost certainly be corrupted by its desires.

On this point, he had sufficient self-awareness.

In the Fox Spirit Hongniang system, spiritual force cultivation is virtually nonexistent—just look at how Wang Quan Baye and others, after leaving the circle, slaughtered each other under the Black Fox’s illusions, with only two surviving to return.

Though the world’s transformation altered Wang Quan Baye’s cultivation system, and with the elevation of life tiers, spiritual force is now included within it.

But that doesn’t mean he can currently ignore the fragment’s influence entirely.

For a short time, yes—but over the long term, who can say?

Moreover, he truly didn’t believe a mere fragment of the Shihun Jade could grant him significant enhancement.

Just look at the Inuyasha world: how many truly powerful Great Demon Kings even care about the Shihun Jade?

Let alone a fragment of it.

Still, it is a multiverse treasure, leaving one with the feeling of neither worth keeping nor worth discarding.

Ye Xuan shook his head, reached out, and picked up the fragment—the instant his fingertips touched it, an odd ripple spread up his arm.

It was an indescribable temptation, as if a voice whispered in his ear, urging him to absorb and fuse the fragment into his body.

“Come… fuse it… you shall gain unparalleled power…”

The voice was deep and seductive, striking straight into the depths of his soul; Ye Xuan’s expression remained unchanged, but his fingers tightened unconsciously—the fragment’s glow brightened as if sensing his response.

“Just a fragment, and you dare claim to grant me unparalleled power?”

“Even the complete Shihun Jade isn’t worthy of such words.”

Ye Xuan sneered, his tone dismissive, then loosened and clenched his grip on the fragment.

He was only pretending—he didn’t think it actually believed he was tempted.

Though the Inuyasha world contains gods and the netherworld, its power level is ultimately quite limited.

His current strength may fall short of a true Great Demon King’s, but for a mere fragment of the Shihun Jade to claim it could grant him unparalleled power? That was laughable.

Ye Xuan did yearn for greater power, but that power—even the complete Shihun Jade—could not grant him even a fraction of it.

Yet from the intensity of the fragment’s temptation, he confirmed one thing.

His spiritual force was indeed weak—but weak only relative to his own strength, not weaker than everyone else’s.

The Black Fox could deceive Wang Quan Baye and others because it was the Black Fox; if you replaced it with a weaker spiritual force user, they likely couldn’t deceive Wang Quan Baye at all.

Within the circle, neither the demon clans nor human factions lack illusion techniques.

Wang Quan Baye’s sister is the best example.

But this only applied to Ye Xuan—if someone else had found the Shihun Jade fragment, they would almost certainly be influenced by it.

A pure soul isn’t something anyone can possess; Ye Xuan even doubted anyone in this world had one at all.

Humans all have desires—even children do.

To some extent, a child’s pure desire may cause even worse consequences than an adult’s.

Adults have some restraint—they only act recklessly when emotions overwhelm them; children have no such restraint.

Ye Xuan put away the Shihun Jade fragment. Though useless to him, it made a decent collectible.

Anyone who loves anime, novels, or films has some collector’s instinct—he was no exception.

In the future, if he met someone else collecting Shihun Jade fragments who possessed items he found interesting, he could use it as bargaining leverage.

Having found what he sought, Ye Xuan naturally had no reason to linger in the Mistveil Mountains—but he didn’t choose to return immediately by sword flight; instead, he walked slowly toward the rest zone.

Finding the multiverse treasure had been far easier than expected, and time was still early—he could afford to slow his pace and see if he encountered other mutated creatures worth his interest.

But perhaps because he carried the blood scent of the mutated boars and bird flocks he had killed, the mutated creatures, upon sensing his odor, fled without hesitation, refusing to approach.

He didn’t care, nor did he intend to actively hunt these weak mutated creatures.

The spiritual energy revival had just begun; most mutated creatures were still weak, their flesh containing little spiritual energy; killing more wouldn’t change that fact.

Better to let them grow in the mountains, become stronger, and accumulate more spiritual energy in their flesh before he hunted them.

His view of mutated creatures matched that of the Tian Shu Bureau.

They would become the ferocious beasts that slaughtered countless humans in the future—and also one of the most valuable resources of the spiritual energy revival era.

Their spiritual-energy-infused flesh, bones, and fur, even every bodily part, held considerable value.

Kill too many now, and their future harvest diminishes.

As for these mutated creatures invading cities en masse after the spiritual tide—let them first prove they can ignore gunfire.

Rather than worrying about these distant mutated creatures, one should worry whether humans’ pets might turn on their owners after mutation.

Not every pet will treat you as its master like a dog does; and even dogs aren’t immune to attacking their owners.

Back at the rest zone, Lin Miao had prepared a full table of dishes; the rich aroma filled the air, and even Ye Xuan, with his iron will, couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

No other reason—it was simply too overpoweringly fragrant.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with fine cuisine; indeed, due to his family background, he’d tasted many delicacies—but he had never smelled such an intoxicating aroma.

The scent seemed alive, seeping into his nostrils, striking his taste buds, compelling an involuntary hunger.

(End of Chapter)