Everyone who heard Cheng Sheng, whose voice though spoke softly, but the area is already silent because of his sudden appearance. "…" we are really fcking surprised. They sarcastically thought and inwardly rolled their eyes. Instead of 'surprise', they were given a scare instead! They looked at Cheng Sheng who was standing tall and looked elegant not far.

Who wouldn't be scared when someone suddenly appeared in front of thousands of people like a ghost?! None of them really noticed him until they heard Li Tian's voice! And, from Li Tian's, Chen Han's and Sun Yi's reactions, along with the other elders, they, too, didn't expect for Cheng Sheng to appear here, and only noticed him just now! How did he do it?! Wasn't his cultivation low?! How was he unnoticed by everybody who has higher cultivation than him?!

The attention of the Righteous Alliance and the sect leaders were also caught by Cheng Sheng.

"Xiao Sheng!" Xie Lan exclaimed and almost rose from his seat when he saw Cheng Sheng.

Wu Yuan's indifferent face also cracked and his eyes flashed with alarm. Jing Rui, Qian Shan, Tang Teng and Li Nanzi also looked worried, as well as Sun Yu as they remembered what happened two days ago, when the sect leaders were called and were informed of what happened.

Now, everyone's attention isn't on the competition anymore, but on Cheng Sheng. Those who are in the dark were excited, and also speculating why did Cheng Sheng appear. Then, they suddenly remembered about Cheng Sheng's apprentice who is also participating this year in the Intersect Competition.

"AH! So Cheng Sheng came here to cheer for his disciple!" someone said.

"That's right! He must also want to cheer the disciples of his sect!" someone added.

"Isn't he affiliated with the Youxiwang Sect, too, with his familial relationship with them?" somebody asked.

"Oh! You're right! You're right! Cheng Sheng must also be cheering for the Youxiwang Sect disciples!" someone exclaimed when he realized it.

"Woah… Cheng Sheng has so many disciples to cheer on, then!" the others can't help but say.

Sun Rong and Qie Shi, the 'babysitters' who secretly sent Cheng Sheng here, heard what the people around them said and smiled as they looked at Cheng Sheng. No matter when and where, he is very eye-catching. One of the reasons why Cheng Sheng came here is to cheer for his disciple Fei Yinzi, as well as the other disciples of the Xinfaxian Sect and Youxiwang Sect who are participating in the Intersect Competition this year.

As for the other reason… they looked at the three people standing beside them who have without any expression on their faces. Meanwhile, in the sect leaders' area, Zheng Fu Gong and Pai Lie also saw Cheng Sheng and felt alarmed but they immediately suppressed their emotions to not alarm the people if they would notice something is amiss.

"Sect leader Xie." Zheng Fu Gong called when he saw Xie Lan's dark face. He heaved a sigh. So Xie Lan also didn't know about Cheng Sheng coming here. None of them were informed. Then, this must be… he thought as his eyes narrowed when a thought flashed in his mind.

Something urgent came up?

Xie Lan frowned and locked eyes with Fan Wen who pulled Cheng Sheng to sit beside him. When he saw Fan Wen nodded at him, he took a deep breath to calm himself. He then looked at Wu Yuan, Jing Rui, Qian Shan, Sun Yu, Tang Teng, Li Nanzi and the other sect leaders. If Zheng Fu Gong could think of it, then they also can think of it, too.

If it was something urgent that Cheng Sheng had to come here unnoticed… then it definitely isn't something good.

…

"Junior Cheng…" Sun Yi called and sighed in defeat when he saw Cheng Sheng innocently blinked at them.

Shu Mu, Xiao Le, Kang Ce, Tang Zhe, Tang Yun, Guo Cheng, Shan Lu and the others looked at each other. Jing Cheng immediately erected a barrier around them to prevent any sound being heard while Jing Bai secretly observed their surroundings.

As expected, when Cheng Sheng saw the barrier, his smiling expression disappeared. "Father, uncle Wu and Wu Bai sent me to tell you that one of the puppets were attacked by the mother Eating Worm." He spoke.

A deafening silence fell. Since the Intersect Competition has officially started, most of the Righteous Alliance's disciple as well as the disciples of the Zunjingde Sect are assigned here. There are only a few disciples patrolling, as the other disciples were also replaced by Wu Bai's puppets who were dressed up as the Alliance's disciples and the Zunjingde Sect's disciples.

It turned out to be a right decision, since the puppets blocked the attacks intended for the disciples. This was what Wu Bai and Cheng Sheng ordered the puppets through a spell. Since Wu Bai's puppets aren't alive, naturally, they wouldn't be affected by the scent released by the Eating Worms to deceive their targets or the people around. Cheng Sheng had Wu Bai's puppets familiarize the pheromones of the mother Eating Worm he owns so that the puppets would recognize and then track the Eating Worms around, and also preventing the disciples from being attacked.

This time they are really lucky. It was fortunate that Cheng Sheng captured that mother Eating Worm so they now are able to plan a counterattack. But…

"They didn't immediately kill the mother Eating Worms and Elder Fei and elder Xi went to follow the string of the mother Eating Worm." Cheng Sheng continued. "But, the found that the red string was cut and the person who was parasitized by the father Eating Worm was already dead." He said.

They all frowned. Things suddenly aren't looking good for them.

"We must have alarmed the mastermind." Xi Ming spoke and sighed. If they haven't, the string wouldn't be cut.

"I was too careless." Cheng Sheng spoke. "I have been too hasty…" he said.

"It's not your fault. It's mine." Jing Kang spoke. "I was the one not being careful and alarmed them." He said.

"No matter how fast we act, but the mastermind must have already escaped." Shu Mu spoke.

"Yes. Currently, our only solution is to not kill the mother Eating Worm to follow the string leading to the father Eating Worm." Jing Bai spoke. "Do we have no other option aside from this?" he asked.

Cheng Sheng fell silent. After a while, he spoke. "It was just an accident when I discovered the worms." he spoke. "When I returned, I sent Qie Shi a letter telling him to investigate the tribe in the south, as well as the villages that were harmed by the worms." he took a deep breath. "There were no other clues found. Even the nearby villages don't know about the Eating Worms." he told them.

A long silence fell.

"Then… we don't have any lead right now?" Xi Xing asked.

"There is. That man that recently died as the host of the father Eating Worm." Sun Yi spoke.

They all nodded.

"Let's find someone to restore that person's appearance and have the disciples ask the people if they know him." Chen Han suggested.

They nodded in agreement.

"Right now, the mother Eating Worms are still with us. They won't die even if they won't eat." Cheng Sheng spoke.

"Do these mother Eating Worms have some other uses?" Guo Cheng asked.

"I have yet to see." Cheng Sheng answered. He has a mother Eating Worm with him for a year now yet he didn't find anything for its use. Since he saw that it can still live even without eating, he kept it and treated it as a pet. If Lei Ling and Jing Kang didn't approach him, he wouldn't find out that there are other Eating Worms in the loose.

Fortunately, they found out. Fortunately, he recognized it. Now, they have come up a measure of defense. Yet, they can't go on like this. They have to find a way to counterattack and catch the mastermind. That way, they can stop his evil plans earlier, and they could save more people.

"There must be some other way." Feng Mo frowned as he tried to think.

"The mother Eating Worms…" Fan Wen muttered.

"… since there are mother Eating Worms, can they attract the father Eating Worms?" Shan Lu asked.

Their eyes widened in shock and they all turned to look at him.

"That's right!" Lei Qing exclaimed as she hit her palm with her other fist. "A mother and father Eating Worms…" she said.

"They are a pair!" Lei Ling said.

You Rou nodded. "Since one is a female and the other is male…" she tilted her head.

"The mother Eating Worm can also release a pheromone, right? Then, she should be able to attract a father Eating Worm." Tang Yun said.

"Yes… there's the pheromone." Xiao Le nodded in agreement.

"Then… we will use the mother Eating Worms to find the father Eating Worms." Jing Cheng spoke.