Li Yang and the others were all taken aback.

Xuanxu's expression was strange: "...Talk to whom? Earth? This Earth?"

Xuanxu pointed to the ground.

Yan Bing said thoughtfully, "Lu Ning, I heard you say before that Earth seems to be asking you for help. Can you contact him now?"

Xuanxu and Baiyuan realized something.

They seemed to have heard about this from Lu Ning and the others before, but with so many things happening and Earth acting normally, they had all forgotten about it.

Now they realize that Earth seems to be alive too?

The exiled demigods were even more astonished, as they didn't even know that Earth was alive.

However, upon hearing Lu Ning's words, the Tarin chieftain's expression turned somewhat grim. He said, "...Lord Lu Ning, your planet already possesses characteristics of life??"

Li Yang and the others noticed that something seemed amiss with the group of exiled demigods.

Lu Ning asked, "Um, is there a problem?"

The exiled demigods exchanged glances, then the chieftain of Tarlin said solemnly, “In our clan’s records, our clan once had a planet that showed signs of life, and that planet eventually devoured all the living beings on it. If your planet is currently showing signs of life, I’m afraid the same thing may happen next.”

Li Yang and the others' expressions immediately changed.

If Earth were to devour all life on it, then humanity would naturally not be spared either.

Lu Ning frowned slightly, and said thoughtfully, "I'll talk to him."

The demigods exchanged glances, nodded slightly, and stopped thinking about it.

Lu Ning looked down at the ground, a pale flame burning in his eyes.

A desperate cry for help from Earth rang in Lu Ning's ears: "Help...help me! Help me..."

Earth's cries for help seem to have become somewhat numb, consisting of only three words repeated over and over.

Lu Ning's calm voice rang out: "What happened to you? How can I save you?"

The cries for help from Earth abruptly ceased, followed by a deep voice in Lu Ning's ear: "...You...can you hear my voice?"

Lu Ning calmly asked, "What? Is there a problem?"

Earth was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I...I can't hold on much longer, a...consciousness is trying to devour me...Save me!"

Lu Ning seemed to understand something; it was indeed just as the Talin clan chief had said.

Once Earth is devoured by that so-called consciousness, it will likely transform into an evil god similar to the moon.

From this perspective, perhaps the moon is also an evil god transformed from a swallowed planet?

He thought of the pale, illusory eye that appeared after the moon was shattered.

Perhaps that was the will of an evil god that was devouring the moon.

Lu Ning asked, "So, did you already have self-awareness, or was it born recently?"

Upon hearing this, Earth remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "I don't know when I gained self-awareness, but it was after the mist appeared."

Lu Ning raised an eyebrow, then asked, "Did you also set up the outer barrier?"

“Barrier? No, it was always there... If... it weren’t for that barrier, I... I’d probably have been swallowed up.”

Earth's answer startled Lu Ning, leaving him somewhat taken aback.

Lu Ning originally thought that the barrier between Earth and the mist was created by Earth, since Earth could call for help, which meant that it still had a sense of resistance.

Now it seems that Lu Ning was completely wrong. It was precisely because of the existence of this barrier that the Earth did not become like the Moon.

If the barrier wasn't built by Earth, then who built it?

Lu Ning suddenly thought of the Ruins of Return, where there was also a barrier outside the Ruins of Return.

A strange feeling arose in his mind.

Could this barrier be related to me?

Then Lu Ning thought that since he was able to awaken Li Yang at the very beginning of the Mist Era, it seemed that creating a defensive barrier for Earth was not impossible.

Although Lu Ning himself still doesn't know how he did it back then, he has no memory of it at all.

Lu Ning's eyes burned with a pale, intense light as he looked down at the ground.

Following Lu Ning's will, his gaze pierced through the earth's surface and soon reached the burning core of the earth.

Deep within the earth, a black, viscous liquid was gushing forth, spreading in all directions like a malignant disease.

A faint spiritual force enveloped the entire Earth's core.

This spiritual power should be the consciousness that Earth is currently awakening.

At this moment, under the contamination of the slime, something seems to be changing.

As Earth says, once the Earth's core is completely swallowed, it will probably transform into an evil god similar to the moon.

Using his mental power, Lu Ning calmly said, "Absorb the pollution."

The next moment, the spreading black slime suddenly stopped, and then it was gradually drawn away from the earth's core, turning into black mist and dissipating.

Within the black mist, wisps of white mist pierced through the earth and were absorbed by Lu Ning.

Earth has not yet become an evil god; it should still be considered a demigod.

Although Earth does not currently possess demigod-level strength, it is essentially demigod in nature.

Lu Ning absorbed this mental pollution just like he absorbed the mental pollution of a demigod-level monster. It might be a little more difficult, but for Lu Ning, it wasn't much harder.

As strands of spiritual pollution were absorbed, the black viscous liquid inside the Earth's core gradually thinned out until it finally disappeared completely.

The fluctuations in mental energy at the Earth's core immediately eased.

"I...I feel like I've recovered! You actually managed to eliminate that strange consciousness? Thank you, my child."

Lu Ning fell silent for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Earth gave birth to humankind, and logically speaking, Lu Ning can indeed be considered a child of Earth.

He said calmly, "You're welcome."

Earth's voice rang out again: "I can now sense a lot of pollution on the surface of my body. Although I don't have much power, my perception is quite good. I can usually detect things like the previous barrier cracks immediately. If they appear again, I will notify you as soon as possible."

Lu Ning smiled upon hearing this.

With the Earth itself issuing warnings, there's no need to worry about any sudden opening of a barrier crack or the occurrence of problems.

"good."

"Thank you again, my child. I feel a little weak now, so I'll rest for now."

As soon as the words were spoken, the sound of the Earth grew fainter and fainter.

However, Lu Ning could sense that the spiritual fluctuations of Earth still existed, only they had become gentler and more prolonged.

Clearly, Earth had expended a great deal of spiritual energy in its fight against pollution, leaving it almost completely exhausted.

Now that mental pollution has disappeared, it really needs a rest.

Lu Ning looked up at Li Yang and the others and said, "It's over."