Chapter 4: Feeding Nine Divine Demons With Just One Piece of Bread?

"Ha..." Su Ning laughed at himself.

He never imagined that one day, a failure of a man like himself — a dying wretch who had accomplished nothing — would be called a big shot by someone else.

"I'm not some remarkable figure. But don't worry — I'll do my best to protect you all. As for serving me... we'll talk about that later." Su Ning understood what Kunlun Immortal Maiden was thinking. She was afraid he might wash his hands of them and leave them vulnerable to attacks from other small creatures.

These little people were quite interesting. It would be a shame to let them die.

"Thank you, Immortal Lord, for taking us in." Kunlun Immortal Maiden's eyes lit up. With Su Ning's promise, she felt that they had finally found their footing in this world.

But the moment she finished speaking, Kunlun Immortal Maiden — already pale as a sheet — swayed as if struck by low blood sugar and collapsed to the ground.

She had just used her most powerful trump card and was already severely weakened.

"Hm? What's going on?" Su Ning stared at the tiny figure crumpled on the ground, unsure of what to do. "She's not going to die, is she?"

He thought about poking the little immortal maiden with his finger, then thought better of it.

His fingers were far too large, and the little people were so fragile — one wrong press and he might squash her flat. That would be a disaster.

He had no idea how to treat her.

His only option was to free the others still trapped inside the spider-silk cocoon.

He was extremely careful as he peeled apart the webbing, terrified that a single slip might crush one of the tiny figures.

It was delicate work.

It took him over ten minutes to free all of them.

Only a few were still conscious; the rest had fainted.

When they saw Su Ning — this giant — the little people were utterly stunned.

Their expressions mirrored exactly what Kunlun Immortal Maiden had looked like when she first laid eyes on him.

This is the master of the Immortal Realm?

Those who had remained conscious inside the cocoon had already overheard the conversation between Su Ning and Kunlun Immortal Maiden. But seeing him in person was still a shock.

Su Ning ignored their astonishment. "Go check on your companions — see how they're doing."

"As you command!"

The little people went to examine their unconscious comrades.

After a brief inspection, Nameless Sword Immortal stepped forward. "Immortal Senior, I report that they are not in serious danger. The battle against the Chaos Creature earlier drained them completely, and their energy is now critically depleted... which is why they have fallen unconscious."

"In plain terms — they fainted from hunger?" Su Ning said.

"That would be one way to put it." Nameless Sword Immortal clasped his hands in a respectful bow.

"Alright, wait here a moment." Su Ning nodded.

He turned and headed back inside to look for food.

He hadn't been home long, and the pantry was rather bare — he was short on most basic necessities.

He hadn't planned on stocking up much anyway. Who knew when he might not be able to get out of bed anymore? No point wasting money.

After rummaging around for a while, he spotted half a loaf of bread on the table — the leftovers from his breakfast that morning.

"It's not much, but those little people aren't very big either. Should be enough," Su Ning muttered. He tore off the half he had already bitten into and placed the untouched portion on a plate, then filled a bowl with spring water.

Out here in the countryside, nearly everyone drank well water drawn from their own property.

Right beside Su Ning's home was a natural spring that supplied both drinking water and irrigation for the fields.

He carried the food back to where the little people were.

"This is all I've got — half a loaf of bread. Make do with it."

He set the plate down on the ground.

To him, it was the most ordinary of gestures.

But to the little people, the sight was utterly overwhelming.

His hand was like a pillar holding up the sky, carrying a plate so vast it blotted out the heavens. When it descended, it was like a meteor crashing down to earth.

Such power — terrifying beyond words.

And to control such power with such precision — even more terrifying!

That plate... it looked impossibly heavy, impossibly grand. Back in the lower realm, it would have easily qualified as a world-suppressing Magical Artifact.

And yet here, it was just an ordinary dish used to hold food?

This giant's reserves ran unfathomably deep...

You still claim you're not a great figure? You still claim you're not a sovereign???

The little people were convinced Su Ning was hiding his true power — being humble.

"We are deeply grateful for Immortal Senior's generous gift." Kunlun Immortal Maiden stirred at that moment, slowly coming back to consciousness.

In the lower realm, they had all achieved the Bigu state and had no need to eat whatsoever. But after ascending to the higher world, it seemed they could not survive without food — they would perish without it.

Perhaps the rules of this world were simply different.

"No need for formalities. Eat up," Su Ning said.

The nine little people climbed up over the rim of the plate, each approaching from a different angle, and began gnawing at the bread like a colony of ants — chomp, chomp, chomp.

After nibbling away a tiny piece each, they were full.

Su Ning watched and noted that they had barely made a dent in the bread.

These little people had very small appetites.

"There's water over there." Su Ning pointed to the bowl beside them.

Their strength restored, the little people were able to fly again. They soared over to the white bowl and drank in great gulps.

Watching them eat and drink, Su Ning had the distinct feeling of someone who had just adopted a bunch of tiny pets.

It was quite amusing.

"Thank you, Immortal Senior, for saving our lives — a debt we shall never forget. We still do not know your honored name... how should we address you?" Having eaten and drunk their fill, the little people decided to get better acquainted. Perhaps by growing closer, they might even be taken in as disciples.

"My name is nothing worth mentioning. Don't worry about it." Su Ning found it a bit embarrassing to say his own name aloud.

Better to leave it unsaid.

"Oh, right — living out here is quite dangerous for you. You could be attacked by snakes, insects, rats, or ants at any time. How about I move you somewhere safer? What do you think?"

Su Ning wanted to bring them inside the house. If he left them out here and had to step away for even a moment, some snake or bug might wipe them all out.

Life was precious... and within the limits of his ability, he might as well lend a hand where he could.

"We leave it entirely to your discretion." The little people had no objections — in fact, they were delighted. This felt like the giant was about to bring them back to his sect.

Who would have thought that in the Immortal Realm, aside from the Chaos Creatures, the people here were actually quite decent and kind?

Their impression of the Immortal Realm's inhabitants improved enormously.

Of course, they might have simply gotten lucky and encountered a good person.

Su Ning cupped them in his palms and began walking toward the house — but the moment he stepped three meters away from the small tree, the little people's bodies began withering at a terrifying rate, their life force draining away rapidly.

"Immortal Senior..." The little people's faces twisted in agony.

Alarmed, Su Ning hurried back and returned them to their original spot.

"There's nothing to be done... you're too weak, it seems. You can't leave the range of this tree." He said apologetically.

They would have to live around the small tree.

Unable to join Su Ning's sect, the little people felt a pang of regret — but what could they do? They were too weak, bound to the World Tree.

This tree... was clearly no ordinary thing.

* * *

Su Ning returned home.

He had been busy all day and had spent a long while watching the little people. Without realizing it, night had already fallen.

He hastily boiled a bowl of noodles and fried two eggs to fill his stomach.

Then he picked up his phone and went online:

"Has Spiritual Energy returned to our world?"

"Has anyone around you spotted flying little people? The kind from cultivation stories — Sword Flight, Flying and Escaping, sword immortals, demon lords, golden crows and all that?"

Reply #1: "Didn't think you'd figure it out. Fine, I'll come clean — Spiritual Energy has actually been returning for ten years now. I, your elder, have already reached the Core Formation Stage. You mere mortals had better come and pay your respects..."

Reply #2: "Core Formation? Pfft. This young lady is at the Nascent Soul Stage! And I'll be giving birth in three months! Who can rival me?"

Reply #3: "The Spiritual Energy revival is real. I personally saw a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator — overwhelmingly powerful, unstoppable under heaven. Sadly, he was later taken back to Nanshan Psychiatric Hospital by the doctors there."

Reply #4: "About those little people you mentioned — are there any female cultivators among them? If so, could someone maybe give them a physical examination? I'd love to know whether a female immortal's body structure is the same as ours [serious face]..."

"Reply #4, you're a goddamn lustful person!" Su Ning muttered in exasperation. It was clear that this world had no Spiritual Energy revival, and the little people had only appeared at his place.

Proofreader & Editor: Fat Goose 🪶