Yunxi felt her eyelids twitching even harder, the two taking turns. But a debt had to be repaid eventually, so she sorted through her thoughts before carefully asking:
"Senior, what does the External Liaison Department do? What do I need to do?"
Ethereal Immortal: "External Liaison Department is the official name. Colloquially, it's called the Combat Department."
Yunxi felt both surprised and unsurprised, and continued asking:
"Fight whom?"
Ethereal Immortal: "You really hit the nail on the head with that question. You've encountered them before, which is why I came to you for help."
"I've encountered them?"
Yunxi frowned and began to think. She had fought quite a few battles, but the ones where she truly went for the kill had all been against evil cultivators. That was what she thought, and what she asked:
"Fight Evil Immortals?"
Ethereal Immortal: "Close. Didn't you ask me about the Insectoid Race before?"
Yunxi suddenly understood. Her scalp tingled as she said:
"Fight the Insectoid Race?"
Ethereal Immortal: "Yes. Plane garbage nourishes those things. They hide in the shadows and grow stronger. Once they mature, they begin invading worlds with weak defenses or small worlds still undergoing evolution. When they become powerful enough, they choose to directly invade fully formed worlds.
"After invading, they continue nurturing their insect swarms by draining the world's power. Once they have squeezed every last drop of value from the invaded world, they move on to another world and continue.
"The worlds they drain dry are forced toward decay, producing vast amounts of plane garbage. When abandoned small worlds outnumber newly born worlds, this balance is broken.
"Over time, it will disrupt the operating laws of the entire River of Origin. Even the Sages who control the River of Origin will be passively affected.
"Previously, Saint Lord Jian