Chapter 212: Chapter 177: Subordinate Insect Parasitism

As the saying goes, a centipede dies but never falls. After the Earth-Split Centipede’s brain was utterly destroyed by the particle torrent of Cyan Wood Radiance, its thousands of legs continued to tremble violently.

"Squeak~"

Egg Pancake crouched beside the Earth-Split Centipede, its tongue curling as it eyed the dense fluctuations of the Earth Element emanating from the latter’s body.

At the same time, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm inside his body also conveyed its eagerness.

"Go on and eat. Just leave the Crystal Stone."

Han Ning surveyed the surrounding ground, which was a mess from the battle’s aftershocks. He gestured for Egg Pancake and the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm to start breaking down the Earth-Split Centipede’s corpse while directing Yin Yi to drag over the bodies of the Flash Spirit Butterfly and Water Smoke Moth.

The flesh and blood of War General Level Soul Beasts were an excellent supplement for them.

Soul Beasts weren’t exactly picky eaters.

Egg Pancake let out an excited cry, immediately lunging forward to grab the lower half of the Earth-Split Centipede. A dense, fiery light emanated from its claws as it ripped the body in two with a powerful pull.

SSSSLRRRIP~

Accompanied by a thick, foul stench, a small section of the Earth-Split Centipede’s body was now in Egg Pancake’s grasp, which began to devour it with large bites.

The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, meanwhile, transformed into a miniature version of Egg Pancake. It flew over to the Earth-Split Centipede, inserted a sharp tentacle, and also began to feast heartily.

The Earth-Split Centipede’s blood was a dark green, almost yellow color, but after being absorbed by the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, it was converted into billowing, purplish-red Blood Qi.

The amount of Blood Qi provided by this War General Level Soul Beast was no less than that contained within the massive Winged Demon Heart.

Huge, gloomy clouds of Blood Qi seeped out from the Earth-Split Centipede’s body and were absorbed into the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.

Nourished by such rich Blood Qi, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s stats panel began to rise rapidly.

In just a short while, it broke through from Extraordinary I to Extraordinary II, only slowing its growth as it approached Extraordinary III.

[

Race: All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm

Gender: Male

Talent: C

Level: Extraordinary II (3000/3500)

Talent: Activated Parasitism, Basic Mimicry, Dark Seal

Soul Techniques: Dissection (Perfection), Blood Qi Burst (Shadow Form) II (21/3000), Demonization I (1532/2000)

Power: 77

Body: 312

Agility: 0.1

Spiritual Energy: 82

Insect Type Affinity: 79

Elemental Affinity (Dark): 25

]

[Activated Parasitism]:

In addition to helping its host remodel their physique, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm can use flesh and blood essence to separate off a Subordinate Insect for parasitizing a target creature’s brain.

The parasitized creature will fall under the complete control of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, unless its Spiritual Power exceeds that of the Silkworm’s Beast Master.

Separating one Subordinate Insect takes three days, and a second cannot be separated until the first one dies.

If the host dies, the Subordinate Insect will die along with it.

The current connection range between the Subordinate Insect and the parent insect is 30,000 kilometers.

’The original Muscle Activation Talent has leveled up again... Now it can even separate off a subordinate to parasitize other creatures.’

Reading the description on the panel, Han Ning couldn’t help but glance back at the unconscious Insect Master.

’If I separate a Subordinate Insect and have it parasitize a target, wouldn’t that be like planting a mole deep in enemy territory? That would turn our passive situation into an active one.’

Additionally, after breaking through to Extraordinary II, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s control range over its Puppet Insects also increased, from 100 kilometers to nearly 150. The maximum number of Puppets it could convert, however, did not increase.

On the other side, Egg Pancake, having eaten its fill, no longer felt any "hunger." The Physical Strength it had expended in the battle was now mostly recovered.

Despite the Earth-Split Centipede’s massive size, most of it was sharp insectoid shell; the actual flesh content was relatively scarce.

Now, its enormous body, over 40 meters long, had been eaten down to an empty husk by Egg Pancake and the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.

Even though it was just a husk, this tough Insect Armor was also excellent research material and couldn’t possibly be discarded.

Han Ning closed his eyes and carefully sensed the Puppet Ghost Bees scattered in the other three directions around the school. After confirming there was no other activity from this direction or any other, he skillfully climbed onto Egg Pancake’s back, gestured for the Soul Beasts to gather all the spoils, and hurried back to the academy.

...

SPLASH~

In the darkness, the Insect Master felt a basin of ice-cold water splashed harshly across his face.

He groggily opened his eyes. Beneath a white ceiling hung a Crystal Stone emitting a bright glow.

His pupils dilated slightly. In his memory, he had never seen a light source that could shine so brightly.

His gaze shifted slightly downward, and a few strangely-featured Alien Race People came into view.

After getting a clear look at their faces, an irrepressible expression of terror and astonishment appeared on the Insect Master’s face.

"Who... Who are you people?" a hoarse, insect-like chirp echoed through the room.

"Relax." Lü Xiuning stood up from behind the table and slowly walked over to the Insect Master, stopping a meter away. He crossed his arms, a faint smile on his face as he quietly observed the Insect Master.

After a pause, he spoke in a somewhat non-standard Insect Language.

"I have a few questions for you. If you answer them well, we might consider letting you go back."

"Let me go?" The Insect Master gave a cold laugh and said nothing more.

Lü Xiuning didn’t seem to mind. He simply posed three questions of his own: "What is your name, where is your tribe located, and are there other leaders in your tribe?"

The Insect Master just lowered his head, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

"Not talking? Then there’s no other way. We’ll have to ask a lord from the Holy Race to interrogate you."

Seeing the Insect Master’s refusal to speak, Lü Xiuning seemed to have expected it. He gave a faint smile and looked toward the door.

"The Holy Race?!" The Insect Master was startled and jerked his head up, also looking toward the door.

CREAK— The door opened, and three figures walked in.

The one in the lead was clad head-to-toe in purple Armor, with a pair of bee wings as thin as a cicada’s sprouting from their back. Their two limbs resembled sharp spikes.

The two "people" beside them both had pupa-shaped bodies and ugly, wrinkled faces.

"Netherworld... Purple Bee..."

Those purple pupils, filled with a sinister light, and that terrifying, needle-like Spiritual Suppression.

Upon seeing this person’s face, an image of venomous, rippling eyes appeared in the Insect Master’s mind. His scalp tingled as if pricked by needles, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"That’s right... It really is the Holy Race." The Insect Master’s pupils contracted violently. ’I can’t believe I actually offended a lord of the Holy Race this time.’

Beads of cold sweat unknowingly formed on his temples.

The Ancestral Insect Master from the Netherworld Purple Bee race pointed at the Insect Master before him and asked the two Insect Servants by his side in a strange accent:

"You two... do you know him?"

"Re-Reporting, my lord, this is the leader of our tribe—Lord Aketu."

Facing the "Ancestral Insect Master’s" question, the two Insect Servants glanced cautiously at their tightly bound Insect Master. Trembling like leaves, they blurted out their leader’s name with almost no hesitation.

"Aketu? Never heard of him." The Ancestral Insect Master shook his head, swaggered over to the long table, and sat down. He clapped his hands, signaling for Lü Xiuning to continue the questions.

Lü Xiuning bowed slightly to the Ancestral Insect Master, his posture one of utmost reverence. Then he straightened up, looked at the Insect Master before him, and spoke coldly.

"Aketu, answer my questions seriously. You know the consequences of hiding the truth in front of the Holy Race."

"Yes..." Aketu faced the Ancestral Insect Master and lowered his head. Then, like popcorn popping, he spilled out all his information in detail.

"My name is Aketu. Nominally, I am the leader of the Green Moth Tribe, but in reality, our tribe is merely a subsidiary of the Red Centipede Race."

Lü Xiuning’s brow furrowed, and he chided sharply:

"Red Centipede? Don’t you know that privately annexing other Insect Master Families violates the rules of the Five Great Holy Clans? Which Holy Race approved your territorial expansion?"

"Reporting, my lord, it was the Cyan God Clan," Aketu said, trembling.

The Ancestral Insect Master snorted coldly. "Cyan God, hmph! Give me all the details on the Red Centipede Race. How dare you enter my territory. I will go and demand an explanation from the Cyan God."

"The leader of the Red Centipede Race is named Fei Ming. He is an expert in breeding centipede species and commands a main tribe of over 20,000 members, as well as three subsidiary tribes like mine. The subsidiary tribes are the Cyan Moth, Blood Bee, and Blue Butterfly."

"Fei Ming controls six powerful insects whose strength ranges from War General to the War General Limit. The strongest among them is the Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede, at the War General Limit. It is currently gathering materials to break through to the Lord level."

"Besides Fei Ming, the Red Centipede Race also has a Vice Clan Leader and a High Priest, each contracted with three to five War General Level Soul Beasts. Then there are the three of us leaders from the subsidiary tribes; the other two are similar to me in strength."

After speaking, Aketu stared at the Ancestral Insect Master behind the table with a hopeful gaze, his tone pleading, "My lord, our Green Moth Tribe was only coerced by Fei Ming. We never truly intended to offend your territory. I beg you to spare our lives, my lord!"

"A bunch of ants." The Ancestral Insect Master snorted disdainfully and waved his hand casually.

Lü Xiuning understood. He commanded the Wood Demon beside him to shoot out a sharp wooden spike, which gently pricked Aketu and the two Insect Servants.

A faint white mist flowed into their bodies, and a moment later, the three Insect-men fell unconscious again.

"The Red Centipede Race seems to be an Insect Master Family that is only slightly weaker than the Ran Huo and the Yinsaike Race."

The Ancestral Insect Master spoke in a solemn tone. As he did, his face, inlaid with purple scales, gradually transformed back into Han Ning’s.

This interrogation was a charade he and Lü Xiuning had planned in advance. They wanted to use the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s mimicry ability to observe the attitude of other Insect Masters when faced with an Insect Master from an Ancestor Family.

’I didn’t expect the effect to be this good. Ordinary Insect Masters clearly have an innate fear of the Ancestor Families.’

’It seems the attitude of the Ran Huo and the Yinsaike Race toward the Ancestor Families is clearly an exception.’

"Han Ning, since you said you can use a Subordinate Insect to control an Insect Master, then..."

Lü Xiuning’s expression grew thoughtful.

"The Red Centipede Race leader’s Main Combat Soul Beast is preparing to break through to the Lord Level. Could we use this opportunity, using Aketu, to tell them a few secrets about the Five Ancestor Families?"