Chapter 347 - 249: Infiltrating the Ancestor Family

Chapter 347: Chapter 249: Infiltrating the Ancestor Family

It was arrogance—utter and absolute.

They had suffered a loss or two, maybe even a few, but they still looked down on any Insect Master who wasn’t one of them.

"Take out whatever treasures you have on you and tell me everything you know about the Ancestor Families."

Having finally caught a live Ancestral Insect Master, Han Ning was determined to strip him of everything he had.

"Yes..."

As a puppet of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, Cang Shi offered no resistance. He reached for his waist, respectfully placed a cloth pouch embroidered with a cyan beetle on the stone table, and began to recount all the Insect Master knowledge he had learned since childhood.

"In our Cyan God Armor Family, every prospective Insect Master who passes the selection at age twelve begins to learn the Cyan God Meditation Technique..."

It turned out the Ancestor Families were special compared to other Insect Master Families because of the blood that flowed in their veins.

After practicing their family’s Spiritual Meditation Technique, Insect Masters with ancestral blood could awaken a "Talent" similar to human Spiritual Talents.

However, unlike the diverse range of human Talents, these awakened Talents were fixed.

The Spiritual Talent of the Cyan God Armor Family was somewhat similar to Han Ning’s Spiritual Surge. It was called Giant Power, and it used Spiritual Power to grant a dual enhancement to the Body and Spiritual Energy of oneself or a Contracted Soul Beast, bestowing the Soul Beast with unparalleled physical strength and reinforcing its combat prowess.

The effectiveness of the Giant Power Talent also varied distinctly based on the purity of one’s bloodline.

The Cyan God Meditation Technique could also strengthen their Talent and grant their Contracted Soul Beasts a greater affinity for a certain Element.

In addition to their innate Talent, the Cyan God Family also possessed at least thirty methods for cultivating long-life insects and controlled some of the most fertile land on the Insect Continent.

’This sounds like a watered-down version of the Alataku heritage... From Cang Shi’s description, the Talents of the Ancestor Family Insect Masters are already infinitely close to those of the Alataku People’s Lower Tribes. Maybe the Alataku intend to recruit these modified Insect-men to serve as cannon fodder in their wars.’

As the saying goes, the view changes depending on the mountain you stand on.

In the past, the Five Ancestor Families had seemed like invincible, unfathomable beings in Han Ning’s eyes.

Now, after witnessing the Extraordinary Beast Taming skills of the Alataku People, while the Five Great Ancestors were still powerful and currently unbeatable, their mystique had vanished.

Han Ning listened to the information Cang Shi provided while looking through the pouch he had offered up.

He had to admit, the pouch carried by an Ancestral Insect Master was several notches above those from the Red Centipede Tribe in terms of craftsmanship.

The space inside was also huge, large enough to hold the contents of three burlap sacks.

Most of what was stored inside were Wood Type materials.

Because Cang Shi was only a newly-advanced Tier Two Insect Master whose strongest Contracted Soul Beast was only at the War General Level, the materials in the pouch weren’t of the highest grade. The best were only Lord Level, but there were a great many of them.

There were ten Wood Type Lord Level Crystal Stones alone.

As for War General Level ones, there were at least several dozen.

He did a rough calculation. An Ancestral Insect Master with power comparable to that of the dead ghost Fei Ming carried treasures worth at least ten times as much. The sight made Han Ning’s eyes burn with greed, and a wicked thought of specifically robbing Ancestral Insect Masters began to form in his mind.

’So this is what the Alataku People mean by ’dwindling resources’... What on earth do they consider an abundance of resources?’ Han Ning muttered to himself.

By the time Cang Shi patiently finished his account, nearly ten hours had passed without them noticing.

Han Ning committed the insect cultivation methods Cang Shi described to memory, then said to the man, whose lips were nearly raw from talking, "Go to the other Insect Master Families to make up for the Red Centipede Tribe’s quota. Any problem with that?"

"This humble one has no problem with that, but... Cang Lin has a rule. Every time we pass through a tribe and recruit the required Insect Masters, we have to report the relevant information to him using a communication insect. If I conceal what happened here, I’m worried Cang Lin will become suspicious."

"So you have to check in regularly?"

Han Ning thought for a moment and said,

"Just don’t report it. Act like nothing happened and continue recruiting Insect Masters from other tribes. Find an opportunity to lure him out alone. I’ll talk to him."

He figured Cang Shi could stall for two or three days without issue. Once the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm broke through to the Lord Level, its maximum limit for creating Subordinate Insects would surely increase. He would then find a chance to take care of the leader, Cang Lin. That way, he would have two pawns planted within the Ancestor Family, allowing him to monitor their movements at any time.

"Yes..."

"Alright, that’s all for today."

Under the awestruck gazes of the Red Centipede Tribe’s Insect Masters, Han Ning stood up and vanished from the hall.

GULP. "Who in the world is Lord Han Ning? Even an Insect Master from the Cyan God Armor Family calls him master."

Fei Ren and the few other Insect Masters who hadn’t had a Subordinate Insect implanted in them watched Cang Shi, who respectfully saw Han Ning off. Expressions of utter shock appeared on all their faces simultaneously.

...

After leaving the Red Centipede Tribe, Han Ning returned to the academy without stopping.

「Three days passed in a flash.」

During those three days, he didn’t go anywhere. In the daytime, he joined the other students to learn the languages of the Alataku and Witch Spirit Race, as well as the principles of Spiritual Arrays, from Hom.

When night fell and all was quiet, he would diligently practice the new Spiritual Power Secret Techniques he had acquired.

In addition to Shield and Piercing, he had also unlocked Bird Cage. These were the three Secret Techniques he wanted to master in the short term. A person’s energy is limited, and as the saying goes, biting off more than you can chew is a fool’s game. He planned to focus on these three techniques first, creating a perfect trinity of offense, defense, and control.