Chapter 193: Chapter 166: The Despairing Truth
"HISS!"
After receiving Han Ning’s consent, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm shot out a tentacle, wrapped it around the arthropod limb, and pulled it closer.
It then expanded a large patch of flesh, covering the limb completely.
A minute later, the pair of limbs, each the size of a human thigh, had completely vanished.
Immediately after, a cloud of black smoke suddenly rose from the open ground.
A small, delicate ant made entirely of black-purple flesh appeared on the messy pile of rocks.
’Ancestor Ant—Abyssal Rock Ant?’ Han Ning recalled the Cyan Insect Master’s previous description of the Five Ancestor Families.
’The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm can even simulate the bloodline of an Ancestor Family?!’
Han Ning stood in place, sensing the information fed back from the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.
It turned out this wasn’t a pure-blooded Abyssal Rock Ant, but a short-lived species with a diluted bloodline. Its specific name was currently unknown, so Han Ning decided to call it the Rock-Breaking Ant.
The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm obtained a non-offensive Soul Technique from the Rock-Breaking Ant called Drilling Ground.
They could move through solid rock as if they had Earth Escape. Of course, traveling through the rock required a continuous consumption of Spiritual Energy.
Since this was a Puppet, it naturally consumed the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s Blood Qi and Spiritual Energy.
’If the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm can simulate Soul Beasts with Ancestor bloodlines, then...’
Han Ning looked at the scattered insect remains around him.
...
A moment later, he placed the remains of four different insects on the ground.
A pair of butterfly antennae, a piece of a beetle’s carapace, a stinger from a bee’s abdomen, and a shattered mantis forelimb.
Han Ning extended his hands. A dense mass of tentacles erupted from his arms, completely enveloping all four items.
HISS HISS HISS~
Black smoke billowed up.
Beside him, four insects with vastly different appearances slowly materialized.
Han Ning named them, respectively: the Gale Butterfly, the Cyan Light Beetle, the Purple Nether Bee, and the Gold-Breaking Mantis.
In total, there were five types of insects, all of them ancestral insects possessing the bloodlines of the Sky-Splitting Instant Butterfly, Abyssal Rock Ant, River Basin Shattered Gold Mantis, Cyan God Armor, and Ghostly Purple Bee.
Although they were budget versions, they already possessed certain extraordinary abilities that set them apart from other insects.
The Gale Butterfly was enormous; its wingspan alone exceeded eight meters. A light breeze constantly swirled around it. The Soul Technique it awakened was Scale Powder Storm, which allowed it to release a storm of powder laced with a hypnotic aura. Not only could it put enemies to sleep during an attack, but the swift storm could also tear them to shreds.
The most eye-catching feature of the Cyan Light Beetle was the large carapace on its back, which shimmered with a faint purple light. The carapace of the authentic version was supposed to have a cyan glow.
This replica’s awakened Soul Technique was Power Shock Burst, allowing it to unleash a shockwave of pure force capable of crushing anything in its path.
The Purple Nether Bee was a small bee, only about the size of a human head, and was wreathed in black smoke. The Soul Technique it awakened, called Shining Poison Stinger, was surprisingly geared toward spiritual attacks.
It could transform Spiritual Power into a venomous barb, plunge it into an enemy’s brain, and produce a terrifying toxin that made the very soul tremble.
Finally, the Gold-Breaking Mantis awakened the Soul Technique known as High-Frequency Thermal Blade. Its metallic forelimbs would vibrate at a frequency too high for the naked eye to see, generating intense heat. Combined with the natural sharpness of metal, it could easily slice through the armor of an Earth Type Soul Beast.
Based on their Soul Techniques alone, they seemed similar to ordinary Soul Beasts. However, each insect with an Ancestor bloodline also possessed an ability similar to a Talent. Since they were short-lived species, these Talents were also weakened.
When heavily injured, the Gale Butterfly could transform into a chrysalis, burn its Life Force to the limit, and restore its combat power to 100%.
The more damage the Cyan Light Beetle sustained, the more its Power would increase, reaching its absolute peak on the verge of death.
The Purple Nether Bee’s Talent was the simplest: invisibility, just like Mimicry. It wasn’t just optical invisibility; it could also conceal its Spiritual Energy fluctuations.
The Gold-Breaking Mantis’s Talent was called Sacrifice. It could convert its entire metallic body into metal particles, concentrating them into its forelimbs to consume all of its life and deliver a single, ultimate strike.
The Abyssal Rock Ant could make any object it touched heavier or lighter within a certain range. This Talent was called Gravity Conversion.
One could see the whole leopard from a single spot. Based on these five replicated subspecies, Han Ning could vaguely deduce the specialized Domains of the Five Ancestor Families.
This, too, was very important intelligence.
After evolving to its new form and breaking through to the Extraordinary Level, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm could now preserve its simulated imprints for at least three months.
Simultaneously creating five insect forms had consumed nearly two-thirds of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s Blood Qi. Fortunately, there was still enough Golden Flame Rock Dragon flesh, so Han Ning fed it until it was full once more.
’I’ll check the area one more time and see if Ran Huo left anything behind.’
Han Ning had Yin Yi wrap the Golden Flame Rock Dragon’s flesh tightly to prevent any scent from leaking. Just as he was about to call his Soul Beasts to check the vicinity...
Under the pitch-black canopy of the sky, the faint sound of something slicing through the air suddenly reached him.
Han Ning’s expression hardened. He and his Soul Beasts quickly hid behind a large rock, peering in the direction of the sound.
A dozen seconds later...
Three orange-red fireflies, each over a meter long, entered his field of vision from the southwest.
The tails of these three fireflies emitted a bright, orange-red glow, illuminating patches of the ground below. A small infrared thermal imaging camera was tied to each of their heads.
’Those are the academy’s Flying Flame Fireflies!’
If they were ordinary Flying Flame Fireflies, they wouldn’t necessarily belong to the academy.
But the moment he saw the cameras, a joyful realization dawned on Han Ning. The academy hadn’t given up on him after all! They had actually risked being discovered by Insect Masters to send out Flying Flame Fireflies and investigate the situation.
