When he heard Han Ning wanted to assassinate Fei Ming, Fei Lie, the High Priest of the Red Centipede Tribe, showed no surprise. In fact, he looked quite intrigued.
Lying prostrate on the ground, he thought for a moment before speaking. "Including myself, the entire Red Centipede Tribe has eight official Insect Masters, 30,000 Insect-men at our disposal, and over thirty Insect Nests..."
"Fei Ming is my younger brother’s son. He’s naturally suspicious and likes to be alone. He has six Contracted Soul Beasts, all at the War General Level. The most powerful of them, the Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede, has already reached the peak of the War General Level and is only half a step away from the Lord Level."
"He’s inseparable from that Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede and always keeps a small insect swarm by his side. To assassinate him... we must strike when he recalls the Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede to his Soul Beast Space. We have to catch him off guard and destroy his body in one blow."
Listening to Fei Lie’s analysis, Han Ning couldn’t help but marvel at the situation.
’The power of this Subordinate Insect is truly bizarre,’ Han Ning thought. ’The same Fei Lie who was screaming for my head yesterday is now lying before me, racking his brains to help me plot the assassination of his own Clan Leader. A complete betrayal.’
Before Han Ning could speak, Fei Lie continued on his own.
"Fei Ming only recalls his Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede to his Soul Beast Space late at night, just before dawn. That’s when he’s finished resting and has just woken up. His Guardian Soul Beast will switch from the Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede to the Flaming Sun Flying Armor."
The Main Combat Soul Beasts used by Insect Masters of the same tribe were often quite similar. Both the Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede and the Flaming Sun Flying Armor were considered Soul Beasts with great potential, so it was normal for everyone to contract them.
"Fei Ming’s Flaming Sun Flying Armor is a bit weaker than his Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede... It’s probably about as strong as my own Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede. It’s no match for you at all." As he said this, Fei Lie buried his head even lower.
"So this Fei Ming really is a cautious one, holing up in his lair all day with his Soul Beasts never leaving his side." Han Ning frowned, finding the situation more difficult than he’d thought.
’Then again, all Beast Masters are like this,’ he thought. ’It’s not just Fei Ming. Yin Yi is by my side twenty-four hours a day, and the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm is always on standby.’
’If I can’t kill Fei Ming instantly, if I give him even a moment to react, all six of his War General Level Soul Beasts will emerge. My only option would be to run.’
Just then, Fei Lie reached out to touch the pouch at his waist. "Master," he said, "please allow me to perform a Divination for you. I will ask the spirits of our ancestors for the time of Fei Ming’s death."
’Asking the ancestors of the Red Centipede Tribe about the current Clan Leader’s time of death?’ Han Ning’s expression turned strange. ’Then again,’ he mused, ’it’s not out of the question that some Clan Leaders and High Priests would want to know their death dates in advance. I suppose that kind of Divination is normal.’
’In the ancient Xia Country, emperors did similar things, even building their own mausoleums in advance.’
He was very interested in the Divination Fei Lie had mentioned. "Go on," he gestured. "Give it a try."
"Yes."
Fei Lie straightened up slightly and took a palm-sized red beetle carapace from his waist pouch. It was impossible to tell if the creature it came from was dead or alive.
He then pierced the center of his forehead with his slightly sharp fingertips. Blood trickled from the wound onto the red carapace, which began to emit an eerie, crimson light.
A thick, crimson mist seeped from the bottom of the carapace, which Fei Lie then inhaled.
Fei Lie closed his eyes, as if sensing something.
At the same time, a vision, tinged with crimson light, unexpectedly surfaced in Han Ning’s mind as well.
A tall, sturdy man, crimson-skinned and with a heavily blurred face, stood before a comparatively slender young Insect-man, speaking slowly.
Suddenly, a flash of crimson light flared. The tall man’s head and heart were simultaneously obliterated by an invisible Power.
The vision ended abruptly.
"Who were those two people in the vision? Was the tall one Fei Ming?" Han Ning asked.
"You... You could see it?"
Being a Puppet didn’t mean he had lost his intelligence. Hearing that Han Ning could also see his prophetic vision, Fei Lie’s face filled with astonishment.
This was even more shocking to him than Han Ning’s proposal to assassinate Clan Leader Fei Ming.
But he quickly composed himself and replied respectfully, "Yes, that was Fei Ming. The slender member of the Red Centipede Race is Fei Ming’s most beloved son, Fei Liu. He is the youngest Insect Master in the tribe, and he possesses one War General Level Flame Fire Vermilion Centipede and two Contracted Soul Beasts at the Extraordinary Limit."
As he spoke, his eyes lit up. "That’s it! Fei Ming lets his guard down the most when he’s with Fei Liu. This must be our chance to assassinate him."
"Does Fei Ming have any other children besides Fei Liu?"
"Another son and a daughter, but their Power doesn’t meet the standard for an Insect Master. They are no threat."
Han Ning didn’t fully trust the opportunity Fei Lie described. Instead, he countered with a question of his own.
"Before you set out, did you perform a Divination about us?"
"I did," Fei Lie answered honestly.
"And what did the Divination show?"
"The ancestral spirits vaguely told me that something in the south could bring prosperity to our tribe. However... what I saw was complete darkness."
’This strange Divination... it can actually predict useful things...’
Han Ning was surprised. ’If Fei Lie had actually succeeded in occupying the academy, it’s possible the Red Centipede Tribe really would have grown stronger.’
’Leaving aside human technology, which would be too complex for the Red Centipede Tribe to master quickly, the legacies left behind by Ran Huo and the Yinsaike Race alone would be enough to provide them with a wealth of information.’
"Where does Fei Liu normally live? What are his routines?" Han Ning continued to ask.
Fei Lie said, "Fei Liu enjoys adventuring and is rarely within the tribe’s territory. He only returns to live here for about ten days each month. The rest of the time, he’s elsewhere. He wasn’t in the tribe before I departed."
Han Ning asked another question that was on his mind.
"Alright... I understand. If we kill Fei Ming, are you confident you can take control of the entire Red Centipede Tribe and keep it from falling into chaos?"
"I can guarantee the tribe won’t descend into chaos in the short term. After a Clan Leader dies, the High Priest automatically assumes the role of interim Clan Leader. Then, a new Clan Leader is selected based on the recommendations of all the Insect Masters. However, the High Priest is forbidden from taking the Clan Leader position."
As they went back and forth, a bold plan began to form in Han Ning’s mind.
...
After another night of rest at the academy, Han Ning felt his Spiritual Power was nearly fully restored.
Aside from Fei Lin, who was still unconscious, all of his Soul Beasts had recovered to their peak condition.
Thanks to the healing from Yin Yi and the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, Fei Lie’s injuries had also mostly healed.
Outside the north gate of the academy.
Han Ning, disguised as an Insect-man of the Red Centipede Tribe, flew rapidly toward the northern sky alongside Fei Lie and another Insect Master named Fei Yu. Each of them rode on the back of a Flaming Sun Flying Armor.
There had been a total of three Insect Masters who invaded the academy: Fei Lie, Fei Ling, and Fei Yu.
Fei Yu was the Insect Master who had tried to flee, only to be captured by Yin Yi.
Since Fei Lie had already become Han Ning’s Puppet, Fei Yu, his hands stained with the blood of the academy’s members, had no value left alive. Han Ning killed him without a second thought.
The "Fei Yu" flying beside him now was a fake, a simulation created by the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.
The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s abilities were twofold: self-simulation and summoning Soul Beast Puppets. The self-simulation was more realistic and could even mimic other types of creatures.
In contrast, the Puppets summoned using imprints extracted from dead Soul Beasts could only be insect-types.
Therefore, with its current abilities, it could only simulate one Insect Master. The other, Fei Ling, had been reduced to a corpse, which Fei Lie was carrying specifically to create the tragic image of having survived a fierce battle.
As for Han Ning, he had assumed Fei Liu’s appearance.
Surrounding them were fifteen Puppet Insects, all summoned by the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm and all at the Extraordinary Limit of power.
After reaching the War General Level, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s ability to summon Puppets had improved, increasing the number from eight to fifteen.
It was safe to say that aside from Fei Lie, who was a genuine Insect Master of the Red Centipede Tribe, everything else was a complete fabrication!