"One last question. How did you manage to parasitize my friend?"
"Your friend’s Spiritual Power has a ’Soul Nourishing’ quality. When he projects his Spiritual Power, he can attract Soul Spirits within a certain range."
"When a Soul Spirit with a certain degree of intelligence possesses him, he can acquire some of that Soul Spirit’s traits. And as the one residing within him, the Soul Spirit itself is replenished and nourished by the host’s Spiritual Power. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"Creatures with this kind of constitution are typically from highly intelligent races with extraordinary Spirituality. They are born Beast Masters."
The mental message paused. The Scorching Sun Bishop’s Spiritual Fluctuation ceased for several seconds before more information came through.
"As for me... I too was drawn here by some unseen force and came upon him. My apologies, my Soul Spirit is incomplete, so I cannot provide you with much information." At this, the Scorching Sun Bishop reverted to his previous state of having fragmented memories.
"I see."
Although he had reached a verbal agreement with this Scorching Sun Bishop, Han Ning didn’t fully trust him.
For now, the only course of action was to continue observing Luo Chen, have him keep up his Cultivation of the Four Symbols Meditation Technique, and drink more Concentration Liquid. He would have to see what the Scorching Sun Bishop would do once Luo Chen’s Spiritual Power grew stronger.
Han Ning looked at Luo Chen’s confused expression and immediately knew he hadn’t understood their conversation, so he gave Luo Chen a brief explanation.
"Focus on your training for now. Remember to communicate with him more often and see if you can get more information. I can’t tell if he’s good or bad yet. Right now, it seems more likely that he’s seeking cooperation, but here in this Otherworld, we can’t blindly trust the words of any Alien Race. We’ll just have to play it by ear."
Han Ning projected his Spiritual Power, blocking out the Scorching Sun Bishop, and sent a private message to Luo Chen.
After listening, Luo Chen nodded solemnly and said nothing more.
...
After parting with Luo Chen, Han Ning immediately went to ask Fei Lie about the Blazing Fire Insects.
As it turned out, even Fei Lie, the High Priest of the Red Centipede Tribe and an expert in cultivating Fire Type insects, had no idea what a Blazing Fire Insect was.
’Even that Scorching Sun Bishop isn’t sure of the exact location of the Tears of the Stars. It seems like to find them, I’ll have to get in touch with the Insect Masters from the Five Ancestor Families.’
Back in his dorm, Han Ning fell into thought.
’Oh well... I’ll have to ask Yin Yi to wait for a while. I’ll try to help Egg Pancake break through to Lord Level first.’
’Her evolution to the Jade Hook Spirit-absorbing Wood is only missing the Tears of the Stars. No matter what, I don’t want Yin Yi to choose a weaker evolutionary path.’
’She’s so close. I have to give it a try, no matter what.’
’After all, there’s a huge difference between B Talent and C Talent.’
As for Egg Pancake, there was now an easier way to obtain the Purgatory Red Lotus. Combined with the method the Scorching Sun Bishop described, it didn’t seem very dangerous in theory. He felt it was worth a shot.
’Blazing Fire Insects are rare and only exist near active volcanoes...’
Han Ning recalled what the Scorching Sun Bishop had said. Although the number of surviving Blazing Fire Insects was relatively small, they weren’t a difficult Soul Beast to find. The Scorching Sun Bishop had taught him a method for catching them.
You had to crush and combine pure Fire Element Crystal Stone Fragments with a plant called Mist Fire Grass, then boil the mixture for ten minutes. This concoction would emit a fragrance that was especially attractive to Blazing Fire Insects. Come to think of it, it was remarkably similar to the scented bait he had made before.
Mist Fire Grass was just a relatively rare Fire Type Material. Though not common, the Red Centipede Tribe had a certain amount in stock.
Fei Lie and Fei Ming naturally wouldn’t be hoarding such a low-level item in their pouches. Han Ning immediately went out and found Feiyun, who was overseeing the construction work, and asked him for a dozen or so stalks of Mist Fire Grass.
Next, he found an iron pot, filled it with some fresh water, put the two ingredients inside, and used high heat to bring the water to a boil.
As it boiled, the Mist Fire Grass gradually released a peculiar odor and its form changed from that of a plant into a paste-like substance.
Ten minutes later, the boiling water in the pot had completely evaporated, leaving only a lump of paste with the consistency of modeling clay.
Han Ning pinched off a small piece and held it to his nose to smell it. It smelled a bit like chili peppers, with a pungent, spicy scent, which fit his impression of the Fire Element quite well.
Making the bait to attract the Blazing Fire Insects was just a matter of interest; he had no intention of personally going to a volcano to search for them himself.
He had an entire Red Centipede Tribe at his disposal. There was no need for him to personally run errands for simple tasks like this anymore. Instead, he used the ability of his All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm to relay the knowledge about capturing Blazing Fire Insects to Fei Lie, telling him to personally lead a team to catch a batch of them.
After that, Han Ning stayed put at the academy and patiently waited for news from Fei Lie.
About three days later, a few Insect-men arrived, carrying about twenty thumb-sized, rose-red worms, and found Han Ning.
[
Race: Blazing Fire Insect
Gender: Male
Talent: F
Level: Entry Level I
Talent: None
Acquired Soul Techniques: Fire Spray
Spend 100 Energy to unlock the Blazing Fire Insect’s second evolutionary branch?
]
Now that he had the Blazing Fire Insects, he still had to put in some effort to raise them until they were ready to evolve.
The Blazing Fire Insects were not his contracted Soul Beasts, so he couldn’t directly allocate points to raise their strength to the brink of evolution. He could only raise them step-by-step until they were ready.