Wilderness: I Tame Beasts to Survive

Chapter 392: Chapter 271: Taking Stock (Part 2)

Even so, Han Ning estimated that many of the fragile, ordinary people inside had probably been killed by the impact.

Dean Wu and some of the uninjured Dragon Blood People circled the cruise ship, continuously trying to calm the passengers inside.

All things considered, the unexpected incident had been a close call.

Aside from Han Ning losing his two Cyan God Tribe puppets, Cang Yu and Cang Wu, the most heavily injured was Qing Yue.

From his conversation with Qing Fan, Han Ning learned that Qing Yue had only managed to survive because that guy, Cang Lin, had been running his mouth too much.

She had lost all of her Contracted Soul Beasts while protecting everyone, and Han Ning, representing the academy, stepped forward to take responsibility for these losses.

After all, they had come out this time to help the academy rescue humans. Qing Yue’s injuries were work-related, so she deserved compensation.

The resources required to compensate a Tier Three Beastmaster whose strongest Contracted Soul Beast was an Upper Lord were considerable. Han Ning could only consider trading some high-level knowledge for it.

"Han Ning, my young friend, what’s wrong? You look like you’re in a lot of pain. Is it because of Qing Yue’s compensation?" After learning that his own losses weren’t too great, the tense expression on Qing Dou’s face finally relaxed, and he even managed a rare joke.

"It’s nothing. I just used up a great deal of Spiritual Power," Han Ning answered listlessly.

Just moments ago, he had mobilized all of his Spiritual Power and, using the Spiritual Linkage of a Cangyu Subordinate Insect, had launched a Spiritual Piercing at Cang Fei. The power was diminished through multiple mediums, resulting in immense consumption. It left him spiritually drained, and his scalp was aching.

"Those two Cyan God Insect Masters... you were controlling them, weren’t you?" Qing Dou had found some mixed fragments of Cyan God Insect Masters and Cyan God Armor where the Frost Armor of Winter had fallen.

"Yes... I used a Spiritual Power Secret Technique to interfere with Cang Fei."

Cang Fei was a Tier Four Beastmaster. With Han Ning’s Tier Three abilities, he could only manage to interfere, making it difficult to have any significant effect on him.

And that was with Spiritual Piercing being an extremely offensive technique.

"It was crucial. If it weren’t for you... oh, and Elder Qingyao, we would probably be facing endless retaliation from the Cyan God Armor Tribe." Qing Dou laughed, tossed the unconscious Cang Fei in front of Han Ning, and continued,

"I’ve heard you humans have a miraculous Spiritual Secret Technique that can plant a Spiritual Seed to enslave other races. Can you plant a Spiritual Seed in this guy?"

Han Ning glanced at Cang Fei and shook his head. "No. He’s Tier Four right now. My Spiritual Strength isn’t high enough."

Although his Spiritual Quality was Dark Star Level, there was an entire Tier separating their Spiritual Power. Sheer quantity could overwhelm quality.

What’s more, Cang Fei still had a Monarch Level Contracted Soul Beast alive. Enslaving him would trigger a backlash from it. It was obvious that implanting a Subordinate Insect was impossible.

"Then how about we make a deal? You teach us this Spiritual Secret Technique, and in return, you won’t have to be responsible for Qing Yue’s compensation," Qing Dou said with a sly grin.

Han Ning laughed inwardly. ’So that’s what the old fox is after.’

The so-called "Spiritual Secret Technique" was just a smokescreen to hide his Subordinate Insect ability. There was no way he could agree to Qing Dou’s proposal.

"No, no. This Secret Technique is the supreme legacy of my people, and only I have mastered it. However... I can ask His Excellency the Scorching Sun Bishop to teach the Void Spirit Race’s High-Level Meditation Technique to your entire Dragon Blood Race. How does that trade sound?"

"A High-Level Meditation Technique?!" Upon hearing this, Qing Dou’s expression immediately turned to one of keen interest.

"Yes, a High-Level Meditation Technique that can increase Spiritual Affinity." Han Ning gave a simple introduction to the effects of the Summoning Spirit Meditation Technique.

Although Meditation Techniques generally had to be compatible with the specific intelligent race, and learning one from an Alien Race could lead to incompatibility issues, the Dragon Blood Race currently lacked a more advanced Meditation Technique. They were lucky to learn one at all and were in no position to be picky.

Sage would be even less of a problem. Since he was willing to teach the Meditation Technique openly, he clearly wasn’t the type to hoard it. Besides, he still owed Han Ning a favor.

And in the absolute worst-case scenario, if Sage disagreed, Han Ning could still use his panel to modify the Four Symbols Meditation Technique and teach an adapted version to the Dragon Blood Race.

"Alright, it’s a deal!" Qing Dou thought for a moment before agreeing with great enthusiasm.

It was true that Sage had taught the Summoning Spirit Meditation Technique to more than twenty Dragon Blood People, but none of them dared to pass on its contents to their kin without Sage’s permission.

Not having to bear the cost of Qing Yue’s compensation made Han Ning secretly sigh in relief.

Then, thinking of the possible retaliation from the Five Great Ancestors, he said with some concern, "Qing Dou Leader, you caused such a huge commotion just now. The Five Great Ancestors probably won’t let this go. What are you planning to do?"

"What else can I do? We’ll hide in the Jade Forest and have the Lord Ancestor sort it out." Qing Dou said this while watching his son check on Qing Yue’s injuries. "Originally, I wanted you to turn Cang Fei into a puppet and have him explain the situation. But your Spiritual Level isn’t high enough, so for now, we can only retreat to the Jade Forest and wait for you to break through."

"Wait for me?"

"The death of an Elder Level Insect Master will definitely trigger an all-out attack from the Cyan God Tribe. We’re not afraid of one Cyan God Tribe, but we’re worried the Five Ancestor Families will all mobilize, or even deploy the power of the Queen’s Divine Hall..."

"So... the crux of the matter is whether Cang Fei is dead or not. My plan is to let the upper echelons of the Cyan God Tribe know that Cang Fei is still alive. This will calm them down and buy us some time for you to hurry up and break through to Tier Four. When that happens, we can suppress the scale of the incident to a minimum, provoking an attack from only the Cyan God Tribe at most," Qing Dou explained in detail.

’Looks like this is more serious than I expected. Qing Dou isn’t as relaxed as he seems.’

Listening to Qing Dou’s description, Han Ning’s expression gradually grew solemn.

If the Five Ancestor Families attacked now, any accident could affect the evacuation plan, which would be a huge problem.

Seeing Han Ning’s tense expression, Qing Dou gave a confident smile.

"You can rest assured. As long as the Queen doesn’t awaken, and with our Lord Ancestor presiding over the Jade Forest and activating the Subspace Barrier, we can hold them off for a year or so, even if all Five Great Ancestors attack at once. This... is the foundation of the Dragon Blood Race’s power!"

Unfortunately, the Jade Forest was a Subspace embedded near the Insect Continent. It couldn’t leave with the Dragon Blood Race; if the Insect Continent was destroyed, it would be destroyed along with it. Otherwise, the Dragon Blood Race could have thrived anywhere with the Jade Forest at their backs.

...

Under the protection of the Jade Aurora Dragon, the group returned to the Jade Forest, shaken but safe.

Qing Dou needed to report what had happened to Akatos, their Lord Ancestor. He also likely had to hold a series of family meetings, so he left first with Qing Fan, Qing Yue, and the other Dragon Blood Insect Masters.

The massive cruise ship was moored on the lake at the human settlement.

The people stationed at the base camp gathered by the ship and began rescuing the injured passengers inside.

"Dean Wu, have you tallied the number of injured and dead?"

Han Ning asked as he watched the terrified passengers being helped off the ship by their companions.

"We have a rough count. This cruise ship is called the Yalu Star. When it crossed over, there were a total of 5,123 passengers on board, including the crew."

"But after our recent headcount, we’ve found that only 901 people are left."

"That many died?" Han Ning looked shocked.

"I suspect that the shockwaves from the battle between Qing Dou Leader and Cang Fei caused the deaths of a large number of passengers. After all, an ordinary person’s body is nothing in the face of these terrifying Soul Beasts." Dean Wu rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"The ship must have experienced violent tremors. You know how fragile humans are. A single jolt could kill hundreds, even thousands."

"Of course, some people were killed by members of the Cyan God Tribe, but not that many—probably a hundred or so."

"Also... after questioning some survivors, it seems a significant number of people might have been taken elsewhere by the Cyan God Tribe."

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