There was only a single sentence in the telepathic voice transmission that Xia Ke sent.
“I sensed the prying of the bug horde’s will during my elevation.”
Lin Huang fell into a moment of silence after hearing that.
He teleported Xia Ke from the Great Heaven Palace to where he was.
Xia Ke, in the black bug shell, was clearly one-fold larger now. There were no changes in its combat strength. It was still a middle-rank Lord, but its aura was clearly more powerful than before.
“You said that you sensed the prying of the bug horde’s will. What does that mean exactly?” Lin Huang ignored the fact that Bai and the rest were next to him and asked directly.
Xia Ke organized its thoughts before speaking, “The bug horde’s will is our Bug Tribe’s supreme will. Its authority is even higher than the Queen Mother’s will. All Bug Tribe creatures are unable to disobey it.”
“I sensed the prying of the bug horde’s will, but maybe He was just glancing casually. However, as soon as He notices me, there’s no way I will be able to disobey any orders that He gives me. That’s the thing that I’m most worried about.”
“Have you never sensed the bug horde’s will prying or watching you in the past?” Lin Huang continued to ask.
“No.” Xia Ke shook its head, “Only rank-5 Bug Tribe Queen Mothers are blessed by the bug horde’s will once they are born.”
“Then how did you know that it was the bug horde’s will?” Lin Huang was rather confused.
“Because the will was extremely majestic. It gave me the feeling that I couldn’t disobey it at all. It far surpassed the bloodline pressure coming from the Queen Mother that gave birth to me. Although it was just a glance, it gave me the feeling that it could tear the contract between master and I easily.”
Xiao Hei suddenly spoke as well once Xia Ke was done speaking.
“I sensed that too. That unknown will was unusually powerful.”
“Is it really possible for it to break our contract?” Lin Huang asked instantly.
“It’s highly possible. After all, my ability is restricted by your combat strength. The strength of the contract I established for you is only enough to constrain dao-level powerhouses.”
“This is a powerhouse above dao-level. It’s entirely possible that it could tear apart someone else’s contract.”
Lin Huang squinted slightly and only spoke up after a moment of thought.
“If it’s not an accident that you sensed the bug horde’s will when you elevated to Pure Spirit rank-6, it proves that there’s a high chance of Queen Mothers being noticed by the bug horde’s when they elevate to Pure Spirit rank-6. Can I interpret things this way?”
Xia Ke nodded without hesitation. “The chances of Queen Mothers being noticed when they elevate would definitely be higher.”
“You’re from the Bug Tribe. What do you think the bug horde’s will do as soon as it finds out about the Queen Mothers’ elevation?”
Xia Ke fell into a moment of silence. It gave an answer soon after. “I’ve no idea what He exactly would do but, if He really noticed the elevation of the Queen Mothers, He definitely won’t allow anyone to bind them with a contract.”
“So, will He destroy the contract?” Lin Huang raised his eyebrows.
“Not only will He destroy the contract, but He will also send His wrath to punish the contractor.” Xia Ke corrected him.
“What’s the punishment?”
“I don’t know, but it won’t be as simple as destroying the contract.” Xia Ke was sure.
Lin Huang nodded lightly and he looked at Bai and the rest.
They were listening as they stood aside. They heard the conversation between Lin Huang and Xia Ke loud and clear.
“Do you have any decent suggestions to address this situation?”
“My suggestion is simple. Just kill all the imperial monsters that might potentially be a hidden threat. Wouldn’t it be the same if you used the extra resources on others?” Grimace was the first to speak while smiling. “Moreover, the slots to get into the virtual realm are limited. We won’t have to wait as long in the queue if a batch of imperial monsters are gone.”
What he said clearly crossed the line a little bit.
Even Charcoal who was standing next to him took a few steps to distance himself.
“You…”
Xia Ke was so mad that it temporarily could not speak up.
If not for the fact that Lin Huang was here, it wanted to hit Grimace directly.
“I think we can monitor the situation first. If there’s really an issue, you can seal the imperial monsters back to their card forms and then come up with a solution later.” Bai thought about it and gave his suggestion as well.
“I agree with Bai.” Charcoal flapped its wings instantly and leapt onto Lin Huang’s shoulder.
Its size had shrunk intentionally at this moment. It was approximately the size of a magpie currently.
Lancelot and Teng Ran did not voice their opinions at all. They merely listened as they stood to the side.
“I’m worried that it’ll be too late if we wait for the issue to present itself. I think it’s better to nip the problem in the bud immediately.” Grimace persistently advocated his perspective.
Lin Huang glanced at Lancelot and Teng Ran. The two of them still did not seem like they were going to voice their opinions on the matter.
He turned his head to look at Xia Ke. “What do you think?”
“I’m not sure whether it was an accident that I attracted the attention of the bug horde’s will, therefore, I don’t know what exactly will happen when the Queen Mothers complete their elevation. However, I don’t think you should decide to kill us just like that.”
“I hope that you’ll monitor the situation first, master. If something is wrong with the contract, seal us. I’ve no objections to that. You can figure out a solution to handle us when that happens.”
Naturally, Xia Ke agreed with Bai’s suggestion.
It could not think of a better way to go about things.
“Let’s do it according to Bai’s suggestion.” Lin Huang made the final decision.
Xiao Hei’s voice suddenly chimed in after Lin Huang had made up his mind.
“The bug horde’s will showed itself again. He didn’t try to destroy the contract. He retreated after leaving an imprint on Shasha.”
Lin Huang could sense that Queen Mother Shasha had completed the elevation.
He immersed his consciousness into the Kingdom in his body and teleported Shasha before him directly.
Shasha, who had just completed the elevation, was stunned momentarily. It only snapped back to its senses when it saw Lin Huang and Xia Ke.
“Greetings, Master.”
“Shasha, do you feel anything amiss after completing the elevation?” Lin Huang asked directly.
“The bug horde’s will showed itself. He watched me for a moment and left a blessing imprint on me.” An imprint was revealed on Shasha’s waist as it spoke.
It was a complicated black sigil. It looked similar to a tattoo.
Lin Huang stared at it for a while, but could not make heads or tails of it.
“Do you know the exact effect of this imprint?” Lin Huang asked further.
Shasha did not lie. That was a good thing at least.
“It’s just a blessing imprint. It’s similar to the blessing that we were given when we were born, but more powerful,” Shasha explained. “This imprint provides us longevity, a more powerful body and improves our chances of producing high-grade offspring… Those are the effects of the blessing.”
Shasha looked like it was telling the truth, but Lin Huang did not trust it entirely.
“Is it possible that the bug horde’s will can influence the Queen Mother’s thoughts directly?” Lin Huang asked Xiao Hei secretly.
“The possibility is low, but we can’t rule it out completely. After all, we don’t know what kind of techniques and abilities the beings above Lord-level possess.”
“As such, we can only observe if the remaining few Queen Mothers encounter similar things when they complete their elevation and make our judgment based on what they say.” Lin Huang felt rather troubled.
He did not expect to have such a situation arising out of nowhere. He had initially been waiting happily for his lord-level imperial monster army to emerge from their cocoons.
