"How did you learn about this kind of spirit insect?"
Lin Ke took the Storage Bag again, then held the Fission Insect mechanical insect in his hand and toyed with it.
The Fission Insect looked like a horseshoe with a tail, resembling a blue-blooded horseshoe crab.
Hao Ning glanced at Lin Ke, then lowered his gaze to the ground again. "Well, Elder, please rest assured. We absolutely won't tell anyone else afterward. We'll certainly keep the Black Tortoise Sect's secrets..."
Lin Ke keenly sensed something. "Don't worry. Whatever the secret is, you can tell me. I'm not with them."
Yet the old man before him and Hao Ning exchanged another look, still not daring to look at Lin Ke or speak.
Just then, A Bang woke up and happened to hear Lin Ke asking about the Fission Insects.
He said casually, "Oh, Brother Lin, you still don't know? If the cultivators here are judged to have no value left alive, or they're on the verge of death, they're fed to these spirit insects."
"That's why lots of cultivators in the Ten Villages get scared awake by them in their dreams. After all, none of us knows when we'll end up in their mouths."
Lin Ke understood at once. "So that's how it is."
"It must be the Grand Elder, right?"
"He's the one raising these Fission Insects, isn't he? He treats all the cultivators here as nourishment for them."
"And the Four Great Lineages on the mountain are treated as nourishment that supplies the power of comprehension."
"Right! You're so smart, Brother Lin... Mmph, mmph."
Hao Ning and the old man immediately covered A Bang's mouth.
"You foolish boy! You said the wrong thing!"
Hao Ning hurriedly said, "Exalted Immortal, please don't hold it against him. Children speak without restraint."