Empress Irina spoke softly, “The three types of insect warriors I specialize in cultivating are as follows. The first is the ‘Armored Insect’ category, particularly the Tiger Beetle Insect Clan, which is extremely powerful in strength. To be more precise, it is a branch of the Tiger Beetle Insect Clan called the Yantan Insect Clan. The Tiger Beetle Insects share a common trait among all Armored Insects—their defense is formidable! The Tiger Beetle Insects are especially renowned for their strength… they are absolutely the best insect warriors for siege warfare. A formation composed of a group of Tiger Beetle Insect warriors is the hardest to break through. And once all the Tiger Beetle warriors form an endless insect sea and begin their slaughter, it is the most terrifying sight.”
Luo Feng nodded as he listened.
He himself already knew that Insect Clans could be categorized by ability into scout types, siege types, assassin types, and long-range combat types.
The Tiger Beetle Insect Clan clearly belonged to the siege type.
It was somewhat similar to heavy cavalry in military units.
“There are indeed many types of Insects,” Luo Feng mused. The Armored Insect Clan alone could be divided into dozens of subcategories, each of which could further branch into dozens to thousands of sub-branches.
“Master, look, this is the Tiger Beetle Insect Clan,” Empress Irina pointed toward the grass nearby.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, there appeared a creature over ten stories high (30 meters), extremely robust, its entire body covered with a thick, solid shell. On its head were oval compound eyes, completely protected by armor, as if the head were wearing a helmet, fully shielded.
The thoracic plate had menacing spikes, and its thick, powerful, and curved hind legs supported its body.
The entire Tiger Beetle Insect gave off a sense of solidity and ferocity, like a tank exuding a brave and fierce aura. Its entire shell was fiery red, and even the well-protected compound eyes were fiery red.
“This is a peak World Lord-level Tiger Beetle Insect,” Empress Irina introduced.
“A peak World Lord-level?”
Luo Feng looked at this colossal creature, about ten stories high, with a hint of pleasant surprise.
“Because our Insect Clans cultivate countless insect warriors primarily for numerical superiority, their size cannot be too large,” Empress Irina explained, seeming to notice the enormous ‘Golden-Horned Beast’ far away, “The larger the size, and the need to maintain defense, etc., the more resources will be consumed. Take your Golden-Horned Beast, for example. With such a massive size, even manufacturing a legion of World Lord-level insect warriors would not be able to create such a gigantic insect warrior.”
Luo Feng also smiled.
How large was the Insect Hive? At least Irina’s hive had a diameter slightly exceeding 800 meters. Even the immortal-level Insect Hives he had encountered when leading cosmic armies to hunt down two immortal beings were only about ten kilometers tall.
With the hive being this size, how large could the insect warriors be?
The Golden-Horned Beast, from head to tail covered in scales, was over 1200 kilometers long.
“Irina, do you have World Lord-level insect warriors?” Luo Feng asked eagerly.
“I do,” Empress Irina nodded.
“How many?” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.
“Not many,” Empress Irina shook her head. “After the war in the extraterrestrial battlefield, under life-threatening circumstances, my insect warriors were almost completely exhausted. Now I only have eleven peak World Lord-level insect warriors left. As for other lower-level insect warriors, they are all gone. These eleven were originally meant to protect me in my final moments, but unfortunately, I was struck by the soul secret technique of a human immortal being, and couldn’t summon my insect warriors in time before falling into a deep slumber.”
The Insect Empress, at the World Lord level, already had her own inner world.
Thus, she could place an enormous army of insect warriors inside her inner world, continuously accumulating numbers during peacetime and summoning them out during battles.
“Mm,” Luo Feng nodded. “What about the second type of insect warrior you can cultivate?”
“The second type belongs to the ‘Shadow Insect’ category—the Fengying Insect Clan. To be more precise, it is a branch of the Fengying Insect Clan called the Nasta Insect Clan, a legendary insect race that once produced a truly supreme existence in our Insect Clans—the Nasta.” Empress Irina sighed.
Luo Feng nodded.
In the Insect Clans, strictly speaking, only the Empress was truly alive. All the countless insect warriors created were not considered true lifeforms—merely combat tools. However, these insect warriors with their extremely simple consciousness were not without the possibility of transformation. The fair universe had not completely closed off their chance for evolution.
Nasta was one such insect warrior among countless others, originally just as clueless as the rest. Only by chance being summoned by the Empress for battle and consuming a special treasure did it evolve, gaining independent will.
Throughout the entire Insect Clans, there were actually many non-Empress insect warriors who possessed independent will.
But very few of them became supreme beings.
Nasta was one such case.
“The Fengying Insect Clan shares a common trait of the Shadow Insect Clans—extreme speed. It possesses astonishing speed, moving like a phantom, with extremely strong offensive power. Its only weakness is… its relatively frail body,” Empress Irina explained. “Speed, strong attack, weak body—that is the Fengying Insect Clan.”
“Master, I no longer have Fengying Insect warriors in my inner world. They were all exhausted during the extraterrestrial battlefield. Compared to the Tiger Beetle Insect warriors, their appearance is much slimmer, their shells not fiery red but dark gray,” Empress Irina explained.
Luo Feng nodded.
One was for siege warfare, the other for scouting.
If the Tiger Beetle Insect Clan was like heavy cavalry, then the Fengying Insect Clan was like light cavalry.
“The last type belongs to the largest category in our Insect Clans—the ‘Mantis’ Insect Clan—and is one of the most powerful among them, the Lietang Insect Clan. The Lietang Insects I create belong to a branch of the Lietang Insect Clan called the Tieluo Clan,” Empress Irina said. “The Lietang Insect Clan is the strongest among the three types I specialize in creating.”
“It possesses a powerful body, astonishing speed, incredible defense, and extremely agile dodging ability, along with naturally high-level combat skills,” Empress Irina’s voice rose slightly. “Creating one Lietang Insect could create five Fengying Insects or two Tiger Beetle Insects of the same level.”
Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.
Lietang?
Empress Irina could actually create and cultivate Lietang Insects—this was truly an unexpected delight. Even in the inherited memories of the Golden-Horned Beast, there was a detailed introduction of the Lietang Insect Clan. The Mantis Insect Clan was the largest category among the Insect Clans, second only to the Armored Insect Clan. Among the seven best classifications of the Mantis Clan, the Lietang was one.
The seven supreme Mantis types each had their own strengths, and the Lietang was known for its cunning.
“Master, this is a peak World Lord-level Lietang Insect. Among the eleven remaining peak World Lord-level insect warriors I have, eight are Lietang Insects,” Empress Irina said, clearly indicating that the Lietang Insect Clan was the one she was most confident in and had preserved the most. She pointed toward the nearby grassland, and instantly a colossal figure appeared.
It was about 24 meters tall.
Compared to the Tiger Beetle Insect, it looked leaner, and compared to the Shadow-Feng Insect, it looked more robust. Its entire body was covered with streamlined black scales, with complex black scales adorned with cyan patterns, giving the Lietang Insect a ghostly aura. It had thick lower limbs and two pairs of forelimbs resembling battle blades, with sharp claws along the edges of the forelimbs.
A pair of compound eyes protruded.
Two horns extended from its head, and its mouth occasionally opened, revealing countless sharp teeth inside.
This was a pure combat machine! Its body structure endowed it with absolute strength in defense, agility, and speed, combined with its two pairs of forelimbs… it could be called a killing machine. Moreover, the tightly packed scales were clearly more advanced than those of the Tiger Beetle Insect Clan. Although it was leaner than the Tiger Beetle, its defense was in no way inferior.
“Master, the Tiger Beetle Insect Clan, the Fengying Insect Clan, and the Lietang Insect Clan are the three types of insect warriors I have always researched and am most skilled at cultivating,” Empress Irina looked at Luo Feng. “Of course, some lower-level insects, such as the Qingtang, can be mass-produced easily. That doesn’t require research and poses no difficulty. Any Insect Empress can create those lower-level insect warriors.”
Luo Feng smiled and nodded.
Very good.
These three types of insect warriors were all top-tier insect warriors, with the Lietang Insect Clan being the absolute elite among elites.
“When can you start cultivating insect warriors?” Luo Feng asked.
“At any time,” Empress Irina smiled, while the Tiger Beetle and Lietang warriors stood behind her, showing utmost respect. “However, cultivating insect warriors is divided into two modes. I will explain them to you, Master, and you can choose.”
“Speak,” Luo Feng listened carefully.
“The first method is mass-producing weaker Lietang, Tiger Beetle, and Fengying Insects,” Empress Irina said. “Producing Star-Level or Cosmic-Level insect warriors is very easy, and they can be cultivated in large numbers. Then, let them fight among themselves, devouring each other. The weak perish, the strong survive, and the strong become even stronger by devouring the weak. When a group of insect warriors is reduced to only one survivor, that one will be the most excellent, capable of cultivating into an extremely brave and powerful peak World Lord-level insect warrior.”
Luo Feng trembled with shock.
Let countless Star-Level and Cosmic-Level insect warriors devour each other? Until only one remained?
“Insect warriors do not all have the same potential; some have greater potential, others less,” Empress Irina explained. “This method eliminates all those with poor potential, and the peak insect warriors that emerge from endless slaughter… are ten times stronger than ordinary peak World Lord insect warriors. They can be called Kings!”
“The second method is the normal cultivation method,” Empress Irina continued. “If I want to cultivate a peak World Lord-level insect warrior, I need to provide sufficient resources, and I will directly give birth and cultivate a peak World Lord-level insect. This direct cultivation method is fast, with extremely high energy efficiency, as the energy resources are not wasted since I am directly cultivating them. However… although their potential is not bad, they will definitely not be as terrifying as those who have experienced countless battles and devoured countless insects.”
Luo Feng listened thoughtfully.
These two cultivation methods were indeed intriguing.
“What about the energy resource ratio?” Luo Feng asked.
“The second normal cultivation method consumes the least amount of energy resources. The first method, because it involves self-devouring and absorption, has low absorption efficiency, and a lot of energy is lost during battles. Therefore… the energy resource ratio differs by about a hundred times.”
“To cultivate one ‘King’ insect warrior, you would need to cultivate a hundred same-level insect warriors,” Empress Irina explained. “Master, please choose the method for cultivating insect warriors.”
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