Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 427 - 409 Stirring Up Trouble?

The autumn harvest is over.

All things are stored away; the life of the world prepares to hibernate for the oncoming winter.

Beneath the Purple Tung Divine-Given Seed Tree,

Dragon Cypress holds a grand celebration feast.

Bringing out fifty thousand Source Stones’ worth of Origin Force Ant Honey, and inviting all the warriors of the Barley Bug Tribe to attend.

Specifically introduces Chinese Clematis to the equally young Little Warrior Pueraria from the Barley Bug tribe.

Chinese Clematis will live in the Purple Tung Insect Nation for two to three years; they can be playmates.

The feast starts at noon,

eating, drinking, and chatting, all the way until night falls.

...

The next day,

Dragon Cypress escorts Yellow Stem back to Huagi Mountain, brings Spruce to Purple Tung Insect Nation, and tries to arrange for training in combat skills with Linnan Divine Tree.

Dragon Cypress sends White Rice, Ghost Fan, White Willow, and Snakebark Maple back to their respective territories.

Finally, he makes a run to Silver Cypress Mountain to complete a transaction with Mountain Persimmon.

Several days of persistent cold winds, and then a light snowfall.

The cold winter season truly begins. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Within the kingdom, in the King Nest, Ink Orchid instructs Chinese Clematis, teaching it the methods of planting all kinds of northern flora.

Beneath the White Poplar Divine-Given Seed Tree, Dragon Cypress gathers Round Cypress, Cypress, Black Leaf, Black Birch, and a curious crowd of Specialized Ants, and teaches them about the various animals and plants recorded in the Inherited Memory.

They certainly couldn’t rely on pure descriptions—Dragon Cypress comes up with a good idea: manipulating water and ice to form models, teaching them the basics of recognition. In this way, when they see the real things someday, they won’t be utterly at a loss.

In the Inherited Memory, the Natural God System Insect Clan alone boasts over a million kinds, and there are more than half a million kinds of plants. Selectively picking representative or distinctive ones to recount is already a long process, but it’s a good way to while away the long and rather boring winter days.

...

After a while together, relationships grew more familiar.

Wuye often brought Pueraria to the royal palace to play with Chinese Clematis.

At times, when the weather was fair, Mountain Thorn, Magnolia Bark, Fuzzy Flower and other Barley Bug warriors would also come visiting. Together, they’d bask in the sun and chat idly.

The ice and snow sealed the earth; nothing much to do, just tranquil, idle days.

The only one who seemed to be exhausted, honestly, was Spruce...

The first part of Linnan Divine Tree’s combat training: tree-felling

No use of externalized Wind System Ability permitted; Primordial Energy must be focused into the foreclaws and wielded for chopping.

Within a 500-meter radius around Linnan Divine Tree, all the various Poppet trees once cultivated by the Termite Kingdom were cut down.

Second part of the training: running and climbing trees

Every day, Spruce runs laps around the boundary canal—hundreds of circuits without stopping.

Up and down along the main trunk of Linnan Divine Tree, climbing hundreds of times back and forth.

There’s even a third part...

Cypress, who Dragon Cypress had sent to check on their training, was drafted into labor.

Cypress commands the Specialized Blue Soldiers, employs their Water System Abilities, and, using the snow on the ground, raises pillar after pillar of ice for Spruce to hack at with his claw...

All in all, it doesn’t seem to be any kind of exceptional or unique training—just the usual stuff.

Linnan Divine Tree has a cranky personality—a bit of slack, and out comes a barrage of angry scolding, though the much-feared sudden outbursts resulting in someone getting whacked to death never actually happen.

In time, they all get used to it.

Dragon Cypress stops paying attention.

With the help of the Dominating Throne, Chinese Clematis smoothly completes a single sleep-evolution.

A two-age-period, Primary-Level Dry Stone Green Ground Beetle Warrior, about four centimeters long—now a little more conspicuous and sturdier too; everyone no longer worries about accidentally stepping on it by mistake.

...

A heavy snowstorm.

The bitterest heart of winter.

Dragon Cypress returns alone to Xianglan Mountain, organizing winter fishing, and sends Ghost Fan and White Rice to Jianlan Plain to keep gathering metal gravel, making several large metal containers for storing Origin Force Ant Honey, both for himself and for Huagi Mountain.

Over half a month,

Dragon Cypress, returning again to the Purple Tung Insect Nation, is stunned.

Cypress has mobilized his entire First Corps—over a thousand Specialized Blue Soldiers—making them run laps along the boundary canal.

Cypress personally leads, climbing the branches of Linnan Divine Tree with a large contingent of Specialized Blue Soldiers in tow.

Ink Orchid, for some unfathomable reason, has also come out of the royal palace, and on the open ground is hacking at ice pillars together with Spruce.

Black Leaf is helping on the side, directing a group of Specialized Blue Soldiers to take turns using their abilities, assisting in the manufacture of ice pillars.

Across the river canal encircling the Central Region, a great row of Barley Bug warriors are sprawled out in the sun, watching the lively goings-on.

——I was gone for just half a month~

Dragon Cypress stands dazed for a long while, then lands the Dominating Throne at the riverside.

"Wuye."

Dragon Cypress calls out.

Beside Wuye, there is a dome-shaped nest made of snow and ice, with two holes of different size. Pueraria and Chinese Clematis are squeezed inside, peeking through the openings at the scene outside.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

Wuye stands to greet him.

Pueraria and Chinese Clematis join in, calling out as well.

"What are they up to..."

Dragon Cypress tries to first sound out the news.

Wuye, looking curious, retorts, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Mountain Lord Ink Orchid said you all are hard at work mastering combat skills to prepare for an advance toward the Molan Continent?"

Dragon Cypress: "...Mm."

That, perhaps, is a matter of several decades or even centuries.

Dragon Cypress feels a little speechless, and mumbles, "Mainly, we just aren’t sure what dangers might be on the Southern Hemisphere Continent."

No need to ask further; Dragon Cypress has already mostly figured out what has happened.

He turns and sternly warns, "Pueraria, Chinese Clematis, you two little ones mustn’t run around—mind you don’t get frostbitten."

"We won’t!"

Pueraria and Chinese Clematis reply.

"Wuye, keep an eye on them."

Dragon Cypress nags a bit more, then pilots the Dominating Throne in a low sweep along the ground, detouring back to the royal palace.

All through the woodland, there are small dome-like nests made of ice and snow—three Soldier Ants per nest, hiding inside to avoid the cold but still able to stand guard.

Such a simple, effective construction was probably taught by either Huagi Divine Tree or Linnan Divine Tree.

Black Birch is leading the Ant Army alone, guarding under the White Poplar Divine-Given Seed Tree. When the Dominating Throne draws near, he hurries forward to greet him.

"Great King!"

"Black Birch, what’s going on?"

Black Birch flicks his tentacles and points toward Linnan Divine Tree’s direction. "Great King, you mean them?"

Dragon Cypress snaps, "Who else would it be?"

Black Birch: "The Second King’s orders, sir."

He explains, "Seven days ago, the Second King brought Chinese Clematis out to bask in the sun. After watching Mountain Lord Spruce’s training for a while out of boredom, they joined in themselves."

"After two days of training, the Second King found the results effective and brought Cypress and Black Leaf in as well."

Black Birch—an intelligent, studious ant—declares seriously, "Great King, according to Cypress... as related by Linnan Divine Tree... in the old days, Huagi Mountain’s dedicated Insect Clan Warriors started physical and combat training at the High-Level Stage—the same training Cypress, the Second King, and Mountain Lord Spruce are now receiving."

"For the Ant Clan Army, the most crucial thing is teamwork combat drills... Linnan Divine Tree completely broke up the nine-by-nine-twenty-seven tactical structure you devised, retraining the colony’s overall cooperation. According to Linnan Divine Tree, this was drawn from the practical experience gained back in the days when the many Insect Kings of Huagi Mountain fought wars among the various Ant Clans over on Dragon Bamboo Continent."

Black Birch watches Dragon Cypress for a reaction, then adds, very cautiously, "Great King, by my observation and deduction, it is, in fact, showing results. Moreover, Specialized Ants exchange and learn skills from each other; once the training is complete, you could send a batch of ants back to Xianglan Mountain. The results of Linnan Divine Tree’s training could then be spread throughout the Xianglan Mountain Kingdom, handed down from generation to generation."

"Mm. Exactly!"

With a free veteran coach training his Ant Army, Dragon Cypress certainly has no objections, and warns, "No big concerns during the day—at night, the defenses cannot be relaxed."

Black Birch: "Understood!"

Dragon Cypress turns toward the White Poplar Divine-Given Seed. "White Poplar, how are you doing?"

Me? White Poplar considers for a while, then says, "The sun’s fine today."

A Mountain Lord Level Divine-Given Seed can expend Primordial Energy to resist the cold, and so remains leafy and flourishing even through winter.

Half-hibernating, it absorbs sunlight and Origin Force during the bright days to store energy. At night, in the cold, it sinks into deep dormancy, waiting in hibernation.

Dragon Cypress jumps down from the Throne, checks to confirm the soil beneath the tree hasn’t frozen from recent cold spells, and settles calmly beneath its branches to continue teaching Black Birch and White Poplar all about animals and plants.