Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 460 - 440: Discussion

Purple Tung Insect Nation.

The cold wind howled, and ice and snow sealed the earth.

"Dragon Cypress!"

Ink Orchid came to greet him.

"Why did it take you so long to come back? I was worried sick."

"It’s nothing. Ghost Fan and I managed to pry open two cracks in the door and used Soul-Setting ability to peek at the situation on the other side."

"How is it? Where’s Ghost Fan? Still prying away?"

"...No."

Dragon Cypress: "Ghost Fan went back to the territory. The situation is totally different from what we guessed before. Let’s go, find the Huagi Divine Tree and discuss together."

The Dominating Throne headed straight for the Huagi Divine Tree.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

The Huagi Divine Tree called out in greeting.

At some point, several trees in the Central Region had picked up bad habits; Purple Tung and Night Fragrance God-Given Seeds also started calling out "Little Ant," "Little Mantis."

The Huagi Divine Tree alone remained solemn, always addressing with formal names.

Whenever there were important matters, Dragon Cypress always went straight to report, discuss, and ask the Huagi Divine Tree for advice.

Huagi Divine Tree: "You and Ghost Fan were trying to break open the metal cracks in the door? Checking the situation behind it?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes. Managed to open two cracks."

Speaking of business,

Ink Orchid straightened up.

Dragon Cypress said, "You have to push the door forward to open it, and behind the door there’s a stone wall reinforced and strengthened by Earth System abilities. I suspect the entire exit passage has been sealed by the Flame Spider Tribe."

"Using Soul-Setting perception, I observed for over twenty days but didn’t find any Flame Spider warriors. I did catch traces of Ant Clan activity. One is similar to the Giant-Headed Ant, with numerous differentiated sub-ant clans, evolved to Lord-Level."

"It’s an isolated island in the vast deep sea—impossible to evolve to Lord-Level alone. There must be Flame Spider Roving Merchants coming and going. I suspect the Flame Spider Tribe provided resources to support such an Ant Clan Kingdom to guard the island for them..."

Dragon Cypress merely relied on the Soul-Setting ability to sense some soul traces of the Ant Clan through the cracks, within a limited range.

The rest was pure speculation.

Dragon Cypress described his theories in detail.

Linnan, Night Fragrance, and Purple Tung’s spiritual power gathered around.

After listening, the Huagi Divine Tree pondered deeply.

The Linnan Divine Tree said quietly, "Compared to Flame Spider Roving Merchants, an Ant Clan Kingdom is even harder to communicate with. One wrong word and they’ll swarm to attack."

Night Fragrance: "Isn’t there still a Primitive Flame Spider warrior named Areca? We could send it over to communicate."

Linnan Divine Tree: "That makes some sense. If that Ant Kingdom is supported by the Flame Spider Kingdom, they shouldn’t kill a Primordial Spider Warrior on sight. For other insect clans, though, it’s not so certain, especially ants. No one fights harder than ants against their own."

The Huagi Divine Tree rejected this: "There’s no difference. Your discussion is meaningless."

"..." Linnan Divine Tree was unconvinced, but said nothing.

The Huagi Divine Tree analyzed from the beginning: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid—your journey to the Molan Continent had two purposes: First, to migrate Molan Continent while you’re at King-Level, so you can evolve in the Natural Star Realm till age 9 and then depart. Second, expand your trade routes, seeking more and better sources for collecting and exchanging evolution resources."

Dragon Cypress: "Yes. To add, I need more land, and both Ink Orchid and I need more Divine-Given Seeds."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Right! So that’s actually three core goals."

Huagi Divine Tree: "If the Starship Passage connecting Cloud Trace Continent and Wan Country Continent doesn’t disappear, and you always maintain trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants of the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, then your second goal isn’t absolutely necessary anymore."

Huagi Divine Tree: "In short, your true reason for slipping into Molan Continent is just to stay longer in the Natural Star Realm and develop greater strength."

Dragon Cypress: "Yes. Xianglan Mountain Kingdom and Huagi Mountain share common interests. The longer I stay in the Natural Star Realm, the more time Huagi Mountain has to collect resources."

Huagi Divine Tree: "You absolutely can’t go to the Mainland. If a foreign Ant King like you lands and takes territory to develop, you’ll be squeezed and hated by the native insect clans, and mobbed."

Dragon Cypress: "That’s definite."

Dragon Cypress: "My plan is to find a suitable island in the sea to keep a low profile and develop. My Blue Soldiers can march across the sea, are adept at naval combat, and can hunt food from the ocean, so their scale isn’t limited by food. No need to attack the continent—defending ourselves on an island shouldn’t be a problem."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Then you have two choices now: First, dig a tunnel to the seabed, avoiding the Ant Clan and the Flame Spider Kingdom on the island, and sneak between the two continents."

"If you’re discovered and the entrances are blocked, you’re in real trouble."

"Second, wait for a Flame Spider Roving Merchant to land on the island and communicate and negotiate with them. If the Flame Spider Kingdom gives permission, the Ant Kingdom on the island will have no reason to make trouble for you. Add some benefits, and they’ll leave you alone."

"From what I know of the Flame Spider Roving Merchants, they usually don’t make trouble for other insect clans. But the passage connecting Cloud Trace Continent and Molan Continent is a massive secret that can never be leaked, so I doubt the Flame Spider Tribe will allow you to set foot on Molan Continent."

After the Huagi Divine Tree finished analyzing, it said: "My suggestion is to wait until you both evolve to Lord-Level before taking action. First, dig a tunnel and quietly slip into Molan Continent. One, to scout out the continent’s situation, and two, just as you wished, Dragon Cypress Ant King, find a suitable island in the ocean to settle, establish a new nest, and prepare for migration in the future."

Huagi Divine Tree: "I don’t recommend contacting the Flame Spider Tribe at the Lord-Level stage. Once you enter Molan Continent, there are bound to be insects eyeing your Dominating Throne. Be extremely careful in all matters—never let your guard down."

Dragon Cypress: "I’m worried about that too."

Dragon Cypress: "For now, there are still several Lands of Origin Force on Cloud Trace Continent waiting to be developed, and plenty of territory. Trading with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants of the Ten-Thousand Tribes Continent is smooth, and resources are abundant. So, there’s no rush for Molan Continent."

Huagi Divine Tree corrected: "You absolutely mustn’t rush."

Linnan Divine Tree: "Let’s imagine: on the island, could the Ant Clan supported by the Flame Spider Kingdom be wiped out and replaced by Little Dragon Cypress..."

The Huagi Divine Tree was furious and rebuked, "Suicidal!"

Night Fragrance God-Given Seed joined in planning: "I’ve heard that most omnivorous Ant King are naturally greedy. You could try tempting and turning them with Divine-Grade Fruit. That is, join up with the Ant King on the United Island, and together secretly smuggle into Molan Continent. If caught, the risk is much lower."

Dragon Cypress asked in dissatisfaction, "Night Fragrance, do you have some misunderstanding about me?"

Huagi Divine Tree said seriously, "Night Fragrance’s idea is worth consideration..."

They plotted for quite some time,

There were plenty of low-risk options, but none seemed absolutely foolproof for now.

Further investigation was needed.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid took their leave and returned to the royal palace.

Dragon Cypress had neglected combat training for a long time, staying in the Purple Tung Insect Nation, practicing hard for a month, and only returning to Xianglan Mountain at the end of winter.

...

"Great King! Great King! Great King!"

Cypress, who was leading a patrol in the North Mountain Orchard, saw the Dominating Throne flying over and hopped and waved his tentacles in greeting.

The Throne slowed and landed.

"Great King! Good news!"

Cypress shook his tentacles, excited, "Azure is too awesome! It successfully cultivated a new variant Ink Orchid seedling with its seed!"

Dragon Cypress: "Excellent!"

How many years has it been?

Finally succeeded?

Dragon Cypress flicked a tentacle, "Cypress, hop on, let’s go take a look!"

The Throne flew over the mountains, racing toward the Azure Blue Reservoir.

As they got close, Deep Blue God-Given Seed also brought good news: "Dragon Cypress! The variant Ink Orchid seedling has been successfully cultivated."

"Azure! Well done!"

Dragon Cypress praised, asking, "Where is it? Let me see!"

"Great King, over there!"

Cypress pointed the way.

On a hill east of the reservoir, next to the trellis of the Black Yellow God-Given Seed, in the center of the nursery plot, stood an orchid grass seedling only four or five centimeters tall.

Silver Cypress led a large group of Soldier Ants, guarding all around, so tightly that not even a drop could leak through.

Fragrant Cypress was also standing by.

"Great King, look quickly!"

"Variant Ink Orchid, cultivated seedling!"

"Great King, where’s Second King?"

"???"

Black Yellow came along as well, eager to claim credit, "Dragon Cypress, you should thank me. I found this seedling and notified Silver Cypress in time to protect it! Otherwise, it would have died again."

Fragrant Cypress said, "Great King, should we be able to get a Divine-Given Seed from it now?"

Silver Cypress hopefully asked, "Great King, is there a reward?"

Black Yellow helped everyone ask the most desired but awkward question: "Dragon Cypress, will there be a profit share? How will it be split? Half a percent? Too little, right?"

Dragon Cypress: "There’s not much to go around anyway."

Dragon Cypress: "Even if we manage to cultivate an Ink Orchid Divine-Given Seed, its income over a year is just a few Source Stones. The main reason for all this is that Second King wanted one of these..."

Right!

The lively atmosphere instantly cooled off.

Dragon Cypress: "Rules remain the same. For future cultivated Divine-Given Seeds, Assistant Kings only get half a percent of the income. But for this one, I’ll give each participating Assistant King twenty thousand Source Stones as a reward."

Dragon Cypress: "Black Yellow, you get twenty thousand Source Stones too. Go have fun."

Black Yellow: "???"

Black Yellow: "What can I do with twenty thousand Source Stones? Two hundred thousand I could barely accept..."