Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 481 - 461 North Elm

Xianglan Mountain.

The Dominating Throne carried the specialized green ant, speeding back.

Fragrant Cypress sensed the commotion and came out to greet them.

"Great King!"

"This is... could it be..."

Fragrant Cypress was quick-witted.

Dragon Cypress was off to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to harvest Keg Vine Seeds, arguably the most important task in the Xianglan Mountain Ant Kingdom.

But suddenly, he rushed back alone with a specialized green ant in tow...

Fragrant Cypress: "Great King, is this another one like Black Cory, an ant capable of evolutionary ascension?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes."

—Be honest!

—Get down!

Dragon Cypress set down the wooden board, waving his antennae to swat, driving the specialized green ant off the Throne, and said to Fragrant Cypress:

"This guy not only slacks off himself, but even led the hundred specialized green ants set to work with the Little Wild Chestnut Divine-Given Seed to slack off together."

"He’s sly too, quite good at pretending and playing dumb."

"Oh!"

Fragrant Cypress cheered, spun around, dashed straight into the treasury, dug out a bag of Black Lotus Seeds, and ran back at lightning speed.

"Great King!"

"Shell one and let him eat it."

"Alright."

Fragrant Cypress took out a Black Lotus Seed and tossed it to the medium-sized worker ant nearby.

The worker ant condensed primordial energy at its claw tips, swiftly sliced open the shell, efficiently peeled it, and tossed it before the specialized green ant.

"Eat!"

Dragon Cypress gave the order.

"..."

The specialized green ant still wouldn’t cooperate, trembling in fear, hesitant and dithering, looking left and right.

Dragon Cypress waved his antennae and snapped with two quick whips: "Hurry up and eat!"

The specialized green ant bowed its head and swallowed the lotus seed.

Origin Force spread through its abdomen, flowing along the bloodstream to the brain, with only a small portion leaking out, while the vast majority was absorbed, transforming into intensive brain enhancement and modification.

Very good!

Confirmed: It can evolve into an Assistant King through Black Lotus Seed.

"Fragrant Cypress, you take care of him. One Black Lotus Seed a day, the first ascension evolution can be sped up, completed within a month. Afterwards, don’t molt too frequently—one seed every two days, maintain an ascension evolution every two months."

"Understood, Great King."

"Good. Take him around, let him get familiar with the surroundings, and arrange a separate nest for him to stay in."

"Yes, Great King."

Fragrant Cypress waggled his antennae to signal.

The specialized green ant, having been beaten the whole way, was terrified of Dragon Cypress as the Ant King; receiving the cue, he quickly hid behind Fragrant Cypress.

"Great King, shouldn’t we give him a name?"

"Yes. Pick something lucky—let’s call him Black Peach, and hope he brings us good fortune."

"He surely will... but, Great King, what if we get a Divine-Given Seed of Black Peach in the future?"

"We’ll handle it then. You need to have faith in Second King’s naming abilities."

Dragon Cypress leapt onto the Dominating Throne, saying, "I’m off to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to keep watch over the Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed."

...

...

One month later,

Black Peach completed his first evolutionary ascension, his size shrinking from just over two meters to about two meters, his soul becoming stronger and more solid, and noticeably more intelligent and lively.

It was much like what happened with Black Birch back then.

With evolutions every two months, after ten months he would metamorphose into an Assistant King.

Black Cory was busy reclaiming Jianlan Plain.

Dragon Cypress selected over forty types of legume plants, planning to cultivate them on a large scale.

Perfect—Black Peach could be sent over to help.

On Cloud Trace Continent, there were still Cicada Orchid Mountain, Xuelan Mountain, Banlan Mountain, and Desolation Plains—four Land of Origin Force yet to be developed. With Black Peach joining the Ant Kingdom, there were finally enough Assistant Kings for the pioneering efforts.

...

The Soul-Setting Fruit of the Quandong Divine Tree was harvested last autumn.

This spring’s trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants was quite significant, but these major trades had become so frequent that everyone took them as routine.

Just a little extra attention was paid.

The trade concluded,

Dragon Cypress made his way, unhurried, to the Purple Tung Insect Nation.

—Something’s off!

—Where’s Ink Orchid?

As per usual, before the Dominating Throne even entered the Land of Origin Force, Ink Orchid would already have sensed the Origin Force fluctuations and sped over, then rummaged through the throne to see which yummy Ant King Honey Dragon Cypress brought.

—What’s going on this year?

Dragon Cypress wondered, then suddenly sensed something, activating his soul-setting ability to lock on Ink Orchid’s location—not far, in the northwest direction, within woodland seven or eight kilometers away.

"Great King! Great King! Hurry over!"

"What? Did you finally discover a Divine-Given Seed?"

"Yes! Yes! Discovered it ten days ago, and now it’s blooming."

"What kind of tree? Berberis?"

"No! North Elm! Great tall tree!"

"!!!"

Dragon Cypress strained his eye power to look, and sure enough, where Ink Orchid was, there was a swath of towering trees.

Even ordinary North Elms could grow to forty or fifty meters high, and according to inherited memory, it was the tallest member of the elm family—the leader of all elms.

A Divine-Given Seed of North Elm was an elite among great tall trees, with decent yield. Only pity, its enhancement was fairly standard—carapace, specifically, carapace lightening.

Carapace lightening breaks into two main types:

Type one—optimize the material composition to reduce the carapace’s weight.

Type two—alter the carapace structure, forming many tiny pores within, invisible to the naked eye, further reducing weight.

The North Elm’s enhancement was of the second type.

Both types, no matter which, carried negative side effects, lowering the carapace’s overall strength.

This was a strengthening effect with drawbacks.

The biggest problem is that as Insect Clan Warriors reach the high-level stage, each age period’s evolution is accompanied by a big growth in size. But with decreased carapace strength—especially toughness—they can easily be torn or wounded during the massive size increase of molting evolution, and may even die in serious cases.

For Insect Clan Warriors before reaching Evolution Mountain Lord Level, all Origin Force Food involving carapace lightening is on the "forbidden" list.

Even after Evolution Mountain Lord Level, one must still be extremely cautious—usually it’s only safe when paired with various Origin Force Food that strengthen carapace toughness and hardness, or optimize its composition to balance the negatives.

Of course,

The benefit of a lighter carapace is obvious.

Whether flying through the air or running on land, whether fighting or just moving about, you’re nimbler and more agile.

Beetles like Ghost Fan, Mountain Persimmon, Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, whose carapaces are thick and actions clumsy, they crave Origin Force Food that provides "carapace lightening."

...

Spring came late up north; only now were tender green new leaves appearing on the elm branches.

The Dominating Throne sped close, hovering above the canopy of a North Elm over fifty meters high.

Ink Orchid and Black Leaf stood guard below, while large, medium, and small soldier ants swarmed up and down the tree.

Dragon Cypress swept through with spiritual power, and soon found a solitary dark-purple flower.

Faint Origin Force fluctuations—no mistake, it was a Divine-Given Seed.

Such a huge tree, such a tiny flower—only Ink Orchid could have found it.

"Dragon Cypress?"

Ink Orchid called out.

"Right here—"

"Ink Orchid, you are incredible."

Dragon Cypress praised, carefully maneuvering the Dominating Throne backward, away, slowly descending to the ground.

"Ant King Dragon Cypress!"

Black Leaf excitedly raised her forelegs in greeting.

After twenty years of toil in the Purple Tung Insect Nation, the first Divine-Given Seed was finally appearing; Black Leaf was so happy her antennae danced wildly.

Ink Orchid complained: "Dragon Cypress, I remember you said you wanted to dig out this whole elm grove."

"Yeah~ almost did~ but luckily~"

Dragon Cypress shivered at the thought.

This elm grove was planted back in the Termite Kingdom days, all century-old trees, and Dragon Cypress had long since earmarked them for replacement.

But when the mutant Dome-Leafed Berberis appeared, in recent years Round Cypress, Black Leaf, Black Cory all got swamped with work and had no time to deal with it.

Who’d have thought~

Even old trees could sometimes produce random Divine-Given Seeds.

"We’ll be more cautious in the future, maybe extend the replacement cycle for great tall trees..."

Seeing Ink Orchid in "don’t let him off" mode, Dragon Cypress quickly changed the subject, asking:

"Black Leaf, is it just you guarding here? Where are Round Cypress and Black Birch?"

Black Leaf: "They’re busy transplanting the mutant Dome-Leafed Berberis."

"Are you managing?"

Without waiting for a reply, Dragon Cypress went on: "I’ve also got good news—among the specialized green ants bred these past years, one has shown the ability to cross evolutionary tiers, and will complete its second molt by early summer. It’s a clever one, named Black Peach."

"!!!"

Black Leaf and Ink Orchid’s antennae shot upright.

Dragon Cypress: "In the future, Black Cory, Black Leaf, Black Birch, and Black Peach—out of you four, only one or two need stay in Purple Tung Insect Nation. The rest can return to Xianglan Mountain or venture to other Lands of Origin Force. In short, travel around and broaden your horizons."

Black Leaf: "Alright—"

"Wow!"

Ink Orchid cheered, "Great King, swap me out quickly, I want to go back to Xianglan Mountain!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Ink Orchid spent most of each year guarding the Purple Tung Insect Nation, and was getting tired of it.

Dragon Cypress agreed readily: "No problem. Once I evolve to age period nine and master the vine-entwining ability, regardless of whether the Green Soldiers inherit it, I’ll prioritize mass cultivation in the Purple Tung Insect Nation. We’ll raise a fourth and fifth Green Soldiers Legion dedicated to protecting the White Poplar Divine Seed, and then you can move back to Xianglan Mountain in peace."