Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 483 - 463: Black Peach No. 1

North Elm is a highly cold-resistant plant.

Dragon Cypress ate and drank their fill, recovered physical strength, boarded the Dominating Throne carrying Black Peach, and headed straight for Molan Mountain.

...

"Thunder Oak!"

"Dragon Cypress! You’ve reached Age Period 9?"

"Yes."

"Congratulations. Congratulations. Only one step away from Lord-Level."

"Ha. Ha. Same to you. Same to you. We’ll advance to Evolution Lord Level together."

"Still missing one Divine-Given Seed."

"That’s not hard. No rush. Black Peach and Mutant Dome Leaf Berberis are already being cultivated at scale..."

The Dominating Throne stopped beneath the Divine-Given Seed tree of Thunder Oak.

Dragon Cypress waved his tentacles, and unleashed two Flourish Abilities with a swish and a sweep.

"We’ll evolve together..."

Thunder Oak’s attention shifted toward Black Peach.

"How many leap evolutions has Black Peach completed?"

"Five. Only the final one remains."

"When?"

"In about a month."

Dragon Cypress looked up and gazed.

Currently, the Thunder Oak Divine-Given Seed was just over sixty meters tall, beginning to bloom and bear fruit.

Both are Elemental System, but Thunder Oak and Little Wild Chestnut are opposites.

Little Wild Chestnut grows slowly, with a short trunk, but is highly productive, branches heavy with fruit.

Thunder Oak grows rapidly, very tall, yet only sparsely bears some two thousand fruits on its branches.

The acorns are also small, a rare, low-yield Great Tall Tree.

Fortunately, Divine-Given Origin Force Food of the Thunder System fetches a high price, so returns won’t be too low.

"Black Peach, go check each Ant Nest and see if there are any lazy Specialized Green Ants."

Black Peach glanced around, "...Understood! Great King."

"Thunder Oak. I’m going to check on Senior Orchid Mantis and Junior Orchid."

Dragon Cypress grabbed Black Peach, leapt to the ground, made brief arrangements, then walked to the Divine-Given Seed of Two Kings Ink Orchid.

Before approaching, an angry spiritual power and thought drifted over.

"Junior Orchid, what’s wrong now?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you angry if nothing’s wrong?"

"Just get angry when I see you."

A completely impossible-to-communicate-with Divine-Given Seed.

Dragon Cypress tapped with his tentacles, casting two bursts of Flourish Ability at the edge branches.

"Give it two more."

"None left."

The spiritual power of Two Kings Ink Orchid withdrew, focusing all energy on channeling the Flourish Ability’s power to the mother plant.

Dragon Cypress stood nearby, watched a while, then turned to the Divine-Given Seed of Great King Molan.

"Senior Orchid Mantis!"

Dragon Cypress reached out with spiritual power to greet.

Senior Orchid replied with a cordial and urging intent.

Dragon Cypress lightly tapped his tentacles, two bursts of Flourish Ability fell down.

At Evolution Age Period 9, the Flourish Ability could now be cast six times in a row, but that’s the upper limit. One must eat, sunbathe, or rest to recover.

Dragon Cypress climbed to the mountaintop and looked down from above.

The twelve sub-branches near the mother plant, twelve pods, had, in the heat of this summer, just finished their first round of fruit swelling, reaching two to three centimeters long.

Slender, with pointed tips.

Within each pod, a single Divine-Grade Molan Seed is nurtured.

Fruit development is extremely slow.

Molan must wait for this batch of Divine-Grade Molan Seeds to mature before advancing to Lord-Level.

It may take a long, long time.

Dragon Cypress carefully checked each sub-branch, confirmed growth was good, sent a calming pulse to Senior Orchid, then kicked off and sprang into the air, gliding toward the hill 1,200 meters southwest of Thunder Oak’s Divine-Given Seed.

Thunder Oak, Junior Orchid, and North Elm’s three Divine-Given Seeds formed a skewed triangle, with North Elm and Junior Orchid kept at a safe distance of 1,500 meters.

Dragon Cypress buried his head, dug a shallow pit three centimeters deep with his forelegs, and spat out the North Elm Divine-Given Seed.

He covered and buried it.

Taking flight again, he manipulated an ultra-giant water sphere five meters in diameter from the gully at the base of the hill, guiding it to the hillock.

The giant water sphere split into three, then three into nine...

With powerful spiritual force, it was precisely controlled, transforming rapidly into tens of thousands of raindrops, thoroughly irrigating the mound in just one go.

Black Peach timidly mingled among the crowd of Soldier Ants and Blue Soldiers, leading the ant colony over.

"Great King! I’ve checked, no Green Ants were lazy."

"Command the Soldier Ants and Blue Soldiers, make groups of three to five, scatter and guard the periphery."

"Yes, Great King."

Black Peach waved his tentacles, issuing orders.

Dragon Cypress lay nearby, waiting quietly.

...

Early winter on Molan Mountain, the temperature was not yet very low.

One day later, the seed sprouted and broke through the soil.

Black Peach directed Worker Ants to bring Source Stones forward and supplement Origin Force.

The young shoot developed quickly.

Five days later, the seed grew into a half-meter high seedling.

On Dragon Cypress’s directive, Black Peach commanded two Specialized Green Ants to step forward and release their Flourish Ability on it.

Meanwhile, the first batch of twelve Ant Eggs was produced. Dragon Cypress split them into two groups, stimulated them with pheromones, fostering development into Specialized Green Soldiers and Large Green Soldiers.

First, determine the ability of the Green Soldiers.

Dragon Cypress would focus on breeding Specialized Green Ants, planning to equip North Elm with 300, thirty per group, taking turns using the Flourish Ability to aid its rapid growth.

Seven more days later,

The ant eggs hatched.

The North Elm Divine-Given Seed had grown into a one-meter-tall sapling.

Daily Source Stone consumption increased to three hundred pieces.

The specialized Green Ant team from Thunder Oak’s Divine-Given Seed was temporarily reassigned, reorganized into groups of five, taking turns morning and evening to release the Flourish Ability.

Half a month later,

Black Peach fell into slumber, completed a sixth leap evolution, similar to the transformation Black Birch underwent in the past: body length reduced to about a meter, evolution level dropped to Age Period 1 High-Level, completed the form of a Command Ant, and could now evolve by feeding on Origin Force Food.

North Elm Divine-Given Seed, under the triple boost of Source Stone, Divine-Given Remains, and the Flourish Ability, shot up quickly past two meters tall.

Cold winds from the north howled.

The temperature plummeted.

The North Elm Divine-Given Seed entered dormancy, growth halted.

After several days of cold rain, the weather cleared and slightly warmed up. North Elm roused from dormancy, but growth had not resumed. It absorbed sunlight, stored energy, and waited, ready to burst forth.

Spring winds blew, all things revived.

The North Elm Divine-Given Seed surged in growth.

In the Ant Nest, six Large Green Soldiers emerged, carapaces pitch black, with three green rings on their abdomens, directly indicating that they’d inherited Flourish, Forest Symbiont, and Bean Vine Entanglement abilities.

Fed with Amaranthus Spinosa, their carapaces turned green.

Taken to test in the orchard under the trees.

Six Large Green Soldiers joined forces to perform the Bean Vine Entanglement Ability, barely reaching one-tenth Dragon Cypress’s strength—a very promising result.

...

Last year’s Black Peach Tree Seed harvest reached as many as 8 million.

million delivered to Xianglan Mountain, 2 million to Black Lotus Lake, 2 million kept at Molan Mountain.

Dragon Cypress instructed Black Peach, Black Peach directed the ant colony, soaked the seeds in warm water, and sowed them in the Molan Mountain Nursery.

Results in just over half a month.

Total failure.

Then to Black Lotus Lake—same result.

First send Black Cory to Jianlan Plain, continue pioneering new land.

Dragon Cypress returned to Xianglan Mountain to inspect...

"Dragon Cypress!"

Just entering the Land of Origin Force, Azure’s spiritual power came surging over, the emotional flavor thick with joy.

Dragon Cypress’s heart leapt. "Azure, what’s the good news?"

Azure: "Black Peach! Cultivated seedling!"

Dragon Cypress: "!!"

How many years!

Finally succeeded?

"Azure, where? Let me see!"

"Nursery No. 219. Dragon Cypress, don’t celebrate too soon—it’s still a deformed, weak seedling."

"Uh..."

At these words, Dragon Cypress’s initial surge of joy vanished completely.

East of Black Lotus Lake, the hill that once held Black Emperor Peach and Silver Cypress Tree had been hollowed out and converted into a nursery.

The entire mountaintop was nothing but bare yellow earth.

On a hillside plot, a crowd of Soldier Ants and Worker Ants gathered.

A touch of green rested in one corner.

Fragrant Cypress stood guard nearby.

"Great King!"

Fragrant Cypress enthusiastically waved his tentacles, hopping to greet, "Great King, look, a seedling cultivated from Black Peach Tree Seed!"

"Good——"

Dragon Cypress parked the Dominating Throne, leapt to the ground, strode over for a closer look.

Also a just ten-odd-centimeter-long deformed sapling, sprawled close to the ground, propped up with bifurcated twigs, guided upward as it grew.

Only five leaves: sickly yellow-green, wrinkled, tips curled.

At the shoot tip, new bright green leaf buds were developing, looking much more vigorous.

Azure: "I had a Specialized Green Ant give it a Flourish Ability once, then added my Water System Energy Field—the state improved noticeably."

Fragrant Cypress: "A deformed weakling, but at least it survived—if it survives, there’s hope."

Indeed!

So long as it lives, there is hope.

Dragon Cypress: "I’ve been pondering—why can’t Black Peach Tree Seeds develop into healthy seedlings? I think there must be a flaw or loss in ’inheritance’, or perhaps disrupted sequence."

Dragon Cypress: "All life has its self-regulating, repairing, and adapting abilities. This deformed sapling may have partially patched those flaws, or partly repaired the disrupted inherited information and corrected the disorder. But not fully—never fully restored or corrected."

Azure: "By that logic, even this deformed sapling is a huge step forward! I’ll use Bud Cultivation Technique, produce lots of new seedlings, and spread them on a large scale."

Dragon Cypress: "No. No rush. Azure, cultivate only a thousand samples first, plant them at Xianglan Mountain. Let’s observe, confirm if they can grow and survive, flower and fruit normally, and—most importantly—if the seeds can develop into new peach trees."

Dragon Cypress: "Once these conditions are met, then we can consider large-scale promotion."

Azure thought for a moment, then praised, "Dragon Cypress, you are absolutely right!"

Fragrant Cypress asked, "Great King, should we dig up the old generation of Black Peach Trees on Xianglan Mountain?"

Dragon Cypress: "Dig up half, leave the rest for grafting."

Fragrant Cypress: "Yes!"

Dragon Cypress pointed at the deformed sapling in front. "To make it easier to track, let’s call this one ’Black Peach No. 1.’ Any future big breakthroughs will become ’Black Peach No. 2,’ ’Black Peach No. 3,’ and so on, until we trigger the Divine-Given condition and obtain the Divine-Given Seed."

Fragrant Cypress: "Understood, Great King."

Fragrant Cypress: "Great King, should we still sow the peach kernels from the old generation Black Peach Trees?"

Dragon Cypress: "Of course. Maybe we’ll select better, stronger seedlings."

Fragrant Cypress’s energetic tentacles drooped as he sighed, "Cultivating Black Peach is ten times harder than we thought!"

The difficulty had indeed far surpassed expectations.

Dragon Cypress: "Fragrant Cypress, don’t rush. Maybe we’re already halfway there—success may be right in front of us."

Fragrant Cypress: "Understood, Great King."

Fragrant Cypress: "Great King, it’s time for another trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchant."

Dragon Cypress: "Azure will command the ant colony and guard Black Peach No. 1. Fragrant Cypress, go back up the mountain, get your pack, and organize the team."