Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 507 - 487: Evolution, Preparation

...

"Dragon Cypress, where are we going?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"I don’t know."

"Are we going to the Purple Tung Insect Nation to tell the Huagi Divine Tree the news?"

"What news?"

"The Fire Wheel Island United Kingdom, of course!"

"No need. It’s not like we can conquer it and take its place."

"They’re hunting us down!"

"If we get close and spy on any Ant Clan or Bee Clan Kingdom, we’ll be hunted. Besides, telling the Huagi Divine Tree won’t help; all it will do is warn us to be careful."

"Then..."

Ink Orchid tilted its head, wide-eyed in thought, circling back to the original question: "So where are we going now?"

Dragon Cypress: "...I don’t know."

The original plan had been to spend the entire winter exploring across the Molan Continent, to find and memorize the locations of every unclaimed wasteland island, and then bring Ink Orchid over for a full search.

The sudden turn of events threw the plan into chaos.

On Cloud Trace Continent, there was also nothing to do over the winter.

Dragon Cypress truly didn’t know where to go now.

Ink Orchid finally realized, right now, there was nothing to do.

"Dragon Cypress! Let’s go to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain!"

"Mm——"

The Dominating Throne turned direction.

Dragon Cypress asked casually, "What are we doing at Southern Sour Jujube Mountain?"

Ink Orchid retorted, "Aren’t you about to breakthrough to Lord-Level?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes."

Ink Orchid: "Little Wild Chestnut’s Divine-Given Seed is a bit stunted, you can use your Flourish Ability to help it grow. You can also help out my Sea Blue Tree and Ink Emperor Peach Divine-Given Seeds while you’re at it."

Dragon Cypress: "Okay——"

Ink Orchid asked, "Dragon Cypress, after you evolve to Evolution Lord Level, your soul will reach the Insect King Level. Then, exploring Molan Continent should be no problem, right?"

Dragon Cypress: "As long as we’re careful, it should be fine."

Ink Orchid was delighted, tilting its head, then asked, "Dragon Cypress, when you breakthrough to Lord-Level, will the ant colony riot?"

Dragon Cypress: "...Not sure."

Dragon Cypress: "There is a risk of failure with Great Rank breakthroughs. The Soldier Ants and Worker Ants raised by the Dominating Throne are more deeply soul-bonded to the Ant King. If the colony senses danger, they’ll instinctively gather around the Ant King to protect it."

Dragon Cypress: "In theory, reason can overcome instinct. At Mountain Lord Level, ants are much smarter than at High-Level..."

Dragon Cypress: "But still, it’s uncertain whether they’ll figure out what’s going on."

Ink Orchid: "Then you..."

Ink Orchid: "Then what about your Divine-Given Seeds? There are so many Divine-Given Seeds now, all spread out across the continent. If the ant colony riots and doesn’t know how to help, it could be trouble! Each Divine-Given Seed needs an Insect Guard standing by, ready to use Source Stones to replenish Origin Force."

Dragon Cypress: "Simple. I’ll go to White Lotus Lake to sleep and evolve, then invite all the trustworthy Insect Clan Warriors from Cloud Trace Continent to help. Two Insect Clan Warriors guard each God-Given Life Seed, that should be enough."

—Are there enough insects?

Ink Orchid racked its brains calculating.

...

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid stood guard at Southern Sour Jujube Mountain for two months.

Early spring came, and the weather warmed,

Dragon Cypress took Black Peach and Black Cory, and quickly completed the transplantation of Black Peach No.2 fruit seedlings from Cold Orchid Mountain.

Then came the roving merchant trades.

Wandering the continent in search of Divine-Given Seeds.

Transporting Source Stones.

After that, with nothing to do during the idle summer, Dragon Cypress brought along Tie Bush, traveled all over the north of Cloud Trace Continent, and visited the Divine God-Given Seeds rooted in Purple Tung Insect Nation.

And let the Divine God-Given Seeds rooted in Purple Tung Insect Nation also meet with the Blue Crab Warriors from the southern hemisphere’s tropical seas.

Everyone curiously observed each other, broadening their horizons.

They ended up staying for a while in Purple Tung Insect Nation.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid trained hard in combat skills under the guidance of the Linnan Divine Tree, letting it also give Tie Bush some pointers.

The crab’s two huge claws certainly looked mighty and impressive—maybe they’d come in handy...

A year slipped by in a flash.

At the end of winter,

Dragon Cypress began preparations to breakthrough to Lord-Level.

There were currently 10 God-Given Life Seeds in total, each one prepared with 100,000 Source Stones.

Cypress, Round Cypress, Black Birch, and Black Peach guarded the Purple Tung Insect Nation, looking after the White Poplar Divine Seed, with Spruce also staying in Purple Tung Insect Nation to help.

...

The three Divine-Given Seeds of Xianglan Mountain:

The Deep Blue God-Given Seed was guarded by Giant Cypress and Yellow Stem;

The Southern Gorgon Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Fragrant Cypress and Blue Catalpa;

The Black Yellow Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Silver Cypress and Snakebark Maple.

Spiked Cypress led troops alone, garrisoning Shanxi Reservoir and the mountain fortress.

...

The three Divine-Given Seeds of Molan Mountain:

Thunder Oak Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Ghost Fan and Woodberry;

North Elm Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Red Moonseed and Chinese Clematis;

Two Kings Ink Orchid Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Black Cory, White Willow, and Mountain Persimmon.

White Willow’s claws were clumsy and not very helpful, so they had to assign three Insect Clan Warriors.

...

The three Divine-Given Seeds of Southern Sour Jujube Mountain:

Red Cypress Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Mulberry and Areca.

Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed was guarded by White Rice and Black Rice.

Little Wild Chestnut Divine-Given Seed was guarded by Black Leaf and Tie Bush.

...

On Cloud Trace Continent, the trustworthy Insect Clan friends were just enough.

White Lotus Lake,

the ant colony was cleared out,

all preparations were in place.

Dragon Cypress ate and drank its fill, then entered the royal chamber specially established within the Ant Nest, feasting on Ant King Honey to make the final sprint.

Ink Orchid stood guard outside the cave.

Two days later, at dusk,

Origin Force Fluctuations began coming from the cave, and with Soul-Setting Ability, Dragon Cypress was found to have entered a sleep state.

...

"It’s begun!"

The White Poplar Divine Seed was the first to notice, giving a grave warning.

"It’s started!" Cypress whipped its tentacles, smacking Black Peach awake just as it had lain down to sleep.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King has started." Round Cypress reminded Spruce nearby, raising its head, tentacles outstretched, gazing toward the south.

Black Birch looked left and right, observing the reactions of the surrounding ant colony. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The ant colony was a beat slow, and only after a while did they seem to sense something; they all turned dully as one, staring toward White Lotus Lake, not quite sure what was going on.

Many ants were still secretly sleeping, mumbling awake and looking around in confusion.

Soul bonds disregard spatial distance.

On Xianglan Mountain, Molan Mountain, and Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, Dragon Cypress’s God-Given Life Seeds and the Assistant Kings all felt hints of resonance.

The ant colonies under the Divine-Given Seed Guardians, after a long period of bewilderment, gradually grew restless, sharing their unease: Is the Ant King evolving? Is the Ant King in danger, somewhere far away...

The ant colony lost control, ignoring the commands of Command Ants.

But they didn’t completely lose it; the distance was too great—they didn’t know how to reach the Ant King or dare leave their posts, so they circled anxiously in place.

...

Deep in the night.

The Deep Blue God-Given Seed accelerated its Origin Force absorption, forming a vacuum of Origin Force in the area, expanding without stop.

Giant Cypress and Yellow Stem, staying calm and unhurried, opened their Spider Silk Bags, waiting steadily.

Around them, the panicked Worker Ants suddenly found a goal and moved in, grabbing Source Stones without instruction, crushing them to release Origin Force.

Giant Cypress was momentarily stunned, exchanged a glance with Yellow Stem, then sped off toward Southern Gorgon Reservoir, "Fragrant Cypress, the Worker Ants aren’t out of control, come quick and command them!"

Before falling asleep, Dragon Cypress had prepared for two outcomes: one for the ant colony going out of control, with many Insect Clan Warriors helping; the other in case the colony didn’t lose control...

Fragrant Cypress received the message and rushed to Azure Blue Reservoir, waving its tentacles vigorously to give orders: Slow down! Slow down!

This time, the ant colony obeyed, slowing the rate at which they destroyed Source Stones to release Origin Force.

Fragrant Cypress whipped its tentacles, issuing a long string of commands.

The range of the Origin Force vacuum was kept to the embankment by Azure Blue Reservoir.

Black Yellow and Southern Gorgon followed, accelerating Origin Force absorption, entering sleep for evolution, forming Origin Force vacuums around their trunks...

Fragrant Cypress raced around, commanding Worker Ants near Black Yellow and Southern Gorgon to use Source Stones, releasing Origin Force.

Similar situations also arose at the other three Lands of Origin Force.

On Molan Mountain, Black Cory commanded.

On Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, Black Leaf commanded.

With the ant colonies doing the labor, the Insect Clan friends brought in for backup didn’t need to get their own claws dirty.