Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 510 - 490 The Great King Runs the Fastest

After Dragon Cypress evolved to Evolution Lord Level, the most important improvement was that the speed of the Dominating Throne’s flight nearly doubled.

Setting out from White Lotus Lake, after traveling through the night, he returned to Xianglan Mountain by morning the next day.

Basking in the gentle dawn light,

Dragon Cypress keenly sensed an abnormality in the carapace.

On the surface of the carapace, the ’Leaf Factor’ sourced from the Quandong Divine Tree was absorbing light energy while simultaneously drawing Primordial Energy and nutrients in reverse from Dragon Cypress’s body, seemingly dividing and growing.

The previously uncovered parts of the membranous wings gradually turned green.

The carapace, which had become somewhat pale before, was growing deeper and richer in green color bit by bit.

—The Leaf Factor can now grow autonomously!

—Is this what true symbiosis means?!

Dragon Cypress was shocked, having no mind to look into it for now.

There were more pressing matters at hand.

He greeted the bugs he had invited for help, with Ink Orchid taking the lead in welcoming everyone.

Arranged for Fragrant Cypress and Giant Cypress to prepare feast ingredients.

Checked on the evolution states of Azure, Southern Gorgon, and Black Yellow—the three Divine-Given Seeds, and examined the vigor of the common Life Seed plants.

Then hurried to Molan Mountain to check on Thunder Oak, Junior Orchid, and North Elm—the three Divine-Given Seeds there, making several round trips to bring Black Cory and other bugs who had come to help to Xianglan Mountain.

Next, he made his way to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to check the states of Red Cypress, Little Wild Chestnut, and Round Leaf Keg Vine—the three Divine-Given Seeds, also making several round trips to bring Black Leaf and all the other helpers to Xianglan Mountain.

A grand banquet was held by the side of the Shandong Reservoir.

Although it was early spring and still rather chilly, nobody was in a rush to handle territory matters.

They ate, drank, and roamed about,

Celebrating for three days,

Only then did Dragon Cypress escort everyone back to their respective territories one by one.

For the last two trips,

Dragon Cypress took Ink Orchid, Black Peach, Mountain Persimmon, Yellow Stem, Red Moonseed, and Chinese Clematis to the Purple Tung Insect Nation.

The Purple Tung Insect Nation also invited warriors from the Barley Bug Tribe to join in, holding a celebratory feast lasting three more days.

...

After the banquet,

Mountain Persimmon, Yellow Stem, and Red Moonseed returned to their mountains.

Ink Orchid went to Huagi Mountain to tend to her Red Phellodendron Divine Seed.

Chinese Clematis insisted on staying behind to help Pueraria manage her territory.

...

The jungle, after days of excitement, returned to peace.

Dragon Cypress led Black Peach to the base of the Linnan Divine Tree.

The Linnan Divine Tree sharply sensed the Ant’s ill intent and furiously roared, "Scram!"

Jinhe and the Purple Tung Divine Seed’s spiritual power also came over, watching in silence.

Dragon Cypress walked calmly to the base of the Linnan Divine Seed tree, looked up, and said, "Linnan Divine Tree, if you take a closer look at my carapace, after I’ve evolved to Lord Level, the Forest Symbiont has undergone a qualitative change."

Linnan Divine Tree: "Damn ant! You’ve fused Quandong’s leaf!"

Dragon Cypress: "Not me. It’s the Forest Symbiont ability that fused with the Quandong Divine Tree’s leaf, merged as one. It’s not just a simple fusion—it can now, according to my needs and state, absorb sunlight and grow by division."

Dragon Cypress: "The Aconite Spider King who sold me the Thousand-Layer Fruit didn’t say this would happen. It can’t be that he didn’t know, and it can’t be that he didn’t say. The only possibility is... mutation!"

Dragon Cypress twisted his head, snapped his jaws, and dragged the cowering Black Peach hiding behind him up to the front.

"Linnan Divine Tree, aren’t you at all curious? Why did such a mutation happen? Could it be that it takes a leaf from a Divine-Given Seed that surpasses King-Level? Would only leaves from the Quandong Divine Tree work? What about other leaves? Does this mutation only happen when evolving from Mountain Lord Level to Lord Level? Or during a Great Rank breakthrough? Is it a coincidence or inevitable?"

"Linnan Divine Tree, look, Black Peach inherited the ’Forest Symbiont’ ability and is about to slumber and evolve to Evolution Mountain Lord Level. She’s the perfect subject to test the ability! All we’re missing now are some leaves."

Linnan Divine Tree: "I’m not the kind of tree who’s curious about everything. The Huagi Divine Tree is secretly watching over here. I suggest you not pick its leaves. I don’t want to talk to you. Go away."

Jinhe Divine Seed, curiosity getting the better of him, asked in confusion, "Little Ant, didn’t the Quandong Divine Tree allow you to pick its leaves?"

Dragon Cypress: "Trees are vastly different from each other. The Quandong Divine Tree is too gentle. Black Peach is timid; I hope she can, by fusing with a leaf from the Linnan Divine Tree, inherit a bit of Linnan Divine Tree’s courageous fighting will and profound battle wisdom."

Solemn nonsense~

Jinhe Divine Seed almost laughed.

The Purple Tung Divine Seed was still a bit young, and not hesitant to ask questions it didn’t understand, so it asked seriously, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, can you really gain battle will and strategy by fusing a Divine Tree’s leaves? That doesn’t make sense, does it?"

"Ha~ ha~ ha~"

Jinhe Divine Seed finally couldn’t hold it in.

Linnan Divine Tree growled in fury, "Ant! One more word and I’ll skewer you two to death."

Dragon Cypress hurriedly raised a claw in a calming gesture and said seriously, "Just joking, trying to liven up the mood. Linnan Divine Tree, don’t be angry. I mean no harm, just want to test a little, to see if your leaves might work."

Dragon Cypress: "If not, when Black Peach becomes Lord-Level, I’ll just go ask Quandong Divine Tree for some leaves."

From the main trunk of Linnan Divine Tree, a bright silver spike slowly protruded, glimmering coldly, Primordial Energy gathering, ready to strike; terrifying oppression filled the air, enveloping Dragon Cypress and Black Peach.

"Farewell!"

Dragon Cypress decisively turned away. "Black Peach, let’s..."

No need for urging—Black Peach ducked her head and ran for her life.

Dragon Cypress: "..."

You run even faster than the Great King does?!

Dragon Cypress, annoyed, sped up to catch up and whipped his tentacles the whole way.

The Huagi Divine Tree’s spiritual mind drifted over, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, come over here."

"Oh——"

Dragon Cypress was delighted inside, suddenly stopping, sweeping out his wings and flipping Black Peach over, scolding, "Go back and reflect on your mistakes! I’ll deal with you later."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Bring Black Peach along as well."

Dragon Cypress: "...Okay."

Dragon Cypress, taking Black Peach, came together to the base of the Huagi Divine Tree.

Up close,

The Huagi Divine Tree’s spiritual power scanned back and forth over Dragon Cypress for quite a while before saying:

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, climb up and try picking five of my needled leaves."

"Alright!"

Dragon Cypress climbed the tree, picked five needled leaves, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed them up, and swallowed. He activated the Forest Symbiont ability, using Wood Primordial Energy to break them down, absorb...

The carried plant factors in the carapace were saturated, unable to take in more.

The next moment,

A dark green powder precipitated out.

The just-swallowed leaves of Huagi Divine Tree were forced out.

"This..."

Dragon Cypress’s eyes lit up and darkened, his heart turning uncertain in an instant.

This was against the usual rules.

The basic rule for forest symbiont’s leaf fusion: newcomers exclude old ones, and strong ones exclude weak ones.

Huagi Divine Tree’s evolution level is a whole Great Rank above Linnan and Quandong Divine Trees, and it was added last, so why was it Huagi Divine Tree’s leaves that got expelled?

Is Quandong Divine Tree a Divine Grade, but Huagi Divine Tree isn’t?

The main reason Dragon Cypress didn’t want to pick Huagi Divine Tree’s leaves was because its dignity brooked no offense; the second was, indeed, because it wasn’t Divine Grade...

Huagi Divine Tree spoke sternly: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, go pick two leaves from Linnan’s tree and test."

"Yes—"

Dragon Cypress answered meekly.

Huagi Divine Tree didn’t like beating around the bush—straight talker, never jokes.

Linnan Divine Tree didn’t object, so it counted as tacit approval; he just simmered quietly and now and then exuded murderous intent.

Dragon Cypress tapped Black Peach with his tentacle, "You’re fast—go, pick two leaves off Linnan Divine Tree."

Black Peach: "???"

Black Peach: "Great King is fastest! Black Peach is weak, Black Peach runs slowly."

Dragon Cypress raised his tentacles threateningly, as if to strike.

Black Peach immediately turned and ran.

She dashed to the Linnan Divine Seed, climbed the trunk with trembling legs, picked two leaves, clenched them in her mandibles, and made a mad dash back.

"Great King, I risked my life to pick these for you."

"Save your breath. I’ll deal with you later."

Dragon Cypress took the leaves, chewed them up with Primordial Energy, and swallowed them.

Another layer of deep green powder precipitated out.

Linnan Divine Tree’s leaf factors had also been expelled!

Huagi Divine Tree: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, you’re understanding your ’Forest Symbiont’ changes wrong."

Huagi Divine Tree analyzed: "The flora and fauna are two different life interfaces, a world apart. Plants can’t fuse with animals; Quandong’s leaves can’t fuse with ants. They can only become part of the ’Forest Symbiont’ and can’t be called ’fusion.’ This is a ’symbiosis’ mediated by the ability."

"This situation is not a mutation, but an inevitable change—a regular change that happens after the ’Forest Symbiont’ ability reaches a certain degree. Normally, after surpassing King-Level in evolution, this ability can form a true ’symbiosis’ with a single Divine-Given Seed of matching evolutionary level."

"Symbiotic objects are unique—which means, only one Divine-Given Seed can be chosen for symbiosis, and once chosen, it can’t be changed."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Also, the essence of the ’Forest Symbiont’ ability is the life level of the used leaf. Quandong Divine Tree satisfied the trigger condition... so it was triggered early!"

Huagi Divine Tree: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, this is also related to your breakthrough to Lord-Level and your soul level surpassing King-Level. Multiple factors together, preliminarily fulfilling the trigger conditions."

Huagi Divine Tree’s analysis was sharp and comprehensive—everything was basically clear.

"So that’s how it is!"

Dragon Cypress clicked his tongue, sincerely admiring the Huagi Divine Tree.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Huagi Divine Tree, should Black Peach try?"

Huagi Divine Tree: "She can give it a try, but as an Assistant King, with such a low level, there’s almost no chance of success. Has Ink Orchid eaten Divine-Grade Six Paths Fruit? And planning to use Divine-Grade Thousand-Layer Fruit, too? Ink Orchid is the best verification subject."

Dragon Cypress: "...Yes... understood... but..."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Let this Assistant King pick some leaves from me, and some from Linnan, spread out the pressure, so there won’t be obvious negative effects."

Dragon Cypress: "Okay—"

Huagi Divine Tree: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, I think what’s really worth verifying and looking forward to, is whether your Green Soldiers and Green Ants can fully inherit the ’Forest Symbiont’ ability you now command."

Dragon Cypress: "Huagi Divine Tree, you are wise! I’m in the process of testing it! Results should be in about twenty days."

Huagi Divine Tree: "I’m more interested in that. From my observations, the probability of passing it to the Green Soldiers and Green Ants is very high."

Dragon Cypress: "Thanks for your blessing! Once I have results, I’ll report to you right away."

After a long silence, still annoyed about losing two leaves and about to lose countless more, the quietly sulking Linnan Divine Tree couldn’t help but marvel at the conversation:

"Foolish ant, if this succeeds, your Green Soldiers and Green Ants will be something incredible! Especially the Green Ants—would their Flourish Ability frequency go from once every ten days to several times a day? That’s dozens of times more!"

That’s right!

If it works, the Green Ants would reach a true qualitative leap!

Dragon Cypress said cheerfully, "If it works, I’ll assign a thousand Green Ants each to Huagi, Linnan, and Quandong Divine Trees, using Flourish Ability on you every single day to help you evolve and grow."

Linnan Divine Tree snapped, "Only a thousand? Stingy ant."

Dragon Cypress immediately added, "When I have a chance, I’ll assign you ten thousand."