Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 520 - 500: This Shield Grasshopper Wants to Eat Meat

Chapter 520: Chapter 500: This Shield Grasshopper Wants to Eat Meat

"Dragon Cypress!"

"Ink Orchid!"

"Did that Flame Spider leave?"

"It’s still ambushing me."

"Huh?"

"It left."

"Oh——"

"Trying to play with me? It can’t beat me at my own game."

"Uh... what about the seed?"

Ink Orchid spiraled down onto the Throne, opened the Spider Silk Bag, took out the large Metal Case, and opened it up.

Inside lay a tiny, pale yellow, flat round seed woven with golden Origin Force patterns.

"Wow!"

"Dragon Cypress, you’re amazing!"

Ink Orchid praised with gusto, ducked down, rolled its tongue, and swept the seed into its Life Pouch.

"Finally, I can evolve!"

Ink Orchid cheered, "Evolution! Evolution! Evolution!"

...

On Cloud Trace Continent, Ghost Fan, White Rice, Dragon Cypress, Fuzzy Flower, Spruce, and Mountain Persimmon had all successfully evolved to Lord-Level in succession.

The other insects capable of evolving to Lord-Level had started actively preparing too.

Back in the day, that tiny Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple picked up from White Lotus Lake were already 9 Age Period Mountain Lords, even planning to evolve into Lords now...

The Assistant Kings at Xianglan Mountain were also getting ready to evolve into Lord-Level, one after another...

Unsurprisingly, Ink Orchid was falling behind in evolution on all fronts.

Ink Orchid wasn’t at all willing to lag so far behind...

After tossing and turning for over a month, it finally managed to get the Fey Oil Fruit Divine-Given Seed into the Life Pouch.

...

...

...

Purple Tung Insect Nation,

Ink Orchid began preparations to evolve to the 8 Age Period.

Dragon Cypress, meanwhile, kept focusing on training the Green Soldiers.

A heavy rainstorm washed away the fiery summer heat.

The twilight air was fresh and cool.

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, Yellow Stem, Cypress, Round Cypress, Black Birch, along with Wuye, Pueraria and a bunch of Barley Bug Warriors, all gathered idly on the River Canal lawn for a picnic and some chatting.

For some reason, Ink Orchid dug out its long-unused Rose Halo again, showed it off for a bit, then passed it on to Wuye and Pueraria.

An Outworld Civilization Artifact; a fresh and interesting novelty.

The Rose Halo was passed around among the Barley Bug Warriors...

The conversation topics were just as dull—what kind of fruit trees were planted where this year; which fruit trees had flowers and fruit, and how much fruit was harvested this year; some fruits tasted great, planning to plant more; or if a fruit tree was doing badly, how it was dealt with...

There were endless topics to discuss when it came to territory management.

In the Purple Tung Insect Nation, when there wasn’t much going on, everyone often sat and chatted like this.

A patrol of Green Soldiers walked by.

The three Lord-Level Green Soldiers in the lead waved their tentacles in greeting.

"Greetings, Great King!"

"Greetings, Second King!"

"Great King, is there any meat?"

"Nope. Get lost."

...

Compared to those at Mountain Lord Level, the Lord-Level Specialized Ants were much smarter and more lively.

Also quite cheeky,

The group marched down the ant trail, and the three Lord-Level Green Soldiers at the head intentionally waved their tentacles to rustle the grass along the path. Waves of Common Shield Katydids cultivated by Yellow Stem were startled, leaping two or three meters high, then circling and gliding back down into the grass.

One Little Shield Grasshopper was especially good at flying, glided more than ten meters, and landed straight into the boiling hot stone pot.

Cypress reacted quickly, flicked its tentacles and caught the Little Shield Grasshopper, then flicked again, handing it over to Yellow Stem.

"Boss Yellow, this is one of your kind. Seems like it wants meat, too."

Dragon Cypress lobbed in a jab right away, "Kind of wild how it eats—just dove straight into the pot."

Yellow Stem: "......"

Yellow Stem: "Just toss it aside, it’s fine."

Dragon Cypress was pondering a good comeback when Ink Orchid suddenly shot up.

"Eh?!"

Ink Orchid blinked in surprise, exclaiming, "Boss Yellow! This Little Shield Grasshopper has an Origin Force Fluctuation!"

Yellow Stem: "???"

Dragon Cypress: "???"

Origin Force Fluctuation?!

Little Warrior?

Now that’s huge!

Dozens of eyes all swiveled sharply toward Cypress’s tentacle.

This Little Shield Grasshopper seemed pretty sharp, too—kicked off and leaped straight onto Yellow Stem’s forehead.

A dozen strands of spiritual power instantly shifted focus to the top of Yellow Stem’s head.

Ink Orchid: "Not a Little Warrior..."

Yellow Stem: "Origin Force Fluctuation?"

Dragon Cypress: "I don’t feel anything. Cypress, how about you?"

"Nope."

Cypress shook its tentacles.

"Nope."

Round Cypress and Black Birch shook their tentacles too.

Ink Orchid insisted again, "Not a Little Warrior, but there’s definitely an extremely faint Origin Force Fluctuation on it..."

Ink Orchid: "None of you can sense it?"

Dozens of tentacles all waved together.

Ink Orchid: "..."

Dragon Cypress, speaking gravely, asked: "Yellow Stem, regular Little Shield Grasshoppers are fully grown at 5 or 6 Age Periods?"

"That’s right—"

Yellow Stem’s mind moved fast too and instantly caught Dragon Cypress’s meaning, explaining, "This one is exactly 5 Age Periods."

The five-age Little Grasshopper kicked and jumped into the grass.

Dragon Cypress eyed it, then said with a long sigh, "So far, Ink Orchid’s perception of Origin Force Fluctuations has never been wrong. If this Little Grasshopper has an Origin Force Fluctuation, doesn’t that mean... there’s a shot at it undergoing a metamorphosis into an Origin Force Life?"

Ink Orchid: "Maybe; the chances seem even higher."

"That’s what I was thinking..."

Yellow Stem wolfed down the food on the wooden plate made from the Divine-Given Keg Vine Seed, stood up, slowly turned, locking both spiritual power and gaze onto the Little Grasshopper.

The Little Grasshopper burrowed through the grass, bouncing and sprinting to a spot it thought was safe, climbed up a blade of grass, hid behind a leaf, and began munching away.

Looked just as ordinary as before.

A swarm of spiritual power followed, then gradually traced away.

Ink Orchid said seriously, "This is the first time I’ve sensed an Origin Force Fluctuation on an ordinary insect. Boss Yellow, if you’re not busy, I suggest you keep your eye on it."

Dragon Cypress chimed in, now quite serious, "If you’re busy, I’ll keep watch. When it evolves into a Shield Grasshopper Little Warrior one day, I’ll bring it back to Xianglan Mountain."

Yellow Stem: "...I’m not busy."

Yellow Stem was getting suspicious.

He seriously doubted Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were pulling his leg.

But Little Warriors were a big deal—nothing to joke about...

Yellow Stem: "I’ll put in some time to watch it..."

...

From then on, Boss Yellow was often missing from the twilight riverside gatherings and chats.

At first, everyone was pretty invested.

But Little Warriors don’t show up that easily; it was completely up in the air, and everyone gradually forgot about it.

Most of Ink Orchid’s time was spent sprawled out on the Dominating Throne, madly absorbing Origin Force, nurturing the Divine-Given Fey Oil Fruit Seed.

Dragon Cypress, with nothing else going on, lounged beneath the White Poplar Divine Seed tree, endlessly using Water Creation Ability in repetition.

The ability conjured fresh water, which Dragon Cypress shaped at will into plants or animals, then flung with precise control, dropping them dead-center into the giant stone pot reserved for large gatherings in the distance.

Then one day, suddenly—

From the direction of the Linnan Divine Tree erupted a surge of violent Origin Force Fluctuation.

Dragon Cypress’s tentacle paused mid-action.

Next, in the directions of the Jinhe Divine Seed and the Huagi Divine Tree, waves of strange Origin Force Fluctuations erupted too.

Dragon Cypress stood up in confusion.

Cypress, not far away, also got up. "Great King, something seems to be happening? But it’s not a fight."

Dragon Cypress: "Go over there and find out."

Cypress darted toward the nearest Jinhe Divine Seed.

Quickly, Cypress ran back.

"Great King! Great King! Good news!"

"Shield Grasshopper Little Warrior! That one that dove for the pot to eat meat last time!"

"Second King is awesome! That little grasshopper really did evolve into a Little Warrior."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

Soul-Setting Ability activated, scanning.

Yellow Stem was hopping helter-skelter, dashing toward the Huagi Divine Tree.

Dragon Cypress: "Let’s go! Go have a look!"