Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 522 - 502: The Sudden Arrival of the Jade Dragonfly Warrior

Chapter 522: Chapter 502: The Sudden Arrival of the Jade Dragonfly Warrior

Early winter.

Dragon Cypress sent Ink Orchid early to search through Swinging Leaf, Fragrant Silk, and Twin Pillar Islands.

Nothing was found.

He sent Ink Orchid back to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

Dragon Cypress infiltrated Molan Continent alone, lurking among the Thousand Reef Archipelago, at the farthest point from the mainland, east side of a large island with an area of 400 square kilometers, beneath the sea.

He observed and recorded the hunting activities and frequency of the Forest Beard Bee Kingdom on the island.

Over 70 days, he saw only one King-Level worker bee land on the island.

The bee swarm’s hunting activities were irregular; they probably only traveled to hunt when there wasn’t enough food.

He also witnessed a large Mountain Lord-level wasp swarm led by an Assistant King land on the island, searching for Divine-Given Seeds. The timing was about the same as last year; it was likely that the Little Bee King wasn’t busy this season and sent the swarm out.

Just needed to avoid them, and also finish searching the island before this Mountain Lord Little Bee King’s team arrived.

He still didn’t see any powerful Assistant King or vassal Insect Clan Warrior on the island.

Preliminary assessment: safe.

...

The cold winter of the Cloud Trace Continent was drawing to an end.

Dragon Cypress rushed back to the Purple Tung Insect Nation, picked up Yellow Stem and Ivy Vine to Xianglan Mountain, then used the Dominating Throne to help Little Rattan molt and evolve once.

It was still cold in the north,

So Dragon Cypress took Yellow Stem and Little Rattan, wandered around the Origin Force Lands of the south, met other Insect Clan Warriors, and broadened their experience.

...

A peaceful and uneventful year.

...

Another winter came.

Dragon Cypress searched Swinging Leaf, Fragrant Silk, and Twin Pillar Islands with Ink Orchid, but found nothing. Then he continued to lurk in the Thousand Reef Archipelago alone.

Still the same 400-square-kilometer island.

He observed continuously for three months.

Nothing unusual was discovered.

Basically confirmed safe.

...

In the new year’s spring trade,

The Spider King Spurge delivered the Divine-Grade Mountain Pillar Fruit granting Earth Talent as promised; Dragon Cypress ate it directly.

His debt increased by another 6 million.

He had been unable to repay the 6 million owed to White Ivy.

So the debt shifted to White Ivy, who did not charge interest, bringing the total debt to 12 million.

Since evolving to Evolution Lord Level, Dragon Cypress’s Life Seed Plant paused flowering and fruiting with no income, but his Origin Force Honey trade and Huagi Mountain Divine-Grade Fruit trade had not stopped. Annual income was still around 2.5 million Source Stones.

During the three years at Evolution Lord Level, he also saved up 4 million Source Stones worth of Earth System Divine-Given Origin Force Food, all processed into Ant King Honey and stored in the Huagi Mountain Treasury, now being consumed at a steady rate of ten thousand per day.

The Mountain Pillar Fruit was King Level, with only about a 45% success rate, less than half.

At Age Period 1 Lord stage maxed out, its edible value amounted to about 8 million Source Stones of Earth System Divine-Given Origin Force Food.

In total, he invested 14 million Source Stones; by the time he evolved to Age Period 2 Lord, the probability of awakening Earth Talent was pushed to an extreme of about 60%.

Eating this kind of Divine-Grade Fruit was a gamble.

If luck was good and it succeeded, he’d definitely have made a profit; if he could comprehend one or two Earth System Abilities along the way, it’d be a huge win.

On the other hand,

If luck was bad and he failed to awaken Earth Talent, the loss wasn’t just 14 million Source Stones, but also the opportunity to use Origin Force Food to strengthen himself during the Age Period 1 Lord stage. That’d be earth-shattering...

...

Time flew by; another year passed.

Winter,

Dragon Cypress once again went alone to the Thousand Reef Archipelago.

But this time, he was lurking on the east side of an island covering 150 square kilometers, observing for 90 days straight.

The King-Level bee swarm landed only twice to hunt.

Two swarms led by Mountain Lord-Level Assistant Kings landed once on schedule, searching for Divine-Given Seeds.

No other Origin Force Life was observed.

...

Areca Rainforest.

Before the Dominating Throne even entered the Land of Origin Force, Ink Orchid came up to greet him.

"Dragon Cypress, how did it go?"

"Confirmed safe!"

"Then next year, can I go with you?"

"Of course."

"Finally, I can."

Ink Orchid sighed, circled down to the Throne, and muttered, "Aren’t you being too cautious?"

Dragon Cypress: "Better to be cautious."

Ink Orchid immediately asked, "What about Tie Bush? What about the Divine-Given Seed of Swinging Leaf Ironheart Wood? So many years have passed; surely Fire Wheel Kingdom won’t be looking for you anymore?"

Tie Bush had always followed Black Leaf, spending spring and summer at Cold Orchid Mountain, in charge of sowing Black Peach No. 2 seeds and harvesting End of Summer fruits. In autumn and winter, she rested in the Areca Rainforest, sometimes returning to Xianglan Mountain for gatherings.

Tie Bush lived quite comfortably on the Cloud Trace Continent. This year she just evolved to Age Period 5 High-Level and was preparing to evolve rapidly toward Mountain Lord Level at a rate of one Age Period per year.

Dragon Cypress: "I already picked all the fruits of the Divine-Given Seed of Swinging Leaf Ironheart Wood; there’s no hurry these few years."

Ink Orchid: "Then now..."

Dragon Cypress: "Nothing else to do. Let’s go to Cold Orchid Mountain and see Tie Bush and Black Leaf."

...

After Dragon Cypress evolved to Evolution Lord Level, his Life Seed Plant, after three years of pausing flowers and fruits, grew rapidly to a new height. This spring, it began keeping flowers and fruits again.

Nothing else out of the ordinary happened.

Time flowed quietly by, another year passed.

The Dominating Throne carried Ink Orchid, diving into Molan Continent, making a small circuit before heading straight to Fragrant Silk Island.

They quickly finished searching Fragrant Silk and Twin Pillar Islands. The Dominating Throne flew high in the sky, heading straight for Swinging Leaf Island.

After searching Swinging Leaf Island, they fed and rested, adjusted their state, and set out at dawn, detouring slightly east, arriving at the Thousand Reef Archipelago by midnight.

They approached the 400-square-kilometer island slowly from the eastern deep sea.

At a distance of thirty kilometers, Dragon Cypress first used the Soul-Setting Ability to sense.

Safe.

Moved forward twenty kilometers, then used the Soul-Setting Ability again, covering the whole island.

Safe.

Made a half circle to the west side of the island and used the Soul-Setting Ability for a final detection.

"Ink Orchid, it’s safe. We’re good."

The Dominating Throne surfaced and skimmed above the sea, landing on the island.

In this completely unfamiliar place, Ink Orchid suddenly became cautious as well, "Dragon Cypress, how do we search?"

Dragon Cypress: "You go search the island."

Ink Orchid: "What if there’s danger, how do I escape?"

Dragon Cypress: "I’ll run first, you cover our retreat."

Ink Orchid: "???"

"Don’t be nervous, Ink Orchid."

Dragon Cypress turned, waggled his tentacles and pointed at the sea behind them, saying, "I’ll keep the Dominating Throne parked underwater. If you encounter any Origin Force Life, don’t hesitate, run away as fast as you can, and contact me with your Soul-Setting Ability at the same time. I’ll surface and pick you up. The water there is deep—if danger strikes, dive into the deep sea as best as you can; you’ll have a better chance to escape."

Dragon Cypress gave one last reminder: "Ink Orchid, don’t be greedy with time. Be back before dawn. We’ll hide underwater during the day and take action at night."

"Got it."

Ink Orchid kicked off and soared, flying low over the forest sea, vanishing quickly.

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to withdraw and hide underwater, using his Soul-Setting Ability to sense and confirm Ink Orchid’s location.

From time to time, he used his ability to sense, always paying close attention to Ink Orchid’s movements.

Ink Orchid dared not be careless either. In the predawn light on the northeastern skyline, she returned to the Throne.

The Dominating Throne dived into the deep sea and hid for a day.

At sunset, as the sun slipped below the sea, knowing that the bee swarm wouldn’t be coming, Dragon Cypress used his Soul-Setting Ability to check again, then bravely surfaced.

Ink Orchid beat her wings and flew straight toward the island, resuming the search from the previous night’s spot.

Suddenly,

Ink Orchid sensed something, dove into the jungle, six legs touching the ground, using her ability—Youlian Step—her form flickered like a shadow in the night, charging toward the shore.

At the same time, she triggered her Soul-Setting Ability to lock on to Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress immediately responded.

"Ink Orchid?"

"Origin Force Fluctuation! Other Origin Force Life!"

"???"

"Dragonfly Warrior! So fast, instantly appeared over the island."

"!!!"

Communication cut off.

——Seriously, how unlucky can we get?

Dragon Cypress was shocked, controlling the Dominating Throne to rise halfway out of the sea.

Intense Origin Force Fluctuation!

Looking up, in the darkness, a faint figure slanted down from high in the sky, falling toward the sea in an instant.

It abruptly hovered, intercepting the returning Ink Orchid.

Ink Orchid’s figure merged into the shadows, disappearing from view.

Dragonfly Warrior!

A giant dragonfly with wings spanning over six meters.

Emerald-green eyes, head, and thorax, while the abdomen was a metallic blue-green.

Its wings were transparent, and only the faintest outlines of the veins could be seen.

Dragon Cypress recognized it immediately: Jade Dragonfly!

In the inherited memory, among the over six thousand dragonfly species, this was the biggest branch.

Fierce predatory insect, highly adaptable, widely distributed—every continent in the Northern Hemisphere had this kind of dragonfly.

There are some in the Southern Hemisphere too?!

Why would a dragonfly come out at night?

The Jade Dragonfly Warrior seemed to have no ill intent, flapped its wings, flashed upward, and hovered in the sky, making way for Ink Orchid.

Its body slowly rotated, eyes glowing emerald-green, looking at Dragon Cypress in bewilderment.

After a brief panic, Dragon Cypress calmed down again.

The opponent’s degree of evolution was only Lord-Level, about the same as himself; if they really had to fight, it might not even be able to beat Ink Orchid.

The hidden Ink Orchid flashed several times, crossed the sea, and returned to the Throne, looking up at the sky.

The Jade Dragonfly Warrior flickered, dropping vertically to a low altitude of twenty to thirty meters above the sea, slowly approaching, keeping a three-hundred-meter safe distance from Dragon Cypress.

"Hello, may I ask if this is the Fire Wheel Island United Kingdom?"