Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 532 - 511: Golden Key Tree

Evening.

As the sun set below the horizon, the ant colonies scattered across the island jungles clocked out right on time and returned to their nests.

...

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid didn’t dare be careless. They patiently waited until deep into the night before setting out, finding the right position, choosing the wind direction, and retracting the Dominating Throne.

"Ink Orchid, remember to hold your breath. Don’t leave behind any scent."

Dragon Cypress reminded.

"I know!"

Ink Orchid responded confidently, "When it comes to concealing scent, Flower Mantis warriors are ten thousand times better than ants."

An ant’s sense of smell is ultra-sensitive; even a trace of scent from breathing could be caught by them.

But, ants probably can’t fly...

So far, Soul-Setting Ability only detected ants...

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid weren’t particularly worried. They held their breath and quietly landed on the island.

Ink Orchid led the way, following the Origin Force fluctuations, quickening their pace.

Traversing mountains and ridges, they arrived at an orchard cultivated on a sloping hillside.

Row after row, neatly planted, the fruit trees stood just over ten meters tall, their branches laden with green fruits the size of peas.

What kind of fruit trees are these?

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid stopped simultaneously, searching their inherited memories.

Dragon Cypress: "Golden Key Tree?"

Ink Orchid: "Thick-leaved Golden Key Tree?"

Dragon Cypress: "Doesn’t look like it. Clearly, this is an ant-cultivated variant—can’t say exactly what the species is called."

Ink Orchid: "Let’s just call it Golden Key Tree."

Ink Orchid waved her tentacles, signaling Dragon Cypress to follow.

They carefully made their way through the orchard and finally stopped under a rather inconspicuous tree.

This was a very high-yield fruit tree variety, with dense clusters of green fruit all over its branches.

Beneath the leaves, a nondescript fruit emitted a faint Origin Force fluctuation.

The fruit tree nurturing a Divine-Given Seed had not been harvested, nor had troops been assigned for protection. Dragon Cypress was one hundred percent certain that the ant colony stationed on the island had yet to discover that a Divine-Given Seed was forming here.

Referring to thick-leaved Golden Key Tree fruit, it typically ripens at the end of summer and beginning of autumn. As this region is near the cold temperate zone, spring comes a bit later, so the fruit ripens a bit late—should be early autumn here.

But right now, it was the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The green fruits on the tree still needed more than two months to ripen fully.

"Dragon Cypress, what do we do?"

"Nothing to be done. Let’s go."

"Come back later?"

"Of course!"

"Together?"

"Of course."

"When should we come?"

"Obviously, when the fruits are ripe."

"Divine-Given Fruits take longer to ripen than ordinary fruit, y’know."

"We’ll come when the normal fruits ripen—if we beat the Stone Hunt Red Ants on this island to the pick, we’ll be fine. No big problem."

—Is that so?

Ink Orchid wasn’t entirely convinced. She racked her brains, but couldn’t think of a better way. Worse still, a more pressing issue loomed:

The fruit wouldn’t be ripe for more than two long months. During that period, would the fruit on the tree be discovered by a stationed Assistant King? Or eaten by some other foraging bird or beast...

But they absolutely could not stay and stand guard,

This was, after all, a super Ant Kingdom with more than fifty Ant Kings of King-Level strength; lingering for long would certainly be discovered.

Ink Orchid didn’t like taking risks either and urged, "Dragon Cypress, let’s go now."

Ink Orchid led the way and they retraced their path back.

...

On this side of Cloud Trace Continent, it was the coldest heart of winter.

Ink Orchid stayed to rest at Xianglan Mountain.

Dragon Cypress headed to the Purple Tung Insect Nation, racing to cultivate Specialized Blue Soldiers.

...

Time rolled on,

Spring came,

Dragon Cypress set off right on schedule.

At this point, in the Stone Hunt Red Ant Kingdom of Wanglan Continent, it was the beginning of autumn—a bountiful harvest season when many fresh fruits ripened en masse.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid approached the island, used Soul-Setting Ability to sense—there were no ant colonies gathered around the Golden Key Tree nurturing the Divine-Given Seed.

But whether the fruit was still there remained a mystery.

In the dead of night, they landed on the island from a cliffside.

Ink Orchid probed the area and said delightedly, "It’s still here!"

Ink Orchid led the way into the orchard to inspect.

The Golden Key Tree fruit had already shifted from green to a golden-red hue.

"It’s not ripe yet."

Dragon Cypress judged from afar by scent alone.

Ink Orchid picked one to taste, forced it down, and grimaced, "Sour, a little astringent. Dragon Cypress, this fruit is just not good—not tasty at all."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

All you think of is eating!

Dragon Cypress also picked one and popped it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing before estimating aloud:

"For ordinary fruit, looks like it’s about five, six, maybe up to eight days away from being fully ripe. As for the fruit nurturing the Divine-Given Seed, it’ll take a little longer—it can’t be picked too early. We should wait a few days..."

Ink Orchid: "Wait a few days?"

Dragon Cypress: "Once the ant colonies start picking, that should be about right. We just observe them quietly and watch their movements. Get ashore just ahead of them, snatch the fruit, and leave immediately."

Ink Orchid: "..."

Dragon Cypress waved his tentacles, signaling. Ink Orchid led the way, and they quietly withdrew.

They hid in the deep sea,

and from time to time, used Soul-Setting Ability to observe the ant colonies’ movements.

Six days later,

a large harvesting team—mainly comprising mid-to-small Lord-Level Worker Ants—marched grandly toward the orchard of Golden Key Trees.

"Ink Orchid!"

Dragon Cypress called, moved the Dominating Throne close to shore, and reminded her once again: "Be extra careful! If you get spotted, take to the sky and escape as fast as you can."

"I know!"

Ink Orchid went ashore alone, her carapace blending seamlessly with the environment, vanishing into the dense forest.

Concealed and moving in stealth, as quick as a shadow, she reached the Golden Key Tree nurturing the Divine-Given Seed, climbed up, tentacles upright and alert, and knocked the Divine-Given Fruit off the tree.

Down the tree, she lowered her head and gulped the fruit into her mouth.

She spun around, and her figure melted away into concealment again...

...

Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~

Returning to the Dominating Throne, Ink Orchid opened all her abdominal spiracles, panting hard.

"I almost suffocated!"

Ink Orchid bowed her head, spat out the fruit, and carefully peeled it open. Inside was a white seed with faint golden Origin Force patterns. She exclaimed joyfully:

"Judging from the Origin Force fluctuation, the island’s Golden Key Tree hasn’t mutated much; it should still give metal-based enhancement, likely comprehensive Metal Ability reinforcement."

Ink Orchid: "A great tall tree, with very high fruit yield!"

Ink Orchid, seeing Dragon Cypress silent, leaned in close and observed, then said, "We picked it a few days early—the fruit isn’t fully ripe, so the Divine-Given Seed is a tad short of perfect."

Dragon Cypress: "No big deal. The seed has developed fully, just hasn’t absorbed enough Origin Force. Most Bee Clan and Ant Clan who gather Divine-Given Seeds get them like this anyway. Whether you sow it directly or nurture it into a Life Seed first, the seedling is just a bit weaker and will grow slowly in the early stages—nothing else to worry about."

Dragon Cypress raised a Hydrology Shield and piloted the Dominating Throne deeper into the sea. "Ink Orchid, did you forget? The Dominating Throne also has the ability to repair seeds. Let’s find a safe spot and give it a try."

That’s right!

Ink Orchid came to the realization, cheered, "The Dominating Throne is incredible!"

...

They snuck far away from the Stone Hunt Red Ant Kingdom.

In the vast ocean, the Dominating Throne hovered on the sea surface.

Dragon Cypress lifted a foreleg, freezing the seawater around them, forming a circle of floating ice thirty meters in diameter. He jumped onto it first.

Ink Orchid bowed her head, spat out the Golden Key Tree Seed, placed it in the center of the throne’s soft cushion, and then leaped onto the ice floe after him.

Sure enough,

The Dominating Throne transmitted a prompt message:

[Discovered a Natural System Origin Force plant seed, status suboptimal. Restore?]

Dragon Cypress noticed the difference in wording.

The last time, the Wuye Harewood Divine-Given Seed was [Critical Condition], requiring [Healing].

This time, the Golden Key Tree Divine-Given Seed was merely [Suboptimal], and only needed [Restoration].

Dragon Cypress selected [Yes]

The Dominating Throne unleashed Origin Force to envelop the seed, compressing tightly to form a hazy blue Primordial Energy Light Cocoon.

It lasted only two or three seconds before the throne prompted again:

[Restoration complete]

The Primordial Energy Light Halo faded, and on closer inspection, the original energy patterns on the seed’s surface were much more solid, and the Origin Force fluctuations somewhat clearer.

"Wow~"

Ink Orchid cheered, leaped onto the throne, bowed her head, extended her tongue, and swept the seed into her Life Pouch.

As soon as the Divine-Grade Green Bean from Wormwood Spider King arrived, she could evolve into a 9th Age Mountain Lord.

Dragon Cypress was also delighted. It had taken a bit of effort, but thankfully nothing went wrong.

Ink Orchid was just one Divine-Given Seed away from evolving to Evolution Lord Level; and she was not in a hurry—she still had to wait for the Great King Molan’s Divine-Grade Fruit to ripen and be harvested, which would be another thirty years or so.

Next time they acquired a Divine-Given Seed, he could use it for himself first and evolve to Lord at Age 2, awakening his Earth Talent.

In managing their territory, Earth System Abilities would have plenty of uses.

Dragon Cypress couldn’t wait.