Ant Lord in the Star Realm

The red sun rises in the east, morning.

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne, and under Ink Orchid's guidance, he drifted slowly forward, coming to a half-dead Chinaberry tree on the hillside.

Spiritual power swept along the tree trunk and insect holes.

"Not here?"

Dragon Cypress looked at Ink Orchid.

"Up early?"

"You can outrun an insect, but not its Life Seed..."

There were no Life Seed Plants nearby.

Ink Orchid sensed something was off, leaped to the ground, and searched ahead.

The little warriors born just this year had most likely missed the sowing season; the Life Seed should be hidden inside the trunk.

But,

Ink Orchid and Dragon Cypress both extended their spiritual power, searched again and again, but found nothing.

"Ran away overnight?"

"Seems like it."

"Ink Orchid, did you follow last night and got spotted?"

"Impossible!"

"Then it's just being overly cautious."

"Exactly."

They gazed at each other, speechless.

What a headache.

Little warriors the size of four or five centimeters—these are even harder to find than the seeds of the Divine-Given Seed.

The seed hangs on a branch, doesn't move, and certainly doesn't hide.

But little warriors can hide themselves.

In this vast forest, looking for them would be a real hassle.

The key problem: away from the shelter of the tree nest, if they get noticed by a predator, their tiny lives may be over.

"Look for them?"

"Let's search nearby. They shouldn't have gotten far."

"Should've come over and caught it last night."

"Who could have guessed..."

"I'll check over there." Ink Orchid flew off at once.

Dragon Cypress landed the Dominating Throne and anchored it, then soared skyward in the opposite direction.

Hardly a hundred meters out, Dragon Cypress spotted a big maple tree in a wretched state, half dead.

Normally, tall wild arbors aren't like this. Clearly, it's been ravaged by insects, and badly so.

Dragon Cypress hit the ground running, stopped under a bush two meters away, sending spiritual power to scan and probe.

Sure enough, seven holes had been bored from bottom to top of the trunk, all connected inside.

Spiritual power pierced in through the holes, sweeping up and down.

Dragon Cypress froze.

Near the tree roots, in a narrow nest, two little beetles squeezed together, contentedly nibbling fresh, tender branches they'd just picked.

One had a brownish-green carapace—the Furry-Horned Beetle Warrior from last night.

The other was black, with red elytra marked by black spots, about four or five centimeters long too.

It turned out to be two Sky Ox Little Warriors!

Oh! Did this guy just come to visit? Or did it flee here?

Dragon Cypress kicked and shot upward, buzzing into the air to gain height.

Far away, Ink Orchid immediately noticed, took off after him, and sped over.

"Found them?"

"Found them."

"Quick! Catch them!"

"Wait!"

"What's wrong?"

"It actually has a friend—a Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle Warrior."

"!!!"

Following Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid landed in a bush twenty meters from the big maple, scanning with spiritual power.

Sure enough!

With another sweep, they found two maple seeds, tightly wrapped in catkins and layers of grass blades.

Looks like that Furry-Horned Beetle Warrior was so scared last night, it ran off overnight to its kin for refuge.

Their Life Seeds!

"The grains are tiny—are they Multi-Fruit Maple or Dense-Fruit Maple specifically?"

"Multi-Fruit Maple."

"That's what I thought too."

"This kind of arbor will take at least four or five years to mature, right?"

"It will."

These two little guys sure are ambitious, daring to pick a big arbor for their first Life Seed—but odds are, before the tree matures, they'll die of old age from slow evolution and lack of Origin Force Food.

"Dragon Cypress, what should we do now?"

"Bring them back."

"But... they seem to be living quite happily here."

"Without elders to protect them, they won't survive."

"And after that?"

"Take them back to Xianglan Mountain for now, spend some resources to evolve them to Age Period 4. After that, we'll see where to place them."

"Alright. How do we catch them?"

"Ink Orchid, you stand guard. I'll bring the Dominating Throne over and send in Worker Ants to fetch their Life Seeds first."

"Uh... okay..."

...

Dragon Cypress parked the Dominating Throne and directed two little Worker Ants up the tree and into the holes, fetching out the two precious maple Life Seeds.

Down in the tree hollow,

After finishing the branches, the Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle Warrior got up, walked to the edge of the hole, cautiously poked its head out, left, right, forward, and then saw the Dominating Throne, as well as Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid standing underneath.

"Run!"

The Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle Warrior ducked back, alarmed, and took the lead, scrambling up the tunnel inside the trunk toward the top.

"What happened?"

"Those brutal Ant King and Mantis Warrior you talked about!"

"Ah!"

The Furry-Horned Beetle Warrior panicked and hurried after him.

They ran into the upper hollow—only to freeze.

——Where are our Life Seeds?

——Those two must have stolen them!

——Crap!

——Damn it!

——What now?

——Should we still run?

——No chance now.

——So what do we do?

——Ask them what they actually want.

——You go ask?

——You go.

——You led them here.

——Well, this happened on your territory.

...

Just a moment ago, they'd been glued together, happily munching on fresh twigs, and now the two Sky Ox Little Warriors were quarreling, wrestling into a scuffle.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid watched their antics with spiritual power, dumbfounded and speechless.

Ink Orchid stepped forward, tapping the trunk with a foreleg—thump, thump, thump.

"Listen, you two..."

"Stop fighting!"

"Dragon Cypress and I mean you no harm."

"Want some Origin Force Food?"

"Come with us."

"We've got endless Origin Force Food. We can help you evolve quickly and protect you through your vulnerable youth."

The two tangled young Sky Ox Warriors stopped, slowly separating.

——Didn't you say they were fierce?

——They are fierce!

——You're wrong.

——I'm not wrong.

——They said they have Origin Force Food.

——They're lying.

——They said they'd protect us.

——Only a dumbbug would fall for that.

——Our Life Seeds were stolen by them.

——You go talk to them.

——Let's do it together.

The two Sky Ox Little Warriors poked their heads from the hole.

The Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle Warrior waved its tentacle furiously, sending a mental message: "Give back our Life Seeds!"

Ink Orchid: "It's too dangerous for you two to stay here. Any slightly bigger predator could easily kill you."

Ink Orchid introduced herself: "I'm Ink Orchid, a Flower Mantis Tribe warrior, and the king of Xianglan Mountain. That is Dragon Cypress, the Giant-Headed Ant King, king of the Creator Civilization. The Dragon Cypress Ant King controls the Dominating Throne, can traverse the Origin Force Vacuum Lands, and travel between different Origin Force Points—we're roving merchants."

After the introduction, Ink Orchid asked, "You two picked an Arbor Life Seed at Age Period 1. Have you considered how many years it'll take after planting to produce Origin Force Food? Without elders to protect you, how will you grow and evolve?"

Ink Orchid continued kindly, "Come with me to Xianglan Mountain. Dragon Cypress and I can protect you for a while, provide Origin Force Food, and help you evolve and grow. This year, try to nurture a few more Life Seeds. In the spring, sow them elsewhere—then you can get output sooner."

The two Sky Ox Little Warriors glanced at each other, then shrank back inside the hole.

——They really don't seem malicious.

——I saw it myself, they're super fierce.

——You're mistaken.

——So are you going with them?

——They stole our Life Seeds.

——So we just go?

——What else can we do?

The two Sky Ox Little Warriors crawled out of the hole, one after the other.

"Climb aboard the Dominating Throne, let's head out," called Ink Orchid.

Dragon Cypress had silently followed their whole conversation—clever little guys.

At just the right moment, Dragon Cypress spoke: "Don't worry, you two. Both Ink Orchid and I are High-Level Ant Kings and High-Level Flower Mantis Warriors, each with several Divine-Given Seeds. We have more Origin Force Food than we can eat, so we have no reason to harm you."

The Age Period 2 little warriors still didn't quite understand what a roving merchant was, but their memories about Divine-Given Seeds had already awakened.

Upon hearing this, they exchanged glances.

More than one Divine-Given Seed?

Do you believe it?

I don't.

Me neither.

But what if it's true?

That would be incredible!

PS: Thank you all for your subscriptions and support—may I ask for a monthly ticket?