Ant Lord in the Star Realm

From the inherited memory, White Willow learned that the Worker Ant, as a Semi-Origin Force Life, is especially sensitive to sound, scent, and Origin Force Fluctuation, but it cannot sense mental power fluctuations.

White Willow deliberately put his Black Lotus Seed into a gourd, carrying it back to the Divine Power White Willow Tree Life Seed at the lakeside.

He shook the gourd, producing a clattering sound.

Immediately, all the Worker Ants who were eating stood their tentacles upright and turned to look in unison.

"Black Cory!"

"Come here!"

"Origin Force Food that can make you smarter!"

White Willow shook the gourd, making a clattering noise, clumsily pulled out the stopper, poured out a lotus seed, and pinched it between his toes.

"Black Cory!"

"Come over!"

White Willow called with his spiritual power.

However, Black Cory couldn't receive the spiritual power message at all. He stared at White Willow in confusion for a while, finally somewhat understood, and slowly walked forward.

White Willow quickly peeled open a lotus seed and handed it to Black Cory.

"Eat!"

Black Cory bowed his head, touched it with his tentacles, sniffed, looked up at White Willow, thought for a moment, and seemed to get the idea.

He picked it up with his front legs and ate one.

Suddenly, his tentacles stood straight, quivering, his whole body shivering.

This was not the first time trying Origin Force Food; long ago, he had sneaked into the Origin Force Food storage warehouse at Xianglan Mountain Ant Nest and secretly tasted a bit.

Worker Ants are Semi-Origin Force Life; eating Origin Force Food wouldn't cause their bodies to explode like ordinary creatures, but they also couldn't absorb Origin Force Energy to gain enhancement.

Black Cory had tried multiple times with the same result.

But this time...

The Primordial Energy from the Black Lotus Seed was absorbed by the body, merged into the bloodstream, then smoothly integrated into the brain.

It didn't dissipate naturally like before.

Useful?

Strengthening the brain?

Black Cory's brain started racing, thinking.

—Only strengthen the brain?

—Can I evolve?

—Can I evolve?

—Who cares.

—Try it.

Black Cory held the lotus seed and quickly finished eating it, then quietly sensed for a while, raised his head, and looked at White Willow.

Can eat!

Want more?

White Willow was also pleasantly surprised, hurriedly poured out another lotus seed from the gourd, peeled it, and handed it to Black Cory.

...

After eating three Black Lotus Seeds in a row, Black Cory very clearly felt the strengthening limit.

Can't eat anymore today.

But after a night of rest and digestion, it should be possible to continue tomorrow.

Black Cory affectionately rubbed against White Willow, shook his tentacles, and pointed at the gourd White Willow was holding.

"You want this?" White Willow asked.

Black Cory couldn't receive spiritual power messages. Seeing no reaction from the other, he tried to lift his front leg and tugged the gourd.

"Here you go!" White Willow handed the gourd to Black Cory.

Black Cory was overjoyed, waved his tentacles hard in thanks, called the Worker Ants and Blue Ants over, and dumped out all the lotus seeds, peeling and refining them.

Black Cory then led Warrior Ants and Worker Ants into the forest to hunt all sorts of small animals. He brought them back and similarly handed them over to Blue Ant for refinement, mixing them into meat-based Ant Honey.

They kept busy until dark, then lined up and returned to the nest.

...

—Black Lotus Seeds can help Black Cory get smarter!

—He ate Origin Force Food, can he evolve?

White Willow was curious and secretly delighted, squatting on a rocky mountain top for the whole night.

At dawn, he took off, circled above the lake, swooped nimbly across the water, caught a grass carp, and threw it at the ant nest entrance.

Then he swept through the woods, caught a wild pheasant, and threw it at the nest entrance.

Black Cory directed Worker Ants to dissect the food, lay in the nest, ate, and didn't move an inch.

White Willow also lay down outside the nest, spiritually scanning from time to time, keeping a close eye on Black Cory's every move.

Excited, yet worried.

—Can Worker Ants really evolve?

—If the evolution fails, will Black Cory die too?

—If I play Black Cory to death, Dragon Cypress will definitely be mad, right?

—But what if it succeeds?

Suddenly, White Willow thought of an even more troublesome question.

If Black Cory can evolve, then what?

Will Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid still feed him Origin Force Food?

Black Cory is so dumb—will Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid be willing to spend resources raising him?

…

…

…

The Persimmon Fruits ripened, branches heavy with fruit.

The mountainside of Silver Cypress Mountain looked like it was draped with a golden-red silk ribbon.

It's Mountain Persimmon's happiest harvest season.

With continued use of Divine-Given Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, Mountain Persimmon even possessed a bit of flight ability.

Flapping his wings, emitting a buzzing roar, he flitted up and down around the persimmon trees, busily harvesting.

The Dominating Throne slowly approached, getting very close, yet Mountain Persimmon remained unaware.

"Mountain Persimmon—"

Dragon Cypress let out a helpless mental suggestion.

Mountain Persimmon was startled by the abrupt disturbance behind him, lost his wing-flapping rhythm, and tumbled, rolling to the orchard floor.

Blue Catalpa: "..."

Snakebark Maple: "..."

Early winter at Silver Cypress Mountain was chilly and biting.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple huddled at the ant nest entrance, showing only their heads.

Dragon Cypress whipped his tentacles and scolded, "As roving merchants, politeness is an essential quality—hurry up and get out here to greet Mountain Persimmon!"

"Mountain Persimmon—"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple reluctantly came out of the nest and waved their tentacles in greeting.

This Mountain Persimmon is not only poor but also especially dumb—the kind even Black Lotus Seeds can't save.

And he doesn't like Little Warriors; he doesn't send gifts.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple have nothing in common with Mountain Persimmon.

"Dragon Cypress—"

"Blue Catalpa. Snakebark Maple."

Mountain Persimmon climbed up awkwardly from the ground, staring at the smashed persimmon fruit, stunned and heartbroken.

"Mountain Persimmon—"

When it comes to Mountain Persimmon, even Dragon Cypress was left speechless, holding back a few seconds before asking, "Mountain Persimmon, how's your yield of ordinary Sky-Blue Persimmons this year?"

Mountain Persimmon: "...Good!"

Mountain Persimmon snapped out of it and earnestly said, "The ordinary Sky-Blue Persimmon Trees bore a total of 34 fruits, yielding 141 seeds!"

"That's great!"

Dragon Cypress was overjoyed and praised, "Mountain Persimmon, when it comes to growing persimmon trees, there's no insect better than you!"

Blue Catalpa: "Mountain Persimmon grows the best persimmon trees!"

Snakebark Maple: "No one does better at growing persimmon trees than Mountain Persimmon!"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, recognizing the situation, tacked on a couple of compliments.

Dragon Cypress: "Give me 41 seeds. I'll take them back to raise seedlings. I'll cultivate a batch of ordinary Sky-Blue Persimmon Trees myself."

"Uh—"

Puffed up and pleased by the compliment yet a bit reluctant, Mountain Persimmon grudgingly agreed, "Okay."

Dragon Cypress wasn't in a hurry to trade, feeling fired up, and called out, "Mountain Persimmon, let's go take a look at your Sky-Blue Green Persimmon Orchard!"

Mountain Persimmon: "Sure!"

They all headed to the orchard together.

Dragon Cypress took one look and went speechless again.

The earliest sown and cultivated ordinary Sky-Blue Persimmon Trees—the best one had already grown to five or six meters high, while the weaker saplings were only about two or three meters.

Mountain Persimmon still couldn't bear to get rid of the weak seedlings; he even built special protection for them, fenced them off and took special care.

And not just the first batch—the weak seedlings of the second and third batches, he couldn't bring himself to pull them out either, keeping all of them.

The techniques and rationale for cultivating plants and optimizing breeding had been explained many times, but Mountain Persimmon was just too stubborn to listen.

This left Dragon Cypress at a loss for words for quite a while.

"Mountain Persimmon, have you harvested all your Life Seeds?"

Dragon Cypress suddenly felt it best to just finish the trade quickly.

Mountain Persimmon earnestly replied, "This year, my Life Seed Sky-Blue Persimmon Trees bore fruit. I kept 10 fruits; they ripen later and will take a few more days..."

Dragon Cypress: "First-time yield of Sky-Blue Persimmon Life Seed? Then you should keep those for yourself!"

Dragon Cypress urged, "Come on, let's trade first! I still want to get more ordinary persimmon fruits and refine Ant Honey. I'll pay with Source Stones as appropriate, that's fine, right?"

Mountain Persimmon happily said, "Of course! You can take all the ordinary persimmon fruits you want—I'm giving them to you. I won't take any Source Stones."

…

…

…

Dragon Cypress lingered at Silver Cypress Mountain for four days. After expressing farewell to Mountain Persimmon, the Dominating Throne took off and began its return journey.

First back to Xianglan Mountain to unload the goods.

After a two-day rest, with Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple pestering him relentlessly, Dragon Cypress finally packed up and set off toward Cold Orchid Mountain.

After four straight days of flying, he entered the Land of Origin Force.

The Dominating Throne flew high, maximizing its Origin Force Fluctuation.

In the mountains and forests, Ink Orchid keenly sensed it, soared into the sky flapping her wings with all her might, and came whistling over.

Without waiting to ask, the mud-caked Ink Orchid cheered first.

"Dragon Cypress!"

"Found the Treasury!"

"We're going to strike it rich!"