After sending off Butterfly King Nupur.

Dragon Cypress went straight back to the King Nest on Xianglan Peak, calmed his mind, pondered for half a day; the Natural Law was stirred, hurricanes raged, dark clouds gathered, and heaven and earth changed color.

Within a radius of several hundred kilometers, endless Law Primordial Energy, like a boundless ocean, like a tsunami in a violent storm, surged and roared as it converged on Xianglan Peak.

—The Ant is condensing a Divine Mark!

—The Vortex Beast Devouring Divine Mark!

—The Great King is condensing the Vortex Beast Devouring Divine Mark!

The news spread across Rainbow Island at lightning speed.

Ink Orchid, who was guarding outside the King Nest, could not withstand the Primordial Energy impact and backed out, waiting at the foot of the mountain together with Black Birch, Round Cypress, Black Peach, and Rainbow Parasol Tree.

Mountain Persimmon was also startled by the strange commotion and rushed over.

"Ink Orchid, this is... the Dragon Cypress Ant King condensing a Divine Mark?"

"Of course."

"Vortex Beast Devouring."

"Obviously. With such a huge commotion, it can't possibly be just condensing the Thunder System Flash Strike Ability Divine Mark, right?"

"Oh—"

Mountain Persimmon: "This violent storm was also drawn here by Dragon Cypress?"

"..."

All the insects fell silent for a moment.

Black Birch analyzed and said, "This Ability of the Great King combines Water Control, Vortex Beast, Hydra, Refinement, Heart of the Ant King, Water Escape, Freezing, and Twilight—eight Abilities—and even borrows the four basic Water System Abilities of Boiling Water, Sublimation, Sea Spring, and Four Directions Realm, as well as some Primordial Energy properties from the two Divine Mark Abilities Heavenly Frost Remnants Realm and Nosh Remnants. It's an extremely complex and enormous Ability."

"A powerful Ability will inevitably condense a powerful Divine Mark, consuming a vast ocean of Law Primordial Energy. Where does all this Law Primordial Energy come from? It's likely that intense Law fluctuations caused a disturbance in the World's operating rules, which in turn triggered this abnormal weather."

Black Peach: "The Great King is about to be invincible?!"

Black Birch: "In the Origin Force Star Realm, no one dares claim to be invincible. But with Vortex Beast Devouring coupled with three hundred thousand in the Ant Army, there shouldn't be many forces capable of blocking the Great King's advance."

Ink Orchid: "..."

Ink Orchid had only just condensed the Ink Orchid Form Divine Mark less than a year ago and was still feeling smug about it...

Ink Orchid did not feel like talking.

White Poplar said faintly, "I remember the Linnan Divine Tree always badmouthing Dragon Cypress behind his back, saying his Elemental Talent was poor and condensing Divine Marks was an uphill battle. As it turns out, what the Linnan Divine Tree said isn't entirely right..."

Rainbow Parasol Tree: "Then when the Great King wakes up, we must send him to the Purple Tung Insect Nation to broaden that old tree's horizons."

Pa~ pa~ pa~

Ink Orchid swung her tentacles, smacking Rainbow Parasol Tree's head hard: show some respect!

Black Peach raised a claw and said solemnly, "From the Great King's conversation with Butterfly King Nupur, although he openly refused to send troops, between the lines it was obvious he intended to take part in the next war against Blue Island, asking nonstop for detailed information."

Black Birch lightly tapped his tentacles in agreement and said, "I sensed it too. The Great King must have foreseen that he was about to condense the Vortex Beast Devouring Divine Mark and is calculating to head to the battlefield for actual combat in war."

—That's exactly it!

The discomfort in Ink Orchid's heart deepened by another degree.

She currently only had one Divine Mark; she had to hurry and condense Touch of Origin Fire and the Thunder Explosion Divine Pattern!

Otherwise she would once again be stuck on Rainbow Island waiting for news.

...

The torrential rain lasted a full day.

The earth-shaking commotion only began to weaken and subside by mid-afternoon the next day.

Spiked Cypress, Cypress, Silver Cypress, and Tie Bush, who were guarding the garrison sub-nests, sensed the Law Primordial Energy weakening and immediately rushed over at top speed.

The spiritual power minds of all the nearby Seed Bestowed by Gods also gathered here, a colorful and noisy crowd.

Led by Ink Orchid, the group of insects were just about to charge into the Ant Nest when Dragon Cypress rushed out himself first.

"It's done!"

Before anyone could ask, Dragon Cypress slightly lowered his head; at the top of his head, with a few simple strokes, a Vortex Beast Divine Inscription pattern with twelve tendrils was outlined.

This Ability Divine Pattern was not a simple single line, but a pictorial Divine Mark like "Ancestral Divine Power" and "Adaptive Evolution," just slightly more concise.

It was a straightforward indication that Dragon Cypress had independently combined and constructed a powerful Ability whose strength was close to that of a Law Ability.

"!!!"

All the insects and trees were shaken.

"All hail the Great King!"

Spiked Cypress hopped and shouted.

"Silence!"

Dragon Cypress barked, then rattled off rapidly in explanation: "The Divine Mark's auxiliary effects are numerous. First, it grants Water a fifth state of transformation—the 'Dead Water State' I saw on the Saint Butterfly Warriors; second, it strengthens my dominion over the Vortex Beasts; third, the Vortex Beasts' overall combat power has greatly increased."

"Black Birch, bring the Specialized Blue Soldiers!"

Dragon Cypress flicked his tentacles and called out, "Let's go! To the seaside to test the Ability!"

They ran together to the seashore.

Dragon Cypress stepped out onto the water; waves surged beneath his feet and turned into a Vortex Beast over eight hundred meters long, shaped like a stingray.

Like a living fish, it cruised in the shallows.

After quickly swimming over ten kilometers, its form changed and elongated, turning into a strange creature somewhere between a sea serpent and a centipede, with twelve paddle-like fins, cold air flowing over it as it transformed into Ice floating on the sea surface.

The twelve paddle fins moved in unison, churning the water as it sped across the surface.

Then it suddenly changed again; the Ice sublimated, white mist billowed, and in midair it turned into a Giant-Headed Ant resembling the Bee Clan with a wingspan of twelve hundred meters. It raised its head and climbed higher into the sky, suddenly flipping onto its back, then rolling to the side, nimbly turning around, lightly flapping its wings to fly down and land on the shore.

The thick mist contracted, changed form again into a winding stream, flowing a circuit around the beach and woods before finally returning to the shore, gathering into a mass that held together without dispersing.

The four-state transformations of Biomimicry, Ice, mist, and Living Water were all tested.

Perfect!

Even better than expected!

Not to mention anything else, in the past controlling a Vortex Beast heavily relied on a massive amount of Primordial Energy and powerful spiritual power.

Now it was far more responsive to control, and the Primordial Energy consumption was greatly reduced.

"Great King—"

Black Birch arrived a step later leading ten thousand Specialized Blue Soldiers. Guessing Dragon Cypress's intention—to carry the Ant Army and conduct marching and combat tests—he flicked his tentacles and charged forward at the head of the group.