Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 712 - 593: Little Ink Orchid_3

A Great Cypress tree stands at just over forty meters tall, with only a single deformed Green Fruit left hanging on its branches, exuding a faint Origin Force fluctuation. The time until maturity is not far off.

"Great King! Zhibai! Top-Level Divine-Given Seed!"

Black Birch called out.

"Great King! Great King!"

Tie Bush raised its double claws high, "I found it!"

Dragon Cypress: "You? How did you find it?"

Tie Bush, who's usually sluggish in both action and thought, always one beat behind on everything, found it?

That's honestly surprising.

Tie Bush: "The Twin Pillar Sumeru Wood's Divine-Given Seed seemed to have signs of breaking through to Lord-Level. A month ago, the Snow Velvet Spider King passed by and came ashore to check on the situation. I followed the Snow Velvet Spider King, and by accident, I saw it. The deformed fruit—one look and you know it's abnormal. The Snow Velvet Spider King didn't notice, and I didn't tell it..."

You little rascal, you're actually pretty sharp!

Not bad, the Black Lotus Seed wasn't wasted on you.

"Tie Bush, you did very well!"

Dragon Cypress heaped on the praise, "Tie Bush, you've accomplished a great merit!"

Dragon Cypress: "Tie Bush, you'll get double the reward for discovering a Top-Level Divine-Given Seed, the same as the Assistant Kings—one million."

"Thank you, Great King!"

"Thank you, Second King!"

Tie Bush raised both claws, cheering in delight.

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, and Black Birch were all overjoyed as well.

The Zhibai Tree planted on the island is no ordinary specimen—its seeds originate from Shanglu and, optimized through selective breeding, have reached the peak of top-level plant seed, with enhanced effects focused on resistance. It's among the most valuable types.

On every front, it's as outstanding as the Sky Blue Persimmon's Top-Level Divine-Given Seed, capable of bringing in about 600,000 in profit per year at the Lord-Level stage.

After the excitement, Ink Orchid raised a question: "Dragon Cypress, something doesn't add up. When it's early winter in the northern hemisphere, it's just spring here in the southern hemisphere. Haven't you noticed? Every time we come here, both the Zhibai and Silver Cypress No. 3002 haven't even bloomed yet. Didn't we just miss it?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes—"

Natural System plants bloom throughout the year, but it's not possible for everyone to spend all year round doing nothing but searching for Divine-Given Seeds. Tropical plants tend to bloom more in winter and early spring; searching in early spring is most reasonable.

Still, missing the Cypress blooming window is a bit of a loss.

Dragon Cypress decisively said, "Slight adjustment—we'll go to the northern hemisphere half a month later from now on."

Ink Orchid: "Wise decision, Great King!"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress instructed, "Black Birch, Tie Bush, you two keep watch. Second King, do another round of searching on the island, and then we'll set off—Swinging Leaf Island and the Thousand Reef Archipelago can't be missed."

...

After half a month's search, nothing was found.

Upon returning to Twin Pillar Island, the regular Zhibai fruits had already begun to ripen, but the Zhibai Divine-Given Seed would mature slightly later.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid patiently waited beneath the tree, and another half month later, the fruit fully ripened and naturally dropped off.

Ink Orchid happily stored it in her Life Pouch, started nurturing it, and began preparations to evolve into a Fourth Age Period Lord.

From the Third Age period to the Fourth, solely using Divine-Given Origin Force Food, with the cost converted to Source Stones, amounted to roughly sixteen million.

Following the guidance of the Linnan Divine Tree, Ink Orchid would focus on Fire as the main element at Lord-Level, using fourteen million worth of Fire System Divine-Given Origin Force Food. The remaining two million would go to Comprehensive Physique, Life, Carapace, and Perception type Divine-Given Origin Force Foods. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

...

After half a year of silent preparation, in the depths of winter, Ink Orchid entered a deep sleep to evolve in the Areca Rainforest.

Just five days later, she awoke from her evolution.

Dragon Cypress, guarding at the cave entrance, was the first to notice—Soul-Setting Ability perception and spiritual power scanning, double confirming, then lifted his claw, Earth System Primordial Energy rippling gently, shattering the earth-and-stone plug at the entrance.

An orange-red fireball flew straight at him.

Electric arcs flashed on Dragon Cypress's antennae as he swung to extinguish it.

"Congratulations to the Second King for successfully awakening your Fire Talent!"

"Congrats to the Second King!"

"Second King, you're so mighty!"

...

Sarcastic ants~

One fireball after another flew at them.

"Jokes aside."

Dragon Cypress's two antennae flashed with lightning as he whipped away the attacks, then switched to a proper tone, asking, "Ink Orchid, how many abilities did you comprehend?"

"Not many! Way fewer than I expected."

"Still couldn't comprehend Earth-Stone Hardening. Didn't grasp any Soul System abilities either."

Ink Orchid was feeling a mix of frustration and delight. "Seven System Talent, evolving to Fourth Age, and I only comprehended four abilities."

Dragon Cypress: "Fire Control and that fireball just now—that's already two."

Ink Orchid: "That's right. The other two are Multi-Element Blend abilities. One is mainly Soul System, blended with Earth, Wood, Water, and Wind—four elements mixed. The other is Fire and Thunder blend."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

We're all quite familiar—could you not show off like this?

Dragon Cypress, sounding a bit sour: "Second King is so strong~"

Dragon Cypress called out: "Come on, Ink Orchid, let's give it a try."

They left the nest together, heading to the edge of the Land of Origin Force, a training ground for daily exercises.

Ink Orchid stood in the center, took a moment to prepare, then angled her antennae straight forward. With a sharp hissing of air, two crimson electric orbs condensed at the tips.

With a sizzle, they shot out rapidly, soaring into the air, where they exploded with a crackle, blazing with high-temperature flames and lightning.

Ink Orchid: "Not a particularly powerful attack—Thunder Explosion. The only advantage is its low primordial energy cost."

It really is so-so.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Ink Orchid, what else?"

"This ability is very complex..."

Ink Orchid tilted her head in thought, lifted her left forelimb, gathering a strange primordial energy at the tip of her toe—highly concentrated—transforming into a tiny, two to three centimeters long, pink-white little mantis that looked almost identical to an ordinary Orchid Mantis.

The miniature Orchid Mantis kicked its legs, leapt up, spread its wings and flew, circling down to land on Dragon Cypress's forehead.

"???"

Dragon Cypress sensed something odd, and at the same time as his spiritual power scanned it, he activated Soul-Setting Ability to perceive it.

A cluster of strange Soul System Primordial Energy camouflaged in the form of a mantis soul, with a ripple of spiritual power.

"Great King. Great King."

The Little Huatang's spiritual mind sent out a call.

"!!!"

Dragon Cypress was shocked. "Ink Orchid, this ability…"

Little Huatang: "This is a bit like a derivative of our Flower Mantis Tribe's Talent Ability, Dragon Cypress—watch closely."

As she finished speaking, the Little Huatang formed by primordial energy leapt to the ground, its body color instantly changing, blending perfectly with the earthy tones, and hid itself.

Dragon Cypress: "Ink Orchid, this is a scouting ability?"

Ink Orchid: "For now, it seems good for reconnaissance. As for sensing distance, it's beyond the range of spiritual power, but still shorter than Soul-Setting Ability. I sense that if the Earth, Wood, Water, and Wind elements get stronger, it could have combat capability."

As Ink Orchid spoke, she bowed her head, letting her antennae touch the ground.

The Little Huatang, concealed, crawled back to Ink Orchid, climbed up her antennae, and finally perched stably atop her head, unmoving, glaring at Dragon Cypress.

"This ability uses up all my primordial energy in one go—it's weird. I feel that only one Little Mantis can be summoned at a time, but it can exist indefinitely—or, of course, be reabsorbed."

"This ability shall be named... Little Ink Orchid!"

As Ink Orchid spoke, the Little Huatang's form rapidly shrank and turned into pure primordial energy, returning to Ink Orchid's body.

At the same time, Ink Orchid's depleted primordial energy quickly recovered.

"Little Ink Orchid…"

"This ability…"

Dragon Cypress immediately thought of all sorts of unorthodox applications for this unconventional ability.

The most amazing use has to be the instant replenishment of primordial energy!

Jealous, envious, powerless.

Some things really can't be made up for by hard work alone.

Dragon Cypress called out: "Ink Orchid, stop showing off—let's hurry and plant the Zhibai Divine-Given Seed already…"