Dragon Cypress calmly, with steady steps, walked out of the ant nest, following the ant trail down the mountain, leaving the Origin Force Vacuum Land.

Standing together with Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, he looked up, silently waiting.

It didn't last long—the violent Origin Force fluctuations gradually subsided.

—Did it work?

—Let's go have a look!

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple scrambled to run up the mountain.

Dragon Cypress jogged all the way, heading back to the ant nest.

Blue Catalpa lay at the entrance, peeking through the corner gap of the door panel, only to be pushed aside by Snakebark Maple after two glances.

Snakebark Maple took two looks, retracted mental power into a thin line and said, "Ink Orchid is awake and molting, let's not disturb her!"

Then why are you all peeking around? Dragon Cypress waved his antennae, swatting to shoo them away.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple hurriedly retreated.

Down the mountain, Fragrant Cypress, Cypress, Black Leaf, and other Command Ants arrived, one after another.

Dragon Cypress calculated the time. Sensing it should be right, he sent spiritual power through the crack in the door panel to probe inside the cave.

Ink Orchid successfully completed her molting evolution; her slim figure settled at about 3.8 meters long—far larger than the average Orchid Mantis. She was currently holding up a metal can, tipping ant honey in for food.

Dragon Cypress rippled his spiritual power, shook his antennae vigorously, and announced, "Success!"

Ink Orchid had smoothly crossed the riskiest and most crucial evolution in an insect's life!

Dragon Cypress couldn't hide his joy and called out, "Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, let's go in and congratulate Ink Orchid."

"Cypress, notify Spiked Cypress and Giant Cypress to hunt some fresh meat in the forest and bring it back."

"Round Cypress, Fragrant Cypress, Silver Cypress, Black Leaf, Black Cory, you all go eat something, fill your bellies, have a good rest. Tonight, we celebrate with a feast."

—Mountain Lord Ink Orchid!

—Congratulations! Congratulations!

—You've made it through this challenge; from now on, your insect life will be smooth sailing.

—King-Level is just within reach.

—Your Divine-Given Seeds have all completed evolution.

—They're all herb plants, already beginning to wither and be reborn.

—Mountain Lord Ink Orchid, take a break, I'll help you.

—Mountain Lord Ink Orchid, how many Wind System Abilities awakened?

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple rushed into the cave first to congratulate Ink Orchid, flattering and peppering her with questions…

…

…

…

After Evolution, that Cuihua Hanlan guy wielded the power from Glinting Gold, facing the cold winds, and grew rapidly.

Having just reached Mountain Lord Level, Ink Orchid was still a little weak and needed about ten days to eat and recover.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple stayed at Xianglan Mountain, preparing to evolve into 3rd Age High-Level Warriors.

Dragon Cypress organized the ant colony early and started this year's fishing operations.

Busy for four or five days, stocking enough food for all the ant nests to last until next summer.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple finished their preparations, and each used the Dominating Throne for evolution in turn.

All of Cuihua Hanlan's Divine-Given Seeds had sprouted; Ink Orchid chased her every day for Glinting Gold, but this tough nut held out for three whole days and nights before handing it over.

Dragon Cypress immediately delivered it to White Lotus Lake, giving it to the Night Fragrance God-Given Seed, storing up energy for the ripening of Night Fragrance Fruit.

Everything was settled.

It was the height of winter.

The first Cloud Trace Continent Insect Clan Warrior Gathering could finally begin.

Dragon Cypress took Ink Orchid, Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, Black Cory, Fragrant Cypress, and Black Leaf all together to Cold Orchid Mountain.

The delicious ant honey and abundant Origin Force Food were well prepared.

Ink Orchid, as the host, stayed at Cold Orchid Mountain to welcome the guests.

Dragon Cypress went alone to Black Lotus Lake to pick up White Willow for the gathering;

Then to Ghost Fan Mountain for Ghost Fan and Woodberry.

To Scarletlight Mountain and White Rice Mountain, picked up Mulberry, Areca, White Rice, and Black Rice all in one trip to Cold Orchid Mountain.

Then further north, to Silver Cypress Mountain, Black Fruit Mountain, Huagi Mountain, and brought over Mountain Persimmon, Red Moonseed, Yellow Stem, and Spruce in one go.

Currently,

Among the Cloud Trace Continent commercial circle—excluding Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid at Xianglan Mountain Kingdom and their Assistant Kings—there were only 13 Insect Clan Warriors in total.

...

The forest clearing at the foot of the mountain.

A three-meter-diameter stone pot, carved from boulders, sat in the center. Black Cory commanded six Mountain Lord Level Specialized Blue Soldiers, working in pairs—two at a time—taking turns unleashing their Boiling Water Ability to stew pork, beef, and lamb leg bones.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid entered the forest, hunting various large animals and carrying them back.

Fragrant Cypress commanded the Worker Ants to cut and drill, skewering meat on hooked sticks, loading them into wooden bowls, and marinating them with a mix of ant honey and various fragrant spice powders.

The guests attending the banquet gathered not far away, chatting idly.

Yellow Stem, being talkative, became the center of attention—vividly recounting the former flourishing scene of Cloud Trace Continent, describing the glories of Huagi Mountain.

At dusk,

The banquet was ready.

Fragrant Cypress led a troop of medium Worker Ants, each carrying a metal can, while the generous Dragon Cypress Ant King brought out a batch of Origin Force Ant Honey worth a total of 8,000 Source Stones to treat everyone.

Black Leaf led the Worker Ants with wooden plates made from Divine-Given Remains, forming a circle around the stone pot.

Ink Orchid used the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot to blend fresh water with ant honey, producing hot water. Every one got a cup, carved from Divine-Given Remains.

Ink Orchid called out, "The banquet's starting! Everyone come over, pick any spot you like."

"Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, you two really know how to eat."

White Rice muttered, pulling Black Rice to sit down.

The other insects quickly joined, crouching around the stone pot.

Fragrant Cypress commanded the Worker Ants to lay the skewered meat around the edge of the pot to cook.

"Eat! Eat! Eat!"

Dragon Cypress waved his antennae, greeting everyone, and deftly snatched a skewer, dipped it in some Origin Force Ant Honey, took a big bite, then licked a bit of hot water.

Of all present, only White Rice and Black Rice hadn't eaten this way before, but it was simple to imitate after watching once.

Suddenly, Ghost Fan remembered and asked, "Hey, Ink Orchid, after evolving to Mountain Lord Level, did you awaken any Wind System Abilities?"

Ink Orchid: "Of course! It's similar to Dragon Cypress' 'Rend' strength-type ability."

Ink Orchid stood up, stepped back a few paces, turned, then walked some distance forward, locked onto a eucalyptus tree ahead, raised her catching feet high, invisible Primordial Energy condensed—then she swung fiercely.

Primordial Energy burst forth, forming a four- or five-meter-long Wind Blade that slashed down at an angle.

The eucalyptus tree snapped, toppled over, and crashed noisily to the ground.

All the insects were stunned for a while.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, having seen it before, took the lead and cheered.

Blue Catalpa: "Awesome!"

Snakebark Maple: "Mountain Lord Ink Orchid, mighty!"

"Wow!"

"Whoa!"

Black Rice, Woodberry, and Areca followed with exclamations.

Yellow Stem gave an objective review: "A rather standard but extremely sharp Wind Blade attack ability—great for both melee and ranged attack!"

"Yes. I call it 'Wind Split.'"

Ink Orchid withdrew her claw, turned around, and quickly scuttled back to the pot, nestling up next to Dragon Cypress.

Spruce, White Rice, and Ghost Fan all gave a round of praise as well.

Eating, drinking, and chatting.

Suddenly, Yellow Stem asked, "White Rice, Mountain Persimmon, are you two planning to evolve to Mountain Lord Level soon?"

White Rice: "After the gathering, Dragon Cypress will help me evolve into a 9th Age High-Level Warrior with the Dominating Throne. I'll reach Mountain Lord Level in two years."

Mountain Persimmon: "My Sky Blue Persimmon Divine-Given Seed was just sown not long ago, so I'll need to wait another two years."

Top-Level Divine-Given Seeds—wow!

A wave of admiration, envy, and some tried hard to flatter them.

White Rice asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, when exactly do we plan to attack that Termite Kingdom?"

Dragon Cypress: "In ten years, we'll all go to the Desolation Plains to prepare. If all goes well, the war begins in the autumn of the eleventh year."

The conversation turned serious,

Dragon Cypress said solemnly: "Of all participating Insect Clan Warriors, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple are at the lowest evolution stage—currently 3rd Age High-Level Warriors. But they've eaten plenty of high-quality, advanced-stage-evolution-aiding Divine-Given Origin Force Food, and with the Dominating Throne, they can evolve one Age per year, rapidly advancing."

Dragon Cypress: "If nothing goes wrong, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple should both be able to evolve into 2nd Age Mountain Lords…"

Dragon Cypress organized this gathering, firstly so everyone could get together during the boring midwinter, get to know each other, socialize; but also to share information on the Termite Kingdom in advance and draft an initial battle plan.

At the banquet, Dragon Cypress gave a rough briefing.

When the feast finished, everyone moved to the mountaintop living room, where Dragon Cypress etched a rough map of the Purple Tung Insect Nation into the cave wall, and gave a detailed explanation.

The general idea was to attack while the White Poplar Ant King and Red Phellodendron Ant Queen were deep in molting evolution slumber.

Strike at night.

Dragon Cypress, Spiked Cypress, Giant Cypress, and Cypress would lead the Giant-Headed Ant army to launch a frontal assault, hitting the territories of the White Poplar Ant King and Red Phellodendron Ant Queen, destroying their Life Seed Plants.

The Assistant King defending the Termite King's Palace will surely mobilize all forces to resist frantically.

Once battle starts, Ghost Fan and Mountain Persimmon will lead an elite commando squad of Insect Clan Warriors to move in fast and strike the palace, wreaking havoc.

Ink Orchid, seizing the chaos, slips in to quickly find and kill the White Poplar Ant King and Red Phellodendron Ant Queen.

Once the Ant King and Ant Queen are dead, soul bonds will shatter—Assistant Kings in the Termite Kingdom will suffer heavy blows, and even the Common Ants will be badly affected.

After Ink Orchid succeeds, everyone will regroup, assess the situation, and decide whether to seize the White Poplar Divine Seed and retreat, or wipe out the entire Termite Kingdom in one go.

The rewards Dragon Cypress promised remain unchanged: everyone who takes part will get a whole Divine-Grade Baihe Fruit, and if they manage to seize the Purple Tung Divine-Given Seed, everyone shares a cut.

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