harleyscars Chapter 75: Astral Laws
Chapter 75: Astral Laws
"The King of Cinnabar Ants!"
Without waiting for a rest, Ye Zhi flapped her wings and took off at full speed to the nest where the Black Ant King lived. She used her mental power to call out to her "elder" and tell him the news.
"What's wrong, little guy?" The Black Ant King's mental power emanated, its antennae twitching, and a pair of large, black compound eyes looked at Ye Zhi, who had broken in in the middle of the night.
"The Cinnabar Ant King, a divinely bestowed seed, a divinely bestowed seed in the making!"
Ye Zhi transmitted her mental energy, and the gleam in the eyes of the Black Ant King suddenly brightened: "Little guy, where are you? What kind of plant are you?"
"Nepenthes, but the inherited memories don't record any specific species," Ye Zhi answered truthfully, while asking curiously, "The Black Ant King, it seems I've witnessed a divine gift from the true god of nature..."
"What?" The Cinnabar Ant King was taken aback, then shocked. "The stars in the sky?"
"Yes, a star twinkled in the sky, then went out, and then a very powerful primal force was cast down from the sky, shining on a flower on the plant, and then that flower began to fluctuate with primal force..."
"Wait, little guy, are you sure that pitcher plant isn't recorded in your inherited memories? Or has it undergone some kind of change?"
On the way here, Ye Zhi had actually thought about this question. He didn't think it was just a coincidence. He was an old African who couldn't draw an SSR card every day in his previous life. How could he just happen to encounter such a coincidence?
"King of the Cinnamon Ants, here's the thing: I wanted to collect some common pitcher plant seeds to sow at the entrance of my cave, but only male pitcher plants of the two-toothed pitcher plant and female pitcher plants of this unknown pitcher plant are growing there."
"Since I was already here, I used pollen from the male Nepenthes didentata flower to pollinate the stamen of the female flower... Could it be that the act of hybridization triggered a 'divine gift'?"
Ye Zhi suddenly remembered some things Wu Yuan had said about the "Laws of the Astral Realm," which might be legends or real information, and made a bold conjecture.
"Little fellow, you truly are an insect blessed by the true god of nature."
The Black Ant King slowly transmitted his spiritual power: "The Green Trifoliate Ant King also told me this. It is one of the laws of the astral plane. When a new plant species is born that is recognized by the law, the divine power of the true god will descend, which is called 'divine gift'."
Insects evolve into Force Warriors, nurturing life forms and producing evolutionary resources. Their interests are bound to plants throughout their lives. The true god of nature protects the astral plane and has established such a "reward" mechanism to help the little insects within the astral plane grow, which is quite reasonable.
The true god of nature protects the entire planet, so he certainly cannot pay attention to every detail. Ye Zhi guessed that this process should also be achieved through some kind of device, namely those "stars" in outer space.
The hybridization breeding he does is an important part of plant cultivation, and the variant plants bred in this way do indeed meet the standards of the "rules".
"But, King Wuyuan, if every hybrid can trigger a divine gift, then divinely gifted seeds in the astral plane shouldn't be so rare... Could it be that a plant can only trigger a 'divine gift of law' once, and even if it becomes extinct and is only re-cultivated after many cycles of primal force, it still won't trigger a second time?"
Ye Zhi continued to ask, "If the birth of a God-given Seed is really that simple, then Kings would probably be everywhere in the Star Boundary by now, and Lords would be as rare as dogs. There must be a reason why God-given Seeds are still so scarce."
"That's right. A high-quality plant that is recognized by the laws can only trigger a divine gift from the laws once." Wu Yuan's mental power slowed down, as if sighing, "How long is the cycle of the astral realm? No one knows. Those high-quality large trees that could be tested have already been tested once."
Then, Wu Yuan added, "That is to say, the pitcher plants that you cultivate, little guy, are mostly unwanted by insects, and can even give birth to divinely bestowed laws through simple hybridization."
Pitcher plants, being carnivorous plants, are unlikely to be cultivated on a large scale by insects. Aside from their slow early development and the ease with which seedlings die, their carnivorous nature alone is a disadvantage in this world.
To reiterate, even if a "man-eating tree" that could devour children truly existed in a past life, no one would cultivate it as a roadside tree, food source, or cash crop, unless it truly possessed irreplaceable value.
But for the current Yezhi, the fact that no insects have been cultivated means that simple hybridization could give birth to a divinely bestowed seed, and that's where the "irreplaceable value" comes from.
He also happened to regain his ability to nurture life seeds. When he undergoes his next molt and evolution, he will produce special external life sac worker ant golden eggs again, which will allow him to directly nurture this divinely bestowed seed.
"The Cinnabar Ant King, a divinely bestowed seed in its gestation stage, should it be replenished with some primal force or something similar?"
Ye Zhi didn't have much experience. During the process of "Chimera" being conceived, he was transforming into a Force Warrior. When he woke up, the God-given Seed had matured, and he was able to take it into his life capsule for gestation.
"Prune the other flowers to prevent them from competing with the budding divine seed for nutrients. When the natural force is abundant, additional force can help the divine seed mature faster."
The Black Cypress Ant King's antennae twitched, and its mental power transmitted: "I'll have Green Cypress take the Primal Stone and you, little guy, on a trip, and send worker ants to protect the God-given Seed. Little guy, you've been evolving to the intermediate stage for quite a while now, so prepare to evolve to the second instar."
......
"King Ant, the raw stone is ready."
Before long, Zuo Wang Qingyuan arrived, followed closely by two worker ants, each carrying a small spider silk bag in its mouth. The bag was bulging inside, clearly supported by a large, hard object, which was obviously a raw stone.
"The little guy has discovered the nascent divine seed. Qingyuan, take the worker ants to help protect it. Use these raw stones as you see fit to replenish the primal energy of the nascent divine seed."
"Yes, King Cinnabar Ant."
Clearly, the message had already been roughly transmitted through the pheromones within the slender ant colony. This was merely a second confirmation through mental power. Zuo Wang Qingyuan showed no surprise, simply looking at Ye Zhi:
"Congratulations, little one, blessed by the true God of Nature, you have reaped another divinely bestowed seed."
"I found it near the interdimensional passage... I also want to thank King Wuyuan Ant and King Qingyuan for taking me there before."
"Near the interdimensional passage? Little guy, what are you doing running so far away?" The Cicada Ant King transmitted a concerned telepathic signal. "There's no path over there. What if you get lost?"
"Um, King Cinnabar Ant, after I reached the intermediate stage, I seem to have awakened an ability, which is roughly the ability to locate the position of the worker ants I produce in real time..."
Faced with the Ant King's concerned mental power, Ye Zhi pondered for a moment and decided to truthfully reveal her "spatial positioning" ability.