Astral Cockroach

Agricultural production is characterized most by being tiring.

The first river planned intersects with a natural river channel approximately 3.5 kilometers away. With a designed width of 2 meters and a depth of 0.6 meters, it's undoubtedly a massive project.

In the cold winter, Banbu was bustling with activity.

Big Bear was responsible for clearing the path with his Iron Sand Palm, smashing tall trees along the way and uprooting obstructing shrubs.

Led by the Rat King, seven bamboo rat warriors followed behind, responsible for digging soil and filling snakeskin bags.

Banbu was in charge of transporting the bags of soil away.

Windbell followed behind, responsible for transplanting water bamboo on both sides of the river, and transplanting hemp bamboo, cattail bamboo, and moso bamboo in outer locations. Some of the bamboo clumps came from Li Bamboo Peak, but most were dug up and transported back from the Yangti Mountain bamboo forest by Lizhu and Huli.

Windbell's work was relatively easy.

With more labor, there had to be rules.

Banbu stipulated that everyone rest late at night, go out to work together at dawn, eat at noon and dusk, and take a break for a while.

The bamboo rat warriors were very concerned about their earnings. Banbu paid them wages on a weekly basis.

The Rat King, a senior warrior, received 10 oriental arborvitae seeds or 2 hickory nuts per day.

The six junior bamboo rat warriors, such as Hemp Bamboo, received 5 oriental arborvitae seeds or 1 hickory nut per day.

Except for the specified time, no rest was allowed during work hours, otherwise wages would be deducted.

The bamboo rat warriors were cunning. After working for a few days, they found it too tiring and always tried to find ways to slack off.

Banbu, as the "boss," didn't want to be the bad guy.

The loyal Big Bear was the best supervisor.

Those thick trees were smashed to pieces under Big Bear's palm. Coupled with Big Bear's sturdy physique, it brought great pressure to the bamboo rat warriors.

At Banbu's instruction, Big Bear would turn around and inspect every section of the road he cleared, checking whether the bamboo rat warriors were slacking off.

After a month of high-intensity labor, the seven bamboo rats, who were chubby when they came, all lost a lot of weight. The smallest White Bamboo was the worst. When he stood up, you could see the ribs on his chest.

The river channel was successfully expanded forward by 2 kilometers.

Seeing that the seven bamboo rat warriors were about to give up, and the project progress didn't need to be too urgent, Banbu readjusted the work schedule.

It was changed to rest all day during the day and work at night.

A month of 30 days was divided into 5 weeks, with 6 days each week, working 5 days and resting 1 day.

Leave could be taken, but there was no pay.

Full attendance each month would be rewarded with an extra 30 oriental arborvitae seeds.

… …

In the evening, Banbu ate his usual force food, completed his cultivation, then inspected the plants in the territory, and finally came to the foot of the mountain.

At this time, the seven bamboo rat warriors, led by the Rat King, had already started working, filling three snakeskin bags with soil.

Banbu, dragging the snakeskin bags, was about to transport them away for dumping when the Rat King suddenly asked, "Banbu, Big Bear said that practicing cultivation techniques can improve the utilization efficiency of force food."

Sure enough, living together day and night, over time, Big Bear's cultivation secrets were discovered.

Big Bear was honest, probably saying everything when asked.

However, Banbu didn't intend to hide it either, and didn't tell Big Bear to keep it a secret from the bamboo rat warriors, saying, "Yes."

The Rat King asked, "Can we bamboo rats cultivate?"

"You can cultivate, but…" Banbu paused and said, "Cultivation techniques are the inheritance of gods, not trivial. Big Bear once helped me fight and also saved Windbell's life. Big Bear has made meritorious service in battle, and merit deserves reward, so I taught him cultivation techniques."

The Rat King said dejectedly, "Banbu, I know your territory is very dangerous, but… bamboo rats are too small and not suitable for fighting."

Banbu said, "Starting next year, you will help me find mines and look for God-bestowed seeds. As long as you find a vein or God-bestowed seed, it will be considered meritorious service. I will not only teach you cultivation techniques, but also combat skills."

The Rat King asked, "Banbu, Big Bear slapping trees with his bear paws, is that a combat skill?"

Banbu said, "Yes, a simple skill of using strength."

"Banbu, I understand." The Rat King also said, "Banbu, in fact, starting this year, we can help you find raw ore mines and God-bestowed seeds."

Banbu said unhappily, "There are only so many bamboos on Li Bamboo Peak, and the seven of you are especially good at eating. If you don't plant more bamboo, what will you eat?"

The Rat King scratched his head humanistically and said, "Banbu, you are very considerate. Jerky is too hard to eat, we must plant more bamboo!"

… …

Winter passed and spring came.

Banbu sowed the few life seeds he had conceived last year and then fell into a deep sleep.

Evolution from intermediate warrior to advanced warrior is accompanied by a certain probability of failure, so Banbu spaced it out by 50 days.

This was a very critical breakthrough, and the sleep time often exceeded half a month, and could even exceed 20 days if it was slightly longer.

Li Bamboo Peak was shut down for this.

Windbell guarded at the foot of the mountain.

Big Bear guarded the cave entrance on the mountain.

Without a boss to lead and no supervisor to supervise, the seven bamboo rat warriors worked alone at the foot of the mountain. Knowing that planting bamboo was to consider their food problem, they all became serious and no longer thought about finding opportunities to slack off as they used to.

Waking up groggily, feeling the weakness and fatigue that he hadn't experienced for a long time, and his brain was dizzy, and his consciousness was a little blurry.

"Big Bear?"

Banbu called out.

"Banbu!" Big Bear's excited shout came from outside the cave, and then he rushed in.

"Banbu, you're awake! It's not good, something happened, the Bloodthorn God-bestowed seed… it… suddenly grew crooked a few days ago…"

"What?" Banbu suspected he had misheard.

Looking closely again, Windbell was also there.

Unlike Big Bear, who was dull, Windbell quickly fetched a piece of jerky and placed it in front of Banbu, saying, "Banbu, eat something first to recover your energy."

Banbu picked up the jerky, and while gnawing, asked, "Windbell, how long have I been asleep?"

Windbell said, "18 days, almost 19 days, I thought… Banbu, you are growing too fast, it's a bit dangerous!"

Ordinary red cockroach warriors take about 5 years to grow from birth to advanced warrior, and the fastest is about 4 years.

Banbu, at most, was exactly 3 years, and the first year was spent surviving alone in the wild, which delayed a lot of time. The growth during the intermediate warrior period was a bit too fast.

Banbu felt that Windbell's tone also carried a different kind of worry.

He looked at Big Bear and Windbell.

The Bloodthorn God-bestowed seed grew crooked? What does that mean?

Banbu felt that his brain was not very flexible, shook his antennae, and took two big bites of jerky, feeling the food entering his stomach and digesting into a stream of energy flowing throughout his body, feeling a little better, and then asked, "Windbell, what happened?"

"Half a month ago, Shan Nie, who was responsible for guarding the snake vine God-bestowed seed, disappeared. Iron Saber Mountain Master searched everywhere but found no trace of her. Her life seed plant has begun to wither…"

The withering of the life seed plant meant that the insect warrior had died.

Shan Nie was a senior warrior of the older generation in Iron Saber Mountain, and was Yun Tao's elder. Yun Tao was injured, and she helped take turns guarding the snake vine God-bestowed seed.

Banbu's heart trembled, and he said seriously, "Was it done by beast warriors? To be able to kill a senior warrior… either a sneak attack, or a mountain master-level beast, or a raptor good at flying."

Windbell said, "The Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe is relying on the raw ore vein to develop rapidly and has begun to expand its territory since last winter. Iron Saber Mountain Master said that they should have driven the fierce beast warriors from the barren land over, breaking into the Jinping Mountains and wreaking havoc."

"The Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe is reclaiming land!" Banbu said with a headache, "This is a big trouble."

Windbell said, "The snake vine God-bestowed seed is now guarded by Iron Saber Mountain Master, and the Red Firmament County Lord has been notified… It is said that the Black and White Flower Cockroach tribe had reported the reclamation to the Red Firmament County Lord long ago, but the Red Firmament County Lord was careless and did not notify the subordinate mountains in time."

Banbu nodded his antennae to show that he understood, and then asked Big Bear, "What exactly happened to the Bloodthorn God-bestowed seed?"

Big Bear said, "A few days ago, it suddenly grew wildly… it grew crooked…"

Banbu asked, "What do you mean by 'grew crooked'?"

Big Bear scratched his head and said, "Its thorns and branches are all growing in one direction."

Windbell helped explain, "I don't know why, the new branches of the Bloodthorn God-bestowed seed are all spreading towards Li Bamboo Peak. I initially guessed that it was because Li Bamboo Peak's force was abundant, and it was attracted by the force, so I asked Big Head to shave off some primitive powder to supplement its force, but it grew even more vigorously instead."

Big Bear added, "Supplementing the force made it even more crooked."

"… …" Banbu quickly gnawed on the jerky and said, "I'll go take a look."