Astral Cockroach

Beside the bamboo seedling nursery was a small paddy field, dug out by Hongdao with the help of Baizhu to resemble a nursery, for experimenting with seedling cultivation. This was taught by Banbu. Once the seedlings were cultivated, they would be pulled out and transplanted to other paddy fields with reasonable row spacing to increase yield.

The fight took place in the paddy field. By the time Banbu arrived, it was already over: Duzhu's entire body was being pressed into the mud by Hongdao, who was struggling fiercely.

It was quite intense; a large area of seedlings in the field had been destroyed.

Duzhu was only a Level 6 novice warrior, far weaker than Hongdao, a Level 9 novice warrior.

"Hongdao, what are you doing?!"

Banbu scolded, stepping forward to pull Hongdao away, then pulled Duzhu out of the mud, grabbed him, and shook him in a small puddle on the edge of the paddy field to wash off the silt.

"Hongdao, what's going on? Why are you bullying Duzhu?"

"Is its name Duzhu? What an ugly name," Hongdao said calmly. "It said the rice looked ugly."

Duzhu immediately retorted, shouting, "Banbu, it said the bamboo looked ugly!"

Damn it, they're fighting over this? Such a trivial matter.

But, how should I handle this?

I've never encountered a dispute between young warriors before; I have no experience!

Banbu said, "Hongdao, you're a year older than Duzhu; you should be considerate of it. Don't bully it again, understand?"

Hongdao said, "Banbu, this little thing is very bad; it actually dared to cut my seedlings!"

"I didn't!" Duzhu shouted, "I didn't! Banbu, it's the one bullying me! You should teach it a lesson."

Banbu hadn't figured out how to resolve it yet.

Baizhu, who had hurried down from the mountain, timidly reminded, "Banbu, I can testify that it was going to cut Hongdao's seedlings first, and then they started fighting..."

Hongdao seized the opportunity, coldly sneering, "Banbu, is the trade caravan still here? Did you give them the money? How old is this little thing, and it's already dishonest. What will it be like when it grows up? I think we should return it to the trade caravan and let them take it away."

"..." Banbu looked at Duzhu: It's not even a year old, where did it learn to lie? It's unusually mischievous!

Duzhu stubbornly and aggrievedly said, "Banbu, I didn't cut its seedlings. Look closely; there are no cutting marks at all."

That's right. Cutting with the tips of the forelegs would leave neat wounds, and there would be severed seedlings.

Banbu's mental power swept over, and he turned his head to look at Baizhu: This little thing is not honest! It has a good relationship with Hongdao. Is it helping to lie and frame Duzhu?

Banbu also looked at Hongdao: This guy isn't easy to deal with either!

Hongdao emphasized, "Banbu, it was preparing to cut my seedlings, but I stopped it in time."

Duzhu shouted, "I didn't!"

Hongdao said, "Yes! Baizhu can testify."

Who's lying?

I can't figure out who's right and who's wrong.

There's no need to investigate right and wrong when children have conflicts.

"Stop arguing!" Banbu put on the air of an elder, sternly shouting, "Hongdao, tidy up the paddy field and go back to the territory to rest."

"Baizhu, you go back and rest too."

"Duzhu, come up the mountain with me."

...

Returning to the mountain, Banbu called Datou, took Duzhu to the cave to eat something, replenish its energy, and planned to temporarily arrange for it to live in his own cave, and move it to another place when it advances to an intermediate warrior in the future.

Two young warriors fighting was just a small episode.

Banbu and Yuzhu continued to discuss the trade.

The goods of the Yuzhu trade caravan were far less diverse than those of the Chonglou trade caravan. He certainly wouldn't buy the Python-striped Honey Melon, and there were no other goods that were tempting. In the end, Banbu could only promise to purchase a batch from the Yuzhu trade caravan next year.

Trade caravans earn profits by buying and selling. If they only buy and don't sell goods, the profit is less.

Having obtained Banbu's promise, Yuzhu was willing to give up, stopped promoting, and turned its attention to the Bloodthorn Divine Seed at the foot of the mountain.

Yuzhu is currently a Level 9 advanced warrior and has not completely left Princess Huangjing's trade caravan to formally operate independently, but that day is not far away. The Bloodthorn Divine Seed in Banbu's territory was the first major deal it had negotiated, its first pot of gold in its insect life, so it was particularly concerned.

"Banbu, can we go down the mountain and take a look?"

"Of course."

Banbu agreed, thought for a moment, returned to the cave, took out 10 pieces of raw ore to bring with him. After all, it was currently the most profitable Divine Seed, and he couldn't always let it go hungry.

...

"Banbu, Banbu..."

Sensing Banbu's arrival, the Bloodthorn Tree Spirit cheered, and then asked a series of questions: Who are they? What are they going to do?

The Tree Spirit has a very poor memory and had long forgotten the names of the Iridescent Flame Spider tribe and the Yuzhu trade caravan.

"The Iridescent Flame Spider tribe trade caravan, this one is called Yuzhu, it's here to see you."

Banbu patiently explained to it again.

Standing upwind, he slowly cut a piece of raw ore into powder and scattered it into the thorn bushes.

"Banbu, what is this?" the Tree Spirit asked.

"Raw ore," Banbu said, very annoyed that it couldn't even remember such an important term as "raw ore."

"Raw ore, raw ore, raw ore..." the Tree Spirit cheered, and for the first time, a desire for raw ore appeared in its emotions.

Banbu paused, his mental power scanning, carefully checking the development of the Bloodthorn Divine Seed.

After nearly a year and a half of uniform growth, the 13 main branches were all over 30 meters long, lignified, nearly 10 centimeters in diameter, running along the ground, and branching out to the sides, forming a huge thicket.

At the branching points of the main branches, there were also a few roots that absorbed nutrients from the ground.

This spring, the growth rate of the Bloodthorn thicket was significantly slower than last year.

Under normal circumstances, except for a few types of precious trees, the growth scale of every plant has an upper limit. After reaching the upper limit, the growth rate slows down, or simply stops growing.

To break the limit, you must carry out genetic evolution, and it must be a qualitative change. This is why the Bloodthorn Tree Spirit began to crave raw ore, because it instinctively realized that it needed raw ore to grow.

What was abnormal was that the scale of the Bloodthorn Divine Seed after it grew up was not as large as Banbu had imagined.

"Banbu, let me help you," Fuling said, taking the initiative to help when she saw Banbu's actions pause.

"Oh," Banbu responded casually, still lost in thought.

Fuling used her two thick chelipeds to hold up a piece of raw ore, and with a sudden force, crushed the entire piece into powder, and the powder sprinkled into the thorn bushes with the wind.

"Raw ore! Raw ore! Raw ore..." the Bloodthorn Tree Spirit cheered, its branches and leaves swaying in the wind, instantly absorbing all the raw power.

One after another, all 10 pieces of raw ore were crushed into powder and sprinkled into the thorn bushes.

The Bloodthorn Divine Seed became even more joyful.

"Banbu, Bloodthorn is the fastest... the fastest plant I've ever seen at absorbing raw power," Yuzhu exclaimed.

That's 1000 raw stones!

The Bloodthorn Divine Seed absorbed all of it in one breath, without wasting a bit.

Banbu sighed, "This thing consumes too much raw ore. If I had known this, I probably should have planted it on Lizhu Peak."

Yuzhu said, "Planting it outside Lizhu Peak was a wise choice. After all, Bloodthorn is too destructive, and it is a devastating disaster for other plants."

After chatting for a while, the Yuzhu trade caravan directly crossed the mountain range, continued north, and rushed to Chijian County overnight.

"Should I invest a batch of raw ore to try?"

Banbu thought in confusion, flew back to the mountain peak, walked to the entrance of the cave, noticed something was wrong, and his mental power swept over, finding Datou commanding the ant colony to surround Duzhu, with four soldier ants grabbing its wing veins, firmly restraining it.

What the hell is going on again? It's fighting with Datou again!