Astral Cockroach

The birth of a Crown Pear increased the number of Crimson Ant warriors on Jiping Mountain by three, bringing the total to 15. With a bit of luck, they would soon reach 20.

With 20, would 30 be far behind? With 30, would 40 be far behind? And so on. With the wealth of Lizhu Peak, ensuring every warrior reached the Mountain Lord level, the ant population growth would enter an increasing pattern. Surpassing 200 wouldn't be so unattainable.

Looking to the future, the prospects were bright.

......

Over several years, with continuous watering using the wreckage of the Boundary Tree, the quality of ordinary life-form plants on the mountain had been elevated to an extreme limit beyond which it couldn't be improved.

Every summer, the fresh fruit produced by the ordinary life-form plants on Lizhu Peak gradually became more abundant.

Sun Reflection Fruit, White Jade Mulberry, Jambolan Plum, Blood Peach, Osmanthus Pear, Snow Peak Gold Orchid, and so on.

Sweet and fragrant fresh fruit was most pleasing, and both insect and beast warriors enjoyed eating it. High summer was the most joyous harvest season.

Currently, they were cultivating ordinary Longevity Peach seeds, so in the future, they would also have the famous Little Longevity Peaches to eat.

After a year of recuperation, the Tata Tree's God-given seed bloomed once again.

The number of flowers was not ideal, only 291.

The Tata Tree not only grew slowly, but it also didn't like to bloom and bear fruit, resulting in extremely low yields.

With the Boundary Tree wreckage in the first warehouse used up, Banbu ordered that, except for the Cliff Cypress God-given seed and the soon-to-be-cultivated Sacred Bamboo God-given seed, no other ordinary life-form plants or God-given seeds on the mountain would continue to use the Boundary Tree wreckage.

It would all be saved for Tata to use.

......

Longzhu advanced to become a L9 Advanced Warrior in late spring, but hadn't yet chosen a life-form plant.

The dry season arrived.

Lizhu Peak entered a state of emergency labor and strict alert.

Pollen was collected from the two best Balloon Bamboo No. 1 seeds from last year and bestowed upon a grove of Thunder Sound Bamboo.

Late at night, Banbu, along with Balloon Bamboo and Longzhu, kept watch.

This year, the "stars" in the sky still numbered over 40, but they weren't very stable, with the specific number changing every night.

Banbu divided his attention, watching the night sky while also keeping an eye on the bamboo forest.

Late at night, a wisp of Origin Power descended from beyond the sky, and one "star" went out. Simultaneously, a white bamboo flower rippled with traces of Origin Power, absorbing natural Origin Power at an extremely slow rate.

As expected, the God-given mechanism of the "stars" in the sky could only be triggered by hybridizing with the best existing seeds.

The result was as expected. Banbu no longer had that excited feeling and simply reminded, "It's done!"

"It's done!" Longzhu cheered.

Balloon Bamboo wasn't very enthusiastic either and asked, "Banbu, will you guard it?"

Banbu said, "Longzhu, you stay and guard it with me. Balloon Bamboo, you go and get busy."

Balloon Bamboo went to Fire Bamboo Peak to check on the development of the Moso Bamboo mutant species there.

Cultivating high-quality Moso Bamboo No. 1 seeds was currently the most, most, most important thing, without exception.

......

Late June.

Princess Fengyang arrived at Lizhu Peak, following along to work and earn money.

Calculating the time, it was almost time to depart for Chiwu Mountain.

Red Rice went to Qinggang Mountain Range, and Princess Tiejiu arrived soon after.

Princess Tiejiu didn't have any direct descendants to take care of, and she possessed two arbors God-given seeds, so her annual income was already overflowing. When Banbu visited last winter, he had casually inquired, meaning that once Longzhu was found, he would ask Princess Tiejiu to help transport it. Princess Tiejiu had directly agreed, and even offered to help for free.

The legendary Longzhu was the largest large bamboo species, and a single bamboo clump would definitely be huge. Princess Tiejiu was a hybrid of the Large Ant tribe and the Crimson Ant tribe, with a sturdy and robust physique, inheriting the Large Ant tribe's strength talent and also possessing the Crimson Ant tribe's ability to fly, making her the most suitable for helping with transportation.

The Longzhu would be dug out and transported as soon as possible, brought back to Lizhu Peak for transplantation, and cultivated as quickly as possible to complete the hybridization with the Moso Bamboo No. 1, lest Chiwu Mountain get there first.

After waiting for a few more days.

The Lotus Mist Ghost King and Hibiscus Butterfly King, who had traveled the countries, returned to Lizhu Peak along the Jiping Mountain Range. Banbu arranged for them to live in the middle layer on the due east side of the mountain.

Packing things up, preparing to depart.

"Mountain Lord Banbu!"

"Mountain Lord Banbu, is there a God-given seed being cultivated in that Thunder Sound Bamboo forest?"

The Lotus Mist Ghost King and Hibiscus Butterfly King approached Banbu.

They had seen the situation at Lizhu Peak and weren't very impressed.

The Origin Power concentration at Lizhu Peak was passable, but outside of Lizhu Peak, the natural Origin Power was low, a truly barren frontier.

There was no foundation to speak of, not even a decent tree sea. The bamboo sea had only just started to rise in recent decades, just taking shape, and the vast majority of the bamboo species came from their Chiwu Mountain.

The members on the mountain were a motley crew, and their numbers were pitifully small.

There seemed to be quite a few God-given plants, but only the Oil Tea, Rain Bamboo, Dark Bamboo, and the Blood Thorn at the foot of the mountain were of high quality. However, none of them were particularly good. There were two wild arbors God-given seeds that looked like they had good development potential, but they were still small and unknown when they would grow up.

In their opinion, the biggest highlight of the entire mountain was Balloon Bamboo No. 1. Therefore, after returning to the mountain, they first observed the Sacred Sound Bamboo and Thunder Sound Bamboo forests on the mountain.

There was nothing unusual about the Sacred Sound Bamboo. This bamboo species was naturally precious and could serve as a symbol of Lizhu Peak.

The Thunder Sound Bamboo was also good…

"Mountain Lord Banbu, can we observe the Thunder Sound Bamboo God-given seed being cultivated up close?" Hibiscus Butterfly King asked.

Banbu said, "Of course you can."

The God-given seed cultivated by the Thunder Sound Bamboo was also a bamboo fruit, about half a month away from maturity. Most of the Origin Power genes had taken shape, and it could vaguely be discerned that it enhanced lightning abilities.

The Lotus Mist Ghost King clicked his tongue in admiration and said, "The Chiwu Ghost King spent more than three hundred years cultivating them. The Sacred Sound Bamboo and Thunder Sound Bamboo have been selected and optimized generation after generation, and their quality is already very high."

The Hibiscus Butterfly King couldn't help but praise, "Yes! The quality of the Balloon Bamboo bamboo species is also very good. The quality of this God-given seed born from hybrid breeding is second only to a few top-quality arbors God-given seeds."

The Lotus Mist Ghost King thought for a moment and said, "If it is cultivated into a life-form plant, it can probably reach the low end of excellent quality at best."

"That's about right." The Hibiscus Butterfly King agreed and asked, "Mountain Lord Banbu, are you interested in exchanging God-given seeds? Our Chiwu Mountain can exchange an arbors God-given seed with you."

"Exchange?" Banbu asked, "How would we exchange?"

The Hibiscus Butterfly King said, "You've seen the six tree seas that Chiwu Mountain manages. Their overall area should be about the same size as your Jiping Mountain Range, right?"

Banbu said, "About the same."

The Hibiscus Butterfly King said, "In the vast tree sea, one or two God-given seeds are always born naturally every year. Every few years, a warrior also cultivates a brand-new high-quality tree species and thus obtains a God-given seed."

The Lotus Mist Ghost King, worried that Banbu wouldn't understand, explained, "For example, the Lotus Mist tree species currently has 17 native species, including the Ghost Mist Lotus. Over countless years, with the efforts of countless predecessors, about 2,000 derivative species have been cultivated."

Banbu said, "I understand that."

In fact, Banbu had realized the problem of native species and derivative species a long time ago, but the concept was relatively vague. He had wisely named the reduced species of mutant species in the form of XXX-1 from the beginning, considering that XXX-2, XXX-3, and other derivative species should be able to be cultivated in the future.

The Thunder Bamboo God-given seed enhances lightning abilities and is compatible with the Narrow Butterfly tribe. It could be seen that the Hibiscus Butterfly King wanted it very much.

It wasn't compatible with the Crimson Ant tribe, and he couldn't use it himself when it bore fruit in the future, so he could only sell it to merchants.

Exchange? It would be best to exchange it for an arbors tree species that enhanced fire or metal, which many members of Lizhu Peak could use. Exchanging it for something that enhanced grass and wood abilities or water element abilities would also be good; the former would be useful for Oil Tea, and the latter would be useful for Red Rice.

Banbu looked at Longzhu.

This guy Longzhu's love for bamboo species hadn't reached that level of obsession and seemed somewhat tempted.

"Exchange, it's not impossible." Banbu hesitated and asked, "But how would we exchange it?"

The Hibiscus Butterfly King was secretly delighted to see this and said, "I will send the Thunder Sound Bamboo God-given seed over when it matures. Crossing the continent with extremely fast flight will only take half a month. By then, Mountain Lord Banbu, you should be arriving at Chiwu Mountain, right? You come and choose a God-given seed. Once you've chosen, I'll bring it over."

The Lotus Mist Ghost King added, "There will definitely be God-given seeds. With a single order from the Chiwu Ghost King, warriors will immediately send them over. The only question is whether they are suitable. Of course, if you can't choose a suitable one this year, you can continue to choose next year. If you still can't choose a suitable one next year, there's always the year after."

"Hiss… That's great!" Banbu's heart was pounding, and he feigned asking, "Longzhu, you make the decision."

"I agree!" Longzhu couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart.

He had asked Banbu about the prosperity of Chiwu Mountain. Every tree in the tree sea managed by Chiwu Mountain was a one-in-a-million high-quality tree species, with no useless ones. This was a guaranteed profit deal, at worst a fair trade!

Just as the agreement was about to be reached.

Princess Fengyang, who was watching the fun from the side, quietly reminded, "Most of the arbors trees in the south are not suitable for survival on Lizhu Peak, such as the Lotus Mist, Longan, Snake Fruit, and Star Fruit tree species."

That's right!

This bucket of cold water instantly cooled down the enthusiasm of both parties.