Astral Cockroach

A Flame Spider warrior named "Xuemai" handed Banbu a brown pine cone.

"Hello, my name is Xuemai."

Xuemai was twice the size of Banbu, appearing somewhat timid and shy, carefully conveying information to Banbu.

"Hello, thank you."

Banbu received the gift and politely returned the greeting.

Chonglou continued, "Fire Oil Pines are produced in the cold north. The Golden Bamboo Mountain Master originally intended to nurture it into a life seed and plant it on the summit of Lizhu Peak. I once helped check, and the summit of Lizhu Peak is very suitable for Fire Oil Pine growth in terms of temperature, humidity, light, and soil."

"However, the growth rate of the Fire Oil Pine is very, very slow, as slow as the Red Iron Tree. Therefore, Mountain Master Banbu, I suggest you first collect the seeds. After becoming a high-level warrior, you can consider whether to nurture this Fire Oil Pine seed into a life seed based on the development of your own territory."

Banbu asked, "How slow is it?"

Luoshi helped answer, "It takes at least 5 years to grow to my height."

Banbu carefully measured. Luoshi's height did not exceed 100. That meant it would take 5 years to grow to a height of 100, which was indeed slow. The initial enthusiasm in his heart immediately cooled down.

For cockroach tribes, high-level warriors only have a lifespan of forty to fifty years. The vigorous and energetic youth period is only a short twenty years. In the early stages, they must choose plants with fast growth rates as their life seeds.

Upon advancing to the Mountain Master level, lifespan would greatly increase. Only then would they have the capital to consider planting those slow-growing, but richly rewarding, rare tree species.

Banbu said, "After I advance to a high-level warrior, the Fire Oil Pine seed will be the most cherished life seed choice. Thank you."

Seeing that Banbu understood how to choose a life seed, Chonglou didn't say more and asked, "Mountain Master Banbu, your bamboo seed is worth 2 origin stones. Will you purchase rare origin force fruits? Or directly collect the origin stones?"

Origin stones are jade stones that have gradually formed over tens of thousands of years in an environment rich in origin force. They are cut into uniformly sized small pieces and used as the main currency among the various races of the continent.

Banbu had been exposed to a large number of origin stones when he was human, and he understood their various uses, so he wasn't surprised. After thinking about it, he said, "I need two origin stones."

"No problem. Xuemai, take two origin stones and give them to Mountain Master Banbu," Chonglou readily replied.

Xuemai climbed onto Chonglou's back and took out two irregularly cut milky white stones from a silk bag and handed them to Banbu, timidly saying:

"Mountain Master Banbu, please check the weight."

Origin stones produced by nature are irregular, and the cutting is not very regular either. They are counted according to a unified standard weight.

Banbu didn't have a weighing tool and didn't know how much each origin stone should weigh. He casually put them into his snakeskin pouch and said, "I trust your reputation, thank you!"

Xuemai happily said, "Thank you for your trust too."

Chonglou solemnly said, "The foundation of commercial transactions is mutual trust. Mountain Master Banbu, this is a good start. I believe we will have a pleasant cooperation in the future."

Banbu agreed, "I think so too."

"The journey is long, we should continue on our way," Chonglou instructed the small spiders beside him, "Luoshi, Xuemai, let's go!"

Banbu tried to persuade them to stay, "Night is falling, you should stay overnight at Lizhu Peak and set off tomorrow morning."

Chonglou smiled and said, "Thank you for Mountain Master Banbu's kindness, but our Rainbow Flame Spider tribe prefers to rest during the day and travel at night."

"…" Banbu said, "Then I won't force you. Mountain Master Chonglou, you will come to Lizhu Peak to trade again in three years, right?"

Chonglou turned to look at the God-given Seed and said, "Mountain Master Banbu, you underestimate the charm of the God-given Seed. If you are willing, we can come to trade next year."

Banbu asked, "Next year?"

Chonglou said, "God-given Seeds also have different qualities, and different plant species also have different yields. I know that the seeds produced by the God-given Seed in the first year will definitely not be enough for you to eat yourself. If you are willing, leaving one is enough. We need to understand more detailed information."

Luoshi added, "Understanding its characteristics and yield is for pricing on the one hand, and to facilitate finding customers willing to spend a lot of money to buy it on the other hand."

As expected of a race that has made a living as merchants for generations, very professional.

"Oh! I understand!" Banbu tapped his antennae and sincerely asked, "Mountain Master Chonglou, you have traveled all over the world and must have seen all kinds of God-given Seeds. Can you tell me how is the development potential of my God-given Seed?"

Chonglou said without hesitation, "It will continuously divide into new plants, forming a grassland, and even growing into a prairie, and then each plant can flower and bear seeds. The development prospects should not be underestimated. However, there is an upper limit to the number of divisions. The specific scale it can grow to is related to the growth time and your own strength."

After Chonglou finished speaking, he emphasized, "The most important thing is your strength! If the God-given Seed is sown, a tree spirit will be born. The tree spirit takes time to grow, and is also constrained by your strength. This problem will be reflected in the long time it takes for a high-level warrior to advance to Mountain Master."

Chonglou's answer was not much different from Banbu's guess.

Banbu continued to ask, "Are there any special things to pay attention to when managing the God-given Seed?"

Chonglou thought for a while and said, "Maintain soil fertility, irrigate it from time to time. The origin force abundance of Lizhu Peak is sufficient, so there is nothing else to pay attention to at present."

Banbu said, "I understand, thank you!"

Chonglou said, "I should be on my way."

Banbu's mind moved and he said, "I am more familiar with the route from Lizhu Peak to Iron Saber Peak, let me see you off."

Chonglou thought for a while and said, "Thank you for your enthusiasm."

… …

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Banbu flew at low altitude to lead the way.

There was a reason for the enthusiastic send-off. Banbu wanted to learn more about this planet through Chonglou. In addition, Banbu was very curious about how the Flame Spider tribe's spiders switched back and forth between the plant and seed forms of the life seed they nurtured.

Seeing is believing.

Banbu guessed that when the caravan stopped to rest during the day, they would definitely take out the life seed, and then he could see it with his own eyes.

Banbu accompanied them all the way, flying at low altitude to lead the way.

Chonglou then explained the customs and strange anecdotes of various places on the continent.

"There are two main production areas of origin stones. The largest production area is the Northern Wilderness, followed by the Ten Thousand Kingdoms Continent in the east. There are also outputs in other places, but only scattered small veins are distributed. Most of the origin stones circulating between the insect kingdoms are produced in the Northern Wilderness."

"The cold north is not suitable for insect survival. The Northern Wilderness is completely occupied by beast tribes such as the Mottled Tiger, Snow Leopard, Black Bear, Arctic Ice Bear, Prairie Wolf, and Icefield Wolf. Conflicts, and even wars, break out with insect races all year round."

"We traveling merchants never intervene in war affairs and maintain absolute neutrality. Through trade with the beasts, we exchange origin force food produced by the insects for origin stones controlled by the beast races. These origin stones then flow into the insect kingdoms through various channels."

"North of the Fire Roach Kingdom is the Giant Roach Kingdom, north of the Giant Roach Kingdom is the Saber Mantis Kingdom, further north is the Green Mantis Kingdom, further north is the Wolf Scorpion Kingdom, and north of the Wolf Scorpion Kingdom is the territory ruled by the Prairie Wolf tribe."

"Our Rainbow Flame Spider tribe's caravan trades with the Prairie Wolf tribe all year round…"

Hearing "Prairie Wolf", Xuemai's little spider suddenly became excited and shouted, "Little Wolf! Little Wolf! Friend!"

Banbu was puzzled.

Chonglou explained, "Last summer, when we were trading with the Prairie Wolves, Xuemai met a newly born Prairie Wolf warrior."

Xuemai said, "Little Wolf is a friend."

Banbu said, "Beasts are very dangerous, fierce, and greedy. They do not engage in production and live by plundering."

Chonglou said, "Beast races are indeed dangerous, and are natural enemies of insect races. However, the beast tribes in the Northern Wilderness have a lot of knowledge inheritance and have formed certain rules and order, and they are not as dangerous as the legends say."

"They generally do not rob caravans." Chonglou said, "But we must never ignore the ferocity of the beasts. Our Rainbow Flame Spider tribe's caravans gather on the border every summer and enter the Prairie Wolf territory to trade in a unified manner."

Chonglou then asked, "Mountain Master Banbu, you were born in the Iron Saber Mountains, have you ever heard of Mayu?"

Banbu's heart moved: Mayu once traveled the continent with the Rainbow Flame Spider tribe's caravan. Could it be that he was following Chonglou's caravan? The relationship between the two sides seemed to have broken down. Whenever Mayu mentioned the caravan, he always showed strong disgust.

Banbu replied, "I have heard of him."