Astral Cockroach

Currently, Banbu's mastery of the three basic metal abilities is primarily achieved through the supernatural纹络 (wenluo, lines/patterns) located at the position of his first heart.

Metal Enhancement is a one-time consumption of Origin Power, benefiting him for life.

Metal Manipulation consumes a significant amount of physical energy when used, but very little Origin Power.

Metal Conversion, which transforms non-metal atoms into desired metal atoms, consumes not only physical energy but also a tremendous amount of Origin Power.

What is the concept of 4 million Origin Stones worth of Origin Power?

The sparse natural Origin Power that溢散 (yisan, dissipate) from the canyon is completely useless; the supernatural纹络 (wenluo, lines/patterns) at the position of his first heart doesn't even react.

When Banbu passed through the幻彩迷障 (huan cai mi zhang, illusionary colored barrier), the corresponding supernatural纹络 (wenluo, lines/patterns) were instantly awakened, forming an Origin Power vacuum zone with a diameter of over 30 meters around his body. His entire body was like a funnel, with natural Origin Power pouring in madly.

Near the edge of the幻彩迷障 (huan cai mi zhang, illusionary colored barrier), the concentration of natural Origin Power is still not high enough, which could lead to a large disturbance and potentially alert nearby insect warriors.

Banbu didn't dare to be negligent, running quickly on the ground and constantly moving to switch positions, trying to suppress the disturbance to a minimum.

He can only absorb less than 150,000 Origin Stones worth of Origin Power each day, and it will take nearly a month to fully replenish what he consumed.

The vicinity is a wild, mixed jungle with no signs of management, which seems quite safe.

Indeed, Banbu wandered in the forest for four or five days without detecting any traces of Origin Power creatures, indicating that there are probably no insect warriors living nearby.

With a bit more courage, his mind also became more active: Generally speaking, the natural Origin Power near the幻彩迷障 (huan cai mi zhang, illusionary colored barrier) area tends to be barren. Should I venture deeper into the continent to find a more concentrated area and recover sooner?

Under the cover of night, he crossed the jungle and climbed onto a mountain peak.

From the summit, he looked out at the rolling hills ahead.

The hilly terrain might not be suitable for termites to build large mounds exceeding 100 meters in height?

Banbu further speculated: Perhaps the termite empire he saw earlier was due to the northern plains. The southern part of this continent is ruled by other insect tribes.

As long as it's not termites, it's not so scary!

Thinking this, he gained three more points of courage and ventured into the hills, searching for places with particularly abundant Origin Power to accelerate the recovery rate of his first heart's Origin Power.

He quickly found a good location: a steep peak only a hundred meters high, where the Origin Power concentration should exceed 2. Banbu lurked on the summit.

The good times didn't last long. The next morning, as he was preparing to descend the mountain to forage, he noticed that the forest animals were behaving strangely, fleeing their territories in panic and running around everywhere.

Carefully sensing, he detected Origin Power fluctuations in the distance, and could occasionally faintly see firelight.

Battle!

No, it's a war. The flames of war seem to be spreading towards his side.

Banbu's mind raced. He lay prone on the summit, observing the situation.

Not long after, sparse black ants, about 20 centimeters in length, crawled past the foot of the mountain.

A moment later, a black ant army sped past, clearly having a specific attack target and being in a great hurry. They didn't even notice Banbu lurking on the mountain.

The specific species of the black ant army participating in the battle should be '茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant)', a type of army ant, whose combat power is among the top in the large ant family.

The ant army that hurried past had 5 troop types: Major Soldiers, with curved mandibles like sickles, about 2.5 meters in length. There weren't many, about 200; Minor Soldiers, about 0.8 meters in length, the most numerous, numbering in the tens of thousands, densely packed, making it difficult to estimate the exact number.

There were also Flying Ants with membranous wings on their backs, with body lengths of 2 meters and 0.5 meters respectively. The difference between these and the ground-walking soldiers is that they didn't have mandibles for close combat, but instead had circles of dark red Origin Power纹络 (wenluo, lines/patterns) around their abdomens. These troop types should have the ability to fly and release flames, making them aerial combat troops.

The 5th troop type was the Minor Worker Ants, only about 20 centimeters in length. They had no combat power, with slender bodies and good running skills, making them fast scouts.

According to his inherited memories, a郡主 (jun zhu, princess) level 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) kingdom could have more than 100 million worker ants of various types, and millions of soldier ants. This troop that hurriedly marched past the foot of the mountain wasn't a large number, probably bypassing the main battlefield, possibly intending to encircle from the rear, or perhaps the war had intensified, and they intended to directly raid the rear of the enemy kingdom.

This continent not only has termites, but also ants.

The ant race is not only warlike but also knows how to use tactics.

茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) are already basically the strongest and most warlike ant tribe. What ant tribe is fighting against them? It certainly won't be weak, otherwise, there would be no need to carry out a sneak attack.

Banbu was curious and followed along, preparing to see what was going on.

After running for a day, he got the result at night.

Crossing a mountain range, there was a plain in the distance, with mounds taller than a hundred meters standing on the plain.

The battle was fierce, with firelight igniting the jungle and illuminating the night.

Heaven and earth were clearly divided, all white ants and 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) armies were fighting, the white ones were termites, and the black ones were 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant), with corpses everywhere.

There was more than one 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) force launching a sneak attack.

The termite army on the main battlefield should have urgently returned to defend, cooperating with the remaining forces to encircle the attacking 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant), forming small encirclements.

The main force of the 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) kingdom on the main battlefield then followed and attacked, attempting to encircle the termite empire.

"This is really tragic!"

"I've caught up with a war to destroy a country!"

The number of troops participating in the battle on both sides was too numerous to count. Banbu was hiding in the distant mountains watching, and even he felt terrified.

Banbu suddenly had a realization: No wonder this continent has abundant natural Origin Power, the fundamental reason is the small insect population, which consumes Origin Power slowly.

In an ant kingdom, only the ant queen (king) can be considered an Origin Power creature, and only it can孕育命种 (yunyu ming zhong, breed life seeds). The kingdom's insect population seems large, but the soldier ants and worker ants mainly consume food, and consume very little Origin Power.

In a termite kingdom, only the termite king and queen are Origin Power creatures, and only the two of them can孕育命种 (yunyu ming zhong, breed life seeds).

A mature ant or termite kingdom occupies an area no smaller than the錦屏山脈 (Jinping Mountains), and its Origin Power consumption is definitely less than that of a single peak of 黎竹峰 (Lizhu Peak).

…

The 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) army gradually encircled the termite mounds and launched an attack. Judging from the situation, this great national war will end with the 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) winning a great victory and the termites being destroyed.

Taking advantage of the fierce fighting on both sides, Banbu approached the battlefield a little and carefully identified them.

The specific species of the termite army should be '烈翅土白蚁 (lie chi tu bai yi, fiery-winged earth termite)'. A very peculiar species, the termite king awakens the fire ability, and the termite queen awakens the earth and stone ability. The soldier ants they create together, some master the fire ability, some master the earth and stone ability, and the most powerful ones master both fire and earth and stone combat abilities.

…

The war came to an end at dawn, and the 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) army began to invade the termite mounds.

The outcome was clear.

After dealing with the termite kingdom's termite king and queen, the 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) army will probably search the surrounding jungle.

Banbu didn't want to cause trouble, didn't dare to stay, quietly withdrew, retreated far away, and found another mountain peak with abundant Origin Power to lurk down. 17 days later, the Origin Power of the supernatural纹络 (wenluo, lines/patterns) at the position of his first heart recovered, and he returned along the same route, close to the幻彩迷障 (huan cai mi zhang, illusionary colored barrier).

When passing through the territory of the 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) kingdom, he unexpectedly discovered signs of large-scale deforestation in the mountain forest.

What are they doing cutting down trees? Strange.

Banbu couldn't resist his curiosity and secretly approached to investigate, and was immediately frightened: 烈翅土白蚁 (lie chi tu bai yi, fiery-winged earth termite)!

Densely packed, millions of termites about 5 centimeters in length were busy, gnawing on trees, destroying entire mountain forests.

There were also a large number of combat soldier ants guarding and supervising the work nearby.

Wasn't the ending of that war what it seemed on the surface? Could it be that the 烈翅土白蚁 (lie chi tu bai yi, fiery-winged earth termite) won?

How did they turn the tables? Unbelievable!

Banbu couldn't help but sneak into the territory of the termite kingdom again, lying on the previous mountain peak and looking out. Sure enough, the termite mounds stood tall and unfallen, and various worker ants and soldier ants were lined up in white columns, moving in and out, busy urgently and orderly.

The 烈翅土白蚁 (lie chi tu bai yi, fiery-winged earth termite) kingdom was intact, so the 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) kingdom was probably gone.

Termites feed on trees. The termite worker ants destroying the jungle in the former 茅蚁 (mao yi, spear ant) kingdom's territory must be preparing to replace them with elm trees, cypress trees, hickory trees, and other trees that they like to eat.