Astral Cockroach

In the new year, the ordinary Xun Grass life-seed only sprouted 9 new shoots. According to its growth pattern, the number of plants won't increase any further this year. Being the same Xun Grass, it's a world apart compared to the divinely bestowed seed of Xun Grass.

Sun-reflecting Fruits, White Jade Mulberries, and Chinese Arborvitae have all begun to sprout and grow. Under Banbu's careful tending, they are all growing quite well.

The Iron Saber Tree is a headache, growing neither too fast nor too slow. Even in the spring, when all things grow, it maintains its snail-paced growth rate, making it a rather anxious life-seed plant to watch.

Among the ordinary life-seeds, the Li Bamboo grows the most vigorously, voraciously absorbing nutrients. Its underground stems spread and extend wildly. If nothing unexpected happens, it will produce a large number of bamboo shoots in late spring and early summer, generating more bamboo stalks.

As the number of bamboo stalks increases and the scale of the life-seed expands, the primal force absorbed and fed back each day will surge accordingly.

Experiencing it firsthand, bamboo is indeed an excellent life-seed choice. If it could flower and bear fruit every year, and if the bamboo rice also came with strengthening effects, it would be perfect!

The dream isn't far off. The two ordinary Golden Silk Bamboo seeds and a large number of Golden Silk Bamboo and Mottled Bamboo hybrid seeds that Banbu sowed sprouted first.

After a spring rain, the seeds of Ma Bamboo, Golden Bamboo, Li Bamboo, and Golden Thread Bamboo life-seeds sprouted simultaneously.

The divinely bestowed seed sprouted its "new shoot" a day later. It can't be considered a shoot; strictly speaking, it should be its first bamboo shoot. Because it sprouted from a seed, it's very thin and small, with a layer of "shell" on the surface. The color of the bamboo stalk and leaves won't be visible for some time.

Just like when the divinely bestowed seed of Xun Grass was born, Banbu felt the aura of the tree spirit within the bamboo shoot through the connection of his soul—tiny, lively, and actively conveying an emotional idea to Banbu.

A strange, inexplicable emotion, seemingly announcing its birth.

Having had the experience of planting a divinely bestowed seed once before, Banbu had cleared all the plants within a 3000-meter radius nearby long ago. He had filled the area with swamp residue in advance, making the soil fertile and the moisture sufficient after the recent rain.

Everything was arranged perfectly, impeccably. Therefore, the tree spirit of the bamboo's divinely bestowed seed didn't emit thoughts of anger and dissatisfaction like the Xun Grass's divinely bestowed seed when it was first born.

Banbu's relationship with the divinely bestowed Xun Grass seed had been strained from the start. Every time they met, it would directly bombard him with negative emotions such as "anger," "contempt," and "I'll kill you." Although he didn't argue with the brainless idiot, it was still a bit uncomfortable.

The relationship between insect warriors and the tree spirits of divinely bestowed seeds is one of symbiosis and co-prosperity. Harmonious coexistence is the wise choice.

Banbu decided to establish a good relationship with the bamboo's divinely bestowed seed, proactively sending it a kind and amiable thought.

The bamboo's divinely bestowed seed also sent back a thought, plain and indifferent, without any emotion or idea expressed. It was like responding to someone's greeting with a perfunctory "Mm."

It had just been born and was still very weak, a soul that understood nothing.

Banbu could sense that the plant's innate domineering and violent nature, as well as the arrogance of being a divinely bestowed seed, were all present in it, without exception. It was just that the current environment was perfect, and there was no reason for it to erupt.

The bamboo's divinely bestowed seed didn't pay much attention to Banbu, lazily enjoying the spring sunshine, absorbing nutrients and moisture. Its roots and bamboo shoots developed simultaneously, and the speed was noticeably faster than the other ordinary bamboo life-seeds.

It sprouted in the morning, and within a day, the ordinary bamboo life-seeds hadn't had much time to grow, but the bamboo shoot of the divinely bestowed seed had already reached a height of 20, and the underground bamboo culm was initially formed.

Banbu had witnessed this rate of growth, which defied the natural order, once before with the divinely bestowed seed of Xun Grass. Seeing it a second time, he still found it incredible.

Banbu didn't dare to be careless, checking on it more than ten times a day to ensure that the growing environment was flawless while also observing its growth status.

On the second day of growth, the bamboo shoot reached a height of 100 and began to transform into a bamboo stalk.

By the third day, the bamboo stalk began to shed its sheath, sprouting branches and leaves, completely becoming a bamboo stalk with a height of 150, and the height was still increasing.

A growth rate even faster than the divinely bestowed seed of Xun Grass.

The branches and leaves of the bamboo stalk absorbed sunlight and gained more nutrients. On the fourth day, eight small bulges appeared on the side of the underground bamboo culm. After one night, the bulges grew pointed and elongated, developing into 8 underground stems, spreading in 8 directions.

The soil fertility decreased sharply.

Banbu hurriedly applied fertilizer and asked Wind Chime for help, continuously building a large biogas digester for a day and a night to prepare for unexpected needs.

Half a month later, the 8 underground stems reached a length of about 200 and stopped growing. The tips began to swell, sprouting eight bamboo shoots towards the ground.

In just a few days, the eight bamboo shoots successively developed into bamboo stalks, and new underground bamboo culms were also formed.

In the following days, there was no movement.

Banbu could sense that the bamboo's divinely bestowed seed was conserving its energy. Once the current 9 bamboo stalks had grown, and the underground stems had accumulated enough power, the 8 divided bamboo culms would sprout new underground stems.

8 bamboo culms, each giving rise to 8 underground stems, that would be 64 underground stems, and then developing into 64 bamboo stalks.

What about next? 64 bamboo culms, each giving rise to 8 underground stems, generating 512 underground stems? 512 bamboo stalks?

And then? 512 multiplied by 8, giving rise to 4096 bamboo stalks?

And then? 4096 multiplied by 8, that would be 32768 bamboo stalks.

A single bamboo's divinely bestowed seed developing into a super-large bamboo forest?

Banbu was looking forward to it, but he felt it wasn't that simple.

Currently, there were a total of 9. The biogas digester's nutrient supply was more than sufficient, but the growth was obviously slowing down.

What was lacking wasn't nutrients, but the primal force couldn't keep up. The primal force abundance of Li Bamboo Peak was still not concentrated enough!

Divinely bestowed seeds were special. They absorbed primal force like animals breathing air. They couldn't eat primal force foods. Their growth and evolution depended entirely on absorbing natural primal force.

"If I provide enough primal force, would the bamboo's divinely bestowed seed be able to grow quickly?"

Banbu guessed. To verify his idea, he dug out the primal stones that Heisang had stored with him.

He started by testing with the lowest quality one.

He dug open the loose topsoil on the surface of the bamboo culm, scraped off powder, and sprinkled it on the woody layer. He sprinkled the equivalent of one-third of a primal stone on each of the 9 bamboo culms, and then quickly backfilled the soil.

After completing all of this, the tree spirit, which was inherently arrogant and had always been indifferent to Banbu, sent a cheerful and affectionate thought.

It definitely worked, and it was a great help to its growth.

Banbu also sent back a joyful and affectionate thought, staying beside it to continue observing.

The bamboo's divinely bestowed seed quickly absorbed the primal force released by the primal stone powder. The primal force within the underground stems and bamboo stalks was full, and under the sunlight, the rate of absorbing soil nutrients and moisture suddenly increased several times.

After half a day, the tree spirit once again conveyed an affectionate thought to Banbu, filled with strong desire.

It still wanted primal stone powder!

Banbu wasn't stingy either. He dug open the topsoil covering the bamboo culm and sprinkled a layer of primal stone powder evenly on each bamboo culm. The amount shouldn't be too much; one-third of a primal stone was just right.

After getting what it wanted, the tree spirit politely, and somewhat lazily, sent Banbu a perfunctory affectionate thought.

Divinely bestowed seeds were indeed all of the same temperament. They were all ruthless, ungrateful, and brainless idiots.

But fortunately, they responded to gentleness but not force. At least the bamboo's divinely bestowed seed wasn't like the Xun Grass's divinely bestowed seed, where the relationship was strained, and every time he approached, he would be bombarded with various thoughts filled with negative emotions.