Ant Lord in the Star Realm

Chapter 951 - 672: Giant Insect Pillar

An Insect King evolving to the 5th Age Period, Awakening a Fire Talent—Purple was in high spirits, following the Hawk Wasps Army, escorting White Refining Beads through the inter-world passage. Looking at the empty undulating ring of mountains ahead, a sudden loneliness welled up in his heart.

With the fall of the Eddy Scorpionfish Ant King, the layered passes of Dragon Stride Mountain lost their function. The mountain ridges that had once been crammed with Ant Clan and Bee Clan armies had now been reclaimed and transformed into terraced fields.

"Purple!"

"Green Heart!"

On the hillside ahead, a sparse flow of Ant Army marched out of an ant nest. An Ant King shook his tentacles in greeting.

The Ant Army gathered, hesitating, not daring to step forward.

The Hawk Wasps Army halted in the plaza ahead. Yellow Vine and Yellow Leaf counted the numbers, directing the unloading of a batch of Spider Silk Bags stuffed with White Refining Beads.

Every year, the food harvested from Zhibai Continent was sent here and divided into three, then sent in three directions: one share was escorted by the Hawk Wasps Army directly to Smoke Blue Mountain; one share was escorted by Dragon Stride Mountain and sent for distribution to the warring states of the Central Continent; one share was escorted by Mighty Spirit Mountain and Fire Wheel Island and distributed to the warring states of the eastern and southeastern coasts of the continent.

"Sakura Lotus~!"

"Where’s Sea Red?"

Purple and Green Heart answered, asking.

Purple fluttered his wings and nimbly flew forward, the tips of his wings lighting up with gorgeous violet-red fire light.

The Assistant King named Sakura Lotus exclaimed in shock:

"Fire System Ability! Purple, you successfully Awakened a Fire Talent?"

"That was bound to happen~"

"And your Ability?"

"I successfully Awakened the racial ability ’Purple Flame.’"

"Then your Divine Mark Ability ’Purple Sun’ is complete now? Congratulations!"

"No big deal~ just drizzle~"

Purple was inwardly smug, yet couldn’t help a quiet sigh.

If this had been before, he’d already be surrounded by a huge swarm of insects.

Now, there was only one silly little Assistant King Sakura Lotus, plus an Assistant King Sea Red who pretended to be all cold and aloof.

"Purple!"

Under the command of the Six-Column Ant King, Assistant King Horn-Scale came trotting over, flanked by a small group of Soldier Ants, and stopped again four to five hundred meters away.

"Purple, congratulations!"

"Thanks... same to you... do you need something?"

"The Six-Column Ant King has something and asks you to come over."

"Alright—"

Purple grew wary inside.

Purple wasn’t familiar with the Six-Column Ant King at all~

In recent years, bugs kept coming to Purple and Green Heart asking about the quota for the Ocean God’s Scepter.

These guys never bothered to think: with such a huge matter, could little nobodies like a Butterfly or a Dragonfly have any say?

—The Six-Column Ant King wasn’t that kind of brainless insect~

—Dragon Stride Mountain and Wave Tree Bay were on close terms; would it really be hard to grab one or two slots after the war?

Purple was puzzled.

But aside from that, he couldn’t think of anything else the Six-Column Ant King might want from him.

Assistant King Horn-Scale led the way to the King Nest on the left side of the passage.

"Greetings to the Six-Column Ant King!" Purple called respectfully.

"Purple, I heard long ago that you’re quite familiar with Rainbow Island."

"Not familiar! That was all me bragging nonsense, plus some rumors twisted in the retelling."

"But you are indeed working for the Dragon Cypress Ant King, and the benefits you’ve received don’t match what you’ve paid."

"Payment! Everything I got was payment I deserved."

"Oh——"

The Six-Column Ant King, lounging lazily in the middle of the cave, raised his head and looked at Purple, his gaze calm and wordless.

Dragon Stride Mountain counted as a major force on Bayonet Continent, second only to Wave Tree Bay.

The Six-Column Ant King was also the true Great Leader wielding power over the insects of the surrounding mountains.

Under his stare, Purple’s heart fluttered with panic, and he quickly changed his tune. "Six-Column Ant King, please give your orders."

The Six-Column Ant King said, "Normally, the Dragon Cypress Ant King guards the Thousand Reefs Archipelago around this time of year. This year, for some reason, he isn’t on the islands. I’m not familiar with Rainbow Island and don’t dare approach lightly. Purple, you’re familiar with Rainbow Island; go take a look."

"Okay—"

Purple agreed and turned to leave.

The Six-Column Ant King: "You’re not going to ask what I’m looking for the Dragon Cypress Ant King about?"

Purple asked, "What is it?"

The Six-Column Ant King: "Tell the Dragon Cypress Ant King, or pass it on to the Assistant Kings on the island, that there is something he urgently needs."

Purple: "Got it! I understand! And as for what exactly it is, I won’t ask too much. I’m off."

Purple disappeared briskly and cleanly.

...

...

The bountiful golden autumn of the Southern Hemisphere.

The Northern Hemisphere was in the lush spring of Silver Cypress Year 197.

Dragon Cypress had paid a huge price to trade with Red Crow Mountain for a single Divine-Grade Dragon Bamboo Fruit, planning to use it to Awaken Rainbow Parasol Tree’s Strength Talent.

It was to be delivered by the White Ivy Trade Caravan, and it would arrive this very year.

This thing only produced a batch every 55 years and didn’t store well; it was extremely precious. Dragon Cypress had returned to Rainbow Island early to wait, and would personally go back to Red Cypress Mountain to pick up the goods.

...

Inside the Trade Cave,

Green Peach stood alone guarding the stone slab wheelcart piled high with goods, looking a bit desolate.

Time had flown by; Poison Bean, Blue Pea, and Cicada Seed had long since advanced to Evolution Mountain Lord Level.

The 10 billion Source Stones from the Flame Spider Tribe of the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent had all been delivered eight years ago. Heliotrope had already broken through and advanced to Mountain Lord, and no longer came over.

"Snow Velvet Spider King!"

"Dragon Cypress Ant King?"

Green Peach jumped up in surprise. "Dragon Cypress Ant King, what brings you here? Weren’t you and Mantis King Ink Orchid leading the Wave Tree Bay Allied Forces to besiege the Stone Hunt Blue Ant Kingdom?"

"The war won’t break out for the time being."

Dragon Cypress: "I heard the trade over here isn’t as lively as before, so I came to take a look..."

Dragon Cypress asked, "Where’s Red Peach?"

Green Peach: "The White Ivy Spider King and Red Peach Mantis King have semi-retired. Now they only travel on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent. The five Divine-Grade Fruit trade sites on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent have all been handed over to Lupine, Grass Dragon, and Column Spotted. Dragon Cypress Ant King, Snow Velvet Spider King, whatever you need, you can tell me, and I’ll report directly to the White Ivy Spider King."

"The White Ivy Spider King plans to have Column Spotted inherit its Divine-Grade Fruit trade. Right now it’s mainly waiting for Column Spotted to grow up; then it and Red Peach Mantis King will retire and focus solely on condensing Ability Divine Patterns."

Green Peach paused, then continued, "The Caravan has yet to produce any Little Flame Spider. The trades with Spider Kings like Seven-Leaf, Melde, and Natsumi are also all handled by me alone."