Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 79: The Evolution of the Lord-Level

As time passed, with ample protein-rich food, the larvae of the external life sacs that had swallowed the divinely bestowed seed developed rapidly, changing almost daily. After a week, they grew from one or two centimeters to more than ten centimeters in length.

Beneath the translucent, luminous white skin of the larva, the natural primal force converges along the primal force patterns that flicker like breathing, converging into the life sac structure on its abdomen, where it is absorbed by the divinely bestowed seed of an unknown species of pitcher plant within the life sac.

While the first external life sac golden egg larva was developing rapidly, Ye Zhi temporarily stopped the development of the second external life sac golden egg by using special pheromone regulation - he planned to wait a little longer, in case he could create another divinely bestowed seed.

However, during this period, apart from making a trip to the interdimensional passage every two days to deliver food to the ant colony he left in the branch nest, he didn't have much opportunity to tinker with the divinely bestowed seeds. He could only continue to wait until the Black Cypress Ant King advanced to the second-instar lord level before making any plans.

In the past two days, the Platinum Grapefruit Divine Seed has been successfully harvested and placed into the life sac by the Black Ant King. It has begun to eat a large amount of Force food that is helpful for Lord-level evolution, which it has not eaten for a long time.

Above the Mountain Lord level, the size will no longer increase significantly, and the food consumed will mainly consist of elemental energy foods that match one's elemental talents.

The slender ants are metal-type. Just before this, they had exchanged some divine iron tallow fruits with the Mountain Ant Kingdom for the produce of the Black Vein Citron God-given Seed. They ate these fruits mixed with ordinary primal food, and the total value of the primal food they consumed was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of primal stones.

The evolution of a lord-level being consumes so many resources at each stage. If a lord at nine years old evolves into a king-level being, the resources required are in the millions or even tens of millions. The output of a miniature raw stone mine is not enough to fill it.

There are also two other Ant Kings, Zoro, who cannot reproduce and can only be sustained by the Ant King's seed. They also need Force food to sustain them. Without this top-grade Platinum Grapefruit God-given seed, it would be difficult for the Ulmus Ant King to continue growing and evolving in its lifetime.

The Lord-level Ant King possesses a powerful ability to absorb Force. After an unknown period of time, it no longer needs to eat intermittently like Ye Zhi. It has been eating continuously for a week, consuming a massive amount of Force-based food.

A month and a half after Ye Zhi evolved to the intermediate stage of the second instar, Zuo Wang Qing Yuan came to inform her that the Wu Yuan Ant King had begun a period of dormant evolution and that Ye Zhi should stay in the nest for the next few days and not wander off.

......

Inside the leaf-woven nest, the abdominal social stomachs of all the large worker ants are filled with food. They do not leave the nest for several days to reduce energy consumption, which is more than enough to sustain them.

Half a day later, Ye Zhi's antennae keenly sensed that there was a faint fluctuation of primal force coming from the direction of the Black Cypress Ant King's nest, similar to the primal force fluctuations he had observed and felt in his main body during its evolution from the perspective of worker ants.

Despite the great distance and unclear perception, Ye Zhi knew there was only one possibility: the Black Ant King had begun its evolution into a second-instar lord.

The two assistant kings, Qingci and Hongci, each led a large group of worker ants. One guarded the entrance of the main nest, while the other waited on both sides of the ordinary species of the black citron king. The worker ants carried raw stones in their mouths, just in case.

Three days later, in the distance, from another direction, a faint surge of primal force emanated. That was the direction where the Black Ant King planted ordinary life plants, and the life plants were evolving.

The fluctuations in the Force came and went quickly. It must be one of the two Assistant Kings, Red Citron and Green Citron, directing the worker ants to use the Primal Stone to replenish their consumed Force. Ye Zhi pondered this, then moved his feet toward the nest entrance, extending his antennae out of the nest to continue sensing.

Three days later, bursts of primal energy fluctuations emanated from the main nest of the Black Ant King, signifying that evolution had entered its final metamorphosis stage. These fluctuations quickly subsided, presumably due to the use of Primal Stones to replenish the primal energy.

At this point, the evolution was essentially complete. Sure enough, less than a day later, Zuo Wang Qingyuan arrived excitedly, waving his antennae to inform Ye Zhi:

"Little guy, the Ant King has successfully evolved into a second-instar Lord-level being. Let me come and take you there so we can plant the Platinum Grapefruit Life Seed together."

Ye Zhi tapped her antennae, feeling proud. At this stage, the stronger the tree ant kingdom was, the safer she would be. She then flapped her wings and took off, following behind Zuo Wang Qingyuan.

......

As I flew along the way, the worker ants remained orderly and busy. The worst-case scenario of the worker ants going out of control, which I had anticipated, did not occur, and the evolutionary process went incredibly smoothly.

Upon reaching the entrance of the main nest, the massive three- to four-meter-long body of the cypress was covered in a gleaming black exoskeleton that shimmered in the sunlight, gradually transforming into a matte black luster as it hardened.

"The little guy is here?" Upon seeing Ye Zhi following closely behind Zuo Wang Qingyuan, a joyful and affectionate spiritual force was transmitted, which invigorated Ye Zhi.

"Wuyuan Ant King, congratulations on successfully evolving into a second-instar lord!" Ye Zhi's antennae twitched in response.

"Come, follow me to plant the divinely bestowed seeds of platinum grapefruit." It seemed like a long-awaited breakthrough evolution. In the words of humans from the previous life, the entire mentality of the Black Ant King seemed to have become much younger.

After bringing Ye Zhi there, Zuo Wang Qing Yuan had already gone ahead, leading the worker ants to the planting site of the life-giving plant that Wu Yuan Ant King had already determined. At this moment, Wu Yuan Ant King shook its antennae and directly led Ye Zhi there.

The divinely bestowed seed is inherently exclusive, and the Black Ant King arranged for this precious divinely bestowed seed to be located on the gentle slope at the foot of the mountain on the other side of the mountain where it would build its nest. At this moment, it carried Ye Zhi along the way and soon arrived at the target location.

At this moment, Zuo Wang Qingyuan was directing several worker ants to bury their mandibles into the soil. Their mandibles, imbued with sharp metallic energy, opened and closed like a plow, cutting through the earth. Upon seeing Wu Yuan arrive, they immediately stepped forward and touched their antennae.

"King Ant, the plot of land is ready and we can start planting at any time."

A circular mound of earth was erected, and several worker ants stepped forward, digging with their forelegs into the soil. They dug a deep pit in the very center of the mound, then parted it to the sides to make way for a path.

The King Ant slowly stepped forward. He opened his mandibles and spat out the fully gestated Platinum Grapefruit Seed, placing it in the center of the pit. Then, he personally used his forelimbs to dig and fill the pit with loose soil, completely covering it.

Nearby, worker ants were already waiting with bamboo tubes filled with water. They stepped forward, turned the bamboo tubes over, and poured the water evenly into the soil mound, thoroughly saturating the surrounding soil before retreating to the side.

Next, they silently waited for the divine seed to sprout—after all, the divine seed, nurtured by the lord-level ant queen, would probably sprout successfully in just a few hours.

As expected, several hours later, under the perception of spiritual power, the emerald green sprout slowly pushed open the soil, and the two cotyledons slowly unfolded, and a verdant sprout representing new life unfolded.