Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 70: The Legacy of Our Predecessors

"The King of Cinnabar Ants!"

A 30-centimeter-long figure flapped its wings and flew past, carrying a package woven from ant silk between its jaws and a small spider silk bag between its six limbs. It was Ye Zhi, a mid-stage first-instar spider.

"Little one, what's wrong?"

The powerful spiritual energy emanating from him invigorated Ye Zhi, who flew into the main nest chamber and landed in front of the massive body of the Black Ant King, putting down the ant silk package he was holding.

"King of the Cinnabar Ants, look at this larva..."

The ant silk wrapping was opened, revealing plump, white golden larvae with a faint golden luster. As if sensing a powerful aura, they wriggled their fat bodies somewhat uneasily.

"Huh?" Wu Yuan's mental energy swept across the larva's abdomen, keenly detecting a peculiar structure. "This is... a life sac? Why would a semi-Primal Force life form have one?"

"Wu Yuan Ant King, the production of these larvae is the same as my Half-Force Ant Queen, it seems to be... peeled off from the chimeric body."

Ye Zhi expressed her feelings: "It seems that in the intermediate stage, I can produce two eggs to hatch these larvae in each instar, but in the advanced stage, I can only produce one egg per instar."

"Little guy, is that spider silk bag you're carrying filled with seeds? Take one out and let me see?" Wu Yuan was already used to the strange phenomena on Ye Zhi's body and automatically attributed it to the chimera.

Ye Zhi tapped her antennae, and with a thought, the ant silk rope wrapped around the mouth of the spider silk bag untied. With a ripping sound, she tore open the bag, picked out a blood orange seed, placed it in front of the special larva, and emitted a "swallow" pheromone signal.

The larva twists its neck, locks onto the blood orange seed in front of it, opens its mouth and swallows it. Under the translucent skin, you can clearly see the seed sliding straight down the digestive tract into that life-sac-like organ.

The organ remained enclosed and contracted, and the surrounding natural primal force surged into the larva's body surface as before, flowing along the primal force patterns below the body wall into the life sac organ, where it was completely absorbed by that special organ.

"It's definitely the primal force fluctuation that nurtures life seeds, little guy. It's pretty much certain that you should be able to continue nurturing life seeds."

On the compound eyes of the Black Ant King, the Force light flowed, clearly indicating that it had activated the ability [Weakness Sense] applied to its compound eyes, allowing it to see the flow of Force patterns clearly.

"In that case, little guy, your future growth and evolution will be even smoother. With your talent for the Force, your future is limitless."

The Black Ant King's mental power couldn't hide his surprise, but it was quickly followed by a trace of worry: "However, as for the interdimensional passage... never mind, the proportion of combat worker ants should be able to be increased even further."

"Little one, take the larvae back first. They are crucial to your future plant life. Take good care of them."

The Black Ant King gave instructions, but then sent out a mental message that Ye Zhi found somewhat puzzling: "After you've settled in, wait for me at the nest entrance. I'll take you somewhere."

Ye Zhi was curious, but didn't ask any more questions. She tapped her antennae, wrapped the larva in ant silk, gently picked it up, flapped her wings, and flew back to the location of her tree nest.

......

Returning to the entrance of the nest, the massive body of the worm king was already standing and waiting at the entrance. When Ye Zhi returned, it twitched its antennae, signaling Ye Zhi to land on its back.

Ye Zhi hovered in the air, its antennae landing on the broad chest and back of the Black Ant King. It gripped firmly with its six limbs, remaining silent and waiting for the Black Ant King to speak.

The cypress remained silent, slowly moving its six limbs and moving forward silently under the protection of the worker ants beside it, following the earthen path in the forest below the cliff, heading towards an unfamiliar direction that Ye Zhi had never been before.

Although the terrain of the Tree Ant Kingdom is mainly plains, there are also a few scattered mountain peaks. The cliff where the main nest of the Cinnabar Ant King is located is one of them, but according to the direction of the mountain, it is not the main peak.

In the initial stage, Ye Zhi was still relatively small, and some small birds of prey that eat insects would still pose a threat to him, so he naturally dared not run around and his activity range was very fixed.

He had never been to the other mountains, and judging from the direction the Black Ant King was heading, it seemed to be the location of the tallest main peak, which made Ye Zhi secretly curious.

Continuing forward, Ye Zhi's compound eyes keenly noticed that on one side of the main peak, there were scattered wooden "walls" embedded in the mountain, as if doors and windows had been carved out of the rock face after the mountain had been hollowed out.

As you ascend the mountain path, slender worker ants guard both sides. Upon seeing the king ant, they all part to make way for him.

On a mountainside, the entrance to a huge cave is revealed, decorated with a "door frame" structure made of thick logs, and the surface is coated with a layer that exudes a familiar scent - it is the ant glue secreted by weaver ant larvae.

"Little guy, this used to be the nest of the Green Citrus Ant King." Only then did the Black Citrus Ant King slowly transmit his mental power.

Ye Zhi was shocked. When he sensed the ant glue, he had already guessed what was going on, but the cave opened by his "elder" whom he had never met was truly an eye-opener for Ye Zhi.

The rocks on both sides of the cave entrance are as white as jade, yet as solid as the concrete structure of the previous life. They are clearly not naturally formed, but must have been reinforced by the earth and stone energy of a lord or higher. Two lifelike ant-shaped reliefs are engraved on both sides of the cave wall.

On one side are weaver ants, and on the other side are slender ants. Both are stretching their forequarters forward on the branches, their antennae pointing forward and seemingly at each other's antennae, as if symbolizing a distant and long-standing, stable alliance between the two species.

"You can be considered a direct descendant of the Green Trifoliate Ant King. Now that you are a mid-level warrior and have regained the ability to breed life seeds, this ant nest should naturally belong to you."

Shocked, the Black Citron Ant King entered the nest, his mental energy continuing to slowly transmit: "After the passing of the Green Trifoliate Ant King, I have always had my worker ants continue to manage this nest, so that one day its descendants can live directly in it."

"Little guy, your talent is not bad. The innate defects of the chimera species did not defeat you. On the contrary, they gave you a series of incredible abilities. You are an insect favored by the true god of nature."

"I don't have my own destiny seed or a divinely bestowed seed. I've only reached my current lord level thanks to the care of the Green Ant King. Little guy, you're different. You will definitely be able to bring the Tree Ant Kingdom back to its former glory."

Ye Zhi silently moved her antennae, looking at the nest left by the Qingzhi Ant King, a senior she had never met, and listened silently as the Wuyuan Ant King continued to transmit his mental power.

"However, don't overexert yourself for now. Focus on steady growth and evolution. During the intermediate stage, you can stay here and cultivate the ant colony. As long as I am here, you don't need to worry about the future of the tree ant kingdom."