Force Astral Plane: Starting with the Chimera Ants

Chapter 86: Golden Cherry Blossoms, Blazing Clouds

"Yes, cherries, golden cherry blossoms..." the little ant king quickly replied with his mental power.

Golden Cherry? Ye Zhi was taken aback. This was a top-tier plant that, according to her inherited memories, produced primal force food after being nurtured into a life seed, and had the effect of strengthening the heart. Did that continent, where primal force was depleted, still have such a good thing?

On second thought, if the continents of the astral plane cycle between the silence and prosperity of the Force, it means that insect warriors once lived on that continent, and naturally, orchards and forests were also cultivated there.

Ordinary plants will not be affected by the depletion of the Force. Some high-quality plants cultivated by insects are likely to be preserved. At this time, they are all ownerless and can be picked by insects at will.

This little ant king must have found the orchard where the previous insect was cultivating by chance, and just then the seeds matured, so it was put into its life capsule to be nurtured as a seed in the early stage of the first instar.

This exploration of the new continent was quite fruitful, as they brought back a small ant king that was not found on the Dragon Bamboo Continent, which indirectly confirmed that there were indeed rare plant species that could be collected.

"The Black Ant King, Golden Cherry, was cultivated from the Mist Cherry?" Ye Zhi transmitted her mental power, but asked a somewhat inexplicable question.

"Yes, what's wrong, little guy?" Wu Yuan was a little confused, and lightly tapped with his thick, whip-like tentacles.

"Cherry blossoms bloom, fiery red like the sunset, and this little ant king is also entirely fiery red. How about we call it 'Fiery Sunset'?" Ye Zhi said, looking at the little ant king who was still entangled in her ant silk rope.

The little ant king tapped its antennae, its compound eyes gleaming, and transmitted a reassuring mental signal, agreeing to Ye Zhi's naming.

"Very well, then let's call it Blazing Clouds." The Black Cypress Ant King also touched its antennae, then asked, "What kind of location is suitable for your Exploding Ant clan's nest, as recorded in your inherited memories?"

"Towering peaks need some ventilation." The little ant king, Chixia, trembled as she transmitted her mental power, her stomata seemingly stagnating from the pressure of the powerful aura of the lord-level Wuyuan ant king.

With a light tap of its steel whip-like antennae, as if it had already chosen a location, it said to Ye Zhi beside it, "Little guy, you have a stronger control over your worker ants. Let them live near your mountain peaks for now, and then migrate them to the border when they reach a higher evolution stage."

Ye Zhi nodded her antennae and looked at the little ant king Chixia beside her. Chixia quickly nodded her antennae in agreement and obediently moved closer to Ye Zhi. Compared to the powerful aura of the black ant king, Ye Zhi seemed more approachable.

......

After bidding farewell to the Black Ant King, Ye Zhi continued to wrap the body of the Little Ant King Chixia with ant silk, carrying it all the way to the main peak where she lived, intending to place it in her own nest first.

On the way back, he activated the spatial energy in his mind and remotely commanded the intermediate-stage worker ants in the nest to build a small ant silk curtain in a corner of his nest chamber, similar to his former "Spider Cave," with a soft ant silk cushion inside, as a temporary dwelling place for the little ant king Chixia.

Its situation is special, so it's best to keep a close watch on it at all times. Ye Zhi thought to himself that he should wait until Chixia evolves to the second stage of the early stage and the first life seed is fully conceived and planted before he can relax his restrictions on it.

As it slowly descended, two large worker ants that had stayed behind in the nest came forward. One of them fed Ye Zhi herself, replenishing its nutrients, while the other picked up a broad leaf, laid it flat on the ground, and regurgitated the liquid food stored in its abdomen.

"Come on, Chixia, have a couple of bites?" Ye Zhi commanded from the spatial energy in her mind. The worker ant pushed Ye Zhi forward and put down the little ant queen Chixia.

It did not refuse. Its tiny two-centimeter-long body stepped forward, its antennae extended to sense the food, and then it came close to suck it up. Its small social stomach quickly swelled up, and the entire abdominal intersegmental membrane was stretched out.

"Leaf Weaver Ant King, your worker ants look like leaf weaver ants, but why do you look like a cow ant tribe?" After eating and drinking her fill, Chixia cautiously sent out her mental energy to ask.

"Oh, this?" Although Ye Zhi herself wasn't entirely sure, she didn't intend to hide her true identity. "I'm a Chimera who has risen to the Force level, which is a bit different from a normal Ant King. You'll find out in the future."

"A chimera?" Little Ant King Chixia exclaimed in surprise through her telepathic powers. "Leaf Weaver Ant King, there are no traces of chimerism on your body..."

"Many molts and evolutions have long since repaired the defects." Ye Zhi lowered her head, pointed to the two single eyes on her forehead with her forelimb, and said, "Here, the Heavenly Eye, is the only remaining trace of the interlocking."

The little ant king, Chixia, lowered its head, which had a shield-like cross-section, and remained silent. Ye Zhi stopped transmitting her mental energy and led it forward, passing through the nest which already had about a hundred worker ants of various sizes, and entered a corner of the core chamber.

The half-meter-long body of the semi-force ant queen appears in the field of vision, surrounded by a large number of worker ants of various sizes, assisting her in laying ant eggs and sorting them into the incubation chambers for hatching large worker ants, small worker ants, and core worker ants, stimulating their development with pheromones.

"Leaf Weaving Ant Queen, is this... another Leaf Weaving Ant Queen?" Chixia was startled by the half-force ant queen and hid behind Leaf Weaving, tucking her antennae behind the flat shield-like structure at the front of her head.

"This is a special ability of my chimeric body: to lay semi-primal force queen eggs, which in turn lay worker ants," Ye Zhi explained.

Chixia then peeked out from behind with some skepticism, looking at the enormous body of the half-force ant queen. However, under the command of the spatial energy in Ye Zhi's mind, the half-force ant queen remained motionless, continuing to prepare for the production of the next egg.

As they arrived at the ant silk tent nest chamber, Ye Zhi's antennae swayed, and two large worker ants lined up on either side, making way for them.

Ye Zhi extended its antennae, lifting the curtain of the ant silk tent. With another antennae pointing inward, it transmitted its mental power: "You can stay here for now. I will bring you food. As for your evolution, the Black Ant King will arrange that later."

"Leaf-weaving ant queen, is this made of silk from leaf-weaving ants?"

Ye Zhi tapped her antennae, while the little ant king Chixia crawled into the ant silk tent and curled up on the soft ant silk cushion. She sent out a spiritual message of gratitude. Seeing this, Ye Zhi loosened her antennae, closed the curtain, and left only two large worker ants at the tent entrance to protect or rather monitor it.

The properties of spatial energy allowed him to perfectly control the worker ants. He didn't need to worry about killing the little ant queen or letting it escape due to the difference in scent. Ye Zhi flapped his wings again and took off, heading to the nest chamber where the ant queen was located.

He was going to get some Force food, partly to help Chixia evolve to the second instar as soon as possible, and partly because his latest semi-Force queen ant egg had hatched and entered the larval stage. It was time to test his idea of ​​using the golden egg to support the king.