manynovel Chapter 61: Divine Rune Abilities
Chapter 61: Divine Rune Abilities
"King Cinnabar Ant, I was only focused on escaping at the time, so I didn't see much clearly..."
Faced with the enormous body of the black ant, Huo Yun still shrank back somewhat, retracting her antennae behind her head and nervously saying, "The most common method is to raise the abdomen and tail, extend the stinger, and spray a large ball of flame to scorch. Both types of fire ants can use this method."
Inherited memory search, this seems to be an innate ability of the fire ant race, called [Poison Flame]. The fire attribute energy strengthens the abdominal venom glands, giving the venom a flammable property.
It has two methods of use. The first is venom injection, which is injected into the animal's body. If the quantity is sufficient, it is enough to cause the injected animal to spontaneously combust, demonstrating an extremely terrifying ability to kill a single animal.
The second type is similar to the "alkali-throwing" attack of ordinary fire ants. The stinger extends to release poisonous mist, which is ignited by fire energy, releasing large flames to burn. It is released in swarms during large-scale battles between ant colonies and can even form a wall of fire that stretches across the entire battlefield.
"But those leaf-weaving ant queens are called invading red imported fire ants, and some of the soldier ants are even larger... they, they..."
Huo Yun tried her best to recall, her mind trembling as she said, "Those fire ants release a blue fireball from their abdomen and tail, which hovers beside them. They control it by swinging their abdomens, releasing many at once. Once they land, they spread and burn..."
The King of Black Ants' antennae twitched slightly, emitting a somewhat surprised mental message: "Little Mantis, did you see any special Force patterns on those fire ant soldiers?"
"Force... patterns..."
Huo Yun extended her antennae slightly in thought, then asked uncertainly, "Like the patterns on the divinely bestowed seed of the Leaf-Weaving Ant King?"
With a light tap of its thick, long, whip-like tentacles, Huo Yun confirmed, "Yes! On their abdomens, there are two red rings that, combined with that large red spot, look like a dancing flame."
"Divine rune ability! There's no mistake." The Black Ant King's mental power suddenly became serious. "No wonder the brutal Fire Ant King was killed by his own descendant. I just wonder if that old guy, the Aranea, knew this."
"Divine rune ability?" Ye Zhi asked curiously, having never heard of such a term before.
Just by the name, in this world where gods truly exist, anything associated with the word "god" is bound to be something extraordinary; "The Seed Given by God" is the best example.
"A special ability that only awakens upon reaching the King level, based on inherited memories. It's normal that you don't know it, little guy," Wu Yuan said, slowing down his mental power. "This involves the 'laws' within the Star Realm."
"Little guy, have you ever thought about whether the evolution of the Force has an end? If so, is the ninth-instar King level the end? Where did all those old insect kings of the ninth instar end up?"
Wu Yuan shifted his mental focus and suddenly asked another seemingly unrelated question.
Ye Zhi's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately voiced his guess: "After evolving to the ninth-year-old King level, leaving the known area of the Astral Plane? The ultimate goal of Force evolution... a True God of Nature?!"
"That's right." Wu Yuan pointed to his antennae. "When the Azure Ant King was still alive, he told me these things, and that divine runes are the prototype of a higher level of ability."
A higher level of ability! Ye Zhi was shocked. A guess was transmitted through her mental power: "Like how abilities are used in relation to ordinary Force?"
"That's right, little guy." Wu Yuan tapped its antennae. "I'm just a Lord-level Ant King, and what I'm saying is just what the Blue-skinned Ant King once told me. It might be useful for your future."
"Divine runes can be simply understood as complex abilities formed by the aggregation of multiple abilities. They are condensed with the assistance of astral laws and imprinted on the carapace in the form of primal force patterns, penetrating deep into the bloodline. This allows complex abilities to be activated easily or makes flawed abilities more powerful."
Ye Zhi was shocked and guessed that it might be due to the effect of genes, generating specific primal force patterns, similar to special integrated circuits on a chip, combining multiple primal force energies, and transforming complex abilities into a single ability that can be easily released.
He tapped his antennae, feeling a sense of awe and wonder. The King level was too far away; for someone like him who hadn't even reached the intermediate level yet, it was definitely a "once-in-a-lifetime" level.
However, the fact that the unknown ant king of the invading Red Fire Ant Kingdom possessed divine runes made Ye Zhi somewhat worried. Last year, the Mountain Ant Kingdom in the north had a conflict with the Tree Ant Kingdom. If this happened again this year, the situation was probably not good.
"Then, with the Cinnabar Ant King and the Fire Ant King gathering their divine runes, can the Mountain Ant Kingdom withstand them? If not, what about our Tree Ant Kingdom...?"
"That old man, Ranunculus, is a King-level being after all. But given the situation, our Tree Ant Kingdom is indeed bound to be involved." Wu Yuan's mental energy was heavy. "If the upper lip of the mouthparts is damaged, the mandibles will also wear down quickly. The Tree Ant Kingdom is right next to the Mountain Ant Kingdom, just like the upper lip and mandibles, it cannot stay out of it."
After a moment of silence, Wu Yuan turned his mental energy to Ye Zhi again: "Little guy, take this little mantis with you when we negotiate at the border with the Mountain Ant Kingdom tomorrow."
"Negotiations?" Ye Zhi was taken aback, then sent a telepathic message to inquire, "Will the Black Ant King be in danger? The Brown Ant King under the Mountain Ant Kingdom just sent troops to seize the raw stone vein, could it be...?"
"The little mantis saw it with its own eyes; the matter of the fire ant kingdom is true. That old mantlecutter isn't stupid; he knows that if the lips are gone, the jaws will fall too, so he wouldn't do such a thing."
"Besides, that old guy is only a first-instar king-level being. In close combat, the archback ant clan is no match for our slender ant clan. It's just a difference of one realm, so it wouldn't dare to do anything."
As the Black Ant King's aura shifted with the release of its spiritual power, the light in its compound eyes became incredibly sharp, like a drawn sword, possessing unparalleled sharpness, as sharp as a slender ant's tail.
Ye Zhi knew about the fighting style of ordinary slender ants in her previous life. They were usually peaceful and uncontested, but once their territory was invaded, they would launch an attack on even the largest opponent with an almost frenzied aggression.
Trading injury for injury, life for life, it charges forward like a sharp sword, piercing the flesh or carapace of its opponent with its incomparably sharp stinger, and letting the enemy know the price of attacking the slender ant with its deadly neurotoxin.
Perhaps this is why the tree ant kingdom has been able to survive to this day after losing its king-level weaver ant king.
In a lord-level ant colony, where lives are at stake, even a king-level power would have to carefully consider whether the gains outweigh the costs.
Ye Zhi felt a little relieved. She tapped her antennae and sent a reassuring mental signal. Then she looked at Huo Yun beside her and sent a comforting mental signal, preparing to take her to her "Spider Cave" for the night and wait for the situation the next day.