Ant Lord in the Star Realm

Dragon Cypress: "...Alright. The Source Stone subsidy for Keg Vine is gone."

Dragon Cypress was in high spirits and quickly strode out of the King Nest.

Equally King-Level Cypress and Black Birch stepped out of their own nest chambers, while Ink Orchid and Silver Cypress who were guarding the main corridor simultaneously came forward.

They looked at each other in confusion.

—Did it work?

—It worked!

—Successfully smuggled into Bayonet Continent!

—Should we tell the insects of Cloud Trace Continent the good news?

—Don't rush! Be careful, in case the Law Power comes back to inspect.

—Ink Orchid, you can return to Xianglan Mountain and take the news back.

—Cypress, Black Birch, don't move around, just stay put on Rainbow Island and observe for another two months.

...

It wasn't exactly a surprise.

This was a matter already confirmed by both the Huagi Divine Tree and Shanglu Divine Tree.

It's just that this was such a big deal—if Dragon Cypress had been forced out of the Origin Force Star Realm, the Xianglan Mountain Kingdom, Huagi Mountain, and all the insects of Cloud Trace Continent would have been finished.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong.

Everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.

Ink Orchid set off alone, traveling along the Divine Force Barrier, heading back to Xianglan Mountain to report the good news.

Silver Cypress went to the mountaintop to keep watch.

Black Birch carried on as usual, opening up new land.

Dragon Cypress and Cypress each found a place to focus on honing their abilities.

...

A hurried month flashed by in a trance.

Ink Orchid returned from Xianglan Mountain after reporting the news.

The Outworld Law Power still hadn't returned to patrol.

Safe!

But can't let our guard down—wait a bit longer.

By the shores of Azure Lake,

Dragon Cypress kept attempting again and again, endlessly tinkering with the structural form of the 'Metal Jet' ability, referencing the Thunder System's 'Lightning Mark', trying to use a Primordial Energy Imprint to seal Origin Force Power into cold water in an ice pillar.

Failure after failure—the process kept breaking down.

Switch to another way of thinking,

This time, try adjusting the structure of 'Sublimation', also referencing the Thunder System's 'Lightning Mark', and attempt to seal Primordial Energy into the hot water end of the ice pillar.

The explosions rang out one after another—bang, bang, bang.

After three months of attempts, Dragon Cypress was now able to turn the Primordial Energy of 'Sublimation' and 'Metal Jet' into a simple imprint form, stable for a short time, and, by linking soul consciousness and his own Primordial Energy, could detonate them with a thought.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't integrate the Primordial Energy Imprint into hot or cold water.

The Deep Blue God-Given Seed divided its attention, partly commanding the ant horde at work, partly splitting off spiritual power to watch Dragon Cypress practice his abilities with amused interest.

"Dragon Cypress—"

"Oh—"

"I think your approach is wrong."

"How is it wrong?"

"Maybe it's because hot water itself is unstable, so it can't be used as the carrier for an already unstable Primordial Energy Imprint."

Dragon Cypress tapped his antennae forcefully and said, "That's right! Not just hot water—even cold water is hard to use as a carrier for the Primordial Energy Imprint. When you accelerate launch, there's violent shaking; the already unstable Primordial Energy Imprint shatters instantly or activates by itself."

Azure: "You don't have the right Water System Ability, and the Sublimation and Metal Jet Primordial Energy Imprints you constructed by imitating the 'Lightning Mark' can't achieve a qualitative leap. In that case, you have to change the imprint's carrier."

Azure: "The ice shell wrapping around the hot and cold water—that's a solid, stable layer, right? Maybe ice can serve as the imprint's carrier."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

Dragon Cypress suddenly saw the light.

Of course!

An outsider sees clearer!

He'd been too fixated on struggling with hot and cold water.

How did I miss this turn in the road?

"Let me try!"

Dragon Cypress's antennae swung; an ice pillar soared up from the lake surface.

With rapid taps, Dragon Cypress fired twelve bursts of Primordial Energy into the ice pillar, shaping them into six Sublimation Marks and six Metal Jet Marks, each attaching to the inner shell of the ice pillar's hot and cold ends.

The ice pillar shot vertically upward, launching high into the sky.

With a single thought, it exploded violently—cold water at the head blasted out, instantly becoming metallic, and then in a blink turned back into water. Its upward momentum spent, it flipped and crashed, splashing into the lake.

Azure, Thunder Oak, North Elm, Nine-Leaf Huangqian, Southern Gorgon—all five God-Given Seeds' spiritual power lingered nearby, never leaving.

Thunder Oak was the first to ask, "Dragon Cypress, did you succeed?"

Dragon Cypress: "It finally worked! Azure is a genius!"

Azure: "Still needs some optimization and adjustment, but that's not hard—a bit of time will do. The tough part is triggering detonation on hitting a target. Dragon Cypress, what's your idea?"

Dragon Cypress: "I had nothing before, but now I do. The Primordial Energy Imprints for Sublimation and Metal Jet I constructed were unstable—any slight jarring and they'd collapse or go off early. I just have to optimize on that basis, tweak them so that when the ice shell hits something solid and shakes, it triggers. That solves it, right?"

"..."

The Four Trees were speechless.

Nine-Leaf Huangqian: "Will that work?"

Azure: "Theoretically, yes!"

Southern Gorgon praised, "The ants really are clever. Come on, let's get some Source Stone and celebrate!"

Dragon Cypress ignored them, burying himself in repeated attempts, constantly refining the ice pillar's structure while also perfecting and correcting the Sublimation and Metal Jet Primordial Energy Imprints.

It felt as if all blockages were suddenly gone; smooth sailing—after just a day, the prototype was done.

Under Dragon Cypress's direction, a team of Specialized Blue Soldiers assisted him in erecting a one-meter thick Ice Wall a hundred meters out, where he began to test and fine-tune his improved ability for the final touches.

The rumbling echoes never stopped.

Day after day, and then one day, as Dragon Cypress was immersed in training, he suddenly froze, dazed for two seconds, then spread his wings and shot back to the Ant Nest.

The Natural Star Realm Laws had been triggered—a unique, invisible Primordial Energy spontaneously appeared, gathering from all directions and pouring into his body…

Under the King Cypress, Ink Orchid was bored out of his mind, arguing with Black Yellow, Elephant Foot, Rift Leaf, Junior Orchid, and White Wax Tree, one against five, at full throttle, when he suddenly stiffened and a shadowy blur vanished in place.

All the Life Seed God-Given Seeds quarreling on the island fell silent at once.