Ant Lord in the Star Realm

At the end of summer, the Specialized Blue Soldiers cultivated last year steadily emerged through Feather Transformation, all inheriting Dragon Cypress's "Explosive Jet."

Without a Divine Mark, they could not inherit it completely. They lacked the ability to track and strike targets.

However, tests revealed an unexpected surprise: they had inherited the ability to strike from an extreme distance.

Dragon Cypress's maximum attack range was about 50 kilometers, equivalent to his Soul-Setting Ability.

Specialized Blue Soldiers could control the attack distance by adjusting the launch angle and the amount of Primordial Energy Power infused, enabling them to strike targets beyond 10 kilometers. They could also easily hit targets two to three thousand meters up in the sky.

The only problem was that once the Ice Pillars were launched and exceeded the Blue Soldiers' control range of their own Primordial Energy Perception, the flight of the Ice Pillars was no longer controllable. If they were to shoot from a great distance, it would be difficult to determine where they would land.

This was a problem, but it could be solved through mathematical calculations.

On average, 16 Specialized Blue Soldiers emerged every two days. Once their number exceeded a thousand, Dragon Cypress organized them into units: five to a group, 25 to a small team, 100 to a squadron, a thousand to a battalion, and ten thousand to a combat legion.

Dragon Cypress planned to train them personally.

In the morning, Dragon Cypress practiced "Heavenly Frost Remnants Realm."

During this time, Silver Cypress, Cypress, or Black Birch systematically taught the newly emerged Specialized Blue Soldiers the characters of the Xianglan Mountain Kingdom and simple mathematics. The mathematics involved rote memorization: learning the launch angle, initial velocity of an Ice Pillar, and its corresponding landing distance.

In the future, when tens of thousands of Specialized Blue Soldier Legions launched an offensive, their attack would surely provide wide-area coverage. However, the margin of error for landing could not be too large. It would not do if the target was a thousand meters away, yet the Ice Pillars landed eight thousand or ten thousand meters away.

In the afternoon, Dragon Cypress personally led the Ant Army in live combat training.

「Silver Cypress, 100 years.」

「Spring.」

Dragon Cypress himself stayed at Rainbow Island and sent Ink Orchid back to Xianglan Mountain to check on the situation. Once he confirmed that the one hundred million Source Stones had been delivered on time, he asked no further questions and focused on his own matters.

「Suddenly one day,」

The stationed Ant Army grew restless as an inexplicable, strange Pheromone drifted across the island.

Silver Cypress, on lookout duty atop the mountain, rushed down, heading straight for the beach.

"Great King! Great King!"

"Ice Boat!"

Silver Cypress jumped and cheered, "Great King! Good news! The Snow Velvet Spider King and the others have arrived!"

They had finally arrived! Dragon Cypress's thoughts raced. He asked, "From which direction are they coming?"

Silver Cypress replied, "Directly south, slightly west. They're coming from the direction of Fragrant Silk Island."

Dragon Cypress asked, "All five Spider Kings on the same boat?"

Silver Cypress confirmed, "Yes, Great King."

Dragon Cypress said, "Good."

He then instructed, "Silver Cypress, don't get too excited. Go back up the mountain to your lookout post. Don't run around."

With that, Dragon Cypress spread his wings and flew up to meet them.

Ink Orchid, sensing the disturbance on the island, took flight to observe the situation from high above and drew near.

"Dragon Cypress? What's happening?"

"The Snow Velvet Spider King has arrived, along with the five old Spider Kings from the Ancestral Trade Route."

Ink Orchid said, "Oh."

"Ink Orchid, speak less; I'll handle them. It's best not to let them know about the existence of King Cypress."

"Understood!"

The fewer Insects that knew about King Cypress's existence, the better. It was acceptable for the Snow Velvet Spider King to know, but not for the other Spider Kings.

Ink Orchid, understanding the importance of the situation, flew in an orderly manner behind Dragon Cypress.

One behind the other, they approached the Ice Boat, then circled and landed.

"Snow Velvet Spider King!"

"Blood Root Spider King! Spider King Water Orchid! Spider King Carpetgrass! Fork Pillar Spider King!"

Dragon Cypress, brimming with warmth, greeted each in turn. He introduced, "This is the Orchid Mantis Warrior symbiotic with the Xianglan Mountain Kingdom, Lord Ink Orchid, who has awakened the All-Element Talent, possesses extremely high Elemental Talent, and has unlimited Evolution Potential!"

"Snow Velvet Spider King!"

"Greetings, Blood Root Spider King, Spider King Carpetgrass..."

Ink Orchid greeted each in turn with due propriety.

The Spider Kings offered token greetings in return, not paying much heed. No matter how great an individual's combat power, it was still just that—individual. It could not compare to an Ant King who commanded an Ant Army.

All the Spider Kings' gazes fell upon Dragon Cypress.

The Blood Root Spider King asked in surprise, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, have you condensed the Divine Mark for the 'Explosive Jet' so quickly?"

Dragon Cypress replied, "Yes! My Specialized Blue Soldiers have acquired the Divine Mark attack ability! The Kingdom's strength has surged! I must also thank you, Blood Root Spider King, for your guidance."

"It was merely a spur-of-the-moment suggestion. A trifle, a trifle."

The Blood Root Spider King slowly turned, looking meaningfully at the Snow Velvet Spider King.

The Snow Velvet Spider King paused for a moment, then said, "I've also been trying to combine this ability in my spare time..."

Both Dragon Cypress and the Snow Velvet Spider King had poor Elemental Talents. They had started practicing this ability around the same time.

In this subtle comparison, the Snow Velvet Spider King had lost. For an experienced Old Spider King in his eighth Age Period, losing to a Little Ant King who had only advanced to his first Age Period twenty to thirty years ago was rather embarrassing.

After an awkward two seconds, the Snow Velvet Spider King suggested, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, could you demonstrate this ability for us? We could observe it for reference. It would be a good opportunity for us to exchange ideas and learn from each other."

Dragon Cypress agreed, "Of course."

He waved a tentacle, stirring up a column of seawater. It instantly transformed into an immense Ice Pillar over three meters long, standing erect above the sea surface. His two tentacles shone as the crystalline white, circular Divine Marks on them lit up.

With a forceful shake of his tentacles, the Ice Pillar ascended vertically. At a height of one hundred meters, it turned, accelerated, and then arced through the air before exploding on the sea surface a kilometer away.

The sound of the explosion reached them two or three seconds later.

The Fork Pillar Spider King's eight eyes shone brightly as he asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, is this ability guided by spiritual power, allowing you to hit wherever you direct it?"

Dragon Cypress affirmed, "Yes!"

The Fork Pillar Spider King praised, "This ability is very interesting! I'll have to try it myself sometime!"

The Blood Root Spider King, having discerned a key detail, asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, you don't use spiritual power to trigger the detonation, do you? You're using another method—the Ice Pillar detonates automatically when it crashes into the sea surface!"

The Snow Velvet Spider King cast a puzzled and inquiring gaze towards him.

Dragon Cypress confirmed, "Correct, it's an automatic detonation. This involves another Thunder System Ability I comprehended during my evolution to Insect King..."

Dragon Cypress proceeded to explain in detail to everyone the configuration of his improved 'Explosive Jet'.

Together with Ink Orchid, he enthusiastically took over the controls of the Ice Boat. They navigated it carefully, stealthily avoiding the southern tip of the island where the Divine-Given Life Seeds were intensively planted, and headed directly toward the northern side of the island.