Astral Sand Locust

—Is there?

The question of whether or not there are elders is simply a matter of yes or no. How can it be uncertain?

The sand locust didn't ask any further questions. Instead, it flapped its wings and took off. It turned around and glanced at the giant cylinder before turning back and flying out of the sinkhole.

Seeing this, Mu Dou took off running and rushed out, running ahead to lead the way for Sha Huai.

We crossed the wilderness, climbed over two small hills, and ascended a large east-west mountain range.

After crossing the mountain range, following a ridge extending southwestward, two towering trees rooted at the foot of the mountain came into view from afar.

One is a white thorn tree with lush branches and leaves.

Another tree, taller than the ridge, had an extraordinary appearance, but its branches and leaves were sparse and its condition seemed very wrong.

"We're here!"

Mu Dou cheered and quickened his pace.

The sand locust tree accelerated.

They got closer.

Suddenly, with a thought, a familiar yet magical feeling washed over him, and in an instant, everything was renewed. Even the natural forces that roamed between heaven and earth became exceptionally warm and gentle.

This means we have entered the realm of God's Kingdom!

With a single thought, a blue screen appeared before Sha Huai's eyes, his gaze and consciousness locking onto the "Divine Kingdom: Sand Locust" section.

A blue light flashes, redirecting to an overview map page.

Sha Huai's gaze and awareness immediately locked onto his location: due north on the map, in a slightly western corner.

Zoom in to view.

The mountains behind them were not within the realm of the divine kingdom.

A southwest-facing branch extending from the mountain range, half of which happens to lie within the realm of the gods.

The two life-giving plants at the foot of the mountain, and the cave where Mu Dou lives, are right next to each other, just in the middle.

What a coincidence!

Sha Huai silently thought to himself, turned off the screen, lowered the flight altitude to synchronize with the running Mu Dou, and asked at the same time:

"Mudou, are those life seeds? White thorn life seeds and golden beetle life seeds?"

"Yes!"

Mu Dou answered.

"The destiny of your elders?"

"yes."

"Are the fruits of the White Thorn Life Seed almost ripe?"

"It's still early; it will be ready for harvest in about three months."

"What about the Golden Beetle Tree? It's much taller than the White Thorn Tree."

"Because it is a seed given by God!"

"A seed given by God!"

The sand locust tree was shocked.

The Zerg warriors' "Life Sacs" can nurture ordinary plant seeds into "Life Seeds." Essentially, they enhance ordinary seeds into Force plant seeds.

However, in the pantheon of nature, under the protection of the true gods of nature, all plants in nature have an extremely low probability of giving birth to "seeds of innate primal force awakening."

The probability is extremely low, and it is extremely difficult to obtain.

This is a gift from the God of Nature, also known as "divine seed".

The divinely bestowed seed is nurtured in the life capsules of Zerg warriors, transforming into a life seed. After being sown, it grows into a divinely bestowed seed, and the primal food produced is called divinely bestowed primal food.

For the same type of plant, the same level of primal force, and the same energy, the enhancement effect of divinely bestowed primal force food is 3 to 10 times that of ordinary primal force food produced by ordinary life species.

It was actually a seed from a golden beetle tree, a gift from the gods!

"Mudou, it seems the Golden Beetle Tree's divine seed is in bad shape~"

"Yes...it must be because of the drought."

Drought?

Is the golden beetle tree afraid of drought?

Why should life-giving seeds fear drought?

The surrounding ordinary plants are all in good condition, so there's no reason why a divinely bestowed seed should be suffering from drought.

It is clear that the golden beetle tree itself has a fatal problem.

Sha Huai didn't ask too many questions and silently followed behind Mu Dou.

quickly,

The two insects rushed down the ridge and arrived at a cave located halfway up the mountain.

Hard, bluish-gray rock.

The tunnel was carved out by sharp claws, with a width exceeding one meter in diameter and a height exceeding half a meter.

Mu Dou led the way, crawling along the cave passage, making two turns, and entering a spacious cavern located inside the mountain.

In the center of the cave, a large beetle with a black head and elytra and sandy yellow edges on its thorax and elytra lay prominently.

Sha Huai recognized it at a glance as the Yellow-margined Ground Beetle, which is quite common in the arid wasteland.

It is over 2 meters long!

Advanced Yellow-edged Infantry Warrior!

But it is already dead.

A mental scan revealed no signs of life, not even any fluctuations of primal force.

Having been dead for a long time, the primal energy contained within the primal life form had dissipated completely.

It had no injuries, and considering the size of the two living plants, it could be roughly determined that it had exhausted its lifespan and died of old age.

Sha Huai immediately understood what was going on.

Because of the death of the Zerg warrior, the souls of the two life-seeds that were bound together by life have dissipated and are now dead.

Furthermore, due to the unique nature of plant life, unlike Zerg warriors who die instantly, the bodies of living plants undergo a long death process.

The Seed of Gods has a faster life metabolism and consumes more Force energy, so after the Zerg warriors die, the Seed of Gods' bodies decay faster.

The white thorn tree is a common species, and a life-type one at that, so it has a strong vitality and hasn't shown any obvious signs of decline yet. But sooner or later, it will still die.

"Mu Dou, is this your elder?"

"Yes. It's called white thorn."

"It...you...you're not of the same kind, are you?"

"We are all armored infantry."

"..."

That's right.

A giant, flat armored vehicle,

A yellow-margined ground armor,

They belonged to the same infantry clan, so they were practically relatives.

Sha Huai hesitated for a moment, then said, "Mu Dou, your elder, it's dead, isn't it?"

"No...Sand Locust...you've got it wrong..."

Mu Dou hurriedly denied it, stammering as she explained, "What Bai Ci told me was... Bai Ci said it went to see the True God of Nature... Bai Ci also promised me that if it saw the True God of Nature, it would definitely help me get a divinely bestowed seed..."

"Shahuai, your inherited memories record this, don't they? The True God of Nature resides above the sun... Baici's soul went to heaven... went above the sun... Baici will return... when it returns, everything will be alright..."

Ascension of the soul?

Sha Huai: "..."

Sha Huai withdrew his gaze from the giant armored vehicle, slowly turned around, and looked at Mu Dou.

When it comes to "elders", Mu Dou lacks confidence.

Clearly, Mudou knew deep down that Baici was dead, but it couldn't accept this reality and was unwilling to accept it, still clinging to a sliver of unrealistic hope, wishful thinking, and fantasy.

Mudou is strong and trying hard not to show the sadness deep inside her heart.

Sha Huai felt a pang of sadness and didn't know what to say for a moment. She turned around gently to shift her attention and looked towards the entrance of the cave at the other end.

"Sand locust tree!"

Mu Dou understood immediately, waving its antennae to point and lead the way to the opposite cave entrance. After crawling along the sloping upward cave passage for a while, it entered a dry storage room located deep inside the mountain.

The room was filled with bright red jars, each over a meter tall, seemingly made from barren red soil and solidified with earth-based abilities.

Mudou sped up to a pottery jar, used all six legs to climb up, used its front paws to lift the lid, and effortlessly plunged into the jar.

Wisps of primal force, carrying a unique quality, emanated from the jar.

Force Food!

The sand locust tree straightened its antennae, shook its wings, and with a powerful push from its hind legs, leaped up and landed on the rim of the pottery jar, looking down over.

Inside the earthenware jar, there were still more than half a jar of black, oval-shaped fruit pits, radiating a strong life force.

According to the records of inherited memories, the seeds of the white thorn fruit produced by the white thorn species are uniformly called "white thorn seeds".

With one white thorn wrapped around each of its two antennae and another in each of its forepaws, Mudou struggled to climb out of the pottery jar, carrying four white thorns with it. It tumbled and fell directly to the ground.

The sand locust tree quickly followed suit and landed on the ground.

The pea grasped a white thorn with its foreleg, bent its toe, cut, exerted force, and with a crisp snap, the shell was cut in half, revealing the brownish-yellow kernel inside.

In an instant, the previously faint yet exceptionally rich life force that attracted insects suddenly exploded, becoming incredibly clear and rushing straight to the soul.

"Sand locust tree!"

Mu Dou used his toes to pick out the kernels and handed them to Sha Huai.

"Try it!"

"Thank you!"

The sand locust seemed a little shy, politely thanked us, raised its paws to accept the food, and buried its head in its food.

The warm and rich life energy slowly spreads in the abdomen, is absorbed and integrated into the blood, flows throughout the body and is absorbed by the body.

This is the Force food produced by the life seed of an advanced warrior. Even a single one was too much for Sha Huai to handle. His body was fully strengthened, and the remaining Force escaped through the gaps in his shell. However, it did not disperse directly but lingered around his body and was then drawn back into his body through his breathing.

After a long time,

After much effort, the sand locust finally digested the life energy contained in a white thorn seed.

I felt completely relaxed and indescribably comfortable. I had inexhaustible energy in my body, and the insect felt light and airy, as if it were about to float away on its own.

"Sand locust tree!"

"Have another one!"

Mu Dou followed closely, handing a peeled white thorn kernel to Sha Huai and explaining:

"Life-generating Force foods can be eaten in large quantities. A 2-year-old novice warrior can eat 2 at a time, twice a day."

"……OK."

The sand locust hesitated slightly, then raised its paw to take it, held it with both paws, paused for a moment to prepare, and then buried its head to gnaw on it.

After a long time, Sha Huai finished digesting the second white thorn seed and felt very strongly that the original force that his body had received had been over-modified, far exceeding his physical capacity.

"Sand locust tree, that's enough."

"It's morning now, so you eat two. Then you'll have to wait until after dark to eat the rest."

"Tomorrow, you can eat the divinely bestowed beetle. But you can only eat one at a time, one a day, and one every other day."

"The enhancement effects of the divinely bestowed Force food are too powerful. We junior warriors must be careful. Using it forcibly and overdoing it will only backfire and damage our bodies."

"Sand locust, the day after tomorrow you'll eat white thorn seeds, and the day after that you'll eat golden beetles, do you understand what I mean?"

Mu Dou wiggled its antennae, pointing seriously, looking like a 'senior'.

But it is clear that it is copying the evolution pattern of its own 2-year-old novice warrior.

It overlooked the fact that it was a giant, flat-skinned armored warrior with a naturally large and powerful physique and potential systemic talents, while the sand locust was a desert locust with a naturally smaller physique and weaker constitution.

"Understandable...not hard to understand..."

Sha Huai agreed, turned around, glanced at the other pottery jars neatly arranged in the storage room, and asked knowingly:

"Mudou, you mean... there are also beetles produced from the seeds bestowed by the Golden Beetle God?"

"Yes! Last year's. There aren't any this year. You saw the state of the Golden Tortoise God-given Seed; things will only get better when White Thorn returns from the True God of Nature..."

Mu Dou mumbled something, then quickly climbed onto a nearby earthenware pot. With its antennae and forelegs working together, it gently lifted the lid, moved it, and revealed an opening.

The sand locust tree, having gathered its strength, bounced and landed precisely at the mouth of the jar. Looking down, it saw that the jar was more than half full of brown seeds.

Mu Dou pointed with her paw and said, "There's a whole jar of white thorn seeds over there. In three months, a new batch of white thorn seeds will mature and be harvested. There will be more white thorn seeds than we can eat."

"There's a whole jar of scarab beetles over there. Once we finish that, there won't be any left."

—We still have two large jars full of reserves!

—That's enough! That's enough! Absolutely enough! Enough for the growth and evolution of two novice warriors!

Sha Huai pondered this in his mind, then turned his gaze to the other pottery jars.

"Mudou, were all these jars made by Baici using her abilities?"

"certainly."

"What's the point of making so many jars?"

"To pack things."

"What is it?"

"There's something good here!"

Mudou moved its four legs, shifted its body to the side, and used its antennae and forelegs to close the lid of the pottery jar in front of it. It then dropped to the ground, scrambled to its feet, and ran up to another pottery jar, opening the lid.

Sha Huai aimed, kicked, jumped, and landed precisely on the rim of the jar.

The jar was full of translucent white crystals. Scanning it with my spiritual power, I could see that the crystals contained a vast amount of pure primal energy.

A careful scan revealed 33 facets, approximately 4 centimeters in length and 2 centimeters in diameter, perfectly matching the 'original stone' recorded in the heritage memory.

For Force-based beings, this is an important resource with many uses.

For example, even if a novice warrior doesn't have Force food, they can still accelerate their evolution by absorbing the Force contained within the Primal Stone.

For example, when Zerg warriors evolve, they need to go through a period of dormancy to absorb a large amount of Force. Using Primal Stones to replenish Force can accelerate this process and increase the success rate of evolution.

Another aspect is the life seed of the Zerg warriors, which can be replenished with Primal Stones throughout the entire process of sowing, growing, flowering, and bearing fruit.

Life plants can grow faster, better, and produce more, and the Force food they produce is of better quality.

Primal Stones are needed for every aspect of the Zerg warriors' growth and evolution, resulting in a huge demand.

"Mudou, is this a raw gem?"

"Yes. Raw stone."

"Where did it come from?"

"Found it."

"Where did you find it?"

"Over there...to the northeast..."

Mu Dou shook its antennae and pointed, saying:

"Starting from the White Thorn Tree seed, head northeast towards the highest peak at the end of the mountain range. Keep going in this direction until you see a black mountain peak."

"The black mountain is called Black Mountain. There are scattered raw stones in the rocky wasteland around Black Mountain."

Locust Tree: "Oh—"

Sha Huai asked, "Mu Dou, do you often go there to pick them?"

"I go every day!"

At this point, Mu Dou got a little excited, its antennae fluttering as it said, "I had just stepped out today when something suddenly fell from the sky. A fireball streaked across the sky and crashed into the ground, causing a huge tremor that scared the insects to death. I ran over to investigate and that's when I ran into you."

"Forehead--"

Sha Huai asked, "Mu Dou, were the other pottery jars filled with raw stones?"

"no."

"There are 30 earthenware jars here, each capable of holding 1000 raw stones. There are also 19 empty..."

Mu Dou paused for a moment, then continued, "Bai Ci gave me a task: to fill all the pottery jars with raw stones. It's a difficult task, so I'm very busy every day."

"oh--"

Sha Huai hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Mu Dou, shall we go pick them together? I'll help you?"

"OK!"

Mu Dou agreed without hesitation, released its paw, fell off the edge of the pottery jar to the ground, flipped over, and ran directly towards the cave entrance.

The sand locust spread its wings, kicked its legs, glided, flapped its wings and flew, following behind the mu Bean.

They left the cave together.

After crossing the ridge,

Arriving beneath the majestic, lush, and verdant white thorn trees, we took a closer look.

Then, starting from the white thorn tree seed, they headed towards the highest peak at the northeast end of the mountain range, continuing forward in that direction.

The journey wasn't particularly long, and soon we saw the Black Mountain that Mu Dou had mentioned.

Mu Dou led the way, running ahead with ease, until they arrived at the foot of a giant black rock scattered across the plain.

Standing beneath the rock is a cylindrical, reddish-black pottery vessel, about half a meter high and twenty centimeters long.

As Sha Huai observed with curiosity, before he could even ask a question, Mu Dou nimbly climbed onto the cylindrical pottery vessel. With the help of his forelegs and antennae, accompanied by a hissing and rubbing sound, he unscrewed the screw-top lid.

Sha Huai leaped up, landing precisely at the mouth of the jar. He bent down to examine it and found it contained more than a dozen raw stones. Under the sunlight, they refracted a dazzling array of colors.

"Mudou, did you pick this?"

"Yes. I picked it up yesterday."

"This jar was made for you by White Thorn to make it easier to transport the raw gems?"

"Yes. We'll fill a jar and push it back to our territory."

Mudou swayed its antennae and explained, "When the sunlight shines, the raw stones exposed on the ground reflect light, refracting dazzling colors. These raw stones have long been plundered by the white thorns and green trees. Now, we can only use our mental power to scan the ground, searching for those raw stones hidden under the rubble and sand."

"Oh……"

Sha Huai tilted his head, asking doubtfully, "Green Tree? Also a Zerg warrior?"

"According to White Thorn, a long, long time ago, it had a close companion, a black and yellow warrior named Green Tree..."

As Mu Dou spoke, he vigorously waved his antennae, pointing southeast, carefully choosing his words, and then continued:

"According to Bai Ci, if you keep going east, you can reach the edge of the land, where there are high mountains and cliffs where the sea meets the ocean. If you follow the edge south for a very long time, below the high mountains and cliffs, there are boundless plains, winding rivers, dense rainforests, and settlements of Zerg warriors..."

"Rivers and rainforests? Insect tribes?"

The sand locust tree instinctively straightened its antennae in excitement.

"yes."

Mu Dou slowed down his speech and began to narrate:

"White Thorn and Green Tree once went there and traded the Force food produced by their life seed with the insect tribes in the coastal rainforest. It was because of this resource exchange that White Thorn and Green Tree were able to evolve into advanced warriors."

"But on the way to the coastal rainforest, there is a dangerous area where ferocious and deadly rock beasts roam. Unfortunately, Whitethorn and Green Tree once encountered them, and Green Tree was killed while covering Whitethorn's escape..."

Sha Huai was taken aback, but quickly recovered and asked, "What is a Rock Beast? Mu Dou, is it recorded in your inherited memories? Is it that I haven't awakened any related knowledge?"

"No, there is no record of rock beasts in the inherited memories."

Mu Dou shook its antennae and said, "Bai Ci said it heard from the rainforest insectoids that those ferocious monsters are called 'Rock Beasts.' They control the laws of the earth, can manipulate sand and stones to attack, are extremely powerful, and are a kind of calamity."

"oh--"

Sha Huai asked nervously, "How far away is that rock beast? Will it threaten our safety?"

Mu Dou replied, "According to Bai Ci, no, it's very far away."

Sha Huai felt slightly relieved and suggested, "Mu Dou, how do we find the raw stones? Let's search and talk as we go."

"good!"

Mu Dou agreed, and the two insects began their operation.