Astral Sand Locust

"Mudou, do you know if there are other Zerg warriors in this wasteland?"

"No, right? I've never seen it, nor have I ever heard Bai Ci mention it."

"Is it possible for us to make it through this dangerous area alive and reach the southern rainforest?"

"I don't know. Whitethorn said that after Green Tree was killed, it never went back to the rainforest."

"..."

The sand locust leaped forward, scanning the ground with its mental energy with each landing.

Mudou also focused on searching for raw stones.

The two insects fell silent simultaneously.

A very cruel question.

In their early stages, Zerg warriors can absorb natural forces, convert them into primal energy, and complete their evolutionary evolution.

Upon reaching the intermediate warrior stage, one needs Force Food to enhance and accelerate evolution.

To evolve into an advanced warrior, one needs different types of Force food and different types of enhancements. Only by comprehensively strengthening and perfecting oneself can one have the possibility of advancing further.

These are the knowledge recorded in the memory of both sand locust and wild bean.

However, born in this desolate grassland, unable to find other insect warriors to team up with, and unable to exchange primal food with other insects, with only the sand acacia and herdsman bean insects, the variety of primal food is limited, making it difficult to evolve into a high-level warrior.

Inheriting the lifeblood of the White Thorn might allow one to advance to a high-level warrior by sheer luck, but that would be the limit, and it would be impossible to go any higher.

Then they will face the same fate as White Thorn: dying of old age at the high-level warrior level.

...

...

"Huh! A raw gemstone!"

Mudou broke the silence, happily and vigorously waving its antennae from side to side, then waving its forelegs to swat away the pebbles, and using its jaws to slowly pry open the sand...

"Shahuai, you're a junior warrior, you have no elders, so you don't have any territory either, right?"

Mu Dou chatted and asked questions while working.

The place where a life seed takes root is called territory.

Without a destiny seed, there is no territory.

But what about the Kingdom of God? Does it count?

Sha Huai stood aside watching Mu Dou do its work, shaking its antennae and saying, "Of course it has no territory."

Mu Dou immediately suggested, "Then why don't you come and live with me and Bai Ci?"

"……good!"

Without hesitation, the sand locust tree nodded in agreement.

Zerg warriors are born from the awakening of the Force by ordinary insects of the natural pantheon, with an extremely low probability of one in a billion or one in a hundred billion.

In this arid wasteland, a barren desert of life, the chances of a Zerg warrior being born are extremely low.

When two insects come together and cooperate to develop, it is undoubtedly the best choice.

We also need a partner with whom we can talk and support each other.

"good!"

"Then it's settled!"

Mu Dou happily agreed, and at the same time, its digging method changed from shoveling soil with its two jaws to digging soil with its two front paws. The movement was very fast, and soon it dug out a deep pit that sloped downwards, and a brightly colored raw stone was dug out.

"Mudou, should we put it in a clay pot?"

"certainly."

"I'll do it."

"good……"

Sha Huai offered to help, picked up the raw stone, and flew back to the black boulder, placed it in a pottery jar, and then rushed off to meet up with Mu Dou.

"Mudou, has Baici told you that besides the rainforest in the south, there are other places with lush vegetation, abundant life, and where Zerg warriors live?"

"I haven't said that."

"The world is so big. Didn't Bai Ci go to other places to look and explore?"

"No. White Thorn named the mountain range where we live 'Green Tree Mountain'. After Green Tree was unfortunately killed, White Thorn stayed on Green Tree Mountain and hardly went anywhere else."

"All right."

"The locust warriors are good at flying. Sand locust, you can try looking for them in other places in the future."

"Yes. When I have the strength in the future, I definitely will... Mu Dou, is there a raw stone vein here?"

"A small, insignificant mineral vein."

"What about Black Mountain?"

"A mediocre raw stone mine."

"Has it been explored?"

"Whitethorn and Green Tree dug it up and examined it a long time ago. There were raw stones, but very few. And the rocks were unusually hard, not as easy to pick up as on the plains."

"oh--"

"There are still abandoned mine shafts on the mountain left over from the mining of white thorn and green trees in the past. Shahuai, would you like to go and take a look?"

"Is there anything interesting to see?"

"no."

"Then...shall we go take a look?"

"Walk!"

With a flick of its antennae, Mu Dou led the way.

The two insects climbed up Black Mountain, visited the mine, and then patrolled around the mountainside.

They wandered leisurely across the plains below the mountain, searching and chatting idly.

Before we knew it, it was noon.

Dusk fell again, and before we knew it.

After a whole day, only 7 rough stones were found.

The earthenware jar wasn't full, so they screwed on the lid, left it in place, and the two insects returned to their mountain home empty-handed.

Use two white thorn seeds.

Digestion and absorption, then sleep and rest.

The next morning, Sha Huai was woken up early by Mu Dou, and under Mu Dou's guidance, he used a "divinely bestowed golden beetle".

The "Golden Beetle" produced by the Golden Beetle Tree enhances the overall strength of the shell, with a greater emphasis on shell hardness.

The primal energy contained in God-given food has an exceptionally powerful effect on strengthening and transforming the body.

The sand locust tree is currently at a very low evolutionary level, making it difficult to digest, and it took a long time to fully absorb it.

After finishing their task, the two insects set off together for the Black Mountain Plain to continue their search for raw stones.

...

Sha Huai stayed and lived with Mu Dou.

...

Life is monotonous.

Every day, they would search for raw stones together, setting off early in the morning and returning to the cave to rest at night. Occasionally, they would also take a stroll around the White Thorn and Golden Tortoise Trees.

Monotonous but not boring

It's at least a million times better than being a single insect staring blankly into space.

Insects speak, and insects do things.

With things to do, time flies by, and seven days have passed in the blink of an eye.

dusk,

Storage warehouse

After the sand locust tree finished digesting and absorbing the second white thorn seed, it suddenly felt dizzy and its consciousness gradually blurred.

Sha Huai, on the contrary, was overjoyed and shouted with a burst of mental energy, "Mu Dou! I'm evolving!"

"oh--"

Mu Dou, who was lying on the rim of the pottery jar beside him, engrossed in counting the raw stones, agreed, turned around and glanced at it. After thinking for a moment, she twitched her antennae, released her claws, and fell directly to the ground. She scrambled to her feet and hurriedly ran towards the cave entrance, while giving a warning:

"Shahuai, hang in there for a bit, stay conscious, and whatever you do, don't fall asleep. I'll go hunt some food, eat my fill, and then evolve, making sure everything goes smoothly."

"good!"

Sha Huai agreed.

Mu Dou ran away and disappeared.

Sha Huai rallied his spirits and tried his best to stay clear-headed.

Force-based life forms primarily consume ordinary food to replenish their biological energy and nutrients.

The evolution of Zerg warriors requires them to absorb the Force during slumber, undergo a molt, and complete a life transformation. This process is extremely energy-consuming, so it is best to eat well before evolving to ensure that you are full of energy.

In this way, evolutionary failure due to insufficient physical strength or nutrition can be avoided as much as possible.

The evolution of Zerg warriors can fail, and the consequences of failure can range from severe damage to death.

Sha Huai dared not let his guard down.

……

After a while,

Mudou dragged back the carcass of a rattlesnake whose head had been bitten off.

"Sand locust?"

"I'm still awake."

"Eat quickly!"

"good!"

Ordinary locusts are herbivores.

The locust warriors, awakened by the Force, have an infinitely expanding diet, capable of consuming all organic matter and even some inorganic substances to obtain what their bodies need.

Fresh meat is undoubtedly the best quality food.

Mu Dou helped by using the sharp tips of its forelegs to cut the snake meat into small pieces and handed them to Sha Huai.

Sha Huai tried hard not to fall asleep and buried himself in eating voraciously.

They ate their fill very quickly.

Unable to hold on any longer, it kicked its legs with all its might, flapped its wings, and landed precisely at the mouth of the earthenware jar containing the raw stones. It scurried inside, lay down on the jar full of raw stones, and fell into a peaceful sleep.

"..."

Seeing this, Mu Dou swept his mental energy over the area, dragged the remaining rattlesnake corpse, and slowly retreated from the cave, patiently guarding the entrance.

...

...

Sha Huai awoke from his deep sleep, clearly feeling his body swelling.

A crack was torn open at the head of the old carapace, and the crack quickly spread towards the carapace.

Driven by instinct, the sand locust's head struggled to emerge from its old shell, while its pinkish-white body emerged from its carapace.

Shedding the old shell.

The body expands rapidly, and the newly formed carapace hardens quickly upon contact with air, its color also darkening rapidly, changing from white-pink to pink, to muddy red, to reddish-black, and finally to pure black.

At the same time, a large amount of newly awakened knowledge about plants and animals, as well as some profound and complicated knowledge about the Force and strange natural sciences, poured in and imprinted on the soul's memory like a spring.

The massive influx of information caused a momentary blurring of consciousness.

Information flows quickly and goes quickly.

Sha Huai's consciousness gradually returned to clarity, and with a single thought, the blue screen appeared.

Name: Sha Huai

Race: Desert Locust (Nature God)

Title: None

Rank: Junior Warrior (3 years old)

Divine Kingdom: Sand Locust

Divine power: 0/10

Fate Seed: None

Abilities: None

……

Evolution complete.

A level 3 beginner warrior!

The "Rank" column, which includes the age value after "Junior Warrior," is updated synchronously from "Age 2" to "Age 3."

There were no other changes.

Sha Huai locked his gaze and mental energy onto the [Divine Kingdom: Sand Locust] section.

A blue light flashes, the screen changes, and it switches to a panoramic view of the divine realm.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the extent of the divine realm did not expand with age as expected.

After painstakingly completing an evolutionary cycle, the "divine object" bestowed by the true god of nature remained unchanged.

Even its function remains unclear.

"Such a miraculous thing can't be useless..."

Sha Huai felt a slight sense of disappointment for two seconds, then composed himself, gathered his mental energy, passed through the pottery jar, and peered straight ahead.

The detection range of mental power has increased dramatically from just over 2 meters in the second-year-old stage to about 4 meters.

He withdrew his mental energy and scanned himself in the opposite direction.

With each evolution, its size increased, growing from five or six centimeters to six or seven centimeters.

The carapace is harder, the tibiae of the six legs have denser fine spines, and the tips of the toes are sharper.

These enhancements largely stem from the strengthening effects of the divinely bestowed food, the "Golden Beetle."

Sha Huai then focused his mental energy and sensed his internal body. After being strengthened by Bai Ci Zi, his body was full of vitality and surging with life.

"Thanks to the high-grade Force food left behind by the advanced warriors, I have received a tremendous boost in this evolutionary stage!"

The sand locust secretly admired itself with delight, and habitually raised its paw to stroke its antennae.

An important question suddenly came to mind.

He buried his head and spat out a black seed: a seed of the sand locust tree.

The first life seed conceived by the sand locust tree has undergone two stages of evolution and two enhancements, and already possesses some primal force characteristics.

It's still a long way off before life can leap forward and transform into a seed of the Force.

It requires nine evolutionary stages throughout the entire process of a novice warrior, as well as a major breakthrough to become an intermediate warrior, before it can finally be conceived as a life seed.

"Still a long way off."

"It's still a long way off."

Sha Huai muttered to himself, stroked his antennae, opened his mouth to retrieve the seed into his life pouch, stood up, looked around, and leaped out of the earthenware jar.

Taking advantage of the momentum, it flapped its wings, glided along the passage, glided out of the storage warehouse, and landed smoothly in the outer hall.

The remains of the white thorn lay motionless in the center of the hall.

Mu Dou is not here.

The sand locust tree leaped out of its nest.

It was late at night, and the silver moon hung high in the sky.

There was no wind; it was deathly still.

The sand locust looked around, then leaped up, flapped its wings, and took flight. It glided down the hillside and landed precisely on the top of a large white thorn tree at the foot of the mountain, where it grabbed a tender leaf and began to devour it.

As the food is digested, the hunger and fatigue from molting and evolving quickly subside, and the insect's overall mental state becomes more energetic.

Staring at the sight,

Not far away, the scarab beetle tree had a bare trunk; its leaves had finally all fallen.

Moonlight filtered through the branches, illuminating the ground.

Amidst the fallen, withered leaves covering the ground, a dark figure remained motionless...

The sand locust kicked its legs, spread its wings, glided closer, and landed beside the pea.

"Mudou..."

"Sand locust tree!"

Startled by her grief, Mu Dou turned around, quickly regained her composure, and stared intently at Sha Huai. "You woke up so quickly!" she exclaimed in delight.

"Soon?"

Sha Huai asked, "Mu Dou, are you keeping track of time? How many days have I been asleep?"

"Two days!" Mu Dou answered confidently.

According to the inherited memory description, the evolution of a novice warrior usually requires about 3 days of slumber.

The shorter the time, the better the life condition.

The fact that it completed its evolution after only two days of slumber clearly demonstrates that the sand locust is currently in excellent health.

Sha Huai was secretly pleased.

It was clear that Mu Dou's happy mood lasted for two seconds before quickly fading away.

"Mu Dou... the seed bestowed by the Golden Tortoise God..."

"At dusk, a sudden gust of wind blew, and the few remaining leaves on the trees were blown away."

"..."

White Thorn has long since died.

Life follows death.

The Golden Tortoise Tree's divinely bestowed seed and the White Thorn's life-giving seed are merely two plant remains that haven't quite died.

In the arid and scorching environment of the wilderness, having lost all its leaves, it's easy to predict that it will soon die of old age.

Mu Dou could not accept it.

Sha Huai didn't know what to say, what to say, or how to comfort her.

Simply remain silent.

The two insects stood silently under the tree.

It went on until late at night.

Mu Dou waved its antennae in acknowledgment, said nothing, and dejectedly returned to the cave, falling into a deep sleep next to the remains of the white thorn.

……

Mudou is not stupid at all; it understands everything and can do everything.

It marks a line on the cave wall every day to keep track of time. It draws one line each day, and after 30 days it erases the line and draws a circle.

According to the traditional calendrical knowledge passed down through generations, 30 days is roughly equivalent to one month.

Echoing the moon in the sky,

The moon also has a full moon approximately every 30 days.

The two circles represent that two months have passed.

Mudou also started using Force Food.

For early-stage Zerg warriors, it is advisable to molt and evolve once every 3 months if they are in good condition.

Mudou precisely controls its daily intake of Force food, not a day more or less, and it stays exactly at the three-month mark. After eating and drinking its fill, it hides in the earthenware jar in the storage warehouse and begins its dormant evolution.

The sand locust tree helped guard the entrance to the cave.

Starting at dusk,

A surge of primal force was felt late at night.

The fluctuations gradually became more intense.

Mudou evolved from the 8-year-old to the 9-year-old stage, and has a great need for the Force. Gradually, one can clearly feel the natural Force of heaven and earth converging towards the depths of the mountain.

100 rough stones were prepared in advance.

Sha Huai began to work, picked up a raw stone, and flew into the sky.

Pine Claw.

The raw stone accelerated its fall, crashing heavily onto the hard stone ground at the cave entrance, shattering with a crack, and a large amount of pure primal force exploded outwards.

After the crystalline raw stone shattered, it broke into a large number of small crystal particles. The Force continued to be released from the crystal particles and, drawn by an invisible force, flowed into the depths of the mountain.

The immense primal force contained within a single raw stone can sustain one for quite some time.

Intermittently, 37 were dropped.

As night fell, the fluctuations of primal force within the cave gradually weakened and returned to calm.

Sha Huai carefully climbed into the cave, stood at the entrance of the storage warehouse, and looked around.

There was no movement.

Sha Huai calmed his mind and carefully sensed that Mu Dou was absorbing the primal force at a steady and slow rate.

Everything is normal, there's no problem.

Mudou is currently undergoing a metamorphosis process of Force evolution.

If all goes well, it will awaken from its slumber in 2 to 3 days, shed its old shell, and complete its evolution.

"..."

Sha Huai slowly turned around, gently climbed out of the cave, stood guard at the entrance, and peacefully fell into a light sleep.

Waking up in the morning,

They carefully climbed into the cave to check the situation.

His breathing is steady, and everything is fine.

Continue to guard the cave entrance.

The desert locust has a row of downy hairs on its forelegs, which act as its own brush.

The sand acacia regularly licks its "brush" with its tongue, then raises its forelegs and repeatedly wipes its compound eyes with the "brush" to brighten them.

Then, I buried my head in my work, pulling on the antennae, and slowly and meticulously scrubbing them segment by segment.

Wipe the compound eyes, clean the antennae, back and forth, repeating three times...

The sand locust tree was starting to get a little bored.

He stopped moving, stood motionless, and stared blankly at the white thorns and the golden tortoise divine seed below the mountain.

When I came to my senses, I was utterly bored.

He got up and hopped around at the cave entrance, jumping left and right.

After jumping for a while, they quieted down again.

"There are still two more days like this, maybe three if we're unlucky. It's going to kill us..."

As Sha Huai pondered, a wave of sadness washed over him. After much thought, he suddenly came up with a way to relieve his boredom. A thought flashed through his mind, and the blue screen appeared.

His gaze and awareness were immediately locked onto the "Divine Kingdom: Sand Locust" section, preparing to control the navigation to the map page, intending to observe the territory of the Divine Kingdom and pass the time...

"Huh!"

The sand locust tree was startled; its antennae stood upright, its sluggish nerves tightened, and it stood up straight.

[Divine Power: 1/10]

Something has changed!

This seems to be a very important change!