Ant Lord in the Star Realm

Chapter 761 610: Metal Jet

Ink Orchid reluctantly swallowed the two White Refining Beads that Dragon Cypress had tailored for her.

"Great King, how is it?"

"Not so good."

"Not so good?"

"There's no difference."

"Could you taste it carefully?"

"It's tasteless." After a moment, Dragon Cypress added, "Alright. I've thoroughly contemplated it. It is a bit different from the previous White Refining Beads."

He fell silent again, then turned to look at Black Birch. Without further ado, the Refinement Divine Inscription on his forehead lit up. With a flash of light, he gathered information from Black Birch.

He returned to the Cypress Garden where fruits were piled up. His tentacles moved, and a current of water swept up all the unprocessed fruits from the ground in one go.

He activated his Refinement Ability.

Soon, it condensed into a pale blue Crystal Bead.

"Black Birch!"

"Present!" Black Birch responded.

"Try this!"

"Alright, Great King!"

Black Birch opened his mouth, guiding the Blue Refinement Bead into his stomach, and began to quietly comprehend its effects.

"Great King, it's more perfect than previous Crystal Beads," Black Birch reported. "I feel like I can absorb it one hundred percent and my body can utilize it entirely."

Black Birch quickly added, "Great King, compared to the previous Blue Refinement Bead, the improvement is indeed not significant. I think it's probably because our dietary needs are quite similar—this includes you and Second King. Since we are all from the Insect Clan, the changes aren't very apparent. If it were another race with more significant differences, like the Blue Crab warrior Tie Bush, the effect of the Refinement Divine Inscription would be much more evident."

"Exactly!" Dragon Cypress praised. Black Birch was reliable.

Ink Orchid asked, "Dragon Cypress, you seemed fine at first. How did you suddenly succeed in condensing the Divine Mark?"

Black Birch also asked, "Right. Great King, did you suddenly have an important realization?"

Black Birch's ascension to King-Level would surely enable him to understand the Refinement Ability, and his first Divine Mark would inevitably be a Refinement Divine Inscription. Dragon Cypress's successful path and comprehension experience could be entirely inherited by Silver Cypress, Cypress, Black Birch, and Black Sophora.

Black Birch's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"Yes!" Dragon Cypress affirmed. "After ten years of training, my mastery and understanding of the Refinement Ability had become very meticulous, but I always felt something was missing, and I didn't understand what..."

Dragon Cypress detailed his comprehension experience.

Finally, he said, "I just thought, aren't Law Divine Patterns meant to compensate for the shortcomings of abilities? If the Refinement Divine Inscription could possess a 'recognition' ability, my Refinement Ability would be perfect. When I thought of this, I suddenly had a strong perception. Everywhere in the heavens and earth, the invisible Law Power was triggered. Quite naturally, I condensed the Refinement Divine Inscription and achieved what I wished for."

Ink Orchid was baffled.

Black Birch was silent for a moment, then exclaimed, "Great King's wisdom is unmatched!"

"Is that even possible?" Ink Orchid asked. "Linnan Divine Tree never mentioned that."

"Different abilities," Dragon Cypress explained, "different insects, different realizations, different circumstances—ultimately, the ways of condensing Divine Marks are not all the same. They are endless, unclear, and indefinable. What Linnan Divine Tree can say and teach is very limited; it mainly depends on oneself."

Ink Orchid and Black Birch touched their tentacles, seemingly understanding yet not entirely clear.

Suddenly, they both fell into silence.

After a long pause, Ink Orchid said enviously, "Dragon Cypress, you already have Ancestral Divine Power, Adaptive Evolution, and the Refinement Divine Mark—that's three Divine Marks already!"

"Don't worry, Second King," Dragon Cypress replied. "When you advance to Insect King, you will soon have three Divine Marks as well."

That was indeed true. Ghost King Sophora Seeds and Wangbai Seed directly grant two Divine Marks.

But when would she ever advance to Insect King? Ink Orchid mused.

Ink Orchid then asked, "Dragon Cypress, next, will you begin focusing on the Vortex Beast Devouring ability?"

"Without any news from the Southern Hemisphere," Dragon Cypress said, "I'm left with no choice. The Vortex Beast Devouring ability is a hundred times more difficult than the Refinement Ability. I will have to stay stuck on this ability for a long time in the future. Don't rush, Ink Orchid. I'll wait for you."

Ink Orchid fell silent.

"Now that the Refinement Divine Inscription is complete," Ink Orchid asked, "no more chopping trees?"

"Cypress will take over."

Dragon Cypress lifted a claw, pointed towards the great river, and said, "We'll still operate in the Jianlan Plain. You and Black Birch continue planting grass and trees. Cypress will use the Refinement Ability to clear the cypress trees. I will practice abilities on the river. Soon, I should be able to start experimenting with combining Vortex Worm and Hydra together."

The end of summer arrived with the rainy season. All rivers surged, and the river water became turbulent.

Dragon Cypress flapped his wings to take off, circled, and landed on the river surface. His Water System Primordial Energy burst forth, and he pushed the Vortex Worm ability to its limits.

The murky river water slowly cleared, and a giant Vortex Worm, over two hundred meters long, emerged. It twisted powerfully, moving upstream against the current and stirring up rolling waves that crashed against the shore.

Ink Orchid and Black Birch ran along, chasing and watching from a high point on the riverbank.

Dragon Cypress controlled the Vortex Worm to swim upstream to the edge of the Land of Origin Force, then downstream, cruising slowly against the strong current until reaching the downstream edge of the Land of Origin Force.

He turned it around and went upstream again.

Over a total river stretch of about six kilometers, he went back and forth hundreds of times until, late at night, his Primordial Energy was finally exhausted.

The Vortex Worm ability didn't consume much Primordial Energy to control, but it was particularly taxing on the mind. The larger its body, the more mentally draining it became.

He resolved to rest early.

He went to bed early and woke up early.

At dawn, just as the first light appeared in the eastern skyline, Dragon Cypress was already awake and began practicing his new abilities.

Bending his tentacles lightly, he activated the Water Creation Ability and the Vortex Worm ability simultaneously. A half-meter-long Vortex Worm formed. He then attempted to activate Hydra Power, aiming to first equip the Vortex Worm with two tentacles.

By now, Dragon Cypress could skillfully use Hydra Power and could barely manage to activate it remotely.

However, when he tried to attach the tentacles to the Vortex Worm, any slight lapse in concentration caused the construct to immediately collapse.

Neither ability consumed much Primordial Energy.

He practiced from morning till noon, and from noon till deep into the night.

He followed this routine of early to bed and early to rise, repeating it for five days.

After countless thousands of failed attempts, Dragon Cypress finally confirmed two things. First, the Vortex Worm and Hydra abilities were not compatible in the nature of their Primordial Energies. Second, although they were incompatible and extremely difficult to combine, it was not impossible. It required refinement through repeated practice, consciously adjusting both abilities simultaneously.