novelraw Chapter 762 610: Metal Jet - Part 2
Chapter 762 610: Metal Jet - Part 2
Dragon Cypress decisively adjusted his training method. He came to the riverside, drew river water, and condensed it into a giant vortex worm ten meters long, then activated his Water Escape ability, hiding his body inside the vortex worm.
Then, from inside the vortex worm, he activated the Hydra Power.
In the "head" of the vortex worm as planned by Dragon Cypress, two thick tentacles emerged.
With a thought,
Six flat, elongated limbs extended from both sides of the vortex worm.
With another thought,
Two rows of flat, short "dorsal fins" sprouted on the back of the vortex worm.
The limbs swayed and twisted, and the vortex worm followed the rushing river current, swimming upstream against it.
On Solitary Peak, Ink Orchid, who had been silently watching the movement on the river while enjoying the scenery, stood up:
—You made it?
—A bit of a shortcut.
—Call it half-success!
—Ants really are cunning!
...
Ink Orchid tilted her head in thought, spread her wings and flew, spiraling down to the riverside for a closer look.
"Dragon Cypress, have you found a way to combine the two abilities together?"
"Preliminarily, I think this method works."
"Oh—"
"Then can you try to refine and fuse the destructive and annihilating properties in the Refinement Ability into the 'Whirl Beast'?"
"That's the hardest part. Still a long way off!"
"Oh—"
Ink Orchid: "I'm bored to death here."
Ink Orchid: "When can we contact the Snow Velvet Spider King? Or else, why don't we just dig open the passage to the Southern Hemisphere and go have a look?"
'Whirl Beast' collapses.
Dragon Cypress's figure materialized, and after a long silence, he said: "No way!"
Dragon Cypress: "I'll bring Cypress over, then bring Tie Bush and Giant Cypress together. The more bugs, the merrier."
…
…
The amount of Thunder System Divine-Given Origin Force Food is rather limited. Even before breaking through to Insect King, Dragon Cypress had already started stockpiling.
After the breakthrough, Dragon Cypress consumed Thunder System Ant King Honey worth 60 million Source Stones intermittently.
He had to reserve enough capacity for the Water System's enhancements and didn't dare eat any more.
After successfully condensing the Refinement Divine Inscription, Dragon Cypress's confidence surged, and he ate another 25 million Source Stones worth of Thunder System Ant King Honey.
Thunder System Divine-Given Origin Force Food is expensive, totaling 85 million Source Stones consumed, with about 12 million left reserved for the Water System talent.
With such limited enhancement quota, he would see how the divine mark condensation progressed before deciding how to continue eating in the future.
While practicing the "Sea Beast Devouring" ability diligently, Dragon Cypress also used breaks to practice the "Frostfall" ability and his handful of Thunder System abilities.
...
Time flew by.
Year 85 of the Silver Cypress.
Through Red Peach, White Ivy sent over a Divine-Grade Fruit called "Sea Spring," which granted a Water System ability also named "Sea Spring."
It was a very wondrous ability, useful for territory management and irrigation support.
This ability required the seeds of the Sea Tong Tree as material. A seed could encapsulate a cubic meter of fresh water within its tiny core, called a "Sea Spring Seed."
Buried underground, as soon as soil moisture dropped to a critical level, the fresh water stored within the seed would slowly be released, moistening the soil. Like an underground spring, it would flow continuously, functioning for up to nearly a year.
This critical humidity level suited most plant species, making its scope of application extremely broad.
Moreover, Sea Tong Tree Life Seeds could produce Origin Force Seeds as materials for this ability, vastly increasing the amount of stored water and the effective time.
Red Peach even sent several seeds from the Insect King Territory as a package deal—each could store over 100 cubic meters of fresh water, with a duration of up to ten years.
This meant that, by burying four or five "Sea Spring Seeds" around a fruit tree, for the next ten years, you wouldn't need to worry about drought or irrigation…
Very practical, and a really impressive ability.
Of course, Dragon Cypress didn't need it.
His territories were already full of reservoirs, ponds, and channels; plus, he had Blue Soldiers to control water and could even make water, so drought was never an issue.
It's fine to have abilities that won't be used—they just expand the breadth of his Water System abilities.
...
Year 86 of the Silver Cypress.
Through Red Peach, White Ivy sent over another Divine-Grade Fruit, its name and origin unknown, granting an ability called "Metal Jet."
This ability could metallize a stream of water for a brief moment.
A completely ordinary stream of water would shoot out, and at the instant it struck its target, it would turn into hard metal, causing penetrating damage.
This ability was powerful.
It involved extremely advanced fields of material property transformation, making it costly—it cost Dragon Cypress five million Source Stones.
"Metal Jet" was also similar in effect to his Metal System ability, "Molten Gold."
His own comprehension, Molten Gold, was an ability to liquefy metal for a short time at room temperature.
One could transform liquid water into solid metal.
The other could turn metal into liquid.
The two abilities counterbalanced one another.
Maybe, one day, he could consider combining Elemental Systems across types.
...
Dragon Cypress has now comprehended thirteen Water System abilities: Water Control, Hydrology Shield, Boiling, Freezing, Water Making, Refinement, Water Escape, Illusory Shadow Reflection, Sublimation, Vortex Worm, Hydra, Sea Spring, and Metal Jet.
Except for the Vortex Worm ability, all others could be inherited by Blue Soldiers or Blue Ants.
At present, Metal Jet offers the greatest boost to Specialized Blue Soldiers, raising their combat power by an entire level.
This ability has huge development potential, but unfortunately, Dragon Cypress doesn't have the time or energy to fully realize it.
...
Autumn.
The Divine-Grade Baihe Fruit and Molan Seed both ripened and were successfully harvested.
Dragon Cypress consumed a Divine-Grade Molan Seed and successfully comprehended the "Scorching" ability.
...
Year 87 of the Silver Cypress.
Through Red Peach, White Ivy sent over a Divine-Grade Dragon Bamboo Fruit and a Soul-Intoxicating Fruit.
Dragon Cypress used the Soul-Intoxicating Fruit.
Ink Orchid used the Dragon Bamboo Fruit, achieving a one-hundred-percent awakening of the Strength Talent. After evolving again, Ink Orchid would finally possess all ten talents of the major systems.
But the Orchid Grass and Grapes she planted still hadn't borne fruit.
Cypress used its Refinement Ability to cut down all the Silver Cypress Trees on the Jianlan Plain, planting a small portion with new Silver Cypress, and the majority with other fruit trees, restoring the biodiversity of plants in the Land of Origin Force.
He then moved into Red Cypress Mountain.
Cypress continued to use Refinement Ability to cut down obsolete Silver Cypress trees on Red Cypress Mountain.
Ink Orchid and Black Birch continued to sow Orchid Grass and plant grape vines, with Tie Bush and Giant Cypress helping out.
Red Cypress Mountain didn't have the great rivers of the Jianlan Plain, and the semi-finished "Whirl Beast" that Dragon Cypress formed was over 200 meters long and more than 30 meters wide—far too big for the small rivers here to contain.
Dragon Cypress returned to the vast ocean to train alone.
After years of tempering and constant optimization, the "Whirl Beast" gradually took on a unique, flattened shape, resembling a ray. Additionally, the Hydra Power simulated the fin-like appendages characteristic of tentacled fish.
When swimming in the sea, the flat body undulated and fanned continually, while the half-fin-half-tentacle "fins" either swung up and down or side to side, pushing the huge body forward.
The Whirl Beast's appearance became increasingly odd, with awkward, almost comical movements, but the speed was by no means slow; it dived and ascended, turned left and right, all with smooth precision.
Dragon Cypress spent massive amounts of time and energy observing tens of thousands of aquatic creatures, finally adjusting it to this fast, agile, and energy-saving perfect form.
Once the physical form was set, the next step was to combine the "Vortex Worm" and "Hydra" abilities into one.
At the same time, Dragon Cypress also began attempting to infuse the destructive and annihilating power from the Refinement Ability into the Whirl Beast.
In practice, it proved even more difficult than expected.
...
Time passed year after year.
Early spring.
Deep within the "Whirl Beast," Dragon Cypress kept close to the Divine Force Barrier, swimming in the shallows.
He gave the Whirl Beast a wide, flat mouth, mimicking certain fish that "feed" on plankton and small fry in the sea while moving at high speed.
"Hm—"
Dragon Cypress sharply detected a strange Primordial Energy fluctuation from afar.
The Whirl Beast stopped abruptly.
Out of reflex, Dragon Cypress wanted to use the Soul-Setting Ability, but as he thought quickly, he withdrew, letting his soul settle and quietly sensing. He was delighted.
A faint Water System Freezing ability: an Ice Boat was skimming just above the Divine Force Barrier, cleaving through the waves.
There was no way the Stone Hunt Blue Ants from Blue Island would travel through the sea like this.
Snow Velvet Spider King!
Finally here!
Any later and the Steward Spider King of the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent Ancestral Land—plus the new leader, White Ivy Spider King, of Dulai Flame Spider—would go mad with anxiety.
—Give Snow Velvet Spider King a surprise!
With a thought, Dragon Cypress expanded the Whirl Beast's body to three hundred meters, accelerating toward the Ice Boat.
Just as he approached,
Rumble~ Boom~ Boom~
Thunder roared.
Red, blue, purple—flashes of lightning in all colors struck head-on.
Out of a clear sky, a bolt of silver lightning materialized and crashed down vertically from above.
The Whirl Beast was instantly shattered…
Startled, Dragon Cypress immediately sent out a pulse of spiritual power: "Snow Velvet Spider King! Calm down! It's me!"
"Stop—"
"Hold on—"
From the Ice Boat came Snow Velvet Spider King's psychic ripple.
Soon after, a chill swept across, freezing a vast section of sea.
Purple, grape hydrangea, multicolored—five big spiders of varying colors jumped off the ice boat.
"Dragon Cypress Ant King?"
"It's me. It's me. Don't attack..."