The Furry-Horned Beetle Warrior's tentacles are rather formidable weapons in battle.

Its forehead, neck, chest plate, shin guards, and other areas also grew many protective spikes.

At first glance, it looked a bit ferocious and menacing.

"Evolution succeeded!"

Dragon Cypress lifted a claw and pushed aside the thorny vine blocking the cave entrance.

"Blue Catalpa?"

Snakebark Maple peeked in cautiously, checked, then cheered and rushed inside, "Whoa! Mountain Lord Blue Catalpa! How did you get so big all of a sudden?"

Blue Catalpa: "..."

Blue Catalpa: "Hungry! Bring me some food."

Snakebark Maple hurried to move two pieces of fermented cypress wood into the cave.

Dragon Cypress, sharply sensing Blue Catalpa seemed excessively weak, squeezed inside too, fetched a wooden dish, picked up a gourd of ant honey and poured it out, telling Blue Catalpa to eat up to quickly recover some physical strength for emergencies.

Ink Orchid hauled back a piglet it had hunted, urging Blue Catalpa to eat more meat, saying only meat could quickly replenish the huge nutritional deficit from evolution...

They ate from midnight all the way until dawn.

Blue Catalpa's state recovered more or less.

Snakebark Maple asked, "Blue Catalpa, how many abilities did you comprehend?"

Blue Catalpa, being clever, was pondering even while eating, and answered with a bit of frustration, "Seems like only one, the talent ability of the Furry-Horned Beetle Warrior. It's called 'Reconnect.'"

As Blue Catalpa spoke, it walked to an ordinary Green-Red Kiwifruit Tree, used its mandible tooth to cut a vine, lifted its foreleg, and the severed vine was wrapped with blue-green primordial energy, fine primordial energy filaments pulling the cut ends together.

At a visible speed, the severed vine was reconnected.

Blue Catalpa: "This ability works on Origin Force Plants too. From now on, if anyone's Life Seed gets hurt, you can come to me for healing... for a fee!"

This ability is really useful!

Besides conventional healing, it can also be used for plant grafting.

But...

Dragon Cypress: "That's it?"

Blue Catalpa: "Seems like... the Reconnect ability works on animals too. Broken legs, snapped tentacles, torn muscles, cracked carapace—those kinds of injuries seem like I can connect them back together."

Dragon Cypress: "Good!"

Snakebark Maple: "Powerful!"

Ink Orchid: "Impressive!"

Ink Orchid lifted a claw, glanced at Snakebark Maple, "Anyone wanna volunteer to try it out?"

Snakebark Maple quickly darted behind Dragon Cypress, "I don't think... that's necessary."

"...Don't joke about that."

Dragon Cypress pointed a claw toward the far hillside, "How about we catch a wild rabbit from up the mountain and test it?"

—Right!

Ink Orchid leapt into the air and dove into the forest, soon returning holding a wild rabbit, carefully pressing it down and slicing off a hind leg.

—Whoa!

—What a brutally cold-blooded mantis!

Snakebark Maple hid far away.

Blue Catalpa moved closer to activate its ability.

Blue-green primordial energy pulled and aligned the cut.

Blue-green primordial energy covered the wound.

In just a few seconds, the severed leg was reattached.

Blue Catalpa explained, "Although it's reconnected, it doesn't heal instantly—some recovery time is needed. Or, I can consume a large amount of primordial energy and keep applying Healing to speed things up."

—That's a really strong ability!

Ink Orchid: "What about the head? If the head falls off, can you bring it back?"

The wild rabbit's head came off, blood spurting everywhere.

Blue Catalpa: "..."

Blue Catalpa tried to use its ability to heal...

...

Blue Catalpa evolved to Evolution Mountain Lord Level. Although it only awakened one talent ability, this one was practical enough—usable for both plants and animals.

Reconnect, combined with the Lightspeed Healing from the Divine-Grade Lightwing Seed, could pretty much handle most injuries.

Snakebark Maple, forced by Ink Orchid, ate 10 wild rabbits, taking in enough meat, climbed onto the Throne, and began brewing its evolution.

Snakebark Maple's evolution was a bit trickier.

Blue Catalpa and Ink Orchid waited outside the cave.

Dragon Cypress led the worker ants, prepared 10,000 Source Stones, and stood guard near the Green-Red Kiwifruit Divine-Given Seed at the mountain top.

At midnight, Origin Force Fluctuations came from the foot of the mountain.

The Soul-Setting ability sensed that Snakebark Maple had fallen into deep sleep.

The next morning, the Green-Red Kiwifruit Divine-Given Seed was absorbing Origin Force faster.

Dragon Cypress gave the order.

The worker ants skillfully carried Source Stones up, scraping off powder and sprinkling it. Having done this so many times, it was almost instinct—they barely needed any directions.

Just four days later, after spending only 4,000 Source Stones, the Green-Red Kiwifruit Divine-Given Seed successfully completed its breakthrough; its leaves began to yellow and wither.

Dragon Cypress directed the worker ants to gather all the fallen leaves and send them to the Marsh Gas Pool to ferment into rich fertilizer.

In just seven days, intense Origin Force Fluctuations came from the mountain foot—Snakebark Maple's evolution was entering its final breakthrough stage.

After half a day, the Origin Force Fluctuations calmed and Snakebark Maple woke up.

They patiently waited a bit more, then Snakebark Maple completed its Molting Evolution.

Blue Catalpa and Ink Orchid cheered and raced into the cave to feed it.

With the Dominating Throne's support, all the warriors who attacked the Termite Kingdom smoothly broke through to Mountain Lord Level.

...

"Snakebark Maple, how many abilities did you awaken?"

Blue Catalpa asked.

"One? Two? Three..."

Snakebark Maple answered vaguely, racking its brains.

Two? Three?

We all grew up together, ate the same food, lived the same places, so why do you have two abilities?

You even have three abilities?!

Blue Catalpa wasn't happy anymore.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were both delighted and surprised.

The number and type of abilities awakened at Evolution Mountain Lord Level mainly depend on racial talent, then on the Origin Force Food eaten during the beginner, intermediate, and high-level warrior stages, and finally a bit on luck and comprehension.

The strength—or weakness—of an Insect Clan Warrior depends most on the Origin Force Food consumed and insights gained after reaching Mountain Lord Level.

Still, to get three abilities upon just reaching Mountain Lord Level really shows how strong the Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle Tribe is. Plus, this Snakebark Maple guy might just be a little bit more insightful than Blue Catalpa.

Ink Orchid: "What abilities? Let's try them out!"

"...Let me try."

Snakebark Maple raised its foreleg, a sizzling sound crackled, and an eerie blue arc of electricity formed between two clawed toes, turning into a wisp of blue lightning snaking around its foreleg like a serpent.

Snakebark Maple: "The first ability is lightning control, similar to how Dragon Cypress Ant King commands water, Ghost Fan commands metal, Mulberry commands fire, and White Rice commands earth."

Blue Catalpa: "The first ability? That one doesn't even count..."

Dragon Cypress: "That's a basic Elemental System ability. It counts as one."

Ink Orchid: "And the others?"

"Now the next ability is more impressive. I have a feeling it'll cause some serious destruction..."

"Let's use a different spot!"

Snakebark Maple jogged ahead and led the way to a riverbank in the Origin Force Territory.

"First test, I might not control it well, so everyone stay back. If you get hit, don't blame me~"

Snakebark Maple waved its tentacles to shoo everyone away, then stood facing the river about twenty meters away.

As if for show, it lifted its two forelegs high, crackling blue arcs flickering.

Suddenly, it slammed its forelegs into the ground, blue lightning spreading along the surface, crackling and popping; a large patch of the grass ahead caught fire and smoked blackly.

A torrent of electricity blasted into the riverbank, sending the fish and shrimp in the water flipping to the surface.

Snakebark Maple kept its head down in thought, narrating slowly:

"This is a self-realized ability from evolving to Mountain Lord Level. The lightning snakes along the ground, a wide-range attack—it should be able to reach as far as forty to fifty meters... The name is 'Landmine Azure.' And there's another talent ability..."

Snakebark Maple rushed to give its ability a cool name, tapped the ground with its tentacle, and sank into contemplation.

"!!!"

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, and Blue Catalpa's tentacles shot upright: This ability is really strong!

Ink Orchid: "What about your talent ability? Inherited Memory says it's a mix of fire and lightning—Thunderfire Dual System?"

Blue Catalpa: "Three abilities for real?"

Dragon Cypress raised a claw, telling the two not to rush.

"Got it—" Snakebark Maple struggled to remember for a moment, then looked up, aimed at a Construct Tree not far away, bent the ends of its tentacles, and two beams of crimson lightning shot out.

Bang! Bang!

Two crisp snapping sounds.

With a whoosh, the whole big tree caught fire, turning to charcoal in a flash.

All around the base of the tree, a five- or six-meter radius of ground was left scorched black.

"!!!"

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, and Blue Catalpa were dumbfounded.

Snakebark Maple suddenly grew smug, waggling its tentacles, "This is our Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle Warrior's talent ability, called 'Heavenly Thunder Crimson Flare.' It's Thunderfire Dual System—the thunder carries an extremely high-temperature burning destructive force."

Blue Catalpa said sourly, "...So strong, Snakebark Maple~"

Ink Orchid cheered excitedly, "Snakebark Maple's abilities have totally exceeded expectations! In the attack on the Termite Kingdom, Snakebark Maple will be crucial!"

Dragon Cypress nodded its tentacle in agreement.

Both of Snakebark Maple's abilities were practically perfect—one massive area attack and one ultra-powerful single-target attack.

Dragon Cypress reminded, "Snakebark Maple, be careful not to use your abilities recklessly. You might set the jungle on fire. You can't control fire—if a wildfire breaks out, it's a big problem."

Snakebark Maple: "I know! That's why I brought everyone here by the river to test."

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple had always been smart since they were little. After following Dragon Cypress for years, they learned to run through possible consequences in their minds before doing anything and plan for countermeasures.

Ink Orchid raised a claw, suggested, "Great King, since Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple have both successfully evolved to Mountain Lord Level, should we throw a banquet to celebrate?"

Dragon Cypress: "I'll go fetch White Rice and Black Rice so we can all celebrate together."

Ink Orchid: "Alright! I'll go catch some big game for the feast!"

Blue Catalpa: "..."

Snakebark Maple: "..."

Sky Oxes are vegetarians~

We don't eat meat~

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