bookrandom Chapter 68: The Evolution of the Chimera
Chapter 68: The Evolution of the Chimera
After feeding, Ye Zhi flapped its wings and flew out of the nest, moving its newborn body in the sunlight. Its membranous wings flapped, its six limbs moved, and its primal energy surged within it.
With its membranous wings folded, it shook its abdomen twice. The newly formed second abdominal peduncle brought many times the original abdominal flexibility, allowing it to bend 180 degrees to the side and point the end of the abdomen forward.
Its abdomen throbbed like a whip, and an extremely fine ant silk thread was instantly flung out, lashing forward with unparalleled sharpness. With a barely perceptible hissing sound, a tree stump, as thick as a bowl, that had been deliberately stuck into the entrance of the hole, was immediately cut in two.
The attack hit its mark, and the fine, sharp ant silk retracted. Ye Zhi quickly stepped forward to examine it, and the broken edge remained perfectly smooth.
Continuing to shake his abdomen, Ye Zhi unleashed a series of flying ant-silk blades, slicing the remaining half of the wooden stake in front of him into several pieces. Ye Zhi was satisfied; his repeated practice in the initial stage had yielded good results.
In the intermediate stage of evolution, the strength of the ant silk injected with primal energy increases dramatically. While maintaining absolute strength, it can also become thinner. Furthermore, the primal force flows naturally beneath the abdominal exoskeleton, eliminating the need to deliberately inject primal energy into the ant silk, which remains incomparably sharp.
This greatly reduces the activation time of the Ant Silk Blade, and when combined with the evolved second abdominal peduncle, it can be activated almost instantly.
After shaking its body twice, Ye Zhi flapped its wings and took off again, flying straight towards the mound where the life-giving plants were planted, preparing to plant "Chimera" again.
......
"Little one, you've arrived."
Upon arriving at the mound where the life-giving seeds were originally planted, Zuo Wang Qingyuan had already arrived and was directing several worker ants to cut up an animal carcass and lay strips of meat flat on the broad banana leaves.
Ye Zhi skillfully climbed onto the spot where the life seed was originally planted, her jaws slightly open, and she spat out the divinely bestowed seed "Chimera" from her life sac, which had undergone another layer of enhancement, and placed it between her jaws.
"what?"
Ye Zhi looked down and saw that the "Chimera" she was holding lightly between her jaws was completely different from what it used to be.
The seed's surface still showed a pale gold color, but the blood-red Force patterns that originally covered the entire seed had converged in one place, forming a special pattern at the seed's core that looked somewhat like... an eye.
"Little one, your life essence, your primal energy, seems to have become more solidified?"
Zuo Wang Qingyuan transmitted his mental power, and Ye Zhi tapped his antennae. He had the same feeling, but he wasn't sure. At this moment, Qingyuan spoke, which confirmed it.
"Leaf-Woven Ant King, it seems your destiny seed has gained an additional primal power?"
Huo Yun also appeared out of nowhere, its antennae swaying, its compound eyes curiously examining the "Chimera" seed held between Ye Zhi's jaws, and it emitted a spiritual force.
Previously, Huo Yun often rested upside down under the lid of the "Chimera" insect trap, so she was familiar with the "Chimera's" primal energy. Now that it was mentioned, Ye Zhi seemed to have the same feeling.
Upon closer inspection, the extra energy seemed to be the kind of "space" energy that allowed him to control worker ants as freely as if they were extensions of his own limbs. However, it was extremely weak, and he would not have been able to detect it at all if Huo Yun hadn't mentioned it.
"Alright, let's plant the seeds first."
Ye Zhi used its forelimbs to dig into the soil, put down the "Chimera" seed from its mouth, backfilled it, drew water from a bamboo tube, and watered the ground. Its soul connection transmitted spiritual power, and it quietly waited for the "Chimera" to continue to sprout.
......
"...Ye Zhi? You've reached the intermediate stage?"
The "Chimera" grew even faster, and before long, the spirit's mental fluctuations emanated from the main vine, which had grown to five meters in length, carrying a rare hint of surprise since its escape.
"Hmm. 'Chimera,' how does it feel?" Ye Zhi tapped his antennae, sending a mental message to the tree spirit. He was indeed curious; the chimera seemed to have undergone some remarkable change after advancing to the intermediate level.
"Ye Zhi, I feel like I can move?!" The tree spirit suddenly sent out a surprised mental message.
Ye Zhi looked up curiously, only to see the fully developed insect trap at the bottom of the "Chimera". The lid of the trap, with its fang-like protrusions, opened and closed like a giant mouth with real fangs.
The crimson energy veins flowed along the thick cage vines and insect traps, converging on the "fangs" as the cage lids opened and closed, seemingly flashing a cold light with each "bite."
Seemingly having discovered the flesh nearby, the thick tendrils of one of the Chimera's insect traps stretched out nimbly, and the huge trap, like a giant mouth opening and closing, somewhat clumsily wrapped up a piece of flesh and swallowed it whole.
"Holy crap..." Ye Zhi exclaimed in surprise. It was indeed extraordinary that a carnivorous plant had been transformed into a divinely bestowed species. It now possessed a certain degree of autonomous movement.
The cypress ant was also stunned for a moment before it reacted and directed the worker ants to continue assisting the "Chimera" in feeding.
......
After feeding the "Chimera", Zuo Wang Qingyuan led the worker ants away, leaving only Ye Zhi and Huo Yun behind.
As Ye Zhi walked toward the tree nest, she pondered – ants are ultimately eusocial insects that rely on numbers to succeed, and many things are easier with the help of the ant colony.
The size of primary worker ants is insufficient for their task, but based on the size of the ant colony in the primary stage, it is estimated that the body length of the intermediate stage worker ants should be similar to that of the leaf weaver, reaching a little over 30 centimeters, which is sufficient to serve as qualified laborers.
The previous internal partitions of the tree nest were now somewhat narrow, and Leafweave needed to make major modifications to the tree nest to accommodate the intermediate semi-force ant queens that needed to be cultivated next.
Similarly, based on the size of the larvae in the early stage, it is estimated that in the intermediate stage, the semi-force queen ant that develops from the golden egg can reach a size of about half a meter, and the nest chamber needs to be at least one meter in diameter to support the development of the golden egg larvae.
With a plan in mind, he crawled into the tree nest. The room became a bit cramped, but he could still squeeze in for the time being. He didn't care about that for now and silently lay down on the somewhat small ant silk cushion, preparing to "spit out" two golden eggs.
But at that moment, Ye Zhi was slightly taken aback - a vague sense in his heart made him realize that what he could now "spit out" from his life sac was no longer just the two kinds of eggs, but a third kind.
With a thought, a faint vortex of primal force slowly formed around Ye Zhi's body. The surrounding natural primal force was rapidly absorbed and, along with nutrients, flowed into her life sac, forming a special egg.
Skillfully "spitting out" the egg, feeling the familiar sensation as if her body had been hollowed out, Ye Zhi regurgitated two drops of liquid food from her social stomach and swallowed them into her real stomach. Then she looked down at the newly "spit out" egg.
The egg's shell still had a pale golden sheen on its white background, and its appearance was exactly the same as that of the golden egg that develops into a semi-force ant queen.
However, the primal force patterns and the aura emanating from beneath the egg clearly indicate that this is not a golden egg that develops into a semi-primal force queen ant, but a completely new and special ant egg.