Astral Cockroach

The Qinggang Mountains are ruled by a Mountain Lord named Hua Gang, a veteran County Lord. She doesn't possess a God-given Seed and was only able to advance to the County Lord level with the assistance of Chi Jian County Lord in her early years. However, her strength has stagnated at the First Ring County Lord stage, making further growth difficult.

The Qinggang Mountains are quite rich and prosperous, with over 100 Chi Lian warriors. About 5 years ago, a Mountain Lord with a God-given Seed was born, named "Iron Tallow Mountain Lord." Its God-given Seed is a multi-fruit Chinese tallow tree, a type of arbor that grows relatively slowly but produces an exceptionally large number of fruits of medium quality. The tallow fruits are dry fruits with a black, metallic-textured shell, and their strengthening ability is quite ordinary, simply related to metal abilities, hence the name "Iron Tallow."

Out of courtesy, Banbu and the Large Yellow Banyan first visited County Lord Hua Gang.

As expected, County Lord Hua Gang showed little interest in the expensive Large Yellow Banyan fruit; not because she didn't want it, but because she couldn't afford it. Banbu's Blood Thorn Seeds, on the other hand, were more affordable in price and effect, offering better value for money.

County Lord Hua Gang had reserves of Origin Stones, which she couldn't use herself, so she readily purchased 100 Blood Thorn Seeds for a young warrior in the mountains who had just been born this year. She also encouraged a Mountain Lord and three advanced warriors living nearby to trade goods for a batch of Blood Thorn Seeds from Banbu.

The quantity of ordinary Life Seed Origin Power food acquired was simply too large for Banbu to carry away, so they had to trouble them to make a trip to Lizhu Peak to help transport it.

After visiting County Lord Hua Gang, the next stop was the main event—Iron Tallow Mountain Lord.

A God-given Seed is wealth. To possess one is to possess wealth, and only then can one be considered a wealthy insectoid warrior. Truly large-scale transactions can only occur within the wealthy insectoid class.

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord was born in the Myriad Nations Continent and bought back by County Lord Hua Gang with Origin Stones. Similar to Wind Chimes, it is not very sociable and has a detached personality. Chi Lian warriors possess wireless communication abilities, and County Lord Hua Gang had informed it of Banbu's arrival, but it did not come to greet them.

The other Chi Lian warriors in the Qinggang Mountains seemed to dislike interacting with it, including County Lord Hua Gang, who merely pointed out a direction without personally leading the way.

"Excuse me, is this the territory of Iron Tallow Mountain Lord?"

Yabai led Banbu and the Large Yellow Banyan, hovering in the sky above the mountain peak, and politely asked, agitating their Origin Power.

"It is," came a simple reply from the dense forest.

Yabai was embarrassed and waved his antennae, signaling Banbu to come forward.

Banbu asked, "May we visit you?"

"You may," Iron Tallow Mountain Lord replied succinctly as usual.

Banbu waved his antennae, indicating that they should descend towards the source of the mental power.

A warrior with a body length of over 5 meters, reddish-brown armor, and faint red Origin Power patterns was busy in the forest.

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord is a hybrid of the Chi Lian and Shuo Lian tribes, born in the Myriad Nations Continent. County Lord Hua Gang thought it was cheap and bought it, then arranged for it to live alone on a mountain peak with scarce natural Origin Power.

There were also ants busy in the forest, a type of harvester ant from the north called "Strong Harvester Ants," which feed on collecting seeds. In reality, these ants are not strong at all; they are even smaller than Big-Headed Harvester Ants, and they are not descendants of gods, so they cannot conceive Life Seeds and have no inherited memories.

However, these ants can complement Iron Tallow Mountain Lord very well, specializing in some delicate tasks and working together to manage the territory.

The ant queen controlling the ant colony also seemed very solitary. Seeing the arrival of the three Chi Lian warriors, she hurriedly ran up the mountain under the protection of a large number of worker and soldier ants, hiding deep within the ant nest.

"Where do you come from? What are you doing in my territory?" Iron Tallow Mountain Lord asked impolitely, with some wariness.

Banbu, Yabai, and the Large Yellow Banyan were even more embarrassed.

Banbu struggled to introduce himself: "My name is Banbu, from the Jinping Mountains. I have three God-given Seeds and hope to trade with you."

The Large Yellow Banyan, feeling somewhat timid under the pressure of the Mountain Lord's aura and extraordinary size, mustered its courage and said, "My name is Large Yellow Banyan, from the Yangti Mountains. I have a God-given Seed and have also come to trade with you."

Yabai said, "I come from the Tiedao Mountains… I’m just looking around…"

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord looked at Yabai and asked, "How many God-given Seeds do you have?"

"I don't have any."

Yabai was depressed: I had heard that Iron Tallow Mountain Lord was eccentric, but if I had known he was this eccentric, I wouldn't have come.

Banbu sighed inwardly: As expected, warriors bought from the Myriad Nations Continent are prone to mental problems.

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord looked at Banbu again and asked, "You have three?"

Banbu said, "Yes, three."

Opening his silk pouch, he took out a Blood Thorn Seed, handed it to Iron Tallow Mountain Lord, and continued, "Blood Thorn Seeds produced this year, please taste."

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord took it, didn't even peel it, and directly stuffed it into his mouth, crunching it a few times and swallowing it. After a few seconds, he asked, "Strengthens the blood?"

Banbu no longer had much interest in trading and said perfunctorily, "Yes."

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord became interested and asked, "There seems to be other benefits as well. With just one, I can't sense any obvious changes."

Banbu said, "It can slightly improve the efficiency of Origin Power utilization, but there is an upper limit, only reaching 3% to 5%, depending on individual physique."

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord's interest grew even stronger and asked, "How do you sell it? How many Origin Stones per seed?"

Banbu said, "4 Origin Stones."

"Why is it so cheap?" Iron Tallow Mountain Lord finished speaking and then quickly added, "I understand, then I'll buy more… No, how much are you willing to sell?"

So straightforward?!

Banbu truthfully said, "Eating about 50 is the most cost-effective, with a significant increase in the effect of improving Origin Power utilization efficiency. Eating more than 100 approaches the limit, and it only purely strengthens the ability of the blood to transport nutrients, greatly reducing its value."

"Therefore, the purchase limit for each fellow warrior is 100. Of course, if you are willing to buy for other warriors, you can buy more."

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord asked, "Then I want 500?"

"…" Banbu said, "200 then. The quantity produced this year is not much. If you need it, I'll sell it to you next year."

"Then 200 it is." Iron Tallow Mountain Lord acted decisively. After finalizing the deal, he immediately agitated his mental power and shouted, "Strong, send 800 Origin Stones down."

After shouting, Iron Tallow Mountain Lord had no intention of chatting with Banbu about anything else, and turned his gaze to the Large Yellow Banyan, asking, "You have a God-given Seed?"

"Yes." The Large Yellow Banyan followed Banbu's example, took out a banyan fruit from his silk pouch, and, fearing that the other party would chew and swallow the amber fruit protective shell on the outside of the banyan fruit, peeled it open before handing it over.

"Large Yellow Banyan, please taste."

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord took the banyan fruit, swallowed it in one gulp, and after a few seconds, asked, "Strengthens the intestines? My digestive ability is much stronger than ordinary Chi Lian, I don't need it at all."

"No, not like that." The Large Yellow Banyan panicked, and then gave a series of explanations…

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord was dubious: "Are you sure it can delay aging and prolong life?"

The Large Yellow Banyan panicked even more, stuttering, "It can."

Seeing this, Banbu sighed inwardly at his cowardice and chimed in, "County Lord Hanging Banyan personally appraised it, and I have also tried it. There will be no mistakes."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The Large Yellow Banyan nodded his antennae vigorously.

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord asked, "What's the price? How many Origin Stones per fruit?"

The Large Yellow Banyan quickly said, "Selling to fellow clansmen at a low price, 50 Origin Stones per fruit."

"The price is reasonable, but Qingti Fruit requires 500 Origin Stones, and the effect is not ideal." The Large Yellow Banyan said, "The consumption limit for the Mountain Lord level is only 50? Then I want 100."

The Large Yellow Banyan was delighted and said, "The production is small, and next year's production is already pre-ordered. Is the year after next okay?"

"The year after next?!" Iron Tallow Mountain Lord looked at Banbu and simply said, "The year after next is fine too."

Then there was a long silence, and the atmosphere became oppressive.

Rustle, rustle, the ant colony carried Origin Stones down the mountain.

Small pieces of Origin Stone were carried by 800 worker ants, passing in front of Banbu one by one, piling up into a small heap.

Banbu counted out 200 Blood Thorn Seeds from his silk pouch and handed them over to the ant colony to carry away.

The transaction was completed.

Iron Tallow Mountain Lord had no intention of retaining them or communicating further.

Banbu, Yabai, and the Large Yellow Banyan also wisely took their leave.