Astral Cockroach

Under the gaze of everyone, Banbu simply placed a God-given seed into his life pouch.

Precisely because of the public attention, Banbu had to swallow the God-given seed immediately. This thing was too tempting for insect warriors.

The little warrior watched helplessly as the God-given seed he had been looking forward to all the way was swallowed by Banbu. He was extremely angry, burying his head and fiercely biting Banbu's antennae, only to find that he couldn't bite through it at all.

Annoyed, he flapped his wing-veins and glided down in front of Hongmi, righteously extending his forelegs: Give it to me!

Hongmi was stunned for a moment, then reacted and handed over the oriental arborvitae seed that he had used to lure the little warrior earlier.

The little fellow received the Force food, and his mood improved slightly. He looked around, somewhat lost: There are so many powerful tribal elders here, which one should I follow?!

Banbu was speechless and asked, "Youcha, did you pick this little fellow up in the jungle?"

Youcha replied, "Yes."

"So he's a wild little warrior... truly wild!" Banbu muttered, then asked, "Youcha, where did you find this camellia oleifera God-given seed? Cloud Mist Mountain? I remember Cloud Mist Mountain is all green fruit camellia."

"No," Youcha had no interest in chatting. He gently wagged his tail, pointed south, and said, "Over there, across the Great River, over mountain after mountain..."

"Across the Great River is the territory of the Black and White Flower Roach Tribe! How far did you run?"

"I don't know," Youcha paused for a few seconds, then said, "That clouded leopard warrior kept running, and I kept chasing, from the cold winter to the warm spring. I chased for a long time before I caught up with him."

Too much information!

Banbu's mind raced for several circles before he reacted, then pondered and asked, "A clouded leopard? What about the other one?"

"Died long ago."

Youcha didn't like being surrounded by so many warriors and had no interest in continuing the conversation. He impatiently tapped the ground with his tail and squinted his eyes to doze off.

Banbu couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart: Youcha disappeared for almost half a year, could it be that he was chasing and killing clouded leopard warriors the whole time?

How far did he chase!

No wonder he was so skinny, only a skeleton remained.

How big of a grudge was this? A life-and-death struggle.

...

As the spring weather warmed up, the jungle gradually became noisy.

Youcha's sudden return stirred up a small storm on Lizhu Peak.

Everyone discussed how a civet cat warrior could kill two clouded leopard warriors, and even more so, they discussed the camellia oleifera God-given seed that was being nurtured.

According to inherited memories, there were only five natural varieties of camellia trees: the green fruit camellia and cold fruit camellia that grew in subtropical regions; the red fruit camellia, white flower camellia, and large fruit camellia that grew in southern tropical regions.

All were small to medium-sized trees, with similar habits. They were demanding in terms of their living environment, preferring high altitudes and high humidity. Winter temperatures couldn't be too low, and summer temperatures couldn't be too high, and they also needed a certain amount of sunlight.

Due to the harsh environmental requirements, the number of them existing in nature would be scarce, and any wild camellia tree was a relatively rare tree species.

The camellia oleifera God-given seed that Banbu had newly obtained, judging from the color of the capsule fruit skin, should be the red fruit camellia that grew in the southern mountains—a small tree between a shrub and a tree, belonging to a rare tree species. Ordinary tea fruits nurtured into a life seed would come with a bit of flame ability enhancement effect!

Of course, after all, it was just a small tree and could not be compared with a large tree like the Red Firm Tree.

...

Banbu named the civet cat warrior "Youcha," and Youcha happened to find a camellia oleifera God-given seed for Banbu.

This matter was a bit mysterious.

Banbu discussed with the three mountain masters, Huangwen, Bairong, and Hepi, and issued a gag order to the senior warriors stationed at Lizhu Peak. They were all members of the same tribe, and they were here to help, so of course, they couldn't be forced. Each one was given 100 original stones as a gag fee.

Banbu also issued a gag order to the members of Lizhu Peak.

Before the God-given seed was successfully nurtured and planted in the soil, it must not be promoted to any other insects. It was not allowed to be discussed at ordinary times, and the news was only known to the Red Firm Roach King and Princess Youli.

A small tree was still a tree, and its life form was naturally higher than shrubs and herbaceous plants. Banbu's idea was very simple: to act in a low-key manner, so as not to create unnecessary trouble.

...

The newly arrived wild little warrior became a troublemaker.

This little fellow directly latched onto Banbu and settled on Banbu's head, refusing to move no matter how he was persuaded.

Dudu and Hongmi wanted to play with him very much, but the little fellow simply ignored them. Using Force food to lure him was effective, but after the little fellow ate it clean, he would immediately run away and continue to follow Banbu.

Hongdao was much smarter. After trying to play with the little fellow a few times and discovering that he was a snob who only recognized Banbu, he decisively gave up.

Banbu was now very distressed. The little fellow, whose body length was less than 5 centimeters, was too fragile. He had to walk carefully, not daring to suddenly accelerate, let alone flap his wings to fly, for fear of blowing him away and causing him to fall. He didn't dare to sleep too soundly at night, in case he rolled over and crushed him to death.

Taking care of a newborn little warrior was more troublesome than cultivating bamboo seeds.

Hongmi was brought up by Dudu. Currently, apart from being naughty, there were no other problems.

Banbu had been trying to throw this little trouble to Dudu, but the little fellow was simply unwilling to play with Dudu.

Daily cultivation could not be carried out as usual, but it was just as well. Nurturing a God-given seed increased the risk during molting and evolution. The most appropriate thing to do was to reduce the intake of Force food, delay the growth rate, and consolidate the physique.

...

"Is Mountain Master Banbu here? I am the Huangjing Merchant Guild."

In mid-March, the merchant guild came along the Jinping Mountains, from the direction of the Yangti Mountains.

The speaker was Princess Huangjing. This year, they were still traveling together.

"I am!"

Banbu answered, drumming up his mental power.

Without needing to be greeted, the three mountain masters, Huangwen, Bairong, and Hepi, who lived in the upper and middle levels of Lizhu Peak, consciously came to Banbu's cave to help carry the silk bags full of various goods down the mountain.

The goods sold and the goods purchased were not much different from last year.

The only difference was that Banbu spent an extra 2,000 original stones to purchase a batch of Force food for Youcha. He wasted 6,000 original stones to purchase 3 python-patterned honeydew melons to entertain the tribal warriors stationed on the mountain.

After all transactions were completed, everyone chatted as usual, exchanging information.

Xuemai took out a small bamboo tube and handed it to Banbu.

Scanning with mental power, there were only a few 20 bamboo seeds inside.

Chonglou explained, "Banbu, the success rate of stimulating the flowering and seed setting of the colorful cold bamboo last year was too low. We only obtained less than 100 seeds in total, so we can only give you this many."

Chonglou then asked, "Banbu, how are those transplanted colorful cold bamboos doing?"

Banbu said, "They are not in good condition. They have not died, but they are not living well. If there is no improvement next year, I will have to give them up. These seeds are very important and can be slowly cultivated."

"It's good that they haven't died. The plants were damaged during long-distance transportation, and it will probably take one or two years of rest to recover," Chonglou said lightly, then asked, "How is the breeding and hybridization of the ghost-line bamboo going? When will there be new hybrid bamboo species for sale?"

Banbu shook his antennae and said helplessly, "It's not going too smoothly either."

Yuzhu interjected at the right time and asked, "Banbu, we heard in Qiufeng County that your territory was attacked by a large number of beast warriors last year. Has the bamboo pole of the Yuzhu God-given seed, which was heavily damaged, grown out again?"

Banbu explained, "The key to bamboo is the underground stem. The broken bamboo pole can be reborn, but the number of times is limited. Yuzhu can be reborn 16 times."

Banbu gave a detailed description and explanation.

Yuzhu listened with great joy and said, "We will help you promote the benefits of bamboo. In the future, bamboo seeds will be very popular in the frontier territory."

Chonglou said, "However, the number of seeds needs to be greatly increased, especially Yuzhu. Yuzhu is more popular than green bamboo. Banbu, there are only 1,000 Yuzhu seeds this year, which is too few. It's not enough to give away as gifts, let alone sell them."

The seed production was already limited, and many were ordered by the Red Roach and Black and White Flower Roach tribes. By the time it was the merchant guild's turn, the quantity was even more insufficient.

Chonglou and Yuzhu were somewhat dissatisfied with this: It was agreed that the merchant guild would be responsible for the sale of bamboo seeds. Selling to the same tribe was acceptable, but selling to neighboring alien races would break the trading rules.

"The bamboo seed hybridization and selection process is too complicated. In two years, when Xiangpu's strength improves, the seed production will be able to increase," Banbu felt guilty and said with a smile, adding, "When I have experimented with the hybrid bamboo species corresponding to the colorful bitter bamboo and ghost-line bamboo, the increased variety of bamboo for sale will be even more popular."

Regarding the news of the red fruit camellia God-given seed, due to the gag order and the blockade of information, the merchant guild was still completely unaware.

After chatting for a while, the merchant guild hurriedly set off again to the next stop. They were detouring and had to hurry to the next stop.