Astral Cockroach

In Banbu's memory, there was technological knowledge from human levels one to four. Originally, he intended to impart some to Daxiong, but the fellow got stuck at multiplication and division, so he had to give up.

Insect limbs simply couldn't develop human technology. Daxiong's bear paws, with some slimming down, could probably approximate human hands.

The most ideal would be primates, with flexible limbs, and crucially, a pair of dexterous hands capable of using tools.

Strangely, there was no record of such creatures in the inherited memories. In reality, Banbu had not yet discovered the existence of apes or monkeys.

Terrestrial planets had all kinds of creatures, so why were there no primates? Banbu suspected that this planet had been tampered with, preventing the emergence of races capable of developing technological civilizations.

It was already evening when he returned to Lizhu Peak, and he hunted a juvenile Hook-patterned Mountain Python along the way for dinner.

He ate part of it himself, and threw most of it to the small cockroaches guarding the side of the cave.

Most of these ordinary cockroaches were over 10 instars old, especially the few male cockroaches, who, under Banbu's deliberate care, had mostly reached 13 instars.

Banbu also discovered an interesting phenomenon: most of the small cockroaches had hidden in the pile of straw at the foot of the cliff.

This hay was spare feed for the biogas digester and had been stored for a long time. The bottom layer, close to the ground, was rotten, making it the best nest choice for warmth, shelter, and food.

Banbu couldn't help but once again marvel at the survival skills of tiny creatures.

…

A high-level warrior from Tiedao Peak landed to inspect the territory.

Today it was Lizhu's turn.

Since learning that the two Cloud Leopard warriors who threatened Banbu's safety had been killed, Mountain Lord Tiedao had changed the schedule for inspecting Lizhu Peak, sending only one high-level warrior each day to help.

"Banbu, did you go out looking for God-given seeds again today?"

Lizhu liked bamboo and was closest to Banbu. Every time he came, he would chat with Banbu for a while.

"Yes," Banbu replied.

Lizhu asked, "Banbu, did you have any gains?"

Banbu shook his antennae and said, "The God of Nature can't always favor one insect."

Banbu asked, "Lizhu, has Mountain Lord Tiedao returned?"

Lizhu replied, "It should be another two days. There are more than a dozen mountain ranges between Tiedao Mountain Range and Chijian County, and you have to cross a large plain. Mountain Lord Tiedao's flying speed takes about three days for a round trip."

Lizhu added, "Mountain Lord Tiedao instructed before leaving that he would also visit several Mountain Lords along the way."

"Oh," Banbu casually said, "Mountain Lord Huabai came by last night. He brought me a batch of Yuanli food, all cypress."

"Banbu, you helped Huabai Mountain Range solve a big problem this time, so that's only right." Lizhu teased, "What, are you anxious about your reward?"

This year, Mountain Lord Tiedao's territory's production was eaten poor by Yan Cu Banmao, Fengling, and Hei Sang. Banbu killing two Cloud Leopards meant Mountain Lord Tiedao couldn't come up with a suitable reward, so he ran to Chijian County to ask for credit for Banbu.

County Lord Chijian was wealthy and generous, and Banbu vaguely guessed that he had a chance to obtain a fruit from the Chijian Tree God-given seed as a reward.

For the same type of Yuanli fruit, the quality is roughly divided into three grades: ordinary, superior, and top-grade. For example, the grass seeds condensed by Banbu's Xun Grass God-given seed can only be considered ordinary, and still the worse kind of ordinary.

According to legend, the fruit condensed by County Lord Chijian's Chijian Tree God-given seed can reach top-grade quality and is somewhat famous in the Myriad Races Continent. Being a rare commodity is one of the reasons why County Lord Chijian can take the initiative in trading with various traveling merchants.

Banbu was indeed a little expectant.

Banbu changed the subject and casually asked, "Lizhu, have you finished collecting all kinds of Yuanli fruits this year?"

Lizhu replied, "Almost, only one Huabai tree still has seeds that are maturing gradually."

Banbu said, "Your harvest this year is very good."

Lizhu said, "I chose 3 Lizhu seeds as life seeds. They only bloom and bear seeds once every three years, so this year's harvest is not very good, much worse than Pu Tao and Hu Bo."

Lizhu added, "However, I usually absorb a lot of Yuanli from the 3 bamboo forests, so my growth is no slower than them."

Banbu agreed, "That's right, the Yuanli feedback from the bamboo forest is quite considerable. This is an invisible income that other warriors can't see. Bamboo is a very good life seed choice."

Banbu currently had a total of 11 life seeds, and 5 of them had chosen bamboo, so of course he had to say good things about bamboo.

"Banbu, you're right, bamboo is the best life seed choice." Lizhu was very happy, waved his antennae, and mysteriously asked, "Banbu, have you heard of a bamboo sea in Yangti Mountain Range?"

Banbu asked, "Bamboo sea?"

Lizhu explained, "A very, very large bamboo forest, boundless and vast like the sea, so it's called a bamboo sea. I plan to go there and take a look, maybe I can discover a brand new bamboo species."

Banbu had heard Mountain Lord Tiedao mention Yangti Mountain Range, because Mountain Lord Chui Rong of Yangti Mountain Range had a God-given seed, the Chui Rong Tree, which was quite famous among the Chi Lian Tribe.

This was the first time Banbu had heard of the bamboo sea, and he asked, "What kinds of bamboo are there?"

Lizhu thought for a while and said, "Huabai told me that there are dozens of bamboo species. In addition to common bamboo species such as Nan Bamboo, Water Bamboo, Mao Bamboo, and Ci Bamboo, there are also rare bamboo species such as Purple Bamboo and Mandarin Duck Bamboo."

"Mandarin Duck Bamboo? Purple Bamboo! Lizhu Peak doesn't have these two bamboo species." Banbu asked, "Are they naturally formed? Or are they managed by the Chi Lian Tribe warriors of Yangti Mountain Range?"

Lizhu said in a seductive tone, "They are naturally formed. I asked Mountain Lord Tiedao, and he said that the warriors of Yangti Mountain Range don't like bamboo and don't manage it. If we go, we can collect bamboo species as we please."

Banbu said, "Yangti Mountain Range is too far away. This season is not suitable for long trips."

Lizhu said, "Let's go there in the dead of winter, dig up bamboo rhizomes and bamboo whips, and transplant them by dividing the rhizomes. They will definitely survive."

Banbu thought for a while and said, "Then, when I advance to a level three intermediate warrior, let's go together. Lizhu, are you sure there is Purple Bamboo in the bamboo sea?"

Lizhu said, "The warriors of Yangti Mountain Range accidentally encountered it, but it was dug out and sold to the unscrupulous merchants of the Illusionary Rainbow Flame Spider Tribe, and I don't know where it was sold."

Banbu nodded his antennae and said, "Ordinary bamboo is okay, but let's go find Purple Bamboo and Mandarin Duck Bamboo."

There are hundreds of types of bamboo. Apart from those dozens of common bamboo species, the others are rare varieties, and Purple Bamboo is a precious variety among the rare ones. In addition to being rare, Purple Bamboo, when bred into a life seed, has the special effect of strengthening power.

Lizhu Peak happened to have Black Bamboo. From the description, Black Bamboo and Purple Bamboo are two extremely similar bamboo species. You can try to hybridize them, and maybe you can successfully cultivate a brand new bamboo species.

In addition, Mandarin Duck Bamboo is also a rare bamboo species. Collecting it back can enrich the bamboo species of Lizhu Peak.

Taking all factors into consideration, Banbu felt that it was worth taking a long trip.