Astral Cockroach

Banbu returned to Lizhu Peak, first inspecting the area to confirm that the life-seed plants were in good condition, and then dealt with the various affairs that had piled up over the past six months.

Then there was the issue of distributing the original power food for strengthening the brain, which he had bought cheaply.

This stuff was too precious; only 10 pieces remained, and they couldn't be wasted.

The first piece consumed had the best effect.

One piece each for Big Bear, Cattail, and Big Head.

One piece each for Wind Chime, Red Rice, Belly Bamboo, Red Rice, Firethorn, and Dragon Bamboo.

That leaves a single piece.

As for the five bamboo rat warriors like Ma Bamboo… there weren't enough, and it wasn't easy to allocate them for the time being. Banbu gave them each a D-grade original power food that enhanced metal abilities as a simple dismissal.

The remaining piece could be sent to Flame Cluster Baimao to nourish its brain. Nowadays, Banbu had many original power foods being sold within the Fire Roach Kingdom, managed by Flame Cluster Baimao. A sharper mind would definitely be useful.

Next was the most important task: lighting up and activating the supernatural power patterns within his heart!

…

Oil Camellia Tree, a God-given seed planted below.

An original power food storage box was opened.

Ma Bamboo held the box lid, waiting in strict formation.

Shui Bamboo stood in front of the box, carefully cutting the edges of an original power crystal with its claws.

With a "crack" sound, the original power crystal shattered.

Shui Bamboo quickly dodged away.

With a "clang" sound.

Ma Bamboo quickly covered the box.

"Banbu, is this right?" Ma Bamboo asked.

Banbu checked with his mental power, performed some calculations, and quickly had a rough estimate. He said, "That's right, very good, continue!"

Ma Bamboo and Shui Bamboo immediately began to act.

…

The box for storing original power food was made of special structure and material, especially the layer of reinforced artificial original stone on the inner wall, which could effectively block the overflow of original power.

However, the box body and lid were separated. No matter how perfectly they were connected and closed, there were still gaps, and original power would spread outward along these gaps.

The speed wasn't fast; it should be equivalent to 2000 to 2500 original stones per day.

At this rate, Banbu's God-given seeds were capable of absorbing the overflowing original power.

He brought back a total of 20 such boxes, plus the original 3, which should be enough.

The Blood Thorn God-given seed at the foot of the mountain had always been obedient to Banbu. With a word, it readily agreed.

The Oil Camellia God-given seed on the mountain seemed quite irritable, but after promising it a few 0-original stone rewards, it happily agreed.

The boxes were set up under the tree.

The God-given seeds were responsible for absorbing the original power and storing it within their veins.

Banbu was relatively relaxed, coming twice a day, morning and evening, to collect the original power they had stored and inject it into the supernatural power patterns of his heart.

When the original power inside the box overflowed by more than half, it could be opened directly, and the Blood Thorn God-given seed could completely absorb it at once and then give it back to Banbu.

One by one, the supernatural power patterns lit up in sequence.

Banbu also harvested 7 boxes of D-grade original power food that enhanced metal abilities, which could activate 56 supernatural power patterns.

Before leaving, he sought help from Princess Round Cypress, using other types of original power food he had found to exchange with the Blade Mantis tribe for 4 boxes of C-grade and 9 boxes of F-grade original power food that enhanced metal abilities.

C-grade quality required 6 pieces to activate a supernatural power pattern. The F-grade effect was relatively poor. In terms of quality, it was only one level higher than the top-quality original power food produced by the God-given seeds of this planet, requiring half a box to activate a supernatural power pattern.

This batch of goods could activate a total of 60 supernatural power patterns.

Banbu had originally lit up and activated 45 supernatural power patterns.

Adding them all up, he could activate a total of 161.

The total number of supernatural power patterns related to metal transformation and metal manipulation was 300, leaving a difference of 139.

Converted into original stones, it would only require about 300,000, which wasn't much.

Banbu brought back 76 original power crystals, estimating that lighting up the supernatural power patterns would cost 51 original stones, leaving 25, equivalent to 2.5 million original stones, which was more than enough.

The best option was to buy higher-quality original power food from the Blade Mantis tribe, or he could purchase high-quality original power food from the caravan. As long as he had money, it wouldn't be a problem.

…

The quiet winter was peaceful and serene.

Banbu spent a month finally deducing the cultivation method, deducing it all the way to "Basic Cultivation Method · L2 Mountain Lord Chapter."

In his previous life as a human warrior, he had followed the path of metal-based cultivation. Born into a large family, he had mastered a relatively comprehensive system of metal-based supernatural martial skills. After careful consideration, he chose "Metal-based - D-201 Basic Chapter" as a template and attempted to modify and deduce it.

He quickly discovered that the difficulty was too high, and his brainpower and soul strength couldn't support the deduction calculations. He had no choice but to give up.

He accelerated the rate and consumed original power food.

The goods he had purchased from the caravan last year were mostly stored in the cave, and he hadn't had time to digest them all.

A box of B-grade original power food that enhanced flame abilities contained a total of 64 pieces. He sent 10 pieces to Iron Saber Mountain to try, and the members of Lizhu Peak who had mastered flame abilities each received 1 piece, leaving 46 pieces.

This stuff was too high quality, and the effect of promoting gene evolution was too good. Banbu didn't dare to mess around and only consumed 1 piece every 5 days. Even so, in just three months, there were signs of molting and evolution.

The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ at ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥ ⊥ book ⊥ ⊥ bar ⊥ ⊥ first ⊥ hair!

The interval since the last evolution was less than 2 years.

Growing too fast might leave hidden dangers, so Banbu quickly cut off all original power food and slowed down.

…

This slowdown lasted directly until spring.

After Banbu advanced to Mountain Lord, he didn't do much labor anyway. Treasure hunting in the Misty Mountains, Lizhu Peak only lacked the labor of Rat King and White Bamboo, which wasn't a major delay. They continued to reclaim the forest and expand the bamboo sea.

The breeding work and hybridization experiments for the new year were arranged in advance.

He invited Iron Saber Mountain Lord to Lizhu Peak to help. The trade with the caravan didn't change much and was directly entrusted to Iron Saber Mountain Lord to handle.

Early on, Banbu carried a spider silk bag and rushed to Orchid Mountain.

All 300 supernatural power patterns had been lit up. Strangely, he couldn't pour original power into the 301st supernatural power pattern and couldn't light it up.

Regarding this, Banbu had two guesses: first, he needed to activate all the previous 300 supernatural power patterns first; second, his own strength was limited. Theoretically speaking, only cosmic lifeforms could master supernatural powers, and the Mountain Lord level was too weak in overall strength.

He stopped by to find Princess Round Cypress and purchased a batch of metal-based original power food.

…

When he rushed to the treasure hunting base of the Red Roach tribe outside the Rainbow Mirage, he found that only a few dozen warriors remained to guard it.

Princess Oil Pear was there.

King Red Firm Roach was not there.

"Banbu, now is the busy season of early spring, why did you run over so early?"

"I'm not busy. Wind Chime and the others will handle the work on the mountain themselves. I also invited Iron Saber Mountain Lord to come and help oversee Lizhu Peak, so there's no problem."

After Banbu finished speaking, he asked, "Where are King Red Firm Roach and the others?"

"They left ten days ago." Princess Oil Pear said, "We can't neglect the management of the territory for the sake of treasure hunting. King Red Firm Roach first sent them back, and by the way, he presided over the spring farming of Princess Red Firm, and will come back after helping."

"Uh… is that so…" Banbu noticed when he came that the market was not as lively as in autumn, and the insect warriors treasure hunting around were also significantly reduced.

It seemed that they had all returned to their territories to farm.

They thought it was pretty good, shrinking back to their territories to farm in the spring, summer, and autumn seasons, and running over to treasure hunt in the late autumn and winter seasons, without delaying either.

Banbu asked, "Are there any gains?"

"Yes!" Princess Oil Pear said, "Those 15 high-level warriors, they picked up a box of original power food, and also found a cabinet, which they couldn't move or open, so they're waiting for you to open the box."

"Rat King and White Bamboo also had gains, finding a broken box with 6 original power crystals intact inside. There was also a box containing original power food that enhanced earth and stone abilities, of good quality."

"They also found 2 cabinets, which they also couldn't move or open, waiting for you to come and do it. White Bamboo said it recognized them, saying they contained original power food."

"That's all?" Banbu was slightly dissatisfied. This was nearly 5 months, and the efficiency was low. Original power food and the like were floating clouds, only original power crystal storage boxes could make him rich.

"Those are the valuable ones, there are many other worthless things…" Princess Oil Pear complained indignantly, "Banbu, are you still not satisfied?! Those two bamboo rats are already very powerful, look at you, you don't have to do anything, and you directly harvest such a large fortune."

"It's even harder to raise those two guys, I spent a lot of original stones to improve them, and I also have to spend time and effort to cultivate them." Banbu chuckled, "Princess Oil Pear, thank you for your hard work, everyone has worked hard. Later, I will take out a batch of original power crystals and original power food for you and King Red Firm Roach to arrange the distribution, to reward everyone."

"That's more like it." Princess Oil Pear was somewhat satisfied.