Astral Cockroach

The wind chime plant gets its name from its seeds, which form hard-shelled pods that remain on the plant even after maturity, only falling off when the vines wither and dry out in winter. Once dried, the seeds shrink and become small, and a gentle breeze causes the pods to sway and emit a crisp "ding-a-ling" sound.

Spikes begin to emerge and bloom in early summer, continuing until the end of summer. They flower and bear fruit continuously, and during the height of summer, it is common to see flowers and fruits on the same plant simultaneously. Therefore, this vine plant has one redeeming quality: high yield.

Wind chime seeds taste particularly bad, bitter and slightly poisonous. They must be boiled in water before consumption, which is the most undesirable aspect of this plant.

…

It was now mid-autumn, and the entire Bluebell Peak remained lush green, densely covered with various wind chime plants.

A large number of seeds were just ripening.

The autumn wind blew, creating a chorus of "ding-a-ling" sounds across the landscape.

"With the wind blowing at night, it's noisy. How do you guys sleep?" Banbu muttered inwardly.

Two figures were busily climbing up and down the cliff face. Upon closer inspection, it was Wind Chime and Bluebell harvesting ordinary seeds!

Banbu's anger flared up: They've been away from Lizhu Peak for so many days and still haven't returned. It's harvest season, and there's a ton of farm work on the mountain, okay? What the hell are you doing? You might as well move to Bluebell Peak and live here.

"Banbu! Mountain Lord White Down!"

From afar, Wind Chime took flight to greet him.

Banbu asked, "Has Bluebell incorporated the God-given Seed into its life pouch?"

Wind Chime said, "Bluebell has just advanced to a Level 4 Senior Warrior and incorporated the seed into its life pouch."

As expected, it's the default habit of all warriors to conceal the news of obtaining a God-given Seed at first. They'll at least evolve once, swallowing the thing into their own life pouch, before announcing the news. Some, like Banbu, are more cautious and will only announce it when the God-given Seed is about to hatch, or simply keep it a secret forever, never publicizing it.

Wind Chime's aloof and timid personality still hadn't completely changed, and it said somewhat nervously, "Banbu, there's something I want to discuss with you."

Banbu asked, "What is it?"

Wind Chime said, "In the next year or two, Bluebell will be busy cultivating new, high-quality wind chime flowers, and it might be a bit too much to handle alone. I plan to live here for a while. Over the years, I've also learned a lot of breeding knowledge, and I can help it."

"…" Banbu's teeth ached. Hey, wishful thinking! What I think about comes true?

"Banbu! Mountain Lord White Down!" Bluebell followed, taking flight and greeting him from afar, exuding a bit of the aura of a future Mountain Lord of Bluebell Peak.

In terms of innate personality, Bluebell was much more outstanding than Fragrant Torreya and Fire Bamboo.

Bluebell lived alone on Bluebell Peak. The other two young warriors didn't like the wind chime plant, and even disliked the noise pollution, so they both ran off to live on the adjacent small peak.

Upon Banbu's arrival, the two young warriors, led by Mountain Lord Brown Hide, came to greet him.

Banbu realized that he had neglected these two little guys and should have brought them some small gifts as well. Fortunately, he had brought enough gifts for Bluebell, so he casually selected two pieces of Boundary Tree remains from his pocket and sent them away.

Banbu's gift to Bluebell: a reward of ten thousand Origin Stones, meant for it to find a merchant next year to purchase a batch of good Origin Power foods that enhance the basic physique, accelerating its growth and allowing it to hatch the God-given Seed sooner. A bag of Boundary Tree remains, a treasure that couldn't be bought even with Origin Stones. Grinding it into powder and watering it would allow the God-given Seed to develop better in the future, increasing production and slightly improving its quality.

He symbolically patrolled Bluebell Peak once and bid farewell to Mountain Lords White Down and Brown Hide.

He asked Wind Chime, and this fellow was truly determined to stay, refusing to return to Lizhu Peak, giving the reason: Bluebell and I can definitely cultivate another wind chime God-given Seed.

…

With Banbu's current strength, traveling at maximum speed without carrying anything, it took him only a day and a half to return to Lizhu Peak from Bluebell Peak.

When he went, he was carrying large bags of things, taking more than three days.

The round trip took five days.

The Sacred Bamboo fruit ripened and was immediately sent to a location near the summit where the temperature was close to 0 degrees, where a special preservation vault was dug out for low-temperature storage to prevent embryo development.

Du Bamboo was still sleeping, in stable condition, and would probably awaken in three to five days.

The other warriors were all busy, so Great Bear, who had brute strength but wasn't suitable for harvesting work, was responsible for guarding it.

Banbu understood the situation and went directly to the charging station to find Baba.

"Baba, have you seen the Sacred Bamboo God-given Seed?"

"I've seen it, is there a problem?"

There had been a lot of wind lately, and the blades of the wind power station were spinning, making Baba feel cheerful.

Banbu couldn't help but think: When the hydroelectric power station is built in the future, Baba will definitely feel even better on rainy days. In summary, that is… it feels especially good when it's windy and rainy?

This completely contradicted the normal psychology of natural creatures.

A magical electronic life!

"Baba, what's the result?"

"Not bad."

"Confirming that it repairs erroneous genes and extends lifespan?"

"Yes."

"More specifically?"

"Similar to the Longevity Peach, it has the ability to repair multiple types of erroneous genes. However, it's still not as good as the Longevity Peach. First, it doesn't have as many types as the Longevity Peach, and second, the quality is a bit lower. Most importantly, it doesn't have the gene-enhancing effect that the Longevity Peach has, meaning it doesn't have that enhancing effect that greatly increases the probability of successful gene evolution, which makes its value far less than the Longevity Peach."

"Yes." Banbu nodded his antennae in agreement.

The Longevity Peach is highly sought after and sells for sky-high prices, and there's another important factor: it greatly increases the success rate of a County Lord advancing to a Worm King.

How important is a Worm King to a worm race? That's why the various tribes of the Myriad Races Continent are trying their best to curry favor with Changsheng County and trying to find ways to obtain purchasing rights.

Baba continued, "According to the classification of worm warriors on this planet, the Longevity Peach is the best of the best, known as a 'divine product.' The bamboo fruit condensed from the Sacred Bamboo God-given Seed, at the Mountain Lord level, should be at the lower end of the top grade. Advancing to a County Lord should increase production, and advancing to a Roach King should reach the standard top-grade quality."

"Roach King is the end of growth, and you can still use Boundary Tree remains, but the improvement is very limited, at most barely reaching the upper end of the top grade, and ultimately it's still not as good as the Longevity Peach."

Baba's detailed explanation covered the issues that Banbu was most concerned about, but it was still not comprehensive enough.

Banbu asked, "What about the specific yield?"

"Very low!" Baba said, "Limited by natural laws and bound by the laws of the universe, the flowering period of the Sacred Bamboo God-given Seed is extended to a long half-year, the fruiting period is as long as one and a half years, and there is a one-year rest period. The number of bamboo poles hasn't changed compared to other bamboo species, but each can only condense one bamboo fruit."

Banbu mentally calculated that meant 584 bamboo fruits would condense every 3 years.

The size of the bamboo fruit was probably not even as big as the pit of a Longevity Peach.

However, the flowering and fruiting cycle of the Longevity Peach is 9 years.

Roughly estimated, if Du Bamboo can advance to a Roach King in the future, the overall production of the Sacred Bamboo God-given Seed wouldn't be lower than that of the Longevity Peach God-given Seed.

Divided by ten in terms of value? That would still be a huge fortune.

Banbu was overjoyed and continued to ask, "Baba, can you now calculate how many years the Sacred Bamboo fruit can extend life for at most?"

"This is easy to calculate." Baba said, "At the lower end of the top grade, it can extend life by up to 50 years. At the standard top-grade quality, it can extend life by 100 years. I can't calculate the exact size of the bamboo fruit now, but one bamboo fruit is definitely not enough. It probably takes 50 to 100 to reach the limit, but I can't calculate the exact amount."

"Uh…" Banbu continued to calculate: Spending money to buy life, 1 year of life, priced at 10,000 Origin Stones, is very affordable, right?

So, when Du Bamboo is at the Mountain Lord level, the selling price of one Sacred Bamboo fruit can reach 0.5 to 10,000 Origin Stones.

With a flowering and fruiting cycle of three years, condensing 584 bamboo fruits each time… the average annual income is 1 million to 2 million Origin Stones?

This is higher than all the other God-given Seeds on Lizhu Peak combined!

If Du Bamboo advances to a County Lord in the future, the income will double without any surprises.

If Du Bamboo advances to a Roach King in the future, the income will double again without any surprises.

Banbu suddenly felt a little regret: Should such an important thing be cultivated by myself to be considered safe!

Thinking about it, he suddenly felt a burst of ecstasy: With higher income, the matter of lighting up and activating the supernatural pattern at the heart position would be settled. As the Mountain Lord with the highest status in Lizhu Peak, I've been working hard day and night for the development of the peak, so everyone shouldn't have any objections to misappropriating a little public funds, right?

After the ecstasy, Banbu suddenly thought of another question and asked, "Baba, can the effects of the Longevity Peach be stacked? How many years of life can it extend at most?"

Baba replied simply, "That thing is too big and has too strong an effect, so the effect has a clear diminishing return. Eating the first one can extend life by up to about 100 years, the second one only about 80 years, and the third one only about 50 years. With reasonable consumption, it can extend life by up to 300 years."

After Baba finished speaking, she sighed again, "It's a pity that it can only stagnate at the peak level of Origin Power life. If it breaks free from the shackles and advances to a cosmic-level life, the effect will undergo a qualitative change and will continue to grow. Looking at the entire universe, it can definitely be listed among the top Origin Power plants, with unlimited development potential, but in the end, it will be trapped in the Origin Power life level, which is a real pity!"

"Yes, a pity!" Banbu echoed with a sigh.

Baba said leisurely, "Banbu, will you also die of old age on this planet? Then you must remember to build more power stations for me before you die!"

What was that supposed to mean?

Banbu said angrily, "Baba, I've carefully considered it, and the mountain reservoir will be delayed for a few years."