Molan Continent.
The Dominating Throne carried White Rice, who was familiar with the route, back to the cave once more.
Several years earlier, Dragon Cypress and Ghost Fan had taken advantage of the quiet winter in their territory to visit twice, drilling a five-centiter diater hole right in the center of the tal door.
"Alright!"
White Rice drew closer, used his sensory ability, and then replied.
Dragon Cypress positioned the Dominating Throne in front of the door.
Standing on the Throne, White Rice reached the hole. His left tentacle passed through it and touched the rock wall. He concentrated Primordial Energy at the tip of his tentacle, continuously activating the Soil Improvent ability.
He appeared to be laboring intensely.
After a long, long ti, White Rice withdrew his tentacle, bringing with it a long string of crimson gravel. Controlled by his Earth System abilities, the gravel condensed into a stone sphere seven to eight centiters in diater and flew towards Dragon Cypress.
Dragon Cypress lifted a claw to catch it and glanced at it briefly. "White Rice," he said, "condense the excavated waste soil and rock into blocks for easier stacking."
Dragon Cypress lightly waved a tentacle, pointing towards the spacious cave behind him.
"Got it!"
White Rice continued with the task.
After much effort, he broke through another section of the rock wall.
His Earth System abilities again manipulated the rubble, condensing it into square bricks and tossing them to Dragon Cypress.
Dragon Cypress arranged them along the cave’s rock wall.
After two consecutive uses of his Soil Improvent ability pushed him to his limit, White Rice’s Primordial Energy was nearly depleted. He lay down on the Throne to recover.
Dragon Cypress approached, activating his Soul-Setting Ability to observe the ant colony’s activities outside.
"Dragon Cypress Ant King, do you and Ink Orchid really have to relocate to the Molan Continent?"
"You could also go to the neighboring Dragon Cypress Continent."
"Do you absolutely have to relocate?" White Rice asked again.
Dragon Cypress said, "Not necessarily. If we truly can’t find stable ground to establish ourselves, or if the native Insect Clans discover us and react with strong hostility, then we’ll have to give up. I have the advantage of the Blue Soldiers and don’t fear naval battles, but we can’t confront an entire continent’s Insect Clans. Relocation is for the sake of developnt, and peace is essential for developnt."
White Rice agreed, saying, "That makes a lot of sense! If there’s no peace, we might as well leave early. Perhaps the Outworld has vaster territories and richer Primordial Energy."
Dragon Cypress asked in return, "What about you, White Rice? Are you and Black Rice going to relocate together?"
White Rice responded, "It depends. Neither Black Rice nor I possess a God-Given Life Seed. For us, evolving to King-Level is already quite good."
Indeed, that was the case.
Evolution beyond King-Level costs at least thirty to forty million Source Stones for each Age Period. A single Divine-Given Seed from White Rice Mountain couldn’t possibly sustain both White Rice and Black Rice.
Dragon Cypress said, "Theoretically, given the territorial expanse of White Rice Mountain, one or two Divine-Given Seeds would inevitably erge over hundreds of years. However, it’s more likely they might die young or get lost."
White Rice replied, "Every year, through spring, sumr, autumn, and winter, Black Rice and I make ti to search the forest thoroughly four tis."
Dragon Cypress uttered, "Ah..."
Dragon Cypress continued, "Then, surely one day you will find one."
White Rice said, "I’ll take that as an auspicious prediction! I hope we find one soon."
White Rice added, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, I recall you once said that on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, most of the land is unoccupied prival forest."
Dragon Cypress confird, "Yes."
White Rice suggested, "Isn’t Ink Orchid exceptionally skilled at finding Divine-Given Seeds? If you manage to sneak into the Molan Continent, you could take it along and quietly search the insect-free areas."
Dragon Cypress replied, "I have considered that. However, first, we need to understand the situation. I have a bad feeling..."
White Rice asked, "What feeling?"
Dragon Cypress said, "The continent across from us is very likely dominated by the Ant and Bee Clans. If so, not a single mountain or patch of forest there would be unclaid."
White Rice remarked, "...It can’t be that much of a coincidence, can it?"
...
It wasn’t a matter of coincidence.
Currently, it seems there are only two societal structures for clans on the Star Realm Continent: either domination by the Ant and Bee Clans or the coexistence of the Ten Thousand Clans. It must be one or the other.
Why did the Fla Spider Kingdom choose to cooperate with Leafcutter Ants to guard their gates? Most likely, the Molan Continent is predominantly controlled by the Ant and Bee Clans.
...
Aided by the Dominating Throne, White Rice quickly recovered his Primordial Energy. He again thrust his tentacle through the hole, activating his Soil Improvent ability to break down the reinforced rock wall.
After a while, he controlled another batch of shattered stone fragnts out through the hole.
He worked repeatedly. After excavating a sufficiently large space behind the tal door, White Rice would make slight adjustnts. Each ti, he worked until his Primordial Energy was exhausted before stopping. Only when enough fragnted rock had accumulated would he extract it, compressing it into large bricks using his Earth System Abilities. These bricks were about half a ter long, twenty to thirty centiters wide, and ten to twenty centiters thick.
Dragon Cypress was responsible for stacking the bricks. Whenever White Rice rested to recover, he would approach the crack in the door and activate his Soul-Setting Ability to observe the activity on the other side.
The ant colony’s activities followed a strict routine: they left the nest to work in the morning and returned to rest in the evening.
To prevent the vibrations from falling debris from alerting the ant colony, White Rice adjusted his work schedule to be opposite theirs, working at night and resting during the day.
The tal door was extrely tough; it had taken Ghost Fan four or five months just to drill a five-centiter hole through it.
The farther from the hole, the more difficult it was for White Rice to operate.
With difficulty, half a month later, a ten-centiter-thick layer had been scraped off the stone wall blocking the door. This allowed the heavy tal door to be pushed forward ten centiters, creating a gap four to five centiters wide.
White Rice’s tentacles could now pass through the gap, significantly reducing the difficulty of his work.
Another half-month later, the door had been pushed forward thirty centiters. White Rice’s tentacles could move freely, maximizing his work efficiency.
Another month later, the door had been pushed open to create a 1.2-ter-wide gap, enough for the sowhat chubby Dragon Cypress to squeeze through sideways.
If Dragon Cypress could squeeze through, most other insects could as well.
The highly reinforced stone wall before the door was also broken through. Behind it lay black natural rock that had so fortification but wasn’t very strong.
White Rice quickly excavated a cave about four ters in diater.
Dragon Cypress lay inside the cave, using his Soul-Setting Ability to sense his surroundings. After a day of observation, he reconfird their location: at the foot of a large mountain, and moreover, deep within its interior.
The mountain was situated at the northern end of the island. Further north lay the Divine Force Barrier, an area with almost no ant colony activity.
"White Rice, here," Dragon Cypress instructed, "dig downwards at a 60-degree steep slope. Make it a semi-circular arch with a bottom width of about 4.4 ters and a height of about 2.2 ters. Dig towards the northwest. Be extrely careful not to make loud noises; the Ant Clan is also very sensitive to ground vibrations."
After a quick assessnt, Dragon Cypress outlined a preliminary excavation plan.
"Alright!"
White Rice agreed. Sticking his head through the gap, he waved his tentacles. "Dragon Cypress Ant King," he asked, sowhat sheepishly, "which way exactly is northwest? I’ve beco disoriented after spending so long in this dark, sunless cave."
"Over there!"
Dragon Cypress raised a claw and etched an arrow into the earth.
White Rice: "Alright!"
Dragon Cypress squeezed out of the cave.
White Rice entered and began to work.
He first used his Soil Improvent ability to fracture the rock. Then, he carefully gathered the fragnts with his claws and activated his Earth System Ability to compact them into standard-sized bricks.
Dragon Cypress hurried back and forth, carrying the bricks and stacking them inside the spacious cave.
As White Rice dug, he simultaneously used an earth-and-stone reinforcent ability to fortify the tunnel walls.
The frequent use of his abilities consud a significant amount of Primordial Energy. He had to stop every two ters he dug to rest on the Dominating Throne and recover.
Six days later, Dragon Cypress estimated the tunnel extended more than 50 ters underground. He directed White Rice to change to a 30-degree downward slope and continue digging northwest.
Twenty days later, Dragon Cypress estimated the tunnel had reached 150 ters below sea level. He instructed White Rice to dig horizontally forward.
As they progressed, water began to seep heavily through the tunnel walls, signaling an imminent breakthrough.
Dragon Cypress and White Rice proceeded with utmost caution.
Two days later...
"Dragon Cypress Ant King, I can feel it; about twenty ters ahead is the deep sea," White Rice warned.
"Alright!"
Dragon Cypress used his Soul-Setting Ability, considered for a mont, then said, "White Rice, retreat to the cave for now."
At a depth of 150 ters underwater, the water pressure was terrifying. A sudden breach or an accidental collapse could send a torrent of seawater rushing in, potentially injuring White Rice.
Dragon Cypress had a better thod.
Using his Water Control Ability, he made a jet of water spin rapidly to drill forward, creating a hole four to five centiters in diater. Combining this with his Freezing Ability, he controlled the flow rate of seawater into the tunnel.
He gradually allowed the entire excavated tunnel to fill with seawater.
Dragon Cypress dived in alone. Using his Rend Ability, he cut through the rock, clearing the final 20-ter section.
Finally, with White Rice aboard the Dominating Throne, they reached the tunnel’s end. They cleared the remaining debris and reinforced the rock walls.
Thus, a sturdy, secret underwater tunnel leading to the Molan Continent was completed.
After more than three months of continuous, arduous work, both Dragon Cypress and White Rice were physically and ntally exhausted. They first returned to the Cloud Trace Continent side. There, they feasted on freshly caught sea fish, drank their fill, and slept soundly for a full day to recover and reach their peak condition before setting off late at night.
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