area51novel Chapter 22: Is it edible?
Chapter 22: Is it edible?
It was a mental signal that carried a sense of intimacy, affection, and curiosity. Although it was the first time I had "heard" the Dao, it felt as if it came from the depths of my soul.
Its origin lies in the divinely bestowed seed of the thriving Nepenthes didentata – if the inherited memories are correct, this is clearly the "tree spirit" born from the divinely bestowed seed!
According to inherited memories, when a wild, divinely bestowed seed reaches the King level, it will develop a special structure called the "Tree Heart," at which point it will develop consciousness and be able to communicate using telekinesis, just like animals at the Force level.
As for the divinely bestowed seed, due to its special symbiotic connection with the insect warriors, once planted, it will quickly give birth to consciousness and generate a "tree spirit," just like the divinely bestowed seed of the pitcher plant in front of us.
"Hello~" Ye Zhi was delighted and sent a similarly friendly signal to the tree spirit of the divinely bestowed seed in the distance.
"Hello..." Perhaps because of its newborn status, the tree spirit, like Ye Zhi when she was in her first year, was still quite clumsy in using her mental powers, but she also imitated Ye Zhi and returned a greeting signal.
At the same time, a rich aura of natural primal force seemed to enter Ye Zhi's body from a distance, flowing into his limbs and bones - this seemed to be one of the uses of the life seed, absorbing natural primal force and feeding back the excess to the nurturer.
The amount of natural primal force replenished during this process doesn't seem to be much, and it's unclear whether this is due to the high primal force consumption of the God-given Seed itself.
There is no further information about the God-given Seed in the inherited memories, and the Wuyuan Ant King did not have the God-given Seed. The relevant information was learned by Wuyuan from the deceased Qingzhi Ant King, who then told Ye Zhi about it.
This includes two key pieces of information. First, the divinely bestowed seed is inherently resistant to any living being other than its incubator. Second, the divinely bestowed tree spirit has no inherited memories; its consciousness is like a blank sheet of paper at birth, and subsequent guidance will have a significant impact on the tree spirit.
Perhaps for this reason, the guardian worker ants sent by the cypress stayed more than ten meters away to protect the newly born divine seed, and did not get too close.
While pondering, Ye Zhi landed on one of the broad leaves of the pitcher plant's divinely bestowed seed. Using her spiritual power to probe, she found that the divinely bestowed seed was indeed in good condition, with well-developed roots, lush green leaves, and thriving.
"I am Leafweaver, the Emerald Leafweaver Ant." Leafweaver raised its claw, pointing to itself as it introduced itself, then pointed to the God-given Seed and said, "You are the God-given Seed of the Two-toothed Pitcher Plant."
The tree spirit sent back a signal that seemed somewhat incomprehensible, as if sending a question mark to Ye Zhi, and then asked, "What are those things lined up in a circle outside?"
Ye Zhi understood that the tree spirit referred to the fighting worker ants sent by the Cinnabar Ant King on the outside to guard the pitcher plant's divinely bestowed seed. Fearing that the tree spirit would be frightened, she reassured it, "Those are slender floating ants; they won't harm you."
The tree spirit of the two-toothed pitcher plant's divinely bestowed seed sent another signal that seemed half-understood, followed by a still somewhat awkward but excited mental message: "Can it be eaten?"
This time, it was Ye Zhi's turn to ask a question. According to Wu Yuan, the God-given Seed's rejection of unfamiliar Force creatures seemed to be more of a manifestation of fear, but the pitcher plant God-given Seed in front of him... really shocked him.
"No wonder they're called the Rebellious Heavenly Gang; plants that can prey on animals? Their thinking is truly unique," Ye Zhi thought to herself, while quickly saying, "They're protecting you, you can't eat them. Are you hungry?"
The tree spirit seemed somewhat disappointed, but upon hearing the second half of the sentence, it became excited again and quickly transmitted a positive signal. Ye Zhi sighed inwardly and had no choice but to flap its wings and take flight, circling nearby.
The sharp compound eyes spotted a lush green figure moving about in a clump of bushes in the distance. It was disguised as a leaf and well hidden, but it was still keenly observed by Ye Zhi's well-developed compound eyes, which had evolved twice.
Ye Zhi folded his four wings. His five-centimeter-long body swooped down, flying over the bushes. At the same time, he flicked his abdomen, and a thread of ant silk shot out. With the help of the mental energy injected into it, the end of the thread twisted into a lasso and enveloped the area below.
Before the figure could react, a lasso made of ant silk was already around the junction of its head and thorax. Ye Zhi suddenly exerted force, and the lasso tightened, pulling the figure that was trying to escape.
The ant silk rope retracted into its abdomen, and Ye Zhi's figure also swooped down, its six limbs cleanly and neatly grabbing its back. With a hook of its claws, the figure was caught between its six limbs.
It appeared to be a katydid, a medium-sized orthoptera insect. At that moment, it struggled to break free from the control of the leaf weaver, but in vain, the leaf weaver opened and closed its mandibles, and the mandibles, infused with primal force, immediately bit off the katydid's head.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Ye Zhi tossed aside the insect head that had been spurting tissue fluid, and took flight once more. His first flight with a heavy load made him tremble slightly, but he quickly regained his balance and flew toward the two-toothed pitcher plant's divinely bestowed seed.
Amidst the buzzing of its membranous wings, Leafweaver hovered above the largest pitcher of the pitcher plant, the Divine Gift Seed. Its six limbs loosened, and the ant-like silken snare was simultaneously severed. Under the influence of its remaining nerve reflexes, the grasshopper suddenly fell into the pitcher, splashing a small water droplet in the digestive fluid.
Seemingly sensing the feeding from its "master," the tree spirit of the Nepenthes dichotomus sent a joyful signal.
The next second, to Ye Zhi's somewhat surprised gaze, countless fine, root-like white thread-like objects grew out of the originally smooth inner wall of the insect trap, quickly enveloping the headless remains of what appeared to be a grasshopper!
A little over a minute later, the fine white root-like objects dispersed, and the insect trap returned to its original calm, leaving only an empty, even somewhat torn, exoskeleton of a cricket floating in the digestive fluids.
"Holy crap!"
Ye Zhi couldn't help but draw out the sound, and after the tree spirit sent back a satisfied signal, it quickly sent back a question mark.
"It's alright, it's alright," Ye Zhi quickly said. "How are you? Can you still eat?"
It's no wonder he was so surprised. Under normal circumstances, carnivorous plants have very limited digestive capacity. This method is truly a gift from the gods, quick and efficient. However, the pitiful appearance of the grasshopper-like corpse made Ye Zhi, who is now also an insect, feel a little uneasy.
The tree spirit was naturally unaware of what Leaf Claw was thinking deep down, and simply responded with a positive signal that it could still eat, which made Leaf Zhi sigh in admiration. This carnivorous plant was truly extraordinary.
Just as Ye Zhi was about to catch some small insects to feed her divinely bestowed seed, another psychic force entered her mind.