Zhonglou asked, "How's Mayu doing? Time's ticking, and its lifespan is nearing its end."

Banbu's mood was low as he replied, "It didn't make it through last year's harsh winter..."

"Ah..." Zhonglou sighed, falling silent for a moment before saying, "Everyone struggles for survival, it's not easy for any of us. Mayu was just too stubborn."

Banbu, knowing the answer already, asked knowingly, "Mountain Master Zhonglou, do you know Mayu?"

"Yes, quite well," Zhonglou replied. "Its seed of fate was destroyed by a forest wolf warrior. It used to travel with our caravan, and initially, we got along well. But when we entered the grassland wolf territory, it suddenly..."

"Mayu harbored a deep hatred for all wolf races, including the grassland wolves, after its seed of fate was destroyed. It believed we shouldn't trade with them. Things got unpleasant, and it left the caravan to wander alone."

Banbu nodded in understanding. So, there was such a backstory. No wonder Mayu had biases against the caravan.

Zhonglou didn't like to dwell on this topic. After a moment of silence, he changed the subject, saying, "When I was young, I was curious about the world too. I followed another caravan to the continent of a thousand nations."

"That was a chaotic land, a place I never wished to return to. It's ruled by various ant kingdoms, with war, death, and plunder everywhere."

"You can't imagine how crazy the ants are. A dozen ant queens can form a large kingdom, and a single queen dares to establish a small one. They wage wars for territory, food, and raw stones, sometimes for no reason at all. New kingdoms are born every day, and every day, others fall. The wars never cease."

Banbu asked, "With such chaos, don't caravans get attacked?"

"They do. Along the way, we often face attacks from ant swarms. Only the strongest caravans dare to venture deep into the continent for trade."

Banbu inquired further, "With such risks, the profits from trade must be substantial. What goods do you deal with?"

"It's still primal force food. All ants, with their innate strength, have the ability of power. Primal force fruits produced by ant seeds have the effect of enhancing strength and are popular among all races on the continent."

"However, the profit margin from primal force food trade is less than thirty percent, hardly worth the risk. The main profit for caravans comes from the exchange of insect resources."

Banbu was puzzled, "Exchange of insect resources?"

"It's simple, Banbu. Have you noticed various ant species surviving in your territory?"

Banbu immediately understood. Each year, among the queen ants that fly out, there's a chance of birthing queen ants of primal force biological levels.

They engage in what sounds nice as "exchange of insect resources" or, less kindly, "insect trafficking," similar to human trafficking in human societies. This kind of activity yields considerable profits.

Zhonglou continued, "Banbu, if you find special queen ants in your territory, don't rush to kill them. You can sell them to our caravan. The price is negotiable."

"Similarly, when you become a mountain master or a county lord with some wealth, and you want to strengthen your control over your territory with more warriors, our caravan is willing to serve you by bringing young warriors of the fire ant tribe."

Banbu asked, "Are there fire ants surviving in the distant continent?"

Zhonglou affirmed, "Yes, there are, many of them. Common fire ants need the protection of their kin to thrive on the continent of a thousand nations. But in the distant continent, without such protection, they thrive even better, with the chance to evolve into fire ant warriors."

Common fire ants have no combat abilities and struggle to survive in the wild.

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Banbu's thoughts shifted as he realized.

Why would fire ants appear on the continent of a thousand nations? It's probably the work of the merchants of the iridescent flame spider tribe. The method is simple: gather a batch of pods, secretly transport them, and release them into the continent of a thousand nations.

In unfamiliar territories, lacking natural enemies, common fire ants thrive even more smoothly, akin to a "species invasion."

Banbu asked, "How much does it cost to purchase a fire ant tribe warrior from the distant continent?"

"It's not a purchase; we usually call it 'ransom'," Zhonglou corrected Banbu's term before continuing, "The exact amount of ransom is uncertain. The Crimson Rock County Princess has been ransoming her own tribe for 200 pieces of raw stones."

"The Iron Knife Mountain Lord once ransomed a fellow tribe warrior, and we only charged 150 pieces of raw stones. I heard that the warrior changed his name, now called Wind Chime. You must have seen him, right?"

"Oh, of course, I have."

Banbu fell silent for a while.

So, the aloof and acerbic Wind Chime also had a twisted past of being abducted.

The Blaze-clustered Banmou and Putao both consciously or unconsciously ostracized Wind Chime. It's probably not just because of his personality but more so because of his origins.

Banbu tentatively asked, "How much is the purchase price for a special queen ant?"

"It depends on the species it belongs to."

"What about the Big-headed Harvest Ant?"

"Small and weak ant larvae, with no kingdom, and no ants to pay ransom for them."

"What about the Six-spiked Cloud Ant?"

"Considered a somewhat powerful ant species, there are several stable kingdoms established by the Six-spiked Cloud Ants on the continent of a thousand nations. We are willing to pay 10 pieces of raw stones."

Banbu asked again, "And the Whip-scorpion Warrior?"

"Merchants are not involved in the internal exchange of insect resources within the continent of a thousand nations."

"What should I do then?"

"You can hand over the Whip-scorpion Warrior born in our continent to the Iron Knife Lord. The Iron Knife Lord will hand it over to the Crimson Rock County Princess, who will then give it to the Longevity Centipede King. The Longevity Centipede King will communicate with the Scorpion King of the Whip-scorpion Kingdom, exchanging them, either by ransom or payment."

"What's in it for me?"

"You'll receive an equivalent of 10 pieces of raw stones in primal force food reward."

As the sky gradually brightened, Banbu gleaned a wealth of useful information from his overnight chat with Zhonglou.

As the first rays of sunlight ascended from the eastern horizon, the caravan ceased its journey, choosing a spacious flatland to set up camp.

Banbu finally saw the seed of fate of the iridescent flame spider tribe.

Zhonglou spat out a seed brimming with primal force and vitality, a massive spherical seed with a diameter exceeding 100.

This was Zhonglou's seed of fate!

As the seed landed, it quickly took root, sprouted, and grew into a plant over 1000 units tall—a plant with seven leaves, the Seven-leaved Heavy Tower!

The seed of Banbu was smaller

, oval-shaped, much smaller in size than Zhonglou's seed of fate, with significantly less primal force and vitality. After landing, it rooted, sprouted, and rapidly grew into a plant—the Banmou plant.

The other flame spider warriors did the same, choosing plants as their seeds of fate, corresponding to the names of the plants. The stronger they were, the larger the seeds they spat out, and the more vitality and primal force they contained.

Among the caravan, the smallest flame spider warrior, Xuemai, possessed a mutated Sparrow-wheat grass seed. The veins of its leaves were crystal-clear white. The growth pattern of the plant was similar to Banbu's divine gift seed, stopping its growth at 40 units tall and continuously branching out. Currently, there were only three branches.

After the seeds of fate landed, the flame spider warriors quickly crushed raw stones into powder and sprinkled it at the roots of their seed plants.

Banbu carefully sensed it. The seed plants quickly absorbed the primal force emitted by the powdered raw stones. Some of it was used for their own growth, while the majority was feedbacked and delivered to the flame spider warriors.

Zhonglou absorbed ten pieces of raw stones' worth of primal force consecutively.

Banmou absorbed two pieces of raw stones.

Four intermediate warriors could barely absorb one piece of raw stone.

Xuemai, the junior warrior, couldn't even finish half a piece of raw stone.

For the iridescent flame spider tribe, the seed plants served as tools for converting the primal force of raw stones, similar to biological refining equipment.

After completing the absorption of primal force, the advanced warrior Leshi took four intermediate warriors into the jungle to hunt for food.

The ordinary flame spiders climbed down from Zhonglou's back and began to move freely.

Satisfied with his newfound knowledge, Banbu bid farewell to Zhonglou. "Mountain Master Zhonglou, we're not far from Iron Knife Peak. I should return to my territory."

Zhonglou said, "Thank you for your company, Banbu, the future Mountain Master."

Banbu spread his wings, preparing to leave, when Xuemai suddenly shouted, "Mountain Master Banbu, wait, a gift."

Another gift?

Banbu stopped, eager for more gifts, looking expectantly at Xuemai.

Xuemai found a flat piece of land, stood on its four hind legs, with its two front legs reaching towards its abdomen, pulling out two strands of colored silk. Its two venomous limbs caught the silk and stretched it forward, then its two front legs reached towards its abdomen again, pulling out two more strands of colored silk.

Standing on its four legs, Xuemai continuously spun out crystal-clear spider silk from its abdomen, swiftly weaving.

Banbu's heart shook, secretly delighted. Xuemai intended to weave a silk bag as a gift!