Chapter 1350 - 797: Inspection

The Black Thorn Tower is a battle in a restricted zone.

The scenes are random; it might be ocean, forest, lake, swamp, mountains, desert, or even outer space, and sometimes extreme celestial bodies.

On each floor, you must fight three battles in a row and win them all to be considered cleared.

…

Dragon Cypress finally walked up to the Star Pillar to operate it.

Black Thorn Tower challenge mode.

Third floor.

Scene shift.

The blazing sun hung high.

A boundless desert, gales howling, whipping up a sky full of dust and sand.

On a dune a kilometer away, a bright silver figure, shaped like an Assistant King's Ant Clan warrior, was standing with both eyes locked, staring this way.

A Silver Ant whose specialty is speed!

Dragon Cypress moved quickly, Waterfire System Primordial Energy flowing, blue-purple Umbrella Bird patterns covering his whole body, iridescent water droplets drifting out...

Pff~chhh~

Whoo~laa~

Bright silver light and shadow flickered continuously.

Just as Dragon Cypress's Defensive Ability was getting ready, the Silver Ant warrior was already at close range, its speed as fast as Lightning and extremely agile, darting back and forth, launching three consecutive Flash Strikes, triggering and shattering all of the Umbrella Bird's defenses.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Inside Dragon Cypress, Strength, wind, and earth, the three systems of Primordial Energy erupted; a Whirlwind lifted up the grit, which was then shaken by Furious Rage's super Vigor, transforming into splashing attacks in all directions.

The Silver Ant had clearly anticipated this move; its figure flickered and it neatly dodged aside.

In the Black Thorn Tower challenge, the matched opponent is not only at the same Evolution Level and same Star Core Ability strength as yourself, the other side also fully understands all your abilities and how to counter them.

Whereas challenger Dragon Cypress has absolutely no idea what abilities the opponent commands, what it is good at and not good at, and doesn't know what lethal attack the opponent is hiding.

An information-asymmetric challenge.

Taking advantage of that instant when he forced the opponent back, Dragon Cypress let iridescent water droplets drift out, swelling to wrap his whole body, pulling him down into the ground.

The dune bulged, writhed, and transformed into a Sand Leech more than thirty kilometers long.

At the same time,

The Silver Ant also activated its ability; heaven and earth went dark, sunlight seemingly swallowed up in an instant, yellow sand gathered, and a Giant Ant of lava stood up.

The Sand Leech and the Giant Ant of lava charged toward each other in unison, colliding together with a thunderous boom; sand and gravel flew wildly, molten rock splashed...

...

Dragon Cypress's Evolution to Star Realm had not reduced the difficulty of clearing the Black Thorn Tower; on the contrary, he only felt the matched opponents were even more ferocious, to the point there was fundamentally no way to fight and win.

Challenge failed.

Failed.

Failed.

Failed again...

After countless defeats, accumulating an enormous amount of combat experience, at last, on the Black Thorn Tower's third floor, in the third jungle battle scene, the Red Vein Stenopelmatus Warrior was caught by the Carnivorous Flower's tendrils, dragged into the cage and smothered to death.

"Finally broke through."

"Making it to the fourth floor, I count as one of the one-in-a-hundred Insect Clan elite warriors now."

Dragon Cypress muttered, exited challenge mode, returned to the spacious hall, and opened his Star Network Account to check.

[Time: Era 78 - Cycle 159 - Year 799 - February]

The agreed meeting time with Chairman Four-Number was almost here.

Dragon Cypress sent White Ivy a message, then exited first.

The hatch opened.

Dragon Cypress's heart suddenly gave a jolt; he quickly darted out of the Cocoon Nest.

Through Soul Bond Perception, he sensed that those two guys, Cypress and Silver Cypress, were very close to him!

——Why did they come?

——Second King didn't come?

——Could it be that something happened at Xianglan Mountain?

Dragon Cypress didn't even have time to wait for White Ivy; he hurriedly ran out of the building, swept out with his Soul-Setting Ability, and was immediately shocked again.

Captain Upright Lotus!

Giant Taro, Kansui, Chickpea, Purple Cicada.

Pond Silk, the old Spider, had come along as well.

…

"Great Leader Dragon Cypress!"

Seeing Dragon Cypress, Upright Lotus waved his forelegs in greeting.

"Great King!"

"Over here!"

"Second King sent us over."

"We've got a deal to discuss with you."

"We sensed you were cultivating over here, but couldn't lock down the exact Cocoon Nest number and couldn't get in touch, so we just waited."

Cypress and Silver Cypress spoke at high speed, briefly laying out the situation.

"Captain Upright Lotus!"

"Chickpea! Purple Cicada!"

"Chairman Kansui! Chairman Giant Taro! Chairman Pond Silk, you came too."

Dragon Cypress greeted them, exchanging pleasantries.

Cypress activated the Heart Realm of Tree Blossom ability, directly compiling the communication and initial deal reached between Ink Orchid and Upright Lotus's group into a block of information, and writing it into Dragon Cypress's Soul Consciousness.

Dragon Cypress buried his head in reading.

His Tentacles twitched and trembled, secretly delighted.

His eyes lit up.

Buying back the Tech Star Core in Upright Lotus's claw at 100 million per piece? That's a pretty good idea!

The Artist Armor can't be reforged?

The Leader-Level Starship can't be cracked.

Ink Orchid, that guy, sure has some nerve~

No, that's not it!

Ink Orchid is being drawn in by the glorious exterior of the Leader-Level Starship, single-mindedly wanting to have it!

Crystal Divine Seat?

They only managed to find the approximate location of the Crystal Divine Seat Star Cluster in the Old Universe Era...

There's absolutely no record related to the White Tower Civilization...

This is likely going to be tough.

"Very tough, huh~"

Dragon Cypress's expression flickered hot and cold.

Fortunately,

Ink Orchid still had some sense and hadn't chased over, clamoring that he absolutely had to take the Leader-Level Starship.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, let's find a quiet place to talk."

Upright Lotus suggested, secretly filled with emotion.

When they first met, Dragon Cypress had still been an inconspicuous Little Ant King who had just stepped into the Half Star Realm.

In a brief twenty thousand years, his group had merely made a trip to the Dawn Star System and Lizhu Star System.

Upon meeting again, Dragon Cypress was already at Star Realm, and moreover was a Great Leader of a Major Force who had rallied over a thousand Ant Kings and Bee Kings from the Home Planet, with limitless potential.

The positions of the two sides had already shifted invisibly.

Upright Lotus spoke with courtesy.

Chickpea, Purple Cicada, Giant Taro, and Kansui's attitudes also clearly became more courteous.

"Wait just a moment."

Dragon Cypress said, "As it happens, I just ran into White Ivy's group on a long journey of wandering. They're coming out soon."