Chapter 1099 Insect War
Nevertheless, Leon quickly pursued the free-falling lifeless bloodmetal mites. After catching up, he didn't stop blasting them with nihility power until they were removed entirely from existence.
Leon made sure not to miss a single one of them with his divine sense.
He couldn't leave behind a potential threat when there were other races living in the Lower Abyss Domain.
A problem left unsolved was an invitation to introduce a greater problem.
After all, even if the bloodmetal mites were dead, their bodies were still carriers of huge amounts of wrath energy.
Considering the chances of them falling into the wrong hands, he had no choice but to destroy or use them for himself.
Nevertheless, wrath energy was not comparable to True Grandmist Energy. As such, Leon chose to convert them with nihility.
After exterminating the bloodmetal mites in their entirety, Leon didn't stop his descent. Instead, he increased his speed and shot down the abyss even quicker.
A few moments later, Leon caught sight of the falling remains of the colossal pillar structure.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The remains of the colossal pillar structure collided with the rocky walls chaotically on their way down into the deeper parts of the abyss, shattering rocks and tearing off huge masses of the earth with each collision.
After separating with the bloodmetal mites, the colossal pillar structure became hollow and fragile. The repeated heavy collisions with the earth deformed and even fragmented it into pieces.
Boom!
Leon kicked against the empty air and shot forward with a burst of speed, closing in on the falling structure fragments before sweeping them with his divine sense.
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Leon was just about to leave after recording the runic remains on the structure fragments to his Archive when he suddenly spotted a Tier-6 Teleportation Array within the chaos.
Although presently unusable, the Tier-6 Teleportation Array was mostly intact. Thus, Leon decided to pocket it into his Worldspace for future uses and research purposes.
After confirming there was no longer any other point of interest within the falling structure fragments, Leon returned to the surface.
However, his return trip was not smooth.
The previous commotions had countless lifeforms that dwelled within the subterranean world, none of which seemed intelligent. Not even Paragon-level insects.
It was clear that the Paragon-level insects lacked the bare minimum level of intelligence to open their Wisdom Gate early.
Nevertheless, Leon was surprised by the insects that emerged from countless tunnels, cave holes, and passageways found on the way down the abyss.
There were ants.
However, there were not the same giant black ants he had encountered last time. Instead, they were giant red bull ants with long mandibles and venom.
A single bite from these nasty pests would leave a person in a world of pain—given that the person survives the bite in the first place.
Of course, with Leon's Arch Demon-level poison immunity and Peak Rank 4 Body Transformation in the flesh-tempering phase, an Early Paragon-level Bull Ant's bite would do nothing to him.
As for giant red bull ants above Early Paragon, he wouldn't be so confident in letting himself get bitten.
Besides the giant red bull ants that appeared in the abyss tunnel, giant mosquitoes and bees were also present. The giant mosquitoes, in particular, were especially numerous.
After the three insect races encountered each other in the abyss tunnel, they immediately entered an all-out battle with each other.
Leon noticed the giant golden bees to be the least hostile among them. They only started their retaliation after their kin were attacked first.
At the same time, the giant golden bees were also the weakest among the three insect races.
The giant golden bees didn't have the high defenses of the bull ants, and they didn't have the overwhelming numbers of the mosquitoes.
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As such, they were quickly suppressed by the swarms of mosquitoes.
Leon saw the giant golden bees turn into shriveled carcasses. Their golden appearances dimmed, and a murky dark color quickly spread across the surface of their bodies, causing them to decay at a slow but sure rate.
Mosquitoes have always been known to be one of the deadliest insects in the mortal world. They were the bringer of death and disease.
Although such problems were easily and long conquered by the advancement of medicine and cultivation in the Divine Realm, it was a different story on Gaia.
Medicine wasn't plenty, alchemy wasn't widespread, and most importantly, the mosquitoes were countless times bigger.
People would get their blood sucked dry before they could live long enough to be killed by the diseases the mosquitoes carry with them.
And even if a person did survive a mosquito bite, the person still wouldn't live long either. The sheer number of parasites and viruses they could inject would easily kill anyone quickly.
'I can't let these mosquitoes reach the surface,' Leon thought.
Nevertheless, as soon as Leon entered the vicinity of the battle, he became the giant mosquitoes' most desired target as they swarmed at him en masse.
'They're interested in my blood, huh?' Leon determined as his eyes flickered.
Leon casually waved his hand at the incoming swarm of giant mosquitoes before a wave of Paragon-level death power swept past them.
In the next moment, all of the giant mosquitoes quickly stopped flapping their wings and dropped down the abyss with their withered bodies.
However, it was only a tiny fraction of their numbers.
Leon gathered his death power again and protected himself with a large barrier made of death power. Afterward, he flew directly through the swarms of giant mosquitoes and brought death unto them.
Given Leon's strength, he could have easily drilled his way through the swarms of giant mosquitoes regardless of what methods he used.
Nevertheless, the giant mosquitoes still swarmed at Leon blindly like moths drawn to the bright flame.
Leon easily attracted all the giant mosquitoes while passing through the region while inadvertently freeing the giant golden bees from their onslaught.
Sometime later, Leon shot through the large smarm of mosquitoes and reached the other end of the battle region, but not without attracting the whole swarm of giant mosquitoes.
In that instance, Leon quickly chose to summon an impassable wall of death to obstruct their advancement.
Chapter 1100 Farming Death Energy
Countless giant mosquitoes shortly flew into the wall of death and killed themselves, regardless of their size and strength.
Whether they were Mortal-level Giant Mosquitoes or Paragon-level Mosquitoes, they died all the same under the power of the Paragon-level Death Law.
Hundreds became thousands, and thousands became tens of thousands; the swarm of giant mosquitoes continued to fly towards their death blindly.
The wall of Paragon-level death power was like an impregnable fortress whose defense could not be breached—No, it was more accurate to call the death gate.
No living giant mosquitoes could pass through it alive.
Nevertheless, the giant mosquitoes' efforts did bore some fruits in their stubborn attempt to reach Leon.
After all, the giant mosquitoes' dead bodies drew closer to Leon as their dead bodies increased, pushed through the wall of death by the swarms of living giant mosquitoes behind them.
As the lives of countless giant mosquitoes were snuffed out, death energy was generated from their bodies.
Without exception, Leon absorbed all the death energy and fed it to his Truth Manifestation Tree of Darkness and nurtured the Death Fruit.
Eventually, the weight of the dead mosquitoes became too great for the living giant mosquitoes to carry and push up.
However, the number of giant mosquitoes swarming toward Leon continued to increase.
Poof!
The living mosquitoes at the forefront were quickly crushed under the immense weight of the two opposing forces.
At the same time, the giant mosquitoes were jammed pack together without room to flap their wings, causing the entire swarm of giant mosquitoes to sink and smash into the other giant mosquitoes on their way down.
Nevertheless, Leon felt like it was a loss not to continue farming death energy from the giant mosquitoes when they actually give quite a decent amount of it.
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Swoosh!
Leon waved his hand and sent out a large wave of destruction to erase all the mosquito carcasses devoid of death energy.
Almost immediately, a significant burden was lifted off the swarm of giant mosquitoes, allowing them to push their way up with the fewer dead mosquitoes on top of them again.
After Leon successfully re-established the previous situation, he continued to kill the giant mosquitoes with the death wall, drain their death energy, and finally erase their worthless carcasses.
Just like that, Leon received a steady flow of death energy while the giant mosquitoes' numbers continued to dwindle with each passing moment.
Gradually, the giant mosquito swarm was reduced to no more than a thousand giant mosquitoes.
Although Leon farmed quite a fair amount of death energy from the giant mosquitoes, it was hardly enough to improve the Death Fruit hanging on his Truth Manifestation Tree of Darkness.
'Seems like it will take a lot more death energy than this to nurture the Paragon-level Death Fruit to surpass my present comprehension in the Death Law," Leon mused.
Bizz! Bizz!
After Leon heard the buzzing mosquitoes seemingly cry, he focused his attention on their rear and noticed the remaining giant mosquitoes were being attacked by the angry golden bees.
It was pretty clear that the giant golden bees did not forget a grudge when they had one.
Many of their kin were killed under the giant mosquito swarm's onslaught and now was their chance to retaliate when the giant mosquitoes had been severely weakened.
Nevertheless, the giant mosquitoes did not go down without a fight. As their rear was being attacked, the giant mosquitoes turned around to resist the giant golden bees' counteroffensive maneuver.
'They're stupid enough to charge into the death wall and throw away relentlessly, but they're not stupid enough to ignore the golden bees' attacks on their rear, huh?' Leon mused thoughtfully.
'It seems that just shows how attractive my blood is to these giant mosquitoes.'
Leon watched the giant golden bees overpower the giant mosquitoes with their superior numbers until the giant mosquitoes were backed against the death wall.
Seeing how close the golden bees were to the death wall, Leon thought of something and decided to release the death wall.
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He retracted all the death power back into his Truth Manifestation Tree of Darkness.
'Considering these golden bees' defensive and vengeful traits, I don't want to accidentally kill one of them,' Leon thought.
The golden bees were too weak to pose a threat to Leon. He could easily wipe them all out—if he chose to do so.
However, Leon believed that golden bees would be much more useful if they could be tamed—or at the very least, placed in a controlled environment.
'Because of the absence of honey bees, honey production is almost non-existent in this world,' Leon thought.
Honey was not only an excellent ingredient for enhancing a variety of food recipes, but it is also a key ingredient in many medicinal recipes focused on healing injuries, curing diseases, and removing poisons.
'If I could provide these golden bees with a suitable environment to produce honey, I could obtain large amounts of honey. Furthermore, they will also be of high quality as well,' Leon mused.
He didn't need to worry about not having a suitable environment back in the empire.
Even if there wasn't one, he had all the elves and resources needed in order to build an artificial biome for the golden bees to reside and produce the honey within.
Nevertheless, after the death wall was released, several giant mosquitoes resumed their attack on Leon with their needle-like mouths.
It was clear that they were all female mosquitoes. Only female mosquitoes suck blood to survive and procreate.
Alas, Leon wasn't fond of mosquitoes, nor was he keen on getting poked by them—even if they won't be able to pierce his skin.
Pah!
Leon immediately swatted one of the giant mosquitoes to death with a palm strike. The sheer force behind his palm easily splattered them upon impact.
"Mozzies sucks," Leon uttered.
Pah! Pah! Pah!
Leon quickly swatted several more giant mosquitoes as he retreated.
At the same time, the giant golden bees continued their relentless attacks on the giant mosquitoes' rear with their stingers.
Before long, the giant mosquitoes in the region were completely eradicated.
Chapter 1101 Tempting The Golden Bees
However, after the giant golden bees finished off the giant mosquitoes, they ignored Leon and turned their attention to the giant red bull ants crawling along the rocky walls.
In the earlier conflict, the giant golden bees were also attacked by giant red bull ants. As such, they directed their hostility at their next enemy, readying for a fight.
The giant red bull ants had enough intellect not to blindly leap off the rocky walls to catch Leon and the giant golden bees.
They could only camp on the rocky walls and wait for them to close within their attack range. Otherwise, nothing would happen.
However, the giant golden bees weren't so bright.
Even when they had no chance against the giant red bull ants due to their natural high defenses, the giant golden bees still flew at them with their stingers.
As a result, the giant golden bees had their stingers broken upon striking the giant red bull ants' hard shells.
At the same time, the giant red bull ants retaliated, catching them with their long mandibles. What awaited the golden bees were gruesome deaths.
The giant red bull ants absolutely crushed and tore the golden bees apart.
Nevertheless, the other giant golden bees didn't cower. They pressed on with their attacks, no matter futile their attempts were.
They weren't gifted for combat, but they were fearless.
'Looking back on the tunnels these insects came from, it is clear that they originated from different subterranean floors. The conflicts between them shouldn't be frequent, but at the same time, it doesn't seem uncommon either,' Leon thought.
Nevertheless, Leon wasn't interested in watching the giant golden bees throw away all their lives when there's a chance he could use them.
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Furthermore, the giant red bull ants possessed excellent armor and weapon crafting materials, just like the black ants. He wasn't going to let them leave just like that.
Within a few passing breaths, Leon quickly joined the battle and assisted the giant golden bees in vanquishing the giant red bull ants.
Each giant red bull ant quickly died under a single clean and sharp shot of destruction bullet through their eyes, destroying their brains.
Shortly after, their bodies fell from the rocky walls—only for Leon to swoop in and collect them into his Worldspace.
As time went on, Goldenstride and Nightingale arrived from above.
When Leon saw them, he immediately knew that they had completed their task of cleaning up all the remaining Whitebone Fiends.
"My Lord, what's the situation?" Nightingale quickly inquired.
Goldenstride and Nightingale saw their Lord slaughtering the giant red bull ants while the giant red bull ants were slaughtering the giant golden bees.
"The golden bees are non-hostile unless attacked. They can become valuable assets once tamed. Thus, I am saving from the giant red bull ants."
"I see. Allow us to assist you, my Lord."
"No, the giant red bull ants are also valuable assets."
"They are…?"
Nightingale and Goldenstride were immediately stunned by their Lord's reason for refusing their help. They couldn't understand why their Lord was killing the giant red bull ants.
"The red bull ants are valuable assets when they are dead. Their carapaces are precious materials from manufacturing quality equipment, tools, and weapons," Leon casually explained without affecting his clean killing and quick looting.
"The both of you wield too much strength and can easily damage the carapaces beyond a usable state. Nevertheless, there are too many red bull ants for me to loot their materials while saving the golden bees at the same time."
"Thus, you have to prove you can secure their carapaces in good conditions if you both want to assist me. Otherwise, just try not to let too many golden bees die," Leon stated.
"Yes, my Lord!" Goldenstride and Nightingale answered.
Insects like ants and bees both had high reproduction rates. Thus, it didn't bother Leon too much if many golden bees died as long as some survived.
More importantly, there were only workers among the golden bees.
If Leon wanted to obtain a thriving colony of golden bees to produce high-quality spirit honey, he would have to secure their queen—or at the very least, a queen.
Nevertheless, Goldenstride and Nightingale proved their usefulness through their precise strength control.
Although incomplete and unperfected, Goldenstride was able to transform his golden flames into small fire arrows that were no large than normal threading needles to pierce the giant red bull ants' heads.
On the other hand, Nightingale shrunk into her human form and dominated the giant red bull ants with her brute strength, exploding their brains with punches through their huge eyes.
After taking down their prey, they collected the mostly-intact carapaces into their personal interspatial artifacts, which they learned to use with celestial energy in place of spirit energy.
Sometime later, the red bull ants were eliminated, and the golden bees survived, albeit with only a small fraction of their original numbers.
Buzz…
The giant golden bees buzzed around Leon, Goldenstride, and Nightingale with a strangely pleasant tune as if they were expressing their gratitude to them.
Afterward, Leon noticed they were preparing to leave and report back to the colony of their scouting mission.
However, Leon didn't plan on letting them leave just yet. That being said, he wasn't going to make them stay with force either.
Leon took out a sunflower seed and nurtured wood energy, accelerating its growth.
With the additional touch of life energy from the Divine Book of Life, the sunflower seed in Leon's hand bloomed wonderfully—or rather, it too bloomed too wonderfully.
The roots of the extended vines but thick like ginseng, the stem grew long and tall, and the main body became huge, bright, and beautiful like the sun.
To the golden bees that had never seen the sun or such a huge sunflower, it was their sun—their holy sunflower.
The huge sunflower attracted all the golden bees in the vicinity without surprise. They buzzed around it, worshipped it, and instinctively wanted to drink its nectar-rich contents.
Chapter 1102 Colossal Hive
Bzzt!
The golden bees buzzed around the giant sunflower for some time before seemingly deciding on an order.
Shortly after, they started taking turns filling up their honey sac and pollen baskets with nectars and pollens from the giant sunflower before flying off into one of the caves leading back to their colony.
Each time a new golden bee approached the giant sunflower to collect nectar and pollen, they produced reactions similar to a person's pupils dilating from sniffing some white powdery goods – or so Leon felt.
Leon didn't understand the golden bee's language, but he vaguely sensed their ecstatic moods after they filled up their honey sacs and pollen baskets.
Considering the golden bees were a mutant branch of honey bees, whose diet primarily consists of honey produced from nectar and pollen, Leon didn't doubt that they've collected nectar and pollen from other plants in the subterranean world before.
'For these golden bees to produce such joyous reactions… I see… The nectar and pollen from the sunflower I grew is the good sh*t compared to what they usually have,' Leon mused.
The higher quality nectar and pollen from his sunflower were like an addictive drug for the golden bees.
'But for them to be so happy over something I made casually… I can't imagine how the golden bees would react to higher-tier spirit plants with nectar and pollen. Either way, bringing the golden bees back to the empire for honey production might proceed more smoothly than I initially anticipated,' Leon thought.
Nevertheless, the nectar and pollen in the sunflower quickly ran dry before the golden bees suddenly felt at a loss.
Afterward, they buzzed around the huge sunflower at a lower frequency for some time, seemingly feeling down due to no more nectar.
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Eventually, the golden bees shifted their attention to Leon.
Although Leon could pump more wood and life energy into the sunflower, allowing it to produce more nectar and pollen, he refrained from doing so. He wanted to see what the golden bees would do.
Sure enough, without any more nectar and pollen from the sunflower, the golden bees wanted to bring it back to their hive and him along with it.
Leon willingly followed the golden bees under their lead.
However, the huge sunflower had grown too big to fit through the cave tunnel leading to their colony.
Upon realizing this, the golden bees seemingly understood the situation and fell into another dilemma, baffled by what to do regarding the situation.
At the same time, Leon didn't want to keep holding the giant sunflower by the roots. Thus, he planted it into the rocky wall and left it behind.
Without sunlight, water, or even fertile soil, the sunflower would eventually die, and the golden bees would be sad.
Nevertheless, they wouldn't be sad if Leon could get the golden bees to follow him back to the fertile land near the World Tree in the empire, where they could grow as various types of nectar-producing plants, let alone sunflowers.
However, the problem was getting all of them to follow him back willingly. To do that, he must first meet with their queen and gain her cooperation.
Of course, if Leon couldn't tempt the golden queen bee to follow him back, he intended to just kidnap her and run. The entire hive would chase after him if he had their queen.
"Nightingale, Goldenstride. The both of you return to the surface and watch over the humans. I will be back after visiting the golden bee's hive first," Leon instructed the two Divine Beasts.
"Yes, my Lord," Nightingale and Goldenstride reluctantly complied as it was their lord's order.
Shortly after Nightingale and Goldenstride left, Leon followed the golden bee, albeit fewer in numbers. A good portion of the golden bees had gathered around the sunflower he had left behind.
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However, Leon picked out a new sunflower seed and started nurturing it in his hand again.
Before long, the sunflower seed sprouted into a new fully-grown sunflower, albeit smaller in size, not too big, but big enough to attract the golden bees.
Sometime later, Leon followed the golden bees to the end of the long cave tunnel and entered a large open space filled with the freshness of air and spirit plants.
The ground was filled with fertile soil, grass, and spirit plants, while the walls were filled with overgrown vines and trees, among other exotic plants and flowers tended by golden bees.
There was even a large lake with fresh water in the center.
Nevertheless, Leon's attention was quickly drawn to the colossal hive hanging from the ceiling in the vast open space with countless golden bees flying in and out.
Its sheer size surprised him.
More surprisingly, the vast space was strangely illuminated before Leon's eyes.
Just as he was curious where the light source came from or how the plants prospered without sunlight, Leon's gaze fell on an artificial spirit energy conversion tower by the lake—one that hasn't seemed to be infested by a fleshly abomination leeching off of it.
Upon further observation, Leon realized the artificial spirit energy conversion tower wasn't working as it should. It didn't produce any artificial spirit energy despite its working function to collect solar energy from the surface through its cable.
'It seems like a specific part of the conversion tower was damaged, causing it to stop producing artificial spirit energy. As a result, the conversion tower only continues to gather solar energy and act like an artificial sun in this place, huh?' Leon studied.
'However… I can only sense solar energy from this conversion tower. There doesn't seem to be any Wrathful Demon Energy gathered along with it…'
Leon rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look upon noticing this particular point—all while the golden bees buzzed around him, urging him to go elsewhere.
Nevertheless, Leon temporarily ignored them to continue thinking.
'Given how deep this place is, I doubt the conversion tower's cables are long enough to reach the surface… If it can collect solar energy without Wrathful Demon Energy… Then, it must have been filtered out somehow along the way,' Leon speculated.
He was intrigued enough to investigate, but it seemed like the golden bees were becoming impatient.
Chapter 1103 Key Ingredient
Not only had the golden bees become impatient, but Leon could also sense uneasiness from the other golden bees in the hive.
Considering a human was trespassing on the golden bees' sacred land, it wouldn't be strange if the golden bees were alerted by his presence and felt apprehensive towards him.
They didn't know whether he was a friend or foe.
However, he already saw the effects of his casually cultivated sunflower. Thus, he didn't doubt that the rest of the golden bees in the colossal hive would welcome his presence with joy.
Bzz, bzz~!
As the golden bees around Leon continued to buzz with impatience, Leon smiled before casually giving in to their demands.
"Alright, alright. You'll get your sunflower," Leon promised.
Shortly after, he channeled his power into the sunflower floating above his hand, quickly accelerating its growth until it reached the same size as the previous giant sunflower.
"Alright. It's all yours," Leon uttered as he released the giant sunflower toward the large swarm of golden bees.
Bzzz, bzzz!
The golden bees immediately retreated out of the giant sunflower's direct flight path, fearing they would harm it.
A smaller group flew underneath the giant sunflower and supported it with their bodies while slowly descending to the ground. They treated the giant sunflower carefully as if it was the most precious treasure in the world.
Nevertheless, after the giant sunflower reached the ground and took root in the rich soil, the rest of the golden bees in the area flocked toward it in droves.
With their attention away from Leon, he was able to study the golden bees' sacred home again in earnest.
At the same time, he figured he would need to adjust his plans.
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"Given the immensity of the golden bees' numbers and strength, the current empire isn't ready for direct management. Bringing the golden bees into the empire at this time would be like leaving behind a ticking bomb," Leon thought.
After all, it wasn't peaceful on the surface. On the contrary, it was very chaotic.
"The golden bees can be docile, but they are, by no means, harmless. It'll only take a single incompetent or wicked person to turn the golden bees into a disaster," Leon muttered.
The damage would be unimaginable once the golden bees felt threatened and attacked humans indiscriminately, especially since they can't differentiate between the humans that meant them harm.
"That's why I can't bring them to the surface yet. Instead, I should send elves here to cultivate the flowers. There's no need to set up a honey production base when there's already one. That would be inefficient," Leon thought.
Of course, that was only true because he could set up Teleportation Arrays and eliminate the time cost of traveling the great distances that existed between the empire and the golden bees' hive.
Nevertheless, he still needed to figure out how to collect the honey without upsetting the golden bees.
After all, even if the golden bees were hard workers like honey bees and produced excess honey, more than they ever needed, there was still a chance that they wouldn't like outsiders taking their extra honey.
That said, Leon eventually realized his concerns were unfounded while he was observing the golden bees.
The golden bees took the nectar extract back to their colossal beehive and produced their honey in a steady stream for some time before a separate group of golden bees from the hive suddenly decided to approach Leon.
From a glance, Leon could see they carried several small pieces of honeycombs filled with ripe honey.
"Is this for me?" Leon quickly realized the golden bees' intentions.
As if the golden bees understood his words, they buzzed with joy and dropped the small honeycombs toward him.
Of course, these small honeycombs were only considered small compared to the golden bees' large bodies.
But to Leon, they were like full-grown watermelons raining down on him.
Nevertheless, Leon calmly accepted their gifts, pocketing each honeycomb into his Worldspace without missing a drop of honey.
At the same time, it became clear to him that the golden bees knew how to be grateful and return the favor.
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After all, it was impossible to produce honey from his sunflowers' nectar so quickly. Thus, he received the honey from their reserve.
He gave them nectar-rich sunflowers, and they gave him honey in exchange.
Both sides benefitted.
Leon doubted he could find another insect group in the subterranean world that could coexist with humans and elves better than the golden bees.
In other words, the golden bees were invaluable allies.
It didn't take long before the golden bees eventually depleted the giant sunflower's nectar and turned their attention back to Leon.
Although the giant sunflower would gradually make more nectar, it was clear that a single sunflower was hardly enough to satisfy a colony as large as the golden bees.
It was far from it.
As such, Leon cultivated several dozen more giant sunflowers for the golden bees before slipping away from their land.
He had seen enough.
The land surrounding the colossal hive was flourishing and filled with floras, making it quite a suitable place to live.
Once the elves move in, there'll be an overall improvement to the already flourishing land.
"I should settle this issue first," Leon thought.
Although he already had power, food, and water source, and it was only a matter of time before unifying the entire Infertile Plains, securing an additional source of food and medicine was not a bad idea.
After all, honey has many applications and benefits in food and medicine.
For example, even some of the strongest healing pills, like the Divine Life Pill, require honey as a key ingredient in their alchemic concoction.
The Divine Life Pill was a tier-9 divine pill that could heal all mortal wounds and even increase up to ten-thousands years worth of lifespan.
In other words, it could practically revive a Divine King with one foot in the coffin.
But of course, not just any honey can be used to produce such a pill; only honey created from Life Nectar can be used to refine it.
Even so, Leon was confident he could cultivate a flower with Life Nectar one day.
Chapter 1104 New City Plan
"Lord Leonhardt! You don't know how ecstatic I am to see you again, my Lord," Chief Silvertooth welcomed Leon back with great joy upon his return to the surface. "We are in dire need of your leadership."
"I suppose it has something to do with the water problem?" Leon casually guessed with a knowing look.
Chief Silvertooth's eyes glimmered before replying, "So my Lord is already aware of the Celestial Water Spark's power depletion."
"That makes sense," Chief Silvertooth nodded after a quick realization as he added, "My Lord went down to investigate the abyss and would have known about the broken water veins."
"That aside, where is everyone else?" Leon inquired as he looked around at the barren land, scarred by the flames of battle.
"Everyone returned to the tribe to make arrangements as soon as they learned about the Celestial Water Spark's power depletion, my Lord. Only I stayed behind to await your return," Chief Silvertooth answered humbly.
Of course, he didn't forget to make himself look better than the other tribal chiefs.
"Oh, I see," Leon uttered dully, noticing Chief Silvertooth's cheap trick. However, he couldn't be bothered to call him out.
More importantly, he was more curious about their so-called arrangements.
"What kind of arrangements?" Leon asked.
"Since it's only a matter of time before our limited water supply is exhausted, everyone was preparing to move to the southern region for temporary refuge before the great migration," Chief Silvertooth answered.
"We were hoping you would return in time to smooth things out with the southern tribes so we could avoid a conflict, my Lord."
"Move to the southern region for temporary refuge?" Leon repeated with surprise before shaking his head and saying firmly, "There's no need for refuge in the south, nor do we need to leave the Infertile Plains."
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"I can resolve the water problem," Leon shortly claimed with confidence before ordering Chief Silvertooth, "Send people to inform the tribes to call off their plans and have the chiefs summoned back. There are other things we need to discuss."
"Understood, Lord Leonhardt," Chief Silvertooth complied obediently.
Although he had some doubts in his heart, he did not dare to question the Lord's claim, nor would he refute it.
He might have the lofty chief of a ruling tribe, but all are ants below the Demon Lord realm.
Lord Leonhardt wielded power beyond his imagination, not to mention the two Divine Beasts by his side.
It was hard to say how many more Demon Lord-level beings served under him, but just thinking about the possible number of Arch Demon-level followers serving Lord Leonhardt gave him goosebumps.
Thus, there was no shame in serving such a great being, nor was there a choice.
It was either submit and live or resist and die.
…
After Chief Silvertooth left to carry out his task, Leon, with the help of Nightingale and Goldenstride, cleaned up the battlefield around the abyss opening.
All the remnant flesh and blood of men and monsters alike were reduced to ashes to prevent diseases from festering and turning the region into a land of death.
Although Nightingale and Goldenstride understood the intention, they didn't know why it was required.
"I don't think anyone would visit, let alone live near such an ominous hole, my Lord. Is it really necessary to purify this land?" Goldenstride couldn't help but ask after most of the work was done.
"That's where you are wrong, Goldenstride," Leon replied with a smile before explaining, "Even if I replace the old Celestial Water Spark with a new one in its place, much water would be wasted unless the broken water veins in this region are fixed."
"Even after the broken water veins are fixed, there's a chance the water would get contaminated unless the land is purified. Furthermore, since we are going to put so much effort into this land, we might as well build a new city on top of it."
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"After all, the abyss opening gives easy access to the rich natural resources of the subterranean regions, and it's in the heart of the Infertile Plains," Leon added.
He also had other considerations when he made his decision.
Unifying the Infertile Plains might make the various tribes obey him, but it wouldn't stop the differences and grudges they have for one another.
Picking an existing tribe to become the new capital city would only make it seem like he favored that tribe.
If that happened, there was bound to be discrimination and conflict.
Although building a new city from the ground up wouldn't erase such problems, the problems would be minimized at the very least.
…
After cleaning up the region, Leon used his Earth Authority to smooth out the land. Even so, Chief Silvertooth and the others had yet to return at that point.
Instead of doing nothing while he waited, Leon set up a Teleportation Array to the Darkmoon Tribe and went to inform the southern leaders of the current situation.
"We were beginning to worry something happened to you, but what you've accomplished during this period has far exceeded my expectations, Alliance Leader—No, Hegemon Leonhardt," Chief Valencia expressed shock and amazement.
"Right," Battle King One-Eye nodded with agreement and added, "The Alliance Leader should be called Hegemon Leonhardt at this point."
"The Mighty Whitewolf Tribe, Divine Tortoise Tribe, Black Warbear Tribe, and the entire western region have all submitted. And there's also the Golden Suanni Clan in the far west on top of that. So Hegemon Leonhardt unifying the Infertile Plains is guaranteed to happen."
"Heck, I feel like Hegemon Leonhardt can even conquer the whole world!" Battle King One-Eye chuckled with high praise and worship.
Leon's list of accomplishments was the best thing he had heard in the past week.
"How exciting!" Battle King One-Eye added.
"Alright, that's enough, Senior One-Eye," Leon stopped Battle King One-Eye before adding, "My ears will soon grow calluses if you keep going. I didn't come back to listening to all of these praises."
"I want you all to join me on a trip to the Central Region. We will convene with the other chiefs and leaders there so that I can discuss my plans for the Infertile Plains with everyone," Leon shortly stated his purpose for returning.
Everyone's expressions quickly turned serious before simultaneously offering their respectful salutes and responding in unison.
"Yes, Hegemon Leonhardt!"
Chapter 1105 Sustainable Solution
Infertile Plains, Central Region.
On the southern side of the abyss opening, Leon took his seat on an earthen throne and swept his gaze across the seated members present.
They were all people of the highest statuses in the Infertile Plains.
On the far left side sat the Battle King One-Eye and the six chiefs of the Southern Region. Next, three out of four ruling tribes' chiefs and their fifteen subordinate tribal chiefs took the center seats. Lastly, Chief Sur-Khan and the rest of the western tribe leaders occupied the right seats.
More than half of the Infertile Plains had sworn their allegiance to Leon.
Not far behind Leon stood Goldenstride and Nightingale as the sole representatives of their respective clans.
'Haiz, truly an impressive lineup. Who knew there would be a day I would witness such an extraordinary sight and be a part of it?" Chief Valencia silently sighed, full of sentiments.
Everyone was aware that their combined military strength was more than enough to sweep the remaining half of the land and unify the Infertile Plains.
However, that was not the agenda for their gathering, nor their intention. Enough blood had been shed; it needed to stop.
Furthermore, how could they still think about fighting when they're about to run out of water?
Although everyone wondered how Leon would solve the water problem for the whole Infertile Plains, no one raised their question.
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Everyone waited for him to speak.
"It seems everyone is present." Leon acknowledged everyone's attendance with a nod before he continued, "I've gathered you all here today to discuss the construction of a new city."
"Constructing a new city? What do you mean by that, my Lord?" Chief Ironshield furrowed his brows and asked the question everyone wanted to know, "What about your solution to the water shortage?"
"I meant what I said exactly," Leon coolly replied before continuing, "We will build a new city around this abyss opening. How the city is designed will be up to all of you. You can be innovative, or you can be simple; it doesn't matter."
"I only have two requirements; I want the broken water veins repaired, and mines set up in the abyss to procure minerals from the metal deposits. Once the water veins are repaired, I naturally have my ways to solve the water shortage."
"Of course, you won't feel assured with my words alone, so let this put your hearts at ease," Leon raised the Celestial Water Spark high in the air for everyone to see.
The moment everyone laid eyes on the glowing blue orb in the air, brimming with power, their expressions changed to shock and disbelief.
Some couldn't sit still and directly shot up on their feet for a better look.
"A new Celestial Water Spark!" Chief Blackbear exclaimed loudly with wide eyes.
His gaze was fixed on the Celestial Water Spark without daring to blink once as if he feared it would disappear the next moment.
The Black Warbear Tribe guarded the Celestial Water Spark. Thus, Chief Blackbear could naturally recognize a Celestial Water Spark when he saw one.
Furthermore, it couldn't be the same Celestial Water Spark; one was depleted, and the other emanated with power!
Although it was hard to believe they could have a second Celestial Water Spark, Chief Blackbear couldn't deny the divine object before his very eyes.
"If even Chief Blackbear says so, then it must truly be a Celestial Water Spark… My god, this is incredible! No, this is great! The Infertile Plains is saved!" Chief Sul-Dahki rejoiced as others joined him.
Nevertheless, Leon shook his head and said, "Don't look at this Celestial Water Spark as the key to all your problems. It's only a temporary solution, not a lasting one."
"What do you mean by that, my Lord?" Chief Ironshield asked with surprise before adding, "As long as we replace the old Celestial Water Spark with this new one, the old Celestial Water Spark will be given time to recover its power."
"If we alternate between the two Celestial Water Sparks, we would never have to worry about water shortages again," Chief Ironshield stated.
"Yes, that's correct," Leon calmly acknowledged Chief Ironshield's reason before shaking his head and adding, "But that is only true if the Infertile Plains' population continues to stagnate or even decline."
"As long as humans grow in numbers, it will eventually reach the point when even two Celestial Water Sparks aren't enough to support everyone. But, before that, the beasts living in the Infertile Plains will become extinct, and you will have no more meat."
"Although everyone can live on fruits and vegetables procured from elven crop cultivation, you are all warriors with powerful bodies. You all still need meat, whether it's to live or further your strengths."
"That's why I said this Celestial Water Spark is only a temporary solution and not a lasting one. We need a more sustainable idea to solve all problems once and for all," Leon stated before silently observing everyone's expressions.
He made his point clear, and everyone appeared to be in thought. That said, some still seemed unconvinced that they needed to go so far.
"Of course, you could argue that these problems are distant in the future, and they would have nothing to do with you since you might not live that long," Leon suddenly added. "However, if we keep living destructively, how are we any different from parasites leeching off this world?"
"Do you want your future descendants to abandon the Infertile Plains after it truly becomes uninhabitable and force them to struggle for water and food in other regions?" Leon pressed his question.
"No? I didn't think so," Leon continued after seeing their unwilling gazes and firmly adding, "That's why we have to think sustainably."
A deathly silence ensured the group as everyone had deep looks and furrowed brows. A short while later, Battle King One-Eye broke the silence.
"I suppose you wouldn't have said all of this unless you already have a sustainable idea in mind, right? My Lord?" Battle King One-Eye asked.
"That's right." Leon smiled before admitting with a nod and saying, "Our sustainable solution lies in the Boundless Sea to the far west."
"As long as we create a large river from the Boundless Sea to Infertile Plains, we will have limitless drinking water and sea monster meat after purifying them."
Chapter 1106 Delegating Tasks
"Limitless drinking water and sea monster meat…"
Whether it was Chief Sur-Khan, Chief Valencia, Chief Ironshield, Chief Blackbear, or Chief Silvertooth, everyone present had goosebumps after hearing those words.
If anyone else had spoken those words, Battle King One-Eye and the others would have taken it as the ravings of a lunatic out of touch with reality.
After all, the sheer manpower required to dig such a large and long river from the Boundless Sea in the far west to the Infertile Plains was astronomical.
It would take countless years of digging, not to mention the various tribes wouldn't agree to work together in the first place.
They would have regarded such an idea as a waste of time and effort.
After all, between the western Boundless Sea and the Infertile Plains was the Western Jungle, home to the Golden Suanni Clan and countless other beasts.
They would become food to the powerful beasts of the Western Jungle before they could dig their river.
However, things were different when Hegemon Leonhardt was the one to speak those words. He was someone who could control the wind and rain, transforming the land with just a thought.
Furthermore, he commanded the allegiance of the entire Golden Suanni Clan. The Western Jungle was their beast kingdom.
"With your leadership and ability, creating such an artificial river definitely won't be impossible," Chief Sur-Khan acknowledged before saying, "Just thinking about it gets me excited."
"Same here," the other chiefs chimed in one by one with approving looks.
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As expected, they did not swear their allegiance to the wrong person. Hegemon Leonhardt was an extraordinary and visionary leader who could lead them to greatness.
Meanwhile, Leon silently observed the chiefs.
Perhaps thanks to his charisma, the chiefs' hidden ambitions were waning, making them more honest and willing to work together.
'This is a positive sign of progress,' Leon thought.
The warriors of the Infertile Plains had great potential, but their competition and rivalry limited their achievements.
Divided, they fall. United, they prosper.
Although the Crawford Empire was more than capable of supplying water and food to the entire Infertile Plains in their time of need, it was too costly and inefficient.
Only by making the Infertile Plains self-sufficient would both sides benefit from their trades equally in the future.
'If I give a man a fish, he'll only be fed for a day. But, if I teach him how to fish, I will feed him for a lifetime, huh?' Leon casually thought with a smile.
"When do we start, my Lord?" Chief Ironshield suddenly asked, evidently excited and filled with anticipation.
"The river plan will wait. The new city comes first," Leon decisively stated before continuing, "Once the foundations are laid down, and we have water and food secured, only then can we consider commencing the river plan."
"Understood, my Lord," Chief Ironshield acknowledged Leon's decision.
The river plan might provide limitless water and sea monster meat for years to come, but if they couldn't resolve the immediate water shortage, they wouldn't even last another two weeks.
Nevertheless, Chief Ironshield thought of another matter that might be a minor issue.
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"How do you plan to deal with the Battle God Palace and the remaining tribes, my Lord?" Chief Ironshield asked.
"Considering the Battle God Palace is situated not far from here, they will think were are openly provoking and challenging their authority by building a big city here. I'm afraid they wouldn't just leave us be."
"Naturally, with our numbers and strength, we no longer fear the Battle God Palace. But even if they can't beat us, they can still harass us and delay the city's construction," Chief Ironshield mentioned.
"We don't need to worry about the Battle God Palace harassing us." Leon casually shook his head and said, "We're not building just any big city but a self-sufficient megacity that can accommodate and support the entire Infertile Plains population."
"Once we spread the news, forget about harassing us; the Battle God Palace might even hope we complete the megacity sooner so they can try and take it for themselves. They can afford to wait if their secret water reserve is as large as I think it is."
"However, the same can't be said for the remaining unaffiliated tribes. The Battle God Palace would most likely try to buy their allegiance with the enticement of water or some other means so they can have a fighting chance against us," Leon speculated.
"We can't let that happen, my Lord," Chief Silvertooth voiced his opinion.
"Given the Battle God's long years as the de facto ruler of the Infertile Plains, the Battle God Palace will not quietly surrender their authority to us. If we give them a chance to consolidate their power, there will be more bloodshed."
"I suggest we send people to the remaining unaffiliated tribes to persuade their peaceful submission, my Lord," Chief Silvertooth suggested shortly after.
"I also had the same thought," Leon acknowledged with a nod and said, "Now that the Celestial Water Spark's power is depleted, many tribes must be anxiously looking for solutions or preparing to leave the Infertile Plains."
"This makes it easier for us to acquire their allegiance. Un, I'll leave this task to you," Leon delegated the job of sending people to persuade the unaffiliated tribes to Chief Silvertooth.
"Gladly with honor, my Lord!" Chief Silvertooth patted his chest proudly with excitement after being given such an important task.
However, he soon discovered it wasn't all that important to Leon.
"You only need to deliver the message to the unaffiliated tribes. There's no need to put too much effort into persuading them; it will only make us look weak," Leon instructed before reminding him, "Remember, we aren't the ones in a desperate situation; they are."
"Furthermore, loyalty can't be bought with desperation. If they are willing to submit, that's great. If not, then so be it. In the end, they will still surrender to us. However, their standing will be lower."
"You should forget about the Holy Sunfire Tribe and just focus on the tribes in the northern and eastern regions," Leon instructed.
"Understood, my Lord," Chief Silvertooth obeyed, seemingly calmed down.
If not for Hegemon Leonhardt's reminder, he would have done everything he could to persuade the remaining tribes to complete his task perfectly and increase his standing.