Meichi was now wingless.
Without them, her strength plummeted. She had to tread carefully through the jungle to avoid drawing the eyes of predators.
Luck was on her side. After two days of crawling, she actually made it back to the nest.
“Lord... Lord...”
Her mournful telepathic cries and staggering crawl made her look truly pathetic.
The Mantis Lord, Caiyi, possessed a stunning pair of tricolored wings.
Because females of their species were naturally stronger, she boasted an exaggerated body length of a full meter despite only being at the Sixth Grade.
Her iconic Sickle Legs gleamed with a metallic luster, and two elegant antennae sprouted from her triangular head.
She looked mighty and domineering—far more robust than any male.
“Why are you in such a state? Did you encounter a strong foe?”Countless predators roamed the territory. Many species were naturally stronger than Mantises, meaning even Caiyi's top generals ran the risk of becoming prey.
She assumed Meichi had encountered a strong foe.
Unexpectedly...
Meichi's four legs gave out, and she slumped to the ground. “Lord, I was attacked by our male kin!”
“Please, Lord, you must get justice for me!”
What?
Caiyi was completely taken aback.
With a single flap of her wings, she closed the distance between them.
“You possess Third Grade strength. The males are weak—how could they possibly hurt you? Tell me everything.”
Meichi's voice broke with a sob. “I encountered two males in the dense forest—one at the Third Grade, and one at the Fifth Grade. I tried to summon them back to the nest for our great reproduction plan, but that Fifth Grade male was unusually brutal. Without a word, he sheared my wings off... I spent days hiding in the forest and barely made it back alive.”
Fifth Grade!
Caiyi felt a surge of shock and delight.
She was shocked because, while there were many male Mantises in her territory, almost all of them were weaklings. For years, the strongest male had only reached the Third Grade. Their meat tasted average and did little to boost her power.
But now, a Fifth Grade male had appeared right in her domain!
She was delighted because a Fifth Grade male was nothing short of a blessing from the heavens.
Due to the unique mechanics of Mantises, even the strongest males would be driven wild with desire when facing a female, losing all ability to resist.
After the act of reproduction, the male's only fate was to be devoured.
And once a female ate her mate, she would perfectly absorb and stack his strength onto her own.
This unique mechanic was the very reason why Mantis males were weak and females were strong.
Caiyi had been stuck at the Sixth Grade for years. She remained unable to advance for two main reasons: she did not dare provoke the truly powerful species, and eating the weaker ones offered no real benefit.
Yet now, there was a Fifth Grade male right in her territory.
As long as she mated with him and ate him to perfectly absorb his power, she would absolutely break through to the Seventh Grade!
After reaching the Seventh Grade, her diet would change, making further advancement in this life a real possibility!
But Caiyi was a Lord. After her initial surprise and joy, she did not become overly excited.
“We still have some time before secreting the Female Pheromone,” she said. “Once the date arrives and we can secrete the Female Pheromone, even the strongest male will have to obediently submit. Besides, he is only at the Fifth Grade. He is nothing before me; he won't be able to make any waves!”
It was true. The females of their species were the natural bane of the males. Never mind a male weaker than the Lord—even if he were stronger than her, the moment the Female Pheromone was secreted, the strongest male would still have to obediently submit.
“You found two strong males. According to the rules, the Third Grade one will naturally be given to you! Once you mate with him and devour him, you will break through to the Fourth Grade. You can molt then and regrow your wings.”
Meichi felt a sudden burst of joy.
It was guaranteed!
With the Lord's promise, none of the other females would dare fight her for him.
Once the Female Pheromone was secreted, she could easily devour the Third Grade male. Then she would advance, molt, and regrow her beautiful wings.
“You are wise, Lord!”
...
Over the past few days, Lu Qing had been working tirelessly on his own advancement.
With Dazhuang's perfect coordination, dozens of various birds had become their food.
Unfortunately, because no high-grade birds had fallen for the trap, the Flesh Value they gained was relatively low.
He was still five points shy of his next advancement.
Under Lu Qing's tutelage, combined with the steady nourishment of bird meat that fueled his continuous advancement, Dazhuang's intellect had also sharpened noticeably.
For example, while luring birds this time, this guy actually stuck out his swollen belly and squirmed around constantly, masquerading as a fat grub.
“After these past few days, my belly has gotten increasingly sexy. Even I'm tempted when I look at it...”
This cheeky remark left Lu Qing with a look of utter exasperation.
He had gotten smarter, sure, but why did he have to be so utterly shameless?
“Behave yourself. If the birds hear your transmissions, who's going to dare fly down?”
Dazhuang only squirmed harder. “Relax. Any bird that sees a belly as seductive as mine is going to drool to death.”
To be fair, Dazhuang's confidence was not entirely unwarranted.
At that exact moment, a passing large bird actually spotted the tempting feast below.
No bird could resist something like that.
It dove down without hesitation.
Sensing that a bird had taken the bait, Dazhuang inwardly rejoiced, but a second later, his joy vanished.
It was a Fifth Grade Arrow Sparrow.
Arrow Sparrows were usually petite birds, but this Fifth Grade Arrow Sparrow measured a full forty centimeters long, and its wingspan exceeded a meter.
This exaggerated size, coupled with its blinding speed, sent Dazhuang into an instant panic.
“Holy shit, it's a Fifth Grade Arrow Sparrow! We overdid it!”
This curse—which he had picked up from Lu Qing—was incredibly expressive, perfectly capturing his absolute panic and despair.
The Arrow Sparrow was certainly fast, but Lu Qing, having already prepared, did not panic at all.
He waited for the perfect moment and launched a fierce strike with his Sickle Leg.
However, this Fifth Grade Arrow Sparrow was also incredibly cunning.
Consciousness communication was just like speaking aloud—any species within a certain radius could “hear” it.
The moment it heard Dazhuang's shout, it sharply sensed something unusual.
When that massive Sickle Leg emerged from behind the rock, it rapidly flapped its wings to change direction, narrowly dodging the strike and landing on a branch.
...
Lu Qing paused in surprise. What incredible reflexes on this Arrow Sparrow, he thought.
Since they began baiting birds, this was their very first miss.
...
The Arrow Sparrow stood on the branch, staring blankly at the pile of bird bones not far away.
Clearly, countless birds had already fallen victim to these two Mantises.
Then, without hesitation, it flapped its wings and soared high.
Those two Mantises are full of dirty tricks! I was almost caught!
I must warn my kin! There is a deadly trap here!
...
Lu Qing was completely dumbfounded.
For the next two days, for some unknown reason, not a single bird took the bait.
Forget taking the bait; it was as if all the birds had reached an agreement and simply refused to pass over this dense forest altogether.
Dazhuang patted his noticeably shrunken belly.
“What's going on these past few days? We haven't seen a single bird. My belly's going flat from hunger...”
Lu Qing spread his wings and flew down from the treetops.
“I already checked. The birds are deliberately avoiding this patch of the forest. It's obvious our bird-baiting scheme has been exposed.”
“What do we do now?”
Having acquired a deep taste for bird meat, Dazhuang couldn't help but feel depressed upon hearing that their scheme was exposed.
Lu Qing glanced at his nearly full experience bar and immediately said, “Simple. We change our menu.”
“There's nothing left for us to eat in this part of the forest anyway.”
Having reached the Low Tier Fourth Grade, Dazhuang's appetite was excellent, and he was brimming with ambition.
Ordinary green caterpillars weren't even enough to fill the gaps in his teeth.
Besides, eating Low Tier species merely filled the stomach.
“This dense forest is only as big as a palm; it's perfectly normal that we ran out of things to eat. Let's head outside, there will be plenty to eat out there!”
Lu Qing still had no clear concept of exactly how massive this world was.
Even when standing at the highest point in the dense forest, all he could see was an endless expanse of towering trees.
In such a vast forest, there would definitely be no shortage of food.