Chapter 360

Chapter 360: New Discoveries

Huh??

Hearing Red Pupil’s words, Lin Yu froze momentarily.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

Though faint suspicions stirred within her, Lin Yu still voiced her question with uncertainty.

“Mother will understand soon. Let’s return to the chamber first.”

Red Pupil appeared unwilling to elaborate further, tugging Lin Yu’s hand as they moved through the corridors.

They reached the third-floor bedchamber without encountering any other daughters along the way.

Had they all retired already? But the hour remained early.

As this thought crossed Lin Yu’s mind, Red Pupil pushed open the carved doors and addressed the Stealth Ant sentries lurking in shadowed corners both inside and beyond the threshold.

“Sisters?”

“You may withdraw from guard duty tonight. Rest in your quarters.”

“But…”

The gray-armored ants shifted their antennae toward Lin Yu.

“…Follow Little Pupil’s instructions.”

After a brief pause, Lin Yu nodded her assent.

With skittering clicks of chitin, the guards dispersed down the stone passages.

“Come, Mother.”

The crimson-eyed child smiled sweetly up at the white-haired woman once the ants departed.

The bedchamber stood unchanged from when Lin Yu had left it moons prior—save for a luminous coil of snowy filaments gracing the central table.

“What’s this?”

Lin Yu tilted her head, fingers brushing the lustrous strands.

“Silk. The sisters discovered it during their search for you and Little Shadow in the woodlands.”

Red Pupil’s gaze lingered on the shimmering threads.

“I meant to tell you earlier, but it slipped my mind amidst… other matters.”

Noticing her mother’s fascination, the child set aside her original purpose and began explaining.

…

The Granville Monster Forest’s expanse defied full exploration within mere weeks, yet even during their urgent search, the Ant Tribe had cataloged unprecedented flora and peculiar creatures.

This particular silk originated from alabaster larvae inhabiting thorned shrubs clinging to sheer cliffs. When tested, the substance proved astonishingly resilient—Red Pupil’s initial casual strikes failed to sever the strands, requiring her full strength to finally snap them.

She subsequently ordered her siblings to conduct similar trials…

They discovered that the silk threads could also defend against Army Lady’s slashes, Lvzi’s acid assaults, and Magic Rainbow’s magical strikes.

Though the daughters could effortlessly shatter these threads with full-powered attacks, the silk’s ability to withstand such formidable assaults still astonished them.

They proceeded to appraise the silken strands.

Upon successful activation of the skill, an informational panel about the silk materialized before their eyes:

/Snow Silkworm Thread: A rare monster material. In its raw state, this extraordinarily resilient substance can endure full-force strikes from advanced monsters. However, Snow Silkworms invariably reclaim their spun threads through consumption after secretion. Due to the species’ scarcity and unique biological characteristics, no historical records of this material exist within continental archives.

After appraising the threads, the group’s curiosity intensified, prompting them to inspect the Snow Silkworms clinging to the foliage.

True to the description, the creatures were currently engaged in devouring their own silk.

Successful appraisal revealed both Attribute Panels and descriptive entries for these insects.

The initial glimpse of their Attribute Panels provoked fresh astonishment:

Despite possessing pitifully low levels (mostly unranked LV.1 and LV.2), the silkworms displayed terrifyingly high qualifications – predominantly A Qualification specimens with a minority reaching S Qualification.

The Snow Silkworm’s description read:

/Snow Silkworm: Ephemeral natural marvels of exceptional aptitude. These scarce creatures emerge exclusively in arboreal heights during winter’s twilight, when frost yields to spring’s approach. They spin threads at dawn only to ingest them by dusk, their bodies ultimately dissolving into snowmelt upon the earth. Though blessed with extraordinary qualifications, their existence spans merely a single day.

Red Pupil observed that removing Snow Silkworms from their arboreal perch caused immediate dissolution into palm-held snowmelt, akin to winter’s fleeting flakes. Notably, the excreted silk remained unaffected by this transformation.

The shared realization dawned upon the group – these threads might be woven into protective garments…

Their attempts at collection proved challenging. Minimal silk clung to the trees, and the approaching twilight found the silkworms ceasing production to methodically consume their creations. At Red Pupil’s command, the daughters unceremoniously snatched threads from the creatures’ mandibles, compressing them into dense bundles for storage in their Magic Backpacks.

As the last filaments vanished into storage, the group’s deliberations about handling the remaining Snow Silkworms were interrupted by crystalline chimes – the creatures melted into glistening puddles upon the bark.

“What waste, gathering so little. Could we but cultivate these beings…”

“Nature-born dawn-to-dusk ephemerals… pitiable little things,” Magic Rainbow murmured ruefully.

Her thoughts drifted: What of our ant-kind’s lifespan? The human race claims mere decades. Southern Orcs and beast-folk endure shorter still. Only demon race and elves boast longevity in records. Our monster-kind lacks proper documentation, and ant-kin particulars remain utterly unrecorded…

Shaking off these musings, she turned to Red Pupil. “Sister, our course?”

“Station watchers here. The remainder shall continue seeking Mother and Little Shadow,” Red Pupil decreed after consideration. “Given their daily cycle, fresh broods may emerge here periodically. Properly woven and enhanced with Worker Ants’ Special Mucus, this silk could forge remarkable armor. Let us search neighboring cliffs and woods for other colonies.”

Magic Rainbow nodded agreement. Subsequent days revealed two additional Snow Silkworm habitats near their search routes for Lin Yu and Darkling Stalker. Daily cycles continued unabated at all three sites – births at dawn, meticulous spinning, then dusk’s inevitable dissolution.

The ant-kin harvested every available thread with monastic diligence, yet the total yield proved meager – perhaps twenty garment sets at most. This estimation confronted another obstacle: no weavers existed within their ranks.

“Perhaps the human race’s settlements hold skilled artisans,” Red Pupil mused, eyeing the precious bundles.