This autumn, there were no urgent matters.
For this Roving Merchant trip, Dragon Cypress took 20 Specialized Blue Ants, 20 Large Blue Ants, and 20 each of medium and small Worker Ants.
En route, he went to Molan Mountain, searching for Divine-Given Seeds while also extensively gathering wild fruits to refine into Ant Honey.
Taking a detour, he arrived at White Rice Mountain just in time.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the transaction began.
The ordinary White Rice and Black Rice Life Seeds from the White Rice Territory were the first to mature and were purchased outright for a total of 1,400 Source Stones.
Dragon Cypress directed the Worker Ants to harvest from the trees.
Black Rice hurried over with its Metal Can, calling out, "Dragon Cypress Ant King! Dragon Cypress Ant King! My Rice Trees have also borne fruit. Will you buy them?"
"Oh—"
Ink Orchid, listening happily, said, "Little Black Rice's territory is also starting to produce?"
"Yes!"
Black Rice waved its slender tentacles, eagerly asking, "Will you buy them?"
"Yes!" Dragon Cypress, with deep pockets, was open to all comers. With a sweep of his tentacle, he said, "Let's go take a look."
"This way! This way!" Black Rice ran ahead to lead the way.
In the eastern territory at the mountain range's eastern end, stood four Rice Trees, only about 3 meters tall. Care had been taken to thin their flowers and fruit, so their yield wasn't high.
Dragon Cypress glanced over and asked, "Little Black Rice, all four Rice Tree Life Seeds have produced this year. I'll buy them outright for 140 Source Stones. What do you say?"
"Only that much~"
Black Rice, who had seen "big scenes," hesitated and was somewhat disappointed.
We must not dampen the little warrior's enthusiasm for trade. Dragon Cypress quickly reassured, "Black Rice, this is the first income of your insect life. As the number and size of Life Seeds in your territory grow, your income will increase year by year. The Life Seed Plants you chose are more excellent. Catching up with and surpassing White Rice is just a matter of time."
The thought of overtaking White Rice energized Black Rice, and its confidence soared.
"Alright, 140 Source Stones it is! I want to buy Ant Honey!"
"Hold on, no rush. We'll settle up together later on."
"I want a separate account from White Rice!"
Separate accounts? What could 140 Source Stones possibly buy?
Black Rice added, "Red Fox said that in the future, the produce of the Divine-Given White Rice Seed will be evenly split between me and White Rice."
Ah! Red Fox had clarified the division of the wild Divine-Given White Rice Seed early on, preventing future friction between White Rice and Black Rice.
Dragon Cypress inquired, "Little Black Rice, what do you need?"
Black Rice announced, "I want to buy two cans of Origin Force Ant Honey, valued at 2,000 Source Stones each!"
In spring, White Ivy brought over 30 Metal Cans, and Dragon Cypress took 10 on this trip. There were more than enough Metal Cans to go around.
"Done!" Dragon Cypress readily agreed.
Ink Orchid spoke with overflowing enthusiasm to White Rice, "We brought a particularly rich variety of goods this year, many high-quality Origin Force Foods that you've never tasted before. Let me show you..."
...
The Divine-Given White Rice Seeds still needed some time to mature.
After completing the first round of transactions, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid went to the Jianlan Plain and thoroughly searched the area, picking wild fruits.
Timing it right, they returned on schedule.
This batch had 846 fruits.
The quality hadn't changed, priced at 13 Source Stones per fruit.
Dragon Cypress bought them all for 11,000 Source Stones.
It took an entire day to refine and produce White Rice Ant King Honey.
After saying goodbye, they went west, took a big detour, and leisurely made their way toward Ghost Fan Mountain.
...
「Under the blue sky and white clouds.」
The Dominating Throne showed the most striking change, flying at low altitude.
Dragon Cypress commanded the Worker Ants to flip over the White Rice Seeds drying on the soft mat.
Ink Orchid lay on the edge of the Throne, head down, intently scanning the forest below for rare plants, tasty wild fruits, Starship Wreckage, and so on.
"Dragon Cypress, are we flying off course?"
"Off course?"
"It's getting a bit hot."
"We're almost at the Southern Ocean."
"Ocean? To see the sea?"
"No, not to see. To pick tropical fruits. We can make a detour to where we found Keg Vine last time, pick a couple of Keg Vine Seeds, and try sowing them at Southern Sour Jujube Mountain."
"Oh~"
Ink Orchid waved her tentacles and said, "Dragon Cypress, over there, mangoes. Should we pick some?"
For this outing, Dragon Cypress had brought 2 High-Level Specialized Blue Ants, nearly 1 meter in length, with oversized capacity.
They were still starving...
"Pick!" Dragon Cypress commanded the Dominating Throne to move there.
The undulating hills and mountains, covered with forests of mango trees, had passed the peak of the fruit season. Most of the ripe fruits had fallen to the ground, leaving very few on the trees.
By the size and shape of the fruits, they were divided into five kinds: one was the native mango species, another was the long-stemmed native mango species, and the other three were varieties.
It was certain that a long time ago, an Insect Clan specialized in cultivating mango trees had settled here.
With the depletion of Origin Force, the Insect Clan disappeared.
Without the management of the Insect Clan, these mango trees degenerated back to a 'wild state' in order to survive in the harsh natural environment.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid spent some time picking fruits for Refinement Ant Honey and also collected a batch of seeds to throw onto Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to see if they could survive.
Mango seeds were large. Only after reaching Mountain Lord Level could an insect incorporate them into its Life Pouch to nurture Life Seeds.
The enhancement effects of the three varieties were unclear; in the future, they might find an insect to test them.
...
It took a day to gather enough fresh fruits to fill the belly of one High-Level Specialized Blue Ant.
The Divine-Given White Rice Seeds were air-dried and stored in the Spider Silk Bag.
Calculating the time, the Woodberry Life Seed Fruits of Ghost Fan should also be close to ripening.
Departing, heading west, they accelerated their pace.
They hadn't flown far when Ink Orchid, who was lying on the edge of the Throne, suddenly leaped up.
"Dragon Cypress! An Origin Force fluctuation!"
"Over there!"
Ink Orchid raised her forelimbs and pointed in the southwest direction.
"Let's go!" Dragon Cypress, slightly excited, adjusted the course of the Dominating Throne.
After finding Black Lotus Lake and White Willow four or five years ago, they finally found another Land of Origin Force.
And it was located in a tropical region.
It would be best if there were Insect Clan Warriors. If not, it wouldn't matter; they could develop an orchard in the future and plant a large variety of delicious tropical fruits to enhance the taste of Ant Honey.
Ink Orchid had evolved into a High-Level Flower Mantis Warrior; her perception of Origin Force fluctuations was now sharper, and her sensing distance had increased.
Dragon Cypress had evolved into a High-Level Ant King, and the Dominating Throne's flight speed under his control had seen a notable improvement.
Even so, it still took them half a day to arrive at the location.
「At dusk.」
The Dominating Throne hovered high in the sky.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid looked into the distance, hesitating to proceed.
Now, Dragon Cypress was a High-Level Ant King and Ink Orchid was a High-Level Flower Mantis Warrior. They had both used various Origin Force Foods to enhance their comprehensive physique. Their combat strength was absolutely not weak; together, they could defeat any ordinary High-Level Insect Clan Warrior.
Moreover, with their Enhanced Membrane Wings strengthened by Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, their flight speed had increased. If they couldn't win a fight, they could still run away.
Across Cloud Trace Continent's various Origin Force Isolated Islands, at most, only High-Level Insect Clan Warriors could appear. There was no possibility of a Mountain Lord being present.
Looking over Cloud Trace Continent, considering Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid's current strength, they were not invincible, but they faced relatively little danger.
The only thing they needed to be cautious of were flying Insects such as bees, wasps, and hornets, to avoid being attacked by swarms.
"Dragon Cypress, same old strategy?"
Ink Orchid inquired.
The old strategy was to sneak over quietly in the middle of the night to get the lay of the land.
"Do we need to be that careful?"
With some hesitation, Dragon Cypress replied, "I'll park the Dominating Throne over that river, and then we'll both fly directly over to check the situation."
"Bring a couple of cans of Origin Force Ant Honey. In case there's danger, flee west. Escape into the Origin Force vacuum area to avoid danger and use the Ant Honey to replenish any lost Origin Force. Later, we'll circle back here."
"Alright!" Ink Orchid, somewhat impatient, agreed readily.
The Throne was stocked with ready-made Origin Force Food, prepared for Ghost Fan and Woodberry, packed in small Spider Silk Bags. Each took a can and set off on their journey.