In the mid-afternoon, Northern Gorgon began to accelerate its absorption of Origin Force.
The usual method: assign Specialized Blue Soldiers to carry Large Worker Ants, gripping Source Stones, standing beneath the offshoots, scraping off Source Stone powder and scattering it on the water surface.
As the Origin Force is released, it is instantly absorbed by the densely distributed Gorgon Fruit leaves.
If the powder sinks to the bottom, it becomes the best nutrient for the Divine-Given Northern Gorgon Seed's growth.
Giant Cypress returned to the nest, marshaling Soldier Ants to strengthen the reservoir's defenses.
Round Cypress arrived with Worker Ants in tow.
Spiked Cypress sensed the commotion and hurried over to join the crowd.
A massive, dark swarm gathered, waiting expectantly on the hillside by the reservoir.
By nightfall, 400 pieces of Source Stone had been used up.
The Northern Gorgon's frenzy of Origin Force absorption gradually subsided, and now Natural Primordial Force was largely able to satisfy its needs.
By late night, all was utterly calm.
The next day, in the sunlight, the fruit's color dimmed little by little.
Six days later, the stems withered, and the fruit naturally split open, revealing the Gorgon Fruit Seeds inside.
Fully ripe.
Dragon Cypress, guarding the shore, waved its tentacles and issued an order: Harvest.
The Specialized Blue Soldiers, who had been waiting for days, carried Large Worker Ants and rushed into the reservoir to pick each fruit and deliver them to the shore.
On the shore, Worker Ants were responsible for extracting the Gorgon Fruit Seeds inside, passing them along wooden planks up to the Dominating Throne.
"Giant Cypress, Spiked Cypress, Round Cypress, you each take 30."
"Cypress and Fragrant Cypress, 5 each as well. Round Cypress, take them back to the Ant Nest, have the Blue Ants refine them into Ant Honey, and over 20 days, feed it to them bit by bit."
Dragon Cypress used small Spider Silk Bags for separate packaging and organized the allocation.
"Ink Orchid, you and I can each eat 50, that's enough."
"Alright—"
Ink Orchid asked anxiously, "Dragon Cypress, now that the fruit has ripened, quickly set a price!"
Dragon Cypress picked up a seed and considered, saying, "Sell to the caravan: 22 to 23 Source Stones each. The caravan will resell it at 26 to 28 Source Stones each."
Dragon Cypress outlined the plan in detail: "Total yield: 465 seeds. We'll eat 200 ourselves. The remaining 265: Ghost Fan and White Rice get 100 each, Mountain Persimmon gets 50, and there's a White Willow... let's give it 15."
Ink Orchid: "What about the price?"
Dragon Cypress: "Within Cloud Trace Continent, just use the lowest—26 Source Stones each."
Ink Orchid: "Oh—"
Ink Orchid: "What about Mulberry?"
Dragon Cypress: "What Mulberry needs now is Carapace and Comprehensive Physique Enhancement. Wait for the next batch of Northern Gorgon, then we'll consider it."
Ink Orchid, delighted yet half-worried, muttered, "The yield is too low. Black Rice and Woodberry need some too, there's just not enough to go around."
The Divine-Given Northern Gorgon Seed's output is in high demand for all insects; next time the Roving Merchant visits each Land of Origin Force, everyone will be seeking Ink Orchid for a share.
That is what truly delights the insects.
But Dragon Cypress didn't seem to grasp Ink Orchid's meaning. It cracked open a seed, ate it, sensed quietly for a while, waved its tentacles and said placidly:
"This kind of Divine-Given Origin Force Food is always in short supply, no matter where you put it. No rush, take your time."
Ink Orchid followed suit, peeling a seed and tasting it, murmuring, "Next year, when the Southern Gorgon's Divine-Given Seed fruit ripens, we can pay off the caravan's debt."
Dragon Cypress: "I'm afraid not. Mulberry used up too many resources; we still have to borrow some."
Ink Orchid: "Uh..."
…
…
…
On a midwinter morning, a thin mist veiled the mountains and forests, drifting with the gentle breeze.
The daily routine:
Ink Orchid got up early, walked out of its cave, and came to the territory of the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed.
"Fragrant Orchid, the Northern Gorgon fruit has fully ripened and been harvested, you—"
"Soon! Soon! Very soon, almost ripe."
"Today?"
"I feel—should be..."
"Yay!"
With Advanced Evolution, soul growth, and stronger spiritual power, the Divine-Given Seed had a clearer sense of its own state.
Fragrant Orchid's intuition wouldn't be wrong.
Ink Orchid fluttered up, soared over the mountain ridge, and entered the Ant Nest from the South Mountain entrance.
"Dragon Cypress! Dragon Cypress!"
"Fruit-Scented Orchid is ripe!"
...
After Northern Gorgon, the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed entered maturity.
Yield: 1001 seeds.
Estimated caravan sale price: 10 Source Stones/seed.
Plan is to sell 700 seeds, Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord takes 100, White Ivy and Melde 600.
Internal Cloud Trace Continent sale is set at 12 Source Stones/seed, also the lowest price.
Sell 300 internally: Mulberry and Ghost Fan 100 each, Mountain Persimmon and White Rice 50 each.
...
Northern Gorgon and Fruit-Scented Orchid, the two Divine-Given Seeds, were harvested, sun-dried, and stored away.
This year, with no urgent expectation or worry over the territory, Ink Orchid wandered aimlessly across the mountain, bored to death, and finally went to help Round Cypress dig out the reservoir.
Occasionally, Dragon Cypress would summon it back to taste Ant Honey.
Now, whenever Spiked Cypress saw Dragon Cypress, it would turn around and run for it.
The sweetest winter for insects.
The sky was gloomy and heavy, with intermittent cold rain persisting for four or five days.
A night of chilling wind.
A light rain followed.
The sky cleared up.
After several consecutive sunny days, the temperature climbed day by day. Deep inside the Ant Nest, Worker Ants grew restless and began to emerge from the caves.
Mountain North Molan Life Seed was the first to bloom.
The other Orchid Life Seeds soon followed suit.
The various Cypress, Green Torreya, Large Fruit Hemlock, and other Arbor Life Seeds all began to sprout flower buds.
Another year's spring is here!
Dragon Cypress had spent the entire winter buried in research, and the large stores of wild fruits collected and refined last summer and autumn to make Ant Honey were now exhausted.
Ultimately, for each of the four fragrance types, around twenty recipes were locked in.
In the future, every year's harvest of various fruits could be adjusted into the optimal blends.
Dragon Cypress adjusted its mood, left the restaurant, and started patrolling the territory.
With High-Level Ant King evolution, common Life Seed plants bloomed about half a month early.
The early-sown Dragon Cypress, Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, Giant Cypress, Cypress, and Dried Fragrant Cypress—all six—having rested through the past year's flowering and fruiting, had rapidly grown to heights of five to eight meters.
They were finally forming a grove. No need to thin out the flowers anymore, just let them bloom and fruit freely.
Dragon Cypress estimated that these six Cypress Life Seeds would bring in 100 to 300 Source Stones each this autumn, for a total revenue exceeding a thousand Source Stones.
The Large Fruit Hemlock, Green Torreya Tree, and Golden Pine Life Seed, all planted on the mountain summit, had grown beyond five meters and now put forth buds—some flower thinning needed to limit the fruit.
Other Life Seeds—Great King Fir, Dominant Chestnut, Black Emperor Peach, Spotted Star Pear, Six Paths Wood—all were budding and had grown to a decent scale, all could bear a modest crop.
Sky Blue Persimmon and Purple Kiwifruit, those two Life Seeds, would rest another year; plans would depend on next year's situation.
This spring was truly busy.
Some Life Seed plants would require careful and precise thinning of their blooms; all would need loosened soil and additional fertilizer.
The developed ordinary fruit trees and Cypress groves also needed tending; some saplings were flowering and needed selective thinning.
The nursery held many fruit and Cypress seedlings, all needing transplantation.
Meanwhile, new seeds needed sowing and the nursery continued propagation.
Ink Orchid was busy as well, once again fiddling with regular Orchid Grass, hounding Dragon Cypress every day to have Micro Worker Ants help with pollination—pursuing hybridization research.
Dragon Cypress's head felt three sizes larger from all this.
...
The Dominating Throne kept producing Ant Eggs.
Every day, new Soldier Ants emerged and ventured from the Ant Nest.
The number of High-Level Specialized Soldier Ants surpassed one hundred; large and mid-sized Soldier Ants, more than fifty each; and there were over a hundred Soldier Ant larvae still maturing in the Hatchery.
The kingdom's strength was rising steadily and rapidly.
During a drizzly spring twilight,
in the newly expanded South Mountain Restaurant,
Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress gathered together, eating freshly hunted venison, as cheers and lively commotion drifted over from the Ant Nest.
Surrounded by Worker Ants, a Blue Ant of more than half a meter long, with a shape nearly identical to Dragon Cypress (except without membranous wings, a slightly rounded abdomen, and six blue ring patterns), walked over.
It emerged at the Mid-Level of Age Period 1.
Compared to Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress (whom Dragon Cypress had raised at the Mid-Level Ant King stage), its form was clearly more perfect and its physique even stronger.
"Fragrant Cypress!" Ink Orchid exclaimed.
"Great King, Second King."
"Round Cypress. Spiked Cypress. Giant Cypress."
Intelligent Blue Ants and Giant Blue Soldier larvae are aware from an early age, and since they were always fetched to taste Ant Honey, Fragrant Cypress could recognize every insect present.
Born with an outgoing nature, it greeted everyone proactively.
"Fragrant Cypress——"
Dragon Cypress replied, flicking a tentacle and sharply rapping Spiked Cypress on the head: Was it you who taught it to say 'Great King, Second King'? Even Fragrant Cypress has been led astray by you.
"Fragrant Cypress," Giant Cypress responded.
"Fragrant Cypress, here, come eat!" Round Cypress scooted over and warmly called out, waving its tentacles and directing Worker Ants to bring over a wooden dish made from Keg Vine Seed, then poured out Ant Honey.
Dragon Cypress also called out, "Fragrant Cypress, you just emerged—you must be starving! Come, eat some meat."