Dragon Cypress and Molan spent half a month weeding, loosening the soil, and hunting large animals to bury deep and compost for the nineteen Life Seed plants of Sang.
Similarly, they loosened the soil and composted for the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed, and even helped clean up the mango orchard.
Watching as Sang finished eating a jar of White Rice Ant King Honey, and confirming that its physical and mental conditions had improved, they finally felt at ease and left.
They made a beeline for Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to search for Divine-Given Seeds, tend to the Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Seed, and selected suitable spots to sow all the Keg Vine Seeds.
Then they headed north to Black Lotus Lake to deliver Origin Force Food worth 2,000 Source Stones to White Willow. By next spring, it could advance to a Mid-Level Four-Aged Beautiful Winged Dragonfly Warrior.
Because of the physical build of Dragonfly Warriors, they simply weren't adept at managing a territory.
Over on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, large and small dragonfly and butterfly tribal warriors all cooperated symbiotically with other insect tribes awakened to Earth Elemental Abilities.
Dragon Cypress and Molan didn't have anything urgent, so they lingered at Black Lotus Lake for five or six days, helped White Willow tidy up the territory, then took their leave.
Rather than heading north, they turned east, making a large detour to continue searching for Lands of Origin Force.
The Dominating Throne flew lazily for eleven days, only returning to Xianglan Mountain when a slight chill had crept into the air at the end of autumn.
...
"Azure."
"Dragon Cypress. Why did it take you so long to come back?"
"I went looking for a Land of Origin Force. I found one. There was an evolving, seriously wounded Nine-Star Li Warrior there, on the verge of death. Molan and I helped it, and it delayed us for quite a while."
"How is it now?" Azure's telekinetic emotions carried a sense of nervousness.
Dragon Cypress: "For now, it's doing pretty well, and there's a good chance it'll survive."
"Oh, that's good then."
Azure was relieved, then asked, "Dragon Cypress, what about my reservoir?"
Dragon Cypress looked around.
This year's rice, lotus seeds, and gorgon fruit seeds had all been harvested.
The half-meter-deep water storage had turned the valley bottom into a complete marsh, with many 'high grounds' protruding above the water, thick with weeds; frogs were still active.
Looking at the Deep Blue God-Given Seed, it was now about eighteen meters tall, with the first broad leaf still about one meter above the water's surface.
Dragon Cypress: "Azure, the embankment can be raised, let's get the reservoir finished first. But for now, the stored water can only be raised by another half meter."
Dragon Cypress: "Next year we'll plant rice, lotus, and gorgon fruit all across the surrounding hillsides."
Dragon Cypress: "According to the reservoir plan, on the steep slopes, I'll plant mulberry, banyan, peach, plum, and other fruit trees for you. When the fruit ripens and falls into the water, it'll feed the fish."
"Great! Thank you, Dragon Cypress!"
Azure agreed happily, not forgetting to urge, "Hurry up!"
"Alright. I'll head back to the mountain first." Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to lift off, flying toward the South Mountain Ant Nest.
...
This journey lasted sixty days. Along the way, Dragon Cypress bred a batch of medium-, small-, and micro-sized Worker and Soldier Ants, totaling 105 in all.
They were for supplementing the nest's logistics capacity and improving the orchard's pest control.
On the mountain,
The newly born Worker and Soldier Ants led the yet-unhatched larvae back to the nest to acclimate to the ant nest environment.
Cargo was organized and unloaded, counted, and stored in the warehouse specially set aside for Origin Force Food.
Round Cypress and Spiked Cypress, who were digging the Shanxi Reservoir, received the news and hurried back.
"Great King! How much did we earn this time?" Spiked Cypress asked excitedly.
"You should go down the mountain and keep Southern Gorgon company." Dragon Cypress replied irritably.
"Sure! Let Giant Cypress help with digging the reservoir instead." Spiked Cypress agreed heartily.
"Like hell!" Dragon Cypress flicked his tentacles.
"I'll go call Giant Cypress to come see you…" Spiked Cypress scurried away.
Dragon Cypress turned to Round Cypress and asked, "How deep have you dug the Shanxi Reservoir?"
Round Cypress replied earnestly, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the reservoir outline you planned has been dug out. The overall depth is over one meter, and the deepest spot has reached three meters."
Round Cypress added, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, without the Dominating Throne to haul away the gravel, having the Worker Ants carry it is a huge waste of time, so digging isn't very efficient."
Dragon Cypress: "I know. No rush, dig slowly. Tomorrow I'll lead the Worker Ants down the mountain, and we'll add four more layers to the Azure Blue Reservoir."
Round Cypress: "Understood."
Dragon Cypress: "Have all the ordinary Orchid Grass Life Seed fruits in Molan Territory matured yet?"
Round Cypress: "The blossom-fruit cycle has been extended. We'll probably have to wait until winter to harvest."
"Alright—"
Dragon Cypress twitched his tentacles lightly, "Let's go check on the Six Paths Wood and the Purple Kiwifruit Life Seeds."
Six Paths Wood is a deciduous small arbor and grows pretty fast, already close to two meters tall.
Next year it should be ready for a modest fruiting.
Purple Kiwifruit is a Great Vine Wood, sown at the bottom of a steep slope with a wooden trellis to help it climb upward. Growth is good; sown in spring, the main vine had already grown over three meters in just a year.
Cultivate the vine for a year, and it can bear fruit the following year.
"Great King, Giant Cypress is here."
"Great King—"
Giant Cypress followed behind Spiked Cypress, hurrying over, surrounded by Soldier Ants.
Dragon Cypress waved his tentacles, "Back to the nest! We'll talk there."
Night was falling.
Molan finished patrolling the territory, greeted Fruit-Scented Orchid and Northern Gorgon, the two Divine-Given Seeds, and hurried over as well.
In the ant nest's entrance dining hall, all gathered together.
The Specialized Blue Ants served up delicious, blended Origin Force Ant Honey.
The Worker Ants brought out fresh meat.
Water was served in bamboo tubes, and Dragon Cypress used his ability to make each cup a hot one.
A delicious, hearty, and luxurious meal.
"This time Molan and I traveled far south, discovered a Land of Origin Force, where we found a wild Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed mutated from a Golden Light Fruit Tree, already over a thousand years old, enormous in scale…"
Everyone ate while discussing matters.
Dragon Cypress recounted the entire journey, all their experiences and gains, then shared his ideas and plans.
The Ant Kingdom's annual income had soared, resources were abundant, and the great army of high-level Soldier Ants was being cultivated and expanded rapidly. It was possible now to consider selling Origin Force Ant Honey and wild God-Given Seeds to caravans.
However, for safety's sake, the Ant Kingdom also needed to strengthen its command-level personnel.
Dragon Cypress officially announced plans to cultivate Intelligent Blue Ant Fragrant Cypress and Giant Blue Soldiers Cypress.
Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress all raised their six legs in support.
After dinner,
Dragon Cypress headed to the Southern Gorgon Reservoir at the foot of the mountain.
"Southern Gorgon, I'm back."
"You've been back for a while already."
Southern Gorgon's emotions seethed with strong discontent.
Dragon Cypress explained matter-of-factly, "I was up on the mountain sorting out the cargo. We got a sizable haul this time, it took a while to sort everything out."
"A lot?!"
Southern Gorgon perked up instantly, asking, "Dragon Cypress, how much did you make this year? Tell me all about it!"
Tell you, my ass!
Dragon Cypress switched to a topic that interested Southern Gorgon more, "Molan and I found a new Origin Force Point, and there we…"
But when the topic turned to the wounded Nine-Star Li Warrior Sang, and Dragon Cypress talked of how he and Molan had saved Sang, Southern Gorgon suddenly erupted in unprecedented fury.
"Dragon Cypress! Have you forgotten who you are? You're the Ant King! Why did you save it? You should have killed it!"
"If you kill it, wouldn't the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed be yours?"
"It's going to die anyway. If you don't want to kill it, you could just ignore it! Why bother saving it?"
"You're not a worthy Ant King! You've really let me down…"
Dragon Cypress: "..."
Dragon Cypress: "Fine! Don't get worked up. I'll go deal with it in a few days."
Dragon Cypress brushed it off, shrinking the Dominating Throne, gliding low over the water to carefully inspect the growth of the Southern Gorgon fruits.
Pretty good.
No real problems.
After two months of hard travel, he went back to the ant nest for a good, peaceful sleep.