Sang only cleared some orchards near the wild Divine-Given Scarletlight Seeds in the mountain range to plant mango trees.
They hadn't been tended for many years, almost swallowed up by weeds and vines.
The surrounding forests all maintained their natural ecology—lush rainforests filled with countless wild fruit trees.
After searching for half a morning, a few wild Golden Light Fruit Trees were found. They were still bearing Green Fruit and would probably need several more months to ripen.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid once again came to Sang's dwelling cave.
Ink Orchid: "Sang, your Yellow Vein Berry and Jade Ling Puto Peach will be ripe soon."
Sang: "You can pick them."
Ink Orchid: "We are roving merchants, so we buy by Source Stone valuation. Then you can use Source Stones to purchase the Origin Force Food you need."
Sang froze for a moment and said, "Alright—"
Dragon Cypress: "We'll buy out the two Yellow Vein Berry trees for 700 Source Stones. The two Jade Ling Puto Peach trees, for 500 Source Stones."
Sang froze again for a moment and said, "Alright—"
Dragon Cypress: "They'll only be ripe in a few days, but Ink Orchid and I have urgent matters. We'll leave 10 Worker Ants and 2 Specialized Blue Ants here. When the fruit is ripe, they'll harvest it themselves."
Sang: "Okay."
Dragon Cypress: "As soon as we finish what we have to do, Ink Orchid and I will come over."
Sang: "Alright."
...
Regarding the buyout agreement for Ghost Fan's two Woodberry Life Seeds, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had already failed to keep their appointment twice in a row. This year, they absolutely could not break faith with the Insect again.
Dragon Cypress still felt a bit lost, unable to determine their exact current location.
After saying goodbye to Sang, they kept moving westward.
On the throne, Ink Orchid seemed to have thought for a long time before asking:
"Dragon Cypress, now that we've made money, can we raise another Intelligent Worker Ant and a Gigantification Soldier Ant?"
Dragon Cypress: "Exactly! An Intelligent Blue Ant to manage the Ant Nest and food—dedicated to logistics. And a Giant Blue Soldier to handle the Blue Soldiers, assist in territory irrigation, defense, and fishing the reservoir."
Dragon Cypress paused, then said: "Once I've built up the Soldier Ant numbers, we can consider selling Ant Honey, Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, and Scarletlight Fruits."
"If these are made public, they'll probably attract unnecessary trouble. We'll need to quickly boost Spiked Cypress and Giant Cypress to a high level—Spiked Cypress will still be in charge of hunting; Giant Cypress will guard the eastern side of the range, to hold off any possible… Ant Clan or Bee Clan."
Ink Orchid: "Oh!"
Ink Orchid: "Right—"
With no real sense of crisis, Ink Orchid asked, "So what about their names? The Giant Blue Soldier will be called Cypress? Ant Honey is sweet and delicious, so the Intelligent Blue Ant will be called Fragrant Cypress?"
After all that, all you think about is naming them.
Dragon Cypress: "Sounds good. As long as you're happy…"
After flying a whole day on the Dominating Throne, they could vaguely see the rainbow colors refracted by the Divine Force Barrier on the western skyline, reestablishing their bearings.
They turned north and soon found the mountain where they'd discovered the Keg Vine Seed years ago, picked a batch of ripe pods, and headed straight for Ghost Fan Mountain.
"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"
"Ink Orchid!"
Ghost Fan and Woodberry were waiting by the two Woodberry Life Seeds, exerting Origin Force Creatures' auras to drive away insects and birds lured by the scent of fruit.
After a brief exchange of greetings.
Ink Orchid merrily said, "This year we're neither early nor late—it's just in time for the ripe fruit."
Ghost Fan: "…Yes."
Woodberry: "You're late! They ripened the day before yesterday."
Ink Orchid: "…"
Ghost Fan: "…"
Ghost Fan waved his tentacles and tapped Woodberry on the head.
This little guy, Woodberry, was now a 6th age period Click Beetle Warrior. Judging by the time, he must be waiting for Origin Force Food to evolve into the 7th age period.
At the latest, by the year after next, Woodberry could evolve into an intermediate warrior.
In another year or two, he could, just like Black Rice, begin to enter the 'Cloud Trace Continent's trade circle'.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid also needed more Insect Clan warriors to join the Origin Force Food trade of Cloud Trace Continent—for self-sufficiency, as quickly and as extensively as possible.
Dragon Cypress landed the Dominating Throne.
Ink Orchid helped by tossing down the wooden planks they'd brought, then pulled one end up with a rope, laying it at the throne's edge to make a simple "bridge."
Dragon Cypress released both pheromones and tentacle signals, issuing a string of commands.
The twenty small and mid-sized Worker Ants cultivated along the way climbed down the ramp and up the trees to pick fruit.
Ten Large Blue Ants followed to the ground, ate fresh fruit, refined Ant Honey, then handed off their full bellies to a Specialized Blue Ant for centralized storage.
"Ghost Fan…"
Dragon Cypress said gravely, "That wild White Rice Divine-Given Seed has ripened, but… the White Rice Ant King Honey… isn't enough."
Ghost Fan was stunned.
Why?
What happened?
In Ghost Fan's past progress and evolution, the body had accumulated many hidden wounds. It had long ago been arranged with Dragon Cypress to use White Rice Ant King Honey one more time to heal these injuries, then think about evolving into an 8th age high-Level warrior.
Ink Orchid hurried to explain: "Dragon Cypress and I found a high-level Nine-Star Roach warrior severely injured and dying during the evolution from age period 1 to 2. To save him, we allocated the White Rice Ant King Honey to him."
Dragon Cypress: "There's still some left, but there are other warriors who need it even more."
Having repeatedly broken promises to Ghost Fan, Dragon Cypress himself felt uncomfortable and added:
"Ghost Fan, how about this: when you evolve to the 8th age period, I'll come and use the Dominating Throne to assist you, guaranteeing your safe evolution."
Ghost Fan: "…Alright."
Dragon Cypress further supplemented: "As for this year's White Rice Seeds, I'll allocate 3,000 to you. With a smooth promotion to the 8th age period, your healing ability will be greatly enhanced, and your hidden wounds will heal on their own. In the future, reaching the 9th age period is no problem at all. As for evolution to Mountain Lord… we'll still use the Dominating Throne to help, which can raise your chances by 20–30%."
Ghost Fan: "Good!"
Thinking of stabilizing evolution to Mountain Lord, Ghost Fan's spirit soared and joy bloomed: "Thank you so much, Dragon Cypress."
"We're all one Insect here, no need to be polite."
Dragon Cypress waggled his tentacles, calling, "Come, let's trade. Originally, Ink Orchid and I prepared some high-quality, comprehensive physique-enhancing Origin Force Food for you, but, um, that also went to that poor Nine-Star Roach warrior. It's not a big problem—when we meet again for the trade next early summer, I'll bring another batch…"
Ghost Fan: "I…"
…
…
…
By Insect Clan's naming logic,
The mountain rooted by the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed would, of course, be named "Scarletlight Mountain."
Dragon Cypress, with his powerful sense of direction, located Scarletlight Mountain's position, left Ghost Fan Mountain and went straight there—arriving after two days' journey.
At dawn.
Sang held a honey jar with both front legs, sprawled at the cave mouth basking in sunlight.
After years hiding in the cave, the whole Insect Capital seemed to go bleak and dim.
In the golden morning light, the carapace took on a tinge of color, and the dull, lifeless eyes shone a little.
"Sang."
"Feeling any better?"
The Dominating Throne slowly landed, and Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid called out their greetings.
Sang: "Much better now."
Dragon Cypress: "Can you feel it clearly? Then you must've been quite badly hurt. Still, with that much White Rice Ant King Honey, healing seventy or eighty percent is a certainty."
Sang: "Yes. It's worthy of the name White Rice Divine-Given Seed—the healing effect is astounding."
Dragon Cypress: "Ant King Honey is worth 2,000 Source Stones; one jar of comprehensive physique enhancement Origin Force Food is also worth 2,000 Source Stones. The Yellow Vein Berry and Jade Ling Puto Peach you sold add up to 1,200 Source Stones."
Dragon Cypress: "So you owe us 2,800 Source Stones. It's not a big sum. You can owe it for now—with interest. Next year, when the Scarletlight Fruit ripens, you can pay it off as 3,000 Source Stones."
Sang: "Alright—"
Dragon Cypress: "Alright! As for the acquisition price of Scarletlight Fruit, we'll discuss in detail next year."
Ink Orchid: "Sang, just focus on recovering."
Dragon Cypress: "Your Life Seed plants haven't been tended for a long time. The Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed also needs the soil loosened and some fertilizer. The Jade Ling Puto Peach needs another ten days or so to ripen. Ink Orchid and I have nothing urgent right now, so we'll just stay here for a while and help tidy up your territory."
Ink Orchid: "Don't worry. With Dragon Cypress and me here, tomorrow's morning will shine even brighter."