The Divine-Given Southern Gorgon Seed's fruit gradually dimmed in color. Six days later, the fruit naturally cracked open to reveal the Gorgon Fruit Seeds inside.
Fully ripened.
Dragon Cypress rode the Dominating Throne, gliding just above the water's surface, picking them in sequence.
"Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, Giant Cypress, you've all worked hard these past two years. Take 5 seeds each to eat."
The three eagerly awaiting ants each took a Gorgon Fruit, which contained exactly 5 Gorgon Fruit Seeds.
This was the fruit of everyone's hard labor.
Moreover, it was Divine-Given Origin Force Food beneficial for evolutionary growth.
"Thank you, Dragon Cypress Ant King."
"Thank you, Great King!"
"...Thank you, Great King."
Round Cypress led the thanks.
This was Divine-Given Origin Force Food, beneficial for their evolutionary growth. It had been cultivated with everyone's hard labor, making them all very happy.
"Ink Orchid, let's each eat 5 seeds as well to taste them. We'll keep the rest as samples to show the caravans."
"...Okay."
Ink Orchid grabbed one fruit with her left leg and another with her right. Upon hearing this, she smoothly passed one to Dragon Cypress.
"Taste test!" Dragon Cypress eagerly peeled out a Gorgon Fruit Seed and removed its skin to taste it.
The whole seed was the size of a longan, with a somewhat thick skin and a not-so-small kernel. It was rather tasteless and lacked the fragrance of berries. The crucial Primordial Energy Quality was about the same as that of the Mid-Level Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed, maybe slightly better.
"Dragon Cypress, how much can we sell it for in Source Stones?"
"Selling to the caravans?"
"Yeah."
"Let's set the price at 15 Source Stones per seed."
"And for how much will the Roving Merchants sell it?"
"Perhaps 18 to 20 Source Stones per seed. They might even sell it for more."
"What about us?"
"Ink Orchid, remember, we are the envoys of the Natural God, the embodiment of kindness and justice."
"Oh—"
Ink Orchid didn't quite believe him and asked further, "Dragon Cypress, can you predict the unit price of my Divine-Given Northern Gorgon Seed's Gorgon Fruit Seeds?"
Dragon Cypress thoughtfully twirled a Gorgon Fruit Seed between his fingers and said, "It's hard to say. By convention, with High-Level quality, the price should be around 20 to 23 Source Stones per seed."
Ink Orchid tilted her head, calculated, and said with joy, "So, averaging it out, the annual revenue is about the same as that of the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed?"
"Much less..."
Dragon Cypress slowly swayed his tentacles and explained, "After all, the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed comes from an arbor. In the past, due to Ghost Fan's poor management, the yield was too low. Now, we've taught Ghost Fan various cultivation techniques, and it has made corresponding improvements. Consequently, the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed has been flourishing more each year. Accordingly, its yield will also incrementally increase."
Dragon Cypress continued, "In theory, the annual revenue of the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed could reach 1.5 to 2 times that of the Fruit-Scented Orchid and Gorgon Divine-Given Seeds."
"Oh—"
One tree equals two of mine? Ink Orchid felt unconvinced and slightly upset.
"Is it because it's an arbor?"
"Be content, Ink Orchid."
Dragon Cypress was extremely satisfied with the revenue from the Divine-Given Southern Gorgon Seed. With a wave of his tentacle, he issued the command to the ant colony: "Stop gawking! Get to work!"
It was late autumn, transitioning to early winter, a season when some insects began to freeze.
The ant colony led by Dragon Cypress finished building the reservoir's dam foundation ahead of schedule.
Round Cypress's team also completed the repairs on the southern slope on time.
The weather was still not particularly cold, and during the day, the Worker Ants were still quite active.
The number of Specialized Worker Ants reached 400, and the number of large and mid-sized Worker Ants also approached 800.
Dragon Cypress handed all the Worker Ants over to Round Cypress's command to go up the mountain and dig a water diversion channel.
The water diversion channel was designed to be one meter wide and 0.5 meters deep, with a total length exceeding three kilometers—a task they definitely couldn't complete in its entirety.
Work would stop when the temperature dropped.
Dragon Cypress calculated the time. Guessing that the Persimmon Tree Life Seeds in the Mountain Persimmon Territory had all matured, he packed his bags and set off.
This time, his Roving Merchant route, in order, was: Silver Cypress Mountain, White Rice Mountain, Ghost Fan Mountain, Jianlan Plain, Ghost Fan Mountain again, Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, Black Lotus Lake, and Molan Mountain.
At departure, the various goods totaled approximately 12,000 Source Stones in value.
After trading with Mountain Persimmon, the total value of goods became about 13,500 Source Stones.
After trading with White Rice, the total value of goods became about 15,000 Source Stones.
Trading with Ghost Fan...
The Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed matured this year, yielding 762 Ghost Fans, valued at 13,716 Source Stones.
Ghost Fan also had many common Life Seed Plants which, in total, were worth 7,800 Source Stones.
This year, Ghost Fan Territory produced far too much.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were still small business owners with modest operations. They emptied their coffers, managing to acquire only all the yield from the common Life Seed Plants and 445 Divine-Given Ghost Fans.
This entire round of trading saw the assets on the Dominating Throne skyrocket to 20,425 Source Stones.
After deducting the 800 Source Stones lent to Ghost Fan during the peak summer rainy season, the profit was over 7,600 Source Stones.
As the Dominating Throne left Ghost Fan Mountain, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid sorted through the goods and settled their accounts. Finally, Dragon Cypress analyzed:
"After this round of trading, Divine-Given Ghost Fans make up too high a proportion of our goods, and our variety of items is somewhat limited. Moreover, on the current Cloud Trace Continent, only the territories of Mountain Persimmon, White Rice, Ghost Fan, and yourself, Ink Orchid—all High-Level Warriors—are producing. We're essentially just shuffling these goods among ourselves. The variety of items itself is also somewhat limited. Over time, the strengthening effect of the Life Seeds will gradually saturate, and everyone's demand will decrease or even vanish."
"We urgently need to find new Lands of Origin Force, find new Insect Clan Warriors, to expand our trade circle. But right now, we are too busy to look for them, and they are not that easy to find either..."
Dragon Cypress paused, then said, "Next year, when trading with the caravans, we need to stock up on a large batch of high-quality Origin Force Food!"
Ink Orchid asked, "How many Source Stones can we get for the Azure Seeds and Gorgon Fruit Seeds by selling them to the caravan next year? Will it be enough?"
Dragon Cypress calculated in detail, "Two jars of honey-pickled Azure Fruit will sell for 240 Source Stones. 250 Azure Seeds will sell for 2,750 Source Stones. And 65 Gorgon Fruit Seeds will sell for 975 Source Stones."
"A total of 3,965 Source Stones."
"Not even 4,000."
"Yes—"
"Is that enough?"
"Not enough."
"Borrow?"
Dragon Cypress nodded his tentacles, saying, "My plan is to see what the Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord has, and borrow about 6,000 Source Stones worth of high-quality Origin Force Food from him."
"That much?!"
Borrowing Source Stones would incur interest, and Ink Orchid was extremely reluctant.
Dragon Cypress said, "It's not that much. Every Age Period of Evolution for a High-Level Warrior carries a certain risk of failure. Ink Orchid, you need to fortify yourself. Mountain Persimmon, White Rice, and Ghost Fan especially have a great need for high-quality Origin Force Food to strengthen their physiques."
Dragon Cypress continued, "We currently have only these three decent trading partners. If another one were to fall..."
Ink Orchid: "..."
Ink Orchid: "Dragon Cypress, how much do we owe now?"
Dragon Cypress: "We owe Melde 7,500 Source Stones, and we have to return 4,400 Source Stones to White Ivy."
Ink Orchid: "..."
Borrowing another 6,000 Source Stones worth of Origin Force Food would mean insurmountable debt.
Dragon Cypress explained, "We'll use high-quality Origin Force Food for trade. In exchange, we'll get Origin Force Food produced by the territories of Mountain Persimmon, White Rice, and Ghost Fan. We can then feed more of that to Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress. They need to follow my pace and advance to High-Level as quickly as possible."
"Oh—"
It suddenly clicked for Ink Orchid.
Although they were borrowing a lot, the return from trading would be even greater.
Dragon Cypress continued, "Ink Orchid, now you are a High-Level Flower Mantis Warrior, and I will soon advance to a High-Level Ant King. The upper limit of our spiritual power will greatly increase. We should sell as few Divine-Given Ghost Fans as possible. You and I should consume more to elevate our spiritual power first."
"Right!"
"Then let's borrow heavily!"
Ink Orchid wholeheartedly agreed.
With greater spiritual power, the Dominating Throne could fly faster and be more sensitive to Origin Force fluctuations. This would make it easier to search for Lands of Origin Force and find more Insect Clan Warriors.