The Deep Blue God-Given Seed, just like the last time, turned blue-green and then showed no signs of activity. It wasn't until the end of autumn, one night, without any warning, that it suddenly began absorbing a large amount of Origin Force, entering the final stage of maturation.
Having experienced this before, Dragon Cypress had anticipated it. He stayed by the pond at night to be the first to notice, communicating with the Dominating Throne to replenish its Origin Force.
Giant Cypress and Spiked Cypress led the Soldier Ants to secure the pond, forming three layers of defense both inside and out.
Round Cypress also brought Worker Ants to join in the excitement, clustering here and there in a large, dark mass.
As dawn was just breaking, the early-riser Ink Orchid noticed something amiss at the Ant Nest. She immediately guessed the reason and hurried over.
At dawn, facing the sunrise, the blue-green fruit swiftly turned blue, then deep blue, then blue-black.
The fragrance of the fruit was overwhelming.
"Wow!"
"Dragon Cypress!"
"It's ripe! Quick, pick it!"
Urged on by Ink Orchid's cheers, Dragon Cypress commanded the Dominating Throne to shrink. It moved in slowly, and he carefully harvested the fruit one by one, gently placing them onto a Spider Silk Bag padded with two layers.
This batch yielded a total of 280 fruits. It wasn't many, and the picking was quickly done.
The Dominating Throne slowly moved away from the Deep Blue God-Given Seed and gradually enlarged.
Ink Orchid was the first to fly up and pick a fresh fruit to taste.
Dragon Cypress waved his tentacles and called out, "Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, Giant Cypress, the fruits from the Deep Blue God-Given Seed taste great. You should each have one too."
"You don't have the Water System Talent, so just enjoy the taste of the fruit pulp. Don't eat the Fruit Core; we'll dry them later and sell them for money."
Dragon Cypress reminded them, distributed one to each, and also picked one for himself to taste.
Spiked Cypress, having finished eating first, said, "Great King, I have a suggestion!"
This fellow wasn't particularly bright, but he always liked to offer his opinions.
Dragon Cypress said, "Let's hear it—"
Spiked Cypress continued, "Great King, have you considered training a Giant Blue Soldier? We have three Divine-Given Seeds rooted in the water. But the Soldier Ants and I can't swim, and some are even afraid of water. It would be best to have a Giant Blue Soldier lead the regular Blue Soldiers to specialize in guarding them."
Hearing this, Round Cypress chimed in, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the number of Blue Ants in the Ant Nest is increasing. I think we really need an Intelligent Blue Ant to specialize in logistics."
Dragon Cypress remained silent for a moment, then said, "We're poor. We can't afford it."
Their two suggestions did make sense. The Messengers of the Dominating Throne were divided into four types: [Guardian of Strength], [Guardian of Hydrology], [Producer of Agriculture], and [Producer of Refinement]. Theoretically, it would be most logical to cultivate one Leader for each corresponding type.
"Wait until I undergo Advanced Evolution to become a High-Level Ant King. Give it a few years until the production of Common Life Seeds in the territory increases, then we'll consider it. Right now, even supporting you three is tough with our current income."
Dragon Cypress shook his tentacles. Specialized Worker Ants brought up two metal jugs, and other Specialized Worker Ants carried up two gourds filled with honey.
Ink Orchid came forward to help. Following White Ivy's instructions, they spread a layer of honey in a jug, placed three fresh Azure Fruits on top, then spread another layer of honey, and placed three more Azure Fruits. This process was repeated until nine fresh fruits were sealed into one jug.
They would make two sample jugs this year to test how well they preserved freshness and to assess the taste of the honey-marinated fruits.
If successful, they could collaborate with White Ivy on a large scale in the future. At 120 Source Stones a jug, they could earn significantly more.
In the future, once Dragon Cypress is strong enough and the Ant Kingdom has expanded, they could even consider using Origin Force Ant Honey for marinating. He believed these would be very popular among the affluent Great Tribes of the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent. It has the potential to become a major profitable venture.
...
「 」
After the sample jugs of honey-marinated Azure Fruits were completed, Round Cypress took them to the pine trees to have them sealed with pitch.
Dragon Cypress swayed his tentacles, and the twenty awaiting Specialized Blue Ants came forward to refine the remaining fruits into Azure Ant King Honey.
Eventually, they extracted 262 Azure Seeds.
Dragon Cypress kept twelve for himself to eat, to strengthen his Water System Ability.
Of the remaining 250, he took out 25 to sell to the Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord as promotional samples.
Dragon Cypress was quite optimistic about the honey-marinating venture with White Ivy and sold all the remaining 225 Azure Seeds to her.
...
「 」
After the harvest of the Deep Blue God-Given Seed was complete, they continued to work.
The North Reservoir's dam foundation was only 20 meters in length and 12 meters in width. Its construction method was consistent with that of the North Mountain Reservoir's dam.
They first dug away roughly one meter of the soft topsoil, then excavated deeper in sections down to two meters, erected wooden stakes, backfilled with clay and broken stones, and tamped it all down...
Just a few days into digging, Round Cypress, who was leading Worker Ants in slope construction, ran over with good news.
"Dragon Cypress Ant King, the Divine-Given Southern Gorgon Seed is rapidly absorbing Natural Primordial Force! It must be entering the final stage of maturity."
Dragon Cypress was startled. A Divine-Given Seed accelerating its absorption of Origin Force definitely signaled that its fruit was about to ripen.
Dragon Cypress said, "Round Cypress, go inform Giant Cypress to bring the Soldier Ants over."
Dragon Cypress left his work and controlled the Dominating Throne to return to the mountain range Ant Nest. He took 100 Source Stones and descended the mountain with twenty Specialized Blue Soldiers.
As before, the Blue Soldiers trod water, carrying the Large Worker Ants.
Two Blue Soldiers stood under the mother plant, while each of the eighteen offshoots had one stationed by it.
The Large Worker Ants held Source Stones in their mandibles, scraping off powder to replenish Origin Force for the plant.
The Divine-Given Southern Gorgon Seed had been planted for less than a year and had yet to develop consciousness or the ability to communicate. Unable to accurately judge if the Origin Force was sufficient, Dragon Cypress decisively used all 100 Source Stones.
This continued for most of the day until the absorption rate stabilized.
Dragon Cypress stayed by the pond, keeping a close watch.
...
「 」
It was now deep autumn. There would be no hunting in winter.
Spiked Cypress led the army of Soldier Ants to assist Ink Orchid. They headed over to the Divine Force Barrier for a large-scale sweep, preparing the ant colony's food reserves for the winter in advance.
At sunset, as twilight descended, Ink Orchid returned alone. She soared high, then dived at an angle to land on the Dominating Throne.
"The Divine-Given Southern Gorgon Seed has matured!" she exclaimed.
It wasn't a question, but an exclamation of pure joy. For two years, ever since obtaining the two Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seeds, everyone had been busy from morning till night. Each year was hectic from beginning to end, and still, the work wasn't finished. This was the first harvest from the two Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seeds. After two long years of hard work, they were finally seeing the fruits of their labor.
"Yes—" Dragon Cypress replied, also feeling a touch of wistful reflection.
Seeing Ink Orchid fall silent, Dragon Cypress asked, "How was today's hunt?"
"I killed four wild boars, one moose, and a black bear," Ink Orchid reported.
"What about Spiked Cypress?"
"He commanded the Soldier Ants to hunt small animals. The haul wasn't bad. Right now, he's directing the ant colony in processing the game."
"How many Specialized Blue Ants were filled up?"
"About fifty of them, I guess."
"Then I'll head over later."
The fastest way to transport food back to the Ant Nest through the Origin Force vacuum zone was to have the Specialized Blue Ants fill their stomachs, then have the Dominating Throne transform to its largest size. One hundred ants could be transported back in a single trip. Dragon Cypress only needed to transport them in batches when he wasn't at Xianglan Mountain.
Ink Orchid stared at the pond, quietly watching for a while. Finding it boring, she flew off to the valley mouth, circled around, and then returned to land on the Throne.
"Dragon Cypress, when will the dam be finished?"
"The foundation needs to be completed before winter sets in."
"And we'll build more next spring? Didn't you say we also need to dig a water channel from the mountain range? Will there be enough time?"
"I've already calculated it. There's enough time."
"We'll need large stones. Shall we go looking for them during winter?"
"Of course."
"What about this year's trade?"
"We'll set off as soon as the dam foundation is finished."
"When are we going to Silver Cypress Mountain?"
"That'll be our first stop."
"We could go later, you know! We could see the snow together! I'm a High-Level Warrior now; I'm not afraid of the cold anymore."
"I'm not afraid either... But what about the Persimmon Fruit?"
...
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid lay on the Dominating Throne, engaged in casual, intermittent chatter.
「Night fell.」
Ink Orchid went home to rest.
Giant Cypress led the Soldier Ants to guard the area around the pond.
Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne, went to the branch nest by the Divine Force Barrier to check on the situation, and transported the Specialized Blue Ants with full stomachs back to the Ant Nest.