Chapter 80: Chapter 080 Ghost Fan is the best friend of Dragon Cypress and me
The Dominating Throne floated away, slowly leaving the Jianlan Plain.
With the Divine-Given Seed tucked safely into her Life Pouch to nurture, Ink Orchid, after a bout of excited hopping and skipping, began to ponder a question.
"Dragon Cypress, where do you plan to dig the reservoir? South Mountain or North Mountain?"
"It would be better to plant your Divine-Given Seed on North Mountain," Dragon Cypress replied. "Conveniently, the north is a bit short on water, and we’ll need a large reservoir to irrigate the future orchards."
Ink Orchid then asked, "Then what about your Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed? Let’s dig a big reservoir and plant them together!"
"This..." Dragon Cypress suddenly found himself in a difficult position. Vigorously shaking his tentacles, he said, "I’m afraid that’s not possible!"
"Why not?" Ink Orchid asked.
"They will fight."
"Fight?" Ink Orchid exclaimed.
"But they were nurtured by the same mother plant, right?" Ink Orchid continued. "They are conjoined twins; will they still fight?"
Dragon Cypress replied, "Conjoined twins start fighting from the moment they are born, competing for nutrients from the mother plant."
Ink Orchid fell silent.
After a moment, Ink Orchid suggested, "Just make the reservoir bigger."
Dragon Cypress asked, "How big would the reservoir need to be then? Once they grow a bit and sense each other’s presence, they’ll frantically spread their roots underground and fight until one of them dies."
So harsh? Ink Orchid was shocked. "!!!"
Dragon Cypress continued, "Planting Divine-Given Seeds of the same type too close together isn’t wise either. When the fruits ripen simultaneously, they absorb a large amount of Natural Primordial Force. This can lead to a deficiency and, consequently, a decline in the quality of the Origin Force Food."
"Oh! Right..." Ink Orchid’s voice trailed off. Her tentacles drooped as she asked, "So, Dragon Cypress, where will you plant your Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed then?"
Dragon Cypress admitted, "That really is a problem..." He elaborated, "South Mountain has a valley that’s best suited for a reservoir, but Azure has already taken root there. As for other places, there aren’t any easily convertible locations; excavation would require a significant number of Specialized Worker Ants. If I expand my Specialized Worker Ants to 300 or 400 individuals, food supply will become a new challenge. This means I’d need to cultivate another Gigantification Soldier Ant to lead an ant swarm westward, dedicated exclusively to hunting."
Ink Orchid got excited upon hearing this. She asked, "A Gigantification Soldier Ant? Will it be called Giant Cypress? That’s a very imposing name!"
Dragon Cypress was silent.
I haven’t even decided if I really want to cultivate another Gigantification Soldier Ant, and she’s already named it.
After they discussed planting the Divine-Given Seeds and her elation subsided, Ink Orchid began to call him to account. She demanded, "Dragon Cypress, wasn’t it your job to search the shallow waters of Zhanjiang?"
"Yes, I went," Dragon Cypress replied. Feeling guilty, he continued, "All I saw were weeds... Theoretically, herbaceous plants have a much lower probability of producing Divine-Given Seeds compared to trees, so I just..."
"Dragon Cypress, you are mistaken!" Ink Orchid, very unsatisfied with Dragon Cypress’s attitude, said sternly, "Although the odds of herbaceous plants producing Divine-Given Seeds are low, consider this: in nature, are there more grasses or trees? With such large numbers, doesn’t the probability increase? You shouldn’t overlook any form of life!"
Dragon Cypress conceded, "...You are right!" He added, "I’ll be more careful next time!"
After a flight of nine days, the Dominating Throne arrived at Ghost Fan Mountain in the late afternoon.
From afar, Ghost Fan saw the Dominating Throne approaching. Ecstatic, he ran up the mountain.
"Dragon Cypress Ant King!" he called out. "Ink Orchid!"
Ghost Fan asked, somewhat anxiously, "Nothing bad happened to your territory over the summer, did it?" During the summer, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had been at Ghost Fan Mountain, and Ghost Fan had been concerned about a drought in the north affecting their home territories. The early autumn trade was delayed, making Ghost Fan worry that something might have happened.
Dragon Cypress explained, "During that summer, Xianglan Mountain also experienced heavy rains. I had ant swarms managing the territory, so everything was fine."
Ink Orchid added, "On our way here, Dragon Cypress and I found a Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed manifesting in a Land of Origin Force. We waited quite a while for it, which is why we’re late."
It’s good that their territory is alright, Ghost Fan thought, relieved. He had just calmed his mind when Ink Orchid spoke. At her words, his six legs trembled, and he nearly collapsed.
"A Divine-Given Seed?!" he exclaimed.
"Yes!" Ink Orchid fluttered her wings and said, "Coincidentally, I also evolved into a seventh Age Period Mid-Level Flower Mantis Warrior. I’ve taken the seed into my Life Pouch, and it’s currently nurturing. I plan to sow it at the end of next spring."
It took Ghost Fan a long moment to process this. He said with difficulty, "Ink Orchid, does that mean you will have two Divine-Given Seeds then?"
Ink Orchid replied, "Yes. A Fruit-Scented Orchid and a Gorgon Fruit."
"Ink Orchid, you’re amazing... Congratulations..." Ghost Fan said, his voice filled with awe. He knew all too well the immense benefits a single Divine-Given Seed could bring, and he couldn’t help but feel envious.
He searched his Inherited Memories and found another reason for joy.
Although Gorgon Fruit was an aquatic herbaceous plant, its enhancement effect was organ strengthening—specifically, it strengthened absorption abilities. This was fundamentally different from the intestinal digestion and absorption enhancement provided by the Stone Orchid Seed. The Gorgon Fruit enhanced the ’dry pancreas.’
Every member of the Insect Clan possessed a ’dry pancreas’ with multiple functions. These included storing energy, secreting digestive fluids and detoxifying substances, and producing compounds that eliminated harmful, invisible microbes. It was an organ of utmost importance.
When Insect Clan Warriors consumed Origin Force Food, several issues could arise. They might eat too much at once, leading to waste. The food’s quality might be too high for complete absorption. Additionally, certain types of Origin Force Food were inherently difficult to absorb efficiently.
The primary benefit of the Gorgon Fruit’s enhancement was to aid in the digestion and absorption of Origin Force Food, thereby increasing its utilization efficiency.
That saved resources!
Perhaps it wouldn’t save much in a single year. But what about over ten years, or a hundred years? The benefits of such an enhancement were lifelong, providing advantages for an entire lifetime.
Upon further contemplation, Ghost Fan said regretfully, "My Inherited Memory indicates that Gorgon Fruit typically has a rather low yield..."
Ink Orchid disagreed. "That applies to common Gorgon Fruit Life Seeds. A Divine-Given Seed isn’t necessarily the same!"
"...Yes." Ghost Fan thought of his own Ghost Fan Divine-Given Seed. He wasn’t entirely convinced, but then a thought struck him, and he said eagerly, "Ink Orchid, when the fruits mature, you must consider me first!"
Ink Orchid happily promised, "Ghost Fan, you’re mine and Dragon Cypress’s best friend. Of course, you’ll be our first consideration!"
"Thank you, Ink Orchid! My best friend!" Ghost Fan exclaimed, overjoyed.
Dragon Cypress spoke up at the right moment, "Ghost Fan, it’s late autumn now. Are your Life Seeds almost ripe?"
Ghost Fan replied, "Currently, nineteen Life Seeds are ripe. The Woodberry Fruits ripened a long time ago... I ate them myself..."
They had agreed last year that Dragon Cypress would visit during the harvest season. He was to purchase all the fruit from Ghost Fan’s two Woodberry Life Seeds for 700 Source Stones, as well as Refinement Ant Honey. However, Dragon Cypress had failed to arrive on time. Such a breach of promise was a very serious matter.
Dragon Cypress asked, "Ghost Fan, did you incur any losses? It was our fault for breaking the agreement first. We’ll compensate you for any losses."
Ghost Fan quickly waved his tentacles. "No need, no need at all. I ate them myself, so there’s no loss."
"That’s good then," Dragon Cypress said. "Ink Orchid and I are in a hurry to return to our mountain. Let’s not delay; we can head down the mountain for the trade now."
"Alright!" Ghost Fan agreed.
Ghost Fan led the way, running towards the foot of the mountain.
Ghost Fan was a sixth Age Period High-Level Warrior and had managed his Territory for about 28 years. The Origin Force Food produced by his common Life Seeds was quite bountiful.
Dragon Cypress couldn’t take all of it at once, so he ended up selecting items worth 4,300 Source Stones. He used the Origin Force Food collected from White Rice Mountain, added some Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, and mixed and fermented it all into Ant Honey. This was packaged into a jar valued at 3,000 Source Stones. He then added 500 White Rice Seeds, worth another 1,300 Source Stones.
Both parties settled their accounts.
Ghost Fan still had a considerable amount of Origin Force Food remaining. They agreed to trade again early next summer.