To evolve from a primary warrior to an interdiate warrior usually requires about ten days of slumber.
During this period, being disturbed is strictly forbidden, especially with spiritual power scans; Origin Force creatures are sensitive to spiritual power and are easily awakened, causing the evolution to fail halfway—at best, having to start over, at worst, it's fatal.
...
Dragon Cypress stood guard outside Ink Orchid's dwelling cave, occasionally peeking inside, not daring to make any unnecessary movents.
Ti was marked by carvings at the cave entrance,
One day, two days, three days...
On the afternoon of the fourth day, faint waves of Origin Force emanated from inside the cave.
Dragon Cypress poked his head in to observe.
The oval-shaped 'Origin Force Cocoon' was rapidly condensing and dissipating.
On the Dominating Throne, Ink Orchid's two pairs of wings were shed, the originally drab carapace began to crack at the forehead, her body trembling as the fissure quickly spread down her back.
She shed her old shell.
Brand-new pale pink and rosy carapace erged, and new wings slowly unfolded.
Ink Orchid's body was also stretching, until she reached a body length of about 30 centiters, her previously bloated form becoming noticeably slenderer.
Upon contact with air, it rapidly solidified to the naked eye.
"Dragon Cypress?"
Waking from her slumber, Ink Orchid's consciousness was dazed.
"Ink Orchid, congratulations on smoothly advancing to an interdiate warrior!"
Dragon Cypress: "Hungry? I'll go see if I can find sothing to eat..."
After speaking, he left and began searching the surrounding forest.
A 5th age-period Primary Little Ant King is not very good at hunting; Dragon Cypress ran back and forth several tis and caught seven locusts in the grass to bring back.
Ink Orchid ate them one by one, got so strength back, and went out to hunt on her own.
...
The breakthrough from primary warrior to interdiate warrior is a leap in realm and life level, overall capability increases significantly, and life span is extended to thirty to fifty years.
At the very mont of Ink Orchid's breakthrough, the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed underwent a transformation.
Overnight, the mother plant grew about ten centiters taller, new sprouts and leaves erged, and all seven of the offshoots withered as the underground rhizos expanded.
Each offshoot produced three underground rhizos—that is, a 3x multiplication of offshoots.
Although it wasn't the 5x or 7x multiplication Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had hoped for, it wasn't the worst either.
Within a day, the offshoots' underground rhizos matured.
Another day passed, and the original seven offshoots plus the newly grown twenty-one offshoots all sprouted tender shoots.
In another day, the shoots grew to five or six centiters tall, and new sprouts began to appear.
On yet another day, they grew into vibrant seedlings about ten centiters high.
After another fifteen days of growth, both the mother plant and all offshoots of the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed grew to over a ter in height.
Ink Orchid's other orchid grass life seeds also grew and produced offshoots, but their rate was much slower, produced very few offshoots, and were not nearly as tall as the Divine-Given Seed.
...
When Ink Orchid was still a primary warrior, the mountains were ho to foxes, wild boars, giant pythons, eagles, wolves, bears, tigers, leopards, and other large beasts she couldn't defeat.
Upon evolving into an interdiate warrior and after a period of recuperation, once her combat power peaked, Ink Orchid began clearing out these creatures that often threatened territory security.
The leftover corpses she couldn't eat were cut up, pits dug and buried near the life seed plants.
The rest were used to pre-plan the planting sites for the next life seeds, buried as compost to first enrich the soil's fertility.
Over a ten-kiloter radius, everything was swept clean, with regular patrols, until no more large beasts dared to co near.
...
The season was late spring,
Dragon Cypress, sensing that he was about to evolve, inford Ink Orchid, put aside his tasks, calmly nestled on the Dominating Throne, and concentrated on absorbing Origin Force.
In less than two days, a heavy drowsiness swept over him...
...
"I've awakened a lot more knowledge about plants and animals."
Upon waking from his slumber and shedding his old carapace, Dragon Cypress lay on the Dominating Throne, head down, sorting through his mories.
Soon, he found the most important inherited knowledge: Specialized Worker Ants Cultivation.
What are Specialized Worker Ants used for?
They're extrely useful!
The soldier ant's mandibles are only good at killing prey.
The worker ant's mandibles are better suited for digging soil and stones.
It's possible to train a batch of specialized worker ants to dig a water reservoir in the territory, to cut an irrigation trench, and so on.
"At 6th age-period primary warrior, I should have enough physical strength to allow the Dominating Throne to produce two ant eggs at once, right?"
Dragon Cypress pondered as he climbed down from the throne.
This evolutionary sleep didn't last long, and since he ate and drank his fill beforehand, he didn't feel very weak upon waking.
Dragon Cypress crawled straight out of the ant nest.
"Dragon Cypress! You're awake!"
Ink Orchid, standing at the entrance, called out in surprise and delight, sizing up Dragon Cypress, then said with slight disappointnt:
"Wow, Dragon Cypress, you're still so tiny."
An ant's size is originally smaller than a mantis's.
Male ants are smaller than female ants.
Even after advancing to a 6th age-period Primary Ant King, Dragon Cypress was only seven or eight centiters long, slender and thin; by this growth pattern, even if he beca an interdiate Ant King in the future, he probably wouldn't exceed twenty centiters in body length.
He's no match for Ink Orchid.
"Dragon Cypress, where's your life seed?"
"Here..."
Dragon Cypress opened his mouth and spit out a 5th age-period Cypress Seed.
Wiggling his tentacles, a little worker ant scurried out, took it back to the ant nest, and placed it into a bamboo tube filled with water to soak.
It was still spring, plenty of ti to sow seeds; Giant Cypress is drought and heat resistant, so no problem.
A few dium worker ants erged from the nest carrying food to feed Dragon Cypress.
"Ink Orchid, how many days did I sleep?"
"One day? You began to evolve just last night; it's only mid-afternoon now, less than a day has passed. The Dominating Throne is amazing."
Ink Orchid quickly asked, "Dragon Cypress, what plant did you pick for your life seed at the 6th age-period? An orchid?"
After advancing to interdiate warrior, at Dragon Cypress's strong suggestion, Ink Orchid picked a Large Fruit Hemlock seed as her life seed.
Now, Ink Orchid wanted to suggest that Dragon Cypress pick an orchid grass seed for his life seed.
Dragon Cypress would of course never agree.
"Ink Orchid, that Dried Fragrant Cypress seed you gave last ti is really good; I'm going to pick that one!"
Dragon Cypress hurried to change the topic, "Ink Orchid, has the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid blood yet?"
Ink Orchid: "No. Still too early. I'm worried it won't bloom this year."
Dragon Cypress: "How's the growth? Let's have a look!"
...
All twenty-eight offshoots of the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed had matured, and the rhizos were developing, needing ti to store up energy.
Ink Orchid could use spiritual power to communicate with the Fruit-Scented Orchid.
After asking, even the Fruit-Scented Orchid itself wasn't sure if it could bloom this year.
Dragon Cypress couldn't tell either,
They'd just have to wait and see.
...
Different types of orchid grass bloom at very different tis.
Ink Orchid blooms in early spring; Stone Orchid in late spring; Cold Orchid in early sumr.
Common Fruit-Scented Orchid only blooms in midsumr.
The Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed's blooming period shifted earlier, now to early sumr.
Just evolved and split once, now there are twenty-eight offshoots; it was uncertain if it could bloom in ti this year.
Dragon Cypress was as concerned about its growth as Ink Orchid, checking in every two or three days.
It was a little hot—it was early sumr.
Finally, under their watchful, expectant gaze, all twenty-eight offshoots of the Fruit-Scented Orchid shot out flower stalks.
"Plump and robust; should be able to flower and seed smoothly."
After inspecting, Dragon Cypress gave his judgnt.
"Yes, yes!"
"That's great!"
Ink Orchid cheered and cocked her head, doing the math.
"If every offshoot still produces eleven flowers, and each flower yields one orchid seed, then this year we could harvest..."
Ink Orchid racked her brains trying to calculate, but couldn't figure it out.
Dragon Cypress: "That's 308 Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds. As Origin Force Food, they greatly boost comprehensive endurance. However, Ink Orchid, you're just an interdiate warrior now, so the quality will be slightly lower. I estimate that, if sold to a caravan, each Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed will fetch five to eight Source Stones, depending on quality."
Dragon Cypress: "The ti is a bit rushed this year, so the quality might be slightly lower."
Dragon Cypress: "At five Source Stones each, that's an inco of 1,540 Source Stones this year!"
Dragon Cypress: "When the ti cos, Ink Orchid, you can pay back the one hundred and forty Source Stones' worth of Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds you owe . And then... lend a few more?"
"Okay..."
Ink Orchid: "Dragon Cypress, it's all thanks to you that I was able to evolve into an interdiate warrior so quickly. This year's bumper harvest is entirely due to you. Let's split the Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds half and half."
"Alright..." Dragon Cypress hesitated, but readily agreed.
It was true that Ink Orchid had managed to advance in ti only because she bought Origin Force Food on credit from the Spider King Spurge on Dragon Cypress's behalf.
But to split half like that seed a bit too generous.
Dragon Cypress was a principled, conscientious insect.
"Ink Orchid, I'll quickly breed another batch of small and dium soldier ants to guard the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid, taking out those pesky pest insects."
Dragon Cypress: "I'll also breed a batch of specialized worker ants to help you dig a marsh gas pool in your territory."
Ink Orchid: "A marsh gas pool?"
Dragon Cypress gave a brief explanation: "It's not found in inherited mory, but over on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, almost every Insect Clan uses this technique for making fertilizer. You store so water, add all kinds of plant stems and leaves, seal it up to decompose, and what you get is fertilizer-rich water and marsh slag that plants need for growth."
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