Planting Orchid Grass is incredibly simple.
Last year, when we dug out the old batch of variant Ink Orchids, it left behind ready-made holes. Carry over the new seedlings, place them in, shovel the soil back in, and stomp around the periter to firm up the earth—that’s all. There’s no need to water them; the spring temperature is good, and there’s plenty of rain, so we just wait for the natural rainfall.
「...」
A persistent drizzle began to fall.
Rainwater washes away the ants’ pheromones, making it unsuitable for the Ant Clan to work in the rain.
Dragon Cypress and Black Cory led the ant swarm to take shelter under the canopy of the Divine-Given Leigangli Tree.
Wisps of white smoke curled up.
Within the Ice Pot ford by freezing, the snowy soup was boiling and tumbling.
They casually cooked a group of wild boars that had intruded into their Territory.
A sow with 14 piglets had been scooped up by Black Cory in one go.
The at of the piglets was very tender.
Dragon Cypress was idly chatting with Thunder and Black Cory when suddenly, as if sensing sothing, his tentacles went rigid. His Soul-Setting Ability unfolded, anchoring onto Ink Orchid’s location.
"Dragon Cypress, co here quickly!"
"Second King, what’s the matter?"
"It’s incredible! Hurry up and co look!"
"Oh—"
Dragon Cypress was puzzled.
As a rule, when Ink Orchid conveyed information through the Soul-Setting Ability, it always addressed Dragon Cypress as ’Great King’.
Any deviation from the norm must an urgent news.
Could it be that there’s an issue with the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed?
Impossible.
After a mont of contemplation, Dragon Cypress issued an order, arranging for the five Specialized Blue Soldiers, who were busily enjoying their al, to replace him in turns, deploying their Freezing Ability to maintain the icy state of the Ice Pot.
He got up and quickly ran towards Ink Orchid’s location.
On the hilly slope, with the drizzle beating down, Ink Orchid stood by the side of the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed, with two Specialized Green Ants as curious onlookers by its sides.
Benefiting from the Flourish Ability and the Source Stone, the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed’s first division had finished rapidly. This resulted in 12 offshoots surrounding the mother plant in a scattered and neat arrangent, and each had now grown to almost two ters tall.
"Ink Orchid? Is Senior Orchid Mantis about to awaken its Soul Consciousness so soon?"
"Not yet, it’s not that quick. Dragon Cypress, co here and take a look."
"What’s the matter?"
"This offshoot is growing fast and is about to divide! But, this offshoot’s budding point..."
"The offshoot’s budding point?!"
Dragon Cypress swept over with his spiritual power and also sensed that sothing was off. He quickly moved forward and leaned over the most robustly growing offshoot. Up close, his powerful spiritual power penetrated the soil’s barrier, scanning the underground corm.
In the past, looking at Fruit-Scented Orchids, Cuihua Hanlan, Snow Orchids, as well as Southern Gorgons and Northern Gorgons, the number of offshoots from the first division from the mother plant tended to be large—three, five, seven, or even twelve were possible.
The number of offshoots from the first division largely determines the base for subsequent divisions, greatly influencing the yield of this herbaceous Divine-Given Seed.
The second division, which is the number of offshoots produced from an existing offshoot, then determines the multiplication rate of this herbaceous Divine-Given Seed.
However,
this offshoot of the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed had sprouted 12 budding points, densely packed around the corm!
Dragon Cypress quickly moved around, his spiritual power scanning in inspection.
This offshoot in front of him was growing fast, the first to develop budding points. The other 11 offshoots were lagging slightly behind in growth, still accumulating Energy, with no budding points visible yet.
"This..."
"Dragon Cypress, could this possibly be..."
"Divine Grade?"
"It looks like it~"
Ink Orchid speculated that it might be Divine Grade but wasn’t confident.
A herbaceous Divine Grade was even rarer than a Tall Tree Divine Product.
Up to now, they had only heard of two: one Poaceae and one Shanglu.
Dragon Cypress also wasn’t sure and lacked confidence. His tentacles flickered as he sent out four successive Flourishes towards the mother plant at the central position.
"Ordinary herbaceous Divine-Given Seeds can, at most, reach a 7x multiplication rate. A 7x multiplication rate is Top-Level for herbaceous plants. A 12x multiplication rate would undoubtedly signify a Divine Grade!"
"Divine Grade?!"
"Not necessarily. It seems, a few days ago when I passed by, my tentacle flicked, giving this offshoot a dose of Flourish Ability, so it’s grown much faster than the others. It might be that it has an excess of nutrients with no outlet, so it’s just sprouted so extra buds."
"You, use less!"
"Ink Orchid, don’t panic. Observe for a few days. Once the other 11 offshoots sprout, we’ll know based on the number."
"Observe for a few days!"
"Observe for a few days."
Dragon Cypress kicked its legs into the air and flew swiftly, descending beneath the Leigangli Tree.
"Stop eating. Stop eating. Black Cory, clean up and take the ant swarm to help out at the Second King’s place."
"Dragon Cypress, what’s the matter?" Thunder asked.
Dragon Cypress said, "Suspected Divine Grade."
Thunder asked, "???"
Black Cory wondered, "???"
Dragon Cypress explained, "One of the Great King Molan’s offshoots was the first to sprout with 12 bud points. If they all turn into underground runners, I guess there’s a high probability it’s a Divine Grade."
Dragon Cypress added, "It might also be due to the overuse of the Flourish Ability, resulting in an excess of nutrients. We have to observe for a while to be sure."
Thunder exclaid, "!!!"
Black Cory gasped, "!!!"
Thunder declared, "It’s likely! Based on my personal experience, the Flourish Ability only makes a tree full of Strength. Its roots underground beco especially powerful in absorbing Water and nutrients, and its branches and leaves beco particularly efficient in absorbing sunlight and Origin Force. The Flourish Ability doesn’t induce plants to sprout randomly."
Dragon Cypress countered, "It’s different. You’re a Great Tall Tree. Weeds mostly like to grow wildly."
Black Cory interjected, "Great King! The Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed is not a weed."
Black Cory offered, "Great King, I’ll go over and check first!"
After speaking, with a flick of its tentacle, Black Cory darted towards the direction where the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed had taken root.
A small group of Soldier Ants, Worker Ants, and Blue Soldiers followed, running.
A large group of ants was still circling the Ice Pot, reluctant to leave.
"Stop eating!"
Dragon Cypress waved its wings and directly overturned the Ice Pot, issuing the command, "Follow !"
「...」
After the rain, the sky cleared.
Under the sunshine, all 12 bud points of the first offshoot of the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed developed synchronously, each showing a tendency to grow into a runner.
The other 11 offshoots were still accumulating Energy, ready to burst forth.
Dragon Cypress mobilized all the capable mbers of the Ant Clan stationed at Molan Mountain.
"Ink Orchid, Black Cory, this year’s transplantation of Orchid Grass might need to be abandoned halfway."
"If it’s truly Divine Grade, with a 12x multiplication rate, how many total offshoots will there be at the Mountain Lord Level?"
Black Cory stamred, "...A lot!"
Ink Orchid asked, "Let’s all calculate together, how many offshoots are there?"
Dragon Cypress stated, "Including the mother plant and offshoots, the total number is 22,621 plants! If we assu each offshoot requires an area of 3 ters by 3 ters, which is 9 square ters, we would need 203,589 square ters of land. The current slope is only 150 ters by 150 ters, which is 22,500 square ters. That’s far too little."
Oh—
Ink Orchid cocked its head, listening to these figures, and felt a headache coming on.
Black Cory felt almost the sa. It had inherited Dragon Cypress’s size and smarts but hadn’t inherited Dragon Cypress’s strong computational ability.
Dragon Cypress explained, "For herbaceous plants, once the offshoots begin growing, they grow vigorously. To be safe, it’s best to reserve more space. asure 300 ters outward from the mother plant as the center and clear all the fruit gardens within a 300-ter radius. This is a huge task, and there’s no ti to delay. Let’s start right away."
Dragon Cypress instructed, "Ink Orchid, you personally get moving and chop down all the trees in the surrounding orchards."
Ink Orchid replied, "No problem."
Dragon Cypress commanded, "Black Cory, lead the Worker Ants and Soldier Ants to follow behind Ink Orchid and clear the branches, digging up stumps and roots."
Black Cory affird, "Yes, Great King."
Dragon Cypress mused, "The area is too large, and now it’s too late to transport Divine-Given Remains and crush them into sawdust for backfilling. We can only make it up later."
Dragon Cypress decided, "I’m heading back to Xianglan Mountain imdiately. I’ll bring Fragrant Cypress to help and transport 100 Specialized Worker Ants and 1,000 dium and small Worker Ants to assist. We’ll grind down the chopped fruit trees and mix them with soil to create compost."
Dragon Cypress continued, "Transport 500,000 Source Stones over here, stockpiling them."
Dragon Cypress concluded, "We’ll observe for a bit longer. If we confirm it’s a 12x multiplication rate, I’ll call over the White Rice Mountain Lord. With such a large area, we must borrow its Earth System Abilities to accomplish the Soil Improvent in ti."
Hearing this, Ink Orchid realized the urgency of the situation and said eagerly, "Work! Work! I’ll start chopping trees!"
After speaking, it dashed towards the nearest Black Peach Tree, wielding its claw to chop it down.
A single claw stroke neatly severed the trunk at the base, and with successive slashes, it cut it into segnts.
All around the orchard were Black Peach Trees!
It had taken seven or eight years of hard work to grow them, and now they were in the pri of their fruiting period.
Dragon Cypress watched with a heavy heart and steered the Dominating Throne to leave.
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