Rest for a night.
The next morning, Dragon Cypress escorted Chinese Clematis back to Black Fruit Mountain. By the ti he returned again to the Purple Tung Insect Nation, Ink Orchid had also completed the search for the Divine-Given Seed.
No harvest.
Headed to the Desolation Plains for a loop.
Drifting southward…
Finally arrived at the Areca Rainforest again.
"Spikemoss!"
Ink Orchid sent out a spiritual power ntal greeting.
The Divine-Given Seed of King Cypress responded with a friendly spiritual power thought.
After nearly a year and a half of growth, the tree height had reached close to 20 ters, and its spiritual power now covered a radius of more than 200 ters.
Spikemoss commanded its ant colony to clear all vegetation within 100 ters, replanting with Thousand-Leaf Fescue, Dragon Tendon Grass, and Plantago—species that wouldn't compete for soil nutrients.
Within the 100 to 200 ter range, all previously planted fruit trees had also been cleared. The land was transford into a nursery and sown with Zhibai and Silver Cypress 3001 seeds; currently, the seedlings had grown anywhere from a few centiters to over ten centiters tall.
Spikemoss planned to start by planting its own kin to familiarize itself with the complete breeding process, then gradually expand to other plant varieties.
"Dragon Cypress, can I start selecting seedlings now?" Spikemoss inquired.
Dragon Cypress instructed, "Once the height exceeds 10 centiters, you can begin the first round of seedling selection and cull a batch of weaklings."
Spikemoss: "What if a patch of seedlings are all robust? What then?"
Dragon Cypress: "Cull them at random to make room for the other seedlings. If there's a small area where all are weak, don't hesitate to clear them out. You can leave it as is or replant later. But if there's a large area of weak seedlings, you'll need to check if there's a soil or lighting issue, or maybe the plot wasn't prepared well and there's waterlogging."
"Oh—"
Spikemoss was smart, understanding imdiately without the need for extra details.
Dragon Cypress didn't waste words either; his antennae tapped repeatedly, and four pulses of the Flourish Ability descended.
Ink Orchid leapt to the ground, running toward its own Divine-Given Seed of Red Leaf Rain Tree.
Dragon Cypress: "Spikemoss, handle things yourself. This year, Ink Orchid and I are heading to Wanglan Continent next door to work."
Spikemoss: "Okay—"
Dragon Cypress then piloted the Dominating Throne, floating over to settle beneath the Divine-Given Seed of Elephant Foot King Orchid.
Elephant Orchid: "..."
Dragon Cypress's antennae tapped repeatedly, sending out four pulses of the Flourish Ability.
Elephant Orchid protested, "Dragon Cypress, why did you bring that mantis along again?"
Dragon Cypress: "We're just passing by. We'll stay a few days and be on our way."
Elephant Orchid: "Leave now. Take the mantis with you."
Elephant Orchid asked, "Aren't you sending an Assistant King? Black Birch?"
Dragon Cypress: "Black Birch is reclaiming Fragrant Silk Island. Give it two more years, when the work's done, she'll co over."
Elephant Orchid: "Hurry up and finish."
Dragon Cypress piloted the Dominating Throne, docked at the edge of the ant path, leaped to the ground, and walked into the "Bayonet Grove" for inspection.
After Elephant Foot King Orchid's Divine-Given Seed mother plant surpassed 40 ters in height, its growth visibly slowed, now standing at about 42 ters, growing less than half a ter per year.
The sa goes for its offsets.
The first batch of two offsets barely surpassed 40 ters and weren't growing much anymore.
The second batch of six offsets were still under 30 ters.
Currently, the mother plant plus offsets totaled only nine, with varying heights.
The eighteen subterranean rhizos of the third batch of offsets had just started growing and might only develop bulbs and new shoots in winter.
The Divine-Given Seed of Elephant Foot King Orchid follows a herbaceous offset developnt model, but its tough, woody trunk ans it could never grow as fast as a true herbaceous plant.
It would probably take another seven or eight years before all offsets matured.
The Red Leaf Rain Tree next door had already borne fruit the year before last. In another two years, it would start yielding returns.
"Elephant Orchid, want to allocate you another 100 Specialized Green Ants?"
"Yes!"
"Alright. In winter, I'll bring Black Birch, Cypress, and Tie Bush over."
"Why the crab? Don't bring it!"
Elephant Orchid reacted harshly, rejecting all Origin Force Life except ants.
Dragon Cypress: "Tie Bush isn't coming to your place. It's heading to Spikemoss."
Elephant Orchid: "Careful it doesn't snap your cypress in half with its claw."
The intelligence gap between Elephant Orchid and Spikemoss was starkly obvious.
Dragon Cypress: "...It won't."
...
Dragon Cypress planned to station 8,000 various soldier and worker ants on Fragrant Silk Island. These past years, thanks to all the delays from the Divine-Given Seed of King Cypress, only half had been trained—less than 4,000 ants at present.
As for Twin Pillar Island, he planned to station a thousand worker ants but hadn't raised a single one yet.
Fortunately, reclamation work on Fragrant Silk Island hadn't suffered serious delay; 40 mu of land had already been reclaid.
It was winter in the Southern Hemisphere, tropical temperatures were just right, and Black Birch was busy with transplanting Silver Cypress 3001 saplings.
Tie Bush was also busy logging with its twin claws.
Cypress stood guard at the mountaintop post, occasionally activating the Scorching Ability, scanning the surroundings and staying alert at all tis.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid arrived, exchanged brief greetings, and jumped into work straightaway.
Bayonet was a plant species with distinctive traits and expertise, making it worth investing significant ti and effort in its cultivation.
Plans to cultivate…
During Bayonet fruit ripening season, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid searched all the offshore islands near the continent, collecting Elephant Foot King Orchid, Thousand-Claw King Orchid, Bird-Beak King Orchid, Pale King Orchid, Extre Narrow King Orchid, Berry King Orchid, Phoenix Tail King Orchid, Curved Leaf King Orchid, and Thread Leaf King Orchid—for a total of nine native species.
In addition, the Forest Beard Bee Kingdom of the Thousand-Reef Islands grew a cultivated variety, recognizable by its leaves and plant height as sothing quite exceptional.
Ink Orchid snuck ashore, nabbed a batch of seeds, and nad them "Rift Leaf Orchid King."
In total, ten varieties.
Dragon Cypress planned to clear ten square kiloters each on Fragrant Silk Island and Twin Pillar Island to cultivate Bayonet.
Logging, shredding, composting, soil improvent, land preparation, digging irrigation ditches, sowing, watering…
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