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 exclaid.
"But they were nurtured by the sa mother plant, right?" Ink Orchid continued. "They are conjoined twins; will they still fight?"
Dragon Cypress replied, "Conjoined twins start fighting from the mont they are born, competing for nutrients from the mother plant."
Ink Orchid fell silent.
After a mont, 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 sa 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 beco a new challenge. This ans 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 na!"
Dragon Cypress was silent.
I haven’t even decided if I really want to cultivate another Gigantification Soldier Ant, and she’s already nad 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 ti!"
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, sowhat anxiously, "Nothing bad happened to your territory over the sumr, did it?" During the sumr, 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 ho territories. The early autumn trade was delayed, making Ghost Fan worry that sothing might have happened.
Dragon Cypress explained, "During that sumr, 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 cald his mind when Ink Orchid spoke. At her words, his six legs trembled, and he nearly collapsed.
"A Divine-Given Seed?!" he exclaid.
"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 mont to process this. He said with difficulty, "Ink Orchid, does that an 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 imnse benefits a single Divine-Given Seed could bring, and he couldn’t help but feel envious.
He searched his Inherited mories and found another reason for joy.
Although Gorgon Fruit was an aquatic herbaceous plant, its enhancent effect was organ strengthening—specifically, it strengthened absorption abilities. This was fundantally different from the intestinal digestion and absorption enhancent provided by the Stone Orchid Seed. The Gorgon Fruit enhanced the ’dry pancreas.’
Every mber 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 consud 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 enhancent 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 enhancent were lifelong, providing advantages for an entire lifeti.
Upon further contemplation, Ghost Fan said regretfully, "My Inherited mory 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 sa!"
"...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 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 exclaid, overjoyed.
Dragon Cypress spoke up at the right mont, "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 ti 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 Refinent Ant Honey. However, Dragon Cypress had failed to arrive on ti. 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 agreent 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 so Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, and mixed and fernted 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 sumr.
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