"Hurry up!"

"Hurry up!"

"Hurry up!"

"Go, team!"

"Come on!"

...

Black Cory stood on the high slope, looking down from above, vigorously shaking his tentacles. Excitement and encouragement pheromones filled the foot of the mountain.

The Worker Ants were busy in an orderly fashion: clearing shrubs, digging up roots, cutting weeds, and tilling the earth.

All the Soldier Ants were called up to help, picking up stones and carrying them to designated dump sites.

A dozen or so Blue Ants, big and small, stood by, their abdomens full of fresh water and ant honey.

"You!"

"You lot!"

"You too!"

"Eat! Rest!"

"And you!"

"You!"

"And you, over there."

"Get to work!"

Black Cory used to be a Worker Ant hauling and toiling, so he knew everyone's temperament and mindset inside out.

As a Worker Ant, all you wanted was to lie there with a full belly, barely moving if you could help it. A little work now and then was fine, but if you had to keep slogging away, you'd be totally fed up, secretly resentful, looking for every chance to slack off. Forcing labor? It might look busy, but everyone was just going through the motions, and work efficiency dropped to rock bottom.

Black Cory organized both Worker Ants and Soldier Ants into teams, giving precise orders, rotating them so everyone worked for a spell and then rested for a while.

The results were remarkable—the Southern Sour Jujube Nursery was reclaimed ahead of schedule.

Dragon Cypress also left behind a batch of Silver Cypress and Black Cory Grape Seeds.

And now, spring was in full swing.

Black Cory planned to reclaim two more plots for nurseries, hurrying to sow all the seeds while the season was right.

Leading the ant colony, out at dawn, back at dusk, working overtime around the clock.

...

The Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed was flowering this spring—its nectar was not to be missed.

Ghost Fan and Woodberry both seemed a bit spaced out—they couldn't quite say when, exactly, the flowering would be.

Afraid to be late, Dragon Cypress set out lightly from Xianglan Mountain, traveling all night without sleep.

One whole day plus most of the night, passing by Black Lotus Lake, thinking he should stop by to check if Black Cory was slacking off, take a short break there, and bring Black Cory along to Ghost Fan Mountain to help collect nectar…

The Dominating Throne crested the ridge. Dragon Cypress lowered his head to take a look, suspecting he was hallucinating from fatigue.

He looked up, and in the east, only the first traces of dawn glimmered at the skyline.

Looking down once again, he saw that on the flatland below, a huge number of Worker Ants and Soldier Ants were already busy at work, full of vigor.

Like an army on the march,

and Blue Ants stood by, ever ready to provide supplies.

Even White Willow was there, helping to move the extra-large stones.

Black Cory stood partway up the slope, going all-out waving his tentacles, issuing commands nonstop.

"..."

Dragon Cypress piloted the Dominating Throne slowly downward.

White Willow beat her wings, rising into the air. "Dragon Cypress Ant King! All the Southern Sour Jujube Seeds have been sown on time!"

"Nice work—"

Dragon Cypress wasn't sure what to say.

He'd only just split the colony, sent Black Cory away, and now—he changed completely?

Did the Great King ever treat you badly on Xianglan Mountain?

"Black Cory!"

Dragon Cypress, annoyed, called out and bluntly asked: "What? You get to a new place and start working yourself to death?"

"Great King—"

Black Cory mumbled, "The more you work, the more you get, right…"

White Willow quickly chimed in with praise: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Black Cory is so hardworking! Not only did he sow all the Southern Sour Jujube Seeds ahead of time, he even helped tidy up my whole territory."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress sensed Black Cory had strong independence, which was why he'd separated him.

But he never expected, after being split off, Black Cory's entire ant spirit would do a complete one-eighty.

A flash of insight hit Dragon Cypress' mind—a new idea for developing the Ant Kingdom and reclaiming unclaimed Land of Origin Force.

—If I had a few more ants like Black Cory, assign them to different Land of Origin Force, letting them live on their own, wouldn't it save me a ton of trouble?

"Black Cory, I think your approach is spot on: the more you work, the more you get! Keep it up!"

Dragon Cypress gave him some praise.

"Yes, Great King!"

Black Cory answered smartly, full of energy.

"Mm—"

The point of Dragon Cypress' visit was to take Black Cory to Ghost Fan Mountain to help gather nectar and make Ant King Jelly.

But since things were like this, he decided to forget it.

Dragon Cypress said, "I traveled all night. I'll rest a bit on the mountain. You all keep at it, balance work and rest, don't go working the Worker Ants to death."

Black Cory: "Don't worry, Great King. We're working and resting at the same time, we're not tired!"

Dragon Cypress turned around, looked over the area, tapped his tentacles, and piloted the Dominating Throne uphill.

...

Ghost Fan Mountain.

Keg Vine was planted along the left bank of the river, its main vines had already reached lengths between twenty and forty meters, covering the hillside, flower clusters swaying in the wind.

On the right bank were White Willow and Maple Poplar, interspersed and neatly arranged, each reaching three to five meters tall, forming a riverside forest.

Ghost Fan, with his gray-black carapace, led Woodberry, whose carapace shone with iridescence. One large, one small, one behind the other, carefully carrying bamboo tubes to the riverbank to fertilize the two Maple Poplar Trees planted there, both Life Seeds.

Even from far away, Ghost Fan keenly caught a fluctuation of Origin Force, stopped, looked up, and scanned the sky.

Woodberry paused, looking upward too.

The Dominating Throne soared over the mountaintop and began a steady descent. Dragon Cypress peered out and, spotting them, picked up the speed.

"Ghost Fan! Woodberry!"

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, where's Ink Orchid? Haven't seen him in ages."

They greeted each other and Woodberry asked.

Dragon Cypress said helplessly, "Ink Orchid's busy fussing over his orchids—every spring he's even busier than I am…"

Woodberry: "Er—"

Ghost Fan: "Oh—"

Ghost Fan didn't think orchids were so bad. He set down his bamboo tube and chatted, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, I remember Ink Orchid saying you taught him a 'hybrid breeding' technique. It was supposed to make it easy to breed outstanding new varieties of Orchid Grass… Any progress?"

Dragon Cypress: "No success yet, still working on it."

Dragon Cypress, honestly, didn't really get hybrid breeding and genuinely had no heart to learn. Ink Orchid tugged at him for help every year, and he usually just went through the motions.

Dragon Cypress had never thought much of Orchid Grass—this opinion had never changed and never would.

He turned and looked around, changing the subject, "Did I make it in time? Has the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed flowered yet?"

Woodberry quickly replied: "You're early, Dragon Cypress Ant King. Not blooming yet."

Ghost Fan: "The flower clusters are ready, in two or three days they'll bloom."

Dragon Cypress: "Perfect, I've brought plenty of Worker Ants, we can help you for two days."

"Marsh Gas Pool! Ghost Fan says we still need to dig another Marsh Gas Pool!" Woodberry never stood on ceremony with Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid.

Ghost Fan: "..."

Dragon Cypress cheerfully said: "No problem! You two go on with your work?"

Ghost Fan led Woodberry, poured the marsh slag from their bamboo tubes, and led the way to the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed, taking a look around, chatting for a bit.

They ended up on the slope near their dwelling cave.

A Marsh Gas Pool half dug.

Dragon Cypress parked the Throne nearby, unloaded the Stump Ant Nest, and directed thirty large Worker Ants and twenty medium Worker Ants to start digging.

Three days later, the Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed blossomed.

Dragon Cypress piloted the Dominating Throne, circling the tree up and down, commanding seven Miniaturization Blue Ants to harvest nectar and pollen.

No payment for this job.

It was the same deal for the Divine-Given White Rice Seed and Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed—no fee required.

There was a barter arrangement.

When the Divine-Given Seed fruits ripened and were harvested, everyone would be selling Divine-Given Origin Force Food, and definitely would need to buy a huge amount of Origin Force Ant Honey. Since they couldn't eat it all in a short time, Dragon Cypress used the bee king jelly he brewed to seal it for long preservation.

It was a win-win for both sides.

The Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed's yield was low—just 1,373 flowers. Took a bit more than a day to harvest. The lovely little bottle given by White Ivy was soon filled to the brim.

Dragon Cypress stayed another day to help, finished the Marsh Gas Pool, then guided the Dominating Throne northeast, making a detour to Kiwifruit Mountain to check on the Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple.

The two little guys were smart—following Dragon Cypress on his roving merchant trips, learning all sorts of territory management tricks. Not only did they take great care of their own Life Seeds, they also kept their regular Green-Red Kiwifruit seedlings in the nursery in tip-top shape.

Bright, lively, and full of spirit.

A bit of what he and Ink Orchid were like as kids.

Dragon Cypress made sure they could live independently just fine, and finally headed back to Xianglan Mountain.

"Southern Gorgon!"

Passing Southern Gorgon Reservoir, he shouted a greeting, lowered the Dominating Throne, and swept the area with spiritual power to check.

The fruits were growing well.

"Dragon Cypress—"

Southern Gorgon answered, challenging, "Where'd you run off to again?"

Dragon Cypress: "The Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed was flowering, I went to collect nectar and make Ant King Jelly."

Southern Gorgon: "You really shouldn't wander off! Is something happening up on the mountain? Where are my Soldier Ants for protection? Where did they go? Go up and check, now!"

Dragon Cypress: "???"

Dragon Cypress looked around—sure enough, all the Soldier Ants responsible for patrol near the reservoir were missing.

What could possibly happen in the spring?

Without another word, Dragon Cypress shot the Dominating Throne up into the air, racing toward the mountains.

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