The seeds of the Cuihua Hanlan Divine-Given Seed are born after pollination is completed.

For all plants, after pollination, nutrients begin to flow toward the seeds, and the flowers wither away.

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, and Cypress stayed together under the great camphor tree. Two days later, a gentle breeze swept through at night, scattering the petals.

The fruit is a bit misshapen, because the Divine-Given Seed's seed aggressively seizes the mother plant's nutrients, causing the other ordinary seeds to perish.

A single tuft of Orchid Grass yields only a single fruit and can nurture only one seed, and even so, it's a struggle.

Dragon Cypress fetched two Source Stones, scraped off some powder, sprinkled it under the sapling, and irrigated it with clean water to flush the powder into the soil layer.

The effect was immediate. The fruit rapidly swelled, and after three days the growth rate slowed, entering a stable developmental period.

Cypress and Ink Orchid remained to guard it.

Dragon Cypress returned to the Ant Nest to start preparing for this year's spring trade.

...

On Xianglan Mountain, Fragrant Cypress had already organized the Blue Ants to sort and store all the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seeds, some Divine-Given Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, and various refined Origin Force Foods by category in the Blue Ants' abdomens.

Dragon Cypress took personal command, first blending a batch of "Bee King Honey."

After last year's trade with White Ivy, 50 metal cans were leftover.

But in Dragon Cypress's internal trades within Cloud Trace Continent, since Ghost Fan Mountain's Divine-Given Seed matured last year, Dragon Cypress took the entire batch, leaving 9 cans at Ghost Fan; 4 cans at White Rice Mountain; and 4 cans at Silver Cypress Mountain.

Another three cans were filled with Origin Force Ant Honey for storage period testing.

Currently, there are 30 empty cans.

Just like last year: 10 cans of Southern Sour Jujube Bee King Honey at a price of 1,000 Source Stones per can, and 5 cans at 2,000 Source Stones.

10 cans of Scarletlight Bee King Honey at 1,000 Source Stones/can, and 5 cans at 2,000 Source Stones.

Ship 30 cans over first; as for the rest, after receiving the empty cans, go back to Xianglan Mountain to blend flavors as needed, can them, and deliver them over.

Keeping an eye on the time, things were tidied up for departure.

The Dominating Throne is hidden deep inside the Starship.

First carrying a Spider Silk Bag filled with Divine-Given Azure Seeds and Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds, Dragon Cypress set out, took one last look from a hill, and quickly ran into the woods behind.

The wait wasn't long before the Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord arrived at a brisk pace.

"Dragon Cypress!"

"Oh!"

"These goods are really something!"

The Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord greeted enthusiastically, having sensed from a distance the Divine-Given Origin Force Food in the Spider Silk Bag: Superior Grade Azure Seeds!

This was the first batch produced from the Deep Blue God-Given Seed after Dragon Cypress was promoted to High-Level Ant King—Mountain Lord level quality.

"Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord."

Dragon Cypress greeted and gave a brief introduction: "Last year I harvested a total of 570 Azure Fruits; I'm offering you 60 Azure Seeds for sale. The number of Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds remains the same—still 100 seeds."

The quality of the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed hasn't changed, and the price is the same as previously set: 12 apiece.

The Azure Seeds need a price.

"Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord, please inspect the goods." Dragon Cypress opened the Spider Silk Bag and held it forward.

Seven-Leaf manipulated a Spider Silk Rope to take the bag and pinched out a seed for examination.

"Dragon Cypress, you've mentioned more than once to me that the Deep Blue God-Given Seed grows really fast."

"Yes. At first, its growth was extremely rapid, but last year it suddenly slowed down; in a whole year, it only grew a little more than half a meter—not even a meter."

"Uh..."

Seven-Leaf hesitated a moment and said, "For an arbor, that speed isn't slow at all, is it? How old are you—just a few years? Think about it, what scale will it reach after a hundred or two hundred years? And once you're King-Level, what about after four or five hundred years?"

Good point. The future looks bright.

Dragon Cypress lightly tapped his antennae.

Very much admired the Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord's conversational skills.

While discussing matters seriously, a subtle compliment was slipped in—it's pleasant to hear yet doesn't compromise one's dignity.

A real master at work.

Sooner or later, I'll bring Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple over to learn from them.

Seven-Leaf asked, "Hasn't bloomed yet?"

Dragon Cypress: "Not yet, but it will soon."

Seven-Leaf: "How much do you expect in the next batch?"

Dragon Cypress: "By my estimate, over 1,000! But after that, the yield increase will slow down."

Seven-Leaf beamed, "To reach that yield in just over a decade is pretty high-yielding!"

For the umpteenth time, Seven-Leaf made the suggestion, "Ant King Dragon Cypress, can you increase my share slightly? The price is negotiable."

Every year at trade, Seven-Leaf suggests increasing their allocation.

Dragon Cypress replied succinctly, "Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord, find a way to help me get a batch of Divine-Given Sky-Blue Persimmon Seeds, and I'll give you a share of 200."

Seven-Leaf instantly lost all assertiveness and solemnly promised, "I'll do my best!"

Dragon Cypress pressed further, "What about Divine-Given Black Emperor Peach Kernels? Don't you have a stable share?"

Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord replied with difficulty, "None for now; next time I'll definitely save you a portion. Let's settle the Azure Seed price first..."

Seven-Leaf manipulated the spider silk, shook the Azure Seed in his grasp, and probed, "You name the price?"

Dragon Cypress: "15 Source Stones apiece."

Seven-Leaf praised, "Ant King Dragon Cypress, you've fully mastered the pricing law of Origin Force Food."

The price was thus set.

Seven-Leaf quoted: "100 Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds, 1,200 Source Stones; 60 Azure Seeds, 900 Source Stones; total 2,100 Source Stones."

Seven-Leaf asked, "Is this year when you repay the 4,000 Source Stones... interest?"

Dragon Cypress: "Interest first—4,000 principal, 400 interest. Another 6,000 Source Stones, 1 year's interest is 300, so total interest to pay is 700 Source Stones."

Seven-Leaf was still puzzled when Dragon Cypress continued, "A total of 10,000 Source Stones owed to you—White Ivy Mountain Lord will arrive in a couple days and repay it for me."

"Oh—"

Seven-Leaf was disappointed inwardly and, after hesitating, said, "No problem. That leaves 1,400 Source Stones to settle."

Dragon Cypress: "1,400 Source Stones in cash."

"As you wish."

Seven-Leaf sent a mental command, loosened several Spider Silk Ropes binding cargo to his carapace, and fetched goods for Dragon Cypress—at the same time, asking casually,

"Ant King Dragon Cypress, are you and White Ivy collaborating on selling a kind of 'Origin Force Honey'?"

Dragon Cypress knew this wouldn't get past Seven-Leaf, and countered, "Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord, are you interested in collaborating?"

Seven-Leaf: "Just curious."

Dragon Cypress vaguely explained, "It's a unique ability from my Water System Talent. It can refine all kinds of Origin Force Food to purify it."

Seven-Leaf asked, "The Origin Force won't dissipate?"

Dragon Cypress answered honestly, "It will. But the rate is relatively slow."

Relatively slow? If the Origin Force dissipates, this trade is risky. The faster it dissipates, the higher the risk.

Seven-Leaf lost interest in learning more, silently sympathized with Melde for a second, and with a trace of mischief said, "No wonder Melde keeps fighting with White Ivy about splitting up..."

Seven-Leaf almost wanted to say, "So you're the troublemaker behind all this."

But the other held three Divine-Given Seeds—not suitable to mention openly.

…

…

…

The Spider King Spurge's caravan slowly entered the trading plaza.

White Ivy cut in line, sticking closely behind Spider King Spurge. The moment it stood still, she immediately claimed her position, watched Spider King Spurge spit out a Zeqi Life Seed, and instantly bowed to spit out her own White Ivy Life Seed. The moment it hit the ground, it took root and sprouted…

"Spider King Spurge, I'm going over to discuss something with Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord."

White Ivy tossed this out and clattered off to the Aconite Spider King's trading circle.

Seven-Leaf didn't budge, staring on coldly.

White Ivy came closer, lowered her telekinetic voice, and asked, "Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord, how much for Azure Seeds?"

"15 Source Stones." Seven-Leaf could not bring himself to rip off a fellow clan member who might go bankrupt any day.

"Got it. Farewell!"

White Ivy scampered off.

She strolled up the hill, crossed the summit, and dashed toward the woods.

Dragon Cypress was already waiting in the woods, a large Spider Silk Bag set before him.

"Dragon Cypress!"

"Wow!"

"All Southern Sour Jujube and Scarletlight Bee King Honey!"

"Is ordinary Origin Force Honey ready?"

"Azure Seeds? Any samples? Let me see!"

White Ivy asked as she ran, swiping the Spider Silk Bag when close, opening it and lifting a metal can for inspection.

Dragon Cypress: "…"

Dragon Cypress asked, "How many cans did you presell last year?"

White Ivy: "Sixty-four."

"Not bad—" Dragon Cypress had predicted as much; the previous year's 51 presale had basically exhausted White Ivy's Insect Vein resources.

Managing to presell 64 cans this time—pretty good results.

After a swift inspection, White Ivy tightened the lid and finally took out a "honey-pickled metal can" used early in the year, which contained 9 honey-pickled Azure Fruits.

White Ivy manipulated a Spider Silk Rope to open the lid, pinched out a fruit for inspection, and probed, "Ant King Dragon Cypress, how many Source Stones per Azure Seed to Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord?"

Dragon Cypress answered honestly, "Azure Seeds, 15 Source Stones apiece."

Dragon Cypress continued, "Azure Fruits, I'll count as 18 Source Stones apiece for you."

White Ivy didn't fully trust either Dragon Cypress or Seven-Leaf—unsure if these two were plotting to cheat her.

With skeptical professionalism, she carefully examined the Azure Fruit, pondering and hesitating for a long moment before agreeing, "That's a fair price, let's go with 18 Source Stones apiece."

White Ivy took down a medium-sized Spider Silk Bag from her carapace, opened it, and inside were 12 small Spider Silk Bags of different colors, each containing a corresponding color Spider Silk Rope about ten centimeters long.

White Ivy: "For ordinary Origin Force Honey, it's still mainly for enhanced comprehensive physique, though there's demand for carapace and sensory enhancement as well. It's a bit complicated. I'll tell you—take notes."

White Ivy sorted the Spider Silk Ropes while reporting numbers:

"Comprehensive Physique Enhancement, total of 42 cans—8 Fresh Fruit Light Fragrance, 21 Fresh Fruit Strong Fragrance, 4 Dry Fruit Mellow Fragrance, 9 Mixed Mellow Fragrance."

"Carapace Enhancement, 14 cans total—1 Fresh Fruit Light Fragrance, 8 Fresh Fruit Strong Fragrance..."

All White Ivy's trading partners had a taste for strong flavors; Fresh Fruit Strong Fragrance makes up the majority.

Dragon Cypress had a hunch, so last fall he'd frantically harvested all kinds of fresh fruit, making sure to prep enough Ant Honey in every flavor.

The amount White Ivy presold this time wasn't large, so supply could be guaranteed.

White Ivy finished listing the order requirements and asked, "Dragon Cypress, did you get all that?"

Dragon Cypress: "Got it..."p>

Dragon Cypress looked at White Ivy's carapace.

This year, her carapace was fully loaded—nothing but goods.

While unpacking cargo with a Spider Silk Rope, White Ivy said,

"I did my best to collect all the fruit seeds you wanted. I have some contacts in the Jade Peach Kingdom and got nearly every kind of peach tree seed for you."

"The Source Stones you need—I've brought as well: a full 10,000!"

"There are 150 metal cans. I was thinking you could stock up a bit more, right?"

"There are 3 bottles of Bee King Jelly, enough for the two of us for two years."

"Based on the order requirements, I purchased Origin Force Food from the caravan—mainly comprehensive physique enhancement types: a total of 54 types, varying amounts. For each can, just put 30 types in. Carapace and sensory enhancement types, 30 of each as well, again—amounts vary, so you'll need to balance the ratios yourself..."

"The ordinary Origin Force Food I brought this year is still worth 91,000 Source Stones in total."

White Ivy finished her rundown and asked, "Dragon Cypress, it's ok to make 100 cans of ordinary Origin Force Honey again this year, right? Outside of presales, I'll carry an extra 36 cans—some of each enhancement and fragrance type—and try marketing them. If I can't sell them all, I'll eat the rest myself. Now that I've earned some Source Stones, I'm going to treat myself."

You've barely made a dime! Dragon Cypress: "No problem...of course..."

Dragon Cypress opened the Spider Silk Bag holding the metal cans, checked them in sequence, pulled out a can with Deep Blue God-Given Seed markings, shook it, and reminded,

"White Ivy Mountain Lord, that means you might end up owing me Source Stones this year."

White Ivy: "Put it on account first?"

Dragon Cypress: "No credit!"

White Ivy: "Then I'll give you Spider King Silk Scrolls?"

Dragon Cypress: "I owe Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord 10,000 Source Stones and have to pay interest every year—it's costing me a fortune. I've made arrangements with Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord that you'll repay instead of me."

White Ivy: "..."

White Ivy: "I don't like dealing with that guy Seven-Leaf… but, since it's like that, I'll help you out this once."

Dragon Cypress turned, hoisted a large Spider Silk Bag filled with Origin Force Food, and said, "There's quite a lot this time—I'll start moving things first!"

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