The current speed of the Dominating Throne allows it to depart from Xianglan Mountain in the morning and arrive at Black Lotus Lake by evening.

Departing from Black Lotus Lake in the morning, it reaches Southern Sour Jujube Mountain by late morning.

Black Lotus Lake and Southern Sour Jujube Mountain are very close to each other.

...

The Dominating Throne lands vertically.

Dragon Cypress puts down the plank, waves its tentacles, and 30 Specialized Worker Ants, 50 Large Worker Ants, 30 Medium Worker Ants, 20 Specialized Blue Ants, as well as 20 Large Blue Ants, line up and march onto the ground.

"Black Cory, at this hilltop, this location, you first lead the Worker Ants to build an Ant Nest, and settle the Blue Ants in."

"Understood!"

"I'll return to Black Lotus Lake and transport all the local ants stationed there over here."

"Got it——"

Black Cory walks up the plank onto the ground, waves its tentacles, organizes the Worker Ants into teams, and directs them to clear the surroundings and dig caves in the mountain.

Dragon Cypress watches for a bit, confirms there's no issue, then pilots the Dominating Throne towards Black Lotus Lake to transport a batch of Soldier Ants and Worker Ants to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

Busy all the way until midnight.

Resting half the night, running another two trips the next day to transfer all remaining Worker Ants, Blue Ants, and Blue Soldiers from the Black Lotus Lake Ant Nest to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

White Willow, after eating Origin Force Ant Honey, has shown signs of Evolution.

Dragon Cypress remains at Black Lotus Lake, sets up the Ant Nest dining hall with the Dominating Throne, and lets White Willow recuperate on the Throne.

After waiting two days, fertilizes the Life Seed Plant in advance.

White Willow falls into a deep sleep.

Waits another four days.

White Willow wakes up, successfully completes Molting Evolution.

Age 1, High-Level Beautiful Winged Dragonfly Warrior.

The eighth High-Level Warrior in the Cloud Trace Continent's trade circle; in the coming years, its Life Seed Plant will enter a rapid growth phase, with annual increases in territory output.

After meeting Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid, White Willow selected quite a few Top-Level plants as Life Seeds—self-sufficiency is no big issue.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King! Look!"

White Willow walks out, its wings gathered upwards and pressed together, just like its close relatives, the Calopterygidae Clan Warriors, folding its wings together.

The wings of a dragonfly have limited vertical movement, can only remain spread out, and cannot be folded.

It's quite a hindrance and affects movement in the jungle—one of the main reasons why dragonflies aren't good at managing territory.

Dragon Cypress has fed White Willow plenty of Silver Cypress Seeds, optimizing its body structure.

White Willow has always found its wings annoying, so focused its optimization power on the pair of wings…

"Very good!"

Dragon Cypress praises, not quite sincerely.

White Willow's folded wings stick up high; dragonflies are born with slender six legs, so overall, it still looks awkward on the ground.

And, if Silver Cypress Seeds are used to further optimize the structure, any more changes might ruin the dragonfly's aerial abilities.

It'll have to do, more or less.

Dragon Cypress silently evaluates, scuttles into the dining hall, fetches the gourd containing Ant Honey, and pours a full dish.

"White Willow, you've just broken through—recover your physical strength first."

"Okay——"

White Willow buries its head and licks.

Dragon Cypress helpfully holds the gourd, patiently pouring Ant Honey, and waits while it eats half a gourd and recovers from the post-evolution weakness.

"White Willow, after discussing with Ink Orchid, we both feel you're still a bit on the older side. We've decided that, even at the High-Level Stage, we'll provide resources as appropriate to help you evolve toward Mountain Lord Level more quickly and steadily."

Back in the Primary Warrior stage, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had said they'd only help speed up the progress to Age 3 intermediate warrior, then not interfere much.

In reality, they've been regularly supplying Origin Force Ant Honey, helping the evolution all the way to High-Level Warrior.

They said that after reaching Advanced Warrior, it would be self-reliance, but now that's changed again…

"Thank you——"

White Willow is moved, bashful and awkward, feeling guilty and at a loss.

Dragon Cypress pauses and solemnly says: "White Willow, Ink Orchid and I are not helping your evolution without purpose—when you reach Mountain Lord Level in the future, you'll need to give us a little help."

White Willow: "No problem!"

White Willow agrees without hesitation, then, after thinking for a moment, asks in confusion, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, you and Ink Orchid are wealthy and powerful—is there anything I could help you with?"

Dragon Cypress: "Ink Orchid and I are about to do something dangerous: attack a Lord-Level Termite Kingdom. But for you, there's no danger at all. We just need you to assist with aerial scouting."

White Willow: "War?!"

White Willow: "A Lord-level Termite Kingdom?"

Dragon Cypress: "That's right. Ink Orchid and I have found a Land of Origin Force some twenty to thirty times the size of Black Lotus Lake. There, a King of White Poplar and a Queen called 'White Poplar' and 'Red Phellodendron' dominate…"

Dragon Cypress reports the situation to White Willow, denouncing the wrongdoing of the White Poplar Ant King.

...

To attack the White Poplar Ant Kingdom, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid still need a group of formidable Insect Clan Warriors to help.

Dragonflies have the fastest flight, the strongest vision, and the most ferocious blitz assault capability.

White Willow is the first insect chosen.

The Tenebrionid Beetle Tribe possesses the hardest carapaces and indestructible defense; Ghost Fan and Mountain Persimmon are the second and third insect picks.

The Fire Talent of the Nine-Star Roach is also quite deadly—Mulberry is the fourth insect choice.

If the Purple-Spotted Capricorn Beetle awakens Fire or Thunder System Talent, after Snakebark Maple reaches Evolution Mountain Lord Level, it won't be weak in combat either.

The others, such as White Rice, Black Rice, Blue Catalpa, Woodberry, have average fighting ability, but can still be considered as reinforcements.

The hardest part about a Lord-Level Termite Kingdom isn't the Mountain Lord Level or Lord Level Command Ants, but those endless ant swarms.

It'll need some especially fierce Insect Clan Warriors with awakened area-of-effect attack abilities to help.

The exploration of Cloud Trace Continent must not slacken.

...

Construction at Xianglan Mountain is nearing completion. Round Cypress and Fragrant Cypress are leading Worker Ants on the southern hilly side of the range, pioneering the last two hilltops.

Dragon Cypress goes for a trip first, transporting a large batch of Worker Ants bred during the intermediate Ant King stage from the Ant Nest to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

"Black Cory."

The Dominating Throne slowly descends and comes to a stop.

Black Cory is directing Soldier Ants to collect stones and pile them at the newly dug Ant Nest entrance. Turning back, it removes the loose soil at the cave entrance and spreads the stones—so it won't be muddy on rainy days.

"Great King——"

Black Cory reports: "I've already directed the Worker Ants to dig out the ant nest main tunnel and the chamber for the Blue Ants. The branch nest chambers can be dug by the Worker Ants themselves—no supervision needed."

"Well done."

Dragon Cypress offers a brief word of praise, puts down the plank, waves its tentacles, and directs the Worker Ants to line up and enter the nest.

"Great King, these Worker Ants… really not that efficient…"

"I plan to reside at Southern Sour Jujube Mountain for two or three months. The Ant Eggs from the Dominating Throne will be sent into the Ant Nest for incubation and rearing. These Worker Ants will handle logistics."

"Oh——"

Black Cory twitches its tentacles, indicating understanding.

Dragon Cypress gives instructions: "You and I will work here for now. In a month, I'll return to Xianglan Mountain and bring Round Cypress over, and at the same time, deliver 150 High-Level Specialized Worker Ants and 200 large and medium-sized Worker Ants here. Round Cypress will take over from you, and you'll return to Black Lotus Lake for a month's rest. Then you'll come back and take my place while I go handle other business."

Black Cory: "Understood——"

Black Cory: "Great King, we can start work now. Where do we begin?"

Dragon Cypress surveys his surroundings, lifts a front leg, and points to a distant hillside. "Start by digging a Marsh Gas Pool over there and build a pond."

Black Cory: "Sure!"

...

The pioneering project at Southern Sour Jujube Mountain officially begins.

Another experiment starts at the same time.

Within the Ant Nest, 21 Specialized Worker Ant larvae have been reared, split into three groups of 7:

The first group is given a pure Pheromone to stimulate differentiation towards Specialized Worker Ants.

The second group is mainly given the Specialized Worker Ant differentiation Pheromone, mixed with small amounts of 'Intelligent Worker Ant' and 'Gigantification Soldier Ant' Pheromones.

20 Black Lotus Seeds are made into Ant Honey. When the larvae of groups one and two reach about 5 centimeters, they are fed small, continuous doses.

The third group is reared as ordinary Specialized Worker Ant larvae, without any Black Lotus Seed feeding.

Continuous observation to compare developmental progress.

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