Southern Sour Jujube Mountain is a closed environment, with limited hunting space.

Dragon Cypress specially bred 50 Specialized Blue Ants and placed them in the ant nest of Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, raising the food storage limit of the ant colony to half a year.

This year's fishing at Black Lotus Lake, Cypress and Silver Cypress both participated, commanding 200 Specialized Blue Soldiers and 100 Large Blue Soldiers, increasing the hunting scale. The duration remained one month, stocking up food for both Xianglan Mountain and Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

Spiked Cypress, Giant Cypress, Fragrant Cypress, and Cypress stayed behind at Xianglan Mountain.

Round Cypress, Silver Cypress, and Black Cory continued reclaiming the orchard in Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid headed to Xinghu Lake once more.

The small branches and leaves of the Divine-Given Seed of Bountiful Dragon Cypress had already turned to powder and must not be wasted, so they were packed into 8 bags in one go, rushing straight toward Scarletlight Mountain.

...

The winter temperature was just right, moderately dry and damp, neither cold nor too hot.

Mulberry was lying on the mountaintop basking in the sun when Ink Orchid flew over first.

"Mulberry!"

"Good news!"

"Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple also have Divine-Given Seeds now! Discovered just this past autumn."

"One seed of a male Green-Red Kiwifruit Divine-Given Seed."

Mulberry: "!!!"

Mulberry sprang straight up, stunned, not having digested the previous words, when Ink Orchid immediately continued:

"Male plants only bloom, they don't bear fruit."

"But if you use male flowers to pollinate ordinary female Green-Red Kiwifruit Life Seeds, the quality of the Origin Force Fruits will dramatically increase, fetching two to three times the price. One male plant can pollinate dozens of female Life Seeds."

Mulberry: "..."

Mulberry froze, unable to comprehend for a moment, frantically searching Inherited Memory for the relevant knowledge.

Ink Orchid added: "And there's another amazing piece of news! Dragon Cypress and I found a new Origin Force point called 'Huagi Mountain,' which was the richest place in Cloud Trace Continent in the last Origin Force Era…"

"By using the map, we successfully locked in the location of Xinghu Lake, and found the remains of the deceased Divine-Given Seed of Bountiful Dragon Cypress in the treasury."

"This time, Dragon Cypress brought a lot over, planning to use it for the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed. We'll test the effect first, and if it works, we'll use it in large quantities to help it accelerate to Evolution Lord Level!"

"Oh! I almost forgot. Dragon Cypress and I learned new knowledge in the Shield Grasshopper Tribe's Knowledge Hall: the exuviae of Divine-Given Seeds can serve as growth nourishment for other Origin Force Plants."

Mulberry: "!!!"

Too much shocking information at once left Mulberry's mind stuck, frozen in place, desperately scouring Inherited Memory.

After a long, long time, it turned out Inherited Memory had no such knowledge.

Mulberry: "...That's great!"

Not knowing what to say, Mulberry raised a foreleg and pointed at the distant Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed, "It'll take a few more days before it blooms."

"Alright—" Ink Orchid suddenly remembered something and added:

"Dragon Cypress and I also learned a particularly important piece of knowledge. Actually, Wild God-Given Seeds develop independent consciousness at Evolution Mountain Lord Level, but don't develop spiritual power and thus cannot communicate with us. After reaching Evolution King Level, they develop spiritual power and can communicate with any Insect Clan Warrior."

Mulberry was shocked again, "Does the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed have consciousness?"

Ink Orchid: "Yes! It definitely knows we're taking care of it."

Mulberry: "Oh!"

Mulberry marveled repeatedly.

Ink Orchid continued: "Before a Wild Divine-Given Seed breaks through evolution, there will be very clear signs, mainly in two aspects: First, it stops flowering and fruit-bearing; second, the branches and leaves grow rapidly, absorbing the energy of the sun and moon to accumulate force."

Mulberry: "...Got it!"

Mulberry: "Ink Orchid, what does it mean to accumulate force?"

Ink Orchid: "It's similar to how we Insect Clan Warriors eat and rest before evolution to store up energy and Origin Force. The evolution of a Divine-Given Seed also requires this accumulation process. The ancestors of the Shield Grasshopper Tribe called this phenomenon 'accumulate force.'"

Mulberry: "I understand! Thanks for telling me—"

Ink Orchid, happy and proud, explained in turn: "All plants have 'force;' even ordinary plants have tree force. When the force is strong, there are abundant flowers and leaves, with bountiful harvests. When weak, there are few flowers and small fruits."

"Mulberry, when you opened up orchards on the mountain and planted many mango trees, did you notice that some years your mango trees had fewer flowers and fruit, with smaller fruit, but in the second or third year, they suddenly had lots of flowers and branches full of fruit?"

Mulberry pondered for two seconds and answered affirmatively: "Yes! That's true!"

Ink Orchid: "Years with fewer flowers and fruit are the tree's weak force and accumulate force periods; years with many flowers and fruits are when the tree releases its accumulated force. The strong and weak phases of ordinary plants cycle periodically, usually every two, three, or five years."

"When we manage orchards, there's a lot to pay attention to. When the tree's force bursts forth, we need to thin out flowers and fruit appropriately, give more water and fertilizer, and reduce the load on the plant. Thus, when a 'weak phase' comes, it won't be as weak."

Mulberry: "…Understood!"

Mulberry: "Ink Orchid, you're as knowledgeable and learned as Dragon Cypress now!"

Mulberry: "I want to learn too—"

Ink Orchid was momentarily troubled: "First, I need to get Yellow Stem's permission… What do you want to learn? I can teach you."

Mulberry: "Mango tree cultivation techniques!"

Ink Orchid: "That's easy, I know everything about that…"

The Dominating Throne came into view, swaying as it descended straight toward the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed.

Mulberry and Ink Orchid hurried over.

The Dominating Throne hovered above the treetop, Dragon Cypress inspecting up and down.

These past few years, during the flowering and fruiting of the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed, a total of 1000 and 3000 Source Stones were invested, respectively. Normally, with Mulberry's care, every time Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid came over, they'd hunt a batch of animals in the forest to bury under the tree as compost.

With careful nurturing, the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed steadily grew half a meter in height each year, with a corresponding yearly increase in flower count.

Dragon Cypress compared with the knowledge of Wild Divine-Given Seeds recorded in Huagi Mountain, examining with perception, and confirmed that the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed was already infinitely close to Lord Level.

Once the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed evolves to Lord Level, the quality of Divine-Given Fruit will increase, annual income can immediately rise by 30% to 40%, then will enter a fast-growth period lasting several decades, with fruit yield and income increasing year by year, eventually more than doubling.

"Mulberry!"

The Dominating Throne landed, Dragon Cypress carrying a Spider Silk Bag, leaped down, ripped it open with a tearing sound, and asked: "Ink Orchid explained the general situation to you, right?"

"Yes—"

Mulberry crowded in, lowering its head to inspect: Is this the exuviae of the Divine-Given Seed?

It looked like incompletely burned plant ash; scanning with spiritual power, you could detect Primordial Energy Substance within it.

Dragon Cypress: "I brought 8 bags over, let's dig 8 large pits and bury them. Next spring, we'll observe the results. If it works, Ink Orchid and I will spend more time to transport several dozen bags over!"

"Alright!"

Mulberry looked up and glanced around, considering the best spots for the pits.

Dragon Cypress called: "Mulberry, don't rush. One more thing."

Dragon Cypress: "I plan to increase our investment to help the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed sprint toward Lord Level."

Mulberry: "Okay—"

Dragon Cypress: "The winter flowering Source Stone investment will increase from 1000 to 2000 pieces. The early summer fruiting Source Stone investment will go from 3000 up to 4000. Each year, 2000 more Source Stones will be invested, split evenly; we each provide 1000."

Mulberry: "No problem!"

Mulberry: "Dragon Cypress, is that enough?"

Dragon Cypress: "At present, there's no Source Stone production inside Cloud Trace Continent; we can only rely on the Flame Spider Roving Merchants for transport. I'd like to invest more, but we have no more available Source Stones."

Mulberry: "Understood—"

Dragon Cypress: "From this year on, control the number of fruits. Each year after the flowers bloom and honey has been harvested, I'll have the Worker Ants cut some, leaving only 2000 flowers and 2000 fruit. This ensures the blossom-fruit cycle won't overburden the plant."

Mulberry: "I understand, accumulating force for the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed."

Quick to learn~ Dragon Cypress: "…Exactly right!"

It was always simple and smooth to communicate with Mulberry.

Dragon Cypress waved its tentacle, calling out:

"Let's dig the pits!"

"Ink Orchid, you too. Go dig over there."

"Everyone, pay a little attention, don't move too roughly, be careful not to hurt the roots."

"Alright!" Mulberry and Ink Orchid agreed, and everyone got to work.

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