The cold wind from the north blew for a whole day and night.

After the cold rain ceased came brilliant spring sunshine, and temperatures warmed up again.

The Ink Orchid flowers withered away, and after a quiet winter, insects began to chirp in the mountains and forests, with birds and beasts gradually becoming more active.

At the Azure Blue Reservoir, hibernating frogs awoke, and the leaf buds of the Azure Tree began to sprout.

After much hesitation, Dragon Cypress repeatedly sifted through the 90 Azure Tree Seeds, selecting one to save as a Life Seed for the next age period, while soaking and planting the remaining 89 seeds and continuing to observe them.

This spring, there were relatively few matters at Xianglan Mountain.

Dragon Cypress was rather free, but could not leave.

Every day, he patrolled up and down the mountain, observing the growth of the Life Seed plants.

The situation was exactly as recorded in the Huagi Knowledge Hall, with no discrepancies; after using the exuviae of the Outstanding Fruit Dragon Cypress Divine-Given Seed as fertilizer, the biggest changes appeared in the seven Cypress Life Seeds, which entered a period of vigorous growth as soon as the weather warmed even slightly.

Next were the cypress close relatives: Large Fruit Hemlock, Golden Pine, and Great King Fir—a total of six Life Seeds.

The other Life Seed plants were also showing a clearly stronger growth momentum than in previous years.

The four Divine-Given Seeds—Azure, Southern Gorgon, Northern Gorgon, and Fruit-Scented Orchid—each reported favorable results.

Actual measured effects were basically consistent with the description in Huagi Knowledge Hall.

There was plenty of material, no need to be stingy, so he increased the quantity used.

...

During free time, Dragon Cypress also conducted a comprehensive count of the Kingdom Ant Colony's population.

The worker ants and soldier ants raised during the Primary-Level Ant King period had all died.

The small-sized and micro ant types raised during the Mid-Level Ant King period were starting to age as well. Within the next 10 years, these small-sized mid-level ants would disappear in batches, and then it would be the medium, large, and specialized types' turn...

Dragon Cypress had evolved into a High-Level Ant King for more than five years, and the Dominating Throne had hardly ever stopped producing ant eggs; priority had always been given to raising soldier ants to boost the kingdom's combat power.

Currently,

The numbers of Specialized Soldier Ants and Large Soldier Ants exceeded 2,000, so there would be no further mass-raising for the time being.

There were also more than a hundred mid-, small-, and micro-sized Soldier Ants.

There were 300 Specialized Blue Soldiers and Large Blue Soldiers, who were responsible for fishing and irrigation. This was a bit insufficient, so a new batch would need to be added.

The number of Specialized Worker Ants was about to reach 300, and there were 200 Large Worker Ants.

They handled territory operations and land reclamation and expansion. The current numbers were far from enough, so many more needed to be raised.

There were over a hundred mid-, small-, and micro-sized Worker Ants, mainly handling Ant Nest logistics and other detailed work within the territory; another batch would need to be added—at least 300 would be required.

Currently, the number of Specialized Blue Ants and Large Blue Ants had reached 400.

There were also about fifty mid-, small-, and micro-sized Blue Ants.

The population of Blue Ants increased in step with the scale of the ant colony.

...

Dragon Cypress also kept a close eye on the Azure Blue Reservoir and made a special trip to Black Lotus Lake to check on the growth states of the three Black Lotus Life Seeds owned by White Willow, comparing them with the two Black Lotus Life Seeds planted in the Azure Blue Reservoir.

The difference was obvious—the Black Lotus Life Seeds rooted in the Azure Blue Reservoir were growing much more vigorously, with thicker, more luxuriant leaves and more blossoms.

It was certain that the Primordial Energy Force Field of the Deep Blue God-Given Seed could also influence Life Seed plants, dramatically increasing their yield.

Dragon Cypress deeply regretted realizing this too late; many of his and Ink Orchid's Life Seed plants could have been planted around the Azure Blue Reservoir.

Further observation brought new discoveries: it turned out that the Deep Blue God-Given Seed could predict the weather.

After the transformation of Xianglan Mountain, every time it rained, thousands of ravines on the southern slope would ultimately converge in the Azure Blue Reservoir and drain out through the valley below.

When rainfall was slightly heavier, the Azure Blue Reservoir would start to face the issue of rising water levels.

Azure would predict impending rainfall and instruct the Worker Ants to dig open the drainage channel in advance, lowering the water level appropriately—thus flooding of plants and animals on both banks could be avoided as much as possible.

This Azure fellow wasn't just capable, but also full of ideas.

Dragon Cypress didn't let it dig recklessly around the reservoir, especially near the dam. If that section collapsed, the entire reservoir would be doomed.

Whenever Azure was idle, it would command Worker Ants and Soldier Ants to scour for and transport stones and clay, layering and reinforcing the base beneath the dam.

After reinforcement, it began excavating and widening the valley stream below the reservoir, sowing all kinds of plants, expanding its ecological circle downstream...

The land below was barren and the slopes steep. Dragon Cypress hadn't planned for an orchard, so he had nothing to say about this and simply let Azure do as it pleased.

Dragon Cypress was still thinking about another problem: Would the probability of plants and animals within the coverage of the Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Primordial Energy Force Field becoming Origin Force Life increase?

The area covered was too small and the probability itself too low, so it was impossible to determine via comparison.

...

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple had taken up permanent residence in the South Mountain Restaurant, spending most of their time recuperating on the Dominating Throne.

Blue Catalpa was first to fall into slumber and smoothly evolved into a third-age-period intermediate Sky Ox Warrior, choosing Green-Red Kiwifruit as its Life Seed.

Snakebark Maple was nurturing a Divine-Given Seed and was visibly struggling, taking another half month before entering evolution slumber. It also chose Green-Red Kiwifruit as its Life Seed.

At the intermediate warrior stage, the two of them only chose Green-Red Kiwifruit as their plant Life Seed.

The orchard's peach blossoms were in full bloom, marking the time for spring trading.

Cypress led 1,000 soldier ants to stay home just in case, and Ink Orchid remained at Xianglan Mountain.

Dragon Cypress organized the ant colony and packed up to depart.

Spiked Cypress and Giant Cypress led 1,000 soldier ants, escorting 200 blue ants and 100 worker ants, heading in grand procession toward the Rednan Mountain Ant Nest.

The Dominating Throne carried Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, and Fragrant Cypress, flying low ahead of the group.

"Blue Catalpa. Snakebark Maple. You two better watch yourselves—don't tell the caravan about the Green-Red Kiwifruit Divine-Given Seed just yet,"

Dragon Cypress gave the two, who were getting a bit carried away with excitement, a timely reminder.

"Why?" Snakebark Maple was puzzled.

Dragon Cypress: "First reason: We told the caravan last year that Ink Orchid got a Cuihua Hanlan Divine-Given Seed. If we say this year you both got Divine-Given Seeds as well, that's one per year out of Xianglan Mountain—isn't it suspiciously easy for us to get them? Some bugs might start having strange thoughts."

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple exchanged glances: Dragon Cypress Ant King, so deeply thoughtful.

Dragon Cypress: "Second, the strengthening effects of Green-Red Kiwifruit are quite good and will be helpful for future evolution into Evolution Mountain Lords. Such good stuff should be prioritized for Cloud Trace Continent's internal bugs. When our own needs are satisfied, then we can consider selling to the caravan."

"Exactly!" Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple tapped their tentacles vigorously in agreement. The pride of producing Origin Force Food that Clan Warriors of other insect tribes covet was hard to hide.

—If you calculate carefully, the demand just within our own Cloud Trace Continent is already quite large.

—Yeah. Just Xianglan Mountain alone has Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, plus Fragrant Cypress, Round Cypress, and another six Command Ants.

—And Mulberry!

—Ghost Fan and Woodberry.

—White Willow and Black Cory.

—Black Rice and White Rice.

—Just last winter, we discovered Yellow Stem and Spruce.

—Who else?

—Mountain Persimmon? Does that count? Gone now.

—We need it ourselves, too.

—Right.

—So many bugs in need.

—Such pressure~

...

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple chattered away enthusiastically.

The group set out at dawn as the sky turned light and, after marching for half a day, arrived at their destination.

Spiked Cypress, Giant Cypress, and Fragrant Cypress led the ant colony into the nest.

Dragon Cypress, grabbing Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, delivered a stern warning, gave them thorough instructions, and handed a petite Spider Silk Bag to Blue Catalpa.

Last year, the Divine-Given Seeds of Fruit-Scented Orchid and Northern Gorgon both bore fruit and were harvested.

The Gorgon Fruit Seeds from Northern Gorgon were supplied for internal use on Cloud Trace Continent. This year, only the Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed would be sold as Divine-Given Origin Force Food—only 100 seeds sold to the Seven-Leaf Caravan.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple set out with the goods.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.