White Lotus Lake.

The entire Land of Origin Force was drained into an Origin Force Vacuum Land.

The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed was like a terrifying giant beast; in the early morning, it devoured every bit of mist over the lake.

Decades or centuries of growth were compressed into a short few months. The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed madly absorbed sunlight and moisture, drawing nutrients from every inch of soil.

The Dominating Throne drifted over, docking at the lakeside.

"Night Fragrance!"

Ink Orchid greeted, pulling open a Spider Silk Bag and pulling out the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot.

"Night Fragrance, do you recognize this Outworld Civilization Artifact?"

"No, I don't."

"This is called the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot. It has three abilities: water making, hot water, and ice making. I'll use some Ant Honey to make a piece of ice for you to see…"

Ink Orchid enthusiastically demonstrated the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot's functions for the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed.

Dragon Cypress stood on top of the Stump Ant Nest, looking around and asking, "Night Fragrance, your tree's eighty meters tall now? How's it doing?"

Night Fragrance: "The Origin Force of White Lotus Lake is just enough to sustain my current growth."

"That's good." Dragon Cypress jumped off the throne, walked forward, and scraped the soil with his claws.

In the summer of White Lotus Lake, rain was frequent and it was hot and humid. This is the main reason for the lush vegetation here. Over the years, more than a meter-thick layer of fertile humus had formed.

The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed's roots spread through the shallow soil, spawning a large amount of capillary roots to absorb water and nutrients from the rich earth. In just a few short months, the soil's fertility had plummeted, turning dry and barren.

Dragon Cypress: "Looks like I need to transport your exuviae over as soon as possible."

Night Fragrance: "Yes."

Night Fragrance's attention was entirely on Ink Orchid.

Ink Orchid deftly unscrewed a Metal Can, poured out Origin Force Ant Honey, used the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot to make water, mixed it into a moderately sweet syrup, started the ice making function, then opened the lid—a piece of flavored ice was created.

"Dragon Cypress! Eat!"

"I'm not hungry, nor thirsty. Thanks."

Dragon Cypress hurriedly changed the subject: "Night Fragrance, Ink Orchid and I just ran into a really weird thing."

Night Fragrance: "How weird?"

Dragon Cypress: "At an Origin Force Point called White Rice Mountain, there's a wild, Mountain Lord Level White Rice Divine-Given Seed. It's been growing for about 100 to 150 years. At the beginning, there was even a Red Fox Warrior…"

Dragon Cypress recounted the miraculous events at White Rice Mountain in full detail, then asked, "Night Fragrance, you've lived long and seen much. Have you ever heard of something like this?"

Night Fragrance: "Never heard of it."

Night Fragrance: "Plants and animals belong to two completely different life systems. This fundamentally doesn't conform to the Law of Life in the Natural Star Realm. If it were any other insect telling me such a story, I'd just treat it as something amusing."

Night Fragrance countered, "How is that possible?"

—It truly is unbelievable.

—If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd never believe it.

—But Ink Orchid and I really did run into it. Absolutely for real.

Dragon Cypress: "I'll go further away to settle the Ant Nest."

Dragon Cypress: "Same old routine, Ink Orchid stays to dig holes, I'll ride the Dominating Throne back and forth to transport stuff. Let's get the job done quick."

…

Dragon Cypress ran four times, transporting 60 bags of Divine-Given Remains and burying them in dug pits.

The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed began to use Glinting Gold's reserve Origin Force to sustain growth.

A month later,

The tree exceeded 90 meters in height.

Another month later,

The tree exceeded 100 meters, with a trunk nearly 5 meters in diameter. Six plank roots at the base rose more than a meter high, extending over twenty meters outward, tightly supporting the trunk.

The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed's growth rate gradually slowed, the rate of Origin Force absorption dropping day by day.

The Divine-Given Remains stored in the Night Fragrance Mountain Treasure Vault were down to less than a third. There was no need to haul more to White Lotus Lake. Dragon Cypress couldn't resist, keeping the rest for himself.

…

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid packed up and came beneath the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed.

"Night Fragrance, is Glinting Gold's reserve Origin Force exhausted?" Dragon Cypress asked tactfully.

"Exhausted. Thank you both. Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid."

The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed was clearly a little reluctant to part, and green-blue metal slowly extruded from about thirty meters up the trunk, taking shape and solidifying into an egg-like piece of Glinting Gold, which floated gently towards Dragon Cypress.

Ink Orchid lifted a claw and grabbed it, stuffing it directly into the Spider Silk Bag, "Night Fragrance, a free little question. Dragon Cypress and I have a friend named Ghost Fan, planning to break through into Mountain Lord Level this winter. It has a Ghost Fan Divine-Given Seed—Glinting Gold can help it evolve and breakthrough, right?"

Night Fragrance: "Of course. This piece of Glinting Gold from Xiaoyang Mountain's core function is to help Divine-Given Seeds break through and evolve."

Night Fragrance: "This piece of Glinting Gold has another use. Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid—are you interested in Divine-Grade Fruit?"

Of course interested!

But, not very interested in Night Fragrance Fruit.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid knew what it was getting at, so tacitly didn't reply.

Night Fragrance: "Thank you for saving my life. As repayment, I can provide you with Divine-Grade Fruit for free."

Night Fragrance: "The Blossom-Fruit Cycle of the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed is fifteen years, max seven fruits per cycle. If it's only two, the time can be reduced to six to eight years, and with Glinting Gold's assistance, you don't need to use Source Stone for fruit ripening."

Night Fragrance: "This is the second important use of Glinting Gold—a priceless treasure, extremely practical."

Dragon Cypress: "Thank you! Night Fragrance, you're still 200 meters away from getting back to your peak height of 300 meters. Take care of yourself first."

Ink Orchid: "When you return to your peak, Dragon Cypress and I will ask you to condense a few Night Fragrance Fruits for us. Might be that two won't be enough."

"Oh?"

Night Fragrance perked up at this, saying, "Two are free. Any more and I'll have to charge you."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Ink Orchid: "..."

Dragon Cypress: "Night Fragrance, let's settle our previous deal first. Now that you've safely passed the critical stage and entered a stable growth phase, you can tell us the secret of obtaining Divine-Given Seeds, right?"

Night Fragrance: "Of course..."

Night Fragrance: "There are two ways for Divine-Given Seeds to be born. First, they appear randomly and naturally; second, they are bestowed when the Natural Law is triggered and Divine Power descends from the Outworld."

Night Fragrance: "As for the laws of triggering it… very simple—it's the birth of a brand-new plant species recognized by the Law."

Night Fragrance: "For example, take Dragon Cypress. If you open up a Tree Sea and plant lots of Dragon Cypress Trees, then maybe, one year, a branch or a seed undergoes a mutation. If you sow this mutated seed and grow a mutated Dragon Cypress Tree, it might trigger the Natural Law and give rise to a Divine-Given Seed."

Night Fragrance: "Of course, not just any mutation will do. There are countless plant mutations happening all the time, but 99.999% are for the worse and won't trigger the Natural Law—only an extremely rare few will qualify."

"!!!"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid exchanged glances, simultaneously thinking of the Cuihua Hanlan Divine-Given Seed.

Night Fragrance continued: "Sometimes, mutated plant seeds out in mountains or forests that meet the trigger conditions might survive by chance. In these cases, the Divine-Given will also descend, and a Divine-Given Seed will be born in the wild."

Night Fragrance: "That's why I believe the Natural God won't especially watch over or favor any single Insect Clan Warrior. The Natural God has made the Law: as long as someone meets the trigger conditions within the Star Realm, you'll definitely get the Divine-Given. Do you understand what I mean?"

Dragon Cypress: "Got it!"

Ink Orchid: "Understand—"

Ink Orchid then asked: "Night Fragrance, how much do you know about Hybrid Breeding Technology? Does this make it easier to trigger the Law and get the Divine-Given?"

Night Fragrance: "I know a bit. Hybridizing new plant types does increase the chances to a certain degree. Grafting or environmental stimulation does too. Give them a try, both of you are smart insects—there's no need for me to say much."

Dragon Cypress: "Right."

Ink Orchid: "Good!"

Night Fragrance: "With hybrids, there's one important thing you should know. Say you hybridize two, three, or even more types of cypress and get one new hybrid that meets the trigger conditions. From then on, if other insects repeat the work and breed the same hybrid, it won't trigger again."

Night Fragrance: "By the same token, if lots of insects already did something before, there's no point in you repeating it. You don't need to bother with cypress, pine, poplar—those have long been bred deliberately or accidentally by the Insect Clan."

Night Fragrance: "In the Natural Star Realm, Origin Force has alternated and reincarnated for tens of thousands, millions, maybe even hundreds of millions of years. Any plant that's even slightly good was probably already cultivated by Insect Clan Warriors. Try low-grade plants like orchids that no insect would think to breed."

"Uh…"

"Low-grade?"

Ink Orchid, who had been eager and excited, suddenly became rather displeased at these words.

—Goodbye!

—Dragon Cypress, let's go.

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