Xianglan Mountain.

The Dominating Throne slowly headed toward the Southern Gorgon Reservoir.

After almost being bitten to death by Soldier Ants last year, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple no longer dared to act recklessly. They stood obediently on the Throne, sticking close to Dragon Cypress.

"Southern Gorgon!"

The Dominating Throne approached the Southern Gorgon Mother Plant, hovering above the water's surface.

Feeling the two Insect Clan Warriors, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, trespassing into its territory, Southern Gorgon erupted in anger and intimidation.

"Dragon Cypress! Why did you bring these two stupid Sky Ox here again?"

Dragon Cypress: "Bring back to the mountain to eat fresh meat."

Southern Gorgon: "..."

Dragon Cypress: "Southern Gorgon, how much Origin Force have you stored in the Glinting Gold?"

Southern Gorgon: "Just a little."

Dragon Cypress: "Hand it over first. I want to run a small test."

Southern Gorgon: "Hand it over to you? Why should I give you my stuff?"

Dragon Cypress said calmly, "There's a big difference even among Divine-Given Seeds. The Origin Force, energy, and nutrients one Divine-Given Seed stores in Glinting Gold can't be used by another Divine-Given Seed. But you're different from most—you're a twin sprout with Northern Gorgon, you two are highly synchronized, maybe there's compatibility."

Dragon Cypress: "Southern Gorgon, I'm evolving as fast as possible, four years from now I'll ascend to Evolution Mountain Lord. Considering you don't have enough years of growth, I'm planning to have Northern Gorgon store up energy for you in the last year or two before I evolve, to help you break through."

Southern Gorgon: "!!!"

Southern Gorgon: "But when Northern Gorgon evolves to Evolution Mountain Lord Level, I won't help it."

Dragon Cypress: "No need to help it. Hand over the thing, let's try it out."

A blue-gold metallic fluid oozed from Southern Gorgon's woody rhizome, condensed into an egg-shaped sphere, floated to the surface, and flew at Dragon Cypress' forehead.

Dragon Cypress caught it with a claw, weighing it. The previously weightless Glinting Gold now had some heft.

No more unnecessary words, Dragon Cypress piloted the Dominating Throne back toward the mountain to look for Ink Orchid.

Behind him, Southern Gorgon said slowly, "Seems like something happened up on the mountain."

"???" Dragon Cypress sent a wave of mental power filled with questioning emotions.

Southern Gorgon: "Southwest direction. A few days ago, a bunch of ants ran past me heading that way. That Silver Cypress, the dumb Ant, went too. I was waiting for it to fertilize the soil, but it hasn't come back. If you see it, make sure to give it a good lesson..."

"Fine! I'll totally destroy it!" Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne, shooting straight up and rushing away.

...

To the southwest of Southern Gorgon Reservoir lay a hill, the soil rather poor; Fragrant Cypress had opened it up to cultivate all sorts of aromatic plants. The spices added to the feasts and celebrations mostly came from plants grown here.

The Dominating Throne crested the hill and saw, from afar, at the orchard opposite, that Ink Orchid, Spiked Cypress, Fragrant Cypress, Silver Cypress, along with a large number of Soldier Ants, Blue Soldiers, and Worker Ants, had all gathered.

Seeing this scene, Dragon Cypress's antennae twitched, guessing what was up.

——What are they doing?

——Did they discover a Divine-Given Seed?

——No way, right?

——Looks like it to me.

——Let's go check it out!

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple straightened their antennae, exchanged a look, jumped up and glided down toward the orchard opposite.

The Dominating Throne accelerated.

"Great King! Great King! Great King!"

Spiked Cypress frantically shook its antennae, bouncing around to claim credit. "I found it! Divine-Given Seed! I found it! I found it!"

Dragon Cypress waved his antennae to disperse the Soldier Ants gathering below, and piloted the Dominating Throne to the ground.

Looking up to observe.

It was a Chestnut Bean Tree that wasn't growing well, only five or six meters tall. At the tip of one top branch, a single small orange-yellow flower stood proud, carrying a barely perceptible Origin Force fluctuation.

Definitely a Divine-Given Seed!

Chestnut Bean Trees are actually tropical plants, capable of growing into great tall trees over twenty meters high.

Years ago, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid, when picking Golden Light Fruit in Scarletlight Mountain, found the shell of this tree's fruit had a special scent, so they brought back some seeds and handed them off to Fragrant Cypress to experiment with cultivation.

A few survived, but didn't thrive. Every winter, when temperatures dropped, they'd suffer frostbite.

This patch started with fifty trees, only about a dozen survived, and later Magnolia Trees were planted to fill the gaps.

"Great King! I found it."

Spiked Cypress hopped onto the Dominating Throne, squeezed next to Dragon Cypress, and carefully reminded, "Great King, the reward—"

Dragon Cypress withdrew his gaze, patted his antennae, and questioned: "What are you doing over here?"

Spiked Cypress: "Patrol!"

"Oh——"

Dragon Cypress thought carefully and couldn't find a reason to punish it for now.

"Fine then."

Dragon Cypress officially announced, "Spiked Cypress, for your timely discovery of a Divine-Given Seed in bloom, an extra reward of 2000 Source Stones."

Dragon Cypress: "Fragrant Cypress, record the account."

"Yes, Great King." Fragrant Cypress responded.

"Woohoo!" Spiked Cypress cheered, leaped down from the Throne, sidled over to Fragrant Cypress, waggled its antennae, and smugly announced, "No need for record-keeping! I want Origin Force Ant Honey! Mixed Mellow Fragrance flavor, Fragrant Cypress, don't forget plenty of meat."

Fragrant Cypress turned away, not wanting to bother with it.

Dragon Cypress: "This Divine-Given Seed is quite precious. Round Cypress, Giant Cypress, Fragrant Cypress, Emerald Cypress, Silver Cypress—you five also each get 1000 Source Stones. Since Round Cypress and Emerald Cypress aren't here, record it under their names."

"Got it! Great King!" Fragrant Cypress and Silver Cypress cheered.

Ink Orchid carefully raised her claw, pointed at the sky, and reminded, "Dragon Cypress, is this Chestnut Bean Tree mutated?"

Excited Fragrant Cypress simultaneously waved its antennae, asked in confusion:

"Great King, Chestnut Bean Trees are southern tropical plants, transplanted to Xianglan Mountain... Does this fit your earlier theory that environmental stimulation triggers a mutation and a divine blessing?"

Spiked Cypress shouted, "The Great King is wise!"

Silver Cypress hurried to add, "The Great King is mighty!"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress: "It's possible, I suppose?"

Dragon Cypress shook his antennae and gave instructions: "Fragrant Cypress, go prepare for a banquet celebration. Spiked Cypress, go inform Giant Cypress. You two go into the forest to hunt for some fresh meat."

Dragon Cypress: "Silver Cypress, you've been so engrossed in the excitement you forgot to go fertilize Southern Gorgon! Get over there now."

...

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, Blue Catalpa, and Snakebark Maple stayed under the Chestnut Bean Tree, looking up and inspecting it closely.

The growth condition was quite poor.

Still, since it survived the winter, it should definitely not die this year and will likely successfully nurture this Divine-Given Seed.

"Dragon Cypress, if it mutated, will its reinforcement effect change?"

Ink Orchid asked worriedly.

"...Not sure."

Dragon Cypress shook his antennae.

Blue Catalpa: "Could it mutate into a Divine Grade Divine-Given Seed?"

Snakebark Maple: "It's possible!"

Blue Catalpa: "Then wouldn't Dragon Cypress Ant King have at least two Divine Grade Divine-Given Seeds in the future?"

Snakebark Maple: "At least two!"

These two guys were laying it on thick.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid ignored them.

Dragon Cypress fell into deep thought.

The Chestnut Bean Tree's blessing enhances the sensitivity of antennae's sense of smell; pretty much all Insect Clan Warriors can use it.

Ant Clan are among the strongest in olfactory abilities. Dragon Cypress, right now, can detect prey over two or three kilometers away, judge the type, and even tell male from female, young from old, all by scent.

This counts as an Ant Clan talent ability. It can be used for hunting, war, and territorial warning and defense.

Ink Orchid, Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple—their sense of smell is average. If they eat a Divine-Given Bean Fruit, they might reach the Ant Clan's standard, which pretty much equals obtaining another extremely practical skill.

The Chestnut Bean Tree is also a great tall tree, fairly high in yield—a rather excellent plant species.

If it mutated…

Mutation isn't always good; it most easily changes the type of reinforcement, which could make it less ideal.

As for becoming Divine Grade, odds are too low; don't even dream about it.

Back to reality, there are still three problems:

First, if Dragon Cypress were to nurture this Divine-Given Chestnut Bean Tree Seed as his Life Seed and plant it, it would take more than ten years for it to grow enough to evolve to Evolution Mountain Lord Level.

Dragon Cypress is in a hurry to evolve into Evolution Mountain Lord.

Same for Ink Orchid.

Second problem: Xianglan Mountain can accommodate a maximum of ten Divine-Given Seeds taking root.

Currently, there are five: Fruit-Scented Orchid, Azure, Southern Gorgon, Northern Gorgon, and Cuihua Hanlan. Add this one, and it becomes six.

Dragon Cypress is determined to get the White Poplar Divine Seed—that will make seven.

Xianglan Mountain doesn't have enough Divine-Given Seed slots.

Third problem: Chestnut Bean Trees are tropical arbors—where should it be planted? Still on Xianglan Mountain?

Though Origin Force Plants are robust and highly adaptive, planting in an unsuitable environment will still affect growth and development.

Dragon Cypress bowed his head, his mind spinning rapidly, and soon came up with a plan.

After this Divine-Given Chestnut Bean Tree Seed is produced, store it in an extra-large Metal Case, and use it after becoming Evolution Mountain Lord.

It should be no problem to plant it on Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

...

"Ink Orchid, let's go to Northern Gorgon Reservoir."

Dragon Cypress pointed at the Glinting Gold on the Throne.

Ink Orchid, Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple hopped aboard.

The Dominating Throne crossed the mountain range and reached the Northern Gorgon Reservoir.

Ink Orchid carried the Glinting Gold up to the Northern Gorgon Divine-Given Seed Mother Plant and communicated.

The Glinting Gold left her claw and sank into the water.

After waiting for a while, Ink Orchid returned to the shore, delighted: "Northern Gorgon said it can use it!"

Good, then leave it with Northern Gorgon for now. Whenever there's surplus energy, save some up for Southern Gorgon's future evolution.

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