Dragon Cypress spent half a month and smoothly evolved into an 8-Age-Period High-Level Ant King.

His body length stabilized at 1.9 meters. Following the pattern, at the 9-Age-Period, his length should be around 2 meters; after evolving to Mountain Lord Level, his size would surge, and body length could exceed 3 meters. For a male Great-Headed Ant King, this is considered very robust.

In the New Age Period, he selected a Sharp-Leafed Thuja seed as his Life Seed, and the nurtured Binmu Seed was planted somewhere in the Azure Blue Reservoir.

Dragon Cypress personally oversaw it.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple both used the Dominating Throne to evolve into 9-Age-Period intermediate warriors. They've eaten all kinds of Divine-Given Origin Force Food and will be able to evolve into 1-Age-Period High-Level Warriors this winter.

Areca also used the Dominating Throne to evolve into a 9-Age-Period Primary-Level Primordial Spider Warrior, and will evolve to intermediate warrior this winter.

Dragon Cypress was content to stay at Xianglan Mountain, waiting for everyone to finish evolving, before escorting Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple back to Kiwifruit Mountain.

He escorted Areca back to Scarletlight Mountain.

He sent Round Cypress to White Lotus Lake to continue reclamation work, stopping by Xinghu Lake to load up 15 bags of mature Dragon Cypress Seeds Blessed by the Tree God exuviae, which were then delivered to Red Cypress Mountain.

After a few months, he checked again. The condition of Red Cypress Blessed Seeds had somewhat deteriorated, but not severely—it should hold out for another two or three years.

Dragon Cypress directed the worker ants to dig holes under the tree and used the Divine-Given Remains shaved into wood chips for the pits.

Ink Orchid had killed all the large animals in the forest, using the buried corpses as compost.

When all was done, he hurried off to Scarletlight Mountain to harvest Scarletlight fruit.

Then he returned to Red Cypress Mountain, zigzagging north in search, gradually entering the eastern region of Cloud Trace Continent.

...

Dragon Cypress divided the Cloud Trace Continent into southwest, southeast, west, east, northwest, northeast, and extreme north—a total of seven major regions.

Currently, the climate-suited regions for Insect Clan Warriors—southeast, southwest, and west—have all been fully explored.

Only the eastern region is left.

According to Huagi Mountain's maps, in the last Origin Force Era, this area had the best climatic environment, with fertile soil, abundant plant and animal resources, and the most Insect Tribes.

Dragon Cypress planned to spend half a year on a single push to fully explore it.

...

His luck was superb.

On the second day of the official search, Ink Orchid made a discovery.

A modestly sized Land of Origin Force.

Located in the heart of mountain forests.

The Dominating Throne sensed from high above—no Divine-Given Seeds found.

On descending lower, no fluctuations from Origin Force Plants detected.

The Dominating Throne parked by the mountain stream below; Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid split up, one north, one south, flying low over the jungle for a detailed search…

By evening, they reunited at the Dominating Throne.

"Dragon Cypress, any findings?"

"No."

"Me neither. But I did hunt a wild boar, just in passing."

"Then I'll catch a couple of fish from the river below…"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were long used to such Origin Force lands yielding nothing.

After simple preparations, they sat around a large metal can to enjoy dinner.

"In the future, will Red Cypress Mountain and this place also be developed?"

"Of course. Can't waste a single piece of land with Origin Force."

"Are you going to plant all cypresses?"

"That's what I'm thinking. Large-scale cypress planting, plus moderate amounts of pine and cedar. Such great tall trees will grow well on their own once planted, needing little care—just do an inspection tour in spring and fall each year."

"Oh… then let's name this Land of Origin Force… Cicada Orchid Mountain! There are so many cicadas here—enough to drive a bug mad."

"…Good name."

Dragon Cypress didn't bother arguing about such matters.

Ink Orchid, excited, said, "Dragon Cypress, how many cypresses have we planted now? Surely you'll get a Cypress Blessed Seed!"

Dragon Cypress: "I'll take your good wishes—"

Ink Orchid made sense. Though each Land of Origin Force might not be large, collectively, they matched the area of any Ant Clan Kingdom. Plus, they're scattered all over Cloud Trace Continent, each with diverse climate and soil environments.

With such stellar operating conditions, not getting a few Cypress Blessed Seeds would let down the name Melde gave.

Dragon Cypress was full of confidence too.

After a hearty meal and a night's rest.

Without lingering, they set off the next morning…

…

…

…

Is the flow of time always constant and unchanging?

When a spider is full of anticipation and impatience, time seems to purposefully drag on and stretch out endlessly, flowing ever so slowly.

Or perhaps it was that old spider, Spurge, who sensed something and deliberately walked slowly…

After traversing the long, dark Starship Passage,

finally, they saw light again.

Feet touched down on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent.

"I'm back!"

White Ivy cheered out the announcement.

"Goodbye, Spider King Spurge!"

"Goodbye, Wind Erosion Lord!"

"Goodbye, Lord Goodyera!"

...

"Grass Dragon, you follow Spider King Spurge back to the kingdom and meet up with Melde and Lupine. If you wander off alone, I'll break your spider legs."

White Ivy rattled off names at top speed—from Spider King to Lord, to the journey's Mountain Lords—called everyone out one by one, then issued Grass Dragon the usual warning before turning around and dashing off.

Red Peach hurried after, quickly disappearing at the end of the mountain path.

Heading straight to Yellow Peach Mountain Lord's territory.

This year, White Ivy brought back 390 cans of Origin Force Ant Honey, of which 335 were to be shipped north.

50 would be delivered west to Hidden Wing Mountain, with another 5 as sales samples. These 55 cans were unloaded first to reduce the load. After a day of rest, she'd depart at dusk.

Resting by day, traveling by night, hurrying along the road.

Along the way, handing off pre-ordered Origin Force Honey, and tallying up kinds and quantities for the next batch of orders.

All the way north, until Purple Back Mountain.

After a journey of a month and a half, she returned once more to Yellow Peach Mountain Lord's territory.

After a day's rest, loaded up with 55 cans of Origin Force Honey, she set off for the west, traveling light, crossing Jade Peach Kingdom, heading straight for Hidden Wing Mountain.

At the entrance pass, by the roadside forest, Grass Dragon and Lupine had already been waiting for a long time.

White Ivy stopped to glance at them, then headed straight toward Emerald Sparrow Lord, who was guarding the pass.

Grass Dragon and Lupine hurried to catch up.

"White Ivy Mountain Lord, purveyor of delicious Origin Force Honey."

Emerald Sparrow Lord still remembered White Ivy and greeted her enthusiastically, waving his front legs.

"Emerald Sparrow Lord."

White Ivy replied, asking, "Would you like to order a few cans?"

"…I do want to buy a few."

Emerald Sparrow Lord turned around, signaling with his front legs.

Not far away, a High-Level Stone Pattern Mantis Warrior with a Spider Silk Bag led a lineup of one intermediate and one primary little mantis warrior, approaching in formation.

"These are my juniors—Qianqu, Elfin Herb, and Qianyi—three little gluttons."

Emerald Sparrow Lord tapped their little heads with his antennae, introducing them one by one.

"—Greetings, White Ivy Mountain Lord." The three little mantis warriors glanced at the shells of White Ivy, Lupine, and Grass Dragon, looking a bit worried.

It seemed this caravan was a little weak, and the goods on their backs were quite limited.

Emerald Sparrow Lord took the Spider Silk Bag from the warrior called Qianqu and asked, "White Ivy Mountain Lord, do you buy Divine-Given Hidden Wing Seeds?"

White Ivy: "Of course. I'll buy at a price of 50 Source Stones apiece."

Emerald Sparrow Lord opened the Spider Silk Bag, took out a smaller bag, and handed it over: "A round hundred seeds. You count them."

He also produced 5 Spider King Silk Scrolls: "Just like last year's—Origin Force Honey that enhances comprehensive physique. I'll take 5 cans."

"…Alright!"

White Ivy checked them one by one.

Lupine knew White Ivy's carapace was all pre-sold orders and samples, with nothing for instant sale, so he hurried to undo the Spider Silk Rope on his own carapace and took out five cans of Origin Force Ant Honey to hand over.

The transaction was quickly finished.

White Ivy asked, "Emerald Sparrow Lord, if you need more next year, you can order from us. I generally don't bring extra goods—only exactly as much as our regular trade partners pre-order."

White Ivy pointed at Grass Dragon and Lupine. "These two juniors are doing retail, but they aren't Mountain Lord Level yet and can't carry much cargo."

—Is that so?

Emerald Sparrow Lord glanced at White Ivy's relatively empty carapace. "How were pre-sales last year? Looks like you still don't have much stock."

White Ivy: "There are lots of roving merchants; very competitive. Most are little warriors circling us, teaming up in threes and fives to buy together, one can at a time."

White Ivy: "It's rare to land a big pre-sale order…"

They chatted and exchanged news.

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