Natsumi pulled the Little Flame Spider away with the stone slab wheelcart.

Two days later,

Natsumi came running over again together with Silvergrass.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, the three Spider Kings—Aconite, Spurge, and Wormwood—want me to ask you: do you have any intention of further boosting Ink Orchid's strength?"

Dragon Cypress asked, "How would we boost it?"

Natsumi pointed at Silvergrass.

Silvergrass said, "The Wormwood Spider King can offer a Divine-Grade Zhifeng Grass Fruit, which bestows a wind system ability called 'Poaceae'."

Dragon Cypress waited for her to continue.

Silvergrass paused for two seconds, then asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, when we're running or flying at high speed, you can clearly feel the resistance of the wind, right? The faster you go, the stronger the resistance becomes."

Dragon Cypress: "Yes."

Silvergrass: "'Poaceae' ability's enhancement effect is to reverse this resistance force, turning it into propulsion for movement. Specifically, when the ability is activated, speed increases, and you can maneuver with much greater agility in all directions."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

The key to victory or defeat in attacking the Termite Kingdom lies with Ink Orchid.

This ability could also be absolutely crucial.

But…

Dragon Cypress: "Ink Orchid already ate a 'Divine-Given Lightwing Seed' after evolving to age period 3. Can it still eat other divine-grade items? There's less than four years left in this age period—just enough time for one more evolution."

Natsumi: "Normally, no insect will eat two different divine-grade fruits that grant abilities in one age period. But, this is indeed a question, and some predecessor insects have already tried—there are some general takeaways…"

Natsumi: "Two divine-grade fruits of the same elemental system should not be eaten in a single age period—they can interfere with each other, ruining the empowerment effect, resulting in the ability not being acquired or being mutated and ineffective. For different systems, it varies; the probability of conflict between the Life System and Wind System is very small—not really an issue."

Is that so?

Dragon Cypress lightly tapped his antennae and asked, "Silvergrass, what's the price?"

Silvergrass: "Wormwood Spider King doesn't want Source Stone!"

— Hah~ hah~

This is way too fake.

Dragon Cypress didn't respond.

Silvergrass: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, does the Purple Tung Insect Nation have a peak lord-level Divine-Given Purple Tung Seed?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes."

Silvergrass: "The Wormwood Spider King's request is simple. It wants the entire transaction share of the Divine-Given Purple Tung Seed. Think of it as a risk investment—if you succeed in conquering the Termite Kingdom, just repay with the Divine-Given Purple Tung Fruit. If you fail… the Wormwood Spider King just loses one divine-grade fruit."

Dragon Cypress: "And the price?"

Silvergrass: "The Divine-Grade Zhifeng Grass Fruit—Wormwood Spider King is asking three million Source Stones."

A divine-grade fruit that bestows elemental abilities—three million was about the ceiling price.

The Flame Spider Caravan wouldn't dare scam anyone on such a big deal.

They sold the item at a high price precisely to show how powerful and practical its empowerment was.

Dragon Cypress blurted out, "Deal!"

Silvergrass: "Great! The item can be delivered immediately, but…"

Silvergrass said sheepishly, "Wormwood Spider King also has one more small request: once things are done, and in the future, when you evolve to King-Level and Divine-Grade Baihe Fruit production increases, it hopes to have a share…"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Silvergrass: "Wormwood Spider King can also trade divine fruits with you in exchange."

The Flame Spider Roving Merchants still didn't know that in the Origin Force–deadened Cloud Trace Continent, reaching King-Level triggers the Stellar Realm Laws, resulting in forced departure.

However,

King-Level is still a long way off.

What happens in the future, we'll worry about in the future.

Dragon Cypress: "…Fine!"

Silvergrass: "Good!"

Silvergrass: "Mountain Lord Melde didn't come to Wan Country Continent this year. Before leaving, Melde repeatedly reminded me and Grass Dragon about… erm… the Divine-Given Red Cypress Seed…"

Red Moonseed immediately handed over a petite strand of spider silk, saying, "Divine-Given Red Cypress Seed, 100 sample grains, same flat price, 10 Source Stones each."

"Thanks, Red Moonseed."

Silvergrass took it to check, counted the amount, then took down two stone slabs from the wheelcart, which held records of last year's Grass Dragon Caravan Origin Force Honey orders, and passed them over.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, Grass Dragon has quite a large trade quota this year too—shall we start…"

Dragon Cypress took the stone slabs, flipping through them, silently tallying in his heart.

The Origin Force Honey transactions for Grass Dragon, Lupine, and Silvergrass put together reached 1.5 million Source Stones, and a large number of 5,000 Source Stones per jar orders appeared.

In contrast, for nearly two years, the White Ivy Trade Caravan's Origin Force Honey sales had barely increased.

White Ivy had more or less reached the peak of its market.

Most likely, the White Ivy Caravan had transferred some of its lower-quality trade contacts to the Grass Dragon Caravan.

Natsumi helped, working with Silvergrass to unload the goods off the stone slab wheelcart, sorting them into small bags, then passing them through the crevice one by one.

Dragon Cypress inspected everything, one by one.

Settlement complete,

Red Moonseed left together with Natsumi and Silvergrass.

…

Half a day later,

In the rumbling of the rolling wheelcart, Silvergrass once again arrived escorted by Natsumi, Red Peach, and Red Moonseed.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

Silvergrass stuffed over a spider silk bag.

Dragon Cypress took it and opened it—inside was a porcelain jar crafted with Earth System abilities, covered in Multicolored Spider Silk on the outside.

After opening it, inside there was snowy white Bee King Jelly, with a four or five centimeter grass seed inside—oval-shaped, covered in blue-gray original energy patterns.

A few Worker Ants, attracted by the primordial energy fluctuation, came over curiously to watch.

Dragon Cypress waved his antenna to shoo them away, closed the lid tightly, put it away quickly, and said, "No problem!"

Dragon Cypress asked curiously, "Silvergrass, is this 'Zhifeng Grass Fruit' produced from a herbaceous type Divine God-Given Seed?"

Silvergrass: "Yes."

Dragon Cypress: "Its growth and evolution pattern… is it also a clonal cluster type?"

Silvergrass: "Yes."

Herbaceous Divine God-Given Seeds are certainly rare and precious.

Silvergrass explained in detail: "Ordinary herbaceous Divine-Given Seeds usually propagate by two-, three-, five-, or sevenfold clonal growth. But this Zhifeng Grass Divine-Given Seed propagates elevenfold, with an initial clonal number of 11 stalks. Each stalk grows over three meters tall, a vast stretch, dominating a whole mountain ridge."

Silvergrass: "Only the first batch of 11 clones will blossom and bear fruit, with yields of 11 per batch, and a blossom-fruit cycle of 19 years—so it's considered a high-yield divine item."

"Understood!"

Dragon Cypress flicked his antennae.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Silvergrass, Natsumi, is there anything else important? For attacking the Termite Kingdom, do Aconite, Spurge, or Wormwood Spider Kings have any good advice?"

Silvergrass: "…No better suggestions."

Natsumi: "Wishing you safety."

Red Peach: "The Ant Clan is a natural-born warrior race—for war matters, Dragon Cypress Ant King, you're the expert."

— Fine, then.

Dragon Cypress: "Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple will break through to Evolution Mountain Lord by the end of winter this year. Next year, I'll start war preparations. The plan is to have all combatants assemble on the Desolation Plains in the summer the following year, to train abilities and drill battle formations. For the spring trade fair the year after, I'll suspend business for a year—a heads up in advance."

— Okay.

— Got it.

— Noted.

Natsumi, Silvergrass, and Red Peach responded in unison.

Natsumi: "My trades are done. I'm heading back now."

Red Peach quickly took down a stone slab from the wheelcart recording last year's order information, handed it over, and said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, 500,000 units of the low-grade, cheap Origin Force Food you ordered are delivered this year—take a look first…"

…

Dragon Cypress conducted trades with both White Ivy and Grass Dragon simultaneously.

Within the Rednan Mountain subcolony, Fragrant Cypress and Round Cypress directed Worker Ants and Blue Ants, overseeing the production of Origin Force Honey for White Ivy and Grass Dragon respectively.

In addition, White Ivy also organized the other caravans to help deliver mountains of low-grade, cheap Origin Force Food. Dragon Cypress personally directed the Blue Ants in refinement, repackaging them into high-concentration jars worth 10,000 Source Stones apiece.

These were the supplies for the Ant Army to cross the Origin Force Vacuum Land.

After the deals, everything was sent to Huagi Mountain and stored cold in the treasury.

Since Ink Orchid had eaten a Divine-Grade Lightwing Seed just this spring, Dragon Cypress was still worried about a possible conflict between the two empowerment fruits, so he sent the Zhifeng Grass Fruit to be temporarily stored in the Huagi Mountain Treasury as well.

To lengthen the interval between uses.

It would wait until the year after next, when Ink Orchid planned to advance to age period 4, before being used.

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