Ant Lord in the Star Realm

On the large, colorful Spider Silk Bag carried by Ink Orchid, there was an image of a brown-yellow Diaphus Flame Spider, a picture of a black ant, and a vivid white-and-pink Orchid Mantis.

This farewell would be final. There would be no more meetings.

Ink Orchid felt downcast.

Dragon Cypress, lugging a heavy metal can, walked in front, leading the way, hesitating to speak.

"I want to say..."

"Oh..."

"This Spider Silk Bag woven by White Ivy..."

"What about it?"

"The proportions of the designs are wrong."

"What's wrong with them?"

"The spider is too big. The ant and mantis are too small."

"Isn't it supposed to be like that?"

"Insects always have to grow up. You and I will eventually become adults."

"Yeah—"

Ink Orchid: "Growing up makes me lose my friends."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress quietly led the way, returning deep into the Starship to the location where the Dominating Throne was docked.

This trip brought back 1,500 Source Stones.

Early this summer, 1,000 were used for the fruit ripening of the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed, to properly ensure the quality of the fruits and also ease the pressure on the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed during the ripening period.

This late winter, 500 will be needed for ripening fruits of the Divine-Given Southern Gorgon Seed.

Southern Sour Jujube matures in autumn this year, but it won't have any Source Stones available.

Next year, Ink Orchid's Fruit-Scented Orchid and the Divine-Given Northern Gorgon Seed will need a total of 1,000 Source Stones for fruiting, and Ghost Fan's Divine-Given Ghost Fan Seed will need 800 Source Stones for fruiting.

So many Divine-Given Seeds are ripening one after another. In the future, each year, they will have to get a certain batch of Source Stones from the caravans.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid must consider Source Stone reserves early on.

When they eventually ascend to Mountain Lord, the Divine-Given Seeds undergo a qualitative leap, consuming large amounts of Origin Force, and a vast number of Source Stones will be required as supplement.

Source Stones are heavy and take up space; caravans prefer bartering and only carry a limited amount of Source Stones, offering only a limited supply of ready stock.

Melde and Seven-Leaf provide 1,000 each year.

White Ivy doesn't bring much cargo, but she can help transport a bit extra each time she comes by.

...

A simple tidying up.

The Dominating Throne floated along the passage forward.

"Ink Orchid, at Black Lotus Lake, Cypress and Fragrant Cypress made a major discovery."

Dragon Cypress proactively brought up an interesting topic.

Ink Orchid's interest was piqued a little. "What did they discover?"

Dragon Cypress: "If you boil all meat in hot water for a bit, the texture and flavor become better."

"Oh—"

Ink Orchid grumbled, "Still eating!"

"...All right."

Dragon Cypress changed the subject: "Ink Orchid, I've also thought of something with great potential."

"What's that?"

"Mining!"

"Mining?"

"Source Stone Mine!"

"Where do we mine?"

Ink Orchid's gloom vanished, eyes shining, pressing forward with questions:

"Where do we mine?"

"First, we have to look for Source Stone veins."

"Where do we look?"

"Source Stone veins have a certain pattern in their distribution."

"What pattern?"

"More in the north, fewer in the south."

"Oh~"

"Usually located within large mountain ranges."

"Oh!"

"This summer, we can take a trip north. Keep heading north, to the far north. Look for lands of Origin Force, especially those with towering mountains."

"Great! Great!"

Ink Orchid cheered with expectation, then asked, "So are we not searching for Lands of Origin Force or Insect Clan Warriors in the south anymore?"

Dragon Cypress: "Still searching. We do long-distance traveling caravans every early summer and early autumn, searching along the way. In winter, depending on the situation, but this winter we still have to stay in the Ant Nest, focusing on breeding Soldier Ants and strengthening the Ant Kingdom."

Ink Orchid: "Right!"

...

On the way back, Dragon Cypress casually hunted wild rabbits, pheasants, wild boar, python, and other common animals, and also snatched a few nests of bird eggs.

Returning to Xianglan Mountain at twilight.

Dragon Cypress called back Spiked Cypress, stationed on the peak at the western border of their territory.

At South Mountain Restaurant, everyone gathered around.

The metal can was filled with water and placed in the center, with Fragrant Fruit Seeds, Lotus Seeds, and Gorgon Fruit Seeds inside.

There were also wild citrus fruits gathered last winter; while bored, some Worker Ants had peeled the skins and hung them on burrow entrances, where they had fully air-dried by now.

Citrus peels had a special scent, so Dragon Cypress added some into the pot as well. The 'Boiling' Ability was steadily at work, turning it into a fragrant soup.

The bird eggs were cooked first.

The Worker Ants busily cut up the meat, into strips or chunks.

With Ink Orchid, Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress watching expectantly, Dragon Cypress picked up a strip of wild boar, tossed it in the pot.

He increased the Primordial Energy output.

The water boiled furiously in the pot.

After scalding it for ten or so seconds, Dragon Cypress withdrew the energy and fished out the strip.

"Ink Orchid, have a taste!"

"Alright!"

Ink Orchid dipped it in Ant Honey and took a small bite; her antennae flicked, surprised then delighted, loudly praised:

"It really tastes different!"

"Delicious!"

Everyone was an insect who mainly ate meat, so their tastes were similar.

Dragon Cypress waved his antennae in signal.

Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress each grabbed a strip of meat and tossed them into the metal can.

Dragon Cypress activated the Boiling Ability, the boiling water roiling for ten seconds or so, then withdrew the energy.

"Delicious."

"The texture is better."

"The aroma is richer."

"Great King, you are so wise."

After tasting, Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress exclaimed in praise.

Round Cypress said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, if we gather and add more materials with special fragrance to the pot, the cooked meat will certainly be tastier, right?"

"Indeed!"

Dragon Cypress said, "Since everyone approves, from now on we'll change how we eat: all meat gets boiled before eating."

He then assigned, "Round Cypress, you and Fragrant Cypress will be in charge of finding and collecting suitable fragrant materials to add to the pot. If you don't recognize something, come ask me."

Round Cypress: "Understood!"

Giant Cypress asked, "Great King, when will Fragrant Cypress and Cypress return?"

Dragon Cypress: "Fishing isn't going very well—50 Specialized Blue Ants aren't easily fully loaded. After the Azure Blue Reservoir is finished, I'll go over and bring them back in batches."

"Let's eat."

Dragon Cypress called out, activating his ability to bring the water to a boil.

All at once, everyone tossed strips and chunks of meat into the pot.

Cooked thoroughly.

You fish, then I fish, using claws to scoop out meat.

Spiked Cypress said quietly, "Boiling like this, it's tasty, but it's a bit hard on the claws."

Spiked Cypress: "Great King, I have a suggestion!"

You always have the silliest ideas, and yet you're the one who loves to give suggestions.

Dragon Cypress: "Go on."

Spiked Cypress: "We could find some branched sticks with hooks, poke holes in the meat, hang the pieces on the branches, and then put them in the pot. That way we won't have such a hard time fishing them out."

Hmm—

A clever idea!

Dragon Cypress immediately ordered, "Round Cypress, take the Worker Ants out and find a few branches to bring back."

"Alright." Round Cypress led the Worker Ants off.

Dragon Cypress: "This meat doesn't taste as good as what I had at Black Lotus Lake. I suspect it's because there's no fish cooked with it. Spiked Cypress, take two Blue Soldiers down to the Northern Gorgon Water Reservoir and catch a couple of fish."

Spiked Cypress: "Uh..."

Spiked Cypress: "Alright."

Spiked Cypress complied reluctantly and set off with the Soldier Ants.

Dragon Cypress was an Ant King who pursued perfection.

The fish were brought up the mountain, cleaned thoroughly, tossed in and boiled until falling apart; then other meats were cooked, and the flavor was clearly improved.

Fish meat could noticeably enhance the quality of the broth.

Dragon Cypress also noticed other issues: the metal can was too small, with an opening too narrow.

The solution was simple.

The next day, he went up the mountain, picked out the toughest rock, cut off a slab, and shaped it into a stone container with a 50-centimeter diameter and 15-centimeter depth.

It was awfully heavy and cleaning it was troublesome, but everything else was fine.

Dragon Cypress climbed the mountain again to find stone, made two more large stone pots, and set them outside the cave.

From now on, there would be regular, large-scale hunts, giving Worker Ants and Soldier Ants an extra meal and spreading this new way of eating throughout the whole Ant Kingdom.