NOVEL NEXT Chapter 241 Welcome to Cloud Trace Continent
Last autumn, when the Divine-Given Southern Sour Jujube Seeds ripened, Round Cypress and Black Cory commanded the worker ants to climb the trees and complete the harvest.
This year, the varieties sold to White Ivy include Scarletlight, Azure, and Southern Sour Jujube Bee King Honey, with a total value of 74,000 Source Stones.
They were repackaged into 37 cans, and Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple set off with the load.
By evening,
Red Peach came racing in, pulling a stone slab wheelcart.
"Dragon Cypress Ant King, good news—White Ivy Mountain Lord has found the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot!"
Blue Catalpa: "We've checked it out."
Snakebark Maple: "The condition is intact."
Blue Catalpa: "All functions are complete."
"Really?" Dragon Cypress was inwardly delighted at the news. "Quick, bring it over for a look."
Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple helped untie the spider silk ropes binding the goods on the cart.
Red Peach picked up a specially woven small cylindrical spider silk bag, and through the Starship Rift, handed it to Dragon Cypress.
Dragon Cypress took it and opened it to inspect.
This Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot was pure white all over, its surface lacquer intact without obvious wear, considered to be very well preserved.
Continuously channeling Origin Force, pressing the button with his toe, a crisp crunch sounded, the hidden mechanism in the lid loosened, opening up—inside, a pot of fresh water had been produced.
Dragon Cypress closed the lid, pressed the red button, and continued infusing Origin Force for testing…
After a quick check, water making, hot water, and ice making—none of the three functions had any problems.
"Excellent! Red Peach, you all have worked hard."
Dragon Cypress was overjoyed.
When he was young, he'd watch Melde fiddle with the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot, infinitely fascinated and envious, but Melde was so stingy, wouldn't even let him touch it once.
Honestly, after all these years, Dragon Cypress himself had always wanted such an interesting and practical Outworld Civilization Artifact to play with.
"This is great. Ink Orchid will be so happy she won't be able to sleep tonight."
"Red Peach, how many Source Stones?"
Red Peach: "White Ivy Mountain Lord bought this from Lord Xianglan, so it's pretty expensive—28,000 Source Stones."
Red Peach: "That's the price quoted by Lord Xianglan; White Ivy Mountain Lord didn't make any profit from it. Dragon Cypress Ant King, you can have it if you need it. If it feels too expensive, just forget it—the item can be returned."
It was indeed quite pricey.
But the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot was hard to come by; after searching for two or three years, they'd finally found one. Miss this, and who knows how many years it'll take to find another.
Dragon Cypress hesitated only a moment, then decisively said, "I'll buy it!"
Red Peach: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, you already paid a 19,000 Source Stone deposit, so you just need to pay another 9,000."
Dragon Cypress: "I'll take the item first. Once this year's trades are finished, I'll settle up."
"Alright!"
Red Peach turned and pulled out a stone slab from the cart—detailing last year's pre-order quantities—and handed it over.
Dragon Cypress took it, gave it a quick scan, and immediately spotted an icon near the end: Origin Force Ant Honey for comprehensive water element ability enhancement, 5,000 Source Stones per can, three flavors, with a total of 20 cans pre-sold in whole numbers!
Dragon Cypress was delighted all over again. Each can made a net profit of 500 Source Stones—20 cans, and that's 10,000; earning Source Stones couldn't get much easier!
Looking again at the Origin Force Ant Honey priced at 1,000 Source Stones per can, sales had barely increased.
Sales of the 2,000 Source Stones per can Origin Force Ant Honey had grown nicely as well, with 124 cans sold this year.
Blue Catalpa reported: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the total value of Origin Force food delivered this year is 350,000 Source Stones. Of this, 140,000 is from Lord-level Warrior territory, 140,000 from Mountain Lord-level Warrior territory, and 70,000 from High-Level Warrior territory."
Snakebark Maple: "We've checked everything—quantity, quality, and price are all correct."
Red Peach said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, this year we're still making 100 cans of 1,000 Source Stones per can Origin Force Honey. For the 2,000 Source Stone one, make 125 cans. For the 5,000 Source Stone one, just make the pre-ordered amount."
"Okay!"
Dragon Cypress briefly agreed and called out, "Bring everything over first."
Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, and Red Peach began busily unloading and transporting cargo.
Dragon Cypress sent them into the Rednan Mountain Ant Nest and, together with Fragrant Cypress, directed the Blue Ants in refinement.
Red Peach ran with the stone slab wheelcart, delivering metal cans and Source Stones.
...
White Ivy had successfully brought the Origin Force Honey business into the Lord-level circle, and this year's transaction volume had shot up significantly, greatly increasing the workload as well.
It took four days of busy work to complete everything.
Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple helped with transport, Red Peach checked and sorted everything into bags, and loaded them onto the cart.
Dragon Cypress settled the accounts.
"Red Peach, this year you delivered 350,000 Source Stones worth of Origin Force food, 10,000 in Source Stone spot, 9,000 Source Stone difference for the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot, totaling 369,000 Source Stones, correct?"
Red Peach: "Correct."
Dragon Cypress: "The value of goods you're taking away is 419,200 Source Stones."
Red Peach: "So we owe you 50,200 Source Stones… Dragon Cypress Ant King, can we round off the change?"
Dragon Cypress cheerfully replied, "Small matter. Go back and tell White Ivy Mountain Lord those 200 Source Stones are for you—treat yourself to a delicious snack."
Red Peach: "..."
Red Peach: "Generous Dragon Cypress Ant King!"
Red Peach: "Origin Force Honey is the tastiest delicacy on the whole continent!"
This mantis really knew how to talk~ Dragon Cypress contentedly wiggled his antennae.
Red Peach took a spider silk bag off the stone slab wheelcart, opened it, revealing two cylindrical metal tubes inside, unscrewed the lids, and counted out 50 Spider King Silk Scrolls, each worth 1,000 Source Stones, handing them to Dragon Cypress.
With accounts settled, they bade farewell and left.
...
Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple returned to Rednan Mountain Ant Nest to rest.
Dragon Cypress stayed behind to wait.
...
The Grass Dragon came rushing over in a great hurry.
The Grass Dragon was a flexible-thinking spider. It used to mock White Ivy for clunking when walking, but once it saw the potential for wealth in this business, it immediately copied White Ivy's style. Even more so—in fact, the goods piled high on its carapace reached over two meters tall, swaying left and right with every stride.
Dragon Cypress: "Welcome to Cloud Trace Continent, my friend."
Grass Dragon: "..."
Grass Dragon: "Using the same welcome speech twice, Dragon Cypress, you're not even pretending."
Dragon Cypress: "Cloud Trace Continent welcomes you."
Grass Dragon: "Ha~ha~"
Grass Dragon sighed, "Even White Ivy doesn't hop when walking anymore."
Dragon Cypress: "Why's that?"
Grass Dragon: "The heavy cargo is weighing her down. She can't hop."
Dragon Cypress chuckled and asked, "Where's Mountain Lord Melde?"
Grass Dragon: "Melde is at age 6 now. She holds the stable trading rights to 15 kinds of Divine-Given Seeds, so it's only a matter of time before she evolves to Evolution Lord Level."
Dragon Cypress asked again, "What about Lupine?"
"Sold the 30 cans of Origin Force Honey sent back last year and recovered the funds—Lupine evolved to age 9 as a High-Level Flame Spider Warrior."
Grass Dragon loosened the spider silk ropes on its carapace, beginning to unload cargo as it spoke:
"I secured 50,000 Source Stones start-up capital in advance from Melde for independent business. I've partnered with Lupine for the Origin Force Honey trade. This year, I'm taking 30 cans at 1,000 Source Stones each and 10 cans at 2,000 Source Stones each."
"I brought my own Origin Force Food—give it a check. Also, I helped bring over 2,000 Source Stones spot goods for you."
"Okay—"
Dragon Cypress gave a brief answer, then thought for a moment and said, "Flame Spider Warrior's transport capacity is limited. White Ivy Mountain Lord does her own transporting and selling, so all the profit is hers—and she earns more that way. With you and Lupine dividing up the work, you'll have to split the earnings?"
Grass Dragon: "For now, we're just experimenting. If the goods sell well, we'll bring in another Little Flame Spider as a partner. Two Flame Spider Warriors will carry Source Stones, Origin Force Food, and metal cans over here, and then transport finished Origin Force Honey back to Ten-Thousand Tribes Continent—Lupine will handle all the sales."
Grass Dragon: "To build this partnership on a bigger scale, first, we have to settle the chronic shortage of Bee King Jelly, and the lack of low-priced Origin Force Food supplies. To become strong, we also face the problems of insufficient trading capital and networking, plus, we can't get into the Great Tribes."
Grass Dragon: "Besides these, there are various other minor issues, but there's no rush—we'll tackle them one by one."
The Grass Dragon was not the muddleheaded type; he understood the problems clearly, thought for himself, and tried to find solutions.
Dragon Cypress didn't dwell on this topic, but instead, gathering his mood, said gravely: "Grass Dragon, I'm actively purchasing all kinds of premium Origin Force food, planning to rapidly evolve to Mountain Lord Level at a rate of once per year."
Grass Dragon froze at this and reacted strongly, "Evolving once a year? Isn't that too dangerous? What's the rush?"
Dragon Cypress: "First, it's not dangerous. I've already consumed a Divine-Given Sky-Blue Persimmon Seed, and bought a 20,000 Source Stone Six Dao Fruit from Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord. I also plan to consume a large amount of Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds, and buy a batch of Divine-Given Red Torreya Seeds from Melde. If I can get my hands on a batch of Divine-Given Snake Blood Apricot Kernels, that would be even better. Price is negotiable—I'm not short on Source Stones; I've got 75 Spider King Silk Scrolls right here, and I'd feel uneasy if I didn't spend them. Every year from now on, I can set aside fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty thousand Source Stones to buy whatever Origin Force food I need for evolution. As long as the quality is good, I don't care about the price."
Grass Dragon: "..."
Grass Dragon: "Boss, if you're really willing to spend that kind of Source Stone, then sure, there's no danger."
Grass Dragon was even more perplexed and pressed again, "But what's the rush?"
Dragon Cypress: "One-Glimpse Fruit! Only one matures every six years. When the next one ripens, I want to bid on it—preferably win it."
Dragon Cypress: "Grass Dragon, do me a favor and ask Melde to pass a message to Spider King Spurge for me. When bidding for the One-Glimpse Fruit, my expected price is 3.6 million Source Stones. I'll borrow the full amount, interest not to exceed 3% per annum, and I'll accept those terms."
"Are you crazy?"
"What are you in such a hurry for?"
"There's really no need to rush it, is there?"
"I get wanting to evolve Mountain Lord Level fast, but the 'One-Glimpse Fruit' could just as easily wait a few more years."
"With such a huge loan, just the interest alone will crush you."
Grass Dragon fired off a barrage of questions, clearly agitated.
Dragon Cypress waved his antennae and countered, "Grass Dragon, can you guarantee that the next One-Glimpse Fruit auction will close for under 3.6 million Source Stones? If not, then you'll be waiting another six years. And if it happens again, it means waiting yet another six."
Dragon Cypress: "How many six-year periods does an insect's life have? I don't have the patience. I earn enough Source Stones every year—more than I can spend—so why wait?"
Dragon Cypress: "As for borrowing 3.6 million, my plan is to pay off the interest annually, with the principal repaid in six installments of 600,000, once every ten years. After each principal payment, the interest is recalculated. Also, prepayment of principal is allowed anytime with no penalty fees."
Grass Dragon: "!!!"
Grass Dragon did some mental math and said, "Your scheme is definitely innovative. I'll talk to Melde and have her discuss it with Spider King Spurge and Aconite Spider King."
Dragon Cypress: "Thank you!"
Dragon Cypress: "This year, I sold Melde 180 Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seeds, worth 3,960 Source Stones. Preferably, I'd like all of that paid in Source Stones up front."
Dragon Cypress opened a spider silk bag and revealed the 75 rolled-up Spider King Silk Scrolls inside, saying:
"To support Melde's business, this year I'm buying 30,000 Source Stones' worth of ordinary Origin Force food from her. Grass Dragon, please note this down: 300 Wheel Jujubes from Mountain Lord Warrior territory; 500 Wheel Jujubes from Mountain Lord-level Warrior territory…"
Grass Dragon listened on, increasingly speechless.
—— Boss, do you really have so many Source Stones that you can't spend them all?
—— Meanwhile, your little brother here is dead broke. How about sparing me a bite?