Ant Lord in the Star Realm

Strictly speaking, the Chestnut Bean Divine-Given Seed is the very first Divine-Given Seed bred by Dragon Cypress.

For more than ten years, everyone has toiled hard opening up land and building orchards, and finally they're seeing results.

Plus, using environmental stimuli to trigger plant mutations, which then invoke the descent of Divine Gifts via Natural Law, seems to be working really well.

The morale of Xianglan Mountain Kingdom is through the roof!

For once, Dragon Cypress is being generous—not only did he hand out rewards to all six Command Ants, but he also brought out Origin Force Ant Honey worth 3,000 Source Stones, and everyone feasted and celebrated together.

The next morning, Dragon Cypress took a bunch of seeds and set out to the south with Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple in tow.

He delivered seeds of Sky Blue Persimmon, apple trees, and other plants from the north—plants that need a certain cold period over winter—to be sown on Scarletlight Mountain.

There were also mango and Golden Light Fruit Tree saplings in Mulberry's nursery, so he dug up a batch and brought them back to transplant on Xianglan Mountain.

Dragon Cypress tried to think rationally and figured things couldn't possibly be that simple. He didn't believe the Natural God would design the Law with such a huge loophole for insects to exploit.

But with the successful case of the Chestnut Bean Tree right in front of him, and with Xianglan Mountain on track and spring not that busy, he thought—why not give it a try?

...

Peach and plum blossoms are out—another year's trading season for the roving merchants.

Last year, Xianglan Mountain already had two Divine-Given Seeds mature and harvested, the Northern Gorgon and the Fruit-Scented Orchid. Dragon Cypress had already notified the caravans that the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed would be kept for their own use, so there was nothing for sale this year to the Seven-Leaf and Luoli caravans.

The deal with the Seven-Leaf Caravan was still to buy Six Daozi worth 20,000 Source Stones for Ink Orchid to eat. They also bought other high-quality Origin Force Food worth 30,000 Source Stones, split half-half between Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid.

After a rest of two or three days, the Spider King Zeqi Caravan arrived.

With a rumble, Red Peach arrived hurtling along, hauling a stone slab wheelcart loaded to the brim with Origin Force Food.

Standing on the wheelcart, Blue Catalpa was clutching a stone slab with records of last year's presold Origin Force Honey, and leapt off.

Those two slackers~

Not only were they not helping, but they were making Red Peach's job harder~

Dragon Cypress was getting worked up just watching them.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, look!" Blue Catalpa handed the stone slab over.

"We've struck it rich!" Snakebark Maple shouted right after.

Has White Ivy expanded her business even more? Dragon Cypress took the slab, swept over the numbers with his spiritual power, and did a quick calculation—then nearly jumped.

Last year, White Ivy presold Origin Force Honey worth a whopping 720,000 Source Stones—300 full cans!

Both the 5,000 Source Stone/can and 2,000 Source Stone/can price ranges saw a huge increase—Origin Force Honey had totally taken off.

Red Peach said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, this year, Mountain Lord White Ivy shipped over Origin Force Food worth 518,000 Source Stones—more than 200 different types! The big spider silk bags? Packed up 63 bags! I have to do two trips to get it all over here."

Dragon Cypress was speechless, and a little worried.

"Red Peach, why are you pushing yourselves so hard? Isn't this way over White Ivy's carrying limit already? That's a long, hard journey—if someone gets hurt, it's just not worth it."

Red Peach said, "Don't worry, Dragon Cypress Ant King. I can help carry some, too. Mountain Lord White Ivy and I crunched the numbers—this is just right."

You're just a 2nd Age Period High-Level Golden Mantis Warrior—how much can you actually carry?

Dragon Cypress wiggled his antennae, shook the stone slab, and said, "Red Peach, this is the absolute max you and Mountain Lord White Ivy can handle. Next year, no more increases in presales."

"This isn't the max!" Red Peach was full of confidence and declared proudly, "Mountain Lord White Ivy is going to be the richest spider in the world! This isn't nearly enough!"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress: "Any more goods and they'll crush you both flat."

Red Peach: "No way!"

Red Peach said mysteriously, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, next year you'll see!"

Red Peach said, "The more we haul, the more you earn too, right, Dragon Cypress Ant King?"

"...Yes."

Dragon Cypress still wiggled his antennae, thought about it, and didn't ask further.

Including the 40,000 Source Stone worth of Scarletlight Honey, this year's deal with White Ivy raked in 76,000 refined Source Stones.

You'd be crazy not to go after Source Stones when you can get them.

After five busy days, everything was sorted out.

…

…

…

Once Red Peach left,

Grass Dragon came hurrying in, loaded with all sorts of packs.

"Didn't you say you'd definitely have Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple keep an eye on me this year?"

Dragon Cypress replied calmly, "Mountain Lord Melde didn't come this year. Next year for sure."

Ink Orchid, who was nearby, raised his claws in greeting, "Grass Dragon! Hey there."

"Hey—"

Grass Dragon sized up Ink Orchid, then said, "I always heard from Melde that the sly Dragon Cypress scammed Origin Force Food off a Flower Mantis warrior. Is that you by any chance?"

Ink Orchid: "???"

Ink Orchid was not amused.

This Grass Dragon is even more unserious than Dragon Cypress.

Does he think this mantis is so easy to trick?

"Definitely not me!" Ink Orchid hurried the spider silk bag behind his back.

He was originally planning to show Grass Dragon his collection of Outworld Civilization Artifacts, and treat him to an ice cube made from fruit and ant honey.

No need for that anymore.

Grass Dragon noticed Ink Orchid's little move, and with a swipe of her senses, all eight of her eyes lit up.

"Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot?"

"Oh! And other Outworld Civilization Artifacts, too? You guys dug these up from relics, right?"

"Pretty and rich Flower Mantis Warrior~"

"Let me take a look?"

"I can appraise them for you."

Grass Dragon saw that Ink Orchid wasn't responding, so she turned her gaze to Dragon Cypress.

"The Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot was something I asked White Ivy to buy for me."

As Dragon Cypress spoke, he lightly lifted his rear leg and nudged Ink Orchid with it.

Reluctantly, Ink Orchid opened up his spider silk bag, took out the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot, then grabbed the metal can filled with Origin Force Ant Honey and honey-pickled fruit pulp, opened it, and started making ice cubes.

Grass Dragon said, "As time goes by, Outworld Civilization Artifacts are getting rarer and rarer, and the prices just keep going up."

Grass Dragon asked, "How much did you pay for that Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot?"

"28,000 Source Stones." Dragon Cypress answered honestly, fiddling with the Rose Ring, hooking it on his toe and injecting Origin Force—the whole body glowed with the vivid red rose-patterned Primordial Energy.

"This one's not bad either! Looks fun!" Grass Dragon's eyes lit up red.

"Just a trinket. Ink Orchid's keeping that for himself."

Dragon Cypress handed the Rose Ring over to Grass Dragon, then picked up a metal case, injected Origin Force to open it, and revealed the Red Torreya Seed inside, saying:

"This is the real treasure—it keeps seeds in storage. Melde gave me this last year, and it's stayed almost perfectly fresh the whole time, barely any aging or spoilage."

"Let me see!" At that, Grass Dragon put down the Rose Ring, used a strand of spider silk to reel in the metal case, turned it around, tried injecting Origin Force to close it, then again to open it. He praised,

"Exquisite craftsmanship! The wisdom of the Outworld Civilization seriously impresses me. One day, if I ever leave the Star Realm for the Outworld, I swear I'll find a fight-loving ant to work with and loot them all!"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Grass Dragon then picked up the Red Torreya Seed, clicking her tongue in amazement, "Looks exactly the same as last year when Melde gave it to you. Not a bit of the Life Qi Machine has faded."

Dragon Cypress: "Grass Dragon, how much do you think this metal case is worth?"

"Selling it?" Grass Dragon's eight eyes sparkled again, injected Origin Force, closed the metal case, flipped it over and over, and declared grandly, "I'd buy it for 10,000 Source Stones!"

Grass Dragon was paying close attention to Ink Orchid and Dragon Cypress' reactions.

They were both indifferent, watching with frosty little glares. No response.

Grass Dragon explained, "If it's just regular seeds, a spider silk bag does a fine job of preservation. If it's a Life Seed, stuff in some dry grass and double-bag it with spider silk—still keeps great. The very first knowledge an Insect Clan Warrior gains after Awakening is how to store seeds. So, while this thing is practical, it's honestly not that much use."

Grass Dragon injected Origin Force, and the metal case unfolded, "What makes this valuable is its utterly stunning craftsmanship—enough to wow any insect. If I bring it back to the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, I could sell it for about 12,000 to 15,000."

Grass Dragon said, "It'll definitely sell well, I guarantee every insect will be interested. But function determines value—so it's worth just this much."

Grass Dragon asked, "Dragon Cypress, how many of these metal cases do you have?"

Dragon Cypress replied calmly, "Just two. Including the Rose Halo, all of them are things Ink Orchid and I dug up from ruins while excavating remains of Divine-Given Seed sites. We'll each keep one—planning to sell the other."

Grass Dragon tossed the Red Torreya Seed back to Dragon Cypress and pocketed the metal case, saying, "I owe you 10,000 Source Stones, I'll pay you back next year."

Dragon Cypress reminded her, "I don't think this kind of Outworld Civilization Artifact has ever been seen on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, right? Grass Dragon, take it to the Spider King Spurge and have him appraise it before you sell."

"Good thinking." Grass Dragon agreed.

Ink Orchid hooked out the finished ice cube with his toe and handed it to Grass Dragon through a gap.

"Have an ice cube!"