Ant Lord in the Star Realm

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid spent over ten days locating the entrance to the Tribal Treasury of Xuanling Ridge's Spotted Mantis Tribe.

They found nothing inside. There was no Glinting Gold and no Divine-Given Remains. In the entrance hall, they only saw many murals vividly recording the various combat techniques of the Spotted Mantis Warriors. This had clearly been a warlike tribe, and they had made no gains from this venture.

Their next destination was Zikui Mountain, the territory of the Flying Locust Tribe. It was located in the plains between the Jianlan Plain and the Cold Orchid Plain and was very easy to find: a large mountain with a slope of less than thirty degrees. At its base was a lake surrounded by many mulberry trees.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had been here before to gather mulberry fruits for refining and making Ant Honey. Flying Locusts enjoyed eating mulberry leaves and primarily cultivated mulberry trees. Thus, many high-quality mulberry tree cultivars had been left behind in this area. The mulberry trees planted along the shores of the Azure Blue Reservoir also came from here.

"Who would have thought! This place actually harbored a Great Tribe's Treasury."

Ink Orchid gazed at the large mountain in front of them from the Dominating Throne parked by the lakeside. "The once Tree Sea of Zikui Mountain now lies in ruins like this," she lamented. "Truly a transformation from flourishing to desolate."

After her lament, Ink Orchid began to worry. "Dragon Cypress, this mountain doesn't seem to have any steep cliffs. Where should we start digging?"

Dragon Cypress had already surveyed the terrain when the Dominating Throne descended and was now pondering this very issue.

"Let's start by digging a horizontal tunnel from the mountainside facing the lake to check if there's a Treasury."

"Okay!" Ink Orchid flapped her wings, urging him to start.

The Dominating Throne took off and chose a good spot. Dragon Cypress was in front, digging and tunneling, while Ink Orchid was behind, using a leather bag to transport the soil. Having done the same thing multiple times, their collaboration was proficient, and their efficiency was high.

Five days later, after digging a tunnel eighty meters deep, they finally encountered a stone wall hardened by Earth System Abilities. Zikui Mountain was huge, and the Treasury was hidden deep within it.

The next step was to find the entrance to the Treasury. As usual, it would certainly face the reservoir. But with no steep cliffs, it was hard to determine where to dig. Dragon Cypress couldn't think of a better approach, so they could only pick relatively steep slopes. Ink Orchid would indicate the spots, and Dragon Cypress would dig vertically downwards.

Practice proved that even Ink Orchid couldn't accurately gauge locations for this type of exploration, which didn't involve Origin Force Fluctuation; she pointed out eleven incorrect spots consecutively.

The sun in the sky grew increasingly intense.

Dragon Cypress, watching the time, hurried to Scarletlight Mountain to complete the harvest of the Divine-Given Scarletlight Seed. Then, he headed northwest to White Rice Mountain to check on the growth status of the Divine-Given White Rice Seed and also to complete the early summer roving merchant trades. He explained to Sang and Bai Fan that this year was hectic, so the autumn trade would be paused for one year. There was no need to go to Ghost Fan Mountain or Black Lotus Lake.

Departing from White Rice Mountain, they went straight to Zikui Mountain to continue digging.

Lightning illuminated the night sky. The morning after the storm was clear.

The Dominating Throne parked on a steep slope near the mountain's peak. Dragon Cypress was in charge of digging, while Ink Orchid was responsible for hoisting up the soil from above. Without speaking, they coordinated silently. Braving the harsh sun, they labored another day.

Late at night, just as they were about to stop for a break, Dragon Cypress swept his spiritual power to the side. He let out a long breath and muttered, "Damn locusts! What were they thinking, putting the entrance tunnel at the top of the mountain!"

"Did you find it?" Ink Orchid whispered.

"Found it," Dragon Cypress calmly replied, climbing out of the pit.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid both felt a wave of relief. Finally, they had found it. They returned to the Dominating Throne to rest and recover their Origin Force.

In the middle of the night, they began digging again, busying themselves until early morning to clear the entrance.

Passing through the winding entrance tunnel, they entered a broad hall. Large amounts of withered branches and leaves were laid out, which rapidly turned to ash and dust as air rushed in. These were the Exuviae of some kind of Divine-Given Mulberry Seed.

On both the left and right sides of the hall, two passages spiraled downward.

They entered the left passage first. At regular intervals, there was a cave storing Source Stones, piled high with chunks of Divine-Given Exuviae. All the way to the bottom, they made no other discoveries.

Next, they entered the right passage. The layout was the same: at regular intervals, a cave piled with Divine-Given Exuviae. They hurried along, sweeping the area with their spiritual power, but again made no other discoveries.

The two passages converged at the base in a circular cave about thirty meters in diameter. In the center of the cave stood a statue of a Flying Locust Warrior, carved from brown-red rock. The surrounding stone walls were filled with various carvings and writings, mainly recording information on territory management and plant cultivation, as well as depicting several significant past events.

"Dragon Cypress!" Ink Orchid raised a claw, pointing towards the dome of the cave.

Dragon Cypress looked up, following her gesture. Carved above were three large trees—one tall and two short. Undoubtedly, these had all once been King-Level Divine-Given Seeds nurtured by the tribe, and the Exuviae in the cave were what they had left behind.

The two shorter trees, flanking the taller one, were unknown varieties of Mulberry Divine-Given Seeds. The tall tree in the center was more than twice the height of the Mulberry Divine-Given Seeds. At first glance, it resembled a Southern Sour Jujube Tree, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly a Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Seed!

"Southern Sour Jujubes?" Ink Orchid asked.

"Exactly!" Dragon Cypress confirmed.

Ink Orchid's dejection vanished instantly. "If we use the Exuviae of the King-Level Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Seed as fertilizer for the wild Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Seed on Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, the effects should be outstanding!"

"Theoretically, yes," Dragon Cypress replied.

"Let's try!" Ink Orchid urged.

"Let's try," Dragon Cypress agreed.

Wild Divine-Given Seeds grew too slowly. Dragon Cypress had initially decided to give up on the Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Seed. However, now that they had found Exuviae of its own kind, he could take the opportunity to try cultivating it. A round trip from Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to Zikui Mountain would take about four or five days. It would only cost them some time for transport, without wasting other resources.

"Ink Orchid," Dragon Cypress said, "we've been delayed at Zikui Mountain for quite some time. Let's pack a few bags and head back."

"What about the Glinting Gold?" Ink Orchid suddenly felt a bit reluctant.

Needless to say, the Glinting Gold had most likely been taken away by some Flying Locust Insect King who had departed long ago. Dragon Cypress also felt a pang of reluctance. He turned, and his spiritual power swept over the Flying Locust Warrior sculpture in the cave, finding not a single crack. He moved forward and swung his claw in an attempt to cut it. The statue was reinforced by King-Level Earth System Abilities; his claw tip slid across it without leaving a mark.

Dragon Cypress flapped his wings and flew up, hanging upside down from the dome. He searched carefully but found no hidden mechanisms. Ink Orchid crawled along the rocky walls of the cave, examining them carefully, but discovered nothing.

"Ink Orchid, let's leave it," Dragon Cypress said, landing.

"All the good stuff has been taken." Ink Orchid felt discouraged, holding little hope for the other eight tribes that the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed mentioned had once possessed Glinting Gold. The information, supposedly worth a hundred million Source Stones, was in reality probably not even worth a single one. The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed knew this too, which was why it had been given for free.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid returned to the Dominating Throne, took out their Spider Silk Bags, filled six of them with Divine-Given Remains, and set off back to Xianglan Mountain.

After a brief rest, they set off again.

As dusk deepened, White Willow flew along the shore of Black Lotus Lake. He abruptly dove, snatched a green fish, and rose sharply. A black shadow streaked across the sky before he stopped suddenly, descending vertically to the entrance of the Ant Nest in the mountain. Worker Ants swarmed over, dissected the green fish, and carried it back to the Ant Nest, feeding it to the Blue Ants for Refinement.

Unusually this year, the Dragon Cypress Ant King had been late in coming to take Black Cory.

In the forest at the foot of the mountain, Black Cory was directing the ant swarm. They were working overtime to reclaim wasteland: logging trees, excavating roots, weeding, plowing, clearing rock fragments, building ridges, and establishing an orchard nursery.

Their labor was divided: White Willow was responsible for hunting for the ant swarm. As he flapped his wings to return to the lakeside, he suddenly halted in midair, performed a backflip combined with a side roll, and faced north, staring intently. Familiar Origin Force Fluctuation approached from afar. Soon, a blue speck appeared in his vision. The Dominating Throne was heading towards him.

White Willow's form flickered as he flew up to meet them.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King... Ink Orchid..."

"How's Black Cory? Has he rested well?" Dragon Cypress asked.

"...He's rested well," White Willow replied, adjusting his posture to fly alongside the Dominating Throne. He then asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, are you taking Black Cory to the southeast desert?"

Ink Orchid replied, "Yes. If we dig up Source Stones, we'll give Black Cory a share."

Dragon Cypress added, "It's a job for half a year at most. We'll definitely send Black Cory back before winter. After that, he won't have anything else to do with this and can stay at Black Lotus Lake to plant trees."

"Oh—" White Willow visibly brightened at this news and joyfully announced, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the Azure Tree has borne fruit!"