Ant Lord in the Star Realm

The Dominating Throne flies above the sea of clouds.

Ink Orchid is in a great mood.

"Dragon Cypress!"

"Mm—"

"The new Origin Force Land, naming."

"Your turn."

"Black Fruit Mountain."

"Good name. Ink Orchid, you're really a genius."

"So sarcastic!"

Ink Orchid flaps her wings and smacks around.

After the excitement, she turns back to look at Black Fruit Mountain, becoming sentimental again.

"Before exploring the unknown, we hope, we long, we firmly believe, we're convinced we'll find tons of treasures, lots of Insect Clan warriors. But harsh reality hits us hard."

"..."

"Dragon Cypress, is the eastern region all explored?"

"Just about. I'll swing by again in winter."

"Now what? Heading back to Xianglan Mountain?"

"Of course."

"So few Insect Clan warriors."

"I didn't expect that either."

"Sigh—"

Ink Orchid lets out a long sigh and says seriously:

"What if one day, the Starship wrecks connecting Cloud Trace Continent and Ten Thousand Nations Continent disappear, or something else cuts off our contact with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants? Could the Origin Force Food produced on our own continent, by our own bugs, let everyone evolve to King-Level?"

"Not enough."

"There's still the Purple Tung Insect Nation! Lots of bugs there."

"Still not enough."

"Why?"

"Because the White Poplar Ant King and Red Phellodendron Ant Queen have Life System and Earth Talent, so most Barley Bug Warriors from Purple Tung Insect Nation are forced to choose Life Seed Plants focusing on comprehensive Earth Element abilities. The only one who could manage with awakened Earth Talent is White Rice, but you and I can't."

"Oh, right~"

Ink Orchid grumbles, "Only White Rice awakened the Earth Talent? That guy gets all the luck."

Dragon Cypress: "As long as we keep trading with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants, White Rice gets no free lunch. Any surplus Origin Force Food, we can export as 'Origin Force Honey' and make a little extra on the side."

Ink Orchid: "We're earning more than enough already."

Ink Orchid: "Dragon Cypress, I'm seriously discussing things with you. What if, one day, our trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants is cut off?"

Ink Orchid: "Dragon Cypress, think about it, is it only in this Origin Force Era that Starships span Divine Force Barriers and connect continents? Count back ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million years… how many Origin Force awakening and dormancy cycles have there been? Did every cycle have Starship wrecks lying around?"

Ink Orchid: "And isn't it said the native-breed Flame Spiders originated in a place called 'Shanglu'? Why does every continent have Flame Spider Roving Merchants then? They must've migrated across the continents, right?"

Ink Orchid: "If in every alternation of Origin Force dormancy and awakening, a Natural True God tossed down a few Starships, there should be dozens piled up by now, right? But that's not actually the case."

Ink Orchid: "The Starship Passage that used to connect Ten-thousand Tribes Continent and Dragon Bamboo Continent vanished too, taken away by a Natural True God."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Logical arguments, clear analysis.

Dragon Cypress: "Ink Orchid, congratulations."

Ink Orchid: "Congratulations me?"

Dragon Cypress: "For awakening a new ability."

Ink Orchid: "What new ability?"

Dragon Cypress: "Using your brain."

"???"

"Dragon Cypress!"

"I'm going to kill you~"

Ink Orchid erupts in fury.

The issue Ink Orchid raised was something Dragon Cypress had already considered and begun to prepare for.

The Origin Force Food produced on Cloud Trace Continent had long ceased circulating only internally; Dragon Cypress mixed it into the Origin Force Honey traded with White Ivy and Grass Dragon, and shipped it to the Ten Thousand Nations Continent.

In return, the Origin Force Food White Ivy and Grass Dragon shipped in from the Ten Thousand Nations Continent—foods Cloud Trace didn't have—was kept back and sold within Cloud Trace Continent as Origin Force Ant Honey.

If the worst happened and trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants stopped, they'd go back to circulating Origin Force Food produced internally on Cloud Trace Continent.

Of course, with so few Insect Clan warriors, this couldn't last for long.

Ink Orchid keeps swatting at Dragon Cypress.

"Alright, alright! No more joking—let's talk serious now."

Dragon Cypress gets serious: "Three methods."

"First, after everyone evolves to Mountain Lord Level, pick Life Seeds from unique local plants that best match their Elemental Talents, and minimize overlap as much as possible."

"The Origin Force Honey trading with White Ivy and Grass Dragon grows bigger each year. When the time comes, we'll use the Origin Force Food produced here, instead of importing theirs."

Dragon Cypress: "Second, we already control a lot of Divine-Given Seeds. After advancing to Mountain Lord Level, mainly sell them to Seven-Leaf and the Melde caravan, to exchange for equal value Divine-Given Origin Force Food, or high-quality normal Origin Force Food."

Dragon Cypress: "Third, we work with Huagi Mountain, sell Divine-Grade Fruit in large quantities, exchange for all kinds of high-quality Lord-Level and Insect King Level Origin Force Food, refine them into Origin Force Ant Honey, and store them in Huagi Mountain Treasury. The more the better, ideally fill all three metal chests—can never be too prepared."

Dragon Cypress: "If we do all three, we should be fine, unless the Starship Passage disappears tomorrow."

Ink Orchid: "Oh——"

Ink Orchid: "Dragon Cypress, congratulations..."

Dragon Cypress: "No need, thanks."

Ink Orchid, vengeful as ever, "Congrats! You've awakened a new ability..."

Dragon Cypress droops his antennae, ignores her, doesn't cooperate.

Ink Orchid drags Dragon Cypress over: "This new ability's called 'brain growth'!"

Dragon Cypress: "Sounds weird. Feels like you're just bragging..."

...

A long ten-day journey.

Back to Xianglan Mountain—rest a day, then off again, straight to White Rice Mountain to collect Divine-Given White Rice Fruit, then Scarletlight Mountain, Ghost Fan Mountain, Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, Black Lotus Lake...

Finished all the trade in the southeast region quickly, then set out north.

Passed by Xiaoyang Mountain—as usual, picked up 10 sacks of Divine-Given Remains along the way.

Flew along the mountain range all the way to Huagi Mountain.

...

This early winter's weather is normal.

The sun is nice and warm.

Yellow Stem and Spruce are lying side by side on a huge boulder at the ridge, gazing toward the Quandong Divine Tree ahead.

"Yellow Stem. Spruce."

The Dominating Throne descends. They all greet each other.

After a year, the Quandong Divine Tree has grown taller than the mountains, its branches stretching just forty or fifty meters from the ridge, spiritual power extending down the limbs.

The Quandong Divine Tree greets warmly, "Dragon Cypress Ant King. Ink Orchid."

The Quandong Divine Tree asks, "Are you searching for Origin Force Lands this year?"

Ink Orchid jumps in, "Yes! We scouted the whole eastern region—found five new Origin Force Lands, all teeming with trees and lush grasses. Pity we only found one Beautiful Ji Bee Warrior..."

Ink Orchid quickly outlines their adventures this year.

The Quandong Divine Tree doesn't react much.

Yellow Stem and Spruce are the first to look disappointed—they, too, worry about the day trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants might suddenly end.

Ink Orchid brims with confidence as she explains the three major solutions.

They all talk back and forth, discussing for a long time and filling in the details.

Back to the main topic,

Dragon Cypress asks tactfully, "Quandong Divine Tree, is this the year you'll flower and bear fruit?"

Quandong: "Of course."

—Where's the fruit?

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid jump onto the Dominating Throne, take off, and circle the tree searching.

"Lower part of the trunk," Quandong reminds them.

The Dominating Throne immediately descends to the base.

They crane their necks, searching for a good while, and finally spot a small blue-green Scaly Egg Fruit, only two or three centimeters long, on a branch sprouting from the tree's first big limb near the ground.

The Quandong Divine Tree mutated from a Snow Cedar. Its fruit still looks like a pine cone: fish scale-shaped shell on the outside, a single oval seed within—still small and underdeveloped.

This is a Divine-Grade Fruit?

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid are seeing one in person for the first time—fascinated, they steer the Dominating Throne closer for a better look, sweep it with spiritual power; the seed's shell densely covered with gray-white Original Energy Patterns, endlessly absorbing Natural Primordial Force.

They pilot the Dominating Throne around, finding one fruit each on the three thickest side branches low on the trunk.

A four-hundred-meter-tall giant tree can only nourish and condense three of these Divine-Grade Fruits.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid are shocked, amazed, and expectant.

Soul system ability fruits—among the most valuable of the Divine-Grades.

Just nine more years and they can eat one!