Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 444 - 424: The Second Top-Level Divine-Given Seed!
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had been busy for over a month, cleaning up the peach trees and orchid grass from Molan Mountain.
Finally, they dug up that mutated Ink Orchid with the unusual leaf veins, roots and all, bundled it in a spider silk bag, and hauled it back to Xianglan Mountain.
"Azure!"
"Dragon Cypress—"
"Take a look at this Ink Orchid."
"Its leaf veins are different. This is a mutated plant. You brought it from Molan Mountain, right? Found it on Molan Mountain?"
"!!!"
How did you spot it right away too?
Dragon Cypress was stunned for two seconds and answered, "Yes!"
Dragon Cypress: "Azure, pick a suitable spot for me, I’ll plant it. Then you keep an eye on it. When it buds in late winter, use bud cultivation technique to propagate a batch of seedlings."
Azure: "Got it."
Azure: "East of the reservoir, the north slope of the chestnut woods is good."
Dragon Cypress: "Alright!"
Dragon Cypress: "It mutated, but didn’t trigger Natural Godsend, so there must be some kind of flaw or deficiency. There are still some seeds in the metal case, I’ll give them directly to you; also remember to try sowing them."
Azure: "Will do."
"Ink Orchid, all arranged."
Dragon Cypress turned to notify Ink Orchid, then piloted the Dominating Throne, floating east at low altitude to the chestnut tree slope.
"Ink Orchid, pick a spot."
Ink Orchid crouched at the edge of the Throne, observed carefully, raised a claw to point, and said, "Over there!"
The Dominating Throne tilted down to land, then shrank; Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid together carefully lifted the spider silk bag with the mutated Ink Orchid from the Throne.
The worker ants commanded by Azure hurried over: digging a hole, transplanting, backfilling, and watering.
The main vine of Black Yellow had grown over a hundred meters and was climbing towards this slope. Noticing the activity, Black Yellow sent over a probe of spiritual power.
"Dragon Cypress?"
"This is Dragon Cypress."
"What are you doing?"
"Planting grass."
"What kind of grass?"
"Didn’t I teach you this before? You never pay attention!"
"???"
Black Yellow: "You never taught me!"
Dragon Cypress: "I taught you."
Black Yellow: "I don’t recognize it."
Dragon Cypress: "So if you don’t recognize it, it means I never taught you?"
Black Yellow: "Yes."
Dragon Cypress: "You don’t recognize Ink Orchid Grass?"
Black Yellow: "I know it. But it’s not like this one. There’s a clear difference."
Dragon Cypress: "???"
Black Yellow: "???"
Dragon Cypress: "What’s the difference?"
Black Yellow: "The leaves are different."
Dragon Cypress: "..."
How come you can immediately tell the difference too?
Could it be that the problem is with me?
Dragon Cypress started doubting his ant life a little.
"Black Yellow, you have to learn to apply knowledge flexibly. This is indeed an Ink Orchid Grass, a mutant, the leaves are different. But if you look at it as a whole..."
"Since it’s a mutant, then it’s no longer Ink Orchid."
I really can’t get through to you.
Dragon Cypress ignored him, turned and instructed, "Ink Orchid, stay and rest on Xianglan Mountain for two days. I’ll go to Molan Mountain to bring back the worker ants. The autumn roving merchant trading season is starting soon..."
...
The leisurely, idle winter season.
Under the guidance of the Linnan Divine Tree, Ink Orchid completed her foreclaw chopping training and began flight ability training.
Starting simply, circling the Linnan Divine Tree in a spiral, flying up and down.
Dragon Cypress finally finished flat-ground running training, now focusing on vertical climbing practice.
Climbing together were Silver Cypress, Mulberry, Blue Catalpa, and Black Rice.
Time flew by in shouting, laughter, and playful commotion.
...
In the orchards of the Purple Tung Insect Nation, Round Cypress, Black Leaf, and Black Birch took care of things, with three command ants and over four thousand worker ants and soldier ants handling all the work.
Late winter,
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid returned to Xianglan Mountain.
In the southern orchards, the Thousand-Leaf Fescue and Thousand Mountains Wild Peas that had grown under the chestnut trees were all cleared away, replaced with Ink Orchid Grass seedlings.
Azure had already used bud cultivation technology to raise the first batch of mutated Ink Orchid seedlings.
They were neatly planted in rows, covered with pine scales and needles for warmth and moisture retention.
"???"
Black Yellow’s style of greeting.
Dragon Cypress didn’t want to bother with this guy.
Black Yellow: "Dragon Cypress—"
Dragon Cypress: "What is it?"
Black Yellow: "Nothing—"
If you have nothing to say, just stay put and be quiet!
Dragon Cypress reconsidered and asked, "Black Yellow, were the mutated Ink Orchid seeds sown?"
Black Yellow: "Sown. At the foot of the mountain. Right next to me."
"Oh—"
Dragon Cypress looked down the slope.
Next to dense grape vines was a freshly cleared little nursery plot.
The Dominating Throne floated over slowly.
Black Yellow: "I’ve been watching; it looks like it failed. The seeds sprouted, but died quickly."
Black Yellow: "Deformed shoots, all dead."
As expected!
Same problem as with Black Peach.
Any new plant species that can’t reproduce by seed definitely won’t be recognized by Natural Law.
However, with Azure mastering ’bud cultivation technique’, this isn’t really a problem anymore.
Dragon Cypress extended his spiritual power and contacted Azure.
"Azure, you’ll need to work extra hard these next couple of years, and help Ink Orchid cultivate 100,000 mutated Ink Orchids. First plant them in woodland, I’ll come by late winter season to transplant them to Molan Mountain."
Azure was busy and replied briefly, "Okay!"
Dragon Cypress said no more, and the Dominating Throne carried Ink Orchid headed north to check on last year’s Black Peach saplings.
After a year of growth, most had reached about half a meter tall.
They could be transplanted now.
With spring approaching, a new batch of Black Peach saplings could also be cultivated.
Dragon Cypress called on Fragrant Cypress to begin work.
...
A busy, bustling spring season.
Ink Orchid insisted on staying at Xianglan Mountain, getting obsessed again with tinkering with her Orchid Grass.
Dragon Cypress returned alone to take charge at Purple Tung Insect Nation.
Tranquil days, quietly flowing by.
Spring flourishes, autumn bears fruit; all things cycle in reincarnation.
Summer heat, winter chill; heaven and earth revolve.
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the four seasons rotate in endless cycles.
Another midwinter fishing season had come.
Dragon Cypress finished assigning tasks, and the Throne carried Ink Orchid swiftly to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.
Under the Round Leaf Keg Vine Tree, there was no trace of Black Cory, and the tree itself showed no sign of Keg Vine pods.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid simultaneously activated soul-setting abilities: hilltop!
On the flat hilltop, Black Cory held a spider silk bag with both claws, watching the worker ants busy drying this year’s harvested Divine-Given Red Cypress seeds and chestnut beans.
"Great King!"
"Second King!"
"Great King! You finally made it."
Black Cory rushed over to greet them, handing over the spider silk bag. "Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed harvested successfully! It’s so big, it won’t fit in the metal case, so I had to store it in the spider silk bag."
Ink Orchid dropped down in a flash and snatched the bag, opened it, and found inside a flattened round seed about six or seven centimeters in diameter.
The dark brown seed coat was covered in blackish brown Origin Force patterns, with a fairly clear Origin Force fluctuation.
"This is great!"
Ink Orchid jumped for joy. "The enhancement type for Round Leaf Keg Vine hasn’t mutated, it’s still ’vision breadth’." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Dragon Cypress let out a long breath of relief as well.
Vision-type enhancements never come cheap.
’Vision breadth’ enhancement lets Insect Clan warriors see a wider range of colors, see the world more clearly—it’s popular and pretty expensive, too.
Since Round Leaf Keg Vine’s enhancement effect didn’t mutate, this Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed could be considered top-level.
"Dragon Cypress! Quick, store it in your Life Pouch to incubate." Ink Orchid urged.
Dragon Cypress leaped to the ground, lifted his claw to accept it, held it up to his mouth to measure, then barely stuffed it in, struggling to swallow it into his Life Pouch.
The second top-level Divine-Given Seed!
"Black Cory, good work! Pack up and I’ll take you back to Black Lotus Lake to rest. All the Origin Force food is prepared; take your time and eat, and get ready to evolve into a second-age Mountain Lord next spring trading season."
"Okay, Great King!"
"I’ll also evolve into a sixth-age Mountain Lord next spring. The Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed will be sown on Southern Sour Jujube Mountain; I’ll personally stay here to guard it. But on Molan Mountain, with the large-scale transplanting of Orchid Grass and peach trees, we’ll need an ant for management..."
"Understood, Great King, I’ll go!"
Black Cory replied resoundingly, adding a reminder:
"Great King, what about the exact sowing spot? Can we select it and prepare ahead of time?"
"Yes."
Dragon Cypress pointed with his claw and said, "The east end of this hill. Sow at the foot of the mountain, guide the main vine to climb up from east to west, spreading along the ridge. Come on, let’s go have a look together."
