Why was the rectangular treasury lodged at a steep angle in the earth?

Dragon Cypress thought of two reasons:

First, there might have been heavy treasures concentrated at one end, so when it fell from the sky, the heavy end landed first;

Second, the treasury fell while spinning, much like how, whenever I practice aerial rolls, my head always hits the ground first.

Of course, it could also be a combination of both reasons.

If it were a spinning fall, the cargo inside was likely flung out in all directions.

Dragon Cypress led the specialized Blue Soldiers, continuing to use water system abilities to first drain the accumulation of water at the upper end of the treasury.

This section was completely empty, nothing inside.

Meanwhile, Black Cory directed the worker ants to dig into the treasury, clearing the accumulated mud and sand.

If any treasure remained inside the treasury, it had to be at the bottom.

But since the treasury was embedded in the ground at a 60-degree angle, the internal mud and sand was loose and couldn't be dug out from the bottom directly—the upper layers would collapse.

This was a bit troublesome. They had to first dig a tunnel from above, then, at the bottom, dig on one side while transporting rubble to backfill. The operation was rather complex, requiring Black Cory to lead the workers and keep constant watch.

This spot was more than twenty meters deep underground, with water seeping in from all sides—muddy and damp.

Every now and then, Dragon Cypress used water system abilities to pump out the groundwater.

After four busy days,

Suddenly, a pheromone signal of joy came from within the treasury. Black Cory came running out carrying a dark metal case, placing it before Dragon Cypress.

"Great King! We've found treasure!"

"Oh——"

It was the same as the one that Ink Orchid had found before and given to Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple—a creation of outworld civilization, specifically for storing seeds. Shape, size, color, and patterns were all identical.

Dragon Cypress picked up the metal case, did a brief inspection, found the front, and infused it with origin force.

The metal case split open along the pattern, the metal flowing back on all sides like water, revealing five black "seeds" stored within.

But after so many years, the seeds had already decayed. Once exposed to air, the surface cracked open, leaving many fissures.

Dragon Cypress set the object on the ground, reached out a right foreleg, intending to pick one up for closer inspection, but as soon as the tip of the foot touched it, the seed fractured further and disintegrated.

"Great King! Seeds?" Black Cory edged closer.

"These are plant seeds pillaged during the destruction of human civilization by the Creator Civilization..." Dragon Cypress sighed softly, with mixed emotions.

"The seeds are ruined..." Black Cory asked cautiously: "Great King, can this outworld civilization artifact still be used?"

Dragon Cypress: "Obviously."

Black Cory inquired eagerly: "Then how many source stones is it worth?"

Dragon Cypress estimated: "The item is exquisite in appearance, cleverly designed, and has the practical function of preserving precious seeds. It can definitely fetch a lot of source stones, but precisely how many is hard to say."

Dragon Cypress waved his antennae and said, "A gain is a gain! Let's check the number first! These cases can be kept for our own use. If a life seed resulting from age period evolution can't be sowed in time, it can be stored in such a case—ten thousand times safer than a bamboo tube or spider silk bag. Or if a divine-given seed can't be immediately placed into the life pouch for incubation, it can stay first in this metal case—utterly reliable."

Dragon Cypress urged, "Keep digging!"

Soon after, another burst of jubilant pheromones came from the tunnel.

Black Cory carried out another metal case.

"Great King, another metal case!"

Behind, three large worker ants emerged carrying metal cases, placed them before Dragon Cypress, and hurried back in.

"Great King, there are more inside! Many are piled together."

"Careful, bring them all out."

Dragon Cypress judged in his mind—this was a treasury specifically for storing plant seeds.

Under Black Cory's command, the worker ants brought out a total of 47 metal cases in a row.

Dragon Cypress opened and inspected them one by one.

Unfortunately, without exception, all the seeds had perished and decayed through the ravages of space and time.

It was after Black Cory and the others reached the bottom of the treasury that, after a while, a second batch of metal cases was brought out.

After some time, a few more metal cases were intermittently delivered.

Black Cory's enthusiasm remained undiminished.

After a fleeting excitement, Dragon Cypress began to calmly think: how should these metal cases be sold?

——Seven-Leaf can't be trusted—don't consider it.

——White Ivy can be trusted, and is the only one willing to help with mass transportation of source stones, but its personality is too erratic, always giving insects the impression of unreliability.

——Melde is steady in character, but can't be fully trusted.

——At present, Xianglan Mountain isn't short of origin force food; if selling, it's best to exchange for source stones.

The metal case was an artifact from outworld civilization never before seen on the continent. The precise price was uncertain, but it wouldn't be low.

Dragon Cypress estimated one could fetch about ten to twenty thousand source stones.

By now, there were 106 neatly arranged before him, worth over a million source stones.

"Alternatively, consider a trade... for divine-grade origin force food!"

"Six Peaks Mountain, divine-given Six Paths Seed..."

Dragon Cypress thought it over and immediately dismissed the idea.

The divine god-given seeds that strengthen the soul are out of reach—no chance for such a trade.

"Something relatively cheaper, perhaps some divine god-given seeds that grant special abilities might be within reach, for example, Spider King Spurge..."

"Spider King Spurge is relatively easy to negotiate with, and I'm familiar with its direct descendants, Melde and White Ivy..."

The inherited memory of the Natural God dictates that a divine-given seed is simply a divine-given seed—there's no distinction of high or low, no 'divine grade' classification.

'Divine grade' is defined by Insect Clan warriors. Their shared feature is extremely low yield and very long blossom-fruit cycles.

Broadly categorized as soul, life span, elemental granting, special ability granting, and other rare effects.

All are extremely expensive, starting at a million source stones, with no upper limit to the price. Even with the stones, they may not be available; even related information is deliberately concealed—most insects have no way of knowing.

When Dragon Cypress traveled the continent with the caravan, Melde spoke of this a bit.

Melde's understanding of 'divine grade' was also extremely limited—scraps of information picked up from Spider King Spurge.

Spider King Spurge had a trade partnership lasting several centuries with the Bee King Lotus of the Youlian Kingdom. The Bee King Lotus's 'Youlian Divine-Given Seed' was a divine grade—blossom-fruit cycle of eleven years, one flower per cycle, only eleven lotus seeds each time.

Usage is restricted—the evolver must have reached at least the Mountain Lord level.

After consuming it, one gains the special ability called 'Youlian Form,' causing the body to enter a dreamy, ethereal state for a short period, evading all attacks.

'Youlian Form' matched perfectly with the stealth camouflage ability of the Flower Mantis Warriors—Ink Orchid could consume one.

Spider King Spurge had an excellent relationship with the Bee King Lotus; for each new batch of Youlian Divine-Given Seeds, Spider King Spurge was allotted as many as six for trade—practically a monopoly.

Spider King Spurge regularly sold divine-grade Youlian seeds to the fourteen great tribes on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent.

They were bought from Bee King Lotus at a hundred thousand source stones per seed; the selling price was unknown.

According to Melde, Spider King Spurge didn't make money on divine god-given seeds.

Dragon Cypress considered—if he used metal cases to trade with Spider King Spurge for divine-grade Youlian seeds, there was a high chance of success.

As Melde described, Spider King Spurge also held the stable trading rights to an 'elemental granting' type divine god-given seed.

It was called the 'Mountain Pillar Fruit,' produced by a mutated divine-given Shield Mountain Tree seed; the blossom-fruit cycle was fifteen years, and after consumption, there was a chance of gaining the Earth Element Talent, and thus the corresponding earth system abilities.

Spider King Spurge bought it at a sky-high price of four hundred thousand source stones per fruit, with only one fruit per batch allotted to it.

Dragon Cypress guessed that if he obtained earth talent, his Dominating Throne would likely gain soldier ants and worker ants inheriting earth system abilities.

But the price of 'Mountain Pillar Fruit' was simply beyond reach; before, it was never even a consideration.

Now,

Looking at the metal cases before him, Dragon Cypress measured carefully, thought it through, and dismissed the idea.

To trade for 'Mountain Pillar Fruit,' the metal cases were far from sufficient—such divine-grade fruits could only be exchanged for other items of equivalent tier, or by the prosperous great tribes qualified to negotiate with Spider King.

Even among divine god-given seeds, there are differences in value.

Generally speaking, the most precious are those enhancing the soul; next is elemental talent granting, then life span, then special ability granting. But it's not absolute—certain divine-grade origin force fruits with heaven-defying abilities can fetch prices even higher than the soul type.

What Dragon Cypress needed most was elemental talent granting, yet, ironically, this category was the rarest.

Six Paths Seed that strengthens the soul is precious, but by cultivating Six Paths Wood on a large scale and persevering, one day, by sheer low probability, you could obtain the corresponding divine-given seed.

The Ant Clan excels at mass cultivation, after all.

However, 'elemental granting' type divine-given seeds aren't produced by any specific plant. They emerge as mutations during the process when an elemental-system plant produces a divine-given seed.

So, large-scale cultivation of any single plant can't reliably produce it.

"Super divine-given seeds are no lesser than divine grade."

"Azure is a super divine seed."

"Once I reach Evolution King Level, Azure's super-grade origin force fruit will be the equal of the divine grade!"

"Actually, I do have the potential qualifications to negotiate with Spider King Spurge or Aconite Spider King for the purchase of divine-grade origin force fruit..."

Dragon Cypress calculated the pros and cons in his mind.

In the passage, more bursts of excited pheromones echoed through.

Black Cory waggled his antennae and relayed, "Great King, we've found a big one!"

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