The sky was overcast, with a continuous fine rain.

The Dominating Throne passed through the curtain of rain, crossed the encircling mountains, and approached the ant nest halfway up the slope.

The ant nest was expanding, imitating Xianglan Mountain, opening up a spacious, semi-open cave at the entrance to serve as a dining hall.

White Willow sheltered from the rain inside the cave, sensed a familiar Origin Force fluctuation, and went out to take a look.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

"Ink Orchid! Long time no see!"

"Ink Orchid, are you a Level 3 Advanced Flower Mantis Warrior now?"

"I'm at Age 9! Dragon Cypress Ant King, next year I'll need to trouble you to lend me the Dominating Throne, to help with my breakthrough…"

"Black Cory also just went through a molting evolution again…"

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, look, Black Cory led the Worker Ants and opened up three new nursery plots on the mountain. Which fruit trees do you want to plant? Southern Sour Jujube Trees?"

After their greetings, before Ink Orchid even had a chance to ask, White Willow blurted out all the latest developments at Black Lotus Lake.

The Soldier Ant standing guard at the cave entrance turned its head to relay the message: The Great King has arrived

Pheromones spread layer by layer through the ant nest, quickly reaching Black Cory, who had retreated to the deep nest chamber.

Black Cory ran out of the nest.

"Great King! Second King…"

"This dining hall is pretty well built." Ink Orchid leaped down and ran into the dining area.

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to come to a steady stop at the entrance, then followed into the dining hall, immediately turning attention to Black Cory.

This was its third molting evolution—its body length had decreased progressively from the original 90 centimeters, to 80, 70, and now about 60 centimeters.

Very regularly, one stage after another, its body size shrank drastically.

Carapace, tentacles, compound eyes, simple eyes, and its entire form had all changed, each feature increasingly optimized toward Dragon Cypress' appearance.

The Origin Force aura of the Mid-Level Specialized Worker Ant had weakened by three parts; correspondingly, the temperament of the Command Ant had grown slightly stronger.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Black Cory, how many Black Lotus Seeds did you consume for this molting evolution?"

Black Cory: "51 seeds."

Dragon Cypress: "That's about the same as the last two evolutions."

Black Cory: "Yes, it is."

By this calculation, the lotus seeds produced by White Willow's three Black Lotus Life Seeds were enough for Black Cory to evolve three times.

At Azure Blue Reservoir, Ink Orchid's Black Lotus Life Seed still had three lotus pods this year, forty-two high-quality lotus seeds, enough for Black Cory to evolve one or two more times.

There were enough Black Lotus Seeds.

Dragon Cypress paused slightly to do a quick count, then asked, "How long did you sleep for during this evolution?"

White Willow answered, "Fell asleep at night when it got dark, and woke up the next morning."

Black Cory added, "Great King, my strength has grown weaker again—it's regressing, a reverse… evolution. But it feels much lighter."

Dragon Cypress had already noticed that, in this kind of 'regressive' evolution, Black Cory consumed very little, so the interval between evolutions could probably be shortened.

After a brief thought, it turned and left the cave, leaped onto the Dominating Throne, and carried the Spider Silk Bag packed with Divine-Given White Rice Seeds back into the dining hall.

Opening it, it took out one seed and handed it to Black Cory, saying, "Try eating one."

Black Cory did as told.

Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, and White Willow simultaneously covered Black Cory with their spiritual power, observing the changes.

Threads of Origin Force Energy leaked out from the carapace seams.

Black Cory said, "Great King, I absorbed about one-third."

"A nice boost!"

"The Divine-Given White Rice Seed strengthens Life System healing ability—you can try eating some in moderation."

Dragon Cypress counted out ten seeds, placed them in front of Black Cory, and urged:

"In your weaker period, the amount of Origin Force Food you can eat per age is limited. It's best to choose high-quality ones that strongly benefit your growth and evolution… For now, Black Cory, stick with lotus seeds as your main diet. Soon I'll also arrange five Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit and ten Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds for you. Don't eat those ordinary Origin Force Foods."

Black Cory answered in delight, "Understood, Great King!"

Dragon Cypress also took a large bag of Southern Sour Jujube Seeds off the Dominating Throne and instructed:

"Black Cory, work on building the orchard over at Southern Sour Jujube Mountain has started. Take these seeds and sow them on time next spring. Come help over there sometime next summer if you can as well."

"Got it, Great King."

Black Cory waved its tentacles. Inside the ant nest, four large Blue Ants whose abdomens were filled with Origin Force Ant Honey emerged.

"Great King, these are the Origin Force Foods produced in White Willow's territory this year…"

"Good."

Dragon Cypress leapt onto the Dominating Throne, set down a plank, and directly ordered the four Large Blue Ants to rest at the Stump Ant Nest.

Ink Orchid took the Spider Silk Bag with the Divine-Given White Rice Seeds, counted out one hundred, packed them into a small Spider Silk Bag, and handed them to White Willow.

Cradling two metal cans, Ink Orchid handed them solemnly to White Willow and said, "White Willow, this batch of high-quality Origin Force Food should be enough to help you evolve to High Level. This will be the last time Dragon Cypress and I support you."

Dragon Cypress: "Make sure you plan your Origin Force Food intake and schedule your evolution for the hottest part of next summer…"

…

Next year, there will be quite a few insects needing the Dominating Throne to help with their breakthroughs.

On Xianglan Mountain, there are Ink Orchid, Dragon Cypress, Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and others.

Ghost Fan needs the Dominating Throne to help it evolve into a Level 9 High-Level Wooden Darkling Beetle Warrior—it's just a step short of Mountain Lord Level, the highest evolution on Cloud Trace Continent.

Mulberry needs assistance to evolve into a Level 4 Advanced Nine-Star Roach Warrior.

Black Rice and White Willow both need the Dominating Throne to reach High Level.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple also need the Dominating Throne to get to Mid-Level.

Dragon Cypress felt gratified again—under its leadership, the whole Cloud Trace Continent was thriving and flourishing.

…

At noon, after the rain cleared.

The Dominating Throne entered the Origin Force boundary of Xianglan Mountain, Ink Orchid, impatient over 'Cuihua Hanlan Divine-Given Seed', was the first to spread its wings and speed back to the mountain.

Dragon Cypress maneuvered the Dominating Throne, taking its time, and arrived at Azure Blue Reservoir.

The recent harvest of gorgon fruit, lotus seeds, and rice sown at the reservoir had just finished, the aquatic plants remained lush, and the waterbirds and frogs living there were still active.

Perhaps because of the influence of the Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Water System Primordial Energy, within the area covered by the Deep Blue God-Given Seed, life was especially flourishing—even the weeds were taller and sturdier than in other places.

Round Cypress was leading Worker Ants around the reservoir, working to open up orchards and planning to transplant a batch of young trees next spring.

"Dragon Cypress."

Azure took the initiative to greet, and then complained, "Spiked Cypress came to steal fish from me again!"

"Maybe their ant nest doesn't have enough food."

"I'll give it a good lesson."

Dragon Cypress maneuvered the Dominating Throne to descend and hover over the water, observing the state of the Azure Fruits.

Very good.

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to skim across the water's surface and drift ashore.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King." Round Cypress stepped forward and greeted.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Round Cypress, is everything well on the mountain?"

Round Cypress: "All is well."

Dragon Cypress asked, "And the Southern Gorgon Divine-Given Seed?"

Round Cypress: "Also well. Five days ago, Cypress came down from the mountain and sent the Blue Soldiers to give it some extra fertilizer."

Dragon Cypress: "Notify Spiked Cypress to attend the banquet this evening."

Each banquet would feature some high-quality Origin Force Food. Round Cypress gladly replied, "Alright, Great King!"

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne, crossed a hill covered with Silver Cypress Trees and Black Emperor Peaches, and arrived at Southern Gorgon Reservoir.

"Southern Gorgon." Dragon Cypress called out.

"Dragon Cypress."

Southern Gorgon, unusually courteous, asked, "Dragon Cypress, can you do me a small favor?"

"…Of course."

Dragon Cypress didn't believe this guy had suddenly changed its personality.

Sure enough, Southern Gorgon immediately continued, "Can you go and tenderize—that ant called Spiked Cypress for me? Not too difficult, right?"

"…Easy."

Dragon Cypress was speechless and asked, "What did Spiked Cypress do this time?"

Southern Gorgon: "It's so stupid. It commanded the Blue Soldiers to fish at the reservoir and almost bit into one of my cloned stems."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

Dragon Cypress: "Alright, I'll tenderize it."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.