After all, Grass Dragon is a Flame Spider Roving Merchant, with a broad carapace, so he helped carry the Source Stones and Origin Force Food. Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, exhausted after a full day and night, couldn't hang on any longer and hopped up onto Grass Dragon's carapace, sprawling out on the Spider Silk Bag and falling asleep.

Dragon Cypress and Grass Dragon walked side by side, slowly making their way through the tunnel.

"Dragon Cypress, do you think you'd make such a low-level mistake?"

"What kind of low-level mistake?"

"Dragon Cypress, you ants have a weakness—whenever your lies get exposed, you either go silent or play dumb."

"Explain in detail."

"There's no way you'd mess up the sowing distance for the Divine-Given Seed. You want to use the ability of the One-Glimpse Fruit to convert the Southern Sour Jujube or Scarletlight Divine-Given Seed into your Life Seed, right? My guess is it's the Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Seed."

Grass Dragon had sharply noticed that Dragon Cypress was lying, but no matter what, would never have imagined that on Cloud Trace Continent, there existed a super-large Land of Origin Force, and a King of Termite who possessed a Divine God-Given Seed.

Dragon Cypress calmly replied, "You could say that."

Grass Dragon: "Your calculation ability is better than mine. Have you worked it out? Will this make a profit?"

Dragon Cypress: "Doesn't seem profitable."

Grass Dragon: "But not a loss either! I suggest you use it on the Scarletlight Divine-Given Seed."

Dragon Cypress: "Any special reason?"

Grass Dragon: "Yep!"

Grass Dragon: "Isn't Lupine independent now as a traveling merchant? Two summers ago, I traveled across the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent with Lupine. With nothing better to do, we thought of trying our luck at Crown Mountain, to see if we could sneak inside and broaden our horizons—heh, not only did we manage to get in, we made a nice little profit and ended up in the middle of a huge commotion."

"Crown Mountain? A huge commotion?" Instantly, Dragon Cypress's interest was piqued.

Grass Dragon thought for a moment, then explained, "Crown Mountain is run by the Skull Ground Beetle Tribe, with Red Dragonfly and Red Forest Ant as vassals. The insect population totals tens of thousands, stretching across a hundred kilometers, sitting atop a huge Source Stone Mine. Regular Divine-Given Seeds are everywhere, and they're suspected to possess a wild Divine God-Given Seed. Does that give you an idea?"

"Wha—oh—"

Lying on the Spider Silk Bag, half-asleep and half-awake, listening to the conversation while dozing, Blue Catalpa suddenly snapped awake, thrusting out with his legs and kicking Snakebark Maple awake.

"What is it?"

"Story time!"

"What story?"

"Sounds like an exciting one."

"Oh!" Snakebark Maple perked up his tentacles, waiting for more.

Dragon Cypress: "…"

Dragon Cypress: "A great tribe with a population over ten thousand? That would count as a top-level major force in the Natural Star Realm, right? The internal exchanges alone would almost completely satisfy most insects' Origin Force Food needs—practically no need for roving merchant trade."

Grass Dragon: "Exactly. Great tribes like this are even more closed off, with roads, roadblocks, and checkpoints in place. The ground is guarded by Ant Soldiers, the sky patrolled by Red Dragonfly warriors, always on guard against the Alien Clans, and caravans aren't allowed to enter at will. Crown Mountain only trades with merchant caravans led by certain Spider Kings; a small number led by lords might be eligible to enter and trade. Merchant caravans like Melde's or White Ivy's don't stand a chance."

Dragon Cypress: "Got it!"

Snakebark Maple drawled: "I don't get it—"

Blue Catalpa: "Me neither."

Snakebark Maple: "Explain it?"

Blue Catalpa: "Give us the details."

Dragon Cypress waved his tentacles, making a threatening gesture as if to hit them.

"Understood!"

"You all carry on."

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple quickly changed their tune, straightened up, and assumed serious listening postures.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Grass Dragon, how did you and Lupine manage to sneak in?"

Grass Dragon: "The trade at Crown Mountain happens at a set time every year. When the time comes, caravans from all around head there, following the same road, hardened by Earth System Abilities, and must pass through a checkpoint to enter."

"When Lupine and I got there, we saw a lot of caravans stuck outside the checkpoint. We also felt waves and waves of Primordial Energy Fluctuation. After asking around, it turned out their North Elm Lord was in seclusion, evolving to Evolution King Level, and had reached the final stage of breakthrough."

Dragon Cypress: "Crashed and burned?"

Grass Dragon: "…"

Grass Dragon: "The annual trade was delayed half a month. The five Great Flame Spider Tribes, around fifty caravans of varying sizes, nearly two to three hundred Flame Spider Roving Merchants, were all blocked outside the checkpoint. Even the various Insect Kings of Crown Mountain came out personally to make amends. After the North Elm Lord succeeded in his evolution, all the caravans rushed inside. Lupine and I claimed to be from the caravan led by the Flying Reed Spider King, and managed to slip in easily."

You two really aren't afraid of dying~

Dragon Cypress asked, "And then?"

Grass Dragon: "Once inside, the caravan leaders went up the mountain to trade, while the other members gathered in the plaza at the base of the mountain for free trade. Thousands of Insect Clan Warriors crowded together, hauling Spider Silk Bags, weaving in and out, lining up to buy and sell goods—you can imagine the scale."

Dragon Cypress: "Line up? That tribe has seriously disciplined insect population."

Grass Dragon: "Ha~ ha~"

Grass Dragon: "Lupine hadn't brought much cargo, so it sold out quickly. We didn't have much capital left either, so we bought a batch of high-quality Crown Mountain specialties. Within half a day, we had nothing else to do and just wandered the plaza. By chance, we overheard a Roving Merchant from the White-Legged Flame Spider Tribe chatting with a Skull Ground Beetle Warrior. Their topic was the new 'North Elm Insect King', so we eavesdropped."

You two are true master slackers~

Dragon Cypress: "…"

Grass Dragon paused, then said, "The White-Legged Flame Spider Roving Merchant said, 'Most Insect Clan Warriors disappear after advancing to Insect King.'"

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior said, 'Yeah.'"

"The White-Legged Flame Spider Roving Merchant remarked, 'Spider Kings know why, but won't tell us.'"

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior said, 'I know. It's not that they vanish, they're just focused on pursuing higher levels and have no time to handle tribe affairs.'"

"The White-Legged Flame Spider Roving Merchant asked, 'What are the higher levels?' "

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior replied, 'It's the 2nd Age Period Insect King, 3rd Age Period Insect King, and so on—except every age period's evolution for a Spider King is extremely difficult. It's not just about having resources. You also need enlightenment.'"

"The White-Legged Flame Spider Roving Merchant asked, 'Enlightenment?'"

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior said, 'Push one ability to the extreme, comprehend it to its peak, wield it perfectly. When your carapace forms a pattern similar to the seed form of a Divine-Given Seed, that Original Energy Pattern is called a Divine Mark. One Divine Mark breaks a layer of Law shackle and completes one age period of evolution.'"

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior went on, 'From what I overheard from the elders once, Elemental System Abilities are the easiest to strengthen and comprehend, and Elemental System Divine Marks are relatively easier to achieve. That's why most Insect Kings choose Elemental System, so when reaching King Level, Origin Force Food of the Elemental System increases in value.'"

"The White-Legged Flame Spider Roving Merchant said, 'I see.' Then asked, 'What if you evolve to a 9th Age Period Spider King? What comes after that?'"

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior looked at me and Lupine, and asked, 'Are these two Little Flame Spiders from your tribe?'"

"The White-Legged Flame Spider Roving Merchant replied, 'No. They're bumpkins from the Dulai Flame Spider Tribe.'"

"The Skull Ground Beetle Warrior asked, 'Are these two Little Flame Spiders eavesdropping?'"

Grass Dragon said regretfully, "Then Lupine and I were unceremoniously tossed out and missed the rest of the conversation."

Dragon Cypress: "…"

Dragon Cypress: "That's really important info! Such a shame…"

Grass Dragon: "All insects who know about what comes after King Level avoid talking about it. Since you can keep evolving past King Level, why hasn't anyone seen or even heard of something beyond that?"

Dragon Cypress: "My guess is they've gone to the Outworld. If the Natural God can shoot down the Outworld Civilization's Starships, surely they can send us to Outworld Civilization territory. The Outworld Civilizations fight and plunder each other—so could we, as the Insect Clan Civilization."

Grass Dragon: "That's what I suspect too… But we're just little bugs at the High-Level Stage—no need to think that far ahead. Dragon Cypress, what I wanted to tell you is, Elemental System Divine-Given Seeds are just as valuable."

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