Silver Cypress is helping to guard the Kiwifruit Mountain territory, and the two little guys, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, are in no hurry to go back.

Dragon Cypress keeps to the King Nest, lying on the Dominating Throne, eating Origin Force Food, focusing on recuperation.

Three days later, there are signs of evolution.

Two days after that, feeling groggy, Dragon Cypress assigns Giant Cypress to lead the Soldier Ants to guard outside the nest, times it carefully, and falls asleep at nightfall.

Awake.

The old shell is shed, the body swells, the new shell hardens, the body length settles just over 1.3 meters.

Feels similar to just taking a nap—somewhat hungry and a touch weak.

Dragon Cypress buries its head and spits out the fully matured Black Lotus Life Seed, draws a slit on the seed coat with the tip of a toe, activates the 'Boiling' ability to heat up the clean water prepared in the Bamboo Tube, and soaks the seed in warm water.

Then, picks up the Metal Case set aside, injects Origin Force to open it, pinches up a Water Stone Banyan Seed, and stores it in the Life Pouch.

The Life Seeds dealt with, Dragon Cypress waves its tentacle to summon the Specialized Blue Ants waiting in the cave corner, has them spit some Ant Honey into a Keg Vine Wood Plate, and eats several plates in a row—weakness vanished.

Spiritual power extends outward, bursting from the nest chamber, following the main tunnel of the Ant Nest, stretching deep into the mountain body.

"Close to 50 meters!"

"Is the soul-strengthening effect of the Six Paths Seed finally starting to show?"

Dragon Cypress secretly rejoices.

Last time, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid each ate exactly 500 pieces of the Divine-Given Ghost Fan bought from Ghost Fan.

Both Six Paths Wood Life Seeds produced by the seeds were eaten by Dragon Cypress.

At the High-Level Ant King stage of Age Period 2, Dragon Cypress mainly consumed Origin Force Food that strengthened spiritual power and soul.

Evolving to High-Level Ant King of Age Period 3, the strengthening effects become apparent, even better than expected, with a surge in spiritual power.

"Great King?"

Giant Cypress, who was guarding the cave entrance, pokes its head in and calls out.

"Giant Cypress, how many days did I sleep this time?"

"Three days, not quite four."

"Nice! Very nice!"

The short sleep time means the body is in good shape, with low post-evolution risk.

"Giant Cypress, all is well. Go inform Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and the others. Prepare a banquet to celebrate."

"Yes, Great King!"

Giant Cypress leads the Soldier Ants away.

Ink Orchid, stationed at the South Mountain Restaurant, sees the Soldier Ants stirring and immediately knows Dragon Cypress's evolution has succeeded.

Ink Orchid knew this evolution would go smoothly, with nothing to worry or rejoice about.

The two guys, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, are bored out of their minds—injecting Origin Force into the "Metal Case Tiles," opening and closing them one by one in all sorts of bizarre patterns.

Ink Orchid languidly reminds, "Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, Dragon Cypress is awake; if he sees you, he'll lecture you again."

"Ah—"

"Oh—"

"Has Dragon Cypress Ant King evolved successfully?"

"That's great! We were just worried."

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple are both a bit scared of the stone-hearted Dragon Cypress; upon hearing this, they hurriedly close up all the Metal Cases, turn around, lift their heads, and stare at the southeast map of the Cloud Trace Continent engraved on the restaurant's stone wall, affecting a look of deep contemplation and intense study.

Dragon Cypress strolls over, Dominating Throne shrunk to its smallest, floating above its head and following along as it flies.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple greet him primly.

"Dragon Cypress." Ink Orchid eagerly inquires, "How's the spiritual power enhancement?"

"Max range is around 50 meters," Dragon Cypress's tentacles sway as he calls, "Come on! Let's take a flight and test it out!"

After a big flight loop and some tests, speed has increased by a third.

Before evolution, it took three days to fly from Xianglan Mountain to Ghost Fan Mountain; now, it only takes two.

From Xianglan Mountain to Black Lotus Lake now only takes a day.

To the Jianlan Plain in the southwest—the farthest from Xianglan Mountain—it used to take over seven days; now, it's under five.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid also hunted several large wild boars and elk in the jungle, conducting a load-carrying test.

The load capacity has improved slightly, though not as dramatically as flight speed.

It seems the carrying capacity of the Dominating Throne is tied to Dragon Cypress's evolution stage, steadily increasing a bit with every age period.

Still, not bad at all.

Along the way, game is brought back to the mountain to enrich the banquet dishes.

"Banquet celebrations" have gradually become a collective activity that all ants on Xianglan Mountain love and look forward to.

At celebrations, Dragon Cypress will arrange for high-quality Origin Force Ant Honey to be given to the Command Ants, organize hunts for rich foods, and serve cooked meals to all the ants.

There are fixed times for celebration: the eve of spring plowing when Molan Flowers bloom, after the mountain is covered with blossoms and after roving merchant trade, after the early-summer trade finishes, after the early-autumn trade finishes, at the end of autumn when common Life Seeds are harvested, every time a Divine-Given Seed is successfully collected, and after winter fishing concludes.

There are also unscheduled celebrations: whenever the Great King or Second King successfully evolves, when a Divine-Given Seed is born, when a new Origin Force Point is explored, when treasure is discovered, rare plants, and so on.

Throughout the year, from start to finish, there is constant festive activity, greatly improving everyone's happiness and motivation at work.

...

The next day,

Dragon Cypress plants the soaked Black Lotus Life Seed in the northeast corner of the Azure Blue Reservoir, watches over it as it takes root and sprouts, leaves unfurling above the water.

Azure can command the Blue Soldiers and Worker Ants to help with management, so Dragon Cypress doesn't need to worry.

In the following days,

Spiked Cypress evolves to Age Period 1 High-Level, begins to receive quarterly wages, and can now have wealth of its own to spend freely.

Round Cypress and Giant Cypress both evolve to Age Period 9 Mid-Level, planning to advance to High-Level at the end of autumn or in early winter.

Fragrant Cypress and Cypress both reach Age Period 6 in evolution.

The season has reached late spring.

This year, there's another major event—the Divine-Given White Rice Tree is about to bloom.

Tests show that Origin Force Ant Honey sealed in Bee King Jelly stays unspoiled for two years—the exact shelf life remains unknown, as testing continues.

Two years is long enough and it's much more convenient and safe than saving in seed form.

Dragon Cypress classifies all Origin Force Food in the Ant Nest, processes everything into high-concentration Origin Force Ant Honey, and seals it in containers at 5,000 Source Stones per can as a standard.

Bee King Jelly is the core ingredient!

It must not be missed.

Ordinary Rice Trees bloom early summer, but the flowering of Divine-Given White Rice Tree comes earlier, at late spring.

Dragon Cypress checks the timing, packs up his things, and takes Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, riding the Dominating Throne, and sets out.

At their current speed, they reach Kiwifruit Mountain in under two days.

Silver Cypress is fully engaged directing the small and micro Soldier Ants in the nursery in front of the cave, searching and hunting pest insects.

"Silver Cypress!"

Dragon Cypress calls out.

"Great King—"

Silver Cypress lifts its head, tentacles swinging in response; when the Dominating Throne lands and parks, it watches as Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple flap their wings down from the top of the Stump Ant Nest and dash toward their Life Seeds, exclaiming with joy:

"Great King, can I go back to Xianglan Mountain now?"

"Don't want to go back?"

"I do! This place is too boring."

"Then I'm afraid you'll have to be bored here a while longer."

"Why?"

"Next up is the late spring to early summer roving merchant trade. Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple are both little mischiefs who want to come with me."

"Great King, I haven't even been alive for two months—I want to have fun too."

"Then when Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple return, you can stay and play with them."

"Oh—"

"No thanks."

Silver Cypress doesn't hide its feelings; upon hearing this, its tentacles droop, glaringly unwilling but helpless.

Dragon Cypress lands with a Metal Can, saying: "I had Fragrant Cypress blend a can of Origin Force Ant Honey for you. Ration it out—finish in thirty days."

"Okay—"

Silver Cypress feels even more miserable.

So the Great King means I'll have to spend at least thirty days alone here!

Dragon Cypress: "You can lead the Soldier Ants to hunt for food yourself, right?"

Silver Cypress: "No problem."

Dragon Cypress asks again: "Any questions about territory management?"

Silver Cypress: "Not at the moment."

Then there's no problem.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple go over all their Life Seed Plants and sow the newly matured Life Seeds.

They stay for a few days on Kiwifruit Mountain. Once the seeds sprout, make it through the seedling stage, and set up defenses, they follow Dragon Cypress and set out again.

The main point is to take them to see Gan—after all, it's Gan who's currently funding their progress and evolution. At the very least, they should let Gan see some results.

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