Xianglan Mountain.

Midsummer, dry season.

With water supplies from the Shandong and Shanxi Reservoirs, the Azure Blue Reservoir was completely unaffected by the drought. The aquatic plants thrived, and the place was lush with greenery.

In the shallow waters, flocks of egrets searched for food at their leisure. They weren't afraid even when the Dominating Throne approached; some, driven by curiosity, even circled the Throne to investigate.

Dragon Cypress was not so polite to them. With a thought, Water Spheres, each ten centimeters in diameter, leaped from the surface below, PELTING them down with a SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH.

"Dragon Cypress—"

Azure, seeing the water birds she had raised being bullied, was immediately displeased.

"They are welcoming you back."

"They are pecking at my little worker ants."

Dragon Cypress countered, controlling the Throne to move closer. Hovering above the water, he looked up to inspect the Azure Fruits. They were still half-grown green fruits, developing steadily, and would only mature by next autumn.

He glanced at the five Azure Tree saplings by the lakeside, all nearing a meter in height now.

On his way back, he had passed by the five planted at Black Lotus Lake, which were just over 0.5 meters tall.

The seeds were from the same batch and sown around the same time in different places, yet the difference in their growth was becoming increasingly apparent.

The Dominating Throne glided across the water's surface, moving toward the hill on the west side of the reservoir.

"Dragon Cypress, what's wrong?" Azure asked with confusion.

"Nothing. Just looking."

Dragon Cypress controlled the Throne to float up to a Silver Cypress Tree beneath the orchard on the mountainside and casually asked, "Azure, your spiritual power reaches about here, right?"

"A little bit further ahead," Azure answered seriously.

A little bit further was a ridge, and beyond that was another tier of orchard, where Silver Cypress Trees were also planted.

One tier above the other, a mere ten meters apart, the nursery-grown seedlings, after years of growth, showed an unmistakable contrast.

In the lower orchard, covered by the Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Water System Primordial Energy Field, the Silver Cypress Trees all reached about seven or eight meters in height.

In the upper orchard, not covered by the Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Water System Primordial Energy Field, the Silver Cypress Trees were roughly five or six meters in height.

A direct comparison revealed a clear difference, though not as exaggerated as with the Azure Trees.

Dragon Cypress then controlled the Dominating Throne to float to the northeast corner of the reservoir.

The Black Lotus Life Seeds sown in spring had grown into lush, thriving clumps but had missed the blooming season, being slightly late.

In the northwest corner were Ink Orchid's Black Lotus Life Seeds, sown in early spring last year. After over a year of development, they had sprung up into a large patch, producing eleven blossoms and eleven Lotus Pods this year.

The Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Primordial Energy Force Field also promoted better development of Life Seed plants.

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to drift along the lakeside, scanning with his spiritual power to check on the lakeside plants such as rice, Gorgon Fruit, Black Lotus, Great Jade Butterfly Lotus, Iris, Water Shield, Floating Hearts, and Foxtail Algae, among others.

All of these were also planted along the Black Lotus Lake Shore.

In comparison, those grown here were far sturdier, though the degree of difference in their vigor varied.

Compatibility, Dragon Cypress mused.

The Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Water System Primordial Energy Field aids the growth and development of plants and animals, but to different extents for different species.

The Azure Tree benefited the most.

For other plants and animals, the range of benefit varied.

Dragon Cypress speculated that there was an issue of 'compatibility.'

"Azure, I'll catch a couple of frogs to cook and eat," Dragon Cypress tentatively asked.

"No!" Azure reacted strongly, her attitude resolute.

"Then how about I make a soup from a couple of big Green Fish?" Dragon Cypress changed his inquiry.

"Not... it's not that we can't negotiate…" Azure hesitated, reluctant to part with them.

A simple test, and through Azure's emotional reaction, it was quite clear that she cared especially about the frogs, but not quite so much about the Green Fish.

Azure: "Dragon Cypress, there's a large group of Snakehead Fish in the southwest corner; catch a few to eat. Snakehead Fish taste better than Green Fish, really."

Dragon Cypress: "..."

The frogs living by the reservoir were just the common Black-Spotted Frogs found in nature, which were also present near Black Lotus Lake.

Overall, the Black-Spotted Frogs living in the Azure Blue Reservoir were one size larger than those from Black Lotus Lake.

Black Lotus Lake also had Green Fish and Snakehead Fish.

Overall, the Green Fish from the Azure Blue Reservoir seemed to be slightly more robust than those from Black Lotus Lake.

The Snakehead Fish in the Azure Blue Reservoir were almost the same as those in Black Lotus Lake.

The compatibility of the frogs was higher than that of the Green Fish.

The compatibility of the Green Fish was higher than that of the Snakehead Fish.

Combining this with Azure's attitude towards these three animals, it was easy to conclude that the higher the compatibility, the more Azure liked them.

Dragon Cypress continued to test, "Azure, I'll arrange for Cypress to come over later and catch all the Snakehead Fish."

"No!" Azure reacted even more vehemently.

Dragon Cypress: "Why?"

Azure: "Balance!"

Azure: "I'll have the Blue Soldiers help you catch two of them. Dragon Cypress, don't cause trouble."

Afraid that Dragon Cypress would indeed cause trouble, Azure changed her mind, "I'll have them catch three big ones for you."

Dragon Cypress: "…Okay."

After some observation, comparison, and simple probing, Dragon Cypress had figured out some of the basic rules of how Azure protected and managed 'Civilization'.

「...」

"Dragon Cypress!"

Ink Orchid came galloping.

It had finally emerged from the shadow of Red Fox's death, circled the Throne once, landed on top of the Stump Ant Nest, and tapped the broken horn door panel used for insulation with its forelegs, asking:

"Have you tried it? Can Black Lotus Seeds increase the probability of Specialized Worker Ants like Black Cory being born?"

"I'm trying."

Dragon Cypress sighed. "So far, no effect has been observed."

Dragon Cypress continued, "A special Specialized Worker Ant like Black Cory needs to emerge first. Only then can the Black Lotus Seeds exert their unique enhancing effects."

"Uh—"

Ink Orchid, made a bit dizzy by the explanation, changed the subject. "How much land has been reclaimed on Southern Sour Jujube Mountain?"

Dragon Cypress replied, "Half a mountainside."

Ink Orchid: "…"

Ink Orchid exclaimed, "That's really slow! It seems I'll have to get involved personally."

It was obvious that Ink Orchid found staying on Xianglan Mountain quite boring.

"'We'll rest for a day and set off the day after tomorrow,' Dragon Cypress decided. He then activated his Water Control Ability, collected the three Snakehead Fish caught by the Blue Soldiers, and controlled the Dominating Throne to ascend, flying towards the Mountain Ant Nest.

From the mountains, Silver Cypress, who was leading Soldier Ants on patrol, ran to catch up.

"Great King! You're back!"

Without waiting for Dragon Cypress's response, Silver Cypress immediately followed up with a cheer, "A feast to celebrate? I'll go inform Spiked Cypress!"

Silver Cypress was a bit gluttonous and also loved excitement.

Dragon Cypress replied, annoyed, "There's nothing special that happened. What's there to celebrate?"

After thinking for a moment, Silver Cypress said, "Thanks to the relentless efforts of Round Cypress and Fragrant Cypress, the reclamation work on Xianglan Mountain is all done! We're just waiting for next year to transplant the saplings. Then, all the fertile land on Xianglan Mountain will be filled with the plants required by the Great King and the Second King's will."

"'That's indeed worth celebrating—'" Dragon Cypress waved his Tentacle. "'Go ahead.'"

「...」

After more than ten years, the development of Xianglan Mountain was finally completed according to plan.

They celebrated with a banquet and rested for a day.

Dragon Cypress, carrying Ink Orchid, Round Cypress, Silver Cypress, as well as a large group of Blue Ants and Worker Ants, headed to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

On the way, he dropped off Black Cory back at Black Lotus Lake.

This involved commuting back and forth, continually transporting Worker Ants to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain. For at least the next three years, Round Cypress would lead a large number of Worker Ants to be stationed in this area for ongoing reclamation.

Dragon Cypress and Black Cory took turns coming over to help.

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.