On the same fruit, the Divine-Given Seed's seed seized all the nutrients, causing the other seeds to wither away. Lacking the corresponding pheromone stimulation, the fruit pulp didn't develop either, so the kiwifruit nurturing the Divine-Given Seed turned out a bit deformed.

On the same kiwifruit tree, there were other flowers that successfully pollinated and bore fruit, competing with the mother plant for nutrients, so the deformed fruit carrying the Divine-Given Seed had poor growth and its ripening was greatly delayed.

After Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple discovered this, they immediately picked off the other fruits, cut away unnecessary secondary and tertiary vines, cleared the weeds, and irrigated with extra fertilizer.

After more than ten days, the state of the fruit improved somewhat.

But they'd discovered it too late; it probably wasn't enough.

Ink Orchid stayed behind, together with Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, keeping watch beneath the Green-Red Kiwifruit Tree.

Dragon Cypress rode the Dominating Throne, traveled day and night, returned to Xianglan Mountain, retrieved 100 Source Stones, and hurriedly rushed over.

Not being stingy at all, it used 30 stones in one go.

Every other day, they used a Source Stone, for three times in a row, and the kiwifruit carrying the Divine-Given Seed recovered, its fruit swelled and developed.

After waiting another eight days, the green fruit began to take on a faint yellow hue and softened naturally.

The mother plant stopped transporting nutrients, and the fruiting branch began to show signs of withering.

...

"It's fully ripe. You can pick it now."

Dragon Cypress thoroughly examined it with spiritual power and came to a conclusion.

"Let me!"

Ink Orchid was about to move its claw but was held back by Dragon Cypress.

Blue Catalpa took a look, cheered, and moved forward to pick the fruit. Using the tips of its toes, it carefully split open the skin, sliced the fruit, held its breath, and extracted a seed the size of a mung bean, brownish-black with green veins.

Snakebark Maple took a metal case from the Spider Silk Bag and activated it by injecting Origin Force.

Blue Catalpa placed the seed into the case.

Snakebark Maple continued to inject Origin Force, and the silvery-white metal flowed together like liquid, fixing the seed in place. It then released vibrant green Wood Primordial Energy, wrapping and protecting the seed, and the lid of the case folded in layers, sealing it tight.

Phew~

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

Dragon Cypress waved its tentacle suggestively.

Snakebark Maple handed the metal case to Dragon Cypress.

"Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, who discovered this Divine-Given Seed?"

Ink Orchid asked.

"Me!"

"Me!"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple both raised their claws, frantically waggling their tentacles: Me! Me! Me…

"I saw it first."

"You almost picked it off! I was the one who discovered it was absorbing Origin Force."

"I noticed it too."

"No you didn't!"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple started bickering.

"Enough!"

Ink Orchid put a stop to it and looked over at Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress was getting a headache too.

They'd discovered it together while gathering kiwifruit here.

No way to say whose it should be.

Even if they split the profit, there's only one seed, so they still had to decide who would nurture it into a Life Seed.

Neither was willing to back down.

"How about I do it? All the Divine-Given Fruits produced will be yours; I won't take a single one." Dragon Cypress suggested tentatively.

"No way!"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple said in unison: You're trying to trick us out of our Divine-Given Seed?

Blue Catalpa reached out its claw to grab the metal case.

Snakebark Maple hurried to snatch it too.

"Dragon Cypress!"

"Blue Catalpa! Snakebark Maple!"

Ink Orchid rebuked, snapping, "Dragon Cypress, don't joke around, be serious!"

Dragon Cypress batted away both Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, one claw each, then pulled another metal case from the Spider Silk Bag. Inside was the Six Paths Wood Seed gifted by Seven-Leaf during the spring exchange.

Dragon Cypress kept injecting Origin Force, closing the metal case, then held one in each claw, turning them over for inspection.

"Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, these two metal cases are exactly the same, right?"

"Right—"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple replied.

Dragon Cypress stored them in the Spider Silk Bag, leapt high into the air, and shook them vigorously, shuffling the two metal cases completely.

Upon landing, it opened them up.

"Now you can't tell which case holds the Divine-Given Seed and which has the Six Paths Wood Seed, right?"

"Right—"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple responded.

Dragon Cypress: "Pick."

Dragon Cypress: "Whoever picks the right one gets to nurture it. The profit will be split equally."

"Alright—"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple replied.

"I'll take this one." Blue Catalpa quickly picked up a metal case.

"I'll take this one." Snakebark Maple grabbed the other.

They injected Origin Force to open them.

Wow~ Wow~ Oh~ Snakebark Maple cheered, "It's mine!"

"That was just a test, it doesn't count, let's do it again..."

Blue Catalpa tried to cheat, but Dragon Cypress pinned it down with one claw.

"Wait a second—"

Ink Orchid's eyes were glued to the Divine-Given Seed inside Snakebark Maple's metal case. "Did you guys forget? Kiwifruit Trees have male and female plants..."

All at once,

everyone's eyes focused on the Divine-Given Green-Red Kiwifruit Seed inside the metal case.

All kiwifruit, the male and female seeds are said to look pretty different.

This seed, why does it look like a male plant seed…

Looking closer— it definitely is!

The lively and joyful atmosphere instantly vanished. Silence for a long while.

Blue Catalpa: "Can a Divine-Given Seed from a male plant even bear fruit?"

Snakebark Maple: "My inherited memory didn't make that clear..."

Ink Orchid: "I guess not, right? Just like a male Ant King can't lay ant eggs."

All eyes turned to Dragon Cypress again.

Dragon Cypress: "…No."

Dragon Cypress: "Normally, Origin Force Plants can flower and bear fruit without being pollinated. This includes female kiwifruit trees. But male kiwifruit trees have a flower structure that just can't develop fruit at all, so…"

Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, and Ink Orchid were dumbstruck, devastated and hopeless.

Especially Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple— after a month of hard work, hoping and excitement, and in the end…

Ink Orchid, unwilling to accept it, said, "If a male plant can't bear fruit, does that mean this Divine-Given Seed is completely useless?"

"How could that be…" Dragon Cypress said, then purposely paused.

In their despair, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple immediately looked up.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, do you have a way?"

"Or maybe there's another explanation?"

Dragon Cypress: "There is—"

Dragon Cypress: "Just like the male Ant King, the male Divine-Given Seed is a rare treasure. And also like the male Ant King, the male Divine-Given Seed has an innate, remarkable ability."

"What ability?"

Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, and Ink Orchid asked in unison.

Ink Orchid, annoyed: "Can't you say it faster? Are you doing this on purpose?"

Dragon Cypress: "Alright—"

Dragon Cypress: "Male Divine-Given Seeds are truly exceedingly rare."

Dragon Cypress: "I only happened to hear about it, treated it as an interesting story at the time, so I'm not sure if it's true or not. Fair warning— if it turns out wrong, Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, don't blame me."

Just say the main point! Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple anxiously waved their tentacles.

After a long-winded preamble, Dragon Cypress slowly explained, "The Divine-Given male plant flowers and can pollinate fellow Origin Force Plants. Once these plants receive this pollen, the quality of their fruits skyrockets."

Seeing them still confused,

Dragon Cypress explained in more detail: "Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, as you continue to evolve and grow, you can choose as many Green-Red Kiwifruit as possible for your Life Seeds. As luck would have it, your mountain is large and long enough: plant common Green-Red Kiwifruit Life Seeds on both sides of the ridge, and plant this male Divine-Given Green-Red Kiwifruit Life Seed on the mountaintop. After it gains awareness, let its main vine crawl along the ridge, so it can pollinate the common Green-Red Kiwifruit Life Seeds on both sides."

"It's best to bring in a few nests of acid bees or honeybees to help with pollination."

"The fruits produced by those common Life Seed plants, after receiving the right Divine-Given pollen, will have their quality and value soar."

"Managing all this is quite a hassle. Common Life Seed plants will struggle to support such high-quality fruit, so throughout the fruiting period, you'll need to regularly use Source Stones to replenish their Origin Force."

Dragon Cypress: "That's all I know— it's just hearsay, I've never seen it myself. As for more details, I'm not sure."

Dragon Cypress: "If what I heard is accurate and there aren't any other limitations, then actually, the profit from a single male Divine-Given Seed is far higher than that of a normal Divine-Given Seed."

Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, and Ink Orchid all stood there stunned and bewildered, unmoving.

Dragon Cypress: "To put it even more simply, Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, let's say you nurture and sow 20 Green-Red Kiwifruit Life Seeds— annual income would be about 5,000 Source Stones. But with pollination from one male Divine-Given Green-Red Kiwifruit, the income might double to 10,000 Source Stones, or even triple to 15,000. It could be even more."

Ink Orchid: "!!!"

Blue Catalpa: "Wow!"

Snakebark Maple: "Whoa!"

—Dragon Cypress Ant King is too amazing!

—We're rich!

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple cheered wildly in joy.

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.