Dragon Cypress continued testing the two Mountain Lord Level Specialized Blue Soldiers.

He taught them to identify types of orchard plants, to irrigate and fertilize them.

They could learn, but didn't understand how to be flexible or adaptable.

For example, if Dragon Cypress gave the order for them to water the Silver Cypress Trees in the orchard at the foot of the mountain, even without a Command Ant accompanying them, they would understand on their own to go down the mountain to irrigate.

But if he gave them such an illogical order on a rainy day, they would still carry it out just the same.

Similarly, if there was a drought and certain plots needed watering, if no order was given, they wouldn't take the initiative to water on their own.

They could execute some simple tasks, but were unable to make independent decisions in certain matters.

For the more complex work in the orchard, command was still necessary.

Dragon Cypress tried teaching the two Specialized Blue Soldiers the written symbols,

Their learning ability was even stronger than High-Level Specialized Ants,

They could quickly memorize all the symbols representing actual objects, and could understand some characters with abstract meanings.

Dragon Cypress carved a sentence with symbols: [Irrigate the North Mountain Black Emperor Peach Orchard tomorrow morning]

They could understand the meaning of the sentence, and execute it the next morning.

Dragon Cypress went further in his testing,

Taught them how to leave the nest at scheduled times, to patrol a designated area, without Ant King or Command Ant leading them. They could do this, and do it very well.

He pushed the tests further,

Dragon Cypress opened up a cave inside the ant nest, for Specialized Blue Soldiers to reside in. At the cave entrance, he wrote:

[Patrol the North Mountain Black Emperor Peach Orchard in the morning, then patrol the Sky-Blue Persimmon Orchard]

[In the afternoon, patrol the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed Territory, then patrol Northern Gorgon Water Reservoir]

[In the evening, patrol the Shandong Reservoir, then patrol the Cuihua Hanlan Divine-Given Seed Territory]

Dragon Cypress ordered them to carry out their duties every day according to what was written at the cave entrance.

The two Specialized Blue Ants understood Dragon Cypress's meaning, and each day they left the nest for patrols on time as per the instructions in the symbols.

Dragon Cypress then assigned the two Mountain Lord Level large Blue Soldiers to their nest, so they could form a squad and act together.

The two Specialized Blue Soldiers led the two large Blue Soldiers every day, leaving the nest at scheduled times according to the instructions written at the cave entrance, to patrol as ordered.

Dragon Cypress was pleasantly surprised to discover that, for Mountain Lord Level Specialized Ants, characters could serve as a long-term, effective command signal—he could assign a group of ants to leave the nest at certain times every day to accomplish a set of relatively simple tasks.

This finding opened up huge possibilities for operational maneuvering.

Mountain Lord Level Specialized Ants could accomplish many tasks without the presence of Command Ants.

He waited for more ants to undergo Feather Transformation before conducting further tests.

...

Time: End of autumn and start of winter.

Dragon Cypress first traveled to Scarletlight Mountain, dropped Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple back at Kiwifruit Mountain, and picked Ink Orchid and Black Leaf up to return to Xianglan Mountain.

Straight after,

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid packed their bags and headed north.

As per usual, they stopped at Xiaoyang Mountain, loaded up 20 bags of Divine-Given Remains, and continued north along the Giant Mountain Range into Huagi Mountain.

Spruce was harvesting grass seeds on the mountain slope.

Yellow Stem was lounging on the summit of Huagi Mountain, admiring the scenery.

The Dominating Throne descended straight toward the ridge near the Quandong Divine Tree.

"Quandong Divine Tree."

Ink Orchid landed first, calling out a greeting.

"Ink Orchid."

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, congratulations on advancing to Mountain Lord Level."

Quandong Divine Tree responded, offering congratulations.

Yellow Stem and Spruce flapped their wings and hurried over at once.

From afar, at the sight of Dragon Cypress's corpulent body—barely fitting on his throne—it was clear he'd successfully survived the most lethal stage in the Insect Clan Warrior's evolution process.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King! You succeeded!"

"Dragon Cypress Ant King! Congratulations, congrats."

Yellow Stem and Spruce were even happier than Dragon Cypress, celebrating joyfully.

"Likewise. Likewise. Yellow Stem, Spruce, you two can achieve the same!" Dragon Cypress replied.

Yellow Stem looked at Ink Orchid and then asked in surprise, "Ink Orchid, have you also reached 8th Age Period High-Level Warrior?"

Ink Orchid: "Yes. I plan to evolve to 9th Age Period in the coming winter, and advance to Mountain Lord Level the spring after next."

Yellow Stem: "So… what about the other Insect Clan Warriors on Cloud Trace Continent?"

Dragon Cypress knew Yellow Stem was asking about the advancement of those who fought in the assault on the White Poplar Ant Kingdom, and explained in detail:

"Mountain Persimmon and White Rice have already reached 8th Age Period High-Level Warrior; there's no rush for them — evolving to Mountain Lord Level within three to five years is fine. Next is Mulberry, currently 6th Age Period High-Level Warrior. Then comes White Willow and Black Rice, who have just become 4th Age Period High-Level Warriors. After that are Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, whose progress is a bit behind and who are in urgent need of various advancement-aiding Divine-Given Origin Force Foods centered around Divine-Given Sky-Blue Persimmon Seed."

Dragon Cypress: "I think, after next spring's trade, the Flame Spider Caravan will be happy to supply us."

Yellow Stem was delighted, "Of course!"

Quandong Divine Tree asked, "Dragon Cypress, what about the Divine-Grade Radiant Fruit from Ten-thousand Tribes Continent? Did you get it? Did you use it?"

Ink Orchid answered quickly, "We got the first Radiant Fruit, spent 3.6 million Source Stones—on credit. After Dragon Cypress finished eating it, he used it on the Red Cypress Divine-Given Seed… That 'Heaven Returning Glimpse' ability really is fiendish: it forces the Divine-Given Seed back to seed form, while also erasing soul consciousness and memory."

Quandong Divine Tree: "Oh——"

Quandong Divine Tree blandly echoed, "So powerful——"

A forbidden divine grade item targeting Divine-Given Seeds—any Divine-Given Seed would find it discomforting to hear.

Yellow Stem asked again, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, did you awaken a Strength System ability?"

"I awakened one. I'm calling it 'Rend.'"

Dragon Cypress lifted a claw and waved it seemingly casually. A slash of sharp Primordial Energy flashed, splitting a nearby boulder the size of a head in two.

Quandong, Yellow Stem, and Spruce all sincerely praised this.

Dragon Cypress knew they cared most about whether his strength had increased as expected after advancing to Mountain Lord Level, so he said proactively:

"Currently, the Dominating Throne's maximum carrying capacity is 35,000 Source Stones. In the 1st and 2nd Age Period Mountain Lord Level, I'll focus all my efforts on boosting strength, aiming to haul even more per trip."

"My plan is to advance to 3rd Age Period Mountain Lord Level within five years. That's when I'll start the runs."

"Also, the Dominating Throne's flight speed has improved greatly—right now, it takes about seven days to make a round-trip between Huagi Mountain and Second Source Stone Mine."

"I just ate one thousand Mountain Lord Level Divine-Given Ghost Fans, and plan to continue consuming large amounts of Sixfold Seeds. The goal is to reduce the round-trip time between Huagi Mountain, Desolation Plains, and Second Source Stone Mine to five days once I reach 3rd Age Period Mountain Lord Level."

"???"

Quandong, Yellow Stem, Spruce, and Ink Orchid all sent telepathic inquiries: Why go to the Desolation Plains?

Dragon Cypress explained, "I plan to stockpile as much force on the Desolation Plains as possible—primarily Specialized Blue Soldiers, assisted by Specialized Soldier Ants and Small Soldier Ants. Initial plan for participating Ant Army: over 5,000, departing from the Desolation Plains to launch a blitz on the Termite Kingdom."

"After evolving to Mountain Lord Level, the Dominating Throne's size adjustment ability hasn't changed; maximum diameter is just over four meters. Yet, Mountain Lord Level Specialized Soldier Ants exceed two meters in length, so a single trip can only transport five or six of them. If I had to rear them at the Xianglan Mountain Ant Nest and then transport to the Desolation Plains, it would take even longer than moving ten million Source Stones to Huagi Mountain."

Dragon Cypress: "So, I'll simply build a sub-nest on the Desolation Plains and raise the ants locally. The Dominating Throne produces a batch of ant eggs every five days, so each round-trip takes five days. I'll haul Source Stones to Huagi Mountain while also managing the nest and raising soldier ants."

——Oh!

——I see!

——Understood.

——Comprehensive planning.

Yellow Stem, Spruce, and Ink Orchid all moved their antennae in agreement.

Quandong asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, how will the ant army cross the Origin Force Vacuum Land during the march? With Source Stones? Or Origin Force Food?"

Dragon Cypress: "It's roughly 300 kilometers in a straight line from the Desolation Plains to the Purple Tung Insect Nation. There's a mountain range in the way, and it's best to skirt the cliffs—actual distance may reach 400 kilometers."

"Set up supply points every three kilometers, pre-stocking Source Stones and low-concentration Origin Force Ant Honey. Every time the Ant Army reaches a supply point, they take a sip of ant honey and eat a piece of Source Stone to replenish Origin Force, and continue on their way."

"For 5,000 Combat Soldier Ants, that's an estimated consumption of 650,000 Source Stones and Origin Force Food worth 1.5 million Source Stones. For justice, I'll spare no expense."

Quandong: "…That's quite economical."

Yellow Stem: "…Worth it."

Ink Orchid and Spruce were left speechless.

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