CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 394: GUIDANCE OF THE HUAGI DIVINE TREE

...

Purple Tung Insect Nation.

After being away for only thirteen days, the Linnan Divine Tree’s height broke through a hundred meters, its momentum of growth undiminished.

The Huagi Divine Tree was even taller, having exceeded two hundred meters, visible from several kilometers away with just a glance.

Yellow Stem lay sprawled on a high-rising buttress root under the tree, listening to the Divine Tree’s teachings.

"Huagi Divine Tree!"

"Yellow Stem."

The Dominating Throne descended straight down to the base of the tree, parking right beside Yellow Stem. Red Moonseed greeted them and stepped lightly to the ground.

"Red Moonseed."

"Dragon Cypress Ant King."

Yellow Stem stood up to respond, lifting its body and peering up at the throne.

Dragon Cypress: "These are ordinary ant honey, just exchanged from the caravan, used for trading with the Barley Bug warriors."

Yellow Stem: "Oh—"

Yellow Stem raised its claw to point, hopefully asking, "Seeds?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes. The caravan helped collect them—a variety of plant seeds suited for northern cultivation."

Yellow Stem: "Any top-level plant seeds?"

Dragon Cypress: "...No."

Dragon Cypress: "The vast majority of Insect Clan are extremely strict in managing top-level plant seeds; they’re not so easy to obtain. What was sent this time are all ordinary seeds. Nurture them yourselves. If I’m ever lucky enough to cultivate a quality seed in the future, I’ll set it aside for your Huagi Mountain."

Yellow Stem: "Thank you—"

The Huagi Divine Tree asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, how did your negotiations with the Flame Spider Caravan go?"

Dragon Cypress: "They agreed to add two more caravans. As for the details, they’ll reply to me next year."

Dragon Cypress: "I made a slight adjustment to the portion allocations for the Divine-Grade Kunlun Seed and Jinhe Fruit."

Dragon Cypress paused, then said, "Good news! The Luoli Caravan I’m trading with has a chance to exchange from Yuezuo Mountain, within the Sun Burying Bettle Tribe, for a life-extending Divine-Grade Fruit called ’Moon Peach Fruit.’ A single one can extend life by a hundred years."

On hearing this, Yellow Stem’s six legs stiffened, tentacles stood straight, its entire body springing upright, excitedly shouting, "Really?!"

Dragon Cypress: "The caravan wouldn’t lie to me. The Green Torreya Kingdom, where Yuezuo Mountain belongs, is a great nation formed by many Burying Bettle Tribes. They possess more than a dozen top-level plant seeds, but due to internal strife, management is not especially strict. The Luoli Caravan mainly operates there. When I was little, I even followed along. Most of the top-level plant seeds I possess now were obtained by the help of the Luoli Caravan, who sourced them from the Burying Bettle Tribes."

Dragon Cypress: "That spider, Melde, is meticulous and steady in character and can be trusted. So, I’ve allocated a Jinhe Fruit to it. I trust that it has the ability to trade for the Moon Peach Fruit."

Dragon Cypress glanced at the excited Yellow Stem, whose tentacles were waving wildly and six legs trembling, and added, "The Moon Peach Fruit’s blossom-fruit cycle lasts nineteen years. In the short term, we might not get one; it could take many years. Yellow Stem, be patient, and wait for my White Poplar Fruit instead."

Yellow Stem: "..."

Yellow Stem’s tentacles drooped for a moment, then rose up again, rejuvenated, "If we can maintain a stable exchange for Moon Peach Fruits, Huagi Mountain gets an extra hundred years of resource collection!"

Dragon Cypress gently tapped its tentacles. "That’s what I was thinking, too."

Often, Yellow Stem’s mind spun quickly, and it was always focused on Huagi Mountain’s welfare.

The Huagi Divine Tree was rather satisfied with Yellow Stem.

Though, satisfaction was hardly optional—Yellow Stem was still the only Shield Grasshopper Warrior currently at Huagi Mountain.

The Huagi Divine Tree asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, since that Flame Spider named Melde is reliable and close to you, and the Moon Peach Fruit is so vital, why not arrange for it to have a Divine-Grade Kunlun Seed?"

Dragon Cypress: "There’s no allocation left..."

Dragon Cypress: "I did manage to squeeze out an allocation for one Kunlun Seed, but I’ve given it to White Ivy, who comes from the same line as Melde..."

Carefully picking its words, Dragon Cypress said simply, "That spider White Ivy used to be in the same caravan as Melde. I’ve known it for a long time... but it’s extremely unreliable. Yet, after later cooperating to sell Origin Force Honey, I gradually discovered... there are redeeming qualities to this spider too!"

Dragon Cypress: "White Ivy can also bring in Divine-Grade Moon Peach Fruit, and can deliver other Divine Grades I need."

Yellow Stem waited a few seconds, seeing that Dragon Cypress had nothing more to add, and the Huagi Divine Tree said nothing, so it pressed, "Which Divine Grades?"

Dragon Cypress: "Lightwing Seed."

Yellow Stem: "You told me about that."

Somewhat unwillingly, Dragon Cypress said, "A Divine-Grade Fruit called ’Spotted Thicket Fruit,’ which grants Waterwood dual-system hallucination ability, pairs perfectly with the Night Fragrance Fruit yielded from the Night Fragrance God-Given Seed."

Dragon Cypress: "Spotted Thicket Fruit and Night Fragrance Fruit form a set. Yellow Stem, Shield Grasshopper Warriors have Water system potential, and the Kunlun Seed grants Wood Element Talent. If you’re interested, you can take a set; I’ll give you a good deal. I’ll sell Night Fragrance Fruit to you for a super low price of one million Source Stones per fruit."

Yellow Stem: "!!!"

Yellow Stem jumped with excitement.

Spotted Thicket Fruit paired with Night Fragrance Fruit made a set, and adding a Kunlun Seed that grants Wood Element Talent, the sales territory expanded greatly.

The previously worthless Night Fragrance God-Given Seed of Cloud Trace Continent had finally become valuable.

Now, it was Dragon Cypress in control of the Night Fragrance Fruit.

Dragon Cypress could make a fortune through that Flame Spider Roving Merchant named White Ivy!

It was practically a windfall of high income!

Yellow Stem was speechless for a long while.

Red Moonseed, listening to this conversation, was downright envious too.

—In the world of Natural True Gods, no life is absolutely worthless.

After a period of silence, the Huagi Divine Tree skipped the topic and continued to ask, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent is rich. Surely there are other life-extending Divine Grades?"

Dragon Cypress: "There definitely are! But I don’t know where. In the future, when the time is right, I’ll have the Flame Spider Caravan ask around more."

Dragon Cypress: "Huagi Divine Tree, you should know that any tribe with real scale would never put life-extending Divine Grades up for sale. At best, they’d secretly contact one or two trusted caravans, quietly exchanging for other Divine Grades they needed. Those caravans will never disclose their sources, and will only trade with reputable Great Tribes."

Huagi Divine Tree: "No need to trace the source. Trading with caravans holding life-extending Divine Grades will do. We can accept some loss in the exchange."

Dragon Cypress: "Understood."

"Mmm—"

The Huagi Divine Tree pondered for a while, then changed the subject, "Have you explored the Cloud Trace Continent in detail?"

Dragon Cypress: "There are still twenty-four Great Tribe ruins left unexcavated. I estimate, chances of finding Source Stones are nearly nil, and odds of other treasures are low too, but there’s more than enough Divine-Given Remains to go around."

Huagi Divine Tree: "That’s not what I meant..."

Huagi Divine Tree: "To the west, the Wan Country Continent is at its peak Origin Force Era, with Starship Passages connecting it, and roving merchants traveling back and forth. To the east, the Dragon Bamboo Continent is in the Origin Force Silent Period... Have you not found a Starship Passage?"

Dragon Cypress: "I’ll search carefully when I have time."

Huagi Divine Tree: "What about the north? Is the Far North Land still blocked by a circle of Divine Force Barriers?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes. Ink Orchid and I explored north years ago."

Huagi Divine Tree: "And to the south, the seas?"

Dragon Cypress: "Explored as well. Next door, the continent adjoining the southern hemisphere and Cloud Trace Continent is in the Origin Force Era."

"Origin Force Continent?!"

The Huagi Divine Tree seemed intrigued, asking, "And you didn’t find any Starship Wreckage leading there?"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress said, "All there is, as far as the eye can see, is deep blue seawater. If there was a Starship Wreckage, it surely sank to the sea bottom. We lack the ability to dive deep underwater, and aren’t sure what dangers dwell in the deep sea, so we haven’t searched."

Huagi Divine Tree: "It’s worth looking."

Dragon Cypress: "Once Ink Orchid and I evolve further and our abilities improve, we’ll take another look."

Huagi Divine Tree, meaningfully, "To survive in this world, to live better, first you must become familiar with and understand this world."

Dragon Cypress: "I think so too."

Huagi Divine Tree: "From my observations, those Barley Bug Warriors are very satisfied with their current state and harbor no hostility. Dragon Cypress Ant King, there’s a difference between lacking hostility and not daring to act rashly—do you understand?"

Dragon Cypress: "I understand."

Huagi Divine Tree: "What’s your general work plan for this year?"

Dragon Cypress: "I’ll go dig through the remaining twenty-four Great Tribe ruins..."

Dragon Cypress hurriedly added, "If there’s time, I’ll sweep through the southern seas, flying along the Divine Force Barrier, searching the perimeter."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Mmm—"

Huagi Divine Tree: "Surely there are still remnant Source Stone Mine veins along the southeast coast. Do you plan to survey and mine them?"

Dragon Cypress: "Of course! As soon as I have time, I’ll go."

"Excellent—"

Huagi Divine Tree: "Since you plan to dig up ruins first, I’ll tell you something useful. That standing cabinet used to store Origin Force Food beneath Huagi Mountain—there were originally ten of them found in the Starship Wreckage. The ancestors of the Shield Grasshopper Tribe were first to discover the removal method and hauled six back to Huagi Mountain. But when they returned again, the final four had already vanished. Later investigation revealed they’d been taken by the Golden Turtle Clan of White Star Flower."

Huagi Divine Tree: "Outworld Civilization’s metal creations never decay or deteriorate with time—the items will definitely still be on Great Elm Mountain. First, check the ruins to confirm. You may not be able to move them for now, but in the future, if possible, bring them out. Huagi Mountain will purchase them for a premium—four million Source Stones."

Dragon Cypress: "???"

Dragon Cypress: "Four million? A premium?"

The Huagi Divine Tree calmly said, "Great Elm Mountain sits at the center of Cloud Trace Continent, in the eastern area—specifically, from the Huagi Knowledge Hall’s map in the direction of Wood Knock Mountain, about eighteen degrees southeast for one hundred and fifty kilometers, atop a small mountain range in the forested plain. To the south of the mountain there’s a perfectly round lake excavated by insects. It probably hasn’t disappeared due to geological change, so it should be easy to find. The insect nest entrance is on the southeast side of the highest peak, under a steep cliff..."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

Dragon Cypress wanted to curse out the tree.

The map at Huagi Knowledge Hall for Huagi Mountain isn’t complete!

Tribes with unmovable treasures weren’t marked.

The Huagi Divine Tree remembered them—it was definitely planning to direct Shield Grasshopper Warriors to excavate them after Origin Force recovery.

This old tree...

(Absolutely incredible~)

Dragon Cypress turned things over in its mind for a moment, then helplessly said, "Fine! I’ll dig it out!"

Dragon Cypress asked, "Will Yellow Stem stay in the Purple Tung Insect Nation to study with you?"

Huagi Divine Tree: "One year."

Dragon Cypress: "Alright. That means Spruce will guard Huagi Mountain, and Yellow Stem will stay at the Purple Tung Insect Nation. I’ll arrange for Ink Orchid, Ghost Fan, White Willow, and Snakebark Maple to stay for the year at Purple Tung Insect Nation. White Rice and I will do the digging."

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to take off, calling for Red Moonseed to join, and headed straight for the White Poplar Divine Seed.