CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 049 (EXTRA UPDATE, PLEASE FOLLOW)

Dragon Cypress dug away a layer at the drainage outlet of the pond at the foot of the mountain, lowering the water level by about 20 centimeters, revealing the muddy bank.

Cheap narrow-leaf rice seeds were scattered at will.

The Great Jade Butterfly Lotus Seeds were worth a bit more; White Ivy was only willing to gift 10, so the seed coats were nicked, soaked, and thrown into the shallow areas by the bank once germinated.

Sowing rice and lotuses was simply to attract herbivorous insects, indirectly luring in frogs to keep Azure company—it didn’t need much serious care.

...

White Ivy, entrusted by Melde, brought ten seeds each of seven top-level plant species: Large Fruit Hemlock, Green Torreya, Great King Fir, Golden Pine, Black Emperor Peach, Dominant Chestnut, and Spotted Star Pear.

Dragon Cypress kept 2 Great King Fir seeds and 2 Dominant Chestnut seeds to serve as the Life Seeds for himself and Ink Orchid for the next and the following age periods.

He brought 1 Large Fruit Hemlock Seed and 1 Black Emperor Peach Seed as gifts for Ghost Fan.

The rest were all soaked and sown in the nursery.

These were all large arbors; without inherited Life Seeds, ordinary seedlings grew slowly. They would need focused cultivation for two to three years before transplanting and three to eight years to mature.

...

The Gigantification Soldier Ants began incubation right away as well.

There was nothing special—just required Dragon Cypress to frequently visit the hatchery in the ant nest to release pheromones to stimulate development.

...

Round Cypress’s team had already gathered and polished enough stones.

Dragon Cypress expanded the Dominating Throne to its maximum limit, making trip after trip to transport the stones back to the pool by the territory.

After one day of teaching, Round Cypress learned how to build the pool walls.

Then they split up.

Dragon Cypress led 20 mid-level specialized worker ants and 20 primary-level specialized worker ants to work in his own territory.

Round Cypress led 20 mid-level specialized worker ants and 20 primary-level specialized worker ants to work in Ink Orchid’s territory.

The rice at the foot of the mountain had sprouted, growing rapidly in spring temperatures.

The lotus seeds soaked in bamboo tubes deep in the ant nest germinated and were tossed separately into the pond’s shallow areas.

After half a month of busy work,

both mountain pools were completely walled, and steps were added for worker ants to fetch water with bamboo tubes.

The rice at the foot of the mountain grew more than ten centimeters tall; the lotuses had firmly rooted in the water and put out their first lotus leaves.

Dragon Cypress blocked the pond’s drainage, allowing the water level to rise by four or five centimeters.

...

The Gigantification Soldier Ant larvae developed noticeably faster than the Intelligent Worker Ants.

From freshly-hatched ant egg to a larva the size of one millimeter, it took only about ten days to grow to ten centimeters or so—a plump chubby big grub.

Dragon Cypress mixed and matched a variety of origin force foods, refined by Blue Ants and mixed with ant honey, then began to feed it origin force food to promote its evolution into a Gigantification Soldier Ant.

...

The origin force food purchased from a caravan—Dragon Cypress also ate some himself.

As the various matters of the territory were either finished or set in order, Dragon Cypress began to feel drowsy—evolution was approaching.

He informed Ink Orchid, then retreated into the ant nest to await peace of mind.

Within two days, the drowsiness grew overwhelming and irresistible—by twilight he had fallen into a deep sleep.

...

He woke up from stupor; due to awakening many memories, Dragon Cypress’s thoughts were muddled for a while.

Shed his old shell, unfolded membrane wings, his body swelled, and the new shell quickly hardened.

Mid-level Ant King in the second age period—his length had finally broken through 20 centimeters!

This time, the interval between evolutions was as long as nearly eight months; there was no obvious sense of weakness.

He extended his spiritual power with all his might.

The strengthening effect from the hundred ordinary Ghost Fan seeds consumed earlier now showed; as expected, his extreme sweep distance broke past ten meters.

A rough calculation—should be a leap from nine meters to nearly eleven meters, equivalent to the boost when advancing from primary to mid-level Ant King.

—How would a Divine-Given Seed–level Ghost Fan seed perform?

Dragon Cypress looked forward even more to the upcoming trade with Ghost Fan.

He spat out the matured Golden Pine Life Seed.

Shaking his tentacles, he called worker ants forward to carry it off for soaking and later planting.

Then he took a Giant King Fir pine nut into his life pouch as his Life Seed for the second age period.

Sorting the awakened memories, it was still plant and animal knowledge, as well as knowledge of commanding ant clan battles.

There was no new talent knowledge awakened for cultivating other types of soldier or worker ants—it looked like it was all complete, nothing further in the future.

Dragon Cypress jumped down from the Dominating Throne, controlled his followers, and slowly walked out.

Ink Orchid’s territory had long been finished with its chores; with nothing to do lately, she was waiting at the dining area at the entrance of the ant nest.

"Dragon Cypress, you’re awake!"

Ink Orchid greeted him, proactively reporting: "You only slept two days and one night this time."

Dragon Cypress: "It’s because the interval was long. Waking up from evolution felt easy this time."

Dragon Cypress asked, "Ink Orchid, want to eat something together?"

Ink Orchid: "Sure!"

Dragon Cypress shook his tentacles.

A specialized Blue Ant crawled into the dining room and spat some ant honey onto a wooden plate made from keg vine seed.

The ordinary worker ants carried the food in, lined up as they entered the dining room.

Ink Orchid asked, "Dragon Cypress, how much did your spiritual power increase? Is controlling the Dominating Throne for flight any faster now?"

Dragon Cypress picked up a headless cricket, dipped it in the plate, and slowly chewed and swallowed.

The Dominating Throne, shrunk to a four- or five-centimeter sphere, levitated and flew a lap around the dining hall.

"Spiritual power’s increased; controlling it is a bit easier, and speed’s slightly improved."

Ink Orchid immediately asked, "Dragon Cypress, does that mean we can set out now? We can’t possibly wait for Spiked Cypress to hatch, right?"

"Spiked Cypress still has a long way to go."

Dragon Cypress said, "Let’s eat, tidy up, and leave tomorrow morning. The Gigantification Soldier Ant larva needs constant pheromone stimulation for development, so I’ll bring it along."

It was morning at this point.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid spent most of the morning eating.

In the afternoon, they planted the Golden Pine Life Seed; in the coming days, Round Cypress’s main job would be to care for the new Life Seed.

They hunted to store up a batch of food in the ant nest.

Dispatched soldier ants to garrison various places to strengthen defenses.

Finally,

Dragon Cypress brought up a large bamboo tube from the foot of the mountain, placed the Gigantification Soldier Ant larva inside to prevent sunburn, then brought along two large worker ants as its dedicated caretakers.

Also brought one specialized Blue Ant to serve as mobile granary.

In addition, a small bamboo tube held 5 miniaturization worker ants and 3 small worker ants—on the road, the throne’s "Messenger" function could be used to produce ant eggs, ensuring uninterrupted ant kingdom development.

Both bamboo tubes were tied side by side on a flat stone to prevent them from rolling off.

With all preparations done,

the next morning the Dominating Throne was expanded to about two meters in diameter—fully loaded, they set out on their journey.

...

Last time, it took nine days to go straight from Ghost Fan Territory back to Xianglan Mountain.

This time, flying from Xianglan Mountain to Ghost Fan Territory took less than eight days.

With Dragon Cypress’s enhanced spiritual power, the Dominating Throne’s flight speed did indeed improve.

They arrived midafternoon.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid didn’t hide their origin force auras, heading straight for the clearing on the hillside.

Ghost Fan, busy in the forest, sensed them sharply and hurried back.

"Ant King Dragon Cypress, Ink Orchid, you finally arrived!"

Ghost Fan’s spiritual power was strong enough to send a greeting from afar.

Day after day of waiting—it was finally time.

Getting closer, she used her spiritual power to secretly scan the Dominating Throne and found it packed to the brim with origin force food.

She also spotted the worker ants and the plump larva on the throne.

"Dragon Cypress, the larva you’re carrying doesn’t look like a regular worker ant?"

Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne to float closer and answered, "It’s not a worker ant; it’s a Gigantification Soldier Ant capable of commanding the ant army in battle. During incubation, the Ant King needs to keep using pheromones to stimulate its differentiation, so I brought it with me."

"Ghost Fan!"

Ink Orchid greeted her, lifting a spider silk bag full of source stones. "Ghost Fan, we’ve brought the source stones you needed!"