CHAPTER 313: CHAPTER 309: THE SPIDER KING DOES NOT QUARREL WITH THE YOUNGER GENERATION FOR PROFIT

Zeqi Caravan slowly entered the trading plaza.

White Ivy closely followed Spider King Spurge’s steps, chose a spot, spat out her Life Seed, and let it take root in the ground.

She untied the spider silk ropes that fastened the goods to her carapace—carefully first spreading out a Spider Silk Scroll on the earthen ground, and only then, in an orderly manner, unloaded one bag after another of Origin Force Food from her carapace.

Golden Silk Mountain Lord from the same caravan quickly settled her Life Seed and walked over.

"White Ivy Mountain Lord."

"Little Red Peach."

Golden Silk Mountain Lord greeted her, not bothering with more words, and took off one big bag of Source Stones from her own carapace, then proceeded to unload five large bags of Origin Force Food.

Red Peach stepped up to open each Spider Silk Bag for inspection.

White Ivy, meanwhile, picked up a stone slab covered with various patterns and marking symbols, checked it, and reported the count:

"Golden Silk Mountain Lord, transporting 1000 Source Stones; three big bags of High-Level Origin Force Food, 18,000 Source Stones worth; two big bags of Mountain Lord Level Origin Force Food, also 18,000 Source Stones."

Red Peach quickly finished counting. "No problem."

White Ivy: "Transport fee—3000 Source Stones. Grand total: 40,000 Source Stones."

White Ivy took out a large spider silk bag, retrieving three metal cylinders, and pulled out three thick piles of Spider King Silk Scrolls.

"Golden Silk Mountain Lord, which denominations do you want?"

Golden Silk Mountain Lord: "Two 10,000-denomination scrolls, and twenty 1,000-denomination scrolls."

White Ivy counted out 22 Spider King Silk Scrolls as requested and handed them over.

Transaction completed.

Mountain Lord Digou from the same caravan came up right after, unloading goods one bag at a time...

...

Business was booming for White Ivy—among the Zeqi, Aconite, and Atractylodes Caravans, she’d mobilized over thirty Flame Spider Roving Merchants to help transport goods.

Two years ago, it was still White Ivy personally seeking out those Flame Spiders who helped with transportation to collect her goods.

These past couple of years, the tables had turned—the Flame Spider Roving Merchants now came to White Ivy themselves for settlement.

There was a simple reason: White Ivy was famously generous, paid well—and paid per bag, 500 Source Stones per bag. Even Source Stone cash—one big bag with 1,000 stones in it—here would turn into 1,500 Source Stones.

Many spiders with carapaces had idle space and spare energy, so they could easily haul a few extra bags and make a quick profit.

More and more spiders wanted to take the job—competition heated up, and as a result, the balance of status subtly shifted.

White Ivy stacked hundreds of thousands worth of Spider King Silk Scrolls before her, reporting the tallies with her forelegs clutching the stone slab, feeling totally in her element.

Off to the side,

Spider King Spurge watched coldly.

With a deal worth just a few hundred thousand, this silly spider could act like she was doing business in the billions.

Suddenly, Spider King Spurge sensed something, retracted the cold stare, stood up, and turned around.

Melde and Grass Dragon from the caravan had just planned to leave, but were stopped by Aconite Spider King, who led them over, with Seven-Leaf and Natsumi tagging along.

"Aconite Spider King, what now?"

Spider King Spurge asked.

"Nothing major. Just a little something—thought we’d all share the news."

Aconite Spider King hurried closer, eyes fixed on the busy White Ivy.

White Ivy suddenly felt a chill all over, her hairs standing on end. She quickly wrapped up the transaction and waved a claw to signal the waiting Mountain Lords nearby to wait a bit.

Aconite Spider King lightly tapped the ground with a foreleg, Primordial Energy Power spreading out through the earth, forming a hemispherical barrier that also enclosed White Ivy and Red Peach within.

"A little something?"

Spider King Spurge asked again.

Aconite Spider King: "Something huge."

Aconite Spider King: "Natsumi, you explain."

Natsumi: "Sure!"

Natsumi: "Dragon Cypress Ant King has successfully evolved to Evolution Mountain Lord Level. It’s planning this year to reassign all Divine-Given Seed trading rights and quotas—including the newly harvested Red Cypress Divine-Given Seed..."

Natsumi didn’t feel intimidated at all. She even played coy, sneaking looks at everyone’s faces to see their reactions.

"Just get to the point." Aconite Spider King was the first to lose patience.

"Oh—"

Natsumi rattled out, "The point is, Dragon Cypress Ant King has obtained an Outworld Civilization Artifact of Divine Object Level called the ’Dominating Throne’..."

...

Natsumi: "As for Huagi Mountain, they only accept trades in Source Stones or Divine-Grade Fruit that extends their tribe’s heritage. Not just any Divine-Grade Fruit, mainly Life-Extending Divine Good—unless something else is exceptionally good, otherwise, they don’t take it."

Natsumi: "Being able to use Source Stones to buy a Divine-Grade Fruit with soul ability attribute—of course, that’s an amazing opportunity! The problem is, three Soul-Setting Fruits for fifteen million—that sum is enormous. This is the Ten Thousand Nations Continent, so shipping it is a huge ordeal..."

Natsumi pretty much repeated Dragon Cypress’s words word for word to the group, detailing the three Divine God-Given Seeds, and the allocation and trading plans.

White Ivy kept exclaiming in surprise.

The other spiders were serious, silent, lost in thought.

Spider King Spurge sighed and mused: "How many years has it been? That rootless Little Ant King of back then now has ambitions to attack a Lord-Level Termite Kingdom and steal their Divine God-Given Seed."

Aconite Spider King: "Spurge, what do you think are the odds of success?"

Spider King Spurge: "Not enough concrete info to say. Still, Dragon Cypress always showed a mind far keener than ordinary insects since it was tiny. It definitely won’t risk its life lightly."

Aconite Spider King: "I actually think there’s a ninety percent chance it’ll work. As for distributing that White Poplar Divine Seed, Spurge, you have no objections, do you?"

Spider King Spurge: "Seems like a fair distribution."

Aconite Spider King paused, then said: "Second Divine-Grade—the Night Fragrance God-Given Seed. The Night Fragrance Fruit it produces—Spurge, any interest?"

Spider King Spurge: "None."

Aconite Spider King: "Seven-Leaf, White Ivy, Melde—you three youngsters, if any of you want the Divine-Grade Night Fragrance Fruit, go negotiate with Dragon Cypress Ant King yourselves. Spurge and I, we old-timers won’t compete with you juniors."

Seven-Leaf: "...Alright."

That comment left Seven-Leaf speechless.

Melde: "Grass Dragon! Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and thank the generous Aconite Spider King!"

Grass Dragon: "Aconite Spider King, thank you so much!"

White Ivy, indignant, sternly demanded: "Seven-Leaf, Melde, Grass Dragon—you three, what’s with those manners? Aconite Spider King is that senior, yet you heap sarcasm on it? Is Aconite Spider King not worthy of respect?"

White Ivy: "No one wants it, right? Then I’ll just take them all myself!"

"..."

The spiders were speechless.

Aconite Spider King: "Enough squabbling, kids, back to business! Third Divine-Grade—Soul-Setting Fruit from the Quandong Divine Tree is a perfect match for the Divine-Grade Six Paths Fruit from Six Peaks Mountain. I can get the first batch of three, but after that it’ll have to be Source Stone trades only. Just me, I don’t have the energy."

Spider King Spurge: "Even you and I together can’t pull it off."

Aconite Spider King: "We’ll have to find another Spider King who has solid ties with a kingdom that produces Source Stones."

Spider King Spurge: "Tiankui, Purple Jade, Brookside—pick one of those three."

Aconite Spider King: "Purple Jade."

Spider King Spurge: "I can talk cooperation with Bee King Lotus for an airdrop via the bee swarm."

Aconite Spider King: "We’ll have to notify all the Bee and Ant Clan Kingdoms along the route—let Purple Jade handle that, but you and I will still have to pay something for the favor."

Spider King Spurge: "That’s acceptable."

Aconite Spider King: "So, one Soul-Setting Fruit each, for the three of us?"

Spider King Spurge: "Of course."

Aconite Spider King: "That settles it. Which of us will talk to Purple Jade?"

Spider King Spurge: "Plenty of time—no rush, let’s discuss it then."

Spider King Spurge asked: "There are also quite a few regular Divine-Given Seeds. Natsumi, did Dragon Cypress Ant King mention allocation?"

Natsumi: "No. The idea is, Dragon Cypress Ant King will provide a rough plan and leave the final details to Seven-Leaf, Melde, and White Ivy to negotiate and decide."

Natsumi: "Areca should be here soon, right? Let’s all head up the mountain together."