Yellow Stem stood on the ridge, watching as the Dominating Throne turned into a blue dot and disappeared into the skyline, then turned and walked down the slope.

"Yellow Stem."

Quandong Divine Tree called out to stop him.

Yellow Stem turned his head and asked, "Quandong Divine Tree, what orders do you have?"

Quandong Divine Tree asked, "What do you think the Dragon Cypress Ant King made a detour to Huagi Mountain for?"

Yellow Stem: "To show off his Lord-level soul, of course. At the same time, to pitch the Divine-Grade Six Paths Fruit to me. Something worth twelve million Source Stones—not to mention how much profit he made from the back-and-forth trade—the hard labor of transporting Source Stones was saved first."

After Yellow Stem finished, he paused and pondered for two seconds, then said, "The Dominating Throne's flight speed has doubled! His control over the Purple Tung Insect Nation has significantly improved."

Quandong: "Anything else?"

"And..."

Yellow Stem fell into thought, not responding for a long time.

Quandong: "The Dominating Throne's flight speed doubled, and that's just the initial enhancement from the Divine-Grade Six Paths Fruit. After completing an Age Period Evolution, the speed will be even faster. What Dragon Cypress Ant King means to show is: he can manage both Xianglan Mountain and the Purple Tung Insect Nation."

Yellow Stem said, "The purpose of Dragon Cypress Ant King's visit is the Linnan Divine Tree!"

Quandong: "Exactly. He got the Divine-Grade Six Paths Fruit ahead of schedule, and the moment he did, he informed Huagi Mountain, showing his abilities and strength. Through trading with the Flame Spider Caravan, he can get all sorts of good things for Huagi Mountain."

Yellow Stem suddenly jumped up, anxiously said, "Crap! That Dragon Cypress guy is already rushing to arrange the allocation shares for the Divine-Grade Kunlan Seed! He's also using the sharing authority to preemptively extract benefits from the caravan!"

Quandong: "That's right. That's what I wanted to tell you."

Yellow Stem's thoughts turned a few more times before he calmed down again, saying, "I suspect there's some mischief from the caravan behind this. The caravan chases profit, and they've encouraged Dragon Cypress to persuade us at Huagi Mountain to awaken the Linnan Divine Tree sooner."

"Exactly!"

Quandong Divine Tree was very gratified.

This little guy, Yellow Stem, sometimes comes off a bit slow, but with just a bit of prompting, he picks it up right away.

Smarter than most Insect Clan Warriors.

A grasshopper that can be cultivated to lead tribe affairs.

Yellow Stem asked, "Quandong Divine Tree, should we inform Dragon Cypress Ant King of Huagi Mountain's intentions in advance?"

Quandong countered, "What do you think?"

Yellow Stem: "As it stands, Huagi Mountain is cooperating with Dragon Cypress Ant King, who in turn trades with the Flame Spider Roving Merchant, with all three parties each getting what they need and everyone benefiting. If there's some falling out or misunderstanding between Dragon Cypress Ant King and the Flame Spider, it's no good for Huagi Mountain."

Yellow Stem: "The existence of the Jinhe Divine-Given Seed should be disclosed as early as possible."

Quandong: "Your analysis is right, but, Yellow Stem, you still lack a bit of sharp insight. Just now, the high-spirited look on Dragon Cypress Ant King clearly showed he had already leveraged the Divine-Grade Kunlan Seed trading rights to get benefits from the Flame Spider Caravan. Getting the Divine-Grade Six Paths Fruit two years early is already one such benefit—something worth twelve million Source Stones! The interest alone would be much more! There must be more benefits, either already gotten or agreed upon."

Yellow Stem: "Er—"

Yellow Stem was left speechless, unable to reply.

Dragon Cypress is moving too fast, isn't he? The previous agreement was to talk again after reaching Lord-level, there was no rush for another ten or twenty years...

Yellow Stem: "Then..."

Yellow Stem: "Then all the more reason to tell Dragon Cypress Ant King sooner, to avoid the caravan promising Divine-Grade Kunlan Seeds to other places, to avoid one link after the next, creating even deeper misunderstandings and trouble..."

"No!"

Quandong Divine Tree mused, then said, "From Dragon Cypress Ant King's account, the Purple Tung Insect Nation is large enough, and he has the ability to handle everything... Let's watch for two years first!"

…

…

…

The distance from Huagi Mountain to the Purple Tung Insect Nation wasn't far. At the Dominating Throne's current speed, it took just under half a day.

"Ghost Fan. White Rice. Spruce. Snakebark Maple."

"Thank you all for your efforts."

The Dominating Throne landed. Dragon Cypress greeted them with thanks and looked toward the round hillock.

This trip away had lasted only thirteen days, but the White Poplar Divine Seed had already grown about half a meter taller, delivering a confused and fearful mental power.

Spruce: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the White Poplar Divine Seed has developed soul consciousness. Cypress has been communicating, said it's very timid..."

Snakebark Maple added, "Did it retain inherited memory? Does it remember we killed it? And killed its ants? Is that why it's especially scared?"

Dragon Cypress: "The One-Glimpse Fruit erases memory, but under the Heaven Returning Glimpse ability, the soul is only reverted to its primitive form and doesn't disappear. After rebirth, it still retains some instincts."

While explaining, Dragon Cypress divided his attention to communicate with the White Poplar Divine Seed, trying to call out: "White Poplar?"

The White Poplar Divine Seed sent back a mixture of confusion, fear, and warning emotions.

Dragon Cypress: "Don't be afraid, I am the Insect Clan Warrior who will protect you. My name is Dragon Cypress Ant King."

Dragon Cypress: "Your name is White Poplar."

Dragon Cypress lightly touched his tentacles as introduction: "This is the Beautiful Ji Bee Warrior, Red Moonseed; this is the Primordial Spider Warrior, Areca..."

The White Poplar Divine Seed sent over a string of confused, unclear mental power.

Dragon Cypress thought a moment, then piloted the Dominating Throne to drift back, landing at a further distance.

Red Moonseed and Areca landed, greeting each other.

Dragon Cypress said, "The iron sand is here. Areca, evolve into a High-Level Warrior first, then, Ghost Fan, White Rice, you two work together to make the metal can."

"Understood!"

Ghost Fan and White Rice agreed.

Before Dragon Cypress could ask, Snakebark Maple spoke up: "From the Barley Bug Tribe, Mountain Lords Mountain Thorn, Magnolia Bark, and Fuzzy Flower came to ask about the roving merchant trade. I told them to come again when the Purple Tung Divine-Given Seed blooms."

Ordinary tung trees only flower in early summer.

The Divine-Given Seed's blooming advances, possibly at the end of spring.

Snakebark Maple knows trading—the timing he arranged is clever and just right.

"Good!"

Dragon Cypress approvingly tapped his tentacles.

Spruce said, "The Barley Bug Warrior called 'Wuye' also came, looking for Dragon Cypress Ant King, saying you promised to use the Dominating Throne to help it undergo Age Period Evolution."

Dragon Cypress: "Yes."

Dragon Cypress: "I'll arrange that. Time is tight, let's get moving."

Dragon Cypress: "Red Moonseed, stay in the Purple Tung Insect Nation for a while and have some fun."

Dragon Cypress laid down the plank, waved his tentacles, and gave the orders.

The Blue Ants, their abdomens full of Origin Force Food, filed down the plank. Black Leaf led them into the royal palace, with Red Moonseed and Areca following for a rest as well.

After unloading the iron sand transported on the Throne, Ghost Fan started making the metal can's exterior shell...

...

After a brief conversation and simple arrangements, Dragon Cypress walked up the round hillock alone, coming to rest beneath the White Poplar Divine Seed tree, and tried to communicate again.

"White Poplar?"

White Poplar seemed to understand, recognizing its bond with Dragon Cypress, though still somewhat timid, sending over a jumbled, confused pulse of mental power.

"I'm Dragon Cypress. My name is Dragon Cypress."

Once again, Dragon Cypress introduced himself.

What came back was still vague, unclear mental power, thick with fear.

Dragon Cypress thought a bit, returned to the King Nest, and picked out from the treasury a jar of Origin Force Ant Honey bought last year from a High-Level Barley Bug Warrior—comprehensively enhanced by the Life System.

At the pond, he manipulated the water to form a water sphere one meter in diameter, pouring in the whole jar of ant honey worth two thousand Source Stones to fully dissolve it.

Guiding the water sphere as it floated over, he brought it to the White Poplar Divine Seed's tree.

Floating above the White Poplar Divine Seed's top, he scattered the water, letting it fall as a gentle drizzle.

Origin Force Food nourishes Origin Force Plants most quickly and effectively.

But because it's so extravagant and costly, except for the occasional emergency, no insect would use it this way.

After tasting the sweetness, the White Poplar Divine Seed's fear gradually began to dissipate.

"White Poplar?"

Dragon Cypress tried calling out.

"Dragon Cypress—"

The White Poplar Divine Seed answered timidly.

Good!

So it's just pure soul instinct that's afraid of me?

Good,

As long as it's not dumb!

Dragon Cypress finally let out a long sigh of relief.