CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 067 SPIKED CYPRESS’S SUGGESTION

Xianglan Mountain.

Late Winter Season, when Mountain North Molan had just sent up its flower sword.

After being fiercely scolded last time, this time Spiked Cypress didn’t dare leave his post, and idly guarded the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed.

The Dominating Throne approached from afar.

Spiked Cypress stood up.

Dozens of Soldier Ants nearby, of all sizes, also stood up in unison.

"Fragant Orchid!"

"Spiked Cypress."

Molan flew back first and, regardless of whether the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed cared to listen or not, began to enthusiastically recount the experiences of this northbound journey.

The Dominating Throne landed.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, how come you all are back so soon?" Spiked Cypress asked.

"We came back early because there were major gains."

Dragon Cypress would never say he was almost frozen to death in the icy snow. With a flick of his tentacle, he praised:

"Spiked Cypress, you’ve done very well. In the future, when Molan and I are away, you must focus on guarding Molan’s territory. Herbaceous plants are fragile—not only must you protect the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed, but you must also safeguard the other Orchid Grass Life Seeds."

"Understood."

Spiked Cypress inquired, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, what about the Deep Blue God-Given Seed in the South Mountain?"

Dragon Cypress said, "Just make regular patrols over there. When the fruiting season comes, I’ll arrange for Blue Soldiers to guard under the tree."

"Oh——" Spiked Cypress hesitated and said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, I have a suggestion, but I don’t know if I should say it."

You know how to make suggestions now?

Dragon Cypress: "Say it!"

Spiked Cypress: "We could dig a tunnel running through the mountain range from south to north. Starting from the South Mountain Ant Nest, all the way to..."

Spiked Cypress lifted his foreleg and pointed in the direction of Molan’s cave, saying, "All the way over there. Normally, some Soldier Ants can be stationed along the tunnel, to help with relaying messages. This way, if anything emergency happens in either South or North Mountain, I can get the news quickly, and lead Soldier Ants in time to provide support."

Spiked Cypress: "One more thing, when our kingdom grows stronger, and the size and number of Worker Ants and Soldier Ants increase, the Ant Nest will also need to expand deeper into the mountains."

The analysis was quite sound!

But this guy Spiked Cypress, though he’s got a big head, it’s mostly muscle—how could he come up with something so far-sighted...

Dragon Cypress: "Did you come up with this yourself?"

Spiked Cypress stammered, "Round Cypress and I thought of it together. In addition, Round Cypress said, just send 3 Mid-Level Specialized Worker Ants and 15 Primary-Level Specialized Worker Ants, working in three shifts, digging and transporting continuously day and night, and within a year at most, the tunnel could be finished."

Spiked Cypress: "Round Cypress also said that we need Molan’s permission before we start digging..."

Dragon Cypress knew it was Round Cypress.

Round Cypress is an Intelligent Worker Ant, naturally much smarter than Gigantification Soldier Ants.

"Alright! Got it. Things will be busy for a while, but once that’s over, I’ll arrange for a team of Worker Ants to start digging."

"You keep guarding Molan’s territory. I’m going to find Round Cypress."

Dragon Cypress gave the order, then controlled the Dominating Throne to cross the mountains and land at the mouth of the Ant Nest.

Round Cypress led a large group of Worker Ants out of the nest to greet them, and came to help unload supplies, but found that Dragon Cypress hadn’t brought much back from this trip.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, why did you come back early?"

"These are Silver Cypress Tree Seeds, an extremely precious tree species. Take them and store them well in the Ant Nest."

The Dominating Throne shrank down, and Dragon Cypress tossed a Spider Silk Bag onto the ground.

Round Cypress was a little puzzled.

Dragon Cypress explained, "The Silver Cypress is likely a mutated variety of the Large Fruit Round Cypress; its enhancement effect is size optimization—extremely rare and practical."

Dragon Cypress instructed, "Round Cypress, come down the mountain with me. Let’s stroll by the pond at the foot of the mountain and survey the terrain and geology. We’ll plan out the land for cultivation; come spring, there’ll be lots to do."

...

The pond where the Deep Blue God-Given Seed took root was in a low valley between the mountains.

About four or five hundred meters away was a hill about 100 meters high and about a kilometer long, most of its slopes fairly gentle.

Silver Cypresses don’t seem to like growing on high mountains.

Dragon Cypress decided to clear this small hill first for planting Silver Cypresses.

It’s unclear whether Silver Cypress can adapt to the southern climate.

Dragon Cypress and Molan also surveyed in the north, planning to open up a garden on a small hill in the Mountain North to plant a batch of Silver Cypress trees.

Both South and North Mountain are being developed in parallel, to observe and compare—wherever growth is better, that’s where we’ll clear more land and plant in large numbers in the future.

So-called ’land reclamation’ means clearing away the original plants, leveling and tidying the uneven slopes into orderly flat plots, and digging ditches.

Clearing arbors is the most troublesome part: first cut off their branches and leaves, then gnaw through the trunk to bring it down, and finally dig into the ground to clear the roots below.

After the orchard is opened, a pond will also need to be dug higher up on the mountain to prevent droughts.

The overall workload is enormous—a year may not be enough to finish.

There aren’t enough Worker Ants to do the job.

Next, Dragon Cypress needs to massively breed Worker Ants, planning to increase the number of Specialized Worker Ants to 200.

Considering that he and Molan will have to travel far for trade and exploration, with a surge in Specialized Worker Ants, he’ll also need to increase the number of Specialized Blue Ants that store food.

Currently, the Dominating Throne’s output of Ant Eggs is at an average of one per day.

According to the cycle, when Dragon Cypress evolves into a Mid-Level Ant King at Age Period 4, the maximum output for Ant Eggs per cycle can increase to five.

Time for another evolution.

Dragon Cypress felt that the Enhanced Membrane Wing effect from the Southern Sour Jujube God-Given Seed was pretty good; he mixed and munched on Ghost Fan, Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, Southern Sour Jujube Fruit Pulp brewed into Ant King Honey, together with this year’s Xianglan Seeds produced in the Molan Territory.

Unbeknownst to him, the various gains of Dragon Cypress and Molan had already been completely pooled together.

This year’s Xianglan Seed yield still totaled 308 seeds.

Two hundred sold to the caravan.

Fifty left for Ghost Fan.

Fifty for Dragon Cypress and Molan to split and eat.

The remaining eight used as samples—later to take to White Rice Mountain, to show Red Fox, White Rice, and Black Rice, to prove their capabilities.

...

After a light rain, there were three days in a row of dazzling sunshine, and the temperature warmed up again.

Molan Flowers blossomed.

The mountain, from top to bottom, buzzed with activity.

Dragon Cypress and Round Cypress, each led their ant colonies, and opened two nurseries each in South and North Mountain, promptly sowing Silver Cypress Seeds.

On the mountain, Life Seed Plants needed the soil loosened and fertilized.

The Great King Fir Life Seed, produced from the breeding of a Mid-Level Ant King at Age Period 2, needed meticulous care after sowing.

The Marsh Gas Pool was emptied, and all the marsh slag had to be transported to the pond at the foot of the mountain, to give the Deep Blue God-Given Seed a fertilizer boost.

Last year’s harvested rice was sown in a ring around the pond’s edge.

The eight Black Emperor Peach saplings and six Spotted Star Pear seedlings that sprouted from seed the year before had all grown to over a meter tall, and could be transplanted elsewhere.

Last year, the various ordinary orchid grass seedlings planted by Molan in the nursery had grown up; this year, they too could be transplanted to new locations.

Molan was determined to breed top-level Orchid Seed, so there were plenty of tasks. She also needed to cull the weak seedlings planted in past years, and replace them with new transplants. With spring flowers blooming, there would be cross-pollination, and she’d try the ’hybrid breeding’ method Dragon Cypress had talked about.

Dragon Cypress personally led Worker Ants of every size to help Molan. He didn’t really know much about it and, from start to finish, wasn’t optimistic about the prospects for Orchid Grass, so he just muddled through. As long as Molan was happy.

When the Molan Flowers planted near the Ant Nest bloomed, the Cypress Life Seeds followed by sending up their flower spikes.

This year, they’d again have to thin the flowers appropriately.

Dragon Cypress, Round Cypress, Spiked Cypress, and Giant Cypress each kept 80 flowers to produce 80 fruit balls, yielding about 400 to 500 Cypress Seeds.

Cypress and Dried Fragrant Cypress both sent up flower spikes.

Cypress kept 40 flowers.

Dried Fragrant Cypress kept none, forgoing fruit this year to focus on growing well for another year.

After all the urgent matters were dealt with, the Deep Spring Season of blooming flowers arrived.

The caravan from the Ten Thousand Nations Continent was due to arrive.

Dragon Cypress calculated the time, packed up simply, and set off with Molan.