CHAPTER 74: CHAPTER 074 BLACK LOTUS

"The Natural God guided me to wander between various Origin Force Points, trading Origin Force Food, and helping those stranded Insect Clan Warriors on isolated islands..." Dragon Cypress was still using the old spiel.

The Natural God was indeed effective; even Beast Clan Warriors like the Red Fox dared not question it.

White Willow, an orthodox Insect Clan Warrior... It was naturally cautious, tilting its head with an ’I don’t believe you unless you show me evidence’ look, yet too timid to speak out and refute.

Ink Orchid suddenly took off.

White Willow slightly fluttered its wings, ascending instantly, and dashed away in the blink of an eye.

Ink Orchid could only watch, speechless.

Ink Orchid picked a leaf and placed it in front of the Specialized Blue Ants.

Dragon Cypress shook its Tentacles.

A Specialized Blue Ant spat out a bit of Ant King Honey.

Ink Orchid, holding the leaf, landed, placed it under the willow tree, and flew back to the Throne.

White Willow circled high in the sky. Seeing that Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid made no further moves, it slowly landed and began inspecting the leaf closely.

Is this Origin Force Food? Such strong Origin Force Food! Could it be... White Willow was puzzled and startled.

Dragon Cypress said, "This is Ant King Honey, freshly brewed from the fruit pulp of the White Rice Divine-Given Seed, gathered by the Worker Ants under my command. Give it a try."

Ink Orchid said, "Dragon Cypress is a Giant-Headed Ant, and its ability to brew Ant Honey was also bestowed by the Natural God."

It really is a Divine-Given Seed! White Willow picked up the leaf, licked it, and swallowed it whole along with the leaf.

White Willow wiped its mouth, lifted its head, and said, "Even if you are Roving Merchants, I don’t have any Origin Force Food to trade with you."

Dragon Cypress said, "It’s a gift for you."

Ink Orchid asked, "Is your first Life Seed a White Willow?"

White Willow replied, "Yes."

Ink Orchid asked, "And the second and third are Sweetflag? The fourth is Barnyard Grass?"

White Willow replied, "Yes. I plan to plant more Arbor Life Seeds, but I find that arbors grow too slowly. Without Origin Force Food, I can’t grow or evolve."

Ink Orchid asked, "How old are you?"

White Willow pondered for a moment, unsure. "Five years old?"

The same age as Dragon Cypress? But far worse off. At least Dragon Cypress had made it to the fourth Age Period in the Caravan, even attaining the Dominating Throne, and later met Ink Orchid, who had a Divine-Given Seed... White Willow, from the moment of its Awakening, had been surviving independently, and its first Life Seed was mistakenly chosen to be an Arbor. Lacking Origin Force Food, despite being five years old, it was only a seventh Age Period Primary-Level Warrior. It was about to enter its aging period, facing the danger of premature death.

Dragon Cypress asked, "White Willow, did you plant this Lotus Life Seed during your sixth Age Period?"

White Willow replied, "Yes."

Dragon Cypress asked, "Do you know which type it is?"

White Willow replied, "I don’t recognize it."

You don’t recognize it, yet you dared to choose it?

Dragon Cypress asked again, "When did you plant it?"

White Willow replied, "I just planted it this spring. It’s very vigorous, growing exceptionally fast, and bloomed three flowers in its first year."

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid fell silent.

In the natural world, there is only one kind of lotus, but it has many variants, with only seven original variants recorded in Inherited Memory. Many variants are not recorded in Inherited Memory. For example, the famous Youlian from the neighboring Ten Thousand Nations Continent, or the Great Jade Butterfly Lotus planted in the pond that housed the Deep Blue God-Given Seed.

As it was midsummer and the flowers were in bloom, this lotus variant in the lake had distinctive features. The petals were rounded, and their tips were bright red. The color faded downwards, gradually transitioning to pink, then white. Near the stem, the petals became a pale, light red-gold. The pistils were also golden red. The blossom was stunning and exuded nobility, looking very unusual.

But this was White Willow’s first year planting it, and it certainly didn’t know the type of enhancement effects its Lotus Seeds would provide.

Ink Orchid moved closer to Dragon Cypress, restraining its Mental Power, and said, "Dragon Cypress, why don’t we give it some Origin Force Food? Later, when it grows into a High-Level Warrior, we can earn it back from it."

"Alright..." Dragon Cypress agreed without a second thought.

The trading is done; only White Rice Seeds and Ghost Fan seeds are left.

With a HISS, Ink Orchid opened a Spider Silk Bag and counted out 300 regular Ghost Fan seeds.

With another HISS, Ink Orchid opened the Spider Silk Bag containing White Rice Seeds and counted out 100 of them, storing them in a small Spider Silk Bag.

Ink Orchid shook the bag and said, "White Willow, here’s some Origin Force Food for you."

Dragon Cypress kindly advised, "Consume three to five Ghost Fan seeds each day. White Rice Seeds are a product of a Divine-Given Seed, so don’t eat too many—one per day is sufficient. These will be enough for your Age Period Evolution."

"Oh..." White Willow buried its head, appearing somewhat uncomfortable and shy.

Ink Orchid jumped down from the Throne, placed the Spider Silk Bag in front of it, and said, "I’m also giving you this Spider Silk Bag. It’s woven by Dulai Flame Spiders, specifically for preserving Origin Force Food."

White Willow instinctively stepped back, then cautiously moved forward. It picked up the bag, opened it, looked inside, and closed it. It looked happy, disbelieving, bashful, and tongue-tied, at a loss for words.

Ink Orchid asked, "White Willow, don’t you have a cave to shelter from the rain?"

White Willow lifted its short front legs, pointed towards a distant peak, and said, "There’s a cave over there where I store my Origin Force Food after gathering it. During the day, I stand on the mountaintop, and at night, I guard my Territory."

"Oh—" Ink Orchid asked, "White Willow, Lotus Seeds mature in autumn, right?"

White Willow replied, "Yes."

Ink Orchid said, "When the time comes, don’t eat them all. Leave one for me and Dragon Cypress; we need to confirm the enhancement effect type of this mutated lotus."

White Willow replied, "Understood."

Dragon Cypress suggested, "The Maple Poplar Trees over there are quite good. You could consider nurturing one or two as Arbor Life Seeds. This lake is very large and suitable for sowing lotuses; you might also consider selecting one or two Lotus Seeds to cultivate as Life Seeds."

White Willow said, "I was thinking the same..."

Dragon Cypress then asked, "It seems there was heavy rain here this year?"

White Willow replied, "A heavy downpour just occurred a few days ago. The lake overflowed, submerging my lotuses, but the water level quickly receded."

There was heavy rain here too... Dragon Cypress fell into thought.

This place is only a three-day journey from Xianglan Mountain, not very far. Since there was a storm here, there’s a high probability that Xianglan Mountain also experienced rain. But it could also be a drought.

Concerned about their Territory, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid bid farewell to White Willow after a brief chat and hurried away.

A single trip out, and it had easily been over a month. Traveling through wind and rain, hurrying under the scorching sun, it wasn’t easy to earn a few Source Stones.

As soon as the Dominating Throne flew out of the lake Territory, Ink Orchid began to worry. It fiddled with the Spider Silk Bag, checked their goods, and started calculating accounts with Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress’s trade with Ghost Fan had involved exchanging all 287 Ghost Fan seeds produced by the Ghost Fan Tree Divine-Given Seed. They had started with 90 of these Divine-Given Ghost Fan seeds, selling 72 to White Rice. This left them with 305 of these seeds, valued at 7,625 Source Stones.

Only 500 regular Ghost Fan seeds remained, valued at 500 Source Stones.

Many White Rice Seeds had been consumed along the way, leaving 1,300 seeds valued at 3,380 Source Stones.

The Ant King Honey refined from White Rice Fruit had also been partly consumed, with only about 1,000 Source Stones’ worth remaining.

Finally, Dragon Cypress announced, "Currently, the total value of our goods is 12,405 Source Stones."

"Regarding those 100 Southern Sour Jujube Seeds, before we departed, the total value of our goods was 8,514 Source Stones."

"This trip as Roving Merchants earned us a profit of 3,891 Source Stones."

"Wow! That much?" Ink Orchid exclaimed, cheering. "Dragon Cypress, how come it’s so much?"

Dragon Cypress said indifferently, "Divine-Given Seeds yield high profits. Why do you think Melde is so wealthy? It’s because it holds the stable trading rights for over a dozen Divine-Given Seeds."

Dragon Cypress said with regret, "Our trading capital is too small; we didn’t have the capacity to buy all the White Rice Fruit. We didn’t earn as much as we could have."

Dragon Cypress sighed again. "The Blossom-Fruit Cycle for both the Ghost Fan Divine-Given Seed and the White Rice Divine-Given Seed is three years. Such high-profit trades only happen once every three years. The upcoming trades of regular Origin Force Food will yield much less profit."

"It’s quite a lot!" Ink Orchid said, overjoyed. "Dragon Cypress, let’s continue searching for Origin Force Points! If we find one or two more warriors with Divine-Given Seeds, we can make another big fortune."

Dragon Cypress slowly shook its Tentacles. "The Territory has many matters that need our attention; let’s search again in winter. We aren’t Flame Spiders; being Roving Merchants is just a side job for us."

Ink Orchid said, "Right..."

Then it added, "Okay..."

Ink Orchid suggested, "Let’s give a name to the lake where White Willow lives!"

Dragon Cypress swung its Tentacles thoughtfully and said, "Since the mutated lotus was first discovered by a Blackwing Damselfly Warrior, let’s name it ’Black Lotus.’ We can also name the lake ’Black Lotus Lake.’"