When Grass Dragon arrived on the mountain, White Ivy and Red Peach had already finished assembling the stone slab wheelcart.

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple were opening spider silk bags one by one, inspecting the quality of Origin Force Food and counting the quantities.

Red Peach was in charge of loading them onto the wheelcart.

"White Ivy, you're done for."

"I'm done for."

"Spider King Spurge is angry."

"Old spiders always like to get mad. You're young, don't make such a fuss."

"Spider King Spurge said it's going to beat you to death."

"That's the 101st time it threatened to beat me to death. The first one hundred times, it probably really tried fifty times, but not one of them hurt."

Grass Dragon: "…..."

Grass Dragon was stumped for a couple of seconds, then said quietly, "Bugs need carapace, trees need bark—can't be a spider and go around bare."

White Ivy reminded, "If I get angry, I really might break your spider legs."

Grass Dragon: "White Ivy Mountain Lord is the elder I respect the most, the most, the most…"

Grass Dragon tried to make its way toward the passage.

The spider silk swept out and dragged Grass Dragon back again.

Grass Dragon: "White Ivy, I'm not joking around with you. I'm just going over to catch up with Dragon Cypress…"

White Ivy stared coldly, saying nothing.

Grass Dragon: "We all came from the same nest…"

White Ivy raised her pincer limb.

Grass Dragon: "Fine. We'll do it by the rules. First come, first served. White Ivy Mountain Lord, you first."

Grass Dragon turned to Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple, who were watching with curiosity, and asked, "Blue Catalpa, how was your territory's harvest last year?"

Blue Catalpa: "A bumper crop."

Grass Dragon: "And the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed?"

Blue Catalpa: "Harvested smoothly."

Grass Dragon: "Help deliver a message to Dragon Cypress—I'm here again! I'll bring Melde's share back for them."

Blue Catalpa: "Alright."

Snakebark Maple: "Grass Dragon, what's that on your carapace?"

Grass Dragon: "Source Stone. Metal cans. Origin Force Food."

Got it!

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple kept their heads down and worked diligently.

No issues with the quality or quantity of Origin Force Food.

Loaded onto the stone slab wheelcart, tied securely, Red Peach hauled it away, dashing off at high speed.

Grass Dragon slumped by the cave entrance, sulking as it waited.

White Ivy's transaction volume is huge—this wait would probably last several days.

...

"Dragon Cypress!"

"We're back!"

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple ran out in front, dashing in.

Behind them, rumbling and clattering, Red Peach was pulling the stone slab wheelcart close behind.

Blue Catalpa rushed to report, "This year, White Ivy Mountain Lord delivered 64 types of Origin Force Food harvested from Lord-Level territories, with a total value of 70,000 Source Stones; from Mountain Lord Level territories, 121 types, totaling 91,000 Source Stones; from High-Level Warrior territories, 47 types, also totaling 70,000."

Snakebark Maple said, "Demand for water element and fire element Origin Force Honey has increased a lot. White Ivy Mountain Lord specifically instructed: Purple Back Mountain's Ten Thousand Years Lord ordered two cans of water element Origin Force Honey, to be packed according to the 5,000 Source Stones per can standard."

Red Peach said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, that's our first Lord-Level trading client. Ten Thousand Years Lord said they're just buying two cans to try them out. If the goods are satisfactory, they'll order a whole batch every year."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

So Origin Force Honey has been sold all the way up to the Lords this fast?

White Ivy really does have some skills after all.

Why didn't I notice before?

"Good!"

Dragon Cypress was concise, asking, "Red Peach, last autumn, you joined White Ivy on the roving merchant trips?"

Red Peach said modestly, "I traveled the continent with White Ivy Mountain Lord to broaden my experience."

Red Peach deftly undid the spider silk ropes securing the goods, pulled out an accounting slate, and passed it through a gap, saying:

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, these are last year's pre-sale records from the White Ivy Trade Caravan. Please take a look."

Dragon Cypress took it, gave it a quick glance, eyes lighting up. Touching his tentacle, he repeatedly praised, "Not bad! Very impressive! White Ivy Mountain Lord is raking in the profits."

Looking closely, he mentally tallied the figures.

Origin Force Honey selling at 2,000 Source Stones per can, with pre-sales reaching 91 cans. Last year, it was only 27 cans—a jump of 64 cans. The numbers show clearly that White Ivy successfully opened up sales among the High-Level Warriors and Mountain Lord-Level Warriors.

At 1,000 Source Stones per can, pre-sale volume was only 81 cans; compared to last year's 64, not a huge increase. Understandable: each tribe has a limited number of Little Warriors, and their consumption of Origin Force Food is also limited. The market isn't huge for that segment.

The real purchasing power still lies with the Mountain Lord and Lord-Level Warriors who have the Divine-Given Seed and keep evolving upward.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Red Peach, the 1,000 Source Stones per can Origin Force Honey is still 100 cans this year, right?"

"Yes!"

Red Peach replied seriously, "For the 2,000 Source Stone per can ones, we'll need 100 cans this year. There's a big batch, so I'll make a separate run for the metal cans."

"Good!"

Dragon Cypress nodded his tentacle, then asked, "Blue Catalpa, Snakebark Maple, you've checked over the Origin Force Food, right?"

"Checked."

"No issues."

Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple replied.

Dragon Cypress waved his tentacle and gave the order, "Unload!"

Blue Catalpa: "Grass Dragon is here too."

Snakebark Maple: "Brought lots of Source Stone and Origin Force Food."

Blue Catalpa: "It plans to cooperate with us to sell Origin Force Honey too."

Snakebark Maple: "But it was too slow—White Ivy Mountain Lord made the deal first."

Dragon Cypress: "…..."

Dragon Cypress wasn't the least bit surprised.

This year, White Ivy's profits will break the 50,000 Source Stone mark, more than enough to support the income required for continuing to evolve toward Lord-Level.

And this is just the third year of their partnership making and selling Origin Force Honey—just the beginning of their market push.

Grass Dragon saw the business potential in Origin Force Honey and was simply making a wise move.

Dragon Cypress: "Get to work!"

...

Unloading the Origin Force Food.

On Dragon Cypress's side, 20 cans of Scarletlight Bee King Honey were packed and loaded onto the cart.

Red Peach had eaten a bit of Ant Honey, took a short rest, then dashed back, pulling the stone slab wheelcart again.

Dragon Cypress organized the worker ants to do the hauling, returned to the Rednan Mountain Ant Nest, and, together with Fragrant Cypress, directed the Blue Ants to do refinement, categorize, blend, and store.

The next day, Red Peach, Blue Catalpa, and Snakebark Maple, the three little ones, showed up pulling a fully loaded wheelcart of metal cans.

Unload, haul, and repackage.

Red Peach made another trip and delivered 10,000 Source Stones in cash.

They rested and waited a day.

On Dragon Cypress's end, all the Origin Force Ant Honey was produced as well.

Counted the quantities, settled the accounts.

The Origin Force Food that Red Peach delivered was worth a total of 231,000 Source Stones, plus another 10,000 in Source Stones paid in cash.

The Scarletlight Bee King Honey and Origin Force Honey taken away totaled 288,000 Source Stones in value.

Dragon Cypress: "Red Peach, you still owe me 47,000 Source Stones."

Red Peach: "Yes."

Dragon Cypress: "I bought some Origin Force Food from Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord—help pay 10,000 Source Stones for me."

Red Peach: "No problem!"

Dragon Cypress: "So you need to pay me 37,000 Source Stones."

Red Peach opened up the spider silk bag she was carrying, pulled out a metal cylinder, twisted it open, and took out a thick bundle of Spider King Silk Scrolls rolled into a tube.

All in denominations of 1,000 Source Stones.

She counted out 37, handed them to Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress counted them again, carefully put them away, and asked, "Red Peach, any news on the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot?"

Red Peach: "Sorry, nothing for now. White Ivy Mountain Lord has commissioned plenty of Flame Spider Roving Merchants and spoken to a lot of trade partners. If one turns up, we'll grab it for sure."

"...Alright." Dragon Cypress asked again, "Is the Bee King Jelly supply sufficient?"

Red Peach: "Spider King Spurge can only get 1 to 3 bottles of Bee King Jelly per year. Because of that limit, 200 cans is already pushing it. White Ivy Mountain Lord is working on a solution, trying to buy from other Spider Kings."

"Bee King Jelly doesn't spoil—you can reserve more."

Dragon Cypress advised.

From the interaction, it looked like this Red Peach had even more of a Flame Spider Roving Merchant's flair and brains than White Ivy. With it around to keep White Ivy company, there wasn't much to worry about.

Dragon Cypress waved a claw: "White Ivy Mountain Lord is probably getting impatient—Red Peach, you'd better hurry back."

And so, via Little Warriors acting as intermediaries, the second deal of the year smoothly concluded.

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