The five Azure Trees sown earliest at the Azure Blue Reservoir have now reached heights of seven or eight meters, with broad, lush leaves and thick, sturdy trunks.

The five Azure Trees sown by the Black Lotus Lake have only just reached about four meters in height, with a dozen or so broad leaves, the lowest layer of which has a diameter of barely one meter.

The fruit of ordinary Azure Trees also grows beneath the leaves. In the first year of fruiting, there are only a scarce few dozen fruits.

The difference between the two is obvious at a glance.

But actually,

the Azure Trees by Black Lotus Lake are in the normal state of growth.

The Azure Trees at the Azure Blue Reservoir only achieved such growth under the shelter of the Deep Blue God-Given Seed's Primordial Energy Force Field.

At present, the Deep Blue God-Given Seed's spiritual power is limited, and the Azure Blue Reservoir's space is limited, so large-scale promotion isn't possible.

Instead, Black Lotus Lake is more suitable. Empirical results show that Azure Trees can take root and grow quite well here, bloom and bear fruit, making Black Lotus Lake ideal for large-scale cultivation.

All the fruit was pruned off; focus on nurturing the trees first.

...

Dragon Cypress took Black Cory and set off overnight, heading for Southern Sour Jujube Mountain; they rested half the night, and the next morning dug holes to bury six bags of chopped up Southern Sour Jujube Divine-Given Remains.

They set off at noon, heading directly east in a straight line.

After six straight days of long-distance flight with the Dominating Throne, they reached the first Source Stone Mine, landing in a valley at the center.

Dragon Cypress and Black Cory together directed the Worker Ants to dig horizontally from the valley floor, opening a passage to the cave, then changing direction downward to carve out a nest chamber deep underground.

Forty Specialized Blue Ants, their abdomens full of Ant Honey, moved in.

To reduce food consumption, they only brought sixty Large Worker Ants for digging and drilling. Sixty Medium Worker Ants and sixty Soldier Ants came along to transport rubble.

A simple job, so they split into two teams to work simultaneously above and below the mountain.

The Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot was left with Black Cory, to provide water for the ant colony.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid filled metal cans with water, traveled by day and night, and, from where they had stopped last year, continued their zigzag search to the south.

As if blessed by the Natural True God, seven days later, Ink Orchid leapt up, having discovered a second Land of Origin Force.

Located deep in the southwest region, the area was filled with dark brown solitary hills and scattered rocks.

After a brief exploration, they named it the 'Second Source Stone Mine'.

They continued zigzagging south. Two days later, about 300 kilometers from the eastern coastline, they found the 'Third Source Stone Mine'.

According to the descriptions from the Huagi Divine Tree and the Night Fragrance God-Given Seed, the mountainous region near the southeast coast was the most likely place to find remnant Source Stone Mines.

They inspected the area carefully to confirm there had been no previous digging.

There's a fairly good chance of finding a Source Stone Mine here.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid left in high spirits, continuing their exploration to the south.

Their luck ran out; for the next half month, they found nothing more. The fresh water they carried was nearly exhausted, so they returned north to the First Source Stone Mine.

...

Unable to bear the scorching sun during the day, Black Cory also changed his daily routine—resting in the underground nest chamber by day, emerging to work at night.

No gains for now.

The stored food was still plentiful.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid stayed behind to recuperate for a day, replenished their water, and set out again.

Time passed swiftly; autumn had arrived.

The Dominating Throne flew to the southern coastline.

They searched along the entire southeast coast, but regrettably, were unable to find a fourth Land of Origin Force.

The Dominating Throne flew west along the coast, and two days later entered the tropical rainforest, searching for rivers to resupply their fresh water and hunting for food as they rushed straight towards the Third Source Stone Mine.

Between the already-explored southwest region and the southeast coast, there remained a vast stretch of unexplored territory. If they had time, they intended to search it as well.

According to the Night Fragrance God-Given Seed, there were three tribes in this area who possessed Glinting Gold. They'd dig through them all if time permitted.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid avoided the searing sun, setting off at dusk. Deep in the night, as Ink Orchid was dozing off with sleep, she suddenly jumped up, forelegs and wings moving together, pointing the way.

"Dragon Cypress! Over there! Land of Origin Force!"

"..."

Who'd have thought they'd bump into a Land of Origin Force just by traveling?

Dragon Cypress was speechless.

Not bad. Consider it a pleasant surprise.

The Dominating Throne flew northwest.

They neared the site at dawn.

Hovering at high altitude, they peered down through the clouds—below them was dense plain forest in the tropics with abundant rainfall. But if one traveled east for half a day, it would gradually become highland, semi-arid land, and then barren mountains.

Judging by Origin Force fluctuations, this Land of Origin Force wasn't very large.

Dragon Cypress operated the Dominating Throne to continue ahead, scanning from high above.

No Divine-Given Seed detected.

They lowered altitude, circling to explore. Initial estimates put the site at a long axis of 7,000 to 8,000 meters, a short axis of 4,000 to 5,000 meters—relatively large in area, but average in Origin Force concentration.

No Origin Force Plant fluctuations detected.

The Dominating Throne docked by a river.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid took wing, splitting up—one going south, one north—searching along the forest edge.

Most of the vegetation here consisted of palms, saw palmettos, spruces, bamboo taros, dove trees, and other tropical common plants, along with a few wild fruit trees like coconut, mango, starfruit, and papaya.

The plants here could all be found on Scarletlight Mountain and the surrounding forests—nothing special.

Dragon Cypress made a quick sweep and once again confirmed there were no Life Seed Plants, no Insect Clan Warriors, no Wild God-Given Seeds, then turned back for the Throne.

—Eh!

As he drew near, a sweep of Dragon Cypress's spiritual power startled him into exclaiming.

Under a shrub not far away, there was a Flame Spider more than ten centimeters long, all mud yellow, with a tuft of orange-red fuzz on its carapace, its eight eyes staring straight at the Dominating Throne—either in shock or observing with curiosity.

No Origin Force fluctuations—so not a Flame Spider Warrior, just an ordinary Flame Spider.

"Come here—"

Dragon Cypress waggled his antennae in invitation.

The Flame Spider didn't move an inch.

Dragon Cypress considered for a moment, then leapt back onto the Throne, took out a Keg Vine Wood Plate, and directed a Blue Ant out from the Stump Ant Nest to fill the plate with meat-refined Ant Honey.

Jumping down from the Throne, he set it on the ground, tapped his antennae in indication, and retreated a few steps.

The Flame Spider hiding in the shrub turned and fled at once.

Dragon Cypress: "..."

This kind of Flame Spider also has another name, 'Primordial Spider'—meaning 'Native Breed Flame Spider'—the ancestor of the Flame Spider Roving Merchants.

Legend has it the 'Round Purple Flame Spider' diverged by mutation from the Primordial Spider Tribe, later giving rise to branch tribes like the Illusory Color Flame Spider, Purple Flame Spider, Dulai Flame Spider, White-Legged Flame Spider, and so on, all specializing in roving merchant trade.

It's said that when the Natural God created the Insect Clan and bestowed abilities upon them, the most precious gift—'wisdom'—was given to the Flame Spider Tribe.

Other Insect Clan only gain self-awareness and gradually attain intelligence when they awaken as warriors.

But ordinary Flame Spiders are born with self-awareness—and are particularly clever.

Dragon Cypress had seen this first-hand in Melde's caravan: every one of these little creatures was cunning beyond measure.

—Is this Flame Spider not clever?

—Or just timid?

—Native Breed Flame Spiders are rare these days. Haven't they gone extinct on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent and Wan Country Continent?

—Should I take a batch back and present them to the Grass Dragon next spring?

The inherited memory only vaguely records that the Flame Spider Tribe split into Round Purple Flame Spiders, and from there branched into Illusory Color, Purple, Dulai, White-Legged, and other roving merchant tribes.

On the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, the Round Purple Flame Spiders have always regarded themselves as the master tribe, claiming the other four Flame Spider Roving Merchant Tribes branched off from their line. The Round Purple declare their own bloodline pure and noble.

The other four tribes naturally don't acknowledge this, insisting that their own ancestors diverged from the Primordial Spider Tribe and that they too possess noble, primordial blood.

No need for argument now—I'll just go and find the ancestral origin described clearly in the inherited memory, bring them back, and you can all worship them as you please.

Just thinking about it is amusing.

—Or perhaps, take them to Scarletlight Mountain and let them keep the Mulberry company.

As Dragon Cypress mused, he looked up, spirit sweeping for targets, quickly locking on one.

The Flame Spider who ran off had returned to its petite burrow dug under a dirt slope, tapping the ground with its forelegs. In a flash, dozens of Little Flame Spiders, each only a centimeter in leg-span, poured out of the burrow, swarming up onto her carapace.

So she was a mother spider raising a large brood of Little Flame Spiders.

The big Flame Spider, carrying her brood, raced toward the Dominating Throne, heading straight for the Keg Vine Wood Plate.

The big Flame Spider tasted the Ant Honey, tapped the ground rhythmically with her forelegs, and the Little Flame Spiders all tumbled onto the ground, instantly covering the wood plate.

When they dispersed, the plate had been licked spotlessly clean.

All eyes, big and small, stared in unison at Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress went back to the Throne, took two more Keg Vine Wood Plates, directed the Blue Ants to fill them with Ant Honey, and set them on the ground.

The Little Flame Spiders swarmed once again.

Both plates were soon devoured.

Once full, they all turned and climbed back onto their mother's carapace.

Noticing the mother hadn't eaten, Dragon Cypress took back one plate, refilled it, and set it down.

The mother spider was clearly starving too; she rushed over, buried her head in the food, and quickly emptied the plate.

Dragon Cypress was pondering how to communicate with them—to bring them along.

The mother spider turned and slipped back into the woods.

Ate and left, without even a greeting.

Wild spiders have no manners.

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