The cicada song rang out fervently, echoing a symphony through the mountains and woods.
The vault of the sky was cerulean, without a single drifting cloud.
Not a breath of wind.
Under the blazing sun, heat waves rose as the jungle and plants wilted and drooped listlessly.
The streams were nearly dried up.
It seemed that, since the last departure, it hadn't rained for eight or nine days in a row.
"Dragon Cypress! Something's wrong!"
"I just remembered! The year before last, I encountered this same situation!"
Molan only recalled when she looked at the Life Seed plants in her own territory.
"In the hottest season of midsummer, it just won't rain. We need to draw water for irrigation!"
"My Life Seeds!" Dragon Cypress flew swiftly, crossed the mountains, and rushed back to her own territory to check.
All five of the Cypress Life Seeds were in poor condition, especially the young Cypress seedlings sown in late spring, their roots too shallow and wilting a bit.
There was a brook nearby, with only a trickle of mountain spring left flowing.
The Soldier Ants guarding the territory were sly enough; they knew to hide under big trees to keep cool but were foolishly unaware of the need to water the plants.
The Worker Ants were all hiding inside the Ant Nest doing nothing, letting the Life Seeds suffer the drought.
Dragon Cypress hurriedly led two Specialized Soldier Ants down the mountain, chopped three larger Bamboo Tubes, and brought them to the stream to fetch water and irrigate.
Busy running back and forth until nightfall, they managed to thoroughly water all five Life Seed plants in one go.
Dragon Cypress led the Specialized Worker Ants across mountains to go help in the Mountain North Molan Territory.
Among Molan's Life Seed plants, just the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds already had 28 offshoots, and the area of land in urgent need of irrigation was sizeable.
They worked continuously until well past midnight.
The next day, the blazing sun still dominated a cloudless sky.
Molan went down the mountain to hunt for food.
Dragon Cypress commanded Worker Ants to cut meat strips, sun-dry jerky, and pick kiwi, wild grapes, and other fruit.
By twilight, they went back to work in the fields, fetching water with bamboo tubes and irrigating the plants.
Dragon Cypress hurried down the mountain and prepared two larger bamboo tubes.
Three straight days of burning sun.
Three straight days of irrigation.
The Life Seed plants had all recovered their condition.
Dragon Cypress and Molan hurriedly packed the prepared food and returned to the Starship.
The six Specialized Worker Ants and three Specialized Soldier Ants left behind were already sprawled out in hunger.
The Dominating Throne had accumulated Origin Force up to three-quarters full.
Dragon Cypress: "Molan, someone has to take care of the territory! I'll send you out; you go back to the mountains first?"
Molan: "That's the only way..."
Dragon Cypress: "In five days, if I haven't returned, you must come by again. But don't explore on your own—wait at the entrance, I'll keep track of the time and pick you up."
Molan: "Understood!"
The two briefly discussed and decided.
Dragon Cypress remembered the way, escorted Molan out of the Starship, and stayed behind alone to wait.
Two days later, a message came from the Dominating Throne.
[Origin Force fully restored]
[Once the second healing plan is implemented, it is irreversible. Azure Heart will lose all Primordial Core Power. Proceed?]
Without much hesitation, Dragon Cypress chose to proceed.
The spherical top of the Dominating Throne's backrest emitted a beam of blue light, projecting into the Azure Heart.
It should have been a water-system Origin Force, surging like a river, quickly washing over and enveloping Azure Heart.
The blue beam connected the Dominating Throne and Azure Heart. Primordial Energy continually streamed forth, gradually forming a spherical Light Cocoon, illuminating the empty room bright blue wherever the eye looked.
This lasted for half a day or so,
Then the Dominating Throne relayed a message:
[Contract gene information completely erased]
The blue beam linking the Dominating Throne and Azure Heart remained present throughout.
In the next instant, everything reversed; Primordial Energy began to flow from Azure Heart back into the Dominating Throne.
Soon after, the whole Dominating Throne was shrouded in a layer of blue light.
Dragon Cypress, sprawled on the throne cushion, gave a start, swept about with her spiritual power in search of anomalies—finding nothing, she settled back down and waited in silence.
This seemed to be a long, drawn-out process...
Two days later, Dragon Cypress left the chamber and exited the Starship.
By late morning, Molan arrived as agreed.
"Molan, everything normal in your territory? How's my Giant Cypress Life Seed?"
"Of course. With me tending it, it's growing just fine. But there's still no rain; the stream on the mountain dried up, so I can only fetch water from the big river south of the mountains."
"So it's a drought this time."
"Yes. In my memory, this is already the third."
Molan was only six years old—six midsummers, three droughts.
But it wasn't uncommon; on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent and Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, such summer droughts were frequent.
Dragon Cypress: "It's fine. Next time, we'll dig two large ponds, store water in the rainy season, and use it in the dry. Next year will be easier."
"Alright!" Molan agreed simply, then asked, "How's the Azure Heart?"
Dragon Cypress: "There's a change. But I can't tell exactly what. I'm not sure."
"Oh—"
"Come on! Let's go down and look!"
Molan asked, "Is there still food?"
Dragon Cypress: "Yes, plenty."
Molan: "About when will it finish?"
Dragon Cypress: "Don't know."
Saying this, they passed through the hillside tunnel, entered the Starship, and traveled on.
Well-acquainted with the route, they went straight to the first level.
Molan just wanted to see something novel, but couldn't make sense of much.
They agreed on the next meeting time, and Molan returned to the mountains overnight.
Dragon Cypress continued to stay behind as guardian.
Two days later, the rate at which Azure Heart fed Primordial Energy into the Dominating Throne slowed noticeably.
Another two days passed, the Primordial Energy Light Cocoon enveloping the Azure Heart dissipated, its sapphire patterns vanished.
The Dominating Throne settled into tranquility.
[Primordial Core Gene completely erased]
[Azure Heart's rebirth successful. Sign the Contract?]
No need to consider.
Dragon Cypress chose to contract.
The throne backrest's sphere projected a strand of azure Primordial Energy that enveloped Dragon Cypress, passing through her carapace and into her body.
Another message followed:
[Contract completed]
"Is that it?"
"It's finally over!"
Dragon Cypress let out a long breath of relief, rose from the cushion, beat her wings, and flew around to the back of the Dominating Throne.
Within its hexagonal beehive opening, lying inside was a nut-like seed about the size of a yew berry, but more heart-shaped in form.
Its entire surface was azure with sapphire veins.
Molan's earlier guess was entirely right—it really was a Divine-Given Seed!
Dragon Cypress landed, extended her claws, took the seed out, landed, and studied it carefully, scanning it with spiritual power.
The vitality of plant life, bursting with life!
Perhaps because of the contract, Dragon Cypress found a very faint spiritual connection with Azure Heart, akin to that between herself and a Life Seed.
Upon double-checking, it was undoubtedly a Divine-Given Seed, and the "Contract" the Dominating Throne spoke of was similar to the Insect Clan's "Life Pouch Nurturing."
"The Creator Civilization really has its strengths! To nurture a Life Seed, the Insect Clan needs an entire Age Period and must undergo a collective metamorphosis. The Dominating Throne just 'contracts' it in an instant."
"But there are clear differences between 'contracting' and 'nurturing in a Life Pouch.' Should I also nurture the Azure Heart in a Life Pouch once more?"
"If I 'contract' first, then 'nurture in the Life Pouch,' will the Life Seed produced be even more powerful?"
Deep in thought, Dragon Cypress glanced over at the giant seed in the room that had lost all Origin Force patterns.
It had already lost all Primordial Energy attributes.
Dragon Cypress now understood the Dominating Throne's 'zeroing and rebirth'.
Calming her excitement, she sat cradling the newborn Azure Heart on the throne and communed with it using Divine Power; there was still a small reserve of Origin Force within.
With a thought, she rapidly shrank down, flew out of the chamber.
With a bit of cleaning up, she controlled herself to leave the Starship, heading south back to the mountains.