From afar, Molan spotted Dragon Cypress and flew over at full speed to greet him.
"Dragon Cypress, it's finally over!"
"What about the Divine-Given Seed? Has it turned into the normal size of a seed?"
"Molan, how did you know it was the Divine-Given Seed?"
"Didn't you say it yourself?"
Clearly, you just guessed it~
"Alright then." Dragon Cypress pointed at the petite spider silk bag, his voice filled with delight:
"It really is a Divine-Given Seed. And it's not even that big. I think, by age period 8 or 9, I could store and nurture it in my Life Pouch."
As he spoke, Dragon Cypress added with a tinge of guilt, "Molan, the Dominating Throne has already 'contracted' me and the Azure Heart, just like how we of the Insect Clan nurture Life Seeds in our Life Pouch. Before, I promised I'd find you an Outworld Civilization Artifact like the Dominating Throne, but now we've turned the whole Starship upside down and haven't found anything else..."
Dragon Cypress: "Molan, once we're well-off, I'll find a caravan and buy you an Outworld Civilization Artifact with Source Stones!"
Molan: "Okay! Yay! Dragon Cypress, you have a Divine-Given Seed too now!"
Molan didn't seem to care much about Dragon Cypress's previous promise; her whole mind was wrapped up in the Divine-Given Seed. She adjusted her flying posture and landed lightly on the Dominating Throne, hurriedly opening the spider silk bag for a look.
"So pretty!"
Molan sighed in awe, taking out the Azure Heart, holding it up and gazing at it, utterly entranced.
Dragon Cypress piloted the Dominating Throne, landing on a huge rock along the ridge.
Molan snapped out of her trance and asked, "Dragon Cypress, what kind of plant is it? What sort of plant has such a beautiful blue seed? Is it in your inherited memory?"
Dragon Cypress: "Nope..."
Dragon Cypress: "Molan, you're an intermediate warrior, you've awakened more memories than me."
Molan: "But in my memory, no plant has a blue seed."
Dragon Cypress asserted, "Then it doesn't belong to the Natural God System! It must be a plant unique to the Creator Civilization!"
Molan: "Agreed!"
Molan went on, "Its Origin Force has a strong water system characteristic. According to the usual pattern, the Origin Force Fruits it produces will definitely enhance water system abilities."
Molan asked, "Dragon Cypress, is this enhancement valuable?"
Dragon Cypress: "Not as valuable as the Fruit-Scented Orchid, but not that cheap either—kind of average."
Dragon Cypress: "The Orchid Mantis's talent ability is water-attributed. Molan, it's exactly what you need."
"Awesome!"
Molan cheered, questions flowing out of her, "Dragon Cypress, is Azure Heart an herb, a vine, or an arbor? How do you sow Outworld Civilization plants? Do they like shade or sun? Dry or damp conditions? What kind of soil do they prefer? Do they like cold or hot climates? Should they be planted on the mountain top, or down in the forest below?"
Dragon Cypress: "No idea..."
Dragon Cypress: "How would I know any of that..."
Molan really knows how to spot problems.
Ecstatic over obtaining the Divine-Given Seed, Dragon Cypress had gotten so carried away he hadn't even thought about those questions yet.
But what Molan brought up were all crucial things to know if you wanted to successfully cultivate a Life Seed Plant.
Plants from an Outworld Civilization—there wasn't a single mention of them in the inherited knowledge.
The Dominating Throne didn't provide any hints either.
This is a real headache...
Dragon Cypress's mind raced, his head throbbing.
"The backrest of the Dominating Throne has a wave pattern. Azure Heart boosts water system abilities. Looks like the Creator Civilization had a thing for water..."
Dragon Cypress analyzed line by line, "Azure Heart must love water! We can plant it near the water!"
"As for light and soil, Divine-Given Seeds probably need a lot of light, and they're very adaptable to soil, so that's a minor issue."
"As for temperature... I've settled here in these mountains—can't do anything about the weather!"
"After it sprouts, I'll check if it's needle-leafed or broad-leafed. If it's needle-leafed, I'll move it up into the mountains. If it's broad-leafed, planting it mid-slope or at the foot should work..."
Molan: "But what if it's like a lotus root—growing entirely in the water?"
Molan always manages to come up with new questions.
Dragon Cypress: "Not impossible..."
Dragon Cypress: "I can find a pond, sow the seed nearby and raise the seedling, observe what kind of plant it is, and then transplant it somewhere suitable."
Dragon Cypress: "If it's a true aquatic plant like lotus root, then it has to be planted down in the valley..."
...
The main job for the small soldier ants was catching petite pest insects. Life Seed Plants weren't that easily infested, so after the small soldier ants' numbers reached ten, Dragon Cypress stopped breeding more.
The specialized worker ants reached a total of twelve and got to work.
Molan Territory had more Life Seed Plants, so they started by digging her a marsh gas pool.
Dragon Cypress's original map called for both South Mountain and North Mountain—his and Molan's territories each—to have a water reservoir and a marsh gas pool. He'd also have to dig a network of channels. It was already a huge amount of work.
Now, with one more Deep Blue God-Given Seed that might need to grow in water, he had to prepare a large pond, just to be safe.
The workload just skyrocketed.
The more specialized worker ants, the better.
The Dominating Throne still produced two ant eggs every five days, and Dragon Cypress raised them all into specialized worker ants.
...
Fierce winds whipped up, and the distant, misty Seven-Colored Divine Force Barrier surged and rolled.
Dark clouds thickened, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and torrents of rain poured down from the sky.
The temperature plunged suddenly.
The dry season ended, and with it, the hottest days of summer were over too.
With temperate weather and plenty of rain, the five Cypress Life Seeds entered their second growth period of the year.
The first marsh gas pool had reached a depth of half a meter.
It was built below a cliffside, with a round entrance, about 0.4 meters in diameter, and an interior belly designed to be about 2 meters in diameter and 2 meters deep.
Digging deeper, hauling away the rubble became real work.
Dragon Cypress came up with a clever way to save effort.
He used fresh goatskin, stitched together with ramie silk, to make a rough, rigid bag.
He punched holes at the mouth of the bag and tied it up with hemp rope. The bag went into the marsh gas pool, the worker ants loaded it with rubble, and Dragon Cypress grabbed the rope, standing up on the Dominating Throne.
Once the bag was full, he piloted the Throne upward, hauled the bag out, and dumped the rocks far away.
The work efficiency skyrocketed.
Dragon Cypress headed out early and got home late every day, leading the ant colony as they dug up rocks from the mountain.
Molan was in charge of hunting and tending the Life Seed Plants.
There were things to do every day, but it never felt busy or exhausting.
Most of the time, Molan lay right next to Dragon Cypress, both of them sprawled side by side on the Dominating Throne, chatting idly, watching the worker ants bustling below.
Time ticked by gently; summer faded into autumn.
Late autumn.
The number of specialized worker ants reached eighteen.
The first marsh gas pool was finally complete.
Next came digging the channels for bringing water in and draining it out.
They collected fallen leaves and dry grass and tossed them into the pool.
They dug out some bamboo tubes of black decayed silt from the Great River Marshland and dumped it in too.
Finally, Dragon Cypress went far afield, found a natural flagstone, cut it and—using the Dominating Throne—hauled it back to the mountain to cover the marsh gas pool's opening.
Mission accomplished!
Let it ferment sealed for two months, and afterward, they'd be able to scoop out fertilizer water using a bamboo tube tied on hemp rope.
Right after, Dragon Cypress started work on the second marsh gas pool, in his own territory.
The generation of specialized worker ants was now on track—two would hatch every five days, steadily expanding the labor force.
The digging proceeded faster and faster.
When specialized worker ant numbers broke thirty, the marsh gas pool construction site was too cramped for them all.
Dragon Cypress split off ten ants to start work on a gently sloped patch next to the stream above their territory, clearing the site.
The water reservoir was designed to be five meters long and wide and three meters deep.
Above it, a water channel would be dug to connect to the stream, so that in spring and autumn water could be led in and the reservoir kept full at all times.
Below, a drainage channel would be dug, so in heavy rains, water could drain off and flow back to the stream below.
The project was massive—thirty specialized worker ants were still nowhere near enough.