Life evolution: primary-level, mid-level, high-level are one major realm; Mountain Lord, Lord, King-Level are another major realm.

As a rule, breaking through to King-Level is leaping into another major realm.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had long suspected that a wild God-Given Seed was hidden beneath Huagi Mountain, but they never imagined it had actually reached the third major stage of life evolution.

Dragon Cypress did a quick calculation—Yellow Stem's so-called 'Divine Tree', to be awakened and activated once and to flower and bear fruit once, would cost at least 7 million Source Stones. The real cost is likely even higher.

The cost for the Shield Grasshopper Tribe warriors at Huagi Mountain to avoid going extinct by awakening the 'Divine Tree' and continuing their legacy is probably measured in the tens of millions of Source Stones. No wonder all those caves that once stored Source Stones are now empty.

...

"Three Divine Trees, named Huagi, Quandong, and Linnan respectively?" Dragon Cypress steadied himself and calmly inquired.

"Yes."

Yellow Stem knew what Dragon Cypress wanted to ask and explained proactively: "When Huagi Mountain was still a small place, and our Shield Grasshopper Tribe was still a small tribe, our ancestors mainly cultivated pines and cedars. The Huagi Divine Tree is the first wild God-Given Seed our tribal ancestors planted. Its existence goes so far back, there's no way to verify how long."

"The Huagi Divine Tree itself is just an ordinary wild God-Given Seed, and the pine nuts it produces strengthen the perception system's visual ability—specifically, it enhances farsightedness."

"What makes the Huagi Divine Tree remarkable is not its produce… The Huagi Divine Tree has witnessed the development and rise of Huagi Mountain, sent off generation after generation of Insect Kings, watched the sun rise and set, the seasons change and return, surveyed the rise and fall of tribes across the continent, weathered storms of time, accumulated vast information, and transformed it into deep wisdom."

"As Huagi Mountain developed to a certain point, all of the tribe's important affairs would be brought by the Insect King and the steward Lord to the Huagi Divine Tree for deliberation, with the Divine Tree making the final decisions. Under the leadership of the Huagi Divine Tree, Huagi Mountain flourished far beyond other tribes, becoming the most prosperous and powerful on Cloud Trace Continent."

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid listened, shaken to their cores, their antennae standing upright.

A single God-Given Seed had actually ended up as the leader of a super great tribe!

How is this somewhat similar to Azure…

Ink Orchid: "Incredible!"

Dragon Cypress: "…Strong!"

Yellow Stem said proudly, "The Huagi Divine Tree is the soul of our Huagi Mountain. As long as it safely gets through the Origin Force Silent Period, it will surely lead Huagi Mountain to rise again, flourish, and reach its zenith."

Yellow Stem continued, "It's said that long ago, there was a spring on the eastern mountainside of Huagi Mountain—never drying up, not even freezing in the harshest winter. Around the spring was a grove of snow cedars. One of the branches of a snow cedar right by the spring mutated, nurturing a God-Given Seed. That God-Given Seed underwent another mutation, and with that double mutation, the Quandong Divine Tree was born."

New term: double mutation

Easy to understand.

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

Ink Orchid asked cautiously, "Divine Grade?"

Yellow Stem: "Exactly."

Ink Orchid's antennae trembled with excitement: "What type?"

Yellow Stem: "Soul."

Dragon Cypress: "Oh!"

Ink Orchid: "Wow!"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had suffered enough surprises for one day, but once again, they were left stunned.

Yellow Stem: "It grants a Soul System ability, named 'Soul-Setting', and the fruit it produces is also called 'Soul-Setting Fruit'. The first use: within a certain range, all living things with souls are unable to hide themselves, no matter how deeply concealed or how clever their stealth, they're sensed right away."

"The second use: Insect Clan warriors who have used the 'Soul-Setting Fruit' can sense each other across great distances, spawning a much more advanced form of information transmission than 'spiritual communication'. It's kind of like how you Ant Clan antennae release signals and transfer information—a similar skill, but more secretive and much harder for other warriors to detect."

"The Soul-Setting ability's coverage and range depend on the strength of the soul. Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, you two have used Origin Force food that strengthens spiritual power and soul, right?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes—"

Ink Orchid: "That's right—"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were already numb from the shocks.

What a powerful Divine Grade~

Wouldn't this be a perfect match with the soul-strengthening Six Peaks Mountain's Six Paths Wood?

Ink Orchid came to his senses, eagerly inquiring: "How many Source Stones are needed to awaken the Quandong God-Given Seed?"

Yellow Stem: "Around 5 million."

Ink Orchid: "What's the blossom-fruit cycle? Does it take Source Stones to make it flower and bear fruit?"

Yellow Stem: "..."

Yellow Stem: "The blossom-fruit cycle is 22 years, producing six fruits. Each fruit takes about 800,000 to 1,000,000 Source Stones to mature."

Yellow Stem: "But, if you trim off some flower buds at blooming, so only three flowers and thus three fruits grow, the blossom-fruit cycle could be shortened to less than 10 years. Huagi Mountain is too small, with innate Origin Force scarcity, so when fruits ripen, the Source Stone investment can't really be reduced."

Yellow Stem: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, if you're going to attack the Lord-Level Termite Kingdom, the 'Soul-Setting' ability of the Quandong God-Given Seed could play a vital role. If the conditions allow…"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Ink Orchid: "..."

Dragon Cypress said bluntly, "The demand for Source Stones is too high. Simply impossible. It's nearly impossible to get so many Source Stones."

Ink Orchid sighed, "Source Stones are burdensome. Even a Mountain Lord Level Flame Spider Warrior can only carry about 50,000 Source Stones at most. A Lord-Level warrior might haul a bit more, but Lord-Level Flame Spider Roving Merchants aren't going to take this kind of hard labor."

Yellow Stem asked, "What about selling Soul-Setting Fruits? Divine Grade soul fruits—a Spider King would surely want to cooperate, right? You could try having Spider Kings organize caravans to transport Source Stones."

Dragon Cypress shook his antennae hard, saying, "Fragrant Orchid Mountain is way too close to the Starship Passage. If word gets out about a wild Divine Grade soul-type God-Given Seed, the Ant King from the neighboring continent will go berserk and crush me."

Yellow Stem: "I recall last time you said the Starship's exit on Cloud Trace Continent is a narrow crack…"

Dragon Cypress: "The Giant-Headed Ant Tribe—Miniaturization Ants are just about a centimeter; small ants are three to five centimeters; midsized ants are about ten centimeters. Many Ant Clans and Bee Clans have small-bodied variants; even Insect King Level worker ants and worker bees can make it through."

Dragon Cypress: "Ink Orchid and I are still unharmed because, until now, we've only exposed a few truly ordinary God-Given Life Seeds. For the neighboring Ant King to target us brings no real gain and would offend the Flame Spider Caravan. But if a wild God-Given Seed appears, things change…"

"I get it—"

Yellow Stem seemed even more unwilling than Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid, saying, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, if you have time, you could visit the great tribal territories marked on the map. If you can find the exuviae from God-Given Seeds, they'll help you cultivate Life Seed Plants. And if you find Source Stones…"

Ink Orchid: "We've been searching all along!"

Dragon Cypress: "We'll definitely look."

To this, both Dragon Cypress and Yellow Stem held little hope.

The Origin Force concentration across the continent had plummeted; Origin Force deadened, and Insect Clan warriors surely burned through Source Stones en masse to extend their lives.

A great tribe certainly means huge numbers of warriors—you use a bit, I use a bit, and reserves run dry before long.

Yellow Stem opened a metal cupboard, waved a foreleg, and said: "Spruce, put the Origin Force Ant Honey away."

"Oh~" Clutching the metal can, Spruce, who'd been sprawled lazily on the floor munching Origin Force Ant Honey and enjoying the conversation, quickly stood up to start packing things.

Yellow Stem asked, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, do you want to redeem that metal case used for storing seeds?"

Ink Orchid replied sheepishly, "If you like it, I can price it at 20,000 Source Stones and sell it to you."

Yellow Stem: "..."

Ink Orchid immediately added, "Price is negotiable."

Yellow Stem: "Thanks. No need. Take it back yourselves. Want to pick out another 11,000 Source Stones' worth of Origin Force food?"

Yellow Stem: "Let's go to the Knowledge Hall. There's still a wonderful story about Cloud Trace Continent, and I'll tell it to you two."

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