Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 476 - 456: Winter Harvest: Divine-Given Keg Vine Seed

Chapter 476: Chapter 456: Winter Harvest: Divine-Given Keg Vine Seed

The tail end of winter, with the temperature gradually warming.

The Dominating Throne carried Ink Orchid and Chinese Clematis, speeding into Molan Mountain, landing at the foot of the slope where the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed took root.

"Waa~oh~"

Chinese Clematis stared at the slope ahead, full of giant Orchid Grass over two meters tall, exclaiming repeatedly.

Is this what a herbaceous Divine God-Given Seed looks like?

Twelve-fold multiplication by division!

So magnificent!

The Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed was startled, and mixed spiritual power and mind of confusion, doubt, warning, and happy greeting came over.

"Senior Orchid!"

Ink Orchid jumped down, "This is Dragon Cypress, don’t you recognize him?"

Senior Orchid: "Fat Ant, I know him."

Ha~ha~

Ink Orchid secretly laughed, raised its claw and pointed at Chinese Clematis, and formally introduced, "This is Dry Stone Green Ground Beetle Warrior Chinese Clematis. We found it in the wild, together with Dragon Cypress, so it counts as our junior. The youngest warrior on Cloud Trace Continent, you should also look after it."

Senior Orchid: "Little Insect."

Ink Orchid corrected: "Clever Little Warrior."

Senior Orchid didn’t feel like dealing with Ink Orchid, and instead sent a friendly spiritual power and mind to Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress understood, controlled the Dominating Throne to float over to the mother stock of the Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed above, tentacle tapping several times, blessing it with Flourish four times.

Senior Orchid sent a spiritual power and mind full of satisfaction and great comfort.

A plant’s sense of territory is even stronger than an animal’s. Divine-Given Seeds generally, out of instinct, repel Origin Force lifeforms other than their nurturing Insect Clan Warriors, and may even dislike their own Insect Clan Warrior moving frequently within territory they consider their own.

However, Divine-Given Seeds also possess independent consciousness and considerable intelligence. Given enough benefits, they can overcome that instinct and no longer repel intruders.

Dragon Cypress checked the twelve offshoots around the mother plant.

The weather was warmer recently, and it had put forth flower spikes.

Dragon Cypress didn’t hesitate, directing small Worker Ants to step forward, mandibles gnawing, carefully snipping off the flower spikes.

"???"

The Great King Molan kept sending confused and questioning spirit messages: What are you doing?

Ink Orchid quickly comforted: "Senior Orchid, don’t panic, you’re still too young, you can’t flower and fruit yet..."

Divine-Grade Fruit is few in number, but each fruit consumes a massive amount of Origin Force energy. The Great King Molan Divine-Given Seed is in no rush to flower and fruit just yet.

Let it grow and recuperate for another year, wait until the underground woody stems are thicker and stronger, and it has stored enough energy, then next winter, let it blossom and fruit.

Ink Orchid stayed behind to chat with Senior Orchid.

Dragon Cypress went to greet the Thunder Oak Divine-Given Seed, to tell it a little about things that happened over the autumn and winter this year.

They rested overnight at Molan Mountain,

The next day, set out together for Southern Sour Jujube Mountain.

...

This year, the first batch of Divine-Given Keg Vine Seeds ripened.

Black Cory was leading a great horde of Soldier Ants and Worker Ants, guarding beneath the Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed tree.

"Keg Vine!"

"Black Cory!"

Dragon Cypress stopped the Throne beside the gully and leaped down.

Ink Orchid and Chinese Clematis followed and jumped down too, quickly dashing toward the slope.

"Great King!"

"Second King..."

Black Cory greeted, reporting: "Great King, we’ve already used Source Stones four days ago. The Seed Pod is too big; it needs to hang on the vine for a while before it can be harvested."

Black Cory: "For this first batch of 10 mature Seed Pods, we spent 1,000 Source Stones. But by my observation, in the future, once the number of Seed Pods maturing per year increases to 20, 30, 40, 50, the Source Stone cost will double accordingly."

"That’s inevitable."

Dragon Cypress tapped his antennae in agreement.

At the same time, the Round Leaf Keg Vine sent Dragon Cypress a greeting spiritual power, then anxiously urged: "Dragon Cypress, Flourish me twice!"

Dragon Cypress tapped its antennae several times, generously giving it four bursts.

With a sweep of his spirit, Dragon Cypress strode over beneath a Seed Pod.

As expected, when mature it was a little over three meters long, with seeds inside close to 30 centimeters in diameter, with a thickness of five or six centimeters.

Chinese Clematis was currently only about half a meter in size, climbed onto the Seed Pod, and compared herself with her body.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, are we making Keg Vine Ant King Honey out of it?"

"No need. Divine-Given Keg Vine Seeds are huge and gimmicky, which makes them easier to sell. The seed shell is thick and flat, which is convenient for storage and transport."

"Ohhh——"

Chinese Clematis suggested: "We could use the seed shells from Divine-Given Keg Vine Seeds to make meal plates!"

Dragon Cypress: "Exactly. When Ink Orchid and I were little, we used the seed shells from ordinary Keg Vine to polish into dishes for holding Ant Honey..."

The Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed grew impatient, snapped angrily: "Dragon Cypress, why did you bring this little thing here again? Hurry up and get it away, don’t let it crawl all over me."

Dragon Cypress: "...Alright."

Dragon Cypress called out: "Chinese Clematis, Ink Orchid, let’s go check on the other Divine-Given Seeds."

The other Divine-Given Seeds planted on Southern Sour Jujube Mountain:

Sea Blue Tree and Little Wild Chestnut didn’t bear fruit.

Red Cypress, Chestnut Beans, and Southern Sour Jujube had all been harvested back in autumn.

After wandering around and checking everything,

Ink Orchid and Chinese Clematis stayed behind.

Dragon Cypress hurriedly set out for Scarletlight Mountain, gathering nectar and making Ant King Jelly, before hurrying back.

The Divine-Given Keg Vine Seeds were fully ripe for harvest.

Ink Orchid eagerly peeled open one Seed Pod, took out the Keg Vine Seeds inside, and turned them over with both claws to examine.

After slicing open the shell, inside was a reddish kernel.

With a wave of the claw, cut it into four pieces.

Ink Orchid compared a piece to Chinese Clematis, then cut it again, sliced off a small piece and handed it over, "Chinese Clematis, you’re too small—just have a taste!"

Chinese Clematis: "I can eat a lot!"

Ink Orchid: "Even if you can, you shouldn’t eat too much!"

Dragon Cypress: "Chinese Clematis, eat less. Black Cory, eat more."

Dragon Cypress called over and took a piece to sample.

No discernible flavor, dry and a little poisonous.

"Great King, such high quality! Surely a Divine-Given Keg Vine Seed can sell for at least 500 Source Stones each?"

Black Cory asked eagerly, hoping to get his share of the two-tenths profit split.

Dragon Cypress nodded its antennae and commented: "Huge seeds, very high quality, and the ’Vision Breadth’ enhancement is quite valuable. Just judged on quantity, quality, and enhancement type, 500 Source Stones per piece is fitting."

Then Dragon Cypress changed the topic, "But, Keg Vine is acknowledged by the Natural God as the king of vines, with a big reputation! Also, this thing has gone extinct on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent and Ten-Thousand Tribes Continent. Only we produce it—there’s only this one tree in the whole world..."

Dragon Cypress: "So, raising the price a bit, the Flame Spider Roving Merchant won’t refuse either. We’ll ask 550 Source Stones per seed!"

"Great King, you are wise!"

Black Cory raised his front legs in agreement.

Ink Orchid and Chinese Clematis could only gasp: Dragon Cypress Ant King never lets a chance to earn Source Stones slip by.

Black Cory: "Great King, a Seed Pod always has six Keg Vine Seeds, so this year’s 10 pods make 60..."

Dragon Cypress: "Black Cory, take two pods, bring them back to eat with White Willow."

Black Cory answered firmly, "Thank you, Great King!"

Ink Orchid suddenly got a little downcast, and asked: "Dragon Cypress, at Mountain Lord Level, does the Round Leaf Keg Vine Divine-Given Seed max out at 50 Seed Pods a year?"

Dragon Cypress: "About right."

Dragon Cypress calculated: "50 pods make 300 Divine-Given Keg Vine Seeds, at 550 each, the total value is 165,000 Source Stones. After subtracting about 15,000 for fruit-setting costs, that’s a net annual income of 150,000 Source Stones."

—So I’ll have a 30,000 Source Stone income every year?

Black Cory was ecstatic: I’m rich!

Ink Orchid: "..."

Chinese Clematis: "!!!"

Chinese Clematis stuck out her tongue in awe.

In terms of Source Stone profit, top-tier Divine-Given Seeds aren’t worse than Divine-Grade ones—and some even earn more.

Red Cypress Divine-Given Seed’s annual income is 140,000 Source Stones.

Round Leaf Keg Vine’s annual income is 150,000 Source Stones.

Just these two top-level Divine-Given Seeds bring Dragon Cypress 290,000 in yearly income.

Right now, Dragon Cypress has Azure, Southern Gorgon, Red Cypress, Black Yellow, White Poplar, Little Wild Chestnut, Round Leaf Keg Vine, and Thunder Oak—a total of eight Divine-Given Seeds planted.

Azure brings 45,000 Source Stone profit per year.

Southern Gorgon brings 22,000 a year.

Black Yellow brings 40,000 a year.

White Poplar is a Divine Grade, so it’s higher—averaging 281,000 a year.

Little Wild Chestnut and Thunder Oak are still being cultivated, so no flowers or fruit yet.

Currently, with Dragon Cypress’s Divine-Given Life Seeds, the annual profit reaches as high as 678,000 Source Stones.

Ink Orchid currently also has Fruit-Scented Orchid, Northern Gorgon, Cuihua Hanlan, Chestnut Beans, Snow Orchid, Sea Blue Tree, Red Phellodendron, and Great King Molan—a total of eight Divine-Given Seeds.

Sea Blue Tree and Great King Molan are still growing; the rest don’t yield much profit for now.

Plus, counting the output of Common Life Seeds.

Currently, the annual yield for Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid’s territories totals just over a million.

Of course, when Great King Molan begins to flower and fruit, the profit will need to be recalculated. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Origin Force Honey trade with Melde and the White Ivy Trade Caravan brings in over a million in processing fees every year.

Dealing with Huagi Mountain also brings an annual income of over 600,000 Source Stones.

And the Roving Merchant trade within Cloud Trace Continent—Dragon Cypress already tries not to make a price spread profit, but even so, there’s still more than 200,000 coming in each year.

Then there’s Night Fragrance, Purple Tung, Scarletlight, and Southern Sour Jujube—the four Wild God-Given Seeds that together yield over 400,000 Source Stones a year.

Add all that up, and the average yearly income hovers around 3.3 million.

...

"Black Cory, go pack up for the journey. Go rest at Black Lotus Lake for a while."

"Ink Orchid, Chinese Clematis, you two can go spend some time at Molan Mountain."

Dragon Cypress waved his antennae and called for everyone to tidy up.

"Okay, Great King."

Black Cory agreed, then asked: "Great King, what are the work plans for next year?"

Dragon Cypress: "Transplant Orchid Grass, nothing else much."