Ant Lord in the Star Realm-Chapter 663 - 578: Guidance from the Linnan Divine Tree: The Way of Divine Marks

The Snow Velvet Spider King took its leave and departed.

Dragon Cypress completed the Divine-Given Origin Force Food transaction with Red Peach and Heliotrope.

The rest of the work could be handed over to Fragrant Cypress and Black Sophora.

Dragon Cypress began transporting Source Stones to Huagi Mountain.

Just like in previous years,

as soon as the transaction ended, the Source Stone transportation was completed simultaneously.

Immediately after was the search for the Divine-Given Seed...

...

Purple Tung Insect Nation.

The Dominating Throne hadn't even entered the Land of Origin Force before Ink Orchid anxiously took wing, darting down into the dense forest below to begin this year's inspection work.

Dragon Cypress lowered its flight altitude at a leisurely pace, slowly gliding toward the center of the Land of Origin Force.

After last winter's gathering, Chinese Clematis had stayed behind, wanting to play with Pueraria and Ivy, agreeing to return to its mountain home together this spring.

Dragon Cypress activated its Soul-Setting Ability for perception and search.

Chinese Clematis, Pueraria, and Ivy—the three weren't in the Central Region, but seemed to be in the nursery where Cypresses were being cultivated.

The elite selection and cultivation of Silver Cypress Saplings had never ceased.

Purple Tung Insect Nation, Xianglan Mountain, White Lotus Lake, and Southern Sour Jujube Mountain—these four Lands of Origin Force collected vast numbers of seeds annually, exchanging seeds with each other, sowing them in nurseries, screening and nurturing seedlings, and continually eliminating and replacing cypresses in the forest that showed relatively weak growth.

Round Cypress and Black Persimmon were commanding their ant swarms, busy eliminating weak seedlings from the nursery.

Chinese Clematis, Pueraria, and Ivy followed behind Giant Cypress, wandering through the nursery as they inspected mutant strains. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, you're here!"

...

As the Dominating Throne touched down, everyone came over in greeting.

Round Cypress raised a claw to signal everyone to be quiet, then said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Giant Cypress and I have discussed and determined that Silver Cypress No. 1004 and Silver Cypress No. 1101 have been optimized enough to be upgraded to Silver Cypress No. 1005 and Silver Cypress No. 1102, and can start being widely promoted throughout Purple Tung Insect Nation."

"Alright—"

Dragon Cypress didn't think much of it, agreed directly, and led the way, patrolling to check on the specific conditions in each nursery.

Nursery No. 54, where Silver Cypress No. 1004 saplings were cultivated, showed good overall growth.

Sown last year and screened for the last time this spring, the medium saplings ready for transplanting looked rather robust—pretty much catching up to typical Silver Cypress saplings.

"This plot is not bad!"

Dragon Cypress praised, pointing out, "The saplings here can be numbered Silver Cypress No. 1005."

Giant Cypress reported immediately, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the seeds for Nurseries No. 50 through 55 were all collected and sent from Southern Sour Jujube Mountain."

Black Cory had been fully in charge of Southern Sour Jujube Mountain, while also planting many Silver Cypress Trees at Black Lotus Lake, managing both places at once.

"Got it!"

Dragon Cypress instructed, "Round Cypress, keep good records. Also note the source of the optimized seeds—when a Divine-Given Seed is born in the future, we'll give credit where it's due."

Round Cypress: "Rest assured, Dragon Cypress Ant King!"

Round Cypress raised a claw and pointed into the distance, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, over on that hillside at Nurseries 70 to 80, the Silver Cypress No. 1101 saplings I've selected and nurtured also meet the criteria for upgrading."

Dragon Cypress: "Let's go have a look."

The group traveled along an ant path, crossing a hill to reach a nursery on the other side.

These were also one-year-old medium cypress saplings. The Silver Cypress No. 1101 saplings cultivated by Round Cypress were noticeably a bit inferior.

After careful inspection, Dragon Cypress still agreed to upgrade them to No. 1102.

Round Cypress was by far the most steady and meticulous of all the Assistant Kings, but luck had never been on its side—when rewards were given, it always missed out...

"Round Cypress, select a batch of Silver Cypress No. 1102 seeds and send them back to Xianglan Mountain for sowing. Later, try hybridizing them with the Zhibai Tree—you might find new results."

Dragon Cypress instructed.

"Understood. Dragon Cypress Ant King."

Round Cypress agreed.

They continued to inspect the Silver Cypress No. 2001 saplings. After years of selection, this mutant variety hadn't shown obvious improvement, so it would be set aside for now.

In addition, five separate nursery plots had been opened for sowing hybrid saplings between Zhibai and Silver Cypress No. 1101, labeled Silver Cypress No. 3001.

Zhibai was a tropical plant.

Because of the Zhibai lineage, this hybrid cypress had relatively poor cold resistance.

Tests showed that Silver Cypress No. 3001 grew very well when sown in the southern Black Lotus Lake and Southern Sour Jujube Mountain; sown north of Xianglan Mountain, it suffered frost damage in winter; further north, winter snow would freeze it to death.

Purple Tung Insect Nation, Xianglan Mountain, and White Lotus Lake were all trying to select for cold-resistant Silver Cypress No. 3001 saplings.

The selection method was simple and crude—sow in spring, and after one winter, those that survived could be preliminarily identified as carrying the frost-resistant lineage...

...

Dragon Cypress led the group on a tour of the nurseries.

Round Cypress, Black Persimmon, and Giant Cypress continued their work.

"Chinese Clematis, it's almost late spring—do you have plans to return to Black Fruit Mountain?"

"It's about time to head back..."

Chinese Clematis said wistfully, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, leaving tomorrow morning?"

"...Alright!"

"Then come wander about with me."

Dragon Cypress swayed its tentacles, leading Chinese Clematis, Pueraria, and Ivy as it continued to stroll through the cypress woodland, checking the growth of various Silver Cypress trees planted in previous years.

No problems were found.

They wandered further, ambling for most of the day, and by twilight had drifted into the Central Region of the Land of Origin Force.

The Linnan Divine Tree cast a fierce wave of spiritual power, targeting Ivy.

Ivy quickly explained, "I was planning to come back and train at noon, but then Dragon Cypress Ant King arrived and asked me to help patrol the territory, so I..."

The icy wave of spiritual power shifted, locking onto Dragon Cypress.

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress: "Linnan Divine Tree, don't be so upset. We're all cooped up in this tiny Land of Origin Force; life's a bit dull. I just took Ivy and the others out for a walk and told them some stories about the interesting things that happened across the continents last year to lighten everyone's mood."

The Divine-Given Seed of Jinhe immediately chimed in with spiritual power, asking, "So, what interesting things happened last year?"