Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid both thought that 'Glinting Gold', like the Dominating Throne, would be bound and that once bound, no other tree could use it.
Turned out it was just an artifact that could be picked up and put down at will. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
Well, that made things easier.
Given the generous natures of the Dragon Cypress Ant King and Ink Orchid, even without a trade, they would have lent the item to Night Fragrance.
However... since things were as they were...
Ink Orchid let out a hiss, opened the Spider Silk Bag, and lifted out Glinting Gold with both claws. "Night Fragrance, I'm lending this to you!"
Dragon Cypress: "Night Fragrance, both Ink Orchid and I value our own reputations more than our lives. The vital information you know... could you tell us first?"
Night Fragrance: "It concerns the Divine-Given Seed, and also the Natural Law. This is a secret I discovered myself over long years of observation. I've only ever told one insect—a Clan Warrior of the Zhidun Guoluo Tribe who abandoned me."
Night Fragrance: "I am also a tree who regards promises as my life. I can tell you half of it first; the rest I'll tell you once you help me recover to my peak state."
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid looked at each other, antennae tapping in unison.
Night Fragrance connected spiritually with Glinting Gold, guided it floating toward itself, and as if water snaking through earth, Glinting Gold slowly merged into the trunk.
All of a sudden, the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed's rate of Origin Force absorption surged, and the Origin Force vacuum expanded another ring outward.
It was like drawing breath—after a few seconds' pause, the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed's absorption accelerated again, the Origin Force vacuum broadening again.
The Natural Primordial Force fluctuated wildly, in chaos.
Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne, sliding away quickly by flight, retreating fast.
A while later, the absorption rate exploded once more, and the Origin Force vacuum radius grew to about 150 meters.
With the Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed as center, the affected range now extended to a radius of about 500 meters.
After all, it was a King-Level Divine-Given Seed! For a little tree barely over ten meters tall, its capacity to devour Origin Force was indeed savage.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid stared, momentarily dumbfounded.
Like running out of energy, they waited a long while, with no third eruption.
The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed continued to draw Natural Primordial Force at a steady, swift rate.
The Origin Force fluctuations gradually calmed.
The Dominating Throne glided close to the ground, floating slowly nearer.
"Lousy rainy weather." Night Fragrance muttered, its spirit a little weak and tired.
—Deserves to be a King-Level Divine-Given Seed.
—Absolutely divine grade!
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid transformed into Blue Catalpa and Snakebark Maple respectively, echoing each other with flattery.
Dragon Cypress spoke slowly, "Night Fragrance, that secret you just mentioned…"
Night Fragrance asked, "Have you considered how Divine-Given Seeds are born?"
Ink Orchid: "Inherited Memory says Natural Gods bestow them. The insects favored by Natural Gods will receive Divine-Given Seeds."
Night Fragrance: "Quite right!"
Night Fragrance: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, what do you think?"
Dragon Cypress: "What I know is, some Great Tribes as well as some powerful Ant Kingdoms, they open up vast gardens, cultivate high-level plants in great numbers, select prime varieties, and through sheer scale, obtain Divine-Given Seeds from tiny probabilities."
Dragon Cypress: "I believe there are two ways Divine-Given Seeds are born: first, bestowed by Natural Gods; second, randomly generated."
Night Fragrance: "Absolutely correct!"
Night Fragrance: "The secret I'm telling you falls under the first situation—the 'Natural God-giving'. But it's not a direct bestowal, nor is it about the Natural God's attention or favor. Rather, it's a Law set by the Natural God: as long as you fulfill the requirements and trigger the Law, you'll definitely obtain a Divine-Given Seed."
Ink Orchid was shocked, incredulous. "No favor from the Natural God? I thought I was favored! I got more than one Divine-Given Seed!"
Night Fragrance: "Is that so? Maybe. Or perhaps you were just lucky. I've seen a lot of lucky bugs. I've even seen one who alone possessed six Divine-Given Seeds, including one of Divine grade."
"Uh… impressive…" Ink Orchid didn't know what to say and didn't want to argue.
Dragon Cypress was also startled, but quickly regained composure, questioning: "So as long as you meet the conditions, you'll definitely get a Divine-Given Seed? What are the conditions? I doubt they're easy."
Night Fragrance: "Surely quite hard. But if you understand the Laws, then explore patterns and tricks... hmm. I think it could be of some use. Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, don't you agree?"
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid confirmed in unison.
Ink Orchid: "Then what are the requirements for triggering the Law?"
Night Fragrance: "That's the second part of our deal."
Night Fragrance: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, I'll trouble you to move my exuviae over here, thank you."
Night Fragrance: "By the way, before I went dormant, I laid out twelve million Source Stones in the cave where I slept. All their Origin Force was long since spent over the years, but the powdered Source Stones are extremely helpful for my growth and recovery. Please bring them all here as well."
Dragon Cypress: "I'll help when I have time."
Ink Orchid: "Even if this secret weren't in the deal, we'd have helped you anyway."
Dragon Cypress: "I'm not busy lately, so I can make several trips."
Ink Orchid: "Night Fragrance, just tell us the second half straight away."
Night Fragrance: "No rush. I also know some knowledge the Knowledge Hall doesn't record but is definitely useful for you. I'll let you know bit by bit once I've recovered."
Truly a tree skilled in business~
And acting all experienced, too~
Did it really earn those twelve million Source Stones for its own dormancy?
Ink Orchid wanted to say something, but Dragon Cypress gently nudged her hind foot, pondered for two seconds, and asked, "Night Fragrance, are there many Glinting Golds?"
Night Fragrance: "I only know of 14. All are used to aid the growth and evolution of Divine-Given Seeds, though their importance varies. The one you have ranks just below the three from Huagi Mountain."
Dragon Cypress: "So you know the whereabouts of 10 others? Which tribes are they in?"
Night Fragrance: "This info is worth a hundred million Source Stones, but I'll give it free to you. The other ten Glinting Stones are in Fufang Mountain, Chengtan Mountain, Xuanling Ridge, Tiannan Mountain…"
The Night Fragrance Divine-Given Seed briskly rattled off ten place names in one go, then added:
"I don't understand why the Insect King of the Blue Beetle Tribe didn't take this Glinting Gold. But I doubt the chances are high that those other ten were left behind."
Night Fragrance's words verified another of Dragon Cypress's guesses: the useful Outworld Civilization Artifacts were all taken away by those departed Insect Kings.
Dragon Cypress: "How did those Insect Kings who left take the things with them? Carry them with Spider Silk Bags?"
Night Fragrance: "It's nowhere near that simple."
Night Fragrance: "Another free tip for you that may come in handy. If you calculate your leaving time in advance and stash your items inside your belly, you can take them along without trouble."
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were speechless.
Night Fragrance: "Here's another trick I'll teach you for free. If you can, eat more Life System Origin Force Food to enhance healing and restoration. Best if you make friends with two Insect Clan Warriors skilled in recovery. As for big artifacts you can't swallow, you can cut open your abdomen and put them in."
"These are all some ruthless insects…"
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid were once again speechless.
Dragon Cypress hesitated, "Night Fragrance, so you are…"
Night Fragrance sulked and fumed: "That bastard from the Zhidun Guoluo Tribe would rather take a relatively useless Outworld Civilization Artifact than me."
Truly abandoned and spurned~
Exposing a tree's old wounds is an immoral act~
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid tactfully refrained from pressing the matter.
"Night Fragrance. You rest up, I'll make a trip to Night Fragrance Mountain and bring you a batch of exuviae."
Dragon Cypress directed the Dominating Throne away in flight.
Ink Orchid: "I'll stay. Now that the rain's stopped, I'll help you dig a hole."
"Wait!" said Night Fragrance. "I have a question too."
Dragon Cypress: "Go ahead."
Night Fragrance: "Did you also find the Dominating Throne inside a Starship? Which Starship?"
Dragon Cypress answered honestly: "After the Origin Force Silent Period started, at some point a Starship fell from the Outworld, sprawling horizontally across the great barrier that splits Cloud Trace from the Ten Thousand Nations Continent to the west…"