The Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord has been roaming the world for decadesâwhat kind of shameless insects hasnât it met? A little Ant King and a Little Huatang are hardly a challenge. It handled all their sneaky tricks with calm order, defusing every single scheme.
In the end, it only lost a few spider silk bags and a couple dozen seeds. No big deal.
It politely refused Dragon Cypressâs request to chat more, then returned unhurriedly to the plains at the foot of the mountain.
"Seven-Leaf, howâd it go?"
Aconite Spider King cared a lot about this young and promising direct descendant, even considering grooming it as a successor.
"The haul was way beyond expectations..."
The Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord couldnât contain its excitement, leaned in close, reined in its spiritual power and thoughts, and whispered privately:
"Aconite Spider King, itâs not two Divine-Given Seedsâitâs three! Done deal. I got the lionâs share of the third Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed!"
"Three?"
"Three! That little Ant King called Dragon Cypress just got another one, brand new."
"That little Ant King favored by the Natural God."
"Yep. Judging by our conversation, that kidâs anything but simple. Way too steady for a little Ant King only a few years old, super guarded, super smart...and super slippery."
...
...
...
"Dragon Cypress, this Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord is even stingier than Melde."
"Yeah. Old fox, tough to deal with."
"Shouldnât have agreed to trade with it! White Ivy Mountain Lord is much nicer."
"Sigh...But it came to us on its own, what choice do we have? Can we really say no?"
"Whatâs the plan for Melde? How do we explain this?"
"Explain what? Explain what, exactly? Iâm the one who should grill it! Why did Zeqi Spider King recommend this? Why send a wily old bug like that? I didnât manage to squeeze a single advantage out of it."
"Uhâ"
Ink Orchid said heavily, "Makes sense!"
Ink Orchid shook the spider silk bag and asked excitedly, "Dragon Cypress, what do we do with all these? Hide them?"
"Hide them?"
Dragon Cypress: "Of course we take them! Let Melde see for themself just how stingy this Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord is. The Six Paths Wood seed is rare, I get only sending one, but this Purple Kiwifruitâat best itâs a top-level plant seed, nothing amazing, and they only sent thirty seeds."
Ink Orchid: "Exactly..."
Ink Orchid started chuckling, hehehe...
...
The Zeqi Caravan still hadnât arrived.
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid, worried about attracting the Flame Spiders beneath the hill again, hid deep inside the Starship for a whole day and night.
The next morning,
The rising sun in the east painted the Divine Force Barrier in dazzling rainbows.
Dragon Cypress crawled out of the cave, scaled the hill, and hid behind a bush to spy in secret.
Didnât have to wait longâ
Zeqi Spider King led the caravan into view, slowly approaching.
"Ink Orchid!"
"Letâs go!"
Dragon Cypress turned around to alert Ink Orchid who was hiding at the Starship Passage exit, and together, they dashed straight to the small grove behind the hill.
...
Following the caravan to the destination, they planted the Life Seedâroots went down, shoots rose up, and soon a giant Melde grass stood seven or eight meters tall.
Of course, the moment Melde turned around and saw Seven-Leaf from the Caowu Caravan watching, the mood took a real nosedive.
Just couldnât be helped.
Dragon Cypress wasnât an idiotâactually, far from it. Even if the Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord hadnât come looking, and even if no other caravan had shown up, once it evolved into a High-Level Ant King, Dragon Cypress would totally have reached out to a second, or even a third caravan to stir up some competition.
What really bugged Melde was that these merchant negotiation tricksâall self-taught...to Dragon Cypress.
âIf Iâd known it would turn out like this...
âNo more inviting a third caravan next time.
This time, Melde didnât rush. It just hung back, trailed the other Mountain Lord Level Spider Kings around the other trade circles, mingled, asked questions, sized up the goods.
It wasnât until afternoon
That Melde dragged itself up the hill, and from way off, swept its spiritual power over and immediately spotted Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid carrying their spider silk bagsâand all the seeds inside.
"Mountain Lord Melde!"
Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid waved them over, all friendly enthusiasm.
Melde squinted: "How come you two have such strong spiritual power these days?"
"Me and Ink Orchid both have a Ghost Fan Tree Seed, you know."
Dragon Cypress replied offhandedly, then asked with a tinge of grumbling, "Melde, what was that about? The Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord from the Caowu Caravan showed up saying Zeqi Spider King recommended them?"
Melde: "Yes...but also no."
Melde: "Itâs that Seven-Leaf had already noticed our deals, figured out you guys have Divine-Given Seeds. You two are special cases, rooted in Cloud Trace Continent right next to the Ten Thousand Nations Continent. For safetyâs sake, Zeqi Spider King really couldnât turn down Aconite Spider Kingâs request."
Dragon Cypress sighed, "Yeah, Ink Orchid and I couldnât exactly turn down the Seven-Leaf Mountain Lordâs trade request either."
Melde tensed up, tentatively asked, "Ink Orchid, whatâs your age period now? Youâll evolve into a High-Level Warrior soon, right?"
Ink Orchid deftly opened the spider silk bag, pulled out a Divine-Given Black Emperor Peach Core, and said, "Once I get home and eat this peach core Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord gave me, I should be able to go into sleep evolution and advance to High-Level Warrior."
Dragon Cypress complained, "That Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord was way too stingyâonly gave two Divine-Given Black Emperor Peach Cores."
Then Dragon Cypress tilted its head, faking a deep ponder, and said, "Mountain Lord Melde, youâve also got a fixed Black Emperor Peach Divine-Given Seed quota with the Grave Burying Beetle Tribe, right? Actually, not a bad share either. How many peach cores did you give us again?"
Not a single one~
I just wanna throttle you~
Melde snorted, "That Seven-Leaf sure is generous! Way more generous than White Ivy! Even gifted you a Six Peaks Mountain Six Paths Wood seed. Do you know how many insects would trade Source Stones for that and still not get one?"
Dragon Cypress: "Melde, youâre mistaken. I think Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord is even stingier than you. Only gave us two Six Paths Wood seeds, and even then, one per yearâsplit across two years."
"Cut the sarcasm!"
Melde was starting to lose it, asking, "Howâd the Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seed negotiations go? How much share did you agree to give Seven-Leaf?"
Dragon Cypress: "Hey now, Iâm a loyal ant, okay? Melde, you may be a bit tight-fisted, but you really did help me and Ink Orchid a lot. So, until me and Ink Orchid evolve into Mountain Lords, only ten percent of the Fruit-Scented Orchid and Azure Divine-Given Seed Origin Force Food goes to Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord, just to use as samples for promotion."
"Ten percent?"
Melde instinctively didnât quite believe itâthere was surprise, happiness, and some confusion, too. "Ten percent? Seven-Leafâs okay with that?"
Dragon Cypress: "All set and agreed! While Ink Orchid and I are High-Level Warriors, you and White Ivy get ninety percent of the Fruit-Scented Orchid and Azure Divine-Given Seed production. Of course, me and Ink Orchid need to eat a bit, but we wonât hog too much."
"Guess you do have a conscience, kid."
Melde was all smiles now.
"I knew itâyouâre the kind of ant worth a lifetime friendship."
"Of course!" Dragon Cypress nodded, flicking an antenna.
Melde still couldnât fully believe it, asking, "So you two just fobbed off Seven-Leaf Mountain Lord with all those goodies for ten percent? Seven-Leafâs got a bit of a reputation in the Dulai Flame Spider Tribe, thatâs no small feat. Howâd you pull that off, Dragon Cypress?"
"It was simple..."
Dragon Cypress paused, then said, "Because I promised it half the share of the third Divine-Given Seed!"
Melde: "???"
Melde: "Third Divine-Given Seed?"
Dragon Cypress: "Me and Ink Orchid spent years building dams, blocking up the low-lying valleys, and made a massive reservoir. We planted rice, lotus, gorgon fruit, and all kinds of stuff at the reservoirâs edge. Then, last autumn, totally by chance, we harvested a Divine-Given Gorgon Fruit Seed."
Dragon Cypress stuck to the same story: "So then, this spring, we just planted itâfirst time, three divisions; second time, fifteen..."
Melde: "!!!"
Melde was so choked up, it couldnât find any words for a very, very long time.