The great river flows into Black Lotus Lake from the northeast, and exits from the southeast corner. The west bank is a shallow beach, while the east bank is cliffs and mountains.

The Dominating Throne carried Black Cory.

White Willow flew ahead to lead the way, flying out of the Land of Origin Force, descending on the upper mountainside of a mountain along the riverbank.

Freshly dug soil was scattered everywhere on the slope, having been excavated and cleared away, exposing "rock crevices" beneath the cliff.

For the convenience of the Dragonfly Warriors, the entrance to the cave was designed to be about five meters wide and 1.5 meters high, forming a narrow passage.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, it's here."

White Willow folded his wings upward and then slowly spread them again, demonstrating, as he walked into the cave.

Dragon Cypress carried Black Cory and landed, following right behind.

Passing through the straight tunnel, inside the mountain was a huge hexagonal cave, with a height of forty to fifty meters, the smoothly polished stone walls strengthened with Earth System Abilities, and stairs extended for Dragonfly Warriors to land on.

Behind each stairway was a long and narrow cave entrance.

The hollowed-out mountain interior had once been home to many Beautiful Winged Dragonfly Tribe warriors.

In one corner of the cave, there was a downward-sloping trapezoidal passage; the Dragonfly Warriors couldn't pass, likely the dwelling of Stealth Beetle Warriors.

"Black Cory, come with me and take a look."

Dragon Cypress twitched his antennae, heading down the passage.

At a fork in the passage, Black Cory paused, "Great King, we found the corpse of a Stealth Beetle Warrior in this cave. As soon as we touched it, it crumbled to pieces…"

"And then?" Dragon Cypress asked lazily, spiritual power spreading out, scanning in all directions to check for hidden passages.

Black Cory calmly recounted, "Buried it at the cave entrance. Found another corpse in a different cave, this one a Dragonfly Warrior—possibly the ancestor of White Willow."

"Ai—" Dragon Cypress sighed lightly, following the main passage downward.

"Why are you guys here?" came Ink Orchid's spiritual message from behind, full of intense dissatisfaction.

"Why are you behind us?" Dragon Cypress shot back.

"White Willow gave the wrong directions, made me wander around for ages…" Ink Orchid grumbled, rushing forward past Dragon Cypress, hurrying into the depths of the cave.

Soon after, he ran back.

"The scale of this treasury is even smaller than Xinghu Lake's."

"Nothing left at all."

Ink Orchid felt bitter inside, sighed, then thought for a moment and said, "Dragon Cypress, ask Black Cory if all the peaks around Black Lotus Lake have been thoroughly explored?"

Dragon Cypress: "No need to ask. The Origin Force here is thin, neighboring the Origin Force Vacuum Land. If Black Cory found this place, the others have definitely all been explored."

Ink Orchid: "So there's only this one treasury?"

Dragon Cypress: "This is both a treasury and the nest where the Tribe's warriors lived. The Stealth Beetle and Blackwing have no Earth Talent, so they probably spent Source Stones or Origin Force Food to invite an Insect King from another tribe who had awakened earth abilities to help build it. For such a place, a second one is almost impossible."

"Right~" Ink Orchid agreed, thinking hard, frowning:

"On the Huagi Mountain map, it's clearly marked that Black Lotus Lake has at least one wild Maple Poplar Divine-Given Seed. The main body can be hidden as a Tree Heart or a seed—but what about the tree itself? The exuviae? Such a huge arbor…"

Dragon Cypress: "You won't find a Tree Heart over at Xinghu Lake…"

Ink Orchid: "Exactly."

Dragon Cypress: "I've been thinking, and I have a theory…"

Dragon Cypress's antennae twitched, pointing upward, muttering, "Could it be that when the Tribe's Insect King left the Origin Force Star Realm, he took the Tree Heart with him?"

Ink Orchid: "He can take it?"

Dragon Cypress: "What about the Life Seed Plant? Wouldn't you take the Life Seed? How did they take the Life Seed?"

"That's right!" Ink Orchid realized, annoyed, "Exactly, that must be it!"

"Let's not rush to conclusions." But Dragon Cypress shook his antennae, continuing his analysis:

"Suppose the Tree Heart or seed of the wild Divine-Given Seed was taken away, leaving just exuviae. Xinghu Lake, being in the Origin Force Vacuum Land, preserved the exuviae of the Fruitful Dragon Cypress Divine-Given Seed. Black Lotus Lake still had a patch of Origin Force Land, with low-evolution Stealth Beetle and Beautiful Winged Dragonfly Warriors living here. Then, they used the wild Maple Poplar Divine-Given Seed's exuviae on their own Life Seed Plants."

This analysis explained all doubts perfectly.

The ever-brilliant Ink Orchid instantly realized: probably, in all the ruins, the Tree Hearts of the wild Divine-Given Seeds had left together with the tribe's King-Level Warriors.

Ink Orchid was silent for a long time.

Unknowingly, they had reached the end of the passage—a cave, twenty or thirty meters in diameter, completely empty.

"Dragon Cypress!" Ink Orchid said more firmly than ever, "Let's not wait! Go to Huagi Mountain! Yellow Stem must know—let's ask him directly."

...

Dragon Cypress's trip to Black Lotus Lake wasn't just about investigating the ruins and searching; there was something else to do.

He had to send Black Cory to Southern Sour Jujube Mountain to join Round Cypress and direct the ant colony in opening new fields.

For the past month, they had raised a large number of Worker Ant, Blue Ant, and Blue Soldier larvae—sent to the Southern Sour Jujube Mountain ant nest, there to be reared till feather transformation.

He also brought Silver Cypress to Black Lotus Lake to command the Blue Soldiers in fishing, stockpiling food for Southern Sour Jujube Mountain's ant nest.

It took only five or six days to finish all that.

Then, it was back to Fragrant Orchid Mountain to pack up and head north.

...

Huagi Mountain.

Unlike the bleak silence of last winter's visit.

The midsummer forest was overgrown with buckwheat, oats, foxtail grass, bulrush, silvergrass, and all kinds of weeds. Who knows how many tens of thousands of grasshoppers sang in the grass, boiling with noise and excitement.

Yellow Stem stood on an eye-catching rock, wings vibrating at incredible speed, humming in deep, thunderous pulses—waves of Origin Force spreading through the mountains.

Birds, snakes, frogs, and other predators all retreated quickly.

The Dominating Throne flew forward slowly; only as it approached did Yellow Stem stop and still himself.

"Dragon Cypress Ant King! Ink Orchid!" Spruce came up to greet them.

"Spruce!" Ink Orchid called, fluttered down, scanned Spruce's body with a sweep of spiritual power, and was slightly surprised, "A high-level warrior at Age Period 4? Broke through to evolution this soon?"

Spruce replied calmly, "I was stuck in Age Period 3 for four years. Once I had good Origin Force Food, I easily broke through."

Spruce's gaze didn't move, but spiritual power quietly expanded, scanning Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid to see what cargo they'd brought.

A lot!

One of the Spider Silk Bags held metal cans—exactly ten.

Another, a bulging large Spider Silk Bag…

"These are Source Stones!" Ink Orchid landed with the Spider Silk Bag in his claw, saying:

"We've brought you a thousand Source Stones. Might come in handy for running your territory—consider it emergency stock."

"Source Stones?" Yellow Stem, who had been crawling over slowly, perking up at the words, sped up, pulled open the Spider Silk Bag for a look: So these are Source Stones?

The murals record that Huagi Mountain was once extremely wealthy—the treasury piled with Source Stones.

But they'd long ago been used up.

This was the first time Yellow Stem and Spruce had ever seen real Source Stones—the sharply edged white crystals; every insect staring was entranced.

Dragon Cypress landed with the Spider Silk Bag containing the metal cans, passing it to Spruce. "Ten cans. Each can holds Origin Force Ant Honey worth 3,000 Source Stones—enough for you to evolve to Age Period 5."

"Excellent! Thank you!" Spruce opened a can to check, and found that mixed in the Origin Force Ant Honey was some high-quality Origin Force Food produced by Lord-level warriors' territories—immediately elated.

Ink Orchid jumped onto the Throne, pulled out a small Spider Silk Bag, landed, and handed it to Spruce, asking, "When did you evolve? Did you choose your Life Seed? Originally, Dragon Cypress and I hoped to come earlier and bring you a few top-quality plant seeds suitable for sowing at Huagi Mountain as your Life Seeds…"

Ink Orchid opened the Spider Silk Bag and introduced, "Inside are ten Sky-Blue Persimmon Seeds—a cultivated variety from the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent. Use them to nurture a Life Seed, and you'll get a carapace strengthening effect—especially carapace toughness, which you'll definitely find useful. And ten Silver Cypress Seeds, also a cultivated variety, which optimize physical form when used to nurture a Life Seed."

"Thanks—"

"Thank you so much!"

Spruce repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Yellow Stem glanced at the Origin Force Ant Honey in the metal can, then at the seeds from Ink Orchid, pinched a Source Stone to inspect, and said slowly:

"Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, can you stably and massively provide us with Source Stones? Spruce was lucky; it acquired a Green Shura Divine-Given Seed—just in time to evolve and nurture it as his Life Seed…"

Dragon Cypress: "???"

Ink Orchid: "???"

Divine-Given Seed?

Lucky?

How could it possibly be coincidence?

Oh. With the arrival of roving merchants and Origin Force Food circulating, you just happen to get lucky and obtain a Divine-Given Seed.

"Wow! A Green Shura Divine-Given Seed?" Ink Orchid, momentarily stunned, then recovered and exclaimed in delight, "Wind element ability boost? That's really rare! That's great! I need wind element too!"

Dragon Cypress: "..."

You believe anything anyone says? Can't you be a bit more skeptical?

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