Spruce returned the metal case that had been pledged in the previous trade to Ink Orchid.

Dragon Cypress took the opportunity to ask, "Yellow Stem, does your Huagi Mountain also have a similar outworld civilization artifact, specially designed to store plant seeds?"

Yellow Stem: "Yes."

Yellow Stem: "Not just similar, they're almost identical—dropped from the same starship. However, the metal cases we use are much larger and have an even greater ability to preserve seeds."

Yellow Stem: "A long, long time ago, during the era when origin force lay dormant, an ancestor of our Shield Grasshopper Tribe witnessed the event you mentioned: that starship spanning both Cloud Trace Continent and the Ten Thousand Nations Continent crashing from the outworld onto the earth. And as it happened, some objects landed on our Huagi Mountain."

"Absolutely a treasure! Fell from the outworld and not damaged at all—inject origin force, open it, and inside are plant seeds. Our ancestor attempted to sow them, but sadly, not a single one survived."

"Altogether there were two metal cases like yours, but much larger. Our ancestor used them to store the seeds of Divine-Given Seeds, to keep them for the tribe's revival and for when origin force awoke again."

Yellow Stem waggled his tentacles, "Spruce lied. That Green Shura Divine-Given Seed he has was left behind by a Shield Grasshopper Tribe ancestor."

Spruce: "..."

Could it be the ultra-large metal case used to store Azure Tree Seeds?

Could it have been among the treasures scattered when the vault crashed on Cold Orchid Mountain?

This is too much of a coincidence, isn't it?

——The Natural God truly favors your Huagi Mountain.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid fell even more silent, sighing inwardly.

Dragon Cypress grabbed a spider silk bag, swiftly scanned with his spiritual power, and selected some origin force food from the storage cabinet.

Ink Orchid said, "Yellow Stem, you haven't introduced the Linnan Divine Tree yet."

Yellow Stem: "No problem."

Yellow Stem organized his thoughts and said, "At its peak, Huagi Mountain's territory stretched along the mountains for more than a hundred kilometers, with fifty-one tree seas developed, focusing on the cultivation of sixteen major types of plants such as pine, cedar, cypress, dense plum, peach, apple, and over five hundred varieties in total—varied and abundant, everything you could imagine. In the southern region of the forest sea, in a remote, insect-free mountain forest that was left unmanaged, a Divine-Given Seed mutated from a Kunlun tree unexpectedly appeared. It was genuinely wild—born in the wild, taking root in the wild, surviving and growing, always growing and evolving until it reached a high-level stage. When its fruit ripened, it absorbed massive amounts of natural primordial force, and its unusual origin force fluctuations attracted the attention of a Shield Grasshopper Warrior passing by. Only then was it discovered and subsequently protected…"

"Since it grew in the southern Forest Sea, it was named 'Linnan'."

"Kunlun Tree's effect is only a mediocre enhancement of wood element abilities, but the mutated Linnan Divine-Given Seed's effect is granting wood element talent. Its blossom-fruit cycle is eleven years, yielding five Kunlun Seeds."

Elemental Talent Granting! Dragon Cypress froze mid-action.

So this was once the greatest tribe of Cloud Trace Continent? Ink Orchid was left speechless.

Yellow Stem paused, then continued to explain, "This kind of Divine God-Given Seed that grants elemental talent is rather unique. There's a probability of success after consuming it."

"The blossom-fruit cycle and quantity of the Linnan Divine Tree remain constant, but as it evolves and grows, the probability of success increases. Kunlun Seeds produced at the high-level stage have less than a 10% success rate in granting wood element talent; at the Mountain Lord Level, the chance rises to around 25%; Lord-Level to about 35%; King-Level to about 45%; and breaking through King-Level, the success rate soars to about 65%."

Ink Orchid: "So powerful!"

Dragon Cypress: "Impressive~"

Ink Orchid: "We need to figure out a way to get Source Stones!"

Dragon Cypress: "Once we have Source Stones, we can prioritize awakening the Linnan Divine Tree."

Yellow Stem gently waggled his tentacles but did not directly refute them.

Dragon Cypress sped up his counting, sorting out origin force food worth 11,000 Source Stones.

Once everything was tidy, Yellow Stem led the way out of the treasury.

They stood at the three-way intersection of the passage.

Yellow Stem raised a foreleg, pointing downwards, and said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, it's not that I won't take you down to see for yourselves. It's just that the souls of the three Divine Trees—Huagi, Quandong, and Linnan—are still keeping a wisp of awareness as a warning, even as they sleep. Should any unknown Insect Clan Warrior outside of the Shield Grasshopper Tribe break in, they'd be startled awake from their slumber, and that would spell real trouble."

Spruce: "I haven't been down there either."

Ink Orchid: "Oh——"

Dragon Cypress: "Alright——"

Together, they returned to the Knowledge Hall.

Dragon Cypress asked, "Yellow Stem, earlier you said Cloud Trace Continent still had another fascinating story you wanted to tell Ink Orchid and me?"

Yellow Stem: "Maybe 'fascinating' isn't quite the right word. 'Tragic' would be more fitting."

Yellow Stem climbed onto the domed map, pointing at the east-central border of Cloud Trace Continent, and said, "In the last Origin Force Era on Cloud Trace Continent, a starship also crashed here, spanning about this location. What's more, the passage was wide open, allowing every Insect Clan Warrior on Cloud Trace Continent to enter the neighboring Dragon Bamboo Continent. The Flame Spider Roving Merchants especially traveled between the two continents, trading back and forth and accumulating vast fortunes."

Ink Orchid asked, "What types of warriors were there on Dragon Bamboo Continent? Weren't they all Ant Clan?"

Yellow Stem said, "Most of the information has been lost. According to legend, the Termite Clan was the strongest and ruled over Dragon Bamboo Continent. There were also Ant Clan, Bee Clan, and other Insect Tribes living there. Things were chaotic and wars were frequent, though mostly small scale…"

Yellow Stem paused, then said, "What I want to talk about is that one day, a Termite Kingdom called the 'Sky-Boring Ant Kingdom' discovered a Source Stone mine among the mountains they inhabited. In the central desert region of the continent, there's a barren mountain range stretching over two hundred kilometers—beneath it, all Source Stones, tens of billions of them."

"The Sky-Boring Ant Kingdom joined other kingdoms to secure their hold. The Ant Clan, Bee Clan, and other Insect Tribes united to attack."

"News of the fortune spread by the Flame Spider Roving Merchants to every Insect Tribe on Cloud Trace Continent. Tempted by such vast wealth, many Great Tribes were drawn in. Some backed the Termite Tribe, others sided with the Ant and Bee Clans. The war escalated rapidly—it went from a simple resource contest to a blood feud of annihilation. The battlefield spread from Dragon Bamboo Continent to Cloud Trace Continent itself. In just two years, hundreds of thousands of Insect Clan Warriors died in chaotic fighting, and countless small tribes were wiped out."

"That mountain range was called 'Crimson Vein Mountain,' and the war became known as the Disaster of Crimson Vein Mountain."

"The war spiraled out of control and alarmed the Natural God, who brought down divine punishment, stripping that entire generation—all Mountain Lord, Lord-Level, and King-Level warriors—of their abilities. The starship that connected Cloud Trace Continent and Dragon Bamboo Continent also vanished without a trace."

Dragon Cypress: "!!!"

Ink Orchid: "!!!"

Dragon Cypress: "The starship was thrown down by the Natural God, and deliberately landed in the Divine Force Barrier area."

Yellow Stem: "That's what everyone believes."

Yellow Stem: "What I mean is, Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, if you have time, you could head east and follow along the boundary barrier to see if there are any new starship passages to Dragon Bamboo Continent."

Yellow Stem: "If there are, you could search that mountain range where the massive Source Stone mine was found—there might be something left over."

Ink Orchid's eyes sparkled, turning to Dragon Cypress in excitement.

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress: "…Nice dream."

Dragon Cypress: "Maybe in the future, when there's time, we can consider going there for a look. For now, let's search within Cloud Trace Continent. I'm more curious—where are the main Source Stone mines on Cloud Trace Continent?"

Yellow Stem: "Right beneath this mountain range. There are scattered deposits, but they were surveyed long ago and fully mined out."

Yellow Stem darted across to the southeast region on the map and lay down. "There are three major Source Stone mining areas on Cloud Trace Continent. The second largest is in the southeastern part of the continent, in the barren mountains along the coast. The distribution is also sporadic. You might get lucky and find something the miners missed."

Dragon Cypress: "…A bit far!"

Yellow Stem scurried to the northernmost point on the map and said, "The third largest minefield lies in the northern mountains, where the Beast Clan Warriors are entrenched."

Dragon Cypress: "Not just far, but freezing, too…"

Dragon Cypress sighed, "My Dominating Throne has a pitiful carrying capacity. Right now, even moving 5,000 Source Stones is a struggle. Its capacity increases only slightly as my Age Period Evolution advances. No idea if breaking through to King-Level will bring a qualitative change."

Yellow Stem: "..."

Yellow Stem followed, dejected, and sighed. "From what I can see, your flight speed doesn't seem fast either."

Dragon Cypress: "It's closely tied to spiritual power—the stronger the spiritual power, the faster the flight. But this thing wasn't invented for fast travel anyway, so no matter what, it won't go that fast."

Yellow Stem: "I'd planned to awaken the East Spring Divine Tree and use Soul-Setting Fruit to help you conquer that Termite Kingdom. But as things are now… it's out of the question."

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