Dragon Cypress led Ink Orchid, slipping into the Starship Passage that spanned the continent, and tried walking a short distance ahead. Pointing at a guiding mark left on the wall by the Flame Spider clan, he said:
"Ink Orchid, here—this is the inside of the Starship. Every so often, there's one of these marks with double-headed arrows. They guide the way back and forth through the passage."
"The Starship is massive. There are countless corridors of all sizes, running up and down, left and right, crisscrossing in every direction. You mustn't wander aimlessly; if you get lost, you could be trapped inside forever."
"Oh~" Ink Orchid looked around in awe, lifted her Catching Feet and tapped on the peeling, painted metal wall, and asked:
"Dragon Cypress, is this metal?"
Dragon Cypress: "This is Primordial Energy Metal, made by Outworld Civilization. Super light mass, extremely high strength—even Insect Kings with awakened Metal System Abilities can barely damage it."
"Melde, who once took me to travel the continent, had a storage box made from this metal. She kept her most precious treasures inside. The box was locked with a mechanical code, and only she knew the password. Even if another insect stole it, they'd be unable to open it."
"Really? That sounds amazing…"
Ink Orchid wasn't convinced and tried hard to scrape the metal wall with the sharp tips of her Catching Feet, only to find that she couldn't even peel away a flake of the mottled, decaying white coating on the surface.
"So strong!"
Ink Orchid scraped earnestly with her toe tips, sincerely impressed, then asked, "Dragon Cypress, how long is the passage? How long will it take to get to the Ten Thousand Nations Continent you mentioned?"
Dragon Cypress: "Pretty far. Flying down the passage, it'll take about half a day."
Ink Orchid, full of hope, said, "Shall we go have a look?"
Dragon Cypress hesitated slightly, then agreed, "Let's go have a look."
...
Most of the passage was quite wide; Dragon Cypress flew ahead, leading the way.
Ink Orchid flapped her wings a few times and found Dragon Cypress's pace too slow, so she started hopping and running to keep up from behind.
In just half a day, they arrived at the exit on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent side, quickly passing through the earthen passage to reach the surface.
"Woah!"
Ink Orchid exclaimed, quickly glanced around, fluttered her wings to fly up the slope, and stood at a high point, gazing in all directions.
"Dragon Cypress! The Origin Force is so rich on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent. There must be lots of Divine-Given Seeds, right?"
Dragon Cypress: "..."
This little mantis is really obsessed with Divine-Given Seeds, huh~ Dragon Cypress was speechless.
In an Origin Force environment, ordinary animals, plants, and insects all have a tiny chance of producing Origin Force Life.
For instance, Ant Clan Ant Kings, Mantis Warriors, Flame Spider Roving Merchants, and the like—all of them are born from common ants, mantises, and flame spiders, but it takes millions or tens of millions to get a single one.
The same goes for plants,
The so-called 'Divine-Given Seed' is an ordinary plant whose seed is inherently an Origin Force Plant. The probability is even lower—extremely slim, much lower than for animals; because they're so rare, they're considered a blessing from the Natural God, and thus called 'Divine-Given Seed'.
Divine-Given Seeds, when further incubated as Life Seeds within the Insect Clan's Life Pouch, gain a huge boost in evolution potential; the Origin Force Fruit they yield is far richer in Origin Force than ordinary Life Seed Plants, and the associated strengthening effects are much greater too.
Accordingly, the Origin Force Fruit produced by Divine-Given Seeds can fetch astronomical prices.
However, the chance of finding such a thing is just too tiny. Searching the vast jungle, the chances of finding even one are close to none.
Every autumn and winter, countless insects venture into the forests to look, but those who truly find one are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Dragon Cypress never harbored any illusions about this, and didn't like to discuss it.
Seeing Dragon Cypress fall silent, Ink Orchid lifted her forefoot and pointed at the patch of sparse vegetation at the foot of the hill and asked:
"Dragon Cypress, is that where the Flame Spider Caravan gathers?"
Dragon Cypress: "Yes. Every spring, when all the flowers are in bloom, the Diaphus Flame Spider Caravan entering the Ten Thousand Nations Continent gathers here."
Dragon Cypress explained simply: "Different caravans travel different routes and trade for different kinds of Origin Force Food. They exchange goods here, filling gaps in each other's stock and enriching their variety."
"So they only come in spring? But it's winter now…"
Changing the subject, Ink Orchid suggested, "Dragon Cypress, let's go look for Divine-Given Seeds together!"
Dragon Cypress: "..."
In a stern tone, Dragon Cypress cautioned, "Ink Orchid, this area is for the Diaphus Flame Spider Caravan only. It's fine for us to observe from the hill, but everywhere else belongs to the Lychee Ant King's territory, and he's a Lord-level Patterned Fierce Ant King! There are always Soldier Ants patrolling nearby, hunting for food. If we're spotted, we're done for."
Patterned Fierce Ant!
Lord-level Ant King!
Just like Mantis Warriors, Ant Clan Ant Kings are divided into Primary-Level, Mid-Level, High-Level, Mountain Lord, Lord, and Insect King—six major ranks of evolution.
Lord is already at the very top, and this one is even a ferocious Fierce Ant.
Ink Orchid had awakened quite a bit of inherited memory regarding the Ant Clan, and hearing this, felt a bit fearful, and asked, not quite resigned, "Dragon Cypress, what if we walk along the edge of the Divine Force Barrier? Would that still not work?"
Dragon Cypress: "No way!"
Dragon Cypress: "There are a lot of Ant Clan about. Even though it's winter, they'll have surely sent Soldier Ants out… to search for Divine-Given Seeds."
Worried about Ink Orchid, Dragon Cypress added, "Territorial struggles are fierce here on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent, and Ant Kings are constantly fighting each other. So all Ant Kingdoms immediately attack any outsider Insect Clan trespassing in their territory."
Ink Orchid: "I understand…"
Ink Orchid: "So, Dragon Cypress, where should we go now?"
Dragon Cypress: "We can only stand up here on the hill and watch. We can't go anywhere else."
Ink Orchid: "Oh…"
Ink Orchid stood in silence for a while, then fluttered her wings and circled low around the hill, before landing at the mouth of a slope-side cave.
Dragon Cypress followed behind.
"Dragon Cypress, are we heading back?"
"Let's go back for now. Next spring, when we come again, I'll introduce you to the Diaphus Flame Spider Caravan."
...
The round trip wasted a whole day.
After sending off Ink Orchid, Dragon Cypress rested a bit, then stayed up late into the night, continuing to build the ant nest.
Early the next morning,
Dragon Cypress was resting at the entrance of the cave.
As expected, Ink Orchid showed up again.
"Dragon Cypress, did you finish digging your ant nest yet?"
"Not yet. Still needs a few more days."
Ink Orchid gently set a segment of bamboo tube held in her forefoot before Dragon Cypress.
"Dragon Cypress, Origin Force Food—this is for you."
"!!!"
Dragon Cypress perked up in an instant.
"Thank you."
Dragon Cypress waved her tentacles politely and opened the plugged straw at the mouth of the tube—exactly ten seeds!
Plump, brimming with Origin Force, and excellent in quality.
From this, it was clear that Ink Orchid was managing her territory well, and the Origin Force Concentration on her home hill was surely much richer than the poor little barren hill Dragon Cypress inhabited.
Still, as a Life Seed, the yield from an orchid—an herbaceous plant—must be quite low.
"Ink Orchid, you're giving me so much. What about yourself?"
Dragon Cypress felt a little bad.
"I've already eaten lots!"
Ink Orchid also felt a bit embarrassed and, annoyed with herself, said:
"My territory's Orchid Seeds this year are all gone now. When the caravan comes in spring, I won't have any more Origin Force Food to trade with them."
"It's good enough just to be self-sufficient…"
"Ink Orchid, thank you for your gift."
Dragon Cypress stuffed the bamboo tube closed again with straw.
"Ink Orchid, wait a moment."
Dragon Cypress ducked into the storage chamber, emptied a Spider Silk Bag, and dragged it out of the nest.
"This Spider Silk Bag's woven by the Diaphus Flame Spider clan. It can block water and fire and bind Origin Force."
"Ink Orchid. This is for you. Next year, you can store all your orchid seeds in here, and they'll keep for a very, very long time."
With a crisp sound, Dragon Cypress opened the bag's mouth, then sealed it again, demonstrating how to use it for Ink Orchid.
"Wow!"
"So pretty!"
"So awesome!"
"Thank you, Dragon Cypress!"
Ink Orchid exclaimed with joy, cheered, and took the Spider Silk Bag, holding it up and admiring it with delight.
Showing up first thing in the morning to bring Origin Force Food was clearly in hopes that Dragon Cypress would give something in return—like a small, fair, colorful, beautiful Spider Silk Bag.
Her wish fulfilled, Ink Orchid was over the moon, but also afraid that Dragon Cypress might regret it.
"Dragon Cypress, you get back to work. I'm off to keep looking for Divine-Given Seeds. I'll stop by when I come back this afternoon and chat some more."
With that, she hurried off with her Spider Silk Bag.
Just a Spider Silk Bag, is it really worth all that? Dragon Cypress stood dumbfounded for a moment, then pulled the straw out of the bamboo tube again, took out the orchid seeds, and carried them one by one into the nest chamber.
PS: Easygoing "farming," exploration, and management, slow pace, sixteen-year-old girl being cute—please add to favorites and keep reading ฅ(̳•◡•̳)ฅ