Yellow Stem raised his claw, pointing at the cave's domed ceiling, and said, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, look up there—it's a map of the Cloud Trace Continent drawn by the ancestors of our Shield Grasshopper Tribe."

Yellow Stem fluttered his wings and took off, landing on the cave's ceiling. Pointing to a spot, he said, "Huagi Mountain is right here. Where is the Xianglan Mountain where you two live?"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid's attention was immediately drawn over.

The map was etched using black, white, red, green, and yellow, the colors set deep into the stone. Even after more than four thousand years, they remained vivid, the markings embossed and sunken, with the range of mountains, rivers, plains, and forests clearly delineated.

Studying it closely and discerning north, south, east, and west, they saw that Huagi Mountain was situated along a vast, north-south mountain range.

Looking southward, they quickly found a great mountain spine winding southwest, reaching all the way to the Divine Force Barrier.

The continent's overall geography had hardly changed.

Dragon Cypress fluttered up and, following suit, landed on the ceiling, tapping gently with his antennae, "Xianglan Mountain is here!"

"Wow! Dragon Cypress, this is an actual map—even I can read it! What was that thing you made in the dining hall—just circles and lines, only you could make sense of it."

Ink Orchid was delighted, quickly finding Xianglan Mountain's location, letting her gaze wander up and down along the Divine Force Barrier, searching, and then wondering aloud:

"Why isn't there a Starship Wreckage Passage marked…"

That's right! Dragon Cypress thought rapidly and said, "The Starship Wreckage must have fallen from the Outworld during the Origin Force Silent Period. Otherwise, would you and I have gotten shares in the Cold Orchid Mountain Treasury?"

"True~" Ink Orchid buzzed her wings, flying over to a plain and landing. "Yellow Stem, Spruce, look, this is the Purple Tung Insect Nation!"

Yellow Stem and Spruce's attention was immediately drawn in that direction.

Yellow Stem: "That used to be the homeland of the Mud Bee Tribe."

Spruce: "It was a great, flourishing place."

Yellow Stem examined the various map icons carefully and said, "Its name should be 'Light Leaf Mountain'. The Insect Clan Warriors gathered there numbered no more than a thousand or so—not even in the same league as the Huagi Mountain of our Shield Grasshopper Tribe."

"Er—"

"Impressive—"

Dragon Cypress crawled over, studying the dense variety of symbols, attempting to decipher the meaning behind each one.

"Yellow Stem—" Ink Orchid suddenly sped toward the southeast area of the map, asking, "Is this a vast desert?"

Yellow Stem responded with a question: "Semi-desert land. Is there something wrong?"

Ink Orchid: "No—"

Ink Orchid: "What do the wavy lines beside it mean? A lake? Or the ocean?"

Yellow Stem: "The ocean."

Ink Orchid: "It's ocean to both the east and the south. There should be plenty of rainfall, so why is it a semi-desert?"

Yellow Stem: "I don't really understand it either. This was charted by the Shield Grasshopper Tribe ancestors after direct investigation, based on local conditions."

Yellow Stem: "Ink Orchid, have you and Dragon Cypress ever been there? Could it be, the climate changed here during the Origin Force Silent Period?"

Ink Orchid: "No—"

Dragon Cypress circled down and landed, looking up, scanning with both his gaze and spiritual power, and locating one by one all the known Origin Force Points so far.

Sure enough, Black Lotus Lake used to be a prosperous place, jointly managed by a Stealth Beetle Tribe and Dragonfly Tribe. There were Lotus, Willow, and Maple Poplar imprints, indicating those plants were being specially cultivated there.

And to the south, Scarletlight Mountain was being managed by some Sand Cricket Small Tribe, mainly cultivating Mangoes and Golden Light Fruit.

The other Lands of Origin Force also had Insect Clan markers, but they were all small, undistinguished tribes—these symbols densely dotted the map.

After a brief comparison, it was confirmed that the presence of Origin Force Points was not directly linked to the size or wealth of a tribe.

Dragon Cypress gave up on the idea of tracking down Origin Force Points just by using this detailed map of Cloud Trace Continent drawn by the Shield Grasshopper Tribe ancestors.

But Yellow Stem suggested, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, since you two can use the Dominating Throne to cross Origin Force Vacuum Zones, why not follow the map's guidance, visit the Great Tribes' lands, and take a look? Who knows, you might find something worthwhile."

Ink Orchid exclaimed, "Yes! They might have left similar ruins, maybe some Outworld Civilization Artifacts are preserved too!"

Dragon Cypress's mind spun a couple rounds, then he praised, "Makes sense! There might be some top-level plants they cultivated still remaining!"

Yellow Stem: "..."

With a half-joking air, Yellow Stem said, "Consider the map a freebie—if you find a treasury, be sure to save a share for me and Spruce."

"Of course!"

"Definitely!"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid agreed cheerfully.

Ink Orchid also circled and glided down to the ground, standing as she looked up at the map, carefully memorizing the locations marked as prosperous Great Tribe settlements.

...

The Knowledge Hall of the Shield Grasshopper Tribe—mapping was only one part of the ceiling.

The surrounding stone walls were scrawled with multi-colored paintings, vividly recording how the various Insect Clans built their territories, altered nature, cultivated plants, mined ores, and applied special abilities to create tools that made production and daily life easier, and much more.

Most numerous were the plant cultivation techniques, with details down to every plant species.

...

Much, much later, Dragon Cypress withdrew his spiritual power. "Yellow Stem, Spruce, what about the Outworld Civilization Artifact that preserves Origin Force Food…"

"Oh! Downstairs. Follow me."

Yellow Stem led the way, entering an entrance at the center of the 'Knowledge Hall'.

A spiraling downward passage.

This too had been reinforced by a King-Level Insect Clan Warrior wielding Earth System Abilities; the smooth stone walls were etched with countless images, depicting the savage scenes of Insect Clan Warriors battling one another.

"Our Shield Grasshopper Tribe is not fond of war, but since we possess vast wealth, we're sure to attract the greedy gaze of other insects. We never dare to be careless and are ever vigilant against conflict. These murals record the massive wars that once broke out on the Cloud Trace Continent, as well as the fighting styles and methods of other tribes…"

Yellow Stem briefly explained.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid walked on, examining as they went.

The sloped tunnel gradually leveled out. Always along the left side and at regular intervals of four or five meters, a branching trapezoidal tunnel would appear. A sweep of spiritual power revealed that each of these branching passages led to a hemispherical cave about ten meters in diameter, all now completely empty.

Yellow Stem took the initiative to explain: "Back then, every one of these small tunnels led to a treasury holding Source Stones. The entire mountain's interior was hollowed out and packed with Source Stones. Our ancestors amassed more wealth than could be counted… But over the lengthy Origin Force Silent Period, those Source Stones were gradually depleted."

Yellow Stem: "Dragon Cypress Ant King, Ink Orchid, if you go treasure hunting in other Great Tribe territories, you should have a chance to find Source Stones."

Dragon Cypress: "Let's hope so."

Ink Orchid: "Yay!"

Dragon Cypress asked tentatively, "There are also all kinds of odd symbols carved on these murals. Do those all mean different things?"

Yellow Stem: "That's right."

Dragon Cypress: "There must be over a thousand symbols—how do you know what they mean? Is it passed down generation by generation?"

Yellow Stem: "Of course. When you're a Primary Warrior, there's about three years of study, memorizing what every symbol means."

So, has the Shield Grasshopper Tribe really never broken its line of inheritance for even a single generation? That shouldn't be possible under normal conditions. It must be related to that 'second method' Yellow Stem mentioned, but didn't detail.

Since he didn't want to talk about it, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid didn't press further.

Yellow Stem took the initiative to ask, "Dragon Cypress Ant King, the passageway through the Starship Wreckage you took to trade with the Flame Spider Roving Merchants—can you get Source Stones in exchange?"

Dragon Cypress: "Yes, but Source Stones are heavy, so the caravans can only help ship a limited amount every year."

Yellow Stem: "You and Ink Orchid have Divine-Given Seeds? Then you must be thinking about reaching Evolution Lord Level, or even King-Level? You'll need a lot of Source Stones then."

Dragon Cypress: "We're doing our best to save up."

Yellow Stem was especially interested in the Source Stones.

Dragon Cypress said, "If the supply falls short, I'll consider spending some resources to hire a caravan to move Source Stones in bulk."

"You can do that?" Yellow Stem's excitement was hard to hide, but he quickly suppressed it and asked:

"What does it cost?"

Dragon Cypress replied casually, "Just a commission, really. For example, for every 10,000 Source Stones shipped, you pay the caravan 1,000 as their fee."

Yellow Stem: "..."

Yellow Stem: "That price is pretty steep—not easy for any insect to swallow."

Dragon Cypress: "Indeed, it's expensive. But there's no choice—Cloud Trace Continent is right next to the Ten Thousand Nations Continent, ruled by the Ant and Bee Clans. Danger everywhere. Flame Spider Roving Merchants below Mountain Lord Level almost never go there…"

The spiral passage wound down endlessly.

They walked and talked along the way.

By Dragon Cypress's estimation, they'd reached the mid-level of the mountain range when Yellow Stem stopped in front of a wide, straight branching passage.

"We're here."

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