The southernmost end of the Giant Mountain Range is mountainous terrain. Chuisi Lake lies amidst these mountains, easy to spot. The "Blue River" named by Dragon Cypress crashes and roars as it pours into Chuisi Lake, makes a bend here, then turns from a rushing southeast flow to a calm due south direction.

Additionally, more than a dozen rivers of varying sizes feed into Chuisi Lake, forming fertile plains and forests in the surrounding area.

Around the lake are just a handful of small mountain ranges, a few peaks, and only one relatively large mountain—it's basically a sure shot when digging.

When searching along the cliffside facing the lake, it took a bit of effort, but an entrance was found.

Parallel passageways led to living caves, all of them empty.

The main spiral passageway led downward; every so often there was a fork, each heading into a separate cave.

All empty.

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid jogged down the main passage, sweeping the area with spiritual power, quickly reaching the bottom.

No Divine-Given Seed Exuviae.

No Source Stone.

No Outworld Civilization Artifact.

No miraculously preserved Tree Heart.

Nothing found—seventeen days wasted.

"Dragon Cypress, where to next? Go back to White Lotus Lake?"

"From my observation and deduction, the Night Fragrance God-Given Seed won't awaken any time soon."

"It's late autumn now, we could consider the northern roving merchant trade. Go to Huagi Mountain? Last time we left, who knows what Yellow Stem did to trigger that wild Origin Force Fluctuation. Aren't you curious?"

"Not curious. I'm not silly enough to let curiosity drag me around."

Ink Orchid: "???"

Ink Orchid: "...Me neither."

Ink Orchid was a bit irritated, "Then Xiaoyang Mountain? Shall we dig open the ruins first and have a look?"

Dragon Cypress: "Up to you."

Up to me? You've obviously already decided where to go.

Ink Orchid tilted her head and shot a sidelong, cold glance.

The Dominating Throne lifted off, heading north.

...

Steep mountain ranges.

Evergreen arbor trees, gold-red leaves of Cotinus, and yellow withered ones.

Clusters of green, red, and yellow streaked through the landscape, layers clear and distinct.

Eagles and hawks soared in the blue sky; sheep and deer roamed the woods in herds.

Between two ridges, a long, narrow lake appeared; on both banks stood a golden forest made of poplars.

The Dominating Throne was descending slowly, preparing to dock lakeside, when Ink Orchid's sharp eyes caught something. She suddenly pointed her claw into the distance, "Dragon Cypress! Over there!"

Dragon Cypress focused his gaze. Under the cliff, amidst grass and vines, a patch of incongruent white.

You can actually spot that?

Dragon Cypress was speechless, steering the Dominating Throne closer, accelerating, sliding sideways to approach.

Overgrown with weeds and vines, the sliding door from a Starship wreck was half buried in dirt.

A door painted white.

Dragon Cypress tapped on it with his claw and instantly recognized it as the lightweight Primordial Energy Metal often used by Outworld Civilizations.

The black frame most likely forged by a Metal System King-Level Insect Clan Warrior, crafted using Metal Ability and ability solidification—enduring for ten thousand years without decay.

This used to be the territory of the Blue Beetle Tribe, who possessed Metal System Elemental Talent. The Huagi Knowledge Hall records state they once mastered the skill of removing Starship doors, taking every removable door inside, and transporting them all back to Xiaoyang Mountain.

Turns out it's true!

Ink Orchid leapt off the Throne before anyone else, hurried up to inspect, then shouted in delight:

"Dragon Cypress! No lock!"

Dragon Cypress landed the Throne smoothly, walked over to take a look—indeed, there was no lock. It wasn't just unlocked, the original lock had been removed. A King-Level Blue Beetle Warrior had attached two easy-to-pull handles using Metal Ability.

"We can open it! Clear out the dirt in front!"

"Alright!"

Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid began digging with their claws.

The cave entrance door was about four meters wide and three meters high.

Over the years, more than a meter of loose soil had piled up at the entrance; it was easy to clear, and they opened it quickly.

Claw tips hooked on the handles; with a bit of effort, the door loosened and was easily pulled open.

Inside was a spacious lobby.

It wasn't empty—at the back stood a glossy black metal statue, a Blue Beetle Warrior, nearly four meters long.

On both the left and right stood two metal doors.

"Wow!" Ink Orchid cheered and dashed left.

Dragon Cypress followed.

A single door—originally with a lock, but now swapped for a handle.

It slid open easily.

Behind the door, a wide horizontal passage.

Walked forward about ten meters; on the left side, a single door—opened it, and behind was a cave, probably Blue Beetle Warrior living quarters.

Inside, a lobby, with two small caves branching off—probably a bedroom and storage room.

Empty.

Another ten meters ahead, right side, again a single door—behind was a spacious lobby with two small caves.

Kept moving, ten more meters, a door appeared on the left again...

Upon closer inspection, each door had an engraved code above it.

Most impressive of all, every room had a round hole with a metal pipe from a Starship.

Air currents flowed through those pipes, in and out.

Ingenious ventilation design, still functioning to this day!

"I get it now!"

Ink Orchid suddenly understood, "Dragon Cypress, they're imitating the internal layout of a Starship!"

Dragon Cypress: "...Yes. Imitating."

Ink Orchid looked down the deep passageway and said, "This is the Blue Beetle Warriors' communal living area! Located in the upper-mid mountain, stretching north along the range."

Ink Orchid: "The treasures should be on the other side, south!"

"Smart!" Dragon Cypress spun around and returned to the entry hall.

Ink Orchid rushed to pull open the hall's righthand door and dashed inside.

Once again, a horizontal cave corridor.

A door every four or five meters.

Opening each, they found individual caves with neatly stacked, cut-up pieces of Divine-Given Seed Exuviae.

Sure enough, this was the Treasury Area.

On close inspection, they turned out to be Exuviae of some poplar Divine-Given Seed.

They checked room after room—all the same stuff.

Still further ahead, more than a hundred rooms in total, storing Exuviae of at least three Wild God-Given Seeds, far more than needed, no longer rare at all.

Past that point, the rooms were empty again.

The Blue Beetle Tribe had once been rich and powerful.

Perfectly straight corridors ran for a kilometer; at the end, the passage turned downward, where another wide, straight horizontal tunnel appeared, with tidy rows of treasury rooms.

Unfortunately, all empty.

No Source Stone as Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid had hoped. No Tree Heart, nor any other Outworld Civilization Artifact.

"Dragon Cypress, can you dismantle doors?" Ink Orchid's gaze shifted to a door.

"I can't—" Dragon Cypress was crestfallen.

According to the Huagi Mountain map, Xiaoyang Mountain had housed about five thousand Blue Beetle Tribal Warriors, controlled five Source Stone Mines big and small, with more warriors scattered across other peaks. The tribe's Insect Population once totaled over twenty thousand, ranking among the top clans on Cloud Trace Continent.

And yet all that remained were Divine-Given Remains and metal doors.

Every door had been pried off a Starship by ancestral Blue Beetles. Perhaps fearing their own doors would be dismantled again, they reinforced their installation.

Metal System Ability–made door frames were jammed into the rock walls, unbreakable. The doors themselves were firmly secured, cleverly fixed to allow opening and closing while making removal impossible.

Seeing Ink Orchid droop her tentacles in frustration, Dragon Cypress consoled, "Ghost Fan has awakened Metal System Ability. When Ghost Fan evolves to King Level, we'll bring him here and he'll dismantle every last one."

Ink Orchid: "By the time he's Insect King, would he even care about these broken doors?"

Dragon Cypress: "Perfect ones could be shipped to the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent—fetching tens of thousands of Source Stones each."

"Oh!" Ink Orchid's tentacles twitched; she did some mental math, cheered up, and chimed in, "Bring Ghost Fan! Tear them all down!"

Dragon Cypress waved a claw, "Let's go back to the Throne and rest for now!"

...

The Dominating Throne docked by the lake. After eating and drinking their fill, resting half a day, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid entered the ruins again.

They carefully checked the Blue Beetle statue in the hall—nothing found.

Again, they entered the living area, following the corridors: Dragon Cypress checked the left, Ink Orchid the right, opening each room one by one.

Empty.

Empty.

Still empty...

"Dragon Cypress!"

At the corridor's end, Ink Orchid—who'd been running in front—shouted back, her message tinged with a little sadness on the spiritual level.

Dragon Cypress unleashed his full spiritual power, sweeping the area.

A sliding door, opening onto a circular hall about 20 meters in diameter, with metal walls covered in patterns and symbols.

At the center, the corpse of an Insect Clan Warrior, nothing left but an empty shell—dead too long ago, all six legs and tentacles had already fallen off.

Ink Orchid reached out with her claw, trying to lift the carapace. With a crunching noise, the remaining shell crumbled.

Ink Orchid jerked her claw back in a flash, suddenly anxious and at a loss as she watched the carapace collapse into fragments at her feet.

"Dragon Cypress—" Ink Orchid called reflexively.

"It's alright. We'll use a Spider Silk Bag to carry it out and give this elder a proper burial." Dragon Cypress reassured, quickening his pace to join her.

Suddenly, Ink Orchid's emotions surged. She pointed her claw at the scattered fragments and cried out, "Dragon Cypress! There's something!"

"Something?" Dragon Cypress swept the area again with spiritual power and made a discovery.

A large, blue-green "bird egg" shimmering with metallic luster.

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