Dragon Cypress rested for two days before he recovered from his poor physical condition. He then activated the "Messenger" function of the Dominating Throne to start incubating the second Ant Egg.
A new problem arose: the winter temperature was low, and the development of the first Ant Egg he had incubated was extremely slow.
Dragon Cypress began to excavate mountain stone, drilling deep into the mountain. Following the instructions from his Inherited Memory, he created a warm, moist, and clean "Hatchery."
The ant tunnels were about three centimeters in diameter, as that was the smallest the Dominating Throne could shrink.
He placed the Ant Egg on the soft pad of the Throne, which could provide ample Origin Force to help the egg develop and hatch.
The Hatchery was designed to be hemispherical, with a height and diameter both exceeding ten centimeters.
The overall workload was quite significant.
Dragon Cypress entered a busy state of labor.
「That morning」
As he was running out of the nest's entrance with a mouthful of broken stones, his Heavenly Eye keenly sensed a change in the nearby light and shadows. He instinctively looked up, only to see a beautiful figure streaking overhead.
It was a mantis with wings nearly half a meter wide.
Its carapace was vibrant and brightly colored—a warrior of the Flower Mantis Clan!
The Flower Mantis Warrior also noticed the anomaly below. It quickly turned back, landing four or five meters away from the entrance.
The two of them faced each other.
The carapace of the Flower Mantis Warrior was a gradient of white, pinkish-white, and light green—majestic and elegant, like a blooming orchid.
Dragon Cypress searched his Inherited Memory and recognized it: a rare Orchid Mantis.
Why would there be an Orchid Mantis Warrior here?
Mantises are naturally much larger than the Ant Clan. The opponent was just over twenty centimeters long, definitely a Primary Warrior, around the 8th or 9th Age Period.
While Dragon Cypress was sizing up and evaluating his opponent, the Flower Mantis Warrior was also tilting its head, curiously staring at him.
"Ant Clan?" the Flower Mantis Warrior communicated somewhat awkwardly with Mental Power.
"Giant-Headed Ant," Dragon Cypress replied.
At first, he suspected it might be a messenger sent by some Caravan to investigate the Origin Force fluctuations on Cloud Trace Continent. However, this guess was immediately dismissed after their brief exchange.
The Flame Spider Caravan traveled between the Ten Thousand Nations Continent and the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent, with the "insect population trade" being one of its significant sources of profit. Having followed a Caravan for a year, Dragon Cypress was very familiar with their operations. It was impossible for a Caravan to bring an 8th or even 9th Age Period Flower Mantis Warrior. Insect Clan Warriors at this stage of growth required at least two to three years to mature. Consequently, any Life Seeds they incubated would have already been sown, sprouted, and grown to a considerable size, making them difficult to relocate and unable to migrate long distances. Thus, it couldn't be from a Caravan.
Furthermore, it was impossible for an Orchid Mantis to survive on the Ten Thousand Nations Continent, which was dominated by the Ant and Bee Clans. Therefore, only one possibility remained: it had been born on Cloud Trace Continent and had survived there alone.
From just one sentence of conversation, Dragon Cypress had already made a judgment about the origin of the Flower Mantis Warrior.
He also keenly perceived the warrior's current emotions: no hostility, some instinctive vigilance, abundant curiosity, and a mix of surprise and joy.
"Are you a Male Ant?" the Flower Mantis Warrior asked after pondering for a while.
"That's right," Dragon Cypress answered.
"Are these three cypress saplings your Life Seeds?"
"It's obvious."
"The Origin Force here is very thin."
"Yes."
"And you don't have the protection of your Tribe elders?"
"Hmm—"
That too is apparent, Dragon Cypress thought, reluctantly answering truthfully.
I definitely can't beat a twenty-centimeter-long Flower Mantis Warrior. My Life Seeds are right here; there's no chance to escape. My only option is to try and avoid conflict.
Dragon Cypress took the initiative to introduce himself, "My name is Dragon Cypress, and that sapling there is the Dragon Cypress sapling, my first Life Seed Plant."
Dragon Cypress then asked, "What is your name?"
"Oh—" The Flower Mantis Warrior pondered, then countered, "Ink Orchid? My first Life Seed is Ink Orchid, so my name should be Ink Orchid!"
Dragon Cypress was speechless. Ink Orchid? Could an insect really choose such an underwhelming plant as its Life Seed?
Dragon Cypress probed, "What about your second Life Seed?"
Ink Orchid replied, "The second, third, and fourth Life Seeds are all very beautiful Stone Orchids."
"..." Dragon Cypress was left speechless again.
This was the consequence of lacking guidance from clan elders. A newly emerged warrior knew very little. They would encounter plant seeds and, deeming them suitable, would choose them casually, completely unaware that the selection of Life Seeds determined the future income of their Territory and was a paramount matter concerning their evolution and growth.
This Flower Mantis Warrior is already a lost cause.
But still... A thought struck Dragon Cypress—something wasn't right.
Primary Flower Mantis Warriors only had a lifespan of about fifteen years.
In his Perception, this Ink Orchid fellow seemed very young. So how had it evolved to the eighth or ninth Age Period?
Dragon Cypress tentatively asked, "I'm almost two years old. How old are you?"
Ink Orchid tilted its head to think, pondered for a good while, then uncertainly replied, "Four years old? Or maybe five?"
Dragon Cypress was silent. It can't even remember its own age clearly?
Dragon Cypress asked again, "Is the Origin Force in your Territory very abundant?"
Ink Orchid replied, "Yes. Only the mountain peak where I live has abundant Origin Force; other places are very barren."
Ink Orchid lifted a Catching Foot, pointed towards the east where the sun was just beginning to rise, and said, "Fly in that direction, and there's almost no Origin Force."
"'Yes...'" Dragon Cypress responded, his mind racing as he continued to probe with a barrage of questions, "Where do you live? Is it far? What brings you to such a barren mountaintop? Are you foraging? Or are you taking advantage of the winter to look for excellent plant species for a Life Seed?"
Ink Orchid lifted a foreleg, pointed south, and answered each question, "I live over there; it's quite a distance from here. I came to find Divine-Given Seeds! Of course, I'm also searching for orchid varieties not found in my own Territory."
Divine-Given Seeds?
"'Divine-Given Seeds couldn't possibly be born in such a barren Origin Force environment,'" Dragon Cypress kindly reminded it. He was speechless for two seconds, then said, "I'm a Primary Ant King in my fifth Age Period. What Age Period are you in?"
Ink Orchid replied, "Ninth Age Period."
Dragon Cypress asked, "Did you choose orchids for all eight of your Life Seeds?"
Ink Orchid said, "Yes, I did. Do you like orchids too?"
Dragon Cypress remained silent. I don't like orchids, he thought. I just think you're bound to be poor in the future.
Herbaceous plants grow quickly. Orchid Seeds, when sown as Life Seeds, produce Origin Force Food in their second year, and by the third year, the yield is quite substantial. However, their future growth potential is limited. Ten to twenty years later, their output will be far surpassed by Arbors.
Seeing Dragon Cypress not responding, Ink Orchid changed the topic, asking, "Dragon Cypress, do you like cypress trees?"
Dragon Cypress did not directly answer. Instead, he said, "Choosing Arbors like cypress and pine as Life Seeds will result in tall plants that produce more Origin Force Food in the future."
"Hmm. Is that so? But..." Ink Orchid tilted its head to ponder and asked, "Aren't orchids pretty?"
Dragon Cypress said, "Quite pretty."
Ink Orchid continued, "I have planted many orchids on the mountain. When they are in full bloom, they are especially beautiful and fragrant."
Dragon Cypress had even learned insincerity from the Flame Spider Caravan, so he hypocritically agreed, "That's right. Orchids are very beautiful, and their fragrance is quite bewitching to insects."
"Yes, indeed!" Ink Orchid was overjoyed. It instinctively flapped its wings, leaped two or three meters high, then glided down, inching closer to the entrance of Dragon Cypress's burrow.
"Actually, cypress trees aren't bad either," Ink Orchid conveyed a comforting thought with Telekinesis while sneakily scanning the burrow's interior with its Mental Power.
"Dragon Cypress, are you digging a hole?"
"'Eh, what's that?'" Ink Orchid suddenly became excited and inquired curiously.
"What?" Dragon Cypress became wary.
Ink Orchid gestured with two Catching Feet, saying, "Colorful, filled with food inside..."
It turned out the brightly colored Spider Silk Bag had caught its attention.
Dragon Cypress heaved a sigh of relief and answered, "Spider Silk Bags. Woven by the Dulai Flame Spider Clan; this is their Racial Talent."
"Oh! Right." Ink Orchid recalled something. It searched its Inherited Memory and quickly remembered everything, then asked doubtfully, "Roving Merchants from the Dulai Flame Spider Clan? I've never seen them. Are there other Insect Clan Warriors nearby? I haven't seen a single one."
"Dragon Cypress, have any Dulai Flame Spiders passed through your Territory? Could you introduce me? I can trade Origin Force Food with them!"
Ink Orchid was thrilled, excited, and hopeful, subconsciously spreading its orchid-like wings.
Dragon Cypress bowed his head in silence.
This Flower Mantis Warrior, born on Cloud Trace Continent, had grown up alone until now and had probably never encountered other insects before. Without the protection of Tribe elders, it didn't even clearly understand its own situation.
It, too, was a poor, solitary creature.
"Ink Orchid..." Dragon Cypress uttered its name for the first time, his tone grave. "This continent is called Cloud Trace Continent. As you know, heading east leads to a land devoid of Origin Force, a barren and impoverished place where Origin Force Life cannot survive."
"In fact, Cloud Trace Continent is in an Origin Force Silent Period. Here, there might only be you and me, perhaps a few other Insect Clan Warriors, but certainly very, very few. We are the forgotten..."
Dragon Cypress lifted a forefoot, pointed towards the sky-piercing Divine Force Barrier, then drew a circle on the ground with his forefoot. "The world we live in is a vast sphere, a planet," he explained. "Natural Gods use these Divine Force Barriers to divide continents. This is the equator..."
Dragon Cypress then recounted Melde's theory of continental division and his own conjectures about the Origin Force cycle's Silent Periods to Ink Orchid. He also revealed the existence of the Starship Wreckage passage and his own origins.