"Dragon Cypress, are you tired?"
"A bit tired..."
"Then you should quickly drink some hot water!"
"Okay..."
Every evening when they stopped to rest, Ink Orchid would take out her water pot, use Origin Force to create fresh water, heat it, and fill a Bamboo Tube for Dragon Cypress.
"Ink Orchid, after resting for the night, we should head back tomorrow morning." Dragon Cypress took a sip of hot water and bent his head to groom his tentacles.
"Back again?" Ink Orchid had already found an Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot. Though she had been without success for a long time, her enthusiasm remained high. "Dragon Cypress, didn't you prepare plenty of food for the ant colony? Let's keep looking."
Dragon Cypress sighed. "We've searched up and down the great river for so long without any trace. Thinking about it carefully, there are only two possibilities. First, the Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot is just a single, scattered piece that you accidentally found. The second possibility..."
"Could it have come from a tributary during a flood? If so, it must be from a river on the East Coast, flowing from deep within the Cloud Trace Continent."
"Exactly! Dragon Cypress, you're so smart!" Seeing Dragon Cypress getting reluctant, Ink Orchid quickly praised him vigorously. "Then let's follow the tributaries on the East Coast."
Dragon Cypress said, "Along the way, I've been paying attention. We've searched a total of 37 tributaries, big and small. Suppose we spend four to five days on each tributary. You do the math."
"Ugh—" Ink Orchid tried to calculate, and it overwhelmed her.
Dragon Cypress continued, "Let's go back first, rest up, and then come back."
The coldest period of winter passed.
With the temperature rising, the Ink Orchid and Cold Orchid Life Seeds in Molan Territory were the first to perceive the change and sprouted Flower Swords. Ink Orchid had evolved into a Mid-Level warrior nearly a year ago. Her Common Life Seeds had shown good growth, and their blooming period had advanced.
"Ink Orchid, this will be our last long journey of exploration this year. Once spring comes, there will be a lot of work to do in our territory."
"I know, I know. Let's set off quickly." Ink Orchid urged Dragon Cypress, and they embarked on their fourth expedition.
Having determined their direction, they flew directly, taking a day and a night to reach the great river. They traveled against the river's current for a day, found a tributary, and followed it upstream all the way to the mountain at its source. Changing direction, they crossed the mountain forest heading north, searching until they found another river, which they followed downstream into the great river. Then, they continued up the great river, searching the next tributary they came across against its current.
"Dragon Cypress! Dragon Cypress!" Suddenly, Ink Orchid, who was lying on the edge of the Dominating Throne looking out, leaped up, her wings flapping vigorously at a somewhat distracted Dragon Cypress.
Dragon Cypress stood up, scanned both sides of the river below, and asked in confusion, "Did you find something? Where?"
"Origin Force Fluctuation!"
"Over there!"
"I'll go first!" Ink Orchid leaped up, her wings carrying her soaring into the air. She sped off and disappeared among the mountains.
Origin Force? I didn't feel it...
"!!!"
Dragon Cypress pushed the Dominating Throne to ascend higher and accelerate forward. After flying for some time, he finally faintly sensed the Origin Force Fluctuation Ink Orchid had mentioned. A very faint concentration of Origin Force was indeed spreading from afar.
A white dot appeared in his view; Ink Orchid flew back quickly, circling the Dominating Throne.
"Dragon Cypress!"
"Found it!"
"A vast area, rich in Origin Force!"
"Over there!"
"I'll go first! Hurry over." Having said that, Ink Orchid turned and left again.
Dragon Cypress controlled the Dominating Throne, slightly adjusting direction to follow the path where Ink Orchid had disappeared. They passed through the mountains to a vast plain covered in forest. The Origin Force Fluctuation gradually became clearer. From mid-morning until twilight, under the dying sun, a low mountain range, its end visible even from high altitude, stretched before them. The Origin Force concentration wasn't as high as in their mountain territory, but it was still substantial, comparable to many areas on the Ten-thousand Tribes Continent and the Ten Thousand Nations Continent.
Ink Orchid, seeing him from a distance, rushed over, greeting him with excitement.
"Dragon Cypress! You've finally arrived!"
"I've surveyed the area. Centering on that small mountain range, the abundance of Origin Force is quite good in a large surrounding area."
"I haven't found any other Insect Clan members, nor have I seen any wild Divine-Given Seeds. We could spend a few days here, searching carefully."
Dragon Cypress simply responded, "Good!"
They had been busy for most of the winter. While they hadn't found an Outworld Civilization Artifact, discovering such a Land of Origin Force was still very satisfying.
It was getting late, so they rested under a large Great Locust Tree at the foot of the mountain.
"Dragon Cypress, drink some hot water." Ink Orchid took out her Ice-Fire Water-Making Pot, poured a Bamboo Tube for Dragon Cypress and one for herself, drinking hers with relish in one go.
"Dragon Cypress, I think we should name the territory we've discovered."
"Just think. If we come out searching every winter, we can certainly find more places like this with Origin Force. It's easier to distinguish them with names, right?"
"Right…"
Dragon Cypress proposed, "The mountain territory where we settled is planted with Divine-Given Fruit-Scented Orchid Seeds. Following continental convention, it can be named 'Xianglan Mountain.' As for this place, Ink Orchid, since you discovered it first, let's call it 'Molan Mountain.'"
"Yay!" Ink Orchid cheered, then suggested, "We should also name that big river. What do you think about calling it 'Dragon Cypress River'?"
Dragon Cypress was silent. That's not a very good name, he thought.
Dragon Cypress suggested, "How about 'Azure River,' 'Zhanjiang,' or 'Blue River'?"
Ink Orchid pondered for a moment. "Blue River! That name sounds nice!"
"Then let's call it 'Blue River'." It was just a name, nothing to fuss about, so Dragon Cypress agreed without overthinking.
Ink Orchid asked, "Dragon Cypress, are you hungry?"
Dragon Cypress replied, "A bit."
Ink Orchid said, "I'll go catch a couple of frogs."
Eating frogs again? Dragon Cypress hesitated for a while and asked, "Ink Orchid, do you have quite a prejudice against frogs?"
Ink Orchid bristled. "When I was just born, weak and small, I could only prey on grasshoppers in the grass near the river at the mountain's foot. A bunch of annoying frogs always competed with me for food! The frogs ate all the grasshoppers, so I often went hungry and even had to worry about being eaten myself."
"Later, when I grew a bit and became stronger, I specifically hunted those frogs. I observed them carefully to master my hunting techniques."
"'Um...'"
"'Impressive...'"
Dragon Cypress was speechless. You really hold a grudge, he thought.
The next day, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid split up to conduct a thorough search of the jungle. After spending half a day, Dragon Cypress had a clear understanding of the situation. The Origin Force rose from beneath the ground. It was centered around the small mountain range, covering an area roughly seven to eight kilometers long and four to five kilometers wide. The terrain was flat, the temperature suitable, and a wide river, about five or six meters across—which Ink Orchid had named 'Dragon Cypress River'—flowed through it. The abundant water resources made it an ideal spot for developing fruit orchards.
Five days of searching yielded nothing. This wasn't surprising. If plants bore fruit without any care, the fruit might be eaten by birds and beasts before even fully ripening. Only a rare few could survive to fall to the ground, where various animals that ate fruits and seeds awaited. It was the same for Insect Clan warriors. First Age Period warriors were weak. If they were unlucky or not smart enough, they would end up as prey for birds and beasts, making it almost impossible to survive independently.
Ink Orchid was a one-in-ten-thousand exception. She was inherently intelligent and extraordinarily lucky to have survived in Xianglan Mountain.
Despite the lack of tangible gains, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid weren't disappointed. They began their journey back, spiritedly discussing how to develop this new territory in the future.