Chapter 39 - 039: King of Vines - Keg Vine

There’s nothing to do in the territory during winter.

Dragon Cypress settled Round Cypress, packed up the next day, and before leaving, came to the pond at the foot of the mountain.

"Azure, Ink Orchid and I are heading out to explore. You probably won’t see us for a long time."

"Got it."

Azure isn’t talkative.

The Divine-Given Seeds aren’t fond of talking, especially in winter.

A brief farewell, the Dominating Throne shot straight up towards the skyline, heading southeast.

...

Molan Mountain.

A plain forest covering 40 square kilometers.

Bounded by low hills.

Ink Orchid searched in North Mountain.

Dragon Cypress searched in South Mountain.

Each Divine-Given Seed carried a faint but unique origin force aura, slowly flying and scanning with spiritual power, up, down, left, and right.

With a straight flight, they could search a forest strip over ten meters wide each time.

Like plowing a field, back and forth, one row after another, investigating each in order.

A first-age intermediate Ant King isn’t much weaker than a third-age intermediate Flower Mantis Warrior.

Six days later, Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid both finished the areas they were responsible for.

No results.

Rested for a night,

Set off early the next morning, riding the Dominating Throne, heading due south.

Looking for a place abundant in origin force like Xianglan Mountain and Molan Mountain.

...

Ten days of flying with no discoveries at all.

The weather changed with their luck,

Constant dreary rain.

The sea wind, thick with salty tang.

"Is this the ocean?"

"Wow!"

"Dragon Cypress, this is way bigger than the pond you dug!"

Ink Orchid stayed optimistic, gazing at the vast ocean, calling out in awe.

Dragon Cypress: "..."

Dragon Cypress had seen the sea once, so didn’t care much for it.

Keeps heading south mainly because Ink Orchid had never seen it and, after hearing Dragon Cypress talk about it, longed to come explore together.

There’s still the endless northern snowfield up north—next year, they’ll fly north to see the snow together.

Dragon Cypress guided the Dominating Throne down, hovering at the coastal cliffs.

Ink Orchid stared dumbly for a while, then suggested, "Dragon Cypress, let’s go take a look over the sea."

"Alright."

It wasn’t an excessive request, so Dragon Cypress piloted the Dominating Throne forward again.

They flew for half a day, looking around—their eyes taking in nothing but deep blue ocean everywhere.

Ahead, in a wide stretch of sea, tens of thousands of fish kept leaping out of the water, with predatory seabirds circling above.

Dragon Cypress saw this grand spectacle for the first time, lowered the Dominating Throne’s altitude, watching closely and observing with interest.

"There are unknown terrifying creatures in the sea, Ink Orchid—don’t mess around."

Dragon Cypress saw Ink Orchid itching to try something, and gave a warning.

"Okaaay—"

Ink Orchid stretched her wings, shook them, then slowly folded them and stood up, saying, "My legs are stiff, just stretching out..."

Splash—crash—crash—

Before Ink Orchid could finish, not far away, a mountain-sized giant beast suddenly burst out of the sea, stirring up huge waves.

"Eek!"

Ink Orchid shrieked, instinctively spreading her wings, leaping into the air.

Dragon Cypress was startled too, and by reflex, maneuvered the Dominating Throne up to higher altitude.

What burst from the water was an unimaginably large fish, which seemed to be devouring smaller fish.

It didn’t seem hostile to Dragon Cypress and Ink Orchid, who hovered above.

There was no knowledge of the sea in their Inherited Memory.

The unknown both attracted and scared insects.

"Dragon Cypress!" Ink Orchid circled the Dominating Throne and landed on a soft mat, her spiritual consciousness trembling a bit.

"Let’s go!"

Dragon Cypress turned the Dominating Throne around, heading back toward the coast.

After flying for a while, away from the site, Ink Orchid gradually calmed down.

"Dragon Cypress, what kind of giant beast was that? It’s even bigger than the Spider King!"

"No idea."

"Didn’t Melde tell you?"

"There are many types of sea monsters, and after evolving into Origin Force Life, they’re terrifyingly powerful..."

That run-in with an unknown sea monster rattled them so much it made even the coast feel unsafe—only after heading back to the familiar depths of the jungle did they feel secure.

After resting a night, they set out again at dawn, flying west.

After half a day in the air, they could faintly see the dazzling rainbow light of the boundary barrier, then turned north.

Ink Orchid rested her head on the edge of the Throne, watching the tropical rainforest below slowly slide past, feeling a little bored.

Dragon Cypress stood on top of the Throne, looking around, observing the landscape and environment.

"Dragon Cypress! Dragon Cypress!"

"Stop for a second!"

"There’s something down there!"

Ink Orchid suddenly perked up, leapt up, spread her wings, and glided down toward the forest below.

Dragon Cypress looked down, controlling the Dominating Throne to descend, and soon spotted what Ink Orchid was talking about.

It was a giant vine dozens of meters long, its stem twisting like a coiled dragon among the trees.

Ink Orchid landed in front of an ’enormous pod’ two or three times her length, uttering a wow, and slashed ferociously at the fruit stalk with her catching feet.

"Ink Orchid, do you know this plant?"

"Dragon Cypress, you haven’t awakened this plant’s knowledge yet? Oh! I awakened it when I was a third-age intermediate warrior."

"Third age? I’m just first age..."

"Awesome!"

Ink Orchid cheered, cutting off Dragon Cypress’ words.

Rarely did she know something Dragon Cypress didn’t.

Ink Orchid gathered her thoughts, mimicking Dragon Cypress’s manner, and explained:

"This giant vine is called ’Keg Vine’, one of the largest vines, the king of vines—a naturally excellent plant seed. Its Keg Vine Seed matures in 3 years but flowers annually, with three generations on one stalk, and the seed pod matures in autumn and winter. It can serve as a Life Seed—the effect of the Keg Vine Seed is called ’Vision Breadth’: you can see more colors, and, with deeper enhancement, see things you couldn’t before."

As she talked, Ink Orchid plucked a purple-brown, withered pod, laying it crosswise on the slope and lining up her body against it.

"Dragon Cypress, give it a try."

Dragon Cypress spread his wings, leapt down, and tested it—his body was just about one sixth the length of the pod.

He tried to lift it—it was heavy.

He shook it, and the seeds inside clanked loudly.

The shell was woody.

He set it down, pressing it with both claws, buried his head, and gnawed with his jaws.

Before long, he extracted a dark brown, flattened seed, about five or six centimeters in diameter.

Dragon Cypress compared it to Ink Orchid’s forehead, then handed it to her.

"A seed this big, even a Mountain Lord-level Flower Mantis Warrior might not be able to swallow it."

"Dragon Cypress, didn’t you say that warriors above Mountain Lord level all choose precious plant seeds as their Life Seed?"

"I did! Let’s bring it back and try planting it."

"No way. Keg Vine only grows well in warm, wet rainforest. The Xianglan Mountain Range often gets droughts in summer—unsuitable for planting."

Finishing, Ink Orchid promptly asked, "Dragon Cypress—can’t you also sell seeds? Didn’t you hear anything about Keg Vine Seeds while traveling with the caravan?"

Dragon Cypress: "Never heard of it..."

Ink Orchid hoped, "So maybe we can sell it to the caravan at a high price?"

Of course they could!

This is a new, rare plant not found on the Ten-thousand Tribes or Wan Country Continents—seeds could fetch incredibly high prices. Selling a few thousand Source Stones’ worth a year would be easy.

It’s not a tribe-cultivated plant. If another insect bought the seeds and planted them, they might propagate, but since this giant vine takes three years to fruit, its growth rate would be slow.

Therefore, the high-price seed-selling period could last for up to about ten years, and then prices would slowly fall...

Dragon Cypress mulled it over, waggled his tentacles, and said, "No way! In fact, not only can’t we, we’d better not let even the slightest rumor reach the caravan."

Why? Ink Orchid didn’t say it aloud, just waited for more.

Dragon Cypress: "Seed trading has so many twists and turns—it’s a very complicated business. Ink Orchid, I’ll explain it all to you when we have time. All you really need to know is this: if word ever gets out that a rare plant species not found on the Ten-thousand Tribes or Wan Country Continents was discovered in Cloud Trace Continent, countless treasure hunters will flock over. At that point, both you and I will be in grave danger."

"Where were the seeds found? How were they found? This could reveal the secret of the Dominating Throne..."

"I get it."

Ink Orchid stared at the Keg Vine Seed in her claws, sulking: "So basically, Keg Vine is useless to us?"

"Of course not!" said Dragon Cypress. "Keg Vine Seed’s value will always be there. It’s just that, right now, we’re too weak to dare sell it openly. When we’ve got the strength to protect ourselves, we can sell it then—same difference."

"Wow! That’s right!"

"Absolutely!"

Ink Orchid suddenly understood, joyfully fluttering into the air.

Dragon Cypress called out, "Ink Orchid, let’s take a look around and get to know the land."