The campfire on the Permafrost Icefield dew condensed into tiny ice crystals within the pale blue glow of the Mother Crystal Core. The Youth Guardian Camp, having just packed their belongings, were surrounded by guardians from various tribes— the Morning Shepherds A Lu's Dew Crystal staff gleamed with a brighter silver light than usual, dewdrops hanging from its tip forming small chains. " The Dew Spirit on the grasslands have doubled in number, and the Morning Radiance Grass can hardly supply enough morning dew. We need to help them distribute their populations!" In the Marshspeech Tribe's A Wu's earthenware jar, the newly harvested Marshheart Sac juice shimmered a pale green, but was thicker than before. "The swamp's moisture is too strong; the sac is prone to bursting. We need more breathable Symbiotic Fiber!"
Looking at the "minor troubles" brought by everyone, Loran smiled and suggested, "Why don't we form three inspection teams and go to calibrate separately? Guarding isn't just about anchoring; it's about watching every life grow properly." In the end, they split into three groups: A Mu and A Yan led the Fire Language Clan Youth to the Flamelight Cave to handle the energy adaptation of the new crystal buds; A Ya, A Jing, and the Mirror Water Clan worked together to adjust the frequency of the Illusion-Warding Stone in Mirrorwater Lake; A Shi and A Lu traveled with the Morning Shepherds to demarcate habitats for the Dew Spirit of the Dawn Grassland; and Loran, with the Icefield Wolf, provided support in the middle route and recorded the calibration status at each location.
Upon arriving at the Flamelight Cave, they saw tiny green shoots emerging beside the flame crystal cluster at the cave entrance—"crystal buds" they had never seen before. The translucent tips of the buds glowed with a pale orange light, but were much weaker than those of adult flame crystals. A Yan tapped his Fire-Inducing Staff, and sparks from the staff landed beside the buds, but the buds only trembled slightly, showing no sign of absorbing fire energy. "The light from the Mother Crystal Core is too stable; without the previous 'energy stimulation,' the buds are growing slowly."
A Mu unsheathed the New Sprout Sword, its scabbard glowing with a soft orange light from its Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern. This time, he wasn't forcibly injecting energy; instead, he gently pressed the scabbard against the crystalline sprout, a fine wisp of fire gathering at his fingertips, like a "guide line" drawing on the residual light of the Mother Crystal Core, slowly seeping into the sprout's tip. Miraculously, the sprout's pale orange light gradually brightened, its body stretched out somewhat, and it even began to slowly absorb the lava spring's fire energy. "It's about 'gently pushing,' not 'forcefully feeding'!" A Mu smiled as he handed the sword to the Fire Language Clan Youth. "From now on, use this pressure, and calibrate it once a week." A Yan, observing from the side, noted the sparks from his Fire-Guiding Staff intertwining with the crystalline sprout's light, casting warm patches of light on the rock wall.
On the Mirrorwater Lake the second route, A Ya was squatting beside the Illusion-Warding Stone, holding a modified Symbiotic Fiber in her hand—she had mixed Mirrorheart Dew Ice Crystal fragments into the fiber, allowing it to synchronize with the frequency of the Mother Crystal Core. A Jing scooped up lake water with a wooden spoon and splashed it onto the Illusion-Warding Stone, and the water ripples on the stone's surface immediately became disordered. "The previous Illusion-Warding Stone only recognized the old frequency, but now that the light of the Mother Crystal Core has changed, it 'cannot recognize' it anymore."
A Ya wrapped the Symbiotic Fiber around the Illusion-Warding Stone. The pale blue light emanating from the fibers spread along the stone's veins, and the water ripples on the stone's surface gradually became more regular. She then took out her crystal pattern record book and, referring to the "water ripple frequency table" that A Shi had drawn earlier, wrote on a new line, "After the Mother Crystal Core is anchored, the Illusion-Warding Stone needs to be calibrated monthly with Symbiotic Fiber containing ice crystal fragments. The water ripple error should be controlled within 0.3." A Jing tried throwing a small stone into the lake, and the image reflected on the lake surface was no longer a chaotic illusion, but a clear reflection of reeds— the Illusion-Warding Stone had finally caught up with the new frequency.
On the Dawn Grassland of the third route, A Shi was lying on the meadow, using his newly made " Dew Spirit Counting Board" to record the population. "There are 32 Dew Spirit on the east side, but only 15 Morning Radiance Grass plants; there are more grass and fewer spirits on the west side, so we need to move half of the spirits from the east side." A Lu held up the Dew Crystal Staff from the Morning Dew Spring, the silver light at the tip drawing a faint line on the meadow. "This is the 'Spirit Dividing Line,' so the Dew Spirit won't get lost if they follow the light."
Just as the two finished drawing the line, the Icefield Wolf suddenly came running from afar. Its golden figure stopped beside the dividing line, sniffing the air—it noticed that the morning dew on the western meadow was less than on the eastern one, meaning the Dew Spirit would lack food even if they moved there. A Shi quickly flipped through his notebook and calculated rapidly. "Each Morning Radiance Grass needs 3 drops of morning dew, and the west side is short 12 drops. We need to draw a thin stream from the Morning Dew Spring!" A Lu immediately used her Dew Crystal Staff to poke a small trench in the meadow. The water from the Morning Dew Spring flowed slowly westward along the trench, Dew Spirit followed the silver light of the dividing line, moving orderly to their new habitat. Some even stopped on the Icefield Wolf's back, as if to express their gratitude.
As the sun set, the three teams converged on the Permafrost Icefield, each holding their recorded findings: A Mu's crystal bud sample glowed with a uniform orange light, A Ya's Symbiotic Fiber were covered with new stone chips from the Illusion-Warding Stone, and A Shi's counting board was covered with neat lines of spirit division. Loran unfolded a blank animal skin scroll and drew everyone's records one by one, gradually forming a "Real-time Map of Continental Vitality." The map was marked with dots of different colors to indicate calibrated areas, except for the location of the Eastern Realm Bamboo Sea, which glowed with a faint pale green light— the Icefield Wolf had growled towards the Bamboo Sea when it was providing support in the middle lane, and the energy fluctuations there were more subtle than elsewhere.
"Maybe we should check out the bamboo forest too." A Mu stroked the head of the Icefield Wolf, which was gently rubbing its paw against the bamboo forest area on the animal hide scroll. A Lu smiled and handed A Mu a fresh Dew Crystal from Morning Dew Spring: "Take this with you next time; it can help you sense the Dew Spirit." A Wu also took out a small jar of Marshheart Sac juice. "This can be useful in case we encounter places with high humidity."
As night deepened, a new book was added to the Guardian Bookshelf in the Youth Camp— " The Continent Vitality Calibration Record." The title page featured a route map of the three patrol teams, with specimens of crystal sprouts, Illusion-Warding Stone, and Dew Spirit wings pasted beside it, along with the inscription, "Guardianship is the persistence hidden in the details." The twenty-four records on the bookshelf, like a growing vine, extended from the initial "crisis response" to the current "daily care," each page containing the subtle beauty of mainland vitality.