As the morning dew began to gild the Dawn Grassland with a silvery glow, the Youth Guardian Camp, guided by the Morning Shepherds ' "Dew Guides," stepped onto the shimmering meadow. A Mu's New Sprout Sword, its scabbard adorned with Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern, spontaneously glowed with a pale silver light—not from a deliberate incantation, but from the faint resonance between the remaining Star Core and Forestheart Crystal energy on the scabbard and the morning dew as they approached the grassland. In A Ya's bag, besides the purification seeds, there was also Liya's newly developed " Symbiotic Fiber " (woven from Elven Woods Fluorescent Butterfly silk and swamp Marshheart Crystal powder, capable of transmitting gentle energy). On A Shi's record board, instead of "pollution index," two new columns were added, " Dew Spirit Activity" and "Plant Morning Dew Condensation Amount." A curled-edge " Morning Radiance Grass " leaf was tucked into the corner—the leaf, which should have been covered in glistening morning dew, now only bore traces of dryness, a "symbiotic anomaly marker" sent in advance by the Morning Shepherds.
"Follow the direction where the morning dew is brightest, and you'll find the Morning Shepherds ' huts!" Loran walked ahead, her fingertips lightly touching the blades of grass—the leaves, which should usually be covered in morning dew, only felt dry and cool. The golden figure of the Icefield Wolf was exceptionally agile on the meadow, but when it sniffed lightly, it lacked its usual alertness, instead frequently turning its head to look at A Mu's sword sheath—each time the silver light of the sheath flashed, the morning dew on the distant blades of grass would tremble slightly, as if drawn by some force.
The morning scene of the Dawn Grassland should be one of "dew reflecting the rising sun, Dew Spirit dancing in the light": translucent " Dew Spirit " (small creatures the size of a fingernail, shimmering with a pale blue light) would dance around the Morning Radiance Grass, gently dripping the condensed morning dew onto the grass blades; the Morning Radiance Grass would release a pale green light, nourishing the Dew Spirit; but at this moment, the grassland is filled with an eerie silence—the leaves of the Morning Radiance Grass are curled and tinged with grayish-yellow, and the Dew Spirit that should be flying everywhere are reduced to a few scattered ones lying on the grass stems, their wings drooping, and even the light of the rising sun cannot make the morning dew condense any more.
Upon arriving at the Morning Shepherds ' yurt settlement (dome-shaped tents woven from the Morning Radiance Grass, with transparent " Dew Crystal " embedded in the roof to collect dew), several Morning Shepherds dressed in linen clothes with morning dew patterns gathered around the " Morning Bell "—a hollow wooden pillar wrapped with Morning Radiance Grass vines, a ceremonial bell that should be rung when the morning dew is at its heaviest to awaken the Dew Spirit, but now stood silently in place. An elderly Morning Shepherds, holding a Dew Crystal staff and with morning frost at his temples, hurried forward, his voice urgent. "Lord Loran, you've finally come! For the past two weeks, the Dew Spirit has grown weaker and weaker, the Morning Radiance Grass has been unable to collect morning dew and has slowly withered; we rang the Morning Bell as usual, but the Dew Spirit didn't respond—the children of the tribe say that at night they can see a silvery light flashing deep in the meadow, Dew Spirit trembles when it gets close."
A Mu crouched down, his fingertips gently approaching a weakened Dew Spirit. Sensing the warmth of his fingertips, the Dew Spirit slowly flew over, its wings lightly brushing against his fingertips. But when A Mu's scabbard flashed with silver light, the Dew Spirit suddenly recoiled in fright, its wings trembling even more violently. "It's not Evil Energy!" A Mu immediately looked up, his tone certain. " The Dew Spirit isn't afraid of Purification Power; it's afraid of the aftershocks of the crystal core on my scabbard—the energy of the Star Core and Forestheart Crystal that were activated earlier seems to have resonated on the grassland, interfering with the Dew Spirit."
The old Morning Shepherds paused, then suddenly clapped his hands. "That's right! The night you activated the Star Core, the morning dew on the grassland was less than usual! The Dew Spirit rely on the 'primal energy' in the morning dew to survive. The energy of the crystal core is too strong, which dispersed the primal energy, and the source of the morning dew has also weakened!" He pointed to the " Morning Dew Spring " deep in the grassland—a small spring that shimmered with a pale blue light. It should have been the source from which the Dew Spirit gathered the morning dew, but at this moment, the surface of the spring only shimmered with a faint light, and even the Morning Radiance Grass by the spring was the most withered.
Loran walked to the spring, her fingertips glowing a pale green as she tentatively probed the water—the moment her fingertips touched the water, she felt a familiar fluctuation, identical to the aftershocks of the crystal core on A Mu's sword scabbard. "It's the aftershocks of the crystal core resonance accumulating at the bottom of the spring! It's not pollution, it's an energy 'imbalance'—the symbiosis between Dew Spirit and Morning Radiance Grass is too fragile, unable to withstand the impact of strong energy, causing the symbiotic chain to break."
"What should we do?" A Lu, the Morning Shepherds's child, asked anxiously, her eyes reddening. She held a Dew Spirit that was too weak to fly. "We've tried feeding the Dew Spirit the juice of Morning Radiance Grass, but they still don't have any energy after drinking it."
A Ya suddenly pulled out the Symbiotic Fiber from her bag. " Liya said that if the symbiotic relationship is broken, you need something that can 'conduct' to reconnect the energy between the two!" She knelt down and gently wrapped the Symbiotic Fiber around the stem of the Morning Radiance Grass, then A Lu place the Dew Spirit next to the fiber—miraculously, the Dew Spirit's wings shone slightly, and the Morning Radiance Grass's leaves unfurled a little. "It works!" A Ya exclaimed in surprise, " The Symbiotic Fiber can transfer the Morning Radiance Grass's weak energy to the Dew Spirit, and it can also allow the Dew Spirit's dewdrops to adhere to the fiber and slowly seep into the grass!"
But the grassland is so vast that a few strands of Symbiotic Fiber are far from enough. A Mu suddenly remembered the Morning Bell the Morning Shepherds had mentioned. " The Morning Bell can awaken the Dew Spirit. What if we used the sound of the Morning Bell, combined with the energy of the Symbiotic Fiber, to connect all the Dew Spirit and the Morning Radiance Grass?" He looked at Loran, "The aftershocks of the crystal core in my sword sheath can resonate with the aftershocks of the Morning Dew Spring. Perhaps we can 'guide' the aftershocks to the Morning Bell, and then, through the sound of the bell, reassemble the primordial energy."