Earth Dragon Family

Perhaps sensing the resentment in Lin Yan's heart, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out deep within his consciousness.

Lin Yan was stunned: "???"

He gave a violent start, his slender body arching involuntarily.

"Who? Who is speaking?"

[System binding successful. Respected Host Lin Yan, the Ecology Civilization Spark System is at your service.]

Lin Yan froze, and then, an indescribable surge of wild joy and excitement welled up in his heart.

System Daddy!

The benefits of a transmigrator, though late, have finally arrived!

"System Daddy, you're finally here! I knew it, the big shot who sent me through time wouldn't just watch me waste a transmigration slot." Lin Yan was so happy he nearly wept.

"Quick! Tell me, what are your functions? Can you turn me back into a human? Is there a newbie gift pack? Can you let me defy the heavens, change my fate, and run rampant through the Primordial World..."

He asked the system a rapid-fire string of questions, unable to contain his impatience.

System: [This system aims to assist the Host in spreading the philosophy of ecological civilization, improving the survival environment of the Primordial World, and passing on the spark of civilization. It cannot directly increase the Host's cultivation or change the Host's form. The evolution of the Host's form can only be achieved through your own efforts.]

Lin Yan's enthusiasm was doused by a bucket of cold water from the system's icy voice: "Huh? Can't change my form, and can't make me stronger directly... Wait, what do you mean by improving the survival environment? Big Brother, I'm an earthworm, how am I supposed to improve the Primordial environment? By eating dirt all day to improve the soil? Besides, you're a system—if you don't help me get stronger and just make me do chores, then what use are you?"

[System initial panel has been opened. Please check it yourself, Host.]

The system completely ignored Lin Yan's dissatisfaction. With a chime, an extremely simple, semi-transparent light screen appeared in Lin Yan's consciousness.

[Ecology Civilization Spark System]

[Host: Lin Yan]

[Race: Earth Dragon (Earthworm)]

[Cultivation: Shaping Stage (20%)]

[Current Task List:]

Improve the ecological environment within a thousand-mile radius to avoid an ecological disaster;

Form at least one community or tribe to continue the civilization of the race;

Please note, Host: only upon completion of the above tasks can your cultivation break through the current realm and advance to the Earth Immortal Realm.

[Function List:]

Primordial Basic Knowledge Atlas (Unlocked within a thousand-mile radius)

Mini Ecology Simulator (Unlocked within a thousand-mile radius)

[Reward List: (Because the Host indirectly improved the ecological environment, channeled geothermal pressure, prevented regional ecological collapse, and indirectly saved the lives of his own kind)]

Reward: Spirit Qi absorption rate x2.

"That's it?" Lin Yan was somewhat dumbfounded. He scrutinized the panel, reading it over and over again.

"There are no miracle pills, no profound cultivation techniques, and no powerful magical treasures in the rewards? Just a doubled Spirit Qi absorption rate? As an earthworm, my absorption was slow to begin with; doubling it won't be of much use, right?"

"And I have to complete tasks to advance my cultivation realm?"

"What kind of trash system is this? It's so pathetic! What use are you to me?"

Lin Yan cursed at the system panel like a shrew, but the system didn't react at all. Only a bright panel continued to flicker deep within his consciousness.

Finally, having cursed until he was tired, Lin Yan felt a sense of refreshment. For these past days, he had been eating dirt alone, sleeping alone, and living in the claustrophobic underground alone; such a life was truly stifling.

Today, he had finally encountered something he could vent on. Even though it was just an ethereal system, it made him feel a little less bored.

"What the hell are the Atlas and the Simulator in the function list?" Having finished venting, Lin Yan finally had the mood to research this inexplicable system.

He tried to focus his intent, first clicking on the icon labeled [Primordial Basic Knowledge Atlas].

In an instant, a massive amount of information (at least for the Earth Dragon's simple brain) flooded into his consciousness. This information wasn't the kind of knowledge that could be understood by instinct like in his bloodline inheritance; it was as if someone had forcibly stuffed a compressed file into his brain, requiring him to decompress it himself before he could see it.

Lin Yan curiously opened the atlas and discovered that it recorded many common spirit stones, minerals, and patterns of flora and fauna in the Primordial World. Beside the patterns, there were thoughtful text descriptions, primarily introducing the appearance and basic characteristics of these items.

"Good stuff!" Lin Yan's spirits lifted. "This is practically a Primordial version of a 'Wilderness Survival Guide' and a 'Primary Flora and Fauna Atlas'." Although this knowledge wasn't some profound cultivation method, it was incredibly practical for him at this moment.

After all, Lin Yan's understanding of the Primordial World could be said to be almost non-existent. And the knowledge within the bloodline inheritance of his true form—the Earth Dragon—was pitifully scarce.

After a simple browse through the atlas, Lin Yan discovered that much of the content remained locked, and the visible content was very limited. He guessed that perhaps he could only browse more after completing system tasks or increasing his cultivation.

Thus, he clicked on the [Mini Ecology Simulator] icon.

A sand table model marked with various data instantly appeared before his eyes.

The sand table displayed a miniature terrain within a range of about a thousand miles, centered on him. A yellow light spot likely represented his current location.

On the sand table, information such as the trends of mountain ranges, the distribution of earth veins, the flow of water veins, the locations of spiritual roots, and rock and mineral reserves within a thousand-mile radius were all visible at a glance.

From this miniature sand table, Lin Yan could see that he was currently in a canyon surrounded by large mountains on all sides.

On the mountains surrounding the canyon, apart from scattered specks of green, there was mostly gray, representing rock.

A faint blue line passed through the south side of the canyon, which likely represented a river on the surface.

There were several red light spots on a pale red area, one of which was constantly flickering right beside him. Lin Yan guessed that this might represent a geothermal eruption point.

Beyond this, there were some barely perceptible yellow light spots moving slowly across the yellow-brown area representing the soil.

According to the usage instructions marked beside the sand table, Lin Yan could perform simple simulations on it through his consciousness. For instance, adding a tunnel here would weaken the intensity of the earth fire eruptions; guiding that weak water vein to change course could save a patch of spiritual herbs not far away; dredging a certain section of the earth vein at the foot of the mountain could greatly increase the concentration of spiritual energy there...

"This... this is simply a divine artifact for ecological transformation!" As an ecological environment transformation expert in his past life, Lin Yan saw the value of this simulator at a glance, and he loved this tool that perfectly matched his profession from the bottom of his heart.

"Wait, what the hell is 'indirectly save the miniature Earth Dragon clan (Quantity: 9)'? Could it be that there are others of my kind here?" Lin Yan, who was excitedly playing with the Mini Ecology Simulator, suddenly thought.

He hurriedly activated the Mini Ecology Simulator again, found those few small yellow light spots, and tried to focus his consciousness to "touch" one of them. A line of brief information immediately appeared beside the simulator: [Juvenile Earth Dragon, Innate Being, intelligence not yet awakened].

"They really are my kind!" A strange feeling welled up in Lin Yan's heart. Ever since he transmigrated into an earthworm, he had always lived alone; if one were to talk about loneliness, there was always a little bit of it. Now that he knew there were others of his kind in this desolate and dangerous world, that sense of loneliness was instantly diluted quite a bit.

Relying on the simulator's precise display of the terrain and the Earth Dragon's innate ability to hide and move within the soil layers, Lin Yan carefully avoided areas with chaotic energy and wiggled toward the direction of those few small light spots.

It didn't take long for Lin Yan to find the nine little Earth Dragons. At this moment, they were shivering and coiled into a ball, clearly frightened by the scene of the earth fire eruption just now.

And when Lin Yan approached them, these little Earth Dragons seemed to sense something, and one after another, they turned their "heads" (or rather, their front ends) toward Lin Yan's direction.

A silent communication was transmitted between their bloodlines, not through language, but through a wonderful sense of aura and soul fluctuations. Lin Yan could clearly feel the fear, confusion, and a longing for protection that they were transmitting. As for himself, he naturally radiated a sense of closeness.

Looking at those muddled little Earth Dragons acting entirely on instinct, he suddenly felt a sense of responsibility to "bring his family along." Although this "family" was a bit strange.

The few little Earth Dragons slowly wiggled to Lin Yan's side, constantly rolling their bodies around him. Clearly, they regarded Lin Yan as their "leader" or "parent."

"Fine, at least it's company. And it just so happens that I can use you all to complete the first task." Lin Yan said after looking at the "form at least one community clan" task on the system task list.

Lin Yan tried to transmit a simple message to the Earth Dragons with his consciousness: "I am the Boss, you are the younger brothers. You will follow me from now on, and I will protect you..."

The few little Earth Dragons clearly understood Lin Yan's meaning. One by one, they fed back a sense of excitement and submission to Lin Yan, then obediently followed behind him and began to gnaw on the surrounding soil.

Watching the scene of several little Earth Dragons surrounding him and working hard to eat dirt together, Lin Yan suddenly felt it was a bit comical, yet also inexplicably heartwarming.

"Alright, our Earthworm family—oh, no, Earth Dragon family—is officially established today. I, Lin Yan, am your patriarch, your Boss. Our mission is to eat dirt... and improve the environment," he cheered the group of Earth Dragons on. "The target is... first, survive, and then, strive to get rid of this mollusk form as soon as possible."

Except for Lin Yan, the other nine little Earth Dragons looked blank...