[Ding! The host has voluntarily accepted members of his own kind, established a leadership position, and preliminarily formed a clan. Please continue working hard, guide your clan members to develop intelligence, and establish a clan civilization.]
As Lin Yan announced the founding of the Earth Dragon Family, the system prompt sounded at just the right moment.
Lin Yan waited for a while, only to find that no reward had been issued. He could not help but gain an even deeper appreciation for the system's stinginess.
"Little ones, the first major task after founding our Earth Dragon Family is to transform this canyon into a habitable community."
With no other choice, Lin Yan issued his first command to his newly recruited younger brothers. Yet as he returned to his old profession, he actually felt a faint, inexplicable thrill.
Although none of the younger brothers knew what a habitable community was, they all made soft rustling sounds in support of their boss's call.
Lin Yan first reactivated the [Mini Ecology Simulator] and conducted a comprehensive "scan" of the entire canyon.
The canyon they now occupied was not large. According to the simulator's proportional estimate, it spanned only about a thousand li. That might have been enormous in later generations, but compared to the boundless Primordial World, it was hardly worth mentioning.
Steep, towering mountain ranges surrounded the canyon. The mountain bodies were barren and mostly composed of rock.
The terrain inside the canyon rose and fell, with hills, lowlands, and a narrow Water Vein winding through it. Most of the ground was infertile, Malevolent Qi permeated the air, and only scattered patches of green revealed faint life force. The overall environment was downright harsh, but it was relatively enclosed and easy to defend and difficult to attack... for the currently frail Earth Dragon Clan, it was still a rare shelter from the storm.
The simulator displayed the canyon's terrain, soil composition, Malevolent Qi distribution, Spirit Qi flow, Water Vein course, and even traces of tiny life in data form. It was as though Lin Yan had obtained the most precise geological survey report and ecological assessment report.
"Start with the easy tasks, then tackle the hard ones. Expand from a single point outward." Lin Yan quickly settled on a transformation strategy. He would begin with an area near the Water Vein.
"Little ones, follow me. Time to eat." Lin Yan sent out a simple command through his thoughts, then took the lead in opening his mouthparts, lined with fine, blade-like teeth, and began gnawing at the soil.
The Earth Dragon Clan was born with the ability to improve soil quality. He swallowed the Malevolent Qi, impurities, and soil itself into his stomach, where they were broken down and transformed by the Innate Earth Element Origin within him. One portion became pure Earth Element Spiritual Qi that nourished him, while the other was expelled from his body—this expelled soil was filled with life force and especially suitable for growing spiritual herbs and roots.
Though the nine little Earth Dragons were still ignorant, imitation was instinctive. Seeing their clan leader do so, they followed Lin Yan's example and began gnawing at the soil before them.
Besides eating soil, Lin Yan constantly observed the changes in the soil's various values through the simulator, continuously adjusting the routes and depth of their "feeding" to ensure maximum improvement efficiency.
Time flew by, the sun and moon cycled, and the days passed one after another amid this monotonous yet fulfilling "soil-eating." Lin Yan did not know how much time had passed—perhaps decades, perhaps centuries.
The reason for such a huge margin of error was mainly because the sunrises and moonsets in this damned Prehistoric World sky had absolutely no pattern. It was as though the sun and moon rose and set entirely according to their moods: when they were in a good mood, they stayed in the sky for several extra days; when they were not, they vanished for ages.
Lin Yan had grown used to it. In any case, day and night did not make much difference to him.
Leading the nine little Earth Dragons, Lin Yan used the first transformation site as the center and, like the most diligent gardeners, expanded their "Pure Land" step by step.
Through their efforts, vast stretches of land began to regain life force—the once barren soil turned dark and fertile, Malevolent Qi vanished without a trace, and the concentration of Spirit Qi steadily increased.
First came spreading moss, followed by low spiritual herbs emerging from soil. Condensing Dew Grass, Three-Leaf Clover, Purple Ganoderma Bud... bloom after bloom, patch after patch, the canyon floor was being covered in all kinds of vegetation at a visible pace.
Seeing this, Lin Yan used the Mini Ecology Simulator to devise a Water Vein diversion plan.
He connected the narrow Water Vein to a hidden underground Spirit Vein, allowing the flowing water to absorb the Spirit Vein's energy and transform into a Spirit Spring. He then divided the Spirit Spring into several tributaries that spread across the canyon like a spiderweb. Wherever the spiritual water flowed, Spirit Qi lingered, the soil regained life force, and more spiritual herbs sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain. The once patchy, bare ground gradually became lush and green.
As the ecological environment within the canyon improved, the concentration of Spirit Qi rose higher and higher, and the Earth Dragon Clan also underwent a transformation.
After continuously eating soil and absorbing Spirit Qi, the nine little Earth Dragons changed in size. Their bodies, once only as thick as thumbs, had grown as thick as arms, and tiny scales had appeared on them. Even the smallest Earth Dragon was now more than ten zhang long.
Besides growing larger, their intelligence seemed to have improved greatly, rising from the level of instinct-driven "dimwits" to that of "ignorant children." At the very least, they could now understand commands Lin Yan issued, such as "go eat over there," "don't crowd together," and "take a dump... ahem, please excrete in the designated area." Although they occasionally carried them out imperfectly, they still spared Lin Yan a great deal of trouble.
Lin Yan's changes were even more obvious. At this point, he could be called a colossal creature.
His body was more than a hundred zhang long, over a hundred times larger than when he had first transmigrated. His body, once only as thick as an arm, was now more than a zhang thick.
Dark gold scales densely covered each of the eighty-one segments of his massive body, their edges marked with faint earth-element patterns. The glow around his body had condensed into something almost tangible, as though he were clad in a layer of earthy yellow armor that gleamed with a metallic luster beneath the sunlight.
His head had become fuller, and the tooth-blades within his enormous mouthparts had grown even sharper. Forget Innate Earth Essence—even hard Nine Heavens Mysterious Iron could be effortlessly chewed into powder by him.
Above his head, a faint earthy yellow vortex had begun to take shape. It was a sign that the power of his Earth Element Origin had started to gather, representing a deeper grasp of the Earth Element Laws.
When Lin Yan sank his consciousness into the System Panel, the cultivation progress displayed there filled him with excitement: [Cultivation: Shaping Stage (95%)]
"I'm finally close to taking shape." Feeling the surging Earth Element Spiritual Qi within his body and the shaping power that was about to burst from its cocoon, Lin Yan felt that his years of hard work had not been in vain. So long as he took one more step forward, he could cast off the Earth Dragon's soft-bodied form, transform into a human body, and truly establish himself in the Prehistoric World with an Innate Dao Body.
Just as Lin Yan was feeling pleased with himself, an enormous figure came charging toward the canyon camp's entrance.
"An Innate Fierce Beast!" Lin Yan's heart sank. The warning from his Bloodline Inheritance made him react instantly.
The fierce beast was incredibly fast. It soon rushed through the canyon entrance and into the canyon itself. Wherever it passed, life force was extinguished and Malevolent Qi grew. The once emerald land turned black and foul-smelling after being tainted by Malevolent Qi.
This fierce beast had the body of a lion, but three scarlet eyes. Its scorpion-like tail was raised high, gleaming with eerie blue poisonous light. Dark red scales covered its body, and black Destruction Sha Qi constantly leaked from the gaps between them.
Lin Yan opened the Primordial Basic Knowledge Atlas and discovered that it was a fierce beast known as a Scorpion-tailed Demon Lion. Though it appeared to still be in its juvenile stage and was far from being able to blot out the sky like an adult fierce beast, the savage aura and destructive power it emitted had already reached the Earth Immortal level.
Watching this home, into which he had poured countless efforts, being trampled by the fierce beast, Lin Yan was filled with fury. It had come right to his doorstep to bully him—this was going too far.
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