Collective Intelligence Boost

Beside the spirit spring in the canyon, the tall Stone Spirit brothers, the chubby Ginseng siblings, a timid Seven-Orifice Spirit Grass, two nimble Jade Spirit Deers, and a Xuan Turtle huddled inside its shell stood in a row under Lin San's direction. These were the first batch of community members Lin Yan had selected to receive the Spirit Awakening Fire.

"Are you ready?"

At the tips of Lin Yan's fingers, a milky-white flame danced incessantly; this was the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed he had just condensed using his divine soul and Origin Power. Today, he intended to collectively elevate the intelligence of these carefully selected community members.

"We... we are ready," the honest Stone Spirit brothers said with some hesitation.

"Leader, we are ready," the nimble Ginseng siblings said in unison, their voices clear and childlike as they held hands.

"Are... are we ready?" the fragile Spirit Grass swayed its delicate body, speaking with uncertainty.

As the uneven responses came in, Lin Yan didn't care whether they were truly ready or not. He lifted his finger slightly. "Go." The flame at his fingertip flew toward the most hesitant Seven-Orifice Spirit Grass.

The Spirit Awakening Fire Seed instantly submerged into the roots of the Seven-Orifice Spirit Grass and vanished. Immediately after, the leaves on the grass danced wildly, as if it had been startled. But soon, a wave of joyful spiritual fluctuations radiated from the plant.

"Thank you, Master, for helping me elevate my intelligence." A female voice filled with gratitude emerged from the Seven-Orifice Spirit Grass. Although the voice remained weak, it was significantly more composed.

Lin Yan smiled slightly and turned his gaze toward the Stone Spirit brothers. Two Spirit Awakening Fire Seeds flew toward them.

Before long, the first batch of community members requiring intelligence elevation had all successfully received the baptism of the Spirit Awakening Fire. Without exception, their intelligence had been greatly improved.

After resting for a few days, Lin Yan proceeded to inoculate the second batch of community members with the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed...

In the end, Lin Yan had elevated the intelligence of twenty community members in total.

Among them, some had intelligence that was on the verge of awakening, while others were just beginning to develop it. Yet, after absorbing the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed, every single one of them saw a massive boost in their intelligence levels. All those who had their intelligence awakened looked at Lin Yan with expressions of deep gratitude; whenever they saw him again, they felt as if they were seeing a close relative.

The intelligence levels of the Earth Dragon subordinates were already quite high, so the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed was of little use to them. Consequently, Lin Yan decided to inoculate them with the higher-grade Enlightenment Fire Seed.

To condense an Enlightenment Fire Seed, Lin Yan not only needed to expend more of his divine soul and Origin Power, but he also had to extract a sliver of Dao rhyme from his own Kun Yuan Life and Death Dao Seed. Doing this was actually extremely detrimental to the growth of his own Dao Seed.

However, to Lin Yan, the Earth Dragon subordinates were among the people closest to him in this world. Therefore, even though condensing the Enlightenment Fire Seeds caused great damage to his cultivation, he did not care.

The Enlightenment Fire Seeds were Xuan-yellow in color, with a point of chaotic color flickering at the center, emitting an aura far more vast and profound than the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed. Lin Yan condensed seven such fire seeds at once, one for each from Lin Si to Lin Shi. As for Lin Er and Lin San, because they had already assumed human form, the inoculation effect would be poor, so Lin Yan did not waste them on those two.

"This is the Enlightenment Fire Seed. It can not only elevate your intelligence but also strengthen your comprehension of the Great Dao and even upgrade your bloodline, allowing you to be reborn. However, the refinement process may be somewhat painful. Everyone must remember to keep your mind steady and guide the fire seed to merge with your own origin."

The Earth Dragon subordinates looked at the pale Lin Yan, feeling the profound Dao rhyme emanating from the Enlightenment Fire Seeds, and were both moved and grateful. Their Boss had suffered quite a bit to condense these Enlightenment Fire Seeds for them. They had seen it all with their own eyes.

"Boss, don't worry, I will definitely hold on and not cry," Lin Shi, who was the most attached to Lin Yan, hurried to declare upon hearing this.

"Boss, I'm not afraid of pain either. Go ahead and do it," Lin Qi said with a look of determination, as if he were about to head to the execution ground.

After Lin Yan infused the Enlightenment Fire Seeds into the bodies of his subordinates, he stood guard nearby to ensure no accidents occurred.

Unlike the inoculation of the Spirit Awakening Fire Seed, which enhanced intelligence silently and without fuss, the Younger Brothers who received the Enlightenment Fire Seed were rolling on the ground one after another, clearly enduring immense pain.

But the Younger Brothers kept Lin Yan's instructions firmly in mind, containing their focus and continuously mobilizing the Origin Power within their bodies, attempting to forcibly fuse it with the fire seed.

Several days later, the Younger Brothers finally returned to a state of calm, their breathing becoming much more stable. Lin Yan understood that the most dangerous moment had passed. Next, the Younger Brothers would need a period of deep meditation to thoroughly integrate the Enlightenment Fire Seed with their Origin, ultimately achieving a transformation of their bloodlines.

He instructed Lin Er and Lin San to look after the Younger Brothers, only then feeling at ease enough to sit in meditation to recover his own damaged divine soul and Origin.

When Lin Yan awoke from his meditation, the Younger Brothers were still undergoing their transformation. Lin Yan decided not to disturb them for now, choosing instead to check on those precious spirit roots he had been keeping an eye on, which had yet to show any movement.

In the Spirit Spring Pool, the Pure World White Lotus stood alone in the center of the water. Its three lotus leaves had become increasingly verdant, and the golden light at its center was dazzling, continuously absorbing the spiritual energy within the spirit pool day and night, as well as the baleful energy transformed from the beast corpses below. Lin Yan took out a piece of Kuishui Spiritual Crystal and placed it at its roots, hoping it would bloom and seed soon.

By the side of the pool, the Star Fruit, Moonlight Grass, and Vajra Bamboo were also growing encouragingly. Although their grades were not particularly high, they had, after all, entered the ranks of spirit roots, and Lin Yan still held high expectations for them.

But among all the spirit roots, the ones Lin Yan was most concerned about were the three seeds gifted by the Old Daoist Hongjun.

He crouched beside the small plot of specially cleared Spirit Fields. The soil in the Spirit Fields was mixed with Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and countless Innate Earth Essences, the spiritual energy so dense it had almost turned into liquid.

The crack on the surface of the Bodhi Seed seemed to have widened by a fraction, and a pale golden light radiated from the fissure, exuding an aura of peace and tranquility.

So slow... Lin Yan said helplessly. He didn't know if his method of nurturing was wrong or if such high-level seeds were simply like this by nature; in any case, they were much slower to sprout than any other spirit root.

However, compared to the other two seeds, the Bodhi Seed was already doing well. Those two seeds were still lying quietly in the soil, showing no movement at all.

Lin Yan investigated carefully with his Divine Sense, feeling as if some kind of extremely slow transformation was taking place inside the seeds.

Perhaps they are waiting for a certain moment. Only when the opportunity is right will they take root and sprout, Lin Yan thought with some resignation.

"Forget it, there's no use rushing anyway. Just stay here and behave yourselves. But if you're still in the same state when I return, don't blame me for being ruthless," Lin Yan threatened the two seeds viciously.