"From the looks of it, it's very difficult for Plants to develop consciousness. Once they develop consciousness, they can cultivate based on instinct, and it's only a matter of time before they become demon creatures."
Jiang Yuan had more or less figured it out.
The next step was experimentation: to make Plants develop consciousness.
Wasn't this exactly what the Plant Consciousness Network could achieve?
His innate talent could easily make Plants develop a cluster consciousness.
This consciousness should be an important step for Plants to cross the boundary into demon creatures!
He started doing it as soon as he thought of it.
Jiang Yuan withdrew his hand, which had been inserted into the Tian Guan Zi Duan God Tree, and constructed the Plant Consciousness Network as before.
Tiny consciousnesses were like fireflies, fluttering and circling in the invisible consciousness network.
The Tian Guan Zi Duan God Tree also wanted to join, but Jiang Yuan kicked it away.
Following the Tian Guan Zi Duan God Tree's memory, Jiang Yuan began to modify the Plant Consciousness Network, allowing them to complete their "instinct" as quickly as possible.
At this moment, the So wind was blowing stronger and stronger.
The entire Qinling became a no-man's land.
.........
Qinling Military Department.
"Miss Jiang, we really cannot let our military magess enter the Qinling for just one person. As you can see, the So wind has already begun to blow, and that person is very likely to—"
"Impossible!" Jiang Shaoxu interrupted the military mages and said, "His strength is very high; he is a Super-Order Mage. If you don't want to save him, then contact the Forbidden Army for me; I'll talk to them!"
"This…"
The military mages wanted to say that even a Super-Order Mage would perish under the So wind, but he eventually sighed and said, "Alright, I'll connect you to the Forbidden Army. You handle the rest."
"It should have been like this long ago."
Jiang Shaoxu took the communicator.
Soon, the Forbidden Army picked up.
"Is this the Forbidden Army? I'm Jiang Shaoxu."
"Miss Jiang?"
The person on the other end was stunned for a moment, then said with some surprise, "Did you send out a distress signal a while ago? We have already prepared to intervene according to superior instructions and were about to depart for the Qinling. What about you?"
"It was me who sent it. I've already escaped from the Qinling and am now at the Qinling Military Department."
"Okay, then I'll immediately intercept the rescue team."
"No, there's still someone in the Qinling. I need you to come with me to rescue him."
"Hmm… May I ask if Miss Jiang can provide this person's identity information?"
"He is Jiang…"
Jiang Shaoxu fell silent.
Jiang Yuan's identity was that of a heretic; exposing it directly would definitely not work, otherwise, it wouldn't be a rescue but an arrest.
"Miss Jiang?"
The other end of the communicator was urging her, and Jiang Shaoxu's mind spun frantically, trying to fabricate a fake identity for Jiang Yuan.
At this moment, someone walked in from outside the door.
"Junior Military General!"
Hearing this title, Jiang Shaoxu turned her head to see a very young military mages, whose military rank was indeed that of a Junior Military General.
In the Qinling Military Department, this was absolutely the highest commander.
The highest commander of the Qinling Military Department was a young man in his twenties?
It seemed he was a key talent cultivated by the military.
Meeting Jiang Shaoxu's questioning gaze, Zhang Xiaohou said, "Hello, I am Zhang Xiaohou, responsible for the command and prevention at the Qinling Military Department. May I ask what your needs are for coming to our military department?"
"Junior Military General, she wants us to go into the Qinling now to save someone," the military mages from before said.
"Forget it, I don't expect you to go in and save him. I'll find someone else."
Jiang Shaoxu hung up the communicator, took out her own communicator, and prepared to call a higher authority.
"Miss Jiang, I know you. Jiang Shaojun is your brother. You are also a member of the National College Team, and Source Bro is your captain," Zhang Xiaohou said.
"Source Bro?" Jiang Shaoxu seized upon Zhang Xiaohou's address.
An ordinary relationship wouldn't allow for such an address.
"You know Jiang Yuan?"
"Yes, Source Bro and I were high school classmates. In high school, Source Bro, Brother Fan, and I were often together," Zhang Xiaohou nodded.
"That's perfect!" Jiang Shaoxu's eyes lit up.
A premonition rose in Zhang Xiaohou's heart: "What's wrong? Don't tell me the person you want to save is Source Bro."
"Yes, Jiang Yuan is currently at Baiba Mountain in the Qinling. He saved me from the Ice Air Wing Birds. He dropped me at the foot of the mountain and went up alone," Jiang Shaoxu said.
Hearing her say this, Zhang Xiaohou, without another word, immediately issued an order to the military mages: "Organize a small team and follow me up the mountain!"
Although he knew Jiang Yuan was very strong, he also believed that under the powerful Qinling So wind, it would be difficult for Jiang Yuan to withstand it.
"Junior Military General, the person you mentioned should be the captain of the National College Team, but he is not an ex…"
"Tell me, what is the duty of a military mages?!" Zhang Xiaohou said sternly.
The military mages immediately straightened his back and shouted loudly, "The duty of a military mages is to unconditionally execute the orders of superiors!"
After speaking, he did not say another word.
He jogged out of the room, obeying Zhang Xiaohou's command, and began to assemble the team.
The assembly speed of military magess was very fast.
In just a few minutes, a team with rich experience was assembled, with various types of Mages, primarily focusing on defensive Mages.
In a So wind environment, defensive Mages must constantly cast defensive magic.
Therefore, rotating defensive Mages was an essential part of the process.
Leading the team, Zhang Xiaohou and Jiang Shaoxu plunged into the Qinling, amidst the So wind.
...............
...............
Under the Tian Guan Zi Duan God Tree, Jiang Yuan sat cross-legged.
His mind was completely immersed in the Plant Consciousness Network, and to prevent interference, he had blocked out all audible sounds.
In his observation, the same type of Plants were more likely to give birth to a cluster consciousness, while there seemed to be some kind of barrier between different Plants.
However, this was already enough.
He set his first cluster consciousness target on the weeds that could be seen everywhere on the ground.
Although extremely faint, when combined, they were also very vast, and with a slight guidance, they began to actively absorb energy.
From Jiang Yuan's perspective.
The energy contained in the air and the earth gathered towards these weeds, and every bit of it would strengthen the weeds' consciousness by a fraction.
Tens of millions of weeds grew stronger by a tiny bit every moment, and the total growth was extremely vast!
A few seconds passed, and Jiang Yuan suddenly found himself also beginning to change.
His body strengthened, and his Plant affinity reached Elementary Level Three without cultivation!
"Is this feedback?"
Jiang Yuan became energized.
This feedback speed was simply too much faster than his individual cultivation.
The increased strength of his body would take a long time to manifest, after all, his Emperor-Level physique was already there.
But the improvement of his Plant affinity was visible to the naked eye!
In a few more hours, his Plant affinity would reach Intermediate Level Three.
If he expanded the Plant Consciousness Network, perhaps in a very short time, he could achieve Plant Super-Level Forbidden Curse!
He wouldn't even need treasures for breaking through to Super-Level and Forbidden Curse.
Plant feedback was enough!