To determine as quickly as possible whether the Spring of Life contained the energy needed for Chenxi and Meiying to advance, Lin Yu spent 10 Gold Coins to use "Rapid Growth," plus a Time Acceleration Scroll I (1 Day).
A man, an elf, and a wolf gathered by the World Tree.
Through Lin Yu's efforts, the Spring of Life had been successfully built.
A ring of stones surrounded it, forming a small, clear pool. Water welled up silently from the pool's bottom, its surface as calm as a mirror, disturbed only by faint ripples as more water emerged.
At that moment, the animals resting around the World Tree were startled by the commotion and gathered around.
"Chenxi, Meiying, you two try this spring water. See if it contains the World Tree energy that can turn you into heroes."
Chenxi and Meiying did as they were told, stepping forward to take a sip. Their eyes immediately lit up.
"Delicious!"
"AWOO~"
"It's in there!"
Chenxi and Meiying replied in unison.
Their answer made Lin Yu ecstatic.
'If this spring water can mass-produce heroes, then my plan can finally be realized! I won't have to miserably do all the city planning by myself anymore.'
'Never mind anything else, what city in my past life didn't have a city planning department?'
'Other people have whole teams for city planning, but here, it's just me doing everything.'
'I have to find some people to help, no matter what.'
"Meiying, didn't you say you have many friends who are just missing the Divine Wood Essence? Go find four of them to try this spring water."
"And Chenxi, you find four elves, too. The ones you mentioned—their bodies are strengthened, but they can't evolve because they lack the Divine Wood Essence."
...
Soon, four elves, two wolves, a monkey, and an eagle were gathered before Lin Yu.
It was clear that these eight creatures were all very strong. Even the four elves seemed more vibrant than ordinary elves.
"Come, each of you drink from this spring water."
Lin Yu divided the water into eight portions, pouring each into a wooden bucket. He then gave a bucket to each of the eight chosen creatures.
Without a second thought, the elves jumped right into their buckets, immersing themselves in the spring water.
The four beasts, however, stood by their respective buckets and began to drink.
Soon, the four elves began to glow and floated into the air. They drifted all the way to the branches of the World Tree, where each transformed into an emerald green fruit.
The wolves, the monkey, and the eagle also seemed to feel something. They each found a spot, lay down, and fell asleep.
Lin Yu went to check on them. A status showing [Evolving...] appeared above the four animals. The four elves had also transformed into Elf Fruits, but they weren't as high-grade as Chenxi's, having only reached Blue grade.
'Although it didn't quite meet my expectations, it proved that the Spring of Life can help the subjects of my territory evolve into heroes.'
"Hahahaha—"
"The heavens themselves are helping me!"
Lin Yu threw his head back and laughed, then immediately began constructing more Springs of Life.
After using up 99 Time Acceleration Scrolls I (1 Day) and 1,000 Gold Coins, he built 25 Springs of Life at each of four locations—north, south, east, and west—all 5 kilometers from the World Tree. (One was still under construction.)
Then, Lin Yu used the Territory Core to issue an announcement to the entire territory.
"From this day forward, any subject whose body has been strengthened to its limit may drink the Life Spring Water to receive the blessing of the World Tree. Doing so provides a chance to advance to the Hero tier."
Having sorted out the issue of increasing the number of intelligent lifeforms in his territory, Lin Yu decided to wait and hold off on large-scale construction for the time being.
Anyway, on the Prosperity Rankings, he was leagues ahead with a score of 1,250,000, holding the number one spot anonymously.
The person in second place only had a score of 200,000, barely a fraction of his own.
'Once the territory has more intelligent life, I'll have the subjects help with construction.'
After the announcement went out, the Springs of Life in all four directions were immediately swarmed by nearby subjects, all scrambling to drink the Life Spring Water.
Within minutes, the springs were drunk dry.
Afterward, the ground was covered with beasts that had rapidly entered a state of advancement.
The surrounding beasts who hadn't gotten a drink saw this and erupted in cheers.
For a moment, the sound of various bestial roars shook the heavens.
Amidst the frenzied celebration, Lin Yu quietly returned to the Lord's Mansion.
'The problem of lacking intelligent life in the territory is most likely solved. Next, I'll focus on constructing some special buildings.'
Lin Yu sat beside the Territory Core, contemplating his next moves.
He picked up two building blueprints from the desk next to the Territory Core.
[Name]: Library of the Tree of Wisdom
[Category]: Natural Wonder
[Grade]: Epic (Red)
[Description]: A library containing infinite knowledge. All inventions within the territory will be recorded within its pages. It can also collect the technologies of defeated lords.
[Effect 1]: Unlocks the Technology Tree. Spend resources to unlock higher technologies.
[Effect 2]: Set custom technology projects and enjoy the Technology Tree's research bonuses.
This building blueprint was obtained using the Territory Core's "Spacetime Ripple" ability. After the Territory Core was upgraded to Level 2, Spacetime Ripple gained an additional use.
[Name]: Training Camp
[Category]: General Building
[Grade]: Legendary (Purple)
[Description]: A training camp equipped with various training facilities. It can effectively increase the training efficiency of trainees and enhance their physical fitness.
[Effect]: Subjects, units, or heroes who enter the Training Camp can gain experience based on the intensity of their training.
This was the purple-grade blueprint he had chosen after joining the Cuiwei Lord Corps.
'This might not be very useful to other people; after all, how could training give EXP faster than killing monsters? But for me, this building is a huge deal. It's their own fault the beasts in my territory all decided to become my subjects.'
After choosing the locations, Lin Yu clicked "Construct."
[Available construction supervisors detected. Do you wish to assign them? Construction time can be reduced based on the supervisor's attributes and professional skills.]
On the supervisor selection screen, the two heroes, Chenxi and Meiying, were available for selection.
'I don't know if it's because the Territory Core is now Level 2, or because I have two heroes, or if there's just something special about these buildings.'
In any case, construction now had this new feature for assigning supervisors.
'Since it's a new feature, of course I have to try it out!'
Lin Yu assigned Chenxi as the supervisor for the "Wisdom Library" and Meiying for the "Training Camp," then confirmed to begin construction.
The two blueprints instantly transformed into beams of light, flying out of the Lord's Mansion and entering the bodies of Chenxi and Meiying.
Lin Yu watched on the Territory Core's display as the two of them, who had been frolicking among the beasts, suddenly froze when the light entered their bodies.
Then, they each gathered a group of subjects, left the celebrating pack of beasts, and headed for the construction sites Lin Yu had designated.
At the same time, a rolled-up blueprint appeared in Chenxi's hands, and another in Meiying's mouth. They were the architectural plans for the buildings they were about to construct.