Comprehensive network wizard, magic emperor.

Chapter 322 Heart of the Raging Tide, Soul Spores

Lin Bo was not entirely ignorant of the psychic path; after all, psychic energy was a long-standing and prominent field of study in the multiverse. He also frequently consulted relevant literature and materials.

However, he did not delve deeply into this system of power that focuses on seeking power from within.

It should be said that most psionicists are philosophers. They contemplate the essence of the universe, using philosophical thinking to leverage the vast power of the mind to change reality. They can create objects out of thin air, move boulders with a thought, and glimpse future visions. The miracles that any magic can achieve are no less than those of psionicism.

Some extreme psionicists believe that the only real thing in the world is their own mind, and that the universe is merely an illusion created by the mind.

However, when they lose their spiritual power, no matter how profound their thoughts, they cannot stir up a breeze in reality. Just as a spellcaster in a magic-free environment cannot light a candle out of thin air no matter how hard they try.

Lin Bo had dealt with psionicists before. Psionics, like magical energy, are dragon-based and, like magical energy, come in many varieties.

The psychic energy generated by each school of thought is unique, just like using a handkerchief to make a rubbing of a picture on a giant elephant; the different points of contact will naturally produce vastly different results.

Even psychic powers born from the same school of thought can differ due to individual differences in thinking. This is where the uniqueness of the power system lies. There are ten thousand minds in the world, which can give rise to ten thousand kinds of psychic powers.

However, the spiritual energy between different individuals can be harmoniously integrated through the exchange of ideas, gathering into one and jointly constructing a collective imaginary field.

The barbarian knelt upright before the sorcerer, her posture solemn and her demeanor composed, as she recounted her journey of studying psychic powers.

The power of rage is an intense emotion of anger, but it is more than just an emotion; it is a primal force that permeates the multiverse, like a leap off a cliff, like a tide crashing against a mountainside, like a thunderbolt sweeping through the clouds—thrilling, decisive, and terrifying.

Different understandings of violent power constitute the path of the savage. Some see it as a blessing from the spirit of nature, ancestors, or gods; some see it as the true self hidden deep within; and some believe it is a favor from wild magic.

As a berserker, the female orc never seeks external sources of inspiration, nor does she search for her inner self. Instead, she lets anger dominate her consciousness, abandoning reason and using pure instinct to control her body.

This path bears a natural resemblance to a psionic system known as the Madmen. Madmen believe that primal emotions are the best way to guide the power of the mind; they do not undergo rigorous intellectual training but instead indulge in impulsive passions.

This group often lives apart from the general public and thus often lives alone in the wilderness, which can be considered a kind of savage in a broad sense.

In comparison, the Madman system has the lowest requirements for intelligence and is most suitable for the mushroom race that Lin Bo wants to create.

The female orc subdued her rage through profound meditation, not by suppressing or extinguishing the raging fire, but by seeing another possibility within it.

"Anger is like a fire on a pyre, which goes out when the fuel runs out. This fuel is the fear, pain, and crisis felt by flesh and blood. Therefore, we can only unleash our fury in battle."

"But I will turn the flames into flowing water, stirring up the memories and emotions within my heart. Hatred, hatred for the beasts that killed my people, for the enemies, and for the bitter cold of the North; greed, the craving for food, for wine and pleasure; love, for my brothers and sisters, for my people, and for myself."

"The flames may die out, but as long as my heart is not at peace, the raging storm will not cease."

Lin Bo talked to her about the special kind of fungus people he wanted to create, requiring enough happiness and the ability to gather people into a city.

The female orc lowered her eyelids in thought, a faint red glow of furious psychic energy still seeping from the corners of her eyes, like embers glowing in a brazier. After a moment, she nodded.

“I think it’s feasible. But foolish pleasures cannot ignite anger. They cannot simply be happy; they must draw their raging sparks from crises filled with fear, such as destruction, war, and ruin, in order to master the path of psychic energy.”

Lin Bo nodded in agreement, saying that belligerence is a virtue in this world.

He silently channeled his spiritual energy to create a new intelligent life form within the initial network, changing its survival logic to find pleasure in pursuing death, because the death of a mushroom-man could release more spores and nurture new mushrooms—a reproductive instinct.

The new intelligent life form resembled a sea urchin, and Lin Bo wrote it into the magical brains of the five mushroom-like beings in front of him, replacing the original white silkworms.

After the writing was completed, the mushroom people possessed a new mental structure. The combination of this mental structure and the magical mycelium brain created an intelligent entity that can be considered the soul of the mushroom people, and also the source of their ability to unlock spiritual power.

It took a while for the newborn soul and the biological body to synchronize, like a person in a vegetative state waking up from a coma. They became active one after another. The flat, cap-like umbrella-shaped head swayed, the two black eyes embedded in the stalk squinted, and the short limbs waved wildly.

Compared to her well-behaved appearance just now, she's much more lively now.

The blue mushroom people never stopped, restless like wild beasts trapped in a cage. Their living presence made them very unhappy, and they were eager to rush to their deaths.

So they started trying to crash into trees, and the pain of physical injury was seen as pleasurable, which calmed the mushroom people down a little.

The female orc's eyes lit up, praising this instinct to revel in death and hate life as simply the mark of a born barbarian.

Within minutes, the five mushroom-men had destroyed their bodies into pieces, which were scattered all over the ground.

Before dying, the sea urchin intelligence within the magical brain began to self-replicate, residing on the magical neurons. The entire magical brain broke into pieces, dispersing as soul fragments into the massive number of spores within the body.

These spores germinate when they fall into an organic environment. The part containing the soul fragment will redevelop into a fungus, while the rest will be a regular mushroom, which can be used as a food source.

The mage and the barbarian silently watched as the mushrooms on the creeping carpet sprang up like mushrooms after a spring rain.

The new generation of fungus offspring quickly grew hands, feet, and eyes. They absorbed nutrients by inserting their fingers into mushrooms and taking root, but their feeding efficiency was not very high.

Before the spores inside their bodies mature, mushroom people possess a strong will to survive. They will actively avoid large creatures like mages and orcs, and will play dead if they get too close to them.

These behavioral logics are all programs woven by Lin Bo, but they still need continuous iteration and improvement. Through soul inheritance, even if the death of a fungus-person leads to memory loss, the evolution of its mental structure can accumulate, allowing it to quickly adapt to the environment.

The second batch of fungus exceeded nine hundred, and they were all considered part of the faction's population.

Notifications popped up on the information boards of Linbo and his Barbarian teammates.

[Network notification: Task completed – We (simple)]

[Mission Rewards: 1000 Disaster Coins, 5000 Universal Experience, 5 Packed Rations (Gray), 2 Medical Supply Packs (Gray)]

[Network Notification: You have triggered the Leader's Quest - Us]

Us: Expanding faction population (944/10000)

Difficulty: Normal

Description: Everyone says that when everyone is of one mind, you need to have everyone first, right? Keep recruiting!

[Shelter]
Population: 944
Approval rating: 8% (Your people don't know what a leader is)
Watching the mushroom people grow up carefree, eating without a care in the world, the female orc asked, "Brother mage, don't they have an instinct to attack?"

“Yes.” Lin Bo nodded. He instructed the mushroom master to withdraw the nutrient supply to the mycelium. The large clump of mushrooms in front of him withered almost instantly, leaving only a small amount of food.

Before long, the hungry mushroom people began to fight each other for the limited resources. The winners took the food, while the losers had to go hungry.

“That’s right.” The female orc nodded vigorously. “Suffering in the world is also one of the sources of rage.”

(End of this chapter)