Chapter Forty-Seven: Cultivating Trees to Protect the Railway

The night passed without incident. By noon the next day, precisely at twelve, Ji Yu returned once more, assuming the form of the spotted deer.

He opened his eyes, breathing deeply as he gazed upon the familiar forest before him. Then, with practiced focus, he began to control the deer’s body, rising to stand.

“The weather’s good. Let’s continue,” he murmured.

As he stood, the deer’s shoulders rose to match the treetops of the surrounding forest, which soared more than ten meters high. With each ponderous step, his immense form pressed against the trees around him.

But soon, this pressure would cease. Ji Yu hadn’t spent his twelve hours offline idle; he had pondered how the deer might move freely through the dense, primeval woods. He concluded that he must forge a road for the deer—a path uniquely its own.

Given the deer’s maximum size—length and height both reaching fifty meters—the road would need to be no less than fifty meters wide to allow it to traverse and turn freely.

Thus, every tree that pressed against him began to wither and decay at a speed visible to the naked eye. The massive vitality released surged and swelled around him.

Each tree, fifteen meters tall, yielded two to five units of life force upon death and decay. Yet, so abundant was the energy that the deer’s body could not absorb it all at once.

Within just two minutes, as five trees crumbled to dust and drifted away, dense beams of vital essence circled the deer’s body once again.

The accumulated life force now exceeded ten units, but the deer’s flesh and blood had absorbed less than one—only 0.37 units in those two minutes.

As the swirling essence caused strange phenomena around him, Ji Yu turned his gaze toward the trees nearby, seeking suitable candidates for his protective roadside forest.

After brief consideration, the deer moved again, brushing against a tree around ten meters tall. Through a reverse infusion of life grafting, the vital essence surrounding Ji Yu found its outlet, rushing into this fortunate tree.

In an instant, the tree began to grow wildly.

Fifteen meters.

Twenty meters.

Thirty meters.

At last, amid the rustling of swaying branches and writhing roots, the tree reached a height of about forty-five meters.

Only then was the vital essence surrounding the deer fully expended.

Ji Yu gazed at this ‘miracle,’ awe mixing with a sense of mastery and grandeur. To command, to create—such power was intoxicating.

Yet, he quickly steadied himself, assessing the tree’s condition.

“Not bad. Rapid growth, and it absorbs plant essence without resistance. It seems plant life essence is most potent for trees.”

He recalled that, within two minutes, the deer’s flesh had absorbed merely 0.37 units, while this tree had consumed ten units in just one minute.

The contrast was startling.

But, since the essence came from trees of the same lineage, it made sense that this tree could absorb it so swiftly.

Ji Yu silently concluded that essence from the same source is more easily absorbed.

Still, the practical effect on him was slight. Now that he could directly destroy trees to forge a road, there was no need for restraint. The deer could absorb 0.01 units every two or three seconds—meaning twelve to eighteen units per hour.

This was a vast improvement over yesterday’s selective absorption.

Calculating further, reaching the deer’s peak vitality—one hundred units—would require sacrificing only twenty to fifty robust trees.

Of course, factoring in the creation of protective roadside trees, thousands might be needed.

But such a loss was negligible in a vast primeval forest.

Moreover, the trees did not die in vain; they gave themselves to nurture countless others of their kind.

Ji Yu mused playfully, unburdened by sentiment.

He was not wantonly destroying the woods—only clearing the way for his path.

Thus, after the first forty-five meter roadside tree appeared, Ji Yu guided the deer forward. In minutes, several more trees withered, bursting into clouds of gray ash as the deer’s steps shook the earth.

The forest began to blur, smoke-like haze thickening as countless particles drifted on the breeze, refusing to settle.

As Ji Yu continued his work—creating protective trees and destroying obstacles—the depths of the Jishui Mountains grew ever darker.

The sky was shrouded in ash; smoke rolled overhead.

Ji Yu had considered waiting for the ash to settle before proceeding, but after ten minutes, seeing it still swirling above, he abandoned the notion.

Unlike ash from fire, this was finer and lighter, constantly stirred by the wind.

The forest was dry, not damp; the slightest breeze would lift the settled ash once more.

Ji Yu refused to waste time.

This was thirty kilometers deep into the forest—humans could not possibly detect what was happening.

So, enduring the drifting ash, Ji Yu pressed on with his grand undertaking.

In this process, he began to experiment, seeking to understand whether there was a limit to the effect of life grafting on trees.