Chapter Forty-Nine: Creating a Paradise
That night, a clear and lustrous silver moon once again hung in the sky. Moonlight streamed through the gaps between leaves and branches, casting countless silvery patterns upon the broad path winding through the forest. It was along this wide, tree-hidden avenue that Ji Yu, in the form of a sika deer, now wandered at leisure.
The night bathed the entire forest in tranquil silence, accompanied by the gentle chorus of crickets. In this serene setting, Ji Yu felt an uncommon contentment. After a demanding seven or eight hours of labor, he finally found a moment to appreciate the territory he had so painstakingly crafted for himself.
By now, after an entire afternoon of work, the road Ji Yu had created stretched over three kilometers, flanked by more than eight hundred towering, specially modified trees serving as guardians. On either side of the path, he had arranged two rows of these protective giants. To prevent them from standing out awkwardly among the forest, he had also subtly altered the ordinary trees at the outermost borders.
Ten meters, fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five... The trees formed a gentle slope, high at the center and lower at the edges. This project had far exceeded Ji Yu’s original plans, demanding an extraordinary amount of energy and care. Though this was all part of nurturing the sika deer’s growth, after such exertion he decided it was time to rest for a while, and took the opportunity to stroll down his broad avenue, admiring his handiwork with a deep sense of accomplishment.
It was a feeling akin to the satisfaction found in farming simulation games—one that easily became addictive and all-consuming. Bathed in moonlight, as he strolled between the trees, Ji Yu even began to envision carving out another area tomorrow to create a vast “circular park.”
He tentatively planned the park to cover about fifty thousand square meters, with the central zone cleared entirely of trees, except for a space just large enough for the sika deer to rest. This resting area needed to be no more than a thousand square meters. Around it, the highest protective trees would form an unbroken ring, while the center would be seeded with grasses and vines, coaxed to grow lush and soft, making a natural bed for the sika deer.
Even if the grasses and vines were trampled down and withered during the deer’s rest, Ji Yu could restore them at will through the miracle of life grafting. Thus, a comfortable home would be complete. If possible, he also wished to nurture a profusion of flowers around the “circular treehouse,” creating a home that would rival a fairyland.
In short, Ji Yu was wholly absorbed in his vision, meticulously planning every detail. “To accomplish great work, one must first sharpen his tools.”
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“And all of this is my effort to ensure the consciousness within the sika deer—that childlike mind—feels that its father cares for it,” Ji Yu mused cheerfully. “With such a beautiful environment, surely the deer’s innocent spirit will be delighted?”
Moreover, if humans eventually discovered this sika deer, he would have already crafted the appearance of a ‘celestial deer’ for it. A creature with such a domain would hardly be mistaken for one of the mutated and bloodthirsty aberrations—those beasts of chaos never create paradises like this.
This thought filled Ji Yu with even greater satisfaction. Of course, all this was merely his subjective guess; whether the sika deer would truly appreciate it, or how humans would react, remained matters for the future. For now, as a human himself, Ji Yu wished for nothing but peace.
Yet his kindness did not mean he would tolerate the greedy or unreasonable. If ever the moment arrived where he could not bear to watch, he would show no mercy. With two incarnations under his control, his mentality had changed considerably.
When it came to his incarnations, Ji Yu’s approach was to maintain closeness, but also the authority befitting a father. He could not allow himself to indulge them when giving instructions, and he intended to keep a certain reserve in word and deed. Their relationship could never be that of an ordinary parent and child; it was more akin to the old families and ruling houses in ancient dramas—affectionate, yet governed by formality and rules.
Ever since Adam had come to see him as an all-powerful “god,” Ji Yu had adopted this mindset: to maintain both mystery and dignity, while letting his incarnations feel his “love.” Relying solely on the game’s mechanisms to exploit them was not a sustainable path; who knew when the core rules might change? He understood well that hardship breeds strength, while ease leads to decay.
Therefore, in managing his relationship with his incarnations, Ji Yu was determined not to rely on distance or exploitation. Instead, he sought to guide their logic and development in the direction he desired. This, he believed, was the mark of an enlightened and magnanimous person.
Setting aside his many musings for the moment, that night the sika deer had undergone yet another transformation. This change, however, was not in appearance, but in its attributes.
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[Sika Deer Status Expanded]
[Good]
[Life Level: 2]
[Vitality: 47.82 (Max 5)] (×20)
[Body Length: 34.19 (Max 10 meters)] (×5)
[Shoulder Height: 21.61 (Max 6 meters)] (×5)
[Age: 3 years (Max 50 years)] (×5)
[Characteristic ①: ******* (damaged)]
[Characteristic ②: Visual Distortion (moderate)]
[Characteristic ③: Life Grafting (advanced)]
At this moment, the sika deer’s vitality surpassed even that of Oak Adam. Ji Yu could sense the tremendous energy coursing through the deer’s veins, surging with its blood.
Whenever he called upon this power, the sika deer’s body would instantly blaze with brilliant light—a mostly clear, watery glow, within which sinister black threads shimmered. This was the dual force of life energy and violet-moon energy, intertwined and fully at Ji Yu’s command.
The power erupted from the deer’s hooves; with a single stomp, Ji Yu had once shattered the ground in a ten-meter radius, the force rivaling the impact of a rocket-propelled grenade. If he enveloped the deer’s entire body in this energy, he believed it could become nearly immune to most conventional weapons.
Such was the might of a supernatural lifeform—one that, even now, was but a mid-level being of the second tier.