A tree, a flower, a handful of yellow sand. This combination would likely lead to a less-than-beautiful story.
"Your Highness, this wild boar is fat and round, but it's also fierce and strong. What should I do?" a young hunter asked.
Rowan said: "Just castrate it, shouldn't that work? He'll calm down after that."
Sumeru truly was the nation of wisdom. The people here had a natural talent for applying a concept to other situations.
"Your Highness, does this work on all animals?"
"Generally speaking, male animals will become much more docile after this procedure."
"Then, Your Highness, what about the slaves I just captured? Can this be done to them?"
...
Rowan thought to himself, *I should probably abolish this slavery thing later. I can't accept it. I have a natural aversion to it.*
Several years had passed since Rowan's birth. In this desert oasis, Rowan led the primitive humans in animal husbandry and farming.
Under the leadership of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Rowan, the quality of life for the people of Sumeru improved significantly. The people built a splendid palace for their gods.
At this very moment, in the lush, brilliant palace, a gentle mother was teaching her son how to use elemental energy.
Rowan looked at the vast Dendro energy in his mother's hand. It felt like a bomb, containing immense power. As Rukkhadevata's child, Rowan also had a natural, immense affinity for Dendro. But he just couldn't replicate his mother's method of use. Instead, another method felt much more comfortable to him.
After trying several times, Rowan said,
"Mom, I don't think Dendro energy is supposed to be used like this."
In such a serious setting, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was both a gentle mother and a strict teacher.
"Don't give up. You and I come from the same source. You can learn all of my skills. Rowan, my child, if you don't learn to control elemental energy, even though you have the strength to uproot mountains and fill seas, you'll still be at a disadvantage in this Archon War."
She wasn't wrong. Although Rowan was a mutation, he still had the fundamentals. Rowan could clearly feel that he had the foundation to learn, but it was like trying to do a high school math problem. You *think* you know how, but...
"Mom, who taught you this method of use?"
"No one. I was born knowing it."
...
"Mom, I actually have another method. Take a look. Come on, let's find an open space."
Rowan went to an open area and sensed the surging Dendro energy within him. His two pale hands slammed together.
Rukkhadevata was shocked. The elemental concentration inside this child was in no way inferior to her own, and he had been born less than ten years ago. What a monster.
The ground behind Rowan cracked and split. Immense Dendro energy solidified, forming a massive elemental construct. A giant, fat, wooden man with no lower body appeared, its two arms incredibly thick and very ugly.
At that moment, the giant wooden man suddenly moved. Its fat arm slammed violently into the ground in front of it. The earth shook as if from an earthquake, and chunks of rock and soil flew into the air as a huge cloud of dust spread out.
"See, Mom? I feel like this way is much more powerful," Rowan said.
Rukkhadevata looked at the deep crater smashed into the earth, slightly stunned.
"You're using Dendro energy with the application method of Geo. Don't you find this method of condensing Dendro into a construct costs a lot of energy?"
"Not really. This little bit of energy is just a drop in the bucket for me."
Rukkhadevata felt like her kid was humblebragging.
...
More years passed. The Archon War never ended. Cruelty continued to play out across the land. As a demon god, the only thing Rowan could do was become a warrior, to protect the things he wanted to protect. Rukkhadevata had cared for him since his birth, giving Rowan a warmth he never wanted to leave. Although this was a strange land, the people here loved him, and his mother was gentle with him. Rowan wanted to protect them.
The roar of a giant beast echoed across the plains. Its massive shadow blotted out the sun, its sharp teeth and claws indicating it was a powerful combatant.
The young man faced the beast directly, his eyes burning with an angry color.
The beast roared and charged him.
The young man clapped his hands together. Countless thick vines spread out like the tentacles of an unspeakable being, wrapping the massive beast up like a tight cocoon.
The beast struggled madly, trying to break free, but more and more cyan vines appeared, each as thick as a grown man's waist.
Barbs gradually grew from the cyan vines, burrowing madly into the beast's flesh and blood, dyeing everything red.
The thick cyan vines seemed to be searching for something, churning inside the beast's abdominal cavity. Finally, the mangled corpse of a human was pulled out. The vines, as if sentient, reassembled the corpse and delivered it to Rowan.
"You smiled a lot when you were alive. You were cheerful and happy. I liked you. Mother will take care of your family. Rest in peace."
Rowan turned to look at the still-struggling beast and suddenly smiled.
"'People should live every day happily.' He said that."
Rowan raised an arm, and a long, thin wooden spike appeared in his hand. Rowan threw it with all his might.
Upon impact, the wooden spike "blossomed" inside the beast's body, becoming finer, smaller, and more numerous...
Rowan clenched his fist again. The vines suddenly contracted inward. When it was all over, the beast had been reduced to a bare skeleton. But Rowan still wasn't satisfied. He created a wooden man, smashed the bones to powder, mixed it with the sand, and tossed it into the wooden man's great mouth. Nothing was wasted.
If any other being had killed this beast, the lingering resentment would have been a terrible thing. But to Rowan, it was like nutrients. His Dendro constructs were incredibly aggressive, capable of devouring anything they could—flesh, soul, elemental energy, just like a black hole. Rowan didn't know why, but he never picked and chose when it came to usable power. Besides, this helped him ensure that not even dust remained after he killed a demon god.
After eliminating all traces of the beast's existence...
Only then was Rowan satisfied. He went back and buried the man beneath the farmland.
Rowan watched the man's family crying in front of his burial place, and a wave of sorrow washed over him.
It's never the parting that tortures people, but the memories, again and again.
Rowan turned and saw his mother had also come over.
"Mother, is this 'erosion'?"