"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the fate of mortals. You don't need to blame yourself." Greater Lord Rukkhadevata comforted her slightly emo child.
"Fine. I'm going to reclaim some wasteland. The dead are dead. The living must live on."
...
Rowan watched the captured male beasts, driven by humans, obediently tilling the soil. A sense of accomplishment filled his heart.
Although it was a semi-desert region, it didn't really lack water, and the large temperature difference between day and night was excellent for crop growth. But the occasional earthquake-like tremors soured Rowan's mood.
"Another demon god driven mad by erosion."
Rowan's body shot out like a cannonball. Sharp wooden spikes materialized in his hand, which he continuously hurled. Soon, this not-so-powerful demon god was skewered.
Rowan had nothing to say to these beasts. Turning them into nutrients for the earth would be an insult to the earth.
After Rowan finished off the enemy, the local people prostrated themselves before him, knocking their heads furiously against the ground.
"Get up. Don't do this, it makes me uncomfortable."
"Your Highness, it is what we must do. You have protected us for so many years, we..." a man who looked like the village chief said. "Someone, record the Prince's great deeds on leaves! We must pass this down for ten thousand years!"
Rowan had a strong feeling this wasn't going to work. Leaves would rot in two weeks.
At this moment, a gray-haired man stepped out. He was the only person in the village who could write, and he wrote incredibly fast. He had spent a few days in Sumeru City before.
Rowan saw this man and immediately thought: *This is a man of talent!*
"What's your name?"
"Your Highness, my name is Peterpan."
"Good. From now on, you'll follow me. I'll talk, you'll write. Understood?"
"It would be my honor."
...
"Mom, I don't know why, but there are more and more demon gods lately."
"How have you been dealing with them?"
"Killed them. Wiped them out. Not a trace left."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had some objections to this. She said gravely: "Rowan, too much killing is not good."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had a compassionate nature. Although she possessed immense power, she rarely killed. But Rowan was different. He believed in eradicating the problem, root and stem.
"But if I don't kill them, they'll kill me."
"With your power, they can't kill you at all."
"But what about in the future? What if they get stronger, or suddenly become stronger, and they still have a grudge against me? Wouldn't I be finished?"
"I just hope you won't be blinded by slaughter."
"Mom, I don't actually like killing. But they just keep lining up to die. I really don't get it. They weren't this annoying before. Why are more and more enemies coming? Not just irrational demon gods, but even rational ones are joining the fun."
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata could answer this question.
"It's because, since you arrived, our food supply has piled up like sand in a river. Other demon gods don't have your talent for farming. When their people are starving to death, what do you think they'll do?"
"So we're being treated as a granary?
Everyone wants to rob us?"
"It's blunt, but you're not wrong. In an environment surrounded by wolves, we look like a juicy piece of meat."
"What a pain."
...
On Rowan's left hand, elemental energy condensed into wooden spikes, piercing a demon god's heart.
"You knew you would die. Why did you still come?"
"Everyone says Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is compassionate. I... I can't just watch my own people starve to death, can I?" The demon god suddenly laughed, as if in relief.
"Hmph. What a shame. In a distant place, there's a saying: For one group of people to live like humans, another group must live as less than human. Peterpan, write that down."
To the side, Peterpan, his eyes wide with terror, tremblingly picked up his pen and wrote this sentence in the new paper book Rowan had made.
The demon god felt its flesh and blood continuously leaving its body.
"Please, take care of my people."
"That depends on whether they're obedient. If it were up to me, I'd only keep the land if they weren't."
"You!"
"This is war."
...
"Your Highness, were you serious when you said you'd only keep the land?" Peterpan asked, terrified.
"Peterpan, if you had a region that was constantly rebelling, how would you handle it?"
"I... I don't know."
"My mother is too kind. Constant appeasement will only lead to one rebellion after another. If it were me, I'd kill all the locals and then migrate my own people over. That's the most stable solution."
"Your Highness, I don't think you're such a cruel person. You don't even mind when children offend you."
"My kindness is reserved only for my people. Besides, I feel that a one-time solution causes the fewest casualties in the long run. Right, how many types of mushrooms did I eat yesterday?"
"42 types. Each produced a different reaction. We've recorded them all and calculated the reaction for ordinary people based on the formula."
"Good. Are there any new mushrooms?"
"Yes."
"Right, write this down: Sixty li south of Mount Demonfall, there is a giant boar, strong enough to shake mountains. Its hind legs are particularly delicious."
Short story...
"Is this Sumeru's biggest library?
It's huge!
I was always in a hurry before. This time I can finally take a good look around!" said the white floating pixie.
"Alhaitham, are there any books about food?"
The well-built, gray-haired man thought for a moment.
"The 'Classic of Forest and Sea'?
Isn't this an ancient text?" Lumine and the white floating creature were both confused.
"Not necessarily."
"In the northwest, there is a beast, shaped like a chicken, with immense strength, several zhang tall, and can manipulate the Dendro element. Consumption can increase one's affinity for Dendro!"
"There is a beast... upon consumption..."
Finally, Paimon discovered that most of the book recorded rare and exotic beasts, but almost all of them ended with a note about "upon consumption..."
How could this be! Tears unknowingly streamed from the corners of little Paimon's mouth.