The beastwomen took a few minutes to collect themselves, taking in Li's words and figuring out in their groups as to what to do. It did not take long for a few of the beastwomen, the ones who had loved ones to go back to, to come forwards. 

Most of the harpies decided to leave. They came in front of Li and bowed, speaking thanks before beating their wings and soaring away. It made sense – the harpies with their individuality and wings were the least likely to be tied down to the earth. A pair of harpy twins, however, did decide to stay, curious about the world in the south.

The Serpi, too, largely left, finding the climate here unsuited for them and wishing to return to their brethren in the northern deserts at the edge of the Republic. A few did stay, stoked by their scholarly natures and wishing to observe and record the emergence of this wondrous new faith, and among them was the one that Li had personally saved.

A smaller majority of the Feli left, but a sizable crowd had had their families or smaller tribes razed by whatever slavers had taken them, and these they felt would find safety here in the presence of a true divinity. 

The Lupi, however, all decided to stay, knowing that their homes were sealed off to them. They came forwards in a unified crowd, their leader, a tall, muscularly defined warrior, announcing to Li that they would form a new tribe in service to Li. 

Li listened to each group of beastwomen with patience, and when it was decided who would stay and leave, he spoke out to the farmers. 

"All you stewards of mine, do you object to this? Look upon these women of many tribes – they will enter among your fold, into my flock, and tend to my garden side by side with you."

The farmers shook their heads. Ivo spoke for them. "We have no objections, Great One. Never have we thought ourselves, servants of the humble dirt, as more than others, no matter their differences. Even among our own, there were foreigners, men of the Hinterlands, of the southern frontiers."

"Then it is done," said Li. He drifted to the edge of the grove, and as he did so, he mentally prepared himself to cast a spell. This was a final theatric bang of sorts, one where he would announce the end of his presence by creating some monument in this area that could serve as a shrine and safe haven for the farmers to come to when they needed.

He planned to cast [Living Sanctuary], an A+ ranked spell that would bring forth a massive defensive fortress of tree roots surrounded with Hunter Vines that would lash out at any enemy presence automatically.

It was a spell used mostly to hold down key areas such as choke points temporarily or stall for team mates to cast spells, but now, it would serve as something far, far more than a simple distraction. 

And yet, as he spread his arms out, splaying his branched fingers and gathering his magical energy in shimmering pulses of green light, he felt…off. Something about him was different. He felt lighter than usual, his mind calm almost to a fault, his senses honed to a knife's edge.

He could feel the beating of every single living being's heart here, how they all resonated into a melody that played for his sake, and yet what he felt was not an overwhelming sense of power or pride or accomplishment.

No, he felt gratitude.

Gratitude that there were so many that understood him, were willing to devote themselves to a belief he had once thought was childish and outdated. He felt a sensation he could only describe as liberation, of a freedom from all the hopelessness that had once chained him down so low in another world so dark and damaged.

There was only hope now, for a future led by him that would be brighter, greener, clearer. 

Yes, he could see it now, a vision of what was to be, of what he could finally call a dream. 

"This garden I promise you may now be humble," said Li. "But in time, this garden will flower and bear fruit. It shall know no borders nor shall it ever know the decaying touch of time. It will be everlasting and infinite as I am, as you will be within this Cycle which I herald, for even within death you shall have a place within my roots."

Li raised his hands to the air. "But for now, behold the seed that shall sprout forth this garden of ideals and wonders! Whose boundaries shall ever expand under your gentle and guiding hands!"

With that, Li cast [Living Sanctuary]. The spiraling shimmers of green energy that gathered around his hands coalesced into spheres before exploding outwards into a shower of glowing sparks. The sparks wafted onto the forest floor like grass carried by wind, and as they touched the barren ground, he noticed that something was off.

The ground uttered a deep, guttural quake, one that came from deep, deep within – the same type of primordial force that must surely have once moved and shaped the continents themselves. The mortals were concerned, but they held steadfast, restraining the urge to flee. 

The clearing, once covered with the trademark dark and wilting grasses of the Winterwoods, instantly shone over with a vibrant green. The green, at first glance, looked like magical energy, but it came solely from the sheer verdant healthiness of grass that had been restored by otherworldly might. Flowers of all colors and shapes sprouted at rapid speed, releasing their unique fragrances which mixed into a pleasant springtime scent of light honey that calmed the nerves. 

The rumbling halted, and there was a brief lull of silence. 

"Stand back!" commanded Li as he sensed his power forming around him, spreading beneath him like roots, forming and coalescing almost independent of his will, and yet, he did not feel like he was not in control. No, this felt like instinct, an instinct he had never awakened but that which he now felt.

"And witness this shrine of mine!"

The beastwomen were the first to flee back, getting out of the clearing and hiding behind trees. The farmers followed with far less panic, most of them actually slow to leave as they bore witness to the changing world with wide eyes. 

Li felt the flow of his power as it traveled through the earth around him, amassing under the entirety of the whole clearing, and he could envision what was to occur. He floated backwards, out of sight of the farmers as he prepared to return to his prior form. Perhaps the farmers would have wished to see more of their new deity, but soon, in a way, they would be able to gaze upon his form all they wished.

Wood burst forth from the empty clearing. First, a gargantuan pillar of darkened wood – the same shade as that which graced Li's own form - erupted from the end of the clearing, towering a dozen times over the trees around it. It curved downwards before morphing, segmenting into the fashion of an immense spine.

From the length of the spine then burst forth ribs of wood that shot forth with great and heavy groans, circling around the length of the clearing, encircling it in a perimeter of divine wood. At the tip of the spine, flowers formed before giving way to another outgrowth of wood, softer this time, malleable like clay, that molded itself into the fashion of an enormous cervid skull easily the size of a large house. 

Antlers branched out from either end of this wooden skull, stretching into and across the sky with all the divine scale and grandeur of thunderbolts. One of the antlers radiated with life, flowers and vines and mosses and even small trees all sprouting throughout its length. The other oozed with death, cracks oozing with dark fog wreathing its blackened breadth to signify barrenness. 

Around the perimeter of the ribs, a dozen circles packed with arcane symbols of green emerged, and from those manifested the kneeling and giant bodies of Treant Justicars, level 90 golems that were symbolized as the forest's knights, their broad wooden bodies shaped in the fashion of armored warriors, their greatswords of oak planted firmly in front of them in the earth.

But even compared to these golems that stood more than three meters tall, the grand structure they knelt towards was far more imposing, far grander in scale. 

Standing tall over what was once the clearing was what would best be called a giant wooden replica of Li's upper body, his bare wooden ribcage marking out the boundaries of what he knew to be his shrine. Not merely a shrine in name, but in true function – he knew a part of him pulsed in there, quite literally where his heart would have been under those wall-like ribs, linking him inextricably with all those that stepped within. 

The rumbling of the earth stopped, and Li beheld what had come from him. 

This was not [Living Sanctuary]. This was not any spell he had ever cast or known to have existed in the game. No, this was not related to the game at all, it came entirely from him, a divine being that instinctively wished to commune with his followers. 

And for once, Li felt tired, drained at his absolute core. Whatever power he drew from, he was not used to handling. With a satisfied nod, he allowed his human form to mold over his bark once more, though as sinews wrapped around him and were buttoned down with skin, he could not help but feel uncomfortable, like a child that was outgrowing his clothes.