That mighty tolling of a bell had not come from the outside world.
It had erupted directly in the deepest part of his soul!
Li Hao froze where he stood.
This felt completely different from the electronic notification sound that had accompanied the system's previous upgrades.
It was ancient and solemn, filled with the rhythm of the world.
[Congratulations, Host.]
The system's voice rang out. It was no longer the slightly playful synthesized voice from before, but had become solemn and majestic. Every word carried a wondrous resonance.
[Soul Beast Paradise has been preliminarily established. The spatial laws are stable, and its cycle of life is self-sustaining. It has reached the standard of a blessed grotto-heaven.] [System permissions officially upgraded!]
As the words faded, Li Hao felt his connection to all of Paradise deepen countless times over in an instant.
Before, he had been the master of this space.
Now, he was the god of this world...
He could clearly sense the pulse of every inch of soil, the breath of every leaf, and the flow of every drop of lake water.
He even had the strange feeling that...
If he wished, he could make the flowers here bloom across the hillsides in an instant.
He could even send the rushing river surging back up to the mountain peak.
"This..."
Li Hao held out his hand and stared at his palm.
An unprecedented sense of control made even a socially anxious person like him feel his heart stirring.
[New permission unlocked: Fine-tune the flow of time.] [The current time flow in Paradise can be adjusted to 1.1 times its normal speed.]
1.1 times?
At a thought, Li Hao focused his attention on the newly sprouted Phantom Dream Sapling not far away.
Activate!
In his perception, the sapling's growth did seem to speed up ever so slightly.
The change was almost imperceptible, but the power to alter the world's laws still left him utterly shaken.
This cheat seemed to be getting more and more ridiculous.
[Core function upgraded: Summon of Paradise.]
The system spoke again. This time, the announcement left Li Hao completely stunned.
[The upgraded Soul Beast Paradise's pure life force and absolutely safe world laws can penetrate spatial barriers. Within a certain range, Soul Beasts with pure souls that are on the brink of death will be able to sense it faintly.] [They will see this place as their final refuge and paradise.] [Following their instincts, they will seek the door that leads here.]
"This..."
"So it's a passive monster lure?"
And an automatic, twenty-four-hour monster lure, at that!
Li Hao's mind buzzed.
He could already picture his little Paradise packed full of all kinds of bizarre Soul Beasts.
His social-anxiety DNA began to tremble violently again.
As his thoughts ran wild...
Far away, deep in Star Dou Forest, in a dark corner he could not see...
A thousand-year-old Wind-Seeking Bird, most of whose feathers had been scorched away, dragged its broken wing as it struggled across the ground.
Behind it, several Soul Masters dressed in Soul Hunting Squad uniforms advanced step by step, grinning cruelly.
Despair engulfed its heart.
But just then, it raised its head in confusion.
In its perception, a faint call came from a place so distant it was beyond imagination.
It was a world filled with life, peace, and tranquility.
There was no slaughter. No fear.
It was paradise.
It was home.
The Wind-Seeking Bird had no idea what that place was, but its instinct to survive drove it to summon its last ounce of strength and charge in the direction where the call was strongest.
To the Soul Hunting Squad's astonishment, the Soul Beast that should have been theirs to capture slammed straight into an apparently ordinary patch of air.
The next moment, it vanished without a trace.
The space rippled almost imperceptibly.
Soul Beast Paradise.
Li Hao stood atop a mountain, feeling the power he had just gained.
Suddenly, the space before him rippled.
A massive, charred bird covered in wounds and clinging to life plunged out of the ripple and crashed awkwardly onto the grass.
Xiao Wu jumped in fright and ducked behind Li Hao.
Medusa immediately stepped in front of them, a hint of wariness flashing in her serpentine eyes.
The Wind-Seeking Bird struggled to lift its head. It saw Li Hao, then sensed the terrifying aura of a Soul Beast coming from Medusa. In despair, it closed its eyes.
Out of the tiger's jaws, only to fall into the wolf's den.
However, the attack it expected never came.
A warm, pure life force enveloped it.
Nourished by that energy, the wounds on its body began to heal slowly.
It cautiously opened its eyes.
It saw the clear sky and the rolling green hills in the distance. It heard the crisp chirping of birds and the gentle burble of flowing water.
The air was filled with the fragrant scent of plants and trees, so soothing that even its soul felt at ease.
This really was paradise.
The Wind-Seeking Bird tremulously rose to its feet and gave Li Hao, atop the mountain, a clear, joyous cry.
It spread its newly healed wings, circled the mountain once, then respectfully settled on a large tree not far away.
It had willingly become the first immigrant to this world.
Li Hao watched the scene, not even having time to make a quip.
Not far away, another ripple appeared in space.
A thousand-year-old Wind-Speed Deer, covered in blade wounds, staggered into the Paradise.
Then came a third, a fourth...
A five-thousand-year-old Ghost Vine, ravaged by poison.
A family of Velvet Fire Rabbits, reduced to three young by a predator's pursuit.
A hundred-year-old Water Python, with most of its scales torn off.
Over the next short half hour, more than a dozen Soul Beasts on the brink of death slipped into Soul Beast Paradise this way.
They had all been near death, and were terrified and wary of everything in the outside world.
But here, they felt a peace and tranquility unlike anything they had ever known.
After their initial panic, they quickly found places that suited them.
The Wind-Speed Deer ran toward the grassland.
The Ghost Vine took root in the shadow of a valley.
Xiao Wu happily gathered the Velvet Fire Rabbit family in her arms and brought them to her little nest.
Li Hao stared at it all, dumbstruck.
He watched these Soul Beasts, each so different in shape yet all carrying the joy of surviving disaster, find new life in this brand-new world.
They ran, played, drank, and foraged.
With their arrival, the entire Paradise became more vibrant and brimming with life.
An absurd yet grand thought rose uncontrollably in his heart.
He seemed to be building...
A kingdom belonging solely to Soul Beasts.
A final pure land where they could escape being hunted by humans.
He was no longer passively accepting everything the system gave him.
For the first time, something called responsibility took root in his heart of its own accord.
He would make this place the final refuge for all kind-hearted Soul Beasts.
He looked at the mountains and rivers he had created with his own hands, and at the lives given a new lease on life. An unprecedented sense of accomplishment filled his heart.
Perhaps being a king wasn't so hard to accept after all?
Just as Li Hao's heart surged and he was nearly moved to tears by his own thoughts...
[Ding!]
The system's now solemn, majestic voice rang out again, carrying a note of urgency unlike anything before.
[Emergency mission triggered!] [Mission rank: Extremely Rare (Gold)] [Multiple noble souls have been detected rapidly fading in the depths of Star Dou Forest. Among them is the bloodline of the Hell Spirit Cat Royal Family...]
``` [Would you like to investigate?]
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