Chương 492: Azure Rose Confederation Meeting.

In the depths of the Azure Rose Confederation, a council made up of the leaders from the major territories of the Confederation gathered. In the room they had gathered, they all sat at a large circular table with a large rose growing in the middle. This rose's color was a gorgeous flowing azure color, with a height of around 20 meters. Clearly, this being in the middle represented or substituted the being that kept the entire confederation together as one entity, the Azure Rose.

Unlike in the Celestial Lotus Empire or the Verdant Sanctity Covenant, the Azure Rose took a much more active part in mediating and regulating the entire territory. At this moment, the World Tree had received news and summoned all council members. The voice of the Azure Rose was firm but with that very particular touch of gentleness all World Trees had. It sounded like a female ruler speaking in a soft tone to her subjects, firm but reassuring.

"Today, I've gathered all of you to speak about the situation of the Wild Continent." Everyone frowned, but no one dared interrupt. The Azure Rose's ruling was done through strict laws. There was no one who could match her in strength or hide things because of her unique nature as a World Tree. The Celestial Lotus was a gargantuan plant that spread her roots like any other World Tree.

Her special abilities all focused on soul-related ones, but over that, it was her strong fertility even among the World Tree species. She could easily give birth to one Sylvan almost every year through multiple pregnancies at once, and the Sylvan's Tier would at the very least be B- Tier. Additionally, as a Lotus Flower, her ability to fight in water areas was unparalleled. No enemy ships could even approach 200 kilometers near her coast before they were sunk and destroyed by the Celestial Lotus.

Meanwhile, the Verdant Skyflower was called as such due to her control over the air. She was a World Tree with a special ability to create many flying seeds like a dandelion and protect both the sky and land. Moreover, when these seeds landed, trees would grow, or they could give buffs to people. In case the Skyflower wanted to fight, she could also turn these seeds into strong attacking power.

All the territories covered by the Verdant Skyflower were prosperous and perfectly defended from any attack, as they could predict everything except the very unusual and complicated underground attacks. Finally, the Azure Rose power's specialty was body dividing. Her fruits were not so much fruits as they were seeds that could sprout powerful Azure Roses. That particular skill was the reason for her name, not because her main body was an Azure Rose.

These Azure Roses had part of the main body's consciousness and strong defensive and offensive abilities at close range. Therefore, if you wanted to invade the Azure Rose's territory, you would need to deal with all the small clones that could probably fight with a weak Fourth Energy Cycle being. Thousands of those made it so that her territory was as impregnable as the other main World Trees and a source of many headaches for the Nexus.

In this meeting room, the Azure Rose had deployed her strongest <Azure Rose>, with a fighting power of a Level 90 B+ Tier powerhouse.

"As you all know, the Wild Continent was attacked by the Abyssal Void Nexus and almost doomed to be conquered." The voice of the Azure Rose spread in the room with a refreshing fragrance.

"Honestly, I was a bit disappointed at your performance in failing to protect the territory we won in the Wild Continent after so many years of fighting. Still, I never really blamed you because the enemy and our… allies never really cared to defend." As her words flowed smoothly, no one interrupted. The biggest rule in the Azure Rose Confederation was that whatever the big lady said was right. Of course, that didn't mean that they couldn't disagree with her. Only that the last decision power was hers.

"Unlike what we predicted, though, the Wild Continent has not fallen under the Abyssal Void Nexus' hands." This surprised the gathered group of people. Among the few dozen, there were a few <Fourth Energy Cycles>. These powerful people were the ones who didn't have as many reservations and spoke the most during these meetings. One of them spoke up.

"Did Lady Warlya regain her power and push them back? Other than that, I can't think of anything that could stop their massive army. Even our reinforced locations with some of Your Ladyship's Azure Roses fell under the bombardment of those powerful artillery cannons." The Azure Roses didn't have a lot of attack range, so while powerful, they were easily countered. They were something to tilt the scales in their favor in a balanced situation. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen.

Report the violation. Listening to the words spoken by that person, the Azure Rose spoke softly.

"Wrong. It is the being I told you in the past to try and ally with that created a miracle." Someone blurted.

"How can that be possible? Tianlian Liu Shu is indeed an outlier among other Lady World Trees, but she is too young! Not even ten Tianlian Liu Shu's would be able to match up to one Warlya." The Azure Rose's peaceful aura changed for the first time, and pressure radiated from the 20-meter-tall Azure Rose.

"Human child. Your perception is flawed, and your ego is too high. Aren't there geniuses among us who manage to reach high levels in an incredibly short time? Have you ever thought about how such a genius would look if it appeared in the World Tree race?" That man paled and quickly stood up, banging his forehead on the sturdy table with enough strength to make his forehead bleed.

"This one spoke out of turn. Please, Lady Azure Rose, be benevolent with your punishment." The Azure Rose paused for a second, and then a strange breeze flew inside the closed meeting room. That breeze pushed that man back up and forced him to sit back.

"Enough. I am not here today to hear your orchestrated plays. At the end of the day, you are the governors of countries within my domain, so you need to have some dignity." Knowing that he avoided calamity, that person quickly thanked the Azure Rose.

"Regardless, that little one that Celestial Lotus stole from us is now sweeping the Wild Continent after annihilating the Abyssal Void Nexus' main force." Everyone was stunned. One person caught something unusual about this situation and spoke up.

"But Lady Azure Rose, that young sapling is beyond the Wall Forest, right? How could she pass through it without angering it? Not even Lady Warlya in her prime was able to do something like that."

"I am unaware of this as well." Azure Rose spoke nonchalantly.

"Regardless, it is clear that thanks to our attack, the little one has managed to gain enough time to spread her roots. From now on, the Abyssal Void Nexus is presented with two options." The gorgeous blue rose swayed gently as she spoke through it.

"The first is to swallow this loss and take revenge in the future. This is risky because Tianlian Liu Shu might grow too much. After all, the War must've given her a great deal of Experience Points." Everyone got thoughtful when they heard their words. This was honestly something that didn't suit those arrogant people who thought they were above nature. Still, Tianlian Liu Shu's existence was just too mysterious. After waiting for a bit, the Azure Rose spoke once more.

"The other option they have is gathering a force from the Main Continent and attacking once again with their Fourth Energy Cycles. The problem with this is that, if they dare to do something like that, we won't remain silent and will deal a terrifying blow to them while their Fourth Energy Cycles are missing." She added softly.

"Moreover, Skyflower is too compassionate not to protect a talented little one like Tianlian Liu Shu." Everyone nodded at those words. The Verdant Sanctity Covenant was a religious group that placed the security of World Trees above everything. Among all three World Trees, Verdant Skyflower was clearly the strongest. Her methods of attack were just too difficult to deal with if she used them maliciously.

In Azure Rose's honest opinion, the only reason she and Celestial Lotus could live so peacefully was that Verdant Skyflower didn't want to hurt or attack them. Even before Azure Rose expanded, she still remembered that Skyflower had always been there. She was probably the most ancient World Tree on the entire planet.

'I still can't understand what that tree is thinking… Even if she never pushes them, won't they stay in a stalemate forever? There needs to be one final winner for a true World Tree to be born.' The three of them, Azure Rose, Celestial Lotus, and Verdant Skyflower, were at Level 99. Just a step away from Level 100. However, unless a World Tree managed to spread its roots throughout the entire planet, reaching Level 100 was impossible.

When Azure Rose talked in the past with Skyflower, she told her that there would be a time when such differences matter no more. Such confusing words were something that she couldn't really accept.

'Does she mean that her lifespan is longer than ours? But World Trees have practically inexhaustible lifespans. Even at the <Fourth Energy Cycle>, a World Tree could live for hundreds of thousands of years without showing any sign of decay. Of course, the number of World Trees that reached even a fraction of their true lifespan was almost nonexistent because they would die due to external causes more than 99 out of 100 times.

"So, Lady Azure Rose, what do you want us to do?" Azure Rose spoke.

"If the Nexus attacks, we will protect Tianlian Liu Shu. The Wild Continent had always been a wild card that could help the Void Nexus, so if it falls into the roots of a World Tree, it will become their enemy. This will create a powerful ally for us through force majeure. No World Tree that has reached the <Fourth Energy Cycle> is weak." Her words made them think, and soon, they accepted it.

Meanwhile, the World Tree they were speaking about was reaching the end of her cleanup of the Continent, leaving only Warlya's territory untouched. Liu Shu looked at her Level for a moment.

'I've reached Level 74 and still have over 36 million experience points…' Then, she looked at her system messages and saw one very eye-catching message. [Congratulations, you've completed <Sylvan Quest: Become A Young World Tree>. Do you want to receive the rewards?] Liu Shu's roots wiggled with excitement.

"Before I deal with Big Sister Warlya, I should reach Level 75 and receive the quest rewards. Then, I will have enough strength to smack some sense into her!' She still remembered her experience with the first Corrupted World Tree. Her arrogance due to her supposed strength back then almost cost her everything. Therefore, she wouldn't make the same mistake this time around.

"Accept the rewards!"