Chương 513: Turning Cogs.

After that day, the Golden Sap City leaders completely reorganized the structure of the berry collectors. The group in charge of Liu Shu would remain unchanged. Nevertheless, they needed to take disciples, at least five each. Using this method, the <Berry Collectors> would teach their disciples and then send them to live in the <Lignified> trees to collect their fruits.

Only those who showed promise would be promoted to high-level collectors, who would have the honor of picking fruits straight from Liu Shu's branches. At the same time, the opposite could also happen. If one messed up during collection time, they would be demoted. Of course, as long as they could prove that it was an accident, the demotion could be considered temporary instead of permanent. By now, Liu Shu was already deeply rooted as the sacred World Tree. Even a single one of her leaves was sold at a high price.

After all, World Trees were a source of materials that you couldn't find anywhere else. Among the new reforms, Liu Shu miscalculated something. Her tree-related skills affected all assimilated trees… All of them. So, while Liu Shu was sorting out her vault, she suddenly felt several messages from other World Trees and Life Trees through the I. C. A. R. E. network. Prarya, like always, jumped on the trigger first.

"Liu Shu! What is this strange information about fruits that has appeared in my head? Your Rune and Nature Empire skill thingy is so strange!"

"Oh?" Fortuna muttered.

"You have also received the same notification? That's interesting." Even Tree joined in, her pleasant, soothing, and gentle voice reaching Liu Shu.

"These fruits look powerful… They are like the ones you could grow at first. Did the skill evolve?" Warlya commented.

"I really like this Elemental Lord one. Sadly, I can't grow the Cerulean Bloodfruit… Still, the Refinement Berry is quite to my taste." Many more messages reached her, and all of them were very similar to those. Checking her skills and titles, Liu Shu quickly understood what was happening. The buffs of the <Otherworldly Rune and Nature Empire> went as far as her roots reached. So, these World Trees had become, by the system's definition, something similar to a <Lignified> species, but not entirely one.

This association was enough to unlock the benefits.

"Hm… Since you can grow them yourselves, choose as you like. Nevertheless, don't worry about choosing the ones that will benefit you the most. I can grow all of them, and if you need any, I can give or sell them to you for a cheap price~."

"All of them?" Snow asked, her tone surprised.

"I can barely grow two different fruits at once…"

"Same…"

"Big Sister Snow, you are not alone. I can only grow one!" Liu Shu chuckled and focused her gaze on the two underwater World Trees.

"Lakeborn, Reef, are any of those fruits suitable for you?" Lakeborn's myriad voices reached Liu Shu, gentle and soothing currents swimming among the multiple voices.

"We have found suitable ones, Liu Shu. What about you, Little Sister Reef?" Liu Shu chuckled.

"I can easily grow all of them. I am also curious about sister Reef, though." Reef was a relatively old World Tree. Still, it was younger than Lakeborn, who had lived for several hundred years. Moreover, since her way of speech was still quite immature, Liu Shu took her time when speaking with this shy World Tree. Accustomed to living underwater and in isolation, Reef found the new I. C. A. R. E. network a bit overwhelming. Nevertheless, she was getting accustomed.

With a choppy tone, the World Tree answered Liu Shu slowly.

"There are… many… interesting… fruits… to grow." Liu Shu found Reef so cute that she started petting her with her roots.

"Great, great. If you need any help, tell me." Being aggressively petted by a World Tree more than ten times younger than itself was a strange experience. Even so, Reef was not upset about it. After settling everything with them, Liu Shu finally could focus on the task ahead.

"Time to see my quest. Hehe." [Chain Quest activates!] [You've received <Sylvan Quest: Become a True World Tree>.] [Description: You've gone from a small sapling in the forest to extending your roots throughout an entire continent. Your ability to overcome obstacles is undoubtedly prodigious. Nevertheless, everything you've done until now was a preparation for what you must do next. Your next stop: the world.] [Objective 1: Take over <Ceperet>.] This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. [Objective 2: Build your Fourth <Temple>.] [Rewards: Modifiable reward depending on your needs.] [Punishment: Death.] Liu Shu was stunned.

"That's it?" She looked at the quest again, trying to see if she missed any hidden objectives or anything. But no. Other than forcing her to build her <Fourth> temple, there were no objectives.

"It feels as if the quest chain is saying, 'I've taught you enough. If you can't do this next step alone, your fate is bleak.'" Liu Shu was a bit nervous. Thankfully, the mission showed some sort of progress. [Objective 1: Take over <Ceperet>. (19% Completed).]"Already 19 percent?" Liu Shu frowned.

"If that's the case, it might be easier than what I was thinking." In Liu Shu's mind, "taking over" meant that her roots would need to be everywhere around and inside the world. Meaning, she would become one with the World in the truest sense of the word…

"But if I have already taken over 19%, with the pitiful sphere volume I've taken over compared to the entirety of the planet, I should only be required to take the surface area." Liu Shu hummed for a few moments, lingering on what to do and what not to do.

"Even if it is only the surface… The quest has always rewarded me with extra rewards as long as I went above and beyond to complete it…" Gaining a touch of resolution, Liu Shu's roots gathered energy and began digging deep toward the center of the world. Of course, whether she would be able to reach it or not was an entirely different matter. A World's core and its surroundings had pressures high enough to transform all materials into a single molten slag.

A liquid core, radiating incredible power and warmth, constantly fighting to maintain a balance with natural forces beyond a mortal's scope. If there was one being who could fight against this type of natural force, it was another force of nature. The miracle created by life to carry the sky over its canopy and creation throughout its roots: a World Tree.

While Liu Shu slowly but steadily made progress toward the center of the planet, her roots covered the surface of the planet at an accelerated pace—especially the Abyssal Void Nexus' surroundings. After a little while, Liu Shu suddenly sensed a boat departing from the Abyssal Void Nexus' shores. This caught the World Tree's curiosity. If it were something valuable, Liu Shu would destroy it.

'If it wasn't that important… Heh, who am I kidding? I'll destroy it as well. Hehehe.' In the first place, Liu Shu paid attention to this particular luxurious boat because of the aura it carried within. At first, she was just suspicious, but later, Liu Shu recognized the auras coming from inside the boat.

'Hm… <Fourth Energy cycles>? Five of them at that? Where are they going?' Liu Shu would love to follow them. Nevertheless, that area was Pelagia's. Therefore, she could only ask the other World Tree politely to keep an eye on them. Pelagia did so; she was not an enemy of Liu Shu. She noticed that Skyflower and Liu Shu had a very close relationship as well, which were extra points for the World Tree. It didn't take long before Pelagia noticed their direction and reached out.

"Liu Shu, you might not like it, but they are going straight towards your continent."

"Oh?" This came as a surprise to Liu Shu. Thinking back, she remembered that archer who came a while back. Perhaps these are people who have come to retrieve her or help her. Regardless, Liu Shu knew that they wanted trouble. So, she would give them trouble.

"You five come just in time for me to check my summoning skills~. <World Tree Calling>." A pillar of green light quickly soared to the sky, piercing the clouds and breaking the space above her. From the portal, ten serpents descended. Their bodies were enormous, and their wings even more so. Among them, the number of melee-focused summons was five. Accompanying them were two healers, two magic casters, and finally a physical one with potent offense but much weaker defense than the first five.

Overall, it was a balanced team. What impressed Liu Shu was that, like she had hoped, all of them were <Fourth Energy Cycles>. Moreover, most of them were at Level 80 or 90.

"Ophion. Nice to see you again!" While the World Tree always had a powerful summon out, taking advantage of the Temple of Summoning's bonuses, it was rare for Liu Shu to summon the serpents. Even though Ophion was constantly growing in size, level, and tier, this time around, the World Tree had left him in the dust. Liu Shu used her branches to caress all ten serpents, and they all reacted like puppies, rubbing their bark-like scales against Liu Shu's body.

The exchange of sensation was very comfortable, as if she were stroking smooth skin.

"Someone is coming to attack me. Can you protect me?" The ten adorable Arboreal Winged Serpents stopped acting cute, and a terrifyingly cold and murderous aura enveloped their bodies. Ophion hissed, his green eyes showing anger.

"Who dares? Have they still not learned?" Liu Shu giggled.

"It seems that they haven't." A female serpent hissed gently and rubbed her head with Liu Shu's cheek.

"Don't worry, Liu Shu. We will eliminate the threat quickly." Then, the ten of them jumped from Liu Shu's body and extended their massive wings. Their shadows flashed by the city, and soon, they disappeared in the distance. Meanwhile, the five people on the runic speedboat sighed to each other.

"That woman is truly troublesome. Couldn't she have just investigated first and then returned? If we were all together, it would have been easier to deal with the Third Energy Cycle World Tree."

"We can't keep assuming that whoever became a <Fourth Energy Cycle> is another creature, alright? If Tianlian Liu Shu was indeed the one improving, we are in deep trouble. Some of us might die taking her down."

"You wish!" Another person laughed.

"How can someone from a world that's not even part of a Star System force have so much strength and talent? Resources don't fall from the sky, so not everyone has the same opportunities." Meanwhile, inside the former Terragore Empire, a group of warriors led by Edharen had just defeated the sixth level, killing the Terragore Queen, and leveled up to the <Fourth Energy Cycle>. At once, the Golden Sap Arborarchy had gained twenty-five extra <Fourth Energy Cycles>.

All elites that were forged by war, who had finally digested their gains and stepped into the top powerhouse section of the continent. Moreover, with them, they finally managed to gather a group to tackle the still mysterious and undefeated Terragore Oracle Queen.