Chương 580: Space Progress!

"Alright, things are looking great." The process of activating the Moon's core was slow, but there was progress. Now that there was momentum, increasing it was just a matter of a little bit of time and effort. To later terraform the area, Liu Shu would need to gather some gases and other materials and thicken the atmosphere. Still, since that was not something she could do right away, she left it to her subconsciousness. Meanwhile, she freed her main consciousness and checked on the people on her planet.

"Hm?" Liu Shu could sense new auras of relatively powerful people. Many of the Level 99 people who had been stuck in the previous superpowers pushed forward, reaching the new level.

"Wow~, quite nice. There are over 81 Level 100 people and beyond that who don't form part of the 200 envoy group!" Other than them, her Lignified Children were slowly breaking through one after another. What made Liu Shu somewhat surprised was the presence hiding deep within the world's forests and other environments.

'Naturally born Level 100 monsters… That can be dangerous.' She didn't intend to interact unless they were at risk of annihilation. So, she would leave any problems of a similar nature to her residents to solve.

"Hm… My roots are already quite far from Ceperet. How far…?" Liu Shu tried to measure it, but she didn't know how to.

"I would love to know the exact distance, but it's really difficult. I hope I am not too far from reaching <Nualis>... Oh? Wait." As her gaze swept across the empty space she had taken over, she noticed a strange movement from some asteroids. Looking over, she was startled to realize that they weren't asteroids at all!

"<Astraelis>? Here?" She knew that star monsters were not that uncommon, but she had not expected that they would appear in her own Solar System! The monsters she was looking at were relatively fast, floating about without seemingly any sense of direction. Of course, she didn't really know anything about these space beasts.

'Perhaps they have some sort of natural instinct to know directions in the middle of space. What Level are they, even?' First, she looked at one of the smallest ones in the group of almost 3, 000 floating beasts.

Name: --- Race: Testudotigris Astralis. Level: 100 Aether Mana Stars: 0. 09/0. 09 (8, 879) (887, 962, 351) Phoer Body Stars: 0. 52/0. 52 (51, 202) (5, 120, 123, 314) Anima Energy Stars: 0. 15/0. 15 (14, 598) (1, 459, 758, 856) Attributes: Aether 100, 428 / Physique 395, 069 / Anima 163, 539 / Willpower 14, 524 / Destiny 1, 600 Overall Stars: 16 (A Tier)

"Wow~." Liu Shu was somewhat surprised. She had not expected that one of the youngest-looking <Astraelis> would be Level 100. Then, looking at the stats, she was somewhat shocked.

'These monsters… They are so weak!' If the space beasts could listen and understand Liu Shu, they would most likely slap her.

'It's not us who are weak, alright? It is you who are ridiculously strong!' For a Level 100 monster in the A Tier, this newborn monster's stats were rather average. No extraordinary numbers, a stats spread focused on one direction. With <Physique> reaching nearly 400, 000 and a body large enough to put mountains to shame, killing something like this would take significant effort. Liu Shu looked around the group of beasts, noticing that the strongest ones were around Level 140. Nothing too extraordinary.

"Is it common for Astraelis to be so high level? Or, are they born at Level 100 and go from there?" If that was the case, she would love to investigate why that happened. So, with not-so-good future intentions, she decided to keep a check on them for later.

'I hope I don't forget about it…' Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Speaking of forgetting about it, Liu Shu's gaze returned to Ceperet, and she focused on the being she had found quite a while ago already.

"Water Spirit, how are you doing?" The water spirit, who was peacefully spreading across the world, was startled by the sudden communication attempt. Its reaction generated large waves across the seas and oceans, but nothing dangerous.

"Wow~, you have influence on almost a tenth of the world's total water sources!" The lake spirit answered lightly.

"It's more than that. After all, to not bother the biosphere too much, I started taking over the profound waters first, and then slowly moved up."

"Oh… I see." The Origin Water Spirit chuckled.

"You don't seem too invested."

"Hm… As long as you are a benefit for the world, I will naturally be happy if you take as much as you can into yourself." The Origin Water Spirit chuckled.

"What if I turned out to be an evil being who would have control over all water sources in the world? Even you would be in trouble on how to deal with me."

"Hm?" Liu Shu asked, puzzled.

"Isn't the thing on the lake your core? Destroying that would dissolve your existence, right?"

"..." The water spirit didn't expect that the core she so carefully hid would be instantly found and pointed out by the World Tree.

"Ahem. Anyway, what did you contact me for, Liu Shu?"

"Nothing." Liu Shu chuckled.

"I was just curious about how you were doing. I am currently approaching another world, so I would prefer it if you completely took over the water in this one before I threw a part of you there."

"I see…" The Water Spirit decided not to get agitated at Liu Shu's casual but explosive statements. Instead, it focused on another thing.

"How long will you take? Half a century? More, perhaps?"

"Huh? How could it be that long? I am sure that I will discover <Nualis> in just two or three more years. Moreover, this date is somewhat of a worst-case scenario. I shouldn't be too far from its orbit."

"Mhm. Nice to know." Her tone was calm, but she was crying rivers inside.

'Why is my resident True World Tree so strange!?'

"Anyway, have a nice time! Bye-bye!" The World Tree came and went equally abruptly, leaving behind a confused Water Spirit.

"Now!" Liu Shu got motivated for a second, only to find herself at a loss.

"... What now?" There was literally nothing to do. The <Dungeons> were running properly. The world was slowly advancing toward a new era, thanks to her buffs and temples, following constant scientific breakthroughs. And, above all of that, those close to Liu Shu were gathering ternary essences and slowly breaking through into Level 100. As she thought, she felt that she was missing something.

"Hm…" Only, after thinking for a while, she couldn't find that something at the tip of her branches.

"Ugh… It feels awful. It's like you are about to say it, but it just doesn't come out even when you try to squeeze it!... That sounded strange, hehe."

"Tree is Leveling Up, and Flor and Ignatia as well, and the Sylvans are also in seclusion." Her gaze moved toward the World Trees, and she suddenly felt like communicating with her old friends.

"Lakeborn, Fortuna, Prarya. How are you three doing?" Fortuna answered first, her tone as soothing as before.

"Liu Shu? I thought you were busy. Personally, I am doing great. I am already Level 78!. So, I am quite happy that I reached the <Fourth Energy Cycle>." Liu Shu giggled.

"That's great to hear, Big Sister Fortuna." Prarya was also as cheerful as ever, having little to no change in personality even after all these years.

"I am also great! My Level is a bit stuck at Level 74, but I will eventually break through! Hehe. It's all thanks to you, Liu Shu. Being so close to your energy has benefited me greatly."

"Hmm… Really? Why are you stuck? Can I help?" Prarya smiled softly.

"You can't, but I'll thank you for the offer. The thing is that, unlike Fortuna, I am pretty limited by my Tier. As a C+ Tier, it is challenging to break through into the <Fourth Energy Cycle>. I will eventually, though. It is just a matter of time."

"I see…" Liu Shu was a bit emotional, since she was even lower-tiered previously. Her gaze moved toward the shores of the Golden Sap Continent.

"What about you, Lakeborn?" The myriad voices of the aquatic World Tree answered pleasantly, like a singing choir.

"We are doing great, Liu Shu. Our cities are flourishing, and Lady Pelagia is helping us greatly with our adaptation to the seas." Hearing that everyone was doing great, our World Tree was delighted.

"Speaking of… Big Sister Fortuna, you have given birth to a few children, right? Eila as well…" Fortuna laughed tenderly.

"That's right. I've given birth to two Sylvans and a few other plant species. None as peculiar as your alraune children, though. They were more common dryads, treants, and even common flora like tree seeds and flowers."

"... You have birthed a Sylvan?" Fortuna paused and spoke carefully.

"I heard you are having trouble with that? Have you tried impregnating your Sylvans, Liu Shu?"

"I… have not." Liu Shu admitted.

"The problem with that is I am a bit afraid." Prarya asked, confused.

"Why? From all I know, your Sylvans are extraordinary even among their own kind. They should have no problem giving birth, right?"

"Yes, but…" Liu Shu's roots tangled together.

"What if they give birth to more dangerous flora with bad effects on the mother? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if that happened…" Lakeborn spoke, her choir-like voice soothing and melodious.

"Liu Shu, we don't have experience mating with individual flora. Still, we don't believe what you fear will ever come to pass. Your partners are much stronger than you think. We have seen them develop where your eyes couldn't easily reach, we have seen them push beyond limits, and we have seen them fight against myriad creatures. They are strong and courageous." Fortuna agreed.

"Lakeborn is right. Cinderielle and the others probably don't even know about your fears, right?" Liu Shu agreed timidly, and Prarya clicked her roots, slapping Liu Shu a few times.

"You silly girl. When those girls reach Level 100 and leave their evolution process, you'd better snatch them away and use your vines to clog all the holes in their bodies!"

"WAH!" Liu Shu started beating up Prarya.

"You perverted World Tree! Do that to your partners! What are you trying to etch in my mind!?"

"Ouch! Liu Shu! A bit softer! Ow!"

"Hmph!" Liu Shu harrumphed and then smiled.

"Still, I will speak with them. Thank you~." Fortuna chuckled.

"No need to thank us. You call all of us big sisters, so we will naturally take care of our little sister."

"Hehehe." Liu Shu smiled happily. Prarya grinned.

"Go plug them hol—OUCH!"