Chương 687: Synaptic Root.

After bidding Ekaruun goodbye, Liu Shu focused on what she had initially planned to develop before her precious Aionthra asked for her presence.

"Let's see… Where was I?" Looking around the non-human workshop, Liu Shu hummed carefully. Liu Shu's workshop was more of a spherical, underground structure. This child was created by many powerful materials, and it was linked with Liu Shu's roots. Inside, one could see a mass of roots moving materials around. This was where Liu Shu worked. It felt like a mass of sentient wood tentacles and feelers modifying materials. Only at the very center of the large spherical structure could one see a large wooden platform.

Here, Liu Shu set down tools, materials, completed artifacts, and many more things. It was also on this large platform where Liu Shu developed <Runic Fields>. The workshop was not always like this; it looked more like a human workshop in the past. However, soon, our World Tree noticed the limitation and had one thought.

'Why should I work like a humanoid intelligent being?' So, she created this strange space that one could describe as an eldritch space. Here, the only thing that showed where up and down was located would be the way that tools fell when Liu Shu released them.

"Hm… Let's see…" Liu Shu moved a mass of tentacles, and she then used her spatial affinity to take materials from the <Lignified Vault>. Speaking of this baby, it had grown so much that it began forming internal spatial pockets. The space it contained was already large enough to store mountains of materials. Moreover, it could perfectly track what items entered and what items left its bounds, freeing Liu Shu of her responsibility to write down what she used each time.

"Mhm… This is a way to develop it." What our World Tree was currently attempting was a new form of technology. From what Liu Shu learned, computers and other similar technologies all relied on electricity conduction and how to make that electricity mean different things through different commands and rules. In essence, it was a way to "make rocks think." So, Liu Shu asked herself.

"Why use rocks that are inherently inanimate and don't have the capability to think independently?" When she asked herself that question, Liu Shu thought she would reach a limiting conclusion rather than a logical one, such as material use or constraints. However, she was wrong.

"The reason we use rocks is precisely that they can't think and alter our base rules. We tell them how to behave, and they behave exactly as we can predict." But, while she accepted that this was an advantage, she also knew that it came with a huge con.

"It can't… learn. At least, not in the traditional sense." She, naturally, had seen how artificial intelligence was created. This technology developed profoundly, and she even saw that some societies managed to create AGI, or what those solar systems call Artificial General Intelligence. And yet, Liu Shu could tell that the lifeform was incomplete. The reason? Liu Shu muttered.

"The System doesn't acknowledge it and give it a System Page." The system would give every work a System Page. For all she knows, even bacteria and such had their own System Pages. It was a world that her current realm didn't really interact with. However, as long as the being had the capacity for simple thought, the System would allow them to view their <System Page>.

"But that AGI those technological societies developed has not developed a <System Page>." So, Liu Shu wanted to create a new lifeform. One that would mix technology and nature. A true artificial intelligence that can become more than "artificial."

"That's, of course, for the far future." While her ambition was high, she knew that everything needed to start at the very bottom. A tree without a sturdy foundation will always collapse under its own weight. Tianlian Liu Shu, therefore, started from the very beginning without any sense of shame.

"Let's try to create a living circuit." If she used "cables" to move electricity without mixing them with nature, then the very foundation of future technology would be a limitation. In Liu Shu's mind, everything would become part of the future nature-computer mix.

"Roots…" Liu Shu, as a World Tree that had managed to merge with her <Shadow>, had a perfect understanding of self and how she "functioned." So, using her own existence as a blueprint, Liu Shu began working and creating the cables. For such a simple yet equally complicated technology, our World Tree needed to improvise and think outside the box. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I can use the concept as a basis, but I can't limit myself to it. What is the biggest limiting factor for my current conversion? What is computer technology essentially based on?" Liu Shu mulled over this question, and soon, she was able to find the answer.

"Computer thinking is basically a long string of on/offs. There is no intermediate. It's either 1 or 0." She knew that she needed to change this. After all, nature was not black or white; it was a dull yet sometimes vibrant… grey.

"So…" Liu Shu looked at the materials she gathered and frowned for a second.

"I need something simpler. These are all too high-level. At least for starting." Her gaze swept outwardly, and soon, she found a Level 3 Tree that had not awakened intelligence. With a simple thought, the small three-meter-tall tree disappeared and was transported straight into Liu Shu's workshop. With another thought, Liu Shu's own roots picked apart the entire tree. She separated the roots, bark, sap, leaves, branches, and the other internal components.

"Alright… since my objective is not stiffness, but flexibility… I need to create… Ah." Liu Shu smirked.

"Alright, I need to create <Thoughtwood>." But that was only one of the components. Her new "cables" needed to be complex. Being the most basic way of transporting information didn't mean that they needed to be simple.

"Thoughtwood… That's just a part of it. I need part of it to be alive, not entirely, but enough for later when it becomes more complex to be taken as a grander… whole." Liu Shu's mind spun, her mind that had absorbed countless books, weaving and interlinking ideas at terrifying speed.

"The 'cables' will be separated into… five components. First, <Living Essence Fibers>. They will be the railway to exchange energy. These railways will be surrounded in <Cognition Sap>, which will act as both an insulator and also a bridge. A bridge between what?" The idea became clear in Liu Shu's mind.

"The bridge between <Thoughtwood> and <Mind-Sap Threads>. But these four are not enough. I need something more… something like… hemoglobin, but faster. These will be the on/offs that the computer uses. I just need to integrate them." Thinking for a second, she quickly knew how to call them.

"<Neuroxylem>. That will be the name, meaning 'plant transport tissue'." As she squeezed the value of the tree, she also added some of the conductive materials that cables are usually made of. What she created was quickly assembled, and after 30 hours of back and forth, the system jumped. [Congratulations! You've created <Synaptic Roots>.]"<Synaptic Roots>..." Liu Shu looked at the "cable" in front of her, and a big smile spread on her lips.

Everyone who looked at Liu Shu's face outside would notice her happy smile easily. Verdantia and the others, who always checked on their dear from time to time, caught her smile.

"Why are you so happy, Dear? Care to share with your pitiful wives?" Liu Shu, hearing their words, moved her consciousness.

"Pitiful? Hahaha. Why would you describe yourself as such, love?" The four Sylvans sighed, looking extremely wronged. They answered differently, but the meaning was the same.

"My dear World Tree has woken up, but she still doesn't let us inside her <Core Room>. What else can we be called other than pitiful?" Liu Shu almost rolled her eyes at them.

"I also miss all of you. However, I need to be a bit more in control of my <Realm> before I let you four in. Unless I am 100% sure that the space inside my <Realm> is livable. I won't allow you four to come over!" They protested, snapping at her.

"Then, come to us!" Liu Shu blinked, but she didn't dismiss the idea. Instead, she glanced at her <World Tree Heart> skill, and noticed that the <Proficiency> was about to be maxed out.

"That's… not a bad idea."

"Eh?" The four Sylvans, who were just bantering with their lover, froze up.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later. Hehe." After saying that, Liu Shu ignored the Sylvan's protests and quickly focused back onto her new creation.

[Level 1 Synaptic Root (Low-Grade Flawless Level)] - Effect: Can transport energy. Note: A complex miracle of engineering and nature that the Golden Sap Empire's most skilled crafter has completed. It is created by combining <Living Essence Fibers> / <Cognition Sap> / <Thoughtwood> / <Neuroxylem> (xylem = plant transport tissue) / <Mind-Sap Threads>. It is the basis of something bigger, and the gate that has proven the possibility of the crafter's ideals.

Naturally, as the materials used to create it were of low quality, the first item was of <E+ Grade>. Regardless, this one cable, no longer than a finger, was the proof Liu Shu needed to ensure that her path was correct.

"Alright…" Liu Shu took a deep breath and then exhaled.

"First step completed. Now, I need to follow through with the next one…" She paused, feeling a bit of strain on her mind after creating this.

"I'll leave it… for a bit later." Creating the <Synaptic Root> was a big step forward. Rushing forward again would result not in profit, but in hasty work. Instead, she decided to spread the knowledge around her Empire and see what the crafters around the world thought about it. Their discussions would most likely benefit Liu Shu one way or another.

Still, to ensure she wouldn't be wrongly influenced, Liu Shu decided to write an entire book on the theories, hypotheses, and thought process behind this material's creation. Meanwhile, in the science section of the <Endless Library>, a new passage appeared. Within it, there were only six books. Compared with the other aisles that were full of thousands of themes, this area felt… empty. And yet, Mariane, who had been roaming around, was instantly attracted to it.

"This was created by Liu Shu." Other than herself, the only being that could change the <Endless Library>'s layout was Liu Shu. Hence, she knew that this place was hers. Curious, she flew over and picked one of the six books. <Step By Step Alchemy Production Of Neuroxylem>.

"Neuroxylem?" Mariane tilted her head, her wings buzzing with curiosity and interest.

"Let's see… Mhm… Oh… Huh… What?" The Mothkin was stunned, and then, she began reading the other books, only to be left paralyzed.