Chương 713: World Tree Of War.

Nothing special happened for another two whole years. During this time, the Golden Sap Empire silently developed, gained new <Sixth Energy Cycle> powerhouses, and quickly assimilated the people from the merchant fleets. Liu Shu's religious doctrine was not excessively influential. There were no flashy displays, large gatherings, or strong announcements. Nevertheless, its spreading speed was unstoppable because the creature they worshiped was very visible and imposing enough.

With Liu Shu's presence, the strength she showed from time to time, and the blessings she bestowed on her civilization, only eccentrics failed to develop a sense of awe and respect for the True World Tree. Even before that, World Trees were treated as sacred beings. Now, as the "leader" of such beings, who were still spread out around Ceperet and Nualis, her existence carried a weight that nobody could compete against.

So, the normal people living on the merchant ships that came down from time to time got slowly influenced. Small comments about how strong the blessings were, how healthy they felt, how strong their children were born, and such, constantly fell in the ears of the outsiders. Cassian sat on his table, Selene sitting across from him as she had come to get a small loan. Their relationship was not good, as their powers didn't really get along well.

While they were not mortal enemies like the Covenant and Nexus, the trades among them were few and far between. Selene looked around the elegant office with chandeliers and other luxurious decorations, and she asked the Daemon.

"How's life in this new place been treating you?" Cassian, as he wrote some paperwork for Selene, couldn't help but look up with curiosity.

"It's strange for you to care about me. Is there something wrong?" Selene pondered, then shook her head faintly.

"Not exactly wrong. However… Have you noticed the change?" Cassian pondered what Selene was speaking about. Selene specified.

"I mean, relating the attitudes of our people toward Lady Heavenly Willow." Cassian was enlightened and smiled wryly.

"It's not that I have failed to notice. However, is there a reason to stop it?" The Daemon leaned back, his wings spreading out lightly as he reclined on the backrest.

"Don't tell me that, after receiving these blessings, you are thinking of moving elsewhere?" Selene smiled faintly.

"I am not. I was just curious about how you'd deal with it. After all, you've never been a fan of religions or similar cults, have you not?"

"Cults, I am not a fan of," Cassian admitted.

"However, the religion in this place is extremely gentle. You can either believe it or not. No one will force you to join, and if one day you want to stop, you just have to… well, stop. Even if you are entangled in the formal clergy, they have people in charge of clearing your duties." Cassian shrugged.

"After hearing that they were so gentle with those who stopped believing, I stopped having any resistance to it. If you want to believe in Lady Heavenly Willow as a divine being, why not? If you don't want to, that's also your liberty." Selene admitted that Cassian's outlook was quite the same as hers. Any belief that punished deserters was not much better than a cult of fanatics, at least in her opinion.

"What about business?" Cassian chuckled, rubbing his beardless chin.

"Quite profitable. Here, where my competition is quite green, I've managed to solidify my services thoroughly. In terms of banking, over 60% of the population trusts our services. Our side businesses are also doing exceptionally well." Selene nodded, not surprised at the slightest. Her own market dominance was even more ruthless, having reached out to over 75% of the active society members.

When their disadvantage of lacking the blessings disappeared, the true difference with the locals stopped shrinking sharply like during the first year. Liu Shu didn't mind. After all, six years had passed since these people arrived at her world, and they could be considered naturalized. While their "crime rate" was slightly higher than the local population, the difference was reducing by the day as they understood how people behaved locally.

Moreover, most of those "crimes" were involuntary, as many had clearly not read the laws about some specific actions. With Liu Shu's "one-time mercy" system, the number of repeated offenders was really small. Repeated offenders didn't offend too many times either, because they were eventually purged. In this regard, Liu Shu was ruthless. If you don't learn your lesson, why should I take care of you like the others?

With a constantly growing population, this was the very moment when she couldn't allow rotten seeds to take root in her empire. Once everything matured, Liu Shu wouldn't even need to take care of those things herself, as her garden would spot and self-purge any rotten parts of itself. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Speaking of which." As Cassian was finishing the document, she heard Selene speak up.

"Have you noticed that the city on the other side of the Wall Forest has started having some activity?" A pondering look appeared in his eyes, and soon, he recalled.

"You mean War Tree City?" Selene was about to nod when, as if her words had summoned something, a massive pillar of light shot skyward in that direction. Both of them felt a strong fluctuation, making their eyebrows rise with surprise. Compared to their personal strength, this fluctuation was not that strong. However, the reach of it clearly pointed to the creature being either a Life Tree or a World Tree.

Liu Shu, who was attending to Erynthea, Tiravel, Vorathen, and Feltera, noticed the ripple, and her heart stirred.

'This aura…' Her gaze retreated from these four worlds, moving to the nearby World Tree. Once she did, she noticed that the previous World Tree had grown mightily, reaching over 17, 000 meters in height. While it was not much compared to Liu Shu's, the height was only second to her own among all the World Trees! Liu Shu, looking over, could see the World Tree there with her own eyes.

"Big Sister Warlya?" As she spoke in surprise, a powerful yet gentle feminine voice reached her, its tone filled with laughter.

"Here I thought I would outgrow you this time around, but it seems that I am still far behind."

"Sister Warlya! You woke up!" Hearing Liu Shu's delighted tone, Warlya secretly sighed in relief. Don't speak about Liu Shu's surprise. When Warlya first woke up and spread her senses, the first thing she noticed was a "sun." Close to her, there was a "Sun" of ternary essences and vitality, radiating an extremely overbearing presence as it took over the entirety of the world and far beyond.

'I managed to reach Level 139 with my Accumulated Experience. Who knew that the small World Tree had surpassed me so much?'

"How are you, Sister Warlya? What kind of World Tree have you become? Are you now a True World Tree as well?" Hearing Liu Shu's enthusiastic tone and feeling Liu Shu's roots entangling with her own happily, Warlya felt a sense of calm and happiness.

'Who knew that I, who had once become crippled, would become the big sister of such an extraordinary being? Fighting back then was truly worth it.' With those thoughts, Warlya answered softly.

"It seems that I developed in a somewhat peculiar direction."

"Hm?" Liu Shu made a confused sound, and Warlya explained.

"As you should know, Skyflower and the others were only able to break through after you did. In my case, when I broke through, I was offered a new species."

"New species!" Warlya hummed in acknowledgment and explained.

"The name is <Sapling World Tree Of War>. A <Mythical> species that can develop not in a sense of expansion but in personal strength. Among many skills and titles, one of them truly materializes this: Look at it." Liu Shu saw a <Title> flash in her system as Warlya shared it. <Sapling World Tree Of War>: You've developed in a unique and ambitious direction, focusing your <Ascension> to follow the path of individual strength instead of domination. You lose 99% spreading speed.

You gain 50% Stats, 50% durability, 50% damage dealt, and +1000% regeneration of any kind. Liu Shu almost choked on her roots.

"W-What is this absurd thing!? Straight up 50% Stats!? Ten times any kind of regeneration!? Why doesn't it just straight up say that you are immortal!? And that's not the worst boost. 50% durability and damage dealt? That's a divisor and multiplicative coefficient AFTER the system chooses to give damage values!" This was straight-up ridiculous. If Warlya did, for example, 100 cores of damage, she would instead do 150. And, if she received 100 cores of damage, she would instead receive 50.

So, fighting someone who was exactly equal in strength, Warlya was 3 times stronger by default! Warlya chuckled and then eyed the new "list" of blessings.

"Honestly, my new buffs are not as impressive as yours. After all, this one is just for myself." Liu Shu caught the important word and quickly searched her own list of buffs. [Congratulations! You've been affected by <World Tree General>.] <World Tree General>: When fighting in any conflict that involves the World Tree Of War, you will gain 10% stats, 10% damage dealt, 10% attack speed, 10% durability, and +100% regeneration. Liu Shu blinked a few times, and for a moment, she wanted to chug a big barrel of tea.

She, naturally, was not the only one who received that message. Everyone who was minding their own bruises received it as well, which caused many people to choke on their drinks.

'What is this new World Tree Of War!?'

'Damage dealt, attack speed, and durability!? Perfect! An all-in-one pack! I might as well hit my head a few times to see if it is real.' Liu Shu, regaining her wits, suddenly felt a pang of compassion for her own people.

'Is this how everyone feels each time I share a new blessing with them?' Warlya chuckled at Liu Shu's reaction.

"While it is good, as I said, it's not too much compared to your global buffs. Look at the <True Ruler World Tree> you are sharing. +50% stats when defending. That's… honestly ridiculous."

"It is even more ridiculous now." Liu Shu looked at Warlya strangely.

"After all, all my blessings stack with your personal ones. Honestly, even when you are just shy of Level 140, your combat power should be quite ridiculous." While Liu Shu didn't feel that she would lose in a direct confrontation with Warlya, she knew that she could not one-shot her in the slightest. Warlya had become quite a literal War Machine! Moreover, the debuff of being unable to spread out didn't matter.

After all, wasn't there Liu Shu to allow Warlya to reach out anywhere within her domain through her I-CARE network?

"Hm… It should be called I-PARE now… Nah, let's continue calling it I-CARE." Warlya heard Liu Shu's mutters and chuckled.

"So, am I the first to wake up among your five eldest sisters?"

"Yes!" Liu Shu smiled. Warlya pondered and smirked.

"It seems that those four will also give you a surprise when they wake up." Hearing her say that, Liu Shu became quite excited.