Chương 841: The Nexus's Efforts Cleaning Up Space.

The attack on Liu Shu's roots around the Solar System began straight away. Most of the strongest ships, together with several thousand <Second Ascension> powerhouses and a few <Star Emperors>, moved to attack Liu Shu's <Realm>. This time, even Carter participated in the battle. Liu Shu noticed and pondered.

'If I react too strongly, the fish about to fall into my net will escape before I pull.' Their attacks were by no means weak. Even with her <Immutable Foundation> and <Center Of Existence> skills, attacks from thousands of creatures and powerful starships were not easily defended against. Therefore, Liu Shu decided to show some weakness by not defending with all her might. Instead, as if those attacks were ripping apart her domain, Liu Shu collapsed her own <Realm> and forced her roots out in the open.

Doing it convincingly was also easy, as the only thing Liu Shu needed to do was not resist actively. Her passive defenses were enough to show that she was "struggling." The result was that the people attacking her felt fearful.

"What… is that?" As Liu Shu's roots revealed themselves, the empty void around them was filled with massive interconnected and powerful roots. Gargantuan roots that dwarfed moons and worlds, glowing with blue lines filled with pulsing and powerful bloodsap. The sheer presence, enhanced by her nascent divinity and growing power, caused those below Level 150 to feel as if their hearts were being crushed.

Just looking at the giant roots with blue-glowing veins made their weapons shudder, their bodies tremble, and their mind falter. Even they, trained soldiers who have essentially been brainwashed to hate World Trees, felt a surge of reverence and awe for the creature. Liu Shu resisted. Using around 30% of her stats, Liu Shu's roots moved through the battlefield and struck the shields and people around her while resisting.

Her layered defenses blocked most attacks, and only those from the powerful managed to cleave through the natural defense of her sturdy roots. Carter shouted, swinging his sword with force against a root that could coil around a world with ease.

"Attack fiercely! We are overwhelming her!" The giant cleave in his hands hacked away, creating a mana sword that sliced Liu Shu's massive root. The root, as if screeching in pain, wriggled and self-combusted, exploding violently. The blast struck Carter with enough force to push him back, but there was no damage. His armor and high-level equipment protected him. Looking around, he saw the roots combusting as well, leaving behind unusable charred remains.

'Why is that happening?' This was a big problem. The reason was profit. If Carter were asked what was the most profitable when fighting World Trees, it would be the boundless materials that they could retrieve during and after the wars. World Trees, being that they stretched between stars, were naturally mines of natural resources. Over 99. 999% of the wood circulating in the markets came from World Tree carcasses.

No matter how large a tree farm could be, how could it compare to a single World Tree root that was larger than an entire world? Their sap was also used for potion-making, equipment crafting, array crafting, and even rune ink. A World Tree's body was a treasure trove full of resources that made fighting against them profitable.

"Why is it combusting upon death…?" Carter's confused tone was not rare, since World Trees didn't really care about discarded matter. If a root was cut off, they would shrug and move on.

"I lost that part of myself; I'll create it again." That was the general thinking process of a World Tree. After all, taking care of those large parts of themselves that had already been cut off required much more energy and effort than slowly growing them again. Liu Shu, however, thought differently. Since these parts of herself were not cut of during a moment when she didn't have the time to take care of them… why would she silently allow them to get those materials that came from herself?

SS- Rank materials at that. Naturally, Liu Shu would not allow it. So, each time a root was cut off, Liu Shu used the remaining ternary essences inside to combust her World Saint Bloodsap and activate a <Fire Catastrophe>. Her own essence combusted, engulfing those large chunks of self, and since the skill was created from her own bloodsap, the fuel was also herself.

So, these flames, unlike those of other creatures, acted like a spark that met fuel, causing giant explosions and infernos that heated up the freezing void.

'It's strenuous.' The act in itself was not easy. If this were a normal battle situation, Liu Shu would never have the mind nor leisure to cause those parts to combust. Glancing at her Aether Mana and Anima Energy consumption, Liu Shu sighed. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

'This is not a tactic I can do normally.' She hated that her enemies could gain materials from her dead parts, but it was inevitable. In Liu Shu's opinion, to perfectly prevent any material from leaking, she would need, at least, an SS- Rank skill dedicated to that. It was that hard.

'At least, I can prevent them from getting my materials this time, even if I exhaust myself.' She needed to prevent them from getting it because if it were known that her materials could reach SS- Rank, the value of her existence would change. Unless it was inevitable, Liu Shu wanted to prevent such knowledge from spreading. Carter frowned as the void lit up each time a root was cut off. Moreover, since the cut-off part was incredibly long, the fire burned like eastern dragons across the void.

The spectacle was breathtaking. Ultraheated fire, cooled only by the freezing void of space, filled the surroundings while they fought.

'The battle is quite controlled. No large ships have failed yet.' Carter didn't forget the reports about that white sun. So, he was reserving his strength to prevent it. Around him, over 100 defense specialists followed, always ready to intervene. One of them spoke.

"Lord Carter, if the Heavenly Willow has yet to use that attack, it means it consumed that much energy. She might not have the mind to do so." They were speaking under an anti-spy moving array, so they thought that their conversation couldn't be heard. Sadly for them, Liu Shu glanced over and perked up her ears the moment they began talking. With her new skills, her increased control over World Tree Wisdom, and her new Tier, the anti-spy arrays and rune fields were far too lacking to prevent her spying.

Carter looked around and asked, ignoring their words.

"Do any of you know why the World Tree is self-combusting?" The man who spoke pressed his lips tightly after being ignored. However, Carter's priority was the retrieval of part of the World Tree to cover costs. If they couldn't gain profit, they couldn't war comfortably. Carter knew that Balaya's remains amounted to almost 10% of the total profits the Nexus earned each year. A single being, earning them a 10% annual profit after accounting for costs of warring the Covenant.

That was the true value of a World Tree for the Nexus and many other powers. As for those who were part of a World Tree society, they naturally could use a World Tree's resources freely as well. Much of the economy circled these invaluable beings that controlled the very flow of the universe's existence. Some scholars even believed that without World Trees, no one would've ever surpassed Level 100. Of course, these beliefs only amount ot not-proven hypothesis.

"Perhaps… the reason is Lady… Ahem. I meant the Heavenly Willow's sap." A slip of tongue caused by Liu Shu's overwhelming presence. Carter's thoughtful eyes hardened, and he turned to look at the woman. A sneer flashed in his lips.

"No wonder you'd call those monstrosities respectfully. You have plant blood in your veins." The woman who spoke opened her eyes in fright.

"W-Wait! Lord Carter—!" SLASH! Carter's massive cleaver sliced the woman in half.

"Anyone else feel respect for that abomination? If so, step forward." Liu Shu was startled. She knew the anti-World Tree sentiment in the Nexus, but she didn't know it was harsh to this extent! A slip of tongue, with absolutely no meaning at all, and the direct superior cleaved that woman in half. Moreover, according to Liu Shu's observation, that woman was one of the top five defensive masters among the 100 following Carter. And yet, he cut down that talent for a slip of tongue…

After seeing that no one else dared to speak up, Carter looked back at the fiery spectacle.

"The sap… But this didn't happen during Rhazor's war." While annihilation meant that almost no information reached the Nexus, some records sent hastily arrived at nearby relay stations. Within those, they saw some images of Liu Shu's cut or destroyed roots. As for thinking that Liu Shu was purposely igniting her own self, that didn't cross their minds for the moment. At least not as a favorable possibility.

"Do our attacks have something that's making her sap ignite? If there is, that would be a great discovery. We could use that to make her self-immolate." Liu Shu snorted.

'I am sorry, but my fire resistance is one of the strongest among my defenses.' Thanks to <Embers Of Chaos>, Liu Shu had an additional 72% defense against thermal attacks. Cold or hot, only a quarter reached her defenses. Of that quarter, only less than 2% would affect her, and of that pathetically small percentage, the rest would need to test her true defense before damaging her. If she activated <Shadows Of Chaos> and also the Darkness Blessing from her <Universal Tree> title among others...

In short, the only reason "fire" was taking effect was because Liu Shu's "fire" was actively modified by Liu Shu to use her own World Sain Bloodsap and wood as fuel. Something only she could do. Carter, of course, didn't know about this and had another misconception take root in his mind. As he was thinking, the area was cleaned of Liu Shu's roots, and they moved on. During the next few months, they would need to clear the area around the Solar System and reduce it to a single front to push from.

It was not easy, but it was something they did routinely, so tactics were deeply developed. Even Liu Shu was quite impressed at their efficiency.

'If this was my true strength, I would've had trouble stopping them.' The only ones not learning were the Nexus. As the Nexus fought and used their Corrupt Church members to destroy her roots, Liu Shu was absorbing information like a sponge. She learned their tactics, she learned their spells, and she learned their arrays and rune fields. As a Rune Array master, a school Liu Shu developed after mixing both paths, Liu Shu's mastery was currently skyrocketing.

In the <Endless Library>, a new section named <Nexus Technology> appeared silently. Mariane, who was walking the aisles, noticed and quickly moved over. Any new aisle that Liu Shu created was always something joyful for Mariane. As she read the books, her moth wings buzzed happily.

"Oho, so the Nexus uses runes this way… Hm~. I can use this, hehe." The Endless Library used a root to gently tap Mariane's head.

"Mariane, stop buzzing your wings; your moth scales are spreading like dust." Mariane chuckled.

"Sorry, I was excited. With this, we can easily prepare countermeasures." Who on the Nexus's side would've known that the World Tree facing them was a Rune, Array, and Woodcrafting master? They were about to pay a dear price for showing those things so openly to their enemy. On the Covenant's side, things were not developing as easily…