Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos-Chapter 414. Spirits Of The Forest.

[You've triggered : .]

[The had developed a subconsciousness after millennia of interconnection through the title . While the extent of intelligence is an instinctive reaction to large changes or threats, it could be considered as a single organism to an extent. You are trying to assimilate it, but to do so without destroying what makes the unique, you will need forbearance.]

[Main Objective: Survive for 3 months.]

[Objective 1: Make the submit.]

[Objective 2: Don't destroy more than 20% of the .]

[Objective 3: Don't let more than 20% of the fauna inside the perish through aftershocks.]

[Additional Objective: Capture the flawlessly.]

[Main Reward: Mellowing of the 's defenses against your presence.]

[Reward 1: Gain control over the and gain the ability to nourish its consciousness.]

[Reward 2: Strengthen the title to .]

: You are one with the World Tree. Her will is your will; her existence is your existence. You become impossible to corrupt and gain traits from the World Tree.

[Reward 3: All creatures born in the forest gain the title.]

: You will be born with traits of the World Tree that controls the forest. Your intelligence as a monster is slightly elevated. You have a small chance to slowly evolve into a humanoid creature and explosively increase your intelligence.

[Additional Reward: Increase the of all beings born in the by two minor tiers.]

[Failure Condition: Don't fulfill any of the Objectives.]

[Punishment 1: The will lose the title.]

[Punishment 2: You will lose your title.]

Right after feeling that chilling flinch from so many living beings at once, Liu Shu received the quest. She quickly read it, and curiosity bloomed in her core. "Oh? So the is a sentient forest. No wonder it reacts as it does. It also explains why it didn't attack me until now. I've been using my own essence to purify the Wall Forest's feelings of threat. The nourishment from my sap and branches has been enough to dull its natural reaction and see me as prey that's slowly being eaten."

She was a bit sad that her guess about her own energy harmonizing with it was wrong. However, she didn't feel too bad. At least, thanks to her efforts, she managed to conquer over a third of the Wall Forest before it completely locked on her presence like a threat. Now that she had conquered so much, the threat of her existence was impossible to hide, even when she tried feeding it.

'Hm... I guess that the will release quite a strong offense for the next three months. Moreover, I'll need to protect the trees in that way if I want to complete the additional objective.'

Thinking of all that energy and work, Liu Shu felt somewhat apprehensive. 'This... will be difficult.'

And then, it started.

From north to south of the Wall Forest, Liu Shu's roots felt pressure from millions of trees latching onto her and trying to pull her apart. The feeling was like thousands of pincers pinching all around her body. 'Ugh! This is much more uncomfortable than I imagined...'

Thankfully, her natural

was very high. After her personal buffs, it went over 50,000 points. Moreover, her

was as high as 79%. This meant that her bark was so strong that only 21 percent of the physical damage would affect her defenses. Explaining it with numbers, if 100 damage would hit Liu Shu, her natural defense would dissipate 79 points of damage, and then, the last 21 would clash against her hard bark. So, if you needed 100 points of damage to break through Liu Shu's bark, you would need to hit her with 480 points of damage to START doing damage!

Naturally, many special situations and skills could nullify such defenses. However, if she were attacked without tricks, a frontal battle, so to speak, damaging Liu Shu would be nothing but a nightmare. And the Wall Forest was attacking her in this manner.

The terrifyingly resistant bark of the World Tree made cracking sounds throughout the entirety of the attacking area, but it resisted with incredible tenacity. Not one place was damaged as Liu Shu tensed her body to resist. 'Ughhh.... So many things pulling from me! My roots will fall off! QAQ!'

A group of people in the Golden Sap City was in charge of observing the World Tree's health. Therefore, they quickly noticed the change in expression on her face. The face full of discomfort and some pain made their hearts skip a beat.

"Fast! Code Aurelise!"

People quickly moved and, less than a minute later, a human man landed near Aurelise with an urgent expression. "Lady Aurelise! We need your help with Lady World Tree!"

Aurelise was relaxing and taking care of some people in the nearby hospital when she heard that shout. The Life Tree's core pulsed with fright, and she quickly communicated with Liu Shu. "Little Sister World Tree? Are you okay? I heard that you are feeling sick! Let me heal you if you are feeling sick!"

Liu Shu heard Aurelise's voice, and a warm current flowed into her core. She spoke soothingly, trying to hide the strain in her voice. "Don't worry, Aurelise. I am okay; I am just feeling slightly uncomfortable because of my fight against the ."

Aurelise's mind was filled with awe. "Little Sister, you are fighting the !? ALL of it!?"

"Yes, I've been fighting it... Ugh! For a little while. Focus on the hospital around you instead." Her gentle voice broke for a small moment with an exclamation of pain. It happened because a relatively powerful root latched onto one of hers and pulled, creating splinters that flew and embedded themselves in the dirt around them.

Aurelise was frightened by the slight exclamation of pain. She spoke somewhat anxiously. "Y-You! Silly Little Sister! Let me help you!"

"Not yet." Liu Shu firmly denied her, and Aurelise felt some of her roots being gently embraced by Liu Shu's powerful and reassuring roots. Her gentle and soothing voice echoed in Aurelise's mind, making the Life Tree's branches soften. "Don't worry, Aurelise. I will ask you if I ever need help. No matter what, okay? I am using my natural regeneration to fight, because I need to hold on for three months. If you start helping me now, what will happen if you run out of Aether Mana?"

Aurelise listened obediently. "Um, okay. I'll trust Little Sister World Tree." She added, her tone worried but soft. "I'll be checking your

, so you better not hide them! If I see that it starts going down dangerously, I'll interfere regardless!"

Liu Shu laughed with her beautiful, nature-like voice. "Okay, I'll be under Aurelise's care."

Aurelise's branches swayed even without wind, showing clear happiness and peacefulness. 'Ah... I really like being in Little Sister's domain~. I feel so comfortable and secure by her side, as if her canopy could hold the sky even if it fell~.'

Tree had been listening to their conversation, and her ancient but soothing voice reached Liu Shu. "Liu Shu, don't overexert yourself, okay? You have many people who are willing to help you, so you should learn how to depend on them.'

"Mom..."

Tree's roots softly and lovingly caressed Liu Shu's roots. "Listen to Mom, my pretty sapling."

Liu Shu answered obediently. "Okay..."

Tree's beautiful canopy swayed gently, and she added. "If it hurts a lot, you can coil around Mom's roots. Mom has become strong enough not to be easily hurt by you."

When she said that, Tree felt many of Liu Shu's roots coiled around hers and squeezed, acting clingy and affectionate. This made the ancient Willow Tree sigh softly in her mind. 'My baby always does these things... I need to become stronger and learn to use my inheritance as soon as possible. At least, with a strong control over space, I'll be able to share some of my pretty sapling's burden.'

Like that, Liu Shu bore the full brunt of millions of trees along the edge of the domain for weeks. Day after day, hour after hour, her roots cracked, spilled sap, and tried to regenerate as fast as possible all along the border of her domain. The constant use of energy was tiring Liu Shu at an incredible pace.

Even then, Liu Shu left enough energy for her to be attentive to Dewna. The little child was happily snuggled in her mother's arms all day, eating whenever she wanted, hugging her otherwise, and sleeping if she was doing neither. Liu Shu's took care of her lovingly, playing with the little Alraune whenever she could.

Simultaneously, some of her consciousness was keeping track of the four Tree House Daughters and the small potted plant in Harmonixia's office room. Then, she also needed to pay attention to the construction of the few tree buildings around her domain and to see if any of her many tree children needed something.

Liu Shu's mind was stretched to the limit, and it started to show. While she was placing the foundation to build one of the Tree Houses, one of her giant roots lost control for a second and pushed a large wall down. Liu Shu reacted quickly when she felt it, and several roots rushed up from the ground, catching all the debris before it hurt anyone nearby.

Many people screamed in fright, but thankfully, Liu Shu managed to prevent any injuries to anyone. 'That was close...' As she was thinking that, another alert came from underground, and she quickly looked over. She saw one group of people in a tight battle against a group of powerful . Her roots rushed from the walls, tripping a few of them until the people recovered the advantage in battle.

Naturally, the monsters reacted and attacked the World Tree's roots, severing some of them and making pain rush into her mind. This small, sharp pain made it so she lost concentration on a section of the Wall Forest for a millisecond. However, that distraction was enough for her to stop strengthening a few roots for that small time. The constant pulling strength ripped those apart.

"AHH!"

A small scream of pain escaped her. Still, sending a large amount of ternary essence to the area, Liu Shu quickly recovered control using the roots in reserve to fill the small void.

"Liu Shu? Are you okay? What happened?"

Aurelise asked hurriedly, followed by a few other World Trees that felt the pain from her roots.

Our World Tree answered softly. "I am okay. I was slightly injured, don't worry. I just lost under 80 Body Cores... I'll recover it in a few hours..."

All who heard her stayed silent. The voice of the World Tree was far from the usual animated and playful one or the soothing and gentle one. It was as if she were falling asleep, sounding weak and soft.

Hearing it, the World Trees and Life Trees around the domain stayed silent. They stopped communicating with each other so that the I-CARE wouldn't add to her burden. Still, all of them were prepared to intervene at the smallest sign that Liu Shu was in danger.

One thing was being indifferent to the inhabitants. Another was being indifferent about the World Tree that had connected them all. Liu Shu was unequivocally a precious existence for all of them, and they would not give up on her easily.

Fortuna looked toward the Wall Forest. She had asked Liu Shu in the past if she wanted her to help. However, Liu Shu feared that the presence of another World Tree would agitate the conquered Wall Forest. Therefore, she had prohibited the World Trees near the Wall Forest from acting. 'Liu Shu...'