It has been four months since Mariane started working on the . Lately, too many people have started roaming around the , coming closer and closer to the area where the was located. This had made everyone in the town secretly tense, and battles were happening increasingly often.

In the , people have started gauging the strength and Level of the new creatures of the Golden Sap Forest. Therefore, the Explorers that ventured were more prepared.

Not to mention, because of the youth groups from stronger powers that were sent to investigate, the Golden Sap Forest, which was not that big to begin with, was relatively crowded. Of course, the number of Explorers never really surpassed 80 or so, but it was still a lot when the weakest one was Level 14 or so.

When these facts combined, it was expected that during the last months, there would even be casualties between the Ants, Myconids, and Rose Fairies. Even Amapola was badly hurt once, escaping thanks to Liu Shu's intervention.

Some bold groups ignored the warnings of the association, venturing into the depths. Yet, the second they were in Liu Shu's attack range, everyone that was available in the town would launch an attack, slaughtering everyone without leaving a single survivor.

Besides the almost daily fighting, the progress of the Golden Sap Town was going relatively smoothly. Flor sat in the main office of the , looking toward the middle of the town where Liu Shu stood. Her eyebrows were knotted with worry. "How is Mariane doing? Does she have a lot left to finish the ? We can't really continue on like this. Yesterday, two young ones died…"

Clavel looked at Flor and then toward the World Tree. The giant tree had a large part of its body covered with glowing runes. The artistic drawings mixed beautifully with Liu Shu's body, giving her a different kind of charm.

After thinking for a few moments, she answered with what she knew. "From what I heard, she is not too far away. Mariane hasn't slept for a single hour during the last week. The reason for the delay is none other than Liu Shu."

Flor asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Clavel smiled wryly. "Liu Shu's is too high. According to Mariane's estimation, Liu Shu is probably C- Tier or something around there."

Flor gasped. "C- Tier!? T-That's insane!"

Clavel scratched her head. "Remember how high her stats were even at low Level, Queen Flor? That's enough of a hint for me to believe it."

Flor rubbed her forehead. "I see. Yes, that would make a lot of sense, actually."

Clavel continued. "The cores and runes Mariane uses are E+ Tier, and very few are D- Tier. The difference between Liu Shu and the Runes is just too large. Therefore, some runes cannot even affect Liu Shu because her passive defenses are just that high."

Flor sighed, looking worried. She crossed her arms and muttered. "Really, a C- Tier World Tree…" Then, she asked. "What Rank was Fortuna again? We got that information from Verena, right?"

Clavel nodded and commented. "Estimates go around Fortuna being an E Rank World Tree. This is not low-tiered, considering all the advantages that a World Tree has compared to other races. Her combat effectiveness is probably similar to that of a D- Rank. Remember that Fortuna is not even a combat-oriented World Tree."

Clavel smiled wryly. "Even then, she is already an overlord and almost impossible to be tackled by any nearby power. According to some reports, she has recently managed to reach Level 27, making people even more reluctant to provoke her."

Flor groaned. "Level 27? Sigh… That's a lot. If not for Liu Shu's , catching up would truly be impossible." Flor blinked. "Speaking of which, how is Liu Shu's berry production going?"

Clavel's wings buzzed, and she moved to a table at the side. She looked through a few written documents and smiled when she found the one. "Here it is."

Then, she read aloud. "It hasn't changed much. Every month, Liu Shu produces 7500 Delicious Berries, 2250 Phoer Berries, 2250 Mana Berries, 2250 Energy Berries, 9 Breakthrough Berries, 100 Resonant Berries, 100 Refinement Berries, 100 Affinity Berries, 100 Palace Berries, 3 Energy Cycle Experience Berries."

Clavel added. "This is only if Liu Shu produces all month long. Every pause brings those numbers down."

Flor blinked a few times and calculated in her head. "If every Level 10+ needs 4 Delicious Berries Daily and Level 1 to 9 needs 1… How many people are we feeding monthly?"

Clavel hummed. "Well, there are around 50 Level 10+ beings in the Town; this takes 6000 berries monthly, which is most of them. Then, we can use the remaining 1500 to feed another 50 sub-Level-10 people daily. We have the sub-Level-10 slots separated into 15 Rose Fairies, 15 Fire Ants, and 10 Myconids. The Myconids are the ones who grow the slowest population-wise."

Flor nodded. "I see. I guess the remaining are being stored? That makes 40 people, after all."

Clavel nodded. "In case of shortage or to increase our treasury, the managers and merchants have decided that leaving a bit of a surplus will always be helpful."

Verdantia entered and heard the last few words. She asked. "Speaking about Liu'er's fruits?"

Flor nodded with a smile. "How are the gardens doing?"

Verdantia sat on a chair and smiled faintly, looking a bit troubled. "They are doing great. Thanks to Damian and Patricia, they are being used to their limits. Moreover, with Liu Shu's aura, they said that with just 200 square meters of land, they can feed one person all year round. That is without taking into account hunting and other ways of getting food. The inner farmland alone could feed 120 people without problems at all. The outer farmland is far larger, so we can feed around 400 people right now using the planned land."

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Flor blinked. "That's great, no? Why the troubled look?"

Verdantia sighed. "There is a small problem. Because the explorers running around, making the farm too obvious would invite nothing but trouble. So, we are focusing on planting the building materials, giving us food for around 250 people. It's enough for us since the ants know how to feed themselves. The Rose Fairies also consume ten times less food than normal people, and most of them feed themselves when they are out. There are no food shortages for now, but when we grow, we will need to expand or even create a third farmland focused solely on edible crops."

Clavel asked. "By the way, Verdantia, I saw that you and the other two were outside the forest for a while. What are you doing?"

Verdanita smiled. "We are making the forest bigger. is not small but certainly not large. We want to expand the territory to allow the fauna and flora to move out as we expand. The last thing we want to do is to upset the environmental balance with our presence."

Flor laughed. "Isn't Liu Shu upsetting everything with her mere presence?"

Verdantia laughed. "Liu'er is a World Tree, so she automatically makes the environment revolve around her. More than upsetting the balance, she is transforming it. Expanding the forest will add to places that Liu Shu can also expand, so it all works out. We've taken seeds and planted them with good fertilizer and a few extra protection. There is a relatively large grassland between the surrounding cities and our town, and we'll take advantage of it as much as we can."

While they were talking, Flor saw another person walking in, welcoming her with a smile. "Terra, what's wrong?"

Terra giggled. "Nothing's wrong. The opposite, good news!"

The other three lifted their eyebrows and listened.

"We finished our collection plans a few months ago, and I am here to give you our average daily earnings. Prepare yourselves because we are quite well off~."

They all blinked and paid attention.

Terra explained. "At the pace we are going, we probably can mine around 150 units of Lir daily. Moreover, the energy around, thanks to Liu Shu, is getting pure enough that, while very rarely, we can find Tyn minerals. This will skyrocket our average earnings up to 200 Lir units daily. We just need a way to convert the Lir to Tyn, and we will be fine."

"Hm? I can do that, though." The gentle and soothing voice of the World Tree was heard in the room, and they all lifted their eyebrows. By now, they were accustomed to Liu Shu barging in their conversations without previous warning.

Terra asked, curious. "You can do that?"

The World Tree giggled. "Of course. Isn't it just purifying the crystals and mixing them into one? I can do it. I can probably transform everything by the end of today. Do you want me to do that? To be honest, the amount of Lir is getting a bit too large in the ."

Flor was surprised. "When did you learn that, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu giggled. "Well, after trying for a while~, look!"

A branch entered through the window, carrying a greenish orb pulsing with energy. Verdantia exclaimed. "A ! Did you manage to fuse the into this, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu hummed. "That's right~. 100 per !" Liu Shu added. "I was thinking of doing E- Rank equipment, but I need 10 for it. So, I will use 5 and 5 . However, I can't really create much with the shards I have. I earn them at a very slow pace. I will probably be able to do one… two at most, E- Rank equipment."

Terra laughed. "Earning two , , and daily is not a slow pace, Liu Shu."

The World Tree asked innocently. "It's not?"

Terra commented. "To put in perspective, we've managed to find a few of those shards underground. Before revealing how many, though. Where do I leave them? They are not much, but well."

Verdantia asked. "How many?"

Terra shook her head. "We have discovered 3 Sylvanium, 10 Etherium, and 5 Ascendium shards during these last three months."

Liu Shu exclaimed. "Wow! So little!" Then, she got thoughtful and commented. "How about you sell those?"

Everyone was confused, and Liu Shu commented. "They are valuable outside, right? I heard the other day that we might run into financial trouble, so use those to sell them. I can get as much in just…" Everyone heard the realization in her voice and then laughed as they heard the next sentence. "Oh, wait. Etherium and Ascendium? I can't earn those… Then, give me those and sell the Sylvanium ones!"

Terra chuckled. "Sure, sure. You are the big boss!"

Liu Shu giggled. "I am the big boss~!"

Verdantia asked. "By the way, Liu'er, I think we will harvest enough materials for your buildings soon. Not all, naturally, but we probably have enough for a few of them."

"That's great! I was hoping to build some extra houses!"

Terra commented. "That would be great. While their basic design is for living spaces, they can become useful workshops with a few renovations. They are also effortless to renovate. It takes some time, but you can guide the house to move the rooms itself as long as Liu Shu allows you to order the house around."

Verdantia agreed with excited eyes. "Living houses are not something new. However, houses with as much sentience as the ones Liu Shu builds are unheard of among the common population! They will certainly sell for a lot!"

Flor looked at Clavel and asked. "Are the Rose Fairies trained enough to work as receptionists in the Inn and other more…" She turned toward Verdantia and asked. "What was that word? The one for, um…"

Verdantia smiled and asked. "Public spaces?"

Flor nodded. "That! Are we ready for that?"

Clavel nodded. "The humans and beastkin have practiced with us. Some of them have even acted like unreasonable Explorers or those of noble descendence. We should be able to attend to most people."

Flor acknowledged. "I guess most preparations are ready. Only Mariane and Liu Shu are left."

Liu Shu hummed and then decided to look at her System page. 'I wonder how much my skills have improved~. I've been using my resources to the limits these last four months!'

***

Name: Tianlian Liu Shu

Titles:

Hidden titles: [10]

Race: World Tree.

Energy Method: Basic World Energy Gathering

Level: 13 [0/17,360]

Aether Mana Shards: 125,500/127,166 (+4578/Hour)

Phoer Body Shards: 189,572/189,572 (+6825/Hour)

Anima Energy Shards: 120,500/122,589 (+4414/Hour)

Attributes: Aether 702 (316+386), Physique 956 (417+539), Anima 703 (329+374), Willpower 773 (430+343), Destiny 1300 (1300)

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (34), Physique Refinement (47), Anima Affinity (29)

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (52), Physique Resistance (58), Spiritual Resistance (52), Mental Resistance (57)

Summoning Affinity: Summon Cost (-57%), Summon Enhancement (+20%), Summoning Invoking Time (-57%), Summon Upkeep (-57%).

Talents:

Passive Skills:

Accumulated Experience: 8756

Currency: Sylvanium Shards [682], Etherium Shards [10], Ascendium Shards [155], Celestium Shards [852], Cognium Shards [932], Lir [350], Tyn [92], Bren [2], Syl [0], Arbor [0].

***

Liu Shu exclaimed, her branches happily moving. 'Wow~! So many Level Max skills!'