Chapter 88. Liu Shu Wakes Up.
The total time Liu Shu took to Level Up from Level 4 to Level 6 was a month. Since she advanced to the fifth level on the tenth day, the experience she received in total was the following:
[<Basic World Energy Gathering> has absorbed 4 Experience Points] x10
[A <Rose 13 Fairy Level> has used <Royal Pollination> on you. You've gained 16 Experience Points.] x10
[<Basic World Energy Gathering> has absorbed 5 Experience Points] x20
[A <Rose 13 Fairy Level> has used <Royal Pollination> on you. You've gained 25 Experience Points.] x20
[<Basic World Energy Gathering> has absorbed 6 Experience Points] x1
[A <Rose 13 Fairy Level> has used <Royal Pollination> on you. You've gained 26 Experience Points.] x1
The last message was from the first day Liu Shu reached Level 6. However, at Level 6, by the description of the <Royal Pollination> skill, she should've gotten 36 Experience Points. There was a reason as to why she couldn't receive as much, and instead, she got 26. The Experience limit <Royal Pollination> could give was twice Flor's own level.
If it weren't like that, Flor could approach any World Tree and sell herself as the most efficient Experience Point provider the world had ever seen. Even then, the ability to give 26 Experience points daily was already tremendously high, speeding up Liu Shu's leveling speed by at least four times.
When Liu Shu regained her clear consciousness, she felt revitalized. 'That was nice~!' Liu Shu sent a pulse of energy through her root system to check on everything and was stunned. 'Wow… My vision has reached 180 meters!'
Then, when her senses from the deepest roots arrived, she realized that her roots had finally broken through that wall of rocks below her, making her curious. 'Oh? I could finally break through here! Let's see~, what is in there?'
As her senses spread with her natural sense, she could feel that it was a cave filled with high-energy materials. 'Ohh, new materials!' Liu Shu felt that she had never seen anything like that, so she was very tempted to look at them closer
Her roots were about to extend closer, but she detected another aura a few meters away. Her roots stopped and moved in that direction, filled with curiosity.
"Life Tree! Life Tree!"
Shouts of the creatures she met reached her, confusing Liu Shu. 'But I'm not a Life Tree, I am a World Tree!' She snorted twice in her mind. 'Hmph, hmph. These beings are a bit stupid.' Then, she decided to use <World Tree Eye> because their aura was something she had never felt.
Once the world was brightened by her skill, Liu Shu managed to see the shape of these creatures. 'Hm… Myconids?'
After absorbing the Encyclopedia with her SSS Rank skill, her knowledge of the several races and species around the world became much more complete. Of course, creatures that weren't registered in that book would remain unknown to her. However, there were very few common races that Liu Shu couldn't identify.
She decided to communicate with them. While it was not her business what these beings were doing here, they might know what the new material she found was for. 'Hello~. Also, I'm not a Life Tree; I'm a World Tree!''
The Myconids before her were relatively low-level. After all, the place Liu Shu entered was deep into their cave system, where the lowest levels stayed secure. After she said hello, thanks to the <World Tree Wisdom> skill, her voice was perfectly transmitted to them in their own usual language.
For Liu Shu, there was no such thing as a language barrier.
"World Tree, we present you a gift."
One female-looking Myconid approached and offered an item. Liu Shu looked at it and saw that it was a broken and tattered stone. 'Hm? What is this?'
She used her powerful analyzing capabilities, and a name was revealed.
<Shattered Core (Unranked)>: ???
Liu Shu looked at that thing for a few seconds and felt that the Myconids were pulling a prank on her. 'An unranked item? That's even worse than F-Rank!'
However, Liu Shu was clever and managed to see the inconsistencies in the details. 'Hmm… But I can't see the description even though it is unranked. Moreover, I also can't see its level.'
This thing became a puzzle for Liu Shu, but with her usually relaxed nature, since she couldn't solve it, she decided not to think about it too much. Still, she planned to take it with her. 'Sure, I'll take it.'
Her root stretched forward and touched it. At that moment, Liu Shu stopped as a few images flashed in her mind.
She could see a barren land becoming lush and life evolving as creatures appeared everywhere.
The quick vision lasted nothing but a fraction of a second, but it left Liu Shu stunned. Right after she came back to her senses, her focus fell on the core.
The entire pressure of the young World Tree fell on the core, bringing with it tremendous pressure. The Myconids thought that Liu Shu was angry and they started trembling in fear.
After her level-ups, Liu Shu's stats broke into the Level 10+ realm by a large margin. Now, with everything that supported her, like the defensive measures, she could probably take on Flor in a one-on-one fight with a high chance of winning.
While Flor had around 14,000 Aether Mana Shards, and Liu Shu had half that number, their actual Aether Stat was not that far.
Flor's Aether, without taking buffs into account, was 93 Points. Meanwhile, Liu Shu's Aether Stat, not taking the <Royal Pollination> into account, was 86.
Then, you had to remember that Aether was actually Liu Shu's weakest stat, while it was Flor's strongest one.
Of course, this didn't mean that Flor was weak. For a creature of her Level, she was relatively powerful.
Regardless, Liu Shu, who could compare stat-wise to a Level 13 Rose Fairy Queen, had an overbearing presence to these sub-Level-10 Myconids.
Knowing that they had no chance of resistance when facing such a being, the Myconids stood still and trembling, hoping that this powerful creature would forgive them for whatever offense they committed.
'System, analyze it.'
[Analyzing…]
<Shattered Core (Unranked)>: ???
Liu Shu snorted. 'Analyze again!'
[Analyzing…]
<Shattered Core (Unranked)>: ???
Liu Shu looked at that message with pure disdain. 'As always, useless.'
[...]
Liu Shu sighed in her mind and dispelled her auras. 'Well, whatever. I'll keep it with me until I can understand it.'
Her roots coiled around the melon-sized <Shattered Core> and slowly brought it up and passed it through the place where her roots came from.
Feeling relieved, the Myconid people released a light spore mist. "Thank you for forgiving us, Life-. World Tree."
Liu Shu looked at them with confusion. 'Forgive what? What are you talking about?' The Myconids blinked a few times, their black eyes looking confused.
Still, Liu Shu couldn't care less about their confusion, so she asked as another of her roots dug a bit of the material she found. 'So, what is this… <Lir Mineral> for?'
The description was not too helpful.
<Lir Mineral>: A mineral with concentrated energy that can be transformed for several uses. In its raw form, it is mostly unusable. It must be processed.
After reading the description, Liu Shu was as confused as she had been before. 'Transform, how to transform this?'
One of the Myconids, a relatively elderly looking one, spoke slowly. "You need to transform them by placing them in a mixture. Then, you can slowly use their energy to recover your Aether Mana Shards and Anima Energy Shards."
Liu Shu listened with interest as her roots felt the item's surface and energy flow. 'Recover Aether Mana and Anima Energy, huh? If I can learn to harvest it… Won't my regeneration sky-rocket?'
The idea of assimilating this entire cave system with her roots surfaced in her mind, but as soon as it did, a system message popped.
[System Hint: Assimilation of the Cave System is currently impossible.]
Liu Shu asked, puzzled. 'Why is it impossible?'
[System Hint: Tianlian Liu Shu is too weak.]
Liu Shu looked at those words a few times, and although she wanted to retort, she couldn't. 'Well… I'm Level 6, after all. I am also too small to absorb this cave system.'
Her roots had extended and were slowly mapping the underground. They moved across the rocky walls of the cave, allowing her to understand how large the place was. For now, with her mere 180-meter maximum root distance, she could not even begin to fathom the size of the cave system.
Not finding anything interesting, Liu Shu decided to stop looking at it consciously. Then, after she resurfaced, before she did anything, she decided to check her system page.
The large changes and messages appeared in her eyes one after another, leaving her stunned. Seeing that doing the quest Pre-Level 5 actually rewarded her, the World Tree became delighted.
She was curious about everything new she had unlocked, like the new skills and such, but the one she was the most excited to look at was her new fruits!
As a Tree, her desire to grow fruits was not small. She really liked creating them so that her surroundings could get stronger with her.
So, without waiting anymore, Liu Shu decided to look at the berries. 'Wow!'
[System Hint: Descriptions have been summarized. Please ask for the longer descriptions if Tianlian Liu Shu wants them].
<Nature's 1 Gift (E Rank level [0 9300])>: Produces small, magical fruits with unique and beneficial properties. Liu Shu can use 10% of the berry's cost to accelerate 50 Gestation Days.
<Low-Rank Delicious Berry (E- Rank)>: +5 Experience Points. Level 24 and below --> 4/day. Level 9 and below --> 1/day. Production Cost: 100 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 100 Days.
<Low-Rank Phoer Berry (E- Rank)>: +250 Phoer Body Shards. Level 10 and above --> 10/day. Level 9 and below --> 1/day. Production Cost: 100 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 100 Days.
<Low-Rank Mana Berry (E- Rank)>: +250 Aether Mana Shards. Level 10 and above --> 10/day. Level 9 and below --> 1/day. Production Cost: 100 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 100 Days.
<Low-Rank 10 Energy Berry (E- Rank): +250 Anima Shards. Level and above --> 10/day. Level 9 and below --> 1/day. Production Cost: 100 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 100 Days.
<Low-Rank Breakthrough Berry (E+ Rank)>: +1 <Sub-Tier >. Max <E Rank>. Any Creature can ingest 1 every 10 years. (Can Ingest Higher Ranked Breakthrough Berries with a 1-month cooldown). Production Cost: 15000 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 600 Days.
<Low-Rank Resonant Berry (E+ Rank)>: +1% Aether Resonance. 5 Max. Production Cost: 1500 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 150 Days.
<Low-Rank Refinement Berry (E+ Rank)>: +1% Phoer Refinement. 5 Max. Production Cost: 1500 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 150 Days.
<Low-Rank Affinity Berry (E+ Rank)>: +1% Energy Affinity. 5 Max. Production Cost: 1500 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 150 Days.
<Low-Rank Palace Berry (E+ Rank)> +1% Mind Palace. 5 Max. Production Cost: 1500 AM and AE. Gestation Time: 150 Days.
Not only did she unlock four new berries, but all her previous berries evolved and became stronger. 'Ohh! I remember reading that my berries would become better as the skill tier increased. So, this is what they meant, big qualitative change!'
She couldn't help but be delighted. However, the change she loved the most was that her breakthrough berry could now be used on Flor. 'Also, the one I am growing, did it rippen?'
Giving it a look, Liu Shu saw that it had changed aura-wise. 'Huh?'
It wasn't just that one berry. All the fruits of her branches had evolved with her Level Up, ripening as well. 'Ohhh! Flor can get stronger!'