Chương 410: Myriad Skills. War for the Wild Continent begins.

War for the Wild Continent begins.

The Sylvans wanted to go out with Dewna, but the Alraune was endlessly voracious, and she needed to be by her World Tree mother's side for a time. Dewna had grown a little bit, showing some of her characteristics. She was a beautiful, small girl with eyes as lovely as cherry blossoms and smooth white skin. Her hair was short, but it had a gorgeous light green color, similar to polished emeralds. Then, the flower that spread below her waist had large, crimson-tipped, pink leaves with a velvety touch.

Moreover, around her waist area, there was a small honey-like pool at the center that didn't spill thanks to the surface tension and thick consistency. Liu Shu's <Avatar> was leaning back on the bed, holding Dewna in her arms. Meanwhile, the little Alraune was latched to Liu Shu's chest, hugging the large, soft, and almost endless milk tank with squinted eyes full of calmness and delight. Liu Shu patted the back of the little darling with a smile.

"So hungry~. You have not stopped eating except for sleeping since you were born. Is it that delicious?" It went without saying that a World Tree's milk was one of, if not the most nutritious type of natural food that one could find in the wild. There were cases of people being able to Level Up, Tier Up, or even extend their lifespan after tasting it. It was a natural panacea for many common illnesses as well, and it could even perfect a creature's appearance and skin, healing lesions and scar tissue.

Any child who grew up with an attentive World Tree mother would always be several times more talented just by force. These children were not common, though. After all, World Trees didn't pay as much attention to their children usually, and they left them with their other parent, if they had any, or to fend for themselves if they were born asexually. One could say that World Trees were not ideal parents, but it depended on the perspective, situation, and many other factors.

Liu Shu's Avatar hummed the song Harmonixia sang to her in the past, her fingers gently massaging Dewna's scalp.

"I guess it is time to go all out on the Wall Forest." Her real sight shifted to observe the advancement in the <Wall Forest>'s conquest. Her powerful mind covered the gargantuan distances. At first, the Wall Forest didn't react much. As Liu Shu layered her roots across the continent and started moving forward like a gargantuan carpet of roots, her influence grew and penetrated deeply into the Wall Forest's root network.

Nevertheless, Liu Shu was somewhat wary because of the sensation of danger she felt in the past.

'The <Wall Forest> is made out of hundreds of literal billions of trees. If so many trees attack my roots at once, I'll be screwed instantly. Even if my roots are solid, being a very long line, the Wall Forest's capabilities would tear apart all my roots alongside it… Now that I think about it, it is normal for no World Trees to be born in the <Wall Forest>. They would be considered a threat once they reach a certain size, and then eliminated…' Liu Shu sighed, her branches swaying as she thought of a solution.

"I've taken over around 10% of the Wall Forest, and if I use brute force, destroying the Wall Forest is just a matter of time. After all, my side would grow as time passed, and with the other World Trees helping me, pushing the Wall Forest to extinction wouldn't be that complicated. Yet, I want to gain control over it, not destroy it. Such a special forest that has survived through who knows how many eras will be a great tool when fighting the Nexus. It would make attacks through land extremely difficult."

Liu Shu looked at her skills and stats, and eventually, she decided to use her sap and energy.

"Let's see… I should start from both extremes, where the density of trees is the least." Liu Shu's sight went to the north side of the Wall Forest, and then, her roots there began advancing much quicker.

'Now… Just before the Wall Forest attacks…' She focused for around two days until she noticed the flinch from the past.

"Now!" All her roots attacked each other, ripping themselves and spilling their sap in large quantities. [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! [-1, 000]! Sharp, painful sensations hit her mind, as if someone was poking her with a needle.

Nevertheless, she didn't stop until she spent around 30 <Phoer Body Cores> worth of damage. The surface of the forest remained calm, but underground, Liu Shu's broken roots and sap were seeping into the forest ground, trees, and plants. After waiting a week for the sap to absorb, Liu Shu began advancing again through that area, careful not to trigger the reaction of the massive forest.

'If it designates my essence as hostile, all my roots will be affected, not just those in this area.' As Liu Shu advanced, she could feel her own body tense. If all the roots that she had extended into the Wall Forest were suddenly attacked and broke, the pain would be no joke. Time passed slowly, and her roots continued advancing through the top section of the forest. Soon, she reached the place where she had advanced to before, and then, she crossed it.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. As Liu Shu focused, time slipped by like sand through one's fingers. One day… two days… a week… And then, in the second week, Liu Shu noticed that there were no more trees in front of her roots.

'Did I… do it?' Liu Shu was slightly confused. Her, being honest, bold attempt was based on her previous experiences in similar situations. Be it in the Dark Aether Swamp, around the Golden Sap Forest, or in other Forests she had been in the past, Liu Shu noticed a sharp decline in aggressiveness after she fought. One would think that it was because the forest became calmer.

'Still, what if my sap has something to do with the change? It is quite special, and the System agrees with it…' After crossing at the top part, Liu Shu already had a strategy on how to advance, and she continued repeating her actions. Messages popped in her eyes. [Talent, <Explosive Root (D- Rank)>, learned.] [Talent, <Root Light Burst (E+ Rank)>, learned.] [Talent, <Root Severing (E- Rank)>, learned.] [Talent, <Root Strike (D- Rank)>, learned.] [Passive, <Speed Root (D+ Rank)>, learned.] [Passive, <Gentle Sap (D Rank)>, learned.] [Passive, <Treefluence (D- Rank)>, learned.] [Passive, <Root Regeneration (D Rank)>, learned.] [Passive, <Pain Tolerance (E+ Rank)>, learned.] As she used her everything to tackle the problem of the <Wall Forest>, her skills were polished and soon formed into new <Talents> and <Passives>. Looking at all the new skills and passives, Liu Shu was not too thrilled.

Of course, it was better than nothing, and they did help her accelerate her progress in conquering the Wall Forest. Nevertheless, Liu Shu understood that these skills would not really become anything extraordinary. The potential of some skills, though, was really great. One of the skills that she appreciated the most was the passive, <Speed Root>. It increased the maximum speed at which her roots could move by 30% for now.

'As it ranks up, it will become much more powerful. So it is really nice.' Another one that Liu Shu liked was <Root Strike>. It was a simple attack for her roots that didn't need her to discard them. This skill would increase her offensive capabilities all around her domain since her roots now could do proper attacks and not use just raw physical strength without any boosts.

'If I use my roots to coil around something, <Explosive Root> is also really powerful… Well, I'll explore them slowly as I continue my advance.' While Liu Shu dealt with the <Wall Forest>, the offense of the <Abyssal Void Nexus> started. Several hundred thousand people campaigned and started trying to conquer both the Azure Rose Confederation territory and the Celestial Lotus Empire territory. Of course, unlike the time when the Nexus attacked the Covenant, those two powers were much more prepared.

Therefore, when they appeared, they didn't fall as quickly. Flor received the report and nodded.

"Great. Since they have not targeted us, we can start our own attack on the <Underground Terragore Empire>. Send messages to everyone about it. We are going to cage them and attack them from all directions. Once caged, we'll proceed to the second phase of the attack." The message spread around through message systems, reaching all associates in less than 2 hours. Thalgryn looked at it and grinned.

"Time to get to work. Lady Prarya, be ready!" Prarya humphed.

"As expected, without me, you are no good." Even though she was saying that, a terrifying column of essence burst from her main body, reaching to the sky. Prarya wasn't the only one, as all World Trees who were able to reach any part of the <Terragore> nest began using their deep essence pools. While they said that they would not help much, that didn't mean that they couldn't lend a hand at the start of the war. The World Trees had been tasked to keep the closed paths closed as long as they weren't defeated.

So, to put it simply, the World Trees would defend conquered terrain, but the offense was left entirely to the intelligent creatures. As the armies surged underground through the myriad Ant Tunnels dug by Ignatia's colony, aura after aura affected the armies. [World Tree Prarya boosts your <Aether> by 5%.] [World Tree Fortuna boosts your <Destiny> by 20%.] [World Tree Snow boosts your <Physique> by 7. 5%.] [World Tree Hara boosts your <Anima> by 5%.] [World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu boosts your <Aether>, <Anima>, <Physique>, <Willpower>, and Destiny> by 10%.] [World Tree…] [You are affected by <Sprouts Of Chaos> from World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu.] [<Temple Of Summoning> effects fall upon you.] [<Temple Of Destiny> effects fall upon you.] [<Temple Of Craft> effects fall upon your equipment.] … [You are affected by a myriad of auras, your strength surges. A Grand War begins.] BOOM! Everyone felt as if their bodies were being inflated by pure essence.

Their stats grew like crazy, depending on where on the continent they were located. Flor also moved underground, followed by Ignatia, Alba, the four Sylvans, and other troops and monsters. Her group was made up of nearly 2, 000 creatures. 500 being <Third Energy Cycles>. The group was big enough to move underground without being "too big." As they rushed to their designated points, another message popped up in everyone's sight. [<Sylvan Quest: Terragore Empire> activates!]