Chương 515: Listing Objectives. Lifespan of Creatures. Population Of The Wild Continent.

Lifespan of Creatures. Population Of The Wild Continent.

Liu Shu observed the entire battle process and was stunned.

'This wasn't even a fight… The serpents just went on a journey to hunt a nice dinner…' When all ten Arboreal Winged serpents regrouped, Ophion guided them back toward the Golden Sap City.

'Now… I guess the Abyssal Void Nexus will finally realize my true strength. With this, will they involve those above them? After all, I don't think they will give up on a world they've been fighting for several thousand years… right?' She was unsure as to how many worlds existed in each Solar System, Star System, and anything above that. Therefore, trying to put a value on the Ceperet World was something she couldn't do.

'Before that… What is left to do before I take over Ceperet?' The World Tree focused on listing the few obstacles remaining for her to conquer.

"First… I need to defeat the Nexus. That's the clearest objective. Second, I should speak with Verdant Skyflower, Azure Rose, Celestial Lotus, and Pelagia Tidemother and ask them about their intentions. If they don't want to join me…" Liu Shu sighed, her mood complex.

"I guess I'll have to fight them. Even if I don't want to." Knowing the struggles these big sisters have gone through, Liu Shu didn't want to be the one who put an end to their story. Of course, if it came down to it, she wouldn't hesitate. There were too many creatures for Liu Shu to act impulsively and out of emotion. A single misstep could collapse what she had built with much care.

"Other than those two, I need to complete the fourth <Temple>. There are a few new options, so I need to check them in depth. Additionally, I should see what the Explorer Association is doing. They are just too powerful if their background is as scary as Skyflower said. I mean, the fact that they are also located inside the Nexus and no one dares to find trouble with them speaks volumes about their capabilities."

After listing those objectives for herself, Liu Shu spoke about the thing that was giving her a headache.

"How do I expand my roots… beyond the planet?" She could understand extending her roots through an entire world; she just needed to envelop everything with her presence.

"But space? How do I even…?" Her puzzlement only lasted for a while before she placed it at the back of her mind.

"Either way, that is something future Liu Shu will need to deal with. For now, I should start my attack on the nexus. My fruits have already sprouted during the last few days, and all of the Level 74 and above people have eaten them." By now, the number of strong people in Liu Shu's domain had skyrocketed. For starters, the population of the entire Wild Continent, after the wars and sorting out spies and other matters, was left at around 431 million people.

Most of these people were non-combatants, but that didn't mean that the overall level was too low. The mean Level of the adult population was between 20 and 30. In the military, the weakest soldier who was conscripted to go to war needed to either reach Level 40 or have combat power above that Level. After Liu Shu counted and gathered all her available fighting force, the numbers were decent. For starters, Level 25 to 40 soldiers, meaning the reserve soldiers, reached 14 million.

These people were taught in military schools, and extraordinary ones were prepared to become high-ranking military officers. Then, the number of Level 40 to 49 soldiers, who were, bluntly said, cannon fodder, numbered up to 21 million. You must take into account that Liu Shu has absorbed all armies, soldiers, and different factions across the Wild Continent. So, those people whom the Nexus suppressed because of their beliefs could now show their worth.

They had always been many, but divided across many territories, the Abyssal Void Nexus had always managed to suppress everyone and control them through systematic fear. With a leader, they could now proudly protect what they thought was worth it and fight to defend their territory and family. People above Level 50 were fewer, but not by that much. The Golden Sap Army gathered a total of 3, 420, 000 <Third Energy Cycle> powerhouses.

Most of these were born after the war against the Nexus, using the Experience Points they earned to boost themselves to a high level. Other than that, Liu Shu's Dungeons were the biggest contributors. Since Dungeons didn't have that many limits in terms of how many people could enter simultaneously, training regimes involved them and used them as much as possible. There were deaths, naturally. Liu Shu's <Dungeons> were far from being easy. Nevertheless, the profits far outweighed the losses.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Finally, in the army, there were 12, 000 Level 74 people, stuck there and unable to break through to the next level. Liu Shu's berries and titles helped them a lot, but it was not an easy task. Moreover, these Level 74 people were of advanced age as well. In terms of lifespan, humans who were between Level 1 and 9 could live around 60 years.

After reaching Level 10, that lifespan increased to around 100 years, but not much longer, even if they were at Level 24. Between Level 25 and Level 49, people could live from 120 to 150 years. Finally, for the third and fourth energy cycles, the numbers varied between 170 and 250 years. Humans reaching 300 years of age were sporadic at best, even among <Fourth Energy Cycle> powerhouses. Beastkin could live about double what humans could, while a Sylvan's lifespan was around 10 times longer than a human's.

Of course, a shorter lifespan meant quicker Leveling and also much better reproduction capabilities. The world was balanced, and each race decided on strengthening different qualities and using various strategies evolutionarily. Liu Shu checked the information about those 12, 000 Level 74 people. Most of them, around 90% of them, were humans in their 100s. Appearance and health-wise, they were considered middle-aged men and women.

From the remaining 10%, eight parts belonged to beastkin, while Sylvans occupied the last two percent.

'Hm… Finally, we have <Fourth Energy Cycles>. They are Flor, Ignatia, Melody, Verena, Cinderielle, Verdantia, Harmonixia, Tempestria, Mariane, Edharen, Warlya, twenty-eight others, and myself.' Those four people appeared after Liu Shu shared her berries with them. The increase in Energy Cycle Completion Rate gave them that little push they needed, helping them plant their feet on the other side.

"So… My army consists of 39 <Fourth Energy Cycles>, 3. 4 million <Third Energy Cycles>, and 21 million <Second Energy Cycles>." She was quite happy. Even if her own strength was enough to face this group, that didn't mean that they were useless; other World Trees didn't have her strength. Additionally, the territories they were going to invade didn't even have World Trees in the first place. So, numbers and strength were of high importance.

"Now… Let's check the ants." After Ignatia reached the Fourth Energy Cycle, she completed one of her major quests and achieved several colony-wide boosts. Not to mention her personal strength, Ignatia's colony was extremely fearsome. First, numbers. With over 7, 000 Ant Princesses laying around 100 eggs daily, the number of worker ants had reached a ridiculous 750 million. These ants didn't have much combat capability.

Nevertheless, they were ridiculously efficient workers and were on their way to transform the entirety of the Wild Continent's underground. Using complex animal and plant farming, communication chains, and even production systems, the Ant Empire under the soil of the World Tree expanded to ridiculous levels. Fighter Ants, Crafter Ants, and Ant Princesses were all birthed by Ignatia. The Humanoid Ant Queen, after many boosts to her fertility and ability to lay eggs, could lay 15, 000 eggs daily by herself.

These eggs were not too big, and it took Ignatia around 4 hours to lay all of them daily. It was work, but it was an activity that brought joy to her. She loved making babies, much more so when her wife accompanied and sometimes even played with her. In Ignatia's opinion, it was the time of day she looked forward to the most. Using her abilities, Ignatia had allocated concrete ratios to the eggs.

Each day, Ignatia would give birth to 10 Ant Princesses, 3, 450 Ant Soldiers, 1, 430 Ant Aethermancers, 1, 430 Ant Soulmancers, and 8, 680 Ant Crafters. The crafters were peculiar, as their bodies were like a centaur but with an ant's body, and with the humanoid section still being ant-like. These eggs were further divided by elemental affinities, professions, etc. Ignatia knew that her Ant Princesses could also give birth to soldiers. However, she didn't allow it. The reason was as simple as being careful.

Her rule was tight but was not absolute. If an Ant Princess became too strong and accumulated too many forces, it could gain individual intelligence and slowly cause trouble. Therefore, as the Queen Mother, unless she had no other choice, Ignatia would only allow the Princesses to lay worker eggs. Any Ant Princesses not following those orders would be killed on the spot and replaced by a new one. Ignatia was the mother of several hundred million ants, and she wouldn't allow a rotten child to spoil the bunch.

For now, though, she had never had to follow through with that mentality. All her babies were very obedient and adorable, and she loved them lots and lots. After her hard work, Ignatia's army was not any worse than Liu Shu's army. The Ant Queen's titles, combined with those of their eldest sister, made it so each ant's growth speed was several times the normal pace. So, Ignatia had accumulated a total of 46, 063, 000 functional soldier ants, with many still growing inside the nest.

The weakest among the almost 50 million soldier ants was Level 40, while they were all guided by twenty powerful and talented sisters. These 20, naturally, were all <Fourth Energy Cycle> beings. Above the land, no one knew that Ignatia's accumulation had already reached the current heights. At most, they knew about two <Fourth Energy Cycle> Ants and 1 <Fourth Energy Cycle> Ant Princess.

This Ant Princess was Solaria, the one who had been living under Fortuna City and the Ant Princess that Wert met all those years ago. Honestly, Ignatia was extremely proud of this baby. Although being an ant with 5 meters in height and almost 25 in length, no one other than Ignatia and Flor dared to label her as a "baby." So, with the combination of people and ants, the population of the Wild Continent had successfully exploded and reached over 1 billion!

This made them the second most populous Continent in the world, only behind the Abyssal Void Nexus continent.