Chương 566: When the Eternal Tree Revealed Her True Strength.

A few minutes back, Liu Shu's energy and consciousness finally merged and became one with the world. Her senses, sharper than ever before and further enhanced by her <True Ruler World Tree> title, could sense everything in the world with ease. The overwhelming amount of information dazed Liu Shu. Even when she could distinguish and sense "everything," the feeling was too new compared to her previous senses. Like opening her eyes to brightly flashing colors that you understood separately but not jointly.

'Ugh… My head and vision are aching a bit.' To say that she was overwhelmed wouldn't be accurate. Still, it was far from comfortable when the sounds, ternary essence, and actions of each and every living being registered in her mind. As she sifted through the myriad of conversations, her <Eternal> energy helped her. The mysterious energy, now forming an integral part of herself, helped her processing speed even further.

'Ah… much better.' Looking around with her <World Tree Eye> and natural sight, she noticed 200 strange presences. If everyone were like a firefly in her eyes, these 200 presences were like lamps. Among them, five glowed with such intensity that they naturally overshadowed the lights around them.

'Huh? Who are these people?' When she asked herself that question, as if it had been waiting, all the imagery from the second they appeared on Ceperet until the moment she opened her eyes flashed in her mind.

'Otherworlders… Sixth Energy Cycles… Envoys? Mostly good intentions… Overbearing…' Her mind quickly labeled the people who arrived from outside, and a sense of incongruity formed in her.

'I was lucky enough to wake up the day they arrived? That's quite a coincidence…' As she looked at the myriad of System Messages that had accumulated during her ten years of sleep, one that had popped up recently caught her eye. [<Destiny Blessing> activates!] And right after that blessing, another System message appeared. [You had a lucky encounter with a hidden trace of <Eternal> energy. The process is completed. You will wake up after your senses synchronize.]"Oh…" Liu Shu chuckled for a second.

"So it was the <Temple Of Destiny> who helped me. Each time, I am really glad that I chose it back then and resisted the temptation of the Temple Of War and similar ones." As she organized her thoughts, she suddenly sensed one of her children sending urgent communication signals. Blinking inwardly, she looked over and asked, her voice gentle and motherly.

"Baby <Town Hall>, what's wrong?" The childish voice of the <Town Hall> reached her, sounding somewhat flustered and wronged.

"Mommy! A really bad guy is hurting me and Grandma Ignatia! Help!" The soft feeling around Liu Shu ignited as a storm rumbled deep in her core. Instantly, Liu Shu's real body opened her eyes, and she chanted inwardly, a voice that seemed to strike her surroundings like a gong." <Stop>." After her words struck the space around Golden Sap City, the flow of time paused for a little over a second. This time was enough for Liu Shu to search throughout her city and know where they were.

Her glowing verdant green eyes snapped over, pinning down all the beings in the <Town Hall> as her presence weighed down on them like a heavy mountain. The scene inside the room entered her eyes, and while she didn't feel any hostility from any side, there was an extremely tiny patch of red on the wood that stung Liu Shu's eyes as if a needle had poked her. A low and menacing tone descended upon them.

"... Who are you? And why are there bloodstains belonging to my Mom on the ground?" While Liu Shu asked those questions, they weren't meant to be answered. Her <Town Hall> baby was already pointing at the culprit and telling her mom to beat him up! Naturally, Liu Shu wouldn't disappoint her. Her roots, moving so fast that they left blurs on their path, smashed through the windows and latched around the culprit.

"You will pay." A single sentence full of murderous intent dominated the whole area. Then, the thorny creature was slung out by the irresistible force, his body streaking through the air and crashing outside the walls! BOOM! [-3, 805, 400, 000] (38, 054)! Orwen's body collided against a sturdy, reinforced hill on the outside. With Liu Shu's Level Up and taking over, the world's durability against powerful impacts was enhanced beyond measure.

What would've flattened a mountain before could now only leave large craters on the ground. Having received over 3 billion shards of damage from a single impact, Orwen's face crumpled in pain, but it was just that, some pain. Compared to his Phoer reserves, 3 billion shards were not that much. Crawling out of the crater, Orwen glared at the World Tree in the distance. Even when over 25 kilometers separated them, Liu Shu's 9, 000-meter-tall figure was bright and clear; he could even distinguish her facial features.

"World Tree! What is the meaning of this!?" Liu Shu ignored the calls from the people inside the <Town Hall> and spoke coldly at him, her voice swamping the surroundings with thick energy.

"You who have dared hurt my mother will naturally have to pay an appropriate price. You better be as resilient as you look, or your life will be forfeited here." If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Orwen wanted to sneer at her. With his current stats and Flawless World Level Equipment, his <Phoer Body> reserves were over 700, 000 Cores, or over 7 Essence Stars. Not to mention, his <Physique> attribute was at over 1. 5 million points.

He was not considered a talented person for nothing.

"A little World Tree who doesn't understand the true heights of those in the sky!" Orwen's aura exploded outward, his presence pushing back Liu Shu's and overpowering it for a moment.

"Since you want a fight, I'll give you one and teach you a lesson." Liu Shu's answer was a combination of skills.

"<Elemental Lord Willow Catastrophe>, <Eternity Strand>..." Orwen's expression stiffened as the space around him fell under Liu Shu's absolute control.

"... <Eternal Void>." CRASH! Reality around Orwen shattered into pieces, the force of the splitting dimension ravenously trying to tear his body apart. Thankfully, his sturdy body could bear the strain of the shattered space. Even then, the damage numbers flashing in his eyes every half a second were truly frightening. [-895, 560, 000] (8, 955)! [-895, 560, 000] (8, 955)! [-895, 560, 000] (8, 955)! Orwen, who was clenching his body as the dimensional breaking tried to pull his being apart, began doubting his sight.

'... Why isn't reality mending itself!?' In the distance, looking through his fractured vision, he could see the World Tree indifferently looking his way before a single word struck his mind." <Slow>." At that instant, his senses turned sluggish as everything around him began speeding up. But Liu Shu was not done. Focusing on the spatial fracture, Liu Shu's voice struck it again." <Accelerate>."

When the ternary essences are combined with the <Eternal> energy, they mix together, and the damage-rate ticks speed up tremendously, going over a third faster than before.

"AARGH!" Even with his ridiculously large <Phoer> reserves, losing almost 10, 000 every half a second was too much. Some of the durable thorns that made up his body began splitting, sap-like blood sprouting out from his wounds.

'What is this!? What is happening!? I need to leave this strange area immediately!'

"<Endless Thornpath Shift>!" Forcing his <Aether Mana> and <Anima Energy> to pierce into the still fractured space around him, his body transformed into several vines and moved forward quickly. Liu Shu couldn't keep him inside the area, but she didn't care. A system message flashed in her eyes and made her know that it wasn't for nothing. [You've dealt a total of 234, 555 cores of damage!] Orwen's body swelled once he was outside, and he roared to the sky as a pillar of pure essence pierced the clouds.

"GRAAAH! <Mountain Swallowing Thornbody>" Within less than an instant, the thorns that made up his body multiplied, and he grew in size to over 1, 000 meters in height. While he was smaller than Liu Shu by a factor of nine, he could now face the World Tree properly. In the city, Elyne and the others were floating mid-air, looking with stunned expressions at the place where Orwen had landed.

There was a spatial fissure that seemingly refused to mend, while their companion was bleeding profusely after almost a third of his <Phoer> reserves were sliced in a few seconds.

"... This is the strength of a Level 100 World Tree?" Veyra's face was full of disbelief and, honestly, a slight sense of fear. Her body was not as durable as Orwen's, so she could only imagine how much damage she would receive if Liu Shu hit her.

"World Tree!" The loud scream of the thorn creature snapped them out of their daze. They saw Orwen pulling his arm back, and Elyne's expression changed slightly.

"Orwen, stop!"

"<Mountain Piercing Thorn>!" As Orwen punched forward, a mass of thorns shot toward Liu Shu at ridiculous speed, reaching her body before Liu Shu could react. Liu Shu's face, looking at that mass of roots, was indifferent. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! [-2, 456, 500, 000] (-24, 565)! [-2, 456, 500, 000] (-24, 565)! [-2, 456, 500, 000] (-24, 565)! … The thorns struck Liu Shu's durable body and managed to pierce through, creating several holes on her belly and chest.

Elyne's face twisted in anger for the first time as she shouted with deep anger.

"ORWEN!" However, before Elyne continued speaking, something ridiculous occurred. When Orwen pulled back his roots with a sneer, Liu Shu spoke lightly.

"<Eternity Strand: Return>." [+2, 456, 500, 000] (+24, 565)! [+2, 456, 500, 000] (+24, 565)! [+2, 456, 500, 000] (+24, 565)! … Liu Shu activated the second skill of the <Eternity Strand>, which allowed her to lock herself in a past state and return to it! Naturally, before fighting with Orwen, Liu Shu created such a state. Now, not only did her <Phoer> recover to its peak, her <Aether Mana> and <Anima Energy> reserves were also completely full.

The faint sense of tiredness that Liu Shu was exuding after dealing such a big hit to Orwen was gone, replaced by endless vitality. Orwen looked stupefied at that scene, and for the first time since the battle started, he felt a sense of fear in his heart.

"W-What are you?" Liu Shu's voice was cold and flat.

"I am Tianlian Liu Shu, the True World Tree of Ceperet…" Her energy surged with her words as she coldly sentenced him.

"I am also the one who defeated you. <Stop>." The instant Orwen was frozen, Liu Shu's willow branches were enveloped with boundless ternary essence as they lashed at him, surrounded by a myriad of elemental effects." <Accelerate>, <Elemental Willow Catastrophe: Elemental Cascade>." BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Even if the time-stop only lasted for 1. 5 seconds, the number of strikes that landed on Orwen numbered in the thousands. After all, Liu Shu could move each individual branch of her vast canopy when attacking.

From a distance, it looked as if all of Liu Shu's branches had suddenly stretched like a mass of living whips and madly struck Orwen's frozen body. No one could see any damage appearing on Orwen, which confused them.

Yet, after time began flowing around Orwen again, Liu Shu snorted once." <Temporal Fracture: Activate>." RRRRIPPP!! BOOM! [-33, 845, 800, 000!] (-338, 458)! Orwen's body was torn asunder, viscerally exploding. A massive blood-red damage number flashed in his eyesight.

"What… happened?" His body shrank and crumbled, the excess roots falling over dead and leaking endless blood. After her entire barrage of attacks, Liu Shu managed to deal nearly 600, 000 Cores of damage. Even if that didn't kill Orwen, the heavy damage sent him into shock, forcing his brain to shut down. Liu Shu stopped looking at Orwen, and her eyes landed on the remaining four envoys.

"Now that the annoyance is sleeping, we can talk." Suddenly, the four envoys felt their sense of superiority stripped from them, making their nerves taut as they looked at the recently ascended World Tree.