Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 132. Forest Integration.

With Ignatia's return, Liu Shu's Level Up ended without any complications. There wasn't much of a difference from usual, so it was completed after around a week.

With her height reaching 70 meters, Liu Shu's town became larger while her House Trees also became more spacious.

As Liu Shu grew, everything else followed in her steps. The walls moved outward, together with the <Mother Of Thousand Flower Field>. By now, the Mother Of Thousand was around 117 meters away from Liu Shu's body, while the wall was at nearly 215 meters.

While it felt like the living area was small, once the calculations were done, it was incredibly wide and enough for a large living area, especially if each of the houses could fit more than one family by dividing the floors.

The main problems Liu Shu now faced were getting the necessary materials for her quest and the fact that many more people were visiting the forest. With the recent events and the <Explorer Association> increasing the level range of the Golden Sap Forest so much and so swiftly, curiosity pushed people to explore.

Still, the Rose Fairies and Fire Ants had lost many people during the invasion, so they also needed a few years to replenish their ranks. Meanwhile, the Myconids were slowly influenced by <Enchanted Growth>, and, like Rose Fairies, they were becoming stronger and were gaining intelligence.

While their intelligence was far from the level the Rose Fairies were currently at, it was high enough to give them the ability to discern basic concepts.

Liu Shu opened her <World Tree Eye> after Leveling Up, checking her surroundings. It was something she had become accustomed to doing after what happened last time. 'Hm, I wish my senses weren't cut that much during the Leveling Up process.'

She was not wholly unconscious since she felt her roots and the pulse of energies traveling through them. The voices of the forest were constantly echoing in her mind. Unlike human speech, it was slow, but Liu Shu could easily discern and understand them.

Humans, Sylvans, Beastkin, and other typical intelligent creatures lived in a different time frame compared to tree species.

A conversation between two typical trees could last weeks or months, while intelligent creatures were finished in a few hours at most.

Liu Shu hummed as the voices of other trees reached her and were processed.

"Mercy… we plead… servitude…"

"Accept… the… new… ruler…"

"The… forest's… overlord…"

"World… Tree…"

Liu Shu hummed and thought to herself. 'Really stupid. Isn't it logical to become my subordinate?'

Golden Sap Forest's flora was at a relatively low level. Even the highest-level trees in the surroundings were around Level 15 or so. Moreover, these were almost non-existent. To be generous, 1 in 50,000 trees was a Level 10+ tree, and even between those, only less than one percent reached Level 15 or more.

Speaking of Level 15 trees, as Liu Shu's roots stretched further and further away, she managed to come across the Rose Fairies' previous house eventually. The reason she could recognize it was that some of the dresses the Rose Fairies wore were crafted from this tree's leaves and branches, allowing Liu Shu to recognize the aura.

'So, you are 800 meters away from me! Hello!'

The World Tree communicated with it, and to Liu's surprise, an answer came back quite quickly. It just took the tree around one and a half hours, thirty minutes per word, to communicate. 'Greetings… World… Tree…'

'Oh! You are a quick speaker! So, I wanted to say thank you for taking care of the Rose Fairies before me! They are with me now!'

'Great… News…'

Liu Shu giggled happily and asked. 'Hehe. So, will you become my subordinate or be uprooted?'

'The forest… is… yours…'

'Nice! I would feel bad killing you, so it's nice that you agreed~.'

Right after the tree agreed, Liu Shu received a message.

[Congratulations! A significant proportion of the trees in the <Golden Sap Forest> has accepted your presence. Would you like to integrate part of the forest?]

Liu Shu looked at it with a stunned expression. 'Integrate the forest? What does that mean?'

[System Hint: Integrating the forest will allow your senses to travel through every tree connected to you. However, integrating the forest doesn't mean taking everything under your control. You will gain an increasing influence with all Flora, and domain-like abilities will expand without being impeded by anything else. The forest will become you, and you will become the forest.]

Liu Shu exclaimed. 'Ohh. Do I gain something else? Wisdom?'

[World Tree Wisdom: Integrating the Forest will give you the ability to control your surroundings more freely. Your presence will be etched in the world as you expand, and you will gain some of the attributes from the forest while also making everything under your domain gain benefits from you.]

'So…' Liu Shu pondered and asked. 'My sap will become golden?'

She received no answer, making her pout. After thinking for a few seconds, Liu Shu felt that doing so had only benefits. However, just in case, she decided to ask Flor and Ignatia.

After a longer-than-needed explanation, Flor blinked twice and asked. "So, you are going to integrate the forest and spread your presence everywhere?"

Ignatia laughed while patting Flor's head. "Well, as long as the change happens when nobody is in the forest, it won't be that noticeable. It's a gradual change, after all. Also, we need to camouflage you soon; this integration you want to do is the first step. To completely hide your presence as a World Tree, assimilating with the surrounding forest is the best way to proceed. The Array master or rune crafter we'll find to do the work will have an easier time."

Flor looked up from Ignatia's embrace, confused. "How do you know all of that?"

Ignatia looked down and pecked Flor's forehead, smiling mischievously. "<Ant Queen's Legacy> is quite a neat skill~."

Flor heard the sound of ants crawling and looked at a little ant, clearly recently born, climbing up Ignatia's leg. "What is your child doing?"

Ignatia was quite accustomed to her children being cuddly and crawling all over her, so she hadn't realized until Flor pointed it out. Looking at her child, she asked. "What do you want, little one?"

Flor saw the antennae of the ant move, and Ignatia laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll return home soon. I know you want to take care of me, darling, but you need to be patient, okay? Look at all your sisters."

Flor raised her eyebrows as the 30-centimeter-long ant crawled back down to the ground and scurried away. "What a peculiar ant."

Ignatia agreed. "She is my first child in the D- rank. Her intelligence is a bit higher than her peers."

Flor's lips twitched. "That child of yours is higher tier than me?"

Ignatia smiled smugly. "She is, any problem? Two E+ ants have hatched as well~."

Liu Shu's voice interrupted their conversation. "I'll start assimilating the forest then~."

Ignatia nodded. "Go on. Also, Liu Shu, I recommend summoning the serpent and reducing your special berry production. Just in case."

Liu Shu muttered. "But… I could grow so many berries with how much it consumes…"

Ignatia smiled, amused. "What's your current Anima regeneration per hour?"

Liu Shu observed her system and answered. "3896 Anima Energy Shards per hour."

"You still have 2396 left! Use those to grow berries."

Liu Shu humphed. "I have less because <Enchanted Growth> consumes 500."

Ignatia clicked her tongue. "Little darling, I have 1260 shards per hour in my strongest stat. You would have 1896 left to do as you please!"

Flor said softly. "Listen to Ignatia, Liu Shu. Be good, okay?"

Liu Shu humphed, answering with a dragged-out tone. "Okaaaay. <World Tree Calling>!"

A few thousand of Anima energy gathered, and soon, a portal opened from where the <Arboreal Winged Serpent> fell.

Flor blinked a few times and asked. "Isn't it much bigger?"

Curious, Flor tried to analyze his level while it greeted Liu Shu, and the results stunned her. "Level 15…"

The 30-meter-long serpent looked at Liu Shu with a happy smile and slithered toward her, quickly coiling around her female-shaped tree trunk. 'Masshter~.'

Smack!

A branch hit the head of the giant serpent, stunning all of them. Flor asked, holding back her laughter. "Why did you do that, Liu Shu?"

Feeling indignant, Liu Shu shouted. "T-This serpent! He Leveled Up!"

Ignatia's intelligent eyes flashed, and she asked, amused. "How much energy is he consuming?"

Liu Shu said with a semi-crying tone. "2000!"

Flor burst into laughter while Ignatia chuckled. "I knew it~."

While the stat increase made it more than worth it, Liu Shu's core was bleeding because she would need to stop growing so many more berries. "I just want to grow berries, QAQ."

Ignatia spoke to the giant serpent that had incredibly exotic but beautiful brown scales. "Can you help us protect Liu Shu? She is going to start integrating the forest, and because her aura is going to go outward, some unwanted visitors might approach."

The relaxed eyes of the serpent thinned to lines, clearly understanding Ignatia's words, and then it launched his body into the air, his wings unfolding and revealing a glorious sight as it took flight.

Then, the enormous serpent began circling Liu Shu's canopy, his eyes locked on the forest.

Ignatia whistled and smiled. "Great summon indeed. Liu Shu, go ahead! Unless a Second Cycle creature comes…" She looked at the sky with a smirk. "I don't think anybody can hurt you."

The World Tree giggled and threw a few berries to the sky by flicking one of her branches. The serpent quickly sneaked through the air, agilely catching all of them. They were Phoer, Mana, and Energy berries, of which she had thousands.

'Okay, System, start!'

[Integrating <Golden Sap Forest>.]

Her aura skyrocketed, gathered in her body, and spread through her roots. The entire forest felt the World Tree's aura of life, and all the trees and vegetation began dancing in glee as the pure energy nourished everything.

Ignatia looked around and took in a deep breath, filling her lungs with the refreshing air filled with Liu Shu's energy. 'Ah~, such a good place.'

In the sky, the <Arboreal Winged Serpent> was faintly surprised at Liu Shu's powerful aura, but remembering how his ancestor had his eyes on her, his surprise didn't last long.