Liu Shu's approach toward these two True World Trees was rather simple. Both of them were below Level 200, so their strength was negligible to Liu Shu. Therefore, she decided to slowly push them back and capture their Solar Systems.
She didn't force anything, nor did she battle her forces. Liu Shu just advanced with her roots.
The True World Tree defended herself. Her roots moved the dimensional layers and tried to attack Liu Shu's domain. "Tried" was the keyword. The second her attack landed on Liu Shu's domain, it was like a cotton ball trying to pierce through steel.
"Why is your domain so sturdy? I can't break it open!"
Liu Shu sighed softly. "You might be aloof, but you are not stupid. How can you even imagine facing a True World Tree above your
Liu Shu was exactly that type of World Tree, but her actions were backed up by her ridiculous
Either way, Liu Shu's roots arrived at her first Solar System and shredded apart all of her roots without effort. The resistance the True World Tree could put up to defend herself was as bothersome as a slightly strong breeze.
"Now that I know about the Interstellar Technology, my ability to manipulate the dimension within my own
Each time she destroyed a root of the True World Tree, she absorbed it into her
The only caveat was that it required a ton of ternary essence. Nevertheless, with her incredibly powerful regeneration, she covered the cost of moving easily.
'Now that people are growing, my berry production is also catching up. Thankfully, each berry uses a flat amount, not a percentage, to germinate. The current number of berries I can create monthly totals over… 65 trillion. Around half of that number are
The exact numbers were the following:
Delicious Berry: 33,844,436,449,500
Phoer Berry: 9,954,246,014,500
Mana Berry: 9,954,246,014,500
Energy Berry: 9,954,246,014,500
Breakthrough Berry: 1,056,313,111
Resonant Berry: 397,002,060,333
Refinement Berry: 397,002,060,333
Affinity Berry: 397,002,060,333
Palace Berry: 397,002,060,333
Energy Cycle Experience Berry: 2,578,615,750
Cerulean Bloodfruit: 496,006,213
Element Lord Fruit: 630,246,800
Focus Fruit: 9,939,627,375
Ascension Fruit: 6,559,171
Those numbers were just berries she could produce herself, without counting all her
"Hm… It is quite a lot. I am a tree who produces tons of fruit! Hehehehe."
Liu Shu felt quite proud. She believed that, as a fruit-bearing tree, few could even compare. "...What was I talking about again?"
When talking about her berries, Liu Shu usually got distracted. "Ah, right. I was pondering if my fruits could cover my growing population."
Looking at those numbers, she was quite reassured, though. Her fruits were meant to be for the top 0.001% of the population. So, 65 trillion felt enough for now.
'If I ever am unable to provide, I will need to learn a skill related to fruit-bearing!'
"Heavenly Willow, do you think I will surrender just because of your strength? If you so badly want to take over, just kill me."
The voice of the True World Tree reached Liu Shu, snapping her out of berry thinking. "Hm? Ah, right. I was fighting you. Why do this to yourself, though? I mean, I am telling you that I will not take away your domain. Haven't I proven that I am more than strong enough to take over by force if I wanted?"
"You have, but this territory is something I've conquered in over 3,000 years of my life. Would I just give it away because you spoke to me politely?"
Liu Shu hummed. "But you can live together with many other World Trees and Life Trees."
Liu Shu had had this conversation many times before. It wasn't anything new, but this new True World Tree felt as stubborn as Deadly Petal. The True World Tree answered calmly, even as Liu Shu destroyed her roots and cut her off one of her five Solar Systems.
Seeing that she was not going to come to terms anytime soon, Liu Shu focused on her conversation with the smaller True World Tree. This one wasn't even Level 150, but she had been lucky to conquer two Solar Systems that didn't have any Level 100+ beings.
Liu Shu spoke with her this time. "Have you learned your lesson? Stop resisting and let us take over."
"No!"
This True World Tree was quite… youthful. Not because she was young. The big girl was over 2,000 years old. Nevertheless, her personality was quite… childish.
"Sigh. Apricot, I am not someone who wants to hurt you."
"Hmph. I said no, so no! Go away, bad tree!"
Liu Shu groaned. Apricot was 100 times worse to deal with than the other one. Her cute voice and speaking tone made Liu Shu feel as if Apricot was exploiting her maternal instincts.
"Alright, alright. I will advance and do nothing to you. That way you will be able to trust me, alright?"
When Liu Shu extended her roots, Apricot latched onto her with her relatively weak ones. "Noooo! I don't wanna! I don't! I don't! Go away, bad tree!"
Liu Shu looked at her with a helpless expression. 'Did she develop this personality to defend herself…? Or is it something that happened because of an accident?'
Still, even if the adorable True World Tree didn't want to, Liu Shu couldn't stop. So, her roots moved forward without attacking. Of course, since some of Apricot's roots were trying to hold her back, they did snap from the dragging force.
"Ouch! Ouch! Stop! Ouchieee! Why are you not stopping? Bad tree! Bad Tree! Big sister Xara is saying that she will help me soon, hmph! Once you arrive, she will give you a big scolding!"
Liu Shu chuckled a little. '...She is quite adorable, isn't she?'
Well, although she needed to hurt her a little bit to close the distance, Liu Shu knew that this World Tree was basically in the bag. If her childish personality was not acting, and instead it was herself, which, being a World Tree, the chances were very high, Liu Shu knew that she would bend when all her backing was gone.
'I wonder who this Xara is.'
It didn't take her long to arrive at her home planet. No matter what Apricot tried to do, Liu Shu's strength was far too ridiculous.
Once her roots were close, she felt a few presences in the void. "...Oh?"
An involuntary exclamation of surprise escaped Liu Shu. The 10 people who came were, surprisingly, all
Moreover, they were not weak at all. 'Wow. If I had been someone of a similar level to Apricot, I would be in deep trouble right now. No wonder this darling can expand as much as she has.'
The Sylvan at the front had a long blue dress and hair, her emerald-colored eyes gleaming with incredible force. "Lady World Tree, please turn around. Little Apricot is being hurt, and if you hurt her, we won't stay silent."
Liu Shu's first impressions of this group were very good! A group of experts taking care of a seemingly childish True World Tree. Liu Shu could tell that there was some deep history in this place.
Of course, she couldn't let them feel that they were in control. Therefore, Liu Shu manifested her roots.
The dimension cried, space twisted, and Liu Shu's massive roots manifested in the void. Their blue-glowing veins pulsed with endless strength, while Liu Shu's divine aura took over the entire surroundings.
"Hiccup!"
Apricot's fearful hiccup almost broke the solemnity of Liu Shu's descending form. Both sides couldn't help but glance at the childish World Tree once before facing each other.
"As you can see, my strength is not something a mere ten
Xara and the other nine were honestly terrified. They had expected a strong True World Tree, but not someone like Liu Shu. Even then, when Liu Shu spoke those words, their fear transformed into anger and indignation. "As if that's possible! World Trees only think of killing each other, and Apricot's current self is proof of that! We won't fall for your lies again, World Tree."
'Aha. So there was a reason for Apricot's personality.'
After pondering for a moment, Liu Shu decided to be a bit more passive with this group. "May I ask what happened? I can prove that my intentions are genuine if you give me a chance. I promise not to advance further if you promise to look at what I want to show you without bias."
Xara snorted, but she didn't brush off Liu Shu. It wasn't that she had some kind of good sense toward Liu Shu, but that Liu Shu was just too strong to brush off. If they did, they feared that Liu Shu would take an offensive stance and attack without caring about their opinion.
"...If you promise not to attack in the meantime, I agree."
There was no other option but to agree.
Liu Shu then asked. "So… May I ask what happened to Apricot in the past? Her personality is a touch… unique."
Xara frowned for a moment and then sighed. "Her core was damaged in a battle against another World Tree. Apricot and that World Tree had known each other for long, and even when they felt that innate repulsion for one another, they tried to get along… It didn't work. The other side betrayed us and is now growing nearby. If it weren't because we returned after our expedition with new strength, that True World Tree would've killed Apricot."
An itch to ask about how they became so strong when there are barely any
'What about their tiers and such? Are they strong?'
She stealthily used her System Analysis, and she understood why she had felt that they were strong.
'The weakest is S- Tier, and Xara is an S+ Tier Life and Water Sylvan… I can even feel that her Aether Mana is about to break through into the SS- Tier. Incredible stats as well. If she had been born in my Golden Sap Empire, she might've been comparable to my lovers in strength.'
Xara frowned for a moment, thinking that she had felt someone watching her, but she soon shook her head. 'I have an anti-spy S Rank skill. There is no way I am being watched.'
A few weeks later, one of the nearby fleets arrived for talks with Xara and Apricot. During that time, Liu Shu made small talk with the adorable World Tree and managed to lower her guard a little bit.
As for the bigger World Tree… She remained stubborn. 'Although, I now know why she is so stubborn. That World Tree is the one that betrayed Apricot, so she doesn't want to go through the same experience.'
An interesting situation for sure.