Chapter 418. World Tree Harmonization.

Tiredness.

Liu Shu felt as if her entire existence was being stretched so thin that she was about to lose herself. Looking at the <Wall Forest> as a whole, she could notice her progress, as she had already captured over 60% of it. ‘Why won’t you surrender? I am trying to capture you without damaging you, but you keep being so stubborn!?’

Liu Shu looked at her mission. 

[You’ve triggered <Hidden Quest>: <Sylvan Quest: Spirit Of The Forest>.]

[Main Objective: Survive for 3 months.]

[Objective 1: Make the <Wall Forest> submit.]

[Objective 2: Don’t destroy more than 20% of the <Wall Forest>.]

[Objective 3: Don’t let more than 20% of the fauna inside the <Wall Forest> perish through aftershocks.]

[Additional Objective: Capture the <Wall Forest> flawlessly.]

If it weren’t for the Additional Objective, Liu Shu might’ve already destroyed more than 10% of the entire <Wall Forest> out of sheer irritation. To make the <Wall Forest> submit flawlessly, she needed to go tree by tree, changing their influence by imposing her own. This progress was tedious at best; after all, there were billions of trees!

At her current pace, she was able to influence around 250 trees per second. However, the <Wall forest> was naturally not still. Using the <One Forest> title, it could take back trees that had been influenced by Liu Shu. Thankfully, its speed was not as fast as Liu Shu’s, at around 70 trees per second and decreasing. Ultimately, Liu Shu only needed a few more months for the <Wall Forest> to completely fall under her influence. At the end of the day, as the <One Forest> became smaller, the <Wall Forest> was getting worse at influencing other trees. 

Tree after tree, Liu Shu forcefully spread her influence without a single second of rest. Her mind was so focused that she couldn’t even focus on helping the people in the Terragore nest. The few consciousness strands left there were trying their best. However, Liu Shu’s main consciousness was pulling enormous amounts of resources. 

Month after month, people noticed that their World Tree was becoming more and more silent. Even the World Trees and Life Trees could feel Liu Shu’s change. 

Tree observed her change with sharp senses, and she couldn’t help but sigh. Actually, while most trees never went through this phase, there were times when larger World Trees would lose their human perception and senses. This was dubbed by many as <World Tree Nature Harmonization>. When that happened, the World Tree would truly become one with the land, but in exchange, they would lose that personal perspective as an individual. One example was Lakeborn Forest.

Lakeborn could speak with others because, after losing herself, she managed to find a collective consciousness once more. That’s why Lakeborn considered herself a collective.

There was usually nothing wrong with this. At most, that condition would make it more difficult to communicate with intelligent races. A World Tree that harmonized with nature was what some people believed World Trees were bound to become or originally meant to be. However, for those close to the World Tree, it was the same as seeing their close person go into an indefinite vegetative state.

Verdantia, Cinderielle, Tempestria, and Harmonixia were sitting on the bed by Liu Shu’s side. Their faces were full of worry when looking at the Avatar. Inherently, there was nothing wrong with Liu Shu. If they had to say what changed, it was that the roots were connecting the <Avatar> with the <Core Room>. 

Tempestria pushed Liu Shu back and forth, trying to wake up the Avatar. However, Liu Shu didn’t wake up, making her bite her lip. “… What do we do?”

Cinderielle was holding Dewna. During the last year, Dewna had grown a bit. However, since her growth was similar to that of a human, she was nothing but a little bundle of joy. Currently, Dewna was latched onto her and making a happy slurping sound. “Is she… harmonizing?”

Harmonxia explained with a complicated expression. “Fighting something as large as the <Wall forest> at the same time, instead of how she tackled the <Dark Aether Swamp>, is taking a toll on her mind to a degree nobody expected. If we forcefully awaken her, she might have a strong backlash. Therefore, the only thing we can do is believe in her.”

“That’s not necessarily true. Even if Liu Shu captures the <Wall Forest>, what good will it do to us all if we lose Liu Shu in the process? I prefer one Liu Shu over a thousand <Wall Forests>!”

The other three agreed in their minds. Still, Harmonixia asked. “So, what’s your plan? We’ve tried a few things to wake up the <Avatar>, but nothing worked.”

Tempestria asked. “How did Dewna not die of starvation with Liu Shu being unresponsive?”

Verdantia leaned forward and squeezed Liu Shu’s chest. Seeing the white substance sprinkle out, she commented. “Well, she is still producing milk.” She licked her stained fingers and tilted her head. “This is good and bad. It means that she still has enough consciousness to understand that she needs to feed Dewna. However, it also means that her <Avatar> has already fallen into a coma-like state.”

Cinderielle passed Dewna to Tempestria with a sigh. “Why are there always complications like this one? Isn’t the [Temple Of Destiny] supposed to increase our luck? I feel more unlucky after getting its blessing!”

Harmonixia burst into laughter. “Sure, I believe you.”

“Don’t laugh, we are speaking about a serious matter.” Tempestria frowned.

Harmonixia rolled her eyes. “Don’t be this serious. Do any of you really believe that this small event will swallow her? That she will never wake up again? Come on. That’s not true. You all understand and know deep inside yourselves that she will open her pretty amethyst, gem-like eyes and smile innocently at us.”

Her fingers softly touched the roots latched onto Liu Shu’s lying body. “These are probably here to provide her <Avatar> with supplements.” She saw the other three struggling and sighed softly. “Come on, we need to go clean up the last outer Terragore nests.”

Tempestria looked at Harmonixia with a squint. “Hey. Why have you been so eager to participate lately? Is there something wrong?”

The Sound Sylvan paused for a second. ‘Ugh… She is always so sharp.’ Sighing, she nodded. “Indeed. My family has sent me a message saying that they will send a small group of family members to support my efforts here.”

Cinderielle frowned. “Your family… How strong are they?”

She crossed her arms and sighed again. “The <Songtree> family is one of the top family clans. We are strong enough to be an independent force even when we are near the main continent of the <Abyssal Void Nexus>. Our music arts are powerful enough to protect ourselves and those around us, and our numbers are also not small. We are fighting against a few branches of the Nexus near the borders, but for now, my family is able to push them back.”

She then added. “I want to show good results before they arrive so that I can make them owe me. Once they do, making them fall under Liu Shu’s influence and domain wouldn’t be that complicated. Of course, I’ll need Liu Shu’s roots to cross the ocean one way or another…”

Tempestria snorted. She was not moved by her words in the slightest. “So, if your family denies it even then, what will you do?”

Harmonxia squinted and glared at Tempestria. She understood the hidden meaning behind her words, and she didn’t like it one bit. “Hey, Tempestria. Don’t you dare try to devalue my devotion toward Liu Shu while trying to put words in my mouth that I have not said. You know entirely well whose side I will always be on, regardless of who the opponent is. However, that doesn’t prevent me from taking measures to prevent such a situation.”

Tempestria paused and sighed. Scratching her head, she nodded. “I know. Sorry. It’s just that I am somewhat agitated after seeing Liu Shu like this for a long time…”

Harmonixia snorted, tapping her head once before standing up. “If I didn’t know, I would’ve been more than somewhat annoyed at your words. You are lucky that I can hear the tone you speak with.”

“Perks of being a Sound-related Sylvan… Quite handy, no? You must be like a bee in a flowerfield with politics, eh?”

Harmonixia raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think I work in the management area of the city? Those black-hearted merchants are trying to take advantage of our benefits, and only over my dead body will I let them!”

Cinderielle muttered. “You are the most dangerous black-hearted merchant, though…”

“What did you say~?”

Seeing the smiling expression but not smiling eyes made the Fire Sylvan feel a slight chill around her body. Coughing a few times, she smiled and commented. “Nothing, nothing. I was just wishing you great luck!”

The four of them stood up, placing Dewna in Liu Shu’s <Avatar>’s arms once more. Once they did so, the <Avatar> reacted by moving her arms and hugging the small baby tightly. The movement made some of the roots pull tightly and snap, but Liu Shu’s sleeping face didn’t even twitch.

This made the four Sylvans stop. Tempestria squinted and opened her mouth. However, she hesitated. “This… I have thought of a method, but it is a bit… Cruel? Honestly, I don’t want to do it.”

Verdantia blinked, somewhat imagining what Tempestria had in mind. “How about we wait, then?”

Tempestria asked, her tone full of cautiousness. “What if she doesn’t react the same in the future?”

The four of them stood by the leafy bed’s side, pondering for a few moments. Cinderielle asked. “How about you vocalize it? We will prepare ourselves better as long as we know exactly what you are thinking.”

“Indeed…” Tempestria sighed. “I was thinking of using Dewna as bait for Liu Shu to move. If we place it in her arms but always try pulling her away, Liu Shu will try to reach for her and detach herself from those rotos.”

The other three shook their heads. Verdantia was especially against it. “It’s too risky. What if she uses too much force and hurts Dewna?”

The other three stayed silent, and after sighing, they left the Core Room. For now, they decided not to do anything. Still, they would come back from time to time to check on their lover.

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