Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

The past year had been quite hectic for Liu Shu. To begin with, all her <Lignified> buildings had begun their Level Up to Level 100. Strangely, the speed of advancement became much slower than what the <Title> said. So, she asked the System and Wisdom about it.

[The reason for the delay is that they are all choosing a path to advance. Your <Miracle Tree Architect> title is not omnipotent, and it can't force all of them to develop their <First Ascension> in a single week.]

Liu Shu hummed and accepted it. There were other skills that didn't really show what they could and couldn't do in words. Most effects that appeared for skills, titles, etc., were based on a non-extraordinary situation.

"So… If I understood it right, my babies will take a while to reach Level 100. However, once they do, they will Level Up once a week again."

Both the System and Wisdom answered affirmatively. "I see…" Liu Shu blinked and moved towards her berries and Eternity Strand production. In terms of fruits, since her skill remained at the same level, there were no changes yet. "I will need to upgrade it to S Rank if I want the new berries I can produce to appear."

On the other hand, the cost of an Eternity Strand was truly something that intimidated her. "10,000 <Essence Cores> of each Ternary Essence to produce one of them." It was a mighty skill, but it was normal since Liu Shu needed to use her own vitality to produce it. Of course, thanks to her <Eternal> attribute affinity buffs and the ones that lowered the cost of time-related skills, the cost was lower at around 8,000 <Essence Cores>.

"How many can I store? How fast can I produce them? Do they dissipate with time?" Liu Shu's thoughts moved around as she manipulated the <Eternity Strand> talent. Her Phoer, Aether, and Anima all flowed into her new <Eternal Core> and transformed into the new type of energy. The speed of pouring was at 1,000 cores per minute. So, eight minutes later, a new strand appeared in her heart.

"Hm~. Let's continue pouring to see the limit."

Her current raw regeneration was slightly less than 10,000 <Cores> per hour for each of her attributes. So, it would've taken almost everything to produce the <Eternity Strands>. Thankfully, her buffs made her regeneration 800% stronger. So, there was no problem keeping it active at the maximum output for a long time. With 1,000 cores per minute, she could consume 60,000 cores per hour, just shy of the 80,000 recovery limit that her boosted recovery speed allowed.

Her energy flows strongly, constantly regenerating and spending as it cycles through her <Eternal Core>. Not seeing a limit approaching after waiting for an hour, Liu Shu instead focused on how her new titles and their effects interacted.

"Let's see… <Being Of Eternity> can affect those who consume my products. The effects are unknown, and it doesn't specify whether they will be positive. Nevertheless, I doubt my energy could become harmful. So, that's something I must keep an eye on for the next years."

Her gaze moved down to her large <System Page>. "The next one is the title <Source Of Time>, not to be confused with the very similar <Time Source> passive skill. The title allows me to create a domain effect that slows or accelerates time."

The text said up to 100%, so she tested what this meant exactly. In her mind, slowing something down 100% would make it stop. Of course, she knew that a <Title> couldn't create a domain-wide time-stop relative to the rest of the universe. The time force of the cosmos would rip their anchoring apart like a hurricane blowing a leaf into the sky.

When she used it, she noticed her <Eternity Strands> being consumed. "Hm… The rate of consumption for the domain-wide slowdown is… two strands per hour? Not impossible to maintain. And the effects…" Liu Shu used her new sense of time, and she could easily measure the difference in the time passage outside and inside her domain. "Alright. What the text means is the <Time Ticking Rate>, not overall speed. After a 100% slowdown, a day outside is equivalent to two days inside my domain."

"So, if I accelerate it by 100%..." Liu Shu changed the time rate and soon chuckled. "As expected, it just flips around. One day inside is now equivalent to two days outside."

With that confirmed, she returned the time around her domain to a normal speed. Since she wanted to check her skill's limits, she couldn't consume <Eternity Strands> for now.

"My final new title… Hm… Again, confusing wording. Does the final sentence mean that I can instantly restore my <World Tree Heart> once every 100 years? Or that, after it is destroyed, it takes 100 years to reconstruct…" Liu Shu felt stifled for a second, and soon she burst.

"WAH! SYSTEM! BE CLEAR WITH THESE IMPORTANT DETAILS! USELESS THING!"

[...]

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After venting to the heavens, Liu Shu instantly calmed down and moved onto her passives. "Hm… Nothing too strange. They just let me manipulate <Eternal> and <Temporal> energies and give me a few buffs… Speaking of which, to kill me, you need to kill me three times."

Her passive <Eternity Heart> could revive her once every 10 years. And her <Immortal> title could do it once every 100 years. "Moreover… I can return to past states with my <Eternity Strands>. So… It's quite difficult to kill me, isn't it? You either destroy me in one hit, or you are in for a very hard battle… Oh? Storage limit reached?"

Checking the time, Liu Shu instantly knew that two hours and fifty-six minutes had passed. "So… Is twenty-two the storage limit? No, I used two of those to activate the domain-wide skill. I can store twenty <Eternity Strands> at a time…"

Liu Shu was silent before blurting, stunned. "Isn't that too strong? Now, forget three times! You must kill me 23 times before I recover, or you'll be in trouble!"

While there were messages that the overuse of eternal energy could cause adverse effects, that was meant for people who weren't literally made out of that energy. She, as an <Eternal Being>, was quite literally immune to its negative effects. Of course, to an extent, there was no such thing as complete immunity.

Details aside, Liu Shu had become an absolute unstoppable behemoth. "No wonder my next chain quest is as broad as the previous one…"

Her gaze moved toward the message that appeared not long after she woke up.

[Congratulations! You've gained <Sylvan Quest: Envelop Your Solar System>]

[Description: You've become a <True World Tree>. However, this is nothing but your first step in a long journey towards supremacy. With your new powers, your ascension is inevitable unless you meet a disastrous calamity. Take your next step and stretch your domain until you cover your <Solar System>!]

[Objective 1: Envelop your <Solar System> in the embrace of your roots.]

[Objective 2: Build your <Fifth Temple>.]

The description and objectives were similar to her previous mission. She expected that the next <Sylvan Quests> would be the same as this one, but with larger and larger objectives. "Hm… the question is, do I need to sink my roots into my main star?"

Liu Shu had valid concerns; after all, the reward for reaching the core of her own planet ended up catapulting her into the ranks of ridiculous and almost invincible beings… at least at the same level.

"Oh, right! I could ask Uncle Earth Dragon!"

So, with a small consciousness shift, Liu Shu entered the <Dungeon> and searched for him. 'Oh? He is fighting a group of people…'

The number of enemies was over 300 people, all <Fourth Energy Cycles>. There was no one among them that Liu Shu recognized, so she watched in silence.

"Surround it! We are breaking through his defense!"

ROAR!

The mountain-sized dragon roared and raised his massive claw, stomping it down onto the people keeping him at bay.

BOOM!!

The entire <Dungeon> shook with his attack, sending all the people in that area flying as if they were small bugs. Liu Shu was startled. 'Wow. So strong! Two people died with a single stomp… Also, why is he still pressing against the dirt?'

The claw that sank halfway into the rocky terrain trembled, creating small cracks all around. Then, the Earth Dragon roared. "<Mountain Pillars>!"

In an instant, the floor everywhere parted, and countless pillars soared to the sky. The ridiculous strength of the pillars sent over 40 people flying high up, their bones broken from the impact.

The worst thing was that they couldn't fly! Even as <Fourth Energy Cycles>, the Earth Dragon produced a domain that disrupted energy and disallowed flight, making it even more difficult to fight him.

The battle didn't last over two hours. By the end, only 140 of the initial 300 managed to flee the dragon's terrain. After the group fled, Liu Shu spoke to the dragon. "Hehe. Congratulations! You have yet to be killed!"

The Earth Dragon blinked and slowly lay back down with a chuckle. "Well, the groups are starting to become stronger and more coordinated. It is just a matter of time. Especially that lion-knight; was he called Edharen? His group has quite a high chance of defeating me in their next… fourth try."

"Pfft. The fourth? Quite a few people will need to die to collect your corpse then."

The Earth Dragon smirked. "Dragon materials are not inferior to World Tree materials. So, they must work for them." After that, the Dragon asked. "What did you need, Liu Shu?"

"Ah, right! I got distracted by your valiant fight and almost forgot!" Liu Shu giggled and asked the question. "When a Quest speaks of taking over the Solar System, does it refer to everything, including the insides of the main star?"

"How can that be?" The Earth Dragon laughed, his body slowly regenerating from the wounds those people caused. "You just need to spread to all the planets and occupy around 1% of the space with your roots. That can be considered as a successful takeover."

"Wow!" Liu Shu asked, confused. "What if I take over everything?"

"It's just not worth it." The Earth Dragon explained slowly. "You would be multiplying and spreading your roots into nothingness for who-knows how long. Moreover, you'd need to maintain that vast network and constantly take care of small problems that appear here and there. After all, without the legendary <Perfect Energy Cycle>, you can't really leave complete management to your subconsciousness."

The Earth Dragon proceeded to speak about some other disadvantages, like how taking over other Solar Systems would benefit her quicker and was much more time-efficient.

Liu Shu listened, carefully asking how things would differ with some of her natural advantages.

The final conclusion Liu Shu reached was that she needed to take over the Sun, planets, asteroids, if possible, and as much of the empty space as she could.