Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 270. The Baron’s Plight. Liu Shu Arriving at a New Location!

During these months, Baron Lorbase had been checking on the surrounding powers. On the mountain ranges inside the White Flower Province, the sects located deep within them were receiving Baron Lorbase’s visits. 

Similar to his thoughts when he approached Eila Neoflora, Lorbase thought that the sects would readily agree to help him. And yet…

“Why is everyone so afraid of a recently Leveled Up World Tree?” 

Lorbase leaned on a tree halfway up the mountain they were climbing to reach a sect with his army. He placed one leg on the tree and crossed his arms. He had already gone from being frustrated to being mystified. “Is she really that oppressive that no one dares place their hands on her?” Looking at his generals, he asked them. “Has my influence become something easy to ignore at some point? That shouldn’t be the case since the forces I’ve seen in these sects are mediocre at best compared to our group.”

Elenara, his right-hand woman, spoke with a serious expression. “Lord Baron, I really think that we should rethink our approach. The influence that the Tianlian Liu Shu has gathered in this province is just too much. I don’t think there are any powers that would agree to face her left after the rumors that she has reached Level 25 have spread.”

“Level 25…” Lorbase looked upward at the sun rays passing through the canopy of the tree and muttered. “At Level 20, she could annihilate an army led by a few dozen Level 25s, right? Even Elowen, the Sect Master of one of the major sects, was killed. Perhaps… Are we really too weak to face her with our current army?”

The army commander, named Kaedric, and the second in command right after Baron Lorbase, spoke firmly. “I think that we’ve heavily underestimated Tianlian Liu Shu, my lord. If we want to face her at her current level of strength, we will need the aid of third sub-cycle people.”

Baron Lorbase looked at him and asked, somewhat incredulous. “Are you really suggesting that we need Level 40s to take down a Level 25?”

The Army Commander nodded strongly, his gaze firm. “I am, my lord. I can, if you want, try to enter Golden Sap City by myself and feel Tianlian Liu Shu’s aura. I can more or less gauge her strength that way.”

Elenara asked, curious. “Won’t you get discovered?”

“Without a doubt. If even half of the rumors floating around are the truth, then I will. However, other than punishment, I don’t believe that I will receive any serious retaliation. I can attribute my actions to curiosity.”

Baron Lorbase frowned. “That’s risky. What if Tianlian Liu Shu recognizes you?”

The Army Commander shook his head. “We’ve been avoiding her domain as we moved around. Even if she knew who I was, she would not act rashly with my level of strength. I have not reached Level 35 without overcoming many tribulations and dangerous situations.” He tapped the bottom of his spear on the ground and said firmly. “My Lord, give your most loyal subject permission to follow through! I won’t disappoint.”

Lorbase looked at the tall and muscular man’s determined gaze for a few moments. Eventually, he nodded. “Okay. Go. In the meantime, I’ll set off toward other provinces. I heard that those on the plains north of here had an altercation with Golden Sap City in the past. Perhaps they will be more willing.”

Kaedric whistled, and a quadrupedal creature with a muscular body approached with steady and agile steps. The beast looked like a mix of a wolf and a horse, making it look ferocious. Still, even with its dangerous appearance, it acted mildly and obeyed Kaedric's orders. Mountain on it, Kaedric looked at Baron Lorbase and nodded. “See you soon, My Lord.”

Then, the beast set off, speeding through the mountainous path like a shadow. 

Meanwhile, in the Serene Small Lakeborn Forest, Northeast of the Golden Sap Forest, a new being had arrived, making everyone in the Forest feel a sense of oppression.

“Hm~? Trees… A wall of trees…? Oh! A forest!” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Liu Shu’s roots, which had traversed the several kilometers separating both forests, had finally arrived in this forest. She wiggled her roots and giggled joyfully. “Great~! I should try to assimilate this forest first before tackling Fortuna. The more things under my domain, the stronger my presence and ability to subjugate others~.”

When her roots reached the border of the forest and tried going forward, the trees began coiling around her roots and squeezing, trying to hurt her. Liu Shu was baffled. “Are you stupid? Can’t you sense that I am several times stronger?”

“Away… Not Welcome….”

“Protect…”

“Avoid… Destruction…”

The voices of several trees reached her, sounding angry and defensive. Liu Shu hummed softly. “Hey, do you know that I don’t need to destroy you, right? Although, you are being a bit bothersome right now…” Looking at the roots that were trying to hurt her, she moved hers and reversed the coiling, squeezing slightly on them.

CRACK!

All the roots snapped like dried branches.

“...!!”

A strange wail of pain reached Liu Shu, but she wasn’t bothered. This kind of sound was far from unfamiliar. After all, as her City’s walls expanded outward, Liu Shu’s roots would need to clear the surroundings of trees. Since the trees were just too low-level, Liu Shu stopped gaining experience from them a very long time ago. Still, killing them without pain was impossible for now, so Liu Shu already had a few hundred thousand tree kills in her name, making the sound of pain trees produced a familiar sound. She had, similarly, expanded the Golden Sap Forest, making millions of new plant-life life appear, so, as always, her presence was a net positive for the forest as a whole.

Moreover, since the Golden Sap Forest had been completely assimilated, if any tree dared to resist when their turn arrived to be toppled, the trees around it would attack it and destroy it. For the plant life of the Golden Sap Forest, Liu Shu was something akin to an inviolable existence—a being that couldn’t be defied.

Now that this new forest was resisting her actively, it felt somewhat like a novel experience for Liu Shu. Like her early days in the Golden Sap Forest when her roots started touching other trees. Liu Shu reminisced. “Back then… I was so weak that the trees around me looked somewhat strong. If it wasn’t for my ability to think faster, my growth might’ve been stunted during those days…”

As Liu Shu thought back on these moments, her roots were not idle. She pushed forward, ripping any root that tried to stop her into pieces without a shred of mercy.

The sound of wood snapping and trees wailing in pain filled Liu Shu’s hearing sense. Still, she felt nothing. Instead, she said with a soft voice. “Worry not. The forest as a whole will become part of me. Then, you will understand that being an extension of my body is better than your current existence~.”

The eerie sentence was uttered as Liu Shu’s roots arrived at the edge of the forest and climbed around a few trees, coiling around them and finally squeezing with violent strength.

CRACK!

BANG!

The sounds of trees exploding into chunks as Liu Shu slaughtered them filled this area of the forest, startling all the animals that were roaming the nearby area. A deer-like creature that was close enough couldn’t help but look as the roots with glowing blue veins appeared from the ground and destroyed the trees with such ease that one would think they were made out of sand instead of solid wood.

[Warning. Unjustified slaughter of too low-level beings will be punished with Experience Point penalties.]

“Huh?”

Liu Shu stopped and looked at the message again, confused. “But they attacked me first. How is this unjustified?”

[The System will warn all creatures that kill relatively too low-level beings.]

“Oh… But if they attack me first, killing them won’t give me a penalty, right?”

[Correct.]

Liu Shu hummed and muttered. “So, there is this thing in place? No wonder strong people usually avoid confronting lower-level people if the situation doesn’t call for it. There are penalties!” 

While it looked ridiculous, Liu Shu could understand the logic behind it. The System, in essence, was a tool that supported slaughter. When all creatures were pushed to kill each other in order to gain strength, extinction was a matter of time. So, having penalties for high-level people who killed relatively much weaker people en masse was a way for the System to preserve beings from hunting each other to extinction.

“I wonder… How big are the penalties? Wisdom, do you have any idea?”

[Wisdom: There are too many factors to take into account when delivering penalties. With a specific objective, I might be able to give an estimate.]

“I see. I see.” Liu Shu had been continuously attacked all this time, but with the strength of her roots, she felt basically nothing. Looking around, she pointed at a deer that was frozen in place and asked. “What if I killed that deer and I got a penalty?]

[Wisdom: Analyzing… The creature is a <Level 12 Adult Water Jumping Deer (E Tier)>. If Tianlian Liu Shu <Level 25 World Tree (C- Tier)> were to be penalized for killing it, she would lose 1,800 Experience Points.]

“WAH!” Liu Shu’s roots almost jumped in shock. “1,800!? That’s like two weeks of Experience Points accumulation!”

The roots that were near the frozen deer slowly inched away in fear. That single deer now felt more danger from Liu Shu’s roots than the entire forest surrounding her. “Hey! Deer!”

“Huh? Voice Speak? Where? Where?”

Liu Shu’s <World Tree Wisdom (SSS Rank)> allowed her to understand all kinds of languages as long as they were developed to a minimum extent. This deer, while the words were chopped and very primitive, had enough meaning that Wisdom could translate it for Liu Shu. 

Liu Shu was not too surprised. Many beasts in the Golden Sap Forest could communicate to the extent that Liu Shu would understand what they were saying. 

“You, run! I am fighting with these trees. Shoo! Shoo! I don’t want to kill you by accident!”

The deer, showing a certain curiosity that beasts usually didn’t have, asked. “Kill Trees? Why?”

This question surprised Liu Shu more than its ability to communicate. After all, creatures that could feel curiosity and beasts that moved basically by instinct were very distinct. Rose Fairies had such ease involving themselves with humans and other intelligent races due to their innate curiosity more than their ability to communicate.

‘Interesting beast… it is more intelligent than I expected. Is it an outlier, or is the deer race in this place developed enough that they are about to become an intelligent species?’

Liu Shu, who thought that Serene Small Lakeborn Forest would be like a Golden Sap Forest but with a large lake, changed her mind. “It seems that there is more than meets the roots here!...” Liu Shu observed the trees around her continuing to attempt to hurt her with confusion. “These trees… they are too defensive… This place hides more than it appears!”