Azure Rose, Celestial Lotus, Verdant Skyflower, and Pelagia Tidemother were temporarily connected thanks to Liu Shu’s root system. They could talk to each other with just a thought, and they could also exchange information with a few actions.
Of course, Liu Shu could communicate with them as easily and listen to their conversations as well if she wanted to. However, to show that she was trustworthy, she didn’t spy unless they called her na, cutting her subconscious attention from that particular area.
If there were threats left on the continent, she wouldn’t dare do sothing like that. Now, though, there were no enemies left. Because of her ruthless approach when dealing with her enemies, anyone who would’ve originally ford part of the internal opposition was now either dead or silenced.
Celestial Lotus spoke to the other three, her tone doubtful. “What do you think about this section of the contract?”
“Which one?” Azure Rose asked back, curious.
Celestial Lotus comnted. “The third section. It says that it will be prohibited to use flags that represent forces other than the Golden Sap Arborarchy. Together with a few other sections… it makes it impossible for even remnants of our powers to survive the passage of ti. It won’t take a short ti since Sylvans have long lives and can rember for a long ti, but in three to four thousand years, people won’t even know that there were four global superpowers in Ceperet before the Arborarchy.”
Azure Rose pondered for a mont and comnted, her tone thoughtful. “I think… it is a good thing.”
Not expecting that answer, Celestial Lotus answered with a confused tone. “What do you an? You and I have worked on our powers for so many thousands of years… Aren’t you reluctant to part with them?”
Azure Rose laughed faintly. “Haha, of course I am reluctant. However, what did we ever achieve? The number of dead people due to the constant conflicts during the last few thousand years is… too high to even count. Skyflower tried her best after she knew that her strength was lacking, but clearly, her approach was not correct.”
Pelagia joined the conversation, her mature voice having a hint of annoyance. “Lady Skyflower did her best. If it weren’t for her, the Nexus would’ve taken over this world thousands of years ago.”
Azure Rose asked back. “Do you really think so? Think about the World Trees that she didn’t micromanage and have beco true powerhouses by their own effort. Be it Warlya or Liu Shu, they are natural World Trees that reached heights like no other. Who is to say that a World Tree wouldn’t have grown earlier if Skyflower didn’t intervene?
Pelagia retorted. “You are just speaking about chance. You don’t know if what you are saying would’ve beco the truth. What if there were no Warlya or Tianlian Liu Shu? What if Lady Skyflower’s efforts in absorbing the burden are the shade that those two needed to grow amidst powerful foes? Your hindsight argunts hold no weight!”
“Pelagia.” The soothing and airy voice of Verdant Skyflower spread like a gentle breeze. “I know that you are biased towards . However, Azure Rose’s words are not wrong. When Azure Rose grew… No, perhaps since the very mont that I considered myself incapable of becoming the True World Tree, I should’ve died peacefully to avoid getting in the way of the new World Trees.”
Among these four powerhouses, Pelagia was the World Tree that Skyflower was nurturing. Therefore, Skyflower’s pointed accusation of bias was not out of turn. Still, Celestial Lotus spoke up. “Leaving aside Skyflowers’ actions. You and I are no better, Azure.”
Azure Rose answered matter-of-factly. “Of course I understand. We have kept a tight grip on five out of the seven continents for thousands of years. Our reluctance to give up has basically limited the space where World Trees were able to grow. Liu Shu’s existence is a miracle created by chance. Perhaps she is Ceperet’s last struggle to overco falling into the hands of foreign influence.”
Skyflower chuckled. “Celestial Lotus. I understand why you are feeling reluctant. But take into account our current conversation. What good will it do for the world to cling to the identities of our defeated powers?”
Celestial Lotus paused and sighed. “... I understand. It’s just… difficult to swallow in such a short amount of ti. Liu Shu is barely forty years old! That child has grown at an average pace of two levels per year.”
Pelagia muttered, confused. “Even if she had the experience points necessary, isn’t her ability to digest them too out of the norm? I, being an underwater World Tree, had enough prey to kill and gain experience around quickly. And yet, it took over 500 years to reach Level 99.”
Azure Rose and the other two were also curious. Celestial Lotus asked cautiously. “Should we… ask? Speaking of which, we haven’t asked that little one about the Level of the and , have we? Perhaps that’s related.”
Skyflower chuckled. “Most likely. is what helps us perceive, learn, and understand the world as quickly as we do. Among us, you have the highest-tiered one, right, Lotus?”
“Yes. My is at the A- Rank. All of you have it stuck at B , right?”
Azure Rose and the other two confird it. Celestial Lotus added with a wry tone. “Our is at the B Rank…”
“Were you calling?” Suddenly, the gentle and pleasant voice of the most powerful World Tree reached them. “I’ve been hearing my na floating around your conversations… Sorry if I interrupted.”
Skyflower laughed gently. “You didn’t, Liu Shu. We also said that you didn’t need to cut your consciousness, didn’t we? We don’t mind you listening to our conversations.”
“I know… I just feel sowhat strange when I do that to World Trees that have not surrendered to yet.”
Celestial Lotus spoke up. “Liu Shu, we just discussed the contract you shared with us. We have almost no problems. Still, is it possible to leave our powers as part of history books? I understand your intention of not allowing people to use our countries as identities, but making the knowledge disappear is a bit much. Don’t you think so?”
“Huh?” Liu Shu answered, confused. “But they are already recorded. Why would I completely eliminate the history of the world? That’s a silly thing to do.”
Celestial Lotus paused and asked, confused. “Then, this third section here… Doesn’t it basically prohibit spreading information about our powers when you combine it with your seventh section?”
“Of course not!” Liu Shu giggled. “Look at section nine, Big Sister Lotus. Doesn’t it say there that sensitive information will be written down and stored in the Endless Library’s deepest parts? We can use that section to accumulate all and any knowledge without falling into fallacies. Then, if we create a limited and controlled license for people to be able to check this section of the library, we can avoid the information spreading out from malicious groups.”
“Ohh…!” Celestial Lotus and the others suddenly understood. Azure Rose couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s a cheeky underlining, Liu Shu. You really know your way with words, eh?”
“Hehehe. Be careful, or I will eat all the big sisters and not leave a single twig behind!”
Skyflower spoke to Liu Shu, her tone gentle. “Little Liu Shu, can I ask why you are waiting for the events in the middle of the to finish before assimilating us?”
“Yeah!” Liu Shu spoke faintly. “Big Sisters can’t feel it because your roots are far. However, the energy in the middle of the continent is moving strangely. I’ve only seen this kind of movent two tis before… So I can almost guess what is about to pop there.”
“Two tis…?” Pelagia asked. “Can you tell us when you felt it?”
Liu Shu spoke seriously. “It was when the two appeared in my domain.”
“Dungeons!” Azure Rose exclaid. “You really think that a will appear in the middle of a continent? That will be a massive one if that’s true.”
Skyflower spoke, her tone cautious. “Such a huge ... If the breaks open, it will be a catastrophe. Can you stop the process, Liu Shu?”
“Impossible.” Liu Shu sighed, her tone full of reluctance. “When I tried ssing with the energy, it felt as if I was about to create an explosion of ternary essences through a chain reaction. The dinsion there is a bit too unstable.”
The other four World Trees got thoughtful and then sighed. Celestial Lotus comnted. “I guess we can’t do anything about it. I will tell the people I’ve sent to the to co back. Who knows if the creation of that massive dungeon will cause the environnt to go crazy?”
Azure Rose agreed. “We can’t create settlents until the new opens. Tell us when it opens, Little Liu Shu. We will help all we can.”
Skyflower comnted, her tone curious. “Still, Little Liu Shu, you are quite lucky and unlucky. To think that three appeared in less than a few decades inside your domain. Moreover, they are all high-level dungeons, right? The is for , while the is still unconquered.”
Pelagia comnted, her tone sowhat cheerful. “Thankfully, underwater are so rare that I have only encountered one in my entire life.”
Liu Shu was suddenly interested. “Underwater ... I guess it can work if there are intelligent underwater species around, like rmaids and rfolk, right?”
Pelagia spoke, unsure. “Underwater are a bit too dangerous. Their inner environnt is not only difficult to tread, but the monsters can be too difficult to defeat. Unless the challengers are also aquatic creatures, you can be considered dead if you fall into one.”
“Wow! Even ?”
Pelagia was again not confident, but she answered what she thought. “While have the ability to move in different environnts almost unfettered, there are limits. Of course, as long as the enemies don’t exceed a certain level of power, what I said would be like saying nothing. Above all, overwhelming power can defeat any and all obstacles.”
Liu Shu nodded to herself a few tis. ‘I should use this knowledge to do a future underwater . I can already imagine so many fun things to devise and change! A whole underwater exploration adventure, with different plots and twists and… Ughhh, I want to do one soon!’
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