Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos

Nothing special happened for another two whole years. During this time, the Golden Sap Empire silently developed, gained new powerhouses, and quickly assimilated the people from the merchant fleets.

Liu Shu’s religious doctrine was not excessively influential. There were no flashy displays, large gatherings, or strong announcements. Nevertheless, its spreading speed was unstoppable because the creature they worshiped was very visible and imposing enough.

With Liu Shu’s presence, the strength she showed from time to time, and the blessings she bestowed on her civilization, only eccentrics failed to develop a sense of awe and respect for the True World Tree.

Even before that, World Trees were treated as sacred beings. Now, as the "leader" of such beings, who were still spread out around Ceperet and Nualis, her existence carried a weight that nobody could compete against.

So, the normal people living on the merchant ships that came down from time to time got slowly influenced. Small comments about how strong the blessings were, how healthy they felt, how strong their children were born, and such, constantly fell in the ears of the outsiders.

Cassian sat on his table, Selene sitting across from him as she had come to get a small loan. Their relationship was not good, as their powers didn’t really get along well. While they were not mortal enemies like the Covenant and Nexus, the trades among them were few and far between.

Selene looked around the elegant office with chandeliers and other luxurious decorations, and she asked the Daemon. "How’s life in this new place been treating you?"

Cassian, as he wrote some paperwork for Selene, couldn’t help but look up with curiosity. "It’s strange for you to care about me. Is there something wrong?"

Selene pondered, then shook her head faintly. "Not exactly wrong. However... Have you noticed the change?"

Cassian pondered what Selene was speaking about. Selene specified. "I mean, relating the attitudes of our people toward Lady Heavenly Willow."

Cassian was enlightened and smiled wryly. "It’s not that I have failed to notice. However, is there a reason to stop it?" The Daemon leaned back, his wings spreading out lightly as he reclined on the backrest. "Don’t tell me that, after receiving these blessings, you are thinking of moving elsewhere?"

Selene smiled faintly. "I am not. I was just curious about how you’d deal with it. After all, you’ve never been a fan of religions or similar cults, have you not?"

"Cults, I am not a fan of," Cassian admitted. "However, the religion in this place is extremely gentle. You can either believe it or not. No one will force you to join, and if one day you want to stop, you just have to... well, stop. Even if you are entangled in the formal clergy, they have people in charge of clearing your duties."

Cassian shrugged. "After hearing that they were so gentle with those who stopped believing, I stopped having any resistance to it. If you want to believe in Lady Heavenly Willow as a divine being, why not? If you don’t want to, that’s also your liberty."

Selene admitted that Cassian’s outlook was quite the same as hers. Any belief that punished deserters was not much better than a cult of fanatics, at least in her opinion. "What about business?"

Cassian chuckled, rubbing his beardless chin. "Quite profitable. Here, where my competition is quite green, I’ve managed to solidify my services thoroughly. In terms of banking, over 60% of the population trusts our services. Our side businesses are also doing exceptionally well."

Selene nodded, not surprised at the slightest. Her own market dominance was even more ruthless, having reached out to over 75% of the active society members. When their disadvantage of lacking the blessings disappeared, the true difference with the locals stopped shrinking sharply like during the first year.

Liu Shu didn’t mind. After all, six years had passed since these people arrived at her world, and they could be considered naturalized. While their "crime rate" was slightly higher than the local population, the difference was reducing by the day as they understood how people behaved locally.

Moreover, most of those "crimes" were involuntary, as many had clearly not read the laws about some specific actions. With Liu Shu’s "one-time mercy" system, the number of repeated offenders was really small.

Repeated offenders didn’t offend too many times either, because they were eventually purged. In this regard, Liu Shu was ruthless. If you don’t learn your lesson, why should I take care of you like the others?

With a constantly growing population, this was the very moment when she couldn’t allow rotten seeds to take root in her empire. Once everything matured, Liu Shu wouldn’t even need to take care of those things herself, as her garden would spot and self-purge any rotten parts of itself.

"Speaking of which." As Cassian was finishing the document, she heard Selene speak up. "Have you noticed that the city on the other side of the Wall Forest has started having some activity?"

A pondering look appeared in his eyes, and soon, he recalled. "You mean War Tree City?"

Selene was about to nod when, as if her words had summoned something, a massive pillar of light shot skyward in that direction.

Both of them felt a strong fluctuation, making their eyebrows rise with surprise. Compared to their personal strength, this fluctuation was not that strong. However, the reach of it clearly pointed to the creature being either a Life Tree or a World Tree.

Liu Shu, who was attending to Erynthea, Tiravel, Vorathen, and Feltera, noticed the ripple, and her heart stirred. ’This aura...’

Her gaze retreated from these four worlds, moving to the nearby World Tree. Once she did, she noticed that the previous World Tree had grown mightily, reaching over 17,000 meters in height.

While it was not much compared to Liu Shu’s, the height was only second to her own among all the World Trees!

Liu Shu, looking over, could see the World Tree there with her own eyes. "Big Sister Warlya?"

As she spoke in surprise, a powerful yet gentle feminine voice reached her, its tone filled with laughter. "Here I thought I would outgrow you this time around, but it seems that I am still far behind."

"Sister Warlya! You woke up!"

Hearing Liu Shu’s delighted tone, Warlya secretly sighed in relief. Don’t speak about Liu Shu’s surprise. When Warlya first woke up and spread her senses, the first thing she noticed was a "sun."

Close to her, there was a "Sun" of ternary essences and vitality, radiating an extremely overbearing presence as it took over the entirety of the world and far beyond. ’I managed to reach Level 139 with my Accumulated Experience. Who knew that the small World Tree had surpassed me so much?’

"How are you, Sister Warlya? What kind of World Tree have you become? Are you now a True World Tree as well?"

Hearing Liu Shu’s enthusiastic tone and feeling Liu Shu’s roots entangling with her own happily, Warlya felt a sense of calm and happiness. ’Who knew that I, who had once become crippled, would become the big sister of such an extraordinary being? Fighting back then was truly worth it.’

With those thoughts, Warlya answered softly. "It seems that I developed in a somewhat peculiar direction."

"Hm?"

Liu Shu made a confused sound, and Warlya explained. "As you should know, Skyflower and the others were only able to break through after you did. In my case, when I broke through, I was offered a new species."

"New species!"

Warlya hummed in acknowledgment and explained. "The name is . A species that can develop not in a sense of expansion but in personal strength. Among many skills and titles, one of them truly materializes this: Look at it."

Liu Shu saw a