Chapter 585 - Chapter 585. S Rank Skills and Above. Dungeon Evolution.

By the time they left the , all four Sylvans looked like people whose souls had been sucked out. Liu Shu knew that they were tired, so she used her branches to carry them to their respective houses. 

"Red, Green, Grey, Purple, take care of your mothers. They are exhausted." 

Red cheerfully answered right away. "Okay!" When she saw Cinderielle, she was baffled. "What happened? Did Mom fight someone?"

"Um… Yeah." Liu Shu coughed. "She was entangled in quite a battle. But don't worry about it; she is now fine. Also, give them a good bath. No. Wait."

The four house children paused, waiting for Liu Shu to speak. "Give me control over the bath location. I will bathe them myself. You four keep doing what you were doing." 

"Alright, Mommy!"

Liu Shu sighed and moved them in through the balconies of the bathroom floor. There, she cleaned their bodies and changed them into new clothes. The thin branches were agile and could work like fingers, so it was not complicated. 

Exhausted, the four Level 100 Sylvans didn't even wake up during the whole ordeal. Once she placed them on their soft beds, Liu Shu sighed softly. 'Perhaps I went a bit far… but.' Looking at the slightly bloated stomachs, she was nervous and happy. 'Did it… work?' 

For a World Tree to impregnate a Sylvan, they had to do quite a complicated process, which could be summarized as forcefully implanting a seed into the baby room. That couldn't be done raw, so that's why she initially… lubricated them.

"Now, if the seed becomes smaller during the following year, that means that a Sylvan is gestating inside. Once that is known, a wait of nine years follows… Nine years."

She savored those two words, making her feel strange. "Neither too long nor too short… Oh, wait. If that happens, wouldn't the birth coincide with their 100th birthday?" 

The World Tree felt funny. "Quite a coincidence. From what I've read, it is not a bad age for a Sylvan to become a mother. A bit young, but their bodies are already perfectly mature by their 100th year, so there will be no problems." 

Her eyes focused on the sleeping red-haired Sylvan. Among all of them, she was the most worried about Cinderielle. After all, her fiery wife could get pregnant with a Sanguine Blaze. Unlike herself, a Sylvan didn't have immunity to the secondary effects of those babies. "Hm… Should I stop it if that happens…? Wait." 

Liu Shu paused, and her eyes suddenly glowed. "How could I not think about it before! I can just use an ! Even if Cinderielle gets affected, I can turn her body back to its state 24 hours before and get rid of all the debuffs." 

Once her biggest worry was resolved, she felt instant relief. Only, she had doubts about how exactly it would work. 'What if the baby is also affected? I must be careful with the application and avoid the baby when using it.'

As her mind got confused, she gave up and asked the system and Wisdom. "So… How would it work?"

[Unknown.]

"Tsk, as expected. Useless like ever. Even if you don't have a registry of previous time-based skills, you could use some sort of super processing to understand, couldn't you? You answered too quickly!"

[...] 

[Wisdom: The skill speaks about returning the body to a past . This state is something that must be specified. Therefore, you just need to adjust the skill to return Cinderielle's body to a past state without any . Remember to specify it as influence, since some of the Sanguine Blaze's aftereffects are not considered debuffs.]

"You are right. That's the main problem with their effects. Dispelling effects for debuffs are usually useless…" Liu Shu hummed twice and then nodded. "Alright. I will. If I just fix on the status effects, I cannot affect her postpartum body and get rid of the influence, right?" 

[Wisdom: In theory, that should work.] 

Liu Shu couldn't help but lament. "That skill is so ambiguous in a way. What falls under the definition of ? Can I alter memories? What about spatial location? Or is it just limited to status alignments? SO MUCH TO CLARIFY. UGH!" 

[Wisdom: It's not as complicated as you make it out to be. When you the being, you must specify what you are anchoring. This extends to anything that can modify the . Therefore, memories, spatial relocation, etc., don't work at all. 

"Still, I can revive people with it, right?"

[Wisdom: There is no problem with that. As long as you've previously anchored them, you have no problem at all returning them to their past 'Living' state.] 

"Wow. Are all S Rank skills this strong?"

[Wisdom: Since you've reached the First Ascension and even unlocked S Rank skills, I think it is time to speak about the difference between A Tier and below and S Tier and above.]

"Really!?" Liu Shu became excited and asked the system. "System, system, can I know?"

[System Hint: It is possible. Skills ranked A and below are all considered skills. Meaning, they can influence their surroundings and create myriad effects. When a skill reaches S Tier, the qualification changes from to . All skills of S Tier and above are skills that can reshape reality as long as they have enough energy to manipulate it. Naturally, the jump from S Tier to SS Tier is almost as large as the difference between an F Tier and an A Tier. The same can be said for the Tier above, which is SSS.]

"... Whoa. Wisdom! You are quite great, aren't you? You are not only SSS Tier, but also at MAX Level!"

[...]

[Wisdom: …] 

Still, Liu Shu didn't feel that wisdom was so ridiculous. "Not to offend you, but… Wisdom, are you particularly weak among SSS Rank skills? You can't do that much, can you?"

If the system could, it would have an aneurysm right there and then. Strangely heated, the system blurted out the absurdity that Liu Shu's Wisdom was, until now, using minimal resources.

[System Hint: The skill has shortened Tianlian Liu Shu's study and learning time by approximately 634 years, and saved around 754 years of Leveling and Tiering Up. It also increased your by over 30% the first time, eventually granting you a permanent 100% Energy Cycle Completion Rate. Additionally, it has saved you from spending even a second learning any language, including complex monster tongues across creation. The time required for that is incalculable. Beyond that, the Wisdom skill has also manipulated the System interface to create Sylvan Quests in the past, preventing worst-case scenarios from occurring. Other than that—]

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I UNDERSTAND!"

Liu Shu had to put a stop to it because each sentence was strangely spoken increasingly quicker, and by the end, the system was rapid-firing words like an expert rhythm singer. 

She cleared her throat and commented. "Sorry, Wisdom. I was thinking too superficially. It seems that you are quite powerful." 

They didn't answer, but Liu Shu could feel that they were satisfied with her apology. The World Tree really wanted to roll her eyes at them. "Anyway, summarizing, S Tier skills are somewhat godlike. Anything above that goes beyond that, and it is incredibly rare."

[System Hint: From gathered data, usually only and above start unlocking S Tier skills. Until then, the grand majority are stuck with A+ Tier Level MAX skills.] 

"...That's Level 400 and above, right? Wait. There are people with that absurd level!? Level 400!?" 

Liu Shu wanted to cry. She barely reached level 100, and here was the System, throwing numbers four times hers! Confused, she asked. "What is the highest Level? Is there even a limit?"

[System Hint: Highest Level ever recovered in the System's database is Level 943.] 

"..." 

The World Tree looked at the sky, her heart feeling like an empty void. "That's… a Ninth Ascension Powerhouse who has gone through who knows how many Energy Cycles… and Sub Cycles. How can a being like that even die? No, how can they even exist? Won't they need to spend endless time to Level Up?"

She had noticed that killing same-level beings gives less and less experience proportionally. If, at Level 10, Liu Shu needed to kill like 20 Level 10s to Level Up, now, at Level 100, those numbers were probably in the thousands. So, what about a Level 900 being?

Just thinking about it made her stomach twist. "Ugh… Existential crisis is hitting hard. Won't I just disappear if Ceperet gets entangled in a side battle for a being with that strength? Ugh… I feel sick." 

She realized that her roots had barely stepped out of the starting line. Ceperet was nothing but the preparation for the race of survival. Taking a deep breath, the World Tree hardened her resolve. "I am a unique being. Someone who has managed to unlock the ability to manipulate energy. I have the tools; now I only need to put them to use." 

With a solemn expression, her energy seeped into the world, and she began influencing the . The activated and noticed Liu Shu's intent.

"The first thing, I need my people not to fall behind me. For that, my must have traces of my energy."

[Dungeon System: Do you want to add energy to the ? They will gain new attributes but lose others. Moreover, they will need to be closed for a while.] 

"Yes. I want to." 

Everyone who was tangled in the was suddenly spat out of the subspace.

"Huh? What is happening?" 

"Why was I thrown out?"

"Hey, look! The dungeon is collapsing!"

"What!? What is happening!?"

"How can I even make a living without a !? Someone stop it!"

"Yeah, right. Do you think there exists a being in Ceperte who can mess with ? There is nothing we can do." 

Liu Shu ignored the confusion, and her mind got to work. Previously, she had just touched them slightly and organized them. Now, the 19 were converging and changing, her energy pouring into the subdimension. 

[Dungeon System: Congratulations! All your have gained a new after being touched by your . All characteristics that gave Experience or Rewards from time spent inside the will disappear.]

: Time will speed up tremendously for all those who enter this . Instead, there will be a resting time between each dive, varying between individuals, to not suffer . Entrance can be forced, but can easily lead to death. 

Inside one of them, the Earth Dragon looked around and spoke to himself. "Hm… Dungeon Evolution? So quickly? Such a bizarre thing. Did that girl do something…" The dragon paused and looked at himself. "Huh? I can… Level Up?"

A message appeared in his vision. 

[Congratulations. Your has been lifted up to Level 149. This limit is not permanent.] 

"This is… Interesting." A wild grin appeared on the dragon's lips. 

Inside another dungeon, a monstrous underground being also got the same message, and her intelligent eyes shone. With a low, rumbling yet feminine sound, the spoke. 

"As prophesied. My preparations are now complete. Let's see if those invaders dare to set foot in our kingdom again… Although looking ahead, it seems like it is just a matter of time. Foolish and greedy beings, there will be no mercy for you."

GRAAAHH!!!

Around her, countless roars echoed through the endless caves.