After two months, Liu Shu's mind finally relaxed fully. She looked around the city, and seeing everything functioning as before, she felt at peace. The grand park was also open, and it had plenty of visitors even in the first few days.
The park was large, and Liu Shu made it so that it could have walking and resting paths. Therefore, the nature inside was barely bothered by the visitors. Moreover, since most people appreciated nature, there were no troublemakers. Flor even placed a few park guards to flip signs when the resting spots were filled and such.
Overall, it was managed in a way that it would bring many more positives than negatives.
The people who previously lived in this area were also here as a family, many carrying flowers and with faces full of pain. It was only then that Liu Shu felt and saw how deeply connected her children were with her population.
"Mom… why is Big Sister House not here?"
The mother didn't answer, trying to hold back her feelings. Instead, the father approached and crouched down to pick up his child. "Well, Big Sister House needed to move as well. She was a bit tired, so she went to visit her Mom, Lady Heavenly Willow."
"Oh! Even the biiig Big Sister House can move?"
"Of course!" Said the father with a smile. "Look over there. Do you think that Lady Heavenly Willow couldn't move her children if she wanted to?"
The child glanced at the enormous World Tree, her eyes shining. "I see! Big Sister House is very small compared to their Mom!"
The father teased, tickling the child. "That's right, like you are very little for me."
The child giggled, while the mother beside her smiled softly and hugged her husband. She was really glad she married this man.
Similar conversations occurred between almost all families that previously lived in this area. Flor's government had noted all of them down, and Liu Shu pulled out capital from her treasury to compensate for any loss.
After all, these people not only lost their house, but they also lost everything of value they left inside. Nothing survived the overpowering attack from the Star Lord.
Liu Shu smiled as she heard them. 'I now know why people sometimes feel reluctant to move. I guess that, while the economic restrictions are basically null, those living inside them feel a sense of connection.'
While there would always be people a bit touched in the head that tried to push this connection too far, the children weren't like in the past, and reported such attempts quickly. Not to mention, all the houses were Level 101, like Liu Shu. No one could force them to do anything they didn't want to do.
"Alright… Let's see the gains. System, you should've compiled everything, right? Show me."
[Understood.]
[Tianlian Liu Shu has defeated 53,975
[Tianlian Liu Shu has defeated 938
[Tianlian Liu Shu has gained 242,399,697 Experience Points.]
Liu Shu stared at that number silently. She was too shocked to speak!
'H-Have I even gained this many Experience Points during my entire life? I think I've gained more Experience Points during this one encounter than across my entire life!'
"How many Experience Points do I have?"
***
Accumulated Experience Points: 266,394,278
***
After seeing that absurd number, Liu Shu had two options. The first option was for her to use all those Experience Points and push her level massively. She knew that with this amount of points, her Level would quite literally soar to the skies.
'I am not sure how my Experience Points scale yet. Still, according to my calculations, I should be near Level 150 if I spent all my Experience Points.'
As she thought of that number, she was almost sure that she wanted to invest everything in levels. If she could reach 150, that would mean reaching the
Still, there was something holding her back.
[To upgrade an A+ Rank skill to S- Rank, you need 15,918,140 Experience Points.]
The price of upgrading her skills had become outrageous. She knew that, according to her calculations, the current number of Experience Points was extremely close to reaching Level 150, or just right. At least, she had almost no doubt that she would reach Level 140.
'Even if I fail to reach Level 150, my strength will grow ridiculously… Together with my size.'
That was the second thing making her second-guess herself. 'Can I even fit in here after I become Level 150?'
Each time she completed an
Even if she guessed that her growth would be linear, which it probably would not, her size after reaching Level 149 would be 156,706 meters!
'One hundred and fifty-eight thousand meters… I am basically touching the thermosphere of the planet. QAQ!'
Not to mention that size was BEFORE the size boost at Level 150. "Branches in the sky, Ceperet seems to feel smaller and smaller to fit me! What do I do…"
So, Liu Shu went to talk with someone who could help her. "Elyne… I need your help."
Elyne was standing in front of Tanya and a few other
Once the
"L-Lady Liu Shu!"
"Oh, Willow Branches! I am hearing Lady Liu Shu's voice!"
Elyne's mouth twitched a bit. She was glad that they were enthusiastic. However, couldn't they see that Liu Shu needed her help!? Elyne glanced at them and scolded. "Silence! Liu Shu is talking to me!"
All Saint candidates blinked and pouted. They even murmured under their breath things like 'petty,' 'selfish,' and more.
Liu Shu, who could hear them all, felt her eyebrows twitch. 'They are a… peculiar? Bunch.'
Not bother much more with these girls, she glanced at Elyne. "So, as I was saying, I need your help."
Elyne nodded and asked, glancing at the saints. "Do they need to go?"
"Ah… No, there is no need. They might be able to give me different inputs and perspectives."
With that said, the World Tree started. "So… I have a lot of Experience Points. Too many, to be precise. If I invest everything into leveling, I might reach Level 150. However, if I were to do that, I would not…"
She explained her situation, summarizing all her problems while giving the necessary details. After she finished, she noticed everyone in the room was silent, their faces glancing at her statue with strange looks.
The saint candidates whispered among each other. 'I didn't know that Lady Liu Shu was so out of the norm.'
'Is Lady Liu Shu trying to mess with us? I want to believe her, but I feel as if my sanity will be at stake if I do so.'
'Hey, don't be rude! I think it is a prank as well. Look at Lady Elyne. Even she is frozen stiff.'
'Right, right. Lady Liu Shu is known for being easy-going with those close to her. So, she might just be pranking Lady Elyne.'
In the end, Liu Shu's words were so absurd that even those who should have had absolute trust in her were doubting their ears. How could they not? What they just heard broke every single common-sense standard they knew!
Meanwhile, Elyne stretched her hand to the side, picked up a teacup, and took a long, slurping sip. "Ha… Thankfully, I usually have tea by my side."
Liu Shu's sense of deja vu was strong in this one. Still, she ignored the oddities and waited for an answer. Tanya, who heard everything, was smiling wryly. As the first saint candidate, Elyne vented about Liu Shu's absurd shenanigans to her. Therefore, she understood that what she heard was Liu Shu being herself once again.
"So… Are you sure that your rate of growth will be as you said?"
Liu Shu hummed. "Probably? Once I Level Up, the rest is usually linear growth. Only new
Elyne rested her forehead on her palm. "Willowy branches above… Why must I explain to you things that usually True World Trees approaching the
Liu Shu was silent, feeling a bit bashful. "S-Sorry for being so big… But I shouldn't be that big, right? How tall are World Trees near Level 150 usually?"
Elyne looked at Liu Shu's wooden statue, which was connected to Liu Shu's roots, and sighed. "While I am the one who knows the most about these things, let me call Lysara and Veyra. Those two are very knowledgeable in these subjects."
So, Liu Shu waited for a while. She even heard Elyne warn those two to carry their tea cups with them. "W-Why did you…"
Elyne glared at her once, silencing our big girl. 'Wah! Why is Elyne so scary!'
The rest of the saint candidates felt their awe and respect toward Elyne surge. 'As expected of Lady Liu Shu's
After a while, the two women arrived and sat down with her. Elyne then gave Liu Shu a hint, and the World Tree explained everything once more.
Veyra and Lysara stayed still for a bit before both reached out to the table and picked their cups.
*Slurp*
"Ha… Better."
"Indeed."
Veyra smiled, but her eyes were far from smiling. "Thankfully, you reached out to us. Otherwise, you might've destroyed Golden Sap City."
Liu Shu's wooden statue opened her mouth. "Huh?"
Lysara sighed. "Tianlian Liu Shu, do you think that the weight of a 160-kilometer-tall World Tree can be easily supported? You would've created continent-wide earthquakes, while all the ant-nests below ground might've collapsed. Please, be careful when you do these things in the future."
Liu Shu was first surprised, and then scared. 'T-Thankfully, I reached out for help.'