Chapter 120. Level 9 and Energy Cycles.

Chapter 120. Level 9 and Energy Cycles.

Tianlian Liu Shu, a young tree who became a World Tree less than two years ago, had lived quite a tumultuous life. Before she became a World Tree, her thoughts were slow and sporadic. However, other than the occasional insect gnawing at her roots, her life was peaceful and uneventful.

Together with becoming a World Tree, Liu Shu quickly became entangled in a constant struggle for survival. Yet, until recently, she didn't really change much of herself. She wanted to continue being carefree and go slowly and calmly in life, trying to enjoy peace.

Eventually, she realized that it was impossible. It only took a bit more than a year for her to realize that being a World Tree meant much more than growing in peace.

For World Trees, this was not the usual path or mentality. World Trees would more often than not be hard to discover because they would grow in deep forests with powerful beasts.

By the time someone became aware of them, they would already be high-level enough to defend themselves.

Among all the fates World Trees could get, Liu Shu didn't get the worst, but hers was close to being one of the worst. She had just been lucky.

If Clavel hadn't discovered her, if the human caravan wouldn't have kept part of their promises, if Cinderielle and the others hadn't appeared...

There were many factors that, while carrying some misfortune to her side, also benefited her tremendously.

Her life had been calm, but that had changed. Because of the rude awakening of seeing the Sylvans almost die outside of her walls, Liu Shu went on a tree-killing spree and harvested Experience points like crazy. In the end, she killed 112 Level 7 Trees, 378 Level 8 Trees, and 211 Level 9 Trees with 2 Level 10 ones. The average tier of those trees was E- Rank, which harvested her a few thousand Experience Points.

Accumulated Experience: 21743

That large number didn't make Liu Shu as excited as before. Somehow, it felt different from the Experience Points she gained from naturally gathering abilities and Flor's help.

Without rejoicing too much, the World Tree began the Level Up process. 'Let's start Leveling up to Level 9.'

Level: 8 [6980/6980]

[Level Up!]

[Aether +7, Phoer +9, Anima +8, Willpower +10, Destiny +100]

Accumulated Experience: 14763

Unlike other times, there were no other effects in her Level Up other than the change in stats from her Sylvanium, Celestium, and Cognium branches and such.

Liu Shu took around a day or so to Level Up this time around. Her height reached 20 meters as well, and her roots could now extend to around 300 meters.

Other than that, her stats now hit the 150 point mark, while her ternary essences were as such.

Aether Mana Shards: 15,627/15,627

Phoer Body Shards: 22,929/22,929

Anima Energy Shards: 15,849/15,849

Looking at her stats, Liu Shu somewhat didn't feel satisfied. 'What about my skills? Do I have any at Level Max?'

Liu Shu opened her system page and said. 'List the MAX Level Skills.'

[Max Level Skills List:

[Level 10 is the first milestone for any living being. Do you want to do a manual <Energy Cycle> or an automatic <Energy Cycle>?]

Liu asked. 'Can you tell me the difference?'

[Depending on your race, the automatic <Energy Cycle> will be created to be of a slightly below-average quality. It will make sure that you don't make any mistakes in exchange for being unable to complete a powerful <Energy Cycle>.]

Liu Shu was baffled. 'Is doing it manually much more difficult?'

[Manual <Energy Cycle> can make an ordinary person become exceptional or an exceptional person average. Once done, <Energy Cycles> are unchangeable, except using very rare resources or treasures.]

'Oh...' Curious, she asked. 'Does everyone receive these warnings?

[Yes, everyone does.]

She continued asking. 'Do you have any recommendations?'

[Checking race... <World Tree>. The system heavily recommends doing a manual <Energy Cycle>. <World Trees> will instinctively know what to do and do better than any other creature.]

Liu Shu hummed and said. 'Can you explain to me what I need to do?'

[Not a proper inquiry.]

Liu Shu pouted. 'Miser.' Then, she commented. 'Well, let's go manual then.'

[Understood. Starting <Energy Cycle (manual)> creation page. Good Luck!]

Right after, Liu Shu's vision felt as it shifted out of herself, looking at her own body and root system from a third-person perspective.

Her entire body and root system was floating in the middle of nowhere, and with just her thoughts, Liu Shu could rotate it and manipulate her vision. 'Wow... This is how I look?' Liu Shu observed herself and then laughed arrogantly. 'I am so pretty! The prettiest tree! Hehehehe. Hmph~ look at those roots~ they go so far and deep! Then, then, look at my trunk... Hm? Why is my trunk changing without me saying anything.'

Liu Shu zoomed in and saw that the female body that felt childish in proportions was becoming more mature. The hips were widening, the waist thinning, the torso shortening slightly, while the thighs that went into the ground thickened and lengthened. 'Oh! I now look more like Ignatia!'

Before, Liu Shu's trunk had a female shape resembling a 14~15-year-old body with gentle curves. This silhouette was very faint, almost unnoticeable to the naked eye unless you came close.

Now, it was different. Her silhouette had transformed to become somewhat similar to an 18~19-year-old body with beautiful curves. Moreover, while the thickness of her trunk had increased slightly in proportion, her female body shape had become much more noticeable. Now, even from a distance, one would know at first glance that she was not a standard tree.

After looking at her trunk and canopy for a while, she looked around her. In her vision, the town's buildings were also here. Since they were part of herself and interlocked with her roots, they would naturally appear in this space.

However, Liu Shu was puzzled about one detail. 'Why are the buildings so small?'

The tallest buildings Liu Shu owned were the offensive trees on the defensive wall. They were around 20 meters tall, which was similar to her own height. Still, even when they were similar to her outside, in this simulation, they were half her height. 'Did they get smaller? Why are the trees that were as tall as me now half my height?'

The rest of the buildings inside the walls also looked smaller than before, which puzzled her. 'Won't they also become Level 10 like me? Why did they become smaller?'

Not focusing so much on that, Liu Shu began trying to think about the <Energy Cycle> creation tool. Around her own body and root system, even the buildings connected to her, Liu Shu could see "empty" spots. When she focused on an empty spot and thought of the Circuits explained in that book, a line made of pure light appeared.

These lines were clearly visible even through the solid body of the buildings, roots, or her own body. 'Hm. So, these are those circuits that I need to fill my body with? They needed to be closed paths, right?'

Out of curiosity, she created a very small closed path, and Liu Shu felt a very faint change in her energy flow. 'Oh? So it is like that. I need to fill my own body with these circuits so that the energy flow becomes better. Hm~. Interesting.'