Liu Shu waited for two hours, which in the current situation was nothing but a short time, and recovered all her essences to their maximum. Once there, Liu Shu moved her gaze and glanced at the Vanguard group, which consisted of seven World-Types, each with 25 accompanying Moon-Types.

"The battle shall start as they want to. Since you are offering up sacrifices, I won’t be stupid enough to say no to them."

Liu Shu’s eyes cooled down, deep calmness and calculation flashing in her gaze. Then, she waited for a bit, her energy slowly surging from within her.

Solenne looked around, wary and confused, questioning her thoughts aloud. "Why has the World Tree not attacked us yet?"

Someone jested. "She might’ve been scared witless."

Solenne glanced over with cold eyes. "One more stupid comment and you will be exiled."

That person became silent, his face twitching. An older man by the side spoke with a steady tone. "Her root net should’ve expanded quickly. So, even if she were to use her strength here, the World Tree might not be able to use more than 30% of her strength."

Solenne’s eyes lit up for a moment. "Right, we are still at the edge of her domain. She might not have the strength to deal with our ships. Each of the World-Types has a shield equivalent to 15 <Phoer Stars> worth of damage, while the Moon-Types each have around two of them. This is not something she can easily penetrate with her strength."

She stood up and spoke aloud. "Prepare for attacks! She might attack us once we reach the orbit of the seventh world in this Solar System. However, by then, the other armies will be in the sixth orbit. Even if we have to retreat, our job will be more than complete."

At that moment, a shout sliced through the main cabin of each starship.

"Essence fluctuations are spiking!"

Solenne didn’t even hesitate and shouted. "Shields at maximum capability!"

Then, from the void, a single root spike manifested toward one of the Moon-Types by the side. The root spike that pierced from beyond the dimension was so fast that the Moon-Type was unable to dodge.

World-Types’ cabins could see the surroundings through sensors and screens, so they all saw the attack.

The shields of the Moon-Type, with half the load borne by the combined starship formation, were hit violently, sending the starship tumbling into space while the shield wobbled.

"Damage repo—"

Before her words finished, two more massive root spikes manifested, squeezing the Moon-Type right in the middle of their aim. Solenne’s face tightened, and then, the impact occurred.

The wobbling shield instantly shattered, and the two roots continued their trajectory, mostly unimpeded, impacting the Moon-Type’s sturdy hull.

Even without sound, everyone seemed to hear the loud groan of metal plates collapsing and twisting under brute strength, followed by an explosion.

Solenne couldn’t even speak as the Aether Mana in that area churned like a massive hurricane, and in the next second, a burst of frostfire exploded, swallowing absolutely everything where the Moon-Types exploded.

Solenne spoke in a low tone. "What a warm welcome surprise. Turn around and leave while defending! Create a report and send it. All Moon-Types are to huddle closer to the World-Types and activate weapon systems to attack those roots!"

A voice tore through the void, enveloping all of them. "Since you dare come, why are your starships turning around? Stay here forever and become part of my Solar System’s Oort Cloud."

People responsible for the spotting began shouting. "Spatial fluctuation behind us!"

"Spatial fluctuations in front of us!"

"There are life energy signals manifesting all around!"

A green void was shattered open in the depths of space, followed by over 110 Arboreal Winged Serpents manifesting from the void. Ten of them were Level 185 S Tier leaders, while the rest were Level 160 A+ Tier powerhouses.

Liu Shu was surprised to find that one of the Level 185 S Tier leaders was an old friend, Ophion!

The small Arboreal Winged Serpent, which Liu Shu had manifested among the first, was now a fully fledged monster, several hundred meters long. His body was thick and robust, his wingspan large enough to compare to the sleek Moon-Type starships.

His eyes shone with both wisdom and calmness. "Ophion?"

Ophion hissed as he charged through the rift. "I’ve managed to finally catch up again, Liu Shu. Sorry for keeping you waiting."

He had been quite stunned by Liu Shu’s rapid growth. So, for a while, Liu Shu’s summons could not target him, as he was too weak. Now, he finally met the requirements once more.

With him at the lead, Liu Shu felt a sense of happiness, and she ordered. "Annihilate the fleet in front. There is no need to keep survivors or intact starships."

Ophion hissed, his piercing howl spreading to all the Arboreal Winged Serpents.

Meanwhile, Solenne looked at the 110 creatures that manifested with a trace of shock. "Arboreal Winged Serpents!? How did these top-tier galactic predators appear here!?"

As she was momentarily startled, she saw the brown-scaled serpent at the lead transform into a ray of light and rush toward the World-Type without any fear whatsoever. "All weapons aim and blast that serpent back to where it came from!"

The World-Type turned around, the main cannon roaring to life. Solenne spoke ruthlessly. "Kill it!"

WHOOM!

A thick beam of light tore space towards Ophion. Meanwhile, Ophion’s eyes flashed with a touch of disdain. "<Ancestral Bark Scales>."

A metallic gleam manifested around his body, and then he impacted against the beam headfirst. Liu Shu saw the beam parting as if Ophion had become a steel umbrella against a torrent of water. The rays scattered out, Ophion barely slowing down his charge and arriving in front of the World-Type.

BANG!

Solenne almost lost footing as the entire several-kilometer-long starship wobbled under Ophion’s charge. Her starship wasn’t the only one. With 10 elite Arboreal Winged Serpents, seven of them being tanks as Liu Shu had required, all of the World-Types were immediately entangled with them.

The other 100 Arboreal Winged Serpents began clashing with the Moon-Types, harassing them as if they were playing with toys. "How are they so strong!?"

Solenne was startled, but she quickly understood that just the starships would not be enough to hold these monsters. So, she shouted decisively. "Attack formation! We are going out right away!"

Each World-Type had 80,000 soldiers, and each Moon-Type had around 6,000 of them. So, once the order was given, only the pilots and weapon personnel were left behind, hatches opening as the soldiers poured out.

It was at this moment that a new arrival manifested.

Liu Shu smiled coldly as she chuckled. "It seems you couldn’t sit still, Warlya."

A gargantuan humanoid World Tree that appeared on the battlefield answered solemnly. "Since I can fight anywhere, there is no need to hold myself back."

"Good. Then, let me give all of you my small blessing. <Eternity Strand>, <Healing World Touch>."

Roots manifested everywhere, and then they touched all the Arboreal Winged Serpents and Warlya’s manifestation.

[You’ve been affected by <Healing World Touch (A Rank)>.]

[You are recovering 0.3% of your <Phoer> per second.]

[You are recovering 1,000 <Phoer Cores> per second.]

[Duration: 100 seconds... Duration has been altered by <Eternity Strand>.

[New Duration: ∞]

The healers among the Arboreal Winged Serpents paused for a second. ’...Excuse us. Why did you summon us if you had this absurd thing?’

However, Liu Shu was a bit too stunned because of a System Message she had not expected in the slightest!

[Congratulations! You’ve gained a new <Title: Mortal Growth-Touched>.]

***

<Mortal Growth-Touched>: You may convert Phoer into Aether Mana or Anima Energy at an exchange rate of 5:1. You may also burn a fragment of your lifespan to gain a short-lived surge of power; the backlash manifests as permanent, unhealable damage proportional to the duration and magnitude of the boost.

***

While Liu Shu was looking stunned at that final buff she had missed for a while, she heard a gentle and excited soft voice. "Yay! Mommy is finally able to receive my personal blessing!’

Liu Shu snapped out of her momentary daze, wanting nothing but to squeeze her baby into an ultimate love hug. ’My baby is the best!’

Then, her lips arched as she transformed her <Phoer Recovery> and divided it into two, infusing her <Aether Mana> and <Anima Energy>. This was another 10% buff to the total recovery for both essences!

Meanwhile, Solenne left the World-Type and looked at Ophion battling with the World-Type. She charged toward him, and as she did so, the woman noticed a root gently caressing Ophion’s head, a profound aura of life seeping into him. ’Healing talent? It doesn’t matter. The World Tree can’t maintain her healing for too long.’

So, she manifested her spear and charged forward. "Serpent! I am your opponent! <Blazing Spear Shift>!"

Her body transformed into a bright red meteor, striking Ophion’s side. The result was not one of piercing flesh, but a metallic impact that bounced off her spear.

[-150,000,000] (1,500) (0.015)

Her stern gaze froze for a second, her heart seizing up with fear. ’H-How sturdy are this creature’s scales!? 1,500 Cores!? That’s nothing!’

Even if Ophion had just tanked a World-Type’s main cannon frontally, Solenne had thought it was a momentary super defense buff that should’ve expired by now.

However, under Liu Shu’s buffs, the <Realm Blessing>, which boosted summons, and Liu Shu’s own boosts toward summons, the current Ophion’s <Physique> stat had reached an absurd 6.6 million, while his <Phoer Body Stars> were at a stunning 54.

His main stat was even above that of Xakira’s unbuffed ones, who was a bonafide Level 200!

"General Solenne!"

Someone rushed over quickly, pushing her away just before Ophion’s tail swished past the place where Solenne previously stood.

BANG!

That person who pushed her away was transformed into bloodmist, exploding on the spot like some sort of macabre balloon of flesh.

The woman reacted, and she quickly shifted back, using her special permission to pass through the World-Type’s shield. Just as she did so, Ophion’s tail struck her way.

BOOM!

The World-Type’s shield rippled like water unsettled by a giant rock. Her heart thumped, her gaze looking at Ophion’s cold, reptilian eyes with fear. She quickly turned around and returned to the ship, letting everyone else fight off the monsters while she focused on reporting.

"The enemy has the ability to summon Arboreal Winged Serpents! Their strength is extraordinary. Two types of Arboreal Winged Serpents have been noticed. The smaller type, which can overwhelm a Moon-Type’s combat power. Then, there are the large types, who can overwhelm a World-Type’s combat power and have defenses that can resist my attacks head-on!"

Just as she reported this, another spatial fluctuation occurred, and when Solenne turned to look, her pupils shrank. A massive shield and sword-wielding World Tree appeared, her long, fluttering, leafy red hair moving without wind, while the canopy resembling that of her main World Tree figure sprouted from her back.

Then, the giant humanoid World Tree rushed forward at incredible speed, her sword streaking through the void and landing on a nearby, dwarfed Moon-Type.

BOOM!

The Moon-Type tumbled around, the shield barely holding on. Solenne spoke with a trembling voice. "Spotted a... humanoid World Tree. She is rootless and has the appearance of a perfect mix of World Tree and Human. She wields a giant Sword and Shield, her body sturdy as she tanks Moon-Types without flinching. Her attacks are weaker than the Elite Arboreal Winged Serpents, but her defense is absolutely not inferior."

Liu Shu, observing the battlefield where hundreds of starships and thousands of soldiers clashed with her roots and summons, felt her lips arch. ’As I expected, unless the Star Emperor is directly involved, my current strength has reached a realm where I can stop armies just on my own.’ 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Still, she didn’t relax. Liu Shu knew that the other side would soon understand her full strength and change tactics. The true battle had yet to start.