Chapter 795: Chapter 795. Apothea: Lignified Ascension Life Willow Tree!

After Liu Shu upgraded her berry production, she noticed a particular thing that she had not realized previously. While she could grow S- Rank berries, her children couldn’t. It seemed that the <Tier> of the Lignified structure growing the berries put a soft cap on what type of berries they could grow.

It wasn’t that A- Tier Lignified trees couldn’t grow A+ Rank berries. They could. However, growing S- Rank berries was impossible. Only structures that had reached the S- Rank would be able to grow such berries.

This was a big problem because Liu Shu could not ingest her own berries. She needed to ingest berries that were grown by other trees for them to work on her. ’...I won’t be able to eat <Ascension Berries> then.’

A troubled expression appeared on her face. She was almost ready to target the <Second Ascension>, so she had expected to be able to use the <Ascension Berry>.

Sadly, she first needed to see if there were any S-Rank Lignified babies and ask them to start growing these fruits with long gestation periods for her.

So, Liu Shu searched around, and to her surprise, there were a few Lignified structures that had reached S- and S Ranks! There were no S+ Rank structures, but these S- and S Rank Lignified Babies were a pleasant surprise.

Liu Shu looked into them to know how or why they achieved this tier. "Let’s see... seeds that grew under my influence. They got the buffs from my structure and Lignified <Titles> and skills... Also, their original Tier was already high. Finally, they made quite a few interesting achievements while growing up, gaining special boosts during their <First Ascension>."

These achievements were unlike those of normal creatures. As living structures, the System rewarded them when they acted their part properly. Therefore, these achievements were correlated with their inhabitants. If some of them gained certain enlightenment thanks to their <Rune Fields>, or the children that grew within also gained talent due to them, they would receive bonuses.

Of course, school type, hospital type, and the other Lignified structures similarly increased in Rank with these achievements. For example, the <Eternal Church> was one of the few that reached S- Rank, and the <Endless World Tree Library> was on the verge of reaching that rank as well.

Speaking of these Rune Fields, Liu Shu had long stopped controlling their evolution. She allowed each of her babies to choose how they wanted to evolve and grow their own personal fields.

At first, she had micromanaged because her babies were not much more intelligent than ordinary trees. Now that their intelligence ranged from young human children to adolescent humans, leaving them to their own devices was for the best.

The only structures that couldn’t be upgraded in this manner were the <Temples>.

"Speaking of the <Temples>. I should start doing another Synergy or Nemesis evolution, shouldn’t I?"

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do them. However, she wanted to see if she could unlock even more <Temples>. These <Temples> were quite... unique structures. After all, the <Ascension> buff on them didn’t really affect the blessing, but their own personal abilities.

"So many things to do~." Liu Shu chuckled.

Focusing on the matter at hand, her gaze moved toward the new <Lignified> structure she had been building with incredibly precious materials. After all, the berries could be grown, so she was not worried. ’In 90 years, I will get to eat the <Ascension Berry> myself!’

Or so she thought, but things turned out to be a bit different. "Hm... my growth bonuses are affecting their production speed?"

She recalled that her Interstellar Arborarchy and World Saint Bloodsap could both boost plant growth. ’So... 3000% growth rate? That means... 90 years is cut down to 3 years... Huh. Huh?"

Liu Shu blinked a few times. "Only three years? Then... can’t I just wait?"

She decided to wait. Three years was nothing at all!

"In three years, I will receive all the buffs from the fruits! What luxury~, hehehe."

The synergies of her new S- Rank skills were truly becoming quite... exaggerated. "Speaking of exaggerated, the <Interstellar Rune Array Lignified Arborarchy> is truly absurd, isn’t it? That skill alone gives me the berries plus a domain-wide passive boost comparable to the <Temple Blessing>. No... perhaps it is even stronger to a certain extent."

It was worthy of being a skill that appeared after fusing it with many others and evolving it from low-rank.

"Ah..." Liu Shu realized her usual mistake. "I’ve started lingering again. My mind truly floats about often, doesn’t it?"

Focusing her sight, she looked at the new <Lignified Structure> again. Its shape was peculiar, looking like a massive sacred temple. The inner side of the place was equally sacred, with high ceilings, massive columns supporting it, and long halls. Moreover, it was even larger than the <Town Halls>, reaching a massive 500 meters in height.

The structure had 10 floors, with the ground floor being completely empty, and each floor being over 50 meters tall. The shape of the Lignified structure was that of a Willow Tree, very similar to Tree.

On the ground floor, there was nothing much other than ceremonial hallways, massive columns, and gorgeous woodcrafted items. This place was the site for welcoming those few who would use it.

Then, the nine floors above were separated into several rooms. The first floor had 500 rooms, the second 250, the third 150, the fourth 100, the fifth 80, the sixth 60, the seventh 40, the eighth 20, and the ninth floor had 10.

Since each floor was mostly identical in area, what changed from floor to floor was the size of each room. The larger the room, the better, not because of space or luxury, but because of the specialty of this structure.

"Now... with this material. You are complete."

Liu Shu picked 100 of the <Ascension Berries> she had grown during the past ten days. Not only these, as the incomplete structure had reached Level 99, Liu Shu also gathered and prepared 100 sets of each of her new S- Rank fruits.

Then, as she squeezed all the fruits around the core and allowed it to bathe into it, Liu Shu cast <Acceleration Domain>.

The time strings twisted, modified as Liu Shu’s <Eternal> essence pulled onto them. With time distorted, Liu Shu consciously applied all the prepared skills and helped the unmanned Lignified structure <Ascend>.

The core of the structure pulsed, stirring the essence to the point that everyone in the Golden Sap City felt as if a thin film had passed through them.

Those at higher Levels turned to look, their gazes unreadable. After all, the 500-meter-tall Willow Tree was conspicuous even in the forest of giant trees that the Golden Sap City represented.

Liu Shu’s essence drained quickly, even pouring her <Phoer> into it so that there are no accidents.

Then, the blueprint she had tirelessly researched came to life, as the countless buffs toward building, runes, arrays, and woodcrafting intertwined and boosted the result to the next level.

[<True Ruler World Tree> triggers!]

[<Miracle Tree Architect> triggers!]

[<Apprentice World Builder> triggers!]

[<Ingenuity Blessing> special effect applies!]

[<Interstellar Rune Array Lignified Arborarchy> bonuses apply!]

[<World Purity> energy permeates.]

[<Touch Of The World> energy permeates.]

[<Time Source> energy permeates.]

[<Perfect Living Core>’s <Adaptability> trait permeates.]

[<World Embracing Dimensional Roots> energy permeates.]

[<Well Of Souls And Enchantment> energy permeates.]

[<World Saint Bloodsap> essence mixes with the core.] 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

[<Ascension Berry>...

[<Cerulean Bloodfruit>...

...

[Blueprint is complete.]

[<Lignified Giant Willow> is <Ascending>...]

[<Ascension> path is forced and immediate.]

[Congratulations! You’ve created <Level 100 Lignified Ascension Willow Lake (S Rank)>!]

[<Ascension Berry> effect triggers!]

[<Lignified Ascension Willow Lake> becomes <Lignified Ascension Life Willow Tree (S+ Rank)>.]

Liu Shu felt an incredibly deep connection to her new baby, and then her baby’s roots easily pieced into her own. Her World Saint Bloodsap flowed through the <Lignified Ascension Life Willow Tree> and flowed through the special transporting veins into the 1,210 rooms inside the newly born Life Tree.

As it did, the Life Tree’s essence bloomed out, creating an incredibly attractive area that alerted even the Verdant Elder. Every single creature looked over, feeling a sense of greed toward it, as if they had discovered a treasure born from the universe itself.

After Liu Shu’s World Saint Bloodsap filled all the pool rooms with the shimmering blueish sap, the process was completed, and the new being’s ego awakened.

A soft and adorable voice, that of a young girl, reached Liu Shu’s hearing sense. "Good morning, mommy~."

The creamy, sweet voice almost made Liu Shu squeal with delight. She tried to hold back the urge to squeeze her cute new baby. "Good morning, my pretty little love~. How are you feeling?"

"Greaat~, hehehe. Thank you for bringing me to the world, Mommy!"

"Ah! I can’t resist this cute, adorable little thing!"

Her roots quickly climbed up the Life Tree’s body, hugging her tightly and caressing her all over. "You are so cuteeee!"

"Hehehe~."

The Life Tree giggled adorably, happy to feel her mother’s roots around her body. Liu Shu smiled widely. "Alright, baby. You will be named... Apothea. Do you like it?"

"Yay! I love it!"

Liu Shu laughed, delighted. Then, she spoke softly to her. "Alright, baby. You’ve become a bit stronger than I initially expected. So, I will tell you slowly what your duty is, alright?"

"Mhm! Mhm!"

Aionthra, who had been looking, couldn’t help but smile and speak up. "Little Sister is so cute."

Liu Shu very much agreed with her baby Empress. Then, she spoke to Apothea gently, her roots caressing her lovingly. "You are the place where people will go through <Ascension>. Those inside must never bother each other, and there can only be one person per room."

Apothea made sounds of agreement, like a good baby listening to her words.

"Good. Among your skills, you should have one that allows you to create an Avatar, right? We won’t use it yet, though. Let’s get a bit older and learn new things before that, alright?"

"I will listen to Mommy!"

"Good girl~. My Little Apothea is so cute!"

"Hehehe."

If Apothea were a child, her giggling would have made her sweet dimples appear. Liu Shu then spoke about a few things that she needed to take into account, and she also gave her a supply of S- Rank fruits and tea.

After all, anyone who would be selected to <Ascend> inside Apothea would be at the top of the top, and the best of the best. Therefore, having a supply of all fruits for those who had not yet eaten any was a must.

Aionthra looked at Apothea and couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. "Mother has managed to create another miracle. When she grows up, Little Apothea will be one of the most absurd existences within the Golden Sap Empire."

As a recently awakened and leveled-up being, she still had immature skills and needed to develop. However, once she did develop in the correct direction... Aionthra guessed that Liu Shu’s top-tier powerhouses would become quite terrifying existences.

Aionthra’s elegant lips arched, her purple eyes shining with excitement and expectation for the future. ’Little Sister, grow well and healthy.’