Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

'Hm~ I feel much better.' 

Liu Shu looked around her body and roots, feeling the new energy that flowed through her veins. 'I can stretch further without being uncomfortable, hehe~.' 

While her roots didn't really have a limit to how far they could go, the further they went, the weaker they became. She had an optimal distance for how far they could go, and if she went over that, the root network might've weakened. Her root limit after reaching Level 14 was 2320 meters from her core. 

'Oh? What's happening around the town?'

Liu Shu looked around, and she saw the Rose Fairies wearing new clothes. They all wore pretty red dresses with graceful designs. The color made them look like real Rose Fairies. After all, the red dress complemented their looks quite nicely with their natural white skin, red hair, and ruby-like eyes. 

She quickly found Flor, who was resting with Ignatia in her Queen's room and asked. "What is happening?"

Flor blinked. "Oh? You woke up, Liu Shu. How is everything? Do you feel good?"

Liu Shu answered happily. "I do! My stats have grown a lot, too."

Ignatia curled one of Flor's hair locks around her finger and asked. "Well, Liu Shu, since you are awake, we are going to need to open the town soon!" 

Liu Shu answered quite unenthusiastically. "Oh."

Flor asked, confused. "Is there something wrong?" 

"No, nothing's wrong." Then, Liu Shu said with a happy tone. "I'll go check the rest of the things I've unlocked! See you later~... Ah!" Flor and Ignatia looked at the walls, and Liu Shu asked. "How many more materials do we have?"

The Rose Fairy Queen smiled. "There is a list we made in the <Lignified Treasure Vault>."

Liu Shu said enthusiastically. "Nice!" Then, she moved her vision to the vault and started checking on it. 'Oh~, with this, I can do everything in the quest list other than the Stable, Farm, and I need to add three… one more defensive structure… One?"

Liu Shu looked at the [4/5] with a confused gaze. 'Which ones are considered Defensive structures?'

[System Hint: <Mother Of Thousand Flower Field>, <Lignified Defensive Wall>, <Temple Of Summoning>, and <Unnamed>.]

Liu Shu asked again. 'Which one is the unnamed one?'

[System Hint: Location is North.]

'North? OH!' Liu Shu remembered the defensive structure that she had built around her tree mom by the lake's side. 'I see. That one also counts, even though it is so far from me?'

[System Hint: All <Defensive> buildings that are inside your <Domain> count toward your <Quest>.]

Liu Shu hummed. 'I see… Thanks System!' Then, she pondered. 'One more defensive structure. What to build~? Something nice, something that can protect a lot of area~. Hmhm~.'

The World Tree looked around the area, thinking about what to build. 'It needs to be a building. So, it won't be able to move… Can I just create another <Mother Of Thousand Flower Field>? It is quite efficient and powerful.' 

Then, she remembered Finnian, and Liu Shu stopped. 'No… I need something to help me with very strong people. I already have the wall and the flower field against hordes of enemies. So, I need something to fight individual enemies.' 

Liu Shu's mind began thinking. She planned several things, but nothing came to mind. To get inspiration, she started looking around. Her <World Tree Eye> expanded and went to the outside, searching for answers across the forest. 'Explosive beans? Similar to the flower field. Thorns? It won't really work against a powerful creature. Carnivorous plants? A powerful person won't really fall into that.'

Liu Shu sighed, looking around. 'Poisons? Not too effective… Insect swarms? Many weak things won't really take down a big one. There is nothing interesting… What am I supposed to do…?'

She could create something at random. However, that was not a good way to do the <Sylvan Quest>. The system evaluated these <Quests>, so completing them half-assedly was not something she shouldn't do. Moreover, the <Quest>'s rewards were plentiful; increasing them would only benefit her.

Not finding anything outside, she looked inside the ant nest. However, she still had nothing. Traps were not something that Liu Shu was fond of or found useful at all.

Then, she looked around the town, expecting to find nothing. However, her gaze landed on Wert with interest. 

There were people moving around him while he walked, looking around for threats and battle-ready at all times. 'Bodyguards? 'Hm… A guardian?' 

The World Tree's eyes flashed with interest. 'A guardian could be good. Different from my summons, he would grow with me and fight with me against powerful foes. Moreover, since the guardian will create soldiers to fight for me, it isn't really at risk of dying during the battle.'

With an idea in mind, Liu Shu started reviewing all the knowledge and planning a way to grow a tree-like being that could summon a powerful guardian.

"LIU SHU!"

The World Tree's concentration broke as a beautiful white moth with black and yellow colors adoring her body landed on her branches. Liu Shu sighed in her mind and asked. "What's wrong, Mariane?"

Mariane begged, her face filled with tears. "C-Can you make your Library work faster!? PLEASE! Y-YOU ARE ONLY WRITING 2000 WORDS PER DAY! The rune crafting book that you are writing is so interesting! BUT YOU ARE KILLING ME WITH YOUR WRITING SPEED. 60,000 words per month is heart-wrenching!"

Liu Shu answered, confused. "I can't really go quicker… I've already printed 400,000 words, right? Isn't that… almost half of that rune crafting book you want? Only one more year to go."

Mariane fell to her hands and knees. "I am being cliffhung by a tree. What has my life devolved into…?"

The World Tree asked, baffled. "What cliffhanger? I am not hanging you!"

Mariane coughed as she stood up. "It is a way of speaking, Liu Shu. Don't mind that. Anyway, I am leaving; sorry if I interrupted anything~." 

The World Tree looked as the mothkin flew away and pondered. 'Mariane is strong… So… should I create a golem that is similar to her? Who is the strongest person I know?' 

Liu Shu pondered and muttered. 'Branthis? Hmm… He was very strong. Do I create a vine creature? A restricting creature can be good if I need something to stop and help me fight strong individual enemies. Something that can hold them back while I attack them.'

Liu Shu found the idea appealing, so she looked around her and started thinking of where to make it grow. There was still a large area in the inner circle where nothing was built. She had the farmland covering around 1/2 of the inner area. 

Meanwhile, the remaining half would have a few houses built for those close to her, leaving a fourth free. 'If I use this land to create the creature that will be building the defensive beings, it would be able to work fast and efficiently. Moreover, I would solve the problem of what to do with that area and be able to protect those close people.' 

So, Liu Shu started working by building five extra houses in the outer residential area and five new homes in the inner part. With each tree house accommodating 16 residents without losing comfort, five inner houses were more than enough for Liu Shu's close people.

While she did that, Flor went and informed Wert about Liu Shu's awakening. Wert had been living in the Golden Sap Town more often lately because of Finnian being around. While the other city could be attacked, that one was more secure as the <Explorer Association> was interested in it. 

Wert sat in his office inside the <Lignified Explorer Association> building and received the news, making him smile. "Perfect. That Life Tree really took her time to Level Up. Well, it helped cleanse the area's air with the ridiculous energy she used. Moreover…" Looking around, he could feel the better wood quality of the building. "It seems that the Life Tree is connected with these buildings one way or another, allowing them to benefit from Liu Shu's Level Ups."

Wert grinned. "That's honestly ridiculous. This entire place is ridiculous. A blessing, pure aura, extraordinary housing, a decent location, powerful fruits, and now, buildings that develop with the Life Tree." Thinking of that, Wert pondered and wrote a letter. "Send this letter to Queen Flor and this one to headquarters. That Life Tree is almost as valuable as a World Tree without its disadvantages."

A man and woman approached, and after taking the letters, they walked outside. 

Meanwhile, in the surrounding cities, there were suddenly people speaking about the new town that was opening in the heart of the Golden Sap Forest. 

"Have you heard? It is a town right in the middle. Isn't that very dangerous?"

"Well, the Golden Sap Forest has always been a low-level area. Although things have changed a bit lately, I've heard that there will be protection for entering and leaving the area."

"Ha! Have you heard what kind of protection it is?"

The people around turned to look at the man who spoke, and he shouted. "Monsters! They are using monsters!"

Everyone was stunned. "What? How could it be?"

The man shrugged. "I've heard that they've managed to contact and communicate with an intelligent type of Rose Fairies. They even have a Queen Rose Fairy or something."

A woman with expensive-looking armor looked over and asked. "Other than Rose Fairies, are there any other types of creatures?"

The man nodded and grinned. "You might not believe it, but… Fire Ants and Myconids. Myconids are quite intelligent for what they usually are, and they are there to provide some potions and such. Meanwhile, the Fire Ants are something similar to soldiers. Although, I won't go there even if you pay me 10 Tyn! Hahaha."

The woman rubbed her chin with a thoughtful face. 'A town of monsters being opened as an Intelligent Race Settlement? That's… Too odd. There must be something else going on.'

She returned to the inn where she was staying and quickly ran upstairs. Then, she knocked on three doors. "Hey! Come out!"

The doors opened, and a Sylvan woman came out from one of those. "What's going on? Didn't we decide to rest for today?"

The human female grinned. "I've found something interesting. There is a town in the Golden Sap Forest with tamed Rose Fairies, Fire Ants, and Myconids! Wanna go look? We might find something interesting."

The Sylvan woman asked, stunned. "Who in their right mind would open a town with… ants? Like, real giant ants?" The Sylvan sighed. "I mean, I can understand Rose Fairies… Even Myconids are relatively harmless as long as they are not provoked. However, ants?"

The human female shrugged. "That's why it is interesting. There is probably something else to it if they insisted on opening the town even if ants inhabit it." 

Many groups heard about it, and the adventurous ones were tempted to go visit. Faster than Wert had anticipated, all the caravans that led to the Golden Sap Town were full and on the road.