Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Eric was quite excited. 'I never really had so many Shards to work with.' 

Before coming to this place, Eric was not considered an excellent person. The reason Cinderielle, Verdantia, and Tempestria even contacted him in the first place was because he was trustful and saw that he had potential to grow. 

After all, with the big secret that they needed to keep, the Sylvans valued trustworthiness over skill when they were searching for people. 

'I should contact one of the bigger trading firms that have arrived at the town… Hm.' Eric paused and shook his head. 'That's a bad idea. People will have questions when trying to sell or exchange so many shards in this new place. Any respected merchant would try to do the same in a more developed place. If they investigate and discover where I work, they can link everything, and it can become a disaster.' 

Eric arrived at the vault and entered, guided by Liu Shu. After entering the large subterranean room, he couldn't help but pause. After all, the structure was almost entirely made of Liu Shu's roots. Liu Shu's roots had glowing energy veins that illuminated the area, leaking a profound aura of energy that commanded respect.

Eric walked forward as if it were a sacred place where loud sounds were not allowed. 

When he arrived before the pile of shards, he was somewhat stunned. The shards were gathered in a large container that was half his size. He approached and took one of the shards with two fingers on each side. Each of the <Cognium Shards> was nearly ten centimeters long and two centimeters wide with a rhombus shape. 

These small crystals were the essence of powerful thoughts that crystallized before death. While Eric knew that these ones were created by Liu Shu via an unknown process, the crystals were purer than usual. Usually, Cognium Shards were difficult to work with because of the remnant will that created them. Yet, as Eric held this shard, he felt nothing but a serene and calm aura flowing from them. It was to the point that he wanted to have one as a necklace. 

Liu Shu's tender and soothing voice reached him. "Everything okay, Eric?"

Eric smiled. "I was appreciating the purity of the shard. It's much different from those I saw in the past." 

"Is it that different?"

Hearing the curiosity in the World Tree's voice, Eric nodded. "They are very different. Usually, Cognium Shards give a sense of uneasiness, even the ones with positive feelings. They are really different from these; the ones you produce have a soothing effect. They are so comfortable to hold that I would go as far as recommending to give one in a pendant or necklace to each of our workers. It is an expensive gift, though."

Liu Shu listened to him and commented. "I'll try to create a Level 0 Pendant with each of them that has a soothing effect. Is having a calmer mind very useful?"

Eric blinked and answered. "Well, yes. A calm mind can help one focus and work better." 

"I see~. Then, I'll take 132 of them to make 132 pendants. Use the remaining 1200 to exchange for 700 Etherium and 500 Ascendium." 

Eric smiled. "With these ones, I can probably get you many more. I'll take them out in batches of 100. Then, I'll sell them to different places and try to make a profit for the next month or so. What do you think, Liu Shu? If I sell like 40 of them per day, it won't spark a lot of attention."

"Sure~." Seeing that Eric was excited, Liu Shu found Ignatia in her nest room. The Ant Queen was lying on her comfortable bed, eating different kinds of animals, vegetables, and other types of nutritious things that her children carried. "Ignatia!"

The Ant Queen propped her upper body, looking sleepy. "Yes…?"

Liu Shu asked. "Oh… Were you sleeping? Because your eyes are always the same and you were eating, I thought you were awake…"

Ignatia chuckled. "Well, I need to eat for my babies to grow strong. I can eat while sleeping. If not, I would never really be able to sleep. I am almost always hungry~." 

Liu Shu giggled. "I see~. You are like me! I always eat~. The Sun is quite yummy, and the soil is also nice~. The occasional animal that falls down and I eat is also quite interesting." 

Ignatia asked, curious. "Interesting?"

"Yes!" Liu Shu hummed. "To extract the nutrients from fleshy beings, I need to penetrate them with my roots and slowly absorb their essence. I also have a lot of fun crushing the bones. They do like crack, crack, crack sounds that are very satisfying."

Ignatia laughed. "You are quite a cute one, aren't you?" Ignatia then commented. "So, I assume you talked to me because you wanted to speak about the equipment. What's wrong?"

Liu Shu explained the situation, and Ignatia nodded. "Great! Tell me when you are done with them. Now, shoo, shoo. I want to continue my nap." 

Liu Shu answered cheerfully. "Okay~." 

She expanded her vision range and looked around. Then, she froze. 'Hm… Now what?' She realized that, other than waiting, she had nothing much to do. Her subconsciousness was working on the defensive structure, the <Low-Rank Stable>, and the <Low-Rank Farm>. 

Feeling a moment of respite, she couldn't help but relax. 'Ah… It has been a while since I didn't have anything to do…' While that was not the entire truth, there was nothing urgent. So, instead of focusing on certain places, she allowed her mind to relax as her consciousness expanded throughout the entirety of her domain.

'Hm~, so peaceful~.'

The cycle of life was ongoing, with creatures of the forest fighting creatures, some giving birth, and others dying in a fight. The residents who had arrived eagerly bought her residences, and some people even rented more than one apartment. 

There were some problems with the Rose Fairies, but she didn't intervene in anything and just observed. Being an observer was so comfortable that she really didn't want to think and start intruding into the lives of others.

One week went by silently, and the Golden Sap Town's popularity was blooming. During this time, Liu Shu finished the Stable and Farm buildings, but she hadn't accepted the rewards yet. She even had to choose a Runic Field, but she just couldn't bother herself to move. 'Hmm… I'll do it when I finish building the defensive structure. The structure should be done in… in… eight more days? Yeah~.'

The wind caressed her leaves, moving her beautiful drooping branches, and her roots extended underground, piercing everything in their way. 'Hm~ the mine under me is quite deep. I've already gone two kilometers underground, but I am still finding passages…' When she opened a part of the tunnels, she felt an attack coming her way. 

Bang!

The creature's sharp claws hit her roots, activating Liu Shu's relaxed mind with pain. Then, her conscience descended together with a pulse of energy. 'What is attacking me? It hurt…'

She searched around the area, but the thing that attacked her was gone. She couldn't detect it. 'Hm… Are there creatures this deep underground?'

While exploring the area, Liu Shu discovered the traces of the creatures. Curious, she followed those traces, using a single root and pumping ternary essences and nutrients into it to grow further.

After a little while, she broke through the rocks and expanded her senses into the cave. 'I can feel a few beings here… However, none of them are at a high Level. Wait.' She focused her eyesight on one of them, and she discovered that she was quite wrong. 'Hm? Level 14? Level 15? Why are they down here? No… How did they achieve this Level? Compared to how the Golden Sap Forest was before, just a few of the creatures living here would've been enough to rule the surface area completely…'

She counted a total of 14 creatures, with the weakest being Level 12 and the strongest being Level 16. Thinking that they were probably not the only ones, Liu Shu decided to do a thorough scan of the mines. 

She stopped stretching outward and focused on increasing the root net density right below her. 'I should be aware of these tunnels in case those creatures try to go outside. 

So, she focused on reinforcing the number of roots across the mine for the following eight days. The increased activity didn't go unnoticed by Terra and Terran. They recorded it and faithfully reported it to Flor. 

Flor looked at it and was curious. After all, the mine shouldn't have anything that would interest Liu Shu. The minerals that they were mining, Lir Ores, were the most valuable as currency. 

Wanting to know what she was up to, Flor decided to go and ask. The last thing she wanted was a big surprise when the Town was developing so well. 

"Liu Shu, can you talk?"

The voice of the World Tree reached her. "Yes? What's wrong, Flor?"

Flor paused and suddenly realized something. 'How long has it been since I talked to her?' 

She had been so busy that she completely ignored Liu Shu for the last two weeks. Of course, Flor understood that Liu Shu didn't need a lot of attention, but that was not an excuse not to check in on her from time to time. Instead of her original question, Flor flew and sat on one of her branches. "How have you been doing lately, love? Is everything all right?"

Liu Shu looked at Flor and felt happy that the question was not about work or something related to the city. With enthusiasm, she started sharing what she had done during the last few days. "You see, I've been building the farm, stable, and even the last defensive building! I am almost done with the quest!" 

Liu Shu muttered. "If it were not because Verena gave me a few materials for the Library, I would still be in trouble! Who knows if I could find those strange timbers by myself!" 

Flor's lips arched as she leaned back and closed her eyes, relaxing with the wind as Liu Shu's voice surrounded her. "Then! I was exploring the mines, and when reaching around two kilometers underground, I was attacked! Did you know that there are a bunch of creatures that are over Level 10 living down there? I found one small group, and the weakest one was Level 12!" 

Flor's eyes opened with surprise, and she frowned. "How do they look, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu hummed. "I don't know… It was too dark! I know that they have VERY sharp claws. They could slice through my bark! They are also tall! Like… two meters tall! And… hm… I couldn't really discern much more. Only that their Aether Mana feels very earthy." 

Flor knew that Liu Shu couldn't really "see" underground with <World Tree Eye>. The skill simulated human-like vision, so she needed light to see. Of course, she was not blind when roaming those dark places. As a World Tree, she had natural ways to look at her surroundings. The problem was that, while more detailed in terms of ternary essence observation, she couldn't see details, only general shapes.

Flor wanted to ask more, but Liu Shu exclaimed first. "Oh! I've finished the defensive structure! I can now go and see all my notifications!"