Around ten days after the first communication, the Covenant's fleet finally arrived at Ceperet. After receiving so many outsiders, Liu Shu had vacated a large area outside Golden Sap City and helped build a massive hangar.
Even then, the mothership-type starships would need too much fuel to lift off after landing. Therefore, like many other starships, they decided to leave it in satellite mode. With just a few people taking care of it, the starship would automatically orbit Ceperet and maintain itself in rest with minimal consumption.
So, the ones that landed on Ceperet would be the transport and scout ships.
Before landing though, all of them became somewhat… stunned. Liu Shu, after ten years of gradual and gentle Experience Point digestion, had already reached Level 190. Thanks to that gentle absorption, even if she made a burst Level Up to reach Level 200, she could complete it very quickly.
The result of this Leveling was, of course, a ridiculous increase in size. When she first reached Level 150, Liu Shu had already grown tall enough to rival some Level 200 World Trees, reaching an incredible height of 250,000 meters.
Now, at Level 190, Liu Shu's height had gone through a ridiculous transformation. She, after growing all these years, had reached an absolutely ridiculous height of 1,825,000 meters.
She was basically a tenth as tall as Ceperet was wide. An absurd height for a World Tree that had not yet reached the
When the Verdant Elder and the rest of the fleet noticed the gigantic World Tree sticking out so absurdly, they all fell into a momentary daze. The height Liu Shu was currently sporting matched World Trees in the high 200s.
While the Covenant's World Tree was larger, the difference in Level between them made them think that the very fact that they were comparing them was ridiculous.
The female archbishop asked, confused. "Has she already reached the
The Verdant Elder shook his head, his mood equally complex. "I don't know. However, with that height, I wouldn't discard that possibility. We can only clarify things with Elyne later… Or so I hope."
Seeing the fleet approach, Liu Shu welcomed them, her voice spreading within their ships with ease. "Welcome, envoys of the Covenant. I hope your future stay is to your liking. The accommodations have been prepared, so please follow my instructions. Oh, and since we are a relatively new power, we have yet to research a way to create space stations, so I hope you can leave your larger ships in satellite mode or park them on the Moon. Either way is possible."
When Liu Shu mentioned the moon, the Verdant Elder glanced over lightly. Yet, the second he did, his gaze got stuck on the Moon.
Instead of the greyish celestial body he had been described in past reports, what entered his sight was a somewhat grey, somewhat blue, somewhat green, and slightly cloudy celestial body.
The grey areas were naturally made of moon soil, but the other colors, which didn't seem to be from metals accumulated in the surface, could only be explained by large amounts of water and flora.
'Water and flora on the Moon?'
It was not a rare sight, as many advanced civilizations were able to terraform moons to a certain extent. However, the problem was that this process extended for at least centuries and became a money pit that, more often than not, was not worth filling.
And yet, a new power that could be considered "poor" by most standards compared to the Covenant had done what even they had hesitated to do until recently.
'How did they terraform the Moon so easily? What kind of technology do they have?'
He didn't even consider Liu Shu being the culprit because World Trees didn't bother themselves with these matters. Why would they focus attention on terraforming a Moon when they could use that effort to stretch their roots? If they lacked livable space, it was much more efficient to search and take over habitable worlds.
Remember that for common people, a True World Tree's invasion was a plus, never negative. After all, most True World Trees had plenty of buffs that boosted living conditions and security to a certain extent. So, for normal people, they prefer having a World Tree than not having one most of the time.
Only societies that were taught that World Trees were evil, conquering beings would resist.
"They terraformed the Moon?"
Someone asked, not really understanding how it was possible. The Verdant Elder took a light, deep breath and exhaled. "Prepare to enter satellite mode… Send a few of our Moon Canopy Starships to the Moon as well."
"Understood."
The fleet was divided into two, and Liu Shu, who saw it, only smiled silently. 'Odd things are great in creating mysteries and caution, aren't they? Let's see how you will react with the welcome I've prepared. Let's see how long your superiority complex… lasts. Hehe.'
The question that Liu Shu wanted to forcefully drill into their heads was, "Is the Golden Sap Empire truly a subordinate power, or an independent power living within Covenant territory?"
Making the guess while being friendly would be the best way to stall for conclusions and reactions. Leave them hanging, leave them guessing, leave them unsure of when to push or when to pull. Only then will they fail to react once her strength reaches a certain level.
Only then would Liu Shu bloom even when the swamp around her was trying to swallow her.
The fleet approached Liu Shu's World Tree body, and while they scanned what Liu Shu used to not affect Ceperet, even with her height, they passed through. After all, Liu Shu covered the entire area around Golden Sap City to the point that a large part of the continent was already covered under her canopy.
Thankfully, she was translucent, so she didn't block out the sunlight.
As they dove down while standing on top of the
It looked solid to the point that nothing below
The
Finally, the inner ring was mostly flat and lacked
These fields were mostly under Verdantia's authority, with assistance from many other officials.
Overall, the city looked like an ancient forest, molded into a livable city, with an inner expanse for farming. It was both visually attractive and refreshing. A completely autonomous city that, even if the rest of the world suddenly died off, would survive on its own.
A miracle of urban planning created by Liu Shu herself by exploiting the ability to speed up crop growing, poultry, and cattle.
Most people from the Covenant, who liked nature, felt their eyes light up. This city was not a mess of rushed growth, but a perfectly planned and developed city, no less imposing than the main cities in the Covenant.
The Verdant Elder rubbed his green beard, his eyes full of wonder. 'Who is the genius who created this layering? Only… it feels as if something is missing right in the middle.'
He was right, as that location was planned by Liu Shu to house a World Tree. However, when Liu Shu asked if they wanted to place another World Tree there instead of herself, she received a unanimous and passionate denial. All of them told Liu Shu that the center of the Golden Sap City was her growth place, a sacred land no other World Tree would ever occupy.
Since it was the truth, Liu Shu left the place untouched and empty. Even she felt some attachment, as it was the place where she was born and lived all her life.
The starships landed at the airport Liu Shu had guided them to, and soon everyone began disembarking. The group that walked out with the Verdant Elder was not that large, around 100 people. The rest were waiting inside for the Verdant Elder's notice to come down and go to their accommodations.
Those who went down, except a few of them, were all individuals over Level 190. A group that, not that long ago, would've intimidated Liu Shu. Now, though, they were a group weak enough that Liu Shu herself felt capable of fighting.
Of course, the Verdant Elder was still someone Liu Shu dared not underestimate.
Still, even though she herself was cautious, Liu Shu's people had both the courage and strength to face him and even suppress him.
The Verdant Elder looked at the group of around 30, welcoming them, and his heart shook for a moment. It was because, besides the petite and harmless-looking short girl at the front, there were many existences who looked about to reach Level 200, with three of them already there.
Moreover, of these three existences, two of them were quite familiar. 'Seraphina and Obsidianis? What are they doing here? Weren't they supposed to have gone to sects to train?'
The Verdant Elder, as he pondered silently, noticed Veyra standing by Obsidianis side. Once he did, his heart thumped. '...Veyra was in this world!?'
He had momentarily forgotten, but now that he recalled, his calm facial expression almost cracked. Veyra was here, yet the Covenant abandoned this place. Obsidianis's feelings were easy to guess.
The small woman at the very front suddenly stepped forward, her gorgeous emerald-green dress shining as her jade-green hair fluttered softly in the refreshing breeze. Her amethyst-colored eyes, tinged with a gentle smile, glanced at them as she made a courteous bow, holding the sides of her skirt.
"Welcome. Once again, it is a pleasure to receive such important envoys. We've prepared accommodations and a location for talks as well. Still, I would like to ask if you want to rest for a bit after such a lengthy journey."
The Verdant Elder was a bit confused, but he smiled politely at the woman who seemed to have absolutely no combat abilities. "Thank you for your welcome, Miss. If it is not too rude, we would like to stay in the accommodations for a bit to rest and ease our minds. Being cooped up in a starship for long feels somewhat stifling, haha. Also, may I know your name?"
The woman who straightened herself smiled and chuckled. "Oh my, sorry for the late presentation, I guess. I am Tianlian Liu Shu, the Heavenly Willow's Avatar. A pleasure to meet you."
The 100 envoys felt their brains crash for a second, that information bomb exploding with enough force to make their gazes blank for over five seconds.