While Cinderielle was getting sucked dry by the World Tree, part of her main consciousness went to speak with Elyne and the other Covenant top brass. The five of them gathered in the Eternal Church Cathedral, together with Flor, Mariane, Ignatia, and some other top crafters.
While Liu Shu was respected all throughout the world, her standing among crafters was particularly high. She was considered, without anyone complaining, the number one crafter in the world.
Most of the knowledge books spread throughout the continents were written by Liu Shu, while any new findings would be absorbed by her like a sponge and incorporated into the new printed editions. With the ridiculous advantage toward book-sorting and creating the
Liu Shu would substitute a book, and professionals would copy it and send it across the continent. These transcriptions took around a month to spread worldwide. Even if there was no new information, to not lose her edge, Liu Shu always reprinted a new version of each book she wrote in each science at the beginning of the year.
This took her two weeks of straight book printing, but it was worth it, as she sometimes had epiphanies while printing and made breakthroughs.
For example, the technology of level-growing equipment has changed quite a bit. Before, Liu Shu created a "growing" piece of equipment that Leveled Up with the user. Now, she did things a bit differently.
While the item still had the ability to Level Up, the top level was not as fixed as before. First, Liu Shu would create a powerful item, and then seal its potential by lowering the level.
This way, there was a chance for the item to evolve and go beyond. Equipment like this was incredibly complex to create, though. In Ceperet, there were only 10 crafters who could apply the latest Level-Sealing technology.
Those who managed to do so were called "Living Equipment Crafters" by the community.
The World Trees around the world were also in crafting. Their processing speed was extremely helpful, making them proficient crafters among the lot. Even the worst World Tree in crafting was inside the "genius" standard for intelligent races, with the best being Liu Shu, who was the benchmark that all crafters aspired to achieve.
Now, Liu Shu was about to revolutionize crafting one more time.
"I've gathered all of you here to say that I've gained a lot of new knowledge."
Her tone was soft, her cadence pleasant, and her aura boundless yet full of gentleness. Liu Shu's voice had not changed much during the years, but as she matured mentally, it gained a sense of stability and confidence that made the listener pay attention.
Elyne asked, curious. "What new knowledge?"
Liu Shu organized her thoughts and spoke unhurriedly. There was a lot to speak of, so being hasty would only make information more difficult to swallow.
"For starters, I've internalized most of the technology needed to create an informatic era. I know how to create infrastructure and how to maintain it, and we can even create flying objects to orbit beyond our atmosphere as signal receptors and emitters. Such things will need time to develop, as we must make sure that we can retrieve them after their useful lifetime has finished, so that we can reuse, or, for a better term, recycle them."
The people of Ceperet half-understood what Liu Shu spoke about. Some terms were fuzzy, but the overall idea was not difficult to understand.
However, the Covenant leaders were stunned and looked at Liu Shu's wooden avatar with wide-open eyes. Veyra jumped into the conversation, her tone incredulous. "Have you really absorbed computer-related knowledge? How did you do it that fast?"
Liu Shu had never revealed Wisdom's tier to anyone. Not even Flor and the others. In the entire world, only her lovers, who could check her stat page in its entirety, knew about her SSS Rank skill.
As she Leveled Up and managed to bring more of the skill's benefits, Liu Shu had started to truly appreciate how monstrous this skill was. Without it, she would probably still be in the midst of researching equipment that could Level Up. No, much worse, as she might not have finished her Level 100 Ascension and died under Altherion's invasion.
World Tree Wisdom was the sturdiest foundation Liu Shu stood on, and the
"I have skills that help me analyze information. I learned it by chance in the past." Liu Shu explained in passing, not going into detail. "Either way, that's not important. What's important is that I want to reshuffle the entire culture and world, pushing everything into a more technological era. Still, I don't really like how technology developed in the information I've gathered, so I need a bit of time to mix
"That's impossible in a short amount of time." Veyra answered. Being one of, if not the most intelligent among the Covenant group, she had a deep understanding of the cosmos.
In the cosmos, there were two main development paths. Either you focused on supporting World Trees and using the ternary essences to create a semi-medieval society, or you leaned entirely into the technological aspect and pushed the civilization into a science faction.
The paths were a bit of a spectrum, as some technology would still be used in World Tree civilizations, and some Life Trees would be part of the technological societies.
Veyra explained that and then added. "The main focus needed to point in either one or the other direction. Otherwise, our society will get too complex or be stuck. Stopping progress in the fierce competition for our galaxy's resources is a death sentence."
Liu Shu patiently listened to Veyra, absorbing her insights and never disregarding anything. Her wooden avatar's blue, glowing eyes shifted toward the others. "What about you four? Do you have any insights beyond what Veyra explained?"
Cael spoke with a pondering look. "I do agree with Veyra. Military forces will be too convoluted if you mix paths. Do we use
Lysara, Elyne, and Orwen didn't have any extra points, so they didn't add anything else.
Liu Shu nodded and spoke. "I understand what you are saying. I also understand the drawbacks that you speak of. You don't want us to develop into a tree with all the fruits, but have those fruits taste mediocre. You want me to focus on apples and refine those apples until one bite is so delicious that others can't compare, right?"
Veyra chuckled and nodded. "That's a way to put it, yes."
Liu Shu squinted. "What if I can develop all the fruits to the level of the apples?"
Veyra and Cael didn't dismiss the World Tree. They deeply understood how perverse Liu Shu's developing speed was. She wasn't even 100 years old, yet she had spread her roots to three worlds and was about to become Level 150.
"I understand what you say. But I really wish you could focus on speed and stability without getting too sidetracked. You are about to reach Level 150 in 100 years. This leveling speed, I've only seen on my daughter, Obsidianis, and her rival, Seraphina."
Liu Shu pondered, but ultimately didn't agree completely. "I really think that, if it were ever the time to try to become a tree with all the fruits, while growing them deliciously, now is the time. I have yet to develop any significant or deterministic science. If I start now to create the networks, infrastructure for computers, etc., I will not be able to easily replace everything once it stabilizes and integrates with society."
Veyra crossed her arms, her eyes squinting in thought. "It's a big risk. What if we find a bottleneck down the line and we need to take down the infrastructure?"
"If there is a bottleneck, that means that there is a path beyond." Liu Shu answered confidently. "Even if we encounter a wall, I will pierce it with my roots until it crumbles and shows the path beyond."
Veyra looked at Liu Shu and smiled faintly. "Alright. Let's give it a try. We've already offered you all the information we carried with us. So, you are on your own in that regard. If you need any assistance, you can ask me. I've been spending time with Mariane and slowly getting involved."
Mariane nodded with a smile, her moth wings gently flapping as she spoke. "She has been quite helpful. Together with your new information, we've managed to develop ways to strengthen runic fields and array layouts, among many other things."
"Great." Liu Shu smiled. "I will now focus on my self-realm research. I want to Level Up as fast as possible before I dive deep into what we just spoke about."
After that, Liu Shu spoke about a few other things, while saying that she would withhold the release of the books for now. If any of the foundation-level ideas explained later become invalid, it would be hard to relearn without having the thinking framework of the previous information.
"Now. Let's find a method to Level Up without worries."
Liu Shu dissolved her avatar and refocused on herself. Cinderielle was sleeping on her Avatar's bosom, giving Liu Shu a sense of peace and calm. Her avatar gently caressed Cinderielle's hair, her lips planting gentle kisses on her forehead from time to time.
"What is my main problem when Leveling Up and gaining size?" Liu Shu asked herself and then answered. "My biggest problem is the integrity of the underground passages, and the space I would need to occupy. My Golden Sap City's ideal size is 200 kilometers across. I planned for that in the beginning, and while it can go further, it wouldn't be ideal. It was supposed to support me up to 50,000 meters in height, which I thought I wouldn't reach before Level 200."
Even when she was far larger than other World Trees, her size increase was not as monstrous before she gained the "universal" moniker in her race. Now, it was clear that her size was about to surge exponentially.
"Alright, since that's the problem, I need to find a new anchor that won't halt my growth. Even when Ceperet itself grows with me in sturdiness and can easily support me, the problem limiting me is not Ceperet, but the city around me. I can leave a
The second main problem that Liu Shu noticed was even more inconvenient. "My fruits… how will the fruit gatherers even work?"
Liu Shu's
It was time to stop being part of "nature" and start to become part of the "cosmos." The work needed was great, but Liu Shu was confident.