Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 343. Ominous Premonition.

Thalgryn’s group was looking at the battlefield with a serious expression. They had witnessed the fight from beginning to end, and they were shaken. The landscape alongside several hectares had been destroyed as if a gigantic hoe had just plowed through the entire place. The result of the battle was something Thalgryn expected, but the amount of effort Prarya needed to achieve it gave her a new level of appreciation for Liu Shu.

Prarya’s tired but clearly happy voice spread through the lands. “Heh. In the end, you are not my match!”

Liu Shu grumbled. “Not yet. However, when I reach Level 50, you will be helpless!”

Prarya didn’t deny it. “Indeed. But right now, I am stronger than you! You have a slight edge in raw attributes and the ability to move your roots. However, I have offensive skills! Hehehe, unless you learn one or two, forget about swallowing me before reaching Level 50~.”

Liu Shu harrumphed. “Don’t be so self-assured. Remember that I didn’t use my summons to fight you back! If I did, forget here, your main body might be in trouble!”

“You might be right…” Prarya then spoke with a smug tone. “But you lost in a pure frontal clash.”

Liu Shu was annoyed. While she lost, it was extremely close. More than her loss, it would be better to call it a stalemate. Who would be victorious in the end would not be that clear if the fight continued. Still, Liu Shu didn’t go back on her words or put forth excuses and accepted her loss magnanimously. The condition was clear: Who could reach a certain distance into the other person’s domain? Prarya was the first to do so. Hence, she won. As simple as that.

Prarya was still curious and asked. “Why didn’t you ask for help from your summons? I’ve heard that those flying snakes are powerful. If you had used them, I probably would’ve been defeated, right?”

Liu Shu didn’t answer straight away. She took a few moments thinking about how to put it into words. “What you wanted was not to test my strength. It was to test my character. I thought about it and decided that winning the bet by using external sources would not be fair to you. Big Sister Prarya is an experienced World Tree with many winters behind your back. If you are ever to submit to me, who has been actively expanding for a little less than twenty years, I can understand that your heart would remain slightly unwilling unless I show you absolute dominance.” 

Prarya listened silently as Liu Shu’s gentle and soothing voice spread throughout the ruined lands. “I want Big Sister Prarya and all the other big and little sisters that join in the future not to feel trapped. From the beginning, my only objective is to expand, and as long as no one comes in my way, I will naturally not bother them.”

Everyone was silent, only the echoes of Liu Shu’s gentle voice spreading around. Liu Shu chuckled softly and said. “I’ll challenge you in the future again, Big Sister Prarya! I’ll go deal with other things now! Bye bye~.”

Feeling the presence of the World Tree retreating, Prarya actually felt a sense of loss and almost stretched her roots to grab Liu Shu’s. However, she quickly stopped herself and calmed her body. ‘Wasn’t this the result I was hoping for? Why am I feeling… lonely?’

Thalgryn spoke aloud at this moment, her heroic face showing a sincere smile. “Prarya, just wait a bit.”

The sensation of being seen through made the World Tree slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed. She humphed and answered dishonestly. “Who is waiting for something? Don’t misunderstand me!”

Thalrgyn smiled and said nothing else to her. “Prepare the first army. We’ll come here and collect all the roots and sap leaked. They are very precious materials.” Thalgryn looked to the assistant who came with her and ordered it. “Send a letter to the <Celestial Lotus Empire>. If you have doubts, come to me.”

The assistant was somewhat worried and asked. “Lady Thalgryn, we’ve tried for so many years to reach this point, and now you are putting everything up in the air… Is it really worth it?”

Thalgryn waved her hand and chuckled. “Of course.” She looked into the distance, and as the wind blew her hair, she sighed. “We need to grasp opportunities when they appear in front of us.”

“But the Nexus…” 

“Enough. I’ve made up my mind.” Thalgryn glanced at the assistant coldly and spoke, her gaze flickering with a ferocious light. “They want a fight? Bring it on. We’ll see who remains rooted in the end.”

Deep in the Dark Aether Swamp, a group of people in dark mantles stood in front of a gigantic tree. However, far from exhuding the pure life most of her kind did, this one looked on the verge of dying. The gigantic tree was surrounded by a faint fog that blocked it from the view of everyone beyond a certain range. The canopy was lifeless, without a single leaf in sight, and some parts of it were falling apart and cracking constantly. 

The sounds were ominous, as if the forest was softly weeping together with the slow crumbling of the behemoth. The woman standing closest to the giant tree spread her arms and began chanting. “Oh, lady of the forest. Oh, creature of life. Turn your back to the light and envelop yourself in a veil of darkness. Allow us to guide you to live anew, to bloom death from life!”

The faint mist around the dying World Tree thickened and slowly seeped inside of it. Once it did so, the entire Tree wailed in pain, and with her wail, the <Dark Aether Swamp> became restless. 

The woman slowly lowered her arms and looked upward with a smile. “Ah… Isn’t this beautiful?”

The people around the dying World Tree approached and nodded with smiles. “Indeed, Lady. I don’t understand why Lady Evangeline would leave the Continent just because we didn’t deal with that World Tree. It is true that she had grown, but compared with our creation, she is nothing.”

The woman chuckled. “Lady Evangeline is getting old, it seems. Although her strength seems to have increased incredibly during the last years along with her daughter’s, her heart is no longer as brave. Her shining talents will eventually dim as long as she doesn’t take advantage of situations like this one.”

The woman touched the ashen bark of the Corrupted World Tree and chuckled. “You held up for a long time, didn’t you? You even tried to help that little World Tree last time~, I wonder why? Did you see hope from her?”

A voice distorted by sounds similar to ghosts wailing reached them. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

The woman chuckled. “You can try to not tell me, but I can force you to tell me, right? Which one do you prefer, oh mighty World Tree?”

The Corrupted World Tree felt the influence coming from the woman drilling into her mind, but she resisted. A few years ago, a curious young World Tree entered her domain, and at first, she wanted to make her leave by scaring her. However, when she felt the purifying nature of her sap, a ray of hope appeared in her tainted core. ‘Her warmth and cleansing ability was so powerful that I almost got addicted to it. If I didn’t quickly scare her away, my corrupted aura might’ve hurt her.’ The Corrupted World Tree spoke softly. “If I taint a being as pure as her… What’s the meaning of my resistance?”

The people heard her mutter and frowned. “Lady Lyara, how come she has regained so much of her senses? She usually falls into the curse’s effects fairly quickly when you are around.”

The human woman, Lyara, was confused as well. “I don’t know why. Did she manage to purify part of the curse?”

“Impossible. Only items that can clear ailments of C Rank and above are effective. In this stretch of land, there is not a single source of purification at that level. 

Lyara sighed. “Hm… We’ve been planning this since my grandmaster was alive. We can’t let it fail in my hands, or I won’t be able to meet her eye to eye when I die.”

A person by her side muttered. “Lady Lyara… Are you sure Tianlian Liu Shu is unable to defend against the assault of the <Dark Aether Swamp>?”

Lyara smiled faintly. “Without the Corrupted World Tree, I wouldn’t be confident. However, as long as we use her to attack, what’s there to fear? A Level 55 Corrupted World Tree is not something that she can deal with even if she wanted to.” Her hand raised and coiled one of her black strands of hair around her finger. “We should try it, right? I heard that there is a new town around ten kilometers from the Dark Aeteher Swamp…”

Later that day, around 15 kilometers southeast from the Golden Sap City, a few people in black robes arrived at the town’s inn. They looked around, and one of them sneered. “A bunch of country bumpkins, it is their honor to become Lady Lyara’s sacrifices.”

As soon as the person stopped speaking, one of her colleagues blocked off her mouth. “You! Why are you running your mouth? Can’t you understand our current location!?”

The group of ten people tensed and looked around, trying to feel every single twitch of the land below their feet. Eventually, when nothing happened, the man who had blocked the woman’s mouth sighed in relief. “Let’s move on. I really can’t believe that we almost got into trouble because of you.”

The girl didn’t retort, but she was somewhat resentful in her heart. What did they have to fear? They had two Third Energy Cycles in their group. Even if they couldn’t fight their enemies, escaping was easy. 

After they reached the middle of the town, it was near midnight. The ten people spread in a circle, and several array lines and runes began appearing on the town’s plaza. “First, activate the anti-spying formation. When that’s done, we’ll start the sacrificial ritual!”

Liu Shu was relaxing her mind when a strange, ominous feeling got a hold of her heart. Even her <Avatar>, which was currently being hugged tightly by Tempestria, jumped and started looking around. Tempestria opened her eyes slowly and asked, her voice somewhat sleepy. “What’s wrong, Shu’er? Didn’t you want to sleep in my arms while I kissed your pretty forehead~? Even if you are regretting it, I won’t let you go.”

Liu Shu’s face turned slightly red; Tempestria’s tone and voice were too sexy. There was a hint of raspiness in her lazy voice, making her entire body feel as if it was being electrocuted by her voice. Thankfully, she knew how to prioritize things and quickly told Tempestria that she was feeling something strange. “Um. I can feel that something is wrong, but I can’t pinpoint the location. It should be inside my domain, though…”

Tempestria’s playful demeanour instantly changed to a serious one, and she asked. “You can’t detect it? Try to remember if you’ve seen something suspicious around the domain before this feeling started.”

Liu Shu tried to recall, but she saw so many things at once that pin-poinitng something like that was difficult. “Ugh… I can’t remember anything in a short time.”

Tempestria got thoughtful and evaluated all options. Her intelligent and quick mind spun, and eventually, her eyes flashed. “Liu Shu, check all the cities, towns, and forests in your domain and see if you can’t focus on any of them.”

Liu Shu understood that Tempetria wouldn’t say something at random, so she quickly got to work. She even stopped using her <Avatar> to focus more, making its body fall back onto the bed. Tempestria smiled tenderly and gave the Avatar one kiss before standing up and flying outside.