Chapter 164 - Chapter 164. Final Preparations. Meeting with Eila again.

For the next two weeks, Liu Shu started receiving thousands of materials of all kinds. 

First of all, the garden they had north of their town was starting to kick into gear. After their efforts, E- Rank and E Rank materials grew enough that Liu Shu would be able to build two houses monthly with them.

Second, Cinderielle and the other Sylvans also carried a caravan full of high-level items from the dogkin they met in the town. 

Thirdly, Wert delivered as many materials as Liu Shu asked for, completing the scam-, ahem, transaction.

So, Liu Shu was now looking into her vault, which was overflowing with riches, and she couldn't stop giggling. "What do I even do first…" 

Mariane commented. "The Library. Please, I want my books back. I've been a few months without them."

Liu Shu ignored her and continued pondering. "Should I create the first?"

"LIBRARY!" Mariane kneeled in front of the World Tree. "PLEASE! I NEED MY BOOKS!"

Liu Shu sighed and looked at the goofy mothkin. "Is it really that urgent?"

Mariane tilted her head. "No." Mariane coughed. "But I am very curious about this place." 

The World Tree hummed. "Can I build more than one building at the same time?"

Mariane looked at Liu Shu strangely. "Why are you asking me?"

Liu Shu made a snorting sound. "I am not speaking to you. Wisdom! System! I want answers!"

[System Hint: Unable to Help]

[Wisdom: Energy reserves and mental strength are powerful enough.]

Liu Shu read the second message and giggled. "Nice! Wisdom is much better than you, System Hint!"

[...]

[Wisdom: System Hints are restricted-]

"I don't care." Liu Shu looked at her materials after cutting Wisdom off, and smiled. "Let's try to build both then!"

Meanwhile, Mariane was looking at the World Tree with pitiful eyes. The World Tree noticed and asked. "What's wrong?"

Mariane sighed. "So young, yet you are already speaking with voices in your head. I pity you."

Liu Shu was stupefied. "But, there truly are voices! They are Wisdom and System Hint who…" Liu Shu saw Mariane's face becoming more empathetic, and she harrumphed. "Whatever, I won't build the Library."

The mothkin instantly changed her attitude and whined cutely. "Ah~, Liu Shu, don't be like that! I am joking around! Jesting! I never said it on purpose!" 

Liu Shu sighed and expanded her gaze outward. 'Where to build them… Here is the residential area, and there will be the mercantile area in this zone. Nearby is the industrial area, and by its side will be the town hall and other important buildings… I guess that's the best spot.' 

Then, she looked at the blueprints in her mind and hummed. "So, how much space does each of these buildings use…?" After reading the entire blueprint and calculating everything, Liu Shu exclaimed. "So much!? Why does the Library thingy need so much space? Isn't it just to store books?"

Tempestria arrived at this moment, and she looked at Mariane. "Hey, why are you here again? Are you trying to slack?"

Mariane smirked. "Slack? Me? Never! I am… Hm… Checking on Liu Shu's assimilated ! I am making sure your World Tree is safe. How could you say that I am slacking!?"

Tempestria deadpanned, and Mariane answered Liu Shu's rhetorical question. "Perhaps it is much more than a Library. I mean, look at its name." 

Confused, Liu Shu asked. "What's wrong with ?"

Tempestria and Mariane deadpanned together this time, making even the World Tree feel a bit uncomfortable. 

"Don't look at me that way…"

Tempestria sighed. "Shu'er, that library probably has many more functions than just being a simple building to store books."

Liu Shu waved her branches gently. "I see~. Well, each of them needs at least 5,000 square meters. I mean, I have enough space, but they are huge! I could probably fit five Town Halls in them!"

Both of them were fairly surprised. According to the calculations done by the city planning, they had something over 120,000 square meters of living space if they counted just the space after , which reached halfway the distance between the Root Wall and Liu Shu. For those curious, inside the circle created by the flower field, there were around 40,000 square meters. 

Tempestria commented. "Why not build them in the inner circle? They are important buildings, right? Aren't they better protected there? It will also give you an excuse if you want to limit people's access to them." 

Liu Shu looked at the designs, and they would fit inside as well as long as she curved the structures a little bit. 'How high are they… the Temple of Summoning is around 20 meters tall, and the library is around 15 meters tall.'

Mariane laughed and suggested jokingly. "If you are worried about those areas becoming vulnerable because the Flower Field can't defend you, how about modifying the flower field with the new materials and making it circle them~. Or better! You can decorate those buildings with flowers, making it look beautiful but be equally deadly~." Mariane smirked. "Simple thing~, just mixing everything! It would also make those two buildings the most secure ones~." 

Tempestria sighed. "Simple? How can it be simple? She would need to modify the entire root net. Who knows if they can be mixed like that in the first place?"

However, Liu Shu exclaimed. "Ohhh, I can do that!"

Both girls looked at the giant World Tree with stunned expressions. Mariane blinked. "You can do that?"

Liu Shu said happily. "It is an excellent idea! Thanks, Mariane."

Mariane and Tempestria were unsure how to react, and Tempestria glared at the mothkin. "I swear that if Liu Shu hurts herself, you better be ahead of me in strength for the rest of your life, or I'll spank you bloody when I am stronger than you." 

The mothkin laughed awkwardly. "Aya! Don't be so stiff. You are so young, but it feels like you are 100 or something!"

Tempestria rolled her eyes. Still, with everything planned, the World Tree was happy.

"What's happening?"

Cinderielle's voice reached them with two pairs of steps. Looking over, they saw the other two Sylvans approaching. Tempestria shook her head. "Nothing, she just gave Liu Shu a crazy idea. Well, if it works, it will be pretty incredible, to be honest."

Verdantia frowned. However, before she asked, there was one thing that Liu Shu wanted to ask. "Mariane! I have a question!"

The four women looked over and heard Liu Shu ask. "How do I form my ?"

Mariane was surprised by the question. "Do you mean the ?"

Liu Shu hummed. "I heard that you need to have over 100,000 , and I have them, so I want to ask!"

Mariane was baffled. "What do you mean you have them? Aren't you like… Level 13?"

Liu Shu asked. "Is that wrong? I can't make them before I reach the ?"

The mothkin was honestly in a pinch here. She pondered and said. "Look, Liu Shu. are usually completed during the . I have honestly never investigated how to do it before. So, I can't help you." 

"Oh…" The World Tree sounded quite disappointed, which made the three Sylvan feel their heart squeeze. Tempestria commented. "Hey, how about you go to the Academy to get a few books about that? It could help Liu Shu, no?

Mariane spoke seriously. "Hey, until now, the books you've taken were not that important, so the administration had turned a blind eye to this. However, if you really steal something like that, it won't be the same." 

Cinderielle asked. "Can't we ask Aunty Verena? She is open to transactions, right?" 

Verdantia frowned. "I hope… Still, I'll go to Fortuna City and ask Teacher Eila about it." 

Cinderielle was confused. "Why?"

Verdantia laughed. "Well, I have a good excuse. I can say: 'Teacher Eila, I feel that I will get over 100,000 Ternary essences before the . Is there a way to complete the conversion before Level 25?' Or something like that."

The other two raised an eyebrow. Tempestria shrugged. "Suit yourself. But if you are found out, you are dead."

Verdantia rolled her eyes. "Can you not be that pessimistic?"

Tempestria clicked her tongue. "It's called being realistic." 

Liu Shu spoke. "Anyway, since I can't do it now, I'll start with the buildings. If you need anything, tell me."

The four people looked at the giant tree and felt energy surge toward the earth, spreading deeply and surging toward the locations where Liu Shu wanted to summon both those buildings. 

Still, the energy release didn't stop there, as the entire was affected by it. Liu Shu was thinking of creating a ring of important buildings around her, which covered the inner circle where she could build some extra houses or something. 

After Mariane's words, she understood that her town would be divided into an "outer" and "inner" city, probably differentiating in the kind of people who lived on each side. Those living on the inside would be people who are close to her and also know about her nature as a World Tree. Meanwhile, outside, she could keep everyone else. 

So, for the next month, Liu Shu focused on creating these three new buildings while making sure that could adapt to new buildings being constructed on the ring it controlled. 

Moreover, Liu Shu used the E Rank material stash to do all of this, allowing her to upgrade to the next rank. Thanks to several other buffs, had been an E Tier structure before. However, now that it was being upgraded with E Tier materials, the skills increased its tier enough that it broke into the D- Rank category. 

During this month, Verdantia and Cinderielle returned to Fortuna's Academy. They were almost done with their education there, so they took the chance to complete a few tests. While it wouldn't matter much, taking into account their future, completing their education would give them a slight boost in their general situation. After all, Fortuna Academy was recognized by many powers inside and outside the Wall Forest. 

Cinderielle especially would benefit tremendously since she had no backing other than Verdantia's friendship. 

"Professor Eila, I am Verdantia Liferoot, can I enter?"

A cold and indifferent voice sounded on the other side of the door. "Go ahead."

Once inside, Verdantia saw the black-haired Sylvan looking out of the window with a distracted gaze. Verdantia asked. "Is something wrong, Professor?"

Eila Neoflora looked at Verdantia for a few seconds, making the Life Sylvan feel nervous. "Hm… Nothing. Things are not going as planned, so I've been receiving quite a few scoldings from my superiors." 

Verdantia asked as she approached and sat on one of the chairs. "Is it okay if I ask?"

Eila commented. "It's not." Then, she looked at Verdantia and asked. "So, what's wrong? Have you come to confess something?"

Verdantia tried to keep her composure while her heart trembled. "Um. What is Teacher Eila talking about?"

Eila raised one of her sharp eyebrows. "Oh? You don't know what I am talking about?" 

Verdantia shook her head, her gaze firm and showing a trace of confusion. "I don't, Miss."

Eila hummed and looked outside the window. "Then, that's okay, I guess. What are you here for?"

Verdantia felt her heart beating fast, but she took a deep breath and tried recomposing herself before starting to ask about the .