Chapter 945. A Scout Mission and New Expansion Direction.

Chapter 945: Chapter 945. A Scout Mission and New Expansion Direction.

After Xakira’s breakthrough, many more started reaching Level 300. Moreover, those at Level 299 had been Liu Shu’s greatest talents. So each one of them emerged as a terrifying powerhouse.

In total, Liu Shu’s empire produced 32 <Third Ascension> powerhouses, and about 110 were still advancing. Liu Shu scattered these powerhouses to strategic zones, and once they were up to date, they would take over the important strategic positions.

The ants had similar numbers, with around 200 individuals breaking through to <Third Ascension>, including Ignatia herself. In their case, the rest of the ants remained dormant until Ignatia broke through. The colony couldn’t grow infinitely without the core becoming stronger.

For instance, if Ignatia fell behind in levels and stumped the colony’s growth, a new ant queen might appear to kill her, eat her, and replace her. Not that they needed to worry, because Ignatia, with all of Liu Shu’s blessings and the <Titles> she won by participating and helping Liu shu’s growth, could be considered an exceptionally strong Ant Queen.

"Hm... Let’s see."

Liu Shu analyzed her domain to see how the adaptation was going. There were some worlds that wanted to keep some cultures that clashed with theirs, but the Golden Sap Empire leadership was accustomed to dealing with these individuals. First, if a culture clashed with established morals, they would slowly erase it and outright prohibit its practice.

There was no sense in leaving a tradition that, for example, forced a group to commit self-harm, damage the young, or destroy parts of nature senselessly.

Either way, such practices were a minority. So Liu Shu didn’t feel the worlds they’d conquered were hard to assimilate. Using the education system they’d already developed and then adding the talent-pushing culture caused some friction, but that friction only helped smooth the edges of the pieces of the large puzzle together over time.

It was part of the process.

"How’s the mission doing?"

***

Solar Systems Conquered: 119/100

Solar Systems with the Eternal Church as its main religion: 84/100

***

"...Strange."

Liu Shu scanned her own Solar Systems and counted only 73 where her religion was a majority. "Where do the remaining 11 come from?"

She remembered sending a few of her people out of the Solar System in the early days on an expedition to the outside. Their mission was to help her spread the religion, among other things.

’However... Eleven Solar Systems? Are they really that good?’

From what she recalled, this group had only one Mothership-Class starship. Moreover, Liu Shu’s empire had stolen those ships from the nexus early on. So, all of them were below Level 200.

Liu Shu pondered and went to talk to the substitute governor in Flor’s place. "Verena!"

Verena, Verdantia’s mother, blinked and smiled. "Liu Shu, love. What’s wrong?"

"Hm... The thing is that I think we have a few of our people who are conquering Solar Systems outside of our defensive range through religious overtaking. I wanted to ask if you could prepare a few of our scouts to see where they are."

Verena was baffled. "Um... When did we even send something like that?"

Liu Shu pondered. "From our perspective... around 200 years ago? Perhaps more. I don’t recall when we did exactly. It should be in the registry."

To be honest, when Liu Shu sent them, she told them that getting them back would be something very difficult. The group knew it, and they just told Liu Shu to trust them.

In a way, it was more of a Hail Mary that Liu Shu had sent during the early days, hoping that they would either settle elsewhere if they failed, or, if they succeeded, they would patiently wait for them.

Now... it seemed that those people were doing much better than fine. Or so it seemed from what she inferred from the Sylvan Quest’s report. ’They might’ve become a bit radicalized...’

That was what Liu Shu feared the most. Her Light Alraune daughters were a good example. If Seraphina and Liu Shu hadn’t done their very best to avoid their radicalization, the Seraph Bloom species might’ve become zealots.

Thankfully, with Elyne’s intervention and their own education, they avoided the worst result. Far from the worst, their current attitudes were near the sweet spot. Liu Shu had never calculated that the Nightmare Blooms had become something of an anchor for the Seraph Blooms.

Honestly, their reliance on each other as a species was so deep that she was ignoring some of their more... doubtful interactions. Looking at the shared, open bathroom and the giggles coming from inside... Liu Shu decided to look away. ’Alraune blood can’t be deceived, I guess.’

Out of sight, out of mind, as they said.

She moved onto the border of the Solar System and the ones that would fall to her next. "I have various directions I can expand. First, the direction of the Nexus should be considered sealed."

The Nexus was considered to be "behind" the Golden Sap Empire. It was hard to picture, but on a map, Liu Shu’s Golden Sap Empire grew between the Covenant and the Nexus. After all, Ceperet had been a small world where these two powerhouses sent their Low-level people to battle it out and grow.

Then, to the northwest and northeast, you could eventually come across the <Radiant Accord> and <Crimson Dominion>, respectively. The other three strongest Globular Star System Empires were to her South, Southwest, and Southeast. In that order, they were the <Astral Fold>, <Shattered Ring>, and <Umbral Imperium>.

These Globular Star Cluster Empires were not that close. At their closest, their Solar Systems were about 50 to 100 light-years apart. And that was their closest.

In between those distances, smaller Globular Star Cluster Empires did exist. These Empires were strong, no doubt. All of them had so many <Third Ascension> that, if they wanted, sweeping the Covenant and Nexus wouldn’t be much of a problem.

The value of going on a conquest spree wasn’t there for them. Remember, these massive empires with more than 1,000 Star Systems under them were plagued by internal problems. Trying to keep everything from collapsing while expanding slowly was enough to keep them busy.

Why would they look into assimilating weaker powers?

Only someone like Liu Shu, who had tremendous growth buffs, would willingly conquer weak Solar Systems and assimilate them. That was the Golden Sap Empire’s specialty, and something the vast majority couldn’t replicate.

Either way, Liu Shu had a big playground despite so many powerful empires existing around her. "I should conquer the weak Solar Systems around the Covenant. Those that Balaya always ignored because of their lack of usefulness."

Deadly Petal was there as well, and her abilities were incredible for accelerating environmental growth. If the people living in a World were Level 200 but the wildlife stopped growing and didn’t even reach Level 100, it would be a massive problem for resource collection.

For instance, there were several Level 290+ wild creatures living in the Golden Sap Empire. The Earth Dragon’s open <Dungeon> had also grown over time because of its "Open" nature.

By now, no one was surprised that the <Dungeons> evolved over time. They had guessed that Liu Shu’s influence was somehow affecting the <Dungeons> as well, and pushing them to evolve like living creatures.

As for the specifics... You could find scientific groups trying to understand, but for now, everything was speculation. Guessing that Liu Shu could actively manipulate and create <Dungeons> was a crazy thought; if you mentioned it, you could be slapped in the face for uttering such an asinine remark.

How wronged would those people feel if Liu Shu could reveal that they were, indeed, correct?

Liu Shu searched around and found Etheria resting at her home. A tall, gorgeous Sylvan sat by her side, hugging her and massaging her body. The woman’s expression was completely melted in pure comfort and happiness.

The other Sylvan, tall and with purple hair, approached, holding two children in her arms. "Etheria, love, what do you want for dinner?"

The other Sylvan, with black hair, smiled. "I will go cook; don’t worry. You can continue taking care of the children."

The purple-haired one nodded and carried the two giggling children to their rooms. "Alright then, I’ve left the groceries in the second fridge."

"Got it~."

Etheria looked back and forth between them, smiling happily. "Hehe. You two get along quite nicely."

"And whose fault is it, eh?"

The Sylvan massaging Etheria kissed her lips and hugged her tightly. "If a certain someone wasn’t 90% of the time working outside, could that have happened?"

Etheria blinked and smiled. "I am Liu Shu’s Apostle. Of course, I have to work hard."

The black-haired Sylvan smiled gently. "I know. We don’t blame you; don’t worry. Your duty is relaxing when at home, and working hard when outside. Leave the internal matters to us."

Etheria threw herself into her arms, sniffing her flowery scent and sighing in comfort. "So nice... I think I get why Liu Shu told us to get a partner."

The Sylvan leaned back, letting Etheria rest on her body, her hand gently caressing her back up and down. "So... Why us? I mean, there were so many Sylvans trying to get into your good graces that I honestly believed you wouldn’t even look my way."

Etheria hummed. "Your eyes."

The black-haired Sylvan blinked her green eyes. "My eyes?"

"Yeah. They were quite pure... Most of those who I met had a touch of greed in them. You two, on the other hand... I felt comfortable. Naturally, you married me because of my position and status. However, that wasn’t all. I could tell that you would be devoted."

The black-haired Sylvan couldn’t help but feel a touch embarrassed. "I... I was also quite greedy back then."

Etheria laughed and looked up. She then kissed her lips and pushed her down. "I know. I mentioned it, didn’t I? You two married me because you wanted something from me. However, there was a firm resolution to be loyal and never betray me within you as well. I could tell. And I can still tell."

The Sylvan was a touch confused. "Isn’t that the normal thought process if you want to marry another?"

"Yes. It should be." Etheria smiled widely, looking at the Sylvan she pushed down. "But not everyone believes that."

Liu Shu waited until Etheria and the others fed the children and went to sleep. When Etheria went to do her night prayer, Liu Shu spoke to her.

"Etheria."

"Liu Shu." Etheria smiled. "You were looking, right?"

Liu Shu wasn’t surprised she noticed. Etheria was, after all, someone whose skills revolved entirely around the entity she considered her belief. She wasn’t considered one of the strongest without a reason.

"Elyne is about to finish her Ascension, so you should be preparing. Also, there is this group of rogue Eternal Church followers. I’ve mentioned it to Verena, but I’d like your help if possible."

Etheria listened and nodded. "Understood. Don’t worry, I’ll coordinate with Lady Verena before I go to <Ascend> and leave most things in order so that Elyne can take over."

Liu Shu smiled. "Thank you, Etheria."

Etheria smiled back. "No. Thank you for giving me this life. I feel incredibly fulfilled."