Chapter 498 - Chapter 498. Approaching Threat.

It had been around a year since Liu Shu began her Leveling Up Process. During this year, Ignatia managed to convince Warlya and Wisdom to spread her roots throughout the entirety of the Wild Continent. Only Warlya's domain remains untouched, since that would later be approached by Liu Shu herself.

Other than that, Flor finally became hands-free in most of her administrative duties. After so many years, she finally developed a group of secretaries that would deal with most miscellaneous tasks, leaving her to only sign important matters. 

The Flower Fairy used this time to dive into the Terragore Dungeon and reach Level 75. While she was inside with a group of powerful fairies from many other species, Ignatia, Wisdom, and Melody detected a presence approaching from the northeast of the continent. 

The person rushing over was not silent, as if she wanted to let those on the other side know that she was coming for them. Wisdom quickly communicated with Ignatia and Melody. 

[Wisdom: Warning. Powerful Ternary Essence Traces detected on the edge of the domain. These traces belong to a of an intelligent species.]

Ignatia frowned, and Melody's face turned serious. Unlike the Terragore Queen and King, whoever was coming was not someone who would fight them head-on if she felt that things were too complicated.

Melody quickly met up with Ignatia and asked her. "Ant Queen, do you have a plan?"

"A few of them," Ignatia spoke calmly while both of them stood on the Golden Sap City's walls. "It all depends on what this person's objective is. Since they are blasting off their aura like there are no opponents left around her, we can also assume that she might not have evil intent." 

Melody shook her head. "Impossible. No moves like this. Her aura feels quite violent, as if there is anger in her tune." 

"Tune?" 

Ignatia tilted her head, and Melody smiled in response.

"Have you forgotten my species, Ignatia?"

"I have not." Ignatia laughed. "However. I have never thought that you could decipher intentions from the… sound? Of one's aura."

"Well, I can do much more than that. The reason I was able to defend against one of the most powerful branches of the Abyssal Void Nexus is that our attunement with sound gives us several strategic advantages. Ambushing us is basically impossible, among many others." 

Ignatia hummed with interest. "That's good to hear. Still, we only have three hours before that person crosses the ocean and arrives at our coast. What should we do?" 

Melody asked aloud. "Wisdom, right? I heard that you are part of Little Lian'er herself. You are, unlike when she is awake, much more objective, ruthless, and rational. So, what do you think we should do?"

Melody's way of calling Liu Shu was similar to her daughter's. Only, her tone was affectionate in the way an elder talked with their juniors. 

[Wisdom: Use as bait. Information about Liu Shu's Level Up should not have spread outside yet, thanks to the emigration control.] 

Ignatia didn't like that too much. "I know what you intend to do. However, the Soulseed won't start leveling up until Liu Shu reaches Level 75 herself. The chances of the Soulseed dying after being attacked by a are too high."

[Wisdom: It doesn't matter. The death of a won't have any permanent effects on Tianlian Liu Shu.]

Melody observed the interaction between them, and her eyes flickered with unknown emotions. 'She refers to herself in the third person…? No. Wisdom is not the subconscious of Little Lian'er. I can tell that she is not something harmful. On the contrary, the aura it gives me is one of infinite profundity. One that would make others look like creatures without essence. Such a strange… phenomenon.'

Ignatia was still against it. "What if the Soulseed's death interrupts Liu Shu's Leveling Up? The Completion Percentage is too important to gamble so freely." 

[Wisdom: Tinalian Liu Shu has already achieved a 100% completion rate. Now, she is assimilating the changes while developing her body for the consecutive Level Ups.] 

Melody and Ignatia looked at that message with such bafflement that even Wisdom detected the strangeness in their expressions. 

[Wisdom: Ignatia. Melody. Are you afflicted by some kind of mental attack?]

"Mental attack!?" Melody almost screamed. "How can someone have a 100% completion rate!? That's impossible! The highest I've heard is 92% Completion Rate! Although the World Tree that managed to reach such heights was hunted by the Abyssal Void Nexus and killed, she holds firmly as the highest completion rate ever registered in the Ceperet Planet's history!" 

Ignatia coughed. "Although I knew that the previous Completion Rates of baby Liu Shu were high, I didn't expect her to continue achieving them during the . Impressive." 

Melody looked at Ignatia weirdly. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Ignatia coughed. "Let's focus on the oncoming threat, shall we? Less than three hours left until then!" 

Melody agreed and put her doubts aside until the threat was dealt with. "Still…" Melody was confused. "Assuming that this is an enemy. Why would someone at that level come alone? Isn't it better to gather a group and deal with Liu Shu in one fell swoop?" 

Ignatia shook her head. "Impossible. The reason is probably because they think that Liu Shu is still at the and an easy prey. If this person has long-range attacks, they can bombard Liu Shu from a safe distance and destroy her even before we can set up defenses. After all, the difference between the Fourth and the Third Cycles is their ability to fly without aid." 

Melody understood Ignatia's concerns. The reason were considered such big threats was their ability to ignore traditional defenses just by existing. A giant wall? They would just fly over and land inside the city. Then, you would be trapped by the walls you thought were protecting you inside your city.

With such thoughts, Melody reconsidered Wisdom's words. "Then, sacrificing one is the best we can do. If we use one as bait, we might be able to corner them and kill them. Otherwise, they might be able to flee if things get tricky for them." 

Ignatia denied it again. "I don't care. They can escape for all I know. Now, Liu Shu is in the middle of the . I don't want her to suffer the pain that comes with one of her dying. The feeling must be very uncomfortable, to put it lightly." 

Looking at the Humanoid Ant Queen, Melody sighed softly. Still, there was a faint smile at the corner of her lips. Ignatia's priority was clearly Liu Shu's safety, and she didn't mind sacrificing her own to achieve that. "So, what do you suggest?" 

Ignatia looked at Melody and spoke. "Don't get me wrong, Melody. Those who come to threaten my most precious baby, I will make sure they die and suffer. This person came at such a sensitive time. What if you and I weren't here? Things could quickly go terribly wrong. Therefore, I have no intention of allowing them to flee."

Meanwhile, Kaelis was crossing the large ocean with a trace of annoyance on her beautiful face. "Why did this happen? Should I have sent more ?" She quickly denied that. "No, that's not the problem at all. Moreover, it's not like we have so many troops at our beck and call. We need to keep the other superpowers at bay, after all." 

Kaelis frowned. "If that's not the problem, then what happened? Not strength… Then, were they ambushed? An ambush can flip the battle situation extremely quickly. Nevertheless, for the ambush to be successful, both sides must have a somewhat similar military force. Does this mean that the other side also has several tens of thousands of ?"

The last option that Kaelis could think of for an annihilation outcome to occur was that Tianlian Liu Shu had the support of a . Nevertheless, there were no traces on the continent when they analyzed the battlefields. All energy belonged to creatures.

This is one of the reasons that she was blasting her aura without any care. 'If there is truly a hidden , they should be able to detect my energy flaring and come face me. Either that, or they might ambush me during our fight.' Her face arched in a sneer. "Nevertheless, they better not allow me to get close to that World Tree, or they will regret it dearly." 

Her aura swept into the distance, detecting the northern shore of the Wild Continent. When she did so, a strange aura flickered in her sensing range. "Hm? Was there a World Tree near the shore in the past?" 

The aura of the World Tree she was perceiving was clearly of the . Nevertheless, the problem was that the strength it had was immense for someone at their level.

While she flared aura waves to detect the aura, Ignatia, Melody, and Wisdom all received the auras. 

[Wisdom: Ignatia, Melody. Please help Tianlian Liu Shu.]

Ignatia and Melody were confused for a moment when they felt the World Tree stir. Looking over at the , they noticed Liu Shu's actual presence awakening within it. 

Ignatia quickly communicated. "Liu Shu? Is that you?"

"Hm?" A groggy voice reached Ignatia and Melody. "Mommy? Why did you wake me up?"

Ignatia spoke softly. "We didn't wake you up. Love, go to sleep. We will deal with—"

At that moment, Kaelis' aura blast swept their place, and Liu Shu clearly caught on to it. "Huh?"

Ignatia's face twisted with anger. 'That annoying flesh bag! How dare they wake up my darling!?' 

Liu Shu's aura suddenly surged as her consciousness surged. "There is a threat… ? Why is a flying towards us?" 

Melody spoke at this time. "Little Lian'er, go to sleep, love. We can deal with them easily." 

"No!" Liu Shu spoke with a determined tone. "I will use my as bait so that you two can deal with her."

Ignatia knew that this was going to happen when Liu Shu was fully awakened, and she felt anger surging inside of her, not towards Liu Shu, but toward the other person. After all, Ignatia didn't want to go against her dearest wishes, and using the as bait was indeed the most efficient plan. 

Liu Shu's aura gently surrounded Ignatia's angered form, soothing her with an embracing presence. "Mommy, use it. I don't want you to be in any danger. Even if it dies, it will just hurt a little tiny bit. I promise I will be okay." 

Those words made Ignatia feel a sourness in her nose. Still, she wouldn't go against it. Instead, she sent a pulse of energy toward the ground to call for healing ants. "I will protect your , love. Your mother is not so useless that she needs you to sacrifice something to deal with a flesh bag!"

Liu Shu giggled lovingly, wanting to hug her Ant Queen mother very much. Still, she knew that it was not the time for that now, and began planning with them.