Chapter 608 - Chapter 608. Reactions of the Top Races to Liu Shu.

Back in their main powers, Vyrella and the others went straight to their leaders to report back their findings. 

On the Star Chart Newt side, Vyrella walked slowly and with a heavy expression into the largest hut. Once she did, the Star Elder's voice reached her. "Little Vyrella, is that you?" 

Vyrella looked to the side and saw a curtain move aside, the Star Elder walking into the room with a gentle smile on his lizardly face. "Welcome back." 

Vyrella nodded slightly and walked over, rubbing her head with his. "You… don't seem surprised I returned so soon." 

The Star Elder sighed, patting her shoulder twice. "I am glad you were able to return at all. So, there is nothing to be surprised about, but plenty to be glad about."

"So… You knew that I wasn't its opponent." 

Vyrella showed a wry smile, to which the elder responded with a smile. "How can you be a match from a being beyond the stars? I told you plenty of times that this being has arrived at our world to govern it. I may not know the details, but I am more than well aware that its strength is immeasurable." 

Vyrella asked, curious. "How? What did you see?"

"Not much." The Star Elder sighed, leading Vyrella inside. "The being's fate is impossible to read. Nevertheless, I could sense that there would be something with the strength to crumble mountains and split our islands." 

"Crumble mountains…" Vyrella recalled what she witnessed and realized that the vision referred to Tianlian Liu Shu's show of strength to stop them. "If that's the case, is there going to be a race that angers it enough for it to split their islands?" 

"What are you muttering?"

Vyrella blinked and showed a pondering expression. After a few seconds, she decided to be honest and answer him. "I will speak of our journey. It might take a while, so let's go soak in the room."

While wearing clothes made of water-repelling materials, Vyrella and the Star Elder entered one of the shallow pools inside the large hut-like mansion, soaking their bodies in warm waters heated by natural sources. "Once I started my journey, I went to gather all the talented juniors and their ten-thousand armies for our travel. First, I went to…"

The Star Elder listened silently, reaching to the side to pick a basket with small cooked fish. He shared them with Vyrella and listened to the end. 

The story took a while, but with a few snacks and the comfortable, warm water, time went by quickly. 

"...After that, Lady Heavenly Willow told us to return. The journey back was mostly uneventful, with just a few enemy tribes trying to ambush us. However, we dealt with everyone while only losing a few dozen warriors." 

The elder hummed, his hand moving slowly and gently as he patted Vyrella's back. "Thankfully, this being is merciful and gentle. Even when she attacked, she used herself as a shield to avoid hurting anyone in her wrath. Now you should be convinced, right? If our wants to survive, we must follow and obey this being." 

Vyrella nodded and sighed. "What do we do now? Do we send any helpers to the Divine Beast Forest?" 

"Lady Heavenly Willow renamed it to , didn't she? Address it as such from now on." The Star Elder warned. After seeing Vyrella nod, he smiled and spoke slowly. "First of all, we will send clan members to all races that we have connections to and spread the knowledge of Lady Heavenly Willow's arrival."

Vyrella asked. "What about those races that we are enemies with? Do we send people to warn them as well?" 

"We do." The Star Elder answered confidently. "Lady Heavenly Willow is merciful, so we should not be vindictive. Otherwise, her impression of our race might drop. We will not be as involved, but we must at least give them a generous warning of Lady Heavenly Willow's presence."

The Star Elder then snorted. "Some of those are too stubborn. So, after we warn them, they might even do us a favor and think too highly of themselves." 

Vyrella understood where he was going. Nevertheless, she frowned in worry. "Even if they are aggressive, wouldn't Lady Heavenly Willow forgive them? She is, after all, quite adverse to killing." 

"It's different." The Star Elder smirked cunningly. "Those will go and bother Lady Heavenly Willow while having previous knowledge of her. Remember not to confuse gentleness and mercy with weakness, Little Vyrella. The only reason you were given another chance is that we are weak. I can guarantee that, when a gentle being like her decides to be cruel, she will become even more terrifying than the worst villain you might come up with."

Vyrella felt a chill inside. Imagining an evil being wielding Liu Shu's strength was terrifying, to the point that she felt sick in the stomach. 

The Star Elder smiled and slowly walked out of the pond. "Come, we must prepare and spread the word among our tribesmen first. Once we make sure that there are no more impulsive ones such as yourself, we can move to warn others."

***

Meanwhile, the other clan leaders were having similar conversations among themselves. The most agreeable were the Mistveil Fairies. After Lunavi returned, she quickly flew along the large marsh they occupied and reached the tallest tree in the clan. "Queen Mistcaller! I carry extremely important news!" 

Atop the tallest marsh tree, the Mistveil Fairy Queen glanced down at the rushing fairy. "Lunavi, didn't you go with that girl from the Caeludrans Clan to investigate the Divine Beast Forest? You even took 10,000 clan members with you. Why are you back so quickly?" 

There was a sense of dissatisfaction on her adorable lizardly face. Her pinkish hair and gem-like, black, beady eyes were not at all fitting for someone with the title of "Queen." If anything, the Queen Mistcaller looked the most adorable of all of them.

Lunavi opened her froggy mouth, speaking very seriously. "We retreated! There is a super-powerful and gentle being in the Divine Forest that stopped our advance single-handedly." 

"Hm?" Queen Mistcaller frowned, her small eyebrow muscles gathering towards the middle and creating a small wrinkle on her large white forehead. "A single being pushed back 50,000 individuals? That sounds like something out of a mythical story told by our ancestors. Explain yourself in detail."

Lunavi landed on the lower branch, ignoring the suspicious eyes of everyone around Queen Mistcaller, and explained everything from start to finish. 

"...And so, thanks to Lady Heavenly Willow's immense and heartwarming benevolence, this little one and everyone else were able to survive and make it back to our marsh." 

Lunavi's narration was full of flowery praise for Liu Shu, making her appear as some kind of benevolent divine being who descended from an ethereal plane. Although, in perspective, Lunavi's point of view was not too exaggerated. 

Queen Mistcaller tilted her head, opening her mouth to lick her black, beady eyes with her long tongue. After blinking twice to clean the saliva, she finally spoke up. "That tale sounds too incredible, Lunavi. You should understand that us being doubtful is not out of bounds."

Lunavi nodded, her own pink hair waving back and forth with her exaggerated motions. "I know. That's why I asked Lady Heavenly Willow to give me something as proof! Lady Heavenly Willow was extremely merciful and allowed me to hold the tip of her root with me. I don't believe that any of you will doubt my words after sensing its profound aura!" 

One of the advisors snorted, her cute face becoming slightly haughty. "Lunavi, you don't need to use such absurd excuses to explain your failure. Since you have not lost any of our brethren, it is enough to avoid severe punishment. But…"

"Ah! I found it!" 

After searching inside her pouch for a bit, Lunavi took out a root tip around a human finger in length. Of course, for someone her size, at around 40 centimeters tall, it was pretty large. "Here!"

Once Liu Shu's root tip appeared, the surrounding energy seemed to converge towards it. Everyone's beady black eyes moved over, their eyebrows rising in surprise. 

Expecting this effect, Lunavi took this chance to explain. "This item is the tip of one of her thousands of roots. Yet, it is qualified by the System as an A+ Ranked material. With this branch, we could create a magical weapon without equal to any of our ancient relics."

Lunavi hesitated for a bit but decided to give her opinion. "I personally think that using the root of Lady Heavenly Willow to craft a weapon is blasphemous. Therefore, I ask Queen Mistcaller to use it to create a treasure that our Queens will carry generation after generation, never to forget who we serve!" 

Queen Mistcaller was the first one to snap out of her daze. She was, after all, a . With quick movements, she flew down and landed in front of Lunavi. Being the Fairy with the title, her height was over double Lunavi's. So, she had to crouch down and pick the branch with her slender fingers. 

Once she touched it, the vitality and pure energy hidden in the root surged into her, leaving her breathless. "...Incredible. Even when it isn't, this small piece of root has even more vitality than many living people. A dead branch that exudes vitality beyond that of the living. Lady Heavenly Willow is indeed a being of unfathomable strength." 

Lunavi nodded, her face showing excitement. "What do you think, Queen Mistcaller?"

Queen Mistcaller smiled and patted Lunavi's head. "You did well facing the others and taking Lady Heavenly Willow's side. At first, I wanted to scold you for almost making us the enemies of the other top races. Yet, it turns out that you were able to see beyond and get on the good side of Lady Heavenly Willow. Alright, we will do as you say. I will ask our best Woodcrafters to modify this into a scepter to pass on from Queen to Queen." 

Lunavi smiled widely and happily. "Great!" 

Queen Mistcaller turned toward the elder who was lecturing Lunavi and squinted. "Do I have to declare it, or will you go receive punishment on your own?"

That one fairy sweated coldly and quickly flew off. 

***

The Cave Titan Frogs and Silt Weaver Mudskippers were straightforward races, so once Grumval and Mirelle reported the events, the Deep Elder and High-Clay Chiefs were quick to the uptake and also began preparing. 

The main problem was the Ember Salamanders. 

When Tornak returned, "defeated," he was not given a single chance to speak up before he was jailed. The Spark King, the leader of the , which was mainly dominated by Ember Salamanders, was someone who valued strength and victory over almost anything else.

It was this way of thinking that allowed him to push the Ember Salamanders to be one of the strongest races in Nualis. Moreover, as the only race with Metal Crafters, their tools were also incredibly rare and precious. 

Sadly, because he threw all those who led armies and lost to jail for a while as punishment, this time around, his successful policies might become their undoing. 

Inside the cell, Tornak was grabbing the metal bars and shouting. "Let me speak with Lord Spark King! I have something urgent to report!" 

The jailers snorted. "All traitorous scum had something to report as well. Stay here for a year and think well on why you returned defeated. Once you think it through, Lord Spark King might want to see you." 

Tornak's lizardly face twisted in anger. "You fools!"

With his shouts echoing in the large building, Tornak, for the first time, lamented about the rules of their prosperous kingdom.