Chapter 558. New Essence Type! Level 100! [AotSC]

Author Note: Double Length Chapter! Hahaha

***

To be successful during the <Fifth Energy Cycle>, the creature needed to transform their <Cores> into the next tier of energy. What started as <Shards> and became a <Core> now needed to ignite with power. 

Liu Shu, guided by her subconsciousness and titles, was able to understand what she needed to do quickly. “The <Ternary Cores> are spheres of passive energy. Alone, they act as storage within my soul and give me the strength to manipulate the world around me through the Ternary Essences.” 

<Aether Mana>, <Phoer>, and <Anima Energy> all specialized in one aspect of life. “However… Now that I will evolve into a new species, I must acclimatize those essences to support my new <Eternal> attribute.”

From the depths of her soul, Liu Shu manifested the new energy. A gleam of ethereal silver-white energy sparkled in the center of her existence. This essence, which was hidden by the title due to its incredibly powerful functions, was now within her sight and power to manipulate. 

“Come forth, <Eternal> essence.” 

The spark of ethereal white light bloomed and enveloped her existence, and the second she did so, Liu Shu’s gaze seemed to expand beyond the world. 

“This…”

Liu Shu looked at what appeared in front of her, and she couldn’t help but exclaim at the view. “Isn’t this Ceperet?”

As she looked at it and the surroundings, another very important thing was noticed. 

“...Why is it paused?” 

The world before Liu Shu was not spinning like usual. There was not a single trace of movement. Confused about this phenomenon, her mind zoomed into the planet’s surface. Right then, she understood why the planet looked motionless.

“Time has stopped.” 

When she noticed, a message appeared in her eyes.

[Congratulations! You’ve received <Title: Being Of Eternity>]

Surprised, Liu Shu checked the effects and hummed. “... Isn’t this a little too strong?” 

A wry smile appeared on her lips, but quickly, Liu Shu sighed and moved on. Of course, even if she wanted to move on, the System wouldn’t. When Liu Shu’s body was enveloped by the <Eternal> essence, another two notifications popped in front of her. 

[Congratulations! You’ve received <Title: Immortal>.]

[Congratulations! You’ve received <Passive Skill: Time Source>]

Once again, Liu Shu checked and felt her worldview collapsing. Of course, the chain reaction from awakening the eternal energy was not done yet. 

[You are the first being who has awakened <Time Source>. <Title: Source Of Time> will be given to you.] 

“...Right. What’s next?”

[<Eternal Core> resonates with your <World Tree Heart> and merges. You’ve earned <Passive Skill: Eternal Heart>.] 

Liu Shu knew what was coming next, and she sighed to herself.

[<Eternal> attribute awakens <Talent: Eternal Strand>.]

[Upon touching on the <Source Of Time>, you’ve gained basic understanding of <Time>. You gain <Accelerate>, <Slow>, <Stop>.] 

“Aha. Now it’s finished.” Liu Shu chuckled and slowly checked each and every one of the new skills. She took a few minutes to read and reread them. “Phiuu…”

Liu Shu sighed for a moment, and then started crying. “Why are they so strong? Aren’t I now semi-unkillable!?” 

To be fair, with these skills at hand, Liu Shu felt that anyone at the same level wouldn’t even become an inconvenience. She was at the point that she could sweep tens of <Ceperet> worlds and remain unscathed.

Beyond bewilderment, Liu Shu’s heart was pumping with excitement. Even as time had stopped, she could feel her body trembling, not knowing what to do with the overwhelming emotions washing over her.

“...If I tell Flor and the others, I might shorten their lifespan for real this time. Should I keep them hidden and reveal them slowly?” She felt that it was a great idea. “Right, I should do that. You know, to mimic something similar to exposure therapy.” 

After calming down, Liu Shu returned to the <Energy Cycle> creation process. “Alright, now that I have assimilated the new <Eternal> attribute, I can proceed to create the next tier beyond <Ternary Cores>.”

With her thoughts, Liu Shu moved the nearly 30,000 <Cores> under her power and manipulated them. The cores began spinning around a core, and then, Liu Shu forcefully absorbed them towards the center. “I must approach them slowly, avoiding collisions between them.” 

The three hurricanes of <Ternary Cores>, each representing one of the basic essences, all began to shrink under Liu Shu’s control. 

“More… Closer…” 

Her processing ability, multiplied by her titles, and her energy efficiency all took part in guiding her actions with marginal errors. These errors, quickly corrected once Liu Shu noticed the wrong trajectory, never really affected her. Therefore, the 100% <Completion Rate> was well within her sight.

“Faster. Faster. Faster.” 

Liu Shu’s mind’s eye opened wider, taking everything in as her energy spiraled inward with ridiculous strength. If anyone would look at this, a fear of blowing up her own ternary essences in a violent collision would wash over them. 

Yet, Liu Shu’s confidence was unmatched. She was not even relying on her title, as the process until now was all done by her own strength. 

Looking from behind, Wisdom was faintly surprised. ‘At this rate, it wouldn't have mattered whether she had the <Title> or not.’ 

With Liu Shu’s increase in strength, Wisdom’s abilities were also brought out. Of course, what Liu Shu could use was now a bucket’s worth from a lake of riches. Yet, this bucket was something that almost anyone would kill to have. 

Liu Shu didn’t care about any of this, as her focus had reached transcendental heights. Inside her powerful mind, the movement, path, and speed of each rotating core was clearly traced, and when she noticed an eventual collision, she would make quick adjustments. 

This accelerating process lasted a long time. Moreover, since time flowed strangely during <Energy Cycle> breakthroughs, Liu Shu didn’t know that she had spent almost 3 years accelerating her cores to the maximum speed. By this point, instead of spheres rotating around three different points, it looked like circular beams. Tens of thousands of circular beams that were ready to collide into an irresistible chain reaction. 

When that happened, Liu Shu’s focus peaked, and she nudged one of the cores in each hurricane of cores. The little nudge, something that previously she used to correct paths, was now done so that two cores would collide. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three simultaneous explosions echoed when two <Ternary Cores> collided in each <Ternary Essence> hurricane. 

Then, subjected to the shockwave, the surrounding cores seemed to be about to fly out. However, that was not Liu Shu’s intention. The second two Cores collided, and an extremely heated energy appeared in the middle. 

And then, Liu Shu’s monstrous will and aura pushed all cores towards the middle without any subtlety. It was just raw strength pushing everything towards the middle. 

[Level Up!] 

[Aether +17, Physique +17, Anima +17, Willpower +17, Destiny +100]

As she leveled up, her existence was reborn, and all her accumulations until that point bloomed fantastically. Her stats soared, and with it, tens of millions of new <Ternary Essence Shards> manifested like clouds of pure energy. 

These clouds, as soon as they manifested, were swallowed into the explosion occurring to the <Cores>. And so, the new form of essence manifested. 

[<First/Second/Third Energy Cycle> Upgraded! Receiving stats!]

[Total: Aether +5250, Physique +5250, Anima +5250, Willpower +5250]

[<First/Second/Third Energy Cycle> Upgraded! Unlocking Potential!]

[Total: Aether Resonance +192%, Physique Refinement +192%, Anima Affinity +192%]

[<Fifth Energy Cycle> Completed! Unlocking Potential!]

[Aether Resonance +285%, Physique Refinement +285%, Anima Affinity +285%]

[<Fifth Energy Cycle> Completed! Receiving stats!]

[Aether +7500, Physique +7500, Anima +7500, Willpower +7500]

A ridiculous amount of <Stats> poured onto Liu Shu, her body creating <Shards> in large nebula clouds without stopping for a second. Moreover, as she evolved, her <Five Origin Branches> and new <Eternal Core> also evolved. 

At Level 100, the shackles on all equipment were naturally released, as they also went through something similar to an <Ascension>. A Level 100 and a Level 99 equipment were two very different items. 

For instance, the <Sylvanium Branch> gave around 10,000 of each <Stat>, around 10 million shards, and 27% for <Refinement>. Now, evolved at Level 100, the new <Sylvanium Branch>’s stats were just ridiculous. 

***

[Level 100 Sylvanium Branch (Flawless Level World Rank)]

+72,866,760 Aether Mana Shards

+72,866,760 Phoer Body Shards

+72,866,760 Anima Energy Shards

Aether (+35,719), Physique (+35,719), Anima (+35,719), Willpower (+35,719)

Aether Resonance (+42), Physique Refinement (+42), Anima Affinity (+42), Mental Palace (+42)

Skills: (Click To Expand)

***

With the <Eternal Core> overcoming the <Sylvanium Branch> in quality, the extra new equipment gave Liu Shu another large boost in stats. 

***

[Level 100 Eternal Core (Flawed Level Core Rank)]

+122,503,104 Aether Mana Shards

+122,503,104 Phoer Body Shards

+122,503,104 Anima Energy Shards

Aether (+47,262), Physique (+47,262), Anima (+47,262), Willpower (+47,262)

Aether Resonance (+51), Physique Refinement (+51), Anima Affinity (+51), Mental Palace (+51)

Skills: (Click To Expand)

***

Inside Liu Shu, the new form of <Ternary Essence> glowed brilliantly. The surface of the latest source of energy was plasma-like, as it rotated slowly and powerfully inside Liu Shu. 

Its figure was something that Liu Shu was not aware of, due to her lack of Astronomy knowledge. However, the name revealed what it truly looked like.

[Congratulations! You’ve unlocked the new <Ternary Essence> form: <Ternary Essence Stars>.] 

Liu Shu exclaimed. “Whoa! Stars!?” She then asked eagerly. “System! Tell me what Ternary Essence Stars are.”

[You can merge 100,000 <Ternary Essence Cores> to create a <Ternary Essence Star>. <Ternary Essence Stars> radiate powerful and pure energies, which will increase the effectiveness and power of your <Talents> and <Passive Skill> in a qualitative manner.] 

Liu Shu understood this. It happened as well when she unlocked <Cores> back then. Making the conversion, Liu Shu came to quite a terrifying conclusion. “For each <Star> I need 10 billion <Shards>... And I made two of them!”

“Hm?” While she was happily looking at the results, she noticed that she had missed one message.

“What is this?”

[<First Ascension Path> Completed! Receiving stats!]

[Total: Aether +9000, Physique +9000, Anima +9000, Willpower +9000]

[<First Ascension Path> Completed! Unlocking Potential!]

[Total: Aether Resonance +300%, Physique Refinement +300%, Anima Affinity +300%]

“...”

Liu Shu looked at the messages for a few seconds before blurting, incredulous. “Ascension paths also give stats!? Do they work like Cycles, repeating each time you gain enough levels…?” 

[Wisdom: They do.]

“...”

Liu Shu, scared about how her <System Page> had ended up, shouted with a heavy heart. “System! Give me a heart attack and show me my new system page!” 

(Author Note: Alright, dears, the chapter is finished here. However, from here on, the <System Page> will appear in a new format. Instead of using descriptive text, I’ll neatly reorganize everything into bullet points. I don’t know how the formatting will work on each page, but I don’t have much control over it. Let’s hope that all pages have bullet format affinity… Haha.) 

 ***

Name: Tianlian Liu Shu 

Titles:

<True Ruler World Tree>

• You are the absolute ruler of all creatures in your <Origin Planet>.

• Natural information-processing ability ×50.

• All lifeforms defending <Origin Planet>: +50% Stats.

• All crafters: +50% multiplicative success chance.

• All residents: +10% comprehension rate.

<Miracle Tree Architect>:

• All created or assimilated buildings: +1 Major Tier.

• Buildings auto-level 1 Level per week until matching World Tree’s Level.

• Buildings cannot fall more than 2 Major Tiers below the World Tree (current minimum Tier: C+).

• Buildings below this rank improve automatically (1 Sub-Tier / 6 months).

<Apprentice World Builder>:

• You will receive insights on how to become a <World Builder> depending on your <Destiny> value.

• +300% building speed.

• +25% Material Cost Reduction.

• -10% Material Rank Requirement.

<Energy Cycle Harmony>:

• All new <Energy Cycles> inherit at least the average completion rate of previous ones.

• Current Average: 100%.

<Fledgling Dimensional World Tree>:

• You are interwoven with sub-dimensions.

• Can interact with other dimensions physically and spiritually.

• Can swallow other dimensions into your domain.

• Space Efficiency and Affinity +1000%.

• Stats +10%.

<One With The Stars>:

• You are a seedling of a <Universal Tree>.

• Can assimilate all lifeforms.

• Followers who adore you can pour <Faith> into you for random buffs.

<Galactic Overlord>:

• Unlocks hidden and unique paths of Evolution. 

• Stats +20%. 

• Title can be improved. 

<Tempest Of Chaos>:

• Wind damage received: -36%.

• Gain <Wind Aether Affinity>.

• Wind-attributed followers: +200% Wind Affinity.

• All beings under the domain: +40% Movement Speed, +20% Damage Rate, +8% Stats.

• Wind Skills ≤ S-Tier: -20% upgrade cost.

<Songs Of Chaos>:

• Gain <Sound Aether Affinity>.

• Aether & Anima regeneration +400%.

• Elemental and Soul energies around you stabilize, easing spellcasting ≤ S-Tier.

• All beings under the domain: +20% Aether and Anima comprehension rate, +20% maximum Aether Mana and Anima Energy, -20% Spell Cost, +8% Basic Stats.

<Sprouts of Chaos>:

• Gain <Life Aether Affinity>.

• Phoer regeneration +400% for all plant life.

• Can summon plant lifeforms up to S- Tier.

• All beings under domain: Age -20%, +20% Phoer, +8% Basic Stats.

• Plant life under domain: XP Gain ×2 (until reaching World Tree’s Level).

• World Tree gains +0.20% of plant XP earned (max: Level ×3 daily).

<Embers of Chaos>:

• Fire Damage received: -36%.

• Gain <Fire Aether Affinity>.

• Fire-attributed followers: +200% Fire Affinity.

• All beings under the domain: +20% Damage Reduction, +8% Basic Stats.

• Fire Skills ≤ S-Tier: -20% upgrade cost.

<Universal Tree>:

• You’ve gained the <Eternal Core>.

• Each Chaos Shard paired with it unlocks a portion of your heritage.

• Blessings increase in power with each paired shard.

• Shards paired with: Thermis, Phoer, Aether, Anima.

• Thermis Blessing: Manipulate temperature-related elements, +200% Thermal Resistance, infuse attacks with Hot/Cold elements using Aether Mana, +20% Base Damage, +40% Burn/Freeze DoT.

• Phoer Blessing: Phoer Regeneration +400%, emit wound-mending aura, +10% breakthrough chance in <Physique> Skills, +10% <Physique>.

• Anima Blessing: Anima Energy Regeneration +400%, emits soul-healing aura, +10% breakthrough chance in <Anima> Skills, +10% <Anima> and <Willpower>.

• Aether Blessing: Aether Mana Regeneration +400%, emits elemental calming aura, +10% breakthrough chance in <Aether> Skills, +10% <Aether>.

<Being of Eternity>: You have become an eternal existence. Your actions are outside of causality, rendering your presence unreadable and inevitable. (Effects scale with Ascension Ranks).

• Enemies cannot perceive your future actions with prediction, foresight, or divination.

• The effects of decay and entropy are nullified.

• All buffs and debuffs applied to you last indefinitely unless actively dispelled. Maintaining them costs <Eternal> energy depending on effects.

• Those who eat your byproducts have a chance to be temporarily affected by extra <Eternal> attribute-related effects.

<Source of Time>: You are the root from which time itself flows, a sapling that touches every moment at once. (Effects scale with Ascension Ranks).

• Time-based skills cost 10% less to activate and upgrade.

• Domain effect: You can speed or slow the passage of time within your territory by up to 100%.

• Allies’ cooldowns are reduced by 10%. Enemy cooldowns within your domain are increased by 10%.

<Immortal>: Death cannot approach you unless you are forced into it. (Effects scale with Ascension Ranks).

• Natural lifespan: None.

• You cannot be slain by age, rot, or conceptual death effects.

• If your <World Tree Heart> is destroyed, you can reconstruct it once every 100 years.

Hidden titles: [4]

Race: Sapling Eternal Universal Tree (Mythical)

Energy Method: Eternal Energy Gathering (Level x <Complete Energy Cycle +1> x <Ascension Levels +1> = 1200)

Level: 100 [0/3,821,170]

[Stars (Cores) (Shards)]

Aether Mana Stars: 2.62/2.62 (261,523) (26,152,218,826) (+9,415 Cores/Hour)

Phoer Body Stars: 2.64/2.64 (263,674) (26,367,347,562) (+9,493 Cores/Hour)  

Anima Energy Stars: 2.61/2.61 (260,450) (26,044,959,707) (+9,377 Cores/Hour)  

Attributes: Aether 967,426 (231,570+735,856) / Physique 971,496 (231,570+739,926) / Anima 965,391 (231,570+733,821) / Willpower 373,865 (230,601+143,264) / Destiny 10,000 (10,000)

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (1808), Physique Refinement (1818), Anima Affinity (1803), Mental Palace (352) 

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (90), Physique Resistance (90), Spiritual Resistance (90), Mental Resistance (89)

Summoning Affinity: Summon Cost (-89%), Summon Enhancement (+50%), Summoning Invoking Time (-89%), Summon Upkeep (-89%)

Tier Stars:

Aether Stars: 17 (A+ Tier)

Phoer Stars: 17 (A+ Tier)

Anima Stars: 17 (A+ Tier)

Willpower Stars: 17 (A+ Tier)

Overall Stars: 17 (A+ Tier)

Talents:

<Recolocation (S- Rank Level 2 [1,200,000/6,718,500])>:

• Can relocate followers and flora anywhere within the domain.

• Can move World Trees and Life Trees if affinity conditions are met.

• No distance limit.

• Cooldown: 9.5 years.

<Soulseed Projection (A Rank Level 2 [125,580/4,718,600])>:

• Produce 1 <Soulseed> every 9.5 years, via <Sylvan Quest>, or by assimilating <World Trees>.

• Plant Soulseeds as waypoints to project body (70% stats).

• Current Soulseeds: 95.

<Temple Seed (A Rank Level 2 [845,000/4,718,600])>:

• Create <Temple Seeds> (3 per Temple / 5 years).

• Can plant outside the domain to spread Temple buffs.

• Grows into <Temple Tree> equal to Temple Level & Tier.

• Current: 116 Summon, 109 Destiny, 103 Craft, 78 Life Temple Seeds.

<Curse Cleansing Aurora (A- Rank Level 4 [1,378,000/31,104,000])>:

• Aura purges corruption/curses ≤ Tier.

• Chance to reverse curse into blessing.

• Deal damage related to your <Anima> and <Willpower>.

• Area = Height x 6.5.

<Otherworldly Rune and Nature Empire (A Rank Level 4 [0/37,748,800])>:

• The World Tree is recognized as the absolute ruler of her ecosystem.

• Basic flora (trees, bushes, flowers, etc.) can evolve into the unique species prefix <Lignified>.

[Buffs for the World Tree]

• Can cultivate an expansive variety of berries and fruits.

• Can expend 10% of a berry’s cost to accelerate 1,008 Gestation Days.

• Rune Field & Woodcrafting comprehension rate: +325%.

• Rune Field & Woodcrafting success rate (≤ 1 Tier below yours): 100% guaranteed.

• Material-usage efficiency when creating <Lignified> species: +650%.

• Can grow a <Lignified Rune Workshop>, granting an additional +130% bonus to all Rune and Woodcrafting activities performed within.

[Buffs For Plant Species]

• Growth speed: +650%.

• Lifespan: +26%, sustained if they remain within your domain for at least 10 years.

• Minimum birth Tier: C- Tier (lower tiers possible only if biological limits prevent advancement).

• Excludes semi-intelligent or intelligent flora species (Sylvans, Alraunes, Dryads, Rose Fairies, etc.).

[Bonuses for <Lignified> species]

• Experience gain from non-combat actions: +325% until matching the World Tree’s Level.

• Can develop <Building> skills and evolve into habitable structures for intelligent or monstrous life.

• Permanently linked to the World Tree’s essence, all evolution aligns with her interests.

• Born with <Living Rune Fields> etched into their bodies—these evolve alongside the host.

• Can produce 1–2 random fruit varieties already known to the World Tree.

<Elemental Lord Willow Catastrophe (A Rank Level 3 [3,740,000/15,925,300])>:

• Branches & roots unleash devastating elemental attacks.

• Range for basic attacks up to 6× body length.

• Area Catastrophe Attack: up to 18× height; consumes heavy resources.

• Reachable anywhere within vision, up to 3.6× domain size.

<World Tree Calling (A- Rank Level 1 [0/486,000])>:

• Summons Arboreal Winged Serpents.

• Max Tier: A-.

• Max Level: Your Level.

• Maximum Summons: 100

• You can use extra energy to summon a special summon. It takes 25 slots. (Your Level +25, Your Tier +1)

<Eternity Strand (S– Rank)>: Your essence forms an eternal thread interwoven into the threads of time. You can create one <Eternity Strand> using 10,000 Aether, Phoer, and Anima Cores.

• You can create one <Eternity Strand> with 10,000 Aether, Phoer, and Anima Cores.

• You can anchor yourself or allies to a past "state" (HP, stats, or energy) and return to it once within 24 hours.

• You can permanently maintain one effect until the <Eternity Strand> duration runs out.

• Those affected with an <Eternity Strand> can avoid fatal damage by consuming it and forcefully returning to a past state.

• Duration: Up to 24 hours.

<Accelerate (A+ Rank Level MAX)> You can hasten the flow of time around chosen targets.

• Increases growth, recovery, and action speed up to 15%.

• Time acceleration reduces skill cooldowns proportionally.

• Overuse can destabilize the target’s time balance, creating permanent, damaging effects.

• Duration: Up to 15 seconds.

<Slow (A+ Rank Level MAX)>: You can slow the flow of time around chosen targets.

• Reduces enemy speed, recovery, and regeneration up to 15%.

• Skills, tick rates, and cooldowns can stretch under its effect.

• Duration: Up to 15 seconds.

<Stop (A+ Rank Level MAX)> You can halt the flow of time around chosen targets.

• You can freeze a single target or an area (Height^2).

• Cannot be resisted by beings of a lower realm.

• During <Stop>, accumulate 15% of damage/healing.

• After effect, all halted targets suffer <Temporal Fracture>, exploding all accumulated damage/healing while reducing all resistances by 15% for 1 minute.

• Duration: Up to 1.5 seconds.

Passive Skills:

<World Tree Wisdom (SSS Rank Level MAX)>:

• Understand all complex languages.

• Access to System-helper.

• Passive knowledge absorption.

• Can peer into foreign System Pages.

<Eternity Heart (S- Rank Level 1 [0/839,900])>

• You are a unique existence.

• Your Core Generates <Eternal> energy.

• <Eternal> attribute affinity +100%

• Every 10 years, when mortally wounded, you can trigger <Eternal Revival>.

• <Eternal Revival>: Temporarily restore to 100% of your peak and annihilate all harmful temporal effects within your domain.

<Time Source (S- Rank Level 1 [0/839,900])>

• Generates temporal flow within the domain, making time manipulation easier.

• Allies: +20% comprehension, +20% training efficiency.

• Roots generate <Temporal> Energy.

<World Embracing Dimensional Roots (S- Rank Level 1 [678,500/839,900])>: 

• Roots reach both material and immaterial realms.

• Immune to extreme natural environments.

• Can feed on all essence without destabilizing balance.

• Potential reach: limitless.

<World Tree Heart (A Rank Level 4 [1,380,540/15,925,300])>:

• The core sustains the body; if undamaged, full recovery is possible.

• Innate Regeneration, Resistances, and Affinities naturally increased.

<Soul Enthralling World Tree (A Rank Level 3 [4,150,000/15,925,300])>:

• Aura inspires awe across all beings.

• Natural Charm Increases.

• Voice can affect/damage souls.

• Souls dying in the domain are purified and reborn through you.

<World Tree Eye (A- Rank level 3 [6,355,000/13,122,000])>:

• Vision extended through roots; clarity equals natural sight.

• Can perceive ternary essences of opponents.

<Cerulean Bloodsap (A- Rank Level 2 [960,300/3,888,000])>:

• Sap completely cures poisons/ailments ≤ Tier.

• Acts as a panacea and alchemy catalyst (+20% success).

• Nearby flora receive growth boosts and naturally purifying qualities.

Accumulated Experience: 10,156,069

Inventory: 95 <Soulseeds>, 116 <Summon Temple Seeds>, 109 <Destiny Temple Seeds>, 103 <Craft Temple Seeds>, 78 <Life Temple Seeds>, 9 <Super Rare Ticket>, 4 <Ultra Rare Ticket>, 1 <Legendary Ticket>…

***