After <Corruption Of Stars> activated, one of the strongest rituals the Nexus has, Liu Shu felt as if a damaging electric current were trying to burrow into her root net and devour everything.

The first thing Liu Shu did was look at her domain and try to pinpoint the several hundred sources where this feeling came from. A quick glance allowed her to pinpoint all the sources, and she quickly began her attempt to fight back.

"Who was it?" Liu Shu, while she wouldn’t say she was omniscient within her domain, she had always felt confident in her ability to locate strangeness within. Yet, now, someone had managed to sneak around and plant all these nodes under her nose without her noticing.

This was another wake-up call for Liu Shu, who had started to notice all her weak links due to the Nexus’s surgical attacks.

Detection, starships, outposts, top-level strength, and equipment. Her empire was severely lacking in all of those areas.

Placing those thoughts to the back of her mind, Liu Shu’s Aether Mana and Anima Energy began pulsing out from her core, reaching these nodes as she activated the A+ Rank <Curse Cleansing Aurora>.

Iridescent light covered the source of the pain, blowing away the black mist and revealing what was below. "This is... a runic field?"

A complex three-dimensional runic field appeared, anchored in space itself, rotating and changing forms as if it were a living creature. Liu Shu was instantly surprised, feeling quite inferior to whoever had created such a thing.

’However... It is not completely out of my league.’

In the two Moon-Types that Nysera was using to travel, the thousands of clergy members were currently mumbling chants and pouring their energy into several nodes. The place where they gathered was an extremely spacious and large room, modified for them, where a three-dimensional hologram of the solar system appeared.

Groups of clergy members kneeled around brilliant red nodes. Connected through runic fields and learned skills, their essence flowed to strengthen and try to invade Liu Shu’s body.

Nysera sat cross-legged in the middle, surrounded by two dozen high bishops, all of them Level 190+ powerhouses.

At first, when Nysera activated the <Corruption Of Stars> formation, she believed they would become a plague that hopelessly spread through Liu Shu’s root net. However...

"Lady Nysera, the 342nd node is unable to advance further."

"Lady Nysera, the 51st node is unable to advance further."

"Lady Nysera..."

"How...?" Nysera was baffled as she heard one report after another pouring in. The formation they were using was an S Rank formation! It was basically a trump card that not even <Second Ascension> World Trees could easily resist. With enough preparation, the Nexus felt that even the main World Tree of the covenant would fall under this array’s strength.

"The only thing we are lacking is a true High Hierarch, like a Corrupt Elder. However, I am not much worse than them in terms of ritualistic practice..."

She had been stuck at Level 199 for several centuries, but Nysera never took it to heart, as her ability to manipulate corruption arrays and similar rituals was top-notch to the point that she had a prearranged seat as a higher-ranked Corrupt Elder once she breached that wall stopping her from reaching Level 200.

"Lady Nysera! We are in trouble! Node number 457 is being attacked by the World Tree!"

Nysera frowned, confused. "What’s wrong with that? Just focus a few more people on that node and defend it."

"My Lady!" The voice sounded rushed. "The pushback is strong enough to damage it!"

"What?"

Nysera’s confused face quickly changed, and she looked over toward that bright red point. The miniature version of the runic and array mix was now being attacked by some sort of iridescent aura. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Moreover, the hologram showed that the roots were pumping something into the zone in terrifying quantities through the roots. "What is that? Has this young World Tree researched something similar to an anti-corruption potion?"

"Even if she has, how could she transfer it through her root system?"

The power of the <Corruption Of Stars> field did not end in just corruption. It also gave a certain level of knowledge of the World Tree. However, this part had barely allowed them to see through a few hundred thousand kilometers into the root net. While it sounded like a lot, for Liu Shu, who had several billion kilometers in root net, this amounted to just one ten-thousandth of all the root net.

Nysera spoke with a solemn tone. "It seems that this World Tree is resistant to corruption to a certain extent. Do not allow her to recover; those who are not needed on other nodes rush to help the attacked ones."

And so, Nysera’s group and Liu Shu began fighting back and forth. Liu Shu also launched a counterattack once she realized her resistance was enough to slow and almost paralyze the corruption’s initial push.

"If we make a comparison, it’s like they’ve gotten the tip of my pinky finger and want to spread from there."

She thought of cutting those sections. However, that would not help her deal with the source of the problem. Her gaze moved toward the battlefield, and when she saw Ignatia arrive with the millions of ants to help on the battlefield, her heart settled a bit.

Still, seeing the starships’ attacks kill a few thousand of those ants, Liu Shu felt incredibly upset. "Since you like hiding so much... let me tear your disguise apart and bring you to light."

Her incredibly powerful mind put away all noise, and she began attacking and deciphering the <Corruption Of Stars> field runes and array lines.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Rhazor had managed to reach a balance in his fight against Xakira. Although the other side was strong, and she was getting more proficient in her newly acquired strength each passing minute, Rhazor knew that she was far from being able to defeat him.

What he was worried about was not Xakira’s relentless attacks. He just needed not to be taken by surprise, and he would be able to deal with her. His focus was elsewhere.

’Ants...?’

Looking at the millions of ants that varied in both size and specialty widely, creating a comprehensive army with aethermancers, soulmancers, tanks, healers, and supporting ants.

’This kind of order is not something a normal group of ant queens can achieve.’

An extremely bad premonition struck his heart, his eyes quickly scanning the battlefield until he finally found the source. At the very frontline of the ant army, he saw two individuals who clearly stood out even among millions.

The first was a small-sized fairy whose attacks could only be described as catastrophic. Almost a dozen elemental attack types swirled around her, raining on everyone with terrifying elemental storms that mixed light, space, earth, fire, and much more.

’That fairy... what species is she? How can she govern so many elements?’

Still, his gaze didn’t linger; instead, his eyes moved from time to time to the female at the very front wearing red-colored battle armor. If Rhazor had to describe her in one word, it would be "overwhelming."

Each punch would blow open holes in defensive formations. Attacks that landed on her barely scratched her skin before it healed, while her speed made her look like a blur for most of the battle as she slaughtered one person almost every three seconds.

’Ant characteristics and looking mostly humanoid...’ Just this description could make many top-tier powerhouses feel as if their childhood nightmare was taking shape into reality. Rhazor looked at Xakira with a solemn expression. "Queen Xakira, that woman over there."

Xakira spun her staff, thousands of poisonous hornets manifesting and being overcharged with electricity to surround him in a storm. Rhazor quickly slashed around him, clearing the nearby location and quickly moving. Xakira’s poison was something he didn’t dare take head-on.

"That woman... is she a Humanoid Ant Queen?"

Xakira used her movement technique, flashing behind him and feinting a sting attack. Rhazor flinched due to his previous experience, quickly retreating back, just to see Xakira raise her staff once more and summon thousands of spears around his location.

"Before worrying about other queens, you should make sure this Hornet Queen doesn’t slaughter you."

Rhazor clicked his tongue. "Annoying."

Clang! Clang! Clang!...

His sword flashed quickly, but due to Xakira’s perfect preparation with the faint, some of them hit him, slicing over two Phoer Star essences. The pain made him grunt, but he quickly took back the rhythm of the battle.

"Lord Rhazor! Danger! The Arboreal Winged Serpents, accompanied by four Sylvans and a humanoid World Tree, have breached through and are now rushing toward our starships!"

"What?"

Rhazor made distance before looking over. The giant humanoid World Tree was easily seen, as it was comparable in size to World-Type Motherships. There, he saw several of Liu Shu’s roots suddenly appear, caressing all of them and another over 1,000 people.

A green aura surged before sinking into them. He quickly made a call. "Nysera! What are you doing!? The World Tree is still meddling with this battlefield!"

"Lord Rhazor, don’t scream at me."

Looking at the several nodes that had collapsed, Nysera’s face was far from happy. Now, being shouted at, she almost snapped. ’If he weren’t a Star Emperor, I wouldn’t have even bothered answering!’

"I won’t scream at you when you do your job properly! I want that World Tree completely out of the main battlefield!"

Nysera answered coldly and hung up. "I understand." Then, she looked around, her eyes scanning everything slowly and trying to find some sort of weak point.

’World Tree’s root nets usually have imperfections. I can exploit those imperfections and then infiltrate through there. We are gaining terrain, even if some nodes are being destroyed. This shows that the other side’s resistance is not good enough to bear S Rank corruption.’

Nysera, her black eyes looking back and forth, couldn’t help but feel annoyed. ’How could we be so unlucky not to find weak links yet?’

Little did she know that, as someone with perfect <Energy Cycles>, Liu Shu’s root net could only be described as flawless. Her "weak points" were the "strong points" that would appear in an average True World Tree’s root net.

Meanwhile, Liu Shu’s focused gaze as she reverse-engineered the <Corruption Of Stars> runes was becoming brighter and brighter.

’Essence power link... cycle cleansing runes... reverse effect runes... defensive runes links... unknown section... another unknown section...’

Her eyes traced the complex rune paths, quickly organizing a complex three-dimensional structure in her mind. All the blinking and shifting rune paths fell into different patterns Liu Shu detected until, several hours later...

"Ah. Found you." Liu Shu’s smile stretched. "Transmission Rune Link."

If Nysera knew that Liu Shu was considered the number one runic master in the entire Golden Sap Empire, she might not have allowed the runes to be revealed so easily. Sadly, the World Tree pinched the end of the vine connecting to them, and now she only needed to follow it to find the source.