Setting up <Eternity Of Stars> turned out to be much more complicated than she first imagined. While the theoretical and most of the practical experiments had gone well, when it was time to activate all nodes, things became complicated.

Due to the changes to Corruption Of Stars, which was initially created to take over, and was now being changed to reinforce, some small connections interfered with the activation.

Moreover, the amount of essence needed to keep it running was not low. ’Thankfully, I gained my baby’s <Mortal-Growth Blessing>, increasing my Aether and Anima regeneration by converting my Phoer regeneration.

"But..." Liu Shu was somewhat confused. "The first effect of this blessing, how will it affect me?"

She had not used it because she was someone whose lifespan was supposed to be inexhaustible. Therefore, using the active effect, which could sacrifice part of it for a risky and last-chance burst, became a touchy thing Liu Shu didn’t dare experiment with.

’What if I start consuming, and my lifespan changes back to not being endless? My lifespan being endless might be a delicate balance that can be disrupted with self-harm methods...’

So, Liu Shu was really reluctant to use that blessing unless absolutely necessary. ’There are three outcomes when I use it. One, I lose my endless lifetime because of some imbalance. Second, nothing happens, or negligible effects occur due to the title being unable to consume my lifespan. Third... I can use it without the risk involved with it and gain a permanent buff.’

Shaking her head, Liu Shu decided not to bother for now and throw that effect to the back of her head.

"Anyway... Little Fatebrushing, I am counting on you, darling."

After muttering that, Liu Shu used the active skill of <Fatebrushing Blessing> once more today, and then, she tried to activate <Eternity Of Stars> once again.

Since she had plenty of time, Liu Shu had been building nodes until they reached 999 of them. Among those 99 of them were core nodes, such as those Liu Shu destroyed during the war. The rest were just repetition nodes.

This was also the weakest form of <Eternity Of Stars>, with an effect of S- Rank Rune Array strength.

’The blueprints I created are upgradable, so I’d rather get it going first and then expand.’

Her mind soon focused entirely on it, her essence flowing through her roots and pouring into the nodes. She was basically using herself as the starting link before leaving the rune to gather energy by itself.

To support a Solar System-wide Rune Array, Liu Shu’s essence reserves were sorely lacking. Even as a World Tree, her few dozen <Ternary Essence Stars> could not affect such a wide range for a long time.

During the war, she used her entire energy just to create one "radar" like wave. It was a single pulse to help her detect oddly moving things. Something incredibly crude when compared to what <Eternity Of Stars> could truly do.

So, what was Liu Shu’s solution? Focus the array range.

Liu Shu, instead of trying to cover everything, moved all 999 nodes near the currently most important area: The sun.

The sun in the Ceperet Star System was by no means a large star, but it was a star nonetheless. The diameter of the Sun was well over one million kilometers. An area of that magnitude surpassed Liu Shu’s largest attack range by at least two or three orders of magnitude.

Still, the nodes were not there as decorations. Their most important effect was, without a doubt, their ability to draw essence from the cosmos and become self-sustainable.

Otherwise, this type of massively large array would be impossible to maintain.

As Liu Shu felt the usual resistance, the <Fatebrushing Blessing> main effect finally activated. Liu Shu’s focus, because of a strange flicker, moved toward a section of the node rune array.

"Hm?"

Focusing on that strangely odd section, she noticed a big problem. "...No wonder. The underlying array system in this area was blocked. It is a small section, but it clogs the flow, making the self-sustainability impossible."

A sigh of relief escaped Liu Shu. While she was a bit frustrated that such a mistake had escaped her, she was glad it was an oversight rather than a flaw in her theories.

Her roots extended to that section, space around them opening as materials poured out of the <Lignified Vault>. "...It’s quite expensive, but well. I’ve already poured enough materials to build 10 Golden Sap Cities, so a little bit more is not a problem."

She smiled wryly and sighed.

[Congratulations! You’ve received the effects from <Eternity Of Stars (S- Rank)>.]

[Your affinity to <Star> Essence increases by 1000%.]

[Your <Eternal> essence grants 100% multiplicative resistance toward stellar influence.]

[Your roots within the area gain 2000% multiplicative resistance toward environmental factors.]

[While connected to a star through <Eternity Of Stars>, your roots are treated as part of the stellar body.]

[Star Essence within the area recognizes your existence as non-hostile.]

[Natural Radiation Damage is reduced by 99.9%.]

[Natural Explosion Damage is reduced by 99.9%.]

[Natural Pressure Damage is reduced by 99.9%.]

[Natural Thermal Damage is reduced by 99.9%.]

"...Wow."

Liu Shu had already expected the effects, as she was the one who created it. However, the exact values after activation left her breathless. After all, this was the S- Rank effect! Beyond this one, there was S, S+, and the maximum potential of SS- Rank.

"I don’t have the resources currently to activate a larger one. However, in the future, when I perfect it, this might also act like that one science article I saw in the past. How was it called... Star Reactor Sphere? It used swarms of drones to orbit a star and gather the radiation and thermal energies to generate electricity."

Looking at the glowing nodes floating around the sun, Liu Shu’s eyes sparkled. "Hehehe. Regardless of future plans... I did it!"

A cheer escaped her, her roots wiggling happily. These buffs didn’t really help her in battle, since it clearly stated that it focused on natural influences. However, that didn’t mean it was useless. In the future, people might even be able to land on the Sun while affected by the <Eternity Of Stars> buff.

Many interesting future images flashed in Liu Shu’s mind. "Alright, alright. Snap out of it. Let’s first make sure the auto-sustenance is working correctly. Then... I should start digging into the Sun."

Meanwhile, back in Ceperet, Seraphina noticed Liu Shu suddenly become dazed, and a second later, a big, happy smile appeared on her face. Seraphina chuckled, leaning her chin on her palm as she looked at Liu Shu lovingly.

"What’s wrong?"

Liu Shu’s amethyst eyes snapped out of their daze, focusing on Seraphina’s face. Those gorgeous silver eyes glancing at her lovingly flustered her for a moment, a small heat appearing in her cheeks. Still, the excitement of her success was much stronger. "I finally activated it! After so many years of work, I am finally done!"

"So many years..." Seraphina laughed. "Aren’t you just a little over 151 years old? What is that... six years or so since you started?"

Liu Shu blinked. "Six years is a lot!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say is the truth~."

Liu Shu puffed her cheeks. "Seraphina! You can’t tease me all the time."

Seraphina sat by her side, leaning over with a seductive smile. "Why not? Your flustered face is so pretty that I can’t help myself."

If Seraphina had an affection system, it would’ve pinged quite happily with a +1 affection point.

Liu Shu’s eyes swam around, her face blushing. "O-Oh. B-But you are not my wife... So be careful with your words, or I’ll get scolded."

"Oh?" Seraphina was not bothered at all. "I wonder, why is it only with me that you feel compliments are something that will get you in trouble with your wives, hm~?"

Liu Shu’s super brain, when dealing with these Sylvans, more often than not became mush. So she blurted. "It’s not only you. Obsidianis is also the same!"

Seraphina’s silver eyes glowed with a flash of both happiness and dark light. "I see..."

Her gaze, predatory and incredibly pressuring, made Liu Shu’s heart thump with nervousness. "A-Ahem. Anyway, what did you want from me, Seraphina?"

Seraphina leaned down, looking slightly from above at the short yet curvy girl. "I want your lips. Will you give them to me?"

Liu Shu blushed deeply, her hands tangling the dress quite anxiously. "Y-You can’t."

"Oh?" Seraphina’s voice was low and attribute, with a hint of teasing as her finger caressed her chin. "Why then... are you not moving back?"

Liu Shu blinked a few times, her beautiful jade green and long lashes fluttering. "T-That... "

As Seraphina leaned down slowly, a devilish and charming voice interrupted them.

"Oh, here you are, Liu Shu."

Seraphina’s eyes darkened for a second, and Liu Shu saw that dark, murky yet incredibly profound emotion clearly. For some reason, her womb twitched. ’A-Ah~. T-That gaze is against the rules.’

Seraphina, unaware that she had perfectly pinged the horny button deep within Liu Shu, looked away and looked at Obsidianis with annoyance. "Weren’t you helping with some work in the Moon? Why are you back so early? If you need help, I have a perfect way to send you back there quite quickly." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Obsidianis approached, sitting on Liu Shu’s other side with a relaxed smile. "A small problem. It is dealt with already."

Liu Shu, trying to recover from the hit she received from Seraphina’s utterly obsessive gaze, coughed and looked at Obsidianis. "W-What were you doing over there?"

Obsidianis stopped exchanging glances with Seraphina and looked down with a smile. The hair that usually hid one of her eyes moved to the side with that gesture, revealing Obsidianis’s charming face entirely. "There was a problem with some training grounds. As you know, we’ve been using our knowledge and skills as bases to create them across your Empire. These training grounds are quite common in sects, but since we do not know the details, some malfunctioned and almost caused a small accident. I went to fix that."

"Ohh!" Liu Shu’s excitement banished as her eyes shone with curiosity. She had been so fixated on the <Eternity Of Stars> Rune Array that she completely ignored local matters for a few years. At most, she had been exchanging simple information and living with just enough functionality for her Avatar to speak and move around.

Of course, the traces of consciousness constantly following her children never disappeared, to prevent any accidents from happening.

Seraphina, not wanting her time with Liu Shu to be snatched easily, asked. "So, why were you smiling so happily back then, Liu Shu?"

Liu Shu blinked and looked at Seraphina with a smile. "I activated <Eternity Of Stars>!"

Both Sylvans raised their eyebrows with interest.