From that day on, the talk of the people has all been surrounding Liu Shu. Some people started worshiping her. Others were indifferent as long as their daily lives remained untouched, while there were groups who didn't like it and tried to resist by complaining to the leaders of their cities.

Liu Shu didn't care, though. To create a worldwide power, there was a need to do something that went against people's fundamental values: the erasure of national and local identity.

It doesn't matter if you sold something as being ten times better; even if you've proved your methods correct, there will always be a large part of the population that refuses to see and stubbornly latches onto their identities. This wasn't because those people were evil or because they wanted to go against the power. It was, simply, because of fear.

"What will happen when I lose my identity?"

"What will happen with the traditions my family has kept for generations?"

"Will there be new rules that ban what I previously did daily?"

Overall, those who refused were those who were fearful of change. There was a saying among humans that said, "Better a flower that wilts in your hand than a seed that may never bloom."

When Liu Shu's roots arrived at the first and nearest town from the coast of the Azure Rose continent, she noticed a large group of people standing on the edge. 'Hm? What are they doing there?'

Liu Shu ignored them and continued moving forward, some of her roots surfacing and letting them know of her arrival.

"There she is!"

"Go away!"

"We don't want you!"

Liu Shu paused for a moment and decided to ask them some questions. This was the first resistance she met, and while the people in front of her were less than 5% of the total population of the town, they were not an ignorable minority.

"Why?"

A single word, with a voice that seemed to spread throughout the sky and earth, silenced everyone as tensions rose.

"Why do you not want to benefit from being under my domain? Each city must've received the blessings I can give, so I don't understand. Why resist the inevitable? If Azure Rose couldn't stop me, what makes you think you can?"

The leader of the group was nervous, but as he hesitated over whether to speak or not, someone pushed him forward. Looking back, he saw a woman with a nervous expression. "Y-You were the one who organized this, saying that you were sure you could convince her! Now don't you dare escape your responsibilities!"

The others, like sheep following the flock, parroted her. "T-That's right!"

"It was your idea, so go speak!"

Liu Shu patiently waited, ignoring the bustling nature of these people. 'They probably got entangled without knowing, pushed by peer pressure. Most people who participate in these types of large gatherings are unaware of the reasons why they do it… They just have the mentality of "everyone else does it, so it must be correct," which is plainly naive.'

After a few protests had happened in her city, Liu Shu went to the Endless Library and absorbed a few books about group psychology. Something that once ensured survival now came back to bite them. 'It's quite interesting… Well, let's hear what he says once and try to appease them. I will have a model for future interactions. I feel that I will have to repeat the same conversation quite often…'

"You…" Noticing that the representative was about to speak, his face flushed red, and he was dripping with sweat. "You are not our ruler! We live in the Halba province of the Azure Rose Confederation! International laws protect us, and no one can conquer us!"

'I could try intimidation straight away, but that can backfire. Let's try answering with words without any kind of pressure first.'

"I understand your words."

'Using sympathy, I can loosen their mental barriers.'

"What you said is something that most people I've encountered before have felt, and it is something valuable and precious to have."

'Agree with them on the surface, and compare them with others.'

"However, those people who thought like you are now part of my territory. Do you want to know why?"

'Do not say that they are wrong or right. You need to avoid getting stuck in any mental frame so that there are no blockades.'

The man frowned for a second, but he quickly tried to close Liu Shu's approach. Not purposely, but out of pure stubbornness. "Others are others! We are different! What you are doing is forcefully invading our homeland and trying to change it!"

Liu Shu answered patiently, her words sounding pleasant and gentle. "But you need to understand something, citizen. What am I? What is my purpose as a living being?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The man and many others suddenly registered a very simple fact that they had almost forgotten because of their talks. 'Our opponent is a World Tree.'

The being with incredible power and influence, able to shift mountains, part seas, and create rivers. They were the representation of nature, an unstoppable force that could envelop the entire world.

Some people paled, their hearts accelerating as they understood what was speaking to them. It wasn't an individual, but a being so vast that it covered oceans and continents. Those who could register this started trembling, wanting to go back. However, their feet were stuck, unable to move.

No one dared to leave because of the pressure to be the first to do so. Naturally, those who followed others into these types of group gatherings usually didn't have that kind of drive in them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gathered in the first place.

The representative was the one who got crushed the most. In his position, he couldn't just say, "Oh, sorry. I was in the wrong. I will leave now."

Those who rallied others managed to do so because of their firm convictions, which hardly changed despite opposing views being presented to them.

"T-That… It doesn't matter!" The man shouted, a faint tremble behind his tone and flusteredness clear on his facial features. "Even a World Tree can't do as it pleases! You are another living being, and your life is no more valuable than that of a human!"

Liu Shu disagreed with that statement in her head. Could someone who could shape the world be less valuable than a human who couldn't even change the ideas of their neighbors? Still, she didn't say that. In her current situation, her discussion opponent was without options and would start relying on one of two things: Violence or fallacies.

Violence was clearly impossible; Liu Shu was a Level 99, A+ Tier World Tree, while the man was a Level 35, C Tier human. The distance between their strength was as vast as that between the height of a human and a World Tree.

Therefore…

"Moreover, I've heard that you've slaughtered millions of innocents! You, who have exterminated the entirety of the Abyssal Void Nexus territory, are ruthless and unfit to rein us in!"

Words, when cleverly used, could twist the meaning of things as easily as flipping one's hand. Even the same sentence, spoken in two different tones, could have diametrically opposite meanings.

Liu Shu could now finish the conversation in her victory easily. She just needed to act threatening and say the following: "If you know that, what makes you think I will hesitate to destroy a small city with a few thousand people?"

That sentence would shut up the man and everyone else, and they would be forced to retreat under her pressure. But Liu Shu chose not to do so.

Instead, she acted… Or, more precisely, was honest with the man. "I… wanted to protect those whom I care about. Instead of a war, I stepped forward myself and killed all those who could cause problems in the future. So… you are right. I am someone whose roots have been stained in the blood of hundreds of millions. Sorry."

Her tone carried a touch of melancholy. The man, thinking that he was gaining an advantage, decided to push here. "A World Tree that murders everyone is not fit to be our ruler! Chant with me! Go! Back! Go! Back! Go! …Back? Go…"

But it didn't develop as he expected. Currently, the man was single-mindedly focused on ensuring those behind him thought he was right, and he completely overlooked the fact that a World Tree had apologized.

A World Tree, that sacred creature, was apologizing to a nobody when accused of something that had to be done.

Liu Shu was doing it both honestly and knowing the repercussions of her words. She was essentially using what she truly felt to challenge the beliefs of others and help them understand.

'Sorry, I don't want to make you an evil person, but I can't let you stop me from advancing my roots. So, I will have to cast you as the heartless one.'

And, with Liu Shu's apology and the violent reaction of her opponent, a reaction occurred. One person felt how wrong it was what they were doing, and turned around. "I am leaving… It doesn't make sense to stop a World Tree."

His voice was not loud in the slightest; he was just informing his friends. Yet, when a single domino fell, and the others were perfectly aligned, an unstoppable chain reaction was bound to start.

First, his friends.

"Right… I'll leave with you."

Then, there were those who were old and had experience and could see things clearly.

"That young boy is right. We were muddled."

Next, those with silent thoughts who previously followed the crowd due to peer pressure.

"Sigh…"

Right after, parents felt the shift and thought that it would be dangerous for their children.

"Let's go, daughter."

And finally, those without much courage who noticed the shift in the crowd's feelings.

"I-I should also go."

"Right, I have something to do either way. I can't be here all the time."

Noticing how the crowd he had gathered crumbled exponentially quicker, the man was confused and looked around him. "Where are you going! We must stop the evil World Tree from invading our hometown!"

But his rallying didn't work. Liu Shu's verbal strike was too powerful.

Liu Shu observed everything calmly, her gaze showing neither joy nor sadness. 'Further words are redundant. The number of people left behind is so small that I can just ignore them and advance underground into the city. Once my blessings appear, the people will side with me actively, and the small opposition will be crushed over time.'

A breath that she didn't know she was holding escaped Liu Shu as she cheered in her heart. 'Great! I can avoid hurting more innocent people! I can use my words to convince most people!'

And realistically, "most people" is what she needed. Once the benefits of being part of her domain spread to an unprepared population, it would be like allowing them to taste heaven. Who would want to go back after living in a place where the same effort yielded more simply by being under my domain?

Imagine studying in a normal library, or a library where you could learn four times faster with no drawbacks whatsoever—like choosing between ambrosia and filth.

And so, using this method, Liu Shu could easily deal with all cities that didn't have large flora. Life Tree Cities were not a problem as well. The extraordinarily gentle nature of Life Trees allowed Liu Shu to speak with them about the benefits and how she could help them increase their influence and help even more people.

"With this… I've addressed nearly every problem that can arise in almost 95% of the cities, towns, and settlements. My roots will be unstoppable in those areas. Now, the big problem is…" Liu Shu sighed and looked at the edges of her domain. "I need to deal with those stubborn big sisters."

There were a total of 46 World Trees scattered throughout the five continents that Azure Rose, Skyflower, and Celestial Lotus controlled. Most of them were in Skyflower's territory, numbering 22, while Celestial Lotus hosted the least, hosting only 7 of them.

Strengthening her resolve, Liu Shu took a deep breath and approached the first World Tree City outside the Golden Sap and Origin Water Continent.

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