With so many options, Liu Shu considered the possibility of merging. If she could merge her existing , she would gain a lot of wiggle room in her choices. But after looking, it was not possible to do so. The concepts of Life, Crafting, Summoning, and Destiny were not compatible to mix as they were currently.

  Two future evolutions could likely mix, giving way to new ones. For now, though, it looked impossible.

  The result didn’t upset or surprise her. “In the first place, I chose my temples in a way that they could cover as many different areas as possible. Still, I had expected Crafting and Life to have some similarities.”

  [Wisdom: Basic concepts need not only to resemble, but also to have a very strong link between them so that they mix. As you increase their concept hierarchy, you will notice that the merge conditions become looser. Of course, you won’t be able to mix them according to arbitrary matchings.]

  “I understand. Still, I can mix them indefinitely, right? As long as there is a concept that can be merged, I can throw it in there.”

  [Wisdom: That is correct. Nevertheless, the higher the concept level, the less influence new basic ones will have on it. In the future, you might only be able to boost the numbers and not add new effects.]

  Liu Shu chuckled. “Honestly, that’s not bad at all. I would rather that happened since I won’t be able to keep up with so many buffs eventually.”

  With that question resolved, Liu Shu gave it her first try. “Let’s see… Combine the with the , , , , and concepts.”

  [Impossible to merge.]

  “...Hm?” Liu Shu figuratively tilted her head. “What do you mean, it is impossible? These concepts share basically everything, only changing in specialization, right?”

  [Impossible to merge.]

  Liu Shu, once more, smacked the System window a few times with imaginary roots. Then, she sighed. “...System and Wisdom, explain. The normal System is being a bother.”

  [System Hint: Merging multiple concepts at once is not possible.]

  Liu Shu almost started chewing the system window out of anger. “Why! Not! Tell me why it isn’t possible, you stupid system!”

  [System Hint: are powerful and divine structures. Their broad influence allows for incredible benefits. Therefore, a mix of two concepts needs to be carefully done, or there can be unwanted consequences.]

  “Oh.” Liu Shu read that and couldn’t find a retort. It was also quite logical once you thought about it. “...Um, Wisdom, anything to add? Help me cover my canopy a little bit, pretty please~.”

  [Wisdom: That was an interesting change to the phrase “Back me up.”]

  “...Are you mocking me?”

  [Wisdom: …It is impossible to merge more than two concepts at once because the resulting one won’t always be compatible with those you chose initially. For example, if you merged Life with Death and Renewal, what do you think would happen?]

  Liu Shu spoke with a bashful tone, blinking her large eyes at the system and Wisdom. “A super nice system would help me merge those three into a super powerful and nice ?”

  [...]

  [Wisdom: …]

  “What!? Do you want to fight me!?”

  [Wisdom: …Since the concepts of Renewal and Death are opposites, the resulting might end up as a cursed that “blesses” everyone to become undead.]

  “QAQ!”

  Liu Shu decided to be a good and obedient tree and not mess around too much with the merges. She didn’t want to become a dead tree because two temples reacted strangely.

  “Ahem. I understand. Still, I can merge indefinitely, right?”

  [It is possible to do so.]

  “So… I can merge two, wait, merge the result with another, wait, and keep repeating this, right?”

  [It is possible to do so.]

  “Nice!” Liu Shu was happy, only for Wisdom to cut that happiness.

  [Wisdom: Merging is a delicate process that takes up many years. The time is only lengthened due to all the you planted not long ago.]

  Liu Shu cried. “QAQ! Babies, look how Mommy sacrifices for you!” With a sigh, the World Tree finally got to work. “Anyway, since everything is sorted, let’s start. First, the most important one…”

  Her gaze moved toward a white and black temple, standing tall with a majestic structure of coiling trunks and gorgeous branches. “, let’s see what you will combine with.”

  Liu Shu first listed the concepts compatible with the according to the System. “Let’s see, oh, they even come with a name! For the with , we have: Knowledge, Balance, Fate, Prophecy, Reality, Faith, and… Time?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  While she was surprised, she decided to ask questions later. “...Anyway, as for the with , there are: Chaos, Freedom, Destruction, and Infinity.”

  Liu Shu’s brain hurt a little bit. “System… How are some of these fusions possible? What about , , and ?”

  [ means that everyone can thread an endless number of paths—an infinite set of possibilities. Therefore, it goes against the concept of having one set .]

  [ means that everything can be broken, including certainties. Again, it goes against the concept of a fixed .]

  [ is how unfolds. While almost everything needs to manifest, is usually tightly interlocked with it—inescapable once set. Therefore, and collude together.]

  “But there are arguments against them, right? I could say that is the universe’s final . Hence, always leads to .”

  [That’s a statement with a precondition attached. You are assuming that the is set for , when you don’t know if the universe is .]

  “Oh.” Liu Shu blinked. “... Then, should also be set as a , right?”

  [ is a concept with a neutral relation with . Hence, it can’t be listed as a fusion target.]

  While Liu Shu now had her ideas sorted, she couldn’t help but look at the other three temples with apprehension below her gaze. “Ugh… Do all these also have these strange fusions as well? Or is this one a bit special?”

  [Which would you like to choose as the fusion target for ?]

  Liu Shu looked at them again and noticed that there were more on the path compared to the path. Moreover, the was something Liu Shu wanted to build separately. Therefore, she ultimately chose to merge it with

  .

  A look at the

  temple was what guided her decision. It was a that gave not only her, but also all those who received its blessing vague prophetic abilities. Of course, there were a lot of limits, and not every time would the prophecy be about some essential thing.

  The text explicitly said: “A future positive or negative outcome that affects you can be revealed in a time of need.”

  So, it could be something as useless as knowing how to go to a shop with an offer for food because you needed food, or something like discovering an ancient device that would shoot your talent to stardom.

  Ultimately, it was not particularly attractive on its own. Nevertheless, once combined, the effects of both sides would merge together. One of the effects allowed her enemies, regardless of time and distance, to have “bad luck” situations.

  These small details are something that Liu Shu didn’t know to what point they worked, but she was sure that they had some hand in her ascension. If this “bad luck” became something prophetic, it could not be avoided regardless… Liu Shu smiled evilly. ‘Hehehe, you better not consider me an enemy, or an asteroid will hit your head!’

  Of course, she wouldn’t know the exact effects until after the fusion, but it was more than worth trying. “Alright, System, let’s go with with the for the .”

  [Fusion of is possible. The fusion will take 15 years.]

  The World Tree almost flipped the surface of the Moon. “FIFTEEN!? WHY DON’T YOU GO ROB SOMEONE OTHER THAN ME OF THEIR TIME! AHHHHHH!”

  Of course, regardless of how many curses she threw at the System, the countdown had started and was in process. Seeing the seconds go by slowly, she became depressed. As she searched through her buffs, expecting the to have disappeared, a pleasant surprise welcomed her. “Huh? Are the effects still available?”

  [System Hint: The is evolving. Its effects won’t be altered in any way during the transformation. They will only disappear once the new is completed.]

  “Ohhhh!” After hearing the System’s emotionless voice say that, she was not that angry anymore. “I thought that the effects disappeared; that’s why I was so angry.”

  [...]

  “Hehe. Sorry System~, hehehehe.”

  Feeling a bit embarrassed, Liu Shu pointed at the System again. “Anyway, let’s go to the next one! We still have three of those babies and their siblings to guide in a new and exciting evolutionary path!”

  The System didn’t respond. Instead, it showed Liu Shu the six system messages she wanted.

  [Life : Nature, Phoer, Origin, Growth, Infinity, Seasons, Healing, Fertility, Beasts, Flora, Fauna, Vitality, Harmony, and Renewal.]

  [Life : Death, Chaos, Decay, War, Destruction, Time, Endings, Order, Void, Eternity, and Stillness.]

  [Craft : Infinity, Memory, Imagination, Architecture, Art, Writing, Flow, Communication, Music, Civilization, Knowledge, Thought, Wisdom, and Harmony.]

  [Craft : Nature, Chaos, Decay, Endings, Freedom, Void, Emotion, and Destruction.]

  [Summoning : Anima, Faith, Fate, Space, Dimensions, Worlds, and Resonance.]

  [Summoning : Will, Freedom, Isolation, Order, and Law.]

  Liu Shu glanced at those messages, and her eyes got stuck on the Synergies for Craft. “... Why are there so many concepts that can merge with Craft!? Well, it is clear that the Temple Of Craft goes the route as well… Is any of them going the path at all?”

  Liu Shu rechecked all of them. “Hm… The Summoning temple has Faith and Fate, which I will probably merge with Destiny down the line. If I mix the Summoning Temple with the Space attribute ones… Will it eventually be able to hold worlds by itself? Mixing it with opposites doesn’t make much sense. What can Summoning and Freedom even accomplish compared to a synergy merge?”

  With that in mind, both the and the would go through the paths.

  Finally, it came to the last one she had built. “Life… I think that this one can go through the path. While following the path will eventually boost all life to the extreme, the nemesis path will enable me and everyone else to become something like the . Its reach will influence many more things, not restricting it to pure life.”

  With a final review, Liu Shu decided on the fusions and also the new temple to build.

  “Alright, I will choose the as the one I will build. Meanwhile, the will merge with the . Then, the will merge with the . Finally, the will merge with the .”

  [Fusion of is possible. The fusion will take 9 years.]

  [Fusion of is possible. The fusion will take 4 years.]

  [Fusion of is possible. The fusion will take 12 years.]

  [Materials to craft are the following: …]

  Liu Shu read through everything with a satisfied nod. Of course, she completely ignored the materials because she knew that if she looked, she would probably split the Moon in half to satiate her irate feelings.