《Reborn as a Demonic Tree [Back to 3x a week]》 Art Chapter Stella Crestfallen: Ai Generation of Stella: Diana Ravenborne: Ai generation of Diana: Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Cover Arts (In Order) Words: I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Chapter 1: A Scrumptious Meal Ashlock stirred from his slumber as someone entered the courtyard. Even though he had been reincarnated in this bizarre new world two years ago, Ashlock doubted he would ever get used to sleeping as a tree. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 2)] [Qi Realm: 1st Stage] [Sacrifice credits for complete system unlock: 30/50] Ashlock dismissed the system with a sigh. "I''ve been in this world for two years, yet I''ve only been awake for like an hour in total? So sleepy..." A second ago, he had been surrounded by a raging snowstorm in the depths of winter, but now the slothful tree was greeted with a gentle summer breeze that rustled his scarlet leaves. Yet, even though it had only been a second of sleep for his mortal mind, it took a moment for his tree body to wake up from hibernation. Still half-asleep, the tree basked in the sun''s warmth on his black bark for a while before finally opening his nonexistent eyes and looking around to find the human that interrupted his sleep. His sight was limited to a few meters in every direction, just enough to see the end of a stone walkway flanked by dark purple grass, overgrown with weeds. He could also see himself. But what was he? Well, according to the floating words in his mind that accompanied him for the last year, he was a Demonic Spirit Sapling. Ignoring the rude man that had interrupted his sleep, Ashlock summoned his status page. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 2)] [Qi Realm: 1st Stage] Skills: {Devour [C]} {Basic Spirit Sight [F]} {Basic Meditation [F]} [Sacrifice credits for complete system unlock: 30/50] When Ashlock died back on Earth, he asked his friend to bury him under the enormous tree in his local park. It always gave him a certain feeling when he sat on the park bench under its canopy, like a warm welcome home. "Seems another season has passed..." Ashlock spoke to himself since nobody could hear him. When he first arrived in this alien world, he tried to talk to the humans who occasionally passed within his limited sight range, but they never reacted, no matter how much he yelled. The man waited patiently in front of him, but sadly not only was Ashlock''s spirit sight limited, but it was also blurry. Like looking through frosted glass, he could make out the shapes and colors, but any fine details were beyond him. "The fuck do you want, random guy? I have nothing to offer... I''m a tree, for god''s sake." Ashlock had no idea why, but this man came by every so often with a sacrifice to offer him as if he was some patron deity. After a minute, the man sat down in a cross-legged position and left the rabbit-looking creature he was holding on the ground. Then, as blood trickled out of the rabbit''s slit neck onto the purple grass, Ashlock felt a familiar feeling. Hunger. Without thinking, he activated his {Devour} skill. Black vines covered in tiny thorns surged from the ground like waiting vipers and wrapped around the rabbit corpse, mummifying it. The black vine pulsed with energy as the thorns bit into the rabbit''s soft flesh and pumped out the blood. Before Ashlock even realized it, the vines loosened up and retreated under the ground, and he felt a rush of power. It was small, but compared to the minuscule energy he absorbed through his {Meditation} skill from the sun, the devoured rabbit gave a week''s worth of energy all at once. Ashlock resisted the urge to use {Devour} on the sitting man. There was no requirement that the target had to be dead. They simply had to be in range and ideally stationary. Ashlock knew the man would give him a lot more energy than the rabbit, perhaps enough to finally reach the 2nd stage of the Qi realm, whatever that meant. But alas, Ashlock was no fool and knew the man wouldn''t take being devoured kindly. The man said some unintelligible words, patted his bark, and left. Ashlock checked his status, and sure enough, the number of sacrifices obtained for the system unlock had increased by one. [Sacrifice credits for complete system unlock: 31/50] This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Ashlock had no clue what complete system unlock meant. He had read many novels and played games back on Earth... wait maybe this was still Earth? The people who visited him were odd, and the creatures looked slightly off, but his vision was so poor it was hard to tell. "I think it''s safe to assume I''m in another world, though. Never heard of anyone cultivating back on Earth." And with that thought, Ashlock activated his {Basic Meditation} skill. The energy that was chaotically rampaging through his trunk began to calm. Ashlock had no clue how the skill worked, but it allowed him to somewhat control the energies within while also absorbing some Qi from the sun. "If only it wasn''t so slow..." Ashlock had been here for 2 years, and even with over thirty sacrifices and constant {Basic Meditation}, he hadn''t seen much improvement. Except his trunk had grown a little taller, he was now the height of an average man. "But don''t trees grow naturally? Sure I''m growing a little fast, but nothing that couldn''t happen on Earth. Maybe my bark has also gotten harder? Difficult to test..." Ashlock tried not to think about it, but he was terrified. What if the man needed some firewood? Or some otherworldly monster snuck into the area he was in. Unfortunately, apart from his {Devour} ability, he could not fight back. Deciding such thoughts were pointless as there was nothing he could do, Ashlock entered his state of meditation once more, and the world drifted away... *** "Three this time?" Ashlock saw a trio enter his field of view. "A small person?" Ashlock was only around the man''s height, so unless he had rapidly grown in stature, one of them was likely a child... or midget. "What if there are dwarves in this world?" Honestly, Ashlock had zero clue about this world. Maybe one day, he could learn more. "If only I could hear them speak, it would make my life so much easier." Ashlock sighed in his mind as he observed the three people. "Wait... is that a girl?" One of the three had long blonde hair flowing out of their black cloak like a cape. The other two were clearly male, and how they were a step behind the female suggested a potential subservient nature to their relationship. The girl was holding a bag tightly in her hands which the other two seemed interested in. Of course, Ashlock was also interested in the contents of the bag... although he time skipped when he meditated so he could avoid the weeks or months of boredom, he was still starving for some entertainment. "Oddly, the system seems to wake me up when someone comes within my range... will that be an issue when my {Basic Spirit Sight} upgrades and I can see further?" These were questions for another time as the girl had opened the bag and brought out a... decapitated head? The two other men seemed just as surprised as Ashlock. They both took a step back and drew out some type of long weapon, likely a sword, but Ashlock''s blurry vision made it hard to tell. The only reason he could tell the girl took out a head from the bag was that he recognized it... It was the head of the man who had given him the rabbit last time. A slight tinge of disgust and regret bloomed in the back of Ashlock''s mind. The man had been just a blurry figure, but he had provided him with food... "Wait, am I some kind of dog that wags its tail for food?" "Fuck that." Ashlock dismissed the feeling and focused on the action. The girl dropped the decapitated head on the floor by Ashlock''s exposed roots, and he could feel the fabric of her cloak as she backed up against his trunk. Blue energy illuminated the two swords like light sabers in Ashlock''s {Basic Spirit Sight}, and they swung forward. "Wait-" Ashlock screamed as two arcs of blue light surged toward him. The girl deflected the two incoming attacks with her palm, empowered with a purple light. She then acquired two daggers from god knows where and lunged at the man to the left. The man kicked back surprisingly quickly and vanished from Ashlock''s sight. It was bizarre to only watch one side of the fight. The girl fought just on the edge of his perception. Purple energy flickered across her hands like a flame as she deflected attacks from two sides. Then she dove to the left, dodging a blast of blue energy that disintegrated her hood and some free-flowing hair. There was just one slight issue... the blast kept going toward a defenseless tree... "Ahhhh¡ª" Ashlock screamed as the blinding beam of blue light smashed into one of his branches, obliterating it in a shower of splinters. Ashlock watched in horror as his branch tumbled to the ground beside him. Strangely, Ashlock felt nothing except the escape of energy like a popped balloon, so he quickly tried to seal the hole. Qi that he had stored in his trunk surged toward the hole and slowly knitted the spot closed. "I''m alive...?" Ashlock didn''t know what he expected. It''s not like trees bleed to death or something. Ashlock then watched as purple energy enveloped his fallen branch and hurled it outside his vision. The girl was clearly the culprit as she dashed after the flying branch, and then Ashlock saw nothing. Sadly, Ashlock had no clue how the fight was going, as it all happened outside his limited range. A few minutes passed until someone stepped back into his field of view... The girl''s black cloak was soaked in blood, and the two daggers in her hands dripped blood onto the purple grass, which made Ashlock feel hungry. If he could lick his lips, he would. She pocketed her daggers somewhere and then dragged two bodies into view. The two men were covered in cuts, and one was clearly missing a hand. It was the most heinous thing Ashlock had ever seen, but he felt... nothing but hunger. Which was disturbing, to say the least. Where had his humanity gone? The girl said something he couldn''t hear before dumping the two bodies up against his trunk next to the decapitated head. She also brought over his branch. She then collapsed against his trunk, looking up at his canopy. A while passed, and Ashlock couldn''t hold back his hunger any longer. The desire to devour overtook his mind, and a swarm of black vines mummified the various offerings, including the branch. The sound of metal snapping surprised Ashlock as his vines broke the swords into small pieces and dissolved them by secreting a corrosive fluid. The process was slow. An hour passed, and the girl seemed to grow impatient, leaving the courtyard. Days went by as the courtyard experienced the cycle of the sun and moon a total of four times. Ashlock had turned his brain off to the passage of time, so the sudden rush of euphoria caught him off guard. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 2)] [Qi Realm: 2nd Stage] Skills: {Devour [C]} {Basic Spirit Sight [F]} {Basic Meditation [F]} [Sacrifice credits for complete system unlock: 56/50] "Oh! I finally reached the 2nd stage of the Qi Realm." Ashlock felt energy shoot up his roots and an immense fatigue wash over him. [Unlocking Sign-In System...] He resisted with all his mental fortitude, but he soon fell asleep. Chapter 2: The Wooden Stick Incident The courtyard was desolate¡ªa cold breeze rustled Ashlock''s scarlet leaves as his mind slowly awoke from a long sleep. Ashlock jolted awake as a sound similar to a ding resounded in his head. In confusion, Ashlock read the string of words that materialized in his mind. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1050 Daily Credit: 1050 Sacrifice Credit: 6 [Sign in?] "Sign in?" Ashlock stared at the question. "Oh right, the system unlocked." Despite months passing, to Ashlock, it had felt like a short nap. "So my system is a sign-in system?" Ashlock had read many novels back on Earth, and a sign-in system was common. They rewarded the system user for remaining in a certain location for a long time by providing escalating rewards with each passing day. Eventually, all these wastrel young masters that had been banished to the cold palace, never to be seen again, returned after a hundred years as an undisputed existence with enough wealth and power to rule a nation. But Ashlock was a tree. What use were weapons, cultivation pills, or immense wealth to a tree stuck in a courtyard? "Well, on the plus side, if the rewards increase over time, I can sleep away until I gain something useful to me¡­ like maybe some new skills? Or a way to cultivate faster." Ashlock accepted the fate that he would spend a lot of time talking to himself about various things; the question is, how long until he went mad? Maybe he was already mad. He had consumed humans for nutrition and hadn''t batted an eye. Seeing no harm in trusting the system, Ashlock decided to [Sign-In]. [Sign in successful, 1056 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked an A-grade skill: Eye of the Tree God] "Eye of the Tree God?" Ashlock''s brain buzzed as the darkness that shrouded him vanished, and his view range rapidly expanded in all directions. "Ugh." Ashlock tried to close his eyes in a vain attempt to block out the world, but alas, he had no eyes. He could only suffer as his mind was overloaded with more visual stimuli than he had ever endured when he was human. Deciding there was no other way out from the onslaught, Ashlock chose the easy way out and fell asleep. *** Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1051 Daily Credit: 1 Sacrifice Credit: 0 [Sign in?] Ashlock awoke as he felt the presence of a girl he was familiar with. Confused, he spread his spiritual sight and realized the courtyard was empty. "Where is she?" Ashlock focused on the feeling, and his worldview shifted to an aerial view. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Wow..." Ashlock looked down at a small tree in the central courtyard of a Chinese-style pavilion. It was the size of an adult with beautiful red leaves and rugged obsidian bark. "Is this the power of the [Eye of the Tree God] skill?" Ashlock zoomed out, and now an entire mountain was in view. A lone girl with flowing blonde hair climbed up a thousand steps to the pavilion''s entrance. Ashlock recognized her as the girl who had helped him unlock his system all those months ago. He watched for a bit longer, but from the aerial view, she was a tiny speck climbing a very tall mountain. "It kinda feels like watching drone or CCTV footage." Ashlock hummed to himself as he rotated and moved the view to look at the pavilion from all sides. The massive pavilion was built atop the mountain with walls of pristine white stone topped with black wood roofs. There were also red vines covering the mountain and growing up the walls. Other than the central courtyard containing Ashlock''s body, there were another four courtyards with varying features. One included a herb garden with many exotic plants¡ªanother had a large pond with fish similar to Koi swimming around. Ashlock also spotted a training courtyard with a sandy-looking floor and training dummies made of wood. The final one had a raised stone platform covered in strange runes. During the tour of his home, Ashlock also spotted a few humans walking past the pavilion''s windows. "So there are other humans here. Why does their presence not awaken me like the girl?" A mystery for another time. Ashlock started to feel a strain on his mind, so he canceled out the {Eye of the Tree God} skill. "I can''t use it all the time? A shame... hopefully, through training, I can use it for longer periods or perhaps increase my view range?" Then Ashlock remembered the sign-in notification. As if on cue, it reappeared, and Ashlock chose to [Sign-In]. [Sign in successful, 1 credit consumed¡­] [Unlocked an F-grade item: Wooden stick] "¡­A wooden stick?" Ashlock was baffled. Compared to the last reward, this was almost insulting. "Shouldn''t the rewards scale with time? Was the first reward a first-time sign-in bonus or something?" Ashlock thought back to the system messages and discovered the reason. "It consumed my credits¡­ I had 1056 last time but only 1 today. So I get rewarded for accumulating credits first before signing in?" This would need more investigation. "But where is my wooden stick?" Ashlock looked around himself, but there were no wooden sticks. Just purple grass and his black roots. Then as if the system detected his thoughts, a large empty space within himself was revealed, and inside this space was a singular wooden stick. "Is this a pocket dimension?" Ashlock concentrated on the stick, and to his shock, it vanished from his pocket dimension and materialized a meter from himself in the purple grass. Ashlock tried to summon the stick back, but nothing happened. A few minutes passed with Ashlock glaring at the wooden stick and shouting random commands in his mind hoping to get the wooden stick back. Finally, giving up, Ashlock noticed he could now see the entire courtyard with his regular sight rather than just a meter. He could even sense the movement of a person through the walls... And they were heading straight toward him. A sliding wooden door revealed it was the blonde girl with magical abilities that killed the two men. She wore a thick winter-style black robe with a single red lotus sown on its chest area. Moving gracefully, she followed the cobbled walkway through the purple grass and passed the wooden stick. She paused, and then with a tilt of her head, she bent down and picked up the stick. Only now, as she ran her finger across its surface, Ashlock noticed a significant issue with the stick¡ªit was too perfect. As if it was a PNG out of a video game. Both ends were perfectly cut, something not achievable in reality, and its surface was smoother than glass. A sly smile appeared on the girl''s face. By her height and features, Ashlock discerned she couldn''t be older than ten, but the memory of her murdering two men in cold blood and revealing a decapitated head was fresh in his mind. "Did she notice me¡­ fuck." As a magical man-eating tree, Ashlock was lacking in combat capabilities. She stepped closer, and Ashlock debated casting his {Devour} skill. Before he knew it, she had closed the gap and patted his trunk with a smile. She spoke a few words that Ashlock couldn''t understand, but she seemed happy about something. Then to Ashlock''s relief, the girl turned to leave with the stick. Purple flames flickered across her body, and to Ashlock''s shock, she teleported back inside the building using a mysterious movement technique. "Show off..." Ashlock grumbled. With the crisis averted, he felt more determined than ever to grow stronger. "I hope my next sign-in bonus is a better meditation technique." Sadly, with how his system functioned, it was the Gods'' will to decide his fate. He could spend years accumulating credits just to cash in and unlock a worthless item like a sword. "What the hell could I use a sword for anyway?" Before his intense training session... involving a lot of sleeping, Ashlock checked his status page. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 2)] [Qi Realm: 2nd Stage] Skills: {Eye of the Tree God[A]} {Devour[C]} {Basic Meditation[F]} "So weak. Should I sleep until I reach the next realm?" Ashlock scowled at his F-grade meditation skill. "Why did I get some dumb eye skill and a wooden stick? Increasing my meditation speed and becoming a godlike tree would be way better." Taking one final look around the courtyard, Ashlock activated his meditation skill and felt the trickle of ambient Qi through his leaves as he felt his mind drift away. Unknown to the sleeping tree, the young girl gleefully left the mountaintop pavilion with the [Wooden Stick] in her hand. Chapter 3: Aura of Fear [Qi Realm: 3rd Stage Achieved... deactivating sleep mode] A surge of energy like the world''s biggest caffeine rush awoke the slothful tree from its long slumber. Summer was in full swing, and the fluff of a bright blue bird resting happily on one of the tree''s many sturdy branches frizzled out like it had been electrocuted as ambient Qi rushed out into the surroundings. The bird''s muscles tensed up, and it tumbled to the ground like a rock¡ªluckily, the lush purple grass broke its fall... but then black vines erupted from the soil and mummified the bird. The poor thing squeaked like a dog toy as the air was crushed out of its lungs, and its bones crumbled into powder as the vines tightened their python-like grip. A girl lying under the tree''s canopy enjoying the shade from the relentless sun''s rays stopped twirling a dagger in her hand and watched the bird being eaten alive while humming. [+1 SC] "Whooo..." Ashlock felt the rush of energy subside, and he could focus again. "SC? Does that stand for sacrifice credits..." Ashlock let off a yawn as he spread out his spiritual sight. The vibrant colors of summer flooded his mind. "Wait, wasn''t it the start of winter when I fell asleep?" The rapid passage of time still baffled the poor human mind stuck in a tree, but with every passing season, he felt more tree than human. How could one treat life the same when months pass by in the blink of an eye? Since a lot of time had passed, Ashlock decided now was a great time to sign in... Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1238 Daily Credit: 187 Sacrifice Credit: 1 [Sign in?] "Yes." [Sign in successful, 188 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked a B-grade skill: Language of the World] "Not bad... I think." Ashlock would rather gain some combat abilities, but language was a good step in his pursuit of knowledge. "Hmmm, Tree, are you awake?" Ashlock mentally jumped in shock, "Who said that!?" He scanned around himself, but the courtyard was empty... "The other scions would laugh if I said my only friend was a tree..." Looking down at his base, Ashlock finally saw the culprit. It was the psycho girl. "Fuck sake, can she just leave me in peace?" Ashlock enjoyed his peace and quiet; months may have passed for the unknown girl, but he had seen her for almost all his brief moments of consciousness. "Tree, are you hungry? I tried to feed you during the winter, but you were sleeping." Ashlock had no way to answer. He was a tree. Did she expect him to drop an acorn on her head or spell out answers in the dirt? "Just go away so I can sleep again!" The girl watched his rustling leaves and seemed to reach some bizarre conclusion. "Okay, I will get you a snack." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ashlock watched purple energy erupt in a blaze across her pale skin. But, to his surprise, it didn''t burn her thin black dress. She then retrieved a beautiful black dagger and wrapped it in her purple energy. "Hold on, is that dagger handle made of the stick she stole from me?" Ashlock didn''t get a chance to examine it closely as the dagger shot out of her hand like a bullet. A thin line of purple followed it. Then as if she was fishing, she reeled the purple line back... and impaled on the end of the dagger was a very plump bird. "Here." The girl plopped the bird down and stood to leave. "I will leave you to your meal as I have some cultivating to catch up on. Bye ~." Ashlock felt his opinion of the girl rise. She may be noisy, but at least she provides snacks. Ashlock cast his {Devour} skill... [+1 SC] "Sign in!" Nothing happened. "Oh, yea... I can only do it once a day." Being a tree was boring sometimes. "Status!" [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 3)] [Qi Realm: 3rd Stage] [Skills¡­] {Eye of the Tree God[A]} {Language of the World[B]} {Devour[C]} {Basic Meditation[F]} "Three years on this planet, and I''m still weak." Ashlock felt frustrated, but then a funny thought crossed his mind. "How did all those other sign-in system protagonists survive the boredom? At least I can sleep the years away..." Ashlock decided it had been a long day, so he started meditating and fell asleep. *** "Tree, my father failed his breakthrough to the Star Core realm." The girl had built a makeshift bench next to Ashlock''s largest root and was twirling the obsidian wood dagger between her fingers. "He is now a cripple... those vultures of the other peaks may set their eyes on my Red Vine peak soon." Ashlock listened to the girl''s mutterings in silence. He was going to go insane. Every day, she ended her training and wandered over to interrupt his sleep. But what she spoke of today differed from her usual ramblings about sect politics. Instead, today she spoke of her father, which was one of the many questions Ashlock wished to ask. "Why is a girl living alone in such a massive pavilion atop a mountain? Is she cursed or something?" Ashlock had observed that the other people in the pavilion were mortal servants. They didn''t awaken him due to their lack of presence. Furthermore, their souls let out such minuscule amounts of ambient Qi it was hardly noticeable even when they walked up to him. From this, Ashlock had concluded they weren''t cultivators like the girl. "But there had been those blue energy cultivators here previously until the girl killed them. But why did she kill them, and why are there only the girl and these mortals here?" Ashlock had gained information about the world through snippets of the girl''s rambles. Such as this mountain was called the Red Vine Peak, and apparently, there were other peaks. Luckily, Ashlock was a tree. So human politics had little effect on him. Time passed... "Tree, why do people important to me all have to die and leave me alone?" The girl had red eyes as she buried her head into her knees. "Being a tree sounds nice. Do you have any worries?" "Many." Ashlock wanted to say, but she couldn''t hear him. It seemed the girl''s father had died due to complications from failing to reach the next realm. News that his home may be changing ownership terrified him. The girl was a bit bizarre, but he felt she was safe to trust. What if the next owner saw an ominous tree dominating the central courtyard as an eyesore and chose to chop him down? After all, over the last few years, he rapidly grew to over ten meters. He was like a beacon lording over the entire courtyard. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 4)] [Qi Realm: 3rd Stage] [Skills¡­] "Still stuck at the 3rd stage and considered a sapling..." Progress was slow. Unbearably slow. If not for the girl looking older and the passing of seasons, Ashlock would think the system was lying to him. "Tree... I have to go fight in a tournament to keep this place." Ashlock sighed mentally. He had accumulated a lot of daily credits and was saving them for an emergency, and in his eyes, the girl losing was a dire situation. Deciding there was only one way he could help, he summoned the sign-in system window. It was time to take a gamble. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1698 Daily Credit: 460 Sacrifice Credit: 2 [Sign in?] "Yes." [Sign in successful, 462 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked an A-grade item: Earrings of Absolute Fear] "This might be goodbye forever, tree. We had a fun few years...Huh?" The girl was baffled as two little red leaf earrings hanging from black chains materialized in her hand. Ominous whisps of shadow shrouded their surface, and if one got really close, they could hear the screams of the dead. "I love them!" The girl seemed rejuvenated with life as she bounded to her feet. "Best to die in style! Thanks for the gift tree!" Ashlock grumbled as he watched over a year''s worth of credits expended on some dumb cursed earrings. "A sword would have been so much better... or a skill that lets me assist her somehow." The girl carefully put the earrings on, and Ashlock had to admit they suited her, but they were nothing special. What a waste. "They are so pretty!" The girl looked directly at his trunk, and the Demonic Tree felt his sap run cold. Her eyes appeared as two swirling masses of darkness, and he felt a wave of fear like no other silently caress his nonexistent spine. [AURA OF FEAR DETECTED] And then she turned away, and the pressure immediately disappeared as if it were just a dream. "Holy shit..." Ashlock let out a long sigh of relief. "I will never doubt you again, system!" Watching her departing back, Ashlock felt happy. He could finally get some sleep. Chapter 4: Knowledge is Power
Autumn arrived with good news. "Tree, I won!" The girl seemed in an ecstatic mood as she sat on the bench. "I didn''t lose a single round, and by the end, they were calling me Demoness Stella Crestfallen! How funny is that?" "I finally got her name!" Ashlock was happy to finally learn the name of the annoying human that kept interrupting him. Referring to her as ''girl'' had been getting exhausting. Sadly, Stella kept calling him Tree, but that was fine. "I even accidentally killed the scion of the Ravenborne family. Their Grand Elder was beyond furious, but what could I do? The poor boy froze up and didn''t block my attack." Stella''s victory speech was interrupted by a servant. "Miss, would you like some tea?" "Sure. Bring some for my friend here as well." Stella said while patting Ashlock''s bark. The servant left with a sly smile that Stella didn''t seem to notice. She was too busy recounting her epic one-sided victories at the tournament. Ashlock found the servant''s behavior odd, so he activated his {Eye of the Tree God} skill, and his world view shifted from the purple grass courtyard to an ariel view of the mountain. "Seems the view range has expanded a little." Ashlock could now see more than just the mountaintop; the mountain''s base was now in view, and he could even see the slope of a neighboring mountain. "Now, where is that servant..." Ashlock rotated the view to try and peer through the windows, and eventually, he found a room near the exotic garden courtyard with someone very similar looking to the servant through the window. It was hard to make out what was going on inside, but from his previous investigations, this room should be some kind of alchemist room. "I believe the servant quarters and kitchen are on the other side of the pavilion..." Ashlock felt making tea in an alchemist''s room wasn''t too far-fetched for a cultivation world but was still suspicious. "Tree, I need to repay you..." Stella was leaning against his bark and playing with the earrings in her fingers. "I would give you these back, but what use are earrings to a tree? Is there something else you want?" "Food!" Ashlock wanted to shout. "If I got a few attack skills, I could hunt these darn birds that perch on my branches, but instead, I get language translation and some overpowered earrings." "Tree, I know you can hear me... do you understand me, though?" Stella let out a sigh. "Trees like knowledge, right?" Stella sat cross-legged on the bench, turned to face Ashlock, and placed a hand on his bark. Purple flames materialized on her palm and softly spread out on Ashlock''s bark. "Bitch are you burning me?!" So after everything he had done, she was scorching him? "Wow, tree, to cultivate to the 3rd realm in only a few years is very impressive! Of course, I am no tree expert, but I heard they usually cultivate very, very slowly." The invasive Qi was a little probing but, overall, felt rather nice. Ashlock tried to push her Qi away, but even inside his body, it was like trying to ward off a tsunami with a shovel. "How does such a young girl have so much power? Are all humans this fast at cultivation?" Stella had her eyes closed, and she let out a long breath. "While I attempt to impart a cultivation technique on you, let me tell you the realms. The Qi Realm, the first realm of cultivation, has nine layers. People in the Qi Realm can strengthen their bodies with ambient Qi and live long, healthy lives. Some also learn martial arts and can smash boulders while in the Qi Realm." Ashlock tried to ignore the tickling sensation of Stella''s Qi inspecting his body and listened intently to her talk. The cultivation systems for man and tree may differ but learning the strength of his enemies was always ideal. "So I am in the Qi Realm, and I have six more layers until reaching the next realm," Ashlock grumbled. "It''s been four years, and I am still stuck in the 3rd layer. At this rate, I will be a million years old before reaching the highest realm!" "Then, there is the Soul Forge realm after the Qi Realm. This is where the weak fail and the path of a true cultivator begins. The Soul Forge realm has no layers and is achieved once the cultivator has formed a soul core." Stella then mumbled to herself if a tree could even understand such terms. "A soul core is hard to explain in tree terms, but the important thing to know is if a person fails to form their soul core, they become a cripple and can never cultivate again." Ashlock could obviously understand what Stella was talking about to some degree. "But what if I fail to form a soul core? Will I become a cripple too?" Ashlock wondered. Unlike humans, trees can lose a branch and, over time, grow it back. "Just like the branch destroyed by those blue energy cultivators. It has grown back better than ever already." Ashlock was now a little afraid of reaching the Soul Forge realm. Could Stella guide him somehow? "Once a cultivator has formed a soul core, they can funnel the ambient Qi in the air through the soul core to produce soul fire. The Soul Fire realm has nine stages, and it''s the one I am in." Stella smiled as she flexed the purple flames that coated her arms. "This is why without a perfect soul core, a cultivator is a cripple. So make sure to take your time forming one mister tree." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ashlock wanted to ask why her soul fire was purple, but unfortunately, she didn''t elaborate. "Then there is the Star Core realm..." Stella held back from crying at the mention of the realm that claimed her father''s life. "Sorry... hard to talk about that one..." Stella sighed before continuing. "And above the Star Core is Nascent Soul and Monarch, but I''ll speak of those another time. Those two realms are a long time away for the both of us." Ashlock was itching to discover the potential heights he could reach, but maybe knowing the horrors a Monarch cultivator could achieve would give him nightmares. He was just a little Qi Realm sapling, after all. "Miss, I have brought the tea." The servant stood at a respectful distance from Stella with two wooden cups of steaming tea in her hands. "Okay, I am busy... give the tree his tea and leave mine beside me," Stella said with her eyes still closed and purple flames cascading out of her hands. The servant''s eye twitched, but she complied with Stella''s words. She walked over to one of Ashlock''s exposed roots and dumped the tea. [POTENT POISON DETECTED] Ashlock''s brain buzzed as his body automatically acted to suppress the poison. It felt like someone had poured boiling oil on his foot¡ªthe pain was tremendous. Stella seemed to feel the chaotic flow of his Qi and frowned. "Calm down, tree. I''m almost done." Stella patted his bark and continued formulating a cultivation technique for him. The pain lasted for a minute but then thankfully subsided. "What a lethal poison! That felt more like cyanide than any poison I know." Ashlock was no expert, but he theorized that despite his low realm, his enormous size and abundant Qi helped suppress the poison. Taking a look at the concentrating Stella, Ashlock couldn''t help but doubt she would survive drinking such a poison. [Skill {Basic Poison Resistance [F]} Learned!] "Wait... I can learn skills?" Ashlock wanted to smack himself mentally. He had assumed he could only gain skills through the system''s daily sign-in. The possibility of learning new skills hadn''t even crossed his mind. "Status!" [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 4)] [Qi Realm: 3rd Stage] [Skills¡­] {Eye of the Tree God[A]} {Language of the World[B]} {Devour[C]} {Basic Meditation[F]} {Basic Poison Resistance [F]} "Sure enough, I actually did learn a new skill!" Ashlock was ecstatic, but the situation demanded his attention. It was safe to assume that the other cup of tea was also poisoned. "Maybe the sign-in can give me something helpful?" Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1818 Daily Credit: 120 Sacrifice Credit: 0 [Sign in?] "Only 120 credits. How pitiful. Yes, sign in." [Sign in successful, 120 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked a C-grade skill: Qi Fruit Production] "Right... That doesn''t sound useful at all." Ashlock activated the skill, and a menu appeared in his mind. It let him select many properties for the fruit, such as size, taste, and growth rate. He could even give properties of skills to the fruit, such as {Basic Poison Resistance}. "To grow a fruit, I have to consume my Qi?" Ashlock frowned. Any Qi he spent he had to regain through meditation, and since his meditation technique was F grade, it would take far too long to replenish the lost Qi. Deciding to at least test it, Ashlock picked a fast-growing fruit that tasted like an apple and gave it a {Basic Poison Resistance} buff. According to the menu, anyone who ate the fruit would gain poison resistance for a day. "Five months!?" Ashlock glared at the menu that had calculated the minimum growth time of the fruit while using one hundred percent of the Qi he accumulated from meditation. Removing the taste shaved off a month and then removing the added skill brought it down to three days. "So I can produce a tasteless fruit that contains a little Qi in three days but adding a skill or flavor greatly increases the production time..." Ashlock may be a magical cultivating man-eating tree. But he was still a tree. To a human, three days is a long time. To him, it was nothing. Sadly the situation was urgent, and Stella had picked the wrong teammate for a situation like this. "Is there any way I can warn her?" Ashlock mulled over the problem as he glared at the impatient servant whose eyes shifted between Stella¡ªemitting a scary amount of soul fire, and the steaming cup of tea beside her on the bench. "Phew!" The purple soul fire dissipated, and Stella stretched her back. "This will be more complicated than I thought... unsurprisingly, a tree''s biology is far too different from humans, so all the techniques I know won''t work. But, I guess I can check out the library tomorrow for you..." That was to be expected, but Ashlock was still disappointed. A better meditation technique would really help him out right now. "Miss, your tea is getting cold." Stella gave the servant an odd look. "Why are you still here? Is there anything else?" The servant gulped and bowed. "No, miss..." "Thank you, that will be all." Stella waved the servant off as she seemed lost in thought. The servant turned to leave, and Stella absentmindedly brought the still-warm tea to her lips. Ashlock cursed. There was a chance she would survive; it was even possible the tea contained rare ingredients that helped with cultivation but were harmful to trees. But Ashlock didn''t like the suspicious behavior of the servant. If he had another method to convey his thoughts, he would definitely do it. But alas, with his limited arsenal of combat or communication abilities, this was the only option. Ashlock targeted the servant and cast {Devour} with as much Qi as possible. The ground rumbled as black vines surged out of the purple grass. Stella was startled by a sudden scream and spilled some tea onto her dress; it sizzled as it dissolved some of the dress. Stella''s soul fire erupted, and the tea instantly evaporated, letting off a nasty stench. Stella dropped the cup, and her cold eyes looked up at the servant tied up by many vines crushing her to death. Ashlock felt the message had been conveyed and the crisis averted, so he tried to cancel out the {Devour} skill... [Skill cannot be canceled] A few seconds passed, and the servant cried as blood erupted from her mouth like a fountain. [+5 SC] "Well, shit." Chapter 5: A Totally Friendly Tree Ashlock felt absolutely nothing other than euphoria as he consumed the mortal servant. Qi rushed through the vines, and the thrill was intoxicating. Stella also watched the scene without a hint of interest; she was more bothered about her ruined dress. "Tree, thank you," Stella said before leaving for the pavilion. "It seems some rats from the other families have infiltrated my Red Vine peak." A sinister smile bloomed on her face. "Seems there will be more food coming your way soon." Then with a flash, she vanished from her spot in a trail of purple flames. After a few minutes, the vines retreated into the ground, leaving some shredded clothes dyed in blood, littering the spot the servant had once stood. "I know from stories that worlds with cultivators are brutal, but Stella''s indifference still surprises me. Does she not see the servants as people due to them not being cultivators? Or perhaps people only care for themselves and their family in this world." Ashlock struggled a little with his human morals from the Earth. He knew that murder was wrong, but it was hard to stop himself from killing when it brought him such euphoria and growth. "Also, not getting punished and instead rewarded for killing makes the deed far easier." Since he had gained some Qi, Ashlock decided to use some for advancing his cultivation and the rest to create some fruit. Like water, Qi was an odd thing¡ªhis body could only take in so much at once. Unfortunately, the excess Qi his body couldn''t store dissipated into the atmosphere unless he invested it into something, such as fruit. Bringing up the menu for {Qi Fruit Production}, Ashlock selected to create ten fruits. All of them were tasteless, but they stored some Qi, and three had the {Basic Poison Resistance} buff. Feeling content, Ashlock hit the create button and felt the chaotic Qi inside him rush toward his branches. In amazement, Ashlock then watched the stems of the fruit grow in real time. "Now what?" Ashlock had already signed in for the day, and Stella had gone off somewhere. "Guess I''ll sleep." *** Ashlock awoke to darkness and screams. Moonlight shrouded the courtyard, and Ashlock could see torchlight through the pavilion''s windows. "Wait... is this the first time I''ve seen the night." Ashlock had always woken up when Stella or the blue energy man came to bring him food which was during the day. He also naturally woke up during the daytime. Ashlock tried to activate his meditation skill, but nothing happened. "Huh... I guess there is no sunlight, and I am a plant. Never really occurred to me that I can''t cultivate during the night." Ashlock now realized why his meditation technique wasn''t just bad¡ªit was downright shit. "If I can get a moonlight cultivation technique, I should double my cultivation speed." "Anyway, back to the screams..." Ashlock struggled to really care. The cold night air and lack of sunlight made him feel sluggish and uncaring. Like waking up on a Sunday morning to bad news and just wanting to crawl back under the sheets and sleep. "Anything interesting going on?" Ashlock spread his spiritual sight, but his limit was still the courtyard unless he activated his skill. "Maybe someone died... so sleepy." Ashlock was about to succumb to his slothfulness when a man stumbled into the courtyard clutching his side. Ashlock''s spirit sight allowed him to see perfectly, even in the dark, so he noticed the area the man was clutching was dyed red. "Ooo! Another victim. Stella won''t mind, right?" Ashlock was itching to use his devour skill, but he decided to wait and see. Like a good patient tree. The man appeared to be a mortal as he lacked any type of presence, had a rather ordinary appearance, and wore servant clothes. Ashlock had noticed that the black robes and dresses with a sewn-on red lotus that Stella wore differed from the plain grey robes the servant wore. "Come to think of it... this is the Red Vine peak, so why does Stella have a red lotus sown onto her robe? She mentioned a lot of other families nearby and a tournament, so I assume we are inside a sect of some kind? Maybe the Red Lotus sect?" Ashlock mentally added that to his growing list of questions to investigate. Being a tree was an odd experience in a cultivation world. If he made enemies with powerful people, he couldn''t run. But on the other hand, he is a tree, so people have no reason to go out of their way to trouble him. Other young masters? Sure. A random tree in a courtyard? Why? He was a very harmless and friendly tree. "Maybe I should take a fight-if-threatened stance... at least until I''m a godlike tree that cannot be defeated." Deciding that was reasonable, Ashlock assumed an observing role, as any friendly tree should strive for, and watched the drama unfold. The screams continued, so Ashlock activated his {Eye of the Tree God} skill and observed the Red Vine peak from above. "Oh... seems Stella has found the rats." Stella was battling with two servants in the nearby sandy training area courtyard. As she battled with the two servants, purple flames flickered across Stella''s skin. Ashlock zoomed in on their faces and mentally frowned. "I have never seen these two before... since when did they work here?" The servants wore the usual robes, but their faces were far too chiseled and well-kept to belong to mere servants. Like in all cultivator novels, absorbing ambient Qi naturally removes imperfections like acne or rough skin. "Don''t look at her. She has a demonic eye technique!" The taller of the two servants shouted as he covered his eyes with one arm and summoned a blade of red flames in the other. The second servant nodded and covered his eyes while black flames flared to life on his fist. Ashlock could tell from here that the flames from these servants were far brighter than Stella''s. Especially the one with red flames, that sword of fire practically looked solid. Unfortunately for Stella, the two cultivator servants weren''t alone. Servants in grey robes lined the training courtyard holding various weapons. One even had a very fancy-looking sword. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Why?!" Stella screamed at the people surrounding her. "Who sent you? I will pay triple what they did." "Stella... don''t bother wasting your breath on them. They will never tell you." Ashlock sighed. The villains only made those stupid speeches in movies. "You think you can murder the scion of house Ravenborne and live?" The flame sword cultivator sneered and stepped forward. "The Grand Elder demands your head on a platter." "...I stand corrected," Ashlock grumbled. "This is a cultivator world, after all." Ashlock once again felt helpless and lacked options to assist. "Maybe that''s for the best, though. Anyone who can kill Stella could defeat me with a finger flick." Ashlock hated to admit it, but he was just a 3rd realm sapling with no defensive capabilities and a single attack skill that could be easily dodged or destroyed. The Vines that erupted from the ground had a thin layer of Qi strengthening them but only at his level, the 3rd layer of the Qi Realm. To a mortal servant, that was a death sentence. But to fire sword guy? He would laugh at Ashlock''s pathetic attempt to snare a demi god such as himself and chop Ashlock down with a single cut of his blade. "God being weak is so lame..." Ashlock mumbled as he watched the two cultivators slowly close in on Stella. The young girl rapidly looked around, and everyone she glanced at froze in fear. "I wonder if Stella knows the power those earrings have?" Fire sword guy launched forward and slashed at Stella, but she barely dodged and nimbly stepped to the side¡ªsummoning the black dagger from somewhere, she rammed it toward the man''s side, but a flare of red flames made her wince back. Stella didn''t have a moment of rest as the black fist guy came right for her head. Stella''s low stature helped her duck as the fist whistled through the air, making her blonde hair wave in the wind. Ashlock found the cultivators'' movements a little clumsy, but considering they were using an arm to block their eyes, it made sense. "Why don''t they just close their eyes? Are they stupid?" Stella retaliated against the black fist guy by tripping him up with a well-placed foot. But before she could move in for the kill on his exposed neck, the servant with a fancy sword blocked her blade¡ªwhich he instantly regretted as the purple flame-covered dagger sliced straight through the metal sword and cut the servant''s leg off in one smooth motion. Keeping up the tempo, Stella twirled around and finished the servant off by decapitating his head. Honestly, keeping up with the fight was exhausting. Ashlock debated going to sleep and learning the results tomorrow when lovely warm sunlight and Qi would be trickling in from his meditation skill. Focusing back on the central courtyard, it seemed the servant was dying. He was lying on the floor panting, clutching his wound, and trying to stop the bleeding. Ashlock recognized the servant. He often tended to the kitchen and was rarely seen outside. "All things return to the earth... as nutrients..." Ashlock stopped that trail of thought in surprise. He felt no pity for the dying man, only the desire for the inevitable nutrients. "Well... I might as well put him out of his misery?" If Ashlock used some twisted logic, when he was human back on Earth, he had no issue eating beef or chicken because that was considered food. Now he was a demonic sapling. Everything was food. Even humans. It was either he devoured and became strong enough to protect himself... or regretted his indecisiveness when that fire guy''s blade cut him in half. "Sorry, dude... you picked the wrong place to die." Ashlock mumbled a silent prayer for the guy and activated the devour skill. Unfortunately, the poor guy didn''t seem to have the strength to resist as the spiked vines mummified him. [+5 SC] Ashlock hummed as the rush of Qi flooded his system. But then, a second rush caught him off guard. Qi surged through his roots and chaotically rushed around his trunk like a hurricane. "Status!" [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 4)] [Qi Realm: 4th Stage] [Skills¡­] "Finally!" It had taken Ashlock over a year to reach the next stage. The rush made Ashlock hungry for more, so he searched the courtyard for any more stray servants to devour. "Stella will understand..." There was a decent chance that all the servants had turned against their master or weren''t subservient in the first place. Right on cue, another three servants stumbled through the connecting area between the training courtyard and the central courtyard. Ashlock didn''t even hesitate and cast devour. There was so much chaotic Qi running through his body that the vines shot out of the ground with such impressive speed that they straight-up impaled the three servants and dragged their corpses to the ground. [+5 SC] [+5 SC] [+5 SC] One after another, the corpses were devoured. In a haze of madness, Ashlock felt he might throw up Qi at this rate. With the only outlet being {Qi Fruit Production}, he summoned the menu and picked random options before pressing confirm. "Whew..." Ashlock let out a deep breath as the system initiated the skill and forcefully funneled the chaotic Qi away from his body and into the fruit production. "This skill is more useful than I thought..." Although it wasn''t a combat skill, it was a great way to prevent himself from dying due to gluttony. Ashlock saw a few tiny blood-red berries dangle from his branches in three clusters and realized there was an artistic beauty in recycling the dead into a new life that would provide for other living things. As a tree, he was no longer an endless consumer but now a provider to the world¡ªa governor of the natural cycle of life and death. "Tree..." Ashlock was broken from his thoughts as he saw Stella limp toward him. Purple flames flickered across her shoulders like weak candlelight as she collapsed just a short distance from his root. Her breathing was ragged and slow, and it appeared she had sustained some injuries. Before Ashlock could do anything, a heavily injured fire sword guy emerged from behind the door and slowly stepped toward Stella, using a steel sword as a makeshift cane. Flickering red flames illuminated his face as the man loomed over the dying girl. "Fucking bitch." The man grimaced as some blood dripped from his teeth. His eyes were sealed shut, and he tried to locate the girl by poking the ground with the sword. Ashlock waited patiently for the perfect moment to strike... The man inched ever closer... Stella was lying on her back, struggling to keep her eyes open as the man''s sword made contact with her leg. "There you are..." The man grinned as he brought the sword up over his head in a two-handed grip. "Die¡ª" the man stopped midsentence as a Qi-empowered vine surged out of the ground behind him and impaled his back. The man looked down at the hole in his chest with a lost look. The sword tumbled to the ground as the man''s arm lost strength. "Who..." The cultivator looked around, and his eyes landed on the black tree with scarlet leaves letting off a faint whiff of Qi. "A tree?" With a final gasp for air, the man fell forward onto Stella, causing the girl to groan in pain. [+100 SC] Chapter 6: Snacks Before Winter Ashlock stirred from his short sleep as the sun crested the horizon. Since his view range was limited, even with his {Eye of the Tree God} skill Ashlock saw the world as if he were in a snow globe. He had a perfect sphere of vision in all directions for a few miles, meaning he couldn''t see the sun. But its pleasant warmth pierced the clouds and illuminated the central courtyard. Shredded clothes dyed in dried blood littered the courtyard alongside bits of metal from half-destroyed weapons. Ashlock gazed upon the source of all this mess, a sleeping blonde-haired girl a few feet away. Her back rose and fell in a steady rhythm, and her breath swayed the purple grass dripping in her drool that tickled her nose. Stella was alive... Ashlock was no doctor, but from a glance, it would be impossible to survive the night with such injuries for a human back on Earth. "It''s moments like these that truly remind me I''m in a new world. Magic is just the manifestation of the world. I''ve seen a sword covered in flames back on Earth. But a person smashing a boulder with their bare hands or teleporting halfway across the courtyard in a single step? Now that was truly magical. And seeing Stella survive such a fight with her body barely intact was something I could never see back on Earth." Feeling bored, Ashlock summoned the daily sign-in. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1819 Daily Credit: 1 Sacrifice Credit: 120 [Sign in?] "Yes." Ashlock decided this would be his last sign-in before a long sleep. Winter was coming, and retaining consciousness during the dark winter felt worse than his withdrawals from energy drinks. [Sign in successful, 121 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked a C-grade skill: Hibernate] "Hibernate?" Ashlock concentrated on the skill, and its meaning materialized in his mind¡ªthe feeling was similar to deja vu. "Another type of meditation?" The skill had two functions. First, he would set a timer and enter deep sleep when activated. Nothing except exceptional circumstances would awaken him until the timer was complete. The second feature was that the longer he was asleep, the faster his cultivation became. The buff was small, but over a long period, it would add up. Ashlock practically cried tears of joy. "Finally!" He had a way of sleeping through all the girl''s ramblings and not being awoken every time she entered the courtyard. This skill obviously had some disadvantages, but it was overall an excellent addition to his arsenal. A few hours passed as the sun climbed the sky, and sometime around midday, Stella''s eyes opened, and she let out a long groan. Purple fire sprung to life, and Stella rolled over and looked at the sky with squinted eyes. "I lived..." She muttered as she held up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. A single tear ran down her cheek as she lay there for a while. It was hard to remember she was just a young girl, seemingly without any family living alone on a mountain peak when she went around slaughtering so many people. Half an hour passed, and the rumbling of Stella''s stomach forced her to get up. Only now did she look at Ashlock, and a smile bloomed on her face seeing the tree was still there. She looked closer at the scarlet leaves drifting in the autumn breeze and noticed the variety of fruits dangling from the branches. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Can I eat some?" Stella asked as she tried to stand on her tiptoes to reach the low-hanging fruit. Although Ashlock was relatively short for a tree, Stella was both short and young, so she struggled to reach up. Ashlock was sure she had a trick up her sleeve, but she looked haggard, and her purple flames flickered. Looking back at his {Qi Fruit Production} menu, there was an option to discharge a grown fruit. Clicking it, a tiny bit of Qi was used to break the stem, causing a bundle of red berries to fall into Stella''s waiting hand. "Thank you, tree!" Stella gave a thumbs up, and without debating if they were poisonous, she swallowed them in a single gulp... which she instantly regretted. "Bleh... Tree these taste like grass and sap." The girl surprisingly ate them all, but she had a disgusted face¡ªwhich transitioned into one of surprise as Qi rushed through her body. It was weak, but with the entire bundle of berries combined, it was enough to refill her depleted Qi reserves a little. "Taste better than Qi restoration weeds, at least..." Stella stood under the tree with her hands cupped. "Can I have some more?" A few moments passed, and nothing fell¡ªStella pouted, "They taste good! Better than any other cultivation supplements!" Only then did a single purple with black spots fruit plop into her hand. This time, she eyed the fruit more cautiously and took a hesitant bite. "Ugh, so bitter." Stella almost choked on the piece of fruit... "I mean, I like bitter things!" Steeling her resolve, she swallowed the entire thing and gagged. Ashlock sighed as he watched the dumb girl attempt to please a tree. He intended to withhold the fruit to prove he could understand her, not to make her torture herself by eating his tasteless fruit in a vain attempt to curry favor with him. The rest of the afternoon was spent by Stella pleading for berries and fruit and Ashlock providing them. Ashlock was glad to get rid of them as it freed up space to grow some nice fruit. However, a bit of his pride was hurt watching the girl almost die while trying to eat his fruit. "Feels like when mom used to refuse to eat my cooking..." The experience left a sour taste in his mouth, so he brought up the menu and invested everything into a single fruit in a momentary lapse in judgment. Ashlock felt Qi get sucked from his body down his thickest branch, and a watermelon-sized fruit with a golden color began its development. [Time till completion: 6 months] A bit of a waste, but oh well. Ashlock returned his attention to Stella, who looked a lot better. The abundant Qi helped restore her weary body to its peak condition. "Tree, I know you can understand me now!" Stella proclaimed with a bit of berry juice smeared on her face. "Don''t sleep just yet. Help me dispose of the evidence." Before Ashlock could ask what she meant¡ªnot that he could ask anyway¡ªthe girl had wandered off. "Dispose of the evidence?" Ashlock''s eyes drifted to the shredded remains of a grey servant robe. "Ah..." An hour later, there was a pile of servants in the courtyard. Stella had found a few servants still alive hiding throughout the pavilion, but she slaughtered them all. Ashlock didn''t know the customs or rules here, but it seemed even the servants expected their own demise. "I guess even if they weren''t accomplices to the intruders working for house Ravenborne, they still didn''t come to their master''s aid and instead cowered away under tables." "Right," Stella said while she brushed her hands off on her tattered robe. "I know most trees sleep through the winter, and you also seemed to sleep a lot." Stella tapped her nose. "When you are asleep, the flow of your Qi is very stable compared to when you are awake. I can tell..." The girl seemed very proud of herself, and Ashlock was relieved he didn''t have to scream into the void in frustration. Alas, it seemed the girl hadn''t figured out that he would prefer to sleep all year round uninterrupted. But it was the small victories that mattered here. Stella took a step back so Ashlock could get to work. {Devour} activated, and vines crawled over the human pyramid. A stream of alerts shot past his mind informing him of acquired sacrifice credits. In total, there were over a... hundred such notifications. Hours passed, and [+736 SC] was the final total as the vines retreated into the ground. Unfortunately, Ashlock didn''t have time to enjoy the increased credits as the surge of Qi inside his body was unfathomable. Ashlock mashed the create button as fast as he could on the watermelon-sized golden fruits. At some point, Stella had walked off to get changed into less ravaged clothes while Ashlock battled for his life to not explode from the rampaging Qi. Eventually, it was done after fighting all night... the sun of a new day appeared. Not only was he dripped out with enough golden fruit to feed an entire family, but he had also advanced two realms. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 4)] [Qi Realm: 6th Stage] [Skills¡­] {Eye of the Tree God[A]} {Language of the World[B]} {Qi Fruit Production[C]} {Devour[C]} {Hibernate[C]} {Basic Meditation[F]} {Basic Poison Resistance [F]} Ashlock also checked the daily sign-in. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1819 Daily Credit: 1 Sacrifice Credit: 856 [Sign in?] "No." Ashlock wanted to get another A-grade draw. However, he would need a thousand points combined, so he decided to save them. Looking around the courtyard, Stella was nowhere to be found, but Ashlock was beyond caring. He was mentally exhausted, and sleep was calling his name. Activating his new skill {Hibernate}, he input six months and felt a timer appear in his head, counting the 180 days until his awakening. Chapter 7: Treeskip Ashlock was in a tunnel¡ªan endless tunnel where he could do nothing. No thoughts crossed his mind... no dreams of a better tomorrow. Nothing. Just steady progress to an eventual end. An end he knew was coming due to the timer ticking down. It was slow, so agonizingly slow. [Hibernation: 32 Days] Ashlock was trapped within his mind. The cursed skill he had employed kept his mind on the straight and narrow. Before, when he slept, time passed in the blink of an eye. There were no dreams, no turbulence. Just one moment, he would close his eyes, and the next, awaken in a new season, a new situation.... a new time. [Hibernation: 31 Days] But with the {Hibernate} skill, he was forced to experience the flow of time. Like some kind of mortal creature. How long had he been here? Going down this tunnel in his mind. The grey walls of nothingness kept him confined from everything else. He wanted to think, dream, plot, and plan. Anything to end this mind-numbing state of being. [Hibernation: 30 Days] Easy decisions create hard times. A phrase that resounded in Ashlock''s head. The skill had seemed so innocent, so easy. Just flip a switch, and watch the world fly by. No more disturbances and even a slight boost to his Qi accumulation. [Hibernation: 29 Days] If Ashlock had to describe his current situation to a mortal mind, imagine a concrete, lifeless tunnel where you are paralyzed and rolling down the tunnel while strapped to a stretcher. Only an ominous timer floating in front of your eyes notifies you of your eventual freedom from this confinement. The worst of it? Ashlock did this to himself. [Hibernation: 28 Days] A small part of Ashlock appreciated this experience. It forcefully brought back a bit of his humanity that had been slipping away. Six months to him was nothing as a tree, just another passed winter. But to a human? Someone like Stella? Six months could be life-changing. For all Ashlock knew, he may escape this nightmare and awaken in an empty courtyard ravaged by nature. What if he went to sleep and no cultivators ever entered the courtyard? Would he awaken eons later to witness the eventual death of the planet as the sun expanded at the end of its long life and swallowed the planet whole? [Hibernation: 27 Days] He screamed. Anything to break the silence. [Hibernation: 26 Days] What was the rush? Ever since arriving in this world, Ashlock had chosen sleep over being awake. Was he hiding from his problems? Just because the system gave him rewards for passing the time and killing, did that justify him rushing into the future and letting the present pass him by? [Hibernation: 25 Days] Immortality is a funny thing. If given all the time in the world, the need to accomplish things suddenly vanishes since there''s always tomorrow... or next year. And unlike an ordinary immortal, who needs to fill their time with hobbies to avoid insanity... Ashlock could just blink the time away. Ashlock knew he was in a world of cultivators where the pursuit of overwhelming power and immortality was possible. What would happen if he could speak to another immortal? Would they have some advice to steer him on the right path? Maybe. Maybe not. Ashlock was just a young sapling confined to a single courtyard atop a mountain peak. He was young and ignorant of the world. But that didn''t mean planning for the future lacked merit. The endless pursuit of strength, new abilities, and land was fine, but what did he truly value? Perhaps a question for another time. [Hibernation: 24 Days] Ashlock''s mind came to a sudden halt with such force that the mental tunnel that confined his mind from distractions shattered in a shower of glass. His worldview lurched forward as if the stretcher he was attached to was connected to a bungee cord, and everything hit him at once. [Hibernation Terminated. Extreme Threat Detected] The air vibrated as something beyond this mortal realm arrived. Ashlock''s mind spun as he tried to identify the source and readapt to his surroundings. The purple grass central courtyard was empty; spring was in full swing, and Ashlock could feel the warmth on his leaves and the refreshing cool breeze on his shaded bark. But a suffocating presence blanketed the area like a godlike entity glaring from above. {Eye of the Tree God} activated, and Ashlock''s view shifted. His 6th layer in the Qi realm became apparent as the peak of the neighboring mountain was in full view. Atop was a pavilion similar to his, but its courtyards were filled with harrowing leafless trees that looked like withered black fingers reaching for the skies. Monstrous birds with raven feathers and beady red eyes perched upon the tree branches, and a dense mist shrouded the entire peak as people moved about in the shadows of the fog. But the source of the alarm didn''t come from there... no, it came from the base of Red Vine peak. Switching his view, Ashlock witnessed a man climbing a thousand steps, taking a hundred steps at a time. White fire so dense it was blinding shrouded the man as the air seemed to gravitate towards him as he gracefully glided up the mountain''s side as if he were ice skating. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. As the man approached the pavilion''s door, Ashlock rotated his view and saw Stella. She had been cultivating in the middle of a runic formation in one of the courtyards. Ashlock was no expert, but he suspected the formation helped to condense the ambient Qi, making cultivation faster. Her eyes snapped open, and her body shuddered right as the man placed his hand on the door to knock. Stella practically stumbled off the runic formation and managed to stop herself from tumbling to the ground as she broke into a sprint. Purple flames sprung to life, and Ashlock caught a glimpse of her movement technique. Purple flames exploded at the base of her feet, rocketing her forward in a controlled manner, letting her close the distance in a split second. A single knock resounded through the courtyard as Stella halted in a cloud of dust. She then quickly tidied herself up before opening the door. "Stella Crestfallen greets the Grand Elder!" Stella''s hair whipped as she threw herself into a ninety-degree bow. "At ease, young one..." The man looked barely over twenty-five, but his voice and poise suggested a long life of politics and family drama. "I have come on behalf of the disciplinary committee." The man walked past Stella and slowly looked around as if bored. "I hope you don''t mind the surprise inspection?" Stella gulped and didn''t dare raise her head. "Of course not, Grand Elder. You are welcome to visit my humble abode anytime." "Mhm." The Grand Elder practically floated as he walked down the pavilion corridor toward the outer courtyards. The wooden walls creaked and groaned as he passed, unlocked window shutters swung inside, and plant pots wobbled on their stands. Ashlock tracked the man''s movements with his skill through the windows, but he felt a sense of danger as the man wrapped in subtle white flames paused and glanced directly at him. Some would believe it was pure luck, or perhaps the man was gazing at the passing clouds littering the sky... But the man''s cold eyes stared into Ashlock''s with such precision and purpose it was creepy. "Tell me, scion of house Crestfallen. Where are your servants?" The man kept walking toward the exotic garden as he spoke in a tranquil voice as if the affairs of the mortal world were of no concern to him. "My servants... they betrayed me," Stella said without masking anything. "I slaughtered them all." "I see." The man''s voice lacked emotion as the pair reached the garden, and the Grand Elder casually plucked a rose and twirled it between two fingers. The plants seemed to naturally bend their stalks as if an invisible weight was pressing down on them as the Grand Elder passed. "A fitting response. I would do the same... if not worse." The Grand Elder chuckled quietly as he continued his peaceful walk. His eyes lingered on the occasional splat of dried blood that Stella had missed when cleaning up. The pavilion was massive, and over three hundred people could live comfortably there at any given time. To expect a single teenage girl to clean every nook and cranny was unrealistic. The Grand Elder reached the kitchen wing and opened the door with a flick. White flames lashed out like a whip, and the hefty door creaked open. A plume of dust and stale air followed, causing the Grand Elder to frown. "Child, you are still growing. Food is important... why is the kitchen so unused?" "Responding to Grand Elder¡ª" "No need for such pleasantries. Just call me Elder." Stella winced back, "Uhm, Okay, Elder. I don''t know how to cook." "So, how do you eat?" Stella paused for a while. A gust of wind passed the two causing their robes to flutter. Only the chirps of birds and soft breeze filled the awkward silence. "It''s complicated..." "Child, you seem confused about my purpose here." The Grand Elder said in a friendly but flat tone. "Your father was a good friend of mine. The snakes of house Ravenborne demand this peak be turned over to them as compensation for the death of their scion. I am simply here to confirm you are not a threat or conducting anything against the sect rules." The relief was evident on Stella''s face as she let out a long sigh. "I grow food and live off that. Also, my cultivation is rather high, so my need for sustenance is rather low." "You are indeed a very impressive child. The Patriarch hopes you will become a Grand Elder in the future." The Grand Elder looked around the exotic garden with a deepening frown. "Don''t tell me you live off this stuff." He plucked a small berry and gave it a sniff. "Hardly a whiff of Qi and the size of my thumb. Garbage." Then he said with a thin smile, "Stella, you are a terrible gardener. Shall we go see the true source of your food?" The Grand Elder didn''t even wait for her response and glided toward the central courtyard. "Shit." Ashlock canceled out his {Eye of the Tree God} skill, and his view returned to the central courtyard''s purple grass. "What can I do? Should I sign in?" The Grand Elder claimed to be friendly, but what if he didn''t approve of a man-eating tree living near his dead friend''s daughter? "Best to be safe..." Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 1975 Daily Credit: 157 Sacrifice Credit: 856 [Sign in?] "Yes." [Sign in successful, 1013 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked an A-grade skill: Deep Roots] Ashlock mentally slammed his mind against his bark in frustration. "System, what the fuck am I supposed to do with this? I have a demi-god walking toward me, and you give me this?" Focusing on the skill, the information appeared in his mind. "By spending Qi, my roots become empowered and can tunnel through rock without issue. I can also hollow out my roots to create tunnels..." Ashlock had to admit there were some applications for this skill, especially considering he was atop the peak of a mountain, so the only way was down. "And who knows what lies in the deep caverns of the mountains? There had to be a reason the sect was founded on this land. Maybe a secret realm or monsters for me to kill?" Sadly, the skill seemed rather useless in the current situation. Ashlock watched helplessly as the Grand Elder strolled across the courtyard. The purple grass flattened in a perfect circle around him as if the man had his own gravity, and the white flames shrouding his form made him so bright that he was blinding to look at in Ashlock''s spirit sight. The man approached and eyed the golden fruit blooming from Ashlock''s branches. "Interesting. I have never seen this type of fruit before." The Grand Elder reached up and easily plucked a fruit. He rotated it in his hand, observing every nook and crevice in the golden fruit. Then he threw it up and down a few times, testing its weight. "Dense and full of Qi. Although weaker than a cultivation pill, it''s definitely a miracle fruit." Ashlock held his breath as the Grand Elder stepped closer and laid a hand on his bark. A pulse of power, like a sonar wave, rippled through Ashlock''s body. The Grand Elder frowned. "Is this a demonic tree spirit?" Chapter 8: Grand Elder鈥檚 Declaration "Is this a demonic tree spirit?" Ashlock held his breath. If resisting Stella''s Qi was like warding off a tsunami with a shovel, then the Grand Elders Qi was like throwing a pebble at a star¡ªhis death was inevitable if the Grand Elder deemed it so. Ashlock attempted to appear as harmless as possible. "I am a harmless humble tree mister. Please don''t kill me." Obviously, the man couldn''t hear his pitiful plea, but it was worth a try. "I believe so, Elder." Stella curtly replied as she rocked on her heels. "Isn''t it amazing?" The Grand Elder sagely nodded his head as he inspected the demonic tree. "Indeed, for such a young demonic tree to cultivate to the 6th layer of the Qi realm? That''s almost as fast as you, Stella, and it shouldn''t even have a cultivation technique!" The Grand Elder opened his eyes and removed his hand from Ashlock''s trunk with a smile tugging at his lips. "Oh, Elder, speaking of cultivation techniques..." Stella scratched the back of her neck as if embarrassed to admit something. "I tried looking in the sect library and couldn''t find any cultivation technique that seemed applicable to a tree. Do we have any?" The Grand Elder shook his head. "Sadly, we do not. Tree spirits are barely sentient and, therefore, can''t comprehend a cultivation technique. After thousands of years, some form soul cores and gain higher intelligence, but their biology is so far from us it''s hard to convince one to try and cultivate like us." The Grand Elder picked up the golden fruit he had placed on the bench and twirled it in his hand. "This tree is a great find... but I fear if the Ravenbornes learn of its existence, they will storm in here unannounced and make a scene. These fruits alone would save them thousands of spirit stones a year in cultivation pills for their juniors." Stella walked up and patted Ashlock, "But Grand Elder, this tree is very intelligent. Unless I praised it or asked nicely, it wouldn''t give me fruit. I think it might be a narcissist like the Patriarch¡ª" "Hush child, do not speak ill of the Patriarch." The Grand Elder lightly smacked Stella on the head, causing her to whimper. "But you claim this tree has some level of intelligence?" The man stroked his chin and looked at the leaves rustling in the summer breeze with a distant look. No matter what the Grand Elder said, Ashlock planned to play dumb. Cultivator worlds were ruthless, and backstabbing was common. Keeping your true strength and trump cards close to your chest was the first rule of surviving in such a dog-eat-dog world. The Grand Elder positioned his hand below a fruit. "Drop." A few seconds passed by with nothing happening. "Is this really how you discovered the tree spirit was sentient?" Stella scratched her cheek. "That is correct, Elder. Perhaps ask the tree nicely?" The Grand Elder grumbled, "Please, o mighty tree spirit bestow upon me a divine fruit...." A breeze went by, and the happy chirping of the birds accompanied the awkward silence. "Maybe it''s asleep." The Grand Elder resolutely declared, withdrew his hand, and assumed a whimsical stance. Stella tactically decided to remain silent for the Grand Elders'' dignity and to avoid drawing any more attention to the tree. She knew in her heart that the tree spirit was there. Not only did it drop her fruits, it even gifted her earrings, and the most beautiful piece of wood Stella had ever seen, which she had turned into daggers¡ªboth of which were carefully hidden away. She was not strong enough yet to protect such rare treasures. "Alright, child, I will be on my way to report back to the disciplinary committee." The man winked as he left. "I saw nothing of interest." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Thank you, Elder, for your infinite kindness." Stella bowed, and the man waved her off. "No need to thank me... Oh, before I go, one last thing. As the Mistress and sole heir of Red Vine peak, you are hereby promoted to Grand Elder." Stella''s mouth gaped open. "B-but Elder! I am only thirteen and in the 2nd layer of the Soul Fire Realm! How can I possibly bear the responsibilities of a Grand Elder." The Grand Elder shrugged, "Order of the Patriarch. You have five years before you must pass the Grand Elder test. If you fail... Red Vine peak will be handed over to House Ravenborne. That is the agreement the Elders reached this morning." Stella was stumped, and The Grand Elder cared little for her inner turmoil as he turned his back to her and started channeling Qi, causing the surrounding air to vibrate and groan as he began to tear reality apart with his two hands. Finally, the white flames that shrouded his body created a wormhole, a crack in existence, and without a hint of hesitation, the Grand Elder stepped through, and with a pop, he was gone. Stella collapsed to her knees and just stared at the spot the Grand Elder once stood with vacant eyes, her arms hung by her sides and her shoulders slumped. Then, after a while, she picked herself up and, with a huff, collapsed onto the bench under Ashlock''s shade. "Tree... it''s impossible, Red Vine peak will be taken from me." A tear threatened to spill from her eye, but she brushed it off with the sleeve of her black robe. "I tried so darn hard, Tree¡ªeveryone in my family was slaughtered in the last beast tide, and only me and my Father remained. If my grandparents and sister hadn''t sacrificed themselves for the Patriarch, that bastard would be dead." Stella held back a sniffle as her arms dangled off the side of the bench. "And what does my family get for their sacrifice? The right to fight for our position among the other families. I could tell my Father was suffering; he was never the most talented at cultivation, and his foundation was already weak... So I begged him not to push for the Star Core realm¡ª" Stella never finished the sentence and instead opted to watch Ashlock''s red leaves gently sway in the wind. The weather was perfect, and the chorus of summer helped lighten Stella''s mood... somewhat. "Those bastards want to kill me! What kind of thirteen-year-old is expected to strive for the Star Core realm? My Father was over a hundred when he attempted to ascend and form his inner Star Core, and he died trying." Her hands balled into fists at her side. "Tree, you may not know of the horrors out there in the wilderness, but the spirit beasts outnumber us cultivators a thousand to one. So when there is a beast tide, if the sect doesn''t have a Monarch realm cultivator, the only option is abandoning the sect and migrating to new lands. If I can''t become a Grand Elder by age eighteen, I will be cast out of the sect and be left to die out there..." Ashlock tactically sniped Stella''s head by dropping fruit. "Ow!" Stella rubbed her head and scowled at the tree. "What was that for?" She picked up the golden apple and sensed the thick Qi, and her stomach rumbled from the delicious scent. Taking a bite, her eyes went wide, and she spoke with her mouth full, "Mhm! So good! Thank you." She ignored the tears streaming down her face and relished the delicious fruit. That was the fruit Ashlock had poured a lot of Qi into six months ago. "Sigh... this is quite the conundrum." Ashlock had felt firsthand the difference between Stella''s Qi and the Grand Elders. If he guessed correctly, the Grand Elder was in the elusive Star Core realm, one major realm above Stella. "I can''t imagine Stella could obtain that amount of power in just five short years... hell, I went from the 1st to the 6th layer of the Qi Realm in that time... Stella would need to obtain 7 layers in a higher realm in the same timeframe." "Tree, thank you for the snack. I feel much better now." Stella patted his bark with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "It may be impossible, but miracles can always come to those who try." Stella then marched directly toward the training courtyard and spent the next few hours smashing the ever-living shit out of the training dummies. Finally, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Stella collapsed in exhaustion. Seeing Stella work so hard inspired the slothful tree to finally do something useful. "I can sleep during the winter, but while summer persists, I best use my time... no more pointless sleeping... Maybe." The horrors of the {Hibernate} skill made him almost terrified of closing his eyes. What if he got trapped in that state of mind again? Ashlock decided to run away from sleep by distracting himself, and his first call to action was to utilize his new skill {Deep Roots}. First, Qi that he had collected throughout the day surged toward his roots like a cascading waterfall, and he felt them wiggle with power. Next, his roots began to expand like little fingers, seeping into every nook or crack in the rock. Then as the roots weaseled their way in, the Qi caused the root to rapidly expand, causing the rock to fracture and crack more, allowing the roots to delve even deeper. It was a horrifically slow, Qi-intensive, and mind-numbing process. Luckily his roots helped hold the rock together, so there was little chance of the mountain collapsing. "Heh. Soon the entire mountain will be one big tree." Chapter 9: Thunderstruck Despite Ashlock''s bold claims, his biology didn''t agree with his newfound aversion to sleep. As the sun dipped below the horizon, a wave of fatigue assaulted his mind, and before he knew it, the sun had risen once again, and it was the start of a new day... "I wish I had this power when I was a human," Ashlock grumbled as he reminisced about the many nights he spent gazing at the ceiling with the clock reading 5:00 am and his stomach grumbling. "Huh, being a tree isn''t so bad after all?" Ashlock didn''t need to worry about work or his next meal. Heck, he didn''t even need to pay taxes anymore. He was both free from Earth''s rigorous constraints yet strangely less free than ever before. He was trapped in a body of wood and sap, rooted in place for all eternity. Ashlock looked around and took in the view, likely the only sight he would see for the rest of his ageless life. Perhaps it was the time skipping or just his natural biology, but even after living here for five years, Ashlock felt like this was his home¡ªwhere he belonged more than anywhere else. Ashlock was secure, his roots were deep, and his leaves were exposed to the heavens above. A breeze blew by, and Ashlock watched as the lush purple grass danced in the wind. Nature was somehow even more breathtakingly beautiful when he had become nature. As a spiritual tree with command over Qi, he could see in all directions and sense everything. Unlike a human mind that was limited to his eyes and ears, Ashlock could take everything in at once. The silky feathers of every bird perched on his branches, the vibrant colors of every blooming flower throughout the courtyard¡ªeven Stella''s flowing hair and steady breathing as she cultivated were within Ashlock''s senses. The world was teeming with life, and he was part of that cycle. As his thoughts drifted from one mundane thing to another, the sun sailed across the sky, and as the horizon glowed a mellow orange, Ashlock fell asleep. *** The following day saw the rapid accumulation of cumulonimbus clouds that darkened the sky and cast a dreary mood on Red Vine peaks courtyard. "A big storm is coming, Tree," Stella commented as she munched on one of Ashlock''s golden fruit with a smile and swung her legs off the side of the makeshift bench. Unfortunately, there weren''t many fruits left, and Ashlock sadly didn''t have the Qi to make more. Currently, he was devoting all of his Qi to furthering his cultivation realm. [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 5)] [Qi Realm: 6th Stage] [Skills¡­] Ashlock glared at his summary. When would he be considered a tree rather than a sapling? What even was the definition of a tree in the first place? All Ashlock knew was that anything involving trees was incredibly slow. Five years felt like a few months to him, so it made sense. Suddenly Ashlock felt a small jolt of Qi. It was barely noticeable, like a fly landing on one''s skin. "Where did that come from?" Sadly Ashlock''s system was rather barebones, and unless he acquired some kind of AI or diagnostic skill, he had to manually search for the cause himself. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the courtyard. It took a second for Ashlock to remember he had activities occurring in the mountain''s depths... Ashlock liked to think he had made a lot of progress, but it had been two days, and he had dug around ten meters. "Five meters per day is horrifically slow... if I had to guess, this mountain is easily over eight thousand meters tall. It will take me five years to reach the base at this rate." Nevertheless, Ashlock felt his root network and soon located the small spike in Qi. One of his deepest roots to the mountain''s northern side had come across a small deposit of a silver rock. It seemed to shimmer like mercury but was as hard as iron. Ashlock wrapped his roots around the small deposit and felt some ambient Qi from the rock. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Some kind of mana stone? Qi stone? What would this even be called?" Its name was ultimately not important, but rather the implications of its discovery. This mountain contained a rock that provided Qi. "Can I absorb this Qi somehow?" Ashlock tightened the roots around the rock and tried to capture as much ambient Qi as possible. To his surprise, the amount was quite considerable, around the same rate he gained from his meditation technique. But there was a significant problem. "The Qi can''t travel far up my root." Ashlock tried to suck the Qi up the root and to his main body. But the attempt reminded him of that one time he tried to drink through a stupidy long straw. The distance, despite only being ten meters, was simply too far. The Qi frizzled out, absorbed by his root as it traveled, eventually becoming so weak it wasn''t worth the effort. But Ashlock didn''t plan to give up. There had to be a use for this underground deposit he had discovered. If he could talk, he would ask Stella if it was valuable and have her dig it up... but that was impossible. As Ashlock''s {Deep Roots} skill continued its operations, a thought manifested in the tree''s mind. "I am currently providing the Qi necessary for the skill to function... but what if I used this rock to power the skill instead? Like a battery?" Ashlock decided it was worth testing. Ashlock forced the skill to keep operating but cut off the Qi supply to that root. He then waited... and waited... the root was still utilizing the Qi that was stored within but eventually, it paused. Unable to keep tunneling through the rock. The mercury rock shimmered brighter as the roots surrounding it started forcefully sucking its Qi away. "It works!" Ashlock was ecstatic as he watched the root he had cut off from his supply of Qi continue tunneling down. "And I still have a connection to it... how convenient." The root was still connected to Ashlock''s main body, so he could supply it with Qi if needed, but for now, it was deriving all its power from the mineral deposit. When Ashlock returned his sights to the courtyard, Stella was gone. A quick search and Ashlock found her back on the runic formation diligently cultivating. The sun was slowly setting, but it was hard to tell through the thick cloud cover. *** Ashlock awoke to a storm of horrific proportions. Thunder boomed like an awakened god throughout the land, and rain pummeled Ashlock''s leaves and branches, making them violently sway in the relentless winds. Using his {Eye of the Tree God} skill, Ashlock located Stella. Despite the unfavorable outside conditions, she sat with her back straight, eyes closed, and her hands wide open as if heralding the arrival of her savior. Her damp blonde hair was plastered against her face as purple flames roared to life across her skin, making her a beacon of light in the darkened world. Yet, even from here, Ashlock could feel the chaotic Qi rushing around with the storm, particularly around the runic formation that Stella so resolutely sat upon. "So cultivating during a storm can lead to great benefits..." Ashlock tried to activate his meditation skill, but nothing happened. The dense clouds blocked out any sunlight, turning day to night, and the wind made his leaves unable to capture anything. But, looking to the sky, Ashlock''s sphere of vision had expanded to include the clouds above. Streaks of lightning illuminated the clouds in flashes of blue and white, followed by roaring thunder. Then suddenly, one of the streaks of lightning arced toward him like a coiling dragon hungry to strike. Ashlock''s world went white as the lightning obliterated one of his branches. Lightning Qi wrapped around Ashlock''s trunk and arced between his branches, causing them to burn. Smoke bellowed from his left side, near the impact site, as a fire bloomed to life inside his trunk. Ashlock was delirious as horrendous pain spread throughout his body. Ashlock had burned himself on a stove once or twice back on Earth, but this felt worse. Way worse. Like gasoline pouring down his throat and then being set on fire from within. "Tree!" Ashlock''s brain was fuzzy as his body fought against the invading fire. Like suffering from blood loss, moisture and sap were rerouted from his roots and lower body to deal with the blaze causing him to become sluggish. As more and more of his body became charred wood, his cognitive functions decreased further. "Tree... don''t die! Hey!" Ashlock felt tender hands trying to climb up his ten-meter-tall trunk to the source of the blaze. "Don''t leave me all alone!..." Ashlock heard Stella cry over the howling wind. He then felt Stella''s legs coiling around his branch as she was hung upside down. Stella thrust her purple flame-covered hands into the smoking hole and attempted to blast the flames away. "Fight the flames, you stupid tree! You can do it!" Stella cried out as residual lightning still arcing between his branches lashed out at the girl, forcing her to use her own Qi to defend against the onslaught. Thunder and rain continued to roar, making Stella''s shouting and insults harder and harder to decipher for the slowly dying tree. Despite Stella''s best efforts, Ashlock was just a five-year-old sapling with a pathetic amount of Qi. Surviving a typical lightning strike would be possible for Ashlock, but one empowered with Qi? Unlikely. Was this the end? Death by a stray strike from the gods? But right as everything was going dark, he saw two notifications flicker to life in his mind. [Skill {Fire Resistance [D]} Learned!] [Skill {Lightning Qi Resistance [C]} Learned!] It seemed the gods hadn''t abandoned him after all. With his last bit of consciousness, Ashlock told the system to redirect all the ambient Qi raging around his body toward his roots and Qi Fruit Production skill. "Tree..." Stella''s tears joined the rain cascading down his trunk and dripping from his leaves. "Stay with me... please... I have nothing left." Ashlock wanted to comfort the distraught girl¡ªtell her he would be fine. Alas... he could not¡ªthe world faded, and his consciousness slipped into a deep slumber. Chapter 10: Fractured Mind Stella felt helpless as the thunder roared in her ears and freezing rain cascaded from above, causing Stella to shiver and her breath to steam. Due to the relentless rain and her own efforts, the Qi-powered flames from the lightning strike within the tree trunk finally died out. Stella collapsed to her knees before the charred trunk and mud splashed on her black cloak with the symbol of the Blood Lotus sect proudly embroidered on her chest. "Tree... why do you face the wrath of the heavens?" Stella muttered to herself as she gazed up at the chaotic sky. Lightning flashed between the dark clouds as if ancient calamities were battling in the realms above. Stella knew that one day she would also face the wrath of the heavens. As a demonic cultivator, it was a natural part of her progression. Stella felt lost... confused. Her eyes were unfocused as she set her sights on the smoldering tree. For her, the tree represented stability. It was always there, growing alongside her and offering fruits to relieve her hunger. It never spoke, but it didn''t need to¡ªshe understood its desire for growth, yet she admired its selflessness for charity. Yet now, it was in a state of instability, half destroyed and lifeless. Its spirit was weak and barely noticeable, like a flickering candlelight in the howling wind. If she didn''t help the tree somehow, it might be extinguished forever. Demonic cultivators like Stella were at the peak of selfishness. They destroyed... devoured... consumed everything for power. They cultivated the principle of one standing above all rather than defeating the beast tides through cooperation. But the tree not only took the Qi of the dead as every demonic tree does, but it also recycled the dead into a new life. Through its fruits and its own growth. Stella felt the clouds above stir, and she made a decision that may be foolish, but she deemed it necessary for her future. Standing up, purple flames roared to life, and the water drenching her body evaporated in a rush of steam. The mud caked on her shins also slid off as she stepped forward. "Tree. I don''t know why you face a heavenly tribulation so early. But let''s face it together." When forming a Star Core, one will naturally attract the wrath of the heavens, Stella was still many layers away from such a threat, but it didn''t matter. She couldn''t ascend to such a high realm in a mere five years¡ªit was time to take a risk. Another roar of thunder rolled over the mountains as Stella used her movement technique. It was ill-advised to use Qi-based techniques as her Soul Core took a long time to replenish, but she had no other option. Although she had super strength and could jump high, the tree was over ten meters tall and had many branches in the way. A trail of purple flames manifested on the tree''s trunk as Stella sprinted up its side with her movement technique. Using her hand to shield her eyes from the relentless rain from above, Stella looked up at the sky from atop the tree with an unsettled mind. "It''s coming again." Stella could feel the restless Qi as the world displayed displeasure for the tree''s continued existence. Stella sat cross-legged on the highest branch and felt warm air rising from the open hole on the tree''s left side where the lightning had struck, and dying flames still festered. Purple fire shrouded the young girl''s form as she braced for the impact of lightning. Unfortunately, she didn''t have to wait long. The heavens made their anger known with another powerful strike. The world lit up as a lightning bolt arced out of a nearby cloud like a coiling viper eager to annihilate its prey. Stella screamed as the bolt struck her location as if drawn by the open hole of the tree below. The tree took the brunt of the impact¡ªthe lightning Qi striking the wood but mysteriously doing far less damage than last time. Only managing to destroy another branch and leave a burning indent in the tree''s side, which was quickly dispelled as if the fire struggled to keep the wood burning as fuel. Stella, however, didn''t know of the tree''s increased resistance to lightning and fire. So instead, she gritted her teeth as she tried to take on as much lightning as possible. Like last time, the tree''s branches acted as a conductor, and the lightning Qi, unable to penetrate the tree''s 6th layer ambient Qi, had no choice but to seek out another conductor, perhaps a fleshy human that had volunteered herself to become a lightning rod. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Stella''s hair frizzled as lightning that arced between the tree branches lashed at her. She clamped her eyes shut to avoid being blinded and instead concentrated on her breathing technique and keeping herself covered in purple flames. With the rain, the noise, the bright lights, and her overwhelming desire to protect¡ªStella had to concentrate harder than ever on maintaining her Soul Core and keeping it topped up with Qi. As residual lightning struck her, she felt her Qi deplete rapidly, but the chaotic Qi and her concentration helped her rekindle her Soul Core''s reserves. Despite the situation, a smile appeared on her face as she felt her progress quicken. It was hard to find adverse conditions to push her limits here¡ªalone on Red Vine peak. So long as the tree survived... today would be a good day. *** Ashlock awoke, and he felt drunk. An unfathomable headache wracked his mind from within, and his vision, despite being spiritual, was fragmented, limited, and blurry. Tiny jolts of pain around his branches helped jump-start his mind and focus... like getting slapped in the face. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 2008 Daily Credit: 33 Sacrifice Credit: 0 [Sign in?] "Huh?" Ashlock''s mind spun into gear, and he focused on the numbers of the daily sign-in system. The fact there were 33 unspent daily credits suggested a month had passed by. "What happened?" He questioned himself in a sluggish voice. The fact he was missing half his vision and his body felt wrecked helped jog his memory of the fact he had suffered a rather hefty attack from the sky. Looking around, Ashlock''s blurry vision picked up grey stones with glowing silvery lines like shimmering mercury. Concentrating on one thing was challenging. His mind was drowsy and drifting in and out of consciousness. But even in the haze, he could see a girl shrouded in purple flames sitting atop him with her eyes closed and breathing steady. If he looked a little closer... sparks of purple lightning ran through her hair and between her fingertips. Slowly, over the course of an hour, Ashlock was able to regain some focus without falling back asleep. Surrounding him in a circular formation were familiar stone blocks. If his memory served him correctly, they were the stones that made up the runic formation Stella used to cultivate. "Did she move her runic formation to be around me?" Ashlock wondered. He felt the subtle current of Qi being pulled toward the formation. His leaves captured some of it, and the rest went in and out of Stella''s lungs as she cycled her cultivation technique. Using his {Eye of the Tree God}, his mind screamed in pain, but Ashlock ignored it¡ªhe needed to get a full rundown of his condition, and without an aerial view, it would be impossible. "Well, that doesn''t look good at all..." The left side facing the pavilion''s kitchen was utterly charred black. It was hard to tell compared to his usual black bark, but the unburned side had a glossy and pleasant tint, whereas the burned side was jagged, raw, and untamed like the side of a volcano. "Would this be considered a manly scar for a tree?" Ashlock sadly chuckled to himself. It was apparent why he could no longer see anything in that direction, as the wood was dead and no longer part of him... It would seem the charred bark blocked the rest of his body from functioning. Alongside his destroyed half, he counted nine dents, likely given by multiple lightning strikes. "Sigh... I knew I would get hit by lightning eventually. It was just a matter of time. As a tree atop an eight thousand meter high mountain, I would be the quickest route to the ground for any lightning strikes for miles..." Ashlock remembered seeing the charred lifeless trees in the courtyard of the neighboring mountain. It was obvious what had happened to them. Canceling the skill, Ashlock returned to his fractured view of the courtyard and huffed in annoyance. "This simply won''t do... it''s like someone is holding an eye patch over one of my eyes with weird holes through it." Ashlock tried to think of a solution, but like always... it resorted to his golden finger in this world. His system. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 2008 Daily Credit: 33 Sacrifice Credit: 0 [Sign in?] "Yes," Ashlock said with a slur, and a notification popped up. [User is too damaged to receive a system manifestation] [Damage calculated at 67%] [Repair body with credits? Yes/No] "Oh, a repair feature! How helpful." Ashlock felt things finally going his way, so he happily pressed yes. [33 credits consumed...] The few clouds littering the sky seemed to part as a ray of sunshine beamed down on Ashlock, illuminating him in a warm golden glow. Stella''s eyes snapped open as she felt the heavenly light on her back¡ª looking down at the tree, she saw the smallest of the nine holes seal up in front of her eyes. "Tree? You''re awake? How are you healing like that?" A smile bloomed on her face. [3.3% of damage repaired... 63.7% remaining] Meanwhile, Ashlock was yelling at the system in rage. "Stupid fucking system, a month''s worth of credits for 3% of the damage to be repaired? Why didn''t you tell me of this horrendous conversion rate? Oi! Give me back my points, you scamming bastard." Alas, the system cared not for his plight, and the notification drifted away without a care in the world. Letting out a deep sigh, Ashlock felt his willpower to stay awake vacating him. "Well, although it will be a slow process, I should heal naturally... best to save my points for a new skill or something... Due to this new runic formation surrounding me, I am getting far more Qi than before, so I should heal and cultivate faster..." "Tree! Hey! Don''t sleep again! I will go get you food..." Ashlock would really like to listen to the girl''s ramblings, but sadly it would have to wait for another day... or maybe another year. Chapter 11: Passage of Time [Damage calculated at 0% ¡ª Sleep mode deactivated] Red Vine peak had undergone some significant changes since Ashlock last saw it. The familiar purple grass courtyard was replaced with smooth grey stone of the highest quality engraved with a shimmering silver metal gleaming under the summer rays. A dense stream of chaotic Qi danced around Ashlock as if he was the center of a grand whirlpool. The world''s energy felt revitalizing, like a jacuzzi. Ashlock relished the pleasant feeling. Ashlock was oblivious to this world''s common sense, but there was no way such a sizeable runic formation was easy or cheap to build. "Did Stella build all of this so I would heal faster?" Ashlock inspected his body and confirmed the earlier system message was accurate... he was fully healed and looked better than ever. The charred bark was gone, and the evidence of such an incident was lost with time... only he and maybe Stella, if she became an immortal, would remember what happened. Ashlock hummed to himself as he looked at his branches. They were practically dripping in various types of fruit. Some had clearly been plucked recently, as there were glaring gaps in a few fruit clusters. "Perhaps Stella has been feasting on them?" Ashlock glanced around and failed to spot the girl. "Maybe she went out..." A breeze blew by, rustling Ashlock''s scarlet leaves, and it was only now in the stifling silence that Ashlock realized he was terribly lonely without Stella. Letting out a sigh, Ashlock decided to busy himself to pass the time. "I should catch up on what''s changed while I was sleeping... Status!" [Demonic Spirit Sapling (Age: 7)] [Qi Realm: 7th Stage] [Skills¡­] "Seven years old?" When Ashlock had fallen asleep, he had barely been halfway through the fifth year of his life. A part of him winced at the thought that a year and a half had seemingly vanished... those were days he could never get back. But there was another startling point... he had gone up a stage in the Qi realm and was now at the 7th stage. "Cultivating in my sleep seems a bit ridiculous..." It made Ashlock think of all those people back on Earth that preached the importance of a side hustle that generated passive income. "Isn''t everything about being a tree passive? I have very little control over anything." Ashlock had successfully made himself sad again, so he looked at his skills to see if anything had changed. {Eye of the Tree God [A]} {Deep Roots [A]} {Language of the World [B]} {Qi Fruit Production [C]} {Devour [C]} {Hibernate [C]} {Lightning Qi Resistance [C]} -> {Lightning Qi Protection[B]} {Fire Resistance [D]} -> {Fire Qi Resistance[C]} {Basic Poison Resistance [F]} {Basic Meditation [F]} Ashlock paused for a while and read over his skills. They were mostly the same except for a new piece of UI that he had never seen before. "My skills can upgrade?" Once again, Ashlock wanted to smack himself for not thinking it was possible. His previous shock came from learning a skill outside of the sign-in rewards. So it was only natural he could upgrade his skills as well. However, what caused an upgrade was now a question gnawing at Ashlock''s mind. "Let''s think... The two skills that upgraded were resistance skills¡ªif my memories serve me correctly... I was struck at least nine times by lightning strikes during that storm almost two years ago. Those lightning strikes were Qi-enhanced, likely due to the chaotic weather. So {Lightning Qi Resistance} a [C] grade skill, upgraded to {Lightning Qi Protection}, a supposed [B] grade skill while I slept." Ashlock mulled over the difference in naming. His previous dismissal nature to the power of his skills had been cast away, and now if a skill was at the C grade or higher, he took them seriously. "What is the difference between resistance and protection?" As that was the only clue left for him by the system, Ashlock thought long and hard. "Resistance means not being as affected by something... whereas protection outright stops the threat from ever doing any harm. So in terms of lightning¡ªresistance should mean I would still get damaged by lightning, just not as much... meanwhile, protection would be like a shield?" Ashlock scrutinized the clear blue sky and silently begged the heavens to test him again with their vicious lightning. "I have been an evil tree! Strike me down if you dare!" Ashlock hollered at the mighty heavens while waving a metaphorical fist like a grumpy old man. A bird landed happily on his branch where it had made a nest and fed a grey slug-like creature to its awaiting children... Ashlock sighed... it was hard to give off evil tree vibes when a stupid bird could use his branches as free real estate. "At least pay to stay here with shiny coins or something..." Ashlock grumbled to himself. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "Right, back to the skills, I keep getting sidetracked." Ashlock peeked back at the list, and there was one last skill upgrade. {Fire Resistance [D]} -> {Fire Qi Resistance[C]} "Well, this one is a little easier to figure out. The [D] grade skill clearly offers resistance to standard flames, whereas {Fire Qi Resistance} will give me resistance to fire powered by Qi rather than flames fueled by oxygen. It was interesting that the world considered them two separate things, and it would appear Qi-based attacks are in a league of their own above standard elemental attacks. "Anything else to check up on?" Ashlock did plan to check his sign-in system, but first, he wanted to confirm everything else. "How about down below?" It had been about a year and a half¡ªsurely he had made some progress through the mountain? Ashlock struggled to hold back his shock as he felt down below. His roots spread for thousands of meters, and he was around halfway down the mountain at this point. "Oh my god... look at all these mineral deposits!" Ashlock still did not know the true name for the silvery metal that seemed to power the runic formation, but the mountain was abundant with the stuff. Ashlock painstakingly counted over a hundred such deposits spread throughout the mountain. To his relief, it seemed his roots had learned from the previous experience and were latched around each mineral deposit. "Never underestimate the versatility and genius of an A-grade skill!" As {Deep Roots} was one of his two [A] grade skills, it was naturally a source of pride for Ashlock. "Sadly, the mineral deposits only help me dig deeper rather than improve my own cultivation..." Ashlock thought back to {Deep Roots} abilities. It allowed him to dig deeper and make tunnels. However, he hadn''t tried the tunnel-making feature due to his low Qi reserves and only discovering one mineral deposit. But now, with so much ambient Qi surrounding him due to the runic formation and the many mineral deposits scattered throughout the mountain, he should be able to use that feature. "Well, here goes nothing!" Metaphorically closing his eyes, Ashlock willed the {Deep Roots} skill to work its magic. Ashlock felt the ground tremble as the roots bulged outward, causing the rock to crack in protest. "This doesn''t seem very stable¡ª" Ashlock''s thoughts were rendered useless as he watched his now slightly hollowed roots open up and consume the loose rock, and then, like a very slow conveyor belt, the pebbles were carried within the roots. "But where can the stone go?" Ashlock traced the direction the rock was heading in his mind. It wasn''t upward or downward. Rather it was sideways. "Does the skill plan to dispel the rock out the side of the mountain?" With anything tree-related, Ashlock would likely know the answer in a few days... if not months. Unfortunately, the rock being carried by the viscous sap within the roots seemed about as motivated to move as he was to stay awake, which was to say... not very motivated at all. "Reminds me of public transport¡ªso bloody slow." Ashlock chuckled at his memories from Earth before regaining his focus. "Anything else to check up on?" Ashlock used his {Eye of the Tree God} to scout out the pavilion for anything interesting. "Oh look... the Koi fish in the pond have had children, and they seem rather large already." To Ashlock, no time had passed at all. One moment, he closed his eyes with half his body scorched and ruined, and the next time he awoke to a fully healed body. The rapid passage of time was jarring and hard to ground in reality, but little things like seeing baby fish in the pond let Ashlock comprehend the passing of time. Other than the new fish, some plants were added to the exotic garden, and some had grown slightly more mature. "Good to see my fellow plants are doing well." His roots were so expansive at this point that they ran below the entire pavilion, meaning some of his ambient Qi seemed to be helping all the plants in the courtyards bloom. Despite the pavilion''s immense size, as usual, it was desolate of people. It was like an abandoned site that would soon succumb to nature, but a few traces of footsteps amongst the dust suggested some recent activity. Ashlock checked around the entire mountain, including the steps, and even peeked into the misty fog of the neighboring peak, but alas, there was no sign of Stella. Since there was nothing else to do, Ashlock summoned his system. "Alright, time to sign in." Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 2774 Daily Credit: 766 Sacrifice Credit: 0 [Sign in?] "Wow..." Ashlock was aware that a lot of time had passed, but seeing it in numerical form really hammered in the fact that over seven hundred days had passed. "Now the question is... should I save up or spend now?" Ashlock sat there for a few hours, mulling over the decision. As a tree, he had patience and time on his side. There was no threat breathing down the back of his neck demanding he spend right away... so he should wait, right? The door to the pavilion swung open. Its creaking door broke Ashlock from his thoughts as a familiar but somewhat different face entered. "That is almost freaky..." The girl in Ashlock''s mind didn''t match up with the young lady. When he had last seen Stella, she was a thirteen-year-old girl who reminded him of a scared kitten, but she was now almost fifteen and walked with far more purpose and pride than before. Puberty was no joke as she had changed considerably in such a short time. Stella was a little taller, had sharper features, and the demeanor of a scared child was long gone. Her black cloak, which had seemed a little baggy and odd for a child to wear, now fit her form perfectly as she strolled into the courtyard. As she got closer while subconsciously twirling the black wooden handle daggers in her hands, her face was a cold mask, almost unrecognizable. Ashlock groaned, "Has she become one of those ice-cold beauties I heard so much about." Sadly it seemed to be the case as the girl that had once been so bubbly and full of life coldly appraised the courtyard, meticulously checking every runic stone underfoot as she walked. It wasn''t until she was a few steps from Ashlock that her head snapped upwards, and her eyes went wide. The cold facade vanished, and Ashlock once again saw the vulnerable child with an odd obsession with a tree return. "Tree!" She practically threw herself forward and placed both palms on Ashlock''s freshly healed trunk. "You took far too long to heal, so I built this runic formation for you! Hehe..." She nervously stepped back and rubbed her cheek as she surveyed the courtyard. "Hope you don''t mind... I did have to destroy the rather scenic courtyard to make space for it, but it should be worth it!" Ashlock found the sudden change in her demeanor around him rather amusing¡ªmaybe even a little endearing. "Glad to see she is doing well..." When Ashlock had seen the cold look on her face a moment ago, he was worried the lack of his presence had sent her down a dark path... "So Tree! How have you been? Feeling better?" Stella leaned forward and patted his trunk¡ªher blonde hair fell forward, revealing the red leaf earrings he had gifted her all those years ago. "Oh boy, do I have a story to tell you!" The young woman collapsed onto the bench, which Ashlock noticed had been upgraded to a lovely hand-crafted oak bench. Stella went to open her mouth¡ª "So noisy!" Ashlock grumbled and skillfully dropped a large fruit on her head, causing the girl to yelp. "What was that for!" Stella shook her fist at the tree in a playful manner and giggled while biting into the fruit. "Mhm, yummy. Oh, speaking of food... I went hunting this year and have some snacks for you..." A ring on Stella''s hand flashed with Qi, and suddenly the entire courtyard was pilled high with monster corpses of every type imaginable, and Ashlock could barely hold back the sudden surge of hunger. It was time to feast! Chapter 168: Ashfallens rise [Book 2 Epilogue] Ashlock and the others waited awhile, but Demetrios Skyrend never returned. The violent storm system dominated the distant horizon, and Ashlock suspected that Demetrios was giving a piece of his mind to the Voidmind family. He would go and look, but his roots didn''t extend far enough west to reach Slymere yet, and his {Eye of the Tree God} also didn''t reach the city. The Redclaw Grand Elder, who had his hands behind his back as he looked at the horizon, sighed in relief. His fire Qi then swirled around them to obscure his voice from others, "I must thank House Silverspire for mediating that conversation. Without your presence, I fear Demetrios would have taken Dante''s side and wiped us out instead." Sebastian frowned, "It is indeed troublesome. When I agreed to sponsor the tournament for an extra percentage, I didn''t expect to be dragged into a plot that may cause a civil war between the Voidmind and Skyrend families." "It''s okay!" Ryker, who had remained silent for most of the day, grinned, "Big sister promised me lots of money, which means I might beat my brother and sisters for the silver core!" Ashlock almost felt like chuckling as he was reminded about the inheritance battle between the heirs of the Silverspire family. "The poor Patriarch. He took his eyes off his Blood Lotus Sect for a few years to cultivate, and when he emerges, he will find all three of the most prominent families at war. Two against one another and the last having an internal fight between the heirs," Ashlock sneered, "That''s what he deserves for saving Stella as a pill furnace. In fact, the more the Blood Lotus Sect is in flames, the better. It will help camouflage our activities." "Rascal," Sebastian ruffled Ryker''s hair, "Imagine your mother''s face when she finds out." "Actually, she would be very proud of me!" Ryker smacked Sebastian''s hand away, "She always told me that war is good for business. People need weapons and spatial rings, which we sell, and then when they all die, we can move in and buy the land for cheap and start mining for metals." Sebastian and the Grand Elder exchanged a surprised look. "Ahem... that is technically true," Sebastian nodded thoughtfully, "The Mistress is wise." "Of course she is," Ryker nodded seriously, "My mother is the smartest woman I know!" "And how many women do you know?" The Grand Elder asked in jest. Ryker replied thoughtfully, "Only my mother and sisters, and my sisters are stupid." Sebastian snorted in amusement, "Oh? What makes them stupid? They are your sisters, you know." "You and my sister told me Darklight City was a backwater place with nothing worth mentioning," Ryker said, "But I found beautiful big sisters and lots of cool things here. So, Sebastian, you are also stupid." Sebastian seemed to stumble back with a painful expression as if an arrow had been shot into his chest, "Ouch, the young master''s words hurt my heart." "Good, let''s head back," Ryker demanded, "I want to cultivate after seeing the adults fight. I need to become stronger." Sebastian ceased his pained act, "Grand Elder, is our presence here no longer necessary?" The Grand Elder looked at the demonic tree trunk, and when Ashlock wrote nothing, he gave Sebastian a nod, "I believe so. I will send someone to fetch you if something comes up." Sebastian slightly bowed to the Grand Elder and the demonic tree, "I look forward to our continued business relationship." Ashlock didn''t want them to walk all the way back, so he created a portal for them to the White Stone Palace''s courtyard. The two Silverspires departed, and the Grand Elder was also about to leave when someone unexpectedly approached them. Kane Azurecrest floated through the air with a violent gale surrounding him. The Grand Elder withdrew his fire Qi and faced the approaching teen. Ashlock searched the colosseum stands and couldn''t see Celeste Starweaver anywhere. Only the Grand Elder and Kane were left in the half-destroyed colosseum covered in shattered glass, ash, and rubble. Kane touched down a few meters from the Grand Elder and offered a respectful bow, "Greetings, Grand Elder of the honorable Redclaw family." "To what do I owe the pleasure scion of House Azurecrest?" The Grand Elder replied with a slight smile. "I know I didn''t win your tournament," Kane replied. He sounded exhausted, as if he hadn''t slept in days, "But I wondered if there was a way I could still be hired alongside the rogues?" The Grand Elder raised his brow, "How unexpected. A scion from one of the top families asking for employment alongside rogue cultivators? Dare I ask the reason why?" Kane raised his head and looked at the Grand Elder through the gaps in his long white and crimson hair, "Could we take this conversation elsewhere? The subject matter is sensitive." The Grand Elder looked him up and down with scrutiny and nodded, "Come with me." *** After the two left through the portal to the White Stone Palace, total silence overtook the colosseum. A place that had once been alive with the cheers of a thousand mortals was now dead silent. Ashlock opened a portal and slowly dragged the Voidmind Elder''s corpse back to Red Vine Peak via a black vine. He also retracted his view from his Progeny and returned to his mountain because he wanted one of the girls to act as his spokesperson in the upcoming meeting between the Grand Elder and Kane Azurecrest. He hadn''t spoken to the Grand Elder through {Abyssal Whispers} before, and the man didn''t have a Mind Fortress pill, so Ashlock needed someone to speak for him. Stella was lying on the bench, passed out. A troubled expression was on her sleeping face as her chest peacefully rose and fell. Maple was sprawled out on her stomach and enjoying the late afternoon sun. "She must be exhausted. When did she last have a moment where she wasn''t learning alchemy or causing drama?" Ashlock laughed as he left her to sleep, and his gaze drifted a few meters away where a few corpses were lined up. He closed the portal as quietly as possible to not awaken Stella, dragged the Voidmind Elder''s corpse, and dumped it alongside the others. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Theron''s body was in bad condition, with around half missing due to the void tendrils devouring him. Meanwhile, Kassandra''s corpse was in much better shape as she had died from a dagger through the heart. Ashlock was tempted to turn them into Ents or devour them for credits, but that could wait until later as he needed everyone''s opinions. These were incredibly valuable corpses and weren''t to be wasted. "Mhm, I feel like I am missing one... oh yeah." Ashlock realized that Roderick Terraforge was still trapped in Titus''s hand prison, "I''ll wait until Stella is awake to deal with that one. He can wait." Ashlock looked around the peaceful courtyard and felt a sense of relief wash over him as the reality of the situation set in. So much had occurred in just a few hours. It was hard to believe it was finally over. After months of planning and plenty of schemes, the Ashfallen sect had come out unscathed while simultaneously gaining so much. The tournament had concluded, and it was time to set his sights on bigger and better things. The Ashfallen sect was about to welcome many new alchemists, and war may break out between the Skyrend and Voidmind families. A war Ashlock planned to profit off as much as possible. But that wasn''t all. A partnership had been formed with the infamous Silverspire family, and the merchants would soon come knocking to speak with Roselyn. Also, the Redclaws were now seen in higher regard by the other families, and Darklight City saw a significant influx of tourists due to the tournament. So long as the plan had worked and Demetrios Skyrend didn''t turn around and blast them with heavenly lightning, things looked up for Ashlock and the sect. "Just a few more rounds in the Mystic Realm, and I should have a group of mid to late-stage Star Core cultivators," Ashlock mused, "And if I can also get in there with my {Progeny Dominion} skill, then I might even reach the Nascent Soul Realm before the Patriarch comes out of seclusion." Realizing he was getting distracted, Ashlock glanced around the mountain peak and spotted Diana relaxing under the shade of a demonic tree and embraced by the mist. She appeared much less exhausted than Stella and more just enjoying the sun. "Hey Diana," Ashlock spoke into her mind, and the woman was shocked out of her daze. "What? Where? Who?" Diana shouted aloud while glancing around while blinking in confusion. "Shhh, it''s me. Stop shouting. Stella''s asleep," Ashlock answered, "I need you to head over to the White Stone Palace and sit in on a conversation and act as my spokesperson." Diana massaged her temples while standing up and then sighed. "Fine, let''s go," she said while popping a Mind Fortress pill. *** Ashlock watched Kane and the Grand Elder sit opposite one another in the reception room of the White Stone Palace. The walls had arrays built-in to stop other cultivators from eavesdropping, but the Grand Elder also used his own Qi to secure the area. They were solid measures but not enough to stop Ashlock from listening in through a root under the floorboards. Not that the Grand Elder was in any position to have a conversation he was unaware of, but if he had no need to ask, that was for the best. Ashlock effortlessly tore through the Grand Elder''s Qi and produced a portal through which a white wooden masked Diana emerged. She said nothing as she strode over, perched herself on an armchair, and glanced between the two other people in the room. Kane gave her an odd look, but the Grand Elder just waved it off, "She is a trusted person, feel free to speak your mind." Kane sighed with relief as he sank into the sofa and seemed about to pass out, "I appreciate you taking the time to listen to me." "You look haggard." The Grand Elder observed, "Do you need something? Perhaps some freshly brewed tea or revitalization pills?" "Nothing works," Kane stared at the ceiling, "I haven''t slept in weeks, and all I can do is replay the events of a single night in my mind over and over." "Nocturne keeping you awake?" Diana asked. Kane seemed to jolt in his seat and stare at her, "You know?" "I have encountered them before," Diana said flatly, "It didn''t end well." "I see," Kane seemed a bit taken aback, "And do you know anything about them, Grand Elder Redclaw?" "Small details have been made aware to me," The Grand Elder said, "But I will allow you to explain from the start as I am missing a lot of context." "As you wish," Kane sighed, "An order from the Patriarch had been given to my father before he went into seclusion, which sent the family into turmoil. He demanded that more airship pilots be available before the beast tide. The problem was that every abled person in the family was already working in the airship industry." "I see, and raising new talent takes a long time," The Grand Elder mused. "Exactly," Kane nodded, "So my father began to look for shortcuts, and he stumbled upon a demonic technique that allows for a rapid rise in cultivation." "Nocturnes," The Grand Elder said. Kane''s expression became grim, "I watched as all of my siblings had duels over who would be sacrificed to empower the other. It was a harrowing experience to watch my elder brother Venik slaughter our sister and consume her soul for a surge in cultivation. I hid away in the servant quarters and tried to stay out of my father''s sight for the duration of the sacrifices." "Venik... isn''t that the one you killed, Diana?" Ashlock asked through telepathy. "That''s right," Diana replied mentally. "So, how did you get here?" The Grand Elder asked Kane, "And how did you end up with a Nocturne?" "Well, you see, there was an odd number of us, so I had hoped all of my siblings would fight it out, and I would be left alone, but the head servant reported me to my father," Kane gulped, "If you don''t know my father is a lecherous man which is one of the reasons he is such good friends with the Patriarch." The Redclaw Grand Elder nodded, "There are some rumors regarding that man..." "I don''t care what they are. They are probably true," Kane shivered, "One of my father''s habits is having children with rogue cultivators outside the family line. So when I was brought to my father''s study one night, I was made to stand before a cage containing a red-haired kid who I later found out was my half brother from one of those rogues." Ashlock did not like where this story was going one bit. Why did he have to be constantly reminded that he was surrounded by savages wearing human skin? "You consumed him, didn''t you." The Grand Elder said, and Kane hesitantly nodded. "It was either him or me. Father justified it by saying the boy had fire affinity and was, therefore, the lesser of us," Kane clutched his head, "The fact that man would use the affinity purity argument while standing beside one of his children in a cage made me seethe with rage." "Then what happened?" Diana asked. "I don''t know," Kane began to quietly weep, "I have replayed that night so many times in my mind I don''t even know what really happened anymore. But all I know is I woke up in bed with a terrible headache, a voice in my head, and the ability to cultivate fire Qi. Father found it fascinating that I had become dual affinity, so he had me try and learn alchemy as the wind element is terrible at it." Ashlock had never considered that there would be ways to become a dual affinity after birth. "I wonder if there''s a way I could use my skills to help my sect members unlock new affinities?" "So that''s how you ended up here." The Grand Elder hummed as he tapped his chin, "And I assume you came to us looking for a way to escape your Father?" Kane shook his head, "Not initially. I came here to prove to my father that I had some skills in alchemy so he wouldn''t send me to work in the airship industry. But then I heard you guys were hiring and saw the Silverspire family was involved. They are one of the only families that could help shield me from my father." "Diana, I need time to decide if taking him on would be worth the risk." Ashlock told Diana, "Tell him we will consider his request to be hired over the next few days and for him to either wait here in the White Stone Palace or stay in the city." Diana relayed his message, and Kane gave a grateful nod. "Thank you, I would appreciate it if I could stay here." Kane requested, and at the command of the Grand Elder, he was led away by a group of maids. Although many significant threats were on the horizon, this conversation helped Ashlock refocus on things he had been putting off that needed to be resolved now that the Ashfallen sect was more out in the open and time wasn''t on their side. "With the Redclaws more established now, I need them to focus on mass recruitment of cultivators, alchemists, and even mortals," Ashlock explained to Diana, "The White Stone Palace was able to hold two families and their servants in the past. There is plenty of room to be utilized here, and we can always dig down and create more space within the mountain." Diana relayed the information. "I see," The Grand Elder said, "Are those rogue alchemists also going to stay here rather than in the cavern under Red Vine Peak?" "Yes," Ashlock said, and Diana nodded. It was time to start separating the two peaks. One was for his core sect members, while the White Stone Palace would be home for everyone else. During the next few months, he planned for the Ashfallen sect to rapidly expand in both size and power. His time lurking in the shadows was coming to a close, and the Blood Lotus Sect would soon learn their folly for allowing him to take root on their soil. Chapter 169: Satisfying Revenge [Start of Book 3]
Ashlock awoke to a pleasant autumn breeze that rustled his scarlet leaves. There were also the chirps of birds that had recently made the sprawling demonic forest across the mountain range their home. As always, it took a while for Ashlock''s mind to fully awaken from his slumber, but once he did, the all too familiar system message appeared in his vision. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3532 Daily Credit: 5 Sacrifice Credit: 28 [Sign in?] "Seems I fell asleep while waiting for Stella to wake up," Ashlock yawned as he dismissed the notification and glanced around the mountain peak with his spiritual sight. The three corpses of Blood Lotus nobles were still there as he hadn''t yet decided what to do with them. In the past, the only real option would be to consume them for sacrificial credits and then unlock a skill. However, now that he had his SS grade {Necroflora Sovereign} skill that let him raise powerful Ents, he had to carefully consider what he used corpses for. There was a loud yawn as Stella stretched like a cat on the bench and slowly woke up. "Good morning, Tree," Stella said as she sleepily looked around, "Huh, how long was I asleep?" "For half a day and night," Ashlock said through his {Abyssal Whispers} skill. "That long?" Stella murmured as she retrieved a Mind Fortress pill from her spatial storage and gulped it down to resist the attacking nature of his telepathy skill, "Darn, it''s my last one. I need to make another batch." "If you teach the rogue alchemists how to make it, then you won''t need to," Ashlock mentioned. "Oh yeah," Stella said through their link as she attempted to tie her hair into a ponytail, "How did everything end yesterday? The second I came back here, I felt compelled to fall asleep on the bench, so I bet I missed some things." "Well, if you look down near your feet, you will see some corpses," Ashlock said, "I need to decide which ones to consume to grow stronger and which to turn into Ents like Titus." "Mhm, and what are the downsides of both options?" "What do you mean?" "Well, power never comes for free, and I never fully understood how you get stronger, Tree," Stella explained, "Like does consuming corpses corrupt your Qi? Or does raising an Ent drain your soul? Sometimes when deciding on something, it''s best to look at what it will cost you rather than what you gain." That was a good point. He always focused on the benefits rather than the cost, as his tree body gave him an unnatural advantage when it came to gathering Qi and other resources. However, with the goal of advancing his cultivation and an upcoming war, he didn''t want to be caught without any Qi in his Star Core again like he has been so many times in the past due to mismanagement. So he needed to be careful with raising too many Ents. "Ent''s cost a lot to maintain. The more I have control over, the more Qi I have to waste on powering them," Ashlock explained, "Whereas if I just eat the corpses, I will definitely get more powerful as I can absorb the Qi in their remains, and there''s a chance I gain something new, but it will be random." "Gain something new?" Stella tilted her head, "Such as items from rifts like my earrings?" "Yeah, I basically stole those earrings from some other dimension for you," Ashlock half lied. He didn''t know for certain where the items were coming from, and he also didn''t consider the system''s feats as being from him. With a radiant smile, Stella touched the red maple leaf earrings dangling from her ears via a black chain, "I see! Well, that does make this decision rather difficult. I like new things, after all..." She walked around the corpses while tapping her chin and paused, "Isn''t someone missing?" "Roderick Terraforge is still trapped in Titus''s hands out in the wilderness," Ashlock replied, "I was saving him for you. What do you want to do with him?" "Just crush him," Stella shrugged, "Ever since I won the tournament and don''t feel threatened anymore, I don''t care for revenge against a nobody like Roderick." "I''m surprised. I thought you would want to slit his throat for crashing into your table during the tournament.". "At the time, I did," Stella sighed, "But in a way, I actually owe some gratitude for them pushing me so far to a level of stress I have never experienced before." "Why would you be grateful for that?" Ashlock wondered. "I think they helped me awaken my bloodline during that final round," Stella stared at the bench behind her, "I don''t know a lot about it, but I dreamed of this mountain peak and the things that have occurred here. They helped me focus to the point where I could create a Profound tier pill on my first try." "So you do have a bloodline! Did it give you a transformation like Diana?" Ashlock excitedly asked. Stella shook her head as she looked away from the bench, "No, and I don''t think I will get one." "Why not?" "It''s just a theory, but I think there might be different kinds of bloodlines," Stella mused, "For example, Diana has a transformation type that changes her species to one that''s more powerful, whereas mine boosts my mental capabilities." "Interesting," Ashlock was glad to learn even a little bit more about these mysterious bloodlines, and he was even more pleased to know that Stella had finally awakened hers. Since Larry said he sensed something ancient about the girls and Senior Lee mentioned that bloodlines belonged to the upper realms, he had been interested in them. "Can you tell me more details about your bloodline?" Ashlock asked. "I don''t want to say anything for definite, but when I feel my throne is threatened, I enter a trance-like state that lets me perform at my peak capabilities," Stella shrugged, "It also seemed to rapidly drain my stamina, and I could hardly stand after using it multiple times in succession." "And your throne is?" Stella gestured to the bench, "I have no idea why, but my body and mind feel linked to this bench." Ashlock hummed in interest, ¡°The day that you tried to punch the heavenly lightning and almost died, Senior Lee saved you with a pill from a higher realm that seemed to anger the heavens. He later told me that was likely because our fates are tied. I wonder if you see the bench as your throne because of that." "Perhaps," Stella yawned and stretched her back, "Ugh, I can still feel the fatigue from yesterday. Maybe I need to cultivate." "Wait before you go and do that, help me with deciding the fate of these corpses," Ashlock insisted, "I value your insight here, oh and go get Diana too." Stella closed her eyes, and a portal rippled to life right before her face. She then stuck her head through. "Okay, she is coming," Stella said, withdrawing her head and widening the portal. Diana stepped through alongside Douglas and Elaine as well. "Oh, perfect, everyone''s here," Ashlock mused, "Can you ask Elaine what her plans are now that she stayed behind? Oh, also, we really need to get more of those Mind Fortress pills so I can easily speak with everyone." Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "I will make some more later today," Stella said and then relayed his question to Elaine. "Actually, I received a call from my Father late last night," Elaine confessed, "He told me my family had mostly withdrawn from Darklight City, but he wanted me to stay behind and report the situation here to him. So I guess it''s fine for me to continue working in the Academy as nobody from my family is keeping a close eye on me." Stella snorted, "So he withdrew everyone so they couldn''t be kidnapped or used as bargaining chips by the Skyrend family, but he''s fine with you staying here unguarded. What an arsehole." Elaine nodded sadly, "Yes... I don''t know how I didn''t notice his disregard for me sooner." "Well, this works in our favor," Diana pointed out, "We can feed them incorrect information through Elaine. Did your Father tell you anything about what is happening at Slymere?" "A little," Elaine said, "Slymere is on lockdown, and they spent a few hours powering arrays to protect the city from Demetrios Skyrend''s wrath. Father said they are fine for now, as Demetrios left after expending too much Qi on powering the storm." "Say, Elaine, who do you think will win if there''s a war?" Stella asked, "I found the Skyrend family a lot easier to deal with, but I have a natural resistance to lightning Qi so that gave me an unfair advantage." "That''s a good question," Douglas agreed, "And if what you guys told me is true, the Voidmind family lost multiple Elders in the recent attack, so that should have weakened them further? Right? Or am I being dumb?" Elaine nodded as she leaned back slightly against Douglas, "I believe the Skyrend family has the upper hand in an all-out war. As you know, void Qi is very powerful at both offense and defense, but it''s incredibly hard to gather. If Demetrios floats in the sky and forces my Father to waste his void Qi on powering a defensive array, Slymere will eventually fall. Lightning Qi is much easier to gather, and its attack power is high, so the defense must be taken seriously." "What if the Voidmind family went on the offensive?" Ashlock asked through Stella. In his mind, they should send assassins using those Void Caller artifacts and slaughter the Skyrend family scions when Demetrios isn''t looking. Ashlock had only managed to defeat the Voidmind Elders through some luck and the overpowered skills of his summons, so he couldn''t see how the Skyrend family could survive a direct assault. "The Voidmind family is unlikely to go on the offensive," Diana said, "They think Elaine''s Uncle has returned with a vengeance to silence the Skyrend family. I wouldn''t be surprised if they sat back and waited for the Head Librarian to make a move while their void Qi is depleted." Elaine shook her head, "If I had to guess, Dante is begging my Father to send people to investigate my Uncle''s return. My Father''s position as the family head was only gained because of his high cultivation rather than his good relationship with the branch families. If the other branches see a possibility to either snatch the head seat away by learning the secret of ascension themselves or going out of their way to make amends with my Uncle, they will take it." Everyone fell into deep contemplation for a while. "If a war does happen between the two families, how quickly will it escalate?" Ashlock asked. He needed to know what kind of timescale he was working with here so he could prioritize certain things. Stella relayed the question to Diana as she was most knowledgeable regarding sect politics and had also been on the receiving end of an invasion from another family. "If they are of equal strength, it will take a few months at least," Diana replied after some thought, "Neither side will want to rush in at risk of falling for a trap like the Voidminds did yesterday at the tournament. The only reason they invaded so hastily yesterday was because Dante believed he could achieve total victory before the Redclaws could get a chance to gather help from other families. In short, they were sure of an overwhelming victory." Stella glanced at Kassandra''s cold corpse with a hole in her heart, "Arrogance leads to death. If we want to come out of this alive, we must be better than those currently reigning at the top." Everyone exchanged a look and nodded. It was an idea Ashlock agreed with and had been doing from the very start. He may have been forced into this cautious mindset due to being unable to run away as a tree, but he had no plans to ditch it now. This trail of thought brought him back to the Ents... they are powerful assets that are also somewhat expendable. Perfect for war. "And if I manage to extend my roots all the way out to Slymere and even the entire Blood Lotus Sect, I can launch wars with my Ents at a moment''s notice through portals," Ashlock mused, "Maybe I should turn most of them into Ents?" With that idea in mind, he asked Stella, "Between the Skyrend corpses, which one do you think I should turn into an Ent?" "You''re going to eat one of them?" Stella asked. "That''s the plan. I still want to eat one or two of the corpses to boost my cultivation up a stage, as my Star Core is mostly filled after not doing much over the last few weeks," Ashlock explained. "I would ask you to consume Kassandra to put her to eternal rest, she may have been a bitch, but I admire that she stuck to her values until the very end," Stella''s eyes narrowed at Theron, "Meanwhile I believe Theron deserves to be an eternal slave for the things he said to me and for trying to spit on Elder Margret." Ashlock was surprised about Stella''s view of Kassandra but had no qualms about agreeing to her request. If he turned Theron Skyrend into an Ent, he would be on a similar power level to Titus. "He would also give me around a thousand credits..." Ashlock sighed. The temptation of picking the points and rolling the gacha was high, but he had to admit a guaranteed Star Core Ent that he could send into battle without the risk of losing someone he cared about was a big plus. "Wait, before we decide on the other corpses, let me bring over Roderick," Ashlock''s vision blurred as he arrived far out in the wilderness, creating a massive portal for Titus to walk back through. "What''s Titus doing back here?" Diana asked while glancing up at the looming titan of black wood. Everyone''s clothes and hair rustled as the massive portal snapped closed behind Titus, leaving him towering over them with his hands clenched around something. "Titus, bring your hands down here!" Stella shouted up at the Ent, and Titus complied by bending down on one knee and presenting the hand prison to her. Ashlock was surprised that the Ent listened, but then he remembered he had commanded Titus to listen to Stella and the twins when they had gone hunting for alchemy ingredients. "Now, crush," Stella gestured to what Titus should do, and there was a loud scream from within as Titus closed his hands. "Good! Now open up," Stella gestured for Titus to open his fingers, and the Ent complied¡ªrevealing a very bloodied and broken Roderick Terraforge that was barely alive. Stella frowned as she summoned her favorite dagger to her hand, "You''re a tough little bastard, aren''t you." "P-Please..." Roderick coughed blood as he glanced around and locked eyes with Douglas, "Cousin?" Douglas diverted his gaze and looked up at the sky. Stella was unfazed by his begging as she grabbed Roderick''s hair, forcefully tilted his head to face the heavens and slit his throat. As the life left his eyes, Stella hauled the now-dead man via his hair out of the hand prison and dumped him next to the other noble corpses. Everyone watched the scene in silence, some more shocked than others. "I thought you said you didn''t care for revenge against a nobody like Roderick?" Ashlock asked. "I lied¡ªthat was far too satisfying." Stella replied through their link as she smiled sweetly, "Anyway, didn''t you want to figure out what to do with the corpses? I was just hurrying things along." "Right... sure," Ashlock said and then reanalyzed the corpses. Before him lay two Star Core corpses: Theron Skyrend and Lilian Voidmind. "I think I will turn these two into Ents, so what should I do with the other two?" Ashlock stopped musing and realized he was being an idiot. He only wanted to consume the corpses to reach the next stage in the Star Core Realm so why not eat one and see if that was enough to advance? Casting {Consuming Abyss}, black vines coated in thorns emerged from the ground and wrapped around Kassandra Skyrend as Stella requested to put her to eternal rest. A while later, there was an immense rush of Qi through the vines as he finished devouring the corpse¡ªAshlock felt his Star Core pulse¡ªexpand a tenth larger¡ªand then rapidly drain of Qi as he felt his entire body on fire with power. [+311 SC] "Phew," Ashlock sighed as the feeling subsided, and he opened his status menu. [Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)] [Star Core: 4th Stage] [Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)] [Mutations¡­] {Demonic Eye [B]} {Blood Sap [C]} [Summons...] {Ashen King: Larry [A]} {Ebonflow Serpent Sovereign: Kaida [C]} [Skills¡­] {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} {Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3552] {Progeny Dominion [S]} {Eye of the Tree God [A]} {Abyssal Whispers [A]} {Deep Roots [A]} {Magic Mushroom Production [A]} {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]} {Qi Fruit Production [A]} {Consuming Abyss [B]} {Blooming Root Flower Production [B]} {Language of the World [B]} {Fire Qi Protection [B]} {Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]} {Hibernate [C]} {Superior Poison Resistance [C]} Ashlock read over his ever-growing status menu and mentally grinned when he saw he had advanced to the 4th stage in the Star Core Realm. If he managed to eat a few more corpses, defeat some monsters, and cultivate in the Mystic Realm, he could see the possibility of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm on the distant horizon. With that advancement out of the way, Ashlock could turn all three of the remaining corpses into Ents. "Let''s start with Theron Skyrend. I wonder what a 6th Stage lightning affinity human cultivator will look like as an Ent," Ashlock mused, "Will he be as tall as Titus? What about his skin? Will he have a weird texture like Bob?" Deciding to find out, Ashlock activated his SS grade skill {Necroflora Sovereign} and watched the magic happen. AMAZON LAUNCH + ART (LETS GOOOOOO) Hey everyone! Today, I''m pleased to announce that the first book in the Reborn as a Demonic Tree series is finally available through Kindle, Kindle Unlimited & Audible! This has been in the works since January, and a part of me thought this day would never come! What started as a silly idea on a random November afternoon has now turned into a web serial spanning 500k+ words, which I know many people have enjoyed! We have gone through some trials and tribulations, but due to everyone''s encouragement and pointing out the flaws, I believe I have significantly improved as an author since I first started. The version on Amazon has been edited, with a few plot holes filled in. The reading experience was considerably improved, and I think the audio narrator did a great job. Now comes the shameless part... Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! I write full-time and would love to write and devote all my time and effort to Tree for the next few years. This is only possible if this Amazon launch does well, and the odds are not stacked in my favor. On average, non-human lead books do five times worse than standard male human stories. My only hope is to gather enough ratings/reviews to convince Amazon readers who might be on the fence to try my novel, as I''m sure they will enjoy it once they start reading! So I need everyone''s help. I''m not asking you to buy the book (although that would help a lot), but I would really appreciate any reviews or ratings. You do not need to buy the book to leave a review or rating. It literally takes 5 seconds to click on Amazon, scroll down, select a star rating, and that''s it. Every single review/rating helps greatly with both the algorithm and making the rather silly-sounding premise have some more legitimacy. If you have left a review here on RoyalRoad, it would be very epic of you to cross-post it to Amazon :D But it wouldn''t be fun if I just ask things of you guys without offering something in return, right? If we can reach 500 ratings or rank 150 (on .com store) by Monday at the usual chapter posting time, I will dump an extra FIVE chapters. So, that means you guys will get ten chapters next week if this goal is reached. This goal will be reached if just 5% of the people reading this chapter buy or rate the book, so it''s a very obtainable goal if you all work together! That aside, here''s some artwork I got made for the occasion: It shows Larry, Stella, Ashlock, Diana, Douglas and Elaine. Book 3 Art!
Stolen novel; please report.
Some Ai fan art posted by "PraiseTheFOOL" in discord: Chapter 253: Inner World (End of book 3) Through all the chaos of the fight, Ashlock had kept one thing in the back of his mind: To make sure that Nox''s infant soul didn''t manage to escape. He wasn''t sure how it worked with Nascent Souls and what this infant soul would look like, so he kept his demonic eye peeled, which he had re-opened when Diana came in and took Nox to the skies. While everyone else was hurt and angry, he ignored the pain in his trunk from being almost chopped in half and tried to keep calm as he glared at Nox. Sure enough, one of the Star Cores within Nox began to go supernova while the other phased out and stayed floating high in the sky. Even as Diana slammed Nox''s body into the mountain peak, causing a shower of rubble and a crater to form and begin tearing her apart, he kept his focus on Nox''s soul. But Nox''s infant soul simply floated there. To his spiritual sense, and he assumed to everyone else, it was invisible, but in the gaze of his demonic eye, it was a blazing ball of shadow and so much more. It flickered and burned with personality. Somehow, the more he watched, the more he understood it. If before the soul had burned with rage, it was now calm and simply watching the world pass by. Ashlock tried to reach out to the soul, but it was intangible, like attempting to grasp a cloud of steam. But there was one thing he could latch onto... the black roots growing out from it like tentacles. The curse devouring the soul was very much tangible, and he could use telekinesis on it. Since it wasn''t going anywhere, while keeping an eye on it, Ashlock used {Consuming Abyss} on Nox''s body that was going supernova to avoid being blown up. The black vines and void tendrils of his skill worked in harmony to devour her clothes, flesh, and blood. To Ashlock''s surprise, the void tendrils could not rid Nox''s corpse of his cursed sap, but the digestive fluid from his black vines devoured it like everything else without issue. So, there had been a cure to his curse all along. "Even in death, you were useful," Ashlock muttered as he returned his focus to the soul floating overhead while he waited for Nox''s corpse to be fully devoured. He could drag it down here with telekinesis and eat it for sacrificial credits, but that felt wasteful. "I have yet to see my curse actually succeed in turning someone into a tree, and wouldn''t a Nascent Soul-level tree feed me loads of Qi and work great as a Bastion?" Worst case, he could just use {Consuming Abyss} on her once she became a tree for sacrificial credits. "I wonder how much personality and memories she will maintain once she succumbs to the curse." Ashlock mused. He could already tell she had changed by how the floating soul flickered and dimmed. Deciding to discover how much she had changed, he spoke to her through {Abyssal Whispers}. To his surprise, she could hold a conversation, but she was like a different person. More sentimental and thoughtful. Less hate and rage-filled. It was almost scary how much she reminded him of himself when he had faced death after the Dao Storm, so Ashlock did something even he hadn''t expected he would do after everything she had done. He gave her a second chance. But it was certainly a twisted form of mercy. She would be stripped of her human body and stuck into the body of a tree. Forced to watch over Ashfallen City, populated by the mortals as its guardian tree. After concluding his conversation with Nox, he used telekinesis to plant her in the raised area of Ashfallen City so Julian could keep an eye on her. "I will turn her into a Bastion after I confirm how turning into a tree has affected her," Ashlock pondered, "But for now, other things are demanding my attention. Red Vine Peak is still a mess, and Dante is still alive." Before he had left to plant Nox''s soul. The sunlight had caused the Mystic Realm to collapse and slowly pull everyone from it one by one, like last time. Stella had emerged first, followed by Diana, who had helped him defeat Nox. A few minutes later, the Redclaws, Elaine, Larry, Kaida, Douglas, and the thousands of Mudcloaks had arrived and surrounded Dante. There was no way for the Voidmind scion to emerge triumphant, so he left it in their hands. Returning to Red Vine Peak, the System notified Ashlock of how many sacrificial credits killing Nox had rewarded him. [+1800 SC] It was a significant amount. Ashlock hadn''t seen a number that high in a long time as prey of a higher realm became more challenging to come by and defeat. With Nox''s body and soul absorbed, Ashlock tried to control the chaotic Qi surging through his body. There was so much it felt like he had opened a floodgate as the Qi absorbed from Nox''s body rushed into his Soul Core, making it rapidly expand to its limit and then pulse with power. The entire mountain peak glowed with spatial flames, and Ashlock experienced a wave of excitement from his thousands of offspring as an event he had been waiting for occurred. He went up a cultivation stage. [Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)] [Star Core: 9th Stage] [Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)] He now stood at the peak of the Star Core Realm. Yet the rush of power didn''t stop. He had been close to reaching the next stage, so ascending to the 9th stage wasn''t surprising, but it kept going. His Star Core continued to expand and expand until he felt his trunk begin to struggle to contain his soul. [You reached the threshold for the Nascent Soul Realm] Ashlock mentally blinked at the system message floating in his mind. He knew that reaching the peak of Star Core was half the journey to ascending to Nascent Soul as he had fought with many peak Star Core cultivators, but Nox had been the first Nascent Soul he had ever faced. They were incredibly rare with the power to rule over entire sects, so simply getting enough Qi was the first step. "Will I need to form a second soul now?" Ashlock wondered. How did that even work, and would the fact he is a tree affect things? "I suppose using {Progeny Dominion} all the time makes splitting my soul through a supernova less intimidating. I also have {Nocturnal Genesis} to heal any soul damage." [Ascension to Nascent Soul Realm requires the creation of an Inner World] "An inner world?" Ashlock was confused, "Not a second soul? What even is an inner world? Is it like a realm created inside myself?" [Your soul size, unique capabilities, and divine nature have qualified you to create an Inner World] [Do you wish to begin the creation process?] Ashlock didn''t see a reason to hesitate, so he accepted the system prompt. Immediately, he felt something wrong, so he looked within himself. His Star Core was changing. Qi was being siphoned off, deconstructed into raw, untamed Qi, and then gathering into a loose cloud that converged inside his Star Core. As he fed more and more Qi into the cloud, it started to condense but never turned into something solid, no matter how hard he tried. It simply remained as a cloud of chaotic, untamed Qi. [Chaos Nebula formed] "So this strange cloud of untamed Qi inside my own soul is a Chaos Nebula?" Ashlock wondered. Other than absorbing a lot of his Qi in the most inefficient way possible, he hadn''t seen much point in it so far. [Requirements to turn Chaos Nebula into an Inner World: 2565 / 10000 Sacrificial Credits 0 / 1 Absorbed Fire Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Water Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Earth Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Wind Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Metal Star Cores] Ashlock looked down the long list of requirements and groaned in annoyance. But was then surprised when a list of rewards appeared alongside it. [Rewards upon formation of the Inner World: You will ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm. The System will be upgraded with new features. {Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]} will be upgraded. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Your attacks will carry the weight of your Inner World behind them, and your rate of cultivation will increase the more you develop your Inner World] Ashlock read over the messages for a while since it was a lot to take in. He had never seen such a high sacrificial credit cost for something, and because he was at the peak of the Star Core Realm, it would become more challenging to gather the required credits. There was also the issue of him needing to find Star Core cultivators of the various basic elements to absorb. "Though with the Mystic Realm and bounty hunters after Stella, absorbing the Star Cores of such common affinities shouldn''t take long," Ashlock sighed. He was more worried about having to pour so many precious sacrificial credits into the creation of this Inner World, but despite the high costs, the rewards were clear. The gap between a Star Core and Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was uncrossable. If not for his curse eating Nox''s soul alive, she would have chopped him down and then gone on to kill everyone in his sect. Possibly only being stopped by Maple or Larry if the spider had reached his next evolution. So, to achieve that realm would make him one of the undisputed strongest in the region and give him a fighting chance against the Blood Lotus Patriarch. But that wasn''t all. Apparently, his system would be upgraded with new features, which definitely piqued Ashlock''s interest. His system had been very laid back and offered few features thus far, so he wondered how it would be upgraded. Next, it claimed his cultivation technique would be upgraded, likely in some relation to his new Inner World. "If my cultivation technique is raised to the A or even S grade, I should be able to soar through the stages compared to others due to my S grade skill {Nocturnal Genesis}, which can increase my cultivation speed tenfold during the night." Ashlock mused as he eyed the final reward, which spoke of increasing his cultivation speed even more the further developed his Inner World was. However, what interested him more was how his attacks would carry the weight of his Inner World. "Is that referring to the gravity of my presence? Will people feel the weight of a planet on their shoulders when they face me in the future?" His mind was racing with many ideas, and he was excited about what this Inner World could entail, but the real world demanded his attention for now. Dismissing the notifications and leaving his newly formed Chaos Nebula behind, he emerged from his body and glanced around with his {Demonic Eye}. The mountain peak was a mess. Crushed fruit painted the stone floor in a myriad of colors under a pile of broken branches. A crater that had served as Nox''s grave lay nearby, and fallen leaves decorated the destruction as if it were late autumn. In the distance, he saw Dante being restrained to the ground by nothing but Larry''s pressure. The Ashen King loomed over Dante with the ring of ash that orbited his crown of horns, rotating rapidly. "Since when was Larry that strong?" Ashlock wondered, "Has he reached the threshold to evolve to the S grade after this round in the Mystic Realm? Will he finally join Kaida and become a divine summon?" Dante could not even struggle as his Star Core was utterly devoid of Qi. He had clearly fought until the end against everyone who had suddenly appeared from the Mystic Realm if the burns and wounds covering his body and surroundings were anything to go by. "Sister! Tell these savages to let me go!" Dante ordered Elaine, who stood before him with her arms crossed below her chest. "Savages?" Elaine raised a brow, "You''re the one kneeling on the floor and barking like a dog. What exactly makes these people savages in your eyes." Dante glared at all the people present. He took a deep breath and looked back at Elaine with fake love in his eyes, "Elaine... I am your dear brother. We share the same superior bloodline and family. I have always cared deeply and looked out for you. So how can you stand beside these people as your brother is reduced to such a state?" "I have never heard so much delusional bullshit in my life, and again with that bloodline nonsense," Elaine pinched the bridge of her nose as she let out a frustrated sigh, "You and Father never cared for me. I didn''t live up to both of your twisted standards of perfection, so I was sent off to work under Uncle." "No, that''s not true..." Elaine cleared her voice and began imitating Dante, "Sister, my time is precious. In fact, the mere seconds I spend gracing you with my words is a waste of time." Elaine smiled, "That is what you told me last time we met in the Voidmind residence in Darklight City. Is it not? Does that sound like something a loving brother would say?" "That was merely in jest. You know I didn''t mean it like that," Dante refuted with a frown, "How could you be so cold to me now? Ever since the Skyrend Grand Elder crippled me, I have seen the error in my ways and become a changed man. You can see that, right? I regret what I said in the past, I really do..." Elaine walked over and tapped Dante''s head. Through his {Demonic Eye}, Ashlock saw that Elaine had infused an illusion into Dante''s mind. She summoned a mirror before him and asked, "What do you see?" Dante''s eyes widened, "That''s me... my perfect self! How did you do this? My hideous scars are gone." Elaine lowered the mirror, "And me? What do you see?" Dante studied her face, "I see an inferior version of Mother..." "Yeah, you haven''t changed one bit," Elaine snorted, "Still the same terrible person you have always been." "Wait, how did you do that?" Dante was clawing at his face under Larry''s pressure as he glared at the mirror on the floor, "Change it back!" "It was all an illusion, Dante." Elaine smirked as she stepped away, "Did you know our bloodline isn''t cursed? There is a way for our family to ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm, and I know how to do it." "Dual-core..." Dante stared at Elaine as if she were a mythical creature, "How could I have not thought of that! Did Uncle discover this? Is that how he ascended? Come with me back to the family right now to share this news. Our family can rise to new heights, and we will both be heralded as family heroes!" "I don''t care about the family," Elaine looked away, "Both you and Father have been dead to me for a long time. I only care for Mother and some of my siblings." "Then you must let me live if you care about them!" Dante shouted but then winced from his injuries. "Don''t listen to this blabbering idiot anymore, Elaine," Stella scowled as she drew her sword, "His voice is grating my ears, and he''s so darn ugly to look at. Let''s just end this so we can move on and clean up this mess these two bastards caused." "Now, hold on, Stella." Elaine pulled her back and whispered in her ear, "I know you are distraught because Tree is hurt, but we might as well hear him out. It could be important. Okay?" Stella glared at Dante before lowering her sword. Her arm was shaking, and she was covered in blood. Her bones were also likely broken from fighting with Nox, but Sol needed to be restored before the Ent could heal anyone. "Thank you." Elaine sighed, "Dante, I will humor you, but be quick. Why should I let you live? What does your life have to do with Mother." Dante was clearly displeased but hurried up when he saw Stella raise her sword again. "Okay, I will tell you... A war is on the horizon between the Voidmind and the Skyrend family. A war that will start if I am not presented to the Skyrend Patriarch in a month." "Okay, and?" Elaine asked. "Did you not hear me, you idiot?" Dante hissed through his teeth, "If I die, the war will start, and our family, including Mother and our siblings, will be slaughtered! Nox consumed all of our spirit stones during her ascension, destroyed Slymere City, and killed dozens of Elders! Nox also cursed Father with the same curse that brought her here. I have to be kept alive for at least a month to prevent the war..." Ashlock finally got the answer to why there had been a lightning storm over Slymere. It had been Nox ascending to the Nascent Soul Realm. "Will my tribulation be that short and calm?" Ashlock wondered. Nox''s tribulation had destroyed the mortal city, but it had seemed weak compared to the tribulation Stella and the others had faced in the Mystic Realm to ascend to the Star Core Realm. "I don''t see the problem here," Stella shrugged. "We should just kill him." Elaine glanced over to Stella, "What do you mean? If we turn him in, the war can be prevented." "You only care about your mother and siblings, right? We can just go over and save them before the month ends and leave the rest of the family to die to the Skyrends." Stella grinned, "Then we can join the battle and wipe out the Skyrends from behind. The more corpses, the happier Tree is." Ashlock was proud of his daughter''s foresight. How could she have foreseen that he had a substantial sacrificial credit deficit to fill that a war would be perfect for. It was almost as if she read his mind... "Are you insane?" Dante asked Stella, "You want to kill me and wipe out two of the most powerful noble families in the glorious Blood Lotus Sect to feed corpses to a fucking tree? Elaine, are you listening to this? The people you stand beside are worshiping a tree!" Stella crouched down before Dante and forced him to meet her eyes by gripping his jaw, "Look around you. Everyone is gathered and alive here today because of that ''fucking tree.'' Under Ashlock''s canopy and guidance, we have formed the Ashfallen Sect that devours your beloved Blood Lotus Sect from within... one person and noble family at a time." "Your arrogance knows no bounds," Dante hissed, "The Patriarch will find out about this. There is no way he will turn a blind eye to the start of such a war. This can all be prevented! Elaine, stop this madness; restrain this crazy bitch!" Elaine ignored Dante and simply nodded to Stella. "You call me insane and arrogant," Stella''s eyes smiled as her hand blurred, and she stabbed Dante in the throat with a dagger, "But that is what I call those fools who stand against us." Stella ruthlessly twisted and pulled out the dagger in a shower of blood. Dante began coughing up blood and wheezing for air, but Stella didn''t care. She released her grip on Dante''s chin and let him drop onto the ground as if it were a dirty sack of potatoes. "Elaine, since it was your brother, what do you want to do with him?" "To call that person my brother," Elaine turned away as if disgusted to even look at it. "I will leave that thing to you. Treat him with as much respect as he treated me in life." Stella nodded and turned on her heel to look toward Ashlock, "Got any ideas, Tree? Do you want to eat him?" Ashlock needed more credits, but he had an even better idea. "Hey Maple," Ashlock spoke to the squirrel, napping in his branches, "Could you squash the body down and feed it into my eye?" The last time this had happened, he had upgraded his {Devour} skill into {Consuming Abyss} with the void Qi from the Voidmind Elder. Maple slowly woke up, and perhaps because he hadn''t contributed thus far, the lazy squirrel actually conformed to his request without protest and trapped Dante''s body into a bubble of void. Ashlock sent his void tendrils to wrap around the offered bubble of void containing Dante and began dragging him toward his demonic eye, peeking through his cracked and cut bark. Everyone who had emerged from the Mystic Realm watched as Dante gargled on blood and struggled within the void as he got closer to being swallowed by Ashlock. Once inside and released inside Ashlock''s trunk, the Voidmind scion gazed upon his blazing soul, engulfing a nebula with wide eyes. Blood flowed from his cut neck, and the life was slowly leaving his eyes. As expected, no Star Core cultivators were willing to die without a bang, so Dante started going supernova. Ashlock made no moves to stop the process and simply waited. As a demi-divine being, the void could not harm him. Instead, he would use the void Qi to empower one of his skills. The mountain peak was still a mess; everyone looked tired and hurt. But the Ashfallen Sect still stood taller than ever. Ashlock was on the cusp of forming an Inner World and reaching the next realm. Nox had been turned into a tree that lorded over Ashfallen City, which will see rapid development thanks to the thousands of new Mudcloaks that were joining the workforce. Everyone had seen a boost in cultivation due to the Mystic Realm, and Larry was likely about to ask to evolve to S rank. There was so much to catch up on and explore, but first, Ashlock would need to select which skill he wished to combine with the void element once Dante finished going supernova, and then... "I will need a long sleep to recover from all this." Ashlock sighed. Chapter 254: Ethereal Roots (Start of Book 4) Ashlock had never been a morning person. Even when he had been a human back on Earth, the morning sunlight filled him with more dread and sleepiness. Rather than waking up to the constant chirping of birds, he would roll over, bury his head deeper in his pillow, and pray for a few more minutes of rest. Ever since becoming a demonic tree, his slothful nature had only worsened. It was partially the fault of his personality that had followed him through death to this new world, but it was also due to his new biology. Time passed at a different rate to him, and even with the marvels of Qi, he was still a giant tree with a body that spanned a thousand miles in every direction and spread throughout the eight thousand-meter tall mountain he called home. Whatever the reasons and excuses, the point was he sucked at mornings, and the only thing worse than the mornings was a very eventful one that was sprung upon Ashlock before he could even bathe in the sunlight for a while. He had a headache, and it was not because of Dante Voidmind blowing himself up supernova-style inside his soul. [Warning: Foreign Qi Detected] [High Risk of Soul Corruption] Ashlock looked at the messages he had seen before and, unlike last time, didn''t feel a hint of panic. Soul corruption used to terrify him, but with his latest S-grade skill {Nocturnal Genesis}, which slowly healed soul damage, such a risk didn''t bother him. [Generating solutions...] [Convert foreign Qi into spatial Qi] [Merge void Qi with a system skill to upgrade it] [Dispel void Qi into the nearby atmosphere] Just like last time, he was given a list of options. "If only I was immune to all types of Qi and not just void Qi," Ashlock sighed as he picked the second option, "Having someone go supernova inside my soul would undoubtedly kill me, but wouldn''t it be cool if I could merge my skills with other affinities?" The system messages drifted away, and his all-too-familiar status screen appeared. [Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)] [Star Core: 9th Stage] [Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)] [Mutations¡­] {Demonic Eye [B]} {Blood Sap [C]} [Summons...] {Ashen King: Larry [A]} {Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]} [Skills¡­] {Skyborne Bastion [SSS]} {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} {Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3626] {Progeny Dominion [S]} {Dimensional Overlap [S]} {Nocturnal Genesis [S]} {Eye of the Tree God [A]} {Abyssal Whispers [A]} {Deep Roots [A]} {Magic Mushroom Production [A]} {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]} {Qi Fruit Production [A]} {Consuming Abyss [B]} {Blooming Root Flower Production [B]} {Language of the World [B]} {Fire Qi Protection [B]} {Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]} {Superior Poison Resistance [C]} "Compared to last time, I have so many more options to choose from," Ashlock lamented. It was too early in the morning to make such an important decision, and he was also pressed for time. Beyond his trunk were literally thousands of people and monsters that had emerged from the Mystic Realm awaiting his direction, and he also wanted to see how they had progressed. [Select the skill you wish to merge with the void Qi] As if sensing his wandering attention, the system reminded him to choose. The void Qi could harm him if left unused and floating around his soul. "Let''s think this through. Assuming it works the same as last time, whatever skill I choose will go up a grade and be changed due to the addition of the void element. {Devour [C]} became {Consuming Abyss [B]}, and without it, I would likely be dead by now. The void tendrils have been invaluable for disposing of stronger opponents that got past or defeated my allies." So, ideally, he would pick one of his attack skills to upgrade... "I don''t have any other attack skills other than {Consuming Abyss}." Ashlock scanned down the list, "Other than {Skyborne Bastion [SSS]} or perhaps {Dimension Overlap [S]}, which are sort of attack skills but not really." The more he thought about it, the more he realized these two would be interesting options. {Skyborne Bastion} because it was an SSS grade skill, and he was curious if there was a grade higher than the SSS grade. Whereas if he upgraded {Dimension Overlap}, he might gain access to the void where Maple''s siblings live. But these two skills already had a big issue. They were expensive. Sacrificial credits were getting harder to come by, and as Ashlock progressed, more skills relied on SC to function. "Skyborne Bastion is one of my strongest skills right now, but the thousand credit cost is already far too steep. If I upgraded it now and the cost jumped up to create void bastions, I would never be able to afford it. Dimension Overlap is the same. Even if it unlocked a feature where I could go and visit Maple''s siblings, I bet it won''t be cheap." Ashlock didn''t dismiss these skills, but he hunted for something better. "Mhm, I don''t see how my production skills could benefit from the void element much. My protection and resistance skills would greatly help me, but they feel like a waste. If I need to use those skills in a fight, it means all else failed, and I am in great danger. So, I would rather pick a skill that lets me avoid that." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Ashlock then noticed {Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]}, "There isn''t much point in upgrading my cultivation technique as I believe it was listed as one of the system rewards for reaching Nascent Soul Realm, right?" [Rewards upon formation of the Inner World: You will ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm. The System will be upgraded with new features. {Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]} will be upgraded. Your attacks will carry the weight of your Inner World behind them, and your rate of cultivation will increase the more you develop your Inner World] "Oh yeah, there it is. Of course, there could be an argument for upgrading it to an A grade with void affinity and then upgrading again to an S once I reached Nascent Soul Realm, but I want to pick something that will help me both now and in the future." Ashlock dismissed it. He had no idea how long it would take him to gather those 10,000 credits and different star cores to reach the next realm, and in that time, a better cultivation technique wouldn''t help as it wouldn''t advance him past the bottleneck. Progeny Dominion, Nocturnal Genesis, and Abyssal Whispers were also ticked off his list as he didn''t want the void affinity affecting his connection to his offspring, warping the dreamscape before he figured out the purpose of those moons, or buffing his telepathy skill to the point it obliterated any mind he used it on. "So what does that leave me with?" Ashlock mulled over the list, and then a skill that he used every day in the background that was in desperate need of an upgrade caught his eye, "{Deep Roots [A]}, now that is an old skill. It constantly empowers my roots with Qi, allowing them to burrow deeper and grow far faster than a normal tree. The distance I can cover that would take another tree years, takes me a few days due to this A grade skill. I can also hollow out my roots to turn them into tunnels, which Stella used to travel through the mountain before we both got better at using portals." It sounded like a simple skill, but its importance in his life should not be underestimated. Spreading his roots was integral to expanding his power and influence upon the realm. Anywhere within Ashlock''s roots was his domain. He could flood areas with Qi and open portals to transport people across vast distances. Connect with faraway forests and hunt monsters and people before they get closer. Not to mention, his Bastions moved faster over land under his control. All of this happened because of his roots. His agency depended on the spreading of his roots. The further he reached, the more powerful and safer he was. In a way, his roots were his ultimate attack skill, as they enabled everything else. "I can also see how void affinity would greatly empower my roots. Maybe I can burrow deep enough to latch onto that leyline that causes the beast tides to follow set paths." Ashlock mused. He had not forgotten about the leylines. They were basically the Qi arteries of the realm, and the area along them had higher concentrations of Qi, which caused sects to be built upon them, but it also attracted the monsters. [Choose system skill: {Deep Roots [A]}?] Ashlock was a little hesitant. He was spoilt for choice, and there had been so many good options. No matter what he picked, there would be some regret, but overall, he felt this was the best choice for his current objectives. "There could always be a next time if I get my hands on some of the Voidmind family and force them to go supernova inside my soul." Mentally accepting the system prompt, he watched as the skill vanished from his list, and information began to flood his mind as something took its place. [Skill upgrading... 1%] [Skill upgrading... 27%] [Skill upgrading... 53%] A short while passed, and as the information settled in his mind, he knew he had made a good choice. [Skill upgrading... 100%] [Void Qi corruption eradicated] [Skill upgrade successful] [Upgraded {Deep Roots [A]} -> {Ethereal Roots [S]}] A wave of power surged through the entire mountain and across the land as his roots slowly changed from simple fleshy roots coated in a layer of Qi to something more. It wasn''t until now that Ashlock realized how weighed down he had been. Much like burying his foot in wet sand at the beach when he had been human, Ashlock''s roots had tons of rock and earth pressing down and restricting their movement. He just hadn''t noticed since it had been like that since his rebirth as a tree. Until now, he had spent a lot of Qi and nutrients trying to force his roots through the rock, which grew more challenging and costly the further from his trunk he ventured. But now he felt reborn as his roots began to take on an ethereal nature, much like the ones that phased through reality to connect him to his Bastion, and he was freed from the pressure. "God, that feels so good," Ashlock relished in the relief washing through his vast body. It was impossible to describe, but it was as if the weight of the world unknowingly suffocating him had been lifted. Ashlock closely inspected his nearest root right below his trunk, as it had been the first to complete the transformation. It looked similar to before but was ever so slightly transparent. He could see his cursed sap flowing through it and the hollowed-out center, which had served as a tunnel before. "Before, my roots could only burrow deeper; I couldn''t move them around freely due to the rock restricting them, but if the information regarding the skill is correct, then..." Ashlock tried to raise his root upwards, and to his astonishment, it worked. As the root rose to the surface, the rock above vanished as if eaten by the void. Ashlock felt Qi being drained from his Star Core, but to his relief, no sacrificial credits were spent. "So, at the cost of Qi, I can move my roots around freely as if they were tentacles underwater. Well, it is more like viscous mud; there is still some resistance, but it''s way less than before. Am I like a rock octopus now? No... more like an octotree." Ashlock wiggled around for a bit and wanted to experiment more, but at the rate of change, it would take a few days for all of his roots to transition to their new ethereal form. Which was a shame since he was looking forward to the other effects of the skill. Turning his roots from fleshy sap to ones that were more ethereal in nature came with many advantages. Worrying about the distance from his trunk was a thing of the past. Because his roots were now ethereal, the transfer of Qi down them offered no resistance, so he lost no Qi to the surroundings during the transfer. Which was a massive boon to everything he did. He could exchange Qi and nutrients with his offspring with the same efficiency no matter how far they were from him, and he could fight distant battles without wasting as much Qi. "The fact I don''t leak Qi into the surroundings as much also helps me spread my roots closer to my enemies without them noticing, perhaps even under their very feet," Ashlock concluded because one of the most significant advantages of the void element that had turned his roots ethereal was its ability to remain undetected. It''s what made Khaos an apex predator that could appear beside and rip apart cultivators before they even knew how they died. Other aspects of the void also carried over to his new roots, such as their capabilities to go through anything. Defensive arrays? Runically enhanced walls? Dimensions? The void itself? There was nothing to block or stop his roots from spreading. "Space also seems compressed in my roots, considering how fast my cursed sap appears to flow," Ashlock muttered as he examined his own root a little closer. Deciding to quickly test it for curiosity''s sake, he had the hollowed-out root rise out of the ground beside him and then, under everyone''s curious gazes, used telekinesis to drop fruit into it. The fruit blinked in and out of existence, traveling through the root as if the distance was near zero and arriving at the tunnel exit down in the cavern a second later. 8000 meters had been crossed in an instant. The fruit didn''t gain any velocity, so rather than splatting hard on the ground, it simply plopped onto the stone. "I am glad I tested that beforehand with a fruit. It would have been a disaster if Stella or someone went through and got slammed into the ground as if they had been shot via a railgun." Ashlock already had many ideas for this aspect of his new ethereal roots, as it seemed safe for even mortals and weak cultivators to use it. "Basically, it''s like a portal, but I don''t have to manually keep opening and closing it. The possibilities really are endless. I could use this to connect Red Vine Peak to Ashfallen City, create a way for the Redclaws to venture deep into the wilderness in seconds, or use it for our pill empire... which is still in the process of selling a single pill but let''s ignore that small detail." Ashlock had felt some spatial Qi being spent to send that fruit down, so his roots were definitely using his spatial Qi to shorten the distance. "Oh shit. If I spend my Qi, will the system take away my ability to reach Nascent Soul Realm?" Ashlock dug through his system screens and pulled up the notification. [Requirements to turn Chaos Nebula into an Inner World: 2565 / 10000 Sacrificial Credits 0 / 1 Absorbed Fire Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Water Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Earth Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Wind Star Cores 0 / 1 Absorbed Metal Star Cores] He couldn''t see anywhere that mentioned or suggested that he couldn''t spend as much Qi as he wanted, which was a relief. As usual, the system only really cared for the precious sacrificial credits and left him and his cultivation alone. "Master, please excuse my interruption." Ashlock was pulled out of his consciousness by a gruff voice he recognized immediately. Since his {Demonic Eye} was still open, he gazed down at Larry standing before him. In the red hue that showed Ashlock the flow of Qi, Larry looked like a blazing sun of power on par with Nox, who had died moments earlier and been turned into a tree and planted in Ashfallen City. "Larry, my loyal summon. How can I help?" Ashlock asked, but he suspected the answer. "I was hoping the honorable master would bless my evolution." [Larry has accumulated enough Qi to evolve to S grade] [New evolution option(s) have been added due to consumption of divine flesh] [Ashen King {Larry} wishes to evolve] [Yes/No] Was that even a question? "Yes, of course, I approve of your evolution," Ashlock replied to Larry, and the system also seemed to hear his words as the words faded and new ones took their place. The divine evolution options for the Ashen King filled his mind. Announcement Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words Words A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Chapter 305: A Monarchs Agony (End of Book 4) Ashlock felt a tingling sensation like pins and needles rising up through his roots, enveloping his entire land-spanning body. If the cries of concern echoing through the root network were anything to go by, his offspring suffered a similar fate. "Is this what it feels like to earn the attention of the World Tree," Ashlock shuddered, causing his bark to creak and his leaves to rustle violently as his Star Core quivered. It was an almost impossible sensation to describe, and it was made all the more concerning because he couldn''t exactly flee from it. "Agh!" Ashlock groaned as an incredibly low rumbling sound started reverberating through his consciousness, threatening to tear his very sense of being apart. [Skill {Basic Mental Resistance [F]} Learned!] A system notification he hadn''t seen in a very long time barely managed to distract him from the rumbling getting worse. [Upgraded {Basic Mental Resistance [F]} -> {Mental Resistance [E]}] If his consciousness had been a serene lake before, it was now a choppy ocean as the low rumbling squeezed and pulled on his mind. [Upgraded {Mental Resistance [E]} -> {Greater Mental Resistance [D]}] The terrible pain of his consciousness being messed with subsided slightly, but it was not enough to stop him from screaming in terror. [Upgraded {Greater Mental Resistance [D]} -> {Superior Mental Resistance [C]}] Ashlock could feel his system''s desperation to keep him alive as the system notifications practically overlaid one another, and his new mental resistance skill rapidly leveled up. [Upgraded {Superior Mental Resistance [C]} -> {Mental Protection [B]}] Like a shield, a bubble manifested around his consciousness, protecting him from the terrible rumbling. The tingling sensation and terror throughout his root network was still there, but at least he could think straight for a moment. "Tree? Are you okay?" He could hear Stella''s voice as she drummed her balled fists on his bark. "No," Ashlock answered honestly. If not for the system''s timely assistance and willingness to assist him in self-preservation, he wouldn''t have lasted another minute. He was not okay. That had been frightening, and he had no idea how long his new Mental Protection skill would hold out. "What happened? Did Mom attack you?" It took Ashlock a moment to realize Stella was talking about the World Tree when she spoke about her Mom. He was still out of it and trying to pull himself together. "Yeah... something like that. I''m not even sure if it was an attack, but I definitely earned her attention." Stella turned around and sat with her back pressed against his bark. Closing her eyes, she controlled her breathing and rested her head. Everyone watched in silence, including the Redclaws and Jasmine, as they let the Princess of Ashfallen figure out the best thing to do. Meanwhile, Ashlock poured as much Qi as possible into his mental defenses. Worst case, he would pull his roots back toward the surface and accept that he couldn''t tap into the untamed Qi of the leyline. A while passed until Stella eventually frowned and opened her eyes. "What is it?" Ashlock asked. "She''s in pain." "Pain?" Ashlock asked in confusion. "Am I causing her pain?" Stella shook her head, "I don''t think so, as I can''t see how you could cause such deep pain to such a powerful being." Ashlock thought back to his dreams and could still recall the phantom pain he experienced as the past World Trees, as he was harvested alive by those cultivators for eons. "The Celestial Empire..." Ashlock mused to himself. "What if it''s not a safe haven for the World Tree but rather a prison? We thought she was the protector of the Celestial Empire and was the reason the city had stood the test of time, unlike the demonic sects that had to keep moving. But once I learned that the World Tree''s roots are the leylines, I thought she was maliciously controlling the monsters to cause beast tides, but what if she''s trying to create a beast tide big enough to free herself from the Celestial Empire by wiping it out instead?" Stella looked to the floor, and she balled her fists. Feeling the World Tree''s pain seemed to be a lot for her. Ashlock slowly lowered his mental protection and listened more closely to the rumbling noise, which was reminiscent of a blue whale calling out through the ocean, just at the strength of a dying god. Sure enough, it didn''t feel directed at him. It was just an overwhelming wave of a single emotion: agony. "You poor thing," Ashlock spoke through his roots with raw emotions, the same way he communicated with his offspring. Senior Lee had mentioned that the World Tree was capable of rudimentary conversation through emotions, but she seemed to ignore him as the waves of agony continued. "Can you hear me? I can help you..." Ashlock tried his best to get a response, but nothing he said seemed to reach the miserable tree. Whatever pain she was suffering was simply too unbearable to even give him a sliver of her attention. "Mom needs our help, Tree," Stella said into her knees as she rocked back and forth on one of his exposed roots. She looked up at his canopy with tears in the corner of her eyes, "She''s suffering. Isn''t there anything we can do?" Ashlock glanced at everyone on the mountain peak with his Demonic Eye and nobody avoided his gaze. They were all members of Ashfallen¡ªdependable allies that he had gathered in fear of suffering the fate of the World Tree from those terrible nightmares. Meanwhile, the World Tree was likely all alone, fated for a lifetime of suffering. "Sorry, I seem to be missing something," Elder Margret said, "Stella''s Mother is suffering somewhere?" Stella hesitantly nodded, "Something like that... though I''m not totally sure if she is my Mom." Stella then whispered into Ashlock''s mind, "But even if she isn''t my Mom, feeling a tree in such pain makes me want to scream. Trees are such gentle and caring beings. To inflict misery to that level on one is something I can''t understand." "There is one thing we can do," Ashlock said to all present, his voice echoing in their minds much like the World Trees did in his own. "We have to get stronger to save her. That is the only way." Stella''s face fell, "We have to get stronger... Mom is in pain right now¡ªshe doesn''t have time to wait for us. Is that really the only option? " "Always has been," Magnus Redclaw said, "Since the day the first mortal gained the favor of the heavens and wielded Qi, it''s been a race to the top. To the mortals, we are gods, and to the strong, we are ants." "The race to the top is exhausting, and I am sick of it," Stella snapped back and stood. Her hands trembled, and tears flowed down her cheeks, "All my life, I have done nothing but endlessly pursue power, yet there seems to always be a higher mountain¡ªa greater peak to reach. I am never enough and always on the back foot. When someone is suffering... I can''t save them. I am a pathetic weakling when it matters." Magnus closed his eyes and let out a sigh. An aura of someone who had seen too many things and experienced all there was to experience swirled around him. "To come to such a realization at such a young age," Magnus slowly opened his eyes, and he seemed genuinely sad for Stella, "To realize it will never be enough. Not until the heavens fall, and you alone stand at the peak. This is a realization all cultivators reach at some point along their immortal journey. We call it the ''realization of the endless path,'' and it''s where many falter and become consumed by their heart demons. To finally stop charging endlessly ahead in the pursuit of power and stop to look up at the supposed destination... the realization of the journey ahead crushes the spirit of most." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "I don''t blame them," Stella planted a weak fist into Ashlock''s bark and ranted at the floor, "If even my Mother, a Monarch Realm being at the peak of creation, has to endure so much suffering, is there any point in getting stronger!?" "All you can do is your best and strive to improve," Magnus replied seriously. Stella ground her teeth, "Is that really enough. Will doing my best save my Mom from this overwhelming misery?" Ashlock noticed that Stella seemed overwhelmed because she was putting too big a task on her shoulders. Until now, they had mostly strived to simply survive day to day, fighting off local threats. But now? Stella wanted to help a Monarch Realm being, which was at the center of the strongest empire in the realm. Such a feat was impossible for their current selves... Before Ashlock could console Stella, Magus continued his lecture. "Strength, no matter how much you wield, is pointless if you stagnate. The Lunarshade Grand Elder is a good example. Since the War Era, his cultivation hadn''t improved much as he lost motivation and fell into a life ruled by sin. Now he''s dead, despite having been one of the ''strongest'' people that walked this realm." Magnus grinned, "Meanwhile, here we all stand, alive, thanks to the immortal''s guidance in helping us improve. Don''t give up. We can save your Mother, it will just take time." Ashlock agreed with Magnus''s words and was unsurprised to learn of cultivators realizing that the path to immortality was essentially a fruitless endeavor and deciding to give up and enjoy living out their hundreds if not thousands of years of life instead of spending it all sitting in a cave alone and meditating on the heavens'' whispers for decades at a time. "I can cheat because trees are quite well suited for cultivation. But these humans must conquer their heart demons and sit silently for decades in closed-door meditation. That''s enough to drive even the hardest-headed cultivators insane once they learn it never ends. A son of heaven will always stand upon a higher peak that can smite them down and eradicate their centuries of efforts and sacrifice in an instant." The question was, would they falter at the bottom of the cliff when faced with the impossible climb to their goal or defy the heavens and crawl their way up one root or foot at a time? Ashlock had his answer, and it seemed Stella also had hers. "Fine, let''s do it," Stella patted his trunk and wiped her tears with her other arm, "Let''s all get stronger and kill all the bastards hurting Mom. One step at a time, no matter how many years it takes." Ashlock knew his heart would be aching if he had one right now. Stella, having grown up without any warmth from a family, finally got to ''talk'' to her supposed Mom, and all she learned was that she was in intense agony. "If we are to save her, as the Patriarch of this sect, allow me to lead the charge by ascending to Nascent Soul Realm. The coming days won''t be easy. The Blood Lotus Sect is unlikely to let me ascend without interference, and the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion has its eyes on us. Are you all ready to stand with me and fight?" Ashlock wasn''t sure why, but the air seemed to subtly glow with divine light at his words. His sect members all exchanged a quick glance. "If I said no, I fear Elder Mo would kill me in my sleep," Magnus chuckled as he stepped forward and promptly dropped to one knee. His Elders followed suit a step behind as they fell in line. "Jokes aside, the Redclaws were founded on war and will stand with you until death. In fact, even in death, feel free to use our corpses to create Ents so we may serve you once more." A rather grim declaration coming from a living person''s mouth, but Ashlock could see the fierce loyalty blazing in their eyes. This type of loyalty couldn''t be bought or bullied out of someone with fear. It was genuine and wrathful. Diana stepped forward with a fang-filled smile. "You know our answer," she gestured to Douglas and Elaine, who were lovingly holding hands to the side. A Mudcloak awkwardly stood under their clasped hands, giving an enthusiastic wave when pointed at. "Then I will do two last gestures before I initiate my ascension. Since we will attract heaven''s wrath anyway, now is a good time to make Bastions." Ashlock selected Willow and was glad the system interface recognized him as an offspring after Jasmine''s efforts and three days under the nine moons in the dreamscape. [Do you wish to activate the Skyborne Bastion? The cost is 1000 sacrificial credits and the required materials to form a Bastion Core] "Yes," Ashlock told his system. Clouds began to gather in the sky, and thunder roared over the mountain peak as the process started. Ignoring the system messages notifying him of heaven''s incoming wrath due to Willow''s damaged cultivation, his vision blurred as he went to make a brand new Bastion. Finding Nox in her usual field of white flowers, she was looking up at the gathering storm with interest. "Nox, after careful consideration and observation of your change of heart and turning over a new leaf, you have been chosen as the next one to join the noble ranks of the Bastions. The current highest honor for any tree under the Ashfallen Sect. Do you accept this new role as the guardian and Bastion of Ashfallen City?" The shadow dryad cupped her hands and respectfully bowed toward Red Vine Peak, "It would be an honor. I always wanted to be a flying tree." "You... did?" "Honestly? No. But a floating shadow tree emerging from the darkness sounds rather ominous, doesn''t it? Better than sitting here all day, at least! Nobody even visits me..." Ashlock wanted to point out that a scary shadow lady hanging around an already offputting-looking tree wouldn''t attract curious visitors, but he refrained. He was glad as long as Nox was happy with becoming a floating island outfitted with shields and weapons to protect him while he ascended. [Do you wish to activate the Skyborne Bastion? The cost is 1000 sacrificial credits and the required materials to form a Bastion Core] "Yes, I do," Ashlock told the system. Another thousand credits vanished from his vision as he saw something begin to eat away at the rock below Nox. [Forming Bastion Core...] [Bastion''s operator has been successfully designated as {Nox Duskwalker}] [Bastion''s affinity type set to Onyx (Shadow)] Waves of dark power rippled out across the mountain around Nox as she began her transformation. The storm overhead suddenly expanded outward to the horizon and went from grey to an obsidian black. Thunder roared so loud that it shook every tree on the mountain, and the sky flashed as lightning gathered. [Bastion {Nox Duskwalker}''s cultivation is unstable... initiating tribulation] An ungodly amount of lightning descended upon Nox, but she seemed to relish the onslaught as liquid shadow wreathed her bark, and she greedily absorbed the heavenly punishment. "Look''s like I will have a Nascent Soul Bastion real soon," Ashlock mused as he returned to Red Vine Peak to join the ''fun.'' Who didn''t love getting struck by lightning? Once again, and hopefully for the last time, he pulled up his system to begin his ascension. [Requirements to turn Chaos Nebula into an Inner World have been met!] [11743 / 10000 Sacrificial Credits 1 / 1 Absorbed Fire Star Cores 1 / 1 Absorbed Water Star Cores 1 / 1 Absorbed Earth Star Cores 1 / 1 Absorbed Wind Star Cores 1 / 1 Absorbed Metal Star Cores] [Do you wish to form your Inner World and begin the ascension process to Nascent Soul Realm?] "Yes." With those simple words, reality began to shake as his soul slowly rose out of his trunk, past his branches and canopy, to float as a literal sun of spatial Qi above him. [Expanding Inner World...] "Huh?" Ashlock said as his Star Core floating overhead suddenly began to balloon in size until it completely dwarfed the entire mountain range, illuminating everything in a lilac hue under the dark clouded sky. Through the lilac haze of his soul, he could see the Chaos Nebula being crushed under immense Qi pressure from a mixture of random Qi''s into an actual planet. "That''s ridiculous!" Magnus said over the roaring thunder as he pointed to the sky, his finger trembling, "A Star Core of such size and to have the ego to rip it out and challenge the very heavens with nothing but your soul is... is... the act of a true immortal unfazed by heaven''s puny might!" Ashlock didn''t want to admit this was the system''s doing, as he had no idea how to handle an ascension. [Beginning ascension to Nascent Soul Realm...] The heavens answered his challenge by tearing the sky apart, and thousands of lightning bolts of every color and Qi imaginable struck his Star Core and, in turn, his forming Inner World. Some lightning bolts also went and targeted his offspring. "You dare strike my children?" Ashlock now realized why his system had wanted him to link up with the leyline. He pulled deeply on as much Qi as possible and blanketed every one of his offspring in his Qi to protect them. He wouldn''t let them become collateral damage like the mortals of Slymere had. [Ascension to Nascent Soul Realm at 1% (estimated time of tribulation: 7 days)...] Ashlock coated himself in his {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]} and hunkered down for the long haul. His past ascension to Star Core had been quick, but it seemed the inclusion of the Inner World and becoming a demi-divine being had upped the difficulty of the tribulation to hell level. "I just hope the Blood Lotus Sect stays quiet¡ª" *** Vincent Nightrose''s eyes snapped open. "Too soon," he muttered as he stared at the stone ceiling¡ªhe could still smell and feel the vicious blood of the bloodline holder he was bathing in. There was still plenty to absorb before the ritual was complete, and he added their bloodline to his arsenal. Vincent''s eyes narrowed, "Why am I awake?" Something felt wrong. Terribly wrong. Raising his pale hand that dripped with blood, he gripped the edge of the stone coffin he was using to bathe in blood and hauled his naked body out. His skin was sunken, gripping his bones like a layer of paint, and his claw-like toenails scraped against the stone floor as he walked. He sniffed the air, uninterested in the musky scent of death as he crushed the skull of the person whose blood he had been bathing in. Instead, he used his bloodline-hunting ability and picked up on a delectable distant smell. "Ripe already?" Vincent smirked as he licked the blood and dirt from between his spindly fingers with his pointed tongue but then paused. Something else was tainting the smell¡ªsomething he hated. A powerful infant soul was being born. Someone was ascending to Nascent Soul Realm on his land. "Oh, this won''t do at all," Vincent shuffled toward the door of his cultivation chamber. It would seem someone had forgotten who ruled this place. Chapter 306: Closed Door Cultivation (Start of Book 5) Vincent Nightrose, Patriarch and absolute ruler of the Blood Lotus sect strode up to the doorway of his cultivation chamber. Slotting his fingers into a hole in the wall, the silver runic lines glowed a dark red in response to his Qi. His power pulsed throughout the cavern, bathing it in a bloodied light alongside a loud crack as the stone split away, revealing a long tunnel. Swinging his arms that reached his shins, Vincent lumbered through the tunnel, the scraping of his toenails alerting those ahead of his emergence from closed-door cultivation. His two Star Cores in the shapes of spiritual hearts beat loudly like drums in his chest as they cycled blood through his spirit veins. Reaching the end of the tunnel, Vincent stepped into a hall. Pillars of twisted obsidian held up a high ceiling made entirely of red jade. The floor had a checked pattern of white and black, which was bathed in a red glow due to the sunlight streaking through the jade ceiling. Vincent''s piercing gaze swept the empty room. "Nobody dares to greet their Patriarch?" He uttered in a raspy voice, but his Qi empowered his words, carrying them throughout the castle. The far doors to the room flew open, and a group of cultivators hurried inside. He recognized the ones at the front in black cloaks as members of his Nightrose family, and he could hear the drum of their spiritual hearts beating in their chests. The constant thumping was a sign of their cultivation art and blood affinity. Something smells good. Vincent licked his cracked lips as a team of blank-faced maids dragged in a chair with a green-haired woman kicking and screaming chained to it. "Ancestor! I hope you will forgive our tardiness in welcoming your return as you left closed-door cultivation sooner than expected," The man at the front of the group dropped to one knee. "I pray that your swift exit is because of an unexpected breakthrough?" "I will spare you this time, Elder Cassian, as even I didn''t expect to awaken this early," Vincent absentmindedly replied to the man. Cassian''s pounding heart slowed with relief, "Your benevolence knows no bounds, Ancestor¡ª" "Unfortunately, because my cultivation was abruptly interrupted, I am still stuck in the 8th stage and haven''t finished absorbing the Starweaver family''s sacrifice. That is to say, my early awakening has nothing to do with an early breakthrough. Rather, I suspect someone is ascending to Nascent Soul Realm on my land." Cassian''s face froze, "I-Is that so?" Vincent narrowed his eyes, "Who is it?" Cassian gulped, "The Silverspire Grand Elder entered closed-door cultivation to ascend to the Golden Core realm shortly after you. He has been quite public about his ascension and even sent his sons and daughters out to every city in our sect to set up businesses to determine who is worthy to inherit his Silver Core once he succeeds." Vincent''s spiritual hearts began beating a little louder, sending out waves of power that made his family tremble before him. "Is that so? He sounds rather confident he will succeed¡ªyet none of you thought to inform me of this?" Cassian planted his forehead on the ground, "We didn''t dare interrupt your closed-door cultivation for something so trivial! Despite his confidence, we are unsure he will succeed, and even if he does, disposing of him during his recovery period after ascending is a task the Disciplinary Committee is capable of. To disturb you when a threat like the Beast Tide approaches over such matters seemed unimportant in comparison. I hope you can see we did this with the best intentions." It was true that he had told them to only alert him if the sect was about to fall, as progressing his cultivation was more important right now. Enforcers from the Celestial Empire had increased activity nearby, even going so far as to plant a Celestial Warden in a branch of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion in the Tainted Cloud Sect. Such acts of aggression were a prelude to a conflict he couldn''t foresee. "What you say makes sense, Elder Cassian, but something still feels off." Vincent glanced to the east and wrinkled his nose. Detecting Qi from so far was more difficult than detecting bloodlines. All he could tell was that someone quite powerful was undergoing an ascension toward the east. But even so, I was deep in my cultivation chamber and meditation. Unless the Silverspire Grand Elder has stumbled upon an ancient inheritance, his Qi shouldn''t be this intense. Vincent frowned. Things weren''t adding up. Maybe it''s not an infant soul but a massive Dao Storm, or one of the Grand Elders has gone supernova. Qi is a fickle thing that''s hard to comprehend from such a distance. "The intensity of Qi to the east is far too much to be the Silverspire Grand Elder... wait." Vincent sniffed the air in confusion. The scent of distant Qi had decreased drastically. "It''s gone as if I were imagining it." "What is gone, Ancestor?" "The intense smell of Qi which awakened me." Vincent tilted his head. Had he been mistaken, and had it been the ripe bloodline that awakened him? "Perhaps the Grand Elder has succeeded in his ascension," Cassian suggested. "Do you want me to send the Disciplinary Committee to investigate?" Vincent nodded with a crooked grin, "Don''t make it too obvious¡ªthey are still one of the strongest families, and I know they have connections to those Celestial Empire bastards through the pavilion. We will know if he succeeded one way or another. Cassian slowly raised his head from the floor and looked up at Vincent like a well-trained dog, "I will ensure it is handled without problems." "You better, or it''s your blood I will be dining on next," Vincent said coldly. Cassian grimaced as he stood up and seemed eager to change the topic. He gestured to the sacrifice, "It''s not much, but to hopefully appease you, we prepared a small snack for you." Vincent played along and eyed the woman tied to the chair the maids had put down. He hated to admit it, but he had been growing hungrier as they spoke. Cultivators didn''t need to eat like mortals, but spending so long in a cave made anyone crave something delectable. Muffled screams escaped the magical cloth stuffed in her mouth as she stared back at him with wide eyes of terror and desperately tried to fight against the chains. "Such noisy food," Vincent stepped forward and ran his nail along the nape of her neck. She shivered and trembled at his touch. Such a pathetic thing. "Which family offered her as a sacrifice to me?" Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "The Voidmind family did Ancestor." Cassian helpfully replied. "Voidmind family? Why would they be the ones to offer her?" Vincent dug his nail into the woman''s neck, causing her to jolt in pain and scream into the cloth. Slowly drawing back his finger, he pulled out a floating line of blood like a string and brought it to the tip of his long tongue. A quick taste confirmed this girl was from the Evergreen family. A line of nobles he had welcomed into the sect due to the chance that one of them would awaken a bloodline that allowed for harmony with forest spirits. Sadly, the bloodline had never appeared in many generations, so he had grown disinterested in them. "Ancestor, as you instructed, we sent the Evergreen and Winterwrath families to kill the Grand Elder of the Ravenborne family right after he reached the Nascent Soul Realm. However, the conflict seemed to have caused an overnight war, resulting in all three families being wiped out. This girl, Elenor Evergreen, is one of the sole survivors from her family. She sprouted nonsense about a void beast being the one to cause the death of her family¡ª" "Cassian, what did you just say?" Vincent''s words were ice cold, silencing the man. "All three families were wiped out?" The Evergreen and Winterwrath families were of little consequence as their affinities were common. They had also produced a lack of bloodline inheritors, so he had used them as pawns. Keeping them around was a waste of precious airships and spirit stones. But the Ravenborne family was worth keeping around. I saw the faintest trace of the Ravena Clan bloodline in their Grand Elder, but sadly, that useless old man never manifested any demonic powers. I know he had many children and planned to check on them before fleeing this incoming Beast Tide and relocating away from the Celestial Warden. But to think they were wiped out before I got a chance is a bit of a shame, but it is nothing worth dwelling on. "Yes, Ancestor. The Redclaws now oversee Darklight City." Vincent clicked his tongue, "That old dog Magnus Redclaw is still trying to throw his weight around? Well, whatever. I don''t have time to deal with these useless matters¡ªthe precious blood in my chambers grows stale as we speak, and I feel on the verge of finally breaking through to the peak of Nascent Soul Realm." Compared to the threat of the Celestial Empire, noble families abusing Beast Cores for quick rises in power aren''t worth my attention. But losing three whole families is still quite a blow. Should I send someone to try and breed new noble families? As he pondered, he rested his palm on the Evergreen woman''s head. Clamping his fingers around her skull like one would grip an egg, he enjoyed her final struggle as he simply twisted his hand, snapping her neck with a satisfying crunch and pulling her head free from her now limp body held in place by runic chains. Vincent raised his hand to his mouth, unhinged his jaw and bit a chunk out of the woman''s head like a fruit. The sound of chewing and grinding her skull with his teeth filled the silent room, and the dried tears that had been on her cheeks gave the snack a salty flavor. After a few more bites and gulping down the brain, he licked his lips as he finished. "Not bad, though nature affinity cultivators always have this offputting floral taste to their blood," Vincent said as he sucked out all the blood from the now headless corpse in the chair and absorbed it, causing the corpse skin to turn deathly grey and wither. Vincent felt vitality rejuvenate his body as his skin took on a healthier shade. His joints let off satisfying clicks as he straightened his back and rolled his shoulders. This vessel''s life force was running a little lower than he would have liked. Ah, that feels good. Heavens, I can''t wait to be young again. If only it wasn''t too risky to weaken myself by swapping bodies until after the Beast Tide relocation. Just a few more years, and I can escape this abomination of a body mutated by all the bloodlines from ancient beasts I have consumed over the years. Though the soul damage incurred from swapping vessels is never fun. Memory loss and personality changes are a real bitch to deal with. The maids wordlessly picked up the chair and took it away while he was lost in thought. Their eyes were blank stares and always would be. He had overtaken their minds many years ago to turn them into mindless creatures that obey his words. He wished he could do the same to all the cultivators in the sect... maybe one day. "Ancestor, the Skyrend and Voidmind families have also gone to war." "Was it done within the rules?" Vincent asked. So long as his family got a large chunk of the war spoils, he didn''t mind seeing those two families duel it out. Void affinity was one of the few things he had to concern himself with, and the Skyrend family could call down heavenly lightning. Neither were families he was too keen on trying to keep in check, so if they would weaken each other without him lifting a finger, that sounded ideal. Cassian nodded, "All the rules were followed." "Then let them at it," Vincent sneered as he turned to head back into his cultivation chamber, "Don''t disturb me for any reason unless the Silverspire Grand Elder is successful and the Disciplinary Committee cannot contain him." "As you wish," Cassian gave a deep bow. Vincent set foot in the tunnel and then remembered something. I can''t enjoy Stella Crestfallen''s bloodline just yet, as I can only absorb one at a time, but there''s no harm in getting her ''ready.'' "Cassian," Vincent looked over his shoulder. "Yes, Ancestor?" "Who from the Disciplinary Committee was responsible for keeping an eye on Stella Crestfallen?" Cassian paused to think for a moment, "I believe it was Grand Elder Valandor. Why?" "Inform him that Stella Crestfallen''s bloodline is ready to harvest, and he should go and capture her when he has some free time. I know he''s busy, but we should secure her before something bad happens." Cassian gave him a wordless bow to show his understanding, and Vincent vanished back into the depths of his cultivation chamber. It seemed his sect was in a rather turbulent state at the moment, but he had more significant problems to worry about than a ragtag group of cultivators he kept around in hopes a few of them carried bloodlines. I hope that weird Qi fluctuation wasn''t from an Enforcer from the Celestial Empire. At least it''s gone for now and returned to a more reasonable level that I could believe is the Silverspire Grand Elder ascending. If the Qi fluctuation had persisted, he might have even gone to take a look himself, but since it dissipated, he would let his sect members investigate it for him. "So long as I don''t feel it again, that is..." *** Over on Red Vine Peak, Ashlock watched as his Star Core, which had been floating above his body for the last hour and absorbing all the lightning from the storm overhead, began to condense in size. "Huh, why is it shrinking already?" Ashlock glanced over at Nox and saw her Star Core still ballooning in size and looking like it was about to go supernova before splitting in two. Or at least that is how Ashlock understood an ascension to Nascent Soul Realm was supposed to work. "So why is mine different?" [Necessary divine energies absorbed. Inner World formation in progress...] "Is it because of my Inner World?" Ashlock wondered as he welcomed his soul back into the safety of his trunk and raised his {Lightning Qi Barrier} to its maximum strength. "My system promised I would ascend to Nascent Soul within a week so maybe I just need to wait?" Lightning switched focus and began to pummel him, but the purple barrier absorbed the strikes. He also tried to use his Qi to conceal as much of what was happening here as possible but doubted it would help much. "Do I really need to deal with a whole week of this?" Ashlock groaned. How was he going to get any sleep? Luckily, he had a lot to keep him busy. Just because he was undergoing an ascension didn''t mean he couldn''t continue to strengthen his defenses by creating Ents or signing in. He also had many spatial rings to break and extract their contents. He was also curious about how his Inner World looked. Deciding to check on it first, he focused on his soul inside his body. What had once been a chaotic cloud of basic affinities in the vague shape of a ball certainly looked more like a planet than before, but it was clear there was still a way to go before it was solidified. Around the Inner World was a shell of divine lightning that arced across the Inner World''s surface. Wanting to know what lay below it, he pushed his spiritual sense through and was bewildered. "Why am I here?" He looked up at the nine moons dominating the sky. He was in the dreamscape. As if to answer his confusion, the lowest of the moons, which glowed with purple light and carried spatial Qi, split down the middle. "No way..." Ashlock muttered as the moon revealed its purpose. Book 5 Cover + Fan Art! Version without text:
Now for the fan art! This first one is NOT Ashlock. It''s a picture of his offspring Quill in the library surrounded by an ink lake and the library! I now have this one set as my desktop background, as it''s simply beautiful. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Next up is Ashlock''s light Ent Sol! Not 100% accurate to how he appears in the novel, but they got the floating ball of light held up by a crown of arms perfectly :D
Next up is a picture of Nox. The artist said they made Nox''s canopy very wide so it would cast a large shadow, which I think is a great idea. There is also Nox''s shadow dryard form. Last but not least is our main man (tree), Ashlock. This picture shows the meeting between the Silverspires and the main cast on that rainy day in Chapter 228: Artifacts in book 3. I like this picture because it shows the sheer scale of Ashlock compared to the humans. Chapter 365: Spectacle (End of Book 5) Ashlock had watched the fight between Celeste Starweaver and the outsider Serena Blacktide with great interest. It was a rare opportunity to see cosmic affinity in action and what peak Soul Fire Realm cultivators were capable of when pushed to fight to the death. Qi was hard to accumulate, so it wasn''t often that a peak Soul Fire Realm cultivator on the brink of attaining enough Qi to ascend to the elusive Star Core Realm would recklessly waste years of Qi on a fight unless it was to the death. That is what Ashlock had wanted to witness. The raw power a Soul Fire Realm cultivator could output. However, his excitement had been soured a little as he knew what the fight''s outcome would be from the start. "Why is someone like her here?" Ashlock couldn''t help but wonder as he looked at Celeste Starweaver through his Evil Eye via a portal. He used the illusionary sky powered by the arena''s formations to hide his sight from everyone below to prevent his gaze from affecting the participants. "Her Qi reserves are on another level. Even now, as the battle has drawn to a close, her Soul Core is still brimming with Qi, while Serena Blacktide''s is like a lifeless husk." Of course, it was a lot of Qi for a Soul Fire Realm cultivator. Stella, who had stepped onto the arena, dwarfed Celeste''s Qi pool many times over, and Ashlock''s Qi pool that surrounded his Inner World was like an endless galactic ocean in comparison. "I had hoped to use this fight to judge the limits of cosmic and abyssal tide Qi, but it would appear I messed up. The matchup was simply too one-sided despite them being in the same stage and realm. Half-steps really are something else." Ashlock sighed, but he couldn''t be too hung up over it. The person running amok with his cursed sap had been captured and would soon be dealt with. The tournament had otherwise run smoothly, with many talents having been picked out from the Qi Realm brawls, and he almost wanted to thank Serena for opening his eyes to security risks regarding his cursed sap and other things. All in all, it had gone better than the alchemy tournament they held many months ago. While Ashlock was musing, Stella pulled Serena to her feet and, in a flash of white, repositioned them clearly in the center of the arena. The mist had cleared, as had the fires, so the thousands of mortals, rogue cultivators, nobles from the academy, and more could clearly see the two. "Looks like the finale to all of this is about to begin," Ashlock said, pulling up his system. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3642 Daily Credit: 76 Sacrifice Credit: 1540 [Sign in?] During the last few days, he had gained around 500 credits from his believers. Mainly due to them being impressed by the arena, and he had seen an influx of around 400 when it was announced earlier that Serena was to be executed for killing a devoted believer of the cult. An outcome Ashlock had expected, as knowing that the cult cared enough to hunt down the murder of a single believer, enhanced the sense of community and companionship between those under the All-Seeing Eye. Of course, it was all smoke and mirrors, a ruse, if you will. Ashlock obviously didn''t appreciate some random cultivator going around and killing his believers. But if not for his sap being harvested and offspring hurt, he wouldn''t have even been aware of the murder. He was more concerned about maintaining public opinion and emphasizing the cult and his control over the populace. There were millions of mortals between Darklight and Ashfallen City, all of whom were gaining access to cultivation. It would be impossible to police them all with force, so Ashlock needed to establish himself as an elusive power with influence beyond what he was actually capable of. So long as there were enough stories and rumors of troublemakers being dealt with circling around, people would hopefully police themselves. Just like Old Bill had tried to do with Serena by telling her not to harm the trees. "While I was very interested in seeing the abyssal tide affinity in action, the biggest boon this wandering cultivator will provide me is being a divine energy printer due to her crimes of harming a tree and killing Old Bill. The more I punish and make an example out of her, the better my returns. I''ll pay her back for this sacrifice once she is a tree." Ashlock dismissed his system screen, looking forward to the coming influx of credits. Would his number double? Triple? He didn''t know, but a large part of the influx would be based on how big of a show they could make out of this. So he planned to go all out. This was his Inner World, where he truly was a godly being. But first, Stella addressed the crowd while Serena kneeled at her feet. "Serena Blacktide, murderer of a devoted believer. You were sentenced by the All-Seeing Eye to eternal servitude, either in life or death. Having lost the duel to Celeste Starweaver and unable to triumph over fate, Serena Blacktide, you will serve the All-Seeing Eye and pay for your sins for all eternity in death." The parchment between Stella''s hands from which she had been reading Serena''s fate was consumed by white flames and disintegrated. Ashlock mobilized a fierce wind to carry away the ashes and rustle Stella''s cloak and hair. He furthered the effect by taking red leaves he had gathered for the occasion out of his storage, having them fall out of a portal overhead, and encircling the pair in a spiraling vortex. Stella snapped her fingers, and a dozen people in cult robes emerged from bursts of white flames among the swirling leaves. Their hoods were up, and their hands clasped before their bodies were obscured by the cloaks'' oversized sleeves. Ashlock could tell from a glance through his Evil Eye that all of them were members of the Mystshroud family¡ªa noble family that cultivated mystic affinity, which let them manifest into reality anything they believed in strongly enough. They made up the most devoted believers of the All-Seeing Eye, and it helped that the more they believed in him, the greater their power. "The cult isn''t established enough yet to have a group of influential people at the top who can lead ceremonies like this, aside from Elysia Mystshroud, who had been appointed Vice Cult Leader. So until the cult has a more defined hierarchy, the Mystshroud family will have to do." Ashlock mused as a woman appeared beside Stella. "Speaking of the devil, there she is." The Vice Cult Leader, Elysia Mystshroud¡ªone of the stronger people from Nightshade City, had taken the stage. Having already been in the Star Core Realm and a legend among the Crimson Trackers, with a record of 49 wins and two losses, she had only exploded in power since and was now sitting a single stage below Stella at the 6th stage of the Star Core Realm. Ashlock could hardly blame Serena Blacktide for looking as terrified as she was stared down by two high-stage Star Core cultivators who weren''t exactly holding back their bloodlust or soul pressure. It was made all the worse because Elysia''s presence and attacks also carried the weight of her ''god,'' who had been Pluto before but was now Ashlock. "Everyone, please welcome the Vice Cult Leader, Elysia Mystshroud, to the arena," Stella said, gesturing to the new arrival. Many members of the crowd wearing the cult robes rose from their seats like a wave that spread throughout the arena''s stands, and they began to chant her name. "Elysia!" "Elysia!!" "Elysia!!!" Purple smoke¡ªwhich was the manifestation of Elysia''s mystic Qi¡ªbellowed from her hood and sleeves. Reaching up, only the tips of her fingertips were visible over the rising smoke as she threw back her large hood. The purple smoke fell away to reveal two violet-glowing eyes and silver-tinted black hair. There was an aura of sinister madness around the girl, likely due to her thoroughly broken and twisted mind. "Vice Cult Leader Elysia Mystshroud will now prepare¡ª" "There is no need for preparation," Elysia said, holding up a finger and silencing Stella. "He''s already here," A shudder seemed to run through Elysia''s body as she threw her head back and looked up at the illusionary sky, straight at his Evil Eye obscured behind the array. "I CAN ALREADY FEEL HIS ALMIGHTY GAZE UPON ME. STRIPPING MY SOUL TO ITS MOST NAKED SELF!" "Ah right, Elysia is bat shit insane. I forgot about this," Ashlock sighed. Stella took a few steps back as Elysia rose into the air atop a column of purple smoke. "Allow my humble self to prepare this sinner for your reckoning!" Her eyes burned with raw, unrestrained power, their violet hue deepening as her aura surged. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Truthfully, there was no ''preparation'' needed. All Ashlock had to do was feed Serena some cursed sap, and that was it. But Elysia didn''t know that, nor did the crowd. Serena desperately shuffled back along the sand despite the immense pain she was likely in to get away from Elysia, but it was hopeless. Below Elysia, a tremendous ritual circle that took up half the arena manifested. It crackled violently with purple energy as if barely managing to restrain some unseen monstrosity. Elysia opened her arms as if conducting an orchestra, and more ritual circles began to appear, stacking on top of each other, each one bigger than the last. After uttering a deranged prayer, the stack of ritual circles began to spin faster and faster, each one at a different speed, with the slowest at the top and the fastest directly around Serena, trapping her in place. Stella had given up at this point and quietly retreated to the booth to watch the madness unfold alongside the other Grand Elders of the Ashfallen Sect. "Elysia sure knows how to put on a show, doesn''t she?" Diana said with a chuckle as Stella collapsed onto her throne. "Uh huh," Stella sighed as she rested her head on her palm, "At least I didn''t have to stand down there acting any longer. She does a far better job of this than me." "That power... how terrifying." Grand Elder Redclaw stroked his chin as he observed the chaos, "Elysia might have surpassed all of us. I certainly wouldn''t want to try fighting her right now." "Her power did come at a great cost," Ashlock felt like reminding them. "Elysia''s soul is cracked, her personality is twisted, and if I were exposed as a fake god, her power would plummet. She can only wield such power as she believes strongly in me, and so do the people around us, making the mythical all the more real." "I can see that now," The Redclaw Grand Elder nodded. "The arena has come alive." Ashlock looked back at the arena; sure enough, the Mystshroud family had unleashed their mystic Qi to flood the arena in purple smoke and create a grand spectacle. Thousands of demonic trees covered in madness-filled eyes that peered through gaps in their bark seemed to be fading in from another dimension. They were floating around the vortex of leaves and spinning ritual circles. "PRAISE THE TREES!" Elysia screamed frantically as she directed more illusionary demonic trees to fade in from the beyond. However, they weren''t actually illusions, as mystic Qi turned imagination into reality. If this were a battle, she could use these demonic trees to fight enemies. "Now I see Grand Elder Redclaw''s apprehension to fight her," Ashlock mused. As a Nascent Soul Realm, he could easily flatten her with his soul pressure alone. But Elysia likely seemed on a whole other level for another Star Core cultivator. "Just what will happen when she reaches Nascent Soul Realm?" Ashlock couldn''t help but wonder. Would it be a normal ascension, or would something weird happen? Elysia finally calmed down a little. She snapped her attention away from his Evil Eye to Serena. Ashlock didn''t even want to imagine what was going through Elysia''s mind as she looked down at the traitor and sacrifice for her god. "Your time has come," Elysia said in an ice-cold tone. She flicked her finger up, and a titanic tentacle erupted from the sand that Elysia had made out of mystic Qi. It grabbed the bewildered Serena and hauled her into the sky. "TO FACE RETRIBUTION!" Elysia gestured to the sky as if calling down a divine. Ashlock realized it was finally time for him to act, as leaving his Vice Cult Leader hanging would be awkward. "Well, here goes nothing." Ashlock directed the ambient divine energy to coil up all the pillars in the arena toward the sky, "Why do I feel like the heavens when they try to act ominous..." The illusionary sky began to crack as Ashlock directed the divine energy to arc toward it. Through the cracks, he leaked his very pure spatial Qi and a hint of his presence. The people here weren''t ready to face his Evil Eye, so he closed the portal he had been peering through and created a giant illusionary eye instead. As the sky entirely tore asunder, he lowered the fake eye like a falling star and stared down at Serena. "You will serve me and Ashfallen City well in death," Ashlock said with Abyssal Whispers straight into Serena''s mind, making her cough blood. It seemed Serena coughing blood from what appeared to be his mere gaze threw the cult members into a frenzy as they began chanting his name. "Praise the All-Seeing Eye!" "Death to the nonbeliever!" "None can escape your gaze!" Ashlock sneakily opened a portal inside the giant eye and had his cursed sap spiral down from his pupil toward Serena. The woman''s eyes widened at the approaching black liquid as realization dawned on her. It was time to become a tree. "Accept his offering," Elysia said, floating closer and forcefully prying Serena''s mouth open to accept the sap. It flowed down her throat, and its increased potency became apparent as her veins turned black within seconds. A desperate howl of terror was followed by Serena''s body rapidly breaking down and twisting to take on the form of a tree. Her pale skin seemed to carry over to her tree form as the bark was snow-white. Branches sprouted from where her ears had been, and dark blue leaves with streaks of black grew from them. The whole process took a few minutes¡ªsped up by the lack of Qi in Serena''s soul core to resist, and surprisingly, Elysia''s imagination as she fed Serena with mystic Qi from the rotating ritual circles. "So they weren''t just for show," Ashlock thought as the process concluded. Serena was now a five-meter tall snow-white tree with blue and black leaves floating high above the arena. Since it was in his Inner World, he could direct his ethereal roots to rise from the arena sand and fuse with Serena''s dangling roots. "This is good, but I could do even more..." Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3642 Daily Credit: 76 Sacrifice Credit: 2780 [Sign in?] "Gained around 1500 credits, wow." Ashlock hadn''t been expecting so much in such a short time. The show really was working. "Hmm, what if I turned Serena into a Bastion right now? Wouldn''t the spectacle end up paying for itself?" [Do you wish to activate the Skyborne Bastion? The cost is 1000 sacrificial credits and the required materials to form a Bastion Core] "Yes," Ashlock said, targeting Serena. [Forming Bastion Core...] The entire Inner World began to tremble as waves of power began rippling out. [Bastion''s Qi source has been designated as {Ashlock}] [Bastion''s operator has been designated as {Serena Blacktide}] [ERROR: {Serena Blacktide} cultivation too low to operate Bastion Core] [Initiating tribulation...] [ERROR: Heavenly tribulations cannot reach inside an Inner World. Mobilizing divine energy to simulate a tribulation] "Huh?" Ashlock hadn''t been expecting that. He felt his system take over as it pulled divine energy from around his Inner World and gathered it above the arena. Just like the heavens, thousands of golden eyes manifested like clouds, followed by lightning that struck Serena. One, two, three... the onslaught was brutal, and at some point, an explosion erupted out of Serena but was then forcefully brought back in. [Forming Star Core...] Most would never witness a Star Core ascension in their lives, let alone this closely and for a human turned into a tree no less. [Star Core Formed] [Bastion''s affinity type set to Cordierite (Abyssal Tide)] Sand, rock, water, and more began to rise from the arena as if gravity had been reversed and gathered toward the floating tree. A giant bowl solidified from this mixture around Serena, which was then filled with water. Ultimately, it looked like a snow-white tree growing in a lake of abyssal waters. [Skyborne Bastion Active] Ashlock lowered Serena down through the spinning ritual circles and flying leaves. The moment she touched what was left of the arena''s ground, Elysia canceled out the ritual, and everything fell quiet. Even the thousands of demonic trees she had manifested faded back to the beyond. Stella stood from her throne and announced from the booth, "Everyone, the All-Seeing Eye has granted a new life to the criminal. Serena Blacktide, the wandering murderer, is no more. She is now a sacred tree that will serve as the new overseer and protector of Ashfallen City." [An immense influx of divine energy has been detected...] The system informed Ashlock as the crowd cheered. He couldn''t even tell how many he had gained as the number kept climbing, and a quick glance at the Divine Flesh Tree showed the forest of sacrificial credits rapidly expanding. "Oh, this is going to be big." Ashlock had basically gotten a Bastion for free and even more credits on top of that. The number was already over 3000 and still climbing... "Today''s events are now complete!" Stella announced and turned to leave. Ashlock couldn''t believe such a chaotic day was finally over. "I''ll have to get Douglas to help me build an area in the center of Ashfallen City to put Serena. She doesn''t seem responsive so far, but after a few nights under the healing moons, she should start speaking to me¡ª" "Wait!" Ashlock was broken from his thoughts by a shout. Looking down at the arena, Celeste Starweaver stood among the destruction, staring at the booth. "Yes?" Stella asked, confused by the girl''s outburst. "My brother has been wanting to tell you something, but you keep ignoring his attempts at a meeting." "Oh, that..." Stella frowned. "I''ll meet him sometime in the coming days, okay?" "No." Celeste shook her head, "It''s an urgent matter. Our Grand Elder received a divination." A strange aura began to surround Celeste as her eyes glowed, and she began to recite. "A new god is born to challenge the roots of old. Along the winds of change comes a wrathful storm. But the storm is not a message¡ªit is the prelude. Shadows of ancient beasts loom, drawn by the storm''s call¡ªa tide of claws and fangs, hunger and rage, they are coming. The storm is their herald, their veil. Prepare, for the sky''s fury will give way to the beast tide that will flood the land with blood and despair." Celeste closed her eyes to recover for a moment before opening them again and looking right at Stella. "The beast tide. It''s coming as we speak." Evander Starweaver appeared beside his sister in a flash of cosmic power. "Sister, what have you done!" He was enraged. "How could you announce such a thing before all these people?" Ashlock was shocked out of his stupor by Evander''s shouting. This strange storm that had been battering his lands wasn''t a mere storm but a prelude for the beast tide?! Stella vanished in a flash of white and reappeared before Celeste. She shrouded her voice with Qi, but it didn''t escape Ashlock''s notice. "Does Vincent Nightrose know?" Evander Starweaver clicked his tongue and nodded gravely. "Not only does he know, but he has called for a summit. It''s time for the Blood Lotus Sect to flee, but things are different this time." "So he''s awake again?" Stella looked to the floor for a moment in contemplation before looking back at Evander. "How is it different this time?" Evander exchanged a look with his sister before taking a deep breath, "Well you see... not everyone plans to leave. A civil war is about to begin, and it''s time to pick sides." Chapter 366: Incoming Storm (Start of Book 6) Ashlock left the Redclaw family to do damage control and calm down everyone while he called an emergency meeting. It hadn''t even been an hour since Serena Blacktide was turned into a tree, and Celeste Starweaver announced to the thousands of people watching the tournament that the terrible storm outside wasn''t a random act of nature¡ªit was the prelude to something much more terrifying. The Beast Tide. An event on an eternal cycle that struck fear into the heart of every sect in the wilderness. It wasn''t so much the strength of the beasts that was the problem. It was the sheer number. For months, waves upon waves of monsters would endlessly march from one spiritual spring to another. For cultivators where every bit of Qi spent set their cultivation back, to waste years of meticulously gathered Qi on defending some land against a swarm of monsters was pointless. Moving out of the way was almost always the best decision. Unless the beast tide was predicted to be smaller, that is. In that case, it might be worth staying if the land was still rich with spirit ore for mining and had a good variety of Qi types to cultivate. This one, however? It was forecasted to be the biggest one in the history of the nine realms, and Ashlock was rooted in place, directly in their path. He had no choice but to stay and fight, and he would selfishly have the Ashfallen Sect and the surrounding cities follow suit. There would be no airships leaving for safer pastures. A stance that seemed to have attracted the interest of some other noble families like the Starweavers, eager to take a stand against Vincent Nightrose and his tyrannical rule. While everyone gathered to hold the meeting, Ashlock''s vision blurred as he crossed vast swathes of land. His destination? The furthest reaches of his roots to the north. He had been expanding his reach in all directions for months, focusing on the north where the spiritual spring housing the beast tide was said to be. "Elaine told me that in three years, the beast tide would move from the spiritual spring in the north and follow the giant leyline we are on all the way down to the south where the Celestial Empire is." Ashlock mused as he saw the storm get more severe the further north he went. It made the storm over Ashfallen City look like a joke. Up in the north, even with his spiritual sight, he struggled to see that far through the hurricane blizzard and fog. All he could see was a wall of white blanketing the land and inching ever closer to the south. This helped explain why he had never noticed the rag-tag groups of monsters trudging through the madness toward the south. They hadn''t yet entered the range of his roots or trees, and the storm was messing with his spiritual perception, but he estimated the monsters to be in the Soul Fire Realm. "These monsters must be part of the first wave." Ashlock attempted to look closer, but the storm got in the way. He tried to open a portal near the monsters to kidnap them and get a better look, but the violent storm tore his portal apart before the Qi could finish stringing itself together. "That''s strange. I know spatial Qi doesn''t do too well when interacting with other types of Qi, but I should still be able to open one within a storm..." Retreating from the notable boundary where the swirling wall of the blizzard was, Ashlock opened a portal within the range of his roots a few miles away and observed the storm from afar with his Evil Eye. "What a terrifying mix of daos and Qi and this control... it''s not natural. Someone, or more likely, a powerful monster, is orchestrating this storm. But why?" Even for a monster, this amount of Qi spent to cover the beast tide''s approach seemed like a waste. "Unless a storm on this scale is nothing to them," Ashlock sighed. Since the storm was being controlled by someone, he didn''t want to show all his cards yet, but he still wanted to test some things. "Let''s see the limits of this storm." His soul hummed as he surged Qi through his ethereal roots toward the north. Manifesting portals inside the storm was impossible, but what about attacking the storm directly to disperse their cover? Reality tore apart as Ashlock unleashed his will upon the world and used his Spatial Blades technique. As if he had a gigantic invisible claw, he swiped at the storm and left clear gaps in his technique''s wake that were instantly filled back in. While little damage was done to the storm, he managed to kill a few monsters, and fissures were etched deep into the earth. "Not so strong as to utterly block my attacks, which makes sense. If it was that fierce of a storm as to stop the attempts of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, those Soul Fire Realm monsters would have no chance of surviving..." Ashlock paused as he looked closer with his Evil Eye. "Hold on." He muttered as he surged his spatial Qi and sent out ripples of compressed space that pushed back against the storm. It was a total waste of Qi as the storm would just reform, and these were weak monsters, but he wanted to check something. "Ah, that makes more sense," Ashlock said as he noted a thin veil of demonic Qi around the monsters, which seemed to be somewhat protecting them from the storm. He was unsure whether the demonic Qi was coming from the monsters themselves or something else, as the storm was making it hard to discern anything. "Well, only one way to know for sure. You''re coming with me." Once more, Ashlock bent space to his will, compressing and decompressing it in rapid succession to force the storm back. The monsters looked up in confusion as their veil had been pushed back, and they likely saw sunlight for the first time in a while. Ashlock didn''t waste time as he summoned portals above their heads. There was no need to bother with vines or roots. He simply used his overwhelming cultivation compared to these weak monsters to pluck them from the ground with telekinesis and drag them up through the portals. The pack of brown-furred wolf-looking monsters kicked at the air and let out desperate howls as they were kidnapped by an invisible force. Ashlock barely got them through the portals before the storm lurched forward, annihilating his portals and reclaiming the lost ground. Switching his view to Red Vine Peak, he restrained the monsters with his soul pressure and got a good look directly at them with his Evil Eye. "Mhm, the demonic veil they had is gone. That means it must have been given by something else to protect them from the storm." Ashlock found their howls distracting, so he tightened his black vines around them¡ªcrushing their bones until they fell limp. He then dissolved them. [+23 SC] "Barely two sacrificial credits per monster," Ashlock laughed. While his Qi regeneration was impressive, he had done the equivalent of shooting missiles to kill a fly. Even for him, this wouldn''t be a sustainable way to defeat the beast tide. "The monsters aren''t even my biggest concern right now; unless a Monarch Realm one appears, I should be fine. The real issue is how will I deal with the storm?" Ashlock sighed as he recalled the Dao Storm that had almost killed him in the past. He had used his cursed sap to turn it into demonic trees. Could he do the same here? Returning to the north, he pulled out some cursed sap he had left in storage through a portal and carried it toward the storm with telekinesis. It was only a single cup full, as he didn''t want some monster inside the storm getting ahold of his cursed sap if it didn''t work. "Well, here goes nothing," Ashlock threw it into the storm. It dyed some snow black before it was promptly whisked away by the ferocious winds, leaving him without an answer. "I... don''t know what I expected, to be honest." His sap didn''t work instantly, and with the hurricane rotating so fast, he couldn''t track that patch of black snow to see if anything would come of it. Ashlock pulled his view back and looked at the storm as a whole. It consumed the entire horizon from east to west. It made the Dao Storm that had almost killed him look like a joke. "Do I even have enough sap in all of my body to do any damage to this storm, assuming it worked?" Ashlock pondered and concluded it was like using a cup of water to put out a fast-approaching forest fire. The scale of damage he could do was a total mismatch with the threat before him. "Could Larry do anything? Nah... the storm would devour him before he could make a dent. Kaida could blow all his scales to nuke it, but again, the same problem. In the worst case, I suppose I could move Darklight and Ashfallen City into my Inner World and try to weather the storm? But that''s less than ideal." The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Saving the people aside, he wanted to gain many sacrificial credits from the beast tide, but this storm would make it a very Qi-intensive process. Plucking a few Soul Fire Realm monsters with telekinesis was no problem, but the storm would get in the way big time if he wanted to get his roots on monsters worth killing. Ashlock spent a while vaguely measuring the storm''s rate of advancement. "I think it will reach my roots within the next day or two and then my furthest northern forest in a week. Wait, shit¡ªI forgot about my offspring. How will they survive this?" He had been so focused on keeping the humans safe that he had forgotten about his many forests of offspring dotted along the leyline between himself and the encroaching beast tide. "I have a week to come up with something," Ashlock said, quickly switching his view from the north to the meeting room in The Ashfallen Trading Company''s headquarters. Sitting around a grand round table were many cultivators of varying ages and stations in life. It was deathly silent, apart from the drumming sound of the rain and the howling of the winds battering the stone fortress. Ashlock had been expecting the talks to have already begun, but it seemed there was a silent agreement among all present as they all stole glances at Stella, whose eyes were closed. As if noticing his arrival, Stella''s eyes opened, and she smiled. "With the All-Seeing eye''s attention, we can now begin this emergency council," Stella looked up at the ceiling in the vague direction of his spiritual gaze, "I had them all eat enhanced Mind Fortress and Soul Protection pills, so you should be able to speak freely." Ashlock got cold feet as everyone looked up expectantly at the ceiling. There was such a wide range of people here, some he had never talked directly to and others he had never seen before the tournament. Since Ashlock had so many personas that differed depending on how close to the inner sect one was, it was hard to decide on his decorum moving forward when presented with such a variety of people. Remembering that to many here he was seen as a god, he decided against apologizing for holding everyone up and got straight to it. "The Starweaver family''s prophecy is true. I cast my gaze to the far north and laid eyes on not only a tide of beasts, but also a cataclysmic storm that spread from east to west, consuming the entire horizon and obscuring their advance." Ashlock finished presenting his findings and enjoyed the various reactions. Jasmine clutched Stella''s hand under the table and seemed deathly pale yet excited at hearing his voice for the first time. Ryker was massaging his temples, but his jump in cultivation to the Silver Core Realm allowed him to maintain his composure. Meanwhile, the Starweaver siblings had risen from their chairs and bowed. Though the act of respect had been directed by Evander, who had his hand firmly planted on his sister''s back. Straightening themselves, Evander cleared his throat before addressing the ceiling. "All-Seeing Eye, it''s an honor to be in your presence. Our Grand Elder spoke of you." "He did?" Evander nodded, "With a look of terror I have never seen in that man''s eyes before." Ashlock had never seen or spoken with the Grand Elder of the Starweaver family. What had he done to strike such fear into an old cultivator? "Why does he fear me?" "Starweaver is a name that carries two meanings," Evander raised his hands. In his left palm, a marble-sized cosmos appeared. "We harness the power of the stars to strike down our enemies and wreak destruction upon the realms." In his right palm, golden threads appeared. "But we also gaze upon the woven threads of fate," Evander combined his two palms and the golden threads intertwined with the cosmos, "so that we may weave a path forward of our own." He clapped his hands together, dismissing the demonstration. "Sometimes a being appears, and its influence spreads quickly across the threads of fate, corrupting and bending unseen futures to its will." Ashlock had a bad feeling that he was this being in question. "What happens when such a being appears?" Evanders gaze hardened. "The threads... they come to an end." Silence overcame the room. "I see," Ashlock said, "And I assume your Grand Elder believes I am this reality-ending being?" Evander nodded, "According to the threads, your journey has just begun. For now, you are nothing but a newborn god finding his feet and gathering a following. But you have already outgrown this region. Only Vincent Nightrose could hope to stop you¡ªso rather than fight you, we have come to work with you¡ªat least for now." "Interesting. A temporary partnership then?" Ashlock didn''t like being labeled as something he wasn''t, but it was hard to fight his case when reading the threads of fate was their family''s forte. He had enough sense to know that telling him their fears were unnecessary wouldn''t bode well for their apparent upcoming partnership. "Yes. I assume you have been made aware of the Silverspire''s plan to overthrow Vincent Nightrose?" "I have." "Good, that makes things easier," Evander Starweaver paused to catch his breath. Despite his good posture, a combination of Ashlock''s Abyssal Whispers and general pressure was likely wearing on the man. "We both have a common enemy, Vincent Nightrose. The plan was for the Silverspire Grand Elder to time the completion of his ascension to the Golden Core stage¡ª" Evander nodded to Sebastian and Ryker, who were sitting opposite him, "¡ªtheir equivalent of the Nascent Soul Realm with the arrival of the beast tide... in three years time. He had hoped to use the pressure of Beast Tide''s arrival to escape the fate of previous Grand Elders who reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Of course, the schedule has moved up. So the plans have changed." "I understand why the Silverspire Grand Elder wishes to free himself of Vincent''s rule, but what about the Starweaver family?" Evander exchanged a pained look with his sister Celeste. "There used to be three of us..." He trailed off as his gaze hardened, "But he took her." "Our sister awakened her bloodline." Celeste added, "We thought it was great news and were confused why our elders were so horrified once they found out. But we soon learned the fate of those who awaken bloodlines as the Disciplinary Committee showed up years later and dragged her off." "Her bloodline was harvested by Vincent, right?" Evander nodded as his sister fell silent. "The Blood Lotus Sect isn''t a sect at all. It''s a breeding ground for bloodlines. That''s why he cares so little about how it''s managed and leaves it to his mind-controlled subordinates." Evander then looked toward Stella, "We aren''t here for revenge for our sister. Rather, we are here for the same reason you are fighting. Celeste also awakened her bloodline recently... so she might be next. Just like you." Stella and Celeste exchanged a knowing look of two people going through the same thing. "Vincent is a paranoid bastard," Evander continued. "He has been after the Starweaver family''s bloodline, capable of foreseeing threats in the cosmic weave, for generations. Vincent calling for a summit can only mean one thing¡ªhe finally succeeded, as we never informed him of the prophecy. Things will only worsen for us from here, as he will keep harvesting us to improve his inferior bloodline. This is why the Starweaver family is willing to work with an evil god like yourself to take down a greater evil." Stella''s eye twitched, and everyone else had sour expressions as Evander finished his piece and sat beside his sister. Ashlock wasn''t pleased with how they spoke of him, but he wasn''t in a position to turn down help, with Vincent Nightrose on one side and a cataclysmic beast tide on the other. If they wanted to offer themselves as disposable pawns to help him deal with these looming threats, he wouldn''t turn them down. "Actually, I''ve seen the beast tide now, but I still know little about Vincent." Ashlock mused, "If Vincent isn''t too hard to deal with, I could ambush him at the summit he is calling. I bet the beast tide will be easier to deal with after I turn him into an Ent." "How strong is Vincent Nightrose?" The room fell silent at his question. Sebastian Silverspire leaned back on his chair slightly with a frown. "Nobody knows," he said, breaking the silence. "His powers are a closely guarded secret." "Not even a vague idea?" "I know," someone said, and everyone turned to see a black-haired woman emerging from the shadows. It was Morrigan, the origin of the void. "It''s been a long time since I last laid eyes on that boy, but there''s a reason he has been able to stay in power for so long despite his tyranny." Morrigan tapped her chin in thought, "His cultivation level is likely in the upper stages of the Nascent Soul Realm by now. That alone is quite impressive for this Qi dead realm, but that''s not what makes him so hard to kill. No, it''s the dozens of inferior bloodlines he''s juggling and his three affinities." "Three affinities?!" The room erupted with surprised gasps and discussion. Morrigan smiled as she counted off her fingers, "His main affinity is blood, but he also has gravity." "What about his third?" Morrigan shrugged, "That''s his closest guarded secret. Nobody has discovered his third affinity and lived to disclose it. All we know is he has at least three. All near the Monarch Realm level." Ashlock sighed as he realized he might have underestimated the overlord of the Blood Lotus Sect a little. "The summit should be held before the Beast Tide arrives. I''ll have to kill him first, one way or another. Especially if he can now see the effect that my presence in this world seems to have on the threads of fate." Chapter 367: The Immortals Truth Stella bit her lip as she mulled over Morrigan''s words. Having three affinities that were all near the Monarch Realm sounded unbelievable. How did Vincent Nightrose even survive long enough to get strong? It would have taken him at least three times as long to cultivate as he had to rotate between gathering and processing three different Qi types. Is he a madman or a genius? The amount of insight into the heavens daos he must have... I shudder just thinking about it. Even with all of Ash''s help, I feel like I''m falling behind with just one affinity. Stella looked around the table and saw everyone else contemplating what they had just been told. Even Sebastian Silverspire seemed confused despite being part of the Silverspire family, which had close ties to Vincent as they made the spatial rings for the whole sect. Well, they used to have close ties. They are the ones trying to lead the mutiny. "That''s terrible news. That means it will be far worse fighting Vincent Nightrose than three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators at once," Grand Elder Redclaw spoke aloud, drawing everyone''s attention. "As I''m sure you all know, except for the younglings at the table, our Qi reacts violently with each other. Even if we are of the same affinity and from the same family. But when a cultivator has multiple affinities, they can be seamlessly combined. Two affinities already greatly increase a cultivator''s possibilities in combat, but three? I just can''t believe it... no wonder he has ruled this sect for so long." Stella nodded at the Redclaw Grand Elder''s words as his musing matched her past experience. A long time ago, she tried to fling spatial techniques through Ash''s portals, but it didn''t work despite them sharing the same affinity. But according to the Redclaw Grand Elder, if I had another affinity, let''s say fire. I could throw fireballs through portals? That really is far different from fighting a separate spatial and fire cultivator. "Big Uncle, I''m confused. If having more than one affinity is so strong, why do I only have metal?" Ryker asked. "What are the downsides to having multiple affinities?" Stella gave the kid a side-eye. Despite being five years old and his head barely reaching above the table, he commanded a surprising presence due to his Star Core Realm cultivation. How does a kid that young reach the Star Core Realm anyway? Just what did he find in the Mystic Realm for such growth? I never bothered to ask since there''s been so much going on... Is this how things keep escaping Ash''s notice? Elaine, who was sitting next to an empty seat where Douglas should be, enthusiastically took up the kid''s question. "Cultivation speed is by far the biggest downside. Each affinity needs to be tended to individually, and while they can be at different stages within the same realm, in order to ascend to the next realm, the cultivator has to bring them all to the maximum stage. So Vincent Nightrose might have blood at the 9th stage but cannot ascend to Monarch Realm until he gets gravity and his mysterious third affinity to the 9th stage as well." "I believe he would need to learn the laws of all three of his affinities, too," Ashlock added, but it seemed he only spoke directly to a few people in the room, which made Stella smile wearily. There was still a lot of research she needed to carry out before she could create an aether origin stone for Ashlock. Stella felt on a time crunch. It might be too late to change his affinity if she couldn''t figure it out before Ash reached Monarch Realm. "So the main disadvantage is all in preparation?" Ryker asked curiously. Elaine shook her head, "While versatile in combat, his Qi pool is split three ways. So if he faced a foe that only one of his affinities worked against, he would run out of Qi far faster than a comparable cultivator..." Elaine trailed off as a giant shadow passed by the room. Everyone glanced toward the runically enhanced window being battered by the storm as the room darkened. Stella raised a brow as she made out the vague outline of a white tree floating past and down toward the main street of Ashfallen City. A moment later, Douglas flew by on a sword of brown flames, giving them all a thumbs up. "You''re planting Serena now?" Stella asked aloud, knowing Ash would hear her. "The people are understandably concerned due to Celeste Starweaver''s public declaration of the incoming beast tide. So, I''m doing what I can to alleviate their concerns. Since Nox is in another dimension right now, I need a focal point for the people to place their trust in. While not ideal, Serena will have to do for now." Stella saw Celeste sink back into her seat as her brother rightfully glared at her. "I''ll also have the cult increase the number of free pills they give out, and I''ll have to look into food production due to the storm. Anything to distract the people while we work out how to tackle this problem." "Free pills and food?" Evander Starweaver asked with a gleam of interest. Stella glared at him, "Why do you seem surprised? Didn''t think an ''evil god'' would care for others?" "I had heard from my sister about it before the information blockade became too strict to receive any more messages. I didn''t believe it initially, but when my Father received the prophecy and asked me to seek allies, I came here despite the All-Seeing Eye''s fate." He looked to Celeste, "Despite being empty-headed sometimes, I trust her judgement, and I''m glad I did. I''m not caught up on the Ashfallen Sect''s strengths, but with the Silverspire Grand Elder still in closed-door cultivation, you seem like our best bet of making a stand against Vincent and weathering the beast tide." "Freeloaders," Stella snorted. Evander shrugged, "We share a common enemy and goal." "Stella, leave it. They are desperate for help. Following Vincent Nightrose to the next area is a death sentence for them, especially Celeste Starweaver, with her awakened bloodline. I''m sure they will come to our side willingly over time. If not, we can deal with them accordingly when this is all over." Stella clicked her tongue but let it rest. She had seen the raw destructive power of Celeste Starweaver during the tournament while being in the Soul Fire Realm. It was hard to imagine the destructive capabilities of the Star Core Realm cultivator sitting opposite her or their Father, who was likely half a step into the Nascent Soul Realm. It was hard to turn away such firepower simply because they refused to bend the knee to Ash. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. While the Blood Lotus Sect Patriarch will be a force to be reckoned with, I''m confident we at least have a chance. But a hint of worry was in Ash''s voice earlier when talking about the incoming storm. It had been subtle, but I know him best and caught it. Moving the conversation away from Vincent Nightrose and the Starweavers, Stella asked Ash, "You saw the beast tide and a cataclysmic storm shrouding their advance, right? Is it the same as the storm over us right now?" "Yes. However, the further north you go, the storm grows far more violent than what we have been experiencing. I had thought it was a natural occurrence, but now I know it''s likely being orchestrated by one of the monsters in the beast tide. I pushed back against it and noticed the first wave of beasts were being protected by a veil of demonic Qi, which vanished when I brought them back to Red Vine Peak." "How does this storm compare to the Dao Storm?" Stella asked. "Far, far worse." Ash replied with that same hint of worry in his tone, "I can''t think of a way to stop it." "Stronger than a Dao Storm? Interesting," Elaine muttered to herself as she pushed up her glasses, "A storm on such a scale would need at least the backing of a Nascent Soul Realm beast. But for what purpose? Past beast tides didn''t have this treatment. Usually, the weaker monsters are forced forward to weaken the cultivators so the Star Core and above ones can sweep in and end us. It''s almost as if they know that sending monsters will only strengthen the All-Seeing Eye." Evander looked like he was about to ask something but refrained. Celeste, however, didn''t have the same ability to hold back. "Stronger? How can monsters make the All-Seeing Eye stronger?" Stella instinctively gathered a hint of Qi at her fingertips. No matter how destructive the cosmic affinity was, she could decapitate these outsiders before they knew what happened. "I won''t give outsiders specifics, but I can absorb Qi from monsters," Ashlock replied and Stella was a little taken aback by how he revealed such a thing. "No matter how many they send my way, I will never run out of Qi. Well, that would have been the case if not for the storm making my efforts to kill even the weakest monsters incredibly Qi intensive." "Oh... okay, that makes sense." Celeste bobbed her head in understanding, not pressing the matter further. Stella relaxed as she realized the girl wasn''t malicious. She was just a curious person. "This storm is quite far to the north, and yet you were able to kill monsters from here? That''s quite an impressive feat. Is there any chance we could get a look at this storm? You know... so we can see what we are up against?" Evander asked as he leaned back in his chair. "For a godlike being such as yourself to sound concerned, I fail to imagine it in my head." There was a long pause. Stella could feel Ash''s presence still in the room, so she was unsure why he wasn''t replying. An uncomfortable silence blanketed the room as everyone exchanged glances. Stella met Diana''s eyes, and they had a silent conversation. They had been best friends for years and had gone through many life-and-death struggles together, so they didn''t even need to exchange words to understand one another. Oh... I see the problem. Stella realized as Diana eyed Evander with caution. Giving a slight nod toward the demoness to confirm she would handle this. "Evander and Celeste Starweaver, we greatly appreciate your presence in today''s meeting, but the Ashfallen Sect will handle things from here," Stella announced, catching the two off guard. "If you need accommodations, there are spare rooms in the White Stone Peak that you are free to use." Evander tilted his head, "Did I say something wrong?" Stella shook her head, "No..." The true answer was on the tip of her tongue, but she knew better and refrained. "We will speak again very soon when a more in-depth plan to deal with Vincent Nightrose is drafted. We just have a few details to discuss first that we cannot share with outsiders such as yourselves." "Ah. I see," Evander stood up, and his sister mirrored his action. "We shall take our leave then." Stella gestured to the door, and the pair made their way out of the room. Celeste looked over her shoulder before rounding the doorway. She gave a small smile and said, "Thank you for including us in your plans." "No worries," Stella said with a slight nod. The door clicked closed, and she felt everyone''s eyes on her. Some were understandably confused, except the more veteran cultivators at the table who had seen their fair share of politics. "Before I say anything," Stella looked directly at Sebastian Silverspire. "What is the Silverspire family''s relation to the Starweavers?" "Mutual interests, that is all," Sebastian said coldly. "You don''t have to concern yourself with sharing your true thoughts about them with me. After all, I have an oath of loyalty to the Ashfallen Sect." "Was there something wrong with them, Master?" Jasmine asked in a hushed tone. It seemed Ryker was also deeply curious as the boy leaned in closer. Stella ran a hand through Jasmine''s grassy hair and playfully shook her Disciples head, much to the girl''s annoyance. "Jasmine, do you know why the Ashfallen Sect has survived until now?" "Why, Master?" "At least try to guess," Stella rolled her eyes. "Uh," Jasmine cutely wrinkled her nose as she thought deeply. "Because of your Father''s powers?" Stella laughed, "I suppose that is a big part of it. But it''s something more general than that." "What is it, Master?" Stella tapped Jasmine''s nose. "We keep the extent of our powers secret, just like how Vincent Nightrose''s third affinity and true cultivation stage is a closely guarded secret. So is everything about the Ashfallen Sect. I sent Evander and his sister away because they were trying to figure out the extent of Ashlock''s power while under the guise of cooperation. The questions seemed innocent enough, but remember¡ªthey openly admitted their plan to oppose us once Vincent and the beast tide had been dealt with. Those aren''t people we want knowing how far Ashlock''s powers reach." Jasmine''s eyes went wide, "Master, how did you notice?" "I didn''t at first," Stella gestured to Diana, "Ashlock''s lack of response and Diana made me stop and realize it. They are far better at political stuff than I could ever hope to be." "Don''t say that, Stella." The Redclaw Grand Elder said, "You definitely have some rough edges to your personality and weak areas, but who doesn''t? Dare I say I have had the pleasure of watching you grow significantly over the last year. Just now, you handled the situation perfectly. If it had been you from a few months ago, their heads would have gone flying." "I did think about it..." Stella sheepishly admitted. The Grand Elder smirked, "I could tell. You still need to work on your emotionless cultivator face. If you wear your emotions so openly, you lose the upper hand in an ambush. I can''t tell you how many fights have started while sitting around a table just like this one, but you wouldn''t have known a slaughter was about to begin based on everyone''s expressions as they talked." "I will take your teachings to heart, Grand Elder Redclaw," Stella said, giving the man a slight bow of respect. The Redclaws had been nothing but honorable neighbors since being forced to join the Ashfallen Sect, and Stella still felt a little bad about how their relationship had been built upon a series of lies and threats. "Just looking out for the immortal''s dear daughter. I would hate to think what would happen to this little piece of paradise out in the wilderness if something were to happen to you..." his gaze swept the room, "Or anyone else sitting here today. My family was on the verge of falling apart, but now we are closer than ever before. Seriously, one day, I hope to share a drink with the immortal to show my appreciation!" "I can take you up on that offer." Ash''s voice echoed in everyone''s heads. "But I must warn you, it will be hard to out-drink me." "You... will drink with me?" The Redclaw Grand Elder said in disbelief. The air rippled as spatial Qi swirled through the room before gathering near the door that the Starweavers had left through earlier. A portal manifested, and through it, Stella saw the base of Ash''s vast trunk that reached for the heavens. "Does this mean..." Stella trailed off in utter disbelief. "I think it''s about time. Unlike those outsiders, everyone around this table deserves to know the truth about what I truly am." Chapter 368: Spirit Wine The truth behind the immortal? Magnus Redclaw exchanged a look with his family''s Elders, who had gathered for the emergency meeting. Even Elder Mo had taken time out of his busy schedule of making spirit fire weapons to be here. His old war buddy looked at the portal overlaying the room''s door with anxious anticipation. We have had suspicions about the immortal for a long time, but it was hard to prove anything. Is he really an old master recovering within the mountain and using the demonic spirit tree to communicate and protect his daughter? Magnus slowly stood¡ªhis chair grinding against the stone floor. All eyes in the room turned to him, and he felt the need to say a few words as he scanned the faces of the Ashfallen Sect¡ªmy allies. "While my family was forced into servitude to the Ashfallen Sect via violence, there is no grudge. Immortal, it would be an absolute honor to share a drink with you. Oath of loyalty aside, I''m sure my Elders are in agreement that the Ashfallen Sect has been nothing but fair and generous toward my family." Magnus gave a heartfelt bow, "No matter your circumstances, I will continue to stand by your side." The scraping of wood on stone filled the room as Elder Margret, Brent, and Mo stood in unison at his sides. "As will we," Elder Mo said with a hearty grin, and the other two Elders nodded in agreement. The Silverspires soon followed, and the Redclaw Grand Elder exchanged a slight nod with Sebastian. He had gotten relatively close to the Silverspire scion''s guard as the pair had lived within the White Stone Palace for months. The man was of good character, and the kid was a polite genius who only occasionally caused mischief with one of the ''big sisters'' in the sect. "Is this really a good idea?" Stella said, scratching her head. "I know everyone around this table is trustworthy, but we have kept the act up for so long now..." Diana shrugged, "I''m just looking forward to the look on their faces." The demoness stood with a smile and placed a hand on Stella''s shoulder, "Besides, isn''t it exhausting having to watch what you say and how you refer to the ''immortal'' when people outside the inner sect are present?" Stella sighed and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, calling him the ''immortal'' was quite annoying. There were so many times I almost called him tr¡ª" Diana stopped her with a scowl. "Don''t ruin the fun now." Stella quickly covered her mouth. "You''re making my mind run with ideas now," Sebastian rubbed his chin in thought. "Still, to this day, I remember witnessing the immortal''s power as he snapped that Star Core worm out of existence. Ever since then, I have been deeply curious." "Well, there''s no point standing around here as he won''t be coming to greet us," Stella said as she stood up. Her short blonde hair that reached her shoulders bobbed as she walked with a spring in her step around the table toward the portal. "Everyone follow me!" Her body phased through the shimmering purple doorway, and a slightly blurred and distorted version of her waved at them from the other side. Jasmine had followed her Master through without hesitation and was waiting at her side. "Big sister, I''m coming!" Ryker leapt from his chair. "Don''t call her that..." Sebastian trailed off and sighed in resignation as Ryker passed through the portal. "Don''t worry about it, Sebastian. Ryker''s a good kid, and Stella has a soft spot for young talents." Elder Mo chuckled and took the lead. "Though it''s best to not keep her waiting." "True, she can be quite impatient compared to how us older cultivators like to handle matters," Magnus said, following Elder Mo''s lead. I can hardly blame her. She has reached such a high level of cultivation in a few short years. I can''t say I''m not a little jealous. It took me decades between some stages due to constantly draining my Qi to fight off other demonic cultivators and beasts, which drastically hampered my progress. Magnus frowned as he remembered those days. The Redclaw family had been one of the strongest in the sect when Vincent first brought them in, and the Blood Lotus Sect was tiny. Yet over time, as more noble families joined, they were politically outmaneuvered and always ended up as the ones who had to expend their Qi to clear out the monsters at the new locations when they moved the sect to avoid the beast tides. Then Vincent started picking new regions lacking in fire Qi. Heavens, I still shudder when I remember those horrible few decades when we positioned ourselves on the edge of an ice region. We had to travel far and deep into the wilderness on excursions to find spots with fire Qi to cultivate. Many died during those years. In comparison, those under the Ashfallen Sect seem to have it easy. With a seemingly unlimited source of cultivation resources and wars that were won swiftly and decisively rather than drawn out over decades with constant fights, leaving no time to cultivate and advance. Those two aspects alone would help a cultivator soar in progress, but then you added the Mystic Realm and numerous cultivation groves covering different affinities... that wasn''t even mentioning the truffles that improved their spirit roots, removed heart demons, and made bottlenecks a thing of the past. The Ashfallen Sect was a literal cultivator''s paradise, and Magnus Redclaw was filled with anticipation. He was about to meet the mastermind behind it all. He felt the atmosphere around him shift as he passed through the portal. His ears popped, a chilling gale ruffled his cloak, and the heavy drum of rain that had served as background noise for the meeting was replaced with the full roar of the intense downpour. However, no rain reached him as they stood under the vast canopy of the demonic tree that lorded over Red Vine Peak. It''s bigger every time I see it, Magnus thought as he strained his neck to look up the length of the tree''s trunk. Branches so thick they looked like trees sprawled out from around halfway up to make up the canopy, and he saw something large with many legs shifting between the branches. It seems like our presence has awoken the guardian beast from his nap. "Master, it''s so cold..." Jasmine complained even as sickly green flames danced across her shoulders. Before Stella could say anything to her Disciple, it seemed the Immortal heard the little girl''s words. Spatial Qi, originating from the demonic tree, danced through the air toward the edge of the canopy''s reach, where Magnus could see the raindrops pounding the stone ground. The spatial Qi spread out to form a shimmering barrier, and everything stopped at once. The chilled winds were gone, as was the noise of the rain. It was oddly peaceful watching the intense storm all around them yet being unaffected by it. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Better?" The immortal''s voice echoed in his mind like a strange chorus of a hundred voices overlapping each other. Jasmine nodded happily. "Good. I want everyone to be comfortable as we continue our meeting here and enjoy some drinks." A more casual wooden table that appeared as if pulled out of thin air materialized near Stella''s bench, or ''throne'' as some people liked to refer to it, alongside many chairs. Liquor bottles populated the table alongside a few bowls of juicy-looking fruits and other snacks. Another portal suddenly appeared, and Grand Elder Douglas strode through it and seemed to be talking to the air. "I''ll have the Mudcloaks finish the relocation of Old Bill¡ªoh, we having a party?" He eyed the table as he walked over to Elaine. They hooked their arms, and he smiled at his girlfriend. "What''s the occasion?" "The immortal has decided to reveal his true self to everyone here," Elaine said, standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his cheek. Magnus Redclaw smiled at the lovebirds and wondered how grand their wedding would be. Douglas whistled, "Woah, really? It''s about time, Boss! You have really been holding back on us. I joined the ''inner group'' a little late, so even I''m clueless to the full extent of things." "That has been part of the headache," the immortal sighed, "Circumstances required I kept my identity a secret, but I also needed at least a few close aides to understand my situation to help me progress. But I trust everyone here, and with such massive threats to the life we have built festering on the horizon, it''s about time I tear down the walls dividing us so we can all be on the same page." "About darn time," Stella said as she lounged on her bench with one of the liquor bottles in hand. She popped the cork and wrinkled her nose as she took a sniff. "What is this?" She held it out and eyed it suspiciously, "Why does it smell so weird?" Diana ran over and confiscated the bottle from Stella''s hand. "I don''t think you drinking alcohol is a good idea." "Eh? Why?" "Here, take this instead." Diana put a cup of juice in her hand. "Made from Ashlock''s fruits." Stella stared at the cup of red juice in her hand and pouted. Diana rolled her eyes as she took a seat at the table. "Don''t make that face. Try it." Stella took a sip, and her eyes widened. "So? How is it?" "I''ll admit it''s tasty," Stella finished the rest in one gulp as everyone else took their seats. Ryker and Jasmine also had cups of juice placed before them, and they mirrored Stella''s satisfaction with the taste. "They are making me jealous," Elder Brent muttered as he poured himself a glass of spirit wine. "That juice looks darn good¡ª" A cup appeared before him from a small rift. "Oh! Thanks!" Magnus shook his head at his brother''s nonsense. Is he a child? His amusement faded as Elder Brent poured his spirit wine into the juice. He really is a child?! "Phew, this is good stuff," Sebastian Silverspire said as he set his empty cup down with a satisfied look on his face. Douglas leaned over to the silver-haired man and whispered, "Stella and I made some even better stuff if you''re interested in joining me for a drink someday¡ª" Stella materialized behind and threw an arm around his shoulder. "We did?" The poor man froze up and looked like he had been caught red-handed. Diana facepalmed, and Elaine gave him a side-eye. "Come on, buddy. Tell me." Stella shook him, which was rather comical as she could barely get her arm around the broad-shouldered man''s neck, yet she had so much strength. Douglas gulped. "Okay, but don''t be mad. Do you remember when I came to your alchemy cave and asked to make something with you?" "Uh-huh." Stella nodded along. "You wanted to make a liquid medicine to help your spirit roots, right?" "Exactly, but it somehow slipped my mind to mention that I planned to brew spirit wine with the medicine we made as an ingredient, as it would make the alcohol more potent." Magnus smiled in amusement as he saw Stella''s eyes narrow. "It just so happened to slip your mind. Really?" Stella reached over and grabbed his bottle. "So this is spirit wine? A type of alcohol? What even is alcohol? I saw some mortals drinking it when walking through Darklight City, but they either stumbled around or were passed out cold with a bottle in hand." "That''s because it''s a poison." Douglas tried to take the bottle back, but Stella swooped it out of his reach. "Poison? Why would you drink poison?" Stella looked at Douglas as if he were mad. Douglas shrugged, "Tastes good. Helps take the edge off life." "Poison can taste good? Interesting... I want to try it." Stella popped off the cork, and without a second of hesitation, she downed a mouthful. "Bleh," she spat to the side, and her distaste was apparent. "Why would anyone drink this¡ª" A shiver of ecstasy ran through her body, and she eyed the bottle again with newfound interest, "What was that burning sensation that just went through my body? It felt... good?" Douglas smirked, "You should try the spirit wine we made together. It''s ten times better than this stuff brewed in Darklight City with inferior ingredients." "Mhm, maybe I will." Stella put the bottle back next to Douglas before returning to the bench. Her face was slightly flushed red, and she seemed amused. Everyone had a smile on their face at the Princess''s antics. Small talk broke out as food and drink were passed around. Magnus absorbed the pleasant atmosphere but refrained from drinking. He was waiting to toast the Immortal. "Now that everyone is settled in, I think it''s about time I join the party." The immortal said. Magnus looked around but didn''t see anyone making an appearance. Where is he? A loud cracking noise drew everyone''s attention to the tree towering over them. The trunk, which likely dwarfed any building, began to split with a groaning creak, and the two halves shifted apart like colossal gates being pried open from whatever lay within. Magnus narrowed his eyes, his frown deepening as his finely tuned danger sense flickered like a warning flame at the edge of his awareness. Yet, even as the instinct clawed at his mind, the Mind Protection pill Stella had given him before the meeting swirled like a cooling mist in his thoughts, dulling the edge of his wariness. Something moved from within, coming to the forefront of the gap and gazing down at them. It was that eye that seemed to strip one down to their soul. Is the immortal checking on us one last time before making his appearance? I know he uses this technique through the tree to check on us after our Mystic Realm visits and to look at Stella sometimes. Magnus half expected the immortal to step out of the gap, but that didn''t happen. The ominous creaking paused as the eye swiveled down and looked at them all. "Grand Elder Redclaw, allow me to offer you a toast." Magnus was confused, but he obliged. Standing, he held out his still-full cup of spirit wine. An ethereal root erupted from the purple grass surrounding the demonic tree. It arched toward the table as its tip coiled around into a circular shape. Spatial Qi flickered from the root toward the table, lifting a cup. As if there was an invisible attendant, spirit wine was poured into the floating cup from a nearby open bottle. The ethereal root then moved to accept the cup, and Magnus was left dumbfounded as the curled root presented the cup before him to toast. "There is no man under the mountain recovering from a failed breakthrough¡ªthere is no Immortal. My true name is Ashlock, a Demonic Demi-Divine Tree. Leader of the Ashfallen Sect and revered as the All-Seeing Eye." There was a brief pause, "Magnus Redclaw, if you are a man of your word and accept a demonic tree as your ruler¡ªaccept my toast." Chapter 369: Birthday Gift Ashlock was actually quite nervous as he held out the cup of spirit wine for the Redclaw Grand Elder to toast. Would they still take him seriously now they knew he was a tree? This concern had festered at the back of his mind for a while, but he felt he had shown enough competency for them to overlook his race as a spirit tree and still see him as their leader. "Come on... please," Ashlock muttered as he watched the Redclaw Grand Elder''s soul through his Evil Eye¡ªthe man''s Qi had grown turbulent since Ashlock''s declaration of being a tree. "Is he going to get angry with me because I have lied to the Redclaws this whole time?" Ashlock felt saddened at the thought. He liked the Redclaws a lot, so if they were to reject him, it would be quite the blow. "Maybe if I told them I was a human in my past life, they might be more accepting? But honestly, I feel very detached from my past self. My life as a human feels like a fleeting dream at this point. Sometimes, I wonder if I was even human at all..." The Redclaw Grand Elder''s Qi calmed down as if he were overcome with relief, and he looked directly into Ashlock''s Evil Eye with a grin. "To think I was worried all this time for your health and swift recovery! If I had known you were the tree all along, I could have rested easy. Of course, I accept you as our leader." He clinked his cup against Ashlock''s and promptly downed it in one gulp. He then set the cup down and let off a satisfied sigh. "Well said, Grand Elder. Though I never had any concerns as I always thought he was the tree!" Elder Mo laughed and offered a toast of his own. Ashlock accepted the toast from Elder Mo. Elder Brent, Margret, and Sebastian Silverspire soon followed, clinking his cup before downing their spirit wine. With everyone toasted, Ashlock crushed the cup with his root and absorbed the spirit wine. A brief burning sensation quickly faded as his {Superior Poison Resistance} quietly activated in the background. "Really? I didn''t see this coming at all." Elder Margret grumbled, and Elder Brent nodded in agreement. "I was told he was the tree but still held some doubts. It''s nice to have it confirmed." Douglas added. Elder Mo raised a hand in surrender, "Okay, unlike Douglas, I may not have always thought he was a tree. But I was pretty sure of it after making a whip for Jasmine and Stella. When using my spirit fire, I become one with the weapon I''m trying to make and have to form a close bond with the materials." "What does that have to do with the immortal being a tree, you blabbering old fool." Elder Brent said, his face flushed red from the spirit wine. "I was getting to that part, and who are you calling an old man?!" Elder Mo scowled at Elder Brent and sighed in resignation. "Whatever. Since I used one of Ashlock''s roots to make the whips, much of his soul was still imparted into the root, so I learned quite a bit about him. Happy now?" That raised some concern for Ashlock. How much had Elder Mo gleaned from the lingering soul left in his roots? "Since almost dying to the Dao Storm, the system said my soul became ''tree-shaped,'' so the fact I was once a human soul trapped in a tree shouldn''t be possible to discern." "Oh?" Elder Brent raised a brow in interest, unaware of Ashlock''s concerns. "I didn''t know you could talk to materials." "I can, and it lets me say with certainty that we have found ourselves a worthy leader." Elder Mo''s spatial ring flashed with silver light, and a sword as tall as he was manifested at his side. "Ashlock, I heard from Stella that you are a big fan of trying to learn swordsmanship, but I doubt human-sized swords are most appropriate for you, so I began working on this. My masterpiece." "This is for me?" Ashlock took one deeper look at the sword with his Evil Eye, and he could tell the love that had been poured into every inch of the blade. Despite being many times bigger than a human-sized great sword, it had the level of detail in the handle and hilt he would expect from a prized display piece. He could feel Elder Mo''s presence within the blade as it had been forged from his spirit fire. However, Ashlock also felt something sinister festering within the blood-red metal from which the blade was crafted. "It''s finished already?!" Stella yelled in glee and reappeared next to Elder Mo in a flash of white flames. "Woah, it looks even more awesome than the designs we agreed on." Elder Mo looked very smug, "Of course, Princess." Ashlock was surprised. "You had Elder Mo make this? When? I never saw you talking to Elder Mo..." "Tree, did you forget you spend half your time sleeping?" "That''s fair..." Ashlock replied and wondered what else Stella got up to when he wasn''t looking. It was true; he did spend a lot of time under the nine moons, which increased his and all of his offspring''s cultivation speed¡ªyet she made it sound like he was lazy. Stella tried to pick the sword up, and while she managed to heave it into the air above her head, it looked silly as her hand couldn''t even wrap around the handle. It was very clearly designed for a titan... or a tree swordsman. Not human-sized at all. "Here you go, Tree," Stella held the sword out for him to take. "It was supposed to be your birthday present, but it seems Elder Mo finished it early." "You had this made as a birthday present? Wow..." Ashlock was speechless. His birthday wasn''t for another week, as it was late December. Once it became January 1st, his status screen would update and say he had been in this world for a decade. With everything going on, it had slipped his mind that he had told Stella his birthday, and since Stella didn''t know when she was born, they had agreed to share the same birthday. "I haven''t gotten Stella anything yet," Ashlock cursed. He would have to think of something. Ashlock wrapped his root around the hilt and was shocked at how comfortable it felt. Human-sized swords had felt like waving around a toothpick, and once his devour skill upgraded, swords became almost useless compared to his thorn-covered vines. But this? It felt like a real weapon, and one made for him. Elder Mo stepped up beside Stella and coughed to draw everyone''s attention. "Ahem. The blade is crafted from Bloodiron, a type of spiritual metal found below ancient battlefields. The hatred and despair of the fallen souls that linger on the battlefield, unwilling to move on to their next life until they have inflicted enough misery onto the living take refuge in the metal on the battlefield. Over many centuries, their souls change the metal into Bloodiron." Elder Mo began to lecture about his creations again, but nobody interrupted him as he traced a finger down the blade. "Bloodiron?" Sebastian said with surprise, "That''s quite the interesting choice as it''s known as a cursed metal. One that is usually detrimental to use." "Is that why I feel a sinister aura deep in the metal?" Ashlock asked. Elder Mo nodded, "Bloodiron is one of the strongest metals, but it''s no stronger than crude iron if it''s not fed lifeforce. A trade-off that few are willing to shoulder. But I suspected you were a spirit tree all along, meaning you have nearly unlimited life force. So, I had Stella assist me in installing a runic formation that amplifies this effect even more." Elder Mo proudly patted the sword, "This baby should be able to block Monarch Realm attacks without breaking so long as you feed it enough Qi and lifeforce." Stolen story; please report. "That''s amazing," Ashlock said as he studied the silver runic pattern along the sword''s length. He could feel the faintest tug from the sword that he assumed was it siphoning off lifeforce, and the runic formation shimmered in response. It was beautiful, but as Ashlock fed it some more lifeforce, the silver lines turned a dark red, giving the weapon quite an ominous appearance. He kept feeding it more and more, yet the sword happily drank all he could give it. A red haze began swirling around the blade, and an aura of slaughter radiated from it. Everyone took a step back except Stella, who seemed to take the aura as a challenge rather than a threat. Her own black and gold sword manifested in her hand, and white flames ignited down its blade. "Elder Mo sold me on using Bloodiron for your sword, but I still want to test it," Stella grinned. "We still have time before your birthday to fix or change things." "Good idea," Ashlock said as he also wanted to test the weapon''s weight and reach. He extended his root over the table, past Stella, and to an open space still under the protection of his canopy from the rain. "Let''s do it over here. Everyone else, please enjoy the spirit wine and food." Stella cheerfully walked toward the designated area with her sword resting on her shoulder. Once in position, they began with Ashlock taking a big and obvious swing. He hadn''t put any of his own Qi on the weapon, as he wanted to see what the sword was capable of on its own. Stella effortlessly met the attack, parrying it to the side with her sword, which was a fifth of the size. There was a loud clang that echoed out, and Stella looked at his blood-red sword with relief. "I put quite a bit of force into that parry¡ªat least mid-stage Star Core Realm, and it didn''t break." "Bloodiron is amazing. I didn''t even protect the sword with my own Qi. Let''s go a few more hits, and then I will see if it can handle my Qi." Ashlock said. Stella nodded, and Ashlock went on the offensive. Spatial Qi crackled through his ethereal root as he used telekinesis to control his ethereal root like a tentacle. It let him attack quickly and at angles that would be difficult for a human body to imitate. Stella showcased her swordsmanship, which was impressive even without activating her bloodline as she nullified his attempts with well-timed parries. "Go, Master!" Jasmine cheered from the table while stuffing her face with fruits. The others commented on the battle in a group while Elder Mo stood off to the side, watching intently with Qi flickering around his eyes. He held a small parchment and seemed to be carefully noting down possible improvements. Stella seemed spurred on by her Disciple''s words as she began to push forward and go on the offensive. This is where her smaller sword helped as she could maneuver it far easier and get under his attacks while his monstrously big sword whistled through the air. "Getting a little confident are we? Let''s see how this sword handles my Nascent Soul Realm Qi, which carries the weight of my inner world." Ashlock mused as lilac flames engulfed the blade, and he swung to the side. As before, Stella met the attack to parry it, but her eyes widened as her arms buckled under the force. Her sword shattered, and she was swept off her feet and propelled off to the side as if she had been hit by a car-sized bullet. There was a small sonic boom as she crashed through the spatial shield, drowning out the rain. Everyone turned to see where Stella had flown off to in the distance. The Redclaws and Sebastian were controlling their surprise quite well, but Jasmine and Ryker had their mouths wide open in absolute shock. "Is Stella fine? I didn''t put my all into that attack, but there is an entire realm between us in strength," Ashlock worried and was about to look for her when there was a flash of white, and Stella reappeared in the spot she had been standing before. Her damp blonde hair had darkened slightly as it clung to her face, and her clothes were soaked from the storm she had just flown through. Stella wiped a streak of blood trailing from her mouth with her sleeve. Yet, despite her injuries, she seemed far more concerned about the sword hilt she was holding with broken fingers, which now lacked a blade. Diana glided across the mountain peak and swiftly pulled the water from Stella''s clothes and hair, drying her instantly. Sol also lumbered over and healed her. "My sword," Stella muttered, looking at the hilt as if she were about to cry while her fingers snapped back into place. She seemed far more distressed over the sword than the injuries and experience of being hit so hard. Ashlock hadn''t expected to shatter Stella''s sword with a single hit. If it had survived, she might have been able to parry his attack, and she wouldn''t have gone flying. "Elder Mo," he spoke directly into the man''s mind. "I need a gift for Stella''s birthday next week. With her sword broken, I''m sure you know what to do." The man gave a slight nod and jogged over to Stella. "Don''t worry, Princess, I can get it fixed." He held out his hand, and Stella reluctantly gave him the hilt. "I''ll provide the materials and the design later," Ashlock said to Elder Mo. She deserved more than a simple repair. "Please make sure to repair it well," Stella said, unaware of the silent conversation the two were having. "Tree gifted that sword to me in the past." "I will do the best I can," Elder Mo nodded seriously. Stella sighed and eyed Ashlock''s sword, which still emanated a sinister aura, "Bloodiron really was a good choice of metal for you." She rolled her shoulders, "It felt like I tried to parry an unstoppable wall." Ashlock flexed his ethereal root to look at the sword more and had to agree. This wasn''t some gimmick weapon or joke. It actually made swordsmanship a viable way to fight for him. "This is the best present I''ve ever received. Thank you, Stella. Seriously, this means a lot." Stella''s sour mood was instantly turned around, and she beamed, "I''m glad you like it." Ashlock waved the sword around some more but noticed its presence was disturbing a few people as it pulsed as if alive, so he deposited it in his storage. Stella returned to her bench along with Diana. Everyone seemed in good spirits, and he couldn''t believe how easily they seemed to have taken the news that there was no immortal under the mountain¡ª "So, Ashlock. I have some questions, if you don''t mind." The Redclaw Grand Elder said, and everyone fell silent. It seemed many of them also had questions but had been waiting for an opportunity. "There it is. I guess it''s time for the dreaded Q&A session." Ashlock sighed and swiveled his eye to look straight at the Redclaw Grand Elder. "I''m happy to answer almost anything." There were many things he hadn''t even told Stella yet¡ªmostly because she refused to be told for fear of causing him problems if her memories got probed. He obviously wouldn''t tell them about his system. "Okay, first question and one that''s all the more relevant now that I know you aren''t a recovering immortal. How do you grow so fast? Even the World Tree takes centuries to reach any relevant level of power, and that''s with cultivators tending to it, hoping it would mature and start providing them divine sap they can drink." Well, that was certainly a loaded question. The true answer was the Idletree Daily Sign-In System. Without it, even with his human soul, he would have been stuck in the Qi Realm without his devour skill. "I don''t know what species of tree the World Tree is, but as a Demonic Spirit Tree, I can gain power through consuming monsters. I got lucky in my early life as a sapling that Stella fed me the bodies of the servants she slaughtered, allowing me to grow strong enough to start sourcing monster corpses on my own." Stella was unfazed as a few people stared at her. "Right." The Grand Elder nodded, but he understandably wasn''t convinced. "There are other reasons for my rapid growth. A senior from an upper realm gifted me a divine fragment that gives me unlimited cultivation potential and puts me on the path to becoming a divine being." Ashlock added, "And there are other reasons for my rapid growth that would be dangerous to disclose." "So you aren''t some reincarnated being from a higher realm?" "No," Ashlock answered honestly, unless Earth counted as a higher realm. "I was once a very weak and clueless tree." Diana nodded, "I can attest to that. Until this year, he couldn''t even speak. Poor Stella spent a year learning the ancient runic language day and night in Darklight City''s library to try communicating with Ashlock. She also fought in a tournament to desperately protect Red Vine Peak from falling into the hands of my family. While Ashlock''s rapid rise in cultivation has been impressive, he definitely didn''t give off the feeling of a cultivator or old spiritual being that knew what they were doing." Stella nodded along proudly. "I protected Tree as best I could, and he did the same for me." The Grand Elder smiled, "I see. But that leads me to a slightly awkward question." He looked between Ashlock and Stella. "If you are a tree, how can Stella be your daughter?" "I treat her as my own, but she''s not my biological daughter. However, she is at least half tree," Ashlock said. "That''s right!" Stella stuck her nose in the air, "My mother is the World Tree." "Sorry... what?" The Grand Elder raised a brow. Ashlock sighed. This was going to be hard to explain. Chapter 370: Half Tree Ashlock paused for a while, trying to think of the best way to explain how Stella was half tree, but the girl in question beat him to it. "My background is quite the mystery. I''ve never met my Mother, and I only vaguely remember my Father teaching me a few techniques when I was tiny before he apparently died after failing to reach Star Core. Until recently, I believed both my parents were dead, so to me, Ashlock is the only one I could call family." Stella raised a finger in the air, "But then a cosmic being guarding a library pointed out some inconsistencies. Where is the rest of my family, the Crestfallens? I was told they all died protecting Vincent Nightrose, but why would that man need saving? He''s the strongest in the region." "I always did find that rather odd," The Redclaw Grand Elder admitted as he rubbed his chin. "I met Grand Elder Crestfallen once at a summit for all the peaks. He was the only person representing Red Vine Peak and the Crestfallen family and drew a lot of attention as he was at the measly Soul Fire Realm. He never shared his name and sidestepped any questions. One day, I heard he died and didn''t think much more of the matter." "You have met him?!" Stella sat up straight from the bench and stared at the Grand Elder with wide eyes. "What did he look like?" "Nothing like you. I honestly fail to see how you could possibly be related that closely." The Grand Elder said thoughtfully as he looked Stella up and down, "He did have similar eyes to you, but that''s about it. That''s why I never even brought him up or felt like asking about him until now." Stella fell quiet for a while, and nobody dared say a word. "Grand Elder Valandor told me¡ª" "Grand Elder Valandor?!" The Redclaw Grand Elder almost fell out of his chair. "The White Reaper of the Blood Lotus Sect? You spoke with him and survived?" "Yes, he is a friend of my Father. He was searching for new bloodlines for Vincent Nightrose when he found my Father traversing the wilderness and became interested in us. My Father was apparently alone, crossing the wilderness as the survivor of a group from the Celestial Empire. All he had with him were the clothes on his back, some supplies in a spatial ring, and me. A baby girl bundled in cloth. He never disclosed anything about himself to Valandor." "So Valandor brought you into the sect, but it sounds like he sold you and your Father out to Vincent rather than an act of kindness. That sounds like the White Reaper that I know of." Stella nodded. "Yes, it wasn''t out of kindness at all. However, after being offered refuge in the Blood Lotus Sect, my Father gifted Valandor a vial of World Tree sap as thanks. After turning it into a pill, Valandor ate the pill and felt a mist lift from his mind as he was freed from Vincent''s mind control." "Valandor was mind controlled?" the Grand Elder mused. "I always thought that man was oddly loyal, considering Vincent is the one preventing him from reaching the Nascent Soul Realm. But if he was mind-controlled, that makes more sense." He sighed, "Your Father sounded like an interesting man. It''s a shame he is dead." "He is not dead." Stella said bluntly, "He faked his death under the guise of a failed Star Core ascension." "So he left you all alone here?" Stella shook her head, "He left a note with Valandor asking him to protect me for five years." "Mhm... now that I hear that story again, knowing that he apparently looked nothing like you, maybe he really wasn''t your Father," Ashlock said. "Stella, the only thing you share with him is the Crestfallen bloodline¡ªwhich means you are at least somewhat related, but not necessarily Father and Daughter." "He''s not my Father, then?" Stella looked sullen at the thought. "The bond between parent and child varies wildly in this world," Sebastian Silverspire said, drawing attention, "But Grand Elder Crestfallen seems to have gone to great lengths to bring Stella somewhere ''safe'' and far away from the Celestial Empire. An act that seems in line with what a Father would do. Which makes him faking his death and leaving you here all alone so strange." "You''re certain that crafty man really faked his death? If he said he would return in five years, he''s still alive, right? Where is he now?" The Redclaw Grand Elder asked. "Yes, he is still alive." Stella confirmed with a nod, "After inquiring at the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, I know his name is Janus Crestfallen. He is in the Nascent Soul Realm and hiding in the Frozen Star Sect. I did get to speak with him briefly, but all he told me was to run." "Run? From what?" Elder Mo asked. "The beast tide, perhaps?" Stella shook her head, "He wasn''t specific, but a few days after I got that message, the Celestial Order tried to capture me and bring me back to the Celestial Empire during the first service for the All-Seeing Eye." Sebastian whistled, recalling the memory, "Oh yeah, I remember that. Ashlock struck them all down in a second with that black lightning after they made their appearance." "The Celestial Order is after you? Has that got something to do with your Mother being the World Tree?" The Redclaw Grand Elder said. Stella nodded. "While not confirmed, it''s been hinted from a few sources that I''m the result of an experiment with World Tree sap. While unbelievable, there are no other mentions of a potential Mother for me, and I did originate from the Celestial Empire, where the World Tree grows. I''ve also always had a sort of affinity for trees. I can understand them on a deeper level than others, I think." The Grand Elder leaned back on his chair and hummed in thought. "You weren''t kidding. Your background really is a mysterious mess. It''s a shame you can''t just ask Janus, as he seems to be desperately running from something as well? The question is, who?" "I''ve seen this before. Janus Crestfallen likely faked his death to divert the attention of the Celestial Order away from here." Morrigan, who had been keeping to the shadows as she wasn''t really supposed to be here as she hadn''t sworn an oath, suggested. Everyone fell into deep thoughts at her words, while Ashlock wondered if there was a way to get rid of Morrigan but soon gave up. Even if he killed her, she would reincarnate with her memories intact. She was like a void cockroach. "I think that''s quite likely," Diana said as she sat beside Stella on the bench, "Don''t worry. Once we have dealt with Vincent and the Beast Tide, we will save the World Tree and get Janus Crestfallen to spill all the answers." Stella nodded with pain in her eyes. "Mhm. That sounds good." She said, but there wasn''t a lot of energy behind her tone. She sounded defeated and tired. "Every step we take forward feels like two steps backward. To think Janus Crestfallen looks nothing like Stella and is unlikely to be her Father. If so, then does she even have one?" Ashlock felt a headache coming as he muttered to himself, "If she was made from the World Tree sap, does there even need to be a Father? Trees can obviously reproduce without a human''s involvement, but then why is Stella clearly human? God, this makes no sense." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The mood at the party had certainly soured as everyone idly sipped their spirit wine, lost in their own thoughts. A lot had been said today. It gave everyone a lot to think about. In fact, everyone was so lost in their own worlds, including Ashlock, that nobody noticed the flash of white flames not belonging to Stella. Luckily, his system had been paying attention and informed him. [A known cultivator that is half a step into the Nascent Soul Realm was detected within the Voidstorm Aegis. Do you wish to annihilate them?] Void lightning crackled across the dome, ready to strike down the person who had just appeared uninvited on the mountain peak. He had a young face¡ªlooking no older than twenty-five. Lustrous white hair ran down the length of his back and was lost in the folds of his pristine white robes. "Relax system. It''s just Grand Elder Valandor." Ashlock said, and he felt the defensive technique relax. It was nice to know it wouldn''t instantly try to kill anyone uninvited if the system had seen them before and knew they weren''t likely to be a threat. Valandor eyed the dissipating crackling void lightning overhead with a weary expression. "Sorry to appear out of nowhere. I checked on the Redclaws'' mountain peak, and a girl called Amber said you might be holding a meeting in Ashfallen City. I checked there too but couldn''t find anyone, so I thought I might find you lot here." Larry dropped down from Ashlock''s branches, landing gracefully like a soft cloud between Valandor and the others. His crown began to spin subtly but was clearly a threat as the pressure about Larry slowly escalated. This was an appropriate response. Valandor, while technically an ally, was dangerous and shouldn''t be here. Ashlock shifted his Evil Eye to look at him and invaded his mind with Abyssal Whispers carrying the weight of his Inner World¡ªeasily smashing through the man''s mental defenses. "What are you doing here? Speak before I strike you down." "To think you were once a little spirit tree eating rabbits and growing fruits for Stella." Valandor wiped away a fake tear, "They grow up so fast." While not as strong as many of the beings before him, Valandor was unfazed by threats¡ªan attitude befitting the White Reaper, the person who was once the right-hand man of Vincent Nightrose. Stella appeared before Valandor in a flash of white with a wide grin. "Long time no see, Grand Elder Valandor." The man broke character when he saw the white flames dancing across Stella''s shoulders. "You... how?! Since when did you learn aether Qi!?" Stella sheepishly scratched her cheek, "Just recently. I had hoped to get some training from you on how to use it. I''ve managed to convert many of my spatial techniques over, but I''m at a loss when it comes to learning other techniques as I have no technique manuals to look at." "Why didn''t you say so earlier?!" Valandor waved his hand, and with a flash of silver, a small book pile appeared floating between them. "I don''t have many unfortunately. Manuals for aether Qi can only be found in rifts." Valandor floated them forward, and Stella accepted the pile with open arms, "I know this doesn''t make up for the years of neglect despite your Father asking me to watch over you..." Stella shook her head as she accepted the books, "All is forgiven, Grand Elder. While I don''t know the circumstances regarding Janus Crestfallen¡ª" Ashlock noted she avoided using the word Father and called the man by name, "¡ªIt wasn''t your fault so much happened to me in a few short years. This is more than enough." Stella stowed the books away, "I''ll look through these later. But Grand Elder Valandor, what are you doing here?" The man''s cheerful mood vanished, and his expression hardened. "Vincent Nightrose is out of seclusion and has called a summit for tomorrow." His gaze swept across everyone standing behind Larry. "He expects everyone to be in attendance, including the Silverspire, Voidmind, and Redclaw families." He then looked straight into Stella''s eyes, "He also knows you are alive. I have no idea how, but he said something about the threads of fate leading him to you and pointed in this direction. He was adamant that I find you and force your attendance." Valandor''s face scrunched up in disgust, "He also said to wear something nice and revealing. He hates it when clothes get in the way of his meals." "What..." Stella seemed frozen in place as her lip trembled. Vincent Nightrose had been a phantom of death hovering over her since she was young. They thought she had finally escaped his grasp, but fate had other plans. "She won''t be going," Ashlock said, his voice rumbling with emotion. He would not let Stella walk into the lion''s den just to be devoured. His roots had spread through nearly every inch of Nightrose City, and he had planted a few trees around so he could use {Progeny Dominion}. But even so, the difference between himself and Vincent Nightrose was too vast. He couldn''t protect Stella from him. There were undoubtedly ways he could hope to win. Larry, Maple, and his Ents were all in the Nascent Soul Realm. If Morrigan offered to help, that would up their chances even more. Killing him wasn''t impossible, but preventing him from retaliating was different. If Stella didn''t go, Vincent would likely show up at his doorstep, where Ashlock was strongest. But even the Voidstorm Aegis wasn''t infallible. It devoured his Qi at an alarming rate even after ascension, and void lightning would do little if Vincent surrounded himself with a constantly replenishing blood shield. That wasn''t even considering that there was nobody but Morrigan to represent the Voidmind family, as everyone at the Elder level was either dead or turned into a tree, and the Redclaw family had undergone too many changes. The sudden rise in cultivation levels would catch Vincent''s interest immediately. Ashlock''s brain churned for a solution, arriving at a crazy one. Crazy enough that it might just work. "Valandor, what is Vincent up to right now? Where is he?" The man seemed taken aback by the question. "Erm, he should be cultivating. That''s all that freak does every spare second he has." "Where? You said he had left closed-door cultivation." Ashlock had searched Nightrose City for Vincent before but hadn''t found the slightest hint of the man. Valandor nodded, "I saw him heading to his room on the upper floor of the castle to cultivate after giving out his orders. It would be easy to find him by following the dozens of brainwashed Nightrose cultivators guarding him." Ashlock''s vision shifted as he headed westward toward Nightrose City. He felt his anger rising. What had he gone through all this for if he didn''t have the power to protect those he held dear? Vincent was a cancer in his life that needed to be culled. Arriving at the vast castle that lorded over Nightrose City, it would be easy to get lost in these endless dark hallways, but Ashlock followed Valandor''s advice and followed the trail. Many white-haired, deathly pale cultivators with glowing blood-red eyes shifted through the hallways. They walked in silence apart from a constant ominous synchronized drumming that closely resembled a loud heartbeat. Ashlock followed the flow of the cultivators, noting a surprising number of them being in the Star Core Realm. His vision ascended the stairs. He couldn''t go everywhere as he was forced to follow where he had grown roots under the floorboards, but it seemed he was in luck. Deeming it an important-looking room, he had made sure to have roots near the large bedroom at the top of the castle that was encased in more layers of protective arrays than he thought possible. Vincent was a very cautious man. At the doors to the room, there were three members of the Nightrose Family¡ªthey were all half a step into the Nascent Soul Realm, making them stronger than Stella. Yet they were unsettling with their utterly lifeless, blank stares. Taking a deep breath, Ashlock pushed his spiritual sight through the formation. He felt his vision blur and stretch, and there was a slight hissing noise as he phased through the layers of protection. One of the guarding cultivators seemed to notice the noise, but other than a quick once over of the door, they returned to looking forward. Entering the inner sanctum, Ashlock finally laid eyes on who he assumed was the tyrant. Vincent Nightrose lay in a stone coffin filled to the brim with crimson blood that shimmered with Qi. A team of naked mortal maids tended to him, reminding Ashlock of Valandor''s comment about the clothes Stella was expected to wear. There wasn''t a hint of emotion on any of their faces as they tirelessly worked like drones. The man himself was eerie to behold. His skin was nearly translucent and impossibly thin¡ªgripping to his bones like white paint. If Ashlock had to describe the man in one word, he resembled a ghoul. Vaguely human, yet slightly wrong in every way. His arms were too long, ending in clawed nails that looked like they could tear through stone. His cracked lips failed to hide his crooked shark-like teeth. Unlike the half steps guarding the door, Vincent had two notable heartbeats, and Ashlock saw the blood bath''s luster glow and dull along with the rhythm. One of the mindless maids tripped and fell off to the side, spilling a bucket of blood onto the floor and legs of some of the other maids. Vincent didn''t even stir at the loud noise; his heartbeats continued, and his eyes remained closed. The man was cultivating and unfazed about the world around him. Ashlock withdrew himself from the room and returned to Red Vine Peak. Noticing his return, Stella perked up slightly but still looked pale. "Ash, what should we do?" "What else is there to do than eliminate the root of the problem?" Ashlock said, his tone full of wrath, "I found Vincent. He has his guard down and is busy cultivating. We have a rare opportunity." Valandor narrowed his eyes, "Don''t tell me." "We are going to kill him tonight," Ashlock said with finality. "And you are going to help us, Grand Elder Valandor." Chapter 371: Grim Reaper "W-We are going to kill him tonight?" Stella stuttered as she felt a pain in her chest. They had slaughtered the Voidmind family to fake her death, used the last divine beast egg to create the amulet to hide her bloodline and Qi from the world, and she had hidden away for weeks. Yet it was all for nothing? Stella was struggling to breathe. Everyone will die because of me¡ªVincent is near the Monarch Realm with three affinities and can track me down through the threads of fate? If I stay here, Tree, Diana... Stella looked down to her side at Jasmine, who looked up at her with those big, innocent yellow eyes filled with youth and hope. Stella gulped as she imagined Jasmine, a bloodied paste on the ground below Vincent''s feet. They are all going to die trying to fight him for me. "We aren''t ready to fight him," Stella said resolutely as she looked into Ash''s eye. "It''s my bloodline he wants, not all of you or anyone else here." She clenched her jaw, and her whole body tensed. This was the right decision. "I''ll go¡ª" "What in the nine realms are you talking about? Think Stella, what would that achieve?" Ashlock thundered¡ªhis voice filled with a churning wrath of emotions that crashed against the Soul Protection fruit enveloping her consciousness. Stella almost fell to her knees beside Valandor as the mist encircling her consciousness pulsed an enraged red, and spatial Qi crackled through the air all around the demonic spirit tree. Stella had never seen Ash so angry... was her way of seeing this situation so wrong? "I just don''t want anyone else to get hurt because of me." Stella choked on her own words. "You have all done so much for me, and all I''ve done in return is cause problems. How could I possibly agree that we all fight against a foe so powerful that even if we win..." Her expression hardened as she surveyed everyone''s faces. "There will be casualties. Deaths. All because he wants my bloodline¡ª" Diana came out of nowhere and stole the breath from her lungs with a crushing hug. "You silly girl," she whispered in her ear before putting her down. The Demoness had a sad smile as she looked deeply into her eyes, "We are cultivators who defy the heavens and fight every day for survival. How many times have we almost died together? Do you truly believe any of us fear death at this point? Besides, if we die, we can simply rise again as a tree." Diana smirked, "What we truly fear is what that lump of wood would do if we lost you." Diana pointed a thumb over her shoulder at Ash. His Qi was out of control as it radiated off his trunk, and divine energy arced between his branches overhead. "I don''t think any of us are ready to deal with that headache," Diana joked and patted Stella on the shoulder. "So do your best to live and keep him happy, okay?" Stella absentmindedly nodded. It was as if her brain had stopped working. Nothing made sense. Why was everyone nodding at Diana''s words in the background? "Also, it''s not your fault you have a delicious bloodline that some old creep wants a taste of," Diana winked at her, "If not for you, I''m sure he would be after me. He needs to go, and sacrificing you isn''t the answer. That''s just silly, and you know it. We will tackle this together, as we have always done." Stella breathed as Diana''s words lifted a weight from her shoulders. "Thank you, Diana," she said, returning a weak smile. "I just... got confused and scared for a moment. I''m fine now." Despite never meeting Vincent or knowing much about him, the man had somehow cast his deathly grip on her life, and sometimes, she felt like a puppet desperately dancing in his hand. She only wanted to live and enjoy life alongside Tree while discovering new and exciting things with her friends and Disciple. I have so much to live for; why did I instantly want to fold and forfeit it all because Vincent demanded it? I really am stupid. The Qi swirling around Ashlock relaxed, and the pressure on her consciousness lessened. "Sorry for making you worry... Dad." Stella said. Her mind rumbled as Ash sighed deeply. "Stella, surely you can understand that I would rather fight to the death than watch you be devoured by that bastard," Ashlock said coldly as his rage faded. "I need you to be focused here. Time isn''t on our side as dusk approaches, and believe it or not, you are the only one here capable of killing him. Quite the twist of fate, wouldn''t you say?" "Me?" Stella pointed at herself. I know I''m one of the stronger ones in the sect, but wouldn''t Khaos, Maple, or even Grand Elder Valandor, who shares the same affinity as me while being half a step into the Nascent Soul Realm, be a better choice for the job? "Yes, I just checked on Vincent Nightrose in his castle. I only proposed the crazy plan of killing him in a single day because I saw an opening. You are correct; fighting him head-on will be difficult¡ªif not outright impossible, depending on this third affinity¡ªand likely result in casualties." Grand Elder Valandor hummed at Stella''s side and didn''t seem convinced. "I''ll have to hear this plan of yours, but I would like to go on record saying it''s unlikely to work. So many attempts have been made on Vincent''s life and failed that at this point that I''m starting to suspect the man is actually immortal." "We have to try," Ashlock said. "The summit will be the start of an all-out war once Vincent learns of our presence and the downfall of his sect. It''s either we kill him now or prepare to fight an angry cultivator who might as well be a living god hellbent on eating Stella." "Okay," Grand Elder Valandor said thoughtfully, "Let''s hear this plan of yours. I should be able to tell you if it has a hint of success or not." Ashlock explained his plan to the group, and Valandor offered his own suggestions throughout. As the sun dipped below the distant mountain range, Grand Elder Valandor sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You know what, this might actually work. You have two advantages that no other attempts have had. Okay, I will assist with this plan to the best of my abilities, though ultimately," Grand Elder Valandor glanced over at Stella, "It will be up to you to silence this tyrant once and for all." Stella nodded, "I can do it." "Great," Valandor said with a smile as he rose from his chair and looked at the sunset. "Tonight may be one for the history books. Stella, get ready, and we will head out together at dusk." "What did I need to do first again? The Spatial Anchor, right?" "Yes. Go and visit Quill. He will get you sorted out." Ash helpfully reminded her. She snapped her fingers, and after briefly phasing through the aether realm that ran parallel to reality, she reemerged in the library. The ink lake surrounding Quill rippled and parted as Kaida''s large body emerged from the darkness. His golden eyes swirled with curiosity, and the last streaks of sunlight through Quill''s canopy caused his inky body to shimmer. "Hey Kaida, sorry to bother you." Stella glanced around the library and noticed Maple was also here, sleeping on one of Quill''s branches with a half-eaten acorn in his paw. Despite the storm outside, it was peaceful here beside the rain drumming on the stone walls. That is when Stella noticed Quill had thrown up a spatial bubble around his canopy to block the rain. I guess that''s why Maple is hiding in here. Ash hadn''t bothered to block the rain until we arrived earlier today. Kaida leaned in closer, his tongue flickering out, and he let off a low, non-threatening hiss. Stella smiled wearily. She and Kaida had never gotten along that well. There were too many pranks done between them, and the snake liked Diana way too much. It wasn''t fair! "It would be best to get changed first," Ash said as what could only be described as a maid outfit fell through a portal alongside a few fruits. "The clothes were provided by Valandor. Apparently, they are standard issue attire for the maids in the Nightrose castle and should fit you. After that, eat the Void Protection fruit, and we can get started on the spatial anchor." This was by far the part Stella disliked about the plan the most. "I''ll check back on you soon," Ash said, and Stella felt his attention move elsewhere. Stella bent down and picked up the plain white clothes. Unlike the clothes the maids she had seen attending to the rich mortals in Darklight City, which were covered in frills, this one was almost too basic. Holding the clothes out before her, she noted the dress left a lot of open area around the neck and shoulders. I bet that''s so the bloodsuckers of the Nightrose family have easy access to the maids'' necks. Stella frowned as she noted the outfit also had shoes. She hated shoes. They felt restrictive and painful to wear. Stella went to undress but then tilted her head at Kaida, who was still quite close and eyeing her. "Shoo, look away." The serpent looked at her strangely. Stella sighed and decided to use the age-old trick of changing clothes with her spatial ring. Her usual clothes were replaced with a maid outfit in a flash of silver. "Ouch," she walked a few steps forward in the godforsaken shoes. They were lacking any support and did nothing but rub against her ankles. "Stupid shoes... why would anyone wear these accursed things." "Done?" Ash''s voice echoed in her mind, and she nodded. Finding the Void Protection fruit with its notable dark purple color, she ate it, and her eyes widened as she felt the horrific pull on her Star Core. Qi gushed out of her reserves to form a thin void layer over her skin. "Okay, I''m going to have Quill act as your Spatial Anchor, and the activation requirement will be the destruction of your void shield. Remember, this is the Azure Clan Elder''s technique to escape when Maple ate his arm. So, while it will keep you safe by bringing you back here, it comes with the caveat that you have no control over it. Even if you are about to kill Vincent, you will be forced back to this library if he manages to break your void shield. Understood?" The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Stella nodded. The Spatial Anchor was an essential part of the plan¡ªnot only to keep her safe but also to allow her to leave after she had killed Vincent, as she would be entering his chambers alone. Valandor would only be helping to get her inside, hence the maid outfit. If only Ash could open a portal straight into the chamber. But he said the defensive formations almost blocked his spiritual sight, so he''s not convinced he could forcefully form a portal, which might make escaping through the aether impossible, too. A piece of bark on Quill glowed with golden light. It flashed, and a golden symbol shot through the air, hitting Stella in the stomach. It didn''t hurt, but she felt something connecting her void shield to a distant point. "Okay, that should be done." Ashlock said, "Make sure to also eat the Soul Protection and Mind Protection fruits. We have no idea what Vincent''s third affinity is, but the last thing I need is him taking control of your mind and soul." "Don''t forget his dozens of bloodlines¡ªone of which can apparently track me down no matter what I do," Stella grumbled as she bit into the other two fruits and felt their powers flow through her body and enshroud her mind and soul in a protective layer. "Your mind, body, and soul are now all protected to the best of my abilities. Show me your weapons," Ash instructed. Stella presented her two black wooden daggers that had served her well since childhood. They felt like the most fitting weapons to reap Vincent''s life. Cursed sap flowed out of a nearby portal and coated her blades. "I''m not sure how Vincent will react to my cursed blood as he''s a blood cultivator, but let''s call this insurance. Blood affinity has ultra-speed regeneration, so there''s a chance that if both your daggers don''t hit the perfect spots to kill him, he will not die. Hopefully, in that case, he cannot remove the cursed blood, and it will slowly drain him of Qi until he runs out and turns into a tree. Also, if he does die, the cursed blood should spread to his other soul if he tries to escape." Stella nodded in understanding and felt rather silly as she stood there in a maid outfit, holding two daggers dripping in cursed blood from an ''evil'' god tree. "Time to go." Ashlock paused, and his voice softened. "Are you ready?" "Honestly, no." Stella sighed as she clutched her Phantom Veil Amulet that hung against her chest, which made her appear as an ordinary mortal. "But when will I ever be? Now is as good of a time as ever." "That''s the spirit, and no matter what happens, your safety is most important. We can always try to kill him again another day, but if you die..." Ashlock trailed off, and Stella felt the mist in her mind subtly pulse red again. "Don''t worry. I''ll be safe," Stella smiled, feeling warm. Waving Kaida and Maple goodbye, she left the library and joined up with Grand Elder Valandor under Ash''s canopy. "It''s too far to use aether Qi, so we will take a series of teleportation hubs. Make sure to keep your head down and look like a docile maid. It''s best we attract as little attention as possible." Valandor''s eyes drifted to the daggers and chuckled, "Oh, and hide those. Maids look far less threatening with a broom in hand than daggers dripping in black blood." *** Stella had not expected to start her day watching Serena Blacktide fighting for her life against Celeste Starweaver in a tournament held inside Ash''s Inner World and to end it walking through the hallways of Vincent Nightrose''s castle. As instructed, she kept her head down and trailed a step behind Valandor, who walked with the poise of someone who owned the place. Maids bowed deeply as he passed, their eyes dull as if they were looking elsewhere with no thoughts of their own. "Grand Elder Valandor, you are back already?" A man with sickly white skin and hair greeted Valandor. Stella could tell he was a member of the Nightrose family by the subtle pounding of his spiritual heart that apparently all blood cultivators had. The man didn''t even give Stella a moment of attention; to him, she likely appeared as nothing but a lowly mortal maid. "I have important news to present directly to Vincent Nightrose regarding the summit tomorrow and of a top-grade bloodline''s whereabouts," Grand Elder Valandor said casually. The man snarled, "The Ancestor is busy." "So am I," Valandor replied with a deadpan expression. "Now move aside." The man begrudgingly stepped aside and let them pass. "Disgusting daywalker," he hissed before vanishing down another passage. They made their way through the hallways otherwise undisturbed. Whatever had given that particular Nightrose family member the courage to get in the White Reaper''s way didn''t seem to carry over to the other members of the family, who did their best to avoid them. Stella frowned in pain as they climbed a stupidly long flight of stairs. Her ill-fitting shoes clacked on the marble-like surface as they ascended toward the castle''s largest chamber. Cresting the top, they were greeted by three intense gazes belonging to members of the Nightrose family who seemed to be standing guard. These three... are strong. Stella gulped. Soul pressure radiated from all three of them, and if Valandor had not stood before her, she might have buckled to the floor. Are they all half a step into the Nascent Soul Realm? No wonder Ash proposed that I sneak in rather than fight our way in. It would take some serious effort and be a massive waste of Qi to kill these three. Vincent would also wake up from such high amounts of Qi being thrown around. "Open the door, guardians; I''ve brought a new maid for Vincent that I''m sure he will find delectable, and she also has a message to give him," Valandor said, putting some Qi into his voice. The three Nightrose cultivators exchanged a dull look before stepping aside and opening the door. Stella almost wanted to laugh. It turned out to be just as easy as Valandor had claimed it would be earlier. While Vincent was a cautious man, he was also the strongest in the region. They had no reason to put up their guard over allowing a random mortal maid into his chamber. All three guardians inserted some of their blood into an ominous formation that glowed with power. Multiple clicks sounded before the defensive formations relaxed, and the doors began to part. Stella waited with bated breath, eager to find out what lay beyond. She soon found her answer as a wave of bloodlust and pressure erupted from the gap, followed by the drum of two spiritual hearts. With each beat, she felt a wave of force hit her body. "Get inside, mortal, and tend to the Ancestor," Valandor said, pushing her roughly inside before turning to leave. Stella didn''t care if it was an act. She would get him back for that someday. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the low lighting in the room. Shadows shifted around, and she soon realized they were other mortal maids. They moved strangely, and their eyes were unfocused as they worked. Most of them were retrieving buckets of blood marked with labels that Stella didn''t understand and pouring them into channels in the stone floor that were all leading to the centerpiece of the large chamber¡ªa coffin of stone filled to the brim with blood that smelled strongly of iron. It wasn''t until she took a few steps forward that Stella saw a person bathing in blood. The scarlet liquid rippled along with his powerful heartbeats. This must be Vincent Nightrose. Stella felt her own heart pounding at the sight of a man who had haunted her dreams for far too long and tried to calm down. His eyes were closed, and he seemed unmoving. It''s okay. He''s cultivating or sleeping. Stella double-checked and then triple-checked that her amulet was still active before moving deeper into the chamber. Remember, you''re just a mortal maid. There is nothing to see here... Stella felt her heart leap out of her chest as the door to the chamber behind her clicked closed. The room glowed with silver light as the defensive formations activated once more. The mindless naked maids paid her no attention as Stella stalked around the room, circling the coffin. Standard attire, my ass. Stella thought as she saw a naked maid who had dried blood all down her leg as if someone had spilled a bucket on her walk past. If anything, her wearing the maid outfit made her stand out. Stella did a few more rounds around the room and confirmed that Vincent wasn''t paying attention. Stop stalling, Stella. She admonished herself, recognizing exactly what she was doing. Just do it. A quick stab to the head and heart, with a twist and dosage of cursed sap for good measure. If he lives through all that, you did your best. Taking a deep breath, she approached the coffin and looked directly at Vincent''s sleeping face. The man was disheveled and sickly with sunken cheeks, skin so thin it clung desperately to his bones, and cracked lips. His body looked a few years past death as if he had risen from a grave just this morning. Stella quietly pulled two daggers from her pockets, which she had hidden earlier because she didn''t want to use a spatial ring so close to Vincent and wake him up. Valandor had identified two things that they had that no other attempt had. First, Valandor''s help getting someone so close to Vincent, and second, the Phantom Veil Amulet that allowed Stella to appear as a regular mortal. Nobody as strong and capable of killing as Stella had gotten this close to Vincent before. Cultivators were strong, but if Stella wasn''t shielding her body with Qi, she could die in her sleep from someone stabbing her heart and brain. At the end of the day, without a vessel, her soul had no place in this world and would drift off to the afterlife... well, until she reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Stella loomed over Vincent, still asleep in his coffin. Just how deeply does this man cultivate? Even I would notice a mortal this close to me. It was strange, but she wasn''t one to complain. If he was so arrogant as to leave himself unaware of the mind-controlled ''weaklings'' around him, then she was going to take full advantage of that and end him. Taking a breath, Stella exploded with aether Qi as she rammed both daggers into Vincent''s body. There was some resistance as the man''s body was far tougher than it looked, but there was soon the crunching noise of cracked bone as she impaled his skull and ribcage. Vincent''s eyes snapped open, and they glared up at her. He mouthed something as he seemed to recognize her, but the life vacated his eyes before he could say a word. Stella twisted her daggers, creating even more damage before ruthlessly pulling them out and plunging them down repeatedly. She kept going, lost in the slaughter for a while. It wasn''t until her daggers met nothing but blood that she stopped and frowned. The body was gone. All that remained was a murky coffin of black blood. "Is he... dead?" Stella panted as she looked around. All the mindless maids simply stood there, eerily staring at her like living statues. None offered an answer to her question. Stella spun back around and plunged her hand into the coffin, digging for anything like clothes or bone, but came up empty. "Gather the blood and leave," Ash''s voice echoed in her mind, "There''s no sign he survived. I was watching the whole time; it seemed his life force was nearing its end, and your attack was enough to cause his body to disintegrate into the blood." "Really?" Stella bit her lip, she wasn''t so sure. Either way, this place was creepy, and she had no intention of sticking around. Waving her hand, she absorbed all of the blood into a spatial ring. The door to the room clicked open, and Stella''s eyes went wide as the three Nightrose family guardians strode inside with blood-red power crackling around them. She didn''t even have time to know what hit her as the void shield vanished, and she felt an immense pull on her soul and body. The Spatial Anchor activated, and she was pulled through reality back to Quill. Stella collapsed on the rocky shore, unable to process what happened. Had she really killed Vincent Nightrose, a cultivator nearing the Monarch Realm? Ashlock said she did, but it all felt too unreal. Shouts echoed as Diana, followed by Jasmine and the others, ran inside the library. "You did it, Stella!" Diana hugged her from behind, "Ashlock told us Vincent is dead." "Yeah..." Stella trailed off as she felt all the strength leave her body, "I suppose he is." "The summit tomorrow sure is going to be something," The Redclaw Grand Elder chuckled, "I can''t wait to see the faces of the families loyal to him when he doesn''t show up." *** Vincent Nightrose frowned as he emerged from a coffin in the darkest depths of the castle. "To think Stella Crestfallen, of all people, would have the skills to kill me," he mused as he stepped out, blood dripping from his body onto the cold stone below. "Well, that wasn''t me, but close enough. How interesting... I can''t wait to taste her even more now." He stretched his back for the first time in decades, and it cracked a dozen times. "Such incredible growth in cultivation. The Crestfallen bloodline never fails to amaze and to think it would appear in the ninth layer of creation this time. Lucky me." Losing that body had been a significant loss. Vincent licked his lips as his eyes flickered around the room at the channels of blood heading off to different parts of the castle. "Cursed blood with divinity?" he muttered as he ran his finger through one of the channels dyed black by foreign blood. A savage grin appeared on his face as he effortlessly absorbed and isolated the blood within his body. "I wonder if they will be foolish enough to still show up now that they think I''m dead." Vincent mused as he coated his fingers in the black blood, "Tomorrow sure is going to be interesting." Chapter 372: Nightrose City Ashlock watched as Diana helped lug Stella onto the bench under his canopy and set her down while bundled in a cloak. She seemed utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically. Supplying the void shield with Qi had drained a significant amount of her reserves, and by how ferocious Stella had been while stabbing Vincent, he assumed the murder had let her vent a lot of pent-up frustrations. They had made sure to burn her maid outfit to a crisp to avoid any risk of tracking from the Nightrose family, as it had been soaked with blood, "Tree, are you sure Vincent is dead?" Stella muttered. The warm glow from the fire-affinity trees lining Red Vine Peak illuminated her concerned expression, which was partially buried in the oversized hood of her cult cloak. The sun had long set, and Ashlock was starting to feel the call of sleep himself. "Yes. You destroyed Vincent Nightrose''s body. A spiritual heart that appeared to be his infant soul floated up from the coffin, but you were too preoccupied, so I destroyed it myself with spatial blades. It''s why the Nightrose guardians charged into the room¡ªI had to overwhelm the defensive formations before I could attack the room with my Qi." "It just felt so... easy." Stella didn''t sound so sure, and Ashlock couldn''t blame her. For a near Monarch Realm cultivator that had ruled the lands for centuries, it felt like a more straightforward victory than many of their other hard-fought battles. Like the Lunarshade Grand Elder, for example. "You think it was easy?" Ashlock chuckled, "Vincent is an almost Monarch Realm cultivator in a room surrounded by five layers of defensive formations and guarded by three half-step Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. You could only get so close to him because Valandor broke his mind control by being given World Tree sap and switched sides. Furthermore, you had an artifact crafted from the blood of a divine being that totally masked your cultivation level. That isn''t even including the void fruit that shouldn''t exist within heaven''s carefully woven reality, my cursed blood, and your high cultivation level for your age. Vincent may be a cautious man who has lived for a long time, but there is a limit. He never cared much for the sect''s destruction around him because he believed himself to be the strongest." Stella bit her lip, "When you put it like that, I guess you just made it seem easy with all the nonsense you can accomplish." Ashlock had to admit he had expected a little more of a fight. It had felt a little too easy, even with all the bullshit he was capable of that surpassed the known possibilities to those on the 9th layer of creation. But he had seen Vincent''s body collapse and dissolve into the coffin of blood that Stella had gathered and safely stored away in a ring, and he had killed what appeared to be Vincent''s infant soul. "I can track people through my cursed sap, and while it has leaked throughout the castle, I can''t detect anyone having absorbed it." Ashlock added, "Though I also can''t detect the cursed blood inside your spatial ring, so it''s not foolproof." Stella frowned as she drew out a small stream of the darkened blood. "What about now?" Ashlock reached out and could feel its presence, "Yes, I can feel it now." "So if any of the Nightrose cultivators get their hands on your blood and absorb or use it, you will know?" "Yeah, that should be the case unless they can isolate my blood somehow," Ashlock confirmed, "That is why I had you coat your daggers with my cursed blood in the first place. Even if it can''t turn them into trees, I can use it to track them down. But right now, I''m detecting nothing." "This is so strange. All signs point to Vincent dying, and it makes sense with all the preparations we made that he could die. But still..." Stella frowned. "I still feel in my heart that he did not die. It didn''t feel conclusive. There was nothing left behind for you to turn into an Ent or tree." Diana nodded in agreement as she perched on the bench''s armrest while Stella was lying down and taking up the whole length. "The spiritual heart that rose from Vincent''s corpse, are you sure that was his infant soul and that you definitely killed it?" "I can''t say anything for certain as I could not make a portal and look at the room through my Evil Eye, but I put my all into those spatial blades. They carried the weight of my Inner World and multiple daos. I can''t see a way for a soul to survive that." Ashlock paused, "Look, even if Vincent''s soul did somehow escape, it will take days, if not weeks, for his soul to transfer to a new vessel and for him to recover enough to face us." "That''s true," The Redclaw Grand Elder, who stood off to the side, agreed. "So, are we still going to attend the summit tomorrow?" "Yes, but cautiously. We still don''t know Vincent''s third affinity or the capabilities of his many inferior bloodlines. Maybe he has one that lets him recover quickly. If Vincent is still alive, he will show himself there. Otherwise, his sect will fall apart. " Ashlock yawned. "We can discuss this in the morning. I feel on the cusp of reaching the 5th stage of the Nascent Soul Realm and would like to reach it before dealing with the summit tomorrow." "That sounds like a good idea. Today has been a long one." The Grand Elder exchanged a nod with the other Elders from his family, and they all took to the skies with swords of crimson flame. Sebastian followed their lead, taking Ryker with him. "See you tomorrow." Elder Magret said, waving at them. "You''re part of the Inner Circle now," Ashlock said as they rose into the air, "You can all stay here on Red Vine Peak if you wish." They all exchanged a look of surprise. "I suppose we are, huh." The Grand Elder rubbed his chin in thought but eventually shook his head, "Not for tonight. If we moved here permanently, I''d need to establish management over White Stone Peak rather than leaving it all to poor Amber." "We will need to move many things over," Sebastian smiled, "But we appreciate the offer." "Suit yourselves. The Ashfallen Sect is here to serve your needs. Wherever you feel most comfortable is where you should stay." They all bowed and said another round of goodbyes before shooting off through the darkness toward White Stone Peak. "Do they have to move here," Stella grumbled as she drifted in and out of sleep, "They are so... loud..." She trailed off as sleep finally claimed her consciousness. Her face relaxed, and she began to breathe softly. "Where would we even put them?" Diana mused as she stood and stretched her back, "Above the Mudcloaks in the citadel?" Ashlock surveyed the mostly empty mountain peak. There had once been a grand pavilion here fit to house hundreds of servants, but it had been wiped away during the Dao Storm. Now, besides a hut for Jasmine and Quill''s library, there wasn''t much here. "That''s a good point," Ashlock hummed in thought. Where would he put them? They had outfitted the top half of the citadel with abodes and cultivation rooms, but they had gone unused thus far. "Whatever, I''ll deal with that another day. No point building anything when the beast tide storm is rolling in." "Any ideas on how to stop it yet?" Diana said as she shifted through the darkness over to Jasmine, who had fallen asleep at the table. "None," Ashlock answered honestly. The storm itself shouldn''t be able to destroy his trunk anymore, given how robust he was, but if he was swarmed with high-cultivation beasts alongside the storm, his Voidstorm Aegis might struggle to keep up. There was also the issue of what to do about his offspring and the multiple cities under his control. His Inner World was big, but housing millions of mortals inside his soul didn''t sound like an easy task. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I''m sure you will think of something. You always do," Diana said as she rubbed Jasmine''s back to wake the girl up. "Wha¡ªhuh." Jasmine rubbed her eyes and yawned, "Diana?" "Yes, it''s me. I''m going to take you home to your mother. She must be worried about you," Diana said, pulling Jasmine up and holding her against her chest. The girl slothfully wrapped her arms around Diana''s neck and fell back asleep. "I''ll be right back," Diana said before jumping down the hole into the root network, which reminded Ashlock that he should probably close that route as Nox was no longer there to defend it. "Speaking of Nox, Tartarus should serve as a good distraction for the mortals distraught about the incoming Beast Tide." Ashlock mused, "Public order is important to maintain, and when people believe their lives are forfeit by staying, fear of the Ashfallen sect won''t keep them in line. They will desperately try anything to get on an airship to flee..." The Ashfallen Sect didn''t have the manpower to keep the millions of people living in Darklight and Ashfallen City in check, nor did the mortals. The concept of a police or a military didn''t really exist in this world. There was more of a focus on everyone for themselves and doing what the cultivators told them to survive. "I''ll deal with all of this soon, but first, I need to sleep, ascend to the 5th stage, and then watch over the summit." Ashlock let off one final mental yawn before allowing his {Nocturnal Genesis [S]} skill to shepherd him off to sleep under the pleasant glow of the nine moons. *** Stella awoke abruptly as she was thrown off her bench by the mountain''s trembling. Sitting up and feeling like a slug as she was still bundled in her cloak like a snug blanket, she glanced around in confusion. Spatial Qi crackled through the air like lightning, tearing reality apart while divine energy spiraled to the heavens up Ash''s trunk. "Morning Stella," Ash''s voice blossomed in her mind. "Are we under attack?" Stella yelped as she tried to look through the raging storm beyond Ash''s canopy, which had only gotten worse since yesterday. The sun had barely risen, though it was hard to tell through the dense cloud cover. "No, I''m just ascending to the 5th stage of the Nascent Soul Realm. It will be over soon." "Oh... that''s good." Stella felt the tension leave her body. She yawned and laid back on the lush purple grass surrounding Ash''s trunk. "It''s still too early. Wake me up when it''s over." *** Stella awoke again to being gently kicked. "Wake up, sleepyhead," Diana said as she loomed over her with a grin. "Valandor is here to take us to the summit." "Five more minutes," Stella complained, rolling over. The dense cloud overhead was now glowing slightly from the sun, suggesting it was mid-morning, but Stella still felt exhausted down to her very soul. The idea of getting up was too much, but to attend a summit? Hell no. "Was yesterday really that draining for you?" Diana mused, "All you did was kill Vincent Nightrose in cold blood¡ªheh, see what I did there?" Stella used aether Qi to fling a nearby pebble at Diana''s face, but she easily slapped it away. "Hey, that wasn''t nice. Did you not appreciate my joke?" "No." Stella huffed hair out of her face and twisted her body to look at Diana while still lying in the grass, "I don''t want to go." "Why? Vincent is likely dead or incapacitated, so we will be the strongest there. Don''t you want to be able to sit at the summit all smug and demand the remaining noble families, like the arrogant Skyrend family, bow to Ashfallen''s power?" Diana said with a playful smirk, and Stella bit her lip. "That does sound kinda fun..." Stella rolled over and got to her feet. "Let me get changed, and we will go." Diana clapped her hands, "That''s the spirit!" *** Despite having come here yesterday, Stella was still awed by Nightrose City. As the capital of the Blood Lotus Sect, it was incomparable in size and wealth to Darklight City. Black stone walls glowing from defensive runic formations shadowed the city, and the sky was tinted red by a massive blood-red dome. Occasionally, holes would appear in the dome to allow city-sized airships to pass through and dock with a grand pillar that rose from the city''s northern district. It rivaled the Nightrose castle in size but not height, yet it could still have dozens of these airships dock at a time. Stella strode down the central street to the Nightrose castle, which lorded over the massive city in the distance. The Nightrose family refused to leave their castle for any reason, so the summit would naturally be held here as it also served as the heart of the sect. The central street was bustling with people from all walks of life, and the wealth and opportunities available to the people here were apparent. Clothing, jewelry, and just general fashion were on a far higher level than back home, not that Stella cared much for those things. She was only looking to keep her mind wandering to avoid bad thoughts regarding Vincent and his possible survival. Stella was impatient to learn the truth. Luckily, they had a direct path to the castle and would arrive shortly as, despite the mortals superior way of life here, the dynamic between cultivator and mortal had not changed. Like parting the sea, the mortals respectfully moved to the side to allow Stella''s group to pass unperturbed. She couldn''t blame them, as their group was large, and even while hiding their cultivation, anyone could tell they were strong. I wonder how these people would react if they knew the people in Darklight City had access to fruits and pills that made them cultivators. Would they sneer at the news, calling it nonsense? Her eyes flickered to one of the airships slowly floating through the sky overhead, casting an extensive shadow over a large part of the city. Or would they all board one of those floating cities bound for our lands and come in endless droves? Depending on how the summit went, there was a genuine chance that by the end of the day, the Ashfallen Sect would be the new rulers of this city and the rest of those under the Blood Lotus Sect. Besides Vincent, there was nobody else in the Blood Lotus Sect that was in the Nascent Soul Realm. Meanwhile, the Ashfallen Sect had Ashlock, Larry, two shadow Ents, and Maple. That wasn''t even including all the other sect members that were in the upper stages of the Star Core Realm. The Ashfallen Sect had some serious weight to throw around, and they intended to use it. Stella reached up to her chest and didn''t feel her amulet. She''d debated wearing it for the summit but concluded that revealing she could hide her cultivation and bloodline was not ideal. Many would kill for such an artifact, and she didn''t want her enemies to start putting their guard up around people who appeared to be mortals. "These void shields sure are Qi intensive," Diana grumbled from Stella''s side, drawing her attention away from a bakery selling cute-looking cakes. They were naturally masking their voice with Qi as they were deep behind enemy lines. "A whole week of cultivation, gone in an instant. All for a shield that breaks from the slightest hit." Stella snorted, "You''re complaining? This is the second one I''ve had to feed in two days. Besides, there''s nothing better to link a Spatial Anchor to. It might break from a mere Qi-infused breeze but can also block a Monarch Realm attack." They had decided to play it safe since they were unsure whether Vincent was truly dead. Everyone had eaten a Void Protection fruit and had a Spatial Anchor with Quill set up. It was a highly unsustainable arrangement. Each time, they had to eat a Void Protection fruit, sacrificing a significant amount of their stored Qi. Then Quill had to consume a piece of his ink bark, setting the tree''s cultivation behind. It was also temporary. Once the void shield faded, so would the Spatial Anchor. Stella sighed as she remembered how Ash had gone a step further. There was a second Spatial Anchor set up just for her, with the activation condition being losing a body part. This was similar to the protection of the Azure Clan''s Grand Elder. So if the void shield ran out and she lost a finger in a fight, she would be returned to Red Vine Peak. While Ash''s overprotectiveness was a bit much sometimes, it allowed Stella to be her reckless self without as much risk to herself and those around her. "I guess it''s better to be safe than sorry," Diana paused, as did everyone else. Stella looked at what the holdup was and noticed one of the Nightrose guardians standing in the road, staring at them with dull eyes. The steady beat of the man''s spiritual heart put Stella on edge. The Nightrose guardian pulled a parchment from the sleeve of his robes and began to read. "Cultivators in the Star Core Realm are prohibited in Nightrose City without permission. Your presence is expected as there is a summit today, but peaceful entry is not guaranteed. Leaders of the following groups, make yourselves known by stepping forward. First, the Redclaw family." The Redclaw Grand Elder checked over his shoulder, and seeing no disagreement of his compliance, he stepped forward and gave a slight bow. "Magnus Redclaw, Grand Elder of the Redclaw family. I am here for the summit." "Very well," the Nightrose guardian said, his eyes swirling ominously as he looked the man up and down. "You may proceed to the castle with up to five members." Magnus continued walking with Elder Margret, Brent, and Mo in tow. "Next up, the Voidmind family." Morrigan stepped forward. "Just you?" The Nightrose guardian raised a brow. "Just me." Morrigan smiled. "Oh, and my daughter," she added and pulled Elaine in close. "Where is the Voidmind Grand Elder?" "Preoccupied." Morrigan lazily replied in a dismissive tone. "I see," the Nightrose guardian noted something down before nodding for her to go forward. He then cast his gaze over those remaining before landing on Sebastian. "Member of house Silverspire?" Sebastian nodded, "Is there a problem?" The guardian frowned and tapped his parchment, "Your house has already sent a representative who is waiting in the summit hall right now. Were you aware of this?" "No. How many members does the group have?" "Four." "Perfect. There is room for me then," Sebastian smiled and walked past. Surprisingly, the guardian said nothing in response, possibly showing the weight of the Silverspire name within the sect. Douglas stepped forward and received the same question. There was already a representative from the Terraforge family, but they had come alone, so there was space for Douglas. That leaves just Diana and I. Stella fidgeted as she was unsure what the guardian would say. "You are?" The guaridan squinted at Diana. "Diana Ravenborne," she replied without missing a beat. She radiated confidence even as the guardian scratched his head in confusion. "Ravenborne family? That shouldn''t be possible. Your family was wiped out during an unlawful war. What was your relation to the Grand Elder?" "He was my father," Diana smirked at the guardian''s reaction. "Is there a problem?" By the guardian''s frown, there was indeed a problem¡ªa big one. Chapter 373: A Show of Force Stella glanced between Diana and the Nightrose guardian. She noticed the guardian''s eyes were swirling with blood Qi as they examined Diana. His frown soon faded and was replaced with that stone-cold facade all old cultivators liked to wear. That it had been broken in the first place showed how Diana''s presence deeply unnerved the man for some reason. "I see you have awakened the Ravena Bloodline." The man''s eyes stopped swirling, and his gaze became dull once more as if he were a corpse that had been worked to death. Heaven seemed to become alert at the mention of the bloodline as divine energy streaked through the sky and impacted the blood dome over the city, making it ripple. Diana crossed her arms and bared her fangs, "What of it?" "You''re going to have to come with me," the Nightrose guardian said, releasing his soul pressure to pin them down. It flooded out of the man like a tide of suffocating bloodlust, painting the world slightly red. "I wouldn''t do that if I were you," Diana hissed through gritted teeth. Since they had both hit the 7th stage of the Star Core Realm, they were able to resist being forced to kneel at the man''s feet, but only barely. Stella grunted as she tensed every Qi-filled muscle in her body. The moment she felt close to succumbing to the pressure, her bloodline activated, and power subtly flowed into her soul, allowing her to maintain her dignity. The Nightrose guardian ignored Diana''s warning and weaved blood chains from his fingers that draped on the floor before stepping forward while holding out a section of the chain as if he were about to wrap it around Diana''s body. Despite the situation, Stella relaxed a little, noticing a familiar presence passing under their feet a second before anyone else. Ash''s soul pressure erupted from below, followed by Spatial Qi crackling through the air. The Nightrose guardian''s eyes widened. "Who dares?" he growled like an animal as a blood-red mist enveloped him, and his blood chains shifted into two longswords. He seemed to have changed his plan from capture to eliminating Diana as he desperately fought through Ash''s soul pressure and raised his sword. "This pressure is commendable, but it''s not enough to save you." While Diana could remain standing by using the strength of her bloodline, she could not raise her arm to block the blood sword. Stella tried to intervene, but the Nightrose guardian''s movements were swift¡ªthe blood swords weaved around her quickly conjured daggers and went straight for Diana''s throat. Stella wondered for a second if Diana''s void shield would be broken and the Spatial Anchor would pull her back to Red Vine Peak. However, as the guardian struck down¡ªAsh made his move. A portal opened before Diana, and a skeletal-looking hand made from twisted white bamboo reached out, easily stopping the blood sword as if it were nothing. Tendrils of shadow carrying an ominous presence that seemed to lock the Nightrose guardian in place flowed out of the crack in reality as the owner of the arm made itself known. Anubis, a 5th-stage Nascent Soul Realm Ent in service to Ashlock, slowly stepped through the widening portal and loomed over the Nightrose guardian as the lich was over three meters tall. It leaned in slightly, glaring at the man, its eyes blazing with shadow flames. "You say my pressure wasn''t enough to stop you, but that''s because I wasn''t even trying." As if a god put their finger down, the guardian''s head was smashed into the street. "Guardian, you have made a grave mistake by trying to lay your hands on someone I watch over." Ash''s voice sounded like a hundred spirits talking at once, thundering in their minds. Yet it seemed to originate from Anubis somehow, as if he were his herald. The Soul Protection fruits Stella and Diana had eaten to protect their minds from Vincent if he was still alive got to work shielding them from Ash''s rage. The Nightrose guardian wasn''t so lucky. Despite having near Nascent Soul Realm level cultivation, he paled at Ash''s words as he stared at Anubis. "This is Nightrose City. Monsters aren''t allowed within the dome. How did you¡ª" The Nightrose guardian had his breath stolen from him as Anubis gathered a ball of shadow at the tip of his finger and unleashed it into the man. "I care not. Perish." The Nightrose guardian''s chest caved in before he was sent flying across the street. Stella winced at the bloody mess. There was a red carpet of blood between them and the Nightrose guardian, who had been reduced to a smear on the street. The citizens had long fled the area, but many watched on from afar while cowering in shops or peeking through second-floor windows. It was likely the first time any of them had seen a cultivator stand up to a member of the Nightrose family¡ªlet alone beat them to death. "Is he dead?" Stella whispered under her breath. He certainly looked like it to her. I''ve heard blood cultivators are famed for their amazing regeneration, but what''s left to regenerate? Anubis reduced that guardian to a bloodied paste. "I wouldn''t be surprised if that killed him¡ªnever mind," Diana swallowed her words as the bloodied pulp twitched before it began to regather into a human shape and heal. First, his arms and legs sprung up from the puddle before a body and head formed. "To think a person could recover from such a state..." Diana muttered. "It looks like we angered them," Stella said, pointing to the sky. There, she saw a woman standing atop a sword flying toward them from the castle that lorded over the city. Even from so far, the woman''s presence crashed down on them. "This was part of the plan, though earlier than expected." Diana clicked her tongue. "To think they would stop us and cause problems before we arrived at the summit." "I know, right? They are so unwelcoming." Stella grumbled. Ash had sent them to the summit with multiple objectives. The first was to determine whether Vincent was still alive. They planned to do this during the summit by declaring the Ashfallen Sect''s existence and demanding everyone join or die. If Vincent was still alive, he would surely appear to stop his sect from switching sides. The second was to see what the Nightrose family''s combat strength was, with the final objective of establishing the Ashfallen Sect as the new powerhouse in the region and taking over all the cities, including Nightrose City. To complete these objectives, Ash was willing to go all out and had told them to as well. Ash is done playing around with the fast-approaching beast tide. He doesn''t want to have to fight a battle on two fronts. The time for action is now, and since we have the firepower to threaten the Nightrose family, it''s best to show off our strength with the other families present rather than having to prove ourselves to each one individually. That led to the current situation of a second cultivator appearing. She hovered overhead, taking in the scene before she touched down next to the reforming puddle a moment later, leaving a slight crater in the street. Her pounding spiritual heart, snow-white hair, and sickly skin made it obvious that she was a member of the Nightrose family and likely also a guardian. She stepped forward to put herself before the recovering guardian while eying Anubis. "May I ask who this senior might be?" The Nightrose guardian cupped her hands and bowed, "A possible ancestor of the Ravena Clan?" Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Diana looked at Anubis, who remained mute, and said, "Yeah, something like that." Stella could see how the Nightrose guardian had reached that conclusion. Anubis looked demonic, with his shadow cape endlessly cascading behind him, and if one dared to look into his ribcage, it was like gazing into the abyss. "A Nascent Soul Realm guardian beast, then? Or some kind of technique..." The guardian was stone-faced but couldn''t hide her trembling hand from trying to resist Anubis''s soul pressure. "Do you still intend to capture me?" Diana asked, stepping forward to stand at Anubis''s side. The woman shook her head. "Forgive his rashness. This matter requires the Ancestor''s attention." Stella raised a brow. Did that mean Vincent Nightrose was still alive, or were they putting on an act? Noble families were well known to claim that their powerful ancestor was simply in closed-door cultivation rather than admitting they were dead. They would continue to hide behind a dead person''s name, and rival families wouldn''t be willing to waste Qi and lives to poke the hornet''s nest and see if an angry ancestor came out to beat them to death. "What is your name? " the woman asked while retrieving the parchment from the blood puddle and drying it off. "Diana Ravenborne." "Mhm, I see. This is a problem; the Ravenborne family is listed as wiped out and, therefore, isn''t qualified to join the summit as you have no city, peak, or land that you rule on behalf of the Blood Lotus Sect." The woman''s eyes flickered to Anubis, "But with a monster like that on your side, I can make an exception." The Nightrose guardian then stared at Stella for an uncomfortably long time. "You look familiar. What is your name?" "Stella Crestfallen." Stella felt weird openly admitting her real name. She had spent so long hiding behind fake names and masks, only ever saying her full name when needing to entice her bloodline to act. "Ah!" the woman''s eyes lit up, and how she licked her lips reminded Stella why she kept to fake names. "Please follow me. The Ancestor has been expecting you." "No." "Excuse me?" "I said no, I''m not following you." Stella frowned, "I''m going to attend the summit." "Sorry, that''s not possible for you," the Nightrose guardian checked the parchment, "Similar to Diana here, the Crestfallen family is listed as having no cities, peaks, or land. Therefore, you cannot attend the summit." "Huh? Aren''t I listed as the Grand Elder of the Crestfallen family and Red Vine Peak?" Valandor had visited Stella on Red Vine Peak when she was thirteen and declared as such. Since she was apparently the sole heir to the Crestfallen family, Valandor told her she was appointed as the temporary Grand Elder, which would be made official once she passed some tests. The Nightrose guardian looked at her with dull eyes as if she were asking pointless questions. "No. Since Grand Elder Crestfallen''s disappearance, Red Vine Peak was tentatively returned to the Nightrose family until you passed the Elder exam. Since you haven''t passed it, Red Vine Peak was supposed to be awarded to the Ravenborne family, but they were wiped out." "If Red Vine Peak is supposedly owned by the Nightrose family," Stella felt her anger rising, and it leaked into her tone, "Then how come I''ve never seen a member from the Nightrose family visit? How can you claim to own a peak without ever setting foot on it?" "Why would we," the woman snorted, "It''s a worthless wasteland on the edge of the sect''s territory. There''s nothing there worth noting except millions of filthy mortals and a dying mining industry." Stella blinked in disbelief, unable to form words. Worthless wasteland? Nothing there? How could they possibly be so clueless? There was Ashlock, the city they had built, and so much more. To call it a worthless wasteland was nonsense¡ªStella felt Diana''s hand on her shoulder. Glancing to the side, she saw Diana giving her a knowing grin as if they had gotten away with something. Oh... that is too funny. Stella shook her head in disbelief. They are so far up their own asses they couldn''t even be bothered to check. What a sad fate. The Nightrose family might have lived to see tomorrow morning if they had been bothered to handle matters appropriately. "She is with me," Diana said, patting Stella on the shoulder, "As is my guardian monster here." "That''s..." the Nightrose guardian said with a strained smile, "I really can''t agree. We are all under strict instructions to bring Stella Crestfallen to the Ancestor. Even if she also had a beast¡ª" Spatial Qi arced upwards high into the sky before peeling back reality like a curtain. Stella didn''t turn, but from the sudden shadow looming over them and blocking out the red-tinted sun and the guardian''s face of utter disbelief, Ash had decided to play another of his cards. A sinister aura that lashed out as flickers of shadows froze the guardian in place, followed by a titanic fist of shifting darkness that reached over Stella''s head. It paused, looming overhead as the guardian looked up with wide eyes. "Here''s a gift from a worthless land," Ash said through Hades this time as the titanic fist slammed down, pulverizing the Nightrose guardian and the half-reformed puddle behind her. The ground shook violently as cracks sprawled out like a spiderweb. As the fist raised, dripping blood¡ªthere were already signs of the Nightrose guardians beginning to reform. "That was a hit from a 7th-stage Nascent Soul Realm Ent, and yet they can still regenerate?" Diana said in disbelief, "Are they immortal?" "Sure seems like it," Stella mused, "I really doubt Vincent died now. He''s a whole realm above these guardians, and I didn''t see any signs of the blood in the coffin reforming into a body when I stabbed him. Just what did I kill that night?" Diana hummed in thought, "Was the cursed blood simply that effective against a blood cultivator to totally incapacitate him? If their whole bodies are made from blood, if their blood became cursed, wouldn''t that be a death sentence?" "I suppose we can find out for certain," Stella strolled over to the reforming puddles, and her spatial ring flashed with silver light. A vial of Ash''s black sap appeared in her hand. Squatting down, she popped off the cork and dumped it onto the puddle. It was impossible to tell which was the woman and which was the man as they had merged into one bloodied mess. "You think experimenting on and turning his guardians into trees will get the boss to reveal himself?" Diana asked as she stared at the castle in the distance. "Maybe?" Stella squinted at the blood puddle and saw the darkness of Ash''s cursed blood spread throughout, corrupting it. "If this doesn''t anger him, I''m unsure if anything will." "Yeah, fair." Diana leaned over Stella''s back and glanced down at her experiment. "How''s it looking. Are they turning into trees yet?" "It seems to be working, the blood is becoming corrupted... no wait¡ª" Stella pointed at the central area where she had first poured the cursed sap and noticed the color changing back to scarlet as if it had absorbed the cursed blood. "Ash, can you feel the cursed blood in this puddle?" "Right now? Yes, I can. But its presence is fading." Ash replied. "I suppose it''s unsurprising, but blood cultivators can deal with my cursed blood." Ash trailed off as he seemed to realize something. "Wait, doesn''t that mean Vincent has a sample of my cursed blood if he''s still alive? That doesn''t sound good." "You can extract your cursed blood from someone''s soul, right?" Diana asked. "I can, yeah. But the question is if I get to them fast enough. With how potent my cursed blood is now, if someone is out of Qi, they will turn into a tree within seconds." "That''s scary," Diana frowned. Stella poked at the blood puddles with a nearby piece of rubble, "So these blood-obsessed bastards are immune to cursed blood? If turning them into trees won''t work, what about an Ent?" "I can only turn dead bodies into Ents. I can make it work if you can find a way to kill them for good while having any of them remain." Stella and Diana looked at the blood puddle that had regained its vibrant scarlet shade and was starting to reform into two humans again. Even in such a state, the soft pounding of their spiritual hearts could still be heard. "How?" Diana sighed, "If they have unlimited regeneration, they will never die unless they are reduced to nothing by someone like Larry or void Qi from Morrigan and Maple. But then there''s nothing left to turn into an Ent or tree." "Mhm, killing them won''t be a total waste. I can devour them for a lot of Qi and other benefits. If Larry or Maple eats them, their cultivation will grow greatly, too. Actually, I''ll eat these two." Another portal ripped into existence above the blood puddle, and black vines slithered down like hungering snakes. The blood puddle was surprisingly viscous, like wet dough, so Ash''s vines could pick them up and drag them away to be devoured. "You two go on ahead to the summit. I guess there''s nobody to show you in anymore, so let yourselves in." "What if someone else tries to stop us?" Diana asked. "Stop you? With Anubis and Hades watching over you?" Ash laughed, "At that point, they are just asking to die. Remember, we are here to make noise and make ourselves known. There''s only one way to drag that tyrant out of his hole if he lives or take over his empty throne, and that''s with force." Stella smirked as she walked down the now empty and destroyed street toward the Nightrose castle. Today was going to be good. Chapter 374: Dead Man Walking Ashlock used {Eye of the Tree God} to watch from the skies as his adopted daughter strode toward the castle of their greatest foe with two Nascent Soul Realm Ents and Diana in tow. She had a carefree spring in her step and a smile on her face that didn''t fade even as dozens of members of the Nightrose family, all in the Star Core Realm, flew in from the castle and took up positions on the rooftops of the houses lining the central street. As if they were living statues, none of the Nightrose family cultivators made a move, even as Hades floated over them, the Ent''s shadowy head almost scraping the blood-red dome shielding the city. Watching a shadow titan following a girl barely the size of one of its fingers was rather comical¡ªor at least Ashlock found it funny. The Nightrose family didn''t seem to mirror his amusement at the titan''s presence. Their expressions were tense, and a few had already conjured blood weapons. The surrounding city was chaos as the titan''s presence and stature were impossible to miss. Mortals and cultivators alike pointed at the 7th stage Nascent Soul Realm Ent, and like a swarm of ants, they fled through the streets to the outskirts. Warning bells echoed in the distance, and the airships that were like floating cities did their best to get out of Hades''s way. They slowly rotated as fierce winds from the Azurecrest wind cultivators on board desperately tried to get the airships moving while the people aboard gathered at the windows and stared at Hades. Ashlock had never felt this... powerful. He hadn''t even unleashed everything he and his sect were capable of, yet the tyrants of this land were already showing caution, and their city was in chaos. If he wanted, he could tear the sky apart, envelop everyone in telekinesis, and haul them into his waiting vines to be devoured. The capital city of the Blood Lotus Sect could be brought to ruin by him in a single day. But he didn''t plan to or want to do that. Despite his emotions being dulled since becoming a tree, causing mass suffering of mortals for sacrificial credits, and some Qi wasn''t the route he wanted to go down. "That''s how you become a tyrant like Vincent Nightrose. You can only push people so far before the world finds a way to bring you down. I doubt Vincent ever foresaw Nightrose City falling to a spirit tree, of all things." Speaking of Vincent Nightrose, Ashlock decided to go ahead of Stella to scout for the tyrant. They had killed two of his guardians and made a lot of noise, so if he was still alive, he should be on the move to stop the chaos. Looking into the main hallway of the castle, Ashlock was surprised to see people from the various noble families of the Blood Lotus Sect rushing out of a grandiose meeting room and toward the castle''s front entrance. By their appearance and the Qi wreathing their bodies, he could tell which families were in attendance. "I can see people from the Skyrend, Terraforge, Azurecrest, Starweaver, and Silverspire families. All seem to be Grand Elders or at least high-ups in their respective families by their mid to high Star Core level cultivation." Ashlock mused. Of course, none were in the Nascent Soul Realm, as that would be a death sentence from Vincent. "I wonder if they would be willing to switch sides if I tell them they are allowed to ascend, and I''ll even help them." So long as they signed oaths of loyalty and stayed in their cities, Ashlock would accept them all¡ªeven the Skyrend family, which he found annoyingly arrogant and generally disliked. Past transgressions could be overlooked if they were willing to be loyal and use their strength to help him repel the beast tide. There only seemed to be a single member representing the Skyrend family, which made sense as Morrigan and Maple had wiped out most of them. However, he couldn''t see their representative''s face due to the cloak they wore. Ashlock searched the rest of the castle, his gaze sweeping across every room and hallway. But other than many panicking Star Core Elders of the Nightrose family barking orders to each other, he found no signs of Vincent. It should be impossible for a man of Vincent''s caliber to completely hide his cultivation and presence. Ashlock tried to track his cursed blood but couldn''t feel it anywhere in the castle. Someone had definitely absorbed and isolated it from his senses. "Did he really die that night?" Ashlock was on the fence about it. As Stella had discovered, his cursed blood had little effect on blood cultivators. Also, the guardians had managed to start regenerating after being hit by an attack from Hades, who is an entire realm above Stella. It simply didn''t add up for Vincent to have died that night to someone so beneath his cultivation level. "Maybe he dissolved into the blood and escaped via the blood channels leading to the coffin?" Ashlock thought as he looked at the empty chamber where Vincent had been on the castle''s top floor. The maids were gone, and the door was left open. He followed each channel, but they led to empty rooms. With no more leads or ideas, he gave up. While unable to locate Vincent, Ashlock had learned something new today. His Nascent Soul Realm Ents were capable of speech, but they didn''t have an ego to form their own complex thoughts. But Ashlock could have them relay his words through Abyssal Whispers, meaning he could now use the mental attack skill away from his trunk. "If Vincent still won''t show himself," Ashlock''s vision shifted back to Hades, and he looked down at the group of noble cultivators gathered before the castle''s entrance, "Then it''s about time we make ourselves known." *** Stella crested the staircase''s final step leading up to the Nightrose castle''s entrance and was met with a vast courtyard before the doorway decorated with statues of Vincent Nightrose looking far less like a corpse than he had when she stabbed him to death in the coffin and black stone fountains spouting blood. A putrid smell of iron in the air tickled Stella''s nose. But she didn''t care much for the smell. Her focus was entirely on the group of noble cultivators glaring her down. They all looked on edge, except one. A giant cloaked man stepped forward and pulled back his hood, revealing his face. It was Demetrios Skyrend, Grand Elder of the powerful Skyrend family. At five meters tall, he was almost twice as tall as Anubis. His golden eyes glowed as they flickered between Stella, Diana, the Redclaws, the Silverspires, Morrigan, and Ents. For whatever reason, the man seemed enraged about something as lightning crackled down his arms, and he seemed tense. "Something isn''t right," Morrigan''s cold voice echoed in Stella''s ears, "Demetrios Skyrend is dead. I killed him with my own two hands. He can''t be here." Stella raised a brow, "What should we do?" "Play along for now; we have no reason to reveal that we know something is up just yet." Diana was the one to answer. "Magnus Redclaw," Demetrios Skyrend bellowed, his voice shaking the heavens, "What is the meaning of this?" "Whatever do you mean, Demetrios?" Magnus said with fake concern. "What do I mean?! My children, Kassandra and Theron, died in Darklight City during your alchemy tournament." The titanic man pointed an accusing finger at Magnus, "You accused the Voidmind family of attacking the tournament and my children dying during the battle. Your evidence was a Voidmind Elder with lightning and metal Qi in their corpse as proof that the Silverspire family''s words were to be trusted and that they had stood alongside my children to push back the unlawful invasion." His golden eyes narrowed angrily, and he gestured to Morrigan and Elaine with his chin, "Care to explain why you and a Silverspire arrived alongside your supposed enemy?" If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "No, not really." "What?" Demetrios seemed to be moments away from striking Magnus down where he stood as he could hardly contain his rage. Magnus shrugged, "It''s not my place to explain." A shifty old man with hair that looked like strands of silver, similar to Sebastian and Ryker, stepped forward with a deep frown. "Magnus Redclaw, I''ve also been meaning to talk with you. My nephew was in the Tainted Cloud Sect when his soul jade shattered. I gathered some intel and found out he had been fighting against the Redclaws and a blonde-haired girl when he was ambushed by a monster and died." The man''s eyes flickered between Magnus, Sebastian, and Stella. "I thought this was simply a matter between us and the Redclaw family. But it would appear a branch of my family may have been plotting against mine. Is that right, Sebastian? How can you stand beside a family that worked to kill your nephew?" Sebastian snorted, "Nobody needs to plot against your branch, Third Elder." "You dare utter such words, you filthy servant of a mere child!" The sly old man spat on the floor, "My youngest son is already nearing the Star Core Realm at thirteen! What hope can Ryker possibly have to surpass him?" Sebastian gave the Third Elder a blank stare. "Star Core Realm at thirteen? Wow... so impressive." His every word was more sarcastic than the last, which only seemed to anger the Third Elder more. Stella stood there trying to put faces to names. She remembered Demetrios Skyrend. He had arrived at the end of the alchemy tournament after Ashlock devoured his children. They pinned their deaths on Dante Voidmind, who then lost his arm, blocking an attack from Demetrios Skyrend before escaping. Demetrios then chased after Dante and wasn''t seen again¡ªlikely because he was too busy participating in the war with the Voidmind family that Ash had orchestrated. He was also apparently a dead man, yet stood before them looking alive and well. But who is this Third Elder? Stella wracked her brain before she realized who he was. During the Nightshade City war, Jade Sentinels and many other Eternal Pursuit Pavilion hunters assisted the Lunarshade family in fighting us. During the battle, a Jade Sentinel from the Silverspire family attacked me. I tried to convince them we had ties to the Silverspire family by saying I knew about their plan for a mutiny. The man then asked me who my connection was, and not wanting to say it was Sebastian and Ryker, I claimed to know the Third Elder. It had been a random guess, but to think I would meet the man one day. The monster in question was likely Larry, as the spider ultimately killed the Silverspire Jade Sentinel. So this Third Elder thinks Larry killed his nephew? Interestingly, he doesn''t want to admit that his nephew was a Jade Sentinel and is using vague terms. Is that because Vincent Nightrose banned the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion from the sect? Demetrios stepped before the Third Elder and glared at him, "Your matter is of little importance. I have a score to settle with them first." "No, hold on." A man with tanned skin, a bald head, and muscles as hard as rocks interrupted Demetrios. While not as tall as the lightning titan, this man radiated raw strength like an unstoppable mountain. "One of my children also happened to attend this alchemy tournament at Darklight City. I was in closed-door cultivation until recently, but I was informed upon my exit to attend this summit that my son Roderick Terraforge had also died. However, if the records are accurate, he died shortly after the tournament concluded. Not during this supposed Voidmind attack." The colossal mountain of a man tilted his head to glare at Douglas, "Care to explain your cousin''s death, Douglas?" Douglas glanced at Magnus Redclaw and Stella before shrugging, "Not really, Father. It''s not my place to explain." A smile crept onto Stella''s face. Due to the oath of secrecy wrapped around the souls of Magnus and Douglas, they could not disclose anything about that day. Not that Stella would care if they did, but seeing the noble families that had made her life harder, boiling with rage yet unable to do anything, was amusing. They hadn''t yet addressed the elephant in the room, but it was hard to ignore the two Nascent Soul Realm Ents looming over her like guardians. All of the noble family Elders had stolen a few glances at the Ents and her¡ªlikely wondering who she was. Luckily for them, they would soon get their answer. "Not that I care too much," A man with grey hair and a constant breeze around him stepped forward, "But I learned that one of my children also perished in Darklight City around the same time, and more importantly, one of my pride and joys Kane Azurecrest went missing after heading toward that accursed city." The more Stella heard, the more it became increasingly unbelievable how unattentive the noble families in the Blood Lotus Sect were, especially the Nightrose family. So much attention should''ve been drawn toward Red Vine Peak and Darklight City while Ash and the Ashfallen sect were still weak, yet because the noble families refuse to work together or share information except at events like this, they simply deemed the vanishing of their children to be unworthy of their immediate attention. Demetrios Skyrend glared at everyone on Stella''s side, "We are the noble families of the Blood Lotus Sect under the great Vincent Nightrose. We rule over the rogue cultivators and millions of mortals¡ªthey fear and worship us. Our children carry our profound names and legacy! They should be able to walk freely between our cities, which has been the case for centuries. So explain to me what is going on! The Winterwrath, Evergreen, and Ravenborne families seemingly vanished. The Redclaw family takes over their land and opens up an alchemy tournament. Our children then start to go missing, wars break out, and the sect starts falling apart..." His voice dropped to a whisper, and realization seemed to strike the man like lightning, "It''s a mutiny." Stella stepped forward, clapping her hands. "Looks like someone finally got it." "You." Demetrios hissed through gritted teeth, "Who are you?" He took a hesitant step back as Anubis gathered chaotic shadows around his spindly fingers and moved to be beside Stella. I should be asking you that. Stella thought. How are you still alive? Let''s see if a little pressure will help peel back that facade of yours. "You want to know who I am?" Stella let her 7th stage Star Core aether Qi dance across her shoulders, "I''m Stella Crestfallen¡ªPrincess of the Ashfallen Sect and Head Priestess of the All-Seeing Eye." For the first time, she said her full name and titles with her chest and absolute pride. With Ashlock watching over her, she had nothing to fear. At such a declaration, the ultimate form of her bloodline activated on its own. As if her ancestors proudly watched down on her, an immense pressure descended on the courtyard. Most were forced to take a few strained steps back, but Demetrios actually spit blood. "The Ashfallen Sect?" Demetrios wiped the blood from his mouth, "I''ve never heard of it. Have any of you?" He asked the other noble family Grand Elders behind him. "I have..." the Third Elder paled as he brought out a black and gold pendant, showing he was a member of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. He inserted some Qi into the pendant to make words appear on its surface in golden letters. [Celestial Empire (Divine)] [Ashfallen Sect (Divine)] [Frozen Star Sect (Monarch Realm)] [Blood Lotus Sect (Nascent Soul Realm)] It was the list of the top sects, and clearly displayed was the Ashfallen Sect, which was one of the only Divine-level sects, behind only the Celestial Empire. The cultivators from the noble families gathered around the pendant, and their eyes widened at what they saw. "What is a Divine level sect doing here?" Demetrios cursed under his breath, but the man was so tall and loud that it was easily heard by all. "No... how is a Divine level sect here? Since when did a sect on the level of the Celestial Empire appear?" "Recently." The Third Elder muttered, "I thought it was an error made by the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion at first, but seeing it with my own eyes, now I''m not so sure. Maybe there really is a Divine level sect out here in the wilderness." Demetrios''s face twisted so much that he almost seemed inhuman. "You didn''t deem this information important enough to tell Vincent Nightrose?" "No, he would kill me." The Third Elder said adamantly as he waved around the pendant, "These are banned from the sect, as is the information I may glean from it." "You''re right¡ªhe probably would." The Third Elder exploded. There was no warning, no flash or Qi or grand technique. The man was standing there one moment, and the next, blood caked every surface in a circle. It had been a silent death. Not even time for a scream. Stella was stunned. "Stab Diana." "What?!" Stella didn''t even know how to process Ash''s order. "Come again?" "Listen to me, Stella. Stab Diana quickly. Don''t worry, she is fine." Stella didn''t think twice. If her dad wanted her to do something, she would do it. Summoning daggers, she turned to her best friend and rammed both of them deep into her side. Diana turned to look at her in shock before she collapsed into a pile of nothing but blood. "I''m... so confused," Stella muttered as she stared at her bloodied daggers and what used to be Diana. Chapter 375: Figuring Things Out Diana blinked in confusion as she stared at Quill across the ink lake in the Ashfallen Sect''s library. Just a second ago, she had witnessed the Silverspire Third Elder explode. Before she''d even had a moment to process the man''s spontaneous death, she had felt an immense tug on her soul and ended up back here on Red Vine Peak. Glancing around, Diana noted that there was nobody else here. She was the only one that had returned. "Ashlock?" Diana asked the ceiling. When she received no response, she cupped her hands and infused her voice with Qi. "Ashlock!!!" The ceiling shook slightly, and Quill''s leaves rustled, yet she still received no response from the spirit tree that lorded over the peak. Ashlock not responding when he''s focusing somewhere else is normal, but why am I back here? Something triggered my void shield and activated my Spatial Anchor, yet Ashlock isn''t checking on me to ask what happened. That means he''s either busy dealing with whatever broke my shield, or he doesn''t even know... which is a far worse-case scenario. Diana began to get worried. She thought back to Demetrios Skyrend, who Morrigan adamantly declared should be dead. His questions had seemed a little oddly phrased, and how he spoke to the Third Elder before he exploded was too convenient. If Vincent has some way to bring dead people back to life, who is to say he can''t do the same for me? I''ve got to get Ashlock''s attention somehow and let him know I''m safely back here. I could try to wake Larry, but I''m unsure if even he can get Ashlock''s attention if he''s focused elsewhere. Diana bit her lip as she desperately surveyed the room¡ªher eyes landed on Quill. That''s it! The ink tree is the head of Red Vine Peak''s defenses when Ashlock isn''t around, and I bet Ashlock won''t ignore one of his favorite offspring. Kaida was naturally roused from his slumber by her shouting and presence. His annoyed expression faded once he looked at her and gave a happy hiss. "Sorry, now''s not the time for cuddles," Diana gently pushed the Lindwyrm''s head away. "I need Quill to get Ashlock''s attention¡ªquickly. It''s urgent. I need him to know I''m fine and here on Red Vine Peak." Kaida bowed his head in understanding and poked Quill with his tail. The Lindwyrm and tree seemed to communicate silently with one another, and a second later, the ink tree radiated presence like a beacon. The ink lake rippled out in waves like a calling signal, and a moment later, Diana felt a familiar voice echo through her mind. "Diana? What the hell are you doing back here? This doesn''t make any sense..." "I don''t know! My void shield broke, and the Spatial Anchor brought me back here." "But..." Diana felt Ashlock''s presence briefly leave her mind before focusing back in again, "You''re there, standing beside Stella right now." "What?! That''s not me!" Diana declared adamantly. "How can I exist in two places at the same time? This is definitely a trick of some kind!" A portal suddenly tore into existence beside her, and she felt her soul tremble as Ashlock stared at her through a purple rift with his demonic eye. He looked her up and down before the rift snapped closed with a pop. "Sorry about that, I just had to check it''s really you before telling Stella to do something crazy¡ª" "Crazy? Like what..." Diana trailed off as Ashlock''s presence withdrew from her mind as quickly as it had arrived. "Curse the nine realms. What is going on?!" She was now all alone in the stone library again. Except for Kaida, who leaned in and playfully licked her face. "Kaida, what should I do?" The Lindwyrm tilted his head to expose the optimal scratching location on his neck. "You''re not helping," Diana sighed as she obliged and humored the Lindwyrm. "If I ate another Void Protection fruit and had Quill set me up with a new Spatial Anchor, I could ask Ashlock to portal me over." Diana''s face scrunched up in a frown at the thought of consuming another Void Protection fruit. It had wiped out a week in the Mystic Realm worth of Qi. While not an amount of Qi she was unwilling to expend, she had no idea of the situation to know if it was worth it or not. After all, it could have been some stray blood from the Third Elder exploding or a Qi-infused wind that took her void shield out. Depending on a void shield was a double-edged sword. It was costly, a one-time use, and anything could trigger it. Not to mention poor Quill, who had to spend his ink Qi to form the Spatial Anchor each time. Diana tapped her foot with impatience and worry. "I should have had my Spatial Anchor trigger if my skin got cut or something¡ªno, that wouldn''t have worked. What if I exploded instantly like the Third Elder? The Spatial Anchor would have transported nothing but pieces back here." It was a confusing mess. Dead people were back to life. Someone was pretending to be her, and a Star Core Realm Silverspire Elder had perished in such a quick and gruesome way that Diana couldn''t even begin to make guesses as to how he died. "Is this Vincent Nightrose''s power?" Diana bit her lip. "Maybe it''s his third affinity or one of his bloodlines?" There was a flash of spatial Qi to her side, followed by Stella appearing. The girl was staring at the floor with a blank expression while holding two daggers that were dripping blood onto the floor. Kaida reacted immediately, pulling away from Diana''s absentminded scratching and hissing at Stella. "Stella?!" Diana ran over, "What''s happening in Nightrose City?" Her best friend tilted her head to look at her, and relief seemed to wash over the girl. "Phew, you are fine. I just stabbed you¡ªAsh told me to." Stella enacted the stabbing motion with the two bloodied daggers, "You were reduced to a pool of blood." "So that''s what Ashlock meant by making you do something crazy... wait, I turned into blood? Nothing else?" Stella shook her head, "Nope, just blood." "Must have something to do with Vincent Nightrose''s blood affinity then. Maybe he can make blood clones of real people? Mhm, that would explain why Demetrios Skyrend is seemingly still alive." Diana tapped her chin. "I don''t even know how my void shield broke," Stella muttered. She seemed deeply confused, as if her brain had shut down. She was glancing around with a blank stare again. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Diana shook her shoulder, "Snap out of it and concentrate. Did anything hit you? Did someone explode again like the Third Elder?" Stella took a deep breath to recalibrate, "Okay sorry, I''m here now. With the Third Elder exploding, having to stab you to death, dying somehow, and now being brought back here, and then my bloodline deactivating all within the span of a few seconds. It was a lot to take in and process." "I understand, I was also disoriented for a moment when I was brought back here, but we need to devise a plan." Diana gave Stella a reassuring smile and patted her again on the shoulder. "Do you remember anything before you were brought back here? Perhaps the moment your void shield broke?" Stella fell silent for a moment, her eyes shifting around as she seemed to wrack her brain. "Hmmm, a pressure? Though it was different from soul pressure." "How?" "I don''t know... soul pressure radiates from a person, if you know what I mean? If I were to stand over there and unleash soul pressure, you would know exactly where I was and look in my direction." Diana nodded. "But the pressure I felt was more targeted? Concentrated? Like an attack, I guess." Diana snapped her fingers as she remembered something. "Vincent has gravity affinity. That must be what hit our shields. It''s a nearly invisible affinity, similar to sound. You will only sense the Qi once it hits you if Vincent is skilled, and for void shields, that''s too late, as the moment it hits us and breaks, we are pulled back here. He can expend barely any Qi and get rid of us within a second before we even know what happened." "I think you''re right," Stella bit her lip. "That''s bad, isn''t it? We need those shields, as there''s no way we can survive a high-stage Nascent Soul Realm attack without them. Surely he can just crush us like bugs with gravity at a snap of a finger..." They exchanged a sudden look of realization. "The Third Elder," Diana cursed. "That must be how he exploded so suddenly." "Yeah, you''re right. That''s terrifying," Stella opened her palm, and a white soul flame flickered to life, "I wonder if I will ever wield such power." "I''m sure you will if Vincent doesn''t kill you first," Diana sighed. "Heavens, this fight feels way out of our league. I guess we will have to leave Ashlock to deal with it¡ª" Spatial Qi suddenly tore through the room, and people began to appear one by one. First, it was the Redclaw Grand Elder, followed by his Elders. Douglas followed a few seconds later alongside Sebastian. "Elaine?" Douglas looked around in a panic. There was another pop of spatial Qi, and a distraught Elaine appeared. "Mother, no!" She screamed as she reached for empty space. Stella and Diana exchanged worried expressions before running toward their sect members to ask what happened. *** Ashlock didn''t like where this was going. "Now that the children are gone, how about us old monsters have a talk." Demetrios Skyrend''s body had shifted in a grotesque display and taken on the appearance of Vincent Nightrose. A wave of Qi-infused gravity had wiped out his sect members by triggering their void shields, and now Vincent had Morrigan trapped in a bubble of reversed gravity. She was slowly spinning in the air and looked very grumpy about it. At the snap of his fingers, Vincent summoned a chair and casually took a seat while staring up at Hades. All that remained of Ashlock''s mini invasion of Nightrose City were his Nascent Soul Realm Ents and Morrigan, who wasn''t offering much help as she tried and failed to escape Vincent''s grasp. "It would appear quite a lot has occurred during my closed-door cultivation. Not the first time a little revolt like this has been attempted," he casually gestured to Morrigan and Ashlock''s Ents, "But I haven''t had to get this serious in a long time. So why don''t we have a chat?" Ashlock remained silent, as did Morrigan. "Look," Vincent pinched the bridge of his nose and seemed frustrated, "People like us are at the peak of this realm. The Qi is thin; cultivating is a long and tedious process for us. Fighting each other is pointless." Morrigan laughed, "Maybe for you." "You may be unable to ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm, but void Qi is still hard to cultivate, is it not?" Vincent retorted, "What about you, newcomer? Ashfallen Sect, was it? Are you the All-Seeing Eye?" Ashlock had no reason to answer his questions. Information was worth its weight in gold, and while his sect members were gone, he still held the advantage. It was technically three Nascent Soul Realms against one right now, and for Ashlock, Qi was hardly a resource worth preserving. He didn''t mind pitting his vast Qi pool against Vincent''s any day to see who would run out first. "Vincent is only acting reasonably as he''s in the dark. Antagonizing me right now while he''s on the back foot wouldn''t be smart, and I hate to admit it, but there''s a reason this tyrant has lived for so long. I''m not entirely sure how he''s doing it, but he seems to be using clones made of blood to talk with me, similar to my Ents. So, neither of us are actually here in person right now. Rather, we are using proxies." Ashlock couldn''t tell if that was cowardly or smart, but he didn''t care. Right now, there was an invisible information war occurring between them, and he held the advantage. This was made all the more apparent by Vincent''s assumption that he was some old monster despite barely being a decade old. Vincent didn''t know who he was, his affinities, capabilities, or goals. A lot could be uncovered about a person if one knew their end goal. If Ashlock was willing to negotiate a peace treaty for a piece of land, then that meant that land had something of interest¡ªperhaps a rift or a Qi-dense area for a certain affinity. Call him paranoid, but he refused to play Vincent''s games. While he did hold the advantage, there was plenty about Vincent that was still a mystery. "I know you can talk," Vincent frowned as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Don''t go quiet on me now. You were quite eager to talk while pulverizing my poor guardians. Those were my spawn, you know? Here I am, willing to work this out amicably despite that." Ashlock continued to simply have Hades looming overhead, staring down at Vincent. "I wonder how long he can keep this act up for," Ashlock mused. "I really wish I could open a portal and look at this blood clone with my Evil Eye to uncover how it works, but that''s far too risky. If the real Vincent shot through my portal and arrived before my trunk, there''s a chance he can kill me and everyone else on the peak who are now without a void shield to save them. I must keep Vincent at range, fighting him here would be my best bet." Vincent clicked his tongue and stood up. "I guess we will have to do this the hard way." He strode over to where Morrigan floated, and as if he were cupping the bottom of an invisible bubble around Morrigan, he clenched his fingers, and she screamed. Void Qi wreathed her body as she desperately tried to fight against the crushing pressure, but a realm of difference was nearly impossible to overcome. The noble cultivators from the other families slowly stepped back, eager to get themselves away from Vincent''s torture. Ashlock had no idea why her Spatial Anchor wasn''t activating. Morrigan hadn''t taken a void protection fruit as there was no point since she already had access to void Qi, so having the fruit consume a lot of her Qi to create the void shield didn''t make sense. Instead, the Spatial Anchor had been linked to the breaking of bones. Now, Ashlock was no doctor, but Morrigan had likely broken all of her bones as her body collapsed to fit a third of the space. It also didn''t make sense that Morrigan wasn''t using Void Step to escape. "Did you think I didn''t notice the neat little spatial technique the others had?" Vincent looked over his shoulder at Hades with a light smirk, "I could have trapped them here and done this to all of them, but I let them go. How reasonable of me, right? Trust me, there are many nasty rumors around me, but I can be quite easy to work with." Ashlock didn''t believe the man for a single moment, but Morrigan was in trouble. A part of him wanted to let Vincent kill her. As an origin, she wouldn''t truly die, and he had been looking for a way to get rid of her for a while. But if Vincent was the one to do it, then it was a win-win. He would see more of his power, and Morrigan wouldn''t be a problem. That would be the logical thing. To let Morrigan die. Ashlock sighed as he quietly opened a portal far away from the castle and beckoned Larry through. His guardian turned into a vaguely spider-shaped ash cloud and soared toward them through the sky. He hadn''t come here to watch his sect member''s mother be tortured and killed. No, he had come here to kill a man, and that is precisely what he was going to do. Chapter 376: One Shot "Morrigan, hang in there. I''m coming to save you." Ashlock couldn''t believe what he was saying. Since when did he¡ªa demonic spirit tree revered as an evil god¡ªsprout such heroic lines? "Why?" Morrigan replied through Abyssal Whispers of her own, as it was the language of the void. She sounded calm, too calm for her situation. Cultivators were very good at putting up a facade, but there was surely a limit. The Morrigan he saw being crushed to death under immense gravity sounded the polar opposite of the one in his head. "What do you mean why?" Ashlock felt annoyed. Here he was, offering to save someone he would be pretty happy to let go, and they didn''t even appreciate it. "Elaine would be sad if you died and would definitely get mad at me for not doing everything within my power to help." "I''m fine, though?" Ashlock squinted at her crushed body with his spiritual sight and had to respectfully disagree. She was one step away from becoming nothing more than fleshy paste. "They aren''t even stopping me from leaving." "Leaving...?" What was she talking about? She was trapped by Vincent. Did he have mind control powers to make her delirious? "Yeah, the Nightrose cultivators watching over the central street are simply watching me go. It''s kinda creepy how statue-like they are." Ashlock looked behind him, and sure enough, in the distance down the cracked and deserted central street, he saw a lone woman with black hair walking away. His vision blurred as he went to take a closer look just to confirm. Void Qi flickered across her skin, forming a sheen, making her a dead spot in his spiritual sight, which is why he hadn''t noticed her earlier. "Morrigan? Is that really you?" The woman paused and looked at the sky, "Yes, it''s me. Why are you acting so strange?" "How did you get here?" "...Void Step?" Morrigan tilted her head, confused at the question. "The moment I noticed Diana''s void shield suddenly break, I used Void Step to escape." Morrigan pointed at the entrance to the city they had entered through, "And now I''m going to make my way out unless you need something from me? Though I don''t know what you expect me to do against a peak Nascent Soul Realm cultivator while reality suppresses me to the Star Core Realm." Ashlock sighed with relief, "You are free to leave¡ªactually, I would prefer if you flee this place as quickly as possible." "I have no qualms with that." Morrigan shrugged and continued on her way. Ashlock returned to the Nightrose castle''s courtyard in a totally different mood. Vincent was still there, putting on a show and torturing something resembling Morrigan, but Ashlock now knew it was nothing more than an imitation and wasn''t buying it. Vincent hadn''t captured Morrigan at all, making the rest of his claims hard to believe. Ashlock had already been skeptical of his nice guy act, but now he also doubted Vincent''s claims that he could have forcefully captured everyone here if he wanted. "I can''t tell if he''s powerful or not," Ashlock grumbled, "Okay, I know he''s powerful by sheer cultivation realm alone, but until now, he hasn''t actually shown any of his true strength. He''s keeping his cards so darn close to his chest it''s insane. He''s got me doubting everything. Now I don''t even know if the Silverspire Third Elder died in such a gruesome way or if he was some sort of blood clone from the start like Demetrios Skyrend." It reminded Ashlock of those school plays he used to be forced to participate in, where they would use ketchup packs to substitute blood. It actually looked quite realistic under the dramatic lighting of the stage. So, the kids in the audience may believe it was real for a moment, but the adults who knew the trick couldn''t see it as anything but ketchup and would struggle to suspend their disbelief. That is how Ashlock felt as he stared at the fake Morrigan being tortured. Vincent glared up at Hades and flexed his hand some more, making the fake Morrigan howl in agony again, reminding Ashlock that he had never heard the woman make such a noise. Even when he crushed her with his soul pressure, she had seemed unfazed and simply laughed it off. "I really don''t enjoy torturing a fellow cultivator like this," Vincent sighed dramatically, "But if we can''t reach an agreement, you leave me no choice!" Ashlock had lost all motivation to ''save'' Morrigan. After all, that wasn''t Morrigan inside that bubble of intense gravity. "You know what? Vincent clearly believes targeting those around a cultivator is a good way to control them and get them to do what he wants. I wonder if the same would work against him?" He hadn''t reacted much to losing two guardians, but that could be an act. Maybe deep down, he was seething but knew better than to be rash. At what point would he snap? Ashlock was curious to find out. "Larry." "Yes, Master? What can this humble servant do for you?" "Kill the Nightrose cultivators lining the central street for me." The spider-shaped cloud of silver ash closing in on the Nightrose castle shifted toward the central street. "How many should I kill, Master?" "All of them." Ashlock coldly answered. Vincent had the nerve to capture and pretend to torture one of his so he wouldn''t hold back. He had already marked the Nightrose family for death due to their hunger for Stella''s bloodline, and today had only further solidified his decision in stone. "All of them?" There was a hint of childlike glee from the spider, "Master, may I devour them whole?" Ashlock paused. He hadn''t finished devouring the two Nightrose guardians from earlier but didn''t expect a massive amount of sacrificial credits as they were in the Star Core Realm, five whole stages below him. Meanwhile, the Nightrose cultivators on the central street were weaker, with most being mid or low-stage Star Core Realms. So, for him, their corpses wouldn''t be worth much. Especially because their ridiculous regeneration made turning them into Ents more of a hassle than it was worth. Ashlock brought up the system''s description of Larry. {Herald of the Divine Ash: Larry [S]} Having consumed the flesh of a divine being from an upper realm, Larry has unlocked a new path to power. As a Herald of the Divine Ash, he has begun his path to become a deity. Alongside unlimited cultivation potential, Larry has divine authority over ash and decay. He can decay any matter at will within his realm of influence. As a divine being with governance over an affinity, Larry''s body has been reformed entirely from divine ash, allowing him to reincarnate from ash and gain immortality. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He was perfect for the job. Larry''s authority over decay countered the Nightrose cultivators'' ultra-speed regeneration. If he was left to reduce these cultivators to ashes and absorb them into his body, his combat strength and cultivation would soar. As an S-rank summon, Larry was supposed to be at the strength of an early-stage Nascent Soul Realm beast. But after a few Mystic Realm visits, he was nearing the threshold of evolving to S+ grade. This feast could tip him over the edge toward evolution and put him on the same level as Vincent Nightrose. As much as some more sacrificial credits would be appreciated, sometimes it was better to share. "Yes, Larry. Eat to your heart''s content. Today, the Ashfallen Sect will enjoy a grand feast on vile blood!" "Your wish is my command, Master." Larry''s eyes glowed an ominous red as he loomed over the central street. The Nightrose cultivators that were quietly watching Morrigan leave looked up at Larry with far more concern. The halo of ash orbiting Larry''s crown of horns began to spin as Nascent Soul Realm soul pressure with a hint of divinity radiated down on the cultivators. Many collapsed to one knee, others spat blood. A few managed to remain standing, and they desperately drew weapons. "Those who defy my Master are destined for death," Larry declared in the ancient runic language. His silver-ashen body shimmered with the majesty of a divine creature as he floated there high above his soon-to-be food before he crashed down upon the more incapacitated ones. As they were unable to even resist his soul pressure, they couldn''t fight back as they found themselves in Larry''s maw. They screamed as their blood affinity desperately tried to regenerate their bodies, only for it to cause them to decay faster. Within seconds, they melted into silvery ash that flowed into Larry''s body, making him grow in size slightly. Larry didn''t hang around. His body, like a swarm of blood-thirsty locusts, shifted in direction and headed toward the ones able to barely resist his soul pressure. "Stop, vile beast!" A Nightrose woman screamed as she raised her hands, and a net of blood hastily woven from her fingers flew out at Larry. For a brief moment, it looked like it worked as it wrapped around his form, only for the relief to be wiped from the woman''s face as the blood net decayed to ash and simply added to Larry''s power. "Resistance is futile." Larry''s maw opened wide and engulfed the woman. "All shall decay to ash for my Master." Blood poured out of the woman''s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth as pressure exploded out from her. She had tried to go supernova as a last-ditch effort, but it was pointless. All it did was make it easier for Larry to devour her as she gave up on defense. "Elders! On my command, we attack together! Buy time for the Ancestor to help us!" A Nightrose man who seemed important by his black robes embroidered with a golden lotus on the back bellowed out. Larry turned toward the voice. He looked sinister, his maw of silvery ash still dyed red from his half-finished meal. As the last remains of the woman decayed in his mouth, his body grew in size again. He was now half the size of the buildings the cultivators were standing on. The halo of ash orbiting his crown of horns thickened, as did his soul pressure. It began to spin as Larry floated through the air toward them, his ashen legs dragging across the street as he made his way to the other side. All of the remaining Nightrose cultivators that could put up any fight gathered around the leading Elder. "Blood spear array!" He commanded, and blood poured from their fingers and solidified into spears that rose and gathered above them in a dense cluster. Blood also seemed to pour down from the dome surrounding the city, empowering the spears further. "Attack!" the man shouted, pointing at Larry. The tips of the blood spears tilted to aim at Larry before they all shot toward him at once. There was a whistling noise as they all impacted the floating spider a second later, turning him into a bloodied hedgehog. "That hurt," Larry growled as he raised his head and glared at them with his many red eyes, "But only a little bit." The blood spears impaling him rapidly decayed into silvery ash, and Larry ballooned in size as he absorbed it all. His body would now take up the entire street as he floated overhead. The Nightrose Elders strained their necks to look up at the silvery cloud of death that loomed over them. "Stop." With a single word, an immense pressure that even Ashlock could feel weighing down on his roots deep under the street gripped the area. Looking toward the voice, he saw that Vincent had seemingly teleported from the courtyard and was now standing effortlessly in the air above Larry. His hand was open like a claw and aimed at the spider cloud, seemingly holding Larry in place. "What are you doing?" Vincent seemed exasperated as he frowned. Ashlock finally felt in the mood to humor the man. Hades turned around and he addressed Vincent with Abyssal Whispers by using the Ent as a proxy. "Finally got bored of playing pretend and torturing a clone?" Vincent slowly turned in the air and glared at Hades, "So you finally decide to speak." "I don''t like to waste words speaking with deluded fools like yourself. If you want to play pretend, do so at the expense of your own time." Ashlock was still a little bitter about being fooled by Vincent''s act. It had been a little too convincing. To the man''s credit, he seemed unfazed by Ashlock''s taunting. "You are the leader of this Ashfallen Sect, correct?" "Who knows," Ashlock replied, "We are both using proxies, so who''s to say that''s even how you look?" "It''s normal for high-level cultivators such as ourselves to use proxies. There are too many uncertainties in life to risk exposing ourselves out in the open." Vincent gestured to Larry, "This is a perfect example. Summits are always a little chaotic, but this is on a different level. It''s like you have a vendetta against me or something. Come on, let''s talk about it. Slaughter like this doesn''t benefit anyone. It''s just a waste of Qi." Ashlock almost wanted to laugh. For anyone else, that may be true. But for him, there was no better way to power level than a good slaughter. "Vincent sure does seem obsessed with preserving Qi." Ashlock mused, "Maybe he is close to reaching the Monarch Realm?" Even if he could safely use his Evil Eye, Ashlock doubted he would learn Vincent''s true cultivation level from gazing at a blood clone. "Let me hear your proposal," Ashlock said with a deliberately dismissive tone. He had already shown his open aggressiveness and had no plans to stop. Nightrose City would be reduced to ash by sundown, so there was little Vincent could offer to make him stop. Other than Vincent actually forcing him away by showing off some of his power for once. "We should work together¡ª" "No." "Why not?" Vincent frowned. "If the Ashfallen Sect is truly a Divine-level sect on par with the Celestial Empire, us demonic sects finally have a chance! For too long, the Celestial Order has exercised its authority across the realm. If not for us having to constantly move to avoid the beast tides and rebuild, we could have a chance of matching them." "As you said, the Ashfallen Sect is Divine level. What need would we have for you?" Vincent''s face twisted, "I''m nearing the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm!" Ashlock laughed through Hades, "Yet you couldn''t save a single one of your family." "My family? I don''t need them," Vincent sneered, "None of their strength matches even a fraction of mine." "Isn''t that because you suppress them to be below you? Why? Scared they will surpass you?" "No, it''s so I can do this," Vincent pointed his free hand at the remaining group of Nightrose Elders on the rooftop. The one who had been leading them with the golden embroidered lotus on his back collapsed as streams of blood flowed out of his nose, eyes, and mouth toward Vincent. After a few moments, the Star Core Realm cultivator was reduced to a lifeless husk as he fell forward, slid down the roof, and crashed into a heap on the street below. Vincent then turned to Hades with blood gathered in a sphere above his palm. "Am I supposed to be impressed or something?" Ashlock asked. In truth, that was a terrifying power. His main advantage over other cultivators was his Qi pool and how easy it was to replenish through killing. Yet it seemed Vincent had a similar capability, though more restricted. It was interesting how challenging the man''s pride caused him to freely display such capabilities. This is what Ashlock wanted more than anything right now. Information on Vincent Nightrose''s capabilities so he could determine the best way to bring him down. They were like two chess grandmasters playing a death game with words through their proxies, and Ashlock was on the offensive. "What can you even do with that gathered blood? It''s only of the Star Core Realm, is it not? It seems like a waste to me." Vincent pointed his hand at Hades. A million spikes shot out at once, annihilating Hades. There was nothing left of the Ent as the blood fell to the ground, forming a river of blood that rushed down the street, painting the storefronts a gruesome scarlet. "Need I demonstrate more?" Vincent smirked as he pointed his finger at a cowering Nightrose woman who was barely in the Star Core Realm and unable to move a muscle under the immense soul pressures of Vincent and Larry. "Fuck no, what the hell was that?!" Ashlock shouted in his mind. Hades had been a 7th-stage Nascent Soul Realm Ent, yet he was one-shotted with borrowed Qi via a proxy! What if Vincent showed up at Red Vine Peak with a bunch of his family in tow and started shooting attacks like that off? Would his Voidstorm Aegis even react in time? "I guess you possess the firepower to kill one of my weaker servants," Ashlock said as arrogantly as he could muster through Anubis as he felt his connection to Hades cut, "How about you tell me more about this possible partnership?" Meanwhile, Ashlock opened a portal deep within the Nightrose castle and had Khaos step through. As a peak Star Core Realm Ent with the void affinity, she was the perfect choice to hunt for Vincent Nightrose''s true body. Chapter 377: Threads of Fate It looks like I successfully fooled him. Vincent hid a sigh of relief as he didn''t have to do another demonstration and lowered his hand. While he had made it look impressive, a lot of work had gone into killing that Nascent Soul Realm shadow titan, and it started way before he drained the blood from one of his Elders. In fact, the draining of the Elder was more for show than anything else. A classic misdirection to draw attention away from the truth. Since the moment this Ashfallen Sect showed up and summoned those two Nascent Soul Realm shadow monsters, I knew I had to take the opportunity to get rid of one of them. I''m just glad the illusion I conjured of Elder Morrigan Voidmind being tortured managed to obscure my powering up of the grand blood-gathering array below the city. Vincent''s spiritual senses were spread across the city, and he had detected the presence of the strange silver cloud ages ago. Noting its divine nature and cultivation level, he allowed the vaguely spider-shaped cloud to devour some of his family members to gauge its strength and to see if it would be a better target for the grand array. I can''t stop this one. Vincent concluded as he eyed the divine monster cautiously. The shadow titan had been an easy target due to its size, and as a shadow affinity monster out during the daytime, its defenses were considerably weaker for its cultivation level. Meanwhile, this spider seemed impossible to stop. All Vincent could do was burn his gravity Qi to lock it in place for a while, but that wasn''t a permanent solution. I have no idea who this Ashfallen Sect is, but they are too dangerous to fight head-on for now. I need to reach Monarch Realm, and then nothing in this layer of creation can stop me, not even this divine spider. Vincent''s eyes flickered to the horizon. All I need is to absorb the Crestfallen bloodline. With access to their ancestral knowledge, I can comprehend the laws of all three of my affinities, form my Inner World, and become unstoppable. Devouring Stella Crestfallen''s bloodline was all he cared about now. He had been unsure if she had awakened the truly ancient variant of her bloodline that gave her access to the knowledge of the Crestfallen family until he provoked her enough earlier while posing as Demetrios Skyrend. Once Stella declared her full name, the overwhelming presence of her bloodline had almost broken his blood clone apart. That was when he knew without a doubt that she possessed the absolute pinnacle of bloodlines. The one that rules over all others. Descendants of the Crestfallen family were already rare enough, but unless they awakened the ancient variant, their bloodline provided nothing but the ability to focus and learn quickly. While useful, it was nothing compared to the version Stella had. Vincent had tried to replace the demoness standing beside Stella with a clone to capture her, but while he had been setting his trap, Stella had unexpectedly turned and stabbed him. I still don''t know how she noticed. Maybe the leader of the Ashfallen Sect informed her with telepathy? Vincent squinted at the remaining Nascent Soul Realm shadow Ent, which the Ashfallen Sect''s leader was now using as a proxy. Right now, he would lose a fight to it as his capabilities were considerably reduced when fighting through a blood clone, and the array under the city would need days to recharge. Vincent cleared his throat and addressed the strange skeleton made from bamboo. "First of all, we should forgive each other''s transgressions. While I did destroy your shadow titan to prove a point, you killed many of my Elders. It would be improper for us to start off an alliance with grudges. What do you say?" He didn''t believe for one second that the shadow titan had been a weaker servant. Even for a Divine level sect, anything in the Nascent Soul Realm was a considerable asset. It hadn''t acted like a sentient monster. Instead, it seemed like a created being similar to a golem some earth cultivators use to fight. Such a creation had likely been incredibly costly to make. More expensive than the entire Blood Lotus Sect could afford. If not for the fact there was a second one, he could be convinced it was one of a kind. In comparison, the death of my family members is inconsequential. I cannot afford to enrage this Ashfallen Sect for now. What I need is to buy time. While under their protection from the Celestial Order and the beast tides, I will find Stella Crestfallen, bathe in her blood, and ascend to heights unseen. For too long, he had been trying to advance all three of his affinities to the level of Monarch Realm, but the path before him without the help of the Crestfallen ancestral knowledge was looking slimmer with every passing year. Getting useful information on obtaining laws in an affinity was terribly difficult. All he could find was texts saying to contemplate heaven''s whispers for centuries. But he didn''t have centuries to spare anymore. Enemies, new and old, were breathing down his neck, and he wasn''t getting any stronger. "I can agree to that," A hundred voices overlaid reverberated out of the shadowy skeleton. Vincent felt the words buzz against his mental defenses as if trying to worm their way in, but he resisted by weakening his link to the blood clone. There was no way he was letting anyone get a look inside his head. "Great. I''ll release the spider," Vincent didn''t want to admit it, but the spider had devoured his gravity Qi, and he was moments away from losing his grip on it. His Elders, who were still cowering on the rooftop, yelped as the ashen spider lurched forward and engulfed them. Vincent raised a brow as the silver cloud expanded in size and dispersed to reveal an empty rooftop beside blood stains on the tiles. "Do we not have an alliance?" "I simply agreed to forgive past transgressions." The skeleton laughed, "Besides, I promised my divine pet a feast. Wouldn''t it be unfair to deny him such a delicious meal? Don''t you agree?" Vincent ground his blood clone''s fake teeth. He had never experienced such humiliation in all his life. How arrogant could this Ashfallen Sect be to refer to his family members as a delicious meal and devour them when he is standing right here? Once I reach Monarch Realm, I''m going to find this bastard and skin him alive right after slaughtering nine generations of his bloodline. "That would be quite unfair," Vincent agreed with a strained smile. "Now that your pet has had his fill, what do you think about halting the bloodshed?" "Mhm," the skeleton tilted its head. "You have yet to offer a proposal that benefits me. I admit you are strong, but I have strength rivaling the Celestial Empire under my command." The ashen spider rose up and began to encircle Vincent. Its red eyes glowed with intense bloodlust, and he could feel the monster''s soul pressure weighing down on him. This was the first time in centuries that Vincent had felt this threatened. Where in the nine realms of hell had this Ashfallen Sect come from? This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Did they descend from a higher realm? Are they a disgruntled fragment of the Frozen Star Sect that stumbled upon some powerful legacy in a rift? None of this makes any sense. "Perhaps if you were to tell me your affinities or the capabilities of your bloodlines, I could see if you would fit into my sect." What a joke. I''m nearing the Monarch Realm. There''s no way I can''t ''fit'' into his sect. Just what is his objective here? Maybe I''ll give him a small taste and see if he bites... "I have gravity, blood, and shadow." Vincent lied. He would rather die than reveal his actual affinities. Illusion affinity only worked when others were unaware he possessed it. He could create anything and make it look realistic by combining gravity, blood, and illusion affinity. For example, his blood clones were made from blood. He then used illusion affinity to fake their appearance and voice, while his gravity affinity gave the clone weight and the presence of a genuine cultivator. The same could be applied to techniques. Vincent raised his hand and skillfully weaved his three affinities together. First, he created a tendril out of blood. He then wrapped it with his illusion affinity to make it appear like a tendril of shadow Qi. The final touch was a little gravity Qi to make the attack hit harder than it should. Aiming down, he shot the tendrils at a nearby building, obliterating it. "Interesting," the shadow skeleton said. "To think you possess shadow affinity. What a good combination." It looks like I fooled him again. The leader of the Ashfallen Sect seemed clueless, which he wasn''t surprised by. His illusion affinity was nearing the Monarch Realm, so unless someone''s cultivation was on par with his or they were aware of his affinities'' existence, they were unlikely to see through his lies. This raised some questions. Vincent deliberately did that demonstration to gauge the Ashfallen Sect leader''s cultivation level and, from his response, could conclude that the Ashfallen Sect leader could not use his full range of senses through his proxy or wasn''t really in the Monarch Realm. Both options were good; Vincent just needed to keep the Ashfallen Sect leader at arm''s length, and he shouldn''t pose too much of a threat. "Now, tell me about your bloodlines." Vincent frowned, "How about you reveal a bit about yourself or the Ashfallen Sect? This is feeling quite one-sided." "That''s because it is," the skeleton gestured to the floating spider still circling him, hunger in its eyes. "You answer my questions or become his food. Simple as that." Vincent snorted, "This is a mere clone. You can''t threaten me with death." "I have no use for a disobedient servant. Prove your value to me, or I will hunt you down until the end of the realm." Vincent narrowed his eyes, "I''m starting to think you have no interest in an alliance at all." "Correct," the skeleton said as shadow Qi gathered around its fingers, "You are worthless in my eyes." "Worthless?" Vincent had never heard such nonsense, "Why waste my time coming here and humoring my offer of an alliance? If you want to fight, let''s not waste any more of my precious time and get down to it." Vincent hated the idea of losing this clone, as it was costly to make. He had to use a considerable amount of Qi from all three of his affinities, alongside a few buckets of blood from his family members¡ªmany of whom had perished today at the hands of this new regional power¡ªthe Ashfallen Sect. But if the death of this clone was inevitable, he might as well use it to test his enemy''s combat capabilities. He turned to the spider and conjured more fake shadow tendrils. Draining all the Qi left inside the blood clone, he unleashed an onslaught of blood tendrils disguised as shadows upon the spider. To his surprise, the spider actually struggled to maintain its size as his tendrils knocked out a large chunk of it. Why didn''t it grow in size like it had when devouring the blood techniques from my Elders? Vincent wondered. He had actually damaged it... if he had more Qi to work with, maybe he could even kill it. Was it because I layered my affinities, and it couldn''t decay my attacks fast enough? Vincent''s mind wandered as the spider recovered its general shape and charged at him. He didn''t even have the strength left in the blood clone to raise his hand, and he experienced being decayed alive. His world went dark as his connection to the blood clone was cut. *** "I really need to get ahold of the Echoheart bloodline again," Vincent groaned as he sat up from his bloody coffin and felt his consciousness spread through this new clone. "Tsk, I can feel my control over my blood clones weakening with each one that gets destroyed by the Ashfallen Sect." Not only were the bloodlines he absorbed inferior versions, but they also weakened over time like an unused muscle if he didn''t keep absorbing the bloodline. This is why he founded the Blood Lotus Sect, the largest bloodline farm on the 9th layer of creation. "But it''s all falling apart," Vincent climbed out of the coffin with a deep frown. "I seem to have lost control of too many families while focusing on advancing my cultivation as much as possible before wasting months relocating." Vincent looked at the ceiling and pulled on his recently acquired Starweaver bloodline. Using it took a lot out of him and corrupted the bloodline quickly. I estimate I can call upon the threads of fate only three more times before I need to bathe in the blood of a starweaver again. Who was next on my list? Celeste, right? His eyes glowed gold, and the bare stone ceiling was replaced with a sea of stars. Hints at innumerable futures flowed into his mind as he was strung along the threads of fate. He wasn''t sure how clear or coherent these futures were to those with the ancient bloodline, but his inferior version proved quite useful. "Let''s see... tell me threads of fate, where should I go from here." Every thread of fate he followed seemed to lead to the same result. Over and over, every thread was cut short, meaning he died. He didn''t know how exactly he died, just that almost every choice he could make from here ended in his demise. The only decision that seemed to give him a glimmer of hope was running for the hills as fast as he could to the Celestial Empire. "What if I manage to absorb Stella Crestallen''s bloodline¡ªoh." Vincent winced as he went down that thread. It was by far the longest, as he lived long enough to reach the peak of power. But it resulted in far more than his death. While the other threads of fate would keep going despite the lack of his presence in them, this one was different. He got a vision that the divine being that would devour him would go on to destroy the nine realms as well. "The collapse of the nine realms? What does that have to do with Stella?" Vincent was perplexed. These visions didn''t make sense. Before today, he had used this power, and his future had seemed more optimistic. All that had changed was the arrival of the Ashfallen Sect, and now he was doomed to die? "What about right now?" He latched onto the shortest thread and was surprised to get a vivid vision of him dying in the corridor to a vague darkness. Dismissing the bloodline, his eyes returned to normal, and he supported himself on the coffin''s edge as his head pounded. If he was to believe the threads of fate, he was destined to die. "Nonsense, I''m a man-made god." Vincent straightened his back and got control of himself. "Let''s see if these threads of fate tell the truth. If I open this door, I should die." Opening the door slowly, he couldn''t feel the presence of anything with his spiritual senses. "Maybe the inferior version isn''t totally accurate?" Vincent mused as he stepped into the corridor. "Perhaps they are possible timelines rather than guarantees¡ª" Vincent coughed blood. Confused, he slowly looked down and saw four claws wreathed in void Qi impaling his chest. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a headless abomination. It ripped out its arms from his body and swiftly tore him apart a second later, once again cutting his connection to another blood clone. As his world went dark once again, all he could think of was the Ashfallen Sect''s leader declaring that he would be hunted to the end of the realm. If all paths lead to death, then he would pick the one that gave him the longest chance at life. To hell with the nine realms. He would get his hands on the Crestfallen bloodline if it was the last thing he did. Chapter 378: Masterful Deception Vincent pressed his back against the stone wall as he carefully peered through a runically enhanced window. Down below in the Nightrose castle''s courtyard lined by statues of him in his prime, he saw the few remaining Grand Elders of the Blood Lotus Sect who had stood on his side cowering before the Nascent Soul Realm shadow lich. He couldn''t hear what the lich was saying to the Grand Elders as he was refraining from spreading his spiritual sense beyond the castle and possibly giving away his location. "It looks like it''s finally time," Vincent said in a deep, raspy voice that surprised even himself. It had been a while since his consciousness occupied his real body, and he had forgotten how far it had deteriorated. He stepped away from the wall, and his long toenails scraped on the stone as he trudged into the depths of the dark room. His long arms reached for the shelves as he gathered body parts floating in large jars of murky brown liquid. While he could create clones from blood and have them appear genuine to weaker cultivators with a clever application of illusion and gravity Qi, they were nothing but disposable puppets that could command a fraction of his power. He had to carefully make a body from scratch if he wanted to create one capable of housing his many bloodlines and affinities. "Hopefully, the eyes won''t spoil before I can set up a new preservation array," Vincent grumbled as he took the jar containing his new eyes off the array built into the shelves. While spatial rings slowed down decay, they couldn''t stop it entirely. "Wha¡ªugh," Vincent suddenly kneeled over and retched while desperately gripping the shelf to stabilize his shaking body. Wiping his mouth, he inspected the back of his hand with a frown. "Black blood? That''s new..." Pushing himself up to his trembling knees, he tried to calm his broken body down. "The killing of my clones had a more significant toll than I thought," Vincent grimaced as he looked within. His soul was an absolute mess. Three affinities competed for dominance, and since he had used much more blood and gravity Qi recently, he was unstable. Add some soul damage on top of that, and he seemed on the brink of going supernova. This isn''t good. I had hoped to strike an alliance with the Ashfallen Sect to buy some time to switch bodies, but those bastards seem hellbent on destroying everything I have built up and killing me, but for what purpose? Vincent stabilized himself on the shelf as he thought through his long list of enemies and drew up the most likely. Now that I think about it, there''s no way for a Divine-level sect to appear out of nowhere. This must be a division or lapdog for the Celestial Empire. Maybe the Chairman finally decided to free himself from the council by establishing a shadow Empire in the wilderness? If that''s the case, it would explain why the threads of fate with my highest survival rate would be if I headed to the Celestial Empire. The Chairman would rather let me live and recover than expose his secret branch to the Celestial Empire to hunt me down. Vincent had a long history with the Chairman. They were like two old friends, just on the opposite side of a fence and with a dagger ready to slit the other''s throat. Of course, there is no guarantee that the Chairman has anything to do with the Ashfallen Sect. They could also be a group that found a way down from the eighth layer of creation. Vincent sighed. What he needed was more information. He was utterly in the dark. Let''s see... I''ve already decided I need to get ahold of Stella Crestfallen''s bloodline. If I let her live and I escaped from here to the Celestial Empire, all I would achieve is living for a few centuries, but I would never be able to step into the Monarch Realm without the assistance of her ancestral knowledge of laws. I''m sick and tired of sitting in silence and listening to heaven''s whispers for years on end with no results. With that course of action decided Vincent looked toward the east. He had failed to capture Stella Crestfallen earlier due to her Spatial Anchor and because she somehow noticed that he had replaced the demoness beside her with a clone. But all hope was not lost. He could smell her bloodline from here. Taking a deep sniff and contemplating for a moment, he slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Darklight City. She is hiding near there, without a doubt." Trudging back to the window, Vincent eyed the Grand Elders in the courtyard below. It seemed the situation had deteriorated. Moving the sect is not feasible without the protection of other families and their help in building arrays. The new area will be monster-infested, and another demonic sect may try to claim it. A fight is inevitable, which will consume a lot of Qi and set me back decades. I''ll go after Stella Crestfallen in Darklight City and flee elsewhere once the beast tide reaches its zenith. Now, who was in control of Darklight City again? His eyes flickered between the group below, and a slow realization set in. It was the Ravenborne family, but they were killed by the Winterwrath and Evergreen families under my orders. However, both of those families were then killed, and then the Redclaw family took over? That shouldn''t have been possible unless the Redclaws got help from someone else. Vincent ground his teeth as he remembered the Redclaws had shown up alongside the Ashfallen Sect. They must be working together to take me down. I''ll have to approach Darklight City cautiously, as it''s likely the stronghold for the Ashfallen Sect. Vincent suddenly felt a cold grasp caress his soul as pressure washed over him. His gaze snapped in the direction it was coming from, and he locked his eyes with the shadow lich down in the courtyard. It was staring right at him. How did he notice me? Vincent scowled as he raised his hand and saw the viscous black blood still webbed between his sickly white fingers. All that had changed between now and the last time he was at the window was the presence of this blood. Analyzing it a little closer, Vincent sensed the faintest hint of divinity from the black blood. "Is this blood from the All-Seeing Eye?" Vincent aggressively shook his hand as he stepped away from the window. That had been the name of the god Stella claimed to be a priestess of, and her daggers had been coated in this black blood. "It must contain some tracking qualities. But why now? Because it was exposed to the air¡ªget off me!" The building suddenly shook, and the runic enchantments on the window glowed fiercely with silver light as the defensive formation fought back against a cluster of shadow tendrils. Vincent wiped the black blood on a random cloth before throwing it away. I need to leave¡ªnow. He quickly spread out his spiritual senses as his location was already compromised. As expected, he could feel strong cultivators and monstrous beings, likely belonging to the Ashfallen Sect, rushing toward his position through the castle. If not for the defensive formations slowing them down, they would already be upon him. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Rather than wasting his Qi fighting his way out and risking his body falling apart, Vincent exited the room and made his way to another. Inserting his hands into two holes atop a podium, he fed a grand array under the city his overflowing illusion Qi that was throwing his soul out of balance. The Nightrose Elders had thought him mad when he melted down their vast fortune of spirit stones to build multiple grand arrays under Nightrose City. He had done the same thing with every city he moved to, and never once had the arrays been activated. Some doubted they even worked and begged him not to spend so much time and spirit stones recreating the arrays in each new location. But one could never be too careful. Money didn''t follow one to the afterlife, and the one time he needed them, they were here for him. "Let''s cover my escape with a few illusions, shall we?" First, he had the city blanketed in a thick illusionary blood fog that seemingly appeared from nowhere. It was always easier to trick the mind when as many senses as possible were impaired¡ªespecially sight. Next, he had the fog seemingly drain the blood out of millions of mortals and gather it toward the Nightrose castle. He wanted it to look like the castle was gathering power and would explode. "Now for the cherry on top," Vincent grinned as he manipulated the illusionary blood fog to wrap around anyone inside it to give them blood masks and matching soul pressure. This way, everyone in Nightrose City almost looked and felt the same in a cultivator''s spiritual sight. Including the shadow lich, his still-alive family members, and the cowering Grand Elders of the Blood Lotus Sect. "Now I just have to sneak out through the chaos." Pulling in his soul''s presence as much as possible, Vincent wreathed himself in illusion and gravity Qi to turn himself virtually invisible by bending light around himself before he left the array room. He then skillfully avoided his pursuers, who were still blasting through defensive arrays to his secret room, by using hidden tunnels between the walls that were only traversable by manipulating gravity to bend the space. Making his way out into the street through an escape tunnel he had built himself and hidden behind illusion formations, he took a satisfied breath of fresh air. Ominous bells rang throughout the city, and the screams of mortals scrambling around through the fog, who all looked as if they were drowning from blood masks attached to their faces, were music to his ears. Vincent grinned as he effortlessly floated into the sky without a sword¡ªone of the capabilities gained from reaching the Nascent Soul Realm¡ªand while still hidden by bending light around him, he shot off toward the east, leaving Nightrose City to fend for itself. I''ll head to Darklight City first and call on Valandor. There''s something he has that''s mine. *** Ashlock couldn''t believe he had missed an area of the castle. It now seemed obvious from the outside, but it must have been the work of these defensive arrays that kept his roots from getting near it. Silver light flashed across the exterior and window of the room like a force field. "Come on, Anubis. Put some more power into those attacks." While ''talking'' nicely to the Grand Elders from the other families, he''d sensed his cursed blood from an upper floor of the castle and locked eyes with someone who looked like Vincent. Obviously, it could just be another clone, but anything was a potential lead, especially since his cursed blood led to the discovery. He had expected Anubis''s shadow tendrils to smash right through the castle''s stone so he could get a better look at the person inside, yet that had not been the case. This was one of the most impressive defensive formations he had ever seen. Just how paranoid was that freak? The amount of time and spirit stones that must have been poured into this castle could have founded a nation, and they were just going to leave it for the beast tide to destroy? He even unleashed barrages of Spatial Blades infused with daos upon the castle, but his attack strength was weak as he wasn''t fighting through {Progeny Dominion [S]}. Still, this was ridiculous. The stone around that one room could be blasted through, but the room itself seemed impenetrable. Ashlock''s vision blurred as he once again searched the vast castle with its thousands of rooms and corridors. He had his {Ethereal Roots [S]} already burrowing through the defensive formations around the room as fast as they could. Meanwhile, the Void reapers of Ashfallen, led by Khaos, were using their void-coated claws to slash away at a door that had appeared as nothing but another wall before. It had only been a minute since Ashlock sensed his cursed blood and feared the man had already somehow escaped. His fears turned out to be true when his ethereal root broke through the wall, and his spiritual sense flooded the room. The place was empty. There was no sign of Vincent, clone or not. Honing in on black-blood-stained cloth discarded on the floor, Ashlock picked it up with telekinesis and confirmed that it was his Blood Sap. "Spread out, find Vincent Nightrose at all costs," Ashlock said to the Void Reapers, and they vanished in absolute silence as they used Void Step to move elsewhere. He debated bringing in the rest of the sect to search for a moment but then dismissed the idea. They would need to eat Void Protection fruits and get their Spatial Anchors done again, all for the possibility of getting sent back to Red Vine Peak without seeing him. Gravity Qi could travel silently, and with Vincent claiming to have shadow Qi, he would be a nightmare to catch. Nox had been enough of a headache. Searching a few more corridors and finding nothing but terrified maids hiding out in random bedrooms, he gave up and looked outside the castle to a sight he wasn''t expecting to see. The city was shrouded in a thick, blood-red fog that swirled aggressively through the streets. Gongs from distant bells rang out, and he could hear everyone screaming. "Larry? What the hell is going on?" He asked his guardian who he had left in the street to keep the Nightrose Elders suppressed. "Chaos, Master," Larry said as he floated above the fog. "It happened so suddenly throughout the entire city. The fog appeared, and then there were screams." Ashlock tried to look closer, but the fog was like taking the lid off a boiling pan and getting a face full of steam to his spiritual senses. It was utterly impossible to penetrate. Surging Qi through his roots, he used telekinesis to push the fog aside, revealing a few mortals. There were strange blood masks on their faces that they were trying to yank off one another, and it seemed as if thin streams of blood were being siphoned from their bodies and gathering toward... the castle. "Oh shit," Ashlock saw the gathered blood condensing around the castle and begin pulsing like a heartbeat. Faster and faster, it pulsed, all the while glowing with power. It was almost as if it were a soul about to go supernova. "Did that bastard set the castle and maybe the whole city to explode?" It was a hell of a way to cover an escape, that was for sure. Ashlock''s mind began to race. He could hear the mortals crying out for help through the blood fog. Millions would die, a capital city gone if he didn''t do something. Morals and doing the right thing aside, this was an opportunity to get a lot of new worshipers¡ªand fast. The problem was that he would need to open a portal to Red Vine Peak to use his Evil Eye and search for a solution to save everyone. After all, there was no use for worshipers that were dead. Ashlock quickly confirmed his Voidstorm Aegis was active back on Red Vine Peak and found his sect members in Quill''s library. "Stella, take everyone and hide in my Inner World for now." "Tree! What is happening over there¡ª" "Sorry. No time to explain. Just trust me, okay!" Ashlock switched back to Nightrose City while feeling sorry for leaving his daughter in the dark. Gathering as much spatial Qi as he could muster, he opened a truly titanic rift in the sky. While one of this size was not needed, it helped add grandeur to his performance. Opening his Evil Eye, he stared through and could finally see Qi''s flow, types, and cultivation level. "Let''s see how I can stop this from happening..." Ashlock trailed off as he couldn''t believe what he was seeing. The Qi was high level, nearing the Monarch Realm. It was pure, and one of the most impressive displays of Qi he had ever seen. But none of it was real. It was all an illusion. The blood, the fog, the masks... everything. Vincent hadn''t been the fool¡ªAshlock had been played from the start. He wanted to be angry at being fooled, but how could he be? While Vincent had escaped, the bastard had set the stage for the All-Seeing Eye to save millions from nothing but an illusion. Chapter 379: Twisted Kindness In the darkest depths of the Duskwalker residence, Elysia Mystshroud was sitting cross-legged in a viscous pool of blood before a tiny red-leafed sapling growing out of a stone altar. A purple-tinted aura wreathed her body, making her appear ghostly to her family members kneeling in rows behind her, their reverence focused on the tiny tree. Stella Crestfallen, the Grand Priestess of the All-Seeing Eye, had gifted Elysia a fruit that contained a divine seed of their god when Elysia had begged for a holy object to be the subject of her worship. Planting the seed, a small demonic sapling had sprouted. Since its birth, the whole Mystshroud family had carefully tended the tree, and Elysia had ensured it understood the greatness of the All-Seeing Eye through dreams via mystic Qi. "Mytherion," Elysia said as she caressed the tree gently like a mother with her mystic Qi, "Do you understand yet? The greatness of your father?" The tree did not answer, but Elysia could tell it did not yet understand¡ªfor if it truly did, it would join them in prayer and sing praises to the high heavens. "Perhaps you need more blood. A child needs to eat." Elysia pricked her finger with the tip of a ceremonial dagger and dripped blood over the tree''s leaves. The droplets of blood rolled off its small leaves and trickled down its rock altar into the pool of blood Elysia was bathing in below. A few of the demonic sapling''s roots had burrowed through the altar and extended into this blood pool, so Elysia used it as a place to leave corpses, her own blood, and some Mystic Qi. It was important that this child of her god was well-fed and taken care of. Elysia let her Qi pour into the pool as she lounged back and lazily opened her mind to the demonic sapling to show it the wonders of the All-Seeing Eye. Her long silver-tinted black hair that ran down her back was sprawled out floating in the blood pool and got dirtied by the bits of half-decayed animals floating around, but she didn''t care. "Little Mytherion, when you grow up, you will finally understand that there''s far more to the All-Seeing Eye than anyone thinks possible. I''ve seen it." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "He is not from this world. I need to raise you in case¡ª" Her eyes suddenly widened as she felt a domineering presence overwhelm her consciousness. Instead of resisting or even protecting herself, she let it flow in and dominate every part of her body and soul. "Elysia Mystshroud, as the Vice Cult Leader, I require your assistance with something." "Anything!" Elysia screamed in ecstasy as her god''s words thundered in her mind like a chorus of the dead, and her body trembled, "My body and soul are yours to command. Just tell me what your heavenly gaze desires!" "Uhm..." Her god sounded uncomfortable. Perhaps she hadn''t shown her devotion enough?! "I apologize for my lack of manners. I''ll..." she glanced around desperately and laid eyes on the altar, which gave her the perfect idea, "I''ll show my devotion by opening my mind to you more!" she stood quickly¡ªblood and bits of animal from the pool trailed down her body as she gripped the altar before her and, without hesitation, slammed her forehead on the sharpest corner. Along with the crunch of her skull, pain shot through her body, causing her to collapse backward. Her vision was blurred slightly as she squinted up at the demonic sapling on the altar she had been taking care of, and to her bewilderment, she could see the illusion of her god overlaying it. "Elysia, what are you doing?" The Grand Elder of her family had gotten up from his kneeled position and walked beside her with a look of concern. "Father, be quiet. I''m receiving a divine message from the All-Seeing Eye," Elysia scowled at the blurred man as blood trickled down her face and into the pool below. "Do not interrupt me." The Grand Elder seemed shocked as he knelt and bowed his head, "I apologize. What does our god desire from my humble family." Elysia reached out to the presence in her mind, "Speak through me. Whatever your desire is, have it be known to your humble servants." "Very well..." Her god sighed. He seemed tired. Yet the sudden presence that took hold of her was anything but. Elysia felt her body turn to face her still-kneeling family. Her mouth opened, yet what came out was not her usual voice but a hundred voices at once. "Vincent Nightrose, leader of the Blood Lotus Sect, desires something that is mine. Something so close to me that should I lose it, I would go to war with the nine realms until its destruction or my own." Elysia watched as her family slowly stood up in unison. Mystic Qi flickered across their skin, pulsing red with rage. The All-Seeing Eye had opened their minds to a new height of power¡ªthey owed their everything to him. "Vincent Nightrose has been marked for death by me for this transgression, as has the Nightrose family. By sundown, the Nightrose family will be no more, and Nightrose City will fall under my domain. However, while running away, Vincent Nightrose activated a grand array and set the city to explode, threatening to kill everyone. People who are unaware of my greatness. New potential worshipers." Elysia felt her body tremble. Such an outcome was inconceivable. Not only did this bastard cause trouble for her god by desiring something that was his, but he even dared to deny people from learning about the All-Seeing Eye''s greatness before their demise. Inconceivable! What a tragic fate to perish before learning of the All-Seeing Eye? Without him, their souls will wander in the afterlife without knowing of his love. "We need to save them." The Grand Elder said seriously. "Agreed. I will teleport you all over to Nightrose City. Save the city and its people with everything you have, all while spreading my name. That is my decree." Elysia fell to the pool like a puppet cut from its strings as the All-Seeing Eye withdrew his intense presence from her body. Her Qi exploded out, sending waves through the pool. Her mind was left even more broken, her soul fractured and drifting. Yet she felt her strength reach a new height... her cultivation had actually gone up to the 7th stage of the Star Core Realm. It seemed the experience of becoming her god''s voice had enlightened her. A face-splitting grin spread across her face as she stepped out of the pool, drenched in blood. "Mistress Elysia, please clean yourself and get dressed..." A nearby maid hesitantly handed her cult cloak, which she grabbed and absentmindedly put on. Her thoughts were elsewhere. My cultivation increasing means the heavens recognize and have rewarded my devotion to the All-Seeing Eye. I must show even more vigor and worship next time! Elysia balled her fists before she decided to address her family again. This time with her own voice. She was... enraged. What the All-Seeing Eye had told her made her blood boil. "The All-Seeing Eye has blessed us with his divine words. We will hunt and kill Vincent Nightrose till our last breath. We will wipe out all nine generations of his bloodline and feast on their corpses," Elysia spread out her arms as she looked to the ceiling and shouted, "But first, we will spread the name of our god!" She licked her lips as blood continued to trickle down her face from the wound on her head. "This is a decree, and it''s our job as his faithful servants to carry out his will." "All hail the All-Seeing Eye. May his gaze be forever eternal." The Grand Elder''s voice boomed through the room, and the dozen other members of the Mystshroud family echoed the words with equal vigor. Elysia turned and caressed the leaves of the demonic sapling one last time. "Mytherion, do you feel our love and devotion to your father? Can you feel his greatness flow through you? His profound words and teachings?" Once again, the tree didn''t reply, but the tree''s father sure did. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Spatial Qi, along with the All-Seeing Eye''s presence, flooded the room, and reality was torn asunder as a rift manifested. Elysia narrowed her eyes at the rift that had appeared before her. So this is a gateway to the land my god desires dominion over. Whether it be hell, heaven, or somewhere in between. I will go where he wishes and conquer it all the same. Withdrawing and stepping on a sword, she flew through the portal with mystic Qi wreathing her form and ready to manifest whatever she could imagine. As her ears popped from the pressure change, the intense smell of iron assaulted her nose alongside the sound of a gong and screams. She seemed to have been directed to the center of a city so large she could hardly make out the towering black walls in the distance. Below her was the courtyard of a comically large castle built on a mountain that lorded over the city. How could someone even live in a castle like this? It has to have thousands of rooms. Walking from one end to the other must take at least an hour. The castle''s size made what Elysia was seeing even more unbelievable. The entire structure was covered in a layer of thick blood that pulsed as if it were a heart. The power radiating off it was immense, and it looked like it would explode at any moment as Qi leaked out of random holes. So this is the power of someone that can anger a god¡ªmy god. Yet despite the imminent danger, the All-Seeing Eye simply watched through a massive rift in the sky. He did not show signs of intending to act, which contradicted what he had told her at the Duskwalker residence. Elysia realized the hidden meaning. If the All-Seeing Eye has entrusted me to deal with this, that means it''s not worth his involvement. Elysia raised her hand above her head, and her mystic Qi began to condense. Which has to mean that he trusts me enough to deal with it myself. Ah! I can feel his love. Mystic Qi worked off belief from both the wielder and the opponent. As a higher form of illusion Qi, she could bring things into reality so long as she could visualize them. If she believed strongly enough, almost anything was possible. I must liberate the city of this blood fog first so they can see the castle and the All-Seeing Eye in the sky. Otherwise, how else will the mortals experience his gaze invading their body and soul, bringing them to new heights? Elysia raised her other arm and showed both palms to the sky. Her broken soul hummed in her chest as she began to feed a small ritual circle between her fingers with power. It spun upwards and grew bigger and bigger. Her eyes glowed with a violet hue as the ritual circle expanded, covering the entire city and grinding away at the blood-red dome. It also began to suck up the bloody fog that was blanketing the city. As it absorbed more of this strange blood mist, the ritual circle actually grew in power rather than weakening. Elysia was in awe. The All-Seeing Eye must have foreseen this and given me a blessing! Otherwise, it wouldn''t make sense for this technique to grow in power. That only happened when it encountered illusions, but her god wouldn''t send her in to save the people from something that wasn''t real. This city needed saving, and she was here to do it in the name of the All-Seeing Eye, even if it resulted in her soul''s death from using up all her Qi. "Mystshroud family! Believe in the All-Seeing Eye, and he shall grant you a blessing. Your powers will grow tenfold as we rid the world of this filth that threatens to deprive millions of feeling the warmth of his eternal gaze!" "Praise the eternal gaze!" They all chanted, raising their hands to the sky and following her lead. Dozens of ritual circles expanded through the sky like ripples on a lake. They all spun at different speeds as the blood fog flowed toward them. Once all the blood fog had been lifted from the city, the rings began to spin in reverse, and mystic Qi cascaded down, flooding the streets at no cost to Elysia''s Star Core. No wonder the All-Seeing Eye saw no need to intervene. Just how far ahead into the future can he see? Elysia was in awe once again. Whenever she thought she understood the situation, more was revealed to her. I need to let the people know. They need to understand who saved them. The city was now saturated with mystic Qi, giving Elysia near unlimited control via the ritual circles overhead. Since the blood fog had been dealt with, the mortals could now look up at the All-Seeing Eye in the sky. As gongs continued to echo through the city, people stood staring at the crack in reality. Their eyes were wide, and they seemed afraid despite gazing upon their savior. Elysia grinned. They are clearly all experiencing the joy of the All-Seeing Eye''s gaze. How marvelous! The more their minds break and accept his grace, the more devoted they will be. Mirroring her thoughts, the ritual circles in the sky began to spin aggressively. All at once, the mortals throughout the city collapsed to their knees. Howls and pained screams of celebration resonated through the city as Elysia flooded their minds so they would understand. They had to understand. They did not need to live if their puny little minds couldn''t understand the All-Seeing Eye''s grace¡ª "Elysia." Her own name thundered in her mind, spoken by her god. Looking toward the rift, she saw the eye of her god glaring at her. "We are a peaceful cult that accepts people into our ranks without breaking their minds... you and your family were a unique case. It''s better to win mortals over with goodwill and demonstrations. They become more loyal that way." Elysia felt like she had been struck by a lightning bolt of enlightenment. Only the All-Seeing Eye, an evil god, could develop such a profound kind of mind control. Goodwill? Of course... how hadn''t I thought of that before? Twisted kindness is a perfect way to worm into the hearts of others and make them believe they owe you something. I can''t force the All-Seeing Eye''s greatness upon people. They need to experience it for themselves. That is the ultimate kindness I could give anyone. Elysia''s eyes flickered to the castle that was still a beacon of leaking power, about to explode. Relaxing her arms, Elysia used the mystic Qi that had already invaded everyone''s minds to spread the word of her god. "The Nightrose family has forsaken you all, lost and confused in a fog of your own blood¡ªyour death draws near. But fear not, citizens of Nightrose City, not all is lost. Accept the gaze of the All-Seeing Eye, and feel it down to your soul. The pain you feel now is not an attack; it is the cleansing of your body and soul from the control the Nightrose family once held over you." Elysia utilized the mystic Qi to relax everyone''s mind and make a calming feeling flow through them, along with her words. She then made the sky crackle with lightning between the spinning rings. With the All-Seeing Eye to her back, she drew attention to herself. It was time to show them the power of a mere follower. "With the fog lifted, do you see it now? The castle that once served as the home for the ruling Nightrose family, cultivators that promised to protect you from the beast tide¡ªthey are gone. In their place, they set it to explode and kill you all." Mystic Qi warped around the castle, making it look even worse than it really was. Elysia grinned as she heard shouts of outrage from the streets below. The mortals gathered in the streets at the foot of the mountain were little black dots, almost like ants. Not that she saw them as ants... assuming they became worshipers. Mortal or cultivator, she respected anyone who revered the eternal gaze. *** A young teen stood with his five siblings outside his mother''s bakery shop. Tears streamed down his face as he tightly gripped his mother''s hand. Their shop''s glass front had been smashed in during the chaos earlier. Everyone had gone mad as their faces were eaten by blood, but some had used the opportunity to loot. Nearly every store on the street had been hit. He knew his mother had already been struggling to pay the high taxes and rent to the Nightrose family. He had overheard her soft cries as she sat alone at the dinner table while he stayed hidden on the stairs after putting his brothers and sisters to bed. Now, with all their bread gone, he knew his mother was on the edge of a mental breakdown. But none of that would matter if they all died in an explosion orchestrated by the very people who promised to use those funds to further their cultivation and protect them. He stared up at the sky with a clear mind due to the apparent cleansing of the control the Nightrose family had on his mind. Those cultivators... it''s so clear now. They robbed us. Used us as nothing more than cattle. We work ourselves to death while they enjoy the fruits of our labor. "Fear not, with the power vested in me as the Vice Cult Leader for the All-Seeing Eye, I will annihilate this transgression against you." It was strange. He shouldn''t be able to see the woman from so far away or hear her words. Yet they reached him as if she were right before him. The crazed woman in the sky threw her head back and began chanting. "O herald of the gaze, devourer of worlds and all who dare to oppose you. Hear this servant''s call and lend me your strength to bring these hard-working people salvation from this accursed fate." Hard-working people? He looked at his tired mother standing at his side. Had they ever once been acknowledged as hard-working by a cultivator? The bizarre circles in the sky that had freed the land of the blood fog stacked up into a tunnel that seemed to give focus to the godly eye staring down at them through a rift in the sky. From the moment he had laid eyes on it, his brain had broken. Yet now it seemed peaceful, as if it was here to help, which was a stark contrast to how evil it looked. So that eye is the All-Seeing Eye? Some kind of god? Is it really going to save us? He squeezed his mother''s hand with a grim expression. The god looked evil, and the crazed woman said she was part of a cult worshiping them. But maybe they really can? Rifts opened up around the eye, and he felt a chill down to his bones as tendrils of otherworldly darkness snaked through the cracks in reality. At first, it was just a few, but as if the sky was barely holding back a withering mass of tentacles, they just kept pouring out until the entire sky was like a waterfall of slithering darkness. Soon, the castle was utterly drowned in darkness. "How can we ever hope to fight something like that?" His mother muttered, her face pale with fear. "Hopefully, we don''t have to," he hissed back so his younger siblings didn''t hear. But he wasn''t so sure himself. To him, it looked like a tyrant had been squashed to make way for an evil god. Chapter 380: Netherworld Ashlock watched through his Evil Eye as Elysia commanded Pluto''s tendrils to stop the castle from exploding. Of course, it was merely an illusion¡ªnot that he had told Elysia that. Ashlock worried she wouldn''t put on a dramatic enough performance if she didn''t believe failure would result in the loss of millions of potential new worshipers. "Though I have to say that girl somehow became even more insane. I didn''t expect to find her bathing in a pool of blood and animal parts while praying to one of my offspring," Ashlock sighed as he watched Elysia cackle away as she made more of Pluto''s tendrils snake their way into heaven''s carefully woven reality. "Just how broken is her mind to imagine Pluto''s body to look this eldritch?" Just a few months ago, when they first met, the body Elysia could conjure with Mystic Qi for Pluto could easily fit in an arena, but now... it looked like the sky might fall like ceiling paint holding back a leak. "Is that what Maple''s true body looks like?" Ashlock mused. Pluto was Maple''s little sibling, and they were both Worldwalkers, so he doubted they differed that much. The display was quite horrifying and made all the worse as he watched it unfold through his Evil Eye. Pluto was just darkness in his sight¡ªan all-consuming void that devoured everything it touched. [A large inflow of divine energy has been detected] Golden letters flashed before his eye, informing him it had begun. Elysia had spread his name while putting on a performance that even impacted him. It was such a raw display of reality-bending power that even he wouldn''t want to mess with Elysia. Yet she happily proclaimed that she was wielding such cataclysmic powers in his name, which would definitely bring their respect for the All-Seeing Eye to new heights in the minds of the millions of mortals watching. "System, what''s my current number of sacrificial credits?" [You have 3500 sacrificial credits and rapidly counting] "That''s quite a lot," Ashlock mused as his Evil Eye swiveled to look at the mortals lining the streets gazing up at him and the castle in fear. Maybe in hindsight, Elysia hadn''t been the best one to handle this. "This could have been an opportunity to give the cult a new light! Darn it, I should have tried to appear more majestic and benevolent." Ashlock sighed. "This display has definitely furthered my evil god image, but I fear that might be the only option moving forward." They had mystic Qi on their side, and it could manifest anything, but the problem was that, unlike illusion Qi, it only worked if the cultivator fully believed in what they were trying to conjure. Ashlock glanced back at Elysia, whose eyes had rolled back, and she looked possessed as she pulled immense amounts of mystic Qi in from her surroundings to manifest Pluto''s body. All of her family and the dozens of ritual rings were pumping her with Qi and it looked like she would go supernova any second as Pluto kept coming. "Should I... tell her? That it''s just an illusion, and she doesn''t need to go this far?" Ashlock wondered as he felt a little bad and definitely didn''t want Elysia to die or explode, but on the flip side, the insane girl seemed to grow in strength the more she broke, so... "I''m sure she will be fine¡ªow!" Ashlock winced as he felt pain shoot through his root network. He hadn''t felt pain like this in a long time, as he had his root network tuned out. It would drive him crazy if he were to experience the fears, concerns, and pains of every tree he was linked to across the realm. So something big had to have happened for the pain to be so extreme it overwhelmed his ability to tune it out. Immediately, he tried to locate the source of the pain. Anything that could cut through so many of his S-grade ethereal roots so effortlessly had to be something at the Nascent Soul Realm. "Could it be Vincent? Is he attacking me somewhere? Or maybe the beast tide has reached my roots sooner than expected?" Following the pain, all signs pointed toward his roots inside the castle. "Is Vincent trying to claw his way out like a caged rat and hurting me in the process?" Ashlock''s vision blurred as he switched to his spiritual sight through his roots inside the castle. All he was met with was an all-consuming darkness. It took a moment for Ashlock to realize what he was surrounded by as he shifted his view through his roots until he could finally see. "This looks like the vague remnants of a room. Are those cries of fear? Wait, they aren''t Vincent. Why the hell are there maids here? Oh god." The ceiling collapsed as a tendril of void belonging to Pluto crashed through. The wood hissed as it was deleted from existence, and the tendril rushed into the room like a flood of ink. The darkness was Pluto, and it was about to reach three maids cowering in the corner behind a table. "Pluto, stop," Ashlock commanded the Worldwalker with Abyssal Whispers. But the encroaching void did not cease. "Pluto, I know you can hear me. Stop what you are doing; mortals are here, and you are destroying the castle." A deep and otherwordly laugh that reminded Ashlock of a whale calling out through the vast ocean filled not just the room but the entire castle. "You may have a leash on my sibling, but you don''t control me. I can devour what I please." The void tendril that had crashed into the room suddenly lashed out and plowed through the table and cowering maids. It was unsettling how silently the attack deleted them from existence as if they had never existed. Ashlock didn''t understand why Pluto was doing this. "Why did you kill the mortals? They don''t have any Qi worth devouring." "They deserve to die as reality is a stain on the void. Before, there was beautiful chaos, but now there is a clear barrier¡ªa divide between the nothingness of the void and the everything of reality." Pluto''s voice raised to a thunderous volume that seemed to echo throughout the void, "Tell me why I should be born into slavery, to guard something I''m not even allowed to taste?" Another void tendril drooped down and slammed through a side wall, silencing another set of distant cries. The castle was still full of hundreds if not thousands of maids, and they would all be devoured by Pluto at this rate. "In here, it''s beautiful." Pluto continued, "The air is sweet and dense with Qi. Millions of different organisms are waiting to be savored and minds to be broken. Compared to the void, where even time doesn''t flow, how am I supposed to exist knowing what I''m being denied?" Ashlock was reminded that the Worldwalkers were realm-devouring monsters. They grew in power by destroying, and it seemed Pluto viewed reality as a golden chest they desperately wanted to open. "So when given entry to this paradise, all you seek is to destroy it in childish rage? If you devour it all, there will be nothing left." Ashlock tried to reason with him, "Reality will return to the void." "Good, then all will be fair. These puny humans devoid of Qi cower before me yet live better lives than I." Another tendril silently shot off through a wall, snuffing out the candle of life on another group of maids. "Power is supposed to be all that matters, so why am I denied what is rightfully mine?" "You are nothing but a foolish and short-sighted child." Ashlock switched his perspective to his Evil Eye and glared at Elysia. "It''s over, Elysia. Send Pluto back to the void." Elysia stayed utterly motionless, almost as if she were dead. Her head was to the sky, and she had a manic look of utter fascination as if she were seeing something otherworldly. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "She is broken." Pluto''s laughter echoed through the void, "Her ego is fractured and adrift. She barely has any will of her own, allowing me to easily overpower and giving me free rein." "I know," Ashlock flooded Elysia with his presence and saw the girl grin, "This crazy girl surrendered her soul to me..." Elysia''s head slowly rolled forward, and she looked down at Pluto. "...which lets me do things like this." He said through Elysia''s mouth as she pointed a finger at Pluto. "No... that shouldn''t be possible. Complete soul dominion?!" Pluto''s body squirmed aggressively as tendrils moved away from the castle and began spiraling up toward Elysia. "That''s impossible! How can she still be alive?" "Because I''m a divine being, and her faith in me is unwavering," Ashlock said through Elysia again. "Lies!" Pluto thundered, "I have tried to achieve soul dominion over her this whole time but was unsuccessful. Her soul should be extinguished by your presence, not embracing it." "This is why I called you a foolish child. True power does not always lie in your own overwhelming strength," Tendrils of divine energy shaped by Elysia''s mystic Qi exploded out of her hand and met the void tendrils attempting to spiral up and devour her. "Even the heavens rely on others to manage reality, and it looks like I''ll have to do my job as a divine being to vanquish an encroaching voidling." "No!" Pluto roared as his entire body surged upward, "You can''t send me back! I''ve spent too long preparing Elysia as my gateway to invading reality, only for you to stand in my way. I refuse to accept this!" "Use that overwhelming power you are so proud of to stay then," Ashlock sneered via Elysia as he increased the divine energy tendrils tenfold and began forcefully collapsing Pluto''s body despite the Worldwalkers best efforts to maintain his form. After all, the body was not Pluto''s. It was crafted from Elysia''s imagination. An otherworldly scream echoed through the void as Pluto was utterly overwhelmed. Ashlock almost found it laughable that this Worldwalker truly believed he could do as he pleased while using his worshiper. [Ashlock, you are losing control] "What?" Ashlock was surprised by the golden system message flashing before his vision. "Losing control? Over what?" [Divine energy. You are using Elysia as a gateway to channel an incredible amount of divine energy from the millions of mortals enthralled by the display of your power. This is a valid use of the gathered divine energy, but power comes at a price. Using divine energy in this way deprives your sacrificial credits of being able to multiply as much as they could as you will shortly lose your domain over the spent divine energy, and it will return to the heavens] Ashlock glared at the system message, enraged. This stupid Worldwalker''s powertrip and hunger had cost him precious sacrificial credits? That wouldn''t do at all. He would give Maple an earful about his sibling once this was over, but for now, he needed a solution. He refused to humor the idea of losing out on such a boon in such a dumb way. Channeling his rage into the divine tendrils, Elysia''s eyes glowed with a purple-gold hue as he quickly extinguished Pluto from the realm, sending the bastard back to the cold darkness he came from. "Elysia, you did well," Ashlock said through her in a hushed whisper before withdrawing his presence. Her whole body went limp for a second before she caught herself from falling off her flying sword. "Now, system, what should we do?" Ashlock said as he gazed down at the half-eaten castle. It was as if someone had poured lava over it with how the walls had deteriorated. Despite its destroyed appearance, it gave off the feeling of a holy site with how much divine energy was swirling around the structure. As the system had informed him, this was divine energy that had been directed toward him from the mortals due to Elysia''s terrifying display, but instead of absorbing and directing it toward his divine stock market to grow his number of sacrificial credits, it had been used to fight Pluto and was now almost out of his control. [Suggestion: Channel the raw divine energy into a gacha draw. I''m unsure of the outcome, but it''s bound to have a significant impact on the draw, whether it be a summon, item, mutation, or a new skill] Ashlock hadn''t expected such a suggestion. It had been a long time since he had entertained the idea of a gacha draw due to how risky it was and the level of threats he faced. However, he was being advised to do some gambling. How could he possibly say no? "How many sacrificial credits do I have right now?" [5938 sacrificial credits and climbing] "Phew, that''s a lot. What would that result in? An SSS grade draw, at least? Maybe even higher? Maybe I should wait until it climbs a little higher..." [But you will soon reach the maximum number of sacrificial credits your Inner World can support, and my hold on the divine energy is loosening] "Oh yeah. I forgot there was a limit to how many sacrificial credits I can have at once, but that increases with how many worshipers I have, right?" [Yes, but the mortals of Nightrose City are not yet worshipers. If anything, they fear you and your power more than revere you] "What''s the difference?" [A worshiper will provide a steady amount of divine energy that can be used to nurture a sacrificial credit tree and multiply it. Meanwhile, someone who fears you will only give a burst of divine energy upon witnessing an act that instills that deep fear. Humans keep memories and ideas that terrify them out of their consciousness until reminded of their existence] "Because living in fear is a twisted form of self-torture. It''s better to turn a blind eye and drown out things that weigh deeply on one''s mind... just like how I tune out my offspring. I see what you mean now." Ashlock sighed but didn''t lose hope. He could still turn these people into worshipers; all he had to do was deploy the cult to the streets armed with gift baskets of pills and smiles. "Okay, if my sacrificial credits are about to reach their limit and this divine energy will go to waste, let''s do the gacha draw now." Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3643 Daily Credit: 77 Sacrifice Credit: 6117 [Sign in?] [Are you sure? Over 6000 credits will be used on a random draw] "Of course, I''m sure. There''s still some Nightrose Elders to devour for dessert anyway." [Very well...] [Sign in successful, 6194 credits consumed¡­] [Unlocked an SSS-grade Summon: Netherworld Wraith] An SSS grade summon? It had been a long time since he had drawn a summon, the last being Kaida, but he had slowly leveled his summons up through the grades. What would an SSS-grade summon even be capable of? Would it rival a Monarch Realm or perhaps even surpass them in strength? "Where is it?" Ashlock asked as he noticed the divine energy swirling around the castle suddenly take on a hint of sinister darkness. [This is bad...] Ashlock didn''t need to be told. He could feel it. The coming of death. "What is happening?" [You are not yet strong enough to wholly control the ego of an S-grade being, let alone an SSS-grade one] The darkened divine energy began to condense around a vague figure in the castle''s center. [We may have just welcomed an uncontrollable harbinger of death into the realm] "A harbinger of death? Just what is a Netherworld Wraith?" [It''s a being born from the intersection of death and life and is said to feast on lost souls. They are neither alive nor dead and are said to inhabit the liminal space between the realms. They can traverse reality effortlessly since they exist on the bridge between life and death. I believe Netherworld Wraiths can phase through physical matter and can''t be harmed by conventional means] "Why have I never encountered them before?" [They exist on a different plane of existence to us and are also egoless beings. They don''t know how to seek out sustenance; they simply float around the liminal space between the realms and devour any souls in reach like jellyfish] "If it''s egoless, why can''t I control it easily despite being SSS-grade?" [What is there to control? Without an ego, it has no brain. No thoughts or desires that can be altered to suit your needs] "So we just need to give it an ego, right? One that''s already under my control." [You want to transplant an ego into an SSS-grade being? It would have to be one you have a firm grasp on, is of at least the Nascent Soul Realm, and has a deep understanding of soul dao] "I happen to know just the girl for the job," Ashlock said. There was no way he was letting a Netherworld Wraith wreak havoc right after he had vanquished Pluto back to the void. This was his realm, and his alone to conquer. *** "It sure is quiet..." Nox muttered as her dryad form lay in a field of white flowers around her tree. Ever since she had inherited the Dark Throne and learned the shadow Qi law, she had been left to oversee a pocket realm called Tartarus. She had worked hard to set it up in preparation for members of the All-Seeing Eye to train here, but nothing had happened yet. "The others must be busy. Sigh, I just wish someone would visit me," Nox sat up with slothful grace. All around, there was nothing but darkness. It might as well be the void, and she was starting to get lonely. "This is the most powerful I have ever been, yet I have never felt more trapped than now." A sad chuckle escaped her lips, "I know they said it was lonely at the top, but I didn''t imagine this¡ª" A sudden message in golden letters manifested before her face. [Ashlock has requested to implant your dryad soul into an SSS-grade spiritual being. Doing so will promote the summoned {Netherworld Wraith} to a Mythical Grade being] [Do you accept?] "Mythical grade? What in the nine realms does that mean?" Chapter 381: Mythical Grade Nox was unsure if she should trust the words floating before her. It claimed Ashlock needed her to make a decision, but it used too many terms that she had never heard of. SSS-grade? Mythical being? Netherworld Wraith? Nox raised her hand, and it effortlessly passed through the floating golden words, but they did not shimmer in reaction to her Qi, meaning they were likely carved out of divine energy. Is another divine being trying to tempt me away from Ashlock? It just seems too suspicious. "Nox, accept the system message." Ashlock''s voice, along with his presence, surged through the ethereal roots connecting her tree body to the root network. His tone was filled with urgency. Whatever this system message thing was, it seemed important. "Oh¡ªokay! I accept." Nox said without another thought. If Ashlock needed her to do something, she had no reason to protest. The golden words swam through the air to rearrange themselves into a new message. [Which soul do you wish to sacrifice?] "Sacrifice?!" Nox''s eyes widened. Was she talking to a demon? She was willing to do almost anything to repent for her past life''s sins, but while she was lonely, she still enjoyed living. Sacrificing her soul was a bit... [You have two souls of comparable strength. While your memories are linked, you are essentially two separate entities. Pick which one to sacrifice] Nox glanced at her tree. It was true; she had used her family''s most difficult technique, Shadow Soul, to divide her soul in two so she could create this dryad form to give herself mobility and the ability to talk to people. While being a tree had advantages, she had lived too long as a human to not desire a humanoid form. By using Shadow Soul, she could live the best of both worlds. But as the message had said, her memories were linked. While possessing two distinct vessels, she was still one. If either her dryad or tree soul were to perish, she would become half of the person she once was. Memories would be lost, and her personality would completely change. "What exactly do you mean by sacrifice?" Nox understood Ashlock seemed in a hurry, but this was still a big decision, and considering she was given a choice in the first place, maybe she could say no? [On the scale, your soul is currently at the level of an S-grade being. The reason I say sacrifice is because I will be trying to implant your soul into an SSS-grade being, which is incomparably stronger than you, and Netherworld Wraiths are known to devour souls... it''s their only food source. So there is a high probability of failure, resulting in the Netherworld Wraith consuming your soul] "Right..." Nox nursed her head as she re-read the words floating before her three times. "If it''s so incomparably stronger than me, do I even have a chance of success?" [A slim one, yes. The Netherworld Wraith is egoless, meaning the vessel acts purely on instincts. If it had an ego, taking it over and achieving soul dominion over it would be utterly impossible for you. Also, it''s currently in the process of manifesting, meaning it''s in a weakened state] "You''re our best bet," Ashlock added, "The Netherworld Wraith seems to have aspects of shadow Qi, meaning your shadow Qi law can overpower it. You also have a good grasp of soul dao, and your cultivation level is among the highest in the sect." "I see..." Nox sighed and looked at her peaceful field of flowers, "And dare I ask, what happens if I say no?" "We might all die. If the Netherworld Wraith finishes manifesting without an ego I can control, it will begin feasting on any soul within range. Even if we all came together, I''m not sure we could stop it. SSS-grade is a level of power that is likely beyond Monarch Realm..." "Meaning nothing on the 9th layer of creation can defeat it," Nox bit her lip. "So, hypothetically, if I succeed at taking control of this Netherworld Wraith, would that make me the most powerful being in the realm?" [Potentially, yes. Though it''s unlikely that you will be able to unleash the full potential of a Netherworld Wraith from the start. While the vessel will be at the Mythical grade, your soul will still be at the S-grade. A soul can''t jump multiple realms of power and not implode] Nox nodded in understanding. So I will have the body of a super powerful being, but I will be limited to outputting whatever level of techniques my current Nascent Soul Realm soul is capable of. That''s crazy... with Tartarus and Ashlock''s ability to invade pocket realms, I can cultivate my soul to catch up to the Netherworld Wraith quickly. But I still don''t understand just how strong I can be... "What does Mythical grade mean if SSS grade is so powerful that nothing in the realm can stand against it? Does that mean I''ll be like a god once my soul can utilize its full potential?" Nox asked. She assumed these strange terms Ashlock and these floating words were using were some kind of knowledge or way of categorizing things only known between divine beings. It was relatively intuitive, but she did have to wonder if a snake god came up with the naming scheme, considering how many S''s were being thrown around. [Mythical grade is undefinable. However, it would be impossible for a Mythical grade being to use their full strength down here on the 9th layer of creation without earning the ire of the heavens] Nox was starting to get the full picture. They wanted to put her soul into an egoless vessel that had a high probability of eating her. But should she succeed, she would gain a new body at a level of strength unreachable for another on the 9th layer of creation. If I can wield such power, I can keep my promise of protecting the Ashfallen Sect from almost any threat. Nox''s eyes flared with determination. If I''m so valuable to the sect, there''s no way I will be left alone to guard an empty pocket realm anymore. "Okay," Nox balled her fists, "You can take my soul inhabiting this dryad body as I assume a soul used to a more humanoid body will fare better?" [Netherworld wraiths aren''t known to have any fixed shape. They are soul-devouring spiritual beings that exist on a plane between realities that shouldn''t even exist, so either of your souls would be fine, but I agree the dryad one is the better choice] Nox thought about it for a moment but was sure she wanted to keep her tree soul around. It was the body Ashlock had given her, and she wasn''t about to sacrifice it. "Alright, I''m ready," Nox said after sitting down cross-legged in the field of white flowers. [This will be an excruciatingly painful experience, and it will take all your willpower to hold your ego together. You will be walking a thin line between success and soul death. There is no margin for error] Nox glared at the words, "I already said I was ready. How is this supposed to motivate me?" [I will now begin. First, I am going to melt away your vessel and free your soul] "Wait, what¡ªAHHHHH." She threw her head back as the most unfathomable pain shot up her spine. Through her blurring vision, she saw her tree body blazing with lilac soul flames and dozens of void tendrils piercing her back. Black thorn-covered vines had also erupted between the white flowers and pierced her body. She was being eaten alive. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. [I''m going to need you to hold still...] An immense force locked her body in place, and she was unable to even close her eyes. All she could do was stare at the words floating before her face and howl through the pain. I understood this would be painful, but I thought that would begin later! I haven''t even seen the Netherworld Wraith, yet I''m already experiencing so much pain. [Almost done] Nox couldn''t see the state of her body as she couldn''t even switch her view to her tree body, but from the floating words, she discerned that there wasn''t much left of the dryad body she had spent so long meticulously crafting. It was a shame to see it go, but she wouldn''t achieve much if left here in a pocket realm. It was time for Ashfallen City''s guardian to reclaim her position. Suddenly, the telekinetic force locking her in place pulled her free. She was an intangible ball of black power floating in the air for a split moment before she hurtled toward the ground, only to go through the flowers and end up inside an ethereal root. Her world blurred as she was dragged through the tunnel at immense speed, and not even seconds later, she erupted out and was now overlooking a vast city. "Is this Nightrose City?" Nox wondered as many bad memories resurfaced. She had gone here many times as a Hunter to sell items at one of the many auction houses littering the Blood Lotus Sect''s capital city. Looking around for the city''s most famous landmark, her spiritual gaze landed on a half-destroyed castle. It looked like a dragon''s fierce breath had melted the structure from the top. She could also feel an intense sense of death radiating from the place as tainted divine energy swirled around the place. "The Netherworld Wraith is still manifesting in the center of the castle," Ashlock said in her mind, "Unlike the system, all I have to tell you is good luck, and if you succeed, consider all your past sins forgiven. You will have saved us all." Nox sighed. Despite the more positive tone, Ashlock''s words made her even more nervous than what the golden words had said. "I''ll try my best," she said while looking up at the giant eye gazing down through reality. Ashlock really is starting to feel like a genuine god. While his true strength is only a few stages in the Nascent Soul Realm above mine, the difference between us is staggering. I''m not even sure that taking over the Netherworld Wraith will close the gap between us. It''s not that she wanted to surpass Ashlock. She just wanted him to deem her helpful to whatever schemes he devised. Nox didn''t have any more time to contemplate her goals as she was once again flying¡ªthis time right toward the swirling chaos of tainted divine energy in the castle. As she closed in, she could see the vague outline of a figure, and it was this being that she was hurtling toward. The tainted divine energy burned her, and she felt like she was drowning in boiling water as the telekinetic force that had been dragging her ceased. She was on her own, floating through the chaos. Pushing through the pain of having her soul boiled alive, she tried to keep herself together and sought out the forming Netherworld Wraith. *** Ashlock watched through his Evil Eye with bated breaths as he saw the flickering ball of darkness that was Nox''s soul merging with the Netherworld Wraith. It was not a joke to say this moment defined the future of the 9th layer of creation and possibly the entire nine realms. "Now I remember why I held back from saving up ridiculous amounts of credits in the past," Ashlock said as he recalled his failed summoning of Maple back when he was still basically a sapling. "Who''s to say an SSS-grade skill wouldn''t tear my soul apart if I tried to use it, or what if I received an SSS-grade cursed item with an ego of its own? While the system is my golden finger in this world, power comes with responsibility, and if I get greedy and aim above my capabilities, we end up with a situation like this. If Nox fails, I might have just invited my own demise." A Netherworld Wraith was a spiritual being able to phase through reality, meaning physical attacks would be useless, and due to its ridiculously high cultivation level, it was unlikely that any Qi attacks anyone on this layer of creation could conjure would leave a lasting wound on the thing. "System, how do you even summon things?" [I offer up a bounty of divine energy and capture the first being that answers the call. In this case, we offered so much that it seems our reach extended to the space between realms, and it just so happened that there was a Netherworld Wraith nearby, which is incredibly unlucky. They are as rare as finding a star in the cosmos] There were a lot of stars in the cosmos, but compared to the vastness of space, Ashlock understood what the system was saying. There are a lot of Netherworld Wraiths out there, cleaning up wandering souls that somehow escaped the cycle of reincarnation. But the chances of opening a random portal in space and being next to a star were near zero. "What would you say is the percentage chance of Nox succeeding?" [5% at most? I''m unsure if it''s even possible to transplant an ego into an egoless vessel. I don''t think it''s ever been done before] Ashlock gazed down at the swirling chaos with newfound fear. There wasn''t any bloodlust radiating off the forming Netherworld Wraith like he would experience from an enemy with an ego. It was simply the cold feeling of certain death. Bloodlust was like being faced down by a hungry tiger, snarling and drooling as it circles you with deep hunger in its eyes. Meanwhile, the feeling coming from the Netherworld Wraith was like standing there and watching a star system''s sun exploding in the sky. No weapon, prayers, or hope could save someone in that situation. All they could do was wait for certain death. "Let''s say Nox fails... do you have any ideas on ways we could kill it? Would my void tendrils work?" [No, it can phase through realms and is therefore immune to the void that lies between them] "What about Larry? Can he decay it?" [The Netherworld Wraith has no tangible form to decay. It''s a spiritual being] Ashlock sighed. "This is cheating." [That''s an SSS-grade summon lured here with an insane amount of gathered divine energy for you. In a twisted way, we should be glad we didn''t accidentally summon another deity. I don''t think they would have taken your attempts to control them lightly] "I guess there is some good to be found in every bad situation," Ashlock was now even more glad he had given Nox a second chance at life, and he began to wonder if karma existed. He would be facing doom if he had simply devoured her for credits. Nox was, ironically, his ray of light in the darkness right now. "Come on, Nox. I believe you can do it." Ashlock quietly cheered as he intently watched. Minutes passed, and he began to lose hope. The tiny ball of darkness that was Nox''s soul began to flicker like a dying flame. [We should start preparing for the worst. If the Netherworld Wraith finishes forming without Nox being in control, its soul pressure alone will lock everything in place, including Larry and Anubis. There will be no way to save them] "Not yet," Ashlock replied. "Nox is still alive, if barely." [Ashlock, if she fails...] "She won''t." Ashlock dared not take his eye off her, "Besides, if she fails, it''s over for us." As a tree, he could not move. He was stuck here, and if there was an undefeatable foe, it was only a matter of time before the Netherworld Wraith floated to Red Vine Peak and killed him. A house near the castle suddenly exploded. It happened so fast that Ashlock hadn''t caught the shadow tendril that was now jutting out of the swirling chaos. The destroyed house''s tiles hadn''t even finished shattering on the ground when another shadow tendril shot out and took out two multistory buildings this time. "Is that Nox''s doing?" Ashlock sure hoped so. [I don''t think so...] The system trailed off as more shadow tendrils emerged from the chaos with dead mortal maids skewered on them. There were... hundreds. The shadow tendrils extended into the sky, putting them all on display. "What is happening?" [The Netherworld Wraith is preparing for a Soul Harvest] "A what¡ª" All at once, the corpses withered to dust that fell and drifted off in the wind. The shadow tendrils that had once supported the corpses slammed down, obliterating the surrounding area, including what was left of the castle. The swirling, corrupted divine energy began to condense, and something rose from the chaos. It was a tall, wraith-like woman with a body made of twisted roots and ghostly branches. Even through his Evil Eye, Ashlock struggled to keep her in focus. Her form shimmered between reality and somewhere else. The woman looked around with translucent, glowing white eyes. Atop her head was a crown of dark wooden antlers that radiated the chill of death as she rose into the air, giving Ashlock a better look at her ethereal body that trailed a cape of shadowy tendrils as if she needed to stay connected to the ground that was now far below her. The Netherworld Wraith continued to rise until she was right below his Evil Eye, gazing through a rift. "I can finally see what you truly are." The wraith cracked a smile. "Nox?" Ashlock asked apprehensively. The voice certainly didn''t sound anything like her. The wraith nodded, "It''s me." [SSS-grade summon deemed successful] [What was once an egoless being known to devour wandering souls between realms has become capable of critical thinking. In light of this, a new variant of the Netherworld Wraith has been registered as Netherwood Wraith due to Nox''s unique appearance and given the grade of Mythical] [Summons list updated...] {Netherwood Wraith: Nox [Mythical]} {Herald of the Divine Ash: Larry [S]} {Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]} Ashlock dismissed the system messages. They had avoided the worst-case scenario, but he wasn''t out of the woods yet. He wasn''t sure what Nox had seen, and more importantly, was Nox still an ally? Chapter 382: Sovereign of the Veil Ashlock stared down at Nox through his Evil Eye. He saw that her soul spread throughout the Netherwood Wraith''s body like spirit roots. "You aren''t in total control, are you?" Ashlock said. If he looked at any other person or monster, their soul would have a focal point, and its influence would spread equally throughout the vessel. On the other hand, Nox was like a parasite that had taken root inside the Netherwood Wraith. Almost as if she was controlling the body like a puppet rather than being its absolute master. "I''m not," Nox agreed, "I feel like I''m using my own soul as a leash to keep a feral beast under control, and it''s hungry..." Her translucent white eyes glowed, "so, so hungry." "For souls?" Nox nodded, "If I don''t eat some soon, I fear I will start to consume myself. I can see why Netherworld Wraiths are egoless; if they had minds, they would surely go insane from this hunger." "You remind me of Maple, just a lot worse, I suppose. As a Worldwalker who grew from devouring, I had to turn a blind eye to many of his antics, as restraining him would only lead to him turning on me. Same with Larry. I had to let him go off and feast, and I''m ashamed to admit he brought back a fair number of mortal corpses for me, and there were a fair number of rumors among the mortals about him hunting in the woods." "Sorry¡ª" Nox gave what he assumed was supposed to be a reassuring smile, but on the face of a mythical grade herald of death, it sent a chill through his bark, "¡ªthis is the best I can do for now. Once my soul''s cultivation level matches my vessel, I will be able to control myself better. But I think the hunger for souls will never go away as there''s a clear disconnect between my soul and this body... and this body hungers." "Okay, we can work with this. Anything is better than the other outcome, which was your soul death and a very hungry SSS-grade being floating around in search of any soul it could get its shadowy tendrils on." Ashlock swiveled his Evil Eye to look around at the surroundings and reactions of the populace. It was suffice to say that it was not looking good. Elysia''s display of summoning Pluto had already been quite intense, but then the Netherworld Wraith was summoned, blanketing the whole city in a feeling of certain death. "I fear my dream of having a good image will be an uphill battle from here." Ashlock returned to Nox, "Why exactly did you skewer hundreds of maids and turn them to dust? Was that you or the Netherworld Wraith?" "Oh, that was me," Nox replied casually, "What? Don''t look at me like that. I managed to seize control over the Netherworld Wraith''s body for a split moment, but my soul was about to extinguish, so I had no choice. I had to use the Netherworld Wraith''s ability to feed on souls to empower myself, or else I would be the one devoured." "Wait, you can use Soul Harvest to empower your soul?" "Soul Harvest? Is that what it''s called?" Nox paused, "I suppose just like a parasite that invades a body and feeds off that body''s food supply, I can do the same. I didn''t think much about it at the time¡ªit just felt natural. But yeah, I suppose I can grow in strength simply by devouring the souls of others... or a Soul Harvest, as you call it. That''s quite insane, right?" "It is," Ashlock agreed, "It''s how I grew in power so quickly, as did Maple and Larry. Human cultivators must sit and absorb Qi, while we can grow in strength by stealing the Qi from those we kill." "That''s unfair..." "What would you say your current strength is?" Ashlock asked curiously. He needed to know where to send her to feast on souls. Nox looked down at her body as if it would give her the answer. "Uhm, I''m not sure, to be honest. My soul''s strength is still in the lower stages of the Nascent Soul Realm, and I cannot use many of this body''s innate talents as they use daos I''m unfamiliar with, such as death, life, spirit, and dimensions." "But if you were to just let go and let the Netherworld Wraith take over?" Ashlock asked. Those were all things the body had been capable of using without an ego, so they had to be built into its DNA of sorts. Nox''s gaze darkened, "Then I doubt anything could stop me, but there''s no guarantee I''ll be able to wrestle back control, and if that happens..." Ashlock had expected as much. The problem was Nox couldn''t wield the daos with intention as she didn''t have the knowledge. It was almost as if she were piloting a plane and didn''t know what the buttons did except the autopilot feature, which would rob her of control but let the aircraft perform as intended. "Yeah," Ashlock sighed, "We will need to be very careful about that." He paused, and his tone turned more serious. "You said that you could finally see what I truly am. What did you mean by that?" Nox''s translucent white eyes glowed again. They were creepy and alien-like, "It''s hard to explain, but to me, reality doesn''t look... real anymore?" Her head tilted, "It''s as if I am disconnected, looking at reality from the beyond. Almost as if I''m in the walls." The system had said that Netherworld Wraiths could phase through reality effortlessly. Did Nox see the world like someone using wall hacks in a video game? Like X-ray vision? "The only thing that''s ''real'' in my eyes are souls," Nox explained, "That''s what I meant by the fact I could see what you truly are, and now I understand why there was such a gap between us." "What do you mean a gap between us?" "We are both in the Nascent Soul Realm, a mere few stages apart. Yet your soul pressure and ability to influence the world were on the level of a god. Not of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator." Nox gestured around at the destroyed city, "But now I can see it, feel it. Your presence is everywhere. As far as your roots reach, so does your control. The entire ground is dyed a lilac hue." Nox twisted her head, stared toward the east, and licked her lips, "Even from here, your soul smells delicious." "Nox, I don''t know how I feel about being called delicious by the Mythical grade being known to dine on souls for breakfast." That earned a haunted laugh out of the Netherwood Wraith, "I''m not joking. If I left this body to do as it pleased, you are like a beacon that echoes across the land. Like a moth to a flame, the Netherworld Wraith would have likely ignored everything here and floated straight for you." Ashlock had never thought of his presence in such a way. It was true his soul''s reach covered a very large area, but it hadn''t occurred to him that anything able to see or smell souls would be drawn toward him. "Just for the sake of argument," He chuckled nervously, "Now that you have taken over the body, do you have any weaknesses I could know about? You know... just in case." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Nox replied after contemplating, "Mhm, soul and spiritual attacks would be effective, I suppose. Soul attacks to kill me, and then spiritual ones to destroy this body." "I don''t think I have either of those," Ashlock grumbled. The best he could think of was his Abyssal Whispers skill that attacked a person''s consciousness, but he doubted an egoless Netherworld Wraith would have cared much for his illusions or words. Nox nodded, "Soul attacks are incredibly rare, and that just so happens to be what a Netherworld Wraith is capable of. I can simply phase through reality, including a person''s body, and feast on the soul directly." "Terrifying," Ashlock said with all seriousness. "Final question then, are you still... loyal?" That last word felt hard to say as, in a way, he liked to think of those around him as his friends, but he was also well aware that most of them were kept in order via oaths he had them take or because being near him granted them resources that helped advance their own cultivation. "I''m saddened you even felt the need to ask," Nox replied in the best way possible. "Of course I am, and I hope I can be useful moving forward... though I am getting ravenous. There''s a limit to how much I can resist this body''s desires." Ashlock let out a long sigh of relief, "That''s great to hear, and I''ll let you go to hunt in a moment, but first, we need to do some damage control and harvest some more divine energy." He wasn''t done until he had milked every last drop of divine energy from the population of Nightrose City, and then he would go and do it again to every city in the Blood Lotus Sect until everyone across the wilderness either feared or revered his name. He was on a roll, and there was no reason to let up now. "Elysia," Ashlock said into the mind of his vice cult leader, who was lying sideways on her sword and looking at Nox in utter fascination, "Meet..." He trailed off as he realized something. He wanted to make Nox into a figure for his cult. Her sheer cultivation strength aside, she looked the part and radiated an ominous presence. If the world decided he was an evil god, he would play into it. Switching back to Nox, he explained the situation. "I think you should pick a new name or persona for your Netherwood Wraith body and keep the name Nox for your tree body in Tartarus." "Any suggestions?" Nox drew up a blank. "Let me think... what about Nyxalia?" Nox was the name for the Goddess of the Night in Roman mythology, while Nyx was the name for the Goddess of the Night in Greek mythology. The significant difference between them was the level of importance and power they had over their respective myths. While Nox was important as one of the original gods, her role in Roman myths is more symbolic than central. Nyx was one of the primordial deities born from chaos and the mother to many of the important gods, including the gods of death and sleep. Nyx was a powerful and mysterious figure, often feared even by Zeus, the king of the gods. He added alia to the end of Nyx because it meant ''other'' in Latin. Since she already had a soul named after the Goddess of Night, Ashlock felt adding this suffix helped differentiate the two. He could have suggested any random name, but he liked to give his close subjects names with deeper meanings, at least to him. Especially since he had discovered that the names he gave his Ents and summons held importance and could be carried down. Nox thought for a while before nodding, "I like it." "Okay," Ashlock switched back to Elysia. "This is Nyxalia, a demi-god of the night in service to me." He referred to her as such as Nyxalia could only control shadow dao as of now, "I need you to announce her arrival to the populace and inform them she was summoned here to vanquish the Nightrose family. We are doing damage control here as I bet the population''s opinion of her is rather sour after watching her obliterate a few buildings and suck the souls out of a hundred maids." Ashlock was unsure if Elysia listened to a word he said. She leaped off her sword at Nyxalia and embraced her in a tight koala-like hug. Her whole body trembled, and her eyes widened, "Yes..." she gasped to the sky with a crazed look, "This must be what dying for my god feels like. Oh, this feeling of death, it''s so cold... right down to my soul." Nyxalia looked utterly unimpressed, "Elysia, get off me, or I''ll eat your soul." "Oh heavens! Please do," Elysia begged, "Eat me up¡ªdevour everything I have. If it can savor the taste of one such as yourself in service to my god, I''m willing¡ª" Nyxalia plucked Elysia off herself with a shadow tendril and threw the crazed girl toward her floating sword. Elysia cackled as she spiraled through the air before catching her sword. "Good restraint," Ashlock complemented Nyxalia, "I thought you might devour her for a moment." Nyxalia shook her head, "Her soul, how can I explain it." Her face twisted in disgust, "It''s so corrupted it might as well be rotten food. If I devoured it, I think I might get sick." Ashlock burst out laughing. Elysia was so broken that even an egoless Netherworld Wraith might float away from her, and the idea that a cultivator of Nyxalia''s level could get sick was hilarious. "I''m serious," Nyxalia said with a straight face, "Keep that thing away from me." Elysia was hanging from her flying sword like a monkey bar and had a saddened expression. "My god laughs at me, and my demi-goddess rejects my love." "Maybe I''ll like you more if you do what was asked of you," Nyxalia said, impatience evident in her voice. She was getting hungry, and her mood was turning sour. "Really?" Elysia clambered on top of her sword and cleared her throat. "Ahem," mystic Qi that was still swirling throughout the city from earlier pulsed and carried her words to the minds of all who would listen, "People of Nightrose City, you are saved! While I have managed to rescue the city from destruction, the Nightrose family''s stranglehold on this city''s populace runs deep. In light of this, in his infinite wisdom, the All-Seeing Eye has summoned his herald, Nyxalia, Sovereign of the Veil, to bring death upon those beyond saving, such as the maids of the castle from earlier and the members of the Nightrose family still here in the city. Please sit back and relax as we leave it to Nyxalia to bring salvation." "Sovereign of the Veil?" Nyxalia said, sounding unimpressed. "It''s your stage name," Elysia winked, "Sounds cool, right? Now go devour some souls or something to please the All-Seeing Eye and get us some new worshipers." "Maybe I should have stayed in Tartarus," Nyxalia sighed. She sounded exhausted. Ashlock opened a portal that led back to Ashfallen City. "Elysia, head back to Ashfallen City and gather the cult. I need everyone possible to take to the streets, offering welcome packages and spreading the name of the cult." "Okay," Elysia didn''t hesitate and went to fulfill his orders. "Meanwhile, Nyxalia¡ª" Ashlock paused as a system message flashed before his face. [+432 SC] "Look''s like I finished devouring those two Nightrose guardians, and as suspected, they were nothing more than dessert due to our cultivation difference, but that''s fine. It gives me a nice sum to start multiplying with divine energy." Ashlock mused before telling Nyxalia, "You must be hungry. You see those Nightrose Elders being held down by Larry? Eat a few of them and make a scene out of it. We want the population to see how easily you deal with the tyrants that have been lording over them for far too long." Nyxalia slowly rotated upon her rising spiral of shadowy tendrils and looked straight down the central street where the Nightrose Elders were cowering under Larry''s soul pressure. The Mythical being licked her lips as shadow tendrils shot out and grabbed them like a frog hunting for flies. Five elders of the Nightrose family, varying in age and gender, were displayed high above the city. They cried out curses, but they fell on deaf ears. Moments later, their lives were snuffed out, and their ultraspeed regeneration proved useless at preventing their soulless husks from disintegrating into dust, just like the maids had before them. Nyxalia let out a satisfied moan as their souls flowed down the shadow tendrils and were harvested. However, the satisfaction seemed short-lived. Not even moments later, the hunger returned to her eyes. This time, it was even more fierce than before. "Sorry, Ashlock. Now that I''ve had a taste, I need to go. I can''t stay here." Nyxalia said between gasps. "What? Where are you going?" Ashlock asked, but his words fell on nothing. Nyxalia was gone; she simply phased out of existence without a trace. "Well, shit." Ashlock was deathly worried about where Nyxalia had gone, but he couldn''t even feel her presence anymore. It was as if she had never existed. Deciding to focus on the task at hand and deal with a hungry Mythical being later, he opened portals to Ashfallen City near the castle, and people wearing his cult''s cloaks poured into the streets. Satisfied, he was about to leave to search for Nyxalia and talk to Stella about what had happened, as he was sure she was worried alongside the others, when someone caught his eye. "Grand Elder Starweaver? Why is he the only one left?" It would seem that the other Grand Elders had taken the opportunity to escape during the chaos. Only the Starweaver Grand Elder remained. He was kneeling on the ground. His eyes were glowing gold, and he was staring up at the sky with a look of horror. "I guess the threads of fate are showing him something quite nasty," Ashlock chuckled, "I hope it''s not about me." Chapter 383: Net Positive Nyxalia had to get as far away from Ashlock as she could. His all-encompassing presence that blanketed the land was all too enticing. It was as if Nightrose City''s streets were slathered in sweet honey while she was starving¡ªno, she was absolutely ravenous. It was driving her insane as her Netherwood Wraith body was trying to devour her from within. It''s fine. It''s going to be okay. I''m okay. Nyxalia leaned on her other soul in Tartarus to maintain her sanity. If not for it serving as a mental rock, she would have lost control back there. The feeling of harvesting power straight from another¡ªit was intoxicating. It felt like cheating as if her entire life until now had been a lie. All those decades spent hiding away in dark moss-filled caves, meditating while droplets of water trickled down her face as she slowly became one with the darkness now felt like a waste. It had been agonizing, but at the time, the growth in cultivation had been worth it. But now she could grow in a different way, so to sate her hunger, she had run away toward distant souls. As evening fell, there was a feeling of unease and terror in the wilderness beyond Nightrose City as shadow tendrils struck out relentlessly from a withering mass phasing in and out of reality. Nyxalia feasted on anything and everything that had a heartbeat and, more importantly, a soul. They were all so weak, like little fireflies in the night. Ashlock was like a blazing sun of power in comparison to these insects. Nyxalia glanced toward the east, where the sea of power converged¡ªRed Vine Peak. She was far enough away to barely resist, but even from out here, she could still see his vast presence dominating a large part of the wilderness. Maybe a tiny taste of Ashlock''s soul would be fine... he wouldn''t even notice¡ªno, these insects will do. Nyxalia returned to devouring anything she could get her tendrils on. While she referred to these monsters as insects because they might as well have been when compared to her cultivation level, some were tree-sized monsters in the Soul Fire Realm, yet they died all the same. Hundreds of monsters perished within minutes, and the wilderness, once home to a chorus of howls and sounds of battle, had fallen deathly silent. The only evidence of the one-sided slaughter was a breeze carrying a cloud of soulless dust to sprinkle across the grass in Nyxalias'' wake as she moved further west, deeper into the Blood Lotus Sect''s territory. Between each city in the Blood Lotus Sect and other demonic sects were vast, untamed swathes of land known to cultivators as the wilderness. Here, animals were mutated by the ambient Qi into monsters. Cultivators usually had little reason to interact with these monsters. They rarely made it to the Star Core Realm as making it to such a stage required protection from others, something most monsters found hard to come by. Because of this, cultivators could fly over them on guarded airships without wasting their Qi. I used to be the same. I always dreaded long trips through the wilderness between cities to delve into rifts and sell my wares, as I would have to waste Qi flying on my sword or battling through the endless wilderness. But now... I gain power the more I kill. Yet why am I only getting hungrier the more I devour? Am I losing control over this body? It was a terrifying thought. After experiencing such a ridiculous way to gather Qi, there was no way she could go back to her old way of gathering Qi as a tree or human. She wanted to continue living as a Netherwood Wraith. So why? Why did she hunger so? Let''s think. Ashlock said he gained power through harvesting the souls of others, yet he never slaughtered everything in his vicinity like I have so far. Nyxalia paused near a calm lake and focused intently on the peaceful water illuminated by streaks of sunlight in a vain attempt to relax her ravenous hunger. Unfortunately, all she could see were the tiny white orbs that were souls belonging to fish in the lake''s depths. Wait, tiny white orbs. Nyxalia extended a shadowy tendril and watched intently. It passed through the water, and she noticed her hunger worsen slightly. The tendril then made contact with the fish. She pulled on the Netherwood Wraith''s innate Soul Harvest ability, and her hunger worsened considerably. However, once the little white orb was pulled free and absorbed, her hunger lessened¡ªbut only slightly. Overall, the experience had been a net negative. Curious, Nyxalia targeted another fish, but this time, she wrapped her shadowy tendril around its body and crushed it. Blood and guts shot out its mouth into the water, terrifying the nearby fish. Pulling the fish out of the water and leaving it on the lake''s shore, she waited. It took longer than she had hoped, but eventually, the little white orb floated free from the vessel, and Nyxalia noticed it began to phase out of reality to somewhere she couldn''t even see. Before it could fully go, she reached out and grabbed it. Pulling it into her own soul, she felt a tiny rush of power. It was insignificant, like savoring a single water droplet while dying of thirst. But more importantly, she hadn''t felt more hungry from the process. It had been a net positive. A ray of hope bloomed in Nyxalia''s mind as she now understood. Ashlock told me Netherworld Wraiths were spiritual beings that feasted on souls and existed on a plane of reality that shouldn''t exist. I expend no energy when I''m simply floating through reality without interacting with it. However, when I try to manifest my shadow tendrils in water, I use energy, and I use far more to pull souls out of people''s bodies while they are alive. I see now why devouring those Nightrose Elders almost made me lose it. While their souls did contain a lot of Qi, I ended up expending more to forcefully pull the souls from their bodies and reduce their vessels to dust. As I killed so many at once, the sudden loss of Qi caused me to almost lose control. So, the key is to expend less energy than I receive from absorbing a soul. No wonder Ashlock doesn''t bother to kill the mortals in Darklight and Ashfallen City. The effort isn''t worth the gain. Nyxalia felt relieved to have discovered the reason and was glad she decided to seclude herself deep in the wilderness. But then, a disturbing thought occurred to her. Is that why Ashlock is turning mortals into cultivators? Raising them as cattle for slaughter? Nyxalia paused and shrugged. What Ashlock does is none of my business. My job is simply to defend his livestock¡ªer, I mean citizens. "Now I have two options," Nyxalia said as she floated alongside the lakeshore upon a mass of squirming shadows. Her voice was far different from how it had been as a human. It sounded ethereal as if she were speaking from another place. "I keep hunting these weak monsters in the most Qi-efficient way until my body is stabilized, or I go hunting for cultivators¡ª" Her eyes snapped to the sky as she saw a Star Core Realm cultivator blitz past, propelled by an intense wind that blew the leaves off the trees they passed over with a boom. No matter how fast they traveled, in Nyxalia''s spiritual gaze, all she saw was their delicious soul of wind Qi. "Looks like the heavens have given me an answer," Nyxalia phased through reality after the cultivator. It was time to hunt. *** Stratos Azurecrest''s Star Core hummed in his chest as he burned his air Qi to get as far away from Nightrose City as possible. As the Grand Elder of the Azurecrest family, he had been in attendance for the summit. With the beast tide on the horizon, he had expected to be the center of attention as the one who provided and managed the airships. Stolen story; please report. At the demands of Vincent Nightrose, he had done terrible things. He used demonic techniques such as fusing the souls of his own children to make them into nocturnes just to meet the quota. So much suffering, so much sacrifice. It had all been for today. At the summit, he was supposed to have reaped the benefits of his loyalty to the Nightrose family. He had dreamed of sitting at the table as the other families paid their respects and begged him for more airships. Who in the nine realms did Vincent offend? Stratos Azurecrest screamed in his mind as the world blurred around him. Just who is the Ashfallen Sect?! I''d have called anyone who claimed there was a new Divine level sect mad. But they had multiple Nascent Soul Realm monsters under their command and... whatever that thing that came down from the sky was. His mind ached just thinking of it. All he wanted to do now was fly back to his family''s airship that he had left far from the city. Bringing it to Nightrose City was always a pain when all the families came together as the oversized docking stations were limited, and the noble families turned it into a competition to see who could get a higher one. I''ll have to gather the Elders and inform them of what has happened. Stratos Azurecrest frowned. I cannot tell who is loyal to who. The Nightrose family has fallen and the Blood Lotus Sect is no more, that''s for sure. The Ashfallen Sect made it clear that they were hellbent on destroying the Nightrose family and would be so kind as to incorporate us into their sect so long as we assisted with fending off the beast tide. What a bunch of lunatics. Why would they want to stay and fight the largest beast tide in history? Just get out of the way and return in a few months if the land is so precious. If they think they can use my family as disposable pawns and throw us at the beasts, they are delusional. I''m done being a slave to tyrants. Stratos Azurecrest brought out a communication jade from his spatial ring and did something he never thought he would do. Inserting some Qi, he spoke into it. "This is Stratos Azurecrest. As the Grand Elder of the Azurecrest family and president of the airship industry," he paused but decided this was for the best. "I demand a recall of all airships to Azurecrest City. This is an absolute order, and any who disobey... well, you know what will happen." He cut his Qi and pocketed the communication jade. His message would be relayed between every airship station throughout the Blood Lotus Sect, and by sundown, every airship would be cruising through the sky toward Azurecrest City. While the message had been about airships, his stance was clear to anyone listening. The Azurecrest family was betraying not only the Nightrose but every family in the Blood Lotus Sect. This was a decision that would not be taken lightly by the other Elders. It has to be done. The Blood Lotus Sect is over. After recalling all the airships, I will evacuate Azurecrest City. The question is to where. Taking a piece of land that''s still on the leyline but out of the way of the beast tide will be difficult. Any good spots will be highly contested. Stratos rubbed his chin in thought. What if we stayed in the air? If we used our spirit stone reserves, setting up Qi-efficient formations on a few airships to keep them permanently airborne wouldn''t be impossible. Expensive, sure. But the survival of my bloodline is what is important here. He would have to leave nearly every mortal behind to perish, even though they had paid for a ticket, and just take maids to tend to his needs, but that was a sacrifice he was more than willing to make. Mortals were only useful for building houses, mining spirit stones, and farming. If he only needed to keep his family alive for a few months while the beast tide passed, he could return to this area, and so long as the Ashfallen Sect hadn''t fully taken it over, he could get the mortals breeding and have a workforce within a decade. I can''t tell if the Ashfallen Sect''s arrival is a blessing or a curse. I know that old man Starweaver was ranting about the descent of an evil god or something. I wasn''t really taking him seriously, well, until now. There''s no doubt the All-Seeing Eye is an evil god, but even a demon can be reasoned with. The problem was the cost. According to the strange lich-looking monster, they would be welcomed under the All-Seeing Eye in exchange for servitude and taking an oath. Apparently, the rewards would be worth it, but he refused to believe such words. It''s fine. We can just run away and decide if it''s worth it another time. Stratos thought as he saw his airship on the horizon. Perhaps he had gone a little overboard during its construction, but it was his family''s pride and joy. A true symbol of their dominance over the air. The thing was a floating fortress decked out in a mountain''s worth of spirit stones. Silver light flickered across its dull metal exterior from the many hidden defensive formations. Even from afar, he could see dozens of hired cultivators with various affinities standing guard, but they were tiny dots compared to the floating behemoth they stood upon. Since wind Qi lacked combat capabilities compared to many other affinities, he had to use the profits from the airship industry to hire rogue cultivators with more combat-orientated affinities, such as fire, which was still effective in the air. As he got closer, Stratos sensed something was wrong. He wasn''t exactly hiding his presence, and usually, the cultivators would notice him coming and prepare to welcome him. Instead, they all had their backs to him and seemed in a panic as Qi flickered across their shoulders. What is going on? Are they on guard due to my message? A bell began to ring, signifying the airship was under attack. It thundered across the wilderness, and he saw the entire ship glow brightly as the defensive formations fully powered up. At the level of power being emitted, the defensive formations would burn through the ship''s spirit stone reserves within an hour. Either the commanding Elders on the ship had gone mad due to his message, or they were being attacked by a threat equal to Vincent Nightrose. "What? How?" Stratos spread out his spiritual sight but couldn''t detect the presence of any other airships, cultivators, or monsters. Could it be the All-Seeing Eye? No, that shouldn''t be possible. He pushed even more Qi into his sword and there was a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier and arrived beside the cultivators a moment later. "Report. What is happening." Two cultivators turned to face him, and one of their expressions lit up. "Grand Elder, thank the heavens you are here!" It was one of his brothers. "Right after you sent your message, people began to die." "What do you mean die? Who and where?" Stratos was growing frustrated as the bell continued to ring, and he could feel the intense pressure coming from the defensive formations. They had been designed to ward off Nascent Soul level attacks but at a significant cost. "I don''t know, Grand Elder, the situation is still developing..." "Useless," Stratos pushed past his brother to get a better overview of the ship. Annoyingly, the defensive formations meant his spiritual gaze could not penetrate the walls to get a better idea of what was happening. The airship was built in a giant ring with crosswalks connecting the whole thing and suspending a command room in the center. Everything seemed in order. Nothing had been blown up or gone missing. There weren''t even any signs of fighting. Stratos narrowed his eyes, "Brother, who is commanding the ship right now?" "Elder Ventus is commanding as usual¡ª" He paused as a body was thrown through the wall of the command center, taking out one of the walkways before splatting on the side. The force of the throw caused the entire airship to briefly tilt. "Never mind, he''s dead." "I can see that," Stratos hissed as he conjured his light grey soul flames. But deep down, he knew it was pointless. Anything that could hurl a Star Core Elder through runically enhanced metal would laugh at his attacks. The question is who. He got his answer as a squirming mass of shadows manifested out of thin air, dragging the splattered body toward the ground and vanishing among the trees. Only one being he could think of had this kind of power. "The All-Seeing Eye is here." He cursed, much to the confusion of the cultivators around him. "You people don''t understand," he turned and jumped back on his sword, "abandon ship or die here." They exchanged a look of confusion. "But Grand Elder, this ship is a fortress designed to handle Nascent Soul Realm threats. Even Vincent Nightrose wouldn''t stand a chance at forcing us to abandon ship¡ª" "Brother," Stratos narrowed his eyes, his tone deathly serious, "It''s that kind of arrogance that resulted in the Nightrose family''s downfall. This ship was designed to hold off beasts and cultivators, not a reality-bending evil god." "Evil god? Brother, what are you on about?" Stratos was about to answer, but the words died in his throat as a woman with translucent white eyes and a crown of dark wooden antlers manifested behind his brother. The ghostly woman, who seemed to shimmer in and out of existence, placed a hand on his brother''s head, only for the hand to pass through him. She continued down until her hand reached the chest area that was known to house the soul. "Brother..." Stratos grimaced as the woman pulled her hand back, and the life left his brother''s eyes. Moments later, his brother''s body disintegrated into dust. Chapter 384: Constellations Ashlock stared down at the Starweaver Grand Elder with growing concern. The amount of Qi radiating from the man was well past what should have been possible from a cultivator in the Star Core Realm, and it was only rising. The old man blinked, and his eyes, which had been glowing a heavenly gold, were now black abysses. He continued to blink as if something was irritating his eye, and with each blink, a tiny white spot appeared in his utterly black eyes. "What is going on?" Ashlock wondered as the man''s Qi increased in intensity with the addition of every white spot. Eventually, his eyes looked like the endless night sky. A celestial wind swirled around the Starweaver Grand Elder, picking him up from his kneeling position and making him stand up tall. The man raised an accusing finger and pointed straight at Ashlock''s Evil Eye. "The heavens are aware of you and your origin''s scheme!" he shouted, his Qi-infused voice parting the clouds and making the portal Ashlock was looking through ripple, "The threads of fate demand an intervention." "Wait!" Ashlock thundered into his mind with Abyssal Whispers, "What do you mean by my origin''s scheme?" Morrigan had previously mentioned that an origin had taken an interest in him, so she initially tried to form a pact with him, which he had denied. She had then accused him of being an origin. However, Ashlock suspected his system was the origin but did not know what type, and his system wasn''t keen to answer his questions. Unfortunately, his question fell on deaf ears as the Starweaver Grand Elder seemed possessed by a higher power. "I will now commence your eradication." The Starweaver Grand Elder declared as he clapped his two hands together, and an immense amount of Qi shot into the sky. Ashlock''s Evil Eye swiveled to look around, but nothing seemed to be happening. There were no falling stars or meteor showers. "A misfire?" Ashlock thought but suddenly felt an immense pull on his soul. [WARNING: Voidstorm Aegis was automatically triggered to block an incoming attack] [Qi reserves lacking to block further incoming attacks] [Requesting intervention] "What in the hell?" Ashlock closed the portal right in front of his Evil Eye and glanced up at the sky over Red Vine Peak. It was supposed to be the middle of the afternoon, yet all he could see was the vast cosmos overhead. Black lightning arced up from his Voidstorm Aegis to meet intense beams of starlight shooting down at him, and he also saw hundreds... no thousands of meteors burning through the atmosphere toward Red Vine Peak and the entire region. It looked like the end of the world. "No wonder my system said I don''t have the Qi reserves to repel this attack." Ashlock cursed. While his Qi reserves had grown tremendously since he first unlocked the S-grade defensive skill, each bolt of void lightning still took around one percent of his reserves. The skill was terrifyingly lethal and effective, but not against a wide-scale attack like this. This was the type of attack that would level cities and make Nascent Soul Realm patriarchs bend their knees in awe. Unfortunately for the Starweaver Grand Elder, the foolish old man had chosen to fight with a demi-god who didn''t take attacks on himself lightly. "So this is the wrath of the heavens," Ashlock said with Abyssal Whispers to the sky. "Do you think I''m an insect that will be easy to crush?" His Inner World suspended within his vast Star Core began to spin faster. Spatial Qi mixed with divine energy taken from his sacrificial credit trees crackled violently as his soul pressure skyrocketed. Red Vine Peak began to glow as a beacon of power across the entire region as Ashlock glared at the heavens. "Let''s see who will be eradicating whom." A bubble of reality-warping divine-empowered spatial Qi rapidly expanded upwards like a shockwave toward the heavens. The moment it hit the thousands of meteors, the fire wrapping them was extinguished, and a second later, they exploded in a wave into tiny pieces that were then thrown back into the cosmos. With the meteors that would have wiped out the entire region dealt with, Ashlock needed to find a way to stop the starlight beams. They were too high intensity to block with spatial Qi alone, and while they were all targeting him right now, there was no guarantee they wouldn''t start targeting the surrounding cities. "How is this attack even possible? It''s far beyond something a Star Core Realm cultivator could be capable of..." Ashlock recalled the merchant Lucius, who worked with Nox and gave his body and soul to the sun god to unlock far more power. The Starweaver Grand Elder''s actions before unleashing this attack had seemed in line with what Lucius had done. "The heavens must be using the Starweaver Grand Elder as a proxy to try and smite me down." It was well known that the heavens couldn''t unleash their full power on lower layers of creation. Ashlock reopened a portal to Nightrose City and looked down at the Starweaver Grand Elder with his Evil Eye. Sure enough, the man''s soul was breaking apart under the strain. The heavens were using him as a disposable pawn to try and kill him. "Khaos, kill him," Ashlock commanded his reaper. Not even a second after his command, a four-armed headless Ent emerged from the void and skewered the Starweaver Grand Elder with over a dozen claws. The man''s night sky eyes widened, and he gasped in pain. It was sad to see such a powerful cultivator being controlled by the heavens, but that was the outcome for those who listened to the threads of fate. They were lies spun by the heavens, not a future to live by. "You..." The Starweaver Grand Elder wheezed before coughing up a mouthful of blood. "This was always your fate," Ashlock told the dying man, "From the moment you stated that I was an evil god and we would become enemies after dealing with the beast tide. I''ve simply moved up the timeline." "Under you... there is only darkness on the horizon," The man''s body slumped forward, the life leaving his eyes, "Devourer of worlds, I curse you sin of gluttony." "Is that what the heavens are calling me?" The Grand Elder spat on the ground with a disgusted grin, "I''ll never answer the likes of you." "Alright," Ashlock said, "I will see you again very soon." "I hope to never see you aga¡ª" Khaos silenced the Starweaver Grand Elder by tearing him apart. What was left of the old man plopped down in a bloodied mess with Khaos standing over him. "What you hope doesn''t matter to me. Sin of gluttony? What a joke." Ashlock mused as an ethereal root cracked from the ground and loomed over the corpse. Khaos poked a tiny hole with her claw into his root, and a single drop of cursed blood fell onto the Starweaver Grand Elders''s body. "If the heavens are already aware of my existence and the threads of fate call for my eradication, I will take control of everything I can to survive. Starting with making a cosmic Qi bastion." Ents were good, but they couldn''t grow in power. Already, his Ents were starting to fall behind him in power, except for Anubis and his void Ents, simply because void affinity was so strong. Meanwhile, Bastions could grow in cultivation, and he could use {Progeny Dominion [S]} on them, turning Bastions into an extension of himself. Bastion cores were also linked directly to Ashlock''s soul and Qi reserves, allowing his Bastions to make use of his vast Qi pool, which would be perfect for a Qi-intensive affinity like cosmic. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The Starweaver Grand Elder was nearing the peak of the Star Core Realm, so he would make a strong Bastion, and Ashlock had seen the highly destructive potential of cosmic affinity during Celeste''s fight. The cursed blood spread throughout the two halves of his body, and moments later, black wood spiraled upwards, and the two joined into one. Branches sprouted out at unnatural angles as if reaching for distant stars. Translucent leaves bloomed with veins of celestial energy that, when looking from below, reflected a map of constellations. When Ashlock thought the process was complete, the roots around the tree thinned into threads that radiated divine energy and began spreading out. "I don''t know what your name was before this, but you will be known as Orion from now on," Ashlock declared. It was a fitting name of Greek origin, meaning heaven''s lights and the name of a constellation. Power surged through the tree, making it glow with an ethereal light. "Now, system¡ª" [Do you wish to activate the Skyborne Bastion? The cost is 1000 sacrificial credits and the required materials to form a Bastion Core] "How did you... oh yeah, you can read my mind. Yes, turn him into one." Ashlock paid the thousand credits and began the process. [Forming Bastion Core...] The castle''s courtyard, now covered in rubble and signs of battle, began to tremble as waves of power rippled out. [Bastion''s Qi source has been designated as {Ashlock}] [Bastion''s operator has been designated as {Orion}] Since Orion was already in the Star Core Realm, forcing a tribulation was unnecessary. [Bastion''s affinity type set to Meteorite (Cosmic)] Below the courtyard, a shard of black and silver meteorite with intricate carvings formed and linked up with his ethereal roots, giving him the feeling of absolute control. [Skyborne Bastion Active] Ashlock paid some extra credits to increase the size of the Bastion to encompass the entire courtyard, including the stone statues of Vincent Nightrose. "I wonder if I should keep them as the idea of Vincent fighting a flying island with his own statues on it sounds quite amusing," Ashlock pondered but eventually gave up and decided to figure it out later. For now, he would leave Orion here. He needed to go after Nyxalia and inform others about the state of things. [Immense inflow of divine energy detected] "Huh? What for?" Ashlock thought back on what had happened and then felt dumb. He had just been defending himself, but he realized his display of defiance against the heavens had been in full view of everyone in Ashfallen and Darklight City. Ashlock looked inside his Inner World, and while on the way to watch his forest of sacrificial credits grow, he passed the floating arena and realized the tournament was still going on inside his Inner World. It had been put on a brief hold, but there were still many cultivators inside his Inner World that had no doubt seen the inside of his soul as he repelled heaven''s wrath. "System, how many credits do I have?" Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3643 Daily Credit: 0 Sacrifice Credit: 822 [Sign in?] "Decent. I''m sure it''s about to go a lot higher than that once all the divine energy has been harvested," Ashlock moved away from the floating arena toward Stella''s house. He knew she was worried as he hadn''t had time to explain. *** Stella sat on the couch in her house, twiddling her thumbs. An oppressive mood blanketed the room as she stole glances at the others sitting around the house''s biggest table in silence. It had been an hour since Ash had hurriedly told her to take everyone into his Inner World. They had already exhausted their list of theories and concerns regarding the outcome of the battle in Nightrose City. "We are going to be fine, right?" Elaine asked in a small voice that everyone heard. She was the most on edge, as there had been no sign of Morrigan. All they had experienced was having their void shields popped in various ways and teleporting back to Quill''s library. "Trust in Ashlock," Douglas said, softly rubbing Elaine''s back with a kind smile, "When has he ever let us down?" "But..." Elaine trailed off, but everyone knew what she wanted to say. Vincent Nightrose is nearing the Monarch Realm. Stella closed her eyes and leaned back as she felt an ache in her stomach from the nerves. Every passing second felt like an agonizing hour. Ash is strong, but there''s no guarantee he can deal with such a powerhouse. A sudden wave of power washed over the entire house, making Stella''s eyes snap open. She stood up, as did everyone else, and they scrambled toward the windows. "What is happening?" The Redclaw Grand Elder said, glancing at Stella. "How would I know?!" Stella replied in a panic as she stared up at Ash''s turbulent soul that made up the sky. It seemed an immense amount of Qi was being diverted somewhere, and divine energy was also being used. Whatever Ash was fighting, he was going all out. "We have to go help him," Stella''s Star Core hummed in her chest. She was about to step through the aether when she felt a firm grasp on her shoulder, rooting her in place. "Where do you think you''re going?" Stella glared over her shoulder at Diana, "Why are you stopping me?" Diana cocked a brow, "Are you suicidal now? If Ashlock has to exert this much effort to kill something, it is way out of your league." Stella ground her teeth. "Am I wrong?" "No," Stella said through clenched teeth as she shrugged Diana''s hand off her shoulder but didn''t make any moves to leave. Diana was right; if she was to go out there, she would only be a hindrance. "It''s just frustrating. I want to be useful, but¡ª" "I know," Diana ruffled her hair, "But it''s not our fault Ashlock can grow in cultivation so fast. We can only do our best to keep up and be useful when the time calls for it." "Diana is right," Douglas sighed while not taking his eyes off staring out the window, "Whatever this is, it ain''t our fight. Sometimes, it''s best to sit back and let the godly beings fight it out." "Besides, it''s not like the fight is here on Red Vine Peak," Diana added, "I bet he''s beating the shit out of Vincent through one of his offspring or Bastions." Stella slowly nodded, only half convinced. Somehow, she felt the fight was much closer than they expected, but even then, what would she do as a measly Star Core Realm cultivator? If Ash, who had a literal planet inside his own soul, had to go all out, she would just get in the way. I need to get stronger. Otherwise, I will just be a burden to Tree moving forward. Stella stepped away from the window and sat back on the couch. Her spatial ring flashed with silver light, and the books on aether affinity Valandor had given her appeared in her hands. Flipping to the first page, she began to read while the rest continued watching the awe-inspiring display of power outside the window. A few confusing minutes later, Stella felt Ash''s presence breathing down her neck, followed by his voice. "Watcha reading?" "Tree!" Stella had never felt so relieved. She had been using this hard-to-read cultivation manual to distract her wandering thoughts, but she had begun to fear the worst. Everyone turned at her shouting, and soon came a wave of questions toward the ceiling. "Okay, everyone relax. One at a time." "Is Vincent Nightrose dead?" The Redclaw Grand Elder asked the burning question. "No," Ash replied, "He ran away, leaving a giant illusion formation to cover his escape. Though it''s not all bad. I used Elysia to turn the whole thing into an opportunity to incorporate Nightrose City into our cult." Stella felt her stomach sink. The man who wanted to hunt her down and was powerful enough to threaten Ash was still out there. But she also couldn''t believe Ash managed to turn that situation into one that benefited him. "Sorry to ask, but do you know what happened to Morrigan?" Elaine asked with hope in her eyes. "Oh, Morrigan? She''s doing just fine." Ashlock replied with some sourness in his tone. "Not sure where she ran off to, but that old fox can take care of herself." "I see, that''s good." Elaine breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned into Douglas. "Ashlock, I have a question. What was that earlier?" Diana asked while pointing outside, "We saw you using a lot of Qi and even divine energy to fight something." "Oh, that?" Ashlock laughed, "Nothing too serious, just some old fool colluding with the heavens to try and kill me." "Who was this old fool?" Stella said, her eyes narrowing. Was it someone she could go and hunt? "The Starweaver Grand Elder, but you don''t need to worry about him. I already turned him into a tree. Actually, you can come and see for yourself." A portal rippled into existence, showing a truly breathtaking tree in the middle of a destroyed courtyard backdropped by a destroyed castle that looked very different from the one they had seen earlier, "Just make sure to wear your artifact, Stella. We don''t want Vincent sniffing your bloodline''s location just yet... at least not until we have a suitable trap set up for him." "You think he will come?" Diana asked, "He is one paranoid bastard and is bound to sniff out a trap from miles away." "I don''t ''think'' he will come," Ashlock paused, "I know he will. We have something he can''t live without. The question isn''t if he will strike, it''s when." Chapter 385: Discerning Ones Nature Stella''s foot paused before the portal with a bone-chilling fear gripping her heart. Even with the Phantom Veil Amulet hanging from her neck, masking her cultivation and bloodline, making her appear as nothing but a mortal, she still couldn''t take the next step. Taking a step back, Stella gulped before looking to the ceiling, where she could feel Ash''s presence. "Tree, how can you be so sure that Vincent isn''t lurking in Nightrose City?" Stella asked, making everyone else pause at her side. The portal seemed to lead to an inviting scene, with a majestic tree''s leaves softly rustling in a wind they could not yet feel. However, there was still a sense of danger. None of them had eaten a void protection fruit, and they also hadn''t set up spatial anchors to pull them back if something terrible happened. Only Stella had set up a secondary anchor that triggered if she lost a body part. "There are no guarantees in life," Ash answered honestly, "But I can say with near certainty that Vincent will not be there, nor will he return to Nightrose City." Stella let out a long breath to try and calm her inner turmoil. While she trusted Tree unquestionably, her body refused to comply. It was as if her legs were convinced that if they took a step through the portal, it would be the end of her and everyone she had come to care about. This wasn''t just her fight. It involved everyone else as well. "Vincent is quite similar to me, you see..." Ash continued. Stella scowled, "He''s nothing like you. How could you even compare yourself to that monster." "Oh, but he is." Ash said casually, "We are both rulers who gain power from those under us. He founded the Blood Lotus Sect as a breeding ground for bloodlines and a place to safely cultivate by growing a family to protect him and controlling those around him to be absolutely loyal." Ash paused, "Meanwhile, I founded the Ashfallen Sect to raise cultivators to protect me and created the cult of the All-Seeing Eye because I gain power from believers. Those who refuse to comply with me are forced to take oaths of loyalty, secrecy or serve me in death as Ents, trees, or are outright devoured to further my cultivation." "But you are different!" Stella retorted, "You care about us, the sect. Vincent is a monster who only cares about himself." "You are right, Stella." Ash agreed, "That''s why I said Vincent and I are very similar, not the exact same. While our methods and goals differ slightly, I believe I can predict Vincent''s next move by thinking what I would do in his situation." "Is that how you know Vincent isn''t in Nightrose City and has no plans to return?" Diana asked. "Yes. While I care about nurturing and protecting those around me, Vincent is the total opposite. He sees everyone as pawns to be used to satisfy his goals. We can see this aspect of his character through the way he happily abandoned his family members and watched from afar as his guardians were devoured. That is why he won''t return to Nightrose City. It has expended its purpose, and he has no lingering attachments to this place. The castle that had served as a stronghold is gone, his family is either dead or fleeing, and he has no use for the mortal population." Stella felt disgusted at the idea of abandoning one''s home so easily. To her, Red Vine Peak was her everything. She had grown up there, laughed and cried there, and, more importantly, made friends and family there. How could Vincent abandon his home so easily? "Patriarch, where do you think he is going next?" The Redclaw Grand Elder asked. "There is only one place he has to go," Ash replied, "To me¡ªwell, more specifically, Stella. The last place Stella went without wearing her artifact was Red Vine Peak, so that is where he will go. It might not be today, tomorrow, next week, or even this year. But one day, he will go where Stella is to get her bloodline. From Valandor, we know Vincent can smell bloodlines at vast ranges, so we can effectively lead him by the nose to wherever we want. That is how we will kill him." "How can you be sure he is after Stella''s bloodline?" Elaine asked, and everyone in the room glanced at her. "Because Vincent is a slave to his own nature. Bloodlines give him power, but they also control his actions, and you should know this better than most, Elaine. Knowledge is power." As if to reinforce his point, Ash took the aether technique manuals out of Stella''s hands with telekinesis and had them floating in the air, flicking through the pages. "We can see his obsession with getting information by focusing on obtaining the Starweaver bloodline that lets one peer into the threads of fate. Stella''s bloodline is not only likely one of the greatest bloodlines to emerge out of the Blood Lotus Sect, but it''s also one that would give him access to a vast amount of knowledge not only about cultivation but also about the many bloodlines out there in higher realms and who to obtain them from. Vincent is close to the peak of what this layer of creation can offer him and is likely starving for ways to progress. Stella''s bloodline is likely the key, and he knows that." Stella was rather impressed with Ash''s analysis of Vincent, and somehow, laying out his personality and goals like this helped calm her down. It turned this all-powerful grim reaper in her mind into just another person. A powerful person for sure, but not an undefeatable phantom. The Grand Elder hummed in thought before asking, "So you don''t believe he will visit other families like the Azurecrest or Terraforge families still loyal to him?" "That, I''m not sure." Ash hummed in thought, "Mhm, let''s think. We all know affinities often shape a person''s personality as they grow their soul with the Qi of their affinity, right? Earth cultivators are usually more hard-headed and down for a fistfight, while fire cultivators are usually more short-tempered. From this, we can infer that Vincent is obsessed with control. His affinities are blood, gravity and his last one is shadow or, more likely, illusion. What do all of these have in common? An aspect of control over one''s body, mind or surroundings." Ash paused, "My point is, he discovered today that he has lost control over many of the families in the Blood Lotus Sect. The question is if that challenges his pride on a deeper level, and he feels compelled to reestablish control. If it does, he will likely visit the noble families first and try to regain control over them and possibly the families that fell out of favor with him." "I don''t think he will bother to visit the other families," Stella said without thinking. "Oh?" Diana raised a brow, "Why not?" "Because he''s arrogant." Stella shrugged. Perhaps it was because she was also self-admittedly too prideful sometimes; she felt like she also understood Vincent on a deeper level now that Ash had laid out his personality for her. "As Ash has already pointed out, in Vincent''s eyes, everyone in the sect is a pawn. They aren''t allies to lean on or people worth keeping around once they become a hindrance. Imagine you are a cultivator nearing the Monarch Realm. What use would a bunch of Star Core Realm Elders be to you? Remember, Vincent founded this sect to breed bloodlines. He has never cared about the families that make up the sect. If he did, he would have cared more when entire families like the Winterwrath and Evergreens were wiped out." "Mhm, that''s true," Diana nodded, "So, in conclusion, Vincent is likely to abandon all ties to Nightrose City and the Blood Lotus Sect and will someday come after Stella''s scent as he desires her bloodline." "That''s my assumption, yes." Stella frowned, "There''s just one part I don''t understand, how are we going to kill him? So far, he has evaded our capture and likes to use clones instead of ever putting himself in danger." "Ah, that won''t be so hard. Our favorite shadow tree saw quite the upgrade today," Ashlock chuckled, "Once Nyxalia gets control of her body, she will be able to handle Vincent like a toy." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Nyxalia?" Stella didn''t know who that was. "It''s the name I gave Nox''s new form. She is a Netherwood Wraith, a mythical being that feasts on souls. The problem is the body I transplanted her soul into surpasses the Monarch Realm, so she is lacking control over the body''s ravenous hunger for souls." Diana rubbed her temples, "How did you even... you know what, never mind. Where is Nyxalia now?" "That, I''m not sure. She can effortlessly phase through reality, making her impossible to track. She devoured the souls of a few Nightrose Elders and then vanished." Diana sighed, "So the person we need to defeat Vincent, is currently off somewhere devouring souls?" "Very likely, yes." Ash paused, "But she should be back soon... maybe." Stella exchanged a knowing glance with everyone, and Diana rolled her eyes. "I''m sure it will be fine," Stella said, stepping through the portal. She tensed up for a moment as the smell of rubble and destruction tickled her nose. A distant bell was also ringing, and she could feel the cold aura from the celestial tree before her. But she relaxed. Vincent didn''t appear out of nowhere and kill her. Ash hadn''t been wrong. Her hand, which had unknowingly tightly clutched the Phantom Veil Amulet around her neck, fell to her side. The portal behind her rippled as the others stepped through, looking around curiously. Stella could feel their spiritual presence spreading out to scope out the area. She did the same and was surprised at how much mystic Qi was drenching the city. Elysia must have gone all out. Stella thought as her spiritual presence encompassed the entire courtyard, what was left of the castle and surrounding streets. Just how powerful has that crazy girl gotten? I hope she liked Ash''s seed, which I gave her as a present. "Where is the rest of the Nightrose family?" Diana asked. "Dead," Ash replied coldly, "Larry just devoured the remaining few. Of course, there''s a chance a few escaped during the chaos, but we got most of them." Stella glanced down the central street and saw a shifting mass of silver ash heading straight for her. It surged up the steps to the courtyard and paused before her before condensing into the vague shape of a spider. "Princess, I''m glad to see you are alright," Larry said. Stella smiled and fluently responded in kind with the runic language, "You have grown since I last saw you, Larry." "Master gave me the honor of reducing these vermin that have plagued you since you were young to ash, Princess." The divine spider bowed his head, "I will now return to Master to evolve into a form that will be able to better protect you in the future." Stella patted Larry''s head, but her hand went through the ash. "I''ll look forward to it. But make sure to take your time, okay? Maple will look after me in the meantime." The lazy squirrel that had been hanging around Quill and had hopped onto her head at some point rolled over at the mention of his name but didn''t so much as open an eyelid. Larry''s many eyes glared at Maple, "That squirrel is a fickle one. I would be careful about putting your life in his hands." Stella reached up and gently rubbed Maple''s head, which earned a satisfied cry out of the world-devouring eldritch horror, "He may be lazy, but he does act when it counts." "If the Princess says so then it must be true," Larry said, earning an amused smirk from Stella. "Go on, don''t let me keep you." Stella gestured to the portal, which was still open behind them, to her house. Larry obliged by strangely walking through the air and phasing through the rift. With the Ashfallen Sect''s guardian gone, Stella coughed as the ancient language was a bit rough on human vocal cords before turning her attention to the others. They were all crowded around the tree lording over the destroyed courtyard. Stella came to stand beside Diana, who was squinting at the leaves. "What you looking at?" Stella asked. The leaves were breathtakingly beautiful, and the blue sky served as a backdrop to the translucent leaves, with a tapestry of celestial energy running through them. "I''m not so sure," Diana mused as she pointed at the leaves above, "The patterns within the leaves, do you notice them changing ever so slightly?" Stella watched for a while and slowly nodded, "Yeah, I think so. Especially the ones around here. Are they supposed to mean something?" Diana crossed her arms in thought before looking to the sky. "Ashlock, you said this tree was made from the Starweaver Grand Elder?" She stepped back and glanced around at the roots that looked like golden threads sprawling out through the courtyard, "Are these the threads of fate?" "Huh, now that you point it out. Maybe they are?" Ash said, "Can you discern anything from the changing leaves?" Diana shook her head, "All I can see is them changing, not what they mean. Maybe if we got Celeste to take a look at it, she could tell us what it means since she has the bloodline?" "One problem with that is how will I explain the tree''s origin? I can''t admit it''s their father now, can I? Diana had a look of realization, "That''s true..." "We can figure this out later. For now, can you guys clean up this place and assist the cult in convincing the populace to accept me as their new god?" Douglas froze up, "By clean up, do you mean..." "Yes. The castle needs to be rebuilt. It serves as a focal point of authority here in Nightrose City, and we need the people to know they have a new, hopefully nicer ruler. You can get the help of the Mudcloaks if you need. Just ensure the courtyard can freely detach from the castle, as I made Orion here into a Bastion." Douglas sighed, "Is there a time limit?" "No... but could you get it done by tomorrow?" Douglas cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, "By tomorrow... sure, why not. One grand castle coming right up. Stella, could you assist me?" "Huh?" Stella raised a brow, "Sure, but what for?" "I bet this monstrosity is decked out to the brim with defensive formations." Douglas pointed to the melted castle with his thumb, "You''re likely the only cookie smart enough to know anything about them." Stella smiled at the praise and joined Douglas in walking over to the castle, leaving the others around Orion. They walked in silence for a while until Douglas mumbled under his breath, "Things are really starting to get crazy, aren''t they?" "What do you mean?" Stella asked while continuing to give Maple head rubs and dodging random pieces of rubble. "I don''t know. I guess I''m just feeling sentimental?" Douglas chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "It''s just that I remember when we were a rag-tag group struggling to survive on Red Vine Peak a few months ago. But now..." He trailed off as they walked through the castle''s cracked grand entrance, "We are conquering distant cities in a single day, and not just any city, mind you. This is Nightrose City, the capital of the Blood Lotus Sect, and here I am, casually walking through their castle, which was half eaten by heaven knows what." "So?" Stella asked as she ran her finger along a section of wall that had a part of a formation exposed. "We are a big fish in a small pond. Senior Lee could come down and end us with a mere thought. The beast tide on the horizon may still wipe out all of us, and if Vincent tried his absolute best to kill me, I''m sure he would succeed. Hell, we are on the 9th layer of creation. Who knows what powerhouses are still above us?" Douglas let out a long breath of resignation, "I suppose you''re right. It''s just quite the adjustment from my decades as a street rat and fighting for fucking gangs in slums. You''re really unfazed by all this?" Stella shrugged, "Maybe it will all hit me when I see Vincent dead at my feet, but in my mind, the threats that have loomed over my head since my childhood are still ever present despite our leap in power. Instead of being far away and unbeatable, they are now very much in my face while still feeling threatening despite my growth in cultivation." Stella put a hand on the stone and looked up at the vaulted ceiling. "It''s frustrating, to say the least. I just want to live in peace with Ash." She looked over her shoulder and met Douglas''s eyes, "Is that so much to ask?" "No, it''s not," Douglas shook his head, "Unfortunately, we live in a rather cruel world that doesn''t give a rat''s ass about our dreams." "Exactly, so stop thinking so much. We have indeed come far in a short amount of time, but in the grand scheme of things, we are still a frog trapped in a well." Douglas snorted, "Where did you learn an old phrase like that?" "I pick things up here and there from books I have ''acquired'' from various places," Stella returned her focus to the runic formation, "Now, as for this runic formation, it''s a little too complex for my current understanding." She followed the trail of silver up a nearby pillar, "I think the formation spreads throughout the entire castle, though, which means you either need to rebuild the entire castle with the runic formation or simply tear it all out. It also seems like the formation was powered beyond its intended capability as most of the runic circuitry is dulled and will need replacing." "Mhm," Douglas rubbed his chin, "How long do you think it would take you to analyze and rebuild the formation?" "Quite a while? Days possibly." Stella sighed and stepped away, "But that''s assuming there''s enough intact formation buried in all this stone to rebuild the entire thing. If a vital section has been destroyed, then I''ll have to improvise, and at that point..." "It''s better to start from scratch with a formation of our own." Douglas finished what she was going to say. "Alright, I''m on a time limit to build something worthy of Ashlock, so I''ll have the Mudcloaks tear it all out." "Hold on, I have a better idea." Stella opened a rift to the aether, "Come on out, Guppy, I have a meal for you." "Who''s Guppy?" Douglas eyed the tear in reality with confusion. "My adorable pet," Stella grinned as a shadow moved toward the rift entrance, followed by a clicking noise. Guppy poked his head through a moment later, earning a string of curses from Douglas as the man stumbled back. "Pet? You call that abomination a pet?!" Stella pouted as she rubbed Guppy''s snout, "Douglas, you''re being rude." "S-Sorry," Douglas grimaced, "What is it?" "A Darktide Devourer, they are known to devour islands and grow in power by eating spirit stones¡ªGuppy stop drooling." Stella gently smacked the monster, and it let off a soft cry. "Unbelievable," Douglas pinched the bridge of his nose, "Sometimes I forget just how screwed in the head... you know what, never mind. Let''s get this show on the road." He reached up to his crude stone crown, "Could you open a portal to Red Vine Peak? It''s about darn time for the Mudcloaks to assemble." Chapter 386: Mudcloaks Secret Ashlock''s focus returned to Red Vine Peak to open a portal for the Mudcloaks, as Stella couldn''t open such a long-range portal herself. "Come to think of it, I haven''t checked on them in quite a while," Ashlock mused as his spiritual gaze floated through the rain and roaring wind toward the Citadel. "I wonder what they have been up to." Atop the monolith that served as the central core of the Citadel was Quill''s library, and Ashlock could see his offspring''s leaves fighting with the storm. The Citadel was an 8000-meter-deep hole through the center of the mountain that had been made by a giant Star Core Realm worm. While the roaring wind quietened down the deeper he delved, the Citadel had been turned into a waterfall as rain drummed on the spiral staircase and cascaded down into the depths. "If I remember correctly, there''s a small lake at the bottom that is fed by my ethereal roots alongside the troughs built into the central pillar that feed the moss that the Mudcloaks like to eat." Ashlock thought as he reached the bottom, "Ah yeah, there it is." He was pretty surprised as he inspected the small lake. It wasn''t overflowing like he had anticipated. "Wait, are those pipes?" Looking closer, he saw industrial-sized pipes built into the lake''s side, and he could see the water rapidly flowing into them. "Were these always here? I don''t think so..." Deciding to follow them, as he hadn''t seen any Mudcloaks daring to brave the rain thus far, he soon came upon a vast tunnel. He would have thought it was a giant cave system if not for the perfectly smooth walls. It was as if it had been dug out by a machine. It didn''t take long for him to run into his first Mudcloaks. There was a small group inspecting a crack in the wall. All of them were wearing bright yellow rain boots and matching metal helmets. One of them was holding a clipboard and seemed to be the group leader as they waved a runic device over the crack. It looked like a long stick letting off a blue light, but when the Mudcloak waved it over the crack, it turned red. "Bugs." The Mudcloak declared, causing excitement from the other Mudcloaks. The leader handed his clipboard and device to another and, to Ashlock''s surprise, took out what he assumed to be a weapon. It was comically large compared to the 3-foot-tall Mudcloak. It vaguely resembled a gun with a long nozzle and was covered in runic circuits. Ashlock took a closer look and saw words related to fire. From within his tattered black cloak, which Ashlock knew now was actually their skin and served as a protective layer, the leader Mudcloak revealed his hand and placed it on the wall. Earth soul flames flared to life, and a fist-sized hole in the rock appeared. "This Mudcloak is in the Star Core Realm?!" Ashlock triple-checked, but there was no doubt about it. The leading Mudcloak was in the early stages of the Star Core Realm. "Wait, this little guy is technically as strong as Douglas? What..." The sound of clicking came from beyond the wall, and Ashlock could see something shifting in the darkness through the hole. His surprise at the Mudcloaks reaching the Star Core Realm was briefly put aside as his curiosity at what they were doing got the better of him. "Are there really bugs in the walls? I''ve never noticed them." The leader stepped back and slotted the nozzle of his weapon into the suitably sized hole. The runes covering the weapon flared to life all at once, and the Mudcloak laughed manically as fire blasted into the hole, causing the insects on the other side to let off a shrill cry followed by the sound of their bodies exploding like party poppers. Ashlock watched the whole scene in disbelief. Once the runic weapon finally ran out of power as all the spirit stones had dulled, the leader pulled the nozzle out of the hole, and the other Mudcloaks moved in, soul flames wreathing their bodies. They created a Mudcloak-sized doorway into the stone and gleefully dragged charred bug corpses into the tunnel. It was almost impossible to tell what the bug had once looked like as now it closely resembled a vaguely insect-shaped piece of coal. "Yummy!" One of the Mudcloaks cheered with glee as they brutally tore off pieces of charred flesh and devoured it. Ashlock couldn''t even see their mouths, just their glowing blue eyes that narrowed in ecstasy. The bugs were easily twice the size of a single Mudcloak, yet that didn''t seem to faze the Mudcloaks at all as they each consumed an entire bug by themselves. Having finished their meal, the leader sealed up the hole and crack in the tunnel before leading his small entourage of yellow hat and boot-wearing Mudcloaks down the tunnel. Ashlock absentmindedly followed them with more questions than answers. When did they reach the Star Core Realm? How did they make a flamethrower? What the hell are those bugs, and are their stomachs linked to a spatial dimension? He would ask them directly, but his {Abyssal Whispers} skill would undoubtedly break their minds. Since they were quite slow due to their short legs, Ashlock went on ahead down the tunnel, and in the distance, he could hear the loud clanging noise of metal striking metal. "What in the nine realms is this?" Ashlock uttered in awe as the tunnel opened into an expansive space. He finally uncovered the source of the clanging as he saw hundreds of Mudcloaks working on assembly lines, creating weapons and what looked like parts. Instead of conveyor belts, they had aqueducts, and the finished parts were carried along on floating pieces of wood. Ashlock finally figured out what they were using all the water for. Not only was it used to transport things around, but it was also used in the forging process to quench the metal and in cooling towers to stop the room from overheating. While they seemed to mostly focus on weapons and smaller parts, there was a giant forge in the corner that dominated the room, operated by Mudcloaks using suits of shifting earth. The door to the forge was slowly opened, and a large sheet of still-red-hot metal that looked like armor for a tank was pulled out. The largest of the suits of earth, five meters tall and operated by multiple Mudcloaks, moved across the room toward the forge. Mudcloaks, all wearing the yellow helmets, streamed around its feet as they went about their own tasks. The titan of earth waited until the metal cooled before lugging it down a tunnel that seemed to lead to a neighboring room. "Did Douglas tell them to do all this?" Ashlock''s opinion of the man skyrocketed. He was a diligent worker, and while dealing with his requests, he also micromanaged such a widescale production from the Mudcloaks? He had come here to open a portal for them but was far too curious about what else they had been doing down here. Following the earth titan down the tunnel, Ashlock was stunned further. If that last space was large, this one was massive and primarily dominated by a half-complete construction that vaguely looked like a spaceship Ashlock used to see in those sci-fi shows designed to house colonies as they explored the stars. The earth titan that had seemed domineering in the last room as it lumbered past the endless rows of Mudcloaks working looked tiny compared to this construction. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Beside the spaceship, piled up at the side of the room were what looked like missiles and giant suits of armor made from metal and runes. "Are the Mudcloaks trying to build their own Bastion? I have to say, it looks very impressive. I can see they have attached multiple of those guns that Geb had been outfitted with that almost one shot the Lunarshade Grand Elder. Just what is this ship going to be used for?" He would have assumed the beast tide, but the ship looked months from completion, and the beast tide was already upon them. "I also wonder how they plan to power this thing¡ªwait, how are they funding the construction? Even in this world, building a spaceship isn''t free. This amount of metal had to be sourced from elsewhere, and the amount of spirit stones needed for the runic circuits in those guns alone is astronomical." Ashlock returned to the other room. "Are they making money from selling these weapons? They seem mostly human-sized, so they can''t use them¡ª" Ashlock suddenly felt uncomfortable when every Mudcloak paused and looked at the ceiling. "The King calls!" A Mudcloak called out, and chaos ensued. Every Mudcloak abandoned their post and ran around in confused circles, chanting, "King, King, King!" "Douglas must have called for them through his crown," Ashlock mobilized his spatial Qi and tore open a portal in the middle of the room that led to Douglas. Mudcloaks streamed toward the portal while gleefully wielding various tools. Ashlock had to widen the portal as the Earth titans they were controlling also lumbered toward the portal to honor their King''s call. Ashlock returned to Nightrose City and waited while Douglas barked orders to the Mudcloaks and passed out some hastily drawn designs to the leader Mudcloaks that could almost string complete sentences together. "Douglas, can I talk to you for a moment," Ashlock asked when he saw Douglas had a moment to catch his breath. "Of course boss, how can I help?" Douglas said while leaning against a destroyed pillar that trembled as the Mudcloaks got to work tearing down the entire castle. "Did you tell the Mudcloaks to do all those things they are doing back at the Citadel?" "What do you mean?" Douglas raised a brow. "I saw them mass-producing human-sized weapons." "Oh," Douglas rubbed his chin, "They asked how they could make money, and I suggested they make things since they seemed quite skilled with their hands." "Who are they selling these weapons to?" Douglas shrugged, "If I had to guess, there has been a spike in demand for weapons since the Ashfallen Sect turned thousands of people into cultivators." "Is there really that big of a demand?" Ashlock wasn''t convinced. The level of production they had going was too much, and many of the weapons seemed runically engraved, meaning they would be too expensive for most of the mortals in Darklight and Ashfallen City. "It''s just a few crappy swords, it''s not a big deal," Douglas said dismissively. "Right..." Ashlock realized he was talking to a man who could build a city in a day. He was way too humble to admit the swords were quite good, considering they were being mass-produced. Sure, he had seen far better craftsmanship, but the sheer scale of production had still been impressive. "What about the giant construction with the cannons?" "Cannons?" Douglas asked with confusion. "Yeah, it looked like a half-built ship." A lightbulb seemed to appear over Douglas''s head, "Ah! They complained to me that Geb was too weak, and they wanted to improve him. If it uses the same cannons as the one they built into Geb, maybe it''s for that?" Ashlock thought back to the half-built spaceship, and he could kinda see the vision, assuming they were planning to make Geb fly or something. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask¡ªoi!" Douglas glared off to the side and shouted, "Stella! Your pet is trying to eat a Mudcloak!" "Guppy, you glutton! Don''t eat the little guys¡ªthey aren''t food!" A distant voice he knew was Stella''s shouted, and the abomination let out a sad cry as it put the confused Mudcloak down and got back to devouring the dulled runic formations. Ashlock decided to leave everyone to it and withdrew his presence to his Inner World as he knew a pressing matter needed attention. Looming over Stella''s house, a shifting mass of divine ash was patiently waiting for him. The moment he laid eyes on his guardian, the system informed him of something he had been eagerly anticipating. [Larry has accumulated enough Qi to evolve to SS grade] [Herald of the Divine Ash {Larry} wishes to evolve] [Yes/No] "Yes," Ashlock answered and was surprised when the system didn''t present him with a list of options to choose from. There was only one. [Harbinger of the Eternal Ash {SS}] As an SS Grade being, he steps into the realm of kings¡ªthe Monarch Realm. This evolution into the Harbinger of the Eternal Ash marks his ascension into a higher form of divinity, with full dominion over decay, ash, and rebirth. Now wielding the immense potential of a domain, Larry will become an undying apocalyptic power. [Please note: This evolution will take longer than previous ones as Larry must comprehend multiple laws and form an Inner World. Do you still wish to proceed?] "That''s concerning. Larry is one of the best counters I have to Vincent Nightrose, and the first stages of the beast tide are quickly approaching. It won''t take more than a week, will it?" [The process has no set time frame. It entirely depends on Larry''s comprehension speed, but I would guess a week at minimum] "What do you think, Larry? Should I start it now, or should we hold off on your evolution?" "Master, I beseech you to allow me to evolve," Larry lowered his head, "In my current state, I am not worthy of being called the guardian of the Ashfallen Sect." "Not worthy?" Ashlock chuckled, "If not you, then who? You are one of the strongest in the sect." "Nyxalia has surpassed me, Maple''s strength is unknown, and I suspect Mistress Elysia will be able to wield the power of a god soon enough. Please, Master, allow me to undergo this ascension so I will not be cast aside." "Larry..." Ashlock sighed. This darn spider already had higher cultivation than him and would be a step into the Monarch Realm after this evolution. If Larry was feeling inadequate, how was he supposed to feel? Everyone around him treated him like this godly figure despite a few in his sect being in a higher stage of cultivation than him. That aside, now really was a bad time to undergo an evolution that would last an undetermined amount of time. With Larry busy evolving and Nyxalia off somewhere else, he was left with few trump cards. Vincent Nightrose had proved that Nascent Soul Realm Ents were a joke before him, and it was said that this beast tide would have multiple Nascent Soul Realm monsters and possibly even a Monarch Realm one. So, relying on Anubis was ill-advised, and Nox was trapped in a pocket realm. "Leaving myself and Maple as the powerhouses in the sect," Ashlock didn''t like that his partner in crime would be a very unreliable squirrel. "System, could you tell me more about this evolution? I understand the jump in cultivation to the Monarch Realm level is significant, as is the formation of an inner world and learning multiple laws, but can you give a little more? Because as it is right now, Larry''s strength serves my current needs." [A lot of Larry''s strength after the evolution will be based on how he can wield his new power level and capabilities. However, with the creation of an Inner World, Larry will have a place where he can store ash beside his body, effectively making him utterly immortal as he can keep reforming his body. He could also unleash this stored ash upon the battlefield in a storm that corrodes anything it touches into ash that Larry can absorb into his Inner World or control] "That does sound quite strong. Mhm, what do you mean when you say control? Since he will have laws over decay, ash, and rebirth, what can he do with the ash besides unleashing it in a storm to decay everything?" [He will be capable of commanding an army of ash-based warriors and creatures that fight alongside him. He can also impart his will to these creations, giving them intelligence. They will also be able to reform indefinitely from ash, making them incredibly resilient unless completely obliterated] "Oh, I can see why you said he will become an undying apocalyptic power. That does sound quite useful for fighting against the beast tide." Ashlock paused as he looked at his servant, who hadn''t yet raised his head. "This is really bad timing, but it''s hard to say no. Better to start the process now before the worst part of the beast tide hits, and I realize I need another member of my sect to be in the Monarch Realm. I can''t yet depend on Nyxalia, after all." "Okay, system. Commence the evolution." [Acknowledged. Evolution to Harbinger of the Eternal Ash {SS} initiating....] Chapter 387: Never Aware Of The Strings Three days had passed since Nightrose City saw a change in leadership. In such a short span of time, the Ashfallen Sect had made their overwhelming presence known. While cultists from the All-Seeing Eye flooded the streets, preaching stories of his past deeds and offering free pills and technique manuals to the masses, the Mudcloaks had been busy. The initial one-day deadline to replace the half-destroyed castle with a new symbol of power had been extended to three. Even with Douglas working around the clock and with the help of the Mudcloaks, the project turned out to be bigger than any of them had expected. Formations of unknown purpose ran deep below the city. Not wanting to waste the opportunity to harvest so many spirit stones and to sate Guppy''s endless hunger, the Mudcloaks had excavated hundreds of meters deep into the earth under the city. After an entire day and night of digging, all the spirit stones had been recovered, and construction could finally begin. Due to the sheer amount of materials needed, Ashlock actually flew Willow over to Nightrose City and used the Bastion''s artillery to blow up nearby mountains and then used telekinesis and portals to transport the pieces over to the Mudcloaks so they could reshape them into useable bricks. They needed a mountain''s worth of materials because the castle and its surrounding land had been so vast that it could have been considered a city within a city. If this had been on Earth, Ashlock had no doubts that the populace would complain, saying a royal family did not need such a large space inside a capital city, and they would have been right. Driving from the front gate to the castle''s door would have taken hours, and then you would have had to add the extra hour it would take to traverse the castle hallways to find a meeting room. Of course, that would have been the opinion of humans born and raised with Earth''s standards. Meanwhile, despite resembling Earth in many ways with beautiful nature, blue skies, and the cities of humans, this world might as well be alien. After all, there were no cars in this world, and the Nightrose family certainly hadn''t been a typical royal family. If Vincent was in a bad mood and released his soul pressure, he could crush millions of citizens to death. That was the type of power entire nations should wield, not a single man. Cultivators and mortals simply weren''t comparable. The gap between them was that of heaven and earth, so Ashlock doubted the people of Nightrose City had any negative opinions except jealousy on the amount of space the Nightrose family had allocated themselves, as living too near to the comparative demigods could lead to a swift death. Not that the complaints of the mortals would have mattered if voiced, as the words of the Nightrose family had been absolute in this city, and that fact didn''t change despite Ashlock taking over. If he made a castle any smaller or less impressive than Vincent''s had been, then the populace would look down on their new rulers. While Ashlock didn''t rule through fear like the Nightrose family, he still understood what it took to be respected. As such, Ashlock had helped with its construction while enjoying a steady inflow of divine energy as citizens watched in awe at such a construction project being completed so fast. "I never thought Douglas and the Mudcloaks would become a source of divine energy for me," Ashlock mused during the evening of the third day as the building neared completion. In total, he had gained 2700 sacrificial credits from defending himself from the heavens in view of everyone, the efforts of his cult members indoctrinating people, and this construction project. It would have been far more, but he didn''t have many credits stored up to multiply in the first place, as he spent them to summon the SSS-grade Netherworld Wraith, who became Nyxalia. "Boss, the building''s exterior is complete, but all the rooms need furniture," Douglas informed him as he flew above the castle, "What do you think? Do you want any changes done while the Mudcloaks are still here?" "Let me see," Ashlock had overseen most of the building construction over the last few days when he wasn''t distracted with concluding the tournament in his Inner World, but it was still a good idea to do a once over now that it was all finished. The entire structure took up the central third of the city, utterly dominating the comparatively tiny buildings occupied by the mortals that sprawled out around it until the giant walls of the city in the distance. They hadn''t bothered to fill in the chasm they had made in the ground while digging out the formations, instead using it as an endless darkness from which a grand pillar of stone rose. Like a banner planted into the heart of Nightrose City, the defiant pillar flattened out a few stories above ground level, proudly showing off the intricate carvings along its wreath of screaming people looking to the skies and gouging out their own eyes in madness. However, this pillar merely served as the foundation upon which the castle was built. While he called it a castle, it resembled a Gothic-style church, perfectly melded with a black metal tree that encased it like a butterfly''s cocoon. Branches draped in chains fanned out in every direction, giving twisted chaos to the structure that reached for the heavens. It was a blend of human architecture being overtaken by nature despite the entire thing being constructed of cold stone and metal. Impossibly tall, its base was also broad enough to fill up the given space upon the pillar, creating a truly gargantuan structure that symbolized the Ashfallen Sect''s dominance over the city. Around the pinnacle of the castle was a halo of suspended red gemstones sculpted to look like eyes, which were suspiciously sized to fit in the empty eye holes of the statues at the pillar''s wreath. It slowly rotated as if signifying the gradual passage of time. Ashlock then focused on the rest, as while the pillar and castle were the centerpieces, it wasn''t all there was to the structure. Suspended bridges, bound by iron chains and etched with runes in the ancient language, extended from the castle, linking it to innumerable smaller towers that rose from the crater-like spikes on the back of a slumbering eldritch god. These narrow pathways hung over the yawning pit below, reminding all who crossed them of the darkness lurking beneath their feet. Silver light flickered down the length of these bridges as, together with the surrounding towers, they formed an intricate defensive formation that protected the central structure from external attacks built from the recovered spirit stones. It was one of the most extensive and impressive formations Ashlock had ever seen. But considering what he had seen below Red Vine Peak, he wasn''t surprised at how capable the Mudcloaks were at creating runic arrays. "It''s good." Ashlock said, "Though a bit... evil looking? The statues tearing their own eyes out for them to endlessly float around the castle like a crown is a bit much, don''t you think? Also, it doesn''t look very inviting." "Mhm," Douglas stroked his chin, "While I agree, this is already the toned-down version. I had to say no to many suggestions the Mudcloaks had when I said we needed to make a building that encapsulated what the Ashfallen Sect and All-Seeing Eye are all about. I''m sorry to say this, but I think we both know it''s too late for you to change your ''evil god'' image." "I know." Ashlock sighed, "Maybe the bad weather is making it look worse than it would during a nice summer day?" As the beast tide closed in, the storm had reached Nightrose City, and without the blood-red dome protecting the city, freezing gales were accompanied by thunderous rain that drummed on the roofs and flooded the streets. Since the beast tide was coming from the north, it would hit all the cities in the Blood Lotus Sect and the Tainted Cloud Sect alongside the cities under Ashlock''s control. Nobody was safe, as all these cities sat on the leyline and in the path of the beast tide on its way south toward the Celestial Empire. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "I have to admit the terrible weather arriving on the evening of you taking over the city and only growing worse since might spawn some rumors as it''s only going to keep getting more intense as the beast tide closes in, right?" "Yeah." Ashlock agreed. "Speaking of, do we have a plan yet on how to deal with it?" "I''ve been thinking a lot over the last few days..." Douglas nodded expectantly, "And?" "I got nothing. Well, not nothing, but yeah, it''s not looking good." Douglas frowned, "I know I''m not the smartest in the sect, but I''m always open to lending an ear. Come on, boss, we can think of something. Ain''t no way I''m letting Ashfallen fall to some dumb monsters and a bit of rain." Ashlock sighed as he looked over Nightrose City, guilt tugging at his consciousness. "The problem is I can''t save them all." "You don''t have to. Nobody can." Douglas shrugged. "What do you mean?" Douglas pointed to the towering docking station in a distant part of the city that was suspiciously empty. "Because we took over the city, all the airships left, and we have a policy of staying and standing against the beast tide. But you need to remember that there are millions upon millions of mortals across all the cities under the Blood Lotus Sect. If I had to guess, over 90% would be left behind to die. The Nightrose family said there would only be a single trip to the new location because Vincent Nightrose wanted to have as much time as possible to progress his cultivation before moving, so even with the increased number of airships, most would have been left to die." A silence hung between them as Ashlock contemplated his words. While the people of Nightrose City wouldn''t know it, being under him would give them a higher chance of survival. But he couldn''t save them all. The beast tide would hit multiple cities at once, and he simply didn''t have enough powerful people to defend every city. He also couldn''t move everyone into his Inner World as it was too small and couldn''t produce enough food to feed millions of people that quickly. "Just focus on what you can do," Douglas said after a while, "I''ve found that when I do my best, things usually fall into place. Sometimes a problem can seem insurmountable at first, but if you break it down into small enough pieces and tackle them one at a time before you know it, it''s as if the problem never existed." "Huh, who knew you had such deep insights." Douglas''s words reminded Ashlock of his days as a computer scientist when he was taught to break down problems. "What''s that supposed to mean?" Douglas scowled and then laughed, "I get it though. Many people look down on earth cultivators and those who work in construction¡ªlabeling them as hard-headed people with rocks for brains. But look at this," Douglas gestured to the castle, "Can you not see and feel the creativity poured into this? It''s a piece of art, one of the greatest in all the wilderness, and it was made by me, you, and a bunch of Mudcloaks who can barely string a sentence together. That should sound impossible, but it was made possible because everyone had their job, and we worked together. Even if I had all the power in the world and was a god, I doubt I could complete this in that time frame on my own. At some point, the limit becomes our own minds and how much we can focus on at once." Ashlock felt like Douglas was speaking straight to his soul and oddly felt a weight lifted from his branches. He had been subconsciously putting the burden of the beast tide and saving millions of people on himself and forgot he was surrounded by many talented, capable people. "Teamwork makes the dream work," Ashlock muttered a saying from his old world. Just because he was a godly tree with the potential to influence an area spanning the equivalent of a continent didn''t mean he had to. He just had to bunker down, survive the coming storm, and save as many people as possible. Then, as Douglas rightly said, everything else would fall into place. "Thank you, Douglas." Ashlock said sincerely, "I''ll go figure out what I can do and get back to you. Also, love the castle." Douglas bowed slightly, "A pleasure as always, boss. May your brainstorming be fruitful, for all our sakes." *** Grand Elder Valandor stepped out of the aether into a dark living room. Flashes of lightning from the raging storm outside briefly illuminated the room through the hefty drawn curtains. The furniture seemed new, yet a light layer of dust coated everything, like dirty snowfall. From here, he could see into a small kitchen. Grimy pots likely left out for days were piled up in the sink, and between where he stood and the kitchen tiles was a line of dried blood. Mortal, Qi-less blood. Likely belonging to the people who once lived here. Following the line, Valandor set eyes on the wooden staircase leading up to the second floor of the two-story house. "I can feel the disturbance in the aether," Valandor said as he stared at the top of the staircase, "I know you are there, Vincent Nightrose." A haunting chuckle filled the seemingly empty house. "Good, very good. As expected of the Disciplinary Committee''s head." The stairs creaked under an invisible weight, and Valandor felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and the sound of nails scraping on wood. Slowly, Vincent revealed himself, starting with his gnarled feet. The light bending around him faded with every step, revealing Vincent''s terrifying figure. He looked vaguely human, yet the influence of all the bloodlines he had consumed over the years had warped him into something else. His limbs, including his fingers, were just slightly too long. His teeth were like needles, and his skin hung to his bones like a layer of paint. He looked utterly ghastly, and if the uncomfortable noise of him walking wasn''t enough, the constant drum of his two spiritual hearts echoed through the room like a drumbeat. "You''re dying," Valandor said as Vincent struggled to descend the final step. "The Ashfallen Sect is going to butcher you and put your tyrannical rule to rest. You know that, yet dare to show yourself before me?" Vincent smiled wildly, his lips splitting at the edges as he made his way to a chair in the room and sat. "Valandor, you are part of the Ashfallen Sect now, are you not? Yet your actions contradict your words. Here I am, one step in the afterlife. Yet you simply watch." A hint of delight flashed through his sunken eyes, "Go on, Valandor. Try and kill me." "It would rob Stella of her glory, but very well." Valandor stepped forward, his hand wreathed in burning aether. Vincent didn''t move as he clasped his hand around the man''s neck, pinning him to the chair, and tried to squeeze the life out of his old master. But he couldn''t. His face twisted in confusion as he tried as hard as he could to command his hand to throttle the life out of this monster in human skin, yet it refused to comply. Vincent studied his face with amusement. "What''s wrong?" "I... don''t know. Why can''t I kill you?" Valandor''s whole body trembled as he tensed every muscle he could, but it was fruitless. It was as if there was an impossible-to-breach barrier around Vincent, yet he could feel no Qi. This wasn''t Vincent''s doing. He was simply incapable of killing his old master. Vincent sneered, "I knew you were compromised ever since you told me those lies about Stella. She is alive, I''ve seen it." Why? Why?! Why can''t I kill this bastard?!?! "You thought you were free." Vincent leaned against his hand and whispered in his ear, making his body tingle. "But you never were. After all, a puppet is never aware of their strings." "No... no, no, no." Valandor stumbled back, collapsing on his back and looking at Vincent, staring down at him from the chair with terror gripping his soul. "That''s not possible! I was freed from you by consuming the world tree''s sap. I WAS FREE!" "Really?" Vincent leaned his head on his palm, "Then why are you here? Did you inform the Ashfallen Sect I was here in Darklight City? Why did you come alone and without help?" "I..." Valandor trailed off. Why had he come here alone? "Your master called, so you came." Vincent smirked, "Just like a good servant." Valandor tried to run, but his brain felt clouded. He couldn''t focus. "Now come here," Vincent beckoned with his finger, "As you rightly pointed out, I''m dying. It''s time I got a new body, and a perfect one to take over is right before me." "No, please," Valandor begged. Vincent raised his hand, and ghostly red strings seemingly made of blood appeared between them. There were hundreds. "What a disobedient puppet." Vincent pulled his hand back, and Valandor felt his whole body lurch forward along with the strings, and he was forcefully made to grovel at Vincent''s feet. The monster reached down, caressing his ear as he went, and his surprisingly strong fingers wrapped around his throat. "Master, I''m sorry. Please..." Vincent ignored his pleading and effortlessly pulled him up despite his struggle and looked him dead in the eyes. "You knew deep down this was always your fate, Valandor. You tried to foolishly escape it by sowing the seeds of war in the sect and raising rivals to me, but you always have been and always will be my spare body. You can''t escape my control because you are me." Valandor closed his eyes and whispered, "I know." It was something he had repressed deeply to the point of almost forgetting his dark past. But it was true. He was nothing but a spare. "Good boy." Valandor dared not open his eyes but could hear Vincent unlocking his jaw. The monster''s putrid breath assaulted his nose, followed by the horrifying pain of his needle-like teeth piercing his skin, followed by being eaten alive and unable to do anything about it. Stella, I could never escape my fate, but you and that spirit tree are different. You two are the defiers of fate. I could tell from a glance that you would both laugh in the face of the heavens. If there is anyone who will kill me after I become a monster, I hope it''s one of you. Valandor let out one last soul-filled scream as he was devoured by himself. Chapter 388: Sly Fox Vincent Nightrose stretched his new limbs with satisfying clicks and groaned in relief. He''d planned to craft a new body from scratch with the body parts he had harvested, but his current situation didn''t afford him the time for fleshcraft. So he had to use something he had prepared long ago: Valandor. A cultivator with potential that he had taken under his wing and raised, all while deeply weaving his threads of control into his body. He had given Valandor everything. A position of great power, responsibility, and resources. He had been his most dependable pawn for years, a true backbone of the sect. But even Valandor likely knew his true purpose deep down as he began feeling a deep sense of detachment between his body and soul. After all, Vincent had never been after Valandor''s soul, as achieving utter Soul Dominion over another was a power in the realm of the gods, and he had no use for aether affinity. No, what Vincent had always been after was a fresh body ready for use at any time. Vincent looked inside himself and was quite content with how the transition had gone. He had washed out Valandor''s soul by burning it in his soul flames. Leaving an empty husk behind that was strong enough to handle his soul without breaking. If Valandor had been in the Nascent Soul Realm, this process would have been far more messy, if not outright impossible. It was one of the reasons Vincent had such a strict policy of keeping his sect members below the Nascent Soul Realm, as the easiest way to escape his methods of control was by creating an infant soul and escaping to a new body. "I will need to spend some time widening the spirit roots and altering the body to better utilize some of my bloodlines¡ª" Vincent paused his mutterings, surprised by his own voice. No matter how many times he swapped bodies, it always took a while to get used to hearing a different voice when he spoke. "I heard Valandor giving me reports with this voice so many times, but it sounds so different inside my own head." Vincent had to admit he was slightly saddened at having to overtake Valandor. It was a true waste of such a good pawn, but the man had been compromised, so his fate had been sealed. Not to mention, this body won''t last long. Vincent thought as he ran young fingers along the quickly healing cavity in his chest where he had bitten a chunk out to create a pathway for his soul to invade. This is a temporary solution. My soul is still damaged and nearing the end of its lifespan, so I need to get my infant soul into a new, specially-made body soon. But for now, this will have to do. I can''t afford to be weakened to the extent that swapping souls would entail right now¡ªhuh? The sound of cracking wood drew Vincent''s attention. Looking over his shoulder, he saw his old body slumped in the chair with an unhinged jaw caked in blood and soulless eyes looking down at the floor. "What the..." Vincent noticed a branch growing from the corpse''s chest, and the veins around it were quickly blackening through the corpse''s pale skin like sprawling roots. "Is this a result of that black blood I had been confining?" He had left the black blood in his old body as it had been a drain on his blood Qi to keep it suppressed, and he didn''t see any use in holding onto it as if he let it out in any capacity, it seemed to attract the ire of the Ashfallen Sect''s leader. "I''ve got to go," Vincent cursed as his two hearts pounded in his chest. He wrapped himself in a mixture of illusion and gravity Qi, to make him invisible. The sound of his old body being twisted into a tree filled the room, and he quickly became unrecognizable. I could destroy this body, but the black blood seemed indestructible, and that would expose my presence here. I drained my old body of any trace of my soul, so they shouldn''t be able to trace this back to me. Vincent turned and left the house that had belonged to a mortal family before he devoured them for a snack. He floated into the sky far above Darklight City and stared at Red Vine Peak in the distance. He could easily peer through the giant illusion array surrounding the peak due to his higher cultivation level and understanding of illusion Qi. A demonic spirit tree nearing two hundred meters high, whose canopy encompasses the entire mountain peak. It''s unbelievable, but it appears to be in the Nascent Soul Realm and is the focal point of the divine energy bathing the area. I knew the Celestial Empire''s chancellor was experimenting with world tree sap. Was this tree a result of those experiments? If so, who is controlling it? Vincent had yet to find anyone who could be the leader of this Ashfallen Sect. The World Tree was the strongest being in the Celestial Empire, but the council of human cultivators controlled the empire, not the tree. In fact, the World Tree was enslaved by the council and harvested for its sap to progress their own cultivation. Spirit trees simply couldn''t lead a sect. I heard that even at Monarch Realm, unlike monsters who gain a level of intelligence that rivals humans at the Nascent Soul Realm, spirit trees can barely string sentences together and prefer to communicate through raw emotions. Meanwhile, this demonic spirit tree is in the middle of the Nascent Soul Realm. Despite all signs suggesting it rules these lands, it''s not possible. Vincent sniffed the air. The Crestfallen scent was last there on the peak, but it''s gone stale. They are hiding her somehow, or she has escaped through a portal to somewhere far outside my range. Either way... His eyes narrowed. Due to the illusion array and the very nature of the void, most wouldn''t notice. But surrounding the peak in a dome was something sinister that promised an instant death, and Vincent had honed his sense of danger long enough to trust it. I must find a way to get close to the scent without raising suspicion. The problem is I don''t know Valandor''s standing within the Ashfallen Sect. Not to mention, if the leader of Ashfallen uses whatever technique he used to discover that I had replaced the demoness with a blood clone, he might uncover that I''m not Valandor. Vincent raised his palm, and white flames appeared. With illusion and gravity Qi, I can simulate aether Qi to a point. But I can''t traverse the aether, which will likely give me away. Vincent snuffed out his illusionary aether Qi and looked back at the defensive void array surrounding the mountain peak. Wait, a void array? Only one family could have installed it and would know how to bypass or disable it. He turned and flew off toward Slymere. While even he was wary of the Voidmind family, he had to make use of the short timeframe where he was still at full power to gather some valuable puppets. *** Vincent arrived at the Voidmind residence confused. The place was empty. He knew the Voidmind family had been at war with the Skyrend family, but he had never expected this. Did they go into hiding? Vincent wondered as he floated through the quiet corridors with light bending around him. Eventually, he slowly opened the doors to the main room. Peeking his head through, he saw someone''s foot poking off the end of a large sofa positioned before a... tree? The person was softly humming and twitching their foot to their tune. Finally, a person is here, but why is a tree growing inside a room? Vincent floated closer and wrapped around. He looked at the woman up and down. She was dressed in a nightgown and reading a book with apparent amusement. He drew up a blank as to her name, though; he had never been good at recognizing faces. Sniffing the air, he realized. Isn''t this Morrigan? She was at Nightrose City a few days ago. That means she should be on the side of Ashfallen. Not the best candidate to try and puppet, but there''s nobody else here. Mhm, the Ashfallen Sect leader didn''t show much initiative to save her when I trapped an illusionary version of her in a bubble of gravity Qi. Also, wasn''t she accompanied by her daughter? Where is she? Morrigan snapped the book she was reading closed and looked forward, not at Vincent. "Do you need something?" Vincent raised a brow, "Morrigan, you can feel my presence?" He asked while using illusion Qi to alter his voice. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Call it intuition," Morrigan said, "I know when I''m being watched." "Who am I?" "How would I know?" Morrigan shrugged and laid back without a care in the world. "Have you come to kill me?" "That depends on if you answer my questions," Vincent replied, "What happened to the Voidmind family? Where did everyone go?" Morrigan''s personality seemingly flipped as her eyes filled with hatred. "They died. Slaughtered by the Ashfallen Sect and turned into monstrosities that will serve their leader for all eternity." She gestured to the tree in the room, "Or turned into a tree, like my dear husband over there¡ªbless his soul, he deserved a better fate, but I couldn''t save him despite my best efforts." Monstrosities? Vincent recalled the headless creature that had butchered his blood clones in his castle. He hadn''t sensed the monster''s approach, and it had effortlessly pierced his defenses. Both aspects of void Qi. "You know the Ashfallen Sect''s leader?" Vincent asked. He needed to know the identity of a being capable of controlling even the void. Morrigan shook her head, "He is a mythical figure that never makes himself known. Some call him the voice, others the All-Seeing Eye." "What about your daughter..." He tried to remember the girl''s name but drew a blank. "My dearest Elaine? Can you believe the Ashfallen Sect kidnapped her and turned her into a sex slave of that bastard Douglas? They made her sign a heavenly oath and brainwashed the poor girl. I recently brought her to Nightrose City, hoping to free her from their control, but things went sideways. The Ashfallen Sect won, and the Blood Lotus Sect is falling apart." Morrigan sat up, a look of sadness overtaking her. "If only Vincent was still in control, this wouldn''t have happened. Unfortunately, I think he might be dead. Phew, sorry. That was just a lot I had to get off my chest." Vincent''s smile couldn''t grow any wider. It was as if Morrigan was saying everything he wanted to hear. He had been wondering how he would go about controlling a void cultivator as they were well known to resist mind control techniques, but it seemed that wouldn''t be necessary. She was practically at his feet, begging to be his puppet at this point. He could almost taste it. "Do you hate the Ashfallen Sect?" Morrigan snorted, "Hate?" Rage engulfed her as her nails dug into the sofa''s cushions, tearing them. "I despise the Ashfallen Sect with all my being. They killed everyone in my family, enslaved my daughter, and forced me to sit here watching over an empty residence." "Interesting. Do you know anything about the void array surrounding Red Vine Peak?" "Of course I do," Morrigan smirked, "I''m the one who built it." Vincent chuckled. "This is music to my ears. You see, I have quite the bone to pick with the Ashfallen Sect myself and have been looking for a way in. What would you say to a partnership?" "You are clearly a very strong and capable man, one able to elude my senses and sneak into this place I''m supposed to guard." Morrigan sat up and bowed her head, "I would do anything to get the help of one such as yourself. To save my daughter and reclaim what was once mine." "Really? You would do anything?" Vincent had heard from Valandor''s reports that Morrigan was quite an elusive figure in the Voidmind family, which gave him the most difficulty. She seemed serious, and her hatred for the Ashfallen Sect seemed genuine from all the signs. But since he couldn''t control her directly due to void Qi, there was only one way to be sure. He canceled out the illusion on his foot. "If you are really willing to go that far, prove it to me. Lick it." A cultivator, especially one of her standing, would never delve this low. To grovel at the foot of another and agree to partake in such a deplorable and demeaning act would mean they are willing to utterly discard their pride. That, or they are batshit insane. Vincent was wholly convinced that Morrigan had been saying empty words, but to his surprise, she walked over to him and dropped to her knees. "You''re serious about this," He said with a hint of surprise that he couldn''t hide, "Are you willing to go to Red Vine Peak and gather some information for me?" Morrigan smiled and stared up at him while licking his foot, "Sure, toying with arrogant beings is one of my favorite pastimes." *** "Stella." "Yes, Tree?" Stella had just returned to Red Vine Peak and was in her alchemy lab. The Phantom Veil Amulet hung from her neck, ensuring she could do as she liked. She just had to be careful not to shoot her Qi out too far or leave any of her blood anywhere, as that may attract Vincent''s attention. "Sorry to bother you when you just got back, but can you go and check on an unauthorized demonic tree that has been reported in Darklight City?" "Uhm..." Stella trailed off as she looked at her pill experiment that was half done. "Can you send anyone else?" "The others are currently preparing for a meeting where we will discuss countermeasures to the beast tide. I could maybe send Diana, but then you would have to attend the meeting in her place¡ª" "Okay, okay! I''m going!" Stella ignored Ashlock''s chuckling as she put the book she had been holding on the table and stepped into the aether. She didn''t even know where this darn tree was, but anything was better than being dragged into a meeting, and she was sure an out-of-place tree would be easy to spot once she got there. This is concerning, though. Did someone get a hold of Ash''s sap again? I thought Serena''s fate at the tournament would have instilled enough wariness in the populace to not dare harvest his sap. Stella rushed through the aether and was about to return to reality somewhere in Darklight City when a distant presence caught her attention. A monster? She whipped her head in the direction of the presence but paused. Here in the aether? She had never heard or read about the aether containing other beings. If this is like the void, could it be the aether equivalent of a Worldwalker? "What should I do, Maple? Do I investigate or run?" Stella whispered to the sleeping squirrel on her head but didn''t receive an answer. "Hey, listen to me," she smacked him lightly on the head, and Maple yawned. "I know speaking for you wastes energy, so just point or something. Do you think it''s fine?" Maple sleepily opened an eye and looked in the direction of the presence. Whatever he saw didn''t impress him as he snorted before rolling back over and falling asleep. "I''ll take that as your seal of approval," Stella rolled her eyes. Maple had never been very reliable except when it counted, but if he seemed unconcerned, it likely wasn''t a being on the level of a Worldwalker. "I wonder what it could be." Stella walked closer as cautiously as she could toward it and narrowed her eyes. Is that a... soul? There was a blazing ball like a miniature star about the size of a fist. It was clearly alive and aware as it flickered toward her. Though even she could tell it was dying and fading away. Why is it floating there? "Hello, little soul, who are you?" Stella asked as she extended her hand. She didn''t feel any bloodlust or malice from the soul, but if it hurt her to the point of losing a finger, the Spatial Anchor would activate, and she would be dragged back through space to Quill''s library. The soul nudged her hand, and she felt an intense tingle. This soul isn''t little at all. Stella''s eyes widened. It''s at least at the peak of the Star Core Realm. Far stronger than me. "Is someone else out there with aether affinity as strong as Valandor?" Stella mused, and that got a reaction out of the soul. It blazed with power as if begging for her attention. "You know Valandor?" It pulsed enthusiastically. Stella tapped her chin as a terrible realization set in, "Are you Valandor?" The soul did the universally known equivalent of an enthusiastic yes. "What happened to you?" Stella asked in a panic but then remembered the soul couldn''t speak. "Did someone kill you? Yeah? Who? Darn it, why can''t you speak? No, wait, don''t die on me." Stella desperately cradled the soul and tried to feed it Qi to no avail as the soul seemed to reject her offering. Stella''s mind raced as she thought about who could have done it. Valandor was strong, a Grand Elder of the Blood Lotus Sect, and was known as the White Reaper as he worked under Vincent Nightrose. He had a lot of enemies, and many people resented him. "Could it have been one of the other noble families making use of the chaos to get revenge on you? No, that shouldn''t be possible. You were too strong." Stella''s eyes widened, "Was it Vincent? Did he kill you?" The soul did one final pathetic flicker to say yes as it almost faded into the beyond. "That bastard," Stella gritted her teeth, "I''ll kill him one day. I swear to the heavens I''ll rip his head off." She cupped her hands around Valandor''s soul, "Don''t go! Stay here to watch me get revenge. For the both of us..." An intense tingle burned into her fingers, but she didn''t dare let go. "Please stay," She whispered through the pain, "I still have a lot to learn from you. The books are too hard to understand." Her brain and consciousness suddenly flared with pain, and her eyes glowed white as what could only be described as enlightenment flooded her mind. She floated there in agony for a long while, but she didn''t dare reject the pain. She embraced it and desperately tried to comprehend everything being thrown at her. If not for her bloodline, her consciousness may have fallen apart. But she managed to hold on until the end, and the result of what she had gained shocked her. The information Valandor provided her had perfectly merged with her own and what her ancestors could bestow into the very peak of enlightenment. "This... this is..." She couldn''t believe it, "Aether Qi law? I want to practice... no." She shook her head; now wasn''t the time to grasp her new capabilities. She needed to inform Ash of her findings straight away. Vincent had killed Valandor and was likely here in Darklight City. Stella stepped out of the aether into a house. A howling wind played with her hair, and rain fell on her face. She glanced up, the ceiling having been pierced by a tree. While big, it felt soulless to her. There was no hint of Qi coming from it. "Where did this tree get such rich nutrients to grow so quickly from?" Stella was puzzled until she wondered why Valandor''s soul was floating in the aether beside this tree. "Was it made from Valandor''s body? But why? Wasn''t Vincent looking for a new body?" Stella rushed through the aether back to Red Vine Peak, and as she stepped out, she was surprised to see someone who didn''t visit often. "Morrigan?" "Oh, hello." Morrigan smiled at her. Her mouth didn''t move, yet she somehow whispered into her ear with a hint of amusement. "Vincent is listening." Chapter 389: Desolation Morrigan was having fun for the first time in a long time. It wasn''t every day that she got to wrap multiple higher-stage cultivation beings around her finger. She loved nothing more than seeing these arrogant children who called themselves cultivators reduced to despair, and there was nobody she wanted to see despair more in this lifetime than Vincent Nightrose. So it was quite a surprise when a soul pressure she recognized as Vincent¡¯s showed up in her room. As the origin of the void, a being that was the manifestation of an affinity and had lived countless lives since the heavens created reality. Her attachment to anything was fleeting at best, including her pride. Her void affinity was significantly suppressed in reality. Because of this, she had to listen to Vincent''s orders despite the strength of her affinity. The gap between them was simply too huge, and she really hated dying and having to start over again as a baby. Void Qi was nearly impossible to cultivate without the assistance of arrays, so childhood was always rough. Yet Vincent had come to her room with an adorable plan to turn her into one of his puppets. All she had to do to flip the script on him was lick his foot. She had almost burst out laughing at how easy the request had been. As a being who had been there since the birth of creation, she had done and seen everything there was to be experienced. She hadn''t lied when she said she was willing to do anything. Besides, she had coated her tongue in void Qi, so she hadn''t felt a thing. With Vincent convinced of her soul-burning hatred for the Ashfallen Sect, Morrigan had flown over here with Vincent in tow and bumped into Stella, stepping out of the aether. Morrigan had to admit she was impressed with Stella''s growth as a cultivator. The girl managed to remain stone-faced at her words regarding the fact that Vincent was listening. "What do you mean he is listening?" Ashlock''s voice echoed through the void, reaching her and Stella''s ears. "He came to Slymere in search of a puppet, and I offered myself up," Morrigan replied, ensuring both could hear as she spoke with void Qi to hide her words from Vincent''s prying ears. "He''s a cautious man, though, so he''s invisible and floating outside the defensive void array you have set up." "Vincent is here?" Ashlock sounded a little panicked. "Are you under his mind control?" "Of course not." Morrigan felt like rolling her eyes. "How did you convince him to trust you?" "Oh, that was easy." Morrigan paused, "I got on my knees and sucked his toes." There was a drawn-out silence, and Morrigan enjoyed how Stella''s stone-faced facade cracked as she silently stared her down. While she wanted to see Vincent despair, it was also fun to mess with the others. "Sucked his toes? Why? Is Vincent into that sort of thing or something?" "No idea. I said he could request anything to prove my loyalty to him, and that was his request." "I''m surprised that''s all it took." Ashlock seemed understandably baffled. "Well, I also gave a compelling speech that I put my heart and soul into about how much I despised the Ashfallen Sect." "Huh, what did we do to you?" "Killed my family, turned my husband into a tree, kidnapped my daughter¡ª" "Okay, I see your point." "¡ªturned Elaine into a sex slave for Douglas, forced me to keep watch over an empty residence." "Alright, now you''re just making up bullshit." "Of course. It was all bullshit from the start. I even told him I was the one who made this defensive void array. What I said doesn''t matter; what matters is that I have convinced him I''m on his side. The problem is, he''s one cautious bastard. I need to prove myself more before he will trust me to the point I can lead him to his death." "How can I even trust you at this point?" Ashlock sighed deeply, "But fine, what do you need us to do?" Morrigan was about to reply when a distorted voice tickled her ear. "What''s the hold-up? Who is that mortal in front of you?" It was Vincent''s adorable attempts to obscure himself, and it seemed he didn''t recognize Stella? "She''s a mortal in service to the All-Seeing Eye. Nobody for you to be concerned about, but she is allowed to carry out the All-Seeing Eye''s will onto the people of the Ashfallen Sect." Morrigan effortlessly lied to Vincent through the void before subtly informing Stella, "Vincent doesn''t recognize you. I told him you''re a mortal who is able to carry out the All-Seeing Eye''s will. Now, I''m supposed to be watching over the residence, yet I came here unannounced. What would be a fitting punishment for a disobedient servant like me? It can be anything, I don''t mind." In a twisted way, Morrigan was deeply curious about what Stella would do. Stella stopped staring at her. A look of annoyance flashed across her face. "Morrigan Voidmind, you''re supposed to be guarding the Slymere residence. Why are you here?" It''s not the best acting, but it will do. Morrigan stepped forward. "I''m concerned about the safety of Slymere and Red Vine Peak. Is this void array really the only thing that can stop Vincent Nightrose should he appear?" Stella snorted arrogantly, "So what if it is? With this void array, we have no need to fear someone like Vincent." "If it was to be disabled..." Stella waved her off, "That would never happen, right? You''re the one who made it in the first place." "Right," Morrigan awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, "Also, you wouldn''t happen to know where Stella is? I had something to tell her." "The All-Seeing Eye is protecting her for now, though she has been insisting on making an appearance in..." she paused for a moment, seemingly trying to remember something, "Ah yes, Tartarus. Stella Crestfallen insisted on testing the new training realm before it opened to the rest of the cult." "I see," Morrigan bowed deeply. "Say, Morrigan, have you seen Valandor recently?" Stella asked cryptically. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "No?" "Stella was meant to meet with him as she has something very important to give him." "Right..." Morrigan nodded, unsure what Stella was getting at. "Thank you for answering my questions, I''ll return now." "Hold it right there," Stella said, and Morrigan could barely contain her smile. Just what was the little murder princess going to think up? "Put out your arm." Morrigan turned to face her punisher and complied. Stella clicked her finger, and Ashlock, looming behind her, charged up with spatial Qi. A second later, reality tore apart, and she felt pain shoot up her arm, followed by a thud. Her arm, cleanly cut off by a spatial blade, lay at her feet. "Get out of here, Voidmind trash, and don''t you dare try to heal that arm. Every time you look at the bloodied stump, remember the greatness of Ashfallen and your place in this sect." Stella sneered and left. Morrigan stood there, stunned for a moment. *** Vincent returned to Slymere with an enraged Morrigan. "I''ll kill them. I''ll fucking kill those bastards," She screamed as she paced the room. The sofa had long been obliterated by a kick, pieces of it scattered across the mostly empty room. Void Qi aggressively flickered across her shoulders as she clutched her stump with her left hand. "To think a mortal would be so arrogant as to smite my arm off. Heavens, if not for them having my dear Elaine captive, I would kill them myself." Vincent was now entirely convinced that Morrigan was on his side. While she might not be considered a reliable puppet, there was one thing for sure. They shared a common enemy, and that was good enough for him. "Morrigan, together we can put an end to them. Especially that mortal..." While the girl had looked vaguely familiar, she had no scent he recognized, so she might as well be another mortal in a sea of faces. All useless and beneath him, not worth the precious space in his mind. With his soul on the edge of collapse and at the end of its lifespan, he was effectively going senile. "Forget the mortal," Morrigan hissed, "She is just a pawn of the All-Seeing Eye. A mere mouthpiece. The whole sect is like that, every last one of them. You promise to help me eradicate them?" Vincent had no plans for such a thing. He didn''t care about the Ashfallen Sect at all. The Crestfallen bloodline was his focus. "Sure," he lied through his teeth, "If we work together, anything is possible." Morrigan collapsed to the floor against a pillar, a look of despair on her face. "But how can we do it? You heard them. The void array is strong enough to defeat Vincent Nightrose, one of the most powerful cultivators in the wilderness. While I could disable it, there''s a chance they catch me before I succeed." "The void array is a concern, but I have a better idea." Vincent canceled out his illusions and revealed himself to Morrigan. "Valandor?" Morrigan''s eyes widened, "Why are you naked?! Have some decency!" Vincent snorted, "Rich coming from a woman with as little pride as you. Besides, clothes are a nuisance. They mess with my invisibility and get torn up when I use my blood affinity." "Blood affinity?" Morrigan seemed confused. "Ah," Vincent chuckled, "Apologise for the confusion. It''s me, Vincent Nightrose. I overtook Valandor''s body." A look of realization seemed to hit Morrigan, "Vincent Nightrose?! You''re alive!" She threw herself at his feet, "Oh, thank the heavens, there is still hope. With someone of your caliber helping me, we can defeat the Ashfallen Sect and recover the Blood Lotus Sect to its former glory." Vincent sneered, "That''s right." What a dumb bitch. I can see right through her. She thinks by clinging to me, she will get a great position in the sect once I retake everything that was once mine. But that will only happen if she gives her everything to me. Body and soul. "What was your profound plan?" Morrigan asked with expectant eyes. "Ahem," Vincent coughed into his hand, "Remember when that mortal asked if you had seen Valandor recently?" Morrigan scowled at the mention of the mortal who had commanded for her arm to be blown off by the spirit tree before slowly nodding. "Yes, I remember. She said that Stella had something to give Valandor." "Exactly," Vincent summoned some illusionary aether flames, "With this body and my illusion Qi, I can pass as Valandor and get close to Stella Crestfallen. I just need to avoid the Ashfallen Sect''s leader, as he will see through my disguise. Which is why I think this place the mortal mentioned... what was it called?" "Tartarus?" "Yeah, that''s the one. What can you tell me about it?" "It''s a rift that the Ashfallen Sect plans to turn into a training realm." Vincent raised a brow, "A permanent rift?" Morrigan nodded. Vincent whistled, "Those are rare. No wonder the Ashfallen Sect plans to stay and face the beast tide. How much control do they have over it?" "I''m not entirely sure..." "Enough to seal off the entrance should I enter?" Morrigan shook her head, "No. Definitely not. Nobody can do that except the gods." "That''s good enough then," Vincent grinned, proud of his plan. From the mortal''s words, it seemed Valandor had a decent standing in the sect. At least enough that he was allowed to speak directly with Stella, which is all he needed. Defeating the Ashfallen Sect? Freeing Morrigan''s daughter? What an utter waste of Qi. He only had eyes for the Crestfallen bloodline. Though I am interested in this permanent rift. Should the beast tide wipe them out, I''ll be sure to return to this land and claim it for myself. Vincent found a spot on the floor that wasn''t covered in pieces of the sofa and sat down on the cold stone. Assuming a cross-legged position, he closed his eyes, "I will be busy fixing this body and cultivating for now. Inform me if you hear anything about Stella being in Tartarus." "Don''t you worry," Morrigan said as she walked through the room toward the door, clutching her stump. "You will be the first to know." *** Ashlock withdrew his attention from Slymere and was somewhat concerned. Either Morrigan was the greatest actor of all time, or cutting off her arm had genuinely enraged her. "Either way, it seems we have tricked Vincent," Ashlock said to Stella back on Red Vine Peak and had to admit he was quite surprised, as he had planned to play a significant role in scheming against Vincent, yet it had been handled by Stella and Morrigan, of all people. "To think he overtook Valandor''s body, how did you know that?" "Two reasons," Stella held up two fingers while she stood in the meeting room with everyone else. Ashlock tried his best to refrain from commenting on the fact that sending her to investigate the tree had resulted in her attending the meeting anyway. It was almost as if fate had it out for her. "The tree you sent me to investigate. It was soulless yet had grown so big in what I assumed was a short amount of time, considering it had only just been reported. For that to occur, it had to have grown from a powerful cultivator or monster''s body that was somehow missing its soul." Stella lowered one of her fingers, "While that had been a big clue, I wouldn''t have figured it out if not for running into Valandor''s soul in the aether." "What was it doing there?" Diana asked. "I think he either escaped or was forced there by Vincent. I sadly don''t know the truth as he could not speak to me, just answer yes or no questions. One of which confirmed he had been killed by Vincent. Either way, we know Vincent had no reason to go after Valandor like that unless he needed something. Such as switching bodies. How he did it, I still have no idea." "So where is Valandor''s soul now?" Ashlock asked. That man had been quite strong and had aether affinity. He would make a good Bastion and cultivation area for Stella. Stella patted her chest, "I absorbed his soul, so he''s a part of me now. Don''t worry, he''s not dead. Just in a state too weak to do anything." "That''s a relief," Ashlock sighed. "He also imparted his knowledge on me," Stella conjured an aether Qi soul flame, and something about it felt... different. It was unsettling how perfect it was, as if Stella was not simply borrowing the power of the aether but was the aether herself. "Is that what I think it is?" Stella grinned, "Yep, it''s aether Qi law, and I have concluded something through this newfound understanding." "What have you concluded?" Ashlock was intrigued. "While I could probably make a pseudo-aether Qi origin stone now if I had the materials," she snuffed out the soul flame. "I won''t." "Why not?" Ashlock didn''t understand. Stella knew how valuable that stone would be for him. It would upgrade his affinity from spatial to the higher tier aether affinity. That had been their whole plan after she had returned from the Mystic Realm. Stella grinned, "Because aether Qi doesn''t suit you, but I think I know which one will. There are two sides to every coin, and the same can be said about affinities. While aether Qi is about seamless traversal through reality, which suits me. You want to use your affinity for something else, right?" "Yeah," Ashlock agreed. As his system rarely gave him direct attack skills, it was through his affinity and learned techniques that he had combat capabilities. Stella nodded, "That''s why I think desolation affinity, which focuses on the raw destruction of reality, would suit you better." Chapter 390: Bringer of Ruin Stella waited in anticipation that Ashlock would agree to her idea. Aether affinity didn''t suit him as it encompassed fluid movement through reality, and he was... well, a tree. Sure, he had Bastions and liked to move the sect members around. But at the end of the day, he wasn''t going to use it to its full potential. This realization saddened Stella until she discovered another possibility. In Valandor''s understanding, she had been shown a side to the spatial affinity she had never seen before. Its raw potential for untold destruction and ruin. While spatial Qi held reality together, if someone were to use their control over it nefariously, they could wield entropy. "Desolation affinity?" Ashlock said. "I have never heard of such an affinity before. Does it really exist?" Stella nodded enthusiastically. Not only does it exist, it''s absolutely perfect for you. She was deadset on trying to sell the idea of this affinity to him as she believed it was worth it despite the ruin it would bring to the nine realms. "How did you learn about it?" Ashlock asked. Stella coughed into her hand before beginning a short lecture. "From my various enlightenments and taking on the teachings from others, I have concluded that affinities can be viewed as an upside-down tree." She wreathed her finger in aether Qi and drew a diagram in the air to illustrate her points as cultivators tended to tune out of discussions if there weren''t diagrams to look at, "The trunk represents the fundamental affinities upon which reality is built. Things like fire, water, earth. In our reality, these are the affinities with the widest range of applications and are also easy to cultivate as their Qi is common. You can build upon these affinities by learning daos, which are basically the rules that make up reality." Her eyes flickered to the Redclaws present in the room. "For example, the Redclaws could learn lava dao and control lava. Right?" Grand Elder Redclaw hummed in agreement, "Yes, but¡ª" "You don''t have lava Qi." Stella finished his sentence. "Exactly," he nodded, "While I can control lava if it''s there, I can''t manifest it out of my fire Qi like I could a firestorm, for example." Stella pointed to a branch, "If the trunk of this tree represents fire Qi, one of the most fundamental but basic affinities, this branch here is lava Qi. If someone cultivated lava affinity, could they still use fire Qi?" Elaine was the one to answer, "Usually yes. There are exceptions, but most cultivators that cultivate higher tier affinities can use lower tier ones." "Interesting, so why don''t they?" Stella countered as she shifted her focus to the girl. In a way, she was getting slightly off-topic, but for the first time in what felt like forever, she was the one with more information about the world than those around her, and she was eager to share her findings with them. Partly because she felt smart doing so... but also because she wanted to give back to those who had taught her. Elaine pushed up her glasses while looking confused. "What do you mean?" "Let''s take an ice cultivator, for example. Do you ever see them attacking with water balls? Or waves of water?" "No, you don''t." Grand Elder Redclaw mused as he leaned back in his chair. "Those guys always come in with ice golems and snow storms." "What about you, Diana?" Stella turned to her friend sitting nearby, "Since obtaining the demonic mist affinity, how often do you use water techniques?" "Rarely," Diana admitted. "And why is that?" Diana crossed her arms, thinking, "Hmm, they are just worse?" she said after a while, "They also feel strange and inefficient when I tried using them recently. I mean, my soul is optimized to process and wield demonic mist Qi. I can convert it into water Qi and use my old water Qi techniques, but I don''t find many situations where that would be necessary. What is your point, though?" "Hold on, I''m getting to that." Stella pointed to the diagram, "Back to fire, this branch represents lava Qi. We all agree that someone can have lava Qi affinity and still use fire Qi techniques. Meanwhile, someone with fire Qi can use lava techniques so long as they comprehend the dao and there is lava Qi that happens to be nearby to manipulate. Right?" Everyone nodded. Stella gestured to the other branches coming off this branch, "We can all agree that Lava Qi is a high-tier affinity, but we can get even higher-tier ones like volcanic affinity. The point is that the branches keep sprawling out with new and more specific possibilities. The further you go from the fundamental affinities, the more specialized the type of affinity the cultivator can wield. Now, the point I was trying to make," she paused to take a breath, "Is that a special few affinities sit outside this model, and spatial is one such example." "Isn''t spatial a higher tier affinity?" Ashlock asked. "That''s what I also believed, and let''s assume it is. That means it would be one of these branches. If so, can you use fire, earth, or water Qi?" "No..." Ashlock trailed off. "I can use those daos, but not those Qi types." "Wouldn''t that make spatial one of the fundamental affinities?" Stella suggested. "I suppose so? It must be a low-tier affinity if I cannot use any other affinity." Stella pointed to random branches, "Can any of these higher-tier affinities, such as lava, ice, storm, and more, use spatial Qi?" Ash thought for a while before concluding, "I doubt it." Stella nodded, "Right, which is why I consider it a special case to the rule. Because of that, it cannot be included in this diagram. It sits beyond it alongside some other affinity types that govern reality on a higher level than simple elements. Hence, we consider it a higher-tier affinity." "I see. This was quite interesting." Ashlock said, "But what does it have to do with desolation affinity?" Stella smiled as she was given an opportunity to show off her new knowledge. "By obtaining aether Qi law, I gained a profound understanding of aether Qi and all that it encompasses¡ªincluding spatial Qi, the lower tier affinity. From this, I learned that spatial Qi is the glue that holds this tree of reality together. Think of it as the bark, and when you open a portal, it''s tearing a temporary hole through reality''s bark. Meanwhile, aether Qi is like a tree''s sap. Instead of punching a hole through the bark to traverse reality, I can flow effortlessly with the sap." "And desolation? Where would it come in?" "Like this," Stella manipulated the floating aether Qi tree to show it withering away, "You manipulate reality not by tearing holes through it or going along with its flow. No, you erode anything in your way to create the change you desire. Imagine how easy it would be to cross a vast wasteland compared to a dense forest? That is the idea of desolation, to bring ruin to reality." There was a drawn-out silence in the room, but Stella could feel that Ash was thinking it over deeply. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "He''s never getting over the evil god image, is he?" Douglas muttered under his breath. Stella shrugged. "I think he suit''s being an evil god." "Stella, you know how powerful Ashlock is and how much land his presence dominates," Grand Elder Redclaw replied with a serious expression, "This desolation affinity you are suggesting will devastate the realm even after battles are over. He will leave barren wastelands of decay and ruin in his wake." "So what?" Stella tilted her head, "All this world has tried to do is kill us. If Vincent gets his hands on me, he will slit my neck and drink my blood. If any of you had found Ash back when he was a sapling, you would have forced him to produce fruits to sell or turn them into pills. Not to mention, this realm is overrun with beasts who slaughter anyone in their way. My point is, why should we care?" The silence returned. "Look," Stella pulled out a chair and took a seat. All eyes were on her. "I get it, I really do. But I know Ash better than any of you, and I can say he will wield this power responsibly... as responsibly as any man-eating evil god tree could. Maybe just look at it as a necessary evil? Yes, Ash will bring destruction, but in the process, he will rid this realm of the beast tide and create a better life for mortals and cultivators alike." "Nobody here doubts Ashlock, Stella," Diana reassured her. "But you know, we all kinda live and exist in this ''reality'' that the heavens have built. So, to suggest someone acquire the power to tear it down and bring it to ruin... It''s like being on a boat in an ocean and letting someone poke holes in it. Even if they promise in the end the water will help wash out the termites gnawing at the hull, and they will plug up the holes, it''s hard not to feel apprehensive about it." Stella nodded along in agreement. She could see and understand their apprehension, yet in the back of her mind, she struggled to really care. My world is here with Tree, on Red Vine Peak, surrounded by those I care about. So long as this piece of paradise exists, I don''t care if we are surrounded by ruin. Ultimately, the decision would be up to one tree, and everyone knew it. "What do you think, Ash?" Stella asked the ceiling. Stella always felt it, but it seemed some others also noticed the return of his focus on the room. "I''m certainly intrigued. Though how would I learn it? Do you have an origin stone or something?" Stella shook her head, "I can assist you, but you would have to learn it yourself. However, I think it won''t be too hard as you already have comprehension of many daos and an Inner World that you lord over where you can try create desolation and study it." "Do you know any techniques I would be capable of should I learn desolation affinity?" Ash asked. Stella''s spatial ring flashed with silver light, and multiple blank notebooks and ink-dipped pens appeared floating in the air. With absolute control over the aether and a profound understanding of the underlying spatial Qi, manipulation on this scale was easy. "Coming right up! Just give me a moment to transcribe what my ancestors documented," Stella crossed her legs and closed her eyes. An overwhelming sense of calmness and control washed through her as she tapped into her bloodline, and to her surprise, she didn''t have to offer anything up or put on a show. Her ancestors seemed more than keen to pass down their knowledge of desolation affinity despite the fact she was planning to hand it over to somebody else. The celestial library carved inside an endless golden tree appeared overhead, and books flew off the shelves and spiraled toward her. They opened up, their pages flicking faster than the eye could see, yet the vast amount of information was transplanted straight into her mind, making it burn. In the silence of the room, all that was heard was the scratching of paper as Stella desperately transcribed the information to the once-blank notebooks to try and relieve the pressure on her mind. She didn''t want this information; it was for Ash, and it seemed her ancestors knew this as they forced an obscene amount of information into her head, so much so that there was no chance for her to digest and comprehend it. *** Ashlock felt warmth seeing the lengths his daughter was willing to go to teach him a new affinity. She had been distraught when she returned from the Mystic Realm without the aether origin stone to gift him, and he had caught her neck deep in long nights of research ever since. So he had been confused when she announced that despite achieving aether Qi law, she had no plans on teaching it to him, but now he understood. What he needed was not an affinity that helped him be harmonious with reality¡ªhe needed one that let him lord over its destruction to protect the things he loved. There were undoubtedly more spatial techniques out there that he had yet to learn, but he was certainly reaching the limits of what was possible with the affinity. Facing the incoming beast tide and feeling helpless had proved as much to him. Portals and tears in reality did little to a seemingly never-ending storm. As Stella had so well pointed out during her lecture, spatial Qi punched temporary holes in reality that were always filled back in. So, facing a storm, whose greatest advantage was moving to fill in space and cover the advance of the beast tide, was a direct counter to him. Desolation sounded just like what he needed. But unlike aether affinity that Stella could likely teach him in a day if she could make a pseudo-origin stone, desolation affinity seemed more up to him to learn. "Looks like Stella has taken a giant step ahead of me once again," Diana sighed as she rested her head on her palm and slumped over the table. She watched Stella''s impressive performance alongside everyone else. Multiple books were spread open with two pens writing on both sides of the page as fast as possible, practically burning trails into the paper. Grand Elder Redclaw snorted, "How do you think I feel? I''ve participated in more wars than years she has been alive, yet she has surpassed me in cultivation and understanding of the dao." "She''s surpassed you?" Diana frowned, "I thought you were on the cusp of reaching Nascent Soul Realm." "I am and have begun creating my infant soul," he replied simply, "Yet I don''t think I would last one second in a fight against Stella." Diana nodded slowly, "I know what you mean. Having absolute authority over an affinity makes it seem like having another limb rather than a power you borrowed from the heavens. Wow, this is ridiculous. There''s no way she could do this before learning aether Qi law." "And this is just writing on some notebooks," Grand Elder Redclaw pointed out, "Imagine fighting against this in battle? I wouldn''t have a chance to finish casting a technique before she steps out of the aether behind me and rams a dagger through my heart." Diana sighed in apparent frustration. "What are you two getting so hung up over?" Sebastian Silverspire smiled, "I agree Stella is a genius, but nobody makes me feel as inferior as my young master Ryker." "That''s true," Diana soured and slothfully fell back against her chair, "He''s what... five? Yet already in the Star Core Realm." Sebastian simply nodded, and everyone fell silent, seemingly thinking over their inferior talent. "Done!" Stella suddenly shouted, jolting them out of their gloomy thoughts. The books fell to the table, and the pens vanished into her spatial ring. "Heavens, that was fucking painful," she cursed while massaging her temples, "My brain feels like it''s going to melt out my ears as a soup." Diana raised her hand and spewed mist at her, and as it faded away, it revealed a grumpy-looking Stella with damp hair clinging to her face. "Not funny," she frowned. "Did it cool you down though?" Diana countered. "Of course not!" Stella rolled her eyes, "Your mist isn''t even cold. It''s closer to boiling hot." "Bah, be more appreciative." Diana waved her off, "Ever since you gained aether Qi law, you''ve gotten a big head." Stella huffed, "You''re just jealous, aren''t you?" "No comment." Ashlock ignored their squabbling and picked up one of the books. Flicking to a random page, he found a technique titled Desolation Field. The description was... long. He speed-read the ancient runes Stella had scribbled down with impressively good handwriting and got the gist of the technique''s capabilities. He looked at a few more to satisfy his curiosity and concluded that this was exactly what he needed. Desolation affinity was basically spatial Qi with the added flavor of bringing ruin to everything his presence touched. In his domain, weapons would rust, plants would wither, monsters would feel the Life sucked from them, and reality would crumble. It wasn''t flashy or pretty like Stella''s aether flames. But it seemed extremely powerful, especially for him, as it would thrive off his extensive reach and Qi pool. "System, do you think I can upgrade my affinity to desolation?" [It''s possible because desolation affinity builds upon spatial affinity that you already have a deep understanding of. The main thing that will hold you back is a profound understanding of the daos to which you wish to bring desolation. You can''t just break apart something you don''t understand] Ashlock thought over the list of daos he currently comprehended. Fire, water, earth, wind, metal, shadow and soul. While he didn''t have every one, due to the daos he had to gather to form his Inner World, he had all the fundamental ones. "These should be enough to deal with the encroaching storm of the beast tide," Ashlock mused, "System, what will it take to learn desolation affinity?" [I will have to absorb the knowledge of those books through Quill, and you will have to let half of your Inner World succumb to ruin so we can begin slowly converting your spatial Qi reserves to desolation Qi. Once your 9th soul moon reflects the altering of your Inner World and embraces desolation, you will have gained it permanently] Ashlock returned his focus to the room. "Stella..." His daughter, who was on the floor wrestling with Diana and easily winning, looked up at the ceiling, "Yes, Tree?" "Bring the books to Quill''s library. I''m going to take on desolation affinity." "Whooo!" She punched the air and vanished in a flash of white flames. Diana sat up and frowned, "This isn''t fair." Grand Elder Redclaw patted her on the shoulder, "Life is like that sometimes. Just ambush her or something next time." Chapter 391: A Girl Needs A Hobby Stella looked out of her house''s window, a light smile tugging at the edge of her lips. The slow ruin of reality before her eyes was simply beautiful. The endless meadow of lush green grass surrounding her house looked sick as it withered away to darkened soil. The once bright lilac sky had darkened to a deep purple with a gradient to grey and flickers of black. It was dreary and would likely invoke a sense of gloom or foreboding in those who gazed upon it. But not for Stella. "The heavens tried to take Tree away from me so many times," she murmured as her eyes narrowed at the lowest of the nine moons. It had once been a pleasant lilac but now faded into the murky darkness of the sky as it took on a grey hue with glowing craters of purple dotting its surface like some sort of disease. "So who cares if heavens'' reality is brought to ruin? They summoned golden clouds of eyes and tried to smite him down. They sent a dao storm to tear him apart and decimate our home. They gave power to undeserving monsters in human skin." Her eyes flickered dangerously as her voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "People label us as evil for going against the heavens when it''s the heavens that are truly evil and unjust. They deprive most people of power, only giving the opportunity of cultivation to a select few. Just enough that the demonic beasts are kept in order, and the origins are murdered over and over again. But not enough that the heavens can ever be threatened." Stella dug her nails into the wooden frame of her windowsill. "Well, I have something to say about that. Fuck the heavens and screw the endless cycles you have established. I''m going to wipe out the beast tide for good, save the World Tree from her suffering, and have Ash spread the opportunity of cultivation. Then as the heavens tremble in rage, we will initiate the era of ascension and do it all over again on the next layer and then the next until we are knocking on heavens'' door. So what if we destroy reality in the process? Ash can regrow it in his image, whatever that may be." The door to her room creaked open, drawing Stella''s attention away from the desolation outside. Jasmine was rubbing her eyes and yawning while holding a doll. "Master, why are you angry?" "Everything is fine, Jaz. Just go back to sleep." Stella said with a fake smile as she calmed her expression. "Uh huh," Jasmine sleepily replied, "I know you''re not fine." "Whatever do you mean?" Stella said softly as she walked across the room toward her disciple and tried to shepherd her out of the room, "I''m perfectly fine." "Master, you know I can feel your emotions, right?" Jasmine said as she refused to budge, "We share a special bond and..." she yawned, "Your anger is giving me nightmares." Stella blinked and then remembered what Jasmine said was true. They shared a special bond as Master and Disciple. While Jasmine could feel her emotions, she felt the direction Jasmine was in no matter the distance. "Sorry," Stella sighed and patted her disciple''s head. It was always strange expecting the feeling of hair only to feel the texture of grass and flowers. "I don''t mean to give you nightmares, I''ll go do some research, so I won''t disturb you." "No, please don''t do that." Jasmine shook her head adamantly under her palm. "Why not?" Stella tilted her head in confusion. "I can''t sleep when you do research as I get headaches. A small slither of the stress and frustration you get while reading or absorbing knowledge from your ancestors is transferred to me." Stella took back her palm and began pacing around the room as she tried to devise a solution. "I could practice sword fighting?" Jasmine stared at her as if she were crazy, "You get angry and frustrated when you practice sword fighting." "True," Stella grumbled. She paused by her window and got an idea, "I could do some gardening." "When you do gardening, you always get an idea for a new pill, which then leads to a crazed two days where you do nothing but hole yourself up in the alchemy lab trying to make a successful pill, and during the entire process, you are nothing but¡ª" "Angry and frustrated..." Stella sighed, seeing her disciple nod. "What about a night walk?" "So you can be alone with your thoughts and contemplate life?" Jasmine yawned and leaned against the door, "That sure sounds peaceful." Stella crossed her arms and leaned against the wall opposite her disciple, "What can I do then?" Jasmine shrugged, "I don''t know. Do you have any hobbies that are relaxing? Perhaps ones that you aren''t competitive in, such as sword fighting?" Stella thought long and hard but drew up a blank. "I... want to be the best at everything I do. It''s just my nature." Jasmine yawned again, and her head drooped, "That sounds exhausting," she turned and trudged down the corridor back to her room, "It''s good to have fun in life sometimes, and if you can''t think of anything, go to sleep or something." There was the distant sound of Jasmine''s bedroom door clicking shut, leaving Stella to stare at the floor, alone with her thoughts. "Have fun?" she muttered, glancing over her shoulder at the dying landscape, "What do I find fun? Killing people? Kinda, but not really. What about cultivating, research, or sword practice?" Stella''s eyes widened a little as she realized something. It wasn''t the acts themselves that she found fun. It was the feeling afterward when others would be impressed or compliment her. She was constantly chasing that high of having her pride stroked. That realization scared her a little. "I need to get some new hobbies," Stella clicked her tongue and pushed herself off the wall. Wandering around the dark living room, she used her aether Qi to pick up scattered cushions, toys, random cultivation manuals, and bowls of food that she and Jasmine had left and idly cleaned the room to distract herself. It only took a few seconds for the room to be spotless, and Stella had nothing to do again. She was utterly stumped for the first time in what felt like forever. There was not a single hobby that came to mind that she wouldn''t try to be competitive in. "Hobbies are a waste of time anyways," Stella grumbled as she left the living room, headed to her own room, and collapsed on her bed. As a cultivator nearing the Nascent Soul Realm, she had no need for sleep, but she felt it call to her for some reason. Dark grey moonlight streaked through the half-closed curtains, illuminating her face, and even Stella had to admit the moonlight that had once healed her soul now felt slightly unsettling. "Did I make a mistake?" She murmured into her pillow, "Did I let my anger at the world cloud my suggestion for Ash to take on such an affinity?" A sigh escaped her lips as she turned over to the darker side of the bed to escape from the moonlight, "No, this is for the best. The heavens need to pay for what they have done to us¡ª" "Master!" Jasmine''s muffled shout came through her door across the hallway, "Can you think happy thoughts for once? I want to dream of sunshine and rainbows, not death and despair." Stella scowled, "God damn it," she cursed and wrapped her head in the pillow. "It''s not my fault life is such a pain." *** "Douglas, I need a new hobby," Stella said over the rain drumming on the temporary stone structure they were standing under. "Eh?" Douglas, overseeing a dozen Mudcloaks hastily building a grand entrance for Tartarus to bait Vincent Nightrose to his death, looked at her with confusion. "Why do you need a new hobby?" "Jasmine got me thinking last night, and I realized I''m too competitive and only do things for the sake of being better than others," Stella said simply, though it did feel strange admitting such a thing. Douglas blinked, "That''s... quite the realization. Are you sure you''re feeling alright?" "I''d feel better if I had a nice relaxing hobby to do so Jasmine doesn''t have to suffer nightmares, and I can become a less angry and frustrated person." Stella took a seat on a nearby rock and propped up one of her legs, "Have you got any ideas?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Sure, but why are you asking me?" Douglas scratched the back of his head, "While men and women often share similar hobbies, I think we are quite different from one another, so what I find fun might not interest you. I''d have thought Diana or Elaine would be better to ask." "Bingo." Stella pointed a finger at him. "Bingo?" Stella shrugged, "It''s some word Ash said once when I guessed something right, but that''s beside the point. The fact we are so different is exactly why I''m asking you. None of the ones I can think of sound good. So, what are your hobbies?" Douglas leaned on his walking stick and frowned, "It''s kind of an unsettling question to be asked for some reason. My hobbies... I guess I like brewing and drinking spirit wine? Hanging out with Elaine and going on dates, uhm..." His face scrunched up in thought, "Yeah, that''s about it." Stella stared at him in disbelief, and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "That''s it?" "What do you want from me?" Douglas said defensively, "To say I enjoy writing poems? Helping out the elderly? Cultivating? To hell with all those things. After a long day of work for our beloved tree overlord, I like to do nothing more than kick back with some spirit wine and cuddle up to Elaine. I like the simple life." Stella rested her chin on her palm, "I can tell." "What is that supposed to mean?" Douglas shot back. "Besides, you are the one seeking advice on a new hobby. If mine are so bad, what are your hobbies then?" "I have none. That''s the problem," Stella replied simply. "This is dumb," Douglas huffed and returned to work. Stella stayed on the rock for a while, watching him ordering the Mudcloaks around. Eventually, he sighed and said over his shoulder, "Hobbies aren''t something you go out and seek intentionally. You''re almost bound to fail." "Oh? Why am I bound to fail?" "Let''s take chess, for example. A game loved by both mortals and immortals. If you go and play chess with the sole intention of making it your hobby, you will subconsciously be expecting an unrealistic amount of excitement from it." Douglas returned to watching the Mudcloaks, "But if you simply go and play chess with no intentions. One day, you will find yourself smiling and having fun. It''s at that moment that chess becomes a hobby." "I see," Stella contemplated his words, "So I just need to go out and try lots of new things with no intentions. Eventually, I''ll find myself feeling the urge to do one of them more, and that will likely become a hobby." "Something like that," Douglas shrugged, "But what would I know? I have boring hobbies." Stella lept up from the rock and tapped Douglas on the shoulder, "They may be boring to me, but they are your hobbies. All that matters is you enjoy them." Douglas turned to eye her up and down, "Where did the bratty murder princess go?" "Who?" Stella raised a brow. "Never mind," Douglas smirked, "You should join me for some spirit wine sometime. I''m sure you would enjoy the creation process if nothing else." Stella nodded with a smile, "Sure, I''ll take you up on that offer. Right after we kill Vincent Nightrose, though." "Ah... so that''s why you are looking for a new hobby?" "What do you mean?" "It''s normal to seek out something new when past burdens are weighing on you heavily. We humans are fascinating creatures enslaved by our own minds." He looked at her seriously, "In the end, there is no greater threat in life than ourselves." "Uh huh," Stella patted the big guy on the shoulder, "Good talk as always," she wandered off toward the construction. It had been decided to build this entrance to Tartarus during yesterday''s meeting after the discussion regarding Ashlock''s new affinity had died down. They had been planning to open Tartarus to the cult of the All-Seeing Eye and the new members of the Ashfallen Sect that had joined after the tournament, so this entrance within Ashfallen City had already been planned. But before it opened to those groups, it would serve as Vincent''s grave. The main issue was that Vincent was still very strong. Even if he was trapped in another dimension under Nox''s command, there was a decent chance he could claw his way to Nox and destroy her, so Ashlock was waiting and hoping for Nyxalia to return. Stella let out a breath she didn''t know she had been holding. Maybe Douglas was right; her greatest enemy wasn''t Vincent or the heavens. It was her own mind. "I should go practice for our battle," Stella sighed. The idea of doing more training right now hurt her head, and the idea of Jasmine being grumpy with her tonight again led her to crouch beside a random Mudcloak working on the entrance, "Hey, little guy." "Hi." The Mudcloak said and stared up at her with big glowing blue eyes and a small hammer in hand. "That was a more normal response than I was expecting," Stella murmured to herself before coughing into her hand, "Ahem, what kind of hobbies do you have?" "Hobbies?" The Mudcloak parroted, making Stella think the little monster didn''t understand her. "Yeah, things you find fun." "Oh," The Mudcloak looked to the floor for a moment before glancing back at her with excitement, "Realm domination!" Stella''s shoulders slumped. She had been hoping for a serious answer. How could realm domination be relaxing or a hobby? Hell, she was trying to do that already, and it was precisely what she was trying to get away from. "Stop bothering my workers!" Douglas shouted over the drumming rain. "Yeah, yeah," Stella grumbled as she stood up and walked away, "I shouldn''t have asked what hobbies a monster had anyways. I''ll figure something out on my own. Maybe I''ll wander the city and find random things that interest me?" Not feeling like walking, she summoned Guppy from the aether. The Darktide Devourer had stepped into the Star Core Realm and grown twice the size since consuming the many dull spirit stones below Nightrose City''s castle. "We are going to explore the city, Guppy. No eating people or melting houses, okay?" The monster let out a soft cry of agreement. "Good boy," she casually leaped eight meters into the air and sat atop his head. "Now go!" She pointed down the main road of Ashfallen City, which was enshrouded in mist from the intense rain. *** Ashlock watched with satisfaction as the 9th moon reflected half of his Inner World that had succumbed to desolation. [Congratulations, you have upgraded your spatial affinity to desolation affinity] It had taken two days of deep meditation alongside his system and absorbing all the knowledge left by Stella''s ancestors to comprehend desolation affinity. If not for it being so closely tied to spatial affinity, there was no chance he could have learned it. Luckily, as he had a deep understanding of many daos, spatial affinity, and things like void due to the upgrades to his system skills, he could change his affinity to desolation. Ashlock brought up his full status menu to check for the changes. [Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)] [Nascent Soul Realm: 5th Stage] [Soul Type: Nine Moons(Desolation)] [Mutations¡­] {Evil Eye [A]} {Cursed Sap [B]} [Summons...] {Netherwood Wraith: Nox [Mythical]} {Harbinger of the Eternal Ash: Larry [SS]} {Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]} [Skills¡­] {Skyborne Bastion [SSS]} {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} {Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3662] {Progeny Dominion [S]} {Dimensional Overlap [S]} {Nocturnal Genesis [S]} {Ethereal Roots [S]} {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} {Dao Fruit Production [S]} {Eye of the Tree God [A]} {Abyssal Whispers [A]} {Magic Mushroom Production [A]} {Transpiration of Heaven''s Divinity [A]} {Abyssal Devourer [A]} {Blooming Root Flower Production [B]} {Language of the World [B]} {Fire Qi Protection [B]} {Mental Protection [B]} {Superior Poison Resistance [C]} Sure enough, his one and only affinity listed under his nine moon''s soul had been changed from spatial to desolation. "Once I get fragments of divinity from other layers of creation, I will be able to unlock the other moons and gain access to more affinities. But for now, desolation will have to do." Ashlock mused as his vision blurred. He left his Inner World and ventured far to the north through his roots. While he was meditating to change his affinity, the world hadn''t waited for him. The beast tide was fast approaching, with the edge of the massive storm a mere stone''s throw away from the first line of his offspring. "System, how much of my Qi has transitioned into desolation Qi?" [Around half with more on the way] "Most of the Qi still in my ethereal roots is spatial Qi. I must admit, I''m a little worried about what will happen once it all becomes desolation Qi, and I passively release it into the air within my domain. Will everything decay?" [You are the one who controls what is and can be decayed through your understanding of daos. Your Qi cannot desolate what you don''t understand. If you want your Qi to decay water and only water, you can release desolation Qi with only water dao] "And if I want to decay everything?" [Stack every dao you have into your Qi, but this will be more costly. Just like void Qi, destruction of other Qi types is not an ideal way to go about things] "Except for someone like me who has ridiculous Qi reserves?" [That''s right] "What if I don''t have the needed daos to bring desolation to something?" [You can go about it the old-fashioned way. Obliterate it with spatial Qi that you can still control] "Ah yeah, Stella mentioned that even though I have upgraded my affinity, I still have access to everything I had before. It just feels inefficient, according to Diana." Ashlock paused as he looked at the moving wall of the fast-approaching storm. The leaves on his offspring rustled wildly in the gales as rain pounded their barks. Relaxing his block on their emotions, he could feel the utter fear from his children as they faced death. "Don''t worry, my children, this beast tide has dared to encroach on my domain." Ashlock''s soul pulsed with immense power as his new desolation Qi soared down his ethereal roots to the border. The grass between the storm and his offspring withered almost immediately, and the air began to shimmer. The desolation spread in all directions until all that remained alive were his offspring and the storm. He was using the one technique he had learned so far: Desolation Field. It created an area that would decay all matter. A simple continuous manifestation of his desolation Qi with a focus on the slow ruin of reality rather than raw destruction. Attacking the storm with spatial Qi previously had proved ineffective as it would simply reform. He intended to create a vast buffer between himself and the incoming storm that would utilize desolation Qi to break down the storm and weaken the monsters. If not outright kill them. "My offspring will be fine, right?" [As your offspring, they gain resistance to your Qi signature, so your desolation Qi will not affect them] "Perfect. I don''t know who is controlling this storm," Ashlock said as the desolation Qi spread toward the wall of wind, causing it to take on a grey color before fading away, revealing dozens of monsters that seemed apprehensive of advancing onto the blackened soil. "But it''s their Qi reserves against mine. Let''s see who can outlast whom." Chapter 392: Eyepatch Stella''s trip to Ashfallen City ended up being rather dull as everyone was hiding inside from the intense storm. Through her spiritual sense, she listened in on a few conversations, but they were mostly rumors concerning the destroyed harvest because of the storm, stories about the All-Seeing Eye, and a lot of moaning mixed with grunting coming from the basements of quite a few homes. She debated jumping through the aether to ask one of the couples about what they were doing and if it was a fun hobby but decided against it. I would need a partner to do it anyway. Maybe Diana would know? Perhaps I''ll ask her about it another time. But I''ll pass on whatever sport that is as I want a hobby I can do by myself. Moving onto Darklight City, as Ashfallen City was too small, she rode atop Guppy down the empty trade route that snaked through the forest of demonic trees that lay between them. Unlike the central road in Ashfallen City, this road wasn''t paved, so the rain turned it into a swamp. Terrible for mortals with horse-drawn carts, but no problem for Guppy, who was a water-based creature. Approaching Darklight City''s eastern gate, Stella saw movement on the walls as city guards reacted to her approach. "Monster sighted!" The commander on the wall barked to his subordinates. "Don''t just stand there, you shivering idiots. Sound the bells! Lower the gates!" "Yes, commander!" They hastily ran through the rain to fulfill his orders. How annoying. Stella rolled her eyes. She was glad to see the guards were so diligent even in this terrible weather, but she didn''t want her presence to cause such a scene. Raising her hand, white soul flames lurched out, and she froze the bell and gates in place with telekinesis. The commander leaned over the wall and glared at the people trying and failing to lower the gate. "What are you fools doing?!" "Commander!" One saluted and looked up at the enraged man, "The gate is stuck in place." "Just cut the rope then!" The commander roared, his Qi-infused voice booming through the rain. He seemed to be in the middle stages of the Soul Fire Realm as earth soul flames gathered around his arms. "We already did... it''s just floating there." The guard reported, causing the commander to glance over his shoulder at the bell that was frozen mid-swing before it could make a noise. "Shit, a spatial affinity monster?" The commander cursed as he fished out a communication jade from his thick overcoat pocket and gripped it tightly. "I''ll call the Redclaws for backup." "There is no need to call them over me," Stella said as she plucked the communication jade from his hand before he could infuse his Qi into it. The jade flew through the storm toward her, and she caught it. "What?!" The commander glared at his empty hand before shouting into the storm, "Who goes there?! Identify yourself or face the wrath of the Ashfallen Sect!" I will face the wrath of the Ashfallen Sect? Ah, he can''t see me. From his perspective, they must just see Guppy as a shifting darkness through the rain and an arm wreathed in white soul flames. Stella got up and casually walked through the air toward the wall with white flames wreathing her entire body. As she comprehended aether Qi law, she could surround herself with a bubble of aether Qi, allowing her to easily perform such a feat. As she approached, every guard raised runic weapons, and she saw someone had powered up an archaic defensive formation that would barely strengthen the wall to defend against a Star Core Realm level attack. They all backed up a step as she stood on the battlement, looking down at them with her Qi on full display and her hair floating slightly. "Guards... lower your weapons. It''s her." The commander said before kneeling. The line of guards on either side of the commander looked at the kneeling man with confusion before following the order and their commander''s stance by taking a knee. "I''m surprised you recognized me, commander," Stella said. The commander chuckled, "I''d claw out my own eyes in shame if I were to fail to recognize the daughter of our absolute ruler." "You wouldn''t have to go that far, commander. I came without notice after all." Stella tried to reason with the hard-headed man. Was she unreasonable at times? Possibly. But she wouldn''t want someone to go that far simply because they didn''t recognize her. Moments like these remind me that I''m more than just a cultivator to these people. Now I feel bad for showing up, especially with Guppy. To apologize, Stella snapped her fingers, and the heavy rain pounding the poor guards paused above their heads, much to their amazement. "Ahem," the commander coughed into his hand as he stood up, his clothes drenched and dripping water from standing out in the storm all day, "Forgive my asking, but is that monster with you?" "Oh, Guppy?" Stella gestured for the Darktide Devourer to slither forward up to the wall. He wasn''t quite big enough yet to meet the guard''s eyes, so the commander had to lean over the battlement to get a good look at him. "This is my pet." Stella crouched on the battlement and patted his head, "I didn''t want to get my feet dirty, so I used him as a ride." The commander gulped, "I see, that makes perfect sense." He coughed into his hand, "Ahem, as this Guppy is the pet of Ashfallen''s Princess, I have no right to deny this monster''s entry. This is your city, after all. Please enter at your earliest convenience. I just ask that you keep this Guppy monster under control." "Thanks, will do." Stella walked through the air over them, and Guppy passed through the gate under them, "And sorry about the gate." She released her control, and the world resumed once more. A single bell strike went off, and the gate crashed down behind them as its rope had been cut. The rain resumed, but Stella flicked her hand to divert it to either side of the wall to prevent a bucket load of water from crashing down onto the guards all at once. She felt bad about the gate, but she hadn''t come here to waste Qi, and everything about this entrance needed to be redone. I''ll talk to Douglas once I get back about it. Using a bell as a warning system like that is stupid as it can be destroyed or stopped in so many ways. That gate wouldn''t stop much, and the defensive formation was clearly made cheaply by the Ravenborne family. Stella mused as she sat atop Guppy and headed down a wide street. Unlike Ashfallen City, there was some activity here, but everyone''s eyes were on the ground due to the rain, so they didn''t look up and see Guppy pass by them. "Now, let''s see if there are any possible hobbies." Stella spread out her spiritual sense once more. Yet again, it seemed the mortals engaged in intense cuddling in almost all the nearby bedrooms. Was this a popular activity to do during the rain? Woah, even an entire building seems dedicated to it down that alleyway. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. It was opposite a bookshop that seemed closed and a bakery that didn''t have any customers while open. The baker used the quiet time to pound dough in the kitchen and pull out trays of delicious-looking bread from a large oven. Stella hopped off Guppy and debated which place to enter. While it seems popular, I can''t see the appeal of cuddling with a random mortal. She shrugged and entered the bakery. The smell of fresh bread tickled her nose, and a tiny bell rang. "Just a minute!" The large-bellied man in white attire stepped out of the kitchen while smacking the flour off his hands. The moment he laid eyes on her, he froze in place. Stella tilted her head in confusion. Did I cast telekinesis by accident? The baker looked her up and down before gulping. "W-What can I get the beautiful miss?" "Errr," Stella closed the door behind her and stepped inside, "What do you recommend?" "The melon pan is fresh out of the oven. Perfectly crispy and warm for this weather." The man said, barely able to contain his trembling. "I''ll get that then," Stella''s spatial ring flashed with silver, and some crowns appeared on the counter, which the man eyed weirdly. "Miss, are you a cultivator?" He asked while hastily putting a fresh melon pan into a paper bag and placing it on the counter beside the coins. "Maybe?" Stella eyed the man suspiciously and gripped a hand around her Phantom Veil Pendant, confirming it was there and hiding her cultivation level, "How do you know?" The baker looked at her as if she were crazy, "Your ethereal beauty aside, you are adorned in clothes that someone might wear during the peak of summer, yet we are in the dead of winter. A mortal would freeze to death wearing such clothes. Furthermore, you don''t have a drop of rain on you despite the weather, and this amount of money is my monthly salary." The man didn''t take a breath as he blurted out everything on his mind. "Oh." Stella picked up the melon pan and took a bite. It was pretty good. "Forgive my asking, but what is a cultivator doing in these parts? You guys are like lofty figures of legend." "Really?" Stella said while munching on the melon pan, "Even with the All-Seeing Eye gifting the ability to cultivate to the masses?" The man nodded thoughtfully, "If anything, it made you guys even more impressive. While I agree that it closed the gap between us, we also now understand just how much more powerful cultivators truly are. So, as for my earlier question, why are you here? Cultivators don''t even need to eat." "Say, baker," Stella eyed the man, and he straightened up, "Do you enjoy baking?" "Uhm... yes?" He replied hesitantly. "Though the job does have some downsides." "Such as?" The man seemed confused about why she would be curious about such a thing. "I have to wake before the sun rises to get everything ready for the morning rush," He nervously twiddled his fingers, "Then sometimes I don''t sell anything, so all I can have for lunch and dinner is bread." "But you enjoy baking?" Stella asked again. "Sure?" "Enough that you would do it as a hobby?" The man snorted, "Absolutely not. It''s a better job than working in the mines or fields, but I would not call baking a hobby¡ª" He suddenly coughed violently into his hand, "Heavens, excuse me." He wiped his mouth, and Stella saw crimson staining the back of his hand. A shiver went down her spine as she was once again brought to reality and reminded of Vincent Nightrose, who was still out there. While they were laying a trap to kill him, there was no guarantee he would fall for it. She had gone on this side quest to distract her mind from him to give Jasmine some rest and improve her own mental state. Yet the sight of blood had reminded her of the cold, hard reality she faced. She wasn''t a mortal who could enjoy the simple life of eating warm bread. She was a powerful cultivator who ruled over a sect and was being hunted down by a near-godly being thirsty for her blood. The man seemed to misinterpret her hardening gaze as he hid the hand behind his back, "I can assure you none of that got into your food, not that a mortal illness could affect a cultivator like you." "Are you sick?" Stella asked. She had never really been sick before as she had gained a level of cultivation where mortal illnesses were of no concern quite early in her life. "I''m honestly not sure," the man sighed, "I suddenly started coughing blood a few days ago. I think it''s some illness going around as the rest of the street has it, too." That sounds rather concerning. Stella mused. I''m not a doctor, but I might be able to see the root cause with my spiritual sense. "Could I have your hand?" Stella asked. The pot-bellied baker nodded and presented his hand, which Stella placed the very tip of a single finger on as she wished to touch him as little as possible. She tried to cycle some of her Qi through his spirit roots, but they were clogged with blood. Something she had never seen before. "Are you a member of the All-Seeing Eye?" Stella asked. The man nodded, "Who wouldn''t be? Though I don''t have the money to buy any pills so, I''ve only used pills from the welcome package. You don''t think this illness is caused by pills given by them, do you? I''ve heard some rumors..." "Oh? What kind of rumors?" Stella always liked to hear the nonsense the mortals were sprouting about them. The baker''s eyes narrowed, and his voice dropped to a whisper, "There''s a group called the eyepatch." That is a really dumb name. Stella thought but gestured for him to continue. "Who are they?" "They are firm nonbelievers of the All-Seeing Eye. They say the pills are poisoned, that the All-Seeing Eye is an evil god that''s tempting the greed of mortals to enslave the minds of the mortals." The baker''s expression darkened, "Nobody took them seriously until this last week." "What happened this week?" Stella whispered, mirroring the baker''s tone. "I think they roped in a powerful backer with a lot of cash or influence to throw around. I have no idea how they did it, but every store owner in this part of town has been switching sides and is now a proud member of this eyepatch group despite having gained the ability to cultivate from the All-Seeing Eye." Stella tapped her chin in thought, "Who was part of this eyepatch group before this week?" "Mostly rogue cultivators that used their slight edge gained from cultivation to bully mortal shop owners into paying them protection fees." The baker had a look of disgust, "You know, the beast core junkies that are at the peak of the Qi Realm. They have enough strength to smash the shit out of your shop if they get angry, but not enough to kill a fucking beast." The baker snorted. "You should have seen how terrified they were when the shop owners they once bullied turned the tables on them." "This doesn''t make any sense," Stella frowned, "Why would the shop owners who hated these people and finally got the upper hand join them in this eyepatch group?" "Beats me," the baker shrugged, "Times are tough and money talks, I guess?" "Hmmm," Stella focused back on the man''s spirit roots. Using her Qi, she burned the blood away, causing the baker to wince in pain. Once they were clear, she saw the man''s untamed Qi flood his spirit roots, and everything returned to normal. "Have you eaten anything weird that could have caused this?" The baker shook his head, "Not in this weather, miss. As I said, I''ve had to eat bread for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as I''m not selling out of my stock. All I have been eating is my bread and drinking water." "How do you get water?" "My water? I source it from an underground aqueduct that runs below this section of the city," The man''s nose wrinkled, "It tastes quite nasty, but with the weather this bad, I have little choice as going outside is impossible." "This aqueduct serves this part of the city, and you said most store owners have switched sides to this eyepatch group for reasons you can''t understand?" Confused, he nodded, "I can''t say I''m following." "These store owners, where are they?" He gestured with his chin behind her, "Many of them gather in that brothel across the street. Otherwise, they will be in their stores, but most are open at night if you catch my drift. It''s that kind of area. I know I don''t fit in, but rent was cheap, and somebody has to feed the hungry after a fun night." Stella wasn''t sure what he meant by that, so she simply nodded. "Thank you for the melon pan, mister baker." "My pleasure," the man bowed but then panicked as she turned to leave, "Wait!" Stella raised a brow, "What?" "Your money miss... this is way too much." He took a single one of the golden crowns and began digging in a pouch attached to his pocket. Finishing out many silver and a few bronze crowns, he added it to the small pile of gold and pushed it across the counter to her, "This is for you." Stella looked at the pitiful sum of money and shrugged, "Keep it." "What¡ª" "Treat it as payment for information and humoring a bored cultivator," Stella snapped her fingers and teleported out of the store onto Guppy''s head in a flash of white flames before the baker could protest. That had been way too much social interaction for one day. His illness was weird. Blood entering someone''s spirit roots isn''t possible unless it''s blood Qi. Is this being done by Vincent Nightrose? But why? What could he gain from backing a group of rogues and shop owners who hate the All-Seeing Eye? Stella narrowed her eyes at the tall wooden structure across the street that was apparently called a brothel. If the store owners gather here, maybe I should ask the patrons of this establishment about this eyepatch group. Stella grinned. After all, I would love to join. Chapter 393: Moonlit Desires Stella had learned her lesson from the baker. While her Phantom Veil Pendant made her appear mortal to other cultivators, that didn''t mean she would seem a simple mortal to other mortals. Since they lacked the spiritual sense to discern her cultivation level in the first place, they were more focused on her looks and mannerisms. If a mortal threw large amounts of money on a table or was dry during a storm, I wouldn''t have thought anything of it. But it''s so apparent now that the baker pointed out how much I stand out. Stella jumped down from Guppy, and a tattered black cloak appeared around her body in a flash of silver light. She landed with a squelch as her feet sunk into the street mud. Mortals would probably wear shoes in this weather, wouldn''t they? Stella frowned as she dug through her spatial ring. She had never liked shoes as they restricted her movement, and most would get destroyed in battle anyway. Ah! Here they are. Stella pulled out the high heels she had worn to the banquet. Burning off the wet mud that clung to her feet, she slipped them on. They didn''t seem practical in this weather, but this was the best she could do. Who would look at someone''s shoes anyway? It should be fine. To finish her outfit, she summoned a half mask to cover her eyes as she deemed a full one to make her look too suspicious. Pulling the hood over her head, she canceled out the thin layer of aether Qi surrounding her body that had been shielding her from the rain. The cloak became heavier with water, and a chill seeped into her bones. "No wonder the mortals don''t wish to go out in this weather. This sucks," Stella muttered as she pushed the door to the brothel open. It creaked on its hinges, and she had to hold onto the doorknob to stop the door from slamming open due to the intense wind. Shuffling inside, she closed the door, and a small bell chimed. As a cultivator, it didn''t take long for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Woah, this looks a lot better inside than I was expecting. A lush red carpet led down a wide hallway. The walls were a dark wood with flickering candles held by golden cradles. Black leather couches lined the walls in intervals, with small coffee tables between them. Stella wandered over to one of the tables and picked up a binder. It was rather hefty and seemed well-made. Is this a menu of some kind? She wondered as she opened it, and her eyes widened. There was a detailed drawing of a naked woman. Stella studied the drawing for a while before looking at the details listed below. There was her name, where she was from, height, and weight... Sydney, huh? She has quite a suitable form for swordfighting. Her arms seem long for her height, giving her better reach, and her abs are more defined than most mortals. Stella mused as she flicked to the next one. She looks friendly, though isn''t she rather short? Based on the information in the binder, Stella tried to measure up against herself to guess how tall this girl would be. Maybe to my chest height at best? I wonder what the world looks like from that height. Stella moved on to the next one and then the next as her curiosity got the best of her. She wasn''t sure why they were drawn in such a revealing manner or why this information was relevant. Wait, is this for the intense cuddling thing? Stella scratched her head. It didn''t make any sense. While she could see that height and weight could be important in finding a suitable opponent for the cuddling, what did land of origin matter? Also, what does this preference thing mean? This girl says she can do either? "Ahem, miss?" Stella was broken from her trance and glanced at a man standing a polite distance away down the corridor. He wore a tidy black-and-white suit and seemed middle-aged, with hints of grey hair. Only now did Stella notice a faint smoke lingering in the air as it gently swirled around his figure. "Yes?" Stella asked, unsure what to say. "Find anyone you like?" He eyed the binder in her hand. "Erm..." "I have to warn you we are fully booked for today," the man said apologetically, "But you are free to follow me to a side room to make a reservation." "For the cuddling thing?" The man paused before smiling, "Yes... the cuddling thing. Right this way, miss." He turned and left down the hall. Stella put the binder back on the table and followed the man. Water dripped from her cloak onto the rug, adding to the strange smell of the place. Entering a side room, the man clicked the door closed behind them and took a seat. Stella sat opposite and removed her hood as her hair was getting damp from the rain-soaked cloak. The man studied her face for a moment before clicking his fingers. A side door slid open, and a woman poked her head through. "Get Sullivan," the man said simply, and the woman silently bowed before leaving. The door slid shut, and the man turned his focus back to her with a smile, "Please, enjoy the tea while we wait." "Who''s Sullivan?" Stella casually asked while picking up the hot tea and taking a sip. She wasn''t worried in the slightest about anything these people could do to her. She was a Star Core Realm cultivator, and from her spiritual sense, she couldn''t feel anyone above the Soul Fire Realm for miles. "The person you came to meet, is it not?" The man raised a brow. Stella tilted her head in confusion. "Oh," the man chuckled. "Either way, he is the man who can tend to an esteemed guest such as yourself the best." "Esteemed guest..." Stella frowned. His demeanor had changed, and she didn''t like it. What did I do wrong this time? Did they figure out I''m a cultivator? She didn''t have long to ponder as the room''s main door opened, and a man who looked like the boss strode in. The suit barely contained his broad shoulders and toned figure. He had slicked-back gray hair and a nasty scar that ran down the left side of his face from the base of his ear to the middle of his neck. He was also a cultivator. A weak one, only in the Soul Fire Realm, but it was certainly enough to stand above mere mortals. "Hendrick, are you not going to introduce us?" the man said in a husky voice, his presence dominating the small meeting room. *** Hendrick only ever called for him in such a subtle way when an esteemed guest who hadn''t made an appointment had shown up. They had been brothers in crime for as long as either could remember, so he trusted the man''s judgment. Sullivan eyed the esteemed guest with interest. He had been in this game long enough to separate the riff-raff from the true blue bloods with but a glance. They always tried to come here undercover to protect their reputations, but there were always little signs that he picked up on. As expected, this girl before him was one such example. A tattered black cloak that wouldn''t look out of place on a diseased-ridden beggar failed to hide hints of pristine white cloth below. Her flawless lips aside, two expensive-looking earrings hung from her ears, and multiple silver spatial rings adorned her fingers. Her shoes were also high heels, unsuitable for this weather, yet seemed only lightly coated in mud, suggesting she used a horse-drawn carriage to reach this building and only had to take a few steps to the entrance. A noble daughter looking for some fun? Sullivan flexed his Soul Fire Realm nature Qi to test her. She has no Qi yet seems so relaxed. Either she is simply arrogant, or this place is surrounded by her guards. I''ll have to be careful. The Eyepatch group hasn''t yet won the support of every powerful noble in Darklight City, and I haven''t exactly been quiet about my involvement with them. "We have not been introduced to one another as of yet," Hendrick said, rising from the chair opposite the young lady and moving to the side to give him the main seat. Sullivan nodded and sat down, the seat creaking slightly under his weight. Since the girl didn''t seem interested in introducing herself first, he did the honors. "My name is Sullivan, and I was born and raised here in Darklight City. Welcome to Moonlit Desires, my humble establishment." He bowed slightly and noticed that the girl didn''t react to the place''s name. It was famous in this part of town, and he just said he was the owner of it. The idea that she was the daughter of a lofty noble cemented further in his mind. "You are?" The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Roselyn," the blonde girl replied simply. It was clearly a fake name, as she didn''t say her family name or title. "Mistress Roselyn, what can I do for you? While we are booked for today, I can make an exception if enough crowns are coughed up. But I must warn you we don''t have any men on retainer right now, so you will have to do with one of the women you browsed earlier." "Why don''t you have any men?" Roselyn asked curiously. Because they are far less popular, and we need all the people we can to spread the blood pills before the night of reckoning. Sullivan thought. "They are away on business at the moment," he pulled out a binder and handed it to her, "You can take a look at the options and reserve one for next week if you wish." "Mhm." Roselyn took the binder, and the room descended into an all too familiar awkward silence only broken by the occasional flicking of a page. Sullivan studied her face, but she didn''t show any reaction at all. Never before had he seen such utter disinterest as she looked at them. Once she was done, she simply placed the binder on the table and drank a long sip of tea. "So? What do you think? "I don''t think any of them would last very long in a fight against me," Roselyn placed the cup down and lounged back in her chair. "Right... perhaps a woman would be a better fit then?" Sullivan smiled awkwardly as Roselyn shook her head. "Man or woman, I don''t think mortals would survive. Even Diana lost to me." She winked, "I''m quite good at wrestling, you see." Sullivan gulped, "I see. If a mortal can''t satisfy you, I could give it a try? I''m a cultivator in the Soul Fire Realm¡ª" Roselyn burst out laughing, "Soul Fire Realm? You wouldn''t last a minute even in the Star Core Realm." Sullivan felt a vein pop in his forehead as he tried to contain his rage. The arrogance of this noble kid was astounding. She didn''t have a hint of Qi, yet said such nonsense. "Trust me. I would break you like a twig," Roselyn said seriously while looking him dead in the eyes. Sullivan didn''t know why, but his blood ran cold, and his rage fled his body like a winter gale. He gulped as he broke out into a cold sweat. He desperately tried to break eye contact but was unable to. Roselyn smiled at his reaction, "Besides, that''s not what I came for. Word on the street is that this is a gathering place for the shop owners during the day. Is that right?" Sullivan found himself nodding like an obedient dog. "You see, I''ve become interested in sponsoring a certain group. Does the Eyepatch group ring a bell?" "Sponsoring?" Sullivan managed to overcome the strange sense of fear gripping his heart and leaned forward. He was a man of business, first and foremost. "You''re talking to the right person. I''m the regional manager for the Eyepatch group." Roselyn leaned on her palm, "Oh really? Could you tell me about it?" He shook his head, "Sorry, I can''t say much without a guarantee of sponsorship." "Ah yeah," Roselyn smirked as her silver spatial rings flashed. A literal pile of golden crowns appeared in the air between them before crashing down on the table, shattering it. There was a moment of silence before Roselyn leaned back in her chair in amusement. "I forgot that money talks." Sullivan looked at his feet, which were buried under the tidal wave of sparkling gold. He reached down and ran his fingers along its surface before picking one up and inspecting it closely. It was real. A large, uncontainable grin appeared on his face. Ever since he had forsaken the All-Seeing Eye and took a chance with that man who spoke words so sweet they felt like honey to his ears and became a manager for the Eyepatch group, his pockets had bulged with wealth. It had been so easy. All Sullivan had to do was have the people working in his brothels convince the dumb shop owners who frequented his establishment to eat a blood pill, and as the man had promised, it would do the rest. They became addicted, saying it gave them a surge in power whenever they took it. Bookings became intense, and to further his reach, he began dissolving blood pills into the water supply. Sullivan plunged his fingers into the pile of money, and his spatial ring flashed with light as the mountain of golden coins vanished inside. Enough to decorate the floor was left behind as his spatial ring maxed out and couldn''t take anymore. "Hendrick, gather the remaining donation and get another table for us, will you?" The man waved his hand to take the remaining coins before leaving to get another table. "I suppose that was enough of a donation?" Roselyn said. Sullivan chuckled, "You could say that. I knew the hatred for the All-Seeing Eye ran deep in the nobility of this city, but you seem to be a cut above the rest. Most just cower in their mansions while mumbling angrily under their breath." "I have my own reasons for hating the All-Seeing Eye, but I''m curious. Why do you think the nobility rage?" "It''s human nature," Sullivan replied, bringing out a pipe from his inner pocket. He needed a puff to calm his nerves, as seeing how much money this strange girl could so casually cough up meant he was talking to a big shot. "Human nature?" "Sure," Sullivan puffed and blew off the side, "You should know this better than others. Humans and beasts have an innate desire to stand above others, whether with power, money, or influence. We want it all and to have more than those beneath us. The All-Seeing Eye came in and wielded his immense power to give power to the people and level the playing field. The mortal nobles who remained in power because they had the money and influence to employ rogue cultivators as servants no longer have an edge over others. That is why they rage. Their power is slipping from under their feet." "What about the rogues?" Sullivan took another puff as he contemplated. "There is a clear divide. Many adore the All-Seeing Eye and are actually his most devoted followers. The high-quality pills they provide at a reasonable price allowed them to overcome bottlenecks and finally advance their cultivation. Then there are those like me who were talented enough in cultivation to reach the Soul Fire Realm without the need for handouts." "But now you feel threatened," Roselyn smiled through her fingers as she leaned on her palm. Sullivan scowled. It wasn''t like that. He just didn''t believe everyone deserved to reach the Soul Fire Realm like he had, so for the All-Seeing Eye to show up and gift people the capability to easily surpass him made his blood boil. "It''s a joke," Roselyn said, studying his expression. "Now, tell me about the Eyepatch group. What''s their goal? If I find it aligns with my own, I have enough money to make that earlier donation seem like pocket change." Sullivan smiled, "For now, we are trying to rapidly expand our membership with the ultimate goal of standing against the All-Seeing Eye," he said, leaving out any information on the fast-approaching night of reckoning. He brought out a box and presented it to the noble girl. "This is the welcome package." "These bastards copied my marketing strategy," Roselyn muttered as she took the box and opened it. Marketing strategy? Is this young lady working in her parent''s industry? Sullivan mused as Roselyn dug through the box. She intently read the Eyepatch group''s mantra before fishing out one of the blood pills. She held it up between her fingers toward the light. "Is the group founded on this blood pill?" "That''s right," Sullivan relaxed in his chair, his pipe held loosely in his hand with smoking wafting up from the still-lit end. "Once you take it, I can officially say you are part of the group." "What does it do?" "It fills you with vigor and cultivation." He recited what he had been told. There was no way he would ever eat one to find out if it was true. "One pill will give you a boost in strength to reach the peak of the Qi Realm. Unlike the pills you can buy from the Ashfallen Trading Company, this pill gives instant results. No need for wasting time cultivating." "That sure sounds enticing," Roselyn sniffed the pill and frowned. "But I have to say I''m skeptical. Can this pill really raise me all the way to the peak of the Qi Realm?" Sullivan nodded, "You have to take one a day, but they are free for members. There are many distribution places, with my establishment serving as one such place." "Okay, this sounds good," the girl opened her mouth, popped it in, and gulped the pill down. "I''m an official member now, right?" Sullivan smiled slightly. Heh, the boss will be elated to learn that I have reeled in such a fat fish. She seems to have more money than sense. With this gold, I can buy more slaves and open another brothel on the city''s east side. "Of course, you''re a member now. Feel free to test out your new strength." *** Stella didn''t miss Sullivan''s pleased expression as she pretended to eat the pill. Since there was a chance this was made by Vincent Nightrose, there was no way she would take such a risk. Instead, she had the pill vanish to the aether before it even hit her tongue. But she had to pretend it worked. Hendrick walked in with a fresh table, which gave her a moment to think of something. Since it was within reach, she chopped the new table with her palm, trying to control her strength the lowest she could. After all, she hadn''t been lying earlier when she said these mortals wouldn''t last against her in an intense cuddling session. The table cracked in half, cleanly down the middle, and she pretended to be surprised. "Woah, it really worked," she flexed her hand as if that was some impressive feat of strength and held back a chuckle at Hendricks''s exasperated expression. "I''m utterly impressed, Sullivan. I want to meet the mastermind behind all of this and give them my appreciation." Sullivan chuckled, "I''ll be sure to pass on your kind words." Stella narrowed her eyes at him, "I''m serious. I want to meet them." Sullivan''s fake joyfulness vanished, and he looked at her seriously. "Listen, miss, that''s not happening. Even with a donation as big as yours, nobody can simply meet the boss because they want to." "Really?" Stella absentmindedly picked at her nail, "There''s something you should know about me, Mister Sullivan. I''m not good with people telling me no. If I can''t meet him, I will be taking my money back." Sullivan rose from his chair and towered over her. His eyes narrowed to a point, and his pathetic Soul Fire Realm Qi danced dangerously across his shoulders. He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly, "You''re far from home, little noble. Just because you got a little strength, I wouldn''t get over yourself¡ª" Stella clicked her fingers and pointed at Hendrick, who was standing off to the side. The wall behind her exploded as a being of twisted darkness surged through, taking Hendrick with it in a shower of wood. The room became filled with the roar of rain as Guppy continued through the building, leaving a tunnel to the outside in his wake. Sullivan took his hand back and stared at the hole in the wall with horror. "Now, what do you think?" Stella asked with her hands on her hips. "M-Monster," Sullivan looked as white as a sheet as he rushed past her toward the hole in the wall. "Stay away from me!" Using his nature Qi, he controlled the weeds growing in the mud outside to surge upwards and haphazardly cover his escape into the storm. "Don''t worry, I will," Stella called Guppy back into the room. The Darktide Devourer deposited the half-eaten corpse onto the ground, and she plucked the spatial ring containing some of her money from his finger. Storing it away, she patted Guppy on the nose. "Go and chase him, but don''t get too close. I want him to fear for his life, so make your presence known, but don''t kill him, okay? I will be following closely behind, so no mistakes." Guppy let off a soft cry before surging off into the storm, leaving her alone in the destroyed room. Before she left, she grabbed the welcome box and the binders containing the guys and the other containing the girls for research purposes. After that, she removed her high-heeled shoes and the damp cloak. She was done playing around as a mortal. Sullivan likely only has one person to turn to for help: the mastermind behind this rebellion against the All-Seeing Eye. Phasing into the aether, she went after them. It had been a while since she had been on a hunt, and she was excited. Maybe this was her hobby after all. Chapter 394: Shes a Professional Sullivan''s soul-core hummed in his chest as he aggressively pushed Qi toward his muscles. His ragged breaths came out in clouds of mist as he charged through the rain down the muddied back streets of Darklight City. He could not see or hear it, but the chasing creature''s presence was all-encompassing, bearing down on him and making his hair stand on end. He swore it was right behind him no matter how fast or far he ran. Daring not to even waste a moment looking back, he kept going. His destination? The regional headquarters of the Eyepatch group. Every evening, the boss comes to do an inspection. If there''s anyone that can save me, it''s him. While the Eyepatch group had rapidly expanded in numbers, they were pitifully weak compared to the overlords of the region. The Ashfallen Sect sat so far above the rest on their lofty peak that he honestly believed defying them was impossible. He had taken this position in the group as he noticed the anger spreading through the city like a plague and saw an opportunity to weaponize it for profit. He didn''t want to die for them. "Just who the fuck was that girl," Sullivan cursed as he felt his heart pounding in his neck. His throat was sore from breathing so hard, and his suit clung tightly to his body as it was utterly drenched. She gave a fake name and no family name. I didn''t feel any Qi from her, even when she destroyed the table. If she was somehow hiding her cultivation, I never got to see a hint of what affinity she possesses. That leaves me with few leads to discern her identity. Knowing her identity would not do him any good if that monster caught up to him. Still, he knew the boss wouldn''t be pleased with him leading such a creature toward their warehouse, so he was hoping to discern some information to provide and lessen the punishment. Anything. Just what demon in the skin of a young noble girl had he invited the wrath of? His mind raced as he recalled the girl''s appearance. He was a man of detail¡ªnothing escaped his notice. Short blonde hair, pink eyes that could kill, red maple leaf earrings, many spatial rings, enough money to drown in, and the ability to command nightmarish creatures? Now that I think about it, only one such person matches that description. The Princess of Ashfallen. A psychotic murderer who enjoys toying with the lives of those she deems lesser. The number of rumors regarding her tyranny was as numerous as tales of the All-Seeing Eye''s greatness. It was hard to discern truth from fiction, and the human imagination was a powerful thing, but Sullivan started to think that the rumors might be true. Has the Eyepatch group earned the ire of the Princess? If so, even the boss might not be able to save us. After all, not only is the Princess already one of the strongest known cultivators, but her unknown Father, who lords over Ashfallen, will crush us like bugs with the strength of a thousand suns. Sullivan narrowed his eyes. If I''m going to die today for the sins of the Eyepatch group, then I''m bringing those fuckers down with me. Including the boss. How dare he convince me to stand up against the Ashfallen Sect with sweet words. I''ll curse his name for a thousand years in hell. After half an hour of Qi-fueled running through the freezing rain, he staggered into a decrepit part of the city. Empty warehouses with caved-in roofs swallowed by foliage cast shadows over the land. This had once been an area where excess spirit stones were stored and sold, but as the nearby mountains had been mined out, the supply dropped, and these warehouses that were so far from the city center became obsolete. They never found a new purpose as the mining industry died down, and people began starving, causing a sharp rise in crime and making these warehouses too dangerous for storing goods. Giving way to the gangs to take over. They hid among the rubble like rats. To a clueless outsider, this is a graveyard of buildings, but to someone like Sullivan, he knew the invisible territory lines and which buildings had been claimed by whom. Or at least he had. They were all under the control of the Eyepatch group now. A testament to how quickly their control had spread. It was almost terrifying how quickly humans could band together under a single banner against an overwhelming foe if they were promised a path to quick power and wealth. Such thoughts ran through Sullivan''s mind as he desperately charged toward the most prominent building. He had once seen this place as a land of opportunity, but he now realized he had been blinded by the wealth to be made. The boss had sentenced them all to death. He never should have tried to defy the Ashfallen Sect. Nobody should. Sullivan dared to look behind and wished he hadn''t. A mere two buildings behind, he saw that monster of twisted darkness lurking in the rain, trailing him and coiled as if ready to lunge and devour him whole. Shit, shit, shit! His muscles burned with an indescribable intensity, and his Soul Core''s hum dropped to a sad whisper as he ran on fumes. "Who goes there?" A voice rang out through the rain, and Sullivan could feel the movement of many cultivators, all in the early stages of the Soul Fire Realm like him. "It''s Sullivan," he wheezed in response. Through the pouring rain, he saw fire Qi dance along the shoulders of the woman who had called out to him from the doorway of the main warehouse. He felt the woman''s Qi relax a little. However, once he got closer, he felt her guard rise again. The woman cautiously stepped forward, signaling two rogue cultivators to flank her. "Sullivan? You look miserable. What happened to you?" "I''m... being... chased..." Sullivan pushed past them into the building. Once he didn''t feel the rain bearing down on him and was on the warehouse''s cover, he half-collapsed on a nearby crate to support his body. He pulled all the Qi pumped into his muscles back into his dimming Soul Core and desperately tried to fill his lungs with air. A journey across the city that usually took two hours, he had done through this insane storm in only thirty minutes. While he was a cultivator, there were limits, and he had surpassed them to reach here. "Who is chasing you?" the woman barked over her shoulder as she faced the open doorway alongside the other two. The doorway was like a waterfall, with rain hammering down outside. Soul fires danced along their shoulders as they got ready for a fight. "There''s no point trying to fight back," Sullivan''s legs gave in as he sat on the cold ground and leaned against the crate. His heart was pounding so hard he felt like it would beat out of his chest, and his neck was throbbing. Others seem to have heard the commotion as they gathered around, stealing curious glances at him. The fire woman, whom he had never met before, didn''t like his answer as she gripped his chin and forced his eyes to meet hers. From the tingling of Qi, he could tell she was a few stages higher than him in the Soul Fire Realm. "Next time I ask, it will be to your corpse," she hissed, but everyone could hear, "Now tell me, what do you mean there''s no point? Who was chasing you?!" Sullivan glanced past her at the rain. He was honestly surprised the monster hadn''t come in and slaughtered them all yet. "I''m running from the Princess of Ashfallen." He slapped the woman''s hand away. He wasn''t sure who she was, but she definitely didn''t have the authority to treat a regional manager like this. "That is what I mean when I say there''s no point. You all know the rumors. We are all dead." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "You..." the woman stumbled back, utter fear appearing on her face, "...led the Slaughter Princess here?" Sullivan snorted, "She already knew about the Eyepatch group." "The trees have eyes," one of the workers muttered, and everyone glanced at them. He reeled back from the stares. "I-It''s a saying that is more common in Ashfallen City. You know the demonic trees that grew overnight throughout the city? They are said to be an extension of the Ashfallen Sect''s Patriarch. He uses them to maintain control." Murmurs spread throughout the group as a feeling of dread weighed over them. "What''s the commotion?" The crowd quickly fanned out to give space to a man, and Sullivan almost choked on his own saliva at the sight of him. He was a man without a face. It was as if the gods had sculpted him in haste, skipping over the unneeded details. He spoke yet had no mouth. He saw yet had no eyes. It was, without a doubt, the boss of the Eyepatch group. Sullivan had only ever met him while wearing a mask, so seeing his utterly blank face that was nothing but skin was deeply disturbing. The boss''s slender hands were clasped behind his back, and his presence was undeniable as every gaze landed on him. Sullivan had so much hatred for this man running through his veins earlier, but now he was getting cold feet. He was about to open his mouth to speak when the fire woman pointed a finger at him, "Regional manager Sullivan claims he''s being pursued by the Slaughter Princess and has led her here." The boss raised one hand to quieten the room. He was wearing white gloves, but below the fabric, the outlines of his fingers weren''t quite right. Once the room was deathly silent, he idly inspected his knuckles and flexed his fingers before responding. "Is what she says true, Sullivan?" Sullivan gulped, "Yes, boss. The Ashfallen Princess showed up at my brothel an hour ago to become a sponsor of the Eyepatch group. She donated a large amount of money and even ate a blood pill. But I refused to let her meet you, so she commanded a monster to devour my friend and chased me here." "The Slaughter Princess..." The boss trailed off and looked to the doorway. "I believe that is the name the people of this city have given to Stella Crestfallen. I''ve listened to all the rumors regarding her and the stories from which her name is derived. You told me she ate one of my pills. Is that right?" Sullivan slowly nodded. The boss sniffed the air despite having no nose, "I don''t know who you met, but it can''t be her." "How can you be sure¡ª" Sullivan felt the air escape his lungs as an invisible hand seemed to crush him. He bent over, gasping for air with his eyes wide open in fear. "Don''t question me, boy, " the boss said without taking his attention off the doorway. "Stella Crestfallen is a high-stage Star Core cultivator with murderous tendencies. Do you truly believe she would let a weakling like you escape her?" "The monster¡ª" "What monster?" The boss pointed to the door, and with a click of his fingers, a shockwave of Qi radiated out, pushing back the rain and revealing an empty street. The monster that had been chasing him the whole way here was nowhere to be seen. There was a moment of silence as everyone stared in awe at the display of power until the boss lowered his hand, and the thunderous rain resumed. "I can''t sense anything more than a few ants and rats cowering from the rain. Sullivan, have you gone insane off your own supply?" "N-No boss," Sullivan stammered. "I''m serious. A girl who perfectly matched the Princess''s description showed up at my brothel and displayed more wealth than sense. I was then chased by a monster that must have been in the Star Core Realm. See, look at this!" His spatial ring flashed, yet nothing came out. "What, where''s the money..." "Sullivan, the night of reckoning is soon upon us," the boss floated a blood-red pill over toward him. He felt that same invisible hand pry open his mouth and force-feed him the pill. A disgusting feeling spread throughout his body, corrupting the little Qi he had left and clogging up his spirit roots. "Return home, Sullivan. You''re dismissed from your duties. Everyone else, return to your posts." "Boss... please reconsider," Sullivan had no idea what was happening. But he knew being dismissed from his duties and banished was a death sentence. That girl was the Slaughter Princess! There''s no doubt in my mind. He curled his fists in rage as everyone left. Some sniggering about him, others expressing relief that he had ''lied.'' The fire woman paused beside him and used Qi to conceal her voice. "Was it really her?" Sullivan nodded, "Without a doubt." "Mhm, I''ll walk you home." Sullivan found himself dragged to his feet and back in the rain. Except this time, a thin layer of fire kept them warm and even dried his clothes as the mud beneath them hardened from the heat. "Why are you helping me?" Sullivan asked once they were far away from the warehouse. He felt on edge as he glanced around, expecting the monster to jump out at him. "You''re a man of business with a good head on your shoulders, and your reaction to the blood pill was that of a first-timer. I also noticed you weren''t just putting on an act as you burned your Qi to reach the warehouse as fast as possible." The woman paused and studied his face, "You''re not some junkie high on pills or an idiot. You ran with everything you had to the only place you knew where there would be someone strong enough to face off against the Princess." Sullivan nodded, "The Boss. I know it was selfish, but..." "I would have done the same," the woman admitted. "It might not have been the Princess because if her past actions are any indication, you should already be dead. But I believe you encountered someone strong, someone we should be careful of, and the boss knows this too. He just doesn''t care." Sullivan paused, "Why?" "The boss only cares about the night of reckoning that is fast approaching." Her eyes narrowed, "Once it''s over, I bet he will vanish and the Eyepatch group will crumble. I''m trying to gather a new group from within that will band together after the fallout, and this person you met today seems like someone I want to speak with." Sullivan had been on the darker side of business for long enough to know once a boss loses faith in their servant, that servant is as good as dead. If the boss didn''t kill him today, it was only a matter of time. But to go back and make a deal with the Slaughter Princess? The very person who lorded over the group that they were trying to oppose? Wait, this is an opportunity. If I switch sides and help the Ashfallen Sect stamp out this rebellion, perhaps I can get out of this alive. I''ll let this woman handle the talking and hope they drag me to the winning side. I''m happy to be on whichever team will make me the most money and let me live. "I''m in," Sullivan agreed with a smile. "Your name?" "The name is Kaelith. We can''t discuss things here. The boss has eyes and ears everywhere. I''ll walk you home first." It took an hour of speed walking to return to the brothel, and Sullivan couldn''t believe his eyes. "The hole! It''s... gone?" He ran up to the exterior wall that, if broken down, would lead to the meeting room. It was through here that he had escaped a few hours earlier. "The monster tore through here and destroyed this wall, I swear." Kaelith stepped forward, ran her finger along the wooden boards, and showed that her fingertip had turned dark brown. "Fast-drying paint. Expensive stuff," she rubbed her fingers together and frowned. "Due to the weather, it''s hard to discern when it was used, but it can''t have been more than an hour ago." Sullivan stepped back, and upon close inspection, he could tell the slight shade difference between the new boards and the old. "They painted the boards to look like the older ones. But why?" "A cover-up," Kaelith beckoned him to lead her inside, "Let''s see what else they took." Entering, Sullivan led her to the meeting room. There was a brand new table between the two chairs. One he knew he had never bought. Kaelith sniffed the air, "The smell of fresh paint is stronger in here without the wind and rain to hide it," she looked to the side, "The monster came through here?" "Yes, it took out multiple walls." Sullivan nodded. Kaelith whistled, "Whoever we are dealing with here is a professional. That is something the Slaughter Princess is not. She is an arrogant child with too much power and money, not someone who would wipe any evidence of themselves to this extent. This is exactly the type of person I want to work with after the night of reckoning." No, you don''t. Sullivan thought as he recalled how Hendrick had died. It had been so fast and brutal that there was no way for somebody to work with a person like that. "Have you checked on the blood pills? See if any are missing?" Sullivan nodded and left for the storage room. His mind wandered as he walked down the quiet hallway. Why did the monster chase me all the way to the warehouse and then vanish? Why did she kill Hendrick and not me? Did the boss scare off the monster? Sullivan descended a hidden staircase to a cellar. Counting the crates, his mouth drew into a thin line. "Half of them are missing." He paused as a thought struck him. Everything began to connect. "She wanted to meet the boss from the start. That was her goal. Of course, the Princess of Ashfallen would never want to join a group that directly opposed her. She wanted someone to lead her to the leader, and that''s exactly what I did." Sullivan''s blood ran cold, "Which means my purpose has run out, and if she''s gone to these lengths to cover up her tracks..." Sullivan turned around, and sure enough, there she was. The Slaughter Princess was casually sitting on the staircase with one leg up and resting her chin on her palm with a look of amusement. She was blocking the exit, and this time, she didn''t have a disguise. There were no masks or tattered cloaks to hide who she really was. Which could only mean one thing. "Finally figured me out, huh?" Chapter 395: Human Pet Stella looked at Sullivan''s utter look of despair with childlike excitement. She could crush this man to a pulp with a mere thought, and in the past, she might have done that. Killing gave her a euphoric sense of agency over her life. It was a physical manifestation of all her efforts¡ªthe ability to reap the life of another meant she was growing stronger, that she was no longer the victim of this cruel world and could take control of her life. But she had also come to discover that killing had a very short release of euphoria, followed by a hollow silence as the body hit the floor. Perhaps it was because no matter how many she killed, her life seemed much the same after the corpses turned cold. She kept convincing herself over and over that this kill would be the one to bring her peace and quiet, yet it never did. A small part of her feared that would be true even after Vincent was slain. This looming evil had dominated much of her life, and the idea that its elimination would not give her the peace she desired terrified her. So, to take her mind off things, she had gone to seek out a hobby. Something to distract her wandering thoughts. Douglas had warned me that hobbies are rarely sought out. He said you have to do something with no intentions, and one day, you will find yourself smiling and having fun. It''s at that moment that it becomes a hobby. "The Slaughter Princess..." Sullivan dropped to his knees, his face having lost all color. Stella grinned. I think I just found my new hobby. "Please," Sullivan pressed his forehead against the cellar floor, "Don''t kill me." "Mhm," Stella casually jumped down from the steps and landed a step away from Sullivan''s head. She dangled her foot above his head while thinking how easily she could crush his skull into the cold tiles. The crunch would be so satisfying, but she refrained and withdrew her foot. She had other plans for this cultivator. Bending at the waist, she leaned down and whispered into his right ear. "You offered yourself to me earlier. I''m not one to participate in the activities of this brothel with such a weak man. But you can still be useful to me." She said it softly but didn''t hold back on the bloodlust. "However, before we work together, let me make something very clear." Sullivan, an arrogant bigshot from the most dangerous part of Darklight City, could only tremble below her. His life was at her whim, and he knew it. Stella stepped back and crouched down. Using telekinesis, she forced him to raise his head from the ground, straining his neck. Bringing out a golden spatial ring from her pocket, she balanced it on the floor between them with a single finger placed on top. "While you were running through the rain like a fool, I took back what was mine." Stella twirled the ring, "Judging by your surprise at the warehouse when no golden crowns came out, you had no idea I had swapped your spatial ring for an empty one." She tapped her finger on the spinning ring, stopping it in place, "Instead of taking the ring, it could have been your head, and you wouldn''t have even known how you died. Do you understand what I''m saying, Mister Sullivan?" "My life... was and is always in your hands," he gulped, "I''m your puppet." Stella smiled, "Good, that''s exactly right." She had planned to kill him alongside everyone else in that warehouse. However, when the boss made an appearance, she suspected that the man was Vincent''s blood clone, similar to Demetrios Skyrend at Nightrose City. Vincent was like a cockroach, and she had concluded that the only way to get rid of him was to destroy his main body and eliminate all of his clones at the same time. For that reason, she pulled Guppy into the aether and hid. If the boss had confirmed he was unrelated to Vincent, she would have reemerged and slaughtered them all. But the boss''s attack on the rain was done with Nascent Soul Realm-level gravity Qi, practically confirming her suspicion. The boss was a clone of Vincent, and if there was one, there were likely others. Stella had been wondering what to do when Sullivan began convincing everyone that the Slaughter Princess was after him. She considered silencing him from afar when the boss unexpectedly gave her a solution. He labeled Sullivan as a crazed junkie and cast him out, nullifying his claims. The problem was that if Sullivan could prove he was attacked by her, he wouldn''t seem insane anymore, and then the boss would be more on guard, making the act of finding all his clones more difficult. So Stella contacted the Mudcloaks, and under the cover of the heavy rain, they made repairs to the brothel and covered their tracks. What Stella hadn''t expected was for Sullivan to return so soon and with company. But this outcome wasn''t too bad. She needed suitable puppets to infiltrate this organization, and while Sullivan had knowledge, he had been cast out and lost his influential position within the Eyepatch group. Stella stood up and released some of the pressure that had been bearing down on Sullivan. The man coughed and wheezed as she walked around him, tracing her finger along the tops of the crates she had left behind. "So Sullivan, what do you say? Do you wish to become my pet?" Stella used the word "pet" because he wasn''t a servant or slave, nor was he an ally or a business partner. He was simply a dog that would wag its tail and do as she said. "I would be... honored," Sullivan said with a serious expression. Stella paused and studied his face intently for a long time. Even when pumping her gaze full of bloodlust, the man remained resolute. She placed a finger on the edge of his neck and felt his drumming heartbeat. It was strange; she felt that same feeling of control she had when killing her foes, yet the person remained alive in front of her. Killing really isn''t always the answer. A person is far more useful to me alive than dead, but in a way, this feels wrong. Yes, he''s an enemy of the Ashfallen Sect. But I don''t want to become someone like Vincent. A little mercy goes a long way and might make him more loyal. "While you have been demoted from regional manager of this Eyepatch group to my pet, know that my pets are treated well." She pressed her finger into his neck and let off a light pulse of Qi that spread through his body, making him jolt in pain, "While I''ll keep you on a short leash until I get what I want, I''ll set you free once I''m satisfied." "You will let me go?" Sullivan gulped as his eyes looked down at her hand against his neck like a dagger. "I''m not blind to human nature. You''re a greedy man, are you not? A mountain of gold was enough to change your tune earlier. Dance for me, and you can bathe in gold. Do as I say, and perhaps you will be free one day. But if you betray me?" Stella lightly ran her nail across his neck, drawing a thin line of blood, "I have no need for disobedient pets. Understand?" Sullivan nodded slowly, careful to not agitate her nail against his skin. "Great!" Stella stepped back and joyfully clapped her hands, "First order of business then. You were the regional manager for the Eyepatch group, right?" "I was, Mistress." "Are there other regional managers?" "Yes, there are around five of us. One for each cardinal direction..." "There are four cardinal directions. Where is the fifth one stationed?" Sullivan paused, "In the city center. I believe they are sitting on Darklight City''s mortal council." "The Eyepatch group''s reach spreads that deep, huh." Stella sat on a nearby crate and swung her legs, drumming on its wooden exterior while she thought up the best course of action. This group wouldn''t be worth my attention if not for Vincent Nightrose''s backing. That man wouldn''t work with mortals if he didn''t have an objective. The problem is I can''t think of what it could be. To form an information network? To incite riots to distract us while he does something? If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Come to think of it, Sullivan. I overheard the boss, as you call him, reference something called ''the night of reckoning.'' Do you know anything about that?" Sullivan had not dared stand from his kneeling position and addressed the floor, "Forgive me, Mistress. I don''t know a whole lot. Nobody does. All I know is that the mass spreading of the blood pills is pivotal to the night of reckonings success and that it will happen before the week''s end." Before the week''s end? Is he waiting for the beast tide to hit? The first wave is still a ways out, and it won''t be until the later waves that we will start to struggle to push it back. "He did mention he was waiting on a meeting when questioned by the regional managers about the exact day it will start." "A meeting..." Stella trailed off as she realized something. The only thing Vincent is waiting on right now is to meet me in Tartarus. That makes me even more confused. What use would mortals have once he meets me? Is it to free him from Tartarus if he gets stuck somehow? No, there''s no way for them to do that, even if he got control of millions. Wait, he used his family members'' blood as fuel for his own technique that he unleashed to instantly kill Hades. While one mortal doesn''t hold much Qi, if he had millions of mortals gather, he could turn them into a living array to unleash an attack on Red Vine Peak. The possibilities were honestly endless, and she didn''t like any of them. It was also disturbing that if she hadn''t gone out on a whim to find a new hobby, the Ashfallen Sect would have been none the wiser about this scheme going on in the city''s shadows. "Stand up." Sullivan complied, rising to his full height. Despite looming over her, he respectfully clasped his hands behind his back and drooped his shoulders and head. He didn''t dare puff out his chest like he had earlier in front of her. Stella clicked her fingers and a blank page and an ink-dipped pen manifested from her spatial ring. Closing her eyes and using telekinesis, she drew a rough map of the city from memory and by referencing the aether plane. Once done, she opened her eyes and floated the map and pen to Sullivan. "Circle on this map where the other regional managers'' base of operations are located. Basically, where the boss is likely to frequent." "As you wish," Sullivan carefully studied the map and circled the relevant places. Four were all on the city''s outskirts, with one being a residential area in the city''s heart. "Who does this house belong to?" Stella asked, pointing at the one in the center. "The Flamehunt family." "A noble cultivation family?" Sullivan shook his head, "Not quite. They are an extremely influential mortal family that focuses on spirit stone processing, and they have many rogue cultivators on retainer. The head of the family is a Soul Fire Realm cultivator with fire affinity. I''m unsure if his bloodline is strong enough to pass the fire affinity down to his children." "Interesting..." Stella tapped her chin in thought. "Sullivan!" A voice called from the floor above, "How''s it looking? Are the crates there?" The man didn''t say a word. Instead, he looked at Stella for guidance. "I don''t want to show myself to her just yet. While I know you are guided by greed and will work for the highest bidder or to save your life, she is different. She wants control. I doubt we will work well together." Stella took the map and rolled it up. "Tell her that some of the crates are missing. I''ll be in touch again soon. Until then, do as you please with my best interests in mind and try to learn more about Kaelith." Sullivan silently bowed. "Just remember, the trees have eyes. None have betrayed me and lived to tell the tale." Stella wreathed herself in white soul flames and stepped backward into the aether, fading away from reality. *** Sullivan straightened his back and looked at the spot where the Slaughter Princess had been standing a moment ago. Like a phantom, she was gone without a trace. There was not a smidge of lingering Qi to verify her presence here. The rumors don''t do her justice. They make her out as a crazed psychopath who murders for fun and looks down on anyone below her. While insane, someone like that is far easier to understand. Did she allow such rumors about her to circulate so people wouldn''t take her seriously? Rather than a spoiled child, she was one of the most terrifyingly calculating people I''ve ever had the displeasure of talking with. Sullivan raised his hand, which he had kept pressed at his side. It was still trembling despite the Princess''s departure. And now I''m her pet. "Have you gone deaf?" A head poked over the hole leading down to the cellar and peered down before locking eyes with him. "Sullivan? You look terrible. What happened?" "Just some Qi withdrawals, is all." He waved her off, "My soul was on the brink of collapse earlier, and then the boss force-fed me a blood pill, which hasn''t done me any favors." "Right..." Kaelith didn''t seem to buy it and jumped down into the room. Running a hand through her black and red hair, she glanced around. "So? How''s the inventory looking?" "A few crates are missing," Sullivan answered honestly, "Not enough that it''s obvious I was robbed, but enough missing that I could look like some crazed junkie high off the stuff." "This noble is one scary lady," Kaelith rubbed her chin. "I really want to meet her." Sullivan chuckled slightly. No, you really don''t. He thought but didn''t dare voice his opinion. Kaelith gave him an odd look, so he changed the topic. "While we are far out of earshot of the boss, is there anything for us to discuss?" "Yes. We need to gather people to our side and fast." Kaelith said thoughtfully, "I don''t know what the night of reckoning will entail, nor when it will be. I just know I need to move fast. I had hoped to convince this noble to get involved and use her immense wealth to sway people to my side..." she sighed, "But that isn''t looking likely." "If we can get the other regional managers under us, it will be easier to sway more people. Actually, I never learned your role in the Eyepatch group. Is it rather senior?" Kaelith shook her head, "I''m just a grunt in the rankings. It''s my father who has a powerful seat." "Who''s your father?" "Garrick Flamehunt, he''s the central regional manager." Kaelith casually explained, "While he has some influence in the court and connections to some other noble families, despite their rage toward the Ashfallen Sect, most dare not to make a move. They called my father rash and hot-headed for openly opposing the Ashfallen Sect and forced him to quiet down. But things are only going to get worse. With every passing day, my family loses their edge, so I refuse to sit by idly. The rogues are getting arrogant, leaving the family to pursue the path of cultivation, which has become more affordable." She looked him dead in the eyesight, a sense of rage flickering in her eyes, "It''s disgusting. We were the ones chosen by the heavens, and the All-Seeing Eye came in and gave that gift to all who bow before it. It''s like they are all obedient dogs so long as that fake god throws them a bone... nothing but pets." Sullivan nodded along as that last line hit his ego a little. "But that''s a good idea. We should target the other regional managers first." Kaelith jogged up the stairs and beckoned him to follow, "Come on, we don''t have much time." Sullivan hesitantly followed. I better distance myself from this woman as much as possible. There''s no way the Princess will allow the daughter of a family that directly opposes the Ashfallen Sect to live... except as a pet. *** Ashlock returned his focus from fighting off the beast tide to his Inner World. The end of the day drew near with darkness blanketing the land, and due to his immense desolation Qi output to push back the beast tide, he needed all the sleep under the nine moons he could get to refill his rapidly depleting Qi reserves. "Stella? What''s all this?" Ashlock asked as he saw his daughter leaning on a stack of crates in her house''s garden and looking at a map spread out over the top of one. The last time they spoke was a few hours ago, and according to Douglas, she had gone out to the mortal cities seeking a new hobby. "Oh, Tree! You''re finally back. How''s the beast tide?" "I''m managing to weaken the storm to the point where it doesn''t outright uproot and tear apart my offspring, and the weaker monsters are apprehensive about advancing for now." Ashlock paused, "Though I''m sure that''s temporary. Once the stronger monsters come up their rear, they will have no choice but to proceed into my area of desolation or be eaten by those behind as a traveling snack." Stella looked up at the sky of his Inner World, which looked like a turbulent, darkened storm of desolation due to the Qi and daos he was pulling on to fuel his defense. "I see. How''s your Qi holding up? It must be straining to cover such a large area." Straining was an understatement. Desolation Qi was quite taxing, especially if he put multiple daos into it. To constantly pump out desolation Qi on an area spanning a leyline? He was already at his limit. "My natural Qi generation can keep up for now if I get enough sleep under the nine moons, but once the Star Core and above monsters arrive and fight back my Qi with their own, I''ll be overwhelmed." Ashlock sighed, "I can still pull on the Qi of my offspring and maybe draw up more from the World Tree, but there''s only so much I can do. The beast tide is inevitable. Now tell me, did you get bored during your trip and rob someone?" Stella paused, "I suppose that''s not so far from the truth. I did steal these. But in my defense! They belonged to the Eyepatch group¡ª" "That''s a dumb name." "I know, right?!" Stella laughed. "But they are a group directly opposing the All-Seeing Eye, so I guess the name fits? However, that''s not important. The problem is that a new mysterious backer appeared a few days ago and started pumping the group with money and having them distribute these pills." She cracked open one of the crates, revealing thousands of tiny red-colored pills. "Blood pills?" Ashlock put the pieces together, "Does this have something to do with Vincent?" Stella nodded, "I have a lot to explain. But to sum it up, Vincent is involved and I have a plan to wipe him out for good. But for it to work, you''ll need to learn blood dao as soon as possible, and we need to have the meeting in Tartarus with Vincent tomorrow." "Tomorrow? That''s so soon. We have only just completed the gate." "Every day that passes, the threat of the night of reckoning increases." Stella patted the map, "Trust me, we need to move quickly." Ashlock let out a long sigh. He wanted to rest his weary mind and soul under the nine moons, but villainy never slept. Vincent was out there conjuring a scheme that he would need to put a stop to. "Alright, Stella," Ashlock gave his daughter his full attention, "What is your plan?" Stella grinned, "You''re going to love this." Chapter 396: Butchered Two pink eyes of blazing bloodlust peered through the darkness and bore down on Vincent Nightrose as the golden threads of fate spiraled upwards into infinity. He tried to grasp at them, but like silk threads, they slid through his fingers. No matter which threads he attempted to follow, they all ended in loose ends. Vincent cursed as he dismissed the divination and wiped a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. Despite his efforts to fix up this body that he had stolen from Valandor, it didn''t live up to his standards. While he could use the full extent of his Qi without breaking the body as he had improved its spirit roots, bloodlines were another issue. While they technically carried over between bodies, due to the sheer number of them it was taking longer than he expected for this new body to adapt to a few of them. Luckily, he could still tap into the threads of fate bloodline he stole from the Starweaver family. As an inferior version, it would give him vague visions rather than any concrete information. But the fact that almost all threads ended in this all-consuming darkness illuminated solely by two eyes manifested from sheer bloodlust gave him a solid clue as to who would cause his end. He knew their identity not from the color of the floating eyes but from the smell of the bloodlust radiating from them. "How is this possible?" Vincent bit his nail as he sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor. "Stella Crestfallen is just a Star Core cultivator. How could she be the one to kill me?" Standing up, he looked at the bloodied floor all around him. Body parts, cut-up bodies, and more were shown haphazardly strewn around the room. A large coffin turned into an operating table dominated the center, covered in silver tools stained red with dried blood. Lying on the table was a body that was a perfect mirror image of him. A blood clone modeled after Valandor, and the last blood clone he could make that was combat-worthy. He had made a few low-effort blood clones that he controlled in Darklight City to lay the foundations for a backup plan if the meeting with Stella in Tartarus didn''t go according to plan. While he could transfer his infant soul to those should his main body die, it would be less than ideal as they hadn''t been designed to handle his bloodlines. "One worthy blood clone and five backups. This is definitely the most vulnerable I''ve ever been." Vincent paced around the table, a feeling of unease seeping into his bones. Despite no present threat, he felt his looming demise. He flexed his hands in frustration. This body isn''t as strong as I need it to be. My backup plans aren''t foolproof, and my path moving forward is clouded with death according to the threads of fate. Am I being blinded by greed? Is going after the Crestfallen bloodline a mistake? He leaned on the table and drummed his fingers. Life as it had been was over. His bloodline farm, the Blood Lotus Sect, had crumbled beneath his feet to an outside power¡ªa Divine-level sect, the Ashfallen Sect. A powerhouse he could not fight alone, at least not in this inferior body and without his arrays. His only way of growing stronger in this Qi-starved layer of creation had been gathering bloodlines, which had been ripped away from him. What choice was he left with? He was stuck at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and likely would be for an eon at this rate. I''m being impatient. I know I am. Vincent ran a frustrated hand through the long, luscious hair he knew Valandor had taken good care of. It was silky smooth, just like the threads of fate that seemed to despise his continued existence. What am I doing? Why should I care what future the threads of fate have weaved for me? To be a cultivator is to defy fate and the heavens themselves. I have done it all my life until this point. I took over the family, founded a sect, discovered a way to learn three affinities, and fractured my soul to accommodate them. Everybody told me I couldn''t do this or that, but I prevailed, and they were devoured. The threads of fate had to be wrong. "You are just a child, Stella Crestfallen." Vincent snarled, "Someone I allowed to live for the sole purpose of advancing my cultivation. I won''t lose to the likes of you, or anyone else on this layer of creation." Vincent placed his hand on the chest of the blood clone and began to transfer his consciousness. No matter how many times he did this technique, it was disorienting. His perspective changed, and he blinked away the dryness and gasped some air into the body''s lungs. Standing over him was Valandor¡ªor at least had been before he took over the body for himself. "Ugh," he rolled off the table and almost fell, as his stiff muscles had no blood pumping to them. His body was ready after a solid few minutes of leaning on the table and heavy breathing. Filling it with Qi, he was quite disappointed at how its spirit roots were limited to the Star Core Realm, but he had no time to improve them. "This should be fine. Valandor was at the peak of the Star Core Realm, so if my plan is to pass off as him, this actually works in my favor." Valandor muttered as he slid open the coffin while using telekinesis to keep all the tools from clattering to the ground. With the lid off, he hauled his main body over the edge and plunged it into the blood. As it sank into the coffin''s depths, the blood bubbled as if to dissolve the body. After it settled, he stuck his hand into the coffin and swirled it around to confirm that the blood transfer had worked. The body was indeed gone. He could transport vessels between blood coffins via a technique combining blood Qi and spatial Qi, which was the lower level affinity to gravity Qi. He''d used this technique quite a few times recently to survive. While I trust Morrigan, I don''t even trust my own mind sometimes. There''s no way I''m leaving my main body in a place someone knows of. I don''t even know where this blood coffin leads; the runes engraved in its base randomly select a different location each time. Just in case I get mind-controlled or soul-tortured to reveal its location. He had used his disposable blood clones that were infiltrating the Eyepatch group to build multiple bases where he then placed blood coffins. His body would have been sent to one of these locations at random. If I die in Tartarus, then I will lose a fragment of my soul in the process. But that''s better than having my main body destroyed. He mused as he picked up a few spatial rings sitting to the side and slotted them onto his fingers. They contained a few weapons, a pile of spirit stones, and clothes. While he had a distaste for such pointless human things, Valandor had been a man of ''class,'' and even he was aware enough to know that showing up in his usual lack of a getup would raise suspicions. Adorning a pristine white robe in a flash of silver, he felt his preparations were as good as they were going to get. "Now I just need to wait for Morrigan to appear and give me the good news." Vincent resumed his position on the floor and continued to repair the damage to his soul. Two days later, as he began to grow impatient, the door to the room finally opened, and Morrigan stepped through. "Vincent Nightrose, my lord." She took a knee at the entrance, not daring to step inside. "It''s finally time for us to have our revenge. Stella Crestfallen is inside Tartarus, and I told her to expect a visit from Valandor." His eyes opened, and he stood in a single motion, "Just in time, my patience has worn thin. My preparations are complete, so let''s go." "How shall we travel to Ashfallen City?" "I cannot use aether Qi, so we will go by flying sword." Vincent summoned a floating sword and hopped on. He could fly without a sword due to his gravity Qi, but it was all for show. Using illusion Qi, he wreathed it in white flames and flew past Morrigan, smashing through a grand window. Morrigan soon followed through the shards of glass that rained down on the dead city below with a frown. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Lead the way, Morrigan," Vincent gestured with his chin, "You know the lay of the land better than I." That was a lie. Vincent had gotten quite accustomed to the area via his blood clones running around the back alleys of Darklight City. He knew of the various factions and memorized every rumor he could about Stella Crestfallen and the Ashfallen Sect. Morrigan, who was none the wiser, took the lead. They shot through the clouded skies as the cold winter air rustled their long robes and hair. Rain thundered all around them, but such a thing was nothing but a minor inconvenience to them. Despite the storm, the central building of Ashfallen City, which lay at the base of White Stone Peak that had once been home to the Ravenborne family, was easy to make out as it dominated the surroundings. Crafted from glossy black marble, it soared skyward in the unmistakable silhouette of a towering tree. Roots coiling up its sides radiated an unnerving type of Qi he couldn''t recognize. Why is everything tree-themed in this place? They didn''t stop at the grand entrance, which had a sign marking it as the Ashfallen Trading Company. Instead, they looped around to the structure''s rear, where he saw a black stone gate guarded by two massive white wood statues with black flowers growing down their backs. Wait, those aren''t statues. Star Core level lunar Qi wreathed the two beings as they swiveled their heads to glare at them. Those must be similar to the monster under the Ashfallen Sect''s control that I killed in Nightrose City. The difference is that one was at the Nascent Soul level, while these are weaklings at the Star Core Realm. While they look quite imposing, I could destroy them with a flick of my finger... Vincent paused that thought as he remembered he was stuck in a body limited to the Star Core Realm due to the poor materials he had on hand to craft it from. Shaking his head, he ignored the living statues and noticed that around their legs were a few shadow affinity cultivators of various strengths. A shadow cultivator family? Unless the Ashfallen Sect raised them, I believe there was such a family in the Tainted Cloud Sect. Has the Ashfallen Sect taken over that sect as well? Just how far do their roots spread? Touching down, he dismissed his sword. The shadow cultivators guarding the entrance gave him a brief glance before returning to whatever task they were conducting on the utterly black portal suspended between the gate. Morrigan gestured for him to follow, and they strode confidently toward the gate. An older-looking cultivator moved to stop them. "Tartarus isn''t currently open to visitors. If you wish to challenge the staircase, come back next week." "Stand aside Duskwalker. We have permission from the Princess." Morrigan said with some spite in her tone. "The Princess?" The man raised a brow, "Then you must be¡ª" "Morrigan Voidmind," she said, and void soul flames flickered aggressively across her shoulders, "Overseer of Slymere. This is Valandor, the White Reaper. The Princess is waiting inside to give Valandor something. You wouldn''t want to keep the Princess waiting now, would you?" "No, of course not, and yes, I did hear about that. There''s no need to be so on edge," the man waved her inside. "Knock yourself out. The Princess is inside inspecting Tartarus''s progress." "Thank you, I will." Morrigan pushed past the man, and Vincent followed. As the darkness of the portal enveloped them, Vincent used his Qi to hide his voice and angrily whispered in Morrigan''s ear. "What''s with the attitude? What if he didn''t let us in?" They passed through the portal and arrived on the other side in an expansive space. Morrigan spun around and glared at him while showing off her missing arm. "You expect me to be polite to those in the Ashfallen Sect who are beneath me when this is what they do to me? They should burn in the flames of hell. Every last one of them. Besides, they don''t have the right to stop my entry. The word of the Princess is absolute, and she permitted us to be here." Reminded of the Princess, Vincent sniffed the air and grinned widely. "She''s really here." For the first time in a week, he smelled it. The scent of the Crestfallen Bloodline. It took everything he had to not hurtle toward the scent and dig his teeth into the succulent flesh that stood between him and that sweet nectar that would help him access the Crestfallen''s ancient knowledge and ascend to the Monarch Realm. He was so close. But he held himself back, if barely. This body was limited to the same realm as Stella, meaning if they were to fight, it wasn''t clear he would win. That''s why he had Morrigan with him, and her burning hatred toward the Ashfallen Sect that seemed to burn even brighter than before gave him faith that she would assist him in killing her. "She should be up there somewhere," Morrigan pointed, and Vincent followed her finger. They were standing in what could be described as a castle room fit for titans. Walls shrouded in darkness loomed around them. Though the space was not empty. What appeared to be buildings that bought and sold things by the signs were dotted around alongside dozens of demonic trees, with mushrooms growing from roots spiraling around their bark, providing some dim lighting. The whole layout of this place directed one''s focus to a giant staircase of runically enchanted stone flanked by demonic trees that seemed to ascend through a series of shadow rifts. It was as if twenty alternate realities had lined up in ascending order with a staircase piercing through them. "Let''s not keep her waiting, then," Vincent said, taking the lead. They began effortlessly ascending the steps five at a time. At first, he didn''t notice, but after climbing ten levels, Vincent started to feel a slight pressure bearing down on him. He paused, and Morrigan came to a stop a few steps ahead. "What is it?" She asked over her shoulder. "I feel a pressure, do you?" Morrigan nodded, "The quality of the Qi increases the higher one climbs, but so does the pressure. It doesn''t affect either of us much, but for the Qi Realm cultivators, the pressure on these upper steps would crush them to death." "Why would they bother to climb this staircase then?" "You see those chests at the tree''s base?" Morrigan gestured to a nearby demonic tree. "Yeah?" "They contain treasures. Pills, weapons, artifacts, and more. The Ashfallen Sect stocks them to incentivize and help people on their cultivation journey. The higher one climbs, the better the rewards." "And the fruit growing from the trees?" Vincent asked. "Full of Qi, and some even carry temporary effects like poison resistance or increased chance of enlightenment." "I see," Vincent continued his climb. He didn''t know why the Ashfallen Sect seemed interested in uplifting so many people into weak cultivators, nor did he care. How they wasted their resources was of little consequence to him. All he cared about was gutting Stella Crestfallen and bathing in her blood. Despite the pressure, he began to go faster and faster. The stairs became a blur until he reached the nineteenth level. His Star Core hummed loudly in his chest as he staggered up the last flight of steps. Nascent Soul level pressure? Only a peak Star Core Realm cultivator could survive this. "You will have to go on without me," Morrigan gasped as she rested against a demonic tree. "This pressure is too much for me." Vincent raised a brow, "I thought you were nearing the peak of the Star Core Realm by now." Morrigan shook her head, "If I was, wouldn''t I have been the head of the Voidmind family from the start? No, I''m afraid my talent didn''t allow for such a thing." "Then wait here," Vincent clicked his tongue and continued on his way. The smell of Stella''s blood was simply too intoxicating to ignore. If a fight ensued between them, he would have to draw her toward Morrigan to turn it into a two-on-one and secure the victory. If only it wasn''t so dark in here, and the shadow Qi wasn''t blocking my spiritual sense. Reaching the top, he tried to muster all the dignity he could as he crested the final step. The pressure was intense, as if the suffocating weight of an ocean was pressing down on him from all sides. "A hut?" Vincent raised a brow at the only thing up here. "I had expected a grand castle or something after that laborious climb. Can''t say I''m not disappointed." Despite his joking tone, he had his eyes peeled. The smell of Stella''s blood was radiating from that small hut. She had to be inside. "Sorry to disappoint, Grand Elder Valandor!" A girl''s voice called out. The door to the hut opened, but all he could see inside was darkness. "I can promise the inside doesn''t disappoint, though! Treat it as a treasure chest for your deepest desire." Vincent licked his lips and shuffled closer. He searched his consciousness but couldn''t remember Stella''s voice or even her face. But there was no doubt about it. This was the smell of her blood. He approached the door with his Star Core primed and ready to go. Entering, darkness washed over him, revealing a small room. Inside, it was not what he had been expecting. There was a woman here, but it was not Stella. Morrigan sat at the table, grinning. A metal chain ending in a curved hook was dangling above the simple wooden table. Blood dripped down from a girl''s arm that was impaled on the hook like a piece of meat at a butcher''s. It eerily swayed from side to side as if compelled by a nonexistent wind. Vincent sniffed. There was no doubt about it. The torn-off arm hanging from a hook before him had belonged to Stella Crestfallen, and Morrigan likely had something to do with it. Chapter 397: Procreation "What did you do, Morrigan?!" Vincent snarled as he glared at the grinning woman. This was the worst outcome. He ideally needed a person alive so he could drain the required blood from them for the bloodline absorption ritual to work. While this arm did have some of Stella Crestfallen''s blood, it was already too stale, and even if he drained every last drop from the arm, it wouldn''t be enough to fill more than a cup, let alone a coffin. Morrigan had clearly betrayed him, and he had been baited to an area with immense suppression by this cheap trick. If they were to fight here, he was likely to lose. "You ask what I did? This was nothing but karma. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," Morrigan waved her stump. "An arm for an arm. I got my revenge on that Princess brat." "You''ve betrayed me!" Vincent slammed his fist down on the table, shattering it in two. "How could you say that?" Morrigan said, unfazed by the destroyed table between them, "Even after I showed my loyalty many times and got you this snack..." "Snack? This is useless to me!" Vincent ripped the arm off the hook and pointed it accusingly at Morrigan. "Since when did you switch sides?" She looked at him with amusement, "Switch sides? Honey, I was never on your side to begin with." "But you banished your pride and licked my foot to show your servitude." "Oh, you poor child," Morrigan shook her head, "That little joke was enough to win you over? I''ve engaged in far more deplorable acts for far less over the years." She stood up and laughed, "Pride is an excessive love of one''s own excellence, usually fed by the reactions of others. Do you know what that means?" "What?" Vincent snapped back. His patience was long gone. Morrigan smiled at him. "You become easy to control. Those consumed by pride are the most predictable, jealous, and impulsive individuals. The greatest threat to a cultivator is not the sword of an enemy but the blindness caused by their own arrogance." Vincent scowled, "Overwhelming strength will always win." Morrigan stepped over the broken table and stood before him. She craned her neck to look up at him and whispered, "Then how did you lose to a weakling like me?" "Lose?" Vincent snorted and grasped his hand around her neck. "Your betrayal is a setback, but what have I lost?" "I knew you were after Stella Crestfallen''s bloodline from the start, and I also know that you need the entire body alive to extract the bloodline." Morrigan raised a finger wreathed in void Qi and slowly ran it down his cheek. The chilling coldness of the void devoured his flesh, leaving a crevice he couldn''t heal. "I killed Stella Crestfallen earlier today. I tore her limb from limb and buried her corpse on Red Vine Peak. A place you cannot reach." Vincent frowned deeply and searched her face in hope. Surely, she had to be joking, right? "Ah yes," Morrigan trembled in ecstasy, "That''s the look I''ve been dying to see on your face. While I do hate the Ashfallen Sect..." Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "I despise you even more. You dragged my family members off to bathe in their blood. You took my sons and daughters from me. So I''ve been waiting for a long time to kill you." Her hand traced down his neck to his chest, and her hand paused above his beating spiritual heart. "You denied my children a future, so I''ve done the same to you. The Crestfallen bloodline will never fall into your hands as it dries up in the rock of Red Vine Peak. Gone for eternity." "What about your daughter? I thought you wanted to save her from her fate in the Ashfallen Sect." "I have to save her from you first." Vincent licked his lips, "Her bloodline has ripened then. Interesting." "A taste you will never get to enjoy." Morrigan thrust her void-wreathed hand into his chest. "Now, now," Vincent tutted as he firmly held Morrigan''s wrist in place with a layer of constantly replenishing blood Qi to guard his hand against the void. Her fingers were a mere inch from his beating spiritual heart¡ªthe source of his power. "Killing me in such a way seems rather one-sided, does it not? Should we not step over into hell together?" "You can''t beat me," Morrigan sneered. "Oh, I know," Vincent agreed, "You seem unfazed by the suppression of this place, meaning you are a void cultivator at the peak of the Star Core Realm. I may struggle to defeat you even at my best. Hence, I must apologize in advance for what I''m about to do." "You wouldn''t..." Morrigan tried to squirm but was unable to escape his grip around her neck and wrist as his blood Qi invaded her body and anchored her in place. "Void cultivators are cursed to remain in the Star Core Realm, meaning you can''t have an infant soul." Vincent''s eyes glinted with amusement as he loosened his control over his Star Core. A sudden surge of energy erupted, and the core began its cataclysmic transformation into a supernova. Gravity Qi bore down on them both, forcing them to the ground. Blood poured out of his body in every way imaginable, staining his pristine white cloak a deep crimson. "How dare you go supernova, you cowardly bastard!" Morrigan screamed as she tried to claw at him. "Fight me for real!" "I can''t do that." Morrigan knew too much about him and his plans. It was better to go supernova here to eliminate a dangerous void cultivator than to be captured by the Ashfallen Sect or leave any evidence of his assumed appearance as Valandor. After all, he needed to set foot on Red Vine Peak by the end of the day. If what Morrigan said was true, and Stella''s body parts were scattered across Red Vine Peak, he didn''t have a moment to waste. "I hope you reflect on betraying me as your soul rots in hell," Vincent sneered as he choked Morrigan out. She tried to attack him with spikes of void, but it was pointless. Most were blocked by the blood Qi gushing out of his body, and the few that managed to pierce him had little hope of stopping the process. His world went white as his Star Core reached a threshold. The internal strength of his soul was incapable of holding in the Qi, causing his soul to rapidly collapse before exploding outward. All he heard as his soul exploded was Morrigan''s final scream. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. *** "Ugh," Vincent groaned as he reached through the darkness and pushed up. The stone lid of his coffin slid to the side, and he sat up. Looking around with the main body he had stolen from Valandor, he confirmed he was in the hideout he had constructed in the center of Darklight City below the Flamehunt family''s estate. The memories of what had happened in Tartarus were fuzzy at best, as he had lost a fraction of his soul. However, due to his spiritual heartbeats between every body he controlled being in perfect sync, he was able to transfer some knowledge before he went supernova. Because of this, there were a few things he knew for sure. One, Morrigan had betrayed him, and secondly, she had lied. Stella was alive. "If the rumors are true, the ruler of the Ashfallen Sect often dotes on his daughter. Her death would be known to him in an instant, and a leader with that level of power wouldn''t sit around if someone killed their kin." He expanded his spiritual sight across the land and couldn''t feel any Qi fluctuations of bloodlust from Red Vine Peak. "If Morrigan had truly killed Stella Crestfallen, Red Vine Peak would be ablaze with Qi. Which can only mean that Morrigan and Stella Crestfallen are working together. A limb can be healed, so just because her arm was hanging there doesn''t mean she was torn limb from limb." Perhaps more importantly, if Stella had died, he would have experienced the Ashfallen Sect leader''s bloodlust while examining the threads of fate. Yet no matter what thread of fate he followed, it was Stella''s bloodlust that followed him. According to his recent usage of the Starweaver bloodline, the threads of fate seemed convinced that Stella would kill him in all possible futures. Therefore, she couldn''t have died in such a way. It was quite concerning that during his first usage of the bloodline, he had been shown only one possible future. Vincent drummed his fingers on the coffin''s side as he tried to figure out their goal. "If they were trying to bait me somewhere again, they would have suggested a place I can actually go. She knows I fear the void lightning array surrounding Red Vine Peak, and without Morrigan, I have no way to disable it..." His eyes widened, "They are trying to get me to give up. Faking Stella''s death, saying her bloodline has been lost and buried in an unreachable graveyard. Having lost my last good clone, it would be a good time to give up." Vincent rose and stepped out of the blood coffin as blood dripped off him. There was no way he would return to sitting in a dark cave and pointlessly cultivating for the next eon when his quick path to power was right before him. The knowledge of the Crestfallen ancestors would not only allow him to reach the Monarch Realm, but he could climb even higher and faster than any cultivator. Access to that knowledge was wasted on a girl like Stella. Only the heavens would become his limit. "I know you are hiding Stella." Vincent licked his lips, "The night of reckoning will reveal you in due time." *** Stella impatiently waited outside the wooden hut on the 20th step of Tartarus. "Relax, Morrigan is handling it." Diana reassured her and smiled, "Please stop tapping your foot¡ªit''s annoying." Stella paused her foot, "Sorry. I usually cross my arms when I''m nervous, but you know..." she waved her stump. They weren''t the only two here. Maple was asleep on her head, and Grand Elder Redclaw was quietly standing at Diana''s side with his sword drawn. Elaine was also here as she had been nervous about her mother after hearing their plan and Sol behind them, illuminating the area. Stella felt Maple shift on her head. The squirrel that had been in slumber for what felt like forever perked up and stared at the hut''s doorway. His golden eyes narrowed, and his ears twitched. "Did something happen?" Stella asked as she reached up to pat the squirrel. The hut was actually empty and simply served as a facade for a shadow rift that led out of Tartarus and to the void. Morrigan had been the one to set it up by linking it to the hole in the void tree in Slymere. "Someone went supernova," Maple said. "What? Who?" Elaine panicked. "Was it my mother?" Before Maple could respond, the door to the hut swung open. Everyone paused and watched the doorway that led to nothing but darkness with bated breaths. A moment later, an unfazed Morrigan strode out. Her hair was the same light pink color as Elaine''s but quickly transitioned back to black as if reacting to the air. "Did you kill Vincent?" Stella asked the question on everyone''s mind. Morrigan shook her head, "It was just a blood clone with a fragment of his soul." Stella let out a breath she didn''t know she was holding, and a weird mix of emotions overcame her. She was frustrated that Vincent was still out there somewhere, but on the other hand, she was weirdly relieved that she still had the opportunity to kill him herself. "Did he go supernova?" Morrigan raised a brow, "How did you know..." She glanced up at Maple, who was staring at her, "Oh, yeah. He did." "And you''re fine?" Elaine asked as she apprehensively walked toward her mother. Morrigan smiled at her daughter, "Of course, darling. If it was the real one, I would have been in trouble, but this one was easy enough to deal with." Stella somehow doubted that. As Elaine and Morrigan embraced each other in a hug, Stella didn''t miss Morrigan licking her blood-stained lips. While she was nonchalant about it, she had dealt with a blood clone carrying the fragment of a high-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. That wasn''t something a cultivator of Morrigan''s level could survive going supernova. Yet she had forced someone of Vincent''s caliber and pride to take the cowardly way out? Just what had happened in there? "While I survived, I believe Vincent thinks I''m dead." Morrigan winked at Stella, "I also told him I killed you and buried your body on Red Vine Peak." Stella nodded, "Good." "Also, I believe this is yours." Morrigan''s spatial ring flashed with silver, and she threw a human arm at her. Stella caught it with telekinesis and floated it to her stump. "Sol, come and help me." The Ent obeyed her command and lumbered over. One of its many arms reached into the floating ball of light and withdrew a healing wisp. Pressing it against the stump, the area glowed with power, and muscle strands wiggled out to construct a new arm. Stella mentally focused the strands to encounter the floating arm Morrigan had ripped off this morning, and they burrowed into it. After a painful few minutes, she flexed her fingers in her reattached arm. It felt unnaturally stiff and cold, but that feeling would soon fade. "An arm for an arm," Stella grinned and withdrew Morrigan''s arm, which she had cut off a few days ago and had been holding onto since. "That was the deal," Morrigan laughed as she caught her arm and casually reattached it without Sol''s help. She flexed her fingers, and despite being apart from her arm far longer than Stella had, it didn''t seem to be stiff or unnatural. Is she even human? Stella could only wonder. "Now, what do we do?" Grand Elder Redclaw asked "We wait," Stella replied. "It''s Vincent''s turn now. Either he takes the bait and tries to retrieve my body from Red Vine Peak, or he cuts his losses and leaves this place." Grand Elder Redclaw crossed his arms and frowned, "We are just going to let Vincent go?" "Don''t worry. I highly doubt he will be fleeing anytime soon. While he has been setback by losing a blood clone, he has deep ties to a group in Darklight City that opposes the All-Seeing Eye," Stella explained, "He''s spreading these blood pills to mortals, and I even witnessed a faceless blood clone of his. While I haven''t figured out Vincent''s motive yet, someone like him wouldn''t expend his blood Qi and time working with mortals for no reason." "So that crafty bastard isn''t out of trump cards yet," Grand Elder Redclaw stroked his chin, "It was never going to be easy to take that man down. He''s ruled over the wilderness for a long time, and for good reason." "But we are so close," Stella clenched her fists. "We have something he''s willing to die trying to get his hands on. He may be a careful and calculating person, but everyone starts to make mistakes when they feel cornered. We just need to keep up the pressure. I''m going to investigate the Eyepatch group further and see if I can unveil his plan." Diana tapped Stella on the shoulder, "If you don''t mind me asking, how did you find this group? I assist in managing Darklight City alongside the council, and I never received any reports about them." Stella shrugged, "I went into town seeking a new hobby. Oh, that reminds me, I meant to ask you about something." Diana tilted her head, "Mhm?" Stella brought out the two binders she had stolen from the brothel and handed them to Diana. "I went to an establishment called a brothel and was given these. I want to ask you about the appeal of the activities that take place there¡ª" "Let''s talk about this somewhere else, okay? How about your house?" Diana grabbed her hand and began dragging her down Tartarus''s stairs. She could hear some laughter behind her from Morrigan and Elaine. What''s so funny about it? Stella frowned. "Should I get Ashlock to help with this?" Diana muttered under her breath, "Mhm, maybe that''s a bad idea. What would a spirit tree know about human procreation?" Chapter 398: Birds and the Bees Stella sat on the couch of her home while Diana let out an exasperated sigh. "You got it so wrong it might as well be backward." "So you''re telling me it''s not a type of wrestling?" Stella retorted. "Yes, that is exactly what I''m telling you. Where did you even get that idea?" Diana pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Stella shrugged, "The brothel? They gave me a list of opponents to choose from." Diana gave her a look of disbelief. "Look for yourself," Stella picked up and showed Diana the binder she had shown her earlier, "They have the person''s measurements and even a detailed diagram of their form. Weirdly, there''s nothing about cultivation realms, but I suppose that makes sense since this brothel caters to mortals." Stella paused as she got an idea, "What if we started a brothel, but for cultivators¡ª" "Stella, the Ashfallen Sect is not moving into that industry." "Why not? My human pet''s establishment seemed quite profitable if the golden crowns I stole from his storage room were anything to go by." Diana chucked the open binder onto the coffee table and fell into a nearby seat. While nursing her head, she looked at Stella through her fingers. Stella returned a grin, which only made Diana roll her eyes. "Fiiine, we won''t open a brothel." Stella crossed her arms. "But I''m still confused. Why were Elaine and Morrigan laughing when you dragged me away? What''s the big deal?" "Because it''s not a hobby, sport, or a business opportunity." Diana drew her hand away and looked into her eyes, "The intense cuddling, as you call it, has an official name. It''s called sex, and it''s an activity done to create children." "What does sex stand for?" Diana tilted her head, "What do you mean?" "It''s an acronym for something, right? Maybe swift, efficient, and..." Diana snorted. "What''s so funny?" Stella frowned. "No, it''s nothing. Continue." Diana waved her off, "What does X stand for?" "Mhm..." Stella thought for a while but drew up a blank, "Okay, fine. Not an acronym. So sex is just the name of the sport." "Not a sport." "It seemed quite exhausting." "Talking to you is exhausting," Diana slumped back in her chair, "Does that make it a sport?" Stella tapped her chin in thought. "Don''t answer that," Diana sighed and looked at her. "Here''s a question. You said it seemed quite exhausting, meaning you watched people in the act, right? Did you feel anything unusual while watching? Maybe a tingling." "A tingling?" Stella frowned and thought back, "Was I supposed to?" Diana raised the two binders, one with women and another with men. "What about when you look at these?" Stella glanced between them and then at her body. After a moment, she shrugged, "No?" "Interesting," Diana left them open on the table and drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair while she muttered to herself. "She isn''t interested in either? Has her childhood affected her to this extent, or has the influence of heaven turned her impotent?" "I can hear you." Stella protested. She wasn''t sure what Diana said, but it didn''t sound very kind. "Stella, do you love anyone?" "Yes, of course." Stella paused, "I love Ash and also you." Diana''s eyes widened a little. "You two are family to me," Stella added, and Diana''s excitement died a little. "I see," Diana mused, "Wait, you''re half-tree, right?" Stella nodded, "My mother is likely the world tree." "And you were raised by a tree." "Yup." "Can you be pollinated by a bee?" Stella tilted her head as she tried to understand Diana''s question. "Ignore me. That was a dumb question." Diana''s voice dropped to a whisper. "Or was it?" "Diana, I''ll be honest, I''m even more confused now than before." Stella grumbled, "You aren''t very good at explaining things." "I promise you, I''m not the problem here." Diana insisted. "Uh-huh. If you say so." Stella crossed her arms, "So this sex thing can create children. How does that work." "Now we are getting somewhere!" Diana perked up. "If you have sex with a guy, there''s a chance you can get pregnant, and then a few months later, you will give birth to a child. Wait¡ªdo you have any interest in having children?" "Mhm..." Stella pondered for a while and then remembered Jasmine. "Yeah, I want one. They can be rather useful. How long until they can attend meetings and cultivate?" "You know what? Let''s shelve the child idea for now." "Ryker is already at the Star Core Realm, and he''s what, five? That''s quite a long time, but I''m sure my child will be even more exceptional. Star Core Realm by three years old at the latest." "I can''t believe what I''m hearing." Diana groaned. "This is a great idea. I can raise my own personal attendant." Stella ignored Diana''s protesting stare, "I want a child now. How do I do this sex thing correctly?" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. "I refuse to tell you." Stella stood up, "I''m going to the brothel to ask." "Sit back down," Diana snapped, and Stella hesitantly sat back down. What followed was Diana''s lengthy explanation of the art of intense cuddling. Right as Stella felt herself drifting off to sleep, Diana asked. "Are you listening?" "Uh? Ah, yes." "Okay, what did I say then?" Stella opened her mouth to answer but drew a blank. "Could you explain it again to me like I''m five? That was too complicated." "No, that sounds weird." Diana shook her head. "Fine, explain it in weapon terms." Diana gave her a death stare before sighing for the tenth time. "Fine. You are the sheath. He has a sword. If his sword goes in and out of your sheath enough times, there''s a chance you will get pregnant. Understand?" Stella slowly nodded, "I''m a sheath, got it. But what if we had sex? You don''t have a sword." Diana smirked and brought out what looked like an arm-length wooden pole, "We can make one." Stella studied the worn wood with confusion, "A wooden sword? This will get me pregnant, too?" Diana shook her head, "No, that''s the best part! And it''s not a sword." "If the purpose of sex is to make children, but this doesn''t get me pregnant, what''s the point?" Diana shrugged, "It''s fun?" "Ha!" Stella pointed an accusing finger, "So it is a hobby." Diana facepalmed, "No..." "And hobbies can be monetized for profit!" "You are missing the entire point." "I don''t think I am," Stella smirked, "You are just trying to backtrack after I caught you out.'' "This is hopeless," Diana gave up. I think I won this argument. Stella thought with amusement. *** Jasmine opened one eye and pulled on her link with her Master. To her utter surprise, it wasn''t feeding her negativity. Stella was having... fun? "What poor soul is she torturing now?" Jasmine mumbled as she closed her eyes and tried to focus back on cultivating. But a sudden door slam and laughter in the corridor broke her focus. "Master has a friend over?" Jasmine wandered into the lounge and looked between them. "Master, did you find a new hobby?" Stella and Diana exchanged a look. "Yeah? Something like that." Stella sat down and grabbed a fruit from the fruit bowl on the coffee table. "Winning arguments." Jasmine felt Ashlock''s familiar presence blanket the room a moment after her Master. They all looked to the ceiling in unison, and Jasmine felt her Master''s father''s voice echo in her mind as she quickly ate a mind fortress pill. "Stella? What are you doing here? I thought you went to investigate the Eyepatch group to find Vincent Nightrose''s main body." Stella choked on the fruit and had to gulp water to help it down, "Yes, Tree. I was just leaving." "Great. I''ve got to return to learning blood dao. After dissolving all the blood pills into a small lake and absorbing blood Qi from the Nightrose Elders I devoured, I feel on the cusp of grasping it." "That''s great, Tree!" Trying her best to look composed, Diana interjected, "Why is Ashlock trying to learn blood dao?" Stella glanced at Diana, "His new desolation Qi can annihilate other Qi types so long as he knows the dao behind them. After learning this, I had an idea." "Let me guess, you want him to use desolation Qi to annihilate Vincent?" Diana frowned. "That won''t work. Not only is Vincent''s Qi stronger than Ashlock''s, but he also has three affinities." Stella shook her head, "It''s not Vincent I''m after." "Then who..." "Vincent has to control his blood clones somehow. What if desolation Qi came in contact with the links between his clones and his main body?" Diana''s eyes widened, "You want to cut off his escape routes." Stella nodded, "Exactly. Find and eliminate the heads, and all that''s left is the body. The fight with Vincent will be a big and bloody one, and I want to ensure that once he''s dead, he''s dead for good." "This is a good plan." Diana nodded approvingly. "Of course it is," Stella smirked, "I''m the one who came up with it." Diana exchanged a look with Jasmine, and they both rolled their eyes. "You two are such haters. Anyway, I''m off." Stella vanished in a flash of aether before either of them could say goodbye. Ashlock''s all-encompassing presence also shifted away, leaving Jasmine alone with Diana. *** Stella sat opposite Sullivan the following day. She didn''t want to admit it, but it had taken her a few hours to locate the man. She foolishly hadn''t thought of a way to track his whereabouts or instructed anyone to watch him. Luckily, the man had returned to his brothel, where they were now. The man''s office was quite spacious, though disorderly. Compared to his well-tailored suit and neat hair, the room showed his wild side. Mhm, no tingling feeling. I still don''t know what Diana was talking about. Stella mused while she leaned back in Sullivan''s large armchair. The giant of a man was sitting opposite her on a small stool that looked comically small compared to his statue. Whatever the case, this isn''t what she had come to the brothel for. "Where is that woman that was working with you? Kaelith, I think, was her name?" Sullivan bowed, "Reporting to the Mistress. Lord Flamehunt urgently called Kaelith back to the main residence." "Oh?" Stella leaned on her palm, "Why was that?" "I don''t know for certain, but I have a theory, Mistress. If you''re willing to hear it." Sullivan tensed up as Guppy shifted behind him. Stella had let her pet out of the aether for a short walk and to intimidate her human pet a little, of course. "Go ahead," Stella gestured for him to continue. Sullivan gulped, "Erm, well, you see, before she left, Kaelith received a concerning notice from the Eyepatch group." Reaching into his suit pocket, he withdrew a piece of paper and slit it across the table. Stella lazily used telekinesis to raise the paper, unfurl it, and read the contents. It seems they have drastically increased blood pill production? Ten crates of blood pills will be delivered hourly, and all are expected to be distributed to the mortals of Darklight and Ashfallen City. That seems like a lot. Does that mean they have expanded operations to Ashfallen City? I don''t remember any mention of them being there before. Mhm, and it says here to get rid of the pills by any means necessary. Put them in food and even in the water supply. The boss also wants members to swap out pills from the All-Seeing Eye gift boxes for blood pills and give them to friends and family? Each crate comes with a spirit stone payment, and those who don''t manage to distribute all the pills given will be killed. Stella looked around the floating paper at Sullivan, "When did this start?" "Last night," Sullivan replied. "I don''t think the boss cares about lying low anymore. He''s gone crazy. He even sent me many boxes of pills despite exiling me." "Did you distribute them?" "Of course not. I stored them in the basement." Stella stood, "Wait here. I''ll be right back." Dropping down through the aether, she arrived in the basement. Sure enough, it was overflowing with crates in such a short time. Sullivan was still alive, meaning the killing of those who failed to distribute the pills was a lie. Vincent doesn''t have the manpower or care to carry out that empty threat, but the members of the Eyepatch group don''t know that. This is totally unsustainable. Where the hell is he getting this much blood to make these pills from anyway? Just how far has his reach spread... Stella stepped through the aether again and arrived at the bakery across the road. She caught the pot-bellied baker red-handed. The man had a crate of blood pills in the corner of his kitchen and was manically stuffing the pills into a loaf of bread. Before the man noticed her presence, she was already gone and returned to the office. That baker had no idea what was happening a few days ago but had grown sick. I think Sullivan put blood pills in the water supply that he had been drinking from. It''s terrifying how, in such a short time, he went from confused citizen to shoving blood pills in the bread that he sells. "This is more serious than I thought," Stella said, and Sullivan nodded. "I couldn''t agree more. I fear the night of reckoning could be as early as tonight." "The night of reckoning..." Stella drummed her fingers as she thought about what Vincent could possibly be up to. Wait. If he uses blood Qi to control his blood clones from afar, what''s to say he can''t control everyone whose spirit roots are clogged up with his blood Qi? "Say Sullivan, when I pretended to be interested in joining the Eyepatch group, you said the effect of the blood pills was temporary. You have to keep taking them, correct?" "That is right, Mistress." "Do you know where these pills are being made?" Such a sharp increase in production would need Vincent physically present. Even if we can''t kill Vincent, I need to find the source of these pills and cut them off. "I believe the largest facility is under the Flamehunt''s residence," Sullivan said, stroking his chin. "There''s a prison nearby managed by the Flamehunt family, and I heard they were using the inmates in the production process." "Perfect." Stella stood once more and ensured her pendant hung securely around her neck. "Let''s go find us a bloodsucker." Chapter 399: Night of Reckoning Vincent clasped his hands behind his back and took in the sights all around him. Floating islands, big and small, dotted the celestial sky with shimmering gold waterfalls cascading off their sides. He stood upon a bridge of gems. If he glanced off the side, he could see down into the layers of creation below. All were below his feet, and he was at the peak of creation. Of course, this was all an illusion. He could step off the bridge, and his feet would find solid rock. As the blood pills flowed, the balance between his affinities had become unstable. To counter this, rings of intense gravity silently orbited him, bending the air to those capable of perceiving it, and he also expended some illusion Qi to make the basement of the Flamehunt residence look like a paradise, or at least what he thought the lands on the first layer of creation that housed godly beings looked like. "If I can get ahold of the Crestfallen bloodline, this will one day be more than an illusion in my mind." He began pacing back and forth as he muttered, "It''s said that the appearance of a Crestfallen heralds the fall of the World Tree and the separation of the nine realms. If so, by killing her and taking the bloodline for myself, I will save the World Tree and weave a new reality. One where I''m king." "Just how delusional are you?" A man said behind him. Vincent frowned and turned to glare at the perpetrator. A short man with an impressive beard as black as soot was dangling upside down from a chain with his arms crossed. He wasn''t the only one; dozens of people with similar features to this man joined him in hanging from chains, but he was the only one conscious. His face was deathly pale, just like the others. Blood dripped from cuts all over his body to the ground below, where it flowed toward a giant coffin. Vincent clicked his tongue and canceled the illusion, returning him to reality. A dark and dreary basement below the Flamehunt residence. He ignored the man as he walked over to the coffin. Pressing his hand on it and inserting Qi, a runic formation glowed, and the gathered blood was condensed into hundreds of pills. He then used telekinesis to float the pills over to an empty crate. Once it was full, he added some spirit stones that he had taken from the Flamehunt family''s vault. Clicking his fingers, a team of glazed-eyed maids shuffled into the room. They gathered around the crate, and with a strained grunt, they picked it up and moved it to another room. "You want to kill that Crestfallen girl, right? The Princess of the Ashfallen Sect?" Vincent had little reason to humor this man, but he was curious. "What if I do?" "Forget it," the leader of the Flamehunt family snorted, "She''s an unkillable demon in human skin and a powerful cultivator. Trust me, many have tried to kill her in the past, and none have succeeded. Even the heavens tried to strike her down, and she simply laughed at them." "I think I can handle her," Vincent brushed off the man''s nonsense. Defy the heavens? He had done that more times than he could count. Many have tried to kill her? He had fought off entire sects by himself. Stella Crestfallen was a small fry in the grand scheme of things. A Star Core Realm cultivator in a sea of stars, shining only slightly brighter than the others. "Perhaps, but what about the one who stands behind her?" Vincent paused, "Stands behind her?" "The immortal of the Ashfallen Sect." The man whispered as if scared he would be heard, "He''s said to be the most fearsome existence in the wilderness, and when I say he''s an overprotective father, that''s an understatement." Vincent frowned as he felt his title had been taken from him. "More fearsome than Vincent Nightrose?" Lord Flamehunt laughed deeply despite his deteriorated condition from the blood draining. "That cave dweller? I heard his city of blood fell in a single day to the Ashfallen Sect." Vincent reined in his anger and asked as calmly as he could. "What sets the immortal of the Ashfallen Sect and Vincent Nightrose apart?" "Presence and action. Horror stories about Vincent are told to us by our parents and uttered by the cultivators of old. Most have never laid eyes on him nor seen what he can do. Meanwhile, the presence of the immortal can be felt all around us. But more importantly, it is what the immortal does." Vincent flexed the rings of gravity around him to distill his rage. "What does he do that Vincent doesn''t?" The man paused to think for a moment before answering, "I''ve lived in Darklight City for decades and seen multiple noble families wipe each other out, destroying parts of the city in the process. It doesn''t exactly inspire confidence in the citizens, seeing that the Nightrose family has no control over the sect. Whereas the immortal... remember when I said he was an overprotective father? Rumor has it Stella Crestfallen tried to challenge the Lunarshade family guards and promised to kill them with a single finger. When she got overwhelmed, they froze her in place. "And?" "Well, the immortal didn''t take too kindly to that, so he wiped out the Lunarshade family in a single night and took over the city." Vincent raised a brow, "All for his daughter?" The man nodded. "Nobody messes with the Princess and lives to tell the tale." Vincent frowned. While he didn''t care much for his offspring, he understood why some did. However, there was still a reason in this world that discouraged the strong from obliterating the weak. Gathering Qi at the peak of power was a laborious process. While he could flatten a city, it would consume centuries of meticulously gathered Qi, setting his cultivation back and weakening him. Without adequate Qi reserves, a weaker opponent could wear him down and kill him. Meanwhile, his enemies would get ahead. Because of this, it simply wasn''t worth it for the strong to get involved in such matters. That is what subordinates or offspring were for. He would only step in if something that directly threatened his existence showed up that his lessers couldn''t handle. To destroy a distant city and wipe out an entire ancient family like the Lunarshades over them punishing his daughter for her stupid antics? Either this immortal really is a crazed father, or he is simply so powerful that he doesn''t fear anyone else on this layer of creation. "Put a stop to this, boss," Lord Flamehunt said with a glint in his eye, "I believe it''s possible to put an end to the Ashfallen Sect''s tyranny, but this is the wrong way to go about it. You''re drawing way too much attention, and nobody survives once they earn the ire of the All-Seeing Eye." "I''ll be the judge of that," Vincent snorted and turned his back to the man. In truth, he was concerned. I can''t even remember the last time I felt this cornered by a foe. It''s not that I can''t run away, but doing so would doom me to never step into the next realm of power. Being greedy and cultivating three affinities at once was coming back to bite him, and he had to pay the price. Few Nascent Soul Realm cultivators grasped the law of their affinities, let alone three. He considered himself an exceptional talent, but there were limits. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Boss!" Vincent had felt the approaching woman''s presence for a while, and he had been waiting for her, so her arrival was no surprise. "Kaelith Flamehunt, welcome." Vincent turned and smiled. "Did you have something to report?" "Ah! Yes," her eyes locked onto his. "The Ashfallen Sect has become aware of our actions. Redclaw cultivators have been sighted in the streets and flying over Darklight City. The warehouse to the east has been raided by the city guard, so it''s only a matter of time until they come..." Her gaze wandered off his face and landed on her father, who was chained up. "Father?" "Kaelith, why are you here?" Lord Flamehunt said weakly, his earlier vigor while talking having faded. "What... what is happening? Why are you hanging from a chain?" "You should have never come," Lord Flamehunt replied. Kaelith stammered, "B-but the message you sent me?" "What message?" Lord Flamehunt frowned, "I never sent you one." Kaelith''s face fell as she looked back at Vincent. "I got one telling me there was an emergency and to head back here as soon as possible." Vincent smiled, "Sorry, that was me. But there really is an emergency. You see, all the prisoners are dead, so I need new sources of blood." "Kaelith, run," Lord Flamehunt hissed, and Vincent was surprised at how quickly she bolted for the door. "Not so fast, I wasn''t done talking." Vincent flicked his wrist, and one of the rings of intense gravity orbiting him shot out and encircled Kaelith. She let out a helpless cry as she face-planted into the ground and could not move a muscle. Pulling the ring back to himself, Kaelith was dragged across the stone toward him. Her agonizing screams echoed in the room as he used telekinesis to float her upside down. Her clothes were ragged, and blood trailed out of nasty gashes left by the stone. "No need to glare at me like that," Vincent said as he controlled a runic chain to swing over and clamp around her legs. "You betrayed us!" She began thrashing around in rage despite her injuries. "Fucking bastard." "Betrayed you?" Vincent snorted, "Where did you get that idea? I''m simply getting a return on my investment, is all." "You never planned to go against the All-Seeing Eye, did you?!" "I do, just not with you." Vincent paused, "In a fight between gods, the believers are and always will be nothing but pawns. Did you think you would stand beside me as an equal while I fought a god?" "No." Kaelith hissed through gritted teeth. "But we gave you our everything. My family put our reputation and future on the line to help you, so to treat us like this..." Vincent put his hand around her neck and gently pressed her soft flesh. He could feel her pounding heartbeat through her veins and pained breathing. Life sure was a fleeting and delicate thing. "You just said it yourself. You gave me your everything." He leaned closer and whispered, "That includes your body and soul." "No, wait." Her eyes widened, "I''m sorry. Please¡ª" Vincent sent a pulse of illusion Qi straight into her brain, knocking her out. Killing her would be a waste as corpses didn''t continue to produce blood. "How dare you," Lord Flamehunt spat. Vincent raised a brow at the chained man while taking out a knife and calmly cutting her wrists and neck. Such injuries would kill a mortal, but cultivators were far more durable. She should survive a few hours like this. Vincent hummed to himself as he walked over to Lord Flamehunt. "Going to silence me too? After everything I did for you¡ª" Vincent didn''t hesitate to cut off the man''s head. There was a look of shock on Lord Flamehunt''s face as his head fell to the floor. Crouching down, Vincent picked up the head with both hands and looked at it. "Shocked that a horror your ancestors tried to warn you about turned out to be real?" He unhinged his jaw and took a large bite. With this unconditioned body, the skull was a little harder to eat, but he enjoyed his snack. He then directly drained the body of its remaining blood, causing it to shrivel up into a grey husk. Feeling better, Vincent recalled what Kaelith said about the warehouse being raided by the city guard. While he didn''t care at this point, as his only goal was to spread as many blood pills as possible by sundown, it was still concerning. Closing his eyes, he focused on the beat of his spiritual heart. In the darkness of his consciousness, his heartbeat echoed out, and distant hearts answered. As they beat in sync, he reached out and took control of one. He opened his eyes, and he was no longer in the basement of the Flamehunt residence. He was remotely controlling one of his hastily made blood clones with a fragment of his mind. At the cost of the clone''s integrity, he could use some of his techniques through it, but it wasn''t made for that. It was simply a proxy that he could use as eyes and ears. He stepped out of a carefully protected coffin in the warehouse basement and immediately knew something was wrong. It was deathly silent. Spreading out his spiritual sense, he couldn''t feel the presence of a single worker. Going up the stairs to the surface, he was surprised. There were signs of a scuffle, perhaps a short but gruesome fight, as there were blood stains on the ground and walls. But there were no bodies. "What happened here?" Vincent walked toward the doorway and peeked outside. Sure enough, he could see streaks of crimson flame in the rain-filled skies as the Redclaw Elders circled above like vultures. Kaelith wasn''t lying. The All-Seeing Eye has become aware of my actions. The question is, do they know I''m still alive? Vincent strode back into the warehouse. I doubt it. Otherwise, the Ashfallen Sect wouldn''t be sending weaklings after me. If they still believe it''s an uprising being led by mortals, the Redclaw''s presence makes sense. "I still have time¡ª" the words died in his throat as a sudden all-encompassing wrongness engulfed him. It was the same feeling he got from the Ashfallen Trading Company headquarters in Ashfallen City when he visited Tartarus. This time, it targeted him directly. The illusion Qi that had coated his clone''s skin to resemble a human melted away. Simultaneously, the gravity Qi that had held the body together also vanished, causing him to melt to the ground. What in the nine realms is happening? I''m being attacked, but from where? He desperately searched with his spiritual sense, but the wrong feeling was everywhere. It was as if reality itself was deconstructing him. Is this the power of the All-Seeing Eye? Vincent thought back on what Lord Flamehunt had said. The presence of the immortal is everywhere. Is this what he meant by that? His illusion being dispelled wasn''t that shocking. Many cultivators could do that. Destroying the gravity Qi holding it together was a bit more impressive but not out of the realm of possibility. Vincent felt genuine fear when his blood began to fade away as if dissolving into the air. It disappeared far slower than his illusion and gravity Qi had, but the fact it could be done at all was terrifying. However, because the process was slower, he could finally trace the source. It''s a destructive type of Qi originating from the ground. Hold on, the ground? Is it being distributed through those tree roots I saw growing along the basement walls? He couldn''t believe it, but more and more things were pointing toward the spirit tree on Red Vine Peak being the source behind all of this. As his connection was cut, he returned to his consciousness. His heartbeat continued to echo across reality, but nothing answered. "All my blood clones are dead," Vincent concluded as he opened his eyes. The immortal of Ashfallen, the All-Seeing Eye... whatever name that entity wished to go by. It wasn''t a simple cultivator. No, it was a god of destruction. A being that would bring an end to the nine realms. "It''s not Stella Crestfallen the heavens fear. It''s the one standing behind her." Vincent found himself at a crossroads. Judging by how long it took the immortal to destroy his blood compared to his other two Qi types, it must be a Qi type he struggles to destroy, at least for now. So, he had a chance to act. One that he might not get again. "You have got to be joking," Vincent began laughing. He couldn''t believe it, but the threads of fate had turned him into the hero in this situation. His selfish desire to take the Crestfallen bloodline might be the only thing that could stop the ninth layer of creation from falling to a single spirit tree. "Maybe the heavens will smile upon me on this fateful day where a villain rises to take down a greater evil." Wrapping himself in illusion Qi to turn invisible, he left the Flamehunt residence. Flying up into the sky with the setting sun to his back, he ignored the Redclaws flying around and spread out his hands. A million ghostly threads of blood manifested as he took control over everyone who had taken a blood pill. "The night of reckoning begins now," His spiritual heart pounded in his chest as he sent out an illusion through the links. Your greatest wish will be granted at the top of Red Vine Peak. All you have to do is touch the great spirit tree. Like a moth to a flame, every mortal, young or old, flooded the storm-filled streets and began charging toward Red Vine Peak. "Let''s see how many mortals that void array can strike down before it runs out of Qi." Vincent smirked as he followed the crowd and floated toward Red Vine Peak. Unlike the mortals who were charging to their deaths. His greatest wish really would come true should he reach the peak. Without the void array in his way, only the immortal would stand between him and Stella Crestfallen, and he was willing to go all out. "Now let''s see how you plan to deal with this situation," Vincent gathered some gravity Qi around his fingers and aimed toward Red Vine Peak. "A good party always starts with a bang." An intense ball of gravity Qi erupted from his hand and, to his surprise, smashed through a barrier around Red Vine Peak, impacting the large spirit tree in a shower of splinters. Chapter 400: Anguish [You have suffered a hit from a Nascent Soul Realm attack] "Huh¡ª" Ashlock''s confusion was shocked out of him by a world of pain. He had been targeting each of the warehouses Stella had identified with the help of Sullivan with desolation Qi imbued with spatial and blood dao to eliminate Vincent''s blood clones. It didn''t matter if they hid inside a coffin or walked around. They died all the same. What he hadn''t been expecting was to receive return fire. "What the hell, system?!" Ashlock shouted as his vision blurred, and he returned to Red Vine Peak. Sure enough, it was as if a cannonball had smashed into him, leaving a dent. Whatever the attack had been, it hadn''t managed to go all the way through, and while the dent was significant enough for a person to stand in, compared to his towering body, it was the equivalent of a flesh wound. Checking his surroundings, the Voidstorm Aegis was active, as was the illusion array around the peak that also acted as a shield. "Why didn''t you block the attack?" Ashlock asked his system as he tried to understand the situation. His main body hadn''t been attacked in what felt like ages, so to suffer an attack out of nowhere despite his defense measures was terrifying. [The Voidstorm Aegis eliminates incoming projectiles. It cannot automatically block invisible attacks from affinities such as gravity or sound that have no tangible form. It also struggles against large-scale attacks like blizzards, tidal waves, or meteor showers] "Can''t you strike the cultivator directly?" [The Voidstorm Aegis can only attack things within the range of Red Vine Peak. The attack originated from far out of its range] "Okay, what about the spatial shield?" [This was a high-stage Nascent Soul Realm-level attack. While the shield absorbed some of the attack''s impact, it could not block it] "Shit, was it Vincent Nightrose?" [I cannot say for sure. But I purged foreign gravity Qi from your body at the 8th stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, which is one of Vincent''s affinities and matches his known cultivation level] Ashlock looked in the direction the attack had likely come from. "Darklight City... that''s where he was last spotted. It really is Vincent Nightrose. But where is he?" Ashlock combed the area with his spiritual sight but couldn''t see anything. A man with such a presence shouldn''t be able to hide like this, especially after launching such an attack. "There''s no way he ran away, right? Maybe he''s using illusion Qi to hide? If so..." Ashlock''s towering trunk slowly split down the middle and parted to unveil his A-grade mutation, the Evil Eye. He swiveled to look toward Darklight City and almost couldn''t believe what he saw in his red-hazed vision. Floating above Darklight City was a warped figure. It was as if he was peering past reality at an angel of death. One of the upgrades he received when he unlocked the Evil Eye was true sight, which lets him see through any kind of barrier or illusion made by Qi. Yet what he saw wasn''t human. While the human flesh looked like Valandor, in his true sight, he saw what Vincent truly was. Three affinities were crushed into a single space, competing with one another for dominance. His body looked pristine on the outside, but inside, it was rotting. Bloodlines from what Ashlock assumed were monsters that didn''t play nicely with the rest of the vessel as Vincent was slowly turning monstrous from within. "How is he even alive?" Ashlock was in disbelief. He had experienced what it felt like to have a soul incompatible with his body before he became fully tree. It seemed Vincent had gone the opposite route of having a soul that matched his body initially and then doing everything he could to pursue power despite what it was doing to him. In a way, that made him all the more terrifying. If he was willing to go to this length for strength, what would he do to get ahold of Stella''s bloodline? Ashlock wasn''t a detective, but he suspected the million ethereal blood-colored strings cascading out of his soul to the city below gave a hint of the lengths he was willing to go. Through his Evil Eye, Ashlock could see a steady stream of Qi flowing down the strings, yet Vincent''s Qi pool was so immense it hardly seemed to be affecting his soul at all. Furthermore, rings of gravity that were so strong that Ashlock could see reality bending around them orbited Vincent like layers of shields. Even though he could see Vincent, he doubted any long-range attacks would be able to touch him through that gravity field. "This is what a high-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator capable of ruling the wilderness looks like," Ashlock had seen powerful cultivators like Senior Lee before, but this was different. Vincent was in the same realm as him. He should be beatable, but Ashlock could already tell this would be a brutal fight where he would have to put everything on the line to win. Ashlock hadn''t used his Evil Eye to gaze upon Vincent thus far in fear of the man using the portal to reach Red Vine Peak. He''d only gotten to see what Vincent truly was now because of how close the man was. Likely sensing his gaze, Vincent casually stared straight into his Evil Eye. The warped figure grinned and unleashed a tidal wave of bloodlust in the shape of an abyssal maw of rage that surged through the skies and crashed into Red Vine Peak, engulfing Ashlock. It had been a long time since Ashlock had felt sap-chilling fear. He was frozen in place, like a deer in headlights, as Vincent''s killing aura had his soul in a vice-like grip. [Immense mental disruption detected] [Upgraded {Mental Protection[B]} -> {Soul Fortress [A]}] [Soul Fortress: Your consciousness will be encased in a fortress of divine power, capable of resisting powerful mental, emotional, and spiritual intrusions. In addition, it provides immunity to weaker soul attacks and significantly mitigates the effects of higher-grade mental assaults. The skill also enables passive detection of hostile intent aimed at your consciousness, acting as an early warning system] [WARNING: Your consciousness is under attack. Activating Soul Fortress] Like a black hole, divine energy covering the mountain was pulled toward Ashlock, igniting his trunk in a blaze of golden light. Like a pleasant spring breeze, the fear that had been gripping his soul faded away, giving him peace of mind. "Phew, that was something." Ashlock knew the phrase ''a gaze that could kill'' but had never been on the receiving end. "Just how many people has Vincent slaughtered to cultivate such bloodlust?" Speaking of bloodlust, Ashlock also had a trump card, and Vincent was in range to use it. It was the other upgrade he got when unlocking Evil Eye. He can unleash the combined anguish of every soul he had devoured, combined with his bloodlust and presence, to break the minds of those who dared to meet his gaze. Since unlocking this upgrade, he had yet to use the full power of this on anyone. He had devoured many things, including mortal humans, cultivators, and monsters. Every one of them had regrets and rage at the world, all of which he had taken on, including hundreds of savage monsters found in pocket realms that were likely more ancient than Vincent. The man in question seemed bewildered at the divine spectacle coiling around Ashlock''s trunk and was preparing another gravity attack. An attack that Ashlock had no plans of letting him do freely. "Let''s see how the bloodlust of an evil god known as the All-Seeing Eye that has taken on the anguish of thousands compares to an old master like Vincent." Ashlock relaxed his control on his Evil Eye and unleashed its full potential. *** Vincent was surprised to have been discovered so quickly and was even more bewildered to see the spirit tree continue gazing at him despite his bloodlust. One of the greatest strengths of ''demonic cultivators'' who lived gruesome lives of slaughter out in the monster-infested lands was their bloodlust. Unlike soul pressure, which allowed a cultivator to crush a weaker one under the gravitas of their soul, bloodlust was used to dominate the consciousness of a more feeble foe. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "I''m still unsure what this spirit tree signifies to the Ashfallen Sect, but there''s no doubt it''s special." Vincent raised his hand and gathered another ball of intense gravity. "Anything that can control divine energy on this scale is a being recognized by the heavens. I should destroy it first. After all, what can a tree do to defend itself¡ª" The strange eye that had been peering through a giant slit in the trunk that had been giving him a slightly unsettling feeling began to glow with an eerie, otherwordly light making him pause. "What the..." Vincent trailed off as the eye became a window to a shifting storm of emotions. Feelings of anguish, rage, fear, and despair that weren''t his began to flood his mind. He tried to fight back the flood of emotions with his own emotions infused with Qi, but it felt like he was warding off a tsunami with a shovel. "How is this possible?" Vincent lost control of his half-formed technique and clutched his head, yet he could not tear his gaze away from that strange eye. The air around the spirit tree began to vibrate with an ominous hum, distorting the space between them as reality itself seemed to buckle under the weight of the tree''s gaze, telling Vincent that this was only the beginning. Something far more horrifying was coming. His fears came true when an attack was unleashed at him from the eye. A torrent of spectral faces and shadowy figures erupted out of the slit in the trunk as if it had served as their eternal prison, and they would do anything to escape. They rushed toward him, each one screaming in torment as if they were being burned alive. They twisted and writhed, clawing through the air as they quickly made their way over the vast forest and city standing between himself and the mountain peak. Not even his rings of gravity gave the incoming attack pause. "No... stay away," was all Vincent managed to utter as he was engulfed by the amalgamated echos of all the souls. The world went dark as a suffocating aura enveloped him, isolating him from reality as he was dragged down by the screaming spirits into the darkest corner of his consciousness. He was surrounded on all sides by haunting faces of monsters and people. Each spirit screeched a confused mess of grief, fears, and unfulfilled desires. "Am I going to die in the corner of my own mind?!" Vincent shouted in a mixture of rage and confusion. Luckily, the spirits faded away once they were done with their complaints, and the burden on his mind lessened. It took a while for Vincent to wrestle back a semblance of control, but once he did, he used illusion Qi to fight back the spirits. "That''s no ordinary spirit tree," Vincent concluded what should have been obvious when he first saw it. "The divine energy control and that eye... that tree is the All-Seeing Eye. It''s not a mere spirit tree, and the one who stands behind Stella isn''t a simple immortal. It''s a divine tree. For it to have cultivated this level of bloodlust, it must have slaughtered entire worlds." A wild grin appeared on his face as he slashed away at the spirits, purging them from his mind, "And I got the first hit. I''ve always wanted to kill a deity. Who knew today would be my lucky day to kill something heralded as an evil god?" *** Ashlock felt oddly lighter after unleashing all the stored-up anguish he had accumulated from devouring entire pocket realms of monsters. Seeing their souls escaping his eye and clawing their way toward Vincent almost made him shudder. "I was storing all of that inside me?" Ashlock sighed. He was never going to beat the evil god allegations. Especially if any mortals happened to have been looking at the sky and saw what happened. "Due to my Soul Fortress skill, I do look like a massive beacon of golden light through the darkness of the storm, so I wouldn''t be surprised if a few gazes were sent my way." That aside, Vincent seemed to be struggling to fight off the anguish he had sent his way. The man was clutching his head and screaming. But the gravity rings around him were still there, and there was now a maelstrom of out-of-control illusion Qi surrounding him. "Now would be a good opportunity to try and kill him. But for that, I need to get a closer look." Ashlock took the opportunity and quickly opened a portal above his head. Peering through with his Evil Eye, he got a bird''s-eye view and could finally see what the millions of blood-red strings were linked to. Despite the intense storm blanketing the city, the streets were full of people. It was as if a city-wide street party was going on, except the people weren''t drinking and having fun. Young or old, clothed or not, they were relentlessly dashing through the muddy streets like feral dogs with an almost inhuman vigor, especially considering the poor weather conditions that would slow anyone sane down. Now that he looked closer, they ran faster than even Qi Realm cultivators could. "Where are they going?" Ashlock switched to his {Eye of the Tree God} skill, and along with his red-tinted gaze, Vincent returned to being invisible as if he had been a figment of his imagination. Glancing around, Ashlock came to a terrible realization. It wasn''t only mortals and cultivators from Darklight City. There were also many affected in Ashfallen City, and due to the proximity, it was easier to tell their destination by watching the feral people of Ashfallen City scaling the mountain range toward Red Vine Peak. They were coming for him. [Soul Fire Realm enemy detected in range of the Voidstorm Aegis] "Hold fire!" Ashlock quickly returned to Red Vine Peak. While his Voidstorm Aegis was powerful, it was also one of his most costly abilities. Despite his leap in cultivation since acquiring the skill, his entire Qi pool would be drained after a few hundred strikes, and his Qi was already strained with keeping the beast tide back. Wasting a strike on a Soul Fire Realm enemy that he could pulverize with a fragment of his soul pressure was an utter waste. To his surprise, he found a distraught Stella who was holding a feral-looking man in place with telekinesis. "Stella?" "Tree!? What happened to you?" Stella was standing among some pieces of wood that had flown off during the earlier impact and was staring up at the sizable dent in his trunk. "Vincent attacked me. I have him incapacitated for now, but it might not last for long." Ashlock hurriedly explained, "What is up with this guy?" Sensing the urgency in his voice, Stella didn''t waste time and explained. "This is Sullivan, my human pet that helped me find the warehouses. We were investigating the final warehouse together under the Flamehunt residence. We found Kaelith and the rest of the Flamehunt family hanging from chains. I was trying to free them when all of them, including Sullivan here, suddenly acted crazy." Stella paused to catch her breath, "I didn''t know what to do. They ripped off the chains and leaped at me. I killed one of them, and they exploded like a supernova but at the level of the Soul Fire Realm." "I see," Ashlock switched to his Evil Eye and inspected Sullivan. "His soul core and spirit roots have been overtaken by blood Qi, which is linked to Vincent. For some reason, he is controlling them and sending them toward Red Vine Peak..." He paused as he realized Vincent''s plan, "I think he is using them as decoys to distract the Voidstorm Aegis." Stella looked confused, "Can''t you just tell the array to not kill the mortals?" "I can, but I doubt Vincent knows that. But that still leaves the issue of millions of people with the strength of a Soul Fire Realm cultivator and far more physical strength than should be possible converging on my location. Even if I don''t use the Voidstorm Aegis array, I still need to deal with them somehow. Let me try something." Ashlock used desolation Qi imbued with his relatively shallow understanding of blood dao. To his surprise, it took around as much time as melting the blood clone back in the warehouse. But in a way, it made sense, as affecting the Qi inside someone''s body was a more intensive process. Sullivan collapsed to the ground and coughed up a stomach full worth of blood. He looked deathly pale and was shaking. "What... happened to me." "Vincent took control of your body," Stella explained, "Do you remember anything?" "We were investigating the Flamehunt residence, and then..." His face twisted in confusion, "A voice told me that my deepest desire would be fulfilled if I made it to Red Vine Peak and touched the spirit tree. I don''t know why, but I believed it with all my heart and was filled with more strength than I have ever felt to carry out this task. Why do I feel so weak now? What happened to me?" Stella looked to Ashlock for the answer. "His soul core has shattered under the strain. He''s been reduced to a mortal." Ashlock explained. Stella grimaced and relayed what was said, and the utter despair on Sullivan''s face was saddening. "Don''t worry," Stella patted him on the back, "I take good care of my pets. Surely you can try to form a new one. I''ll raise you into an even more powerful cultivator than before." Sullivan didn''t seem to believe her, as he stayed kneeling on the ground and staring at his hands. "I''m a mortal now. A powerless weakling..." "Gee, stop crying," Stella planted a truffle and a few fruits in his hand, "Eat these, and you will feel better than before." She straightened her back and asked Ashlock, "What should we do?" "I''m not sure. Desolation Qi will be too costly to use on every individual mortal to save them from Vincent''s control and will cause the beast tide to descend upon us faster. If I target the connection Vincent has with them, it might weaken them, but it is unlikely to stop them and will be a waste of Qi. I fear the only solution is to kill them." Ashlock knew not all of the people who had taken the blood pills were part of the Eyepatch group and opposed him, but this was Vincent''s plan¡ªto weaponize the populace against him, and he wasn''t in a position to be nice and try to save them all. "Myself and the others could try and deal with them?" Stella suggested. "There''s what, a dozen of you? While these foes are weak, a million of them are heading toward us from all sides. It''s like a beast tide but of humans. I could create barriers of spatial Qi to halt their advance, but that''s a temporary measure. I could also try to devour them, but I will likely get overwhelmed if they all come simultaneously." He could only make so many vines to eat prey. Stella nodded, "I will go gather the others, and we will try to think of what to do. You focus on Vincent. But if you need my help, feel free to call on me." She vanished into the aether in a flash of white flames, leaving Sullivan alone. Ashlock ignored the depressed guy and cast his gaze back to Vincent floating above the city, dealing with the anguish he sent his way. The incoming mortals were a big concern, but if he managed to kill the source, there was a chance they would regain their sanity. The man was too far away from his trunk for many of his abilities to have much effect, which meant he needed to get closer. "Bastions," Ashlock called through his root network, "It''s time to rise in defense of Ashfallen." A rumbling spread across the land as multiple islands topped with a spirit tree of various affinities and cultivation levels rose into the sky. They slowly rotated, and all began floating over Darklight and Ashfallen City toward Vincent. "I may not be as strong as you, Vincent, but know this. Fighting a spirit tree on its home ground is simply foolish." Chapter 401: Third Eye Elysia Mystshroud had a wide grin as she walked the central street of Nightrose City. After the construction of the new castle in Ashfallen''s name that occupied the center of the city where the Nightrose family''s castle had stood for decades, and the populace accepted the change in their overlords, there had been a flood of new sign-ups to the cult of the All-Seeing Eye. Some businessmen with good foresight had approached her with plans to construct grand places of worship for the All-Seeing Eye, and she happily approved them all despite the exorbitant proposed budgets. She had a lot of money from selling the Ashfallen Sect''s pills through the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. While it was her money, she had dedicated her everything, including her body and soul, to the All-Seeing Eye, which included her funds. If these places of worship helped the All-Seeing Eye even a little, she saw it worth it. After all, the more people who believed in her god, the stronger her powers became. "Elder Elysia¡ª" "Don''t call me that," Elysia glared over her shoulder at one of her family''s Elders, who was adorning the black cloak of the All-Seeing Eye with the hood down, hiding his face. "I don''t want to inherit that title. I have a greater purpose now than being one of the leaders in a mere cultivation family. Refer to me as the Vice Cult Leader." "Understood, Vice Leader," the man gave a slight bow of apology. "Speak. What do you seek my counsel for?" "Around seventy percent of the city is now indoctrinated into the cult, but a large area to the north is still holding out under the leadership of a powerful mortal family." Elysia turned to look at the man directly, "Tell me, Elder. What fate is deserved to those who refuse the loving gaze of the All-Seeing Eye." The man gulped, "Death." "Exactly, so kill them." "Just the mortal family?" "No, just killing them isn''t enough. It''s a shame it''s come to this, but..." Elysia shook her head sadly, "Kill all of them¡ªevery last person that refuses our god''s love. Slaughter them in the streets, hang up their gutted bodies for all to see." The Elder sounded concerned. "All of them...? We are talking about millions here. Elysia, I feel like that''s a bit too far." Elysia reached forward and pulled back the Elder''s hood. A tired middle-aged man she knew as her uncle met her gaze with confusion. She gently stroked the man''s cheek. "Some people refuse to be dragged into the light and insist on living in the shadows of the past," her soft touch turned into a vice-like grip around the man''s neck, making his eyes widen, "You wouldn''t happen to be one of them, would you?" "No El¡ªVice Cult Leader." The man frowned and reached up to grab her arm. "Forgive my observation, Elysia, but you have changed for the worse. His power has corrupted you." Elysia threw her head back with manic laughter. She had never heard something so ridiculous. "Changed for the worse? Elder, he broke my mind and put me back together in his perfect image. I am his creation and live to fulfill his purpose in the nine realms." "I just don''t think slaughtering people who defy him is something he would do," the Elder foolishly protested, "He''s not an evil god." "Evil is subjective, and the victor writes history. Listen, if we slaughter the nonbelievers, do you know what that means?" "No..." "We will have converted everyone in the city to join the cult of the All-Seeing Eye! No soul in these walls will be a nonbeliever and spout nonsense. Wouldn''t that make our god happy? To know everyone has accepted his love?" The Elder frowned, "Killing everyone who disagrees with you doesn''t mean everyone accepted our rule¡ª" "Quiet." Elysia put a finger on the Elder''s lips. "I can feel the presence of our god. Something''s wrong." She dropped to her knee and put a hand on the ground. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her Qi and listened to the roots under the city. "What is it?" Elysia looked up at the Elder, her face twisted with rage and disbelief. "Our god... has felt pain." "Pain?" The Elder''s face turned serious, "How? Who would dare?!" "I don''t know," Elysia rose to her feet, "But I will summon everyone. If someone dares to hurt our god, it''s time for a holy war in his name. Even if we can''t reach the realm of the gods to fight his battle, we can slaughter another god''s believers and burn this realm to the ground." "Right..." The Elder slowly nodded, "I guess we could do that. Or we could be more reasonable and¡ª" Elysia ignored his ramblings as she rose into the sky on a sword, leaving the Elder behind. Tendrils of purple mist spread out as she relayed the pain she had felt from her god, along with a simple message: "Gather at the castle and prepare for a fight." Across the city, members of the Mystshroud family jumped into the air and ran across rooftops to converge in the courtyard before the entrance to the castle. While waiting for them, Elysia was busy trying to gain more information by conversing with the cosmic affinity tree she knew her god had created as her family members took a respectful knee in rows behind her. Ever since the All-Seeing Eye used me as an avatar to voice his words to the populace of Nightrose City, I have had a lingering connection with him. I understood before, but these trees are connected to the All-Seeing Eye, whether they are at the peak of the Star Core Realm like this cosmic affinity tree or have barely any Qi like Mytherion. Despite his presence being so far away, these sacred trees spread his will throughout the land. Now tell me, who hurt you? Who should I point my blade and angered soul toward? Elysia hadn''t been expecting an answer, but it came in the form of a trembling. Cracks spread around the courtyard in a vague circle, and the whole thing, including the tree, began to rise. Overhead, reality tore asunder as a grand rift formed. "Members of Mystshroud and devoted believers of the All-Seeing Eye," Elysia addressed those present who maintained their respectful posture despite what was happening, "Our god was harmed and is summoning us as champions to fight in his name! Stand!" They all stood. "Draw!" Swords wreathed in mystic Qi appeared in their hands. "For the All-Seeing Eye!" "For the All-Seeing Eye!!!" They all shouted in response. "May his gaze be forever eternal!" "May his gaze be forever eternal!!!" The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "Good," Elysia looked up at the rift as they phased through. To her surprise, they emerged over Darklight City and weren''t the only ones. Multiple floating islands topped with a tree seemed to converge on a location from every angle. They were all around the same size, thirty meters across, except for the one Elysia stood upon, which seemed to be the ''flagship'' because it was three times the size of any other. The Elder that Elysia had been speaking to earlier stepped forward with his sword drawn and frowned as he peered over the side of the floating island, "There''s nobody here." "No, there is." Elysia stared at a certain area. It was hard to describe, but she could feel her god''s presence everywhere but there. While she couldn''t see anything, the dead zone was a giveaway. Closing her eyes, she recalled the feeling of the All-Seeing Eye''s gaze boring deep into her soul and decided to use mystic Qi to copy it. She tried to focus the feeling in her eyes, but they burned. Forcing through the pain didn''t work either, as when she opened her eyes... She was now blind. "Elysia, your eyes." The Elder paused, "They''re gone." "So they are," she replied as if reporting on the weather. "I was foolish to think my mortal eyes could bear the sight of a god, even if it''s just a replication." "You''re blind now." Her uncle panicked, "You need healing¡ª" "No Elder, I need to dig deeper and sacrifice more." Elysia thought of what she could do next and then remembered the dormant third eye Maple had made for her to better control Pluto. Mystic Qi surged through the spirit roots Maple had carved into her flesh toward her head, causing her to wobble on her feet. "Elysia, please stop this," the Elder pleaded, "You are sick and need help." She ignored the fool''s pleas and brought out a dagger. The dormant third eye wasn''t cooperating, and the pressure on her skull was getting too intense. She felt like her brain was going to be reduced to soup. Bringing the dagger up to her forehead, with both hands on the handle, she drove it into her head like a spike, cracking her skull. Under the gasps of her family, she brutally pulled the dagger down and made a slit. Cursing in pain and dropping the dagger with trembling hands, she felt the Elder grab both her wrists. "You''re insane! I''m taking you to get your eyes and head healed." Elysia grinned and licked the blood trailing down her face, "Elder, it''s you who cannot see," the verticle slit in her forehead widened, and she peered through. Tilting the spiritual eye down, she gazed at the panicked Elder. Her vision was tinted a light red, and she could see the vague flow of Qi in the air. It wasn''t very accurate, but the world looked so different. So this is the sight of a god. With probably more strength than the Elder was expecting, she moved him aside and stood on the edge of the island. Sure enough, below was a maelstrom of what seemed to be illusion Qi. It was chaotic and unformed, suggesting it was being released without purpose rather than given form by the wielder. "You may have eyes, yet you cannot see who hurt our god," Elysia turned to face the Elder, "You say I need to be healed of blindness, yet you are the one who is blind. You call me insane, yet my methods bear results." The Elder gulped and clasped his hands, "It''s as you say, Vice Cult Leader¡ªI was wrong." "What about my other order? Will you slaughter the nonbelievers?" The Elder grimaced, "I still don''t think our god would want that. He saved mortals in the past and built cities to house them. Those are the acts of a merciful god, not an evil one." "Elder, you are too short-sighted. He saved those people not out of kindness but because he looked to the future. He saved them because they were all potential worshipers that hadn''t been exposed to his greatness." Elysia paused, "Trying to convert defiant people who continue to deny his love even after witnessing him is a waste of time. They would better serve as fertilizer for the trees." A murmur of agreement spread throughout the others. The Elder bowed slightly, "I will agree you are right if you can show me proof that our god would do such a thing. I refuse to believe he would kill mortals simply because they defy him." "Fine," Elysia had no doubts that she understood her god wholeheartedly. "Thank you¡ª" the man paused as a presence they all knew blanketed the island. He dropped to one knee alongside everyone, including Elysia, who was trembling in excitement. Below them, the thin golden roots of the tree, like a tapestry spreading throughout the expansive courtyard that was now floating, glowed with divine energy. The beautiful tree of twisted black wood, with branches sprouting off at unnatural angles as if reaching for distant stars, ending in transparent leaves that radiated celestial radiance, became a beacon of power. Their god had arrived and was using the tree as their avatar. Cracks appeared along the edge of the island as giant flowers that looked like a star-filled night sky sprouted and swiveled to aim at the maelstrom of illusion Qi. At the same time, a dome of celestial energy covered the island, and cosmic dust began to spread out from the island like a celestial storm. Elysia glanced over her shoulder to check on the other islands and saw the same process happening to them. There was a spatial, abyssal tide, ink, and what appeared to be a void island. Every one of them was gearing up for war, with shields of differing affinities manifesting alongside flowers gathering power. Portals opened on each island, and monstrosities made of wood in eternal servitude to their god and the Ashfallen Sect lumbered through. That is when Elysia noticed something truly massive moving in the distance. It looked like a walking mountain in the shape of a turtle. On its back was a fortress, and as it opened its massive mouth, the silver gleam of an emerging cannon caught the late evening sunlight. All were aimed at a single location. But something else caught Elysia''s notice. There was a familiar gaze looking at the scene from afar. Channeling everything she had into her new spiritual eye, she barely managed to briefly peer past what appeared to be an illusion array surrounding Red Vine Peak, and she met the gaze... of a tree. Not her god, but a giant spirit tree that seemed to share the same eye as the All-Seeing Eye. She strained her eyes to try and get a better look, but it backfired; a pounding headache forced her to relax, and the mountain peak returned to normal with nothing more than a big tree growing on it. *** "This might be enough," Ashlock mused as he looked at his gathered army. While some would hardly make a dent, such as Willow, Quill, and Serena, as their cultivation realm was below the Nascent Soul Realm, he did have some heavy hitters. Erebus was a void bastion at the peak of the Star Core Realm, as was Orion with cosmic affinity. Both bastions had been made from the Grand Elders of their respective families and possessed destructive affinities with incredible damage output. Anubis, his mid-stage Nascent Soul Realm shadow lich, was also present. Unfortunately, he couldn''t get Nox''s attention. The shadow tree was busy trying to keep her consciousness together due to Nyxalia. Larry was also missing as he was undergoing an evolution to SS grade. Maple was around but, as usual, showed no interest in acting unless something threatened Stella. Without Nox and Larry, he was lacking in Nascent Soul Realm-level fighting capabilities. But he had an opportunity. While Vincent was busy wrestling back control of his mind from the anguish he had sent his way, he was vulnerable. The gravity rings were still active, and there was a storm of chaotic illusion Qi all around him, but now was a great opportunity. "Even if I don''t manage to kill him here, the amount of Qi he''s wasting is ridiculous. He has to be expending around a year''s worth of Qi per second." Ashlock mused as he continued to monitor Vincent through his Evil Eye from Red Vine Peak. "I''ll move Orion closer and try to siphon as much Qi as possible through my vines." When he had upgraded Abyssal Devourer to A grade, it came with a new feature where his vines could drain someone of their Qi and life force. "I hope this will be enough to kill him, though," Ashlock grumbled. All of his bastions were linked to him through ethereal roots, and while they were far below him in cultivation level, the pull on his already strained Star Core was less than ideal. As it turned out, fueling a full-on multi-affinity bombardment was quite intensive. Luckily, he could pull Qi from his offspring instead of paying the steep conversion cost for some of the affinities, such as spatial. "Erebus is by far the worst," Ashlock cast his eye to the tree that had a hole to the void in its trunk, "Powering up all of his flowers is comparable to a dozen lightning strikes from my Voidstorm Aegis skill." While none of his gathered forces compared to Vincent individually, he hoped combining them would be enough to take him down. "Bastions close in and pump out those storms," Ashlock commanded, and he watched as they all slowly inched closer to Vincent''s outer gravity rings. One of the Bastions'' capabilities was to release a storm around them of their affinity, which had various uses. In this case, Ashlock was using them to probe the gravity rings to see what he was working against. Sure enough, once they got close enough, the gravity rings sucked in the affinity storms, and other than the void storm coming out of Erebus that ate away at the ring it encountered, the rest were simply absorbed and crushed. "It feels like sprinkling dust on a collapsing star. Just how strong is gravity Qi?" While he could replicate the effect to an extent, he had taken the path of desolation rather than having his spatial Qi specialize in gravity Qi. He could unmake things with desolation, while gravity could crush them out of existence if the gap in cultivation was large enough. "Time to go all in. Bastions, get ready to fire on the count of three." Ashlock switched his view to Orion, who he had overtaken with {Progeny Dominion} to get a front-seat view of his bastions releasing their all at Vincent. What the hell was Elysia doing here? "Elysia?" He asked. The woman staggered to her feet and looked at Orion with two empty eyes and a slit-open head. She grinned wildly as a red eye peered through the slit in her head. As the world went white due to the immense unleashing of Qi from the gathered bastions toward Vincent, Elysia remained unfazed as she continued to stare at him and mouthed. "My god, I have finally gazed upon your true form." Chapter 402: Monsters Made For War Stella was unsure of what to do as she crouched on a branch of one of Ash''s offspring and watched the horde of crazed people rush below. There was a creak as the branch she was perched on bent slightly from the weight of someone landing beside her. "What do you think, Grand Elder Redclaw?" she asked the man as the temperature in the air notably rose. "Vincent got us good," the man grumbled as he stroked his chin. "I''ve confirmed that each person''s strength is around the lower stages of the Soul Fire Realm, with a high focus on defense." "Like body cultivators?" The red-haired man sagely nodded, "They have no clue how to use Soul Fire Realm-level techniques or harness the blood Qi inside their bodies. They are simply mindless puppets." "How durable are we talking?" "I put down a wall of Star Core Realm fire to test, and they could regenerate from the burns. However, cut-off limbs did not regrow." "Mhm, so not as good regeneration as a true blood cultivator. But to regenerate from such burns, that''s concerning. Anything else?" "Yeah, they explode on death." Stella sighed, "So that wasn''t a unique feature for the ones I fought in the Flamehunt residence." Grand Elder Redclaw glanced across the landscape. They were halfway up the mountainside, and through the intense storm, the seemingly endless sprawl of Darklight City dominated the horizon. Between them and the city was a dense forest of demonic trees. "If we were in a large open field, I could barrage the land with large-scale hellfire. While costly to my Qi reserves, it would wipe out many of them." "But we aren''t in an open field," Stella said the silent part out loud. While it would be quite tricky for just a few of them to deal with over a million rabid Soul Fire Realm people, it wouldn''t be impossible if they expended their Qi reserves without restraint. But the location of the battle changed things. The cities were densely populated with believers in the All-Seeing Eye, and thousands of Ash''s offspring were located between the city walls and Red Vine Peak, giving the encroaching horde the perfect cover. "We could stage the fight on Red Vine Peak, but I suspect that is Vincent''s goal." The Grand Elder paused, thinking, "Whether they are to serve as a simple distraction or have a more direct purpose, such as exploding near Ashlock or their blood being used as fuel for some grand technique, Vincent has got us good. Is there really no way to save them? I doubt every one of these mortals was a devoted member of the Eyepatch group." Stella bit her lip and shook her head. "Ash managed to save Sullivan by using desolation Qi, but it was far too intensive of a process to use on a million people. Not to mention, his soul core was shattered in the process, reducing him to a mortal." "They will hate us." "Mhm?" Stella tilted her head, "What do you mean?" "They believed that if they touched Ashlock, they would have their wish granted, did they not? If they are denied from reaching the mountain peak and have their chance of becoming a cultivator stolen from them, they will come to hate us." The Grand Elder clicked his tongue, "Vincent has presented us with a lose-lose situation. No matter what we do, people are going to die, become crippled, or the beast tide will draw closer if Ashlock is forced to waste his Qi." "Let''s focus on what we can do for now," Stella straightened up, causing the branch to creak again. Her gaze lingered on Red Vine Peak, which was to their back, and she sighed. "We must hold them back until Ash can lend us some aid. You lock down this area while I check on the northern ridge bordering Ashfallen City." "Hey," Grand Elder Redclaw put a warm hand on her shoulder and stared into her shifting eyes, "Don''t worry, it''s going to be okay." "I know," her shoulders sagged, "It''s just killing these people goes against what Ash stands for. These people aren''t our enemies; they were forced to oppose us. Hunting other cultivators is fun, but this is just sad." "I know, but remember you are what Vincent is after, so stay safe and don''t get any crazy ideas about giving yourself up. You die, and Ashlock over there will devour us all along with the nine realms in grief. Forget these mortals. The entire realm will be reduced to ruin. Understand?" Stella chuckled, "I don''t think he would eat you guys¡ª" Grand Elder Redclaw tightened his grip and looked deathly serious. "We have gone over this before. Be serious." "Okay," Stella said in a small voice, "Maybe he would. I promise I''ll keep myself safe." "Good, now go. A slaughter awaits you." Bright orange flames flared to life down his arms, illuminating his face in the dim lighting, "With how frantically they are rushing up this mountainside, I bet these puppets will have reached Red Vine Peak on the northern side." Turning his back to her, he slowly raised his flaming palms and aimed down the mountainside. "By the will of the heavens, may my hellfire cleanse these poor souls of their control and free them to the afterlife," he muttered as his hair ignited and flames erupted from his hands, cascading down the mountainside and engulfing thousands. Their harrowing screams filled the air as their regeneration kept them alive long enough to experience being burned to death. With a pained expression, the Grand Elder lowered his hands and whispered, "For the glory of Ashfallen." The intense flames snaked around the demonic trees that were thankfully only slightly burned due to all of Ash''s offspring on this side of the mountain having either fire or water affinity, making them resistant. Stella winced as the smell of burnt meat wafted under her nose, followed by the sound of innumerable explosions as the people died. The ground trembled, and pieces of wood went flying. "Don''t wait around here." The Grand Elder''s tone was colder than ice as his hands wreathed with flames again, "Go." Stella nodded and stepped through the aether, leaving the man to defend the flank facing Darklight City. While the majority of the blood puppets were coming from that side, Ashfallen City was closer in proximity, so it was the priority. She arrived at the edge of Red Vine Peak, just beyond the wall of mist and the illusion array that obscured the peak from outsiders. Walking down the jagged rock face, she peered down the steep slope. Expanding her spiritual sense, she gulped at the sheer number of people rapidly approaching. The ground trembled from distant explosions as Stella saw Diana soaring overhead with her wings spread wide. The demoness was spreading demonic mist and raining down bolts of demonic Qi, but Stella could tell she was hardly making a dent. The explosions from the dying puppets took pieces out of nearby trees or blew off branches. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "I''m so sorry, little trees," Stella said a quiet prayer. This suffering was all because of one bastard who was hellbent on drinking her blood. Stella knew this wasn''t her fault, and she kept the Grand Elder''s words in mind. Yet she still felt partially responsible for the suffering before her. If only I was stronger and could kill him myself without the help of anyone. That way, nobody would have to get hurt or waste their Qi on my behalf. Unfortunately, I''m lacking in strength. Stella raised her hand and called on the aether, "Luckily, I have beings crazy enough to stand at my side that I can rely on to make up for it. Come on, Guppy. I have some snacks for you." The Darktide Devourer emerged from the aether with his signature low thumping noise, matching the pulsating crimson veins running down his body. Guppy twisted his head to look at Stella with multifaceted eyes glowing a sinister purple hue. His head was a nightmarish amalgamation of serpent and insect. His face split as he slowly opened his maw, revealing rows of jagged and uneven teeth. He drooled a viscous black liquid that dripped down the sides of his mouth and dissolved the rock. "Oi," Stella smacked his mouth shut, "No drooling, remember?" Guppy let out a small cry. "Now go devour as many of those blood puppets as possible," Stella gestured with her chin toward the trees. Guppy complied and rushed down toward the treeline with surprising silence, considering his size. I wonder if Guppy will one day grow to the size of that worm that caused the hole in the mountain that later became the citadel. Stella thought as she closed her eyes and entered the aether plane. Reality faded away, and she only focused on the uncountable number of presences rushing toward her. Her many spatial rings flashed, and dozens of daggers appeared orbiting her with telekinesis. "Go," she pointed, and the daggers shot out into the forest. Like a conductor, Stella hummed to herself as she moved her hand, causing the daggers to whistle through the air before tearing holes through multiple people at once. As howls of pain echoed in the forest, Stella wrapped the dying people in telekinesis and gestured upwards, flinging the bodies into the sky. For a single moment, a hundred bodies dangled in the air, with the last rays of sunlight illuminating their dying faces before they exploded from within, raining blood onto the trees below. Diana noticed her presence and changed her trajectory to come and land beside her. "How did Vincent get control of so many people so quickly? This feels endless." Diana said as she took a moment to catch her breath. "He''s a master of control," Stella replied with closed eyes, "an ancient cultivator who''s likely survived more wars, uprisings, and attempts on his life than the years we have been alive. I''m not surprised he has the upper hand on us, but that doesn''t mean I''m happy about it." Diana slowly nodded. "Yeah," she glanced over her shoulder. "I just hope Ashlock can come up with something soon. We are moments from getting overrun." "Where are the others?" "Bastions and Ents have been sent to deal with Vincent. The city guards were told to stand down to reduce casualties. The new recruits from the tournament have already been put to work and are assisting where they can alongside the Redclaws." "Douglas and Elaine? Where are they?" "Urm," Diana scratched her head. "I saw them leading a charge down the mountainside with some recruits a while ago. I''m not sure how they are doing." "What?! They may be in the Star Core Realm, but they can''t hold off thousands alone. Elaine will run out of void Qi in minutes, and Douglas''s earth affinity is unlikely to do much to durable opponents who can regenerate anything less than lost limbs." "Shit, you''re right." Diana leaped into the sky and flapped her wings to stay airborne while looking around. Stella tried to look in the aether plane, but with so much interference from all the puppets, it was like trying to pick out a smidge of brown in a sea of red. "Damn it," Stella cursed under her breath. Despite her efforts to trim their numbers, she opened her eyes and could see the faces of people in the tree line only a dozen or so meters away. They scurried out of the darkness, looking like drowned rats due to the intense rain. Yet their gazes blazed with fierce desire. "Stay back," Stella was about to unleash a wave of aether Qi despite the damage it would cause Ash''s offspring, as she was left with no choice when a sudden blaring horn sounded. "What was that?" Stella shouted up to Diana, who had a better view. "No idea¡ª" Diana was cut off by the horn blaring again, this time so loudly it was as if it were the calling of a god. It echoed across the entire mountain range and shook the hearts of all who listened. It was so effective it even briefly shocked the puppets out of their stupor as they paused. "Did we anger the god of karma or something?" Stella murmured as she looked to the heavens for answers. But the strange drumming below her feet and shaking ground told her she would get her answers from below. The ground began to fissure like the gates to hell. Stella raised a brow as she heard what sounded like war drums. From the darkness of the fissure, what appeared to be small metal golems marched out and spread out to form multiple lines. In their hands were swords or hammers wreathed in earth Qi. One of the golems broke file and walked over to Stella, stopping before her and standing at attention. The suit of armor''s visor snapped open, revealing two big glowing blue eyes. "Wait, a Mudcloak?" Stella raised a brow at the pressure radiating from the small monster, "And a Star Core Realm one at that?" "The king has called, and we have answered." The Mudcloak said more clearly than she ever remembered one talking. The other Mudcloaks banged the handles of their weapons on their armor in agreement. "We will defend our king''s home to the death." The Mudcloak''s visor snapped closed, and they turned on their heel before marching back to their group. "Well, this is something," Diana said as she landed beside Stella, "From up there, I saw dozens of similar-sized groups emerging across the mountain range." "They sure are funny little guys, aren''t they?" Stella couldn''t help but smile, seeing all the little suits of armor lined up and looking serious. "I admit it looks funny from where we are standing, but I wouldn''t want to be on the other side." Diana gestured to the Mudcloaks with her chin. "Those are all runically enhanced suits of armor and weapons imbued with the earth affinity. You know that aether-controlled dagger you were throwing around earlier? I doubt it would get through more than two of these guys before the blade shattered." Stella crossed her arms, "That is impressive. But it''s still hard to take them seriously. I mean, you could just kick them over so easily..." The ground rumbled as many lumbering earth golems towering over everything emerged from the fissure. Sinister metal nozzles extended out of the golems'' hands like fingers. Diana raised a brow at Stella, "What about that." Stella frowned, "Okay, okay. That is a little more impressive, but still. How are they even going to fight off a million enemies with earth Qi¡ª" "Attack!" The commanding Mudcloak pointed at the tree line, and fire erupted out of the nozzles of the golems. The flames were incomparable to Grand Elder Redclaw''s and did little more than annoy the puppets and make the charred-skin humans rush forward. "See?" Stella said. "Don''t judge them for that," Diana said seriously, "Just watch. I know a predator when I see one." Stella shrugged, "Fine. Let''s see what they can do." She stood there and watched, and the more she did, the more a look of horror appeared on her face. The Mudcloaks had charged forward, meeting the incoming blood puppets. With ruthless efficiency, the Mudcloaks chopped off the puppet''s heads or bashed in their skulls with far more speed than she had been expecting, but that wasn''t what earned such a reaction. No, it was being reminded that these were monsters. After killing their opponents, their armor visors snapped open, and like a snake, they swallowed the considerably larger humans whole before they could explode. Stella blinked at the sight. Are their stomachs linked to the void? How is that even physically possible? After the Mudcloak warriors finished their meal, demonic Qi surged toward their silver armor, turning it a sinister black and increasing their speed and strength. They would then leap back into the fray while their comrades dragged headless bodies into the backlines to be devoured. "You expected this?" Stella turned to Diana in disbelief. "No." Diana turned to look at Stella, "Are we even needed here anymore? It''s like they are creatures born for war." Stella surveyed the slaughter and gulped, "I don''t think we are." An impossible challenge before them had been solved by the most unlikely group. Stella hadn''t even considered them when thinking of ways to protect Ashfallen and regretted it. "Should we leave?" "Yeah..." Stella slowly nodded, "Let''s go check on Ash and the others." As she turned and stepped into the aether, all she could think about was the realm domination scripture written by a Mudcloak that Sam had been holding. Maybe that hadn''t been a joke. Chapter 403: Veiled Truths To gaze beyond the veil of your own imagination is to risk the shattering of your very power. For in the blinding light of truth, what was once limitless may become finite, and what was once divine may crumble to dust. The strength of the mystic depends not on what is true but on what we dare to imagine as truth. Even in the face of the truth, never stop believing in the impossible. - Kael Mystshroud, the first ancestor and author of the Veiled Truths scrolls. Since she was young, Elysia had been taught this mantra by her family, which was reinforced by the heavenly whispers. Mystic Qi was a higher form of illusion Qi that allowed her to manifest things into reality so long as she believed them to be true, and it was made easier if those witnessing the phenomenon also thought it to be possible. As the fame of the All-Seeing Eye spread, her capability to wield Mystic Qi in his name would increase. However, unlike other traditional forms of Qi, if her or others'' faith in the All-Seeing Eye were to diminish, so would her power. She was rewarded for being deluded about his grandeur and turning a blind eye to the signs that he may be less than what she and everyone thought. But she couldn''t help it. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she had dared to peer past the veil and bore witness to what she never should have¡ªher god''s true form. He was not a godly, untouchable being high in the sky, eternally gazing down on the entire realm. No, he was far more mundane than that. He had a physical form, the body of a tree. He had bark that could be damaged, sap that could be drained, and leaves that could wither and fall. "My god, I have finally gazed upon your true form." She confessed to the cosmic affinity tree, acting as a proxy for her ''god'' despite him being only a mountain range away. As the words left her mouth, she felt power vacate her soul, and her legs gave out. Collapsing to her knees, the world went white, and the floating island lurched backward. The cosmic shield protecting the island rippled as a myriad of colors surged over it from the many attacks aimed at Vincent Nightrose. Yet, despite the color and noise, Elysia''s world suddenly seemed dark and quiet. Oh god. Elysia''s lip trembled as she realized what she had done. In the blinding light of truth, what was once limitless may become finite, and what was once divine may crumble to dust. It''s happened to me. The pedestal on which she had placed the All-Seeing Eye in her mind had crumbled to dust, and with it, so had her mystic Qi. She wasn''t worshiping a god. It had been nothing more than a powerful tree all along. She had committed the greatest sin a mystic cultivator could do and was now paying dearly for it. As they say, curiosity killed the mystic cultivator. Power kept gushing out of her into the surroundings. She felt herself rapidly degrading into a mere mortal and that her whole life had been a lie. "I suppose you didn''t like what you saw?" Elysia looked up within her consciousness and saw a tree that seemingly reached for the heavens looming over her. Divine energy wreathed his entire form, and his presence was domineering. But he was no god. Elysia shook her head, "You''re not a god. Just a tree on a mountain." "Mhm." The All-Seeing Eye paused, "That may be true. But what is a god?" Elysia slowly looked up at the tree, "What do you mean?" "If I''m not a god, tell me what is." Elysia frowned as she stared at the tree wreathed in divine power. She knew, as well as anyone else that divine energy was not an affinity one could cultivate; it was power gifted by the heavens to beings revered by the populace of the realms. It was reserved for what people would consider godly beings, yet this tree could control it? Filling the silence while her mind spun to form an answer, Ashlock continued. "I can wield divine energy, and I am revered by millions due to your efforts. My influence spreads far and wide. I can summon champions from other dimensions to fight at my side. I am an ageless, near-immortal being that can do seemingly impossible things. Do I not fit the definition of a god?" Elysia clenched her teeth in anger that was mostly directed at herself. "I know... but you''re still just a tree. I can''t see you the same way again." "Relax, Elysia. You have always seen me this way. Your delusions just got in the way." "I have not¡ª" "I''m not from this world. A fact I know that you are aware of." Elysia''s eyes went wide. "How do you know that?" "I overheard you in the basement of the Duskwalker residence. You''re raising Mytherion as a backup for your infatuation should I return to my previous world. You were already raising a tree as my replacement and knew deep down I was nothing but a tree all along. All that''s happened is because you saw my true form; it confirmed what you subconsciously hoped to not be true." Elysia gulped and nodded. "Yeah. My family''s teaching warned me of this possible outcome should I give into curiosity." "But does this realization change anything? I may not be what you thought or hoped I was, yet that doesn''t detract from all we have accomplished together." "No..." Elysia trailed off. While logically learning the truth shouldn''t have shattered her soul, it had. The All-Seeing Eye, which had been her everything, was a lie. "If it helps, the All-Seeing Eye is more of an idea. It serves as a persona of mine, if you will. While I have a tree body stuck in reality here with you, I prefer to go by the name Ashlock. I like to laugh and cry, hang out with my daughter, and talk to those close to me. But I''m no longer a mere tree when I''m the All-Seeing Eye. I''m something more. The All-Seeing Eye is just as mysterious to me as it is to you." "Really?" Elysia said. "Yeah, you could even think of my body as an avatar for the All-Seeing Eye, much like yourself when I spoke through you. Come on, Elysia, let''s rebuild the idea of the All-Seeing Eye together into something greater than either of us ever will be. You and me. He can''t be the god the people need him to be without his avatars." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Elysia felt power rush back into her body in a flood, practically forcing her to stand up in her mind like a rising tide. The idea was simply so... beautiful. She turned on her heel with the tree to her back and raised her arms. Her consciousness trembled as the mystic Qi gathering in her soul solidified into what she envisioned as the All-Seeing Eye. A pillar then rose in her mind with the eye on top. Taking a step back, she marveled at her creation alongside Ashlock, the tree. The All-Seeing Eye had returned to being on a pillar in her mind, except this time, she was the one building the pillar ever higher. The heavens were now the limit. Her soul could not contain the rush of mystic Qi and pulsed twice as she rocketed up two stages to the 9th stage of the Star Core Realm. The Qi kept coming and was about to push her Star Core to its peak and go supernova, but the power suddenly froze. "Not yet," Ashlock said. His roots had spread into her soul, and he was holding it steady. "Why?" Elysia asked, not a hint of anger in her voice. She trusted him wholeheartedly as a fellow avatar to the All-Seeing Eye. "You should link with Mytherion and have him be your infant soul." "But I raised him for you?" Elysia tilted her head. "No, you didn''t. You raised Mytherion for the All-Seeing Eye. Not me. And so long as you believe in the eternal gaze, the All-Seeing Eye isn''t going anywhere. Whether I remain in this realm or not." Elysia nodded as she fully realized the disconnect she needed to make in her mind. While Ashlock could bring the All-Seeing Eye into reality, so could she. Anything the All-Seeing Eye could do, she could manifest with mystic Qi as long as she believed it possible. "Okay, I will raise Mytherion as my infant soul so one day, the All-Seeing Eye will have another avatar should you leave." Elysia paused and looked at Ashlock seriously, "Thank you. I felt my world crumble around me for a moment, but now I feel my devotion is about to reach new heights." "Ah... new heights, huh." Ashlock chuckled nervously, "Don''t overdo it, okay?" "I never have," Elysia dismissed his concerns, "But I have one more question." "Go for it." "When the All-Seeing Eye came to me and said: ''Vincent Nightrose, leader of the Blood Lotus Sect, desires something that is mine. Something so close to me that losing it would cause me to war with the nine realms until its destruction or my own.'' Was that something, Stella?" "It was." "What is Stella''s relationship to the All-Seeing Eye? I know she is your daughter, but why would the All-Seeing Eye start a holy war against Vincent for her?" Elysia bit her lip, "This link is making the disconnect between yourself and the All-Seeing Eye difficult in my mind." "When the All-Seeing Eye became a deity recognized by the heavens, his fate was interlinked with Stella. He watched over Stella to protect her and founded a sect to nurture talents to go to war for her. The All-Seeing Eye''s gaze is eternal, so long as his focus remains alive. Should Stella Crestfallen die, his fate will no longer be intertwined with this reality, and he will leave. Understand?" "Stella is the eternal gaze''s anchor to our world," Elysia bowed deeply. "Thank you for the profound teaching, Ashlock. As the Vice Cult leader, I will protect and help Cult Leader Stella as best I can." "Good. Take this." Elysia''s focus returned to the floating island outside her mind, and she saw a vial of what looked like viscous black blood waiting in her hand. "This is blood from our god. As his avatar, I am honored to carry it in my body and have now passed some onto you. Drinking it will turn you into a tree." "What is this for?" Elysia asked the cosmic tree, still blazing with the presence of her god. "Do you wish for me to become a tree?" "No. Use it when you form your infant soul to link to Mytherion. However, wait until after the battle with Vincent is over before ascending to Nascent Soul Realm." Elysia carefully stored away the vial and got to her feet. While the island tilted itself back into place and the cosmic flowers began powering up for another attack on Vincent Nightrose, her family looked at her with a mixture of shock and concern. Her uncle stepped forward, and his gaze shifted as he studied her. Slowly, a look of relief appeared on his tired face. "You''re home." Elysia nodded as she closed her eyelids to hide her empty eye sockets. "Uncle, I''m back." He gently stroked the side of her head with a warm smile. "I thought I lost you for a while." "I know, I''m sorry. The teachings of Kael Mystshroud just kept echoing in my head, so I refused to accept the possible truth, fearing it stripping me of my newfound power, and stubbornly pressed on with my delusions despite how much they hurt me." "Kael Mystshroud was a powerful but insane man. We use his teachings out of respect for his legacy, but do you know how he died?" Elysia shook her head. "His delusions came crashing down on him. Just like you almost did, his soul collapsed on him, reducing him to a mortal. He died years later when age caught up to him, but while not taught as much, I feel his dying words are far more profound." Elysia looked into her uncle''s warm eyes, "What were they?" "On his death bed, as an old mortal man of 137 years, he said: ''I realized it too late. Sometimes, the veil of our own making becomes a shackle when, instead, it can be viewed as a chrysalis. When it shatters, we do not fall; we unfold. For in the ruin of false belief, the truth blooms, and a new path is revealed¡ªone forged not by comfort but by clarity. Unfortunately, I refused to break the shackles, so instead of soaring to the heavens, I was dragged down to hell by them.'' He died as a bitter mortal shortly after uttering these words to his wife. Listen, Elysia, mystic Qi is as powerful as it is dangerous. We can quickly get drunk on power and let it control us." He paused and looked deeply into her third eye, "While Kael realized it far too late, I can see now that you have gained clarity and are no longer stubbornly pressing forward despite your subconscious screaming out to you." "Sorry for worrying you, uncle." Elysia stepped back. "My thoughts are now clear, and I''m far more devoted to the idea of the All-Seeing Eye than ever before." "That''s... good. I think?" "You bet it is," Elysia said, spreading out her arms and displaying a manic grin. "Empires will fall before us, Uncle. Monsters will kneel at our feet, and all who oppose us will be slaughtered." In her mind, she envisioned the pillar rising ever higher, fueled by the death of the nonbelievers and those who oppose them. "I still don''t think that''s what the All-Seeing Eye wants..." Elysia grabbed her uncle''s hand and led him to the edge of the floating island. Pointing down to the forest below, she smirked, "It''s already beginning." Her uncle narrowed his eyes and then gasped in horror. Through small gaps in the foliage, a terrible slaughter was happening. A wave of people under Vincent''s control clashed with metal beings wielding weapons wreathed in earth Qi. They efficiently cut through the horde of people, only briefly stopping to raise up the corpses and somehow devour them whole. "What are those things?" Elysia didn''t know but answered what she believed to be true. "Warriors of the All-Seeing Eye, here to purge the realm. Just like I said, the nonbelievers will be slaughtered." Her uncle gulped, and his gaze hardened, "It looks like you were right." "Of course I was," Elysia said as her third eye glowed violet because her soul was overflowing with mystic Qi. Deciding not to waste it, she spread her arms and channeled the excess mystic Qi into many ritual circles in the air. They expanded out, covering an immense area. In the middle of the largest ritual circle, an otherwordly eye appeared as if watching down on his subjects. Tendrils of mystic Qi cascaded down, and everything they touched was blessed. The tiny warriors were wreathed in purple and black flames, and otherworldly eyes appeared on the cosmic islands'' flowers, helping to focus their power. "To please both my god and his avatar, I will help rid this world of the filth that dares to target the one they hold most dear," Elysia muttered under her breath as seemingly unlimited power flowed out of her into the surroundings. *** Ashlock let out a sigh of relief. "The day I comprehend what is going through the insane girl''s mind is the day I should check myself into a hospital. I''m just glad she didn''t go supernova and kill us all." For a moment, he thought Elysia was going supernova, then realized something terribly wrong had occurred when her soul continued to collapse and showed no signs of exploding. Luckily, he somehow convinced her to continue believing in the All-Seeing Eye, and she grew stronger from it. A horn suddenly blared out in the distance, drawing Ashlock''s attention. "What the hell was that¡ªare those the Mudcloaks?" He watched in wonder as the little guys decked out in armor they had likely made in that forge under the citadel charged down the mountainside. "Well, I''ll be damned," Ashlock muttered as he saw the largest Mudcloak group descending on Douglas''s location. The man was with Elaine and a few other cultivators in a fortress of rock that was quickly being overrun. Chapter 404: Save the King Douglas realized he may have gotten in over his head. Call him stupid, a blockhead, rocks for brains, whatever, he would nod and agree. He was a Grand Elder of the Ashfallen Sect but hadn''t yet mentally grown into his role. After all, just half a year ago, he had been a debt-riddled thug scraping by in the shadows of Darklight City. So when a group of outer sect members that had recently joined the Ashfallen Sect after the tournament came to him, eager to prove their worth and to earn favor in this battle, he struggled to say no when they referred to him as a Grand Elder and treated him with the respect a person with such a title deserved. I should have listened to Elaine and not let my arrogance get the best of me. This plan was so obviously stupid. He glanced around the dark room as the ceiling overhead rumbled and chunks of rock rained down on them like hail as thousands of crazed people''s feet thundered over them toward Red Vine Peak. There were five of them in total hiding out in these underground tunnels they had hastily created. Two ''Grand Elders'' of the Ashfallen Sect and three outer sect disciples. The outer sect disciples had been so keen to introduce themselves to him only an hour ago. He could understand why, as two of the outer sect disciples had earth affinity and likely wanted to get on his good side in hopes of receiving guidance or resources in the future. The bright smiles and eagerness for battle were long gone¡ªtheir expressions now ones of fear and despair. "Sam and Hugo," he said, and the two soul-fire realm earth cultivators looked at him. Sam was a well-built teenager with tanned skin and blonde hair, while Hugo was the definition of a middle-aged Darklight City thug with crooked teeth, shifty eyes, and a faded mark of the Iron Fist Brotherhood on the back of his right palm. A group of rogue earth cultivators that used to be hired to destroy competitors'' warehouses until they messed with the wrong group and disbanded. Both of their soul flames had impurities. Especially Hugo''s, whose soul flames were darker than the depths of a swamp, suggesting a lifetime of beast core abuse. Apparently, they were friends somehow. Douglas was quite interested in Sam as he had shown good potential in his fight alongside Celeste Starweaver in the tournament. Meanwhile, Hugo... well, Douglas could hardly judge the guy for leading the life of a thug. "How are you two holding up?" He asked them. The two earth cultivators exchanged a look. They were both covered in blood that was a mixture of their own and that of the people they had killed. Hugo''s shirt had been ripped to shreds, showing an aged body covered in old scars, while Sam wasn''t doing much better as he nursed a broken arm and had a busted nose. Meanwhile, Douglas and Elaine hadn''t suffered a single injury, showing the large gap between these Soul Fire Realm outer sect disciples and the Star Core Realm Grand Elders. "Don''t worry, this isn''t a test of some kind." Douglas chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little. "I like to think I''m not as uptight as the other Grand Elders might be. Hugo, you were part of the Iron Fist Brotherhood?" "Erm," the thuggish man looked at the tattoo on the back of his right hand and awkwardly smeared blood onto it with his thumb as if trying to cover it up. "Yeah, for a time. You know of them?" "Know of them? I''ve fought to the death with them... and shared drinks and laughs. You could say we have quite the history." Douglas then focused on Sam, "You''re a farmer, right?" Sam''s eyes widened, "How did you know?" "Accent and tanned skin that doesn''t match the rest of your complexion, suggesting a lot of time spent outside. It was just a guess, but it seems I hit the nail on the head." "Yeah," Sam looked embarrassed, "I come from a family of farmers." "Nothing to be ashamed about, lad. We all came from somewhere, so don''t be ashamed. All that matters is we are now together under the banner of Ashfallen." Douglas smiled. Sam returned an awkward smile and looked to the ground. If Douglas looked closely, he could see him trembling. Can hardly blame the kid. Douglas frowned as he recalled the earlier battle. He initially put up a good fight, but those people out there are strong for the Soul Fire Realm and fight like ferocious beasts with no care for self-preservation. While I could block their attacks with earth Qi coating my skin, Hugo and Sam weren''t so lucky. Their earth Qi simply wasn''t dense enough to block everything, and they quickly got overwhelmed and wrestled to the floor by multiple enemies. The dark hole they were seeking shelter in returned to an uncomfortable silence. The ground overhead continued to tremble from the blood explosions triggered after one of the crazy people was killed. They had learned about the fact they exploded the hard way, and that was why Sam''s arm was broken. He had wrestled one of the people to the ground, and after landing a finishing blow, they had exploded, almost killing the poor teen. Thankfully, he reacted in time and sacrificed his arm to take on the brunt of the explosion. Brown soul flames flickered across Douglas''s hands on the wall behind him as he fed their shelter with earth Qi to keep it stable. He was also shooting out earth spikes at the crazed people as they passed overhead, but it wasn''t enough. He needed to get back out there to kill as many as possible, but they had three outer sect disciples with them. Besides the two earth cultivators, the last one was Ray, a Soul Fire Realm water cultivator. She''d struggled a lot to fight off the crazed people. The holes she punctured in their skin with water jets were easily healed, and they quickly overpowered her. If Elaine hadn''t saved her at the last second, she would have died rather than simply being knocked out from her injuries. "How is she doing?" Douglas whispered to Elaine, who was nursing the sleeping girl covered in wounds. "Not good. Ray needs healing from Sol as soon as possible to survive." Elaine said with a frown. She then looked up, met his eyes, and mouthed, "Just call them." It was obvious who she was referring to by the way she glared at the gemstone crown on his head. His shoulders sagged, and he gave her a slight nod. He didn''t want to call upon the Mudcloaks to sacrifice themselves to clear a path out of here for them, but he was at a loss for what to do with Ashlock busy dealing with Vincent Nightrose and the other sect members desperately fighting off the horde from the other flanks. Everyone''s Qi was running low and proved ineffective against the horde. This is so embarrassing. God damn it. It had been his job to defend this section of the mountain range, and he had done a lousy job. He didn''t even want to imagine the Princess''s condescending look or Ashlock''s disappointment in him once this was over. Reaching up, he inserted his presence into the gemstone crown on his head and called upon the Mudcloaks. He knew they were tough, but only one had stepped into the Star Core Realm the last time he checked. The rest were all in the Soul Fire Realm and not that adept at fighting. It felt like he was calling them to die for him, and he hated that idea. But unlike Stella, who could walk through reality, he could not teleport. At best, he could fly on his sword, but he had only recently learned to do so and wasn''t convinced he could fly up to Red Vine Peak while holding two people. Especially one who was unconscious. While Elaine could step through the void, she couldn''t bring anyone with her, and her range was limited. Not to mention the high Qi cost. While I can''t do the fancy stuff they can, I can still make a path. Standing up, he drew everyone''s tired gazes. "I''ve called for reinforcements. We should get ready to move when they arrive. Can you two stand?" This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "Yes, Grand Elder," both respectfully replied as they struggled to their feet. Hugo seemed to react to his injuries less, showing his decades of fighting it out in the streets of Darklight City. Sam didn''t fare as well. He visibly winced as he stood, and his lower lip was trembling from the pain. "I''ll handle her," Douglas said, gesturing to Ray. Legs emerged from the stone ledge she was on as he turned it into a golem. Elaine stood and brushed the dust off the cloak while giving Ray a sad look. "We shouldn''t have brought them here," she rambled under her breath, "While the enemies are in the Soul Fire Realm, we should have taken time to analyze them and come up with a more concrete plan to defend against them." "I know this was¡ªI was rash and stupid." Douglas sighed as he approached the far wall and placed both palms on it. His Star Core hummed in his chest as he fed the land his Qi. "Let me make this right. I''ll clear us a path toward the reinforcements." His hands sank into the rock, and as he brought them apart, the wall cracked down the middle and began to split into a jagged but wide tunnel. "Come on," He took the lead with the golem supporting Ray trailing behind. Hugo and Sam followed next, with Elaine taking up the rear. "Will the beast tide be like this?" Sam muttered, yet everyone heard. "Far worse," Douglas replied, "But that''s not for someone like you to worry about." "Why not?" Sam asked. "Are we not part of the Ashfallen Sect that plans to stand against it?" "The beast tide will be dealt with by the sect''s powerhouses and the Boss¡ªsorry, I mean Patriarch. It''s not a threat someone at your level can hope to stand against." "Why not?" Douglas paused and glanced over his shoulder. He felt this was a rare moment he could look like a sage and offer some knowledge like a Grand Elder should. "How are your Qi reserves?" Sam took a moment to feel his soul and replied with a bitter expression, "Nearly empty." "And how long will it take you to replenish those reserves?" "Erm¡ª" "Not with the help of beast cores," Douglas added. "Then it will take weeks," Sam frowned. "Weeks of recovery for a battle that lasted an hour where you managed to kill how many, one? Five? Maybe ten of those crazed people? There will be so many monsters in the beast tide that you won''t be able to see the horizon, and it will last for months." "Is the difference between us really that vast?" Douglas laughed and kept walking, "Like heaven and earth, lad. You have a dull rock for a soul that needs to be fed, while I have a blazing star that floods me with power. Forget that I can flatten you with my mere presence¡ªI can fight for days or even weeks before running out of Qi, not a pitiful hour. Not to mention, I recover Qi far faster." "Their firepower and techniques are also a realm above us," Hugo added, further souring Sam''s already miserable mood. It seemed the defeat to Jasmine at the tournament, combined with the utter thrashing he received today, had piled up. "Hey, don''t give up." Hugo smacked Sam on the back, making the teen hiss with pain, "You''re young and full of ambition. I''m in my fifties and got beaten up as badly as you. Imagine how embarrassing that is for me!" Hugo''s following laughter was drowned out by a sudden loud horn that echoed down the tunnel, making everyone freeze. "Was that from the reinforcements?" Hugo asked like a scared cat. Douglas exchanged a look with Elaine, but she didn''t seem to know any more than he did. A second horn came that was tenfold more thunderous than the last, causing an earthquake. Oh shit. The hastily made tunnel collapsed around them, exposing them to the freezing cold rain and the attention of a hundred crazed people who peered down the sides like hungry vultures. "Heavens be damned. Elaine, back me up!" Douglas roared as he brought out his large sword and wreathed his entire body and weapon in earth Qi. Flexing his Star Core pressure, he bought a moment as the crazed people faltered and were brought to their knees. Douglas vaulted out of the hole, cracking the ground in his wake as his Soul Fire greatly empowered his strength. In a single, brutal arc, his sword sliced through the necks of a row of kneeling figures struggling to stand under his soul pressure. This time, he didn''t hesitate. He kicked the collapsing corpses aside, just in time for them to detonate in a chain of bone-rattling explosions that shook the ground. The blasts staggered nearby crazed people, searing their flesh, but it wasn''t enough to finish them. Their wounds writhed and knitted back together, their relentless regeneration making them seem more monstrous than human. Douglas clicked his tongue in annoyance, seeing them getting back up. "Take this." With a sharp kick to the ground, jagged spikes erupted beneath them, impaling their writhing bodies. But they were relentless, snarling like feral beasts as they clawed themselves off the spikes. Blood dripped down their torsos, yet even as they staggered forward, the gaping wounds in their chests sealed shut, flesh knitting back together in grotesque defiance. Missed their hearts, I suppose. Douglas tried again, this time focusing more on his aim. Earth Qi was more about raw and brutal strength over precision, and he''d never come across a foe that a good old earth spike through the stomach hadn''t killed. Kicking up some rock, he raised his hand, adorned with a silver ring encrusted with an amethyst gemstone. It had been gifted to him by Stella, and the ring let him use telekinesis. He''d mainly used it for construction in the past, but now it would help him in combat. The rocks whistled through the rain as they pelted the wall of incoming crazed people, taking out their heads with satisfying crunches. Once that side was done, Douglas turned and saw the injured Hugo and Sam desperately trying to hold their own against a single crazed person while Elaine was fending off a wave by herself. "Damn it, there''s too many of them." Douglas raised his hands, and from the ground, a fortress rose around them. It burned quite a bit of Qi, but he needed to protect the outer sect disciples who had trusted him to lead them into battle. I need to learn more combat techniques now that I''m in the Star Core Realm. I didn''t realize until now how useless I am in combat. It''s pathetic; I can only construct tunnels and buildings and throw myself at enemies. "Retreat into the fortress," Douglas shouted over the storm. Hugo and Sam climbed back into the building, and Douglas sealed the doorways with a rock before the crazed people could tear their heads off. Elaine continued fighting for a while before she Void Stepped to his side. "This is insane," she wiped some blood from the corner of her mouth on her sleeve as she heaved with exhaustion. "You''re hurt." "I''m fine." "But you''re bleeding." Elaine looked into his eyes before gripping his cheek with her fingers and pulling on it, "You''re such a big softie. This is obviously not my blood, you oaf." "Ahem," Douglas pushed her hand away as people were present. He crouched down and kept feeding the fortress his Qi as the crazed people outside were trying to tear it apart. "We will wait here until reinforcements¡ª" "SAVE THE KING!" A warcry shook the realm, making Douglas smirk. "Looks like they are here." "The king?" Hugo scratched his head in confusion until he looked up at Douglas''s gemstone crown and put the pieces together. "Are they talking about you? Just what kind of reinforcement did you call upon?" "Nothing much," Douglas stood up and walked toward the wall, "Just the construction workers of Ashfallen." Parting the wall, he kicked the crazed people trying to get in, pulverizing them into a bloody mist on the tip of his shoe. "You call those construction workers?" Hugo asked in disbelief as the blood mist was whisked away by the storm, revealing what Douglas assumed to be the Mudcloaks. But they were decked out in silver armor covered from head to toe in blood and were wreathed in ominous purple and black flames. They charged toward him through the rain, tearing apart and devouring anyone in their way. These Soul Fire Realm crazed people that had given them so much trouble seemed like nothing but food to them. Douglas stood there, stunned. "My king!" a Mudcloak said in a distorted voice before raising his visor and looking at him. "We have come to your aid." "Right..." Douglas could hardly form words. What the hell was happening? Shaking his head to refocus, he gave the Mudcloak the praise he deserved. "Good job. Is the path to Red Vine Peak clear? We have injured people." The Mudcloak looked past him at Sam, and the two exchanged a nod? The Mudcloak then noticed Ray and walked over to her. He reached up with his three-fingered hand and was about to drag the body off the table when Elaine slapped his hand. "Ray''s not dead." "Not food?" The Mudcloak seemed saddened by this. "No, she can still be healed." "Okay," The Mudcloak nodded and put his visor back down. "Is the path to Red Vine Peak clear?" Douglas asked. The Mudcloak nodded and gestured for them to follow. "Are these really construction workers?" Hugo hissed as hundreds of Mudcloaks were lined up in a royal procession. "Everyone always overlooks the construction workers," Douglas gave Hugo a smirk despite being just as surprised as he was. Since when had the Mudcloaks gotten this strong? He knew their cultivation was progressing, but when could they slaughter Soul Fire Realm enemies and devour them like this? "If this is the level of a mere construction worker in the Ashfallen Sect, I can hardly fathom how powerful the true powerhouses are... or, heavens forbid, the Patriarch himself," Hugo said. As if the heavens sought to answer his musings, the sky flared with a blinding radiance, burning away the thick cloud cover that had loomed over them for weeks. A deafening explosion assaulted their ears, shaking the air itself. Moments later, a wall of wind that felt like a god''s ghostly palm crashed into them, sending thousands of leaves from the surrounding demonic trees spiraling into chaos. Douglas managed to stumble while shielding his ears¡ªhis knees buckled but his footing held strong. Sam and Hugo, however, weren''t so lucky as they were hurled several meters away, landing hard against the forest floor. The Mudcloaks stood firm, refusing to break their formation despite the insanity, and they continued to fight against the crazed people. Breathless, Hugo rolled over from where he had landed and looked up, his eyes wide as he beheld the sky, now ripped apart by a kaleidoscope of raging Qi¡ªas if a fragment of primordial chaos had descended upon the world. "Do you understand now?" Douglas said, and Hugo looked at him in fear. "That is the power of the true powerhouses." Hugo gulped, "You know what, maybe being a construction worker ain''t so bad." Chapter 405: Boss Fight, Stage Two The reality-shattering explosion pushed every Bastion backward like a tsunami. The shields on every Bastion except Erebus were vaporized in the shockwave, and the leaves on all demonic trees for miles had been stripped in the wake of the assault. It was a miracle that the Bastions hadn''t been blown out of the sky and the forest below wasn''t on fire. As the roar of the attack reduced to a distant rumble, Ashlock wondered if he had spent more Qi shielding the Bastions and his offspring in the forest below from destruction than he had during the attack. "Did you get him?" Ashlock was broken from his thoughts and looked toward the voice in surprise. Stella had appeared out of nowhere and was standing next to Elysia on the edge of the Bastion. She was shielding her eyes from the blinding chaos of Qi sprawling out above them, which had replaced the sky. "No, Cult Leader," Elysia bowed respectfully before pointing into the distance, "The vermin still lives." "How can you tell¡ªoh god, what happened to you?" Stella sandwiched Elysia''s head between her palms and studied her face. "I thought my mortal eyes could handle a fragment of the All-Seeing Eye''s power." Elysia reached up and opened her eyelids, showing the empty space within, "As you can see, I paid the price for my foolishness." "Sol can heal your eyes¡ª" "No thanks." Elysia respectfully rejected Stella''s offer. Stella blinked in confusion and tilted her head, "Why?" Elysia''s forehead opened some more, exposing her third eye. "What use are my mortal eyes if they cannot see? They did nothing but feed my brain a false version of reality. But with this, I can finally see." Stella inspected the grotesque eye, peering through Elysia''s cracked skull in amazement. "I know it might look strange, but trust me, it''s far better." Stella didn''t seem to be listening. "This is so freaking cool! Can I get one?" "No." "Why?" Stella pouted. "Your reality is limited to what others, specifically the heavens, decide it will be." Elysia shrugged, "Mystic Qi allows me to alter reality to my ideal. I wanted this eye, so I made it. There''s nothing much I can do for you." Stella looked like she was about to keep arguing, but as the Bastion finally righted itself and the cosmic shield reformed overhead, she lowered her hands. "Fine. But can you catch me up on the situation?" "I can do that," Ashlock spoke into their minds, "But why are you here? I thought you and the other sect members were defending Red Vine Peak from the blood puppets." "The Mudcloaks were too effective at killing the blood puppets, so I left it to them." Stella shrugged. Ashlock had caught a brief glimpse of their capabilities and decided that was fine. They seemed to have the situation under control. He was about to start explaining when Diana glided in through the still-reforming cosmic shield and dropped beside Stella. She folded her magnificent wings and seemed out of breath. "Stella, stepping through the aether isn''t fair... phew, that was the fastest I''ve flown in ages." "Good, you''re just in time," Ashlock included her in the conversation and glanced over to Vincent with his evil eye from Red Vine Peak. "To quickly catch you both up to speed, I hit Vincent Nightrose with my bloodlust, and it briefly made him lose control over his Qi and mind." While explaining, Ashlock moved Orion closer to where he could see Vincent was still hidden. "We have launched two attacks thus far on him, with the last one being the largest and further empowered by Elysia''s mystic Qi. The gravity rings surrounding Vincent absorbed the brunt of both impacts, with the chaotic illusion Qi around his body tanking the rest." Stella bit her lip. "It''s so strange. I can feel his presence now that we are this close, but I can''t see him other than a slight shimmering in the air. However, looking in the aether plane is a different story. He appears as a black hole of power where his presence warps reality around him." "That black hole of power you speak of must be caused by his high level of gravity Qi." "Aether affinity is seriously cheating," Diana sighed, "I can''t see shit." Stella gave Diana an unamused look, "You can eat people''s heart demons for breakfast." "Don''t worry. I''ll force him to show himself soon enough." Ashlock maneuvered Orion as close to Vincent as he dared. The cosmic Qi Bastion''s Core hummed with power as he had it resist the gravitational pull of the rings around Vincent. It felt like casting out a fishing line and getting a big bite. There was a constant tugging on the fishing line, so he had to apply equal force to keep the line taut. "Vincent is still surrounded by a shield of gravity and illusion Qi, right? How do you plan to get through it if those last two attacks didn''t work?" Diana asked. "Who said they didn''t work?" Ashlock said as he activated {Abyssal Devourer [A]}. Credits began to drain from his system as a sea of void spread out from Orion, and dozens of black vines covered in thorns emerged from the darkness. "I couldn''t have gotten this close before. The gravitational rings have definitely weakened after the last two attacks." However, Ashlock had to admit he was quite amazed they had withstood everything he had thrown at them so far. After all, his attacks included void and cosmic Qi, known for being exceptionally destructive affinities. But the problem was that most of his Bastions were still in the Star Core Realm. "The gap between peak Star Core and 8th stage Nascent Soul Realm really is that vast, huh?" If he put it into perspective some more, Ashlock couldn''t imagine losing a fight to any of the Star Core Realm cultivators in his sect, no matter how many shot attacks at him. He only felt threatened by Nascent Soul Realm existences. Not to mention Nyxalia, Larry, or even Maple. He couldn''t imagine how to face any of them. Dismissing those worries, he focused on the enemy at hand: Vincent Nightrose, an 8th-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. The cosmic shield around the Bastion warped toward the rings of intense gravity as if an invisible hand was trying to pry it off. "This should be close enough," Ashlock let the void lake fall off the side of the Bastion along with the dozens of thorn-covered vines. Like anchors cast out into the ocean, the vines and void tendrils from his Abyssal Devourer skill were pulled taut by gravity, making the Bastion lurch forward dangerously close to Vincent. Stella dropped to her knee, and both her palms blazed with aether Qi as she flooded the island with power. Her telekinesis and Ashlock feeding the Bastion''s Core with Qi were enough to escape the clutches of Vincent''s gravity and prevented them all from being torn apart alongside Orion. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Good save, thank you," Ashlock said to Stella. She simply nodded in acknowledgment as she focused entirely on keeping them from falling further. Vincent''s gravity continued to pull on the vines and void tendrils as if trying to devour them. "Ashlock, what are you trying to do?!" Diana asked in confusion as she tried to keep her balance as the Bastion was lurching back and forth due to Ashlock and Stella playing a death game of tug of war with Vincent''s gravity Qi. "He''s devouring his Qi," Elysia said in awe as she intently watched over the side through her third eye. "I''ve never seen such a thing before." "What do you mean?" Diana stumbled to Elysia''s side before giving up and using her wings for more stability. It was as if they were traversing a rough sea with mountain-sized peaks and troughs. "Those vines and tendrils seem to have a corrosive aura. I thought it was desolation Qi at first, but I can see the gravity Qi being sucked away and taken by the vines rather than being unmade like I would expect from desolation Qi." Elysia turned to Diana with a grin, "Can you not feel it beneath your feet? The rising power of the floating island? Oh god, this is just too perfect. The All-Seeing Eye doesn''t simply kill his enemies. No, he devours their very souls and recycles them into his own strength. How utterly demonic." Ashlock was glad that Elysia could recognize just how ridiculous the latest upgrade to his devour skill was. Desolation Qi was powerful, but he had to expend a lot of Qi to annihilate the Qi of someone else while also needing a deep comprehension of the required Daos. Meanwhile, the corrosive aura of his Abyssal Devourer skill? It was nothing but benefits if one ignored the cost of sacrificial credits. He could directly steal the Qi and lifeforce of others and have it fed back to him, replenishing his Qi and lifeforce reserves at the cost of his enemies. The only prerequisite was they had to come close enough to his trunk or one of his offspring to be in range of his vines and tendrils. They also had to stay still and not fight back while being slowly sucked dry of their body and soul. It just so happened that Vincent was preoccupied with a battle in his mind, giving Ashlock a perfect opportunity to level the playing field by draining as much Qi as possible from Vincent. More and more vines and void tendrils endlessly poured out of the void until the bottom side of Orion looked like some eldritch monstrosity, which only seemed to further excite Elysia. Yet, despite the added number of vines and tendrils being swept up by Vincent''s gravity, the pull on Orion began to lessen. Ashlock could feel it, too. The flood of Qi he was stealing from Vincent was beginning to overwhelm the Bastion''s Core. He had already redirected as much of the Qi as possible into powering the cosmic shield, artillery, and storm, yet it wasn''t enough. As Orion blazed with power, for the first time in possibly ever, he received Qi from his Bastion, which was greatly appreciated. If Ashlock were to view his Qi reserves as a bank account, he would be in overdraft with no hope of ever getting his Qi expenditure to equal the amount he could cultivate and draw from the World Tree. Desolation Qi was no joke, and trying to hold back a horizon-spanning threat by himself and fighting a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was proving difficult. "He''s weakening," Stella announced as she stood up and flicked her wrist to dismiss the white flames wreathing her hand. That was the signal he had been waiting for. While he continued to monitor the situation through his Evil Eye from a mountain range away, he carefully inched Orion ever closer. Seeing that the gravity rings were now so weak that Orion could get closer without being torn apart, Ashlock decided to move onto phase two: burrowing through the chaotic storm of illusion Qi surrounding Vincent. "Erebus, move closer alongside Orion," Ashlock instructed. While Erebus Voidmind''s soul had been partly destroyed during his death, it had slowly recovered enough under the nine moons to comprehend basic commands. The void Bastion rotated around Vincent to float to Orion''s side. As Erebus came to a halt on Orion''s left flank, it was obvious which of the two bastions was the flagship. Due to the size difference between the two, the mass of tendrils coming out of Orion, and the cosmic tree practically glowing with power due to draining Vincent, the equally dangerous void Bastion seemed to pale in comparison. "You know, I''m starting to think this isn''t how fights between Nascent Soul Realm cultivators usually go," Ashlock said, and Stella snorted. "The floating island thing is definitely new, but it''s quite common for fights between such high-level individuals to go like this. It''s rare for a simple standoff where two cultivators shoot techniques at one another until someone dies or runs out of Qi. Usually, entire sects, armies, or spiritual manifestations like the big ice golem the Winterwrath family used during their assault on my father are involved." Diana mused. "I suppose that''s true. The Lunarshade Grand Elder did something similar by surrounding himself in an avatar of lunar Qi." "Having two souls and such vast amounts of Qi to work with definitely changes the size, scale, and tactics of these fights." Diana paused. "I wonder what a battle between two Monarch Realms would look like." "I don''t want to imagine, but I fear the day we will witness one isn''t too far away," Ashlock sighed, "I just hope we aren''t involved and can watch from the sidelines." Stella and Diana exchanged a knowing look. "Don''t give me that look, I''m serious. With Vincent finally dealt with, we should be free to deal with the beast tide." "The beast tide... are you talking about the largest one in history? The one that''s said to contain a Monarch Realm monster?" Diana smirked, "That beast tide?" "Okay... fair." Ashlock left this debate for later. With Erebus in position, time was of the essence. "Bastions prepare to fire." The fully charged flowers sprouting from the sides of the Bastions swiveled to face Vincent. With those darn gravity rings out of the way, it was time to puncture a hole through the less dense illusion Qi. Since it wasn''t a defensive technique and was simply a chaotic storm of unfocused Qi, Ashlock was confident this would be enough. "Fire!" The world flashed for the third time as orbs of void Qi from Erebus impacted first, followed by beams of cosmic Qi that erupted out of the flowers on Orion. The assault lasted a full five seconds before Orion''s Bastion Core bottomed out, and the attack died down. A sudden spiritual pressure washed over the two Bastions, making their shields ripple and crack. "I can see him!" Diana said in disbelief. "It''s quite creepy to see nothing but a floating torso, but I can finally see!" Ashlock didn''t waste any time and sent his void tendrils and vines through the hole in the chaotic illusion Qi before it filled in. Impaling Vincent''s stomach, Ashlock began to fight the man''s insane regeneration by draining his Qi and life force directly. He had hoped the void tendrils would tear Vincent apart in seconds as it was known to prevent healing, but this was different. The damaged flesh was not healed. It was regenerated. Blood Qi solidified into muscle and tissue and was woven into new flesh to form a living barrier that was regrowing faster than he could devour. If not for the influx of Qi, Ashlock would be skeptical if he was even doing anything. But as the man''s white skin began to turn a deathly grey, Ashlock could see the fruits of his labor. The end of this battle was in sight. If he could just devour Vincent from within, he would emerge victorious. "Wait!" Elysia suddenly panicked, "The illusion Qi, it''s becoming less chaotic." Ashlock focused on it and had to agree. The turbulent illusion Qi was now calm and being pulled back into Vincent, slowly exposing the rest of his body to reality. He was regaining control¡ªand fast. "Shit, not yet! I''m so close." Ashlock forced his vines and void tendrils to try and dig deeper. Much of the man''s torso had been devoured at this point, but there was a seemingly impenetrable wall of vitality and regeneration focused around his pounding spiritual twin hearts. "Stab him!" Stella shouted. "With what¡ª" "My birthday gift to you." Ashlock was confused until he remembered what Stella had gotten him for his birthday. A sword cast from Bloodiron, a cursed metal found under ancient battlefields. While as weak as iron on its own, when fed enough lifeforce, it could parry attacks from Monarch Realm beings... and maybe even stab a Nascent Soul Realm through the heart. Quickly diving into the spatial cave in the center of his Inner World that was serving as his inventory, he found the giant sword in question. It had been made for him, so it was many times larger than a human sword. "To finish Vincent off with a gift for my 10th birthday from Stella, crafted by Elder Mo from the Redclaw family that Vincent had deemed lesser. What a great twist of fate." Ashlock pulled the Bloodiron sword out of a rift with an ethereal root coming out of Orion and pointed its tip at Vincent. "I will kill you with a sword empowered by your own downfall," Ashlock muttered as he redirected all the lifeforce he was rapidly absorbing from Vincent back into the Bloodiron sword. The red veins pulsed as if alive, and an aura of slaughter began to radiate from them. As it reached its zenith and the sword could not take any more lifeforce, Ashlock wreathed it in the purest desolation Qi infused with every Dao he could muster and thrust it forward with the weight of his Inner World. Right as the sword impaled his chest all the way through until the hilt, Vincent''s eyes snapped open. The man seemed momentarily confused as he looked down at the pulsing sword impaling his heart. He inspected its hilt and then looked up to meet everyone''s gazes. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and for a brief moment, Ashlock thought these might be Vincent''s dying moments. But then he grinned. Chapter 406: Awoken from Slumber Vincent couldn''t help but grin despite the pain of being impaled as he looked around. He was encircled by floating islands, all glowing with different types of Qi. They had shields and what appeared to be supercharged flowers pointing his way. There were also more of those monsters created from twisted wood standing on a few of the islands silently watching him. However, a far larger island than the others floating right before him dominated his view. It was wreathed in cosmic Qi, and he could see many cultivators, likely all part of the elusive Ashfallen Sect, staring at him with fear or surprise. A small chuckle escaped his lips, and he placed a hand on the giant sword that impaled his body. It had clearly been aiming for his spiritual heart, but what chance did a physical weapon have of killing something spiritual? "Is this some kind of sick joke? The Ashfallen Sect, deemed a Divine Level sect by those bastards at the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, and this is the best you can manage? I wasn''t fighting back, and with all this supposed ''firepower,'' the pinnacle of your efforts amounted to this? Pathetic." In truth, he was quite severely injured. His soul was too unbalanced, and he was on the cusp of going supernova. Somehow, most of his illusion Qi had been taken from him, and he only had a little gravity Qi left to work with. His vessel was also on the brink of death, with a lot of his spirit roots destroyed, causing him to leak Qi. This is bad. I need to empty my soul of gravity and illusion Qi. Recultivating them in the future will be difficult when my soul is dominated by blood Qi, but it''s better to focus on one Qi type when my soul is this unbalanced. Of course, he had no plans to let his enemy know this. False confidence was a cultivator''s greatest strength. If they believed him to be more dangerous than he was, they would be more cautious rather than going for the finishing blow. After all, there was no way for them to know his true state. A hundred overlapping laughs echoed in his mind, which seemed to originate from the sword impaling him. "You lie." Vincent grimaced as the chorus of voices thundered through his broken consciousness. This must be the leader of the Ashfallen Sect, he thought. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the sword through his body was being held by an ethereal-looking root extending out of the floating island before him. It''s that darn tree again, isn''t it? "This land will become your graveyard." The chorus of voices continued, and it seemed the Ashfallen Sect leader''s words carried meaning as he began to see illusions of himself failing... dying. "You will become nothing but a nameless tombstone, and your legend will fade in the annals of history." "Let''s see about that," Vincent said defiantly as he flicked his wrist and unleashed almost all of the gravity Qi he had left on his surroundings. The air shuddered, and the very clouds overhead dropped upon them as he increased gravity by a hundred times. The floating islands buckled under the pressure, and as their shields shattered, they plummeted like meteors to the forest below. Within a mile radius, the only thing that refused to yield to his might was the large floating island before him. Besides its size, the only thing he could see that made it special was that the tree growing from it radiated a divine presence. Tree, trees, more trees. How has my life devolved to the point that a spirit tree of all things is what stands in my way? He escalated the gravity further, but the floating island remained defiant and refused to fall at his feet. The strange tree on the island simply blazed with more power, and the golden hair-thin roots spreading across the island''s surface glowed with a blinding brilliance. How is that possible? Vincent wondered as his gravity Qi ran out. He lowered his hand, and the air stopped shuddering, followed by his torn-up robes fluttering as the fallen clouds rose back into the sky. "Done? If so, it''s my turn." The voices said, and the ethereal root began to twist the sword in his torso. Vincent tightened his grip on the blade and tried to shatter it, but to his surprise, the metal sword easily resisted his attempts to crack it in half no matter how much blood Qi he directed to his muscles. What metal is this made of? Wait, is this Bloodiron? That cursed metal that devours lifeforce? If that''s so... Vincent smirked, "To use Bloodiron, a metal soaked in the blood of fallen warriors on ancient battlefields, against a blood cultivator is quite foolish, don''t you think?" Pulling on the sword''s strange veins, he extracted the life force out of it. He felt power flood his body and laughed. He kept absorbing more and more, yet the Ashfallen Sect leader made no effort to reel back the sword or stop him. If anything, they were replenishing the sword with more life force. Somethings wrong. Vincent stopped pulling on the sword''s life force. Not only was the Ashfallen Sect Leader''s lack of action suspicious, but he also realized the life force he had been absorbing wasn''t healing him at all. The voice laughed, "You fool. There''s a reason they call it a cursed metal. " Vincent looked within himself, and sure enough, the life force was corrupting him. "The lifeforce fed to Bloodiron rejuvenates the damned souls that refused to move onto the afterlife due to their intense hatred for the living. What you absorbed was not lifeforce; rather, it was fragments of these souls." Curse the heavens. I have only ever read of this metal in books. Who the hell would make a weapon that had to be fed one''s life force? All of the strange flowers on the floating island aimed at him began to power up. Vincent snorted, "Do you think an attack from those will do anything?" The voice didn''t answer as beams of cosmic Qi erupted from the flowers. He quickly raised his hand, wreathed in a layer of blood, and blocked the attack. "Weak." He spat to the side, but it had been anything but. He had almost lost his hand and failed to stop its trembling. This vessel can''t hold out much longer. I must free myself from these roots burrowing into my body and this sword. As the flowers powered up again, he waited for the perfect moment. As the beams shot out again, this time, he didn''t block with his hands and twisted his body. The pain was immense, but he didn''t care. The cosmic beams burned through his body, freeing his upper torso from his lower half, along with the mass of vines and void tendrils that had been devouring him from within. Soaring into the sky, his two spiritual hearts pounded as blood Qi exploded from his torso and flesh knitted itself together. Now, to get rid of this cursed life force. Pulling on his link with the million mortals below, he fed them the corrupted life force invading his body that was full of bloodlust, hatred, and an aura of slaughter. "Ah," he released a sigh of relief as he rid his ruined body of everything plaguing it. He was not in a good state. Two of his affinities were effectively gone, and he only had around half of his blood Qi reserves left. I need to move fast. His head tilted, and he looked at Red Vine Peak. Through the pathetic attempt at an illusion array around the peak, he met the gaze of the spirit tree staring up at him. Stella Crestfallen can come later. I didn''t plan to go to war with the Ashfallen Sect over her, but it seems I need to uproot the source of my opposition. The question is, how can I deal with that void array? It seemed an army of strange beings was holding back his horde of puppets. Mhm, I had hoped their presence would bring out Stella Crestfallen. Maybe if I give some of the puppets more strength, they could break through and reach the peak? Expending a little more blood Qi, he focused on a small group on the far flank of the mountain range so they would be out of direct shooting range of the floating island. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. "Next, I should¡ªwoah!" He floated backward to barely dodge the Bloodiron sword as it whistled through the air. If not for the aura of slaughter radiating from it, he might not have noticed it in time. How did it move so fast? Spatial acceleration? The giant sword suddenly changed trajectory and came back at him. Vincent answered the attack by parrying it with a sword he hastily conjured out of blood Qi. Curse the heavens. Vincent''s arms were trembling. How can he have such power and speed? It was like I just tried to parry the weight of a planet traveling at the speed of a lightning bolt. His spatial ring flashed, and the toughest sword he owned appeared in his hand. Knowing that wouldn''t be enough, he coated it in layers of blood Qi. I just need to buy time until the puppets reach the void array. Then, I can switch targets to the tree. What followed was a brutal melee. Blood Qi possessed insane regeneration and could strengthen his body. If not for these factors, he would have been pulverized into a bloodied paste by this flying sword. Every attack he parried caused a sonic boom and explosion, and the sheer weight of the attacks destroyed his arms, just for them to quickly regenerate. If I had my old body at its peak condition, I could handle this. But despite my upgrades, Valandor had only cultivated his body up to the peak of the Star Core Realm. I don''t know how much longer I can keep parrying. Wait. What if I went on the attack instead? Vincent''s focus switched to the ethereal root holding the sword. While it was mostly being moved around by telekinesis, if he were to cut the root, surely he could wrestle away control of the sword? He had thought it was due to the sword''s size, but through their godly exchange of hits, he noticed that the Ashfallen Sect leader''s technical swordsmanship was... lacking. But he made up for it with the quality of his weapon and unusual fighting style supported by his usage of spatial Qi. It''s as if he is an amateur swordsman. Quite strange, as any old monster at his strength should be a master swordsman. I can''t even imagine how devastating his swordsmanship would be to face if he actually had skills on my level. I''d certainly be dead by now. Accelerating his mind with Qi, Vincent pushed his spiritual perception to its absolute limit. Here it comes. His super fast but predictable overhead smash¡ªVincent didn''t meet the attack with his sword. Instead, he sacrificed his arm and shoulder to eat the strike. With the sword briefly wedged in place, he swung his sword with his other arm and cleanly cut through the ethereal root. "Mine now," Vincent grinned as he surrounded the sword with his spiritual pressure and overpowered the telekinesis wrapping it. Reaching up, he pulled the immense sword free from his body and gave it a swing. "Truly a sword befitting a god... such as me." With the sword seized and no resistance from the last remaining island, Vincent''s gaze shifted toward Red Vine Peak. His lips curled into a snarl. The group he had imbued with surging blood Qi and the cursed life force siphoned from the Bloodiron sword were pressing the advantage despite the strange warriors putting up a weak resistance, yet their advance was maddeningly slow. The peak loomed just ahead, tantalizingly close, yet each second dragged like an eternity. "Move faster," he hissed under his breath, his fingers twitching with impatience. I have to do everything myself. As always, I alone am the strongest. Vincent looked at the sword he had just taken and had an idea. Bloodiron is known to be one of the strongest metals if empowered. I wonder how it would do against the void? I guess there''s only one way to find out. He floated toward Red Vine Peak with the Bloodiron sword in hand. His mere approach sent ripples through the air, his spiritual presence a crushing force against reality itself. The spatial illusion array surrounding the peak trembled, warped, and finally buckled under his approach. "Come on, Ashfallen Sect!" Vincent laughed as he swung the sword in a wide arc and obliterated the remnants of the spatial illusion and the wall of mist, exposing Red Vine Peak to the world. "What a bunch of imposters. A Divine level sect, yet you can only cower in fear when faced with a god such as myself?" The giant eye, embedded inside the looming demonic spirit tree that dominated the peak, swiveled to look at him. It did not seem fazed by his approach, and he hated the prickling feeling as if it were stipping him down and staring straight into his soul. "You''re not welcome here," the voice said with a strange calmness as if his words contradicted his true thoughts. The Ashfallen Sect leader wanted him here. Vincent quickly raised the sword as his honed sense of danger tingled, and he was glad he did as multiple bolts of void lightning silently struck through the air. They deleted the layers of blood Qi surrounding the sword but were unable to fully penetrate the metal before he replenished the layer of blood. "I go where I please," Vincent sneered, his voice dripping with contempt as he strode forward. The air crackled with menace, void lightning splitting the air and lashing at him. Each bolt struck the Bloodiron sword and erased more of his blood Qi, yet he continued. Relentless and defiant, his every step was a reaffirmation of his will. He would chop down this symbol of Ashfallen and bathe in Stella Crestfallen''s blood. That he decreed, no matter what fate said about it. However, as he stepped under the demonic tree''s canopy and the void lightning ceased, it was as if the world had gone silent, and he had intruded onto another''s domain. His advance faltered as doubt gnawed at the edges of his mind for the first time in centuries. Here, beneath the endless expanse of branches, divine energy coiled around his feet, and that dreaded feeling of Qi that gnawed at his body was all around. To make the feeling worse, that darn eye looked down at him with seeming amusement. Somehow, despite the steel of his arrogance, a primal chill spread through his core. I shouldn''t be here. Yet... here I am. Standing before a godly tree. Vincent''s grip tightened around the handle of the stolen Bloodiron sword. "Vincent, you know deep down I won''t give you what you came for," the voices said simply. "That doubt you feel, listen to it. Turn away." Vincent smirked and kept walking forward. "Tell me, O''great spirit tree. Are you the leader of the Ashfallen Sect?" "That I am." "Are you also the All-Seeing Eye." "The very same." "Are you not going to try and kill me?" Vincent asked while balancing the giant sword on his shoulder, "I will cut you down, you know?" Laughter echoed in Vincent''s mind, "I wouldn''t do that if I was you." Vincent snorted and raised the sword like one would an axe, "Why not?" "It would force a being that even I''m careful of to act." "Now who''s the one lying?" Vincent''s voice dripped with doubt, his eyes blazing with a furious resolve. Did this spirit tree think such a weak warning would be enough to stop him when he got this far? He reeled back his arms, his muscles bulging. The air itself seemed to tremble as his power surged, tendrils of blood Qi wrapping around his blade in a sinister embrace. "Your arrogance blinds you." Vincent ignored the voices. As an 8th-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, he was the one who bent reality to his will. To hell with fate. Die, you self-proclaimed god that took everything from me. He swung his sword at the tree with a roar that shook the heavens. The sword cleaved through the air, a streak of crimson light, before biting deep into Ashlock''s bark with a world-shaking crack. Splinters of black wood exploded outward. The ground quaked under the force of the blow, shockwaves rippling throughout the mountain range. As he drew back the sword, black sap oozed out of the cut like molten tar. He had injured the tree. Three more swings should do it. "Stop! Leave Tree alone!" Vincent glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. He sniffed the air, and there was no mistaking it. The person standing at the edge of the tree''s canopy was none other than Stella Crestfallen. "So you finally show yourself," Vincent grinned with relief, "And all it took was cutting a tree. If I had known it would be this easy, I wouldn''t have gone through all the trouble. Now come to me. I will leave the tree alone once I have your blood." Stella wordlessly walked toward him, each step bringing him closer to achieving his goal. Vincent''s lips curled, and he inhaled deeply. The Crestfallen bloodline lingered in the air like an intoxicating perfume. His previous doubts and fears were replaced with a hunger that clawed at the edges of his sanity. He wanted to run forward and devour her, but he remained patient. So many plans, so much sacrifice. All for this moment. He was going to savor and enjoy it. Ah, it''s better smelling than I could have ever imagined. Stella came within arm''s reach, her eyes seemingly lifeless like a doll, but he barely acknowledged her. All he smelled was the succulent bloodline pumping through her veins. His hand shot out, fingers like a steel vice clamping around her slender throat. He was ready to snap her neck, to drain her dry¡ªbut then, his grip faltered and fell to his side. The strength in his arms had withered away to nothing as though drained away by an unseen force. What the... Confusion flickered through his mind. His gaze lifted as if sensing the source, and to his surprise, there it was¡ªa squirrel perched on Stella''s head. Small, snow-white, and utterly unremarkable, so much so that he hadn''t even noticed it until now. But now, it was all he could see. The squirrel''s golden eyes fluttered open, slow and deliberate, like a primordial deity rising from slumber. A look of pure, unfiltered disdain settled on the squirrel''s face as it regarded him¡ªnot with fear like he would expect from such a pet, but with the irritation of one forced to deal with a minor inconvenience. Then it spoke, its voice dripping with ancient malice. "I hate when foolish mortals force me to act." A chill rippled through Vincent''s soul. The hunger fled, replaced by an icy dread that rooted him in place. The squirrel''s gaze held him captive, a golden abyss that promised something far worse than death. He suddenly knew¡ªwithout understanding why¡ªthat he was no longer the predator at this moment. He was this squirrel''s prey¡ªan ancient being that even the godly leader of the Ashfallen Sect feared. Chapter 407: New Beginnings (End of Book 6) Ashlock felt a foreboding breeze rustle his leaves as Maple was awoken from his slumber and stared down at Vincent. He hadn''t wanted it to come to this, but he''d been left with no choice but to manipulate Maple into helping him. When he had summoned the Worldwalker confined to the body of a mere squirrel many moons ago, his cultivation had been far too pathetic to have control over such a being. But Maple had offered a pact, one of peaceful coexistence. They wouldn''t interfere in each other''s business, and when the time came, they were supposed to protect one another. While mutually beneficial on the surface, it actually heavily favored Ashlock because of a simple fact: Maple wasn''t allowed to be here. It was only due to this pact that the Worldwalker could treat the realm as his personal buffet. However, if Ashlock or Stella were to die, the pact would be invalidated, and his system would banish Maple back into the void¡ªand Maple knew this all too well. The squirrel liked Stella and tolerated Ashlock, but at the end of the day, he was a Worldwalker with his own agenda. While Maple was considered a child by Worldwalker standards, he was an eldritch being who was far above Ashlock''s prowess. So, unlike Larry and maybe Nyxalia in the future, Maple was not easily controlled or ordered around. He was incredibly lazy and preferred to conserve his cultivation rather than help them eliminate their foes. But Ashlock needed help from a heavy hitter to finally butcher Vincent Nightrose. He had already tried almost every trump card he had, and Vincent had highlighted a significant weakness in Ashlock''s arsenal against stronger foes¡ªthe ability to fight against insane regeneration. While his Abyssal Devourer skill had recently gained a corrosive aura that allowed him to sap Qi and life force from those wrapped up in his vines and void tendrils, it wasn''t good enough if the person in question had as much regeneration as a blood cultivator like Vincent. Especially since that skill required the enemy to stay still near his trunk or offspring, which was unlikely to happen when the foe had a higher cultivation level than him. Also, Vincent''s regeneration countered his desolation Qi, which was supposed to destroy matter at a high cost. Even Abyssal Whispers did little as Vincent had illusion Qi and had managed to split his soul, so his consciousness was far more resistant to any mind-altering effects. Vincent had also flattened Ashlock''s Bastions as if they had been toys. His Ents had no hope of fighting the 8th stage Nascent Soul cultivator except maybe Anubis, but he wanted to preserve them for the beast tide, especially after what had happened to Hades. This led to the current situation. Ashlock had taken a risk and let Vincent inflict a large, painful cut in his trunk that was oozing cursed sap and Qi, which forced Maple to finally awaken from his long slumber and honor the pact they had made. Vincent, in Valandor''s body, was utterly frozen in fear, as if his soul was held in Maple''s gaze. The mythical white squirrel let out a small snort before hopping off Stella''s head, causing Vincent to step back slowly. The cultivator''s eyes narrowed as he studied the small white squirrel. Clearing his throat, Vincent spoke cautiously, "Ancient being, I don''t believe there is any malice between us." "You''re right, there isn''t." Maple''s form shimmered, expanding upwards like a puff of smoke until it coalesced into an androgynous figure standing a head shorter than Stella and Vincent. Silken white hair cascaded down his shoulders, crowned by large, tufted ears. He looked up at Vincent, clutching a lush, snow-white squirrel''s tail coiled around him like an expensive coat. Despite the height difference and Maple''s childlike appearance, he radiated the aura of a dangerous being. His golden eyes gleamed with a predatory glint, shrouded by a tranquil, timeless power. Vincent didn''t dare move a muscle, captivated by Maple''s gaze, as if looking away would spell his death. Maple''s face was utterly emotionless as he reached forward with his slender hand and gently placed the tips of his fingers on Vincent''s chest. "I didn''t plan to deal with you personally, as I don''t like to interfere with the threads of fate," Maple said, his voice smooth yet edged with irritation. "But you just won''t give it up." He pushed forward, and his fingers sunk impossibly through Vincent''s flesh as if he were made of nothing but blood. "How are you doing that¡ªAH! Stop!" Vincent gasped as he looked down. For the first time, Ashlock saw genuine fear in Vincent''s eyes. An emotion he didn''t know the cultivator could feel as Maple reached into his chest. "I can''t." Maple said emotionlessly, as if talking about the weather, "Stopping here would invalidate my pact with this spirit tree. You hurt the one being you shouldn''t have, and you also have the desire to kill another that I cannot let you hurt. You were always doomed to die here by my hand." "But the threads of fate. They told me if I killed Stella Crestfallen and bathed in her blood, I could live. I never saw your presence¡ª" "That''s because the threads of fate don''t include me." Vincent''s eyes widened in utter terror as Maple ripped his hand back. There was a drawn-out silence as everyone was mesmerized by the soft pounding of the still-beating spiritual heart held tightly in his fingers. He then broke his gaze with Vincent and looked up into Ashlock''s Evil Eye. "You used me, Ashlock. But I forgive you. This is a worthwhile snack to wake up for." His jaw widened, showing off many rows of teeth, and he bit into Vincent''s spiritual heart. It squished before popping in his mouth. Vincent silently screamed as he collapsed to his knees in utter despair as life seemed to drain from his face, and he slowly took on an ethereal appearance. Maple licked his bloody lips and yawned. "I''m going back to sleep. I assume you can handle the rest." Transforming back into a squirrel, Maple leaped up and found a thick branch to curl up and sleep on. "Seriously. Thank you, Maple," Ashlock said, and the squirrel''s ear twitched as if acknowledging his words. While his gamble with getting Maple involved paid off, he paid the price of Maple devouring one of Vincent''s spiritual hearts. However, if the pounding coming from the kneeling man was any indication, he still had one left to go. Vincent was not yet dead, just reduced to his infant soul. A state where Ashlock could finally deal with him personally. Until now, he had been unable to use Spatial Lock to secure Vincent in place as there had been two frequencies to match due to the two spiritual hearts and the fact that Vincent''s cultivation far surpassed his own. But that had now changed. With the removal of one heart and Vincent being reduced to his weaker Nascent Soul state, it was time to finally put this enemy to rest. Until now, he had been holding back to bait Vincent into attacking him to get Maple involved, but now there was no need to hide. His Inner World, which was supposed to be a privilege of Monarch Realm cultivators, began radiating waves of power that he aimed at Vincent. The kneeling man who was fading into a spirit seemed to feel the sudden soul pressure bearing down on him as his head snapped backward, and he stared into Ashlock''s Evil Eye in disbelief. As the waves of power matched the frequency of Vincent''s spiritual heartbeat, he was now locked in place. He couldn''t use any techniques to escape Ashlock''s clutches. "You''re in the Monarch Realm?" Vincent muttered, but then he seemed to realize something even more horrifying. "No, your Qi is weaker than mine. How do you possess such soul pressure?" "I formed an Inner World early." "How?!" Vincent rose to his feet despite the pressure bearing down on him in rage. "I have been stuck in the Nascent Soul Realm for as long as there have been some stars in the sky. I have searched every corner of the realm for answers. Only a few known beings have formed Inner Worlds on this layer of creation! The World Tree and its Council and the Frostbound Monarch of the Frozen Star Sect. None of them were willing to give their secrets to me. So how could some random tree like you do it? I demand to know!" Ashlock had no plans of telling this fool about his system, so he decided to send the man to the afterlife with as much regret as possible. "The Crestfallen bloodline has all the answers." He activated his Abyssal Devourer skill. The void crept out of his trunk, and thorn-covered vines and void tendrils emerged from the darkness and impaled Vincent''s enraged spirit as if anchoring him to the mortal world. "Unfortunately, your story ends here." "I refuse." Vincent snarled as his soul body shuddered, and his presence rose tenfold as he stood despite the vines and tendrils impaling him. Twisting around, causing some of them to snap, he faced Stella. Lunging forward, he gripped her neck and grinned while throttling her. "The arrogance to stand so close to me thinking you could live while watching me die. I''m the one who let you live and prosper in my sect. I practically raised you, yet this is how you repay me? Die for me, you bitch¡ª!" Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "You didn''t raise shit." Vincent coughed up a mouthful of blood as the tip of a sword wreathed in aether Qi poked out of his chest. "What...?" he looked over his shoulder at Stella standing there, then back at the Stella he was throttling. "Did you trick me?" "You have been playing into our hands since the beginning. It''s almost too easy, as you''re a slave to your own nature," Stella said as she placed a foot on his back and brutally withdrew her sword in a shower of blood. Vincent let out a startled grunt as he kneeled over. "You''re so arrogant you don''t even bother to remember the faces of those you deem weaker. All you follow is your sense of smell despite already being tricked once in Tartarus. I''ve been in front of you many times, yet you overlooked me. Just like now." It was strange. Ashlock knew Stella well. He could tell she seemed angry, but not so much about his comment about raising her. No, she seemed infuriated that the man who had caused such grief throughout her entire life didn''t even acknowledge her existence. It was as if Vincent was looking past her. "You lie." Vincent cursed her, "You''re nothing but an illusion." He looked up and gestured with his chin to the one he still had his hands around, "I know this is the real you. I can smell it¡ª" Bob the slime, who had taken on the vague shape of Stella and absorbed some of her blood and Qi, collapsed into a puddle at Vincent''s feet. The real Stella standing behind Vincent still had her Phantom Veil Pendant hanging from her neck, making her appear as nothing but a mortal without a bloodline. "No, this isn''t possible... I''m one of the strongest cultivators in all of the wilderness..." Vincent hissed as he clutched the hole in his chest that had gone cleanly through his soul. "I refuse to fall for such a cheap trick. There''s no way I was slain by a weak girl like you. Swords can''t even cut souls." "Is that so? I''m going to have to disagree. A while ago, after failing to kill Nox, I vowed to be able to cut anything, whether that be savage monsters, scheming cultivators, lost souls, or reality itself." Stella slowly raised her sword overhead like an executioner. As the world darkened with the coming of night, her anger faded and was replaced with a genuine smile. "Vincent Nightrose, I hate you with all my heart. But in a twisted way, you pushed me to become stronger all for this moment¡ªwhere I can finally kill you." "To treat someone like me as a mere stepping stone?!" Vincent glared at Stella with an indescribable hatred that could transcend realms, "Does your unearned pride know no bounds?!" "Fate is funny like that sometimes." Stella closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Letting it out in a relaxed manner, her eyes slowly opened, and she met Vincent''s rage calmly. "This is goodbye, Vincent. Thank you for everything." "You dare¡ª" Before he could finish replying, Stella''s sword, wreathed in ghostly white flames, descended upon him in a blinding arc like a reaper''s scythe. The blade met Vincent''s skull, and for a fleeting instant, Vincent seemed to finally face reality as he sensed the finality of death quickly approaching. But that realization was all too late. The blade phased through his flesh as though the very fabric of his being was being sliced. White flames surged along the sword''s path as it carved a merciless line down his body. Bone cracked, flesh parted, and reality was split. The cut was flawless, the two halves of Vincent separating like pages of a book. His split face contorted into a grotesque expression of hatred, his mouth frozen in an unfinished scream. For a single heartbeat, Vincent stood in defiance as two halves. But then, as his spiritual heart let off one final beat, his sundered body fell apart. The left half toppled to the ground, followed by the right, a pool of steaming blood mixing with the void beneath him. The white flames of Stella''s strike flickered briefly in the air before the cut through the aether faded, leaving only silence... and the finality of Vincent''s death. Stella fell to her knees as if all the strength had left her body. "It''s... over." "It''s over," Ashlock mirrored, almost in disbelief himself. It had taken nearly everything he had to kill this bastard, but they had done it. Vincent Nightrose, a threat that had loomed over them since the start, was dead. As if having waited for this final moment, golden words crawled through the air, and his sign-in system notified him that a day had passed. But this time, it was special. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3653 Daily Credit: 10 Sacrifice Credit: 3970 [Sign in?] [Congratulations, Ashlock. You have survived 10 years as a tree. Updating status screen.] [Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 10)] [Nascent Soul Realm: 5th Stage] [Soul Type: Nine Moons(Desolation)] "I''ve spent a whole decade as a tree." Ashlock couldn''t believe it as he looked down at Stella, his adopted daughter. They had first met when she had been a terrified seven-year-old, abandoned by her parents and surrounded by servants who had wanted to kill her. He had tried his best to help, but at the time, he had been nothing but a two-year-old demonic spirit sapling with {Devour [C]}, {Basic Spirit Sight [F]} and {Basic Meditation [F]} as his only skills. Despite all the enemies and tribulations they had faced in the last decade, they had stuck through it together and made it to this point. So much had changed since they were a half-blind sapling and a terrified little girl fighting for survival on a half-forgotten mountain peak. Ashlock had transformed Red Vine Peak into the land of a Divine Level sect, overseen by a god that was worshiped by millions. He had exploded in power, reaching the mid-stages of the Nascent Soul Realm, forming an Inner World, and comprehending many daos while expanding his reach across the realm. Meanwhile, Stella was nearing the Nascent Soul Realm herself, and she''d gained a new affinity and understood her bloodline on a deeper level. But more importantly than any of that¡ªunder his ever-expanding canopy, he had worked hard to create a place for the both of them. Now, Stella finally had people she could depend on and a safe place she could call home. "Tree, are you still there." "Yes, Stella. I''m here." "Thank you for letting me have the final blow." She looked at him, her bright smile stained by a tear rolling down her cheek. "You hurt yourself to force Maple to take out one of Vincent''s hearts, right? And then you restrained him and drained him so he would be weak enough for me to kill." Ashlock sighed, "Figured me out, huh." In truth, it would have been a struggle and a massive waste of the Qi he was using to try and hold back the beast tide right now to kill Vincent all by himself. But if it had come down to it, he could have killed Vincent without the help of Maple. But Vincent wasn''t his demon to be slain. It was Stella''s. "Thank you, Tree." She wiped the tears of relief flowing down her face, "For raising me, feeding me, protecting me... everything." Stella reached into the pool of blood at her feet and pulled out the Bloodiron sword. Holding it up with both hands, she presented it to him, "And happy birthday." Ashlock reached forward with an ethereal root and gently wrapped it around her hands and the sword''s handle. "A more gruesome birthday celebration than I was expecting," Ashlock chuckled, "But I wouldn''t trade it for the world." To his surprise, his system chimed in when he held the sword. [This Bloodiron sword has absorbed the lingering vengeful spirit of Vincent Nightrose. If fostered, the sword will gain an ego and be able to grow in power alongside its owner. Do you wish to name this soul sword?] Ashlock found it rather amusing that Vincent had felt so enraged during his death, he had refused to move on. Repeating what his system had told him to Stella, she thought for a second before suggesting, "The sword of new beginnings?" "I like that," Ashlock said. It sure fit the occasion, as while the beast tide was bearing down on them, the slaying of Vincent felt like the end of an era. [Name recorded. A new section has been added to your status screen] [Soul Weapons¡­] {The Sword of New Beginnings [?]} [Since the sword''s ego is yet to manifest, its current grade and potential are unknown] Ashlock acknowledged the system messages before dismissing them. There was something he needed to say. "I''m sorry this is our first time doing this, but happy 17th birthday, Stella." Ashlock paused, "I would give you your present, but Elder Mo is still making it." Stella smirked as she withdrew her hand from his sword handle. With a flash of silver, she brought out the sword she had just used to kill Vincent from her spatial ring. That was when Ashlock realized he had shattered her sword a week ago, so she could not still possess it. Unless this was a new one. "The sword you used to kill Vincent..." "Yep," Stella beamed. "It was your birthday gift. I couldn''t wait, so I paid Elder Mo a visit and got it early." She balanced it on her shoulder and did a twirl, her short hair lifting briefly and showing off the maple leaf earrings he had gifted her all those years ago. "How do I look?" "Like a daughter I can be proud of." Stella groaned, "That''s such a lame dad answer." Ashlock chuckled as she dismissed the sword and wandered over to the bench under his canopy. She looked at the rather unremarkable bench for a few seconds before slothfully lying on it and stretching out like a satisfied cat. She let off one of the longest yawns he had ever heard. "Goodnight Tree." She murmured. "Sleep well," Ashlock replied as she drifted off to sleep with a blissful smile. As much as he wanted to sleep as well under the nine moons, there was much cleanup to be done. His void tendrils and vines wrapped around what was left of Vincent''s body, devouring it for credits and Qi, which he both desperately needed. As the credits and Qi flooded in, he looked to the distant horizon. While it was seemingly safe and peaceful now with Vincent dead. The raging storm all around was a constant reminder of the impending doom. "I will need to upgrade a few skills to ensure this beast tide is an opportunity rather than the end of the Ashfallen Sect." Ashlock mused but then paused as he heard a rustling in his leaves. [Harbinger of the Eternal Ash: Larry [SS] has completed his evolution] "Master! You''re hurt," the voice of his guardian beast roared out like an angered god. "Who did it? Where is Vincent? This servant shall reduce that vermin to ash!" "Hush, Larry. You''ll wake up Stella." Ashlock sighed, "The battle... it''s already over. You missed it." "It''s over?" His faithful guardian said in disbelief. "Yeah," Ashlock replied with a hint of pride, "We won the battle..." He looked to the heavens, "But not the war. There''s still much to be done until we can relax in true peace. Larry, I hope you''re hungry because there''s an all-you-can-eat buffet on the way. The only question is whether we are the devourers or the helpless prey." Larry fully emerged from Ashlock''s canopy in all his radiant glory and hung his head low. "I failed you today, Master. But on my life, I swear," his voice was low and foreboding as he spoke in the ancient tongue and raised his head to look at him. His eyes glowed with a divine power, and his halo of ash spun with certainty. "Even if the heavens were to fall upon us, I would defend you and Stella until my last ash." Ashlock swiveled his eye to look at Stella. Her chest rose and fell, and her light breath played with a strand of hair as she blissfully slept, unaware of Larry''s conviction. Raising an ethereal root, he moved the strand away from her mouth. "Thanks, Larry. Your loyalty has been boundless since the day the system united us," Ashlock said as he looked at his most loyal guardian, "It''s not easy, but it''s for brief moments of peace like this that are worth fighting for." Chapter 408: (Interlude) Conversing with a God Tree (Start of Book 7) The Chairman of the Celestial Empire strode through a hallway of twisted golden wood with two attendants in tow. They had followed him for centuries but kept a cautious distance, lest they wanted to be crushed by his Monarch realm soul pressure radiating off him, causing the air around him to shimmer with rage. The trio had just left a meeting with the council, and things had gotten heated. "Chairman, what are we going to do? At this rate, your hold on Empyrea will fall, which will cause a civil war throughout the Celestial Empire." "Veyra," The Chairman paused and glared at the woman trailing behind him, "You really believe I can lose control over Empyrea? The capital city of the Empire that I rule?!" "I do, Chairman," Veyra fearlessly replied and bowed. She was an ethereal beauty well known for her deep wisdom and insight. As much as he wanted to ignore her words, he wasn''t such a prideful fool to believe he was above the advice of others. "Kaelion?" He asked the bronze-skinned warrior at her side, "Do you mirror Veyra''s thoughts?" The man briefly glanced between them before reluctantly nodding, "I do, my lord." "Why?" The Chairman inquired, earning a frown from Veyra, "Speak freely." Kaelion awkwardly coughed into his hand, "Ahem, well, while you founded the Celestial Empire and come from a bloodline known to nurture the World Tree, your cultivation has stalled in recent centuries, allowing the leaders of the other factions to catch up." The man paused as if trying to choose his following words carefully, "Furthermore, it has to be said that your intense focus on the Crestfallen project over anything else brought your leadership into question, and even worse..." The Chairman raised a brow, "What could be even worse?" "Your relationship with the World Tree," Veyra chimed in, clearly frustrated at Kaelion being questioned over her. "They have begun to question your control over her." The Chairman clicked his tongue and fell into thought. In a way, he had been asking Kaelion in hopes of getting a different answer. Perhaps an untrodden path forward. Unfortunately, it was as he feared. Veyra nodded at his reaction, "Chairman, they know, and your reaction to the Crestfallen project falling through only highlighted it further. The winds of change are already blowing. We need to prepare, lest they turn into fierce gales and blow down your tower of sand." "Tower of sand," The Chairman snorted, "My rule is as deeply rooted as the World Tree''s roots are in the soil far beneath us." Veyra and Kaelion exchanged a look that made the Chairman frown deeply. "Fine, what should I do, Veyra?" She always knew the answer to these types of problems. "You know there''s only one thing you can do, Chairman." The Chairman closed his eyes with a deep feeling of resignation. He knew what Veyra spoke of, but it was always a profoundly unpleasant experience. "Very well, there''s nothing else to be done," The Chairman slowly opened his eyes and looked into Veyra''s. "I will convene directly with the World Tree in the presence of the council. Prepare my defensive artifacts and inform the others of this meeting. I will cultivate and mentally prepare in the meantime." Both of his attendants bowed and left to fulfill his orders. The Chairman stared down the now empty corridor before turning and leaving himself. There was much to prepare, as one did not simply step into the Inner World of a Monarch realm being such as the world tree¡ªespecially one that was understandably antagonistic toward him¡ªand expect to survive. When was the last time we spoke? It must have been almost two decades ago when I told the World Tree that her daughter had been born and that the Crestfallen project had been a success. No, wait, the last time was when I told her that her daughter had been kidnapped. The Chairman frowned deeply. This is going to be unpleasant, to say the least. I doubt she will be happy to see me. *** Weeks passed, and the time to converse with the World Tree quickly approached. The Chairman stood alongside many council members on a floating island of Empyrea that was around halfway up the World Tree''s heaven-piercing trunk. As burrowing into the World Tree''s bark was almost impossible, Empyrea was initially built around the tree''s roots. As Empyrea''s population exploded due to the safety from the beast tides provided by the World Tree, they had to seek new land. As space on the ground was limited, they built upwards. Grand spires rose toward the heavens, but that wasn''t enough. Only with the invention of spatial gates was true expansion possible, with cities sprouting up on the World Tree''s vast branches and later floating islands between them. Many centuries ago, the immense population around the World Tree became too hard for the Chairman alone to manage. He split the Celestial Empire into sections and entrusted his close aides at the time to rule over them. The Chairman stood on the edge of the floating island and looked down at the Celestial Empire. On the surface, it seemed as vibrant and prosperous as ever. But he knew that what had once been a land ruled in harmony was now plagued with ill intentions and personal agendas. Most of those he had trusted in the past had died, many with a dagger in the back by their own family. In fact, he could pinpoint the exact moment everything had turned sour. Turning around, he looked at a large grotesque hole in the World Tree''s trunk of unknown origin or purpose that had opened one day and given direct access into the World Tree''s Inner World. It had opened long ago, and he had monopolized it for a long time. It was a day similar to this one when everything fell apart. I still remember it well. People started questioning my rule, so I showed them this and my relationship with the World Tree. The Chairman rubbed his finger on an amethyst gemstone ring. It was one of the most powerful artifacts he owned, as it let him talk with the World Tree and not have his consciousness collapse in the process. Even with my Monarch Realm cultivation and my own Inner World, I don''t stand a chance against a divine being. "Chairman, are we going to stand around all day like perched birds waiting for a change in the season?" a man with slick-back white hair and a gentle smile said calmly, drawing the attention of the other council members. "Councilman Faelorian Lysanthos, please be patient. We will enter soon." The Chairman replied, and the leader of The Flower Accord returned a simple nod. While The Flower Accord wasn''t openly antagonistic to his Empyrea faction, it was always hard to know what they were thinking. The Flower Accord lorded over The Blooming Citadel, located at the base of the World Tree in the vast city of Floridawn. It was known to mortals as the city of eternal spring and was renowned for its living architecture, where buildings made from Qi-enhanced trees and flowers blended seamlessly into the exposed World Tree roots that looked like mountain ranges. Due to the rich soil and Qi-filled air, the people of Floridawn lived in a paradise, were able to focus more on the arts, and enjoyed month-long festivals. Faelorian Lysanthos''s elegant robe showed as much. It was a subtle purple embroidered with golden floral patterns, such as lotus blooms, peonies, and vines, intricately stitched with thread infused with Qi, causing them to shimmer faintly in the light. Along the shoulders and cuffs, there was a green and silver accent. As a final touch, higher-ranking members of The Floral Accord had specific flowers embroidered to represent their personal philosophy or achievements. For Faelorian Lysanthos, he had a Silverthorn lily, a pristine white flower with subtle, thorn-like veins of silver that ran through its petals. He had never been close enough with Faelorian to learn its meaning to him, nor did he care to ask. Best to keep a distance from The Flower Accord. While they seem happy and peaceful on the surface, I bet those subtle thorns of the Silverthorn lily represent Faelorian''s ambitions. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. A sudden black tulip rose from the ground. It was massive and had an unsettling aura, yet nobody seemed perturbed by its presence. The curved petals of the flower slowly peeled away, revealing a woman. She wore deep ebony robes adorned with delicate silver embroidery that mimicked the veins of leaves. The fabric shimmered faintly, giving her an almost spectral appearance. The seductive robes hung tightly to her figure as if trying to guide the onlooker''s gaze up her figure to a blacker-than-night mask with an eerie smile painted onto it, obscuring her face. It was the source of her unsettling aura, as if the mask was cursed and alive. Mistress Veilshade finally arrives. The Chairman thought with a distaste growing in his mouth. My faction wouldn''t be so pressured if not for her and the Umbraholme''s snooping. While he had control over the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, an information guild he had founded in his youth, a more brutal competitor for information exchange had arisen out of Umbraholme. A city nestled deep within the densest foliage of the World Tree. It''s a city known to be in perpetual twilight as the light filtered through the World Tree''s vast canopy, creating an eerie, showy ambiance that enshrouded the whole city. While he hadn''t visited Umbraholme in a long time, when he last stepped foot in that city, he felt unnerved by the city''s architectural blend of sleek, dark stone and bioluminescent vegetation. People shuffled about the darkness in silent solitude as if every corner they turned could be their last. That was the type of place Umbraholme had become under the leadership of Mistress Veilshade. A floating island of darkness and death. "Sorry, I''m late," Mistress Veilshade said as she stepped off her flower, which withered to dust in her wake. "Now that we are all here, let''s not waste any more time." The Chairman declared with a slight edge of spite in his tone as he glared at Mistress Veilshade before walking past her and taking the lead. "Always such a warm welcome, Chairman." Mistress Veilshade laughed, her voice ever so slightly distorted by her mask as she joined the other council members following him into the tear in the World Tree''s bark. The Chairman ignored her, focusing entirely on the upcoming meeting with the World Tree. He had lived too long to feel nervous about anything, but he could still feel fear, and the World Tree was one of the few beings that still made him feel this primal emotion. Divine energy flickered around the entrance like aggressive snakes, and an oppressive aura that made his skin prickle emanated from deep within. It was as if he instinctively knew a sleeping beast was awaiting inside, and to step within its territory would spell a swift death. He played with the amethyst ring on his finger to settle his fears. "It goes without saying, but the World Tree is not to be taken lightly." The Chairman said seriously, "Do not think your Monarch Realm cultivation can compare to hers, especially not inside her Inner World. A misstep and she will crush your soul. Stay near me so I can protect you all. Understood?" "Yes, Chairman," they all replied in unison. The Chairman smiled slightly. They all seemed to oppose him during meetings in recent decades, but when it came time to meet with the World Tree, they remembered their place and fell into line. Let''s do this. The Chairman took a deep breath before stepping into the slumbering god''s domain. Divine energy crackled around him, lashing out against his skin like static. It burned his Qi, but he managed to ignore this much by mobilizing his Monarch Realm Qi to coat his skin. If he were not at such a level, he would surely be pulverized before he ever stepped through. A blinding kaleidoscopic light enveloped his vision as he felt himself step through to somewhere new. The fresh air around the World Tree was replaced with the heavy scent of ancient rain, blooming flowers, and earth as old as time itself. The oppressive aura of abundant life washed over the Chairman as he fully stepped into the World Tree''s Inner World. No matter how often he came here, it was a life-changing sight. He was standing on a glowing bridge made of interwoven golden roots. The roots pulsed with a gentle light, like the veins of a living being, toward a central point. Yet he couldn''t help but have his gaze drawn toward the sky. Above him was a vast canopy of floating shimmering leaves that appeared translucent, like stained glass. Yet within them, miniature worlds thrived¡ªpurple forests of poisonous flora, chaotic oceans of darkness, and ice volcanos. Anything one could imagine could be found in these worlds. As he watched them, the Chairman wasn''t sure why, but he knew the World Tree didn''t control these worlds. These leaves simply served as a window into their existence, as if she wanted to watch over them from afar. Though as if appreciating the World Tree''s interest, motes of Qi, like colorful snowfall, fell from the canopy of worlds and joined rivers of soft auroras that wove through grand spires of crystalline trees that rose from the abyss on either side of the bridges. The place was further illuminated by lazy clouds of stars, pulsing like radiant orbs in the sky. After absorbing the greatness of creation for a moment, the Chairman returned his focus to the central point of this realm. It''s where the ruler of this place resided, at the end of the golden bridge. Sitting upon a throne of branches and roots was the avatar of the World Tree''s soul. A youthful and radiant figure made from glowing bark and soft light. The Chairman gulped. This Inner World already made him feel small, yet he was barely the size of the avatar''s finger¡ªnot that the World Tree''s avatar was human or even humanoid. It was something indescribable, a vague collection of raw power that had taken form. It was his own mind that seemed to form an appearance in a desperate attempt to comprehend what he was seeing. The Chairman didn''t dare take a step forward. This was as close to the avatar as he was willing to go. "World Tree, I have come to talk." An aura of pure rage surged toward them from the throne down the golden bridge like a roaring tsunami. The Chairman raised his ring, filling it with Qi and conjuring a barrier that enveloped himself and the other council members. It was pathetic, but they were forced to cower behind it and wait for the World Tree''s rage to subside. A scream of profound pain echoed through the realm from the avatar, making the spires of crystalline trees flash with power. "I know you are in pain, but you have to understand¡ª" The Chairman choked on his words as the scream ceased and the World Tree''s intense gaze landed on him. Defensive artifacts activated, stopping his body from being crushed into a pulp. His consciousness, however, quaked as the World Tree spoke, not in words but in meaning. Directly into his soul, a voice woven from the whispers of the wind, the crash of waves, and the deep groan of mountains thundered through his very being. "I have no need to speak with dead mortals." The words appeared in his mind, built from flashes of intense emotions from the World Tree. The Chairman smiled awkwardly. These were words he received from a being he had helped raise and had known for longer than the Celestial Empire had stood tall. "World Tree, I am alive, am I not? Why do you condemn me as dead?" "You misunderstand and exploit my kindness," the avatar said, standing and looming over them like a titan. "You puny mortals drink my sap to extend your pathetic lives, thinking I can''t fight back. Well, that ends soon." "She can fight back?" Mistress Veilshade said without hiding the fear and astonishment in her voice. "Mother nature would never do such a thing," Faelorian said before pausing, "Right?" The Chairman raised his hand, silencing the chatter between them. While the World Tree was old and timeless, it was sometimes immature and easy to read. He had a sinking feeling about the World Tree''s plan, but he had to confirm it. "World Tree, we protect you from the beast tides. If we were to die, so would you. Tell us, what do the threads of fate say about our futures?" "Death under a thousand fangs, and your corpses will be ripped to shreds by a thousand claws." The Chairman''s eyes narrowed, "Death by so many fangs and claws? That could only be in reference to the beast tide. You''re bringing it here? Are you a fool? If we die at the hands of the beasts, you will be next." Ancient laughter boomed through the space, shattering the purple shield they were still cowering behind. "I''m a true immortal being. Even if I were to die at the claws of the beasts I draw here, I would be reborn again. Such is the endless cycle. Meanwhile, your deaths will be gruesome and, most importantly, permanent." "Tell her to stop this madness, Chairman." Faelorian Lysanthos demanded. "To bring the beast tide here, that''s insane! The beast tides have always avoided this place. We aren''t prepared for it." "I... can''t stop her." The Chairman admitted through gritted teeth. "The only hope is if we get Stella Crestfallen back¡ª" "Foolish mortal," the World Tree bellowed as a root of blinding power erupted from the ground before her like a pillar of light, "Stop trying to use my daughter to control me. She is destined to save me, not serve as your hostage." The Chairman grimaced, "And how do you know that?" "Because we share the same blood," the World Tree said as the blinding root glowing with power fell down before her, crashing into the bridge and destroying it in a wave. "Run!" The Chairman shouted, but the seasoned cultivators around him were already on the move. Their Monarch Realm souls hummed with power as they teleported using various techniques to escape the World Tree''s Inner World. The world seemed to explode around them as they barely managed to make it through the tear, returning to the world outside the World Tree. "What in the nine realms was that?" Faelorian Lysanthos shouted, his usual calm and peaceful demeanor gone. "The beast tide is coming here? Floridawn is on the ground and will be the first hit. I refuse this." "Don''t worry, we should have three more years," The Chairman said, trying to calm him down. "Oh, Chairman, you don''t know?" Mistress Veilshade said with some amusement. "I don''t know what?" He snapped. Now wasn''t the time for her games. "The beast tide," Mistress Veilshade tilted her head in apparent amusement, "It''s already on the move. Sources say it''s nearing the Blood Lotus Sect. You know... the last known location of your precious little experiment." Chapter 409: Business Deal Tiberius, who originally hailed from the Celestial Empire, stood before a window overlooking Nightshade City. While the capital city of the Tainted Cloud Sect was nothing compared to the cities back home, a storm like no other thundered over the landscape, sending rain trails running down the window and blanketing the land in a cold fog. Large man-made airships loomed just below the clouds, some simply floating while others dipped down to dock with the surface. "How are the evacuations proceeding?" Tiberius asked those seated behind him without turning around. "We have been allocated the most airships out of the five cities in the Tainted Cloud Sect, but there is no possible way for us to transport every mortal who has forked over the Yinxi Coins for a ticket to the new lands." Tiberius closed his eyes to try and calm the rage that brewed in his chest. "And why is that, Sage Advisor?" "With all due respect, Celestial Warden, it''s the same issue we discussed before. This aggressive storm prevents the usage of smaller airships as the turbulent winds¡ª" "Excuses!" Tiberius roared as he punched the window before him, causing it to crack but not break as the silver light of defensive formations activating danced across its surface. "Those mortals put their trust in us to get them and their families out of here alive. Do I make myself clear?" "But this duty should fall to the ruling noble families, not us." "It seems you have forgotten that the ruling family was annihilated by the Ashfallen Sect not too long ago." Tiberius glared over his shoulder at the Sage Advisor, making the old man shrink into his chair. "So the duty falls to us. Now, be honest, it''s not that this storm prevents smaller ships. The wind cultivators don''t believe it is worth their Qi to protect a smaller ship that can carry fewer people. Right?" The Sage Advisor gulped before slowly nodding, "I believe that is the reason." His voice was small and timid¡ªtruly pathetic. "I''m putting you personally in charge of getting those ships here. Give those wind cultivators extra pay or threaten them if necessary. I care as little about the mortals as the rest of you, but our reputation is on the line here. Like it or not, the mortals contribute significantly to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion''s realm spanning trade and information network." In frustration, Tiberius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Listen. The beast tide is closing in and fast. If you don''t get it done, I will strip you of your position." The Sage Advisor abruptly stood as if his chair was on fire and bowed so deeply his forehead touched the table. "I will strive not to disappoint you again, Celestial Warden." "Good. You are dismissed," Tiberius said, returning his focus to the land beyond the window, and waved the man off. He heard the pushing back of a chair and shuffling of feet as the man took his leave. A small sigh escaped Tiberius''s lips. The last few days had been mayhem¡ªthe storm that blanketed the city had seemed a little intense for a random winter storm at first, but he never would have suspected it was the prelude to the beast tide coming three years earlier than anticipated. Such a thing had never occurred before, and they weren''t prepared for it. Beast tides were predictable and consistent. There was sometimes a deviation of a few months, but three whole years? Something significant had changed on a scale he didn''t operate at. All he could do was focus on what he could affect directly, which happened to be anything involving the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. "Celestial Warden, a gem pendant holder with a strange spider monster in tow, is waiting in the Jade Sentinel''s bounty hunting hall." Tiberius froze up. Gem pendant holders were incredibly rare, especially out here in the wilderness. A person was only appointed a gem pendant holder if they were or had deep connections to cultivators or organizations that could threaten the Eternal Pursuit Pavilions'' existence. Such people were treated as VIPs with the utmost respect, but this one was more unique than the others. "A spider, you say? Is it silver?" The attendant who had poked their head in through the door as the Sage Advisor left nodded. "Yes." "Does it have a crown of horns?" "And a halo of ash orbiting it." The attendant confirmed. Then, it can only be one person, Stella Crestfallen. A girl with the backing of a Divine level sect that was willing to wipe out an ancient war family because they hurt her. What is such a person doing here now with her divine-level pet? "There''s one more person with them," the attendant added, "a little girl with white flowers growing in her hair." "Bring them up here." "Pardon?" Tiberius looked at the attendant weirdly, "Did I stutter? Bring the three of them here." "Oh¡ªyes, sorry. I will get them right away. If you will excuse me," the attendant bowed a few times as they exited and closed the door. "The rest of you are dismissed," Tiberius said to the other Sage Advisors who had quietly observed the meeting thus far. They all exchanged a strange glance as there were still many important things to discuss and little time to do so. "The meeting is adjourned for now. Take a break, and we will continue it later this evening." Despite their reluctant expressions, they all stood. Unlike the attendant, who had been understandably confused about his order, the other Sage Advisors had been there to witness the onesided wipeout of the Lunarshade family, and they had all agreed to raise Stella Crestfallen''s authority level within the Pavilion in light of what had happened. It had been a temporary measure at first while they gauged the true strength of the Ashfallen Sect, but if recent reports of the Blood Lotus Sect''s situation were anything to go by... "I have brought the gem pendant holder," the attendant announced as the door swung open. A suffocating presence washed into the room like an encroaching tide, making Tiberius''s hair stand on end. He eyed the source, which was unmistakably the silver spider levitating ever so slightly behind the two girls. The halo of ash orbiting his crown of horns lazily spun, and his eyes gleamed with a threatening edge. Do you think I''m stupid enough to lay a finger on these two? I''m not suicidal. Tiberius thought with a light smile as he gestured to the table. "Why don''t you two take a seat¡ª" "You know I hate meetings," Stella said as she approached the table, cutting him off. Instead of taking the offered seat, she hovered her hand over the table, and with a flash, a decapitated head appeared. "This is¡ª" "Vincent Nightrose," Tiberius replied, turning back to look out the window. "I already know. The 100,000 Yinxi Coin bounty has been verified and transferred to your account, alongside a further 30,000 as an appreciation fee from us for ridding the world of that filth." He briefly looked over his shoulder at Stella, who had removed her mask, "Is that all?" Stella''s lips curled up into a smile, "I like you. Finally, someone who understands meetings should be quick and to the point." Tiberius mirrored her smile. Finally, the cold girl showed a positive emotion toward him. All she had done during their last meeting was try to leave as quickly as possible, and when he tried to offer help regarding the people Janus Crestfallen warned were after her, she had used an artifact or technique to make her gaze strike fear into his very soul. "There was one more thing," Stella gently pushed the little girl forward, "This is Jasmine, my Disciple. I want to enroll her in the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Consider it done." "Thank you." "Say Stella, I have a question. If you don''t mind, of course. I have no plans to try and keep you here like last time." As if to further his point, he put his hands in the pockets of his robes. Never again would he try and forcefully stop her from leaving by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Mhm?" Stella hummed in response, her interest clearly fading away like a summer breeze. But Tiberius had to sate his curiosity. It was part of his job as one of the many leaders of the most significant information-gathering organization. "What is the Ashfallen Sect''s plan moving forward with the beast tide approaching? We don''t have a branch in the Blood Lotus Sect, so information on large events like the takeover of Nightrose City reaches our ears, but we take a respectful distance from the Ashfallen Sect." "Oh, that''s what you want to know?" Stella said casually as she inspected her nails. "We are going to stay." "As expected¡ªwait, stay? This is going to be the largest beast tide in history. Waves of Star Core, Nascent Soul, and even Monarch Realm monsters might appear." "Yeah? We know." Stella glanced up from her nails. "We are a Divine-level sect, remember? Such a thing is of little threat to us." "Even so," Tiberius stroked his chin in thought as he looked at the madness beyond the window. Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the overshadowed land in harsh flashes of white. Even from here, he could see the chaos in the streets as mortals rushed through the rain to gather their belongings, reconvene with friends and family, and head toward the airship docks. Many would present the tickets they paid for with blood and sweat, only to be turned down by the cultivators and organization they had placed their trust in. Millions would die¡ªnot only here but across all cities that sat on the leyline. Such was the fate of most when the beast tide came and even more when those in charge were caught unprepared. "Say Stella," Tiberius turned to look the girl in the eyes, his face solemn and serious, "I know it''s a lot to ask, but if the Ashfallen Sect is planning to stay, is there a chance you could accept some mortals from our lands into your cities? As you can see, the situation is quite dire." Stella shrugged, "Sure. How many?" Tiberius hadn''t expected her to agree so quickly, so he was caught off guard. "That''s a good question. How many could you accept?" Stella crossed her arms and drummed her fingers, "Mhm. I''m not usually the one to make these types of decisions, but I''m sure any number is fine. Douglas can deal with it." "Douglas...?" "Grand Elder Douglas. He leads our sect''s construction arm and has thousands of earth cultivators under his command." Thousands?! "We had a similar situation to this before, and he built a city overnight to accommodate a hundred thousand mortals." Built a city overnight? Tiberius was in disbelief. Just how much Qi would that have taken? Yet they did that for mortals. Is Qi free for them? "I see..." Tiberius eventually said, "Well, there are around seven million mortals in Nightshade City, and we only have the capacity to move around half a million of them on airships to a temporary shelter we are building in the Qi-less land between the leylines." "Six and a half million mortals," Stella slowly nodded, "We can do it, but only if we get one Yinxi Coin per person." "You want to be paid 6.5 million Yinxi Coins? That would make you one of, if not the richest single person in the entire Pavilion. I don''t know if I can approve of such a payment." Tiberius sat at the table, and Stella followed. "Sorry, give me a moment to think." Stella leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs on the table, "Take all the time you need." Tiberius ignored her antics and tapped his foot under the table as he tried to picture the deal in his head. First, I need to get approval from the Celestial Empire to transfer so many Yinxi Coins. It''s a reasonable price, considering the sheer scale of the operation. An unfathomable number of airships would be needed to transfer the people, and I doubt they have enough housing for all of them, so Grand Elder Douglas would have to mobilize his thousand earth cultivators to hastily construct a city on the same scale as Nightshade City. Furthermore, they would have to find a way to feed and protect all these new mortals during this storm and the incoming beast tide. Considering all that, one Yinxi Coin per mortal is a steal. However, there''s no way the Empire will care for a few million mortals, and as they say, dead men tell no tales. If our reputation being on the line was the problem, the Celestial Order would simply ask me to kill everyone. I need to find a way to sweeten the deal and give a reason for the Celestial Empire to care and see this as a worthwhile investment. He glanced at the shifting silver spider floating behind Stella. It didn''t take a Monarch Realm cultivator to recognize that this spider was likely at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm or even in the Monarch Realm. Yet such a divine being was simply acting as a guard to this girl from the Ashfallen Sect. They needed to get on the Ashfallen Sect''s good side. His eyes widened as a sudden idea bloomed in his mind. "Stella, with the beast tide coming, every sect and city in its path plans to leave. All except the Ashfallen Sect." "So?" Stella frowned. "This entire area of the wilderness will become a blind spot for the Pavilion as branches of the Pavilion are abandoned alongside the cities. This is a big problem as we will be unable to monitor the beast tide closely, and while we are gone, more daring organizations may move in and gain control once the beast tide has passed. You see, Vincent Nightrose was the one who originally drove the Pavilion out of the Blood Lotus Sect, but with him dead." His eyes flickered to the decapitated head on the table before returning to Stella, "There''s an opportunity for us to expand back into that area." "I don''t think the Ashfallen Sect would be too thrilled to have¡ª" "Please," Tiberius said with sincerity, "If you let us build a branch of the Pavilion within your sect''s domain, I might be able to convince the higher-ups to agree to this deal. I will oversee the new branch personally and ensure it doesn''t overstep its boundaries." "Fine, but you can''t set up near us," Stella said adamantly. "Then where would be possible?" "Mhm, Nightrose City should be fine." Stella said casually, as if talking about the weather, "We have taken it over and established complete control after wiping out the Nightrose family. It''s basically the second capital city of our lands now after Darklight City. Far enough away from us that we are unlikely to have a problem while still being close enough that we can keep an eye on you." "That could work, I''ll ask the Celestial Order what they think." Tiberius rose from his seat. Stella used telekinesis to turn her chair around and jumped up from it with a skip in her step, "Just send the result of the decision to my pendant." She waved the gem-encrusted artifact that cost tens of thousands of Yinxi Coins over her head as if it were something cheap. "I have some Yinxi Coins to go and spend!" With that, she left. The door closed behind them with a satisfying click, leaving him alone in his expansive office. Tiberius chuckled, "She''s a strange one indeed." Shaking his head, he walked through his office toward his desk as the room flashed every few steps due to the distant lightning. Sitting down, he slotted his pendant into his communication artifact and prepared himself. "Here goes nothing." Inserting his Qi, he was surprised to see the Chairman was the one to answer the call personally. "I was just about to call you," the Chairman said sternly. "I need you to find and capture a girl named Stella Crestfallen. She has blonde hair and pink eyes. But be careful. Over a dozen of our enforcers died moments after making contact with her." Tiberius blinked and couldn''t help but glance at the closed door on the other side of the room that Stella had just left out of. "Erm, may I ask why you are asking me in particular to hunt down this girl?" "She was last seen in the Blood Lotus Sect, and you are the nearest Celestial Warden to that location." The Chairman leaned in closer, his face taking up the entire projection, "Find her and quickly. The fate of the Celestial Empire depends on it." A dozen enforcers died going after her? Tiberius gave himself a mental pat on the back for having the foresight to treat her respectfully. I wonder if the Ashfallen Sect might be even more fearsome than the Celestial Empire? Tiberius was a man of business and caution. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his fingers and looked deep in thought. He had no plans of exposing his knowledge of Stella. He might have done it a few minutes ago, but their meeting just now had confirmed she wielded far more influence than he could have imagined. She was too important to keep as an ally. So what if the fate of the Celestial Empire depended on it? He couldn''t give a rat''s ass about the Empire. What he saw here was a massive opportunity. "Chairman. While I don''t know the exact location of Stella Crestfallen as of now, I was recently offered the opportunity to expand the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion into the heart of the Blood Lotus Sect, Nightrose City." The usually stoic-faced Chairman showed a hint of surprise, "Really?" "Yes. As I''m sure you are aware, this is an area of the wilderness that even those scum from The Silent Thorn of Umbraholme haven''t managed to venture into." "Tell me more about this deal." The Chairman seemed very interested. Tiberius knew the man''s distaste for those groups operating out of Umbraholme ran deep. Tiberius smiled wearily. "Well, you see, my contact wants 10 million Yinxi Coins and the entire population of Nightshade City as slaves in return for letting us set up operations in Nightrose City." "The mortals I don''t care for, but 10 million Yinxi Coins? That''s absurd!" The Chairman grinded his teeth. "It will be hard, but I might be able to negotiate down to 8 million at the very minimum. They drove a hard bargain." He said, barely able to contain his smile. 6.5 million for Stella, and another 1.5 million for me. If they ever find out, I will justify it as a service fee for keeping her information secret. The Chairman cooled his expression. "That''s still high, but if that''s as low as they will go, then very well. Thank you for your hard work, Tiberius. But make sure to find that girl with everything you have as soon as possible." "Thank you, Chairman." Tiberius bowed, and the projection cut off. A wide grin spread across his face. "I had been willing to go down as far as needed, but to think the Chairman would agree to such an outrageous sum. He must be desperate to find Stella." Pushing back his chair, he mused under his breath, "So the one to curse my dear Nox was the World Tree''s daughter all along. Looks like some interesting times are ahead." Chapter 410: Little Boss "Please tell me you are joking." Stella swayed back on her chair as if attempting to escape Douglas''s glare from across the table. The broad-shouldered man caused the table to the creak as he leaned on it with the full weight of his arms like tree trunks planted firmly before him. He loomed forward, his forehead a stack of frown lines. "Stella," he said slowly and seriously, "repeat what you just said." "I told the Celestial Warden you could build a city for 6.5 million people." Douglas''s head dropped like a puppet cut from its strings, and he let out a heartfelt groan. "How. Ignorant. Can. You. Be?" He said while hitting the table over and over. Stella huffed the hair out of her face, "I don''t see what the problem is? You will have a month at least to do it. Didn''t you build a city for a hundred thousand mortals in a single night?" "Temporary housing, Stella, and there was so much more to it than that." Douglas collapsed back into the chair behind him and frustratedly massaged the sides of his head, "The houses were nothing but mud huts without any furniture, and we crammed as many people into each one as possible. Then, once everyone was moved in, we had to provide three free meals to a hundred thousand people every day. This food not only had to be grown and transported but also distributed in a fair way. Yet, despite our efforts, there were still issues with crime, so the Redclaws had to step in and monitor the city." Douglas pinched the bridge of his nose before giving up and staring at the ceiling, "Yes, I built a city in a day, and yes, it was a decent success. But take the issues I just mentioned and scale it up sixty-five times!" He threw his hands in the air, "That''s how ridiculous of a project this is!" Stella shrugged, "I get what you are saying, but you are Grand Elder Douglas. The master builder of the Ashfallen Sect. Legends of how Ashfallen City rose from the mud in a single night are already known. Just think how revered you would be if you were to complete a task like this." "No," Douglas pushed back his chair and stood up. "You don''t understand. It''s simply not possible." He shook his head and turned around toward the door. Stella raised her hand, and half of the silver rings stacked on her fingers glowed and rippled the air between them. Douglas seemed to feel the shift in the air a moment too late as thousands of silver spirit stones rained down upon him from seemingly nowhere like a landslide. He let off a confused grunt before being buried alive. "No, Douglas, it is you who doesn''t understand." Stella pushed her chair back, toppling it, and moved the table out of the way with a finger flick. A hand, followed by Douglas''s head, emerged from the spirit stone pile. The red-faced man took one look at Stella approaching, and it seemed to silence whatever words of anger were brewing in his throat. She picked up one of the stones near his head and rolled it between her fingers. "These are just a fraction of the spirit stones I got for 200,000 Yinxi Coins. A sum of money I got for turning in Vincent Nightrose''s head and for selling loads of pills to the pavilion. Now, I''m sure what''s going through your head is, ''Why did the stupid girl Stella Crestfallen go and say something so ridiculous.''" "That''s not what I said¡ª" "But it''s what you think," Stella flicked the spirit stone she held at his forehead. It harmlessly bounced off like a pebble hurled at a mountainside. Not wanting to look at him as she was getting quite angry, she turned on her heel and began pacing the room with her back to him. "Listen, Douglas, you were taken into the sect for one job and one job only¡ªto build things. Now, I will be the first to acknowledge that you have grown into so much more and become an integral part of the sect, but the fact still remains that you are best suited for building things. No... you''re not just best suited for it. You are talented at it. The beast tide is fast approaching, and if we don''t all do our part, the Ashfallen Sect as we know it will be laid to waste." "I still don''t understand why..." Stella glanced over her shoulder at Douglas and said, "Six and a half million Yinxi Coins." "Come again?" Douglas furrowed his brows in confusion. "That is the price the Celestial Warden agreed upon. One Yinxi Coin per person successfully relocated. A deal that would make us one of, if not the richest entity within the entire pavilion. Understand now? Yes, this is a monumental task, but the reward is astronomical. If you can pull this off, you will have made the single greatest financial contribution to the Ashfallen Sect that anyone will likely ever do." Stella returned to pacing the room, "And that''s not all! Six and a half million new people brought to our lands means there''s an ocean of new people to bring into the cult, furthering Ash''s divine powers." Douglas slowly nodded as he saw the vision, "New members for the cult, I can understand, but what could you possibly need 6.5 million Yinxi Coins for? This task is still too ridiculous, even with the promised reward. The storm raging overhead will make building harder, and food reserves are already at an all-time low. I just can''t bring myself to agree." Stella strode over and leaned past his head so her lips almost touched his left ear. "Ash''s offspring are going to die out there," she harshly whispered through clenched teeth directly into his ear, "Their only hope is for Ash to accelerate their cultivation to give them a fighting chance. With those 6.5 million Yinxi Coins, I can buy up the entire Pavilion''s supply of spirit stones and anything else that might save them. I don''t want a single one of those poor trees to suffer when we have a chance to save them. Do you understand?" "You''re as scary and unreasonable as ever." Douglas closed his eyes and sighed, "But you''re right. If there''s anyone that can do it, then it''s me. I''ll see what I can do." Stella leaned back and smiled. "Good." She patted Douglas enthusiastically on the shoulder, who was still half submerged in the spirit stone pile. "I knew I could count on you." Douglas gave a weary smile. "I feel like I just got scammed into doing something ridiculous again." He rolled his shoulders as if trying to remove some stiffness before he relaxed. "But you''re right. Building is what I do best. If this is the best way for me to assist during this beast tide, I''ll make it happen." "That''s the Grand Elder Douglas I know! You can start work immediately." Stella tapped her chin in thought, "I think the best place for this project would be Nightrose City. It already has a large population, and while doubling it will strain a lot of the infrastructure and services, I''m sure it will be more manageable than building such a massive city from nothing." "Not a bad suggestion," Douglas hummed in thought. "Just demolish and rebuild the slum area of the city with high buildings that can accommodate a lot of people. We can relocate Ash''s offspring within the city walls to assist the sewer system and provide some food. Public safety will be an issue as all cultivators will be focused on the beast tide, so maybe ask the local mortals devoted to the cult to figure it out?" "Wow," Douglas looked bewildered, "You put a lot of thought into this." Stella glared at him, "I do think sometimes, you know?" "Sure you do," Douglas chuckled and climbed out of the pile of spirit stones. Taking a pause, he brushed the dust off his suit. "Say, Stella. While I have your attention and it''s the topic, don''t you think we should give Nightrose City a new name? Especially since its population is about to double and the Nightrose family is no more." Stella yawned, "I can''t be bothered. You can come up with a new name and suggest it to Ash. If he approves, then I don''t see a problem." The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "You got it, little boss." Stella frowned, "Don''t call me little boss. I''m technically a few years older than Ash, you know?" "Yeah, but he''s way taller than you." Douglas''s laughter boomed through the room. "Anyway, see you later. Don''t stay up too late." With those parting words, he left the room while waving over his head. Stella stared at the door for a moment before shaking her head and using telekinesis to set everything in the Ashfallen Trading Company''s meeting room back to how it was minutes ago. As chairs and a table floated through the air and set back into place, she muttered to herself, "For such a hard-headed guy, he sure is easy to convince with a few compliments." A small smile bloomed on her face as she finished fixing the room. "We might not get along the best, but he''s an alright guy, all things considered." *** Ashlock awoke from a long dream on the dawn of the 7th day since Vincent Nightrose had died on Red Vine Peak. After the battle, he spent a few days analyzing the battle, identifying his shortcomings, and looking at where to invest his sacrificial credits. Ultimately, after much debate, he arrived at a single conclusion. The factor holding him back wasn''t his weak Bastions, Ents, followers, or summons. It was his own cultivation stage. He had overlooked improving his cultivation stage as his system provided skills, the creation of an Inner World early, his ability to siphon Qi from the World Tree, and general advantages brought on by being a realm-spanning spirit tree all contributed to his capabilities to fight and defeat enemies above his stage. Factors that had made him arrogant. Vincent Nightrose, who wasn''t even in the Monarch Realm, had given him so much trouble. While an SSS-grade attack skill or some powerful new summon could help him close the gap, in the end, the one thing that would help him most in dealing with the upcoming threats was reaching Monarch Realm himself. That way, nobody on this layer of creation could be his equal. Furthermore, with the beast tide incoming and his new desolation Qi being an incredibly intensive affinity to use and cultivate, he was at his limit. For these reasons, he had upgraded his cultivation technique {Transpiration of Heaven''s Divinity [A]} not once, but twice to bring it up to SS grade, effectively raising his cultivation technique to one that was befitting a Monarch Realm. [6109 sacrificial credits consumed for a double upgrade¡­] [Upgraded {Transpiration of Heaven''s Divinity [A]} -> {Divine Cycle of Creation and Ruin [SS]}] A truly ridiculous number of credits, the total he had accumulated from devouring Vincent Nightrose and letting it grow for a few days in the divine stock market. Before he could learn what his new cultivation technique was capable of, his body and soul shut down, and he was cast into a terribly long dream. At first, he found himself at the heart of an infinite forest made up of flourishing trees that stretched into the sky so high that their canopies seemingly pierced the heavens. The sheer overwhelming feeling of life was everywhere he looked. Not just in the leaves, bark, and roots of the titanic trees but also in the soil they proudly stood in and all the bugs that called their towering trunks home. Ashlock took in the feeling and felt warm but also off. It almost felt fake. It was too good to be true, like an artificial paradise created by another for their personal enjoyment. As night fell, his fears bore fruit. The warmth faded, replaced with an icy chill that bit deep into his bark. The once life-filled soil blackened and cracked beneath him as if diseased. The heaven-piercing trees soon followed, as their leaves crumbled to ash and their trunks became withered husks. It was as if the moonlight itself was the bringer of ruin as it lorded over a silent wasteland. Ashlock looked to the sky for answers, but all he felt anywhere he looked was an oppressive aura that he knew all too well as it was something he had welcomed into his very soul. Desolation. Drawn to it, he traversed the wasteland and came across a single tree. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was split perfectly down the middle. One side was vibrant with life and extruding a golden aura, while the other was gnarled and blackened and covered in deep cracks from which desolation Qi flowed out like a dark mist into the land. As he approached, the tree began to shift and morph as if it felt his presence. Its branches extended toward him and fanned out as if trying to capture him. Ashlock was going to pull away when he suddenly realized this tree... it was him. This was a physical manifestation of his soul. Half of his Inner World was a desolate wasteland, while the other half was a flourishing paradise of divine energy. Before he could look at himself closer, the incoming branches devoured him. Enveloped by darkness, he was given a long time to contemplate what he had seen. In previous dreams invoked by upgrading an ability, I was shown past fates of the World Tree. But this time, I was shown a version of myself? While deep in thought, the branches that had encaged him unraveled to reveal he was no longer confined to a realm. He was suspended between stars and floating amidst galaxies. Two immense cosmic forces swirled around him as if he were the center of the Milky Way. They moved in opposite directions, creating friction that resulted in the death and birth of stars as the primal forces competed for dominance yet were perfectly matched. For what felt like eons, he patiently watched. He spread out his spiritual presence and took in all there was to see. However, on one seemingly random day, a wandering thought bloomed into more, and enlightenment struck him. The purpose of this dream became clear. Creation cannot exist without destruction¡ªand vice versa. Some forces are ones of creation, while others seek to destroy. Life has no beauty or reason without the threat of withering to dust. "Is that why the cycle is maintained? To achieve harmony between destruction and creation?" Ashlock asked, his voice echoing through the cosmos. But he did not receive an answer. The dream faded away, and he was brought back to reality by the ever-familiar notification of a day passing by his system. Or, in this case, almost a whole week. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3660 Daily Credit: 4 Sacrifice Credit: 265 [Sign in?] "Four days have passed since I spent everything I had to upgrade my cultivation technique," Ashlock dismissed the notification. Yet, another popped up right after. [You have unlocked your third-ever skill to go above the S-grade skill, and like the others, it''s a game changer. Thus far, you have had a simple give-and-take relationship with your offspring. They provide Qi in times of need, and in return, you distribute nutrients, water, and knowledge through your roots] Ashlock liked the direction this was taking. He had long sought a way to harness and improve his relationship with his offspring. "So what''s changed?" [For starters, you have comprehended Harmony Dao] "The understanding that for there to be destruction, there also has to be creation." [Exactly. Having taken on desolation Qi, one of the most primal forms of destruction that directly goes against the heavens, you were at risk of losing control over your divine energy. In an effort to prevent this, harmony needed to be achieved. From now on, your offspring have become the yang to your yin. As you cause ruin, your offspring will flourish, feeding into the cycle and empowering you both. As you inflict your will upon the world, reducing it to dust, your offspring will rise from the ashes, reclaiming what was lost for you] "That sounds quite strong," Ashlock mused, "So the more I fight back against the beast tide, the stronger my offspring and I will become? All so long as harmony is maintained." [Yes, but that''s not all. The connection to all your offspring has vastly improved to the point they are almost extensions of yourself. You will still need to use {Progeny Dominion [S]} for direct control and to use system abilities through one, but you can take in Qi and easily redistribute it to them, and they can do the same] "Will my offspring still maintain their own affinities?" [Of course, but now they will be so much more. Because of this upgrade, they can switch between empowering their own affinities with either desolation dao or harmony dao. When using desolation dao, their destructive capabilities in all aspects will be amplified. Meanwhile, when using harmony dao, it will enhance their regrowth and defensive capabilities] Ashlock hummed to himself as he mulled over what the system had told him. Overall, he believed he had made the correct choice to do the double upgrade. Not only would his own cultivation rate be greatly increased, but his offspring would now be able to wield more of his power and even protect themselves more. "If only I had some spare Qi on hand right now to power them up with. I''m still so pressured with keeping up the defensive lines against the beast tide¡ª" "Tree? You''re awake?" Ashlock honed in on Stella''s house, which was built on a lush meadow bordering the desolation. "Morning Stella, why do you look smug?" "Heh, I have something to show you." Stella clicked her fingers, and her large living room filled with shining spirit stones. "I thought you might need these. You know," she winked, "To save your offspring." "I did..." Ashlock replied. His system just informed him that he could more easily redistribute Qi to his offspring than ever before. While that wasn''t new, he now had a very dire reason to do so. "How did you know?" "My thousands of brothers and sisters suddenly seemed different, more aware and connected than ever before. Their hunger for Qi is felt throughout the land, and I felt their intense desire to grow." Stella leaned back and put her feet up, "I put two and two together, and here we are. I got us some spirit stones with far more on the way." "Where did you even get so many¡ªwait, there''s going to be more?" Stella smirked, "Yeah, so I might have conducted a little deal with the Celestial Warden, you see. We build him a city and let him move in, and we get millions of Yinxi Coins." Ashlock was briefly distracted by the shiny spirit stones, but he caught something he didn''t like the sound of. "You will allow the Celestial Warden to move in? What if he meets Nyxalia or sees Nox?" Stella''s smirk faltered, and she sat up, "True. I didn''t think of that." Chapter 411: Darkened Skies Douglas stepped out from the Ashfallen Trading Company headquarters into the pouring rain with mixed feelings. His pride as a man and a seasoned rogue cultivator used to dealing with the darker and more brutal side of humanity was somewhat ashamed to be ordered around by a somewhat bratty teenage girl, especially when her demands were so ridiculous. But on the other hand, she was the daughter and spokesperson for a literal god worshiped by millions and the overlord of the sect he called home. Not to mention, Stella was a powerhouse in her own right, being one of the highest-stage cultivators in the sect despite being so young. It was suffice to say, to hell with his pride. If the little boss orders me to do something, I''ll see it''s done. He mused as he wreathed his body with earth Qi to protect his suit from getting damp from the downpour. After giving a slight nod to the cultivators and Ents standing guard around the Ashfallen Trading Company headquarters, he hopped on his sword and flew up to the White Stone Palace. This storm is only getting worse as the beast tide draws near. Life for the average person was already hard enough, and now this? Douglas thought as he touched down in the empty courtyard of the White Stone Palace and hopped off his floating sword. Waving his hand to put it back in his storage ring, he smirked. I used to look to the heavens, envious of the cultivators able to soar through the skies, and now I''ve become one. Life is funny like that sometimes. "Good morning, Grand Elder Douglas." A gloomy Redclaw standing guard at the door greeted him with all the enthusiasm the poor guy could muster. "Are you here to use the ethereal network?" "Morning, and yes, I am." Douglas strode past the Redclaw, and the lad fell a step behind him. "Something got you down, boy?" "Nothing, in particular. I think it''s the weather." Douglas sagely nodded. It was well known that accepting an affinity into one''s soul would shape one''s personality. Earth cultivators were hard-headed and as stubborn as a mountain. Wind cultivators were always on the move, the polar opposite of spatial cultivators, who were notoriously lazy. As it turns out, people prefer to stay still when they can go anywhere in an instant. I suppose it makes sense that weeks of endless rain and cold would dull the usually passionate mood of a fire cultivator. Poor guy. "Hopefully, we can find a solution to suppressing this storm soon," Douglas said as they made their way down winding corridors deep into the palace. They passed by many layers of security before eventually arriving at the heart of the palace, where there was an expansive circular room with many heavily enchanted metal doors built into the wall. In the center was a large runic control panel guarded by a void Ent that stood there menacingly with its claws twitching next to a woman with red hair who looked up from the table and smiled. "Grand Elder Margret, it''s good to see you," Douglas said, returning the smile. "Likewise, Grand Elder Douglas." She looked him up and down before raising a brow, "Going somewhere in this terrible weather?" "Unfortunately," Douglas let out a sigh he didn''t know he was holding, "Stella dropped some nonsense task on my head. I need to head to the front line to grab some of my workers." Elder Marget chuckled as she inserted some fire Qi into the console, and it lit up with a silver hue. "I understand your frustrations as she can be a little... how should I put it? Assertive¡ªyeah, that''s the word. But she means well, and you can''t ignore her track record." Elder Margret''s hands stopped dancing across the console, and she looked to the side as one of the giant metal doors slowly slid open. "One direct ethereal root to the northern forest on the front lines." "Thanks, and I will take your words to heart as always," Douglas said as he walked toward the door. "Make sure that you do. The Princess is an impressive girl sometimes, you know. I had the pleasure of watching her amaze me with her pill-making skills," Grand Elder Margret paused, seeming nostalgic for a moment. "It was like watching a prodigy in the making. Truly a fascinating experience." Douglas recalled her insights for making the city and muttered, "A prodigy, mhm." He descended a set of steps and found himself standing inside a tunnel that seemed to stretch forever. Ashlock''s presence was almost suffocating down here as he took a few steps forward, and the world around him blurred as it felt like reality was pulling him forward. Didn''t Stella say I had a talent for making buildings? I thought my lack of offensive capabilities was holding me back. But now that I think about it, I''d much rather design and build cities in the backlines than be neck-deep in blood and guts as I fight monsters for days on end. Douglas shook his head. Maybe I really should just shut up and do my job. Within a few breaths, he saw a light at the end of the seemingly infinite tunnel. Coming to a stop, he saw a ladder leading out of the ethereal root. Simply jumping up a few meters, he scared the life out of a Mudcloak that had been carrying a stack of wood near the ethereal root exit. "Sorry buddy," Douglas activated his spatial artifact ring and used telekinesis to save the Mudcloak from tumbling into the hole and keep the wood stack from falling. Setting the little guy upright and returning the stack to his hand, he patted the Mudcloak on the head, and with a happy noise, it went on its way. With that sorted, Douglas slowly glanced around. He was in a stone bunker with a single large window that was basically useless as rain cascaded down its slanted surface. It felt like he was inside a drum as the roaring of the intense rain battered the building from seemingly every angle. The room was quite messy, with stone tables jutting out of the walls and covered in parchments detailing plans and countermeasures. Douglas gave them a side eye before returning his attention to the window. It''s been a few days since I was last here. I wonder how things have progressed. While the pouring rain somewhat inhibited his view, the looming wall of turbulent darkness that stretched from the ground to the heavens was hard to miss. The beast tide. Douglas clenched his teeth. Things weren''t great back home. There was civil unrest as the storm wiped out fields, causing food shortages, and people were sick and tired of being stuck in their homes. But if only they got a small glimpse of this, they would understand how good they have it. The beast tide is already a catastrophic horde of monsters, but now they are shielded by such a grand storm, and it''s arrived three years early? Just what is happening. Luckily, for now, the storm''s advance had been significantly slowed. Despite its immense power, it had met its match. Like a glacier attempting to cross magma, as the storm tried to pass over Ashlock''s wasteland of desolation, it dissipated when it came into contact with a black mist that rose from the cracked earth. Occasionally, a few humanoid-looking monsters would emerge from the turbulent storm and attempt to rush over the wasteland and reach the lush forest of demonic trees that lay beyond it, but they would all be reduced to dust after a few steps as they became engulfed in the black mist. Did Ashlock''s desolation Qi get stronger? Douglas rubbed his chin as he squinted at the distant wasteland. There was still quite a distance between the bunker and the storm as there was a few miles of wasteland, followed by a sea of demonic trees whose scarlet leaves rustled violently from the gales. In the distance, he could see a dozen Mudcloaks building a stone wall inlaid with runic formations on the border of the wasteland and the forest. Though he respected the Mudcloak''s efforts, he couldn''t imagine it would do much more than slow down the weaker monsters for a bit should they make it past the slowly shrinking wasteland. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The door to the small building flung open, filling the room with a roaring, freezing gale and drawing Douglas''s attention away from the window. A rain-soaked youth ran into the small room and respectfully bowed. "Grand Elder Douglas, welcome to the northern forest." "Sam," Douglas said after a moment. He almost didn''t recognize the boy, as his usual bright blonde hair was darkened by rain, and his robes hugged his body tightly. "You look terrible," Douglas said as he walked over and gently gestured for the boy to stand from his bow. "Have you not been using Qi to ward off the rain? I''ve seen city rats in better shape than you." The boy shook his head, "How will I ever progress my cultivation and get strong like you if I waste my Qi on something as useless as keeping dry? A little water never hurt anyone," Sam pounded his chest enthusiastically, "It''s not like cultivators can get sick easily." Douglas chuckled, "While that may be true, cultivators also have pride to maintain. Your clothes are in shambles. How can you go around looking like a drowned rat and expect people to take you seriously." "Pride?" Sam scoffed, "I''ll worry about my pride when I can defeat a single Mudcloak or fly on a sword. Even then, how can I be arrogant after seeing the immense power of the All-Seeing Eye or the ruthlessness of the Princess? Forgive my words, but you and I are both nothing in the grand scheme of things. Would you respect an ant on the ground if it puffed out its chest or laugh at it and think it''s amusing?" Douglas blinked, "Since when did you get so wise?" "The Mudcloaks," Sam said without missing a beat, "Their wisdom is as boundless as a great sea, and they have taught me many things. You should follow their scriptures, too. I think you will be surprised." Douglas looked the poor kid up and down. While he had a good head on his shoulders, he looked worse than a beggar. I bet the Mudcloaks are joking around with him, and he''s taking it too seriously. "I''ll have to pass. I have my own scriptures given to me by the Ashfallen Sect, and my cultivation has progressed at a good pace." Douglas patted Sam on his damp shoulder before walking past him toward the door, "Thanks for the offer, though. Oh, you and the others will be helping me with a big project today. That''s why I''m here." "A big project?" Sam furrowed his brows, "What could be a bigger project than protecting the front line?" Douglas paused at the door. "Leave the beast tide to the boss for now. No wall you build out here will be capable of stopping the beasts. As for the project, the Princess wants us to expand Nightrose City to accommodate 6.5 million new mortals by the end of the month." Sam almost missed a step and fell on his face as he stumbled forward. "Sorry?" "You heard me," Douglas said dismissively while secretly enjoying Sam''s reaction. It was nice to know he wasn''t the only one who found Stella crazy. "We''ve got some long nights ahead of us. Now, catch me up to speed and tell me about what you guys have been doing here." "Erm, well..." "Come on, spit it out, I''m short on time," Douglas said while summoning his sword again. Jumping on, he gestured for Sam to join him. The still-confused kid stepped on and let out a scream as they soared off toward the border. Despite the vastness of the forest, the border fast approached. "The trees feel different than before," Douglas noted as he observed the forest blurring beneath their feet. It might have been his imagination, but there was this abundant aura of life radiating from them, and he felt weirdly invigorated. "It began a few days ago, Grand Elder," Sam shouted over the roaring wind. "The aura around the trees abruptly changed. The forest suddenly felt like one interconnected being breathing life into the land. We had built some stone casings around the trees to protect them from monsters, but they cracked and fell to the wayside as the demonic trees rapidly grew to the point you can see it with the naked eye." "Fascinating," Douglas rubbed his chin, "I heard from Stella that the Boss had fallen into a deep sleep and hadn''t awoken for a few days. The trees around Red Vine Peak seemed more vibrant than usual, but I chalked that up to all the rain they were getting. The aura they are radiating is far more intense out here." "Oh? I assumed this would be happening everywhere. Grand Elder, you have to try the fruits the demonic trees are growing out here," Sam said enthusiastically as they began to descend toward the wall on the border. Touching down, he stowed his sword away and took Sam''s advice by grabbing a nearby fruit from a low-hanging branch. "Ah! Be careful!" Sam slapped his hand, making him drop the fruit. "My apologies, Grand Elder, that one is poisonous." "I... knew that." Douglas played it off. Why would the blue fruit be poisonous and not the red one?! He secretly glared at the demonic tree. I thought we were friends. Why are you trying to kill me? "Since the change, the poisonous ones seemed to lose their potency," A voice said behind him, but Douglas already knew who it was. He glanced over his shoulder at Hugo, emerging through the tree line with earth Qi flickering across his skin to ward off the rain. The man who was Sam''s friend grinned, "Don''t ask me how I know. While they won''t kill, you will still spend a few days groaning on the floor and shitting out your guts." "Is that so," Douglas snorted, "Would be quite a dumb way to go out." "You see, you would think that," Hugo wagged his finger, "But when you see those little fuckers devouring them like they are the tastiest things in the world, you can''t help but give it a try." Douglas eyed a nearby Mudcloak, and sure enough, it was using a long metal stick with a claw at the end to harvest the poisonous fruits from the tree. Noticing his gaze, the little guy tilted his head toward him and waved his other hand in greeting. "Yeah..." Douglas said slowly as he turned back to Hugo, "I wouldn''t copy what they do." Reaching up, he hesitantly picked a yellow fruit. Seeing Sam''s reaction and noticing nothing, he carefully bit into it. There was a literal explosion of flavor like nothing he had ever tasted before. "Oh my heavens, this is fucking beautiful," He groaned with his mouth half full before stuffing the rest of the fruit in there and closing his eyes in bliss. "See!" Hugo shouted, "The Mudcloak bastards had the exact same reaction when eating the poisonous blue ones. Yet somehow, I''m the idiot." Hugo''s rantings were mostly drowned out by Douglas''s mind as he wondered how amazing a fruit wine made with these could taste. "Grand Elder, didn''t you say we were pressed for time?" Sam chimed in and made Douglas pause. He hadn''t even realized he was subconsciously reaching for another bundle of green fruits. "Ahem, yes, you''re right Sam." Douglas reeled back his hand and brushed off some nonexistent dust from his suit. "I want to inspect the wall. Hugo, give me a tour while Sam rounds up the others." Sam bowed deeply before rushing off into the rain. "Right this way, Grand Elder," Hugo said, leading him to the top of the wall. A few meters from the wall''s edge was the border of the wasteland, and Douglas could feel its oppressive promise of death from here. All that lay between them and the looming storm that looked like its winds could tear through mountains was a few empty miles of blackened and cracked earth leaking a black mist. Crazy to think the Boss can do all this from so far away. "We weren''t sure what to do, so we erected this thirty-meter high and ten-meter thick stone wall. It runs along the entire wasteland border, which stretches for four hundred miles in total in a slight curve. There are some basic runic formations etched into it, but we were stretched thin on spirit stones for a wall on this scale." Hugo reported, and Douglas nodded in agreement. "Good. Investing so many spirit stones into a wall that might only buy us a few hours isn''t worth it." "A few hours, Grand Elder?" Hugo seemed skeptical, "I thought a few days at least. That''s what the reports of defenses against previous beast tides indicated." Douglas glanced at Hugo and gestured to the storm, "And what about this is similar to a previous beast tide exactly? We are already two weeks into the beast tide. Waves of beasts have already ''come'' they just didn''t make it very far due to the wasteland." "I see, my mistake." Hugo said, "But to think this wall will only buy us a few hours..." "Yeah, we just have to hope the monsters stay hiding in the storm for a little longer¡ª" A horn in the distance blared over the roaring rain, drawing both of their attention. "What does that mean?" Douglas asked quickly. "Airborne monster attack," Hugo said with a hint of unease, "Due to the storm overhead, the desolation Qi is weakened the further from the ground you go. The Mudcloaks have managed to shoot down the half-withered airborne monsters so far, but man, are they fucking terrifying. I''ve had to fight one on the wall that managed to make it over. It was decaying to ash before my eyes, but the bastard still put up a fight." "I see," Douglas''s gaze hardened, "Should we be worried?" Hugo looked into the distance and shook his head, "Just one horn is going. It should be a small-scale attack." Maybe I should leave more Mudcloaks here than I intended. I didn''t expect them to be the primary defense force here. Douglas rubbed his chin in thought when he froze as another horn blared, this time from the distant opposite side of the wall. Both of their heads snapped in the direction before exchanging a look. "Okay, that is a little more concerning." Hugo admitted, "But two on separate sides should still be fine¡ª" Two more horns blared, this time much closer. Feeling a sudden sense of danger, the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise. Douglas looked up and gulped as the storm seemingly parted, and what could only be described as a flying hoard of darkness, red eyes, fangs, and death blotted out the sky. A terrible cry followed that competed with the now dozen horns blaring. "Now¡ª" Hugo drew out his sword, "¡ªwe might be fucked." Chapter 412: Trembling Walls "Incoming!" Douglas roared at the top of his lungs as he brandished his sword and horizontally swung at the rapidly descending darkness. Brown flames met the blazing darkness as he hit it with all his empowered might. There was a satisfying crunch of bone as the monster was flung into the side of a runically enhanced battlement following the arc of his sword¡ªobliterating it. "Hah," Douglas let out a gasp as he raised his sword up once more. That was a good hit, but he could tell that wasn''t enough to down the beast. He squinted his eyes and peered through the rain pour and haze of dust quickly being whisked away by the gales. The darkness that had shrouded the beast during its descent like a haze washed away, revealing a grotesque and half-decayed lizard. It had purple-tinted hardened flesh, and half of its face had melted away to expose the dark blue flesh below. Its last remaining beady red eye glared at him with hunger and malice as the monster snarled and sluggishly righted itself. Douglas got ahold of himself and used his spiritual sense to probe the monster. Oh, thank all that is fucking good in this world. It''s near the peak but still in the Soul Fire Realm. I should have a chance, especially with how hurt it already is. Despite this discovery, his hand still tightened around his sword handle, and he gritted his teeth. He was used to fighting humans in the streets of Darklight City, not brutish monsters. The monster''s bones cracked ominously as it stretched upwards to reach its full height, a head taller than Douglas. It tilted its head and watched him through a narrowed vertical eyelid with its one working eye. Now that Douglas had a better look at his foe, he noticed its sleek body and the lethal claws at the ends of its four limbs digging into the stone wall. He wasn''t an expert on monsters, but he could guess this one''s fighting style from a glance. It would likely hunt at night under the cover of the darkness. Once it eyed prey, it would silently dive down and impale them with its claws before the target could react. It was a monster that relied on surprise and speed to hunt, both of which it had lost, meaning it should be beatable. Though it will take my head off if it swipes at me with one of those claws at full strength, and I don''t block it. Douglas took a hesitant step back, which turned out to be the right move as the monster lunged forward at the same moment. "Woah!!" Douglas yelped as he felt the wind of the claw passing his nose. His instincts reacted faster than his mind as he pivoted, and his sword met another set of claws coming from above in a shower of sparks. His posture was poor, and the monster had caught him off guard, but his superior cultivation came into play. Even without the use of a technique, his raw strength more than made up for it. "Agh," he grunted as his Star Core blazed in his chest, flooding his body with strength, and he pushed the monster back. Now that it was off balance, he struck forward with a Qi-wreathed foot right into the monster''s chest, toppling it. The wall beneath him trembled from the large monster''s weight slamming down, and a fissure formed between them. Finally, I got you on the ground¡ªright where I want you. Douglas pushed his Qi into the wall and felt his presence spread out into the structure as if it had become an extension of his very being. I may not have Star Core Realm techniques, but I wonder how you will feel with a sharpened basement support pillar through the brain. He smirked and gestured upwards. The monster noticed its impending doom a moment too late and was too sluggish to dodge. The stone spike ruptured below it, impaling the surprised beast through the neck. It let out a gargled scream and clawed at the spike, leaving deep gouges before finally going limp. "I missed its head despite how confused and half-dead it already was," Douglas clicked his tongue, a little disappointed in himself. The enemy was a whole realm below, and monsters were considerably more stupid than humans until the later cultivation realms. Did I hit its spine? He wondered as he leaned in closer, only to see something coming for him in the corner of his eye. With no time to dodge, he coated his arm in conjured earth and ate the attack head-on. It was weak, barely managing to push him back a step. Though it did crack the hastily conjured stone and tear into his suit and skin. Bringing up his other arm, he grabbed the monster''s wrist and ripped the claw away. Losing all strength, the monster''s arm swung and clattered against the stone spike. "You were still alive?" Douglas blinked in disbelief at the blood trickling from his arm. The fucker literally has a stone spike through its neck, and it still made a weak but last-ditch attempt to kill me? So this is what fighting a bloodthirsty monster is like. It may be stupid, but god damn is it ruthless. It had nothing to gain from that last ditch attempt other than killing me with it. Fuck. Douglas spat to the side in disgust that he had almost lost his life to such a weak foe in such a way. Stella would make so much fun of me if she saw this. I bet she could pull this monster apart without moving a muscle. "Grand Elder!" Oh shit, I forgot about Hugo. Douglas turned around to see his fellow earth cultivator covered in a suit of earth and trying to fight the monster with his fists. He was barely holding out. Blood, like red and blue war paint, stained his robes from head to toe. Hugo was in a battle to the death with a monster that could end either way at any moment. Douglas helped end the fight with a flare of his Star Core pressure, sending the monster off balance and letting Hugo get a solid punch right into the monster''s face, decapitating it in a shower of blood. Just for good measure, Douglas ruptured a stone spike out of the wall to impale its body and keep it in place. I can''t believe I forgot about my Star Core pressure in the earlier fight. Douglas berated himself. While it wasn''t strong enough to make weaker beings kneel at his feet, it was still something he could rely on. "My greatest thanks, Grand Elder. You honestly saved me there." Hugo staggered over to him and gave a short and seemingly painful bow. "My life is indebted to you." "No need for that, Hugo," Douglas put a hand on his shoulder and encouraged the man to stand again. "How is your condition?" Hugo gave a pained smile, "Not good. I used up most of my Qi reserves, and unless there''s a healer around here, I will be bedridden for a while." "I understand," Douglas looked to the skies. They had defeated two¡ªyet there were hundreds still to come. This was the true terror of the beast tide. Not the individual monsters but the sheer number of them. Fighting cost cultivators Qi, and if they got ganged up on, they could also lose their lives. A sect could ward off the tide for a while, but eventually, people would run out of Qi, and then the deaths started soaring as they got surrounded by stronger monsters than before, after being weakened. Douglas knew neither of them were great fighters, and it showed. But it was still quite alarming that he had gotten injured due to carelessness while fighting one, while Hugo had nearly died. Is it really a good idea for us to stay? Douglas clenched his teeth. I know the Boss is unable to move as he''s a tree. But can he really save us all from this nightmare? An explosion drew his attention, followed by a blinding flash of light in the sky. One of the flying monsters seemed to have been hit by the blast as the darkness shrouding it fizzled away. The monster was on fire. It glided along with the other monsters while trailing smoke before tilting downward and nosediving to the ground. Douglas watched in slow motion as the large beast smacked into the ground in a gory pulp. Black mist from the wasteland engulfed it, and the pile of flesh and bone was reduced to nothing within seconds. What was that explosion of light? Douglas traced the trajectory and saw a group of Mudcloaks on the wall reloading what looked like a large cannon. It took up the entire wall and was ten meters long. Buckets of spirit stones were lined up alongside its length, with Mudcloaks passing them to one another and pouring them into a hole at the top. "Oh yeah, the Mudcloaks built a few cannons," Hugo said, wincing halfway through the sentence due to the pain. "They are bloody impressive things, you know? Those cannons can take out a few monsters at a time if they are grouped up. There''s just a few problems with it." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Such as?" Douglas inquired, curious as to Hugo''s insights. "Slow reload time, the number of spirit stones they use per shot is more than I''d make in a year, and worst of all..." Hugo pointed to the sky at the monsters that had changed course and were now diving down toward the Mudcloaks, "It''s a giant fucking target." A dozen monsters similar to the one they had just fought off dove toward the cannon at insane speed. They were merely a shadowy blur, only briefly illuminated by a flash of lightning overhead. Douglas watched as the Mudcloaks hastily tilted the cannon upward to point at the incoming threat. The world went white before the monsters reached them as the cannon was fired point-blank. Half the monsters blew up instantly, pieces of them falling short of their target and smashing into the wall below. One of the still-alive monsters that seemed disoriented from the blinding light managed to hook its claws on the cannon''s barrel and, using its momentum, topple it to the side. The Mudcloaks let out a cry as they jumped off the falling cannon to avoid being crushed by it. "We''ve got to go and help them." Douglas panicked. "Hold on, Grand Elder," Hugo''s bloodied hand clasped his shoulder, rooting him in place. "What?!" Douglas glared over his shoulder. If he didn''t act quickly, the Mudcloaks would be slaughtered. "They are strong," Hugo gestured to the skies with his chin, "And we need to worry about ourselves first." Douglas looked at the incoming darkness and gulped. "This... is impossible. We can''t fight this. Shit, I have an idea." Fumbling at his suit pocket, he retrieved a communication jade. Surging Qi into it, the artifact lit up with a green glow in his hand. "Come on, come on, come on. Please work. Someone pick up¡ª" "Who is this?" a voice came through. The person was distorted due to the distance, but Douglas recognized it. "Diana, thank the heavens. It''s Douglas. Can you get the Boss for me?" "Sure, what''s up?" "I''m at the forest on the front lines. A horde of flying monsters is about to murder us all here." Douglas shouted at the top of his lungs into the tiny pendant over the roaring rain and horns. He could flee on his sword, but he didn''t want to leave the Mudcloaks to be slaughtered. Yet staying was suicide. He simply wasn''t strong enough to deal with this. "Understood." Diana said with all the professionalism he had come to expect from her, "Stella is with Ashlock now in his Inner World. Hold on for a moment while I contact her." Douglas had never been so relieved to hear Stella''s name. "Thank you, and be quick." Douglas cut his Qi to the artifact, and it dimmed, returning to an ordinary-looking piece of jade. He stared at it for a moment. He felt rather pathetic calling for help but also recognized it was good not to be stubborn sometimes and to accept his limits. This is not your fight. Leave it to the true powerhouses. "Called for help?" Hugo asked. Douglas nodded as he looked to the sky, "Yeah... yeah I did." Hugo snorted, "That''s not like a powerful earth cultivator. Everyone I''ve met, especially those from the Ironfist Brotherhood, would stand and fight until their last breath." Douglas smirked, "And how many are dead?" "All of them, a bunch of blockheaded idiots," Hugo said, "Yet we still stand here, half dead with our swords raised. Just like them." "Some things never change." They both heartily laughed in the face of death as five monsters descended upon them. "Hold strong. The fight''s not over yet. Let''s not join those fools in death!" Douglas unleashed his Star Core toward the monsters to try to flatten them with his soul pressure. The monsters faltered and tumbled toward the wall. "Now!" Douglas pounded his foot into the wall, causing many earth spikes to erupt outward. The monsters fearlessly barreled through his attacks, showering them in rubble. Douglas shrugged off the falling stones with a determined grin as he met a set of claws once more in a shower of sparks. Despite his resolve, the force was too much to bear with his injured arm this time, so he was sent flying. Ugh, what the? Was that monster in the Star Core Realm? Douglas was dazed as he slumped against a battlement. His head was pounding, and his body was alight with pain. I really should have practiced fighting more. Curse the seven mountains of Aymar. This is a stupid way to die. Hugo screamed as his body soared over Douglas''s head. Douglas managed to tilt his head to watch Hugo crash behind him, rolling a few times before coming to an abrupt and painful stop on a battlement. "We really are¡ª" Douglas gulped as two half-decayed monsters emerged from the downpour. One was still munching on Hugo''s arm, which had been torn off. "¡ªso fucked. But to hell with this." He gritted his teeth and raised his sword with a trembling arm. For a Star Core Realm earth cultivator to be reduced to such a state by some flying lizards was truly pathetic. "I can''t die here¡ªnot now." Douglas staggered to his feet, "I still have too much to live for. Elaine is waiting for me back home, and I swear on the heavens I ain''t going to give Stella a reason to laugh at my corpse!" Activating the artifact ring on his finger, he picked up some rubble with telekinesis and flung it at the beasts before they could react. Under the cover of the flying rubble, he propelled himself forward by exploding the battlement behind him and shot at the monster on the left. His sword, held by both hands like an arrow, impaled the monster''s stomach that had raised its arms to block the rubble. "Take that, you purple fucker," Douglas twisted his sword and, with all his strength, drew it upwards, attempting to slice the monster in half. "Aha!" He triumphantly shouted as the monster fell backward in a shower of blood but then gasped as the air was squeezed out of his lungs by two sets of claws seizing him. He tried to pull his sword out, but it was lodged firmly in the downed monster''s shoulder. His feet left the ground as he was pulled upwards, and the sword''s hilt fell out of his grasp. No, please. Douglas''s fingers flexed but grasped at nothing but air. Ow¡ªshit¡ªahhhHHHH. The pain of being squeezed to death by sharp claws was agonizing, and it was made all the worse as the monster opened its maw and loomed over him. Looking down the abyss of the monster''s throat, he was overwhelmed by the putrid stench that made his eyes water. Douglas cursed his earth Qi for giving him nothing but more durability. Anyone else would have been crushed and torn to shreds by now. Lucky me, I get to experience death from being chewed alive by an overgrown lizard. The monster''s jaw wrapped around his torso, and he could feel the wet tongue of the beast running down his back, followed by its set of razor teeth impaling his skin. If this is what death felt like, he couldn''t blame all those vengeful souls that inhabited the Boss''s sword. "I''m sorry, Ashfallen Sect. Stella, Diana, you two be good. Little Jasmine, too. I hope she grows up not too corrupted by Stella''s teachings." Douglas screwed his eyes shut, "Elaine, I''m sorry. I never got to ask you the question if you would¡ª" The monster let out a strange gargle, followed by a tearing sound. Douglas opened his eyes in time to witness as the beast was seemingly pulled apart perfectly down the middle. The two bloodied halves fell to the wayside, exposing him once again to the pouring rain. "Douglas, were you seriously about to be eaten by this weak-ass lizard?" Stella stood there with her arms crossed. White aether flames flickered across her skin, making her seem like an ethereal angel sent to save him as her whole body glowed. Or at least she might seem like an angel if not for the trail of dead bodies in her wake and her amused smirk. "No, I actually had the lizard right where I wanted him." Douglas said sarcastically as he clutched his arm, "Any moment I was about to unleash my secret move and win." "Uh huh, is that so?" Stella said lazily as she side-eyed the sky. The silver rings on her hand flashed with power, and a hundred swords appeared at once, floating above her head and pointing toward the monsters. With nothing but a flick of her finger, the swords vanished into the aether, only to reappear a second later and brutally tear through all the incoming monsters, reducing the horde to a bloody haze. What was left of them crashed into the base of the wall, making it tremble. Douglas was speechless. They were in the same realm of power, but the gap between them was like heaven and earth. "Thank you, Stella, " he said, as that was all there was to say. "You really saved me." "Huh?" Stella glanced at him, clearly distracted by micromanaging a hundred swords through another dimension. "Did you say something?" Douglas shook his head and smiled, "Nah, nothing at all." Stella shrugged, "Okay. Why were you fighting anyway? Didn''t you come to get your buddies for the city project?" "Yeah..." "Just leave this to Ash and me," Stella said, looking away. "We''ve got it covered." "The Boss? He is coming?" "Any moment now¡ªah, here he is." Stella brightened up. Douglas looked around, not noticing any change until a godly presence washed over him and blanketed the land. Unlike the pressure of a powerful cultivator with an obvious origin point, the Boss''s presence was all-encompassing. It was as if he were the overlord of the land itself, and there was no escape from him. The tree nearest to the wall behind him erupted with divine power. A flame of gold reached up to the heavens like a beacon for all followers, blazed with a radiance that calmed the hearts of all and instilled absolute fear in the monsters. Overhead, the sky was torn apart by a portal of ridiculous size. Multiple Bastions cruised through the rift with their shields up and artillery ready to rain hell upon the world. Yet Douglas focused on the tree that the Boss had taken over. A portal through the wall opened, and black vines erupted from the soil around the golden tree. They went through the portal to wrap around the corpses and drag them back. What is he doing? Douglas assumed the Boss would devour the monsters, but waves of death Qi followed. If not for Stella casually throwing up an aether shield in front of him, he might have been knocked out. "Thanks," Douglas said as he stepped away from the edge. "Can you just leave already?" Stella huffed the hair out of her face, "And take your half-dead friend over there with you." Douglas nodded and went to pick up Hugo, but he cast a quick glance at the tree. The dead lizards piled up around the tree were twisting into wooden creatures wreathed in shadows. The revived monsters looked to the skies and flexed their new bodies. The Boss hasn''t come here to feast. Douglas''s eyes widened. He''s here to make an army. Chapter 413: Fight Monsters with Monsters "Douglas, don''t just stand there," Ashlock spoke into the man''s mind, breaking him from a daze, "You aren''t good at fighting. This isn''t the place for you." "I''m sorry, Boss." Douglas''s shoulders slumped, and he looked angry with himself. "You invested so many resources into me, but I couldn''t win against a few beasts despite having the ground advantage. I failed you." "No, don''t feel bad. Your cultivation may have rapidly increased due to my assistance. But I always demanded your time and focus toward building projects instead of giving you time to hone and master new techniques befitting of your newfound strength." Ashlock sighed, "This is my fault, but at the same time, the Ashfallen Sect already has plenty of powerhouses capable of fighting, but only you can manage the Mudcloaks to build things so quickly. I don''t need you to be good at fighting. Let us handle that." Ashlock opened a rift that led back to Ashfallen City beside him. Douglas eyed it with a hint of defeat on his face. In a world where might made right, being sent off a battlefield would be seen as a great dishonor. But Ashlock had no intention of letting his prized builder die trying to fight off some weak monsters. To encourage him to go, Ashlock used telekinesis to float the half-dead body of some earth cultivator he had seen Douglas fighting with through the rift. Douglas''s eyes followed the man, and he stared at him through the rift with a look of resignation. "Go now. That new city won''t build itself." Douglas clenched his fists at his sides before relaxing. He looked away from the rift and toward the pillar of divine flame looming over the wall. "Boss, thank you for your insightful words and timely assistance." He bowed slightly. "Please evacuate the Mudcloaks and any other earth cultivators from this border, too. I will need all of their assistance." "Consider it done." "Thank you," Douglas said. He gave the darkened skies of the incoming beast tide one last look before returning to safety. The portal snapped closed behind him, leaving Stella alone on the wall. Her eyes were closed, and she was lightly humming to herself as she orchestrated a massacre. A storm of swords wreathed in aether flames that seemed to carve through reality slaughtered hordes of these weak lizards. Ashlock almost felt bad for the monsters as they didn''t even have time to react¡ªthe moment they emerged from the storm and before his desolation Qi could begin to decay them, a sword had already punctured a gory hole through their heads. Ashlock watched the performance for a while and felt quite proud. "Stella is a perfect example of someone whose cultivation I helped elevate, but instead of falling behind, her skills and techniques actually surpassed her cultivation level. Her understanding of aether affinity is profound, and her level of control over her Qi is a sight to see." Of course, Stella was a unique case. Her ancient bloodline gave her access to the past knowledge of her ancestors and the ability to focus to an inhuman degree. While Douglas had been held back by the tasks assigned to him, Stella had every advantage possible: a bloodline, resources, free time to practice, teachings from people stronger than her, and more. While privileged, she didn''t squander the opportunity given to her and made the most of what he could provide. "It''s interesting to compare her to others in the sect." Ashlock mused. "I mean, just think of the Redclaw Elders. Heart demons prevented them from advancing their cultivation for decades or maybe centuries. I noticed Grand Elder Redclaw has managed to keep up his techniques despite rising many stages in the Star Core Realm, but I suppose that makes sense. His mastery of his techniques would have been beyond his cultivation stage as he had a lot of time to hone his techniques because he couldn''t advance his cultivation." Ashlock paused his line of thoughts to open portals across the wall so the Mudcloaks could escape to Ashfallen City. The monsters were being dealt with, so he simply sat back to observe while thinking to himself. A bad habit he had developed, but when doing things on such a large scale, he sometimes found himself a bit trapped in his own head. "Where was I? Ah, yes, comparing the talents in the sect. Now that I think about it, Diana would likely be the best example of someone who made good use of the boons I''ve provided. While she consistently lags behind Stella despite having a higher starting level of cultivation, she doesn''t have the advantage of a knowledge-boosting bloodline." There was also Jasmine, who seemed to be progressing well, though she was nothing compared to that Silverspire kid who was already at the Star Core Realm. "That kid is a terrifying talent. That reminds me that I need to call on some allies, such as the Silverspires, to assist me when the beast tide starts to ramp up. This is still the beginner stage, so it''s easy to deal with, but I doubt it will stay like this." Ashlock paused as the last of the Mudcloaks escaped, and he began closing portals. After spreading out his spiritual senses to ensure that all the earth cultivators had gotten out, he quickly checked his status screen to confirm something. Idletree Daily Sign-In System Day: 3660 Daily Credit: 4 Sacrifice Credit: 265 [Sign in?] [Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 10)] [Nascent Soul Realm: 5th Stage] [Soul Type: Nine Moons(Desolation)] [Mutations¡­] {Evil Eye [A]} {Cursed Sap [B]} [Summons...] {Netherwood Wraith: Nox [Mythical]} {Harbinger of the Eternal Ash: Larry [SS]} {Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]} [Soul Weapons¡­] {The Sword of New Beginnings [?]} [Skills¡­] {Skyborne Bastion [SSS]} {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} {Divine Cycle of Creation and Ruin [SS]} {Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3662] {Progeny Dominion [S]} {Dimensional Overlap [S]} {Nocturnal Genesis [S]} {Ethereal Roots [S]} {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} {Dao Fruit Production [S]} {Eye of the Tree God [A]} This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. {Abyssal Whispers [A]} {Magic Mushroom Production [A]} {Abyssal Devourer [A]} {Soul Fortress [A]} {Blooming Root Flower Production [B]} {Language of the World [B]} {Fire Qi Protection [B]} {Superior Poison Resistance [C]} "As I thought. Since I was asleep for a week, there are only two days until the Mystic Realm opens up again. With the time dilation and all my resources, I might be able to power level a few more people within my sect to a level where they can help against monsters of this level. What was her name... Amber? She seemed promising. Also, Tartarus should be set up by now, but with Nox focusing on keeping her alter ego Nyxalia under control somewhere, that might have to be put on hold for now." Ashlock dismissed the system''s golden words floating in his consciousness and focused back on the grand battle... or should he say, one-sided slaughter. Even without his input, besides telling his Bastions to open fire and coat the sky in their storms, he might have overreacted with the forces he had brought. The monsters couldn''t even leave the storm without being butchered. The term ''spawn camping'' came to mind. Stella and the Bastions were simply a whole realm above these grunts that the beast tide was sending their way. "Stella has this area locked down. I wonder how the rest of the wall is fairing." He could still hear the horns blaring down the wall in both directions, but it seemed oddly empty with all the Mudcloaks now gone. "Let''s check on Diana first." She was a few miles down the wall to the east in her demoness form. She glided along the edge of the storm like a grim reaper. When a group of monsters emerged from the storm, she would dive bomb down and, with a swipe of her Qi-wreathed nails, tear them to bloody shreds that fell to the wasteland below like fleshy hail. Meanwhile, on the other end of the wall, Sol was zapping the emerging monsters with light beams. Each beast lasted a few seconds as its cloak of darkness melted away, followed by their bodies exploding from the heat like bloody popcorn. They would try to soar toward Sol to take him out, but the desolation Qi would reduce them to weaklings that didn''t last a second against the Ent''s eight arms that could shoot out light in all directions. "What a terrible matchup for these poor monsters. They are all mostly in the Soul Fire Realm with shadow affinity, while Sol is in the 9th stage of the Star Core Realm with light affinity." Ashlock returned to where Stella was. There were far more monsters here than the areas that Sol and Diana were holding. "I wonder why? Without this darn storm, I would better understand what we are facing. Speaking of, are my new Ents done?" He had dragged some of the corpses to the tree he had overtaken with {Progeny Dominion [S]} before they were disintegrated and had used {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} on them. Since they were all weaklings in the Soul Fire Realm, they weren''t even worth eating for credits or Qi. "Can these even fly?" Ashlock mused as he looked at the small horde of Ents gathered around the tree and hanging from the wall. They looked like vaguely humanoid wyverns made of twisted strands of purple wood. None of them exactly inspired awe or terror. They had been crafted from grunts, and since he hadn''t wasted Qi to shape their outcome, they looked like... well, grunts. But that''s precisely what he needed. Cannon fodder made from the corpses of the fallen that he could send right back at his foes without care for their survival. "Take to the skies and attack any monsters you see," Ashlock instructed the group of Ents. He had discovered through many uses of Necroflora Sovereign that an Ent''s intelligence depended on the corpse it was made from and its cultivation level. Monsters were usually dumber than humans, and weaker monsters even more so. Luckily, Ashlock didn''t need these wooden wyverns to do anything that complicated, just fly and attack. In unison, the dozen or so purple wyverns looked to the skies and fanned out their wings. To Ashlock''s surprise, they actually had wings made from what appeared to be a thin black paper that almost looked like skin suspended between branches. Shadow erupted from their bodies, coating them in a dark haze before they jumped up into the sky. For a moment, Ashlock half expected them to fall back to the ground, but with a flap of their darkness-coated wings, they remained airborne. "Ents that can fly, who would have known." Ashlock realized this was the first time he had made Ents with wings. "Stella, relax for now," Ashlock spoke into his adopted daughter''s mind. Her eyes opened, and she pouted, "Why? I was having fun." "There''s no reason to burn so much Qi killing these weaklings for fun. The objective of saving Douglas and the Mudcloaks has been completed." Stella crossed her arms in protest, "This is hardly burning much Qi. I''m just dragging a few swords in and out of the aether, and the heads of a few monsters happen to be in the way. Also, due to the knowledge I gained from Valandor regarding the aether affinity and my perfect spirit roots, my Qi usage is super efficient¡ª" "Okay, okay." Ashlock interrupted her protests, "The real reason is I want to test my new Ents, and you are killing the enemies too fast." "Oh," Stella blinked, "My bad." She recalled all her swords from the battlefield and stored them back in her spatial rings. Squinting, she looked up to the skies and pointed, "Are those your new Ents?" "Yeah, I made them just now." Stella vaulted onto a nearby battlement and perched on it like an owl as she observed from afar. "They seem kinda weak, and their movements are really telegraphed." "Ents will never be as strong as the corpse from which they were created unless I invest a lot of Qi into their creation to shape their direction. These are grunts, and I want to see how they compare." "They will lose without a doubt," Stella declared. "You really think so? I was interested to see if the fact they are made of wood instead of flesh and bone would give them an advantage." "Pfft, not a chance," Stella raised her hand and flexed her fingers, ending in nails wreathed in white flames, "The only good part of these monsters is their speed and sharp claws. Neither of which your Ents have. Due to being made of wood, it seems the death seed thing warped them into more bulky and slow versions." "I see... oh, here''s a group now. Let''s see if you''re correct." Ashlock didn''t give the Ents any further instructions or help. If he were to fight the beast tide on the scale it required of him, he simply didn''t have the attention span to micromanage so many Ents. He wanted to see how they would fare independently with no further guidance. The smaller group of monsters that soared out of the storm didn''t immediately notice the Ents above them. Their focus seemed to be on the wasteland below and the desolation Qi that began to eat away at the shadows coating them. Yet curiously, they only seemed to press onwards despite noticing the danger. "They must be flying away from stronger beasts lurking behind them in the storm. Such is the nature of the beast tide. The only path for the weaker monsters is forward, and whether they like it or not, they are used as a stone to dull the blades of those foolish enough to stand in the tide''s way. Which just so happens to be me." As their shadows faded and the desolation Qi began to eat at their flesh, the Ents diving down toward them grabbed the monsters'' attention. They let out a roar before hastily dispersing, causing the slower-moving Ents to miss their mark. The Ents were encircled by monsters, who cautiously observed these strange new enemies. As the Ents'' orders were to fly and attack monsters, the Ents didn''t waste time and went after the dispersed beasts. Since their numbers were greater, some Ents went after the same monster and got in each other''s way. The monsters effortlessly out-maneuvered the slower Ents in the air, getting behind them and landing on their backs. As Ashlock had predicted, the Ents'' stronger wooden body proved quite resistant to their claws, so the monsters resorted to tearing off their wings. "See? They are being toyed with by the monsters," Stella shook her head in disappointment. "Maybe, but there''s something you''re forgetting." Stella tilted her head, "Huh? From what I see, this is a total loss." Most of the Ents plummeted to the ground, and the monsters tearing at their backs crashed into the wasteland, sending up a plume of dirt. "You''re forgetting these Ents are disposable, but most importantly, as my creations, they aren''t affected by my desolation Qi." Ashlock chuckled, "The Ents never had to win." Stella''s eyes widened, "They just had to last long enough." As if detecting something was alive, the black mist of his desolation Qi erupted from the cracked earth and engulfed the monsters. Having already erased their shadow protection, their bodies didn''t last long when they were so close to the wasteland. "Good, the monsters are downed. But I need to find a way to capitalize on their victory." Ashlock noticed the few Ents that had survived. They were still flying and gave him an idea. "New orders. Your job is to patrol along this storm. If you encounter monsters, you are to fight them to the ground. Once they are weakened enough from my desolation Qi, bring them to Willow." The Ents let out a cry of acknowledgment before diving down to pick up the half-decayed corpses. Unfortunately, the bodies were likely to make weaker Ents because of the decay, but it didn''t matter. With this new strategy, they didn''t need to be strong in the first place. Just good enough to distract the monsters long enough for the desolation to finish them off. He left the half-dead wingless Ents on the ground. They weren''t worth the Qi to repair and could serve as ground forces to slow other monsters. Returning his attention to the sky, he watched as the Ents flew up to Willow, who was looming overhead, and phased through the Bastion''s spatial shield. Dropping the corpses off, he felt Willow''s confusion through the root network. "Willow, your job is to maintain a portal and float corpses through it to me on the ground so I can turn them into Ents," Ashlock explained. He had played with the idea of switching his {Progeny Dominion [S]} target to one of his Bastions but he could do so tomorrow. It wasn''t worth the soul damage, and this would be a long war. Willow opened the portal but seemed worried and... a little hungry. "Don''t worry, Willow, I know they are still alive. That''s what Khaos¡ª" the four-armed void Ent appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the monsters in the head, killing them "¡ªis here for. Feel free to take a corpse or two for yourself as a snack." Willow sent a wave of happiness and got to work. His trunk became wreathed in spatial flames, and the corpses began to levitate with telekinesis. One was moved to be beside his roots and began to slowly dissolve into the floor. The others were floated through the portal to Ashlock''s progeny as instructed, where he would turn them into Ents. Back on the ground, Ashlock got to work creating a new army before turning his attention to the surrounding forest of offspring. With his newfound SS grade cultivation technique {Divine Cycle of Creation and Ruin}, he had some trees to start powerleveling. "Stella, get those spirit stones ready. I''m going to need them." Chapter 414: A Promise Stella hopped down from the wall onto an exposed tree root that was like a bridge through the swamp that had formed due to the intense rain. Balancing herself by stretching her arms out to either side, she walked past pools of mud from which Ents were emerging. Purple wood twisted up from half-decayed corpses that were face down in the muck, consuming the bodies and blood-stained mud in the process. The Ents weren''t large, only around a head taller than Stella. They had four legs, but unlike the wyvern they resembled, they had curved spines and stood tall like humans on their hind legs. They eyed her as she passed, likely verifying she wasn''t a monster before losing interest. "Whatchu looking at," Stella sized one up that ruptured from the mud beside her. It stared at her with the intelligence of a pile of rocks before looking to the sky like all the others before it. Spreading out its black wings, it leaped into the air, sending a wall of mud Stella''s way. "Can''t you see I''m walking here?!" Stella clicked her tongue and vanished into the aether. A moment later, she stepped out onto one of the branches of the Tree Ashlock was inhabiting and looked at the root she had been standing on a moment now caked in mud. While phasing through the aether was as easy as breathing for her, Ashlock''s words regarding conserving her Qi had got her thinking. I could fight like that for days, maybe even a week or two. But I would eventually run out of Qi, and that''s when the Nascent Soul Realm and possibly even a Monarch Realm monster would appear. While I might be able to fight one if I get lucky at my maximum strength, I won''t stand a chance if I''m weakened. If only walking wasn''t so tiresome and annoying. How did I even survive when I had to walk everywhere? "Stella, you can just drop all the spirit stones on this tree''s roots." "Oh... sure," Stella said as she remembered why she had jumped down from the wall in the first place. Extending her hand over the branch, her spatial rings flashed with light, and spirit stones rained down like hail, landing with a squelch around the tree as they got embedded in the mud. Ethereal roots arose from the mud and coiled around the offering like hungering vipers. The pile of high-grade spirit stones she had bought from the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, which glowed with a vibrant silver hue, began to dull, but Stella could feel it. The Qi stored in the stones was being taken in by Ashlock and redistributed to the nearby trees. It was as if life was being breathed into the already lush forest as an almost mythical aura spread out like a wave, with the offspring Ashlock was inhabiting as the focal point. Stella phased through the aether and arrived on the branch of another nearby tree. With a smile, she crouched down and gently placed her fingers on its bark. "Sorry about this, little bro," she said, pushing her spiritual senses into the tree''s bark. Instead of resisting, the tree welcomed her in. What fascinating beings spirit trees are, yet somehow, their structure feels so familiar. Stella mused as she felt vague happy pulses of emotions from the tree flow into her. A spirit tree''s capability to communicate and overall intelligence would increase alongside its cultivation, similar to monsters. Yet they are still so different from monsters and humans. First, their soul cores spread throughout their trunk, giving them immense Qi pools. So it''s a little hard to estimate, but I think this tree is somewhere in the middle stages of the Soul Fire Realm. "Hey bro, you were cultivating light affinity?" Stella saw motes of light Qi floating from the tree''s leaves down through the rest of the tree''s body. It was such a sparse amount of Qi compared to the raging rivers of aether Qi that flowed through Stella''s spirit roots, but a whole realm of power did separate them. Feeling a flash of acknowledgment from the tree, Stella patted the tree approvingly, "Light affinity is a good choice for a tree. Do you mind if I dig a little deeper?" Feeling no disapproval, Stella pushed her spiritual senses toward the tree''s roots. Ah, here we go. If the light Qi being captured by the leaves is like a constant drip, the untamed Qi surging up through the roots from the spirit stones is like a burst dam. Hold on, is that desolation Qi as well? Stella focused on a black mist seemingly invading the tree''s body. However, the tree didn''t seem bothered by it, and she couldn''t see any signs of the desolation harming it. If anything, the desolation Qi seemed suppressed by a strange type of Qi Stella had never seen before. A calmness that cut out all external noise and distractions blanketed her mind, and before she knew it, her bloodline had activated. The seemingly infinite celestial library manifested overhead, and a single book floated toward her. It had a terribly worn-out cover and looked as old as time itself as it flicked open to show yellowed pages. Information flowed off the pages and straight into her mind. Usually, she had to work hard for her ancestors to bless her with information like this. So, for it to come so easily could only mean one thing. This is something my ancestors wanted me to see. Visions of lush forests being reduced to ruin, only to rise again from the blackened wastelands flooded her mind while strange voices harshly whispered in her ear over the visions. Stella Crestfallen, your fate is tied to what you seek to destroy. The cycle is eternal. What is brought to ruin will rise again. When reality crumbles, a new star is born. Your hatred for the heavens brings only desolation. To win, harmony must be maintained. The book snapped shut, and Stella gasped for air while clutching her head with her free hand. Her brain was pounding like a drum as information about harmony dao weaseled its way into every nook and cranny of her consciousness. "Harmony?" Stella hissed through gritted teeth, "What a load of utter bullshit. How can we win against the heavens with something as worthless as harmony?" "Stella, did you just say harmony?" Ashlock''s voice echoed through her mind. She nodded while wincing in pain, "Yeah. My ancestors just shoved some information about it into my mind. Though I can''t see why it would be useful compared to desolation." "You shouldn''t compare them like that. Two opposing forces shape our reality: destruction and creation. One cannot exist without the other, and the more one tries to triumph over the other, the stronger the other becomes. Desolation Qi allows me to lord over destruction, but the more I try to destroy, the more reality fights back. Like a vacuum, Qi rushes into the lands I lay to waste, and I have to try harder and harder to maintain the desolation. That''s what makes my new cultivation technique, Divine Cycle of Creation and Ruin, so powerful. I can remake reality in my image by incorporating harmony and maintaining a balance between ruin and creation." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Stella''s eyes widened. His new cultivation technique... it had cycle in the name. Those strange voices over the visions had warned her that her fate was tied to what she sought to destroy. Senior Lee once said Ash and my fates were now tied after he had saved me because I had foolishly tried to save Ash from a divine tribulation. So if Ash and my fates are tied¡ªhe becomes what I seek to destroy, and he has the word cycle in the name of this cultivation technique. Her eyes flickered to the tree ablaze with divine energy, the power of the heavens. Around the tree, new monsters were created from the corpses of the fallen. Beyond the wall was a wasteland where nothing could live, but on the other side was a lush forest of offspring. What stood between destruction and creation was a divine tree. Stella had a terrible realization. Isn''t Ash becoming similar to heaven? "Tree, that thing that gives you powers that I told you not to tell me about. Did it give you this cultivation technique?" Ashlock paused for a while before answering as if analyzing her strange reaction. "Yeah, it did. Why?" Stella slowly stepped away from the tree, thoughts whizzing through her head as every seemingly independent thread started to weave together perfectly. She thought about Ash and her strange origins, how they came together and ended up with tied fates, and most importantly, their end goal, which was to destroy the heavens. There was only one person who connected it all. "Tell me, Ash, what did Senior Lee do to you that day you ascended to Star Core Realm?" She still remembered that day vividly. Senior Lee had shown up out of seemingly nowhere, gave her some foul-tasting pills to improve her foundation, and humored them with some tests and knowledge. He gave off the impression of a powerful old man who enjoyed wandering around and the simpler things in life. However, when he discovered Ash was a talking tree, he placed his hand on his trunk, and that''s when their fate changed. Senior Lee did something that caused Ash to immediately ascend multiple stages and invite a heavy tribulation to the Star Core Realm. "As you know, he gave me a divine fragment¡ªone of nine. It was intended for the World Tree to initiate the era of ascension, but he gave it to me instead. It turned me into a demi divine being with unlimited cultivation potential, meaning I can reach for the heavens." "One of nine... what happens if you get the others?" "I can become a true god." "A true god? Do they sit above the heavens?" "I... don''t know. Maybe?" "Mhm," Stella paced up and down the branch while tapping her chin. She felt so close to figuring it all out. "Senior Lee said he was bored with life and that he was entering his final meditation, right? Do you remember exactly what he said?" "Let me think. I believe Senior Lee said something like, ''What may be an entire lifetime to you is but a passing moment for me. Yet my time is running out. I have but one last eon of meditation left in this fleeting spirit of mine.'' Which now that I think about it¡ª" "Doesn''t make sense." Stella finished his sentence. "Anyone past Nascent Soul Realm is basically immortal. For someone as powerful as him, there is no way for him to die." "Unless he wants to. The words ''fleeting spirit'' and how he spoke of boredom make me think he wanted to die." Stella nodded, "Exactly. But remember how powerful Senior Lee was? He literally froze time when he wanted to speak with you. Not to mention, he could traverse the void between layers of creation, which is supposed to be impossible. I bet you no sword could pierce his skin. When you''re a god, the only thing that can kill you is another god. Not only did he give you that divine fragment, but he also brought me back from the brink of death and gave me the strength to punch heaven''s lightning. You don''t think..." "He''s raising us to kill him?" Ashlock said with a hint of disbelief. "He said he would meet me at the top. I thought we would fight the heavens together, but what if that''s not the case?" "Senior Lee also made everything sound like a coincidence," Stella added while rubbing her chin, "But I think this was planned. He was friends with a member of the Voidmind family focused on research, and he also had friends in the Celestial Empire, where I was supposedly born from an experiment. He then showed up out of nowhere, gifted us this power, and tied our fates together. It''s just all too convenient when everything seems to lead back to him for it to be a happy coincidence." "What does tying our fates together even mean?" Ashlock pondered, "I know if either of us dies, it will greatly affect the future path of the other. But I feel like there''s more to it." Stella''s eyes widened as a thought struck her: "Wait. You''re onto something there. Let''s see. Your fate is to do what the World Tree cannot do, right? To reach the heavens." "Right." "Meanwhile, my fate, according to the Elder from the Azure Clan when I was deciphering the aether origin stone, is that the Crestfallen name has reappeared in the annals of history since time immemorial, and it was always mentioned before the fall of the nine realms. If I add us together, you become the bridge to the heavens, and somehow, my involvement leads to the fall of the nine realms?" "Hold on. If the Crestfallen name always appears during an era when the nine realms fall, this has happened before. Yet the heavens still rule, and the nine realms remain. Either those are fairytales of old, or the realm really did fall and was rebuilt. But by who?" "I don''t know, but I''m sure Senior Lee has the answers." Stella looked to the sky, "If only he wasn''t so far away." Ashlock laughed in her mind, "At the rate, the two of us are progressing? I''m sure we will meet him far earlier than he ever expected. We just have to keep slaughtering, and we will be there soon enough." "No rest for the wicked, eh?" Stella huffed some hair out of her face as it was blown around by the intense gale. "Hah, I wish. All of our immediate enemies and the beast tide aside, Morrigan seems convinced that my soul looks like an Origin. If it''s true, the heavens and every cultivator out there have a good reason to kill me. But don''t worry," Ashlock chuckled, "If I die and really am an Origin, I will just come back again." "No..." Stella muttered as she realized something. The threads of realization she had experienced during their conversation all led to a single conclusion. "No?" She slowly turned to look right at Ash, "No, you won''t come back." "Why not? Is that not what Origins do?" Stella shook her head adamantly. "Those strange words you use like bingo or nuke. The fact that you lack knowledge in some areas but have extensive knowledge in others that you have never had access to. You definitely had a past life, but one in a different body and world. I think... I know what type of Origin you are¡ª" "Stop." Stella clamped her mouth shut. His voice was filled with finality. "I don''t want to know." "But¡ª" "My name is Ashlock, and I''m a demonic tree. I have secrets, and now you have yours. Don''t you think it''s best if we each have a piece of the puzzle?" Stella furrowed her brows. He wasn''t making any sense. "Look, Stella," his voice dropped to a grave whisper, "This power inside me... it''s done nothing but good for me." An ethereal root rose from the mud and patted her head, "But we both know power doesn''t come for free. It has a plan for me, a destiny, if you will. I suspect this power may be the Origin, not me, and I''m unsure how an Origin might react to being discovered. Sometimes ignorance is bliss." Stella gulped. "You want me to keep it a secret to keep myself safe?" "Yes, you trust me, right? Whatever you figured out, don''t worry about it for now. I have no plans of dying and leaving you alone, and we will overthrow the heavens and break this cycle together. Okay? Learning what type of Origin I or the power inside me is will not change anything and is only likely to invite disaster." Stella nodded. "Good. One day, when we are at the top of the world, let''s exchange secrets. When there is finally nothing that can threaten our lives." "Promise?" Stella said, holding out her pinky finger to the ethereal root. "I want to learn about who you were before becoming a tree." "I promise." The root was far too large, but Ash still managed to gently circle the tip slightly around her pinky. Chapter 415: Rykers Mother Sebastian Silverspire absentmindedly rolled a communication jade between his fingers as he stared out his window. He felt weirdly sentimental on this late afternoon as he awaited an urgent message from Ryker''s mother. All he knew was that something had happened in the Silverspire family, and he needed to be informed about it. He let out a small sigh. It''s hard not to think such matters pale compared to this sight. Despite the intense rainfall, darkened clouds, and the mountain range between them, it was almost impossible to ignore Ashlock¡ªthe demonic spirit tree he once called the immortal that lorded over the Ashfallen Sect. Whatever illusion array that had once shrouded the peak in mystery was gone¡ªnow there was only a constant rotating wall of mist that obscured the gap between the demonic trees encircling the peak that were flaring with varying affinities of their own. What was on full display was the top half of Ashlock. His towering height made the White Stone Palace Sebastian currently resided in feel small, and the spirit tree''s canopy seemed to fan out in all directions, shielding the entire peak. Divine energy arced between his branches like lightning, but one couldn''t ignore the foreboding presence that dominated the whole area as if warning off people from getting too close lest they wish to be brought to ruin. The spirit tree had, without a doubt, become a godly figure worshiped by many. When Sebastian arrived here, Darklight City seemed as rundown as he had anticipated, and the Redclaw family''s ruling over it was weak. What he hadn''t expected was to discover an upstart alchemy group that would very quickly turn into the powerhouse known today as the Ashfallen Trading Company. Looking back on it, I still can''t believe I went through with it. During negotiations, they wore masks to hide their expressions. Grand Elder Diana, who seemed like a savvy businesswoman back then, offered us a percentage of profits in exchange for all of the starting funds Ryker''s mother had provided him. The shady part was that the offered percentage went down the longer we took to decide. Truly, these were the tactics of a scammer, but we were desperate, and by some grace of the heavens, it worked out. Sebastian glanced over his shoulder at his young master diligently cultivating atop a pile of Qi-filled silver. The boy''s hair rhythmically pulsed as a silver aura swirled around him. The throne of silver slowly dimmed in the process but would be replaced by the evening. He sure is getting through a ridiculous amount of silver, but it''s not like he can''t afford it. After only a few months, he''s likely wealthier than entire branch families of the Silverspire family despite only being five years old. He''s already at my level of cultivation. Sebastian frowned. That''s quite embarrassing for me now that I think about it. How can I continue to proudly call myself the 7th son''s bodyguard if he becomes stronger than me? I should practice more. The communication jade suddenly glowed with a vibrant green light. Sebastian set it up on the windowsill and took a step back. A second later, a lifesized projection of a woman appeared between him and the window. She stood tall and regal, her bearing exuding the effortless authority of a noble hailing from one of the most prominent families in the Blood Lotus Sect. Her hair, a shimmering cascade of pure silver, was tightly coiled into symmetrical buns at the sides of her head, each secured with a single golden pin inlaid with emeralds. Such a display of wealth was nothing compared to her forehead, which was fused with a detailed crown made of precious metals interwoven with gemstones. The intricate latticework seemed to capture the light, refracting it into faint rainbows that danced across her pale, flawless skin. The gems radiated subtly with a silver glow, showing her cultivation was in the Silver Core Realm. Ryker''s mother smiled at him. "Sebastian, long time no see." As she spoke, she elegantly raised her hand as if asking him to take it. The sound of her numerous adornments emphasized her movements. Delicate chains draped across her shoulders, and her many spatial rings clinked softly with every subtle movement. Long earrings dangled from her ears, almost brushing her slender neck, and her layered robes, shimmering with silver embroidery, rippled like water down her form. Her sharp, silver-grey eyes bore into him with an intensity she didn''t intend. They glimmered with a cold brilliance, putting anyone on the receiving end of her gaze on edge. Sebastian gulped before gathering himself. He gave a slight bow to show his respect before mirroring her smile. "Seeing you is a pleasure as always, Mistress." She shook her head, "Sebastian, how often do I have to tell you to call me Lyriana? Enough with the formalities all the time¡ªwhere is my little Ryker?" Sebastian stepped aside and gestured to the young master, "Cultivating as always," he paused, "...Lyriana." Lyriana clapped her hands, "See? That wasn''t so hard, was it?" "No," Sebastian grumbled, "But it feels strange. You are the wife of the Grand Elder. Calling you by your first name is unprofessional. I''m just¡ª" "From a branch family? Blah, blah. It''s all nonsense." Lyriana snorted, her regal elegance gone in an instant. "I''m the wife of the Grand Elder? So what. I''m basically his side piece with the least power out of the wives because he has only given me a single child, and Ryker is still too young. Yet despite all that, they fear me rising up within the harem, so they conspired to send Ryker to Darklight City to ensure there was no way for him to succeed. Furthermore, they embarrass me at every opportunity, and it''s only gotten worse since the Grand Elder entered closed-door cultivation." Her face twisted viciously before returning to a calm expression, "But that all ends now, Sebastian. Can you get Ryker for me? He needs to hear this." Sebastian nodded. He knew Lyriana had suffered greatly at the hands of the other wives of the Grand Elder due to their jealousy. With Ryker and himself sent so far away from her side to participate in the trial for who would inherit the silver core, she was alone and without much of a support network aside from some maids. Getting Ryker''s attention, his young master''s eyes opened, and a smile bloomed on his face when he laid eyes on his mother. "Mom!" He bounced off the pile, sending silver flying everywhere. "My boy!" Lyriana got down on one knee and held out her arms to embrace Ryker in a big hug. Sebastian mobilized the metal stream that always orbited him into the projection to give it a physical form. While cold, it allowed them to have a real hug despite the distance. "Mom, I''ve missed you," Ryker said as he buried his head into her chest. "I know, honey," Lyriana stroked his head and ran her fingers through his silver hair, "But don''t worry, my boy. Mother has good news." Ryker swiveled his head to look into his mother''s eyes, "What is it?" "Your father''s tribulation has started." Sebastian''s eyes widened in shock, "Misstress?! The Grand Elder is about to step into the Golden Core Realm?" "It''s Lyriana!" she pouted before sighing and nodding. "But yes, the time has come. Within a week, the heavens will decide the Grand Elder''s fate. Should he emerge from closed-door cultivation alive, he will have stepped into the Golden Core realm, bringing the Silver Core trial to an end. In light of this development, all scions of the house that were sent out have been ordered to return." She looked down at Ryker with a warmth that only a parent could have, "It''s time for you to come home to me." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "I can really come home so soon?" Ryker beamed. Lyriana ruffled his hair with a grin, "Yes, you rascal." "Hehe. This is great! Can I bring back my big sisters?" Ryker asked with a look of hope in his eyes. "Big sisters?" Lyriana glanced at Sebastian quizzingly before mouthing, ''Who?'' Sebastian gave a weary smile, "I think he''s referring to his senior sisters within the Ashfallen Sect." "Uh huh," Ryker nodded enthusiastically, "Big sister Stella and Diana. I want Mom to meet them." "If you can convince them, I don''t see why not?" Lyriana said carefully, "Would there be any issues, Sebastian?" "Errr," he scratched his head. "It''s hard to say. Stella is known as the Murder Princess around here and is the daughter of a godly being and the sect leader. She is incredibly free-spirited. The likelihood of her showing up and murdering half the family and declaring herself the new leader if she deems them an eyesore isn''t zero." Lyriana blinked, "I see... What about Diana?" "She''s a business-savvy demoness that eats heart demons for breakfast." Sebastian shrugged, "She''s basically my boss, as she manages most of the Ashfallen Sect''s affairs." Lyriana looked down at her son in concern. "Ryker dear, how did you make such friends?" "They are my sworn big sisters," Ryker said confidently, "We are more than friends. They would definitely come." "Sorry, Ryker. I doubt it." Sebastian patted his young master on the shoulder, "With the beast tide here, the Ashfallen Sect is quite busy, and those two are integral to the sect. They can''t just leave right now to visit your home." Ryker gave him a defiant look, "They will." "Look," Sebastian began, but Ryker cut him off. "No," Ryker wrestled out of his mother''s embrace and stormed out of the room, "I''m going to ask them myself. I promise you they will come!" "Ryker dear..." Lyriana''s hand fell to her side, and she shook her head, "That boy never takes no for an answer." "Hard to argue with the result, though," Sebastian chuckled. "Yes, speaking of. How are things?" Her motherly tone was replaced with the seriousness of a high noble as she stood up and looked at the open doorway where Ryker had run off. Sebastian mirrored his Mistress''s tone. "He''s reached the first stage of the Silver Core Realm at five years old, and as for the trial for the silver core? Let''s just say he''s richer than some of the smaller side branches in just a few short months. I fail to see how any of the siblings could possibly compete." Sebastian couldn''t help but smirk, "It''s going to be an utter victory, Mistress. Your son has done the impossible." "Excellent, I can''t wait to see the look on the faces of those vixens." Lyriana beamed, "It''s also thanks to your support and this Ashfallen Sect. I know you can''t tell me much more due to the oaths you took, so I''m looking forward to meeting these big sisters if they happen to come. Speaking of, do you need me to arrange transport?" Sebastian shook his head, "Since the Ashfallen Sect isn''t evacuating, they have some unused airships I''m sure I can borrow." "Will it be safe?" Lyriana said with concern, "I''ve heard a rumor that any ship that''s tried to enter the land to the west of Nightrose City has been wiped out by a mysterious entity. I tried looking into it more, but those vile vixens blocked me. All I know is a convoy of Azurecrest ships heading back to their peak never made it back. There''s also the risk of assassins sent by the other wives after my son, Ryker." "Interesting. I wonder what could be out there?" Sebastian stroked his chin. Assassins were always a risk, but this new threat sounded dangerous. "I''ll be sure to ask the Ashfallen Sect if they have any information and to avoid that area should we travel alone. But if the Princess is with us, there''s nothing to fear." "The Princess? Why?" Sebastian chuckled, "Well, you see, her father is quite overprotective. I wouldn''t be surprised if he sent a small army that could destroy the Silverspire family five times over to accompany her." "Gosh, five times over? How powerful has the Ashfallen Sect grown in such a short time?" "You have access to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion''s records, do you not? The Ashfallen Sect is now listed as a Divine grade sect, only below the Celestial Empire." Sebastian''s voice dropped, "And between you and me, I would place my bets on the Ashfallen Sect over the Celestial Order in a fight." Lyriana massaged her temples, "This Stella girl is this important, and Ryker calls her his sworn big sister. Is that really alright?" "The whims of the Princess are hard to fathom," Sebastian glanced out the window at the godly spirit tree in the distance. "At the end of the day, it all depends on whether the immortal approves. And I sure hope Stella agrees to guarantee Ryker''s success in taking over the family. I wouldn''t exactly be against her forcefully taking over the family and putting Ryker on top." "Would she really do such a thing?" Lyriana mused. "She''s done worse for less," Sebastian said, stepping away from the window. "Just inquire about the fate of the Lunarshade family and what they did to deserve being wiped out in a single night." *** A day for Ashlock had passed on the frontlines with the beast tide. The border was somehow being maintained for now. Any monsters that emerged from the storm were dive-bombed by a horde of Ents into the ground, where they quickly decayed and joined his team. It was a startlingly effective method, and he had quickly spread his army of a few hundred Ents to cover a large section of the storm. The rest was overseen by Larry, the Bastions, Stella, and Diana whenever they felt like participating. "Looks like things are going good for now," Stella said as she stretched her back. "Yeah, for now," Diana said as she stood over a map in the small bunker and stroked her chin. Elaine who had also decided to join them and was surrounded by parchments, pushed up her glasses and said, "If we go off previous data, we have a week or two until things get serious." "Serious in what sense?" Stella asked. "Only Star Core and possibly even Nascent Soul Realm monsters will appear," Diana tapped the map, "The hundreds of Ents managed by Ashlock are in the Soul Fire Realm, with a select few in the Star Core Realm. Simply put, such a force will get overwhelmed within an hour if faced with such a superior enemy. Right, Elaine?" Elaine nodded, "Yeah. Usually, this second last wave wiped out the arrogant sects of the past that tried to stand their ground, so there''s not as much information as I would like regarding what it entails and what comes next." "Ash, can''t you just make more Star Core Ents?" Stella asked the ceiling. "I can, but it''s not that simple. It''s a snowball effect. Once I have a few Ents, they can get me more, and so on. But Ents are always weaker than the corpses they are made from, especially with my desolation Qi half decaying them. So if the enemy''s strength keeps escalating, just my Ents won''t be enough." Ashlock paused, "Star Core and above monsters are also more intelligent, so there''s a chance they will plan countermeasures against my Ents or spot weaknesses in our defenses." "So we need a plan," Stella concluded. "The Mystic Realm is open starting tomorrow," Ashlock told them, "If Elaine''s estimates are correct and we have a week, there''s time for everyone to advance their cultivation. Besides, if things get bad, you guys can always pull out early with my Mystic Realmwarp fruits." "True," Stella said, drumming her fingers on the desk while leaning over the map. "But this area," her finger traced the storm, "It''s just too much land to defend, and if we spread out forces too thin to cover it all..." "A single Nascent Soul Realm beast can power through," Elaine finished her thought, and Stella nodded in agreement. "I''ve actually already thought about this and devised a solution." "Oh?" Diana said, sounding impressed. "We need to funnel them into choke points. The monsters are smart enough to want to avoid areas with desolation Qi," Ashlock used telekinesis to float a pen over and mark on the map, "There are a few forests of my offspring here, here and here. Since my offspring are immune to desolation Qi, if I bring these lands to ruin while leaving the area between them untouched, the monsters will naturally avoid the death forests and move deeper into our lands." "That''s actually genius, and we kill two birds with one stone here. We make defending it easier, and the monsters have every reason to avoid your offspring." Diana nodded approvingly, "I like this idea." Ashlock chuckled, "I''m glad you like it, but I also need a lot more spirit stones to increase my offspring''s cultivation so they won''t get wiped out by the storm passing over them. Douglas and the Mudcloaks need to speed up the creation of that city so we can start moving the people and get paid." "Progress on that front has already star¡ª" Stella was interrupted by someone leaping out of the ethereal root. A silver-haired child pointed at Stella and grinned ear to ear. "Big sister!" Stella jerked around and looked at Ryker Silverspire, "Ryker? What the hell are you doing here?" "I need to go home to visit my mom as my dad is about to finish his ascension, and the battle with my siblings for the silver core is over," he said confidently, his hands on his hips. "I bet my siblings will complain that I cheated or that the Ashfallen Sect isn''t real. Can you come with me to prove them wrong?" Stella started grinning, and Diana let out a deep sigh.