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As the two discussed, Ashlock thought about how disastrous it could have been if he had unleashed his skill on one of them.

"I must remember that my {Devour} skill only stops once the target is dead. So it\'s certainly not an ideal skill for breaking fights."

Ashlock needed more skills. Every skill he gained had amazing uses, but he always found himself in a situation where another could\'ve been helpful.

Ashlock watched as the two girls approached his trunk, Diana opting to wait off to the side while chugging pills, likely to heal from Stella\'s earlier attacks.

"Tree! Hello! I\'ve returned!" Stella waved her arms while running toward him.

Ashlock rolled his nonexistent eyes, and even Diana blinked in confusion from Stella\'s complete change in demeanor and tone.

The resurfacing of her childlike nature made Ashlock reminisce about the old days, before all the drama of Grand Elders blowing themselves up and house politics.

Stella plopped herself on the bench with a satisfied sigh and sprawled out as if she had just returned from working two shifts in a row and was drained.

She then yelped as Maple suddenly appeared on her stomach, demanding head pats.

Seeing her furry friend, the girl smiled and gave the little guy some attention. "Maple, you were such a big help. Thank you for joining me."

As Maple enjoyed the attention, Stella gazed at the scarlet canopy overhead.

"Tree, how did you grow so big?"

Stella raised her arms as if trying to reach for his branches, "When I left, you were a smol tree, but now you are this big. Are you really the same Tree?"

She tilted her head and looked accusingly at Diana with a cold glare. "Did you feed it something?"

"Hey. I was not small! Calling a tree small hurt\'s it\'s pride, okay?" Ashlock grumbled and realized a tactical lapse in judgment as he hadn\'t grown any fruit to drop on Stella.

"Actually, didn\'t I need to grow some acorns or something for Maple. Oops. Maybe he won\'t notice..."

Diana shook her head at Stella\'s question as she rested lazily against the far wall with her sword hanging from her hand. "I did no such thing. I just fed it a bird every now and then."

"Just a bird every now and then—wait." Stella\'s eyes narrowed, "How long have you been here? I thought you had just arrived? And what was the explosion of purple Qi? Are you a dual Soul Core?"

Diana huffed to get the hair out of her eyes before responding with her usual dull, monotone voice, "I\'ve been here ever since my family got wiped out by the Winterwrath and Evergreen family... so nearly a year?"

Looking to the ground to avoid Stella\'s cold gaze, Diana\'s hair fell across her face as she absentmindedly shifted on her feet.

"And no, I\'m not one of those chosen ones blessed with a dual Soul Core." She sighed, "Just an ordinary 6th-stage Soul Fire cultivator."

Blue flames flickered to life in Diana\'s palm, and she looked at it with a frown. "With a plain blue Soul Core and inferior spirit roots. Nothing special." She closed her hand into a fist, and the flames vanished. "What about you?"

Stella sat up and leaned against Ashlock\'s trunk. "Why should I tell you anything?" She scowled and crossed her arms, "Do you think I forgave you just because you spared my life?"

Diana shrugged. "You don\'t have to tell me anything... I was just wondering since that attack you landed on me was so strong for such a young girl."

"Fifteen is hardly young." Stella snorted, "Isn\'t it rather pathetic for a carefully raised princess of house Ravenborne to be at the 6th stage? Were you too busy being pampered and adored by your family to cultivate properly?"

Diana froze up a little and muttered under her breath, "You wouldn\'t understand."

"No, I wouldn\'t." Stella snapped, "You demonic cultivators took everything and tried to kill me too—" Stella paused and let out a huff. "Sorry. I am just venting. Could you give me a minute? I need to clear my head."

Diana tensed her hand around her sword hilt and walked to the training courtyard without saying a word.

Stella watched her go, and once Diana was out of sight, she laid back on the bench, and after a minute of rest, she began to talk again.

"Tree, I must tell you about the many adventures I had while you were sat here alone. I hope it wasn\'t too boring without me. Did you have some good sleep? I know you like to sleep a lot—"

Ashlock wanted to correct the girl and tell her he hadn\'t been left alone for a single darn second to sleep with so many people visiting and hanging around.

"—Oh! Speaking of things you like, do you want some food."

"Hell, yes!" Ashlock looked at Maple and yelled, "Give her a thumbs up."

The sleeping squirrel\'s ear twitched, but it remained fast asleep.

"You little bastard..." Ashlock could tell Maple was deliberately ignoring him.

Stella seemed to be expecting an answer as she had her head tilted, so Ashlock wracked his brain for a way to communicate. "My latest skill requires a corpse, which Stella is yet to give me... Could I use my Qi to signal yes and no?"

Deciding it was worth a try, Ashlock\'s Soul Core hummed, and his lilac flames flickered to life on a leaf in Stella\'s line of sight.

To say her jaw dropped open was an understatement.

"Tree! You have a Soul Core?" Stella lept up, and Maple went flying.

"Perfect, she asked me a yes or no question..." Ashlock made the leaf flicker once. "Hopefully, she understands."

Stella tilted her head, eyes staring at the leaf intently. "One flicker... does that mean yes? Flicker the leaf again if that mean\'s yes."

Ashlock silently praised the girl\'s parents for passing down their IQ to her. She was not only self-independent and good at cultivating, but she wasn\'t an airhead.

Naturally, Ashlock flickered the leaf once again.

Stella clapped her hands in delight. "Communication! Now we are getting somewhere!" She was practically jumping up and down like an excited bunny.

"Okay, flicker the leaf twice, and that will mean no."

Ashlock complied and flickered the leaf with his lilac flames twice.

"I always knew you were a smart tree!" Stella ran up and hugged his trunk with a smile, "Ah! I wasn\'t crazy. You really could understand me this whole time!"

Ashlock flickered the leaf to say yes. Of course, this would get tiresome, but it was far better than dropping fruit on her head being his only form of communication. "But if she gives me a corpse to work with, maybe I can write something in the dirt?"

Stella ran up to Maple, who had been tossed onto the ground, and threw him up into the air, "Maple, Tree can talk!"

Maple rolled his golden eyes, vanished midair, and appeared on Ashlock\'s branch a moment later. He then happily fell asleep.

Much to Stella\'s bewilderment when she reached up and caught nothing but air.

"Should I toast him in my flames?" Ashlock was seriously debating it. "Just a light roasting..."

Stella collapsed back onto the bench with a pleasant expression and let out the most satisfied sigh Ashlock had ever heard, "Ahhh, this is the best day ever. I am staying here forever, just you and me..."

Stella paused and looked in the direction Diana had gone. "Tree, did Diana treat you well while she stayed here?"

That was a good question. Ashlock\'s opinion of Diana had drastically improved over the year, regardless of the snacks or not.

Compared to many of the other demonic cultivators he had seen, she was tolerable, but only time would tell her real motives for being here.

Did he trust Diana a hundred percent as he did with Stella?

Absolutely not.

But Diana had treated him acceptably over the year.

"And Stella needs a human friend and teacher. That fight showed me that Stella lacks good techniques and fighting practice against other humans."

Ashlock signaled yes with a flicker of his flames.

Stella frowned. "Do you like her more than me?"

Sigh... so jealous.

Ashlock chuckled to himself as he flickered twice for no.

He could almost see the wave of relief hit Stella as she saw his answer. It was only natural. Ashlock had practically watched Stella grow up from a terrified and alone young girl of barely ten years old to the confident and powerful teenager she was now.

Was he like a proud uncle?

Stella huffed as she stared into the distance, "I was being a bitch, wasn\'t I? Diana said her whole family died and didn\'t know of her family\'s plot against me."

Ashlock decided not to comment. Although Diana was a bit older than Stella, maybe in her early twenties, Ashlock felt it was best to let them work it out between themselves.

If Stella demanded Diana leave, which was perfectly reasonable considering Diana had broken into her home and lived in it for a year, then he would try and assist Stella in removing Diana.

But he secretly hoped they could be friends. Stella had been alone for far too long, and her only friend being a tree, was not healthy. He just wanted the best for her.

"I wonder if she will have kids one day?" Ashlock chuckled, "It would be funny to have a little Stella running around trying to steal my fruits."

For some reason, that thought made Ashlock sad.

What if Stella didn\'t reach the highest realm and ascend from mortality?

Would he take care of her children... and grandchildren...

"Ugh, just the thought of it gives me a headache." Ashlock now hoped Stella didn\'t have kids and just focused on becoming immortal first. "I should make some very Qi-dense fruit for her. That might help."

Clueless of Ashlock\'s thoughts, Stella got up from the bench with a huff and started walking toward the training courtyard.

"Tree, I am going to speak with her..." Stella looked over her shoulder with a cheeky smile, her blonde hair falling to the side, revealing those red leaf earrings he had gifted her so long ago.

"But I can\'t leave you hungry now, can I?"

Ashlock had never heard sweeter words.

Stella\'s golden ring flashed with power, and corpses practically rained from the sky.