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Chaotic Qi surged up and poured into his dimmed Star Core through his roots buried deep within the world. Meanwhile, nutrients were also pulled up through his roots and redirected toward the bare stalks that once housed his lush scarlet leaves in an attempt to regrow them.

Luckily, the fruit he had spent so much Qi on had survived the turbulent winds from Larry\'s ash and the worm monster\'s screech. Which he was incredibly thankful for as the {Qi Fruit Production} skill took a large amount of Qi initially to create a unique seed imbued with one of his skills from which the flesh of the fruit would grow around. Once this initial Qi cost to develop the seed had been paid for, the fruit could grow with minimal resources from him.

As Ashlock cycled his cultivation technique, his connection to the heavens was restored as his leaves rapidly regrew. Once his Star Core had filled a little, he expended some Qi to burn his trunk and branches in soul fire to remove the irk felt from the blood and guts of the worm that still caked his bark.

With his leaves regrown within minutes, he could fully utilize his cultivation technique as heaven and hell were connected through him. In this deep state of meditation, he could feel his profound connection to all the demonic trees surrounding him. Waves of emotion traveled through the mycelium and root network he shared with them.

Usually, he blocked them out as the constant surges of emotion from thousands of trees were a lot to take in.

"Don\'t worry, my children. Dad is alright." He transmitted through his roots and felt warm at the wave of happiness he received back. "Maybe I should talk to them more often."

Ashlock took a moment for himself for an unknown amount of time. He knew people were awaiting his guidance beyond his bark, but he was at peace in the darkness of his mind. He felt like there had been drama or fighting for every waking moment recently, and sometimes the need to just breathe and relax became too overbearing to ignore.

***

Stella failed to decipher Ash\'s mood as his trunk reclosed, hiding away his unsettling eye, and she felt his very weak Qi retreat deeper inside his trunk as if he were going to sleep. She knew she had messed up bringing the Redclaw Grand Elder here, but she wasn\'t willing to risk being away from Ash as he got attacked again.

Last time I had been in Darklight City, Tree was attacked by that brutal storm that reduced him to a smoldering stump. And today, I left to deal with the worm, and after getting hit once, it ignored me and went straight for Ash instead!

Stella pouted as she felt the world was unfair.

Keeping up our facade is important, but I felt coming to save you with the Redclaw Grand Elder\'s assistance was the best course of action. Stella let out a sigh. If only I could have entered the spatial plane to peer through the concealment and check on you. Alas, ever since the buzz of enlightenment wore off, I have been unable to return there at will.

Shaking off her thoughts, her eyes drifted across the mountain peak that smelled of rotting blood and guts. The black blood that painted the rock stuck to her shoe like paint, making her nose scrunch.

Stella then heard a cracking and felt movement behind her. Looking over her shoulder at the looming tree, she noticed the stumps of the weaker branches that were torn off during the fight begin to rapidly regrow like spindly fingers, and scarlet leaves sprouted from the other branches.

He\'s recovering, thank the heavens.

She stood there for a while, watching the fascinating scene of regrowth but then stumbled back when the whole tree suddenly lit up with lilac soul fire. An awful stench wafted from the tree, smelling like burnt, rotten blood.

Slowly backtracking away from the tree, Stella carefully sidestepped the massive hole and met with Diana and Larry, patiently waiting off to the side. The Redclaw Grand Elder was also there, still clasping his hands toward the recovering tree with a hint of awe in his aged eyes.

Stella ignored the man, half out of embarrassment and also because she had nothing to say to him, until Ash decided how to handle this situation. So instead, she stood beside Diana, who was humming to herself while letting Kaida lick her finger.

The snake appeared much larger than before, at least a few feet long, so his body was draped on Diana\'s shoulders like a scarf. His golden eyes were much the same, but their black scales had an almost liquid-like shimmer as if they were dripping in ink.

"Kaida seems to love you," Stella noted, trying to distract her mind from how awkward she felt due to the Grand Elder\'s presence.

"Well, I sure hope so." Diana flashed a thin smile, "He finished his evolution right as the worm arrived. Everyone was so busy fighting that he was forgotten about, so I swooped in and saved him."

Stella narrowed her eyes, "You didn\'t help with the fight?"

"How was I supposed to?" Diana shrugged, earning a hiss from Kaida as his body shifted, "The monster was in the mid-stage of the Star Core Realm. So even if I empowered my daggers with Qi, they couldn\'t penetrate its defenses. Also, the monster was so large that my mist technique would have hindered everyone more... and not to mention the poison that coated its skin."

She then glanced around, "Although I think I can help now that the... tree has finished its meal." The air suddenly became aridas a large ball of water manifested above Diana\'s palm.

Stella noted Diana\'s odd choice of wording as the Redclaw Grand Elder was still standing nearby, listening to their conversation.

Oblivious to Stella\'s thoughts, Diana splashed the ball of water on the ground, and it spread out with a viscous consistency like slime, collecting all the blood and guts left over from the decimated worm.

The awful smell that had been prevalent subsided, and Stella watched as the slimy water pulled all the black blood off her shoes and returned to a ball floating above Diana\'s palm.

"What are you going to do with that?" Stella asked, eying the swirling ball of blood and guts.

Diana answered her question with her golden spatial ring flashing with power and the water ball vanishing with a pop of air. "I\'ll store it in here for now and deposit it out into the wilderness the next time I go training out there."

"I see..." Stella said, tapping her chin. An awkward silence continued for a while. Then, finally, her eyes darted between Ash, still regrowing, and the Redclaw Grand Elder. Just as she was about to say something random to break the silence, the lilac soul fire consuming the tree vanished.

Has he woken up from his sleep?

Moments later, a rift formed, and two people she was familiar with stepped through, both wearing black masks.

"Holy friggin shit," Douglas shouted as he saw the enormous hole in the center of the mountain peak. He dashed over to the edge of the hole, practically dragging Elaine with him as he went as she was holding his hand.

Stella couldn\'t help it, but attention was drawn to their interlocked fingers... she flexed her own and then subconsciously looked over to Ash\'s branches. A frown formed on her face.

Douglas, oblivious to Stella\'s stare, cautiously leaned over the edge. His earth Qi channeled through his legs, and the now cleaned stone surged up around his feet, locking him in place and allowing him to stare down into the abyss, "This has to be over a mile wide and goes all the way to the base of the mountain!"

"Why do you sound so excited?" Stella said—the words coming out a little harsher than she expected.

Douglas cocked a brow at her attitude, and then he looked between her and Tree and seemed to come to his own conclusion. Which only made her mood sour further.

I\'m not mad about Tree being hurt. He\'s fine...

Douglas shook off the stone around his feet and turned to face her with a grin, "I\'m thrilled because I can turn this hole into the most awesome spiral staircase on this side of the continent!"

Stella looked between the excited Douglas and the hole large enough that she wasn\'t sure she could jump its length.

Does this idiot want to make a spiral staircase for a titan?

Realizing her mood was affecting her, she let out a single controlled breath and, behind her own wooden mask, offered a smile. "That does sound like a good idea Douglas."

Stella then noticed that Ash was writing something in his soul fire on his trunk, "Stella, translate my following words to everyone." She murmured to herself and then nodded.

Everyone quieted and watched as mystical words were written in soul fire on the demonic tree.

"First of all, Douglas, I agree that is a great idea, but I have bigger plans for now." Stella read and saw Douglas clench his hand in glee. "Things are moving faster than I would like. It\'s clear we need an immense amount of spirit stones to build a place of safety for everyone."

"Immortal, if I may." The Redclaw Grand Elder spoke respectfully, and Stella gave him a nod to continue. "Darklight City is a frontier region that borders the most active part of the wilderness. As the beast tide approaches, things will only get worse. I felt the deep desire to take this opportunity to apologize to your esteemed self that my family has not lived up to the expectations this city requires and have placed a heavy burden on your shoulders in recent weeks."

Stella didn\'t say it out loud, but she silently agreed with the Redclaw Grand Elder. All of these recent problems could have been dealt with by the old Ravenborne Grand Elder, who had been at the peak of the Star Core Realm and even stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm before his death.

Even with the Ravenborne gone, the Evergreens and Winterwraths could have defended this frontier region with the Evergreen\'s strong affinity for the area... but the Redclaws only have a single Star Core cultivator who is weakened due to the environment. Maybe I am being harsh due to seeing how useless he had been against the worm earlier today, but I see where he is coming from.

Stella patiently waited for Ash\'s reply, curious to see his thoughts as words materialized on his trunk.

"I planned to wait until after the alchemy tournament for this, but if you all struggle this hard against a single Star Core monster, I will need to move up the schedule." Stella translated, her eyes going wide behind her mask as she suspected where Ash was going with this, yet she was still surprised as she glanced between Elaine and the Grand Elder.

The Grand Elder clasped his hands and bowed, "What does the great immortal advise?"

"Including you, gather your five strongest members and come back here in two days at the crack of dawn. Prepare for a month-long excursion into a very hostile land with the goal of advancing your cultivation. Tell your family you will be gone for a week," Stella slowly translated, momentarily getting stuck on a few of the words.

He is referring to the Mystic Realm, I\'m pretty sure...

"As you wish." The man bowed, and Stella saw a rift open beside him. Through the slightly distorted view, she could see the courtyard of the White Stone Palace. The Grand Elder gave one final bow and swiftly left through the rift.

Stella had never mentioned it, but either she had spent so much time around Tree, or her cultivation had improved enough that she could feel when his spiritual sight moved around ever so slightly. Her eyes wandered to where she guessed his gaze was and landed on Elaine.

"Prisoner, decide now. Do you wish to join our sect or remain in the cavern?" Stella translated and was glad the mask obscured her smirk, which then subsided.

Was she really this much of a vicious person? She quite liked Diana and tolerated Douglas for the most part, but something about Elaine just irked her on a primal level.

Elaine and Douglas had removed their masks once the Grand Elder had left, and the girl stared at her with wide eyes as if she had just handed her a death sentence.

Hey, don\'t look at me. I\'m just the messenger.

"W-what does joining your sect involve..." Elaine stammered out while quaking like a leaf.

There was a long pause before Ash wrote, "An oath of loyalty. In return, you will be provided freedom, unimaginable cultivation resources, and status."

Douglas looked down at Elaine, who was gripping his hand so hard that her knuckles were going white. "It\'s a pretty good deal—"

"I... refuse," Elaine said, her voice dying to a whisper at the end.

Stella hated to admit a gasp of surprise escaped her lips. It was insanity to turn down such an offer! Ash seemed equally confused because it took him a while to reply through Stella\'s translation, "May I ask why? Your void affinity would be of great value to us, and we will take good care of you."

"An oath made out of fear or greed... is not an oath made from the heart," Elaine said, "In my opinion... y-your need for an o-oath of loyalty from m-me is a shallow attempt for c-control. If everything you say about this A-ashfallen Sect is true, then I w-would have no reason for betrayal."

By the end of her passionate speech that she had clearly practiced many times over in her head, the mountain peak was dead silent. Only the sound of the wind rustling Ash\'s leaves accompanied Elaine\'s ragged breaths, likely from nerves.

Anger brewed in Stella\'s heart as Elaine had directly insulted Ash, calling him a shallow manipulator. If only she could cut open that empty head of hers and shove all of Tree\'s greatness in there so she could see—before she knew it, she had taken a few subconscious steps closer, and Douglas glared her down, making her pause.

"Her words were harsh, but they carried some truth." Douglas shrugged, "I understand the need for secrecy, I really do. But forcing oaths onto people isn\'t the way forward."

"Oh really?" Stella crossed her arms, "Have you not benefited a lot since joining and taking the oath? Was my kindness on you wasted? Why are you taking the side of a prisoner rather than ours? Mhm?"

"Woah woah." Douglas raised a hand, showing her his palm. "Stella, whenever something involves the tree, you get a little too confrontational."

"I do not—"

"Relax, Stella." Diana said flatly while patting her shoulder, "At least hear the girl out."

Elaine gave an appreciative nod toward Diana, which made Stella curse quietly under her breath.

The terrified girl seemed to gain some confidence with Douglas offering her support, so she continued with less stammering, "Great Immortal, I truly appreciate your invitation to join your sect. B-but you did kill my uncle, that has taken care of me for the last d-decade, and although my family doesn\'t treat me as well as I would like due to my i-impure root, I do not despise them enough to swear an oath to someone who k-killed one from my bloodline. To do so would be an insult, and I would be ashamed to call myself a Voidmind."

Douglas pattered her shoulder and smiled warmly, making Stella\'s skin crawl.

I still don\'t understand why he treats her so much better than me unless something deeper is happening here. Stella squinted her eyes, trying to make sense of their body language but still couldn\'t put her finger on it.

Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by Ashlock writing with his soul fire. Reading the words, she relayed them to the others, "The potential for diplomacy between myself and the Voidmind family is likely impossible with your knowledge of the Head Librarian\'s death. Without an oath of loyalty, you are too risky to waste resources on."

Elaine bowed and said to the floor, "Immortal... I am not o-opposed to working together in the f-future. But, if you wish to go to war against my family, I cannot, in good faith, work with you."

Despite her strong message, she was a stammering mess which dulled her message somewhat.

Stella crossed her arms, "Well then, we have no need for you."

We should have just killed her from the start, then we could have avoided all this nonsense. Ugh, I hate dealing with people. Can\'t we return to when it was just me, tree, and maybe Diana?

Douglas shot her a glare, but Stella didn\'t care. Why was so much care and consideration given to this random woman who was a significant risk to their existence?

Dead people tell no tales.

"Stella..." Diana said flatly from the side, "You know deep down that the Ashfallen sect needs to expand. Maybe in the future, we can delegate all of this work to others and hang around here in peace."

That does sound rather nice.

"Now, I don\'t know what the immortal thinks, but I see a lot of value in Elaine." Diana continued, "Void affinity alone will help us tremendously, and she has much more knowledge than us on many topics."

"Exactly," Douglas pipped up. "There has to be a solution here."

There was a long pause. Everyone remained quiet as the wind rustled the decision makers\' scarlet leaves. Eventually, Ash began to write Elaine\'s fate in his lilac soul fire.

Everyone turned to Stella, eager for her to translate the words. Instead, she glared at the ancient text that did not provide a solution she liked at all.