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His spiritual sense was spread wide to ensure nothing snuck past him and attacked Ryker, who was still meditating without worry back in the white stone palace.

Glancing over at Red Vine Peak to sate his curiosity, he noticed a surge of earth Qi followed by a distant rumbling. Moments later, he saw a titanic worm surging up the side of the mountain.

He was about to rush over to help kill the monster but paused mid-flight. His objective was to keep Ryker safe and earn some trust from the Redclaws by keeping their youngsters alive while the Elders were gone somewhere unknown.

To leave Ryker\'s side to chase a distant threat was too risky, and this was the perfect opportunity to witness how the Ashfallen Sect dealt with threats. Alchemy wasn\'t just about finding alchemists and securing ingredients. It was a ruthless industry full of sabotage.

Since arriving here, he hadn\'t been idle. Information got leaked here and there, and his Star Core spiritual sense was able to help him listen in on conversations happening within the white stone palace. Few details slipped, but sometimes they did.

That\'s where he had confirmed the group he had done the deal with called themselves the Ashfallen Sect and apparently was run by an immortal. Whether this immortal was a different person from the nature affinity cultivator capable of growing any type of plant Diana had mentioned had yet to be discerned.

I also failed to detect any defensive formations when I last visited or the lingering auras of any hidden masters. I\'ll let the worm test it for me.

Sebastian stood silently, his sword motionless in the air as the entire mountain range trembled beneath him. His face was stoic until the distant Red Vine Peak suddenly changed. It was as if a distorted veil had been shattered, and everything altered.

A concealment formation on such a grand scale? How peculiar.

All of a sudden, he saw the large demonic tree on the bare mountain peak surrounded by void Qi. Tendrils of pure void surged upwards. At first, he had assumed it would be that masked girl he had met earlier in the cavern as he had detected void Qi within her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

There was just a tree and a giant spider.

Is that a spirit beast? There\'s also no sign of any Ashfallen Sect members nor any of the Redclaw Elders. So who is fighting?

Squinting his eyes, the only other thing he saw was a dense white fog staying mysteriously motionless as if contained by an invisible force.

The giant worm reeled back its head and then went to gobble up the lone tree or perhaps the spider. It was hard to tell who its target was due to its size. It could swallow the entire mountain peak if it so wished—

It vanished.

Sebastian blinked his eyes and then went to rub them in confusion. Was it an illusion array? What had happened to the massive worm?

He hadn\'t been hallucinating as the ravine carved out by the monster all the way up the side of the mountain was still there, yet its entire body was just... missing.

Sebastian didn\'t like to admit it, but his hand began to tremble. Assuming the worm had really vanished like that, the implications were horrifying. Either there was an array around that mountain capable of deleting a Star Core abyssal worm out of existence, or there really was an immortal residing in the mountain that could remove something from reality with a snap of their fingers.

Without delay, Sebastian turned and flew back to the white stone palace. His mind was a mess of chaotic thoughts, and he didn\'t wish to be seen, having not offered a hand.

The Ashfallen Sect is far more terrifying than I thought.

***

"Sign-in," Ashlock confirmed and watched as his credits dropped to zero and a new system message popped up.

[Sign in successful, 1826 credits consumed…]

[Unlocked an S-grade skill: Progeny Dominion]

The entire mountain range and the surrounding lands began to tremble, and the sea of demonic trees violently rustled as if alive. Birds fled to the skies in droves, and distressed howls of animals cried out from the misty forest far down below.

Ashlock felt the system\'s power pulling on his roots, forcing them to grow in ways and directions he couldn\'t control. However, it felt like all his roots had an intended destination.

Content with letting the system handle whatever monuments task it was performing, he sat back and waited to witness its magic. Although he didn\'t understand how that could cause such violent trembling.

Suddenly, Ashlock felt a small surge of Qi coming up through his roots. It was as if someone had gone from drip-feeding him water to suddenly turning on the hosepipe. It came like a flood alongside a wave of intense happiness, and Ashlock soon realized what was causing the trembling.

His thousands of roots were moving to meet the roots of all his offspring and fuse. It was that sheer amount of movement that was causing the trembling. He no longer had to exchange nutrients and Qi through thin strands of mycelium with his children and instead could connect with them directly.

A while passed, and Ashlock watched his Star Core fill up faster and faster as his roots fused with more trees. Even the volume of nutrients cycling through the network between all the trees had become immense.

"It\'s like going from dial-up internet to fiberoptic." Ashlock chuckled as he felt the warmth of emotions and excitement from his offspring. They were happy to be fused with their dad.

"I will pay all of you guys back soon enough. Just let me defeat the worm first." Ashlock reassured his children, and he felt a wave of acceptance back. He couldn\'t wait for all of his children to develop their ego\'s further so he could have more in-depth conversations with them in the future.

As the trembling finally stopped, Ashlock noticed his Star Core suddenly glow exceptionally bright and then collapse, losing most of the Qi he had gathered.

But that was trivial. Ashlock\'s trunk cracked and bulged, growing upwards as his Star Core forcefully expanded, and he went up a stage.

[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)]

[Star Core: 3rd Stage]

[Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)]

"Oh! I\'m now in the 3rd stage. I was worried I would never advance at this rate with all the bullshit I have to waste Qi on—" Ashlock\'s rant was cut off as he felt information regarding his new S-grade skill flow into his mind, and it felt as if a veil at the back of his consciousness had been lifted.

To his surprise, fusing with his offspring was simply the beginning of his new skills capabilities.

Ever since he had gained the ability to spread his offspring via seeds in his fruit, he had felt a compulsion to do so. It felt as natural as breathing to want to spread his seeds around far and wide.

But he had never stopped to ask why.

Why did he want to spread his seeds around so badly? Was it something trees just naturally did, or was there a higher purpose? Ashlock wasn\'t sure, but this new skill made him glad he had made efforts to spread his seed around up until now.

"No way. I can control one of my offspring now? As if it were an extension of myself? Like an avatar? Holy shit... doesn\'t this mean I can fight people without risking my main body? Fighting the worm would have been a piece of cake if I didn\'t have to waste so much Qi baiting it to miss me."

Ashlock ran over the skill\'s strengths and limitations and concluded that the skill allowed him to temporarily impart his will on any of his children with an ego and wield all his abilities and powers at full capacity through that tree. However, it came with many restrictions.

First, the demonic tree he was overtaking had to be linked to him through its roots and must have a formed ego. So he couldn\'t plant a seed randomly and immediately overtake a tiny sapling. It was the type of ability that required preplanning and setup.

Second, his mutations, such as his demonic eye and cursed sap, weren\'t carried over, nor was his Star Core. He would have to provide the demonic tree Qi to fuel his skills through his roots by using his main body as a power station, or he could utilize the soul core of the demonic tree he took over. "It should be fine to use my own Star Core to power the skills if the tree is within a few thousand miles of my main body... otherwise, I will probably need to use the demonic tree\'s own soul core."

Third, although the skill didn\'t have a cooldown like the Mystic Realm, repeated use within a week would result in permanent soul damage. This was because the skill used a fragment of his soul to impart his will on the tree, and it needed time to recover. So it was best to use the skill sparingly rather than all the time.

And finally, he could only impart his will on one tree at a time as it would take up all of his focus. However, this wouldn\'t be a limitation if he found a way to split his brain in two.

"But this is crazy... this skill gives me so many more options than I had before despite its limitations. Even with my minimal arsenal of attack skills, it\'s already practical, as the void tendrils from {Consuming Abyss} can\'t go through spatial portals."

Ashlock hummed to himself as he thought of all the potential of his new {Progeny Dominion} skill.

"Isn\'t this the closest I can get to walking or traveling around?" Ashlock mused, "Wait... Couldn\'t I enter the Mystic Realm with this skill? It says I have to be linked with the tree via my roots, but I was able to send my roots into the Mystic Realm before. I just couldn\'t see anything through them. So I was basically just fumbling around in the dark, but if I can use a demonic tree as my proxy, maybe I can also go in?"

Ashlock let out a sigh. He was bubbling with ideas, but the Mystic Realm was less than twenty-four hours from closing, and he didn\'t want to risk permanent soul damage from testing the skill for now.

"But I should at least check on my offspring to see if they have upgraded since I last checked on them."

Casting {Eye of the Tree God}, Ashlock set out to search the sea of demonic trees on the mountain range for the one with the most developed ego.

Some time had passed since the Dao Storm was transformed into trees due to his cursed sap. However, besides bringing his offspring nutrients in exchange for Qi, he mostly ignored them in favor of other things that demanded his attention.

They were trees, after all. Even with Qi, they grew very slowly and were about as interesting as watching paint dry for the most part. But feeling their pain and suffering from being devoured by worms made Ashlock realize that almost every demonic tree around him had developed infant egos.

Before, it had just been the demonic trees he had planted himself months ago that had egos, but now all the demonic trees for many miles were developing into spirit trees capable of emotion.

"It would seem the ones from the Dao Storm are developing faster than the ones I planted. They must be using the residual Qi left over from their rapid growth to further their cultivation." Ashlock concluded. From what he had been told about spirit trees, they cultivated at a glacial pace and took many years to move up a single stage within a realm. So the fact his offspring were developing so fast was likely due to their abnormal upbringing.

"Oo! This young lad is in the late stages of the Qi Realm." Ashlock had discovered a ten-meter-tall demonic tree slightly taller than all the trees surrounding it because it grew atop a boulder.

"You\'re stealing all the sunlight from your siblings. How selfish..." Ashlock chuckled as he opened a portal right next to it. "Now, let\'s take a better look at you." He then used his {Demonic Eye} to peek through the portal at his offspring.

With his {Eye of the Tree God}, he could only get a vague sense of something\'s cultivation realm, but with his {Demonic Eye}, he could see everything.

"9th stage of the Qi Realm, and it appears to have... fire affinity." Ashlock watched as some of the fire Qi coming from the Blaze Serpent Rose was absorbed through the demonic tree\'s leaves and cycled through its body.

Weirdly, Ashlock identified various Qi types competing for dominance within the tree\'s body. Although fire Qi was the current winner, there were traces of spatial, water, wind, lighting, and nature Qi within its trunks that had yet to form a soul core.

Ashlock spent a long time observing the tree and then switched to look at a demonic tree at the mountain\'s base in the misty forest between Red Vine Peak and Darklight City. He noticed this offspring had no fire Qi and was instead dominated by water Qi due to the Serene Mist Camellia.

While searching the misty forest some more, he was shocked to find one of the demonic trees had actually broken through the Qi Realm into the Soul Forge Realm, where it would try to forge a soul core of a particular affinity.

Within the trunk of the demonic tree, he saw water Qi slowly filling up the inside of its trunk and forcing out all the other Qi types.

Ashlock couldn\'t believe it! This was proof that he could undoubtedly steer his offspring into a particular affinity by altering their environment.

"Hold on... what happens if I use {Progeny Dominion} on one of my offspring with a different affinity from me? Would I be able to wield their affinity?"

Ashlock\'s inspection of his offspring sadly had to end as he felt the chill of the setting sun. Tearing his sights away from his tree inspection, he saw the sun was dipping below the horizon, meaning he would fall asleep within the hour.

"Shit. Is there anything I need before tomorrow?" Ashlock looked through his system screens and noticed his sacrificial credits were empty. "The void version of {Consuming Abyss} is unusable without sacrificial credits, and I will need that skill to kill the worm if it comes back out of the mystic realm. Should I quickly go out to the wilderness and hunt chickens, or perhaps I can get those worm corpses from Sebastian?"

Deciding that the latter option was a good idea as those worm corpses would be worth hundreds of credits. Ashlock created a portal to the cavern and brought Elaine back up to the mountain peak.

He would have sent Larry to handle this task, but Sebastian didn\'t understand the ancient language.

\'Elaine, I will send you over to the white stone palace. I need you to get the worm corpses off the Silverspire butler, Sebastian.\' Ashlock wrote on his trunk, and Elaine took a while to translate it. Simple instructions she could handle with no problem, but even with the language comprehension fruit, some words or phrases still tripped her up.

"I think I understand, Patriarch," Elaine said seriously as she retrieved her wooden mask from her spatial ring. "Should I just demand he hands them over? Or offer payment?"

Ashlock wasn\'t sure how Sebastian would react as he didn\'t know the value of those corpses. To him, they were valuable due to the sacrificial credits they were worth, but to Sebastian? There\'s no way the worms had much value other than their beast cores and the slime coating their skin that could be used to make potent poisons.

\'Tell him the Redclaws will offer compensation when they return.\' Ashlock wrote, and Elaine nodded in agreement.

Ashlock created a portal with a mere thought, and Elaine hesitantly stepped through. Because Elaine didn\'t know her way around the palace, he had created the portal through a root in the white stone palace\'s ceiling to lead her directly to Sebastian, pacing around the corridor outside his room.

The butler seemed to pause his pacing and slightly freak out like a child caught stealing cookies when a portal manifested right before him, and a masked woman stepped through.

"To what do I owe the visit?" Sebastian gave a short bow toward Elaine, and his tone carried a hint of unease, which felt odd for him as he was in the Star Core Realm and a member of the elusive Silverspire family. What had given him the feeling of inferiority which caused this action? Ashlock wasn\'t sure...

"I-I have come..." Elaine was a bundle of nerve behind the mask, "To collect the worm corpses."

Sebastian blinked, and a smile bloomed. It seemed some invisible weight or pressure had been lifted from his shoulders, "Oh, the worm corpses? Absolutely, here take this. I have broken the seal."

He pulled off a silver spatial ring and skillfully threw it to Elaine, who fumbled to catch it. "Uhm... thank you? Do you need some compensation—"

"No need," Sebastian waved her off and turned to leave, "Those corpses belong to your leader anyway. I was simply helping out to protect Ryker."

Ashlock was stunned into silence by how awkward and confusing this entire conversation had been. Meanwhile, Elaine watched Sebastian\'s departing back for a while until he rounded a corner and went out of sight. Only then did she gather her senses and step back through the still-open portal.

"What a reasonable guy," Elaine said as she held out the silver spatial ring. Ashlock took the ring from her hand with telekinesis, and since the seal was broken, he could extract the corpses from inside.

The silver ring flashed with power, and a small mountain of corpses materialized. Elaine stumbled back and almost vomited in her mask from the awful stench of dead worms.

Ashlock teleported her back down to the cavern with a well-placed portal that she stumbled back into and then cast {Consuming Abyss} to devour the corpses for sacrificial credits.

"I won\'t be able to sign in for a while as I need to have sacrificial credits on hand for my void skill." Ashlock mused as he watched the credits flow in. He couldn\'t wait for tomorrow when everyone returned from the Mystic Realm, and he could finally delve into the mysteries of his new S-grade skill.