[Tree] Chapter 316: Beauty Hides Rotting Flesh (Patreon)

Ashlock was relieved to learn that his new {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} skill had two modes, much like {Consuming Abyss [B]}. The purple lightning Qi barrier covering the entire mountain range and Ashfallen City from before was still active, just denser than before. 

However, for the initial cost of five hundred sacrificial credits, he could activate the Voidstorm Aegis—an immense defensive formation that would create a dome around him. Anything deemed a threat that entered this dome would be deleted from existence by a barrage of void affinity lightning. It would need some testing, but Ashlock suspected the amount of Qi the formation would take to keep running would be unfathomable—but thankfully, there was no sacrificial credit upkeep once it was active.

"At least it doesn't cost sacrificial credits to use after the initial cost," Ashlock sighed with relief. Consuming Abyss was already a big enough drain on his precious sacrificial credits, so he didn't want any more. "It's quite annoying. I have 1174 SC stored up in my system, which is enough to do an A grade draw, but I need to keep enough credits on hand in case I get attacked."

It definitely was a frustrating aspect of his system. 

"Hopefully, when the system upgrades, it will introduce some new features," Ashlock thought as he looked up at the enraged sky over Red Vine Peak. "Not long now. By this time tomorrow, I will be in the Nascent Soul Realm... assuming nothing goes wrong."

It was a crazy thought that he was about to enter a realm of power that had seemed so far out of reach years ago. Even some of his sect members who didn't have the cheat of being a tree and owning a system were inching ever closer to stepping into the elusive realm of true immortals that could escape the shackles of time.

"Speaking of, I wonder how old Elder Morrigan is?" Ashlock mused, "She said Erebus Voidmind was her 20th husband and that Elaine was her 50th child or something? Even if she only stayed a few hundred years with each husband, that would make her thousands of years old. But isn't she cursed to the peak of the Star Core Realm? So, shouldn't her body be dying by now..."

Ashlock paused as he remembered what she had been most interested in.

"Is that why she is so into skincare? There were hardly any impurities expelled from her skin when she ate one of my skin improvement truffles." Ashlock felt like he had discovered Elder Morrigan's dark secret. "I wondered why she was so obsessed with it, but I suppose skincare is more than simply looking beautiful. She is literally extending her lifespan with self-care as no Star Core cultivator should live as long as she likely has." 

"Ashlock," Maple tapped his branch with his tiny paw. 

"What is it?" Ashlock asked as he was broken from his thoughts.

"Make a portal for me back to the void tree."

"Why?" Ashlock wondered. What reason could this usually lazy squirrel have to go back to Slymere?

"Did you not see the gateway to the void in the center of that tree? I should be able to use it to meet my family without waiting for the Mystic Realm." 

Ashlock hadn't even considered such a thing. "Wait, does that mean your siblings could come here through the portal?"

Maple shook his head. "It's the same issue as before. They must be summoned or protected from the heavens' carefully woven reality by something like Mystic Qi; otherwise, the realm will kill them like a fish out of water."

"I see..." 

Ashlock thought to himself, "If we have a portal to the void, I wonder if I can get the cult to figure something out?" He wasn't sure if he wanted the Worldwalkers running freely in the realm just yet; one unhinged Worldwalker was enough, and they had a pact of mutual protection that gave Ashlock some peace of mind.

"So? Where's the portal?" Maple demanded.

Ashlock was still a bit miffed about Maple eating his void cultivators, resulting in only a single upgrade, so despite this revelation of the void portal, he wasn't so motivated to assist the fat squirrel. "Why don't you Void Step over yourself?"

Maple grinned, "Because then I would get hungry again, and we don't want that, do we?"

"Good point," Ashlock admitted, "Fine, but take these truffles with you and give them to Elder Morrigan."

Ashlock had no idea how close to death she was despite her youthful and perfect looks. For all he knew, her body may be rotting beneath that flawless skin.

Maple turned into his human form and held the two truffles in his hands. "Is this wise? Despite her power, you could entice that woman to do a lot for these."

"How could I be so heartless to the mother of one of my closest sect members?" Ashlock said, "Though... assuming she has to maintain such a high standard of purity to keep her body alive, a single truffle won't be enough. Once she has experienced how effective they are, she will hopefully do all she can to keep me alive so she can get more."

Maple narrowed his eyes, "I can't tell if you are benevolent or evil."

"That's because you have a more questionable moral compass than me." Ashlock clapped back, "Besides, I have to play to my strengths. I am a provider of miracles to the cultivators of this land, which, if used unwisely, will lead to my enslavement or death."

"Mhm," Maple hummed as he inspected the miracle truffles in his hands, "So you don't plan to tell Elder Morrigan that there's a way to give her a second affinity and break her curse?"

Ashlock couldn't think of a worse idea right now.

"No. Morrigan may be Elaine's mother, but you saw the disregard she has for her own family. She is dangerous—perhaps even more so than Vincent Nightrose. For now, I will give her incentives to assist me, and once I have verified her character or assured her loyalty with a contract, I will tell her such a solution."

Ashlock personally wasn't so afraid of Morrigan as a divine being immune to the void, and he had Larry to fight her if needed. But there was no guarantee he could protect Stella or others from such an ancient void cultivator if she got serious.

"I do wonder if Erebus was nothing but a puppet and Morrigan was really the one controlling the family from behind the scenes," Ashlock mused. "Erebus felt a bit lacking for the head of such a supposedly powerful family. Sure, he was chilling to listen to and had a mean look, but he didn't give off that unhinged ancient cultivator aura like Morrigan does."

"What if Elaine tells her?" Maple asked.

"You sure are asking a lot of questions. This isn't like you." Ashlock said with a hint of suspicion, "But in that case, I would just say she has to wait. Don't misunderstand me. I plan to offer her the opportunity at some point soon, just not now."

Ashlock didn't want to be questioned anymore, so he created the portal that led to the Voidmind residence.

"I would be careful with who you try to control," Maple said before jumping through.

"What does he mean by that," Ashlock muttered as his vision blurred. He returned to the Voidmind residence, where Morrigan was holding her daughter hostage and making her tell her stories.

Maple's arrival drew both women's attention.

"Oh, it's that representative from Ashfallen," Morrigan said with an oddly respectful tone as she stood up and freed Elaine from her prison of motherly hugs. "Maple was the name, right?"

"That is the name the mortals of this realm have given me."

"You speak through the void. How curious." Morrigan looked Maple up and down and smirked, "Despite your attempts to hide it, I can tell you are beyond powerful. Isn't that right?"

Maple gave her a blank stare, "That feels like an insult coming from you."

"Oh my," Morrigan grinned widely, and Ashlock swore for a moment he saw an extra row of teeth. "I do apologize. I wouldn't want to insult my benefactor."

"Did I just hallucinate that?" Ashlock honestly wasn't sure. It had been for such a brief moment that it could have merely been due to the lighting in the room. But something definitely felt off.

Elaine walked past the two of them, giving each a confused look before quietly escaping through the still-open portal back to Red Vine Peak. 

Maple shrugged, "None taken. I am still young."

Morrigan Void Stepped behind Maple and wrestled him in a tight hug, "Yes, you are!"

"Please put me down," Maple asked, still blank-faced.

"But you are simply too adorable," Morrigan twirled around and buried her face between the fluffy squirrel ears on Maple's head. "I want hair as soft as this."

"I brought a gift from Ashlock for you. Maybe they can help."

"You did?!" Morrigan set Maple down, "Where?"

Maple presented the two truffles, "Heart demon expelling and spirit root improvement truffles."

"Yahoo!" Morrigan grabbed both of them, and Ashlock saw the faintest hint of Qi envelop them from her hands before she scoffed them down.

"Did she just check them for poisons or curses," Ashlock pondered. Her actions were so over the place it was hard to read her.

Maple took the opportunity to bail and jumped through the gateway to the void. Unlike Elder Natalia, he wasn't killed instantly and could pass through. 

"Guess I will see him later," Ashlock focused back on Morrigan. He was very curious to see if his truffles would have any effect. A while passed, and the tiniest heart demon that he almost mistook for a fly appeared at the corner of Morrigan's mouth, and she easily killed it with a void-wreathed tongue strike. "No sign of the spirit root improvement truffle having any effect. Does that mean her spirit roots were already pure?"

Morrigan licked her lips and glanced up at the ceiling. For the briefest moment, they locked eyes, but then she looked elsewhere. "Thanks for the meal," she muttered, stretching like a cat. She then wandered over to her husband, who had been turned into a tree, and decided to nap against him despite the lilac flames still blazing around him.

Ashlock didn't know what to make of anything he had just witnessed. He decided to quietly take his leave after injecting a lot of Qi through Erebus into the residence and reactivating the defensive formations.

"Now, with the Voidmind residence secured and Morrigan hopefully happy, should I check on Stella?" Ashlock's gaze drifted over the mountains as he returned to Red Vine Peak, "Mhm, or I could grab an early night's sleep under the nine moons. It's going to be a big day tomorrow."

As tempting as grabbing some sleep was, he would grow restless if he didn't know what Stella was up to. "Hopefully, she hasn't caused another war or something," he grumbled as he focused on Nightshade City in the Tainted Cloud Sect. "I should be harsher on her, but I just can't. I know it's silly, but if I am too hard on her, I fear she will grow to hate me."

He wasn't proud of being an overly doting parent as he knew they often raised bad kids. Yet, despite being self-aware of the issue, he didn't feel like changing his parenting style. "Now, where is my dear daughter hiding..."

Ashlock checked on his roots throughout the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion but came up empty. Stella and Diana were both missing. "Strange, I thought they would be here somewhere." Ashlock grew slightly concerned as he switched focus to the Duskwalker residence.

To his relief, he found Stella pacing the meeting room while biting her nail. The atmosphere was heavy, and the only other person present was Diana, looking out the window at the distant horizon in concern.

"Did something happen?" Ashlock asked Stella and Diana.

"Tree!" Stella frantically looked at the ceiling, "Yes, something did happen."

"Calm down and explain from the start," Ashlock said as calmly as he could. 

"Okay, so..." Stella got her bearings. "While handing in the bounty on Albis, a lot happened. The good news is that our pills were evaluated as being way more valuable than initially predicted and have been sent to be auctioned. The Ashfallen Sect has also been recognized as a Divine level sect, on par with the Celestial Empire."

"A Divine level... what? That doesn't sound good at all," Ashlock muttered. It was understandable that she was so stressed. That was huge news. 

"Because of that, my pendant was upgraded," Stella said, showing off an impressive gem-encrusted pendant. "In the words of the Lotus Informant, I'm an esteemed guest with close ties to a sect or person with power more significant than the pavilion." 

"Diana, too?"

"No," Diana smirked, "Just Stella."

"Huh? That's weird; you both have ties to the Ashfallen Sect, so why are they only scared of Stella?" 

Diana hummed with amusement, "Truly a mystery."

"Anyway, none of that is important right now." Stella clapped her hands to draw their attention. 

"Huh?" Ashlock was baffled, "That wasn't what worried you?!"

Stella shook her head, "I was invited to speak with the Celestial Warden. During our talk, the topic of my father came up as I had used Yinxi Coins to inquire about him."

"Right, what did you learn?" Ashlock had so many questions, but he felt that hearing this to the end first was for the best. 

"His name is Janus Crestfallen, or at least that's what is registered in the bloodline records. His current location is the Frozen Star Sect to the far west of here, a Monarch realm-level sect." Stella explained, "The Celestial Warden suggested I message my father. I tried to refuse and say I would do it later as I didn't want him listening or reading any message I received, but he insisted."

"So... did you get a message back from Janus?" Ashlock couldn't believe he had missed out on such a pivotal moment! 

Stella gulped, "Yeah. A single line."

Ashlock didn't like her reaction. Was it something like 'Never speak to me again' or 'Who are you?' In which case, he could understand Stella's terrible mood. This was supposed to be her biological father, after all.

"It was a warning," Stella bit her lip, "Run—they are coming for you."

"What? Was that it?" Ashlock asked. "Are you even sure the message was from Janus?"

Stella nodded, "The Celestial Warden said he recognized the voice, and that is all he told me before the message cut off."

"Do you have any idea who is after you?"

Stella exchanged a glance with Diana. "There are a few options, and none are good."

"It could be the Frozen Star Sect." Diana said, "The reasoning is unknown, but they are the only Monarch Realm level sect, apart from the Celestial Empire and apparently us."

Stella nodded in agreement, "He did sound a bit rushed in the message. Though personally, the rumor that the Celestial Warden hinted at sounds like the more likely cause."

"What rumor?"

"Apparently, the Celestial Order, the most powerful group in the Celestial Empire, in charge of harvesting the sap from the World Tree, started doing some demonic-style experiments with the sap." Stella explained, "What if I have something to do with those experiments?"

"Mhm..." Ashlock hummed. He didn't want to say it, but if Stella was the child of a World Tree, some nonsense had to have occurred for her to be birthed. "So, in that case, you think the Celestial Order is after you?"

"Yeah, the only other group I can think of is the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. But if that was the case, I'm not sure the Celestial Warden would have let me go so easily." Stella tapped her chin in thought, "Though I did have to use my earrings to get away from him."

Ashlock felt his anger rising, "Did he try to hold you against your will?"

Stella waved him off, "Don't get mad, Tree. I don't think he's a terrible person or after me. He just got a bit too curious and wanted me to stay to answer more questions."

"Fine. But I'm not letting you stay here. It's too dangerous." Ashlock ripped open a portal to his soul that led to the island he had gotten distracted building earlier. "Stay inside my soul where I can protect you."

Stella looked at the portal with some apprehension, "Can Diana come too?" 

"Sure." 

Diana didn't seem so sure about staying inside another person's soul on an island surrounded by the chaos of a forming Inner World. But Stella grabbed her wrist and dragged the poor girl along with her.

"Okay, you two stay here and don't move," he told them, returning to the outside world. If unknown foes were potentially inbound on the night of his ascension, he wouldn't hold back.

He already had his four lunar Ents guarding him. Titus, Geb, and Sol were also healed up and ready to go. 

"One can never be too safe," Ashlock directed Khaos and one other void Ent through a portal and told them to guard him. "And now for the final layer of defense."

[Do you wish to activate {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} for 500 SC?]

"Yes."

The credits vanished from his system, and a faint dark purple bubble that looked like a more sinister lightning shield rapidly expanded out to encompass most of the mountain peak. A red-feathered bird trying to steal one of his Qi-dense fruits from his uppermost branches didn't even make a noise as void lightning silently arced from the shield's perimeter and deleted it from existence.

"Holy shit," Ashlock gasped as he felt Qi being pulled from his Soul Core to replenish the dome. "That attack took out like a tenth of my total Qi."

Thankfully, Qi rushed in from his roots connected to the World Tree and his many offspring to replenish the spent Qi, but it was still stupidly expensive.

"At least it's effective, I suppose." Ashlock thought but told Sol to shoot down any bird before they entered the dome to avoid wasting so much Qi. He also closed the ethereal roots leading to his monster farm as any monsters that crawled through would be reduced to nothing by the void, so it would be a waste.

Ashlock did a few more checks as the sun dipped below the horizon, and as the darkness of night enveloped him, he activated {Nocturnal Genesis} to speed up the formation of his Inner World and fell into slumber.