[Tree] Chapter 326: Eclipse Behemoth (Patreon)

Ashlock hated winter. The days were shorter, and he took longer to wake up. Which was a problem when the Mystic Realm had a set duration. After finally wrestling off the sluggishness of sleep and rushing to open the Mystic Realm for everyone waiting, he had some questions.

"Stella, what is this?" Ashlock asked his adopted daughter, who was lounging on a couch in her house and watching the sunrise through a portal he didn't remember making.

"Morning to you too," Stella rolled her eyes, "As for what this is? It's a portal."

"I can see it's a portal. Why is there one leading to my branches?"

"Well, I have to stay inside your Inner World so that Vincent doesn't discover I am still alive after we faked my death in the Voidmind and Skyrend family war, remember?"

"Yes... but what does that have to do with this portal?"

Stella stretched out like a lazy cat and yawned, "My adorable Disciple came and woke me up this morning all excited about the Mystic Realm. I know she could have used the ethereal root to leave the Inner World, but I wanted to see my Disciple's first time entering, so I begged the Divine Flesh Tree to open a portal for me to watch the sunrise with her and see her off. It sucks being locked in here, you know? I don't want to miss the big moments."

Ashlock changed his focus to the divine tree in question, "System? You did this?"

[Yes]

"Why?"

[The fated one threatened to leave through the ethereal root with her Disciple and put you in danger if I didn't help her]

"Fated one?"

[Your fates were tied by the ???]

"Do you mean Senior Lee?"

[I do not know of a Senior Lee]

"Strange..." Ashlock squinted at the system message. The ??? were blurred as if something else was preventing him from seeing what the system had said.

"Whatever. How come you can open portals? Since when could you control my Qi?"

[I cannot directly control your Qi without your permission, but I manage your second soul. I simply made a path through the Inner World to the outside, and Stella did the rest]

"So Stella threatened you to make a path through my soul so she could make a portal," Ashlock didn't even know where she got the idea from. Switching back to the house on the other side of his Inner World, he saw Stella's eyes glance up at the ceiling when he arrived.

"I heard you—"

"Threatened the Divine Flesh Tree? Don't worry. I wouldn't have gone outside if it had said no to my request. I was just really desperate, I'm sorry—"

"I know you wouldn't have done anything to put me in danger," Ashlock sighed again, "I will tell the Divine Flesh Tree to honor your requests so long as they are reasonable so you don't have to threaten it in the future. Just don't go asking it questions, okay?"

Stella smiled, "Sure! I don't want to know anything I shouldn't anyway, so I'm fine with that."

"Good. Are you ready for the Mystic Realm? Everyone else has entered."

Stella stood up and nodded with determination, "I've been waiting all week for this. I will try to close in on the peak of the Star Core Realm and catch up with you."

"You will need to pick quite a high-level pocket realm if you want to achieve that," Ashlock chuckled as he opened a portal that led directly to Willow, who was in the middle of the Mystic Realm cloud. He didn't believe she could ascend three whole stages in the Star Core Realm in a month, but he nonetheless offered his support.

"Good luck."

"Thank you," Stella grinned. "I will bring you back a corpse or two for you to snack on!" She then vanished through the portal, waving behind her.

Ashlock closed it with a pop and was left alone in an empty room. Even though he could now interact with the Mystic Realm more than ever before, it was still a rather lonely feeling when the peak became deathly quiet with everyone gone.

"I wonder where everyone ended up," Ashlock brought up his {Dimensional Overlap} menu. "Holy shit, there are so many!"

Hundreds of pocket realms had at least one of his people in them.

"I have never seen so many pocket realms being occupied at once. It's only been a handful before this," Ashlock quickly scrolled through the list. It reminded him of those old video games where he would scroll through the list of open lobbies with people waiting for others to join for a full game.

"Ah, I see what happened. It seems the Mudcloaks have decided to invade the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Redclaws went their separate ways in small groups into pocket realms of varying difficulties, which makes sense."

Elder Mo and his spirit fire had become a living legend among the Redclaws. His weapons were well known, and once the Mystic Realm became more widely known among the Redclaws, they learned that he had achieved the spirit fire through an inheritance from one of the pocket realms.

"No wonder they all split up. Strength in numbers would be for the best as the Qi in the pocket realms isn't likely to run out, but these are hot-blooded youths with a burning passion to get ahead of their peers. There is no way they would let the chance slip by. I wonder how many will return with treasures or inheritances?"

Ashlock glanced past the long list of earth and fire pocket realms. Honestly, he was unsure what the Mudcloaks were up to. Something about their capabilities and motives made him suspicious. They seemed loyal to Douglas and were hard workers for the sect, but they also created weapons out of nowhere and were more competent than they let on.

"Oh, here we go. This must be Jasmine's pocket realm."

[Secret Garden of Venomwood:

Description: A vast forest that was once used by the Venomwood Sect to grow poisonous plants. During the sect's downfall, this pocket realm created by their Patriarch was the stage for their last stand.

Qi Level: Soul Fire 2nd Stage

Environment: Hostile

Monsters: True

Current Occupants: 1]

"Interesting. The Qi level seems a bit high for Jasmine, but there are unlikely to be any pocket realms below the Soul Fire Realm, considering they are all made by Monarch Realm beings, usually with the purpose of helping train or kill cultivators."

Ashlock looked back at the description of the realm and felt it was a good reminder.

"Throughout history, many empires believed they would be around forever, one of the best examples being Rome. I suppose it's the same here, even with cultivators that can live forever. Make a wrong move or annoy the wrong powerhouse, and a sect that has lasted thousands of years can be wiped out in a day. Just like this Venomwood Sect might have been."

The dreams from the World Tree also taught him this important lesson. Even the most powerful beings can fall if they don't prepare to deal with threats to their existence.

"Jasmine should be fine with Sol at her side. He can dispel and heal any poisons and deal with monsters of the Soul Fire Realm level."

Scrolling down some more, he found the shadow Qi realm that Evelyn had likely entered.

[Shadow Veil Sanctum:

Description: A forbidden enclave once used by the Shadow Sovereigns as their hidden training ground and fortress.

Qi Level: Nascent Soul 1st Stage

Environment: Hostile

Monsters: True

Current Occupants: 1]

"Oh shit," Ashlock triple-checked if he was reading the system message correctly. "Evelyn somehow stumbled into a pocket realm with Qi at the Nascent Soul Realm? Which means the monsters may be of similar strength. How strong was Evelyn again? Somewhere in the lower stages of the Star Core Realm?"

There was no way she could survive a month in such a place.

"I had planned to cycle between my different Bastions with {Progeny Dominion} and explore different pocket dimensions, but it seems Nox will be the first one up."

Ashlock switched his view from the empty room Stella had left behind to the other side of his Inner World, where Nox was still floating from last night. She had wanted to sleep directly under the nine moons, so he had seen no reason to send her back, only to recall her for the Mystic Realm.

"Nox, are you awake?" Ashlock asked as he manifested his soul avatar on Nox's Bastion.

The black leaves rustled, and from the shadows of the canopy, a woman of liquid darkness emerged into the light. "Morning Ashlock," she looked his spiritual tree avatar up and down, "I'm awake now. Is something up?"

"Your sister," Ashlock hurriedly replied, "She has entered a pocket realm far beyond her capabilities filled with monsters that may be at our level."

Nox's eyes widened, "What? Can you pull her out?"

"Not from here. The only two ways out of the Mystic Realm are if I enter their pocket realm directly and teleport them out through a portal or if they survive the whole month inside and are pulled out when the Mystic Realm closes."

"What are we waiting for then," Nox panicked, "Let's go."

Ashlock pointed one of his avatar's roots at the bow of the Bastion, and a giant portal to the Mystic Realm opened up. One of the weird intricacies of his {Dimensional Overlap} skill was that as long as a fragment of his soul was present within the Mystic Realm fog, it was free to enter a pocket realm with one of his people already in it.

While Nox floated the Bastion toward the portal, Ashlock activated {Progeny Dominion}. Having never activated the skill with the target tree already inside his soul, he wondered if it would even work.

[Progeny selected: Initiating soul transfer...]

His soul avatar was drawn toward Nox. He shuffled over, and to his surprise, his avatar phased through Nox's bark and merged with her soul alongside some divine energy.

[Soul fragmented: Damage to soul mitigated]

[Connection complete: Time till sundown 8:15]

"That felt like a way smaller fragment than usual," Ashlock briefly checked his Inner World and didn't see a giant fragment missing or anything, "Has my soul really grown that much that using {Progeny Dominion} has become so trivial? Maybe I could use it every day and just heal the soul damage overnight?"

Leaving aside the new discovery of how ridiculous having an Inner World really was, Nox passed through the portal. They were now engulfed in the Mystic Realm's fog and surrounded by floating celestial shards.

"So this is the Mystic Realm?" Nox watched the shards passing by in awe.

"Don't touch any of them," Ashlock reminded her as he glanced back at the Dimensional Overlap menu and confirmed that Evelyn's shadow pocket realm was now [Free].

"Let's go see what a Nascent Soul-level pocket realm looks like," Ashlock said as he pressed the button.

[Dimensional Overlap Initiated]

Reality briefly twisted before everything went dark. Ashlock spread out his spiritual senses to the maximum but found he could only penetrate a few hundred meters through the shadow veil and could not find anything. He would believe they were in the void if not for the slight breeze that rustled Nox's leaves.

"The shadow Qi here is remarkable," Nox said as she strayed from her tree and made her way to the edge of the Bastion to look around.

"Can you see much?"

Nox frowned, "Not as far as usual. The shadow veil all around us seems to be a type of defensive formation that is at least at the Nascent Soul level. I likely have an easier time peering through it than you due to my shadow Qi, but not by much."

"So we are blind. What an interesting type of defensive formation." Ashlock had always considered defensive formations shields or something offensive like a trap or his void lightning. Who would have thought robbing someone of their senses, such as sight, would be just as effective?

"There's no point in such a formation if it's not being used to obscure something. The question is what." Nox said as she began pacing along the edge of the Bastion.

"Monsters, buildings, traps, your sister," Ashlock listed some suggestions. "Either way, we should pick a direction and get moving."

Nox nodded.

"We are moving... right?" Ashlock asked after a moment. Without reference points, it was hard to tell if they were going forward, backward, sideways or remaining stationary.

"Should be in this direction," Nox pointed downward. "If my sister is here, she was never the best at flying on her sword, so she might have taken to the ground... assuming there is one."

"A good place to start, then," Ashlock agreed, and the two fell silent for a while as they moved through the darkness. To fill the time, Ashlock decided to ask his system something that had been bugging him.

"System, you know the name and background of every pocket realm I have access to, right?"

[Yes, there are many more pocket realms out there, but I only have access to named and documented ones]

"Who does the naming and documentation?"

[I don't know]

"I see. Can you tell me anything else about this Shadow Veil Sanctum? Maybe about its layout or the monsters here?"

[Such specific details are unknown to me as they can change with time. All I know is the pocket realms' history, purpose and I can estimate its threat level]

"This place was made by the Shadow Sovereigns, right? Who are they?"

[One of the more powerful factions fighting for dominance on the upper layers. Unlike the Venomwood Sect, they are still around, though they have fallen in power from their peak]

"I can sense the floor," Nox said, drawing Ashlock's attention.

"What's it like?"

"Seems to be a type of black stone—wait, it's trembling."

"What?" Ashlock said, but then the 'floor' entered his range of spiritual sense, and he could see what Nox was talking about. The floor was indeed moving, almost as if it were alive. Ashlock then noticed that between the slabs of black stone were deep fissures pulsing with shadow Qi. Almost like veins between scales...

The floor then moved quickly, swinging around, and before Ashlock knew it, he and Nox were staring down the throat of a colossal creature made entirely of darkness.

[Eclipse Behemoth]

The name of the monster flashed in golden letters in Ashlock's mind. The system knew what this thing was?

"Shield up!" Ashlock said. The Bastion's core pulsed with power as a bubble of shadow manifested around them.

[Shadow Shield: ACTIVE]

Right as the system informed him of the shield being active, he saw something massive moving incredibly quickly in his spiritual sense. Due to its immense size, it took him a moment to realize it was the monster's claw. The shadow Qi wreathed hand smacked the Bastion's shield, sending it plummeting to the actual ground of this place, which seemed to be made of the same black stone as the monster's scales. Just not moving this time.

Despite the brutal hit, the shield held strong, and the Bastion didn't suffer much damage. "Nascent Soul Bastions are a whole league above my Star Core ones," Ashlock mused as he looked up at the looming monster. Due to the shadow veil over this place, he couldn't see the thing's face.

"Just how tall is this monster?" Ashlock wondered, but the system didn't seem to answer him. Either way, he needed to find a way to kill it. Sacrificial credits aside, the Bastion wasn't fast enough to outrun this monster as they weren't over his roots.

"Ashlock, I believe this monster is the source of the shadow veil that's preventing us from seeing," Nox pointed at the looming titan, "It draws in and absorbs the light, which is why the area around it is so dark."

"Wait, a shadow affinity monster draws in the light? For what reason..." Ashlock trailed off at the end as the monster's face came back into sight with its abyssal maw now illuminated like a miniature sun. It bent down and, using both arms, held the Bastion in place, making the shield ripple against its crushing pressure.

"The best way for a shadow monster to fight another shadow monster isn't with shadow Qi. It's with light..." Nox narrowed her eyes, "What a dishonorable way to fight. Truly befitting of a monster."

The ball of light in its mouth grew as it leaned in even closer. Ashlock could not get the Bastion to move under the Eclipse Behemoth's grasp. The shadow shield was unlikely to hold out against the light blast, and the monster was still too far up for him to devour its head.

From his rough estimate, the monster towering over him was at the level of a Nascent Soul Realm.

Thankfully, he had many options even while fighting through a proxy, and he was far from helpless against a Nascent Soul Realm threat. However, before he unleashed his attack, Nox seemed to have taken up the initiative.

"Get off me, you overgrown lizard," Nox pointed at one of the Eclipse Behemoths' hands, and dozens of roots conjured from shadows emerged from Nox's tree body. They passed through the shield and drilled into the monster's hand.

Ashlock felt an immense pull on the Bastion core and his Qi reserves as the shadow roots bulged. A moment later, the monster's hand exploded with a thousand shadow tendrils, splattering the shield with blood.

The monster roared in pain that seemingly shook the whole world and made the shield tremble.

"Good job," Ashlock said. She had drawn on a lot of his Qi for that stunt, but it was still quite impressive.

Nox spun around and repeated the same attack for the other hand. While Ashlock felt his Qi being drained even more to make the monster's hand explode, he decided to stop the enranged monster powering up the light Qi attack.

Due to the dense veil of darkness surrounding the monster, shadow attacks from the Bastion would be worthless, and any long-range attack he did would dissipate.

"I can't eat you when you are standing over me, so be a good lizard and kneel."

With the full weight of his Inner World, Ashlock's presence slammed down on the towering Eclipse Behemoth. The monster groaned as its muscles bulged, and shadow Qi blazed across its scales as it tried to resist his pressure. Perhaps knowing it was in trouble, the light ball in its mouth seemed to reach its zenith.

Ashlock quickly targeted one of its quivering knees with his Spatial Blades techniques and added fire dao from his Inner World. Reality tore apart, cutting deep into the monster's scales and setting its flesh ablaze.

With only one leg to stand on, the Eclipse Behemoth roared as it fell to the side, and what could only be described as a disintegration ray left its mouth. It hit the side of the shadow shield, eliminating it instantly. However, the light beam went off course, leaving a burning fissure in the ground, followed by an earthquake as the titan fell.

As the dust settled, the Bastion slowly rose into the sky with nothing to hold it down anymore, and Ashlock directed it toward the still-alive monster.

"Now, should I turn you into an Ent or feast on your corpse?" Ashlock mused as he floated over his prey.

[Author Note]

I have now fully recovered, so that's nice. Thanks for reading :)