[Tree] Chapter 329: Eternal Cycle (Patreon)

Unsurprisingly, Morrigan was not happy with his rejection. Her eyes dulled like an emotionless killer before slaughter, and her fingers trembled and clenched as they struggled to contain a rising rage.

"No?" She asked, her voice colder than ice. The edges of her lips twitched. "In all my lifetimes, I have never met someone as arrogant as you. If only you knew what you were dealing with and what was at stake." Morrigan vanished and reappeared beside his spirit form. Her voice dropped to a hushed whisper that made Ashlock shiver. "Do I have to kill everyone you care about for you to understand I am not to be trifled with? Are you so blind that you fail to see? You aren't in a position to say no."

"You're right. I am arrogant because I am also ignorant and possibly disillusioned by my newfound power." Ashlock replied, "I reject your pact because I don't understand what I am dealing with and what is at stake. Once I know, I can make my decision."

"I see, you want to make an informed decision," Morrigan looked to the floor, hiding her expression with her hair. After a moment, she straightened up, and it was as if someone else had possessed her body. Life returned to her eyes, and that amused and playful expression she had worn like a mask with Elaine was back. Gone was the monster wearing human skin.

"It looks like there was some miscommunication, darling," Morrigan pleasantly smiled. "What would you like to know?"

Ashlock ignored her change for now as he had many questions, but the most pressing was regarding Morrigan's identity.

"You are called the Origin of the void. What does that mean?"

Morrigan's eyes widened in surprise, "How do you know my true title, yet you are oblivious to its meaning?"

"I'm the one asking questions," Ashlock replied. He was still unsure of the system's origins and had no plans to reveal its existence to Morrigan.

Morrigan's facade cracked slightly, and she gave an annoyed smile. "Of course, you can keep your secrets, and so will I. However, I will tell you about my true title, as I am not unique. An Origin is a manifestation of an affinity or dao. We were there at the beginning and witnessed the birth of the nine realms through war."

"War?"

Morrigan nodded, "In the beginning, there was nothing but heaven and us Origins. We fought for dominance, and as the Origins bled, they flooded the void with their Qi. You have an Inner World, right? Imagine when you formed it, but it was even more chaotic. For an unknown length of time, a nebula of chaos, the stage for war, was all there was until the heavens finally stepped in and established order. The realms as you know them today were carefully woven together by the heavens, and the Origins were brought under its control."

Ashlock felt like a curtain was slowly being lifted as he learned more pieces to the puzzle. He had always been curious about what was before the nine realms, and it seemed just like in his own universe, there had been a long period of disorder before gravity kicked in and started forming the stars and planets from the lingering gasses. It's just that in this case, instead of gravity doing the work, it was the heavens.

However, what confused Ashlock the most was that Morrigan was one of these so-called Origins. As an ancient monster alive since before the heavens formed the realms, she didn't give off the same vibes as a powerhouse like Senior Lee. Was she hiding it that well, or was the Origin of the void weaker than the others?

"How were the Origins brought under control?" Ashlock decided to ask.

"The World Tree, and the cultivators." Morrigan's answer surprised Ashlock. It hadn't been heaven directly or some kind of oath contract?

"Does it have something to do with the eternal cycle?"

Morrigan nodded, "Our souls were bonded to the World Tree, so every time it dies, so do we. In a random place and time, we will be reborn again with clear memories of our past, but our cultivation has reset. Again and again, I reach the peak only to be pulled back down and have to start again as a baby." Morrigan's expression got progressively worse, "Cultivators seek eternal life, but it is nothing but torture. Nothing I do matters as it's stripped away from me. Every time I get a glimpse at the peak, I am struck down by the cultivators and dragged down to oblivion."

Ashlock thought back on his dreams of the World Tree, including all the suffering it endured as it was devoured alive by the cultivator's greed.

"Where were you?" he said, surprised at the hint of anger that seeped into his tone. "When the World Tree needed help, nobody came. If you helped it, maybe it wouldn't have died, and you would be free."

Morrigan glared at him, "What do you think I did the first five thousand lifetimes? I fought and conspired along with the other Origins. We did Everything we could, but it was a fruitless endeavor. The cultivators outnumber us Origins, and they can continue cultivating forever while we have to keep starting from scratch. Over and over and OVER AND OVER." Morrigan pulled at her hair as she became overcome with frustration. "The other Origins gave up. Content with living out their lifecycles in peace, and the more that gave up, the worse our chances of winning became. The heavens broke us."

Ashlock was beginning to see the whole picture. The heavens are untouchable so long as a bridge is never made between the highest layer of creation and itself. He had wondered why the heavens were so motivated to give cultivators strength and encouraged 'deities' to empower their followers. It was all so that there was a group strong enough to keep the Origins in check and prevent the World Tree from becoming the bridge.

"I'm sorry," Ashlock didn't know what else to say. Eternal life sounded fine when you were immortal, free of the obligations of needing food, water, or sleep to live. He would be quite content relaxing under the nine moons for decades at a time. But if he knew all this progress, all these trials he went through for power would be inevitably stripped away from him, and he would have to start from zero? That sounded like a twisted kind of torture that he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy.

"It's fine. I have long gotten used to it and, like the other Origins, gave up and accepted the eternal cycle as unbreakable," Morrigan's lips curled upward, "But then you come along. An intelligent demonic tree with divinity that could serve as the bridge we have been looking for all along."

"So you really were planning to drag me into a war," Ashlock's fears had come true. Agreeing to the pact would solidify his involvement and side in a war that had been going on since the dawn of creation between the Origins and the heavens.

Morrigan shrugged, "War is inevitable no matter where you go or what you do. Life under the heavens is competitive, and resources are limited. Whether for land, political power, or just for the thrill. War comes for us all. The only question is, which side will you choose?"

Ashlock thought over the question and realized his fate may have already been decided long ago. Perhaps from the very moment a human soul appeared in the body of a demonic tree with a suspicious sign-in system, it had set the ball rolling for this moment. Whether it be the skills and mutations he had been given that fixed the World Tree's issues, Senior Lee passing by and giving him divinity, or the Worldwalkers who despise the heavens taking an interest in him.

Something or someone was hellbent on destroying this eternal cycle and seemed to have chosen Ashlock for the job.

"Before I can pick a side, I have a question. You mentioned another Origin had taken an interest in me. Do you know who it is?"

"I'm not sure," Morrigan rubbed her chin and stared at his spirit form. "At first, I thought an Origin had taken an interest in you. However, now that I have isolated your soul and gotten a better look at it, you seem to be an Origin."

"What? How is that possible? I don't remember my past lives..." He trailed off at the end. He certainly didn't remember thousands of past lives as a cultivator but remembered his life on Earth. Wait, did that make him an Origin? It seemed that remembering a past life and using that knowledge to their advantage was one of the Origin's main things.

He still had free will and could choose whatever path he desired, but if he didn't stop the cycle and prevent the World Tree from dying, he might suffer the fate of the other Origins and have his life reset.

Morrigan shrugged, "Everything about you doesn't make sense—your knowledge, capabilities, and past. Spirit trees are usually dumb and take forever to grow. Trust me, I would know after trying to convince the World Tree to defend itself from being harvested."

"So what now? I agree to the pact and join you in a battle against the cultivators and heaven?"

"No, now that I suspect you are an Origin, we cannot make a pact," Morrigan said thoughtfully, "It will attract the attention of heaven, and you should lessen your reliance on heavenly contracts. You are a small fish in a big pond, but once the heavens catch on, the cultivators will start coming."

Ashlock found that amusing. It felt like the cultivators had been coming since day one. Maybe the heavens had already noticed long ago? It did like to glare down at him quite regularly with its thousands of golden eyes.

"So I will just have to trust you? No pact or contract?"

Morrigan grinned, "There's no need for a pact. As a fellow Origin, we are in the same boat with the same goal. Either we work together, or maybe we will meet again in another cycle someday. Though I will look different, and so will you. The body is only the vessel for the soul, after all. Maybe you will be a pine tree or a shrub in your next cycle."

"That sounds terrible," Ashlock couldn't think of being stuck as such lame flora. He loved being a demonic tree. "I guess we really do need to work together, but I simply can't come to trust you..."

"How about I prove you can trust me?" Morrigan reeled back her fist and planted it into Ashlock's trunk with immense force. He felt his reality break as everything returned. He was back in the shadow pocket realm, with his soul inside Nox's trunk. Evelyn and Nox were basically exactly as he had left them, looking around in confusion. A lengthy conversation in the void had likely been mere seconds here.

However, one thing was missing, and Ashlock mirrored his companion's confusion. Morrigan was nowhere to be seen. He spread out his spiritual senses, but she was gone.

"Just how does she plan to prove I can trust her?" Ashlock wondered as he stared up at the darkened sky.

***

Stella blinked in confusion. Right after touching the shard floating around in the Mystic Realm's fog, she had been transported to a stone corridor. It took a moment for her eyes to readjust to the dim lighting, and she wrinkled her nose at the intense smell of damp mould.

"Hardly any spatial Qi down here," Stella clicked her tongue and crossed her arms as she glanced around. "I have ended up somewhere annoying again, haven't I?"

Picking a random direction, she began walking. Closing her eyes, she entered the Spatial Plane but was surprised to find runic formations embedded into the walls of this seemingly abandoned place, muddling with her senses.

Irritation grew the further she walked. She had been trapped in Ashlock's Inner World because of Vincent Nightrose for the last week. After finally being given an opportunity to explore somewhere new and advance her cultivation, she was cast into a dungeon of some kind with no Qi worth cultivating.

"Is this a sick joke?" Stella grumbled. Unless Ashlock came to check on her and somehow broke her out of here, she would be trapped in this useless pocket realm for a month. "I'm going to lose my mind."

With a flash of silver, she summoned her sword. Hopping on it, she had to crouch down as the tunnel was barely a person tall and two persons wide. Cycling her Qi, she raised her finger, and a portal flashed into existence. Due to the runic formations, she couldn't make a portal that far down the tunnel, but it would certainly be quicker.

A waste of Qi, but every moment I spend down here is time I could have spent cultivating and contemplating the whispers of heaven.

Her ears popped as she passed through portal after portal, increasing her speed as she went. Just how long is this stupid tunnel?

"Where do you think you will place in the tournament—" Stella heard a snippet of a conversation followed by a scream. The sudden noise made Stella's heart jump in her chest, and the man's skull skewered on the end of her sword wasn't doing her any favors. She quickly stopped her sword before passing through the next portal she had conjured.

Okay what in the nine realms just happened? How did I kill this guy?

Stella turned her sword around to face the screaming. The body belonging to the skewered head dragged along the ground, following the path of the sword.

"Brother!" The screaming girl shouted as she ran toward Stella. Her focus was entirely on the dead body, and she didn't seem at all interested in looking at her brother's killer.

Which worked great for Stella. Casually hopping off her sword, she summoned a black dagger to her hand and rammed it straight into the girl's face. Killing her instantly and making her neck snap back from the force.

The girl fell at Stella's feet as a corpse as she let go of the dagger's hilt.

"I really can't believe it," Stella muttered as she crouched down, pulled back the girl's hood, and rolled her over. The girl's eyes were wide open, showing their pale blue color. Pushing her hair aside, Stella ran a finger along her pointed ears.

A long sigh escaped Stella's lips as she freed the dagger and burned off the blood with her soul fire.

She had seen these blue-robed, pointed-ear people before and doubted they would be delighted to see her again. After all, she had caused one of their Elders to lose their arm and had stolen a few of their precious books.

"The Azure Clan again," Stella grumbled as she looked between her two recent kills. Both wore the same blue robes, yet only the girl had pointed ears and blue eyes.

Wait, didn't the girl call this man her brother? They have similar facial features, but only the girl has the features I associate with the Azure Clan. Does that mean she is pure-blood while this brother of hers was something else?

Either way, it gave Stella an idea. Stripping the girl of her blue cloak, she burned off the blood stains and wore it over her clothes. Dusting it off, she gave a twirl and grinned. "They mentioned a tournament, right? I wonder how strong the people of the upper layer of creation are. What do you think, Maple? Can win a few rounds?"

Maple yawned from atop her head, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

Stella shrugged at her lazy companions response. Waving her hand, the murder scene and her sword vanished in a flash of silver light. While whistling a tune, she picked the path the pair had come from and headed in that direction on foot. Soon, she began hearing the voices of other Azure Clan members downed out by the roar of a crowd.

If I'm stuck here, I might as well have some fun. Stella grinned as she put up the hood of her blue cloak.