[Tree] Chapter 105: A Moral Dilemma (Patreon)

Elder Voidmind felt his peak stage Star Core burning in his chest as he desperately resisted the compressive force enveloping him. It was as though he was imprisoned within a collapsing pocket dimension, and the only thing preventing it from imploding into a singularity and obliterating him was the outward pressure exerted by his own Star Core.

His sight and senses were completely eclipsed; his Qi was powerless against the crushing force, leaving him isolated in a void that felt so unfamiliar.

But then, all of a sudden, the collapsing realm shattered, and the Elder let out a gasp as he was enshrouded by spatial Qi. Although it wasn't as dense as his own Qi, enabling him to push back in spite of his drained Star Core, it was still almost suffocating.

After shouting some obscenities at his situation before quickly entering a meditative state honed over centuries, reaching out to the ever-present whispers of the void. To his relief, he detected faint traces of void Qi emanating from below and rapidly absorbed them.

***

Ashlock gazed down with his {Demonic Eye} at the Voidmind Elder inside him. The sensation was deeply unsettling, given that his entire body had transformed into his soul. Consequently, the Elder was essentially cultivating within his soul.

"Thank the heavens this bastard isn't a spatial affinity cultivator. Otherwise, he would cultivate me to death." Ashlock shuddered at the thought. But what was he supposed to do now?

Fortunately, the Elder seemed engrossed in cultivation, allowing Ashlock to switch his focus to the chaotic scene outside his trunk. Stella was frantically circling him while anxiously questioning Maple, the mystical squirrel of dubious origins resting atop her head. "What did you do, Maple? What if the Elder has an axe and carves his way out?"

Maple, wounded and exhausted, merely snorted in response. This seemed to be his usual state after performing a major technique, leading Ashlock to speculate suspiciously about the squirrel's true power level. It was as if he were a super powerful being trapped in a weak body that couldn't handle much of his true power... Ashlock felt like squinting suspiciously at the squirrel.

Now that he thought about it, there had been too many occasions where Maple's true strength had come into question, the last big one being the attack he had unleashed on the Dao Storm.

Even after what he had seen mere moments ago, Ashlock still found it hard to believe Maple could be that Worldwalker he had tried to summon years ago, as the system had claimed the summon failed. But the giant eldritch monster had shifted out of view at the last second, and then Maple appeared asking for a pact... there was no way they were the same monster, right?

"Maple, are you a Worldwalker?" Ashlock queried through their mental link. The squirrel merely glanced at him before closing his eye, falling back into slumber, "I know you can speak now, stop pretending!"

Alas, the squirrel remained as elusive as ever.

Meanwhile, Diana cast a worried glance at Ashlock's trunk. Eventually, she voiced her concern, "Even if Ashlock is capable of confining the Voidmind Elder, how do we justify the Head Librarian's sudden disappearance from the academy to the city?"

Stella halted, furrowing her brow. "Why would we need to explain anything? How could they possibly suspect us?"

Diana gestured towards Ashlock, "Even I can detect the void Qi radiating from within the tree. The spatial Qi does partially obscure it, but those attuned to the void can sense it from a great distance."

"Hmm..." Stella mused, her gaze drifting to the damaged runic formation beneath her. "Could we construct a Qi containment array?"

Diana glanced around, "I suspect you would have to completely redesign and replace the Qi gathering formation we are currently using, and even if we had the spirit stones on hand to do such a thing, would Ashlock appreciate it? His cultivation will completely stall, and he will be unable to replace the Qi he has been using over the last few days."

That was terrible news, as who knew how long the Voidmind family would continue to snoop around looking for their Elder.

Furthermore, Ashlock's Soul Core was nearly completely depleted. Just a thin layer of spatial Qi left on the inside of his trunk maintained his normal operations. If that was the volume of Qi he was stuck with until the Voidmind family gave up their search, he would be in big trouble.

"Also, there is a lot of void Qi floating around here after the fight." Diana added, "If we were to build a containment array, then that void Qi would never leave, and if the Voidmind family ever came here, they would catch on straight away."

Prompted by this, Ashlock felt compelled to inquire, 'How formidable is the Voidmind family?'

Stella relayed the query, and Diana responded, considering Stella's lack of insight into Blood Lotus Sect politics. "They rank among the top three in the sect in terms of high cultivation individuals, albeit they remain a minor family overall," Diana then gazed at the horizon beyond Darklight City, "They govern the City of Slymere and maintain strong ties with the merchants."

So incredibly dangerous, then. The Voidmind Elder inside his trunk was already in the 9th stage of the Star Core realm, and his bother was supposedly a half step into the Nascent Soul Realm.

Ashlock's gaze fell upon Maple, the slumbering squirrel perched atop Stella's head. Without question, the squirrel was the most powerful among them. However, could he withstand two individuals of the Elder's caliber if they arrived? Unfortunately, Maple's lack of transparency about his true power made it hard to plan a defense around him.

Stella added, "The Voidmind family also intends to attend the alchemy tournament."

This reminded Ashlock of another Voidmind individual he had encountered in Darklight City. The assistant who had been studying the demonic tree and had witnessed the Elder's hasty departure through the portal. "Shit." Ashlock cursed, "Shit shit shit. What should I do? She's the only loose end that could connect the Elder's disappearance to the demonic trees."

The fact Darklight City was so overrun with demonic trees and how they floated through portals was suspicious enough and already drew far too much attention. However, someone knowing with certainty that these trees were linked to Elder Voidmind's disappearance was a problem.

Ashlock hastily wrote, 'A woman from the Voidmind family witnessed the Elder enter one of my rifts at the academy. What should we do?'

As usual, Stella read it out loud. And while Diana mulled over his question, Stella answered, "We should kill her, obviously."

"Huh?" Diana seemed taken aback, "Why is that the obvious solution?"

Stella tilted her head as if looking at a fool, "Because... anything that threatens Tree should be eliminated?"

"So you would exterminate an entire sect to ensure Tree's safety? You must realize that virtually everyone would attempt to control him if given the chance."

Stella nodded with a smile, "I don't care. I would kill anyone that may harm him."

Although Ashlock appreciated the kindness behind Stella's intentions, he wasn't certain that was a good way to go about things. He had no problems with killing anyone standing in front of him, waving a sword around, and threatening him, but preemptively dispatching assassins based on mere speculation seemed extreme and likely to complicate matters.

But then there was the flip side of how brutal this world was and how important it was for him to protect those around him. Unable to decide, he left Stella and Diana to argue it out.

"Well, I disagree." Diana crossed her arms, "I was born into a lineage of assassins. So if Ashlock ordered me to go and kill someone, I would without question. But since he asked for our opinion here, I think killing this woman is a mistake."

"But... you killed that Venik person just because they knew of Douglas and his sudden increase in wealth?" Stella retorted, "Aren't you being a hypocrite right now?"

Diana exhaled a weary sigh. "That's part of why I'm even suggesting this. Do you know how hard it was to stare that young girl in the eyes who believed she had a chance at living a normal life in the future and brutally snapping her neck? If I hadn't been overly paranoid and hunted that man down, I never would have had to experience that."

"How was that paranoid? Venik was a threat." Stella said.

"All Venik knew was that Douglas had gotten a lot of wealth from somewhere. He was a weak wind affinity cultivator who'd escaped his family and ran a brothel. What threat did he serve us? How could he even locate Douglas and steal his wealth? The absolute worst case would be if the man somehow got a bigger force involved, but who would listen to the words of a lowly man running a brothel?"

Seeing Stella bite her bottom lip, Diana continued, "Let me give you another example that might help you understand my point. My Father wanted to kill you. I was even ordered by him to come here and kill you. If Ashlock had been in the equation back then, you would have sent Larry or Maple to eliminate me, right?"

Seeing Stella frown, Diana offered a weary smile, "Although, on the outside, I agreed to my father's request and even came over here... I never actually intended to kill you." Diana sighed, "What I am trying to say is that blindly killing anyone who shows the slightest threat is a slippery slope to go down... Where do you draw the line?"

Diana glanced at Ashlock, "If Ashlock gained mind-reading powers, should he exterminate anyone with a single negative thought about him? What about when I lost control over my actions due to my heart demons? If I had been Douglas or one of the Redclaws and tried to chop down Ashlock while in that state with an axe, should I have been killed."

Ashlock listened to Diana's lecture, and he had to agree. Given the emotional numbness induced by his new biology, it was crucial to establish boundaries to prevent becoming a murderous tyrant. Legitimate threats warranted elimination, but an innocent bystander? Perhaps not...

"But she witnessed the Elder enter the rift!" Stella objected. "If this woman associates the rift with Ashlock upon seeing one of us emerge from a rift in the city and communicates this to her family, we could all die!"

Diana nodded, "That is indeed a possible outcome, and I agree. If she tried contacting her family, we should imprison or kill her."

Stella seemed at a loss, "So... why not just kill her from the start rather than risk—"

Diana raised a hand, silencing Stella. "How do you know she was the sole witness to the Elder's escape through the portal? I presume this occurred near the academy, given that the old man rarely strays from the library, right?"

Ashlock flashed a leaf in agreement. He could already see where she was going with this.

"There are hundreds of cultivators from various families residing at the academy. Even though most students in Darklight City are discarded heirs or low-talent members of branch families, they possess eyes and may have witnessed the Elder's hasty entrance into the rift. If the Voidmind family were to question any of these people, they could get the same information that woman supposedly has."

Stella frowned deeply, her mind likely racing with thoughts.

"People gossip, and news spreads. No matter our efforts, rumors about the strange events occurring here will inevitably reach the other families," Diana continued. "What would truly arouse suspicion, however, is if members of the Voidmind family suddenly fell prey to assassinations. Not to mention the risk of an assassination attempt failing, potentially providing them with even more information about us."

"I just don't like it." Stella grumbled, "It doesn't sit right with me to leave someone like that alive. If she is the reason Tree perishes, I will haunt you as a ghost."

Diana chuckled. "Alright, how about this? We keep an eye on this woman, and if she connects the dots, we take swift action. Does that sound reasonable?"

Both perspectives were valid. Stella's approach may lean toward paranoia and extremity, but Diana's solution bore its own risks. The Voidmind family specialized in void Qi, notorious for eradicating things from existence, making the woman's imprisonment challenging. And there was no way he planned to cram all the Voidmind family members inside his trunk.

Another issue loomed: who would be tasked with surveilling the assistant? He certainly didn't want to spend his day observing her, and his {Eye of the Tree God} couldn't penetrate the academy walls.

"Larry," Ashlock spoke through the tether to his pet.

"Yes, Master?" Larry replied gruffly.

"Can you control those tiny ash spiders that spew from your mouth from a considerable distance?"

Diana and Stella turned curiously toward the colossal spider engaged in a one-sided conversation with Ashlock.

Larry thought momentarily before replying, "Some distance, perhaps up to Darklight City at most?"

"I see..." Ashlock mused. "Could you employ them to spy on someone?"

Larry shook his enormous head. "They lack intelligence."

"Despite their connection to you?"

"I can summon them from other realms for assistance, but they remain infantile ash spiders," Larry replied. "Their knowledge extends only to killing. I sincerely apologize for my species' intellectual shortcomings."

"What are they discussing?" Diana whispered to Stella.

Stella grumbled, "It seems Tree agrees with your suggestion to monitor the woman."

"That's a relief." Diana smiled. "You should try to curb your paranoid bloodlust a little, Stella." Water began to surround Diana's hand, and she reached up to her head.

"H-hey, what are you doing?"

"You have some Maple blood in your hair." Diana grabbed a few strands of Stella's long, flowing blonde hair stuck together with black blood.

Stella looked up as Diana calmly cleansed the blood with water conjured from the humid air, an action that seemed to dissipate Stella's anxiety.

"I'll handle this situation, alright? You said you trusted me. Were those just empty words?" Diana said with a whisper.

Stella huffed, blowing the hair strands out of her face, "Fine."

With Stella's permission, Diana lowered her hands and stepped before Ashlock, "Patriarch, may I handle this?"

After deep consideration, Ashlock assessed the situation as a relatively low risk that would take some time to escalate. The Elder had gone through the portal merely half an hour ago. It would take the assistant several hours, if not days, to begin to worry, and he faced larger, more immediate concerns—like the Elder within his trunk who had just opened his eyes.

Flashing his leaf to show his agreement, he switched his view to his {Demonic Eye} and glared down at the Elder, who was looking straight up at him while engulfed in void flames.

***

Time passed, and the Elder finally opened his eyes with a sigh of relief. His Star Core's capacity was above its critical minimum, allowing it to generate enough void Qi passively to resist the spatial Qi of his new environment.

For now, he was safe. Yet a deep frown mirrored his chaotic thoughts. How had he survived an attack from a Worldwalker? They were demi-god beings that wandered the void and stopped void cultivators from freely traversing between the nine realms.

"Could it be realm suppression?" The Elder mused aloud. He had encountered references to it in the archives, explaining why those from higher realms rarely descended to lower ones—the lower realm would stifle their cultivation, and they would struggle to replenish lost Qi.

Shaking his head, he resolved that the wisest course of action was to secure his immediate surroundings before formulating a strategy for the Worldwalker. "Where in the nine realms am I?" Below him was sheer darkness, while around him cascaded waterfalls of spatial Qi, some flowing downwards, others rising. When he dared to look up, he saw... an eye that made his skin crawl.

"Am I inside that spirit tree?"

"Yes." An indescribable voice resonated, causing his entire body to quiver. It wasn't a word he directly comprehended. Instead, he sensed pure intent behind it. Soul speech, he concluded—one of the rarest forms of communication.

The Elder swallowed hard, attempting to suppress his excitement. He had just heard the utterance of a divine being trapped within a tree! And its eye was directly above him... right for the taking.

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[Author Note]

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