Chapter 34: Chapter 34: A Seed of Hope

Diana looked through the courtyard door at the departing ash-haired spider that had crawled from a secret realm—just by watching it, she knew her chances of winning were slim. The sword in her hand felt like a toothpick compared to that monstrosity.

It scurried across the training courtyard—fleeing through the hole in the wall with a quietness that didn't match its ridiculous size. She had seen wild boar that were smaller—yet could be heard from a mile away as they rampaged through the forests.

With the spider gone and the eerie silence of the empty pavilion returning, the tree's vines munching on the next pile of corpses caressed her ears. The cracking of bones, squeezing of flesh, and the rustling of the vines coiling around made her stomach churn.

Diana had often ventured into the wilderness and witnessed demonic trees in action. They were one of the more common spirit trees populating the wild. The only difference between spirit trees and any other typical tree was the ability to cultivate very slowly.

However, most spirit tree's never made it into the Soul Fire realm as their wood could be harvested and turned into long-lasting tools for mortals and even cultivators if the spirit tree cultivated high enough.

So Diana had never seen a strong spirit tree before as she never ventured too far from sect grounds. But even with her limited knowledge, she was certain demonic trees grew poisonous berries and slowly absorbed corpses around their roots by making the soil very acidic.

Controlling vines that came out of the ground? Creating rifts to a demonic realm? Talking with its Qi? These were powers reserved for sapient, thinking creatures. Or a world tree.

Diana had heard tales of how before monarch realms ruled the world with their continent-spanning empires, there was no Qi and no cultivators. It wasn't until the world tree—that spanned the cosmos, with its roots infiltrating every world—was destroyed by the old gods that Qi could finally flourish and give rise to a vibrant and alive world.

Now it may be small compared to the world tree described in the legends. But too many worrying signs were pointing to its future prowess. Its growth was ridiculous, and its Soul Core element was worrying.

Spatial—of the highest grade. The lilac flames were so bright and pure that it was almost impossible. Everyone's soul was slightly tainted, unable to fully grasp an element's Dao. But the tree? It had somehow fully comprehended one of the rarest and most powerful elements. Diana glanced at her own dark blue flames, showing her meager talent in the element of water.

To her side stood Stella. Her purple flames had died down. She also had a spatial element, but Diana could also detect lightning Dao. So how had Stella come into contact with the heavenly lightning when she was still in the Soul Fire realm?

Diana had... too many questions—and Stella's lips were firmly shut in a slight frown, and her eyes filled with worry.

With a long sigh, Diana relaxed her Soul Core and deposited her sword in her spatial ring.

"We need to get stronger, Stella, if we want to protect the tree." Diana saw the girl's eyes widen as she turned to her. Diana was a little annoyed looking up to meet the younger girl's eyes, but she had never liked high heels, so this was the fate she had to suffer. "Don't give me that look. I'm a demonic cultivator without a family name. If I cannot become a Grand Elder, my future is bleak, to say the least, and I have nowhere else to go."

"Sorry, Diana... I—" Stella diverted her eyes, looking back at the tree.

"Don't trust me yet?" Diana smiled sadly, "That is perfectly understandable, and I have no right to pressure you for answers. But could you please tell your tree friend to avoid summoning stuff from rifts? If a merchant group is nearby, it will be the end for all of us."

Stella nodded, "Absolutely. Thank you, Diana... Just give me some time, and we can work this out."

Diana could only shrug at the girl's words. In a way, Diana respected how tight-lipped Stella could be—that was a good trait to have. Diana turned on her heel and walked with measured steps back to the dark training courtyard—a dagger materialized in her hand, and she spun it between her fingers as her mind wandered. What would become of this?

***

Ashlock watched Diana leave, and once she was out of sight, he summoned his system to ensure he wasn't listed as a world tree seed.

[Demonic Spirit Tree (Age: 8)]

[Soul Fire: 1st Stage]

[Soul Core: Amethyst (Spatial)]

[Summons...]

{Ash Spider: Larry [C]}

[Skills…]

{Eye of the Tree God [A]}

{Deep Roots [A]}

{Language of the World [B]}

{Lightning Qi Protection [B]}

{Root Puppet [B]}

{Transpiration of Heaven and Earth [C]}

{Qi Fruit Production [C]}

{Devour [C]}

{Hibernate [C]}

{Fire Qi Resistance [C]}

{Basic Poison Resistance [F]}

Besides the new summons section that listed Larry, everything else was the same as usual. His race said Demonic Spirit Tree, and there was no evidence of him becoming a world tree...

Hang on. His race had upgraded from sapling to tree when he ascended to the Soul Fire realm from the Qi realm. What could be higher than a Spirit tree? World tree? Would it upgrade once he reached the next realm?

And now that he looked at his Soul Core and skills... A spatial element for a tree didn't make a lot of sense, and he had skills like {Eye of the Tree God} and {Language of the World}. "Aren't these abilities a world tree could have?"

They allowed him to see and understand everything within his realm of influence... could he even understand beasts if they communicated near him?

Even his cultivation technique was suspicious. Its description depicted him as the connection between heaven and earth—which wasn't far from a world tree's true purpose.

Diana mentioned these secret realms formed because worlds drifted too close to one another and created an overlap. "If I could get my roots through an overlap and anchor the world's together—couldn't I become the bridge between worlds?"

Ashlock calmed down. He was getting way ahead of himself. "Conquer Red Vine peak first, then this sect filled with arseholes. Then the continent, the world, and only then can I become a world tree and span the cosmos."

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Until this point, Ashlock had been growing stronger for nothing but survival, but now he had an end goal. Mortals strove for immortality, but that had been pointless to him as an immortal tree.

"Becoming a world tree is a great end goal." Ashlock was almost daydreaming of how many credits he could harvest daily if his roots spread worldwide.

"Tree..."

An almost mouse-like voice broke him from his thoughts.

Stella had approached him. Her eyes were different as she looked up at his expansive canopy that loomed overhead—the affection was held back by a mask of seriousness with her hands clenched at her sides.

Ashlock flashed his lilac Qi through a leaf to signal he was listening. He had thought of trying to spell words with his leaves, but they were too sparse to achieve such a thing.

Stella just stood rooted in place as she watched the leaf flicker. Her mouth opened and closed as if she struggled to get the words out.

Words that Ashlock was fearful of—why was Stella acting in such a way? Had Diana's words shaken her? Did the knowledge that he might be a world tree break the illusion of a friendly tree she had in her mind? Ashlock's mind raced as Stella stood there.

A while passed before Stella gathered the courage. Finally, she looked up and held her arms against her chest.

"Tree, I'm sorry... I'm so weak." Tears brimmed at the edge of the girl's eyes. "As I am now... I can never hope to protect you against the whole world. I need to work harder. Train faster."

Ashlock was speechless. Was this girl crazy? She wanted to fight the whole world? The thought of Stella fighting everyone for him had never even occurred. How could he put such pressure on a girl who wasn't even an adult yet? She should just grow up happy under his canopy and let him handle the rest.

Stella reached up to her earrings with one hand and clenched a black-handled dagger that Ashlock recognized with the other. "You gave me so much, but I have nothing in return to offer... I will go train so I will not be a hindrance."

She didn't even watch his leaves frantically flashing twice to indicate no. Instead, biting her lip, she turned and left to follow Diana. A fire that Ashlock had never seen before flared in her eyes—the fire of passion.

Ashlock stopped trying to signal Stella and let her go. Although her motives for strength were twisted, the end result she aimed for was ideal.

He needed her to be stronger, but not for himself. In a world where a man riding a mountain-sized ice golem can turn up unannounced, and a beast tide that can wipe out an entire sect can come by, there was no way he could guarantee her safety. At least for now.

"Don't worry, Stella.. for I am also weak." Ashlock returned his attention to the pile of corpses and decided to cast {Devour} on the third pile. He was going all in for his next draw.

The training courtyard was filled with shouts and clangs of swords as ambient Qi radiated off their fierce fighting. Diana and Stella trained hard from dusk till dawn without rest.

Ashlock wished he could watch, but he had to focus on his meditation technique. There was a large amount of Qi in the corpses, and he could feel himself touching the next stage of his realm. The path to becoming a world tree was long, but every bit of growth mattered.

As the sun crested the horizon, signifying the start of a new day. Ashlock felt a rush of Qi spread throughout his body—one he was becoming familiar with.

[+902 SC]

Ashlock glanced briefly at the points, those had been expected, but the rush meant something else. He quickly opened his status screen.

[Demonic Spirit Tree (Age: 8)]

[Soul Fire: 2nd Stage]

[Soul Core: Amethyst (Spatial)]

Sure enough, he was now at the 2nd stage of the Soul Fire realm. He could already feel the changes. His perception range increased, his trunk buzzed with power, and his mind felt clearer than ever.

But the feeling faded soon enough, becoming the new norm. Once Ashlock had finished relishing in his new cultivation stage, he turned to the sign-in system. "I wonder if it could give me some more techniques for cultivation and Qi usage."

Until now, Ashlock could only cultivate with his {Transpiration of Heaven and Earth} technique. Actually throwing his Qi around was beyond him. "Knowledge about runic formations or arrays would also be useful."

Ashlock could only pray that the Gacha gods would listen to his plea. His system was beyond powerful—given enough time, he would accumulate all the items, skills, and summons he could ever need. The only downside? It was randomized.

 

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3150

Daily Credit: 1

Sacrifice Credit: 902

[Sign in?]

 

"Yes, sign in."

[Sign in successful, 903 credits consumed…]

[Upgraded {Qi Fruit Production[C]} -> {Qi Fruit Production[B]}]

"What?" Ashlock glared at the notification. What was the difference? Why had it cost 903 credits to just raise the Qi Fruit Production up a grade... but then the knowledge the upgrade brought flooded his mind.

He could now put seeds in the fruit—an option that had been missing from the menu before. Ashlock opened the menu with excitement, and sure enough, he could add a {Demonic Tree Seed} into the fruit.

It was time to build a forest of his own.