[Tree] Chapter 498: Nobody Special

Thalos Tessellate couldn't make any sense of the report on his desk.

For three consecutive months, the Tessellate family had failed to deliver their regular shipment of basic supplies and pills to the Citadel. As a floating rock stuck in a spatial storm, they didn't have the means to provide for themselves without assistance from the mainland, so it was a deeply troubling matter.

"Just what could possibly be happening?" Thalos grumbled as he scratched his head. He'd sent out messages to the mainland through communication artifacts but received nothing in response. It was as if the pocket realm was cut off from the outside world, and if that was so, it was terribly concerning.

Drumming his fingers on his desk, one particular person came to mind—Lady Rosalyn, the woman who had bought one of his old estates that had been damaged by the Anchor Pylon exploding.

That woman is a mystery, he thought.

She had come to him with spirit stones that were not attuned to any particular Qi type, which were incredibly rare even on the mainland, as typically ambient Qi was so dense that they could not naturally form. At the time, he hadn't paid much attention and had simply taken them as a means to pay off her debt to him, but now he was wondering if there was more to the story.

She carried herself like a princess and had even threatened him. Although she did not explicitly state that she came from a higher layer of creation, her actions implied it, and the items she sold to pay off her debt lent her story more credibility. Still, he wasn't sure what to believe as of now, but he was deciding to play it safe, with the issue of the missing shipments consuming most of his focus for now. As it was a more pressing matter, he would deal with the self-proclaimed princess another time.

His drumming fingers suddenly paused. As an aether cultivator in the higher stages of the Astral Sovereign Realm, which sat above the Sovereigns of Reality realm, his spiritual senses encompassed most of the Citadel. That's why, without even being present within the spatial plane, he was able to feel the immense disturbance.

Abruptly standing up and sending his chair flying backward, he shouted toward the door, "There's a spatial storm breach!" Before his attendants even had a chance to open the door and ask him where it was, he vanished in a flash of white flames.

Quickly traversing the aether plane, he arrived at the breach. To his surprise, he found himself standing before the property he had just sold to none other than Lady Rosalyn. The building was illuminated by flashes of golden lightning raining down through the hole in the barrier above and striking the house below. The nearby Anchor Pylons were thrumming with power as they attempted to restrain heaven's wrath but were failing miserably.

"By the heavens… what is happening here?" he said in disbelief. The sheer amount of chaotic spatial Qi striking down with the force of a god was mind-blowing. He wasn't even sure if he could survive such an onslaught, yet for some reason, the house remained standing, and the Citadel wasn't being torn apart.

Deeply curious about how this was possible, he tried to look inside the house with his spiritual senses. Yet, to his surprise, an intricate array of glyphs surrounding the house barred his scrying. It wasn't unusual for houses belonging to the Tessellate family to have such defenses, but this was a small noble house that he had once owned, and he knew for sure it did not possess such defenses. Who could have possibly built such an intricate array in such a short time? It had only been a few weeks since it was sold.

Stepping onto the lawn, he began striding toward the house, only to be stopped by a handsome man he recognized—it was Lady Rosalyn's attendant, who had joined her during the auction.

"What is going on?" he bellowed toward the man, pointing vaguely at the sky.

Kael bowed respectfully and replied, "My Lady is ascending to the next cultivation realm, so she is not available to see visitors at the moment. I beg for your understanding in this matter, Lord Tessellate."

Thalos snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. No cultivator could survive ascending directly under the great spatial storm like that. Calling down the heavens through a breach is a violation of laws and risks the entire Citadel!"

Kael straightened up and gave him an awkward smile. "I'm aware, my Lord, and I tried to inform my lady of these risks as well. But she assured me she had made the appropriate preparations and that it would be fine."

"Appropriate preparations?" Thalos muttered, shaking his head. "If such preparations existed, then my family would have made use of them long ago." He pointed a finger at the sky. "There is enough Qi stored in that flashing lightning to obliterate the entire Citadel, let alone a single cultivator's soul. There is no way she can survive such a thing."

The space next to Thalos twisted, and a woman with sky-blue hair stepped through with an amused smile.

"Does something seem to be the matter, Lord Tessellate?" Lady Solari asked. "Because if not, you are currently trespassing on private property, which is against the Citadel's laws that you love to cite."

Thalos glared at the woman. "Do not cite the laws to me. My family is the law."

Lady Solari laughed. "Maybe on this floating rock you are king," she gestured with her chin to the spatial storm, "but out there on the mainland, your family certainly isn't anything special. I hope you will remember that."

Thalos gritted his teeth and said nothing in response. It was true—the Tessellate family was struggling out on the mainland. Having been spread too thin between the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth layers of creation, the family had fallen from the top spot and was now being pressured by many once-smaller families. That is why they were so desperate to find a way to reunite the family into a central force.

He switched his focus to the attendant and said in a somewhat harsh tone, "If Lady Rosalyn is to survive her suicidal ascension, I will return to discuss a few matters with her."

"Very well, I will let my lady know of your request," Kael said, bowing ever so slightly. Spatial rifts began tearing open behind them, and officials from the Tessellate family appeared. Thalos quickly went over to dismiss them, saying that the situation was under control, and then retreated to his office.

Gesturing over one of his attendants, he instructed, "Keep a close eye on Lady Rosalyn's estate, but maintain distance from Lady Solari. We don't want to anger someone from the Solari family at this time."

The attendant nodded and vanished into a spatial rift, leaving Thalos alone with his thoughts.

***

Stella was somewhat relieved when it seemed like the heavens had finally given up on trying to strike her down. She didn't know if it was because of the spatial storm giving the heavens more strength than usual or because she was on a higher layer of creation, but the ascension had been far more brutal than she had expected.

Despite her confident words to Kael, there were a dozen times she thought she was going to die.

"Holy shit," she muttered, shakily moving her hair behind her ear as she looked up at the hole in the roof with a distant gaze. The spatial storm had calmed to its previous chaotic state, and the Anchor Pylons that were still standing had managed to suppress the spatial ripples left in the ascension's wake.

Meanwhile, the room around her was a total mess. The monoliths that had absorbed and redirected the heavens' power were blackened, and a few of them had even crumbled to dust. The tapestry of silver lines that served as a blueprint for her infant soul had melted during the process, turning the floor into a broken, shimmering mirror.

Glancing down, she met her distorted reflection and grinned despite her immense exhaustion. Similar to how Kael had gained a new aura after fixing his tainted spirit roots and ascending his cultivation, Stella could tell she had experienced the same thing after reaching the Nascent Soul realm. Her eyes had a more dangerous and powerful gleam to them, and she could just feel from a glance that she had become a higher being.

And in truth, she had. Since reaching the Nascent Soul realm, her Qi pool had significantly expanded, her Qi regeneration was now on another level, and her soul pressure could crush her previous self. She was also now technically immortal, having escaped the clutches of time.

And perhaps most fun of all—she could now fly without the assistance of a sword. With a little effort, her body rose off the ground. It was rather disorienting, and she felt like flailing her limbs but refrained.

"This is fun," she laughed, reorienting her body so she was floating upright. Taking a moment to calm herself and blink away the exhaustion, she balled her fists.

"No time to rest," she said, pumping herself up. She wanted to return to Red Vine Peak, but first, she had a lot to do.

Soaring out through the hole in the roof of her house, she felt the spatial-expanding array ripple around her as she broke free. She kept going until she was high in the sky, far above her house. Her body brimmed with power, and she felt like she wanted to unleash it upon the world.

In fact, it seemed she had actually reached the second stage of the Nascent Soul realm, which really showed just how brutal that ascension had been, considering she had skipped a stage.

Taking a moment, she looked within herself at her twin Star Cores. They were of equal size, and thanks to the complex array she had set up before her ascension, her infant soul was a near-perfect copy of her original soul. This meant if she were to die and her infant soul was dragged back to Red Vine Peak, she could be placed into a new vessel without losing her memories—a concern she had harbored for a long time after seeing what Vincent Nightrose had become.

Of course, that only preserved memories made until now. Future memories could still be lost. It was an inevitable issue faced by all long-lived cultivators swapping between souls.

She smiled and patted her chest. This way, I'll never forget my childhood and what Tree did for me. Now I can look to the future and keep growing without worrying about losing myself.

Taking a deep breath, she absorbed some ambient Qi and watched it flow through her spirit roots and be equally distributed between her two Star Cores.

"Ohh… I knew this was going to happen, but not this bad. Progressing up the stages will take twice as long as before. Actually, no—maybe more, considering how much larger my Star Cores are now. How did anyone reach the Monarch Realm on the Ninth Layer of Creation, considering how sparse the Qi is down there compared to here? Honestly, they must be heaven-defying talents with the patience of a dormant mountain to reach such a stage."

Her attention was then drawn to the Anchor Pylon she had previously destroyed. Since her ascension was now complete, it was time to fix it to stop her house from being destroyed any more than it already was. Kael would also need it repaired to survive his ascension to the Nascent Soul realm, as she didn't plan to spend weeks setting up such an intricate array again for him.

He would have a far more normal ascension, albeit with the assistance of all of Ashlock's truffles, pills, and the potent Qi present on the upper layers of the Noble District.

She wasn't going to let Kael suffer—after all, she wanted the best for him, which, in retrospect, was rather strange.

"Why am I doing so much for him?" she wondered to herself as she surveyed the Citadel below. "I mean, it's not like the pills and truffles are particularly valuable to me, so giving them to him doesn't feel like a burden or a waste… but still, why am I being so nice? I guess I just see a bit of my past self in him, and it feels good to be nice sometimes."

Shaking her head, she floated down toward the half-destroyed Anchor Pylon. Her spatial rings flashed as she withdrew spirit stones, flux, and other materials she needed for repairs. Her bloodline kicked in, and she entered a flow state as she began working.

She had no idea how long she spent in that state—it could have been hours, maybe even days. However, once the still-damaged Anchor Pylon hummed to life and the tear in the barrier overhead began to seal, she returned to reality when she heard a small laugh behind her.

Turning, she was surprised to see Lady Solari floating there, admiring her handiwork.

"You knew I was going to repair it, didn't you?" Stella said, narrowing her eyes. "That's why you wanted those houses so badly, right? But how? How did you know I was going to do this?"

Lady Solari looked at her curiously. "How did I know, indeed? That's quite the question. Let's just say I have a strong intuition… and I could tell that you weren't someone normal. I've seen the riffraff from the lower levels of the Citadel—your attendant, for example, being one. No matter how much you dress him up, he's still one of them. But you… You are something else entirely, and I could tell that from a single glance when we met eyes on that fateful day."

"I see," Stella muttered. "Is that why you didn't stop me?"

"Not exactly," Lady Solari admitted. "I just had no reason to stop you, is all. While I have some interests here in the Citadel, if it were to collapse, I would simply return to the mainland. Let's just say I had far more to gain by letting you carry out your little scheme than I did by stopping it."

She gestured toward the two giant houses she had purchased. "With the Anchor Pylon now fixed, the value of these properties has increased a hundredfold—all thanks to you."

"So you used me?" Stella clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.

"In a way. But are you not using that boy for your own gains?" Lady Solari vaguely gestured toward Kael, who was still standing on the front lawn.

"He gets a lot out of working with me. I treat him well," Stella replied.

Lady Solari raised a brow. "And do you think there is no fruitfulness to our friendship? Do you think Kael had enough authority to send away the Tessellate family when they came to check on this property and your very eye-catching ascension?"

Stella pouted. "I suppose I have you to thank for sending them away."

"Don't mention it," Lady Solari said, waving her off. "It's only natural that I look out for my neighbor. Oh! Speaking of the devils, it seems the Tessellate family has detected the repairing of the Anchor Pylon." She smiled with amusement. "Things are about to get very interesting."

Stella felt it a moment later, showing her cultivation was still lagging behind Lady Solari's. A dozen aether rifts tore through the air in a row at the front of her house, and out poured many members of the Tessellate family, including Thalos Tessellate. They didn't hold back their hostility, with their unfathomable cultivation realms on full display.

Stella noticed the defensive array she had set up around the house retaliating in full force. As the ground crackled with power, the space around her house warped and bent against the combined soul pressure of all the cultivators present. It held, if barely. All it would take is one of them to unleash an actual attack, rather than their mere presence, to crush it.

"Quite the impressive defensive array," Lady Solari commented. "How much would I have to pay for you to make me one?"

"I'm not for hire," Stella rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Lady Solari smirked, gesturing to the situation below. "Can you handle this by yourself?"

Stella's immediate response was going to be a flat no, but that wasn't her style. She shrugged casually. "We'll see."

Thalos Tessellate cleared his throat. "Ahem. Lady Rosalyn, by orders of the Tessellate family, you are to state your true identity, including the noble family and layer of creation from which you hail. If you fail to do so, we will have no choice but to seize this property and imprison you."

Stella remained floating high above her lawn, arms crossed, glaring down at them. "Is that so? May I know what crimes I've supposedly committed?"

Thalos Tessellate glared at her. "You are suspected of being the one who blew up this Anchor Pylon for starters," he said, pointing toward the freshly repaired structure. "You're also here without records, and we have suspicions that you are involved in isolating the Citadel from the mainland."

That last bit stirred a reaction out of both Stella and Lady Solari.

"Cut off from the mainland?" Stella said curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Don't act clueless with me!" Thalos shouted, his voice shaking the world. "Ever since you arrived, we have not received a single shipment from the mainland, and we are unable to contact them."

"Why don't you just visit the mainland and ask them what the problem is yourself?" Stella suggested while casually inspecting her nails.

The members of the Tessellate family exchanged looks. Lady Solari repeated Stella's question. "What do you mean by the mainland is cut off? Is the gateway not functional?"

Thalos cleared his throat. "It is not. The gateway to the mainland is dormant, meaning we are all trapped here."

Stella felt the immediate rise in tension.

"Do you have something to do with this?" Lady Solari hissed under her breath, her amused and friendly composure gone.

Stella shook her head. "Not that I know of—unless my father has done something to isolate this pocket realm."

Lady Solari raised a brow. "Your father can do such a thing?"

Stella chuckled nervously. "It's better to ask what he can't do than what he can."

Thalos Tessellate unleashed a wave of aether Qi, obliterating the shield around her home. He then began floating toward her with four other unfathomably powerful cultivators in tow. They encircled her and Lady Solari, and she had to burn Qi to remain floating while in their presence.

"Just who are you?" Lady Solari asked the question that they all wanted an answer to.

Unfortunately, Stella didn't have an answer that could satisfy them. While her surname, Crestfallen, likely carried some weight, it was a name from the history books, not one with an active presence.

For the first time in a long while, Stella was genuinely terrified.

"You have three seconds," Thalos Tessellate said, his tone cold and commanding. "Who is your family?"

Stella gulped. "Even if I told you, I doubt you would believe me."

"Try me," Thalos sneered. "Or are you simply playing princess?"

"Fine," Stella said, bringing out a Mystic Realmwarp fruit. "It looks like I have no choice—"

She was about to bite into it and try to make a getaway when a coldness made her hair stand on end. A coldness she was all too familiar with... the presence of the void.

The Tessellate cultivators instantly dispersed backward as the tip of a claw carved a slit in reality. It yawned open, revealing a rift to the void itself. From the eternal darkness, Khaos stepped out. Though the Ent was almost twice the size of what she remembered and had an indescribable aura about her, as if she were no mere servant, but rather a ruler.

Stella had no idea why Khaos was here, but oh boy, was she glad to see the Ent.

"Khaos!" she said excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"My princess, I'm pleased to see you are doing well," Khaos replied, despite lacking a head, her voice carrying a primordial chill to it. "Your father requested that I check on your well-being."

"Oh, he did?" Stella beamed. "How is my father and the others? I miss them greatly."

"He's been making good headway on conquering reality, and I will soon be leading his army. Diana has also returned from her interdimensional trip far more powerful, and they were wondering if you would soon be returning home?" Khaos replied, keeping the details vague, likely due to the unknown company. Just how smart had Khaos become? It was almost as if she was saying this on purpose.

"Mhm, I still have some matters to attend to here before I return home."

"I see, that's a shame. My Lord misses you greatly," the three-meter-tall Khaos said as she surveyed the group surrounding Stella, her claws twitching with silent anticipation. "Are these people friends of yours?" she asked.

All of them paled at those words.

"Oh, let me introduce you," Stella said, grinning ear to ear. "These are members of the Tessellate family, and this is Lady Solari. Have you heard of them before?"

"I'm afraid I haven't, my Princess."

"Maybe the Worldwalkers would know," Stella said, immensely enjoying how pale and terrified Thalos Tessellate was becoming with every word.

"Possibly. Would you like me to call for Maple so you can ask him?" Khaos suggested. "He misses you, too."

"That little rascal misses me? Surely you're joking. He has more fun devouring dimensions than hanging out with me," Stella chuckled.

"Of course. Things have been rather quiet since the Slaughter Princess left. Even the guardian beast of the sect awaits your return."

"I apologize, but I still have some things to attend to here," she said, surveying the group that was inching away. "Things that would be over faster if I weren't being interrupted."

Thalos Tessellate laughed nervously. "We were just leaving. Have a good day, Princess."

He vanished in a flash of white flames, followed by the rest of his family.

Stella smirked and turned to Khaos. "Thank you for checking on me. Tell Father I will be back soon and send him my regards."

Khaos bowed like a butler. "As you wish," she said and returned to the void.

Stella stared at the space Khaos had just occupied, and said a silent thank you to Ash. His timing had been impeccable.

"You're right," Lady Solari said quietly. "I doubt I would have believed you even if you told me."

Stella laughed. "I'm really nobody special. Just a princess traveling the stars."

"What a great liar," Lady Solari said and left through a spatial rift.

Stella nodded. She really was a great liar, but not in the way they thought.

She really was nobody special. Just a girl with an overprotective and doting Father. Smiling to herself, she decided to pay homage to him by floating down to the ground and pulling out a demonic tree seed.

"What's that?" Kael asked as he jogged over.

"Just a seed," Stella said, planting it into the ground. "I miss my dad, so this will have to do."