[Tree] Chapter 399: Night of Reckoning

Vincent clasped his hands behind his back and took in the sights all around him.

Floating islands, big and small, dotted the celestial sky with shimmering gold waterfalls cascading off their sides. He stood upon a bridge of gems. If he glanced off the side, he could see down into the layers of creation below. All were below his feet, and he was at the peak of creation.

Of course, this was all an illusion. He could step off the bridge, and his feet would find solid rock. As the blood pills flowed, the balance between his affinities had become unstable. To counter this, rings of intense gravity silently orbited him, bending the air to those capable of perceiving it, and he also expended some illusion Qi to make the basement of the Flamehunt residence look like a paradise, or at least what he thought the lands on the first layer of creation that housed godly beings looked like.

"If I can get ahold of the Crestfallen bloodline, this will one day be more than an illusion in my mind." He began pacing back and forth as he muttered, "It's said that the appearance of a Crestfallen heralds the fall of the World Tree and the separation of the nine realms. If so, by killing her and taking the bloodline for myself, I will save the World Tree and weave a new reality. One where I'm king."

"Just how delusional are you," A man said behind him.

Vincent frowned and turned to glare at the perpetrator. A short man with an impressive beard as black as soot was dangling upside down from a chain with his arms crossed. He wasn't the only one; dozens of people with similar features to this man joined him in hanging from chains, but he was the only one conscious. His face was deathly pale, just like the others. Blood dripped from cuts all over his body to the ground below, where it flowed toward a giant coffin.

Vincent clicked his tongue and canceled the illusion, returning him to reality. A dark and dreary basement below the Flamehunt residence. He ignored the man as he walked over to the coffin. Pressing his hand on it and inserting Qi, a runic formation glowed, and the gathered blood was condensed into hundreds of pills. He then used telekinesis to float the pills over to an empty crate. Once it was full, he added some spirit stones that he had taken from the Flamehunt family's vault.

Clicking his fingers, a team of glazed-eyed maids shuffled into the room. They gathered around the crate, and with a strained grunt, they picked it up and moved it to another room.

"You want to kill that Crestfallen girl, right? The Princess of the Ashfallen Sect?"

Vincent had little reason to humor this man, but he was curious. "What if I do?"

"Forget it," the leader of the Flamehunt family snorted, "She's an unkillable demon in human skin and a powerful cultivator. Trust me, many have tried to kill her in the past, and none have succeeded. Even the heavens tried to strike her down, and she simply laughed at them."

"I think I can handle her," Vincent brushed off the man's nonsense. Defy the heavens? He had done that more times than he could count. Many have tried to kill her? He had fought off entire sects by himself. Stella Crestfallen was a small fry in the grand scheme of things. A Star Core Realm cultivator in a sea of stars, shining only slightly brighter than the others.

"Perhaps, but what about the one who stands behind her?"

Vincent paused, "Stands behind her?"

"The immortal of the Ashfallen Sect." The man whispered as if scared he would be heard, "He's said to be the most fearsome existence in the wilderness, and when I say he's an overprotective father, that's an understatement."

Vincent frowned as he felt his title had been taken from him. "More fearsome than Vincent Nightrose?"

Lord Flamehunt laughed deeply despite his deteriorated condition from the blood draining. "That cave dweller? I heard his city of blood fell in a single day to the Ashfallen Sect."

Vincent reigned in his anger and asked as calmly as he could. "What sets the immortal of the Ashfallen Sect and Vincent Nightrose apart?"

"Presence and action. Horror stories about Vincent are told to us by our parents and uttered by the cultivators of old. Most have never laid eyes on him nor seen what he can do. Meanwhile, the presence of the immortal can be felt all around us. But more importantly, it is what the immortal does."

Vincent flexed the rings of gravity around him to distill his rage. "What does he do that Vincent doesn't?"

The man paused to think for a moment before answering, "I've lived in Darklight City for decades and seen multiple noble families wipe each other out, destroying parts of the city in the process. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the citizens, seeing that the Nightrose family has no control over the sect. Whereas the immortal... remember when I said he was an overprotective father? Rumor has it Stella Crestfallen tried to challenge the Lunarshade family guards and promised to kill them with a single finger. When she got overwhelmed, they froze her in place.

"And?"

"Well, the immortal didn't take too kindly to that, so he wiped out the Lunarshade family in a single night and took over the city."

Vincent raised a brow, "All for his daughter?"

The man nodded. "Nobody messes with the Princess and lives to tell the tale."

Vincent frowned. While he didn't care much for his offspring, he understood why some did. However, there was still a reason in this world that discouraged the strong from obliterating the weak. Gathering Qi at the peak of power was a laborious process. While he could flatten a city, it would consume centuries of meticulously gathered Qi, setting his cultivation back and weakening him. Without adequate Qi reserves, a weaker opponent could wear him down and kill him. Meanwhile, his enemies will get ahead.

Because of this, it simply wasn't worth it for the strong to get involved in such matters. That is what subordinates or offspring were for. He would only step in if something that directly threatened his existence showed up that his lessers couldn't handle.

To destroy a distant city and wipe out an entire ancient family like the Lunarshades over them punishing his daughter for her stupid antics? Either this immortal really is a crazed father, or he is simply so powerful that he doesn't fear anyone else on this layer of creation.

"Put a stop to this, boss," Lord Flamehunt said with a glint in his eye, "I believe it's possible to put an end to the Ashfallen Sect's tyranny, but this is the wrong way to go about it. You're drawing way too much attention, and nobody survives once they earn the ire of the All-Seeing Eye."

"I'll be the judge of that," Vincent snorted and turned his back to the man. In truth, he was concerned. I can't even remember the last time I felt this cornered by a foe. It's not that I can't run away, but doing so would doom me to never step into the next realm of power.

Being greedy and cultivating three affinities at once was coming back to bite him, and he had to pay the price. Few Nascent Soul Realm cultivators grasped the law of their affinities, let alone three. He considered himself an exceptional talent, but there were limits.

"Boss!"

Vincent had felt the approaching woman's presence for a while, and he had been waiting for her, so her arrival was no surprise.

"Kaelith Flamehunt, welcome." Vincent turned and smiled. "Did you have something to report?"

"Ah! Yes," her eyes locked onto his. "The Ashfallen Sect has become aware of our actions. Redclaw cultivators have been sighted in the streets and flying over Darklight City. The warehouse to the east has been raided by the city guard, so it's only a matter of time until they come..." Her gaze wandered off his face and landed on her father, who was chained up. "Father?"

"Kaelith, why are you here?" Lord Flamehunt said weakly, his earlier vigor while talking having faded.

"What... what is happening? Why are you hanging from a chain?"

"You should have never come," Lord Flamehunt replied.

Kaelith stammered, "B-but the message you sent me?"

"What message?" Lord Flamehunt frowned, "I never sent you one."

Kaelith's face fell as she looked back at Vincent. "I got one telling me there was an emergency and to head back here as soon as possible."

Vincent smiled, "Sorry, that was me. But there really is an emergency. You see, all the prisoners are dead, so I need new sources of blood."

"Kaelith, run," Lord Flamehunt hissed, and Vincent was surprised at how quickly she bolted for the door.

"Not so fast, I wasn't done talking." Vincent flicked his wrist, and one of the rings of intense gravity orbiting him shot out and encircled Kaelith.

She let out a helpless cry as she faceplanted the ground and could not move a muscle.

Pulling the ring back to himself, Kaelith was dragged across the stone toward him. Her agonizing screams echoed in the room as he used telekinesis to float her upside down. Her clothes were ragged, and blood trailed out of nasty gashes left by the stone.

"No need to glare at me like that," Vincent said as he controlled a runic chain to swing over and clamp around her legs.

"You betrayed us!" She began thrashing around in rage despite her injuries. "Fucking bastard."

"Betrayed you?" Vincent snorted, "Where did you get that idea? I'm simply getting a return on my investment, is all."

"You never planned to go against the All-Seeing Eye, did you?!"

"I do, just not with you." Vincent paused, "In a fight between gods, the believers are and always will be nothing but pawns. Did you think you would stand beside me as an equal while I fought a god?"

"No." Kaelith hissed through gritted teeth. "But we gave you our everything. My family put our reputation and future on the line to help you, so to treat us like this..."

Vincent put his hand around her neck and gently pressed her soft flesh. He could feel her pounding heartbeat through her veins and pained breathing. Life sure was a fleeting and delicate thing. "You just said it yourself. You gave me your everything." He leaned closer and whispered, "That includes your body and soul."

"No, wait." Her eyes widened, "I'm sorry. Please—"

Vincent sent a pulse of illusion Qi straight into her brain, knocking her out. Killing her would be a waste as corpses didn't continue to produce blood.

"How dare you," Lord Flamehunt spat.

Vincent raised a brow at the chained man while taking out a knife and calmly cutting her wrists and neck. Such injuries would kill a mortal, but cultivators were far more durable.

She should survive a few hours like this. Vincent hummed to himself as he walked over to Lord Flamehunt. "Going to silence me too? After everything I did for you—"

Vincent didn't hesitate to cut off the man's head. There was a look of shock on Lord Flamehunt's face as his head fell to the floor. Crouching down, Vincent picked up the head with both hands and looked at it.

"Shocked that a horror your ancestors tried to warn you about turned out to be real?" He unhinged his jaw and took a large bite. With this unconditioned body, the skull was a little harder to eat, but he enjoyed his snack. He then directly drained the body of its remaining blood, causing it to shrivel up into a grey husk.

Feeling better, Vincent recalled what Kaelith said about the warehouse being raided by the city guard. While he didn't care at this point, as his only goal was to spread as many blood pills as possible by sundown, it was still concerning.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the beat of his spiritual heart. In the darkness of his consciousness, his heartbeat echoed out, and distant hearts answered. As they beat in sync, he reached out and took control of one. He opened his eyes, and he was no longer in the basement of the Flamehunt residence. He was remotely controlling one of his hastily made blood clones with a fragment of his mind. At the cost of the clone's integrity, he could use some of his techniques through it, but it wasn't made for that.

It was simply a proxy that he could use as eyes and ears. He stepped out of a carefully protected coffin in the warehouse basement and immediately knew something was wrong. It was deathly silent. Spreading out his spiritual sense, he couldn't feel the presence of a single worker.

Going up the stairs to the surface, he was surprised. There were signs of a scuffle, perhaps a short but gruesome fight, as there were blood stains on the ground and walls. But there were no bodies.

"What happened here?" Vincent walked toward the doorway and peeked outside. Sure enough, he could see streaks of crimson flame in the rain-filled skies as the Redclaw Elders circled above like vultures. Kaelith wasn't lying. The All-Seeing Eye has become aware of my actions. The question is, do they know I'm still alive?

Vincent strode back into the warehouse. I doubt it. Otherwise, the Ashfallen Sect wouldn't be sending weaklings after me. If they still believe it's an uprising being led by mortals, the Redclaw's presence makes sense.

"I still have time—" the words died in his throat as a sudden all-encompassing wrongness engulfed him. It was the same feeling he got from the Ashfallen Trading Company headquarters in Ashfallen City when he visited Tartarus.

This time, it targeted him directly. The illusion Qi that had coated his clone's skin to resemble a human melted away. Simultaneously, the gravity Qi that had held the body together also vanished, causing him to melt to the ground.

What in the nine realms is happening? I'm being attacked, but from where? He desperately searched with his spiritual sense, but the wrong feeling was everywhere. It was as if reality itself was deconstructing him. Is this the power of the All-Seeing Eye? Vincent thought back on what Lord Flamehunt had said. The presence of the immortal is everywhere. Is this what he meant by that?

His illusion being dispelled wasn't that shocking. Many cultivators could do that. Destroying the gravity Qi holding it together was a bit more impressive but not out of the realm of possibility.

Vincent felt genuine fear when his blood began to fade away as if dissolving into the air. It disappeared far slower than his illusion and gravity Qi had, but the fact it could be done at all was terrifying.

However, because the process was slower, he could finally trace the source. It's a destructive type of Qi originating from the ground. Hold on, the ground? Is it being distributed through those tree roots I saw growing along the basement walls? He couldn't believe it, but more and more things were pointing toward the spirit tree on Red Vine Peak being the source behind all of this.

As his connection was cut, he returned to his consciousness. His heartbeat continued to echo across reality, but nothing answered.

"All my blood clones are dead," Vincent concluded as he opened his eyes. The immortal of Ashfallen, the All-Seeing Eye... whatever name that entity wished to go by. It wasn't a simple cultivator. No, it was a god of destruction. A being that would bring an end to the nine realms. "It's not Stella Crestfallen the heavens fear. It's the one standing behind her."

Vincent found himself at a crossroads. Judging by how long it took the immortal to destroy his blood compared to his other two Qi types, it must be a Qi type he struggles to destroy, at least for now. So, he had a chance to act. One that he might not get again.

"You have got to be joking," Vincent began laughing. He couldn't believe it, but the threads of fate had turned him into the hero in this situation. His selfish desire to take the Crestfallen bloodline might be the only thing that could stop the ninth layer of creation from falling to a single spirit tree.

"Maybe the heavens will smile upon me on this fateful day where a villain rises to take down a greater evil."

Wrapping himself in illusion Qi to turn invisible, he left the Flamehunt residence. Flying up into the sky with the setting sun to his back, he ignored the Redclaws flying around and spread out his hands. A million ghostly threads of blood manifested as he took control over everyone who had taken a blood pill.

"The night of reckoning begins now," His spiritual heart pounded in his chest as he sent out an illusion through the links. Your greatest wish will be granted at the top of Red Vine Peak. All you have to do is touch the great spirit tree.

Like a moth to a flame, every mortal, young or old, flooded the storm-filled streets and began charging toward Red Vine Peak.

"Let's see how many mortals that void array can strike down before it runs out of Qi." Vincent smirked as he followed the crowd and floated toward Red Vine Peak. Unlike the mortals who were charging to their deaths. His greatest wish really would come true should he reach the peak.

Without the void array in his way, only the immortal would stand between him and Stella Crestfallen, and he was willing to go all out.

"Now let's see how you plan to deal with this situation," Vincent gathered some gravity Qi around his fingers and aimed toward Red Vine Peak. "A good party always starts with a bang."

An intense ball of gravity, Qi erupted from his hand and, to his surprise, smashed through a barrier around Red Vine Peak, impacting the large spirit tree in a shower of splinters.