[Tree] Chapter 391: A Girl Needs A Hobby

Stella looked out of her house's window, a light smile tugging at the edge of her lips. The slow ruin of reality before her eyes was simply beautiful. The endless meadow of lush green grass surrounding her house looked sick as it withered away to darkened soil. The once bright lilac sky had darkened to a deep purple with a gradient to grey and flickers of black. It was dreary and would likely invoke a sense of gloom or foreboding in those who gazed upon it.

But not for Stella.

"The heavens tried to take Tree away from me so many times," she murmured as her eyes narrowed at the lowest of the nine moons.

It had once been a pleasant lilac but now faded into the murky darkness of the sky as it took on a grey hue with glowing craters of purple dotting its surface like some sort of disease.

"So who cares if heavens' reality is brought to ruin? They summoned golden clouds of eyes and tried to smite him down. They sent a dao storm to tear him apart and decimate our home. They gave power to undeserving monsters in human skin." Her eyes flickered dangerously as her voice dropped to a harsh whisper, "People label us as evil for going against the heavens when it's the heavens that are truly evil and unjust. They deprive most people of power, only giving the opportunity of cultivation to a select few. Just enough that the demonic beasts are kept in order, and the origins are murdered over and over again. But not enough that the heavens can ever be threatened."

Stella dug her nails into the wooden frame of her windowsill. "Well, I have something to say about that. Fuck the heavens and screw the endless cycles you have established. I'm going to wipe out the beast tide for good, save the World Tree from her suffering, and have Ash spread the opportunity of cultivation. Then as the heavens tremble in rage, we will initiate the era of ascension and do it all over again on the next layer and then the next until we are knocking on heavens' door. So what if we destroy reality in the process? Ash can regrow it in his vision, whatever that may be."

The door to her room creaked open, drawing Stella's attention away from the desolation outside. Jasmine was rubbing her eyes and yawning while holding a doll.

"Master, why are you angry?"

"Everything is fine, Jaz. Just go back to sleep." Stella said with a fake smile as she calmed her expression.

"Uh huh," Jasmine sleepily replied, "I know you're not fine."

"Whatever do you mean?" Stella said softly as she walked across the room toward her disciple and tried to shepherd her out of the room, "I'm perfectly fine."

"Master, you know I can feel your emotions, right?" Jasmine said as she refused to budge, "We share a special bond and..." she yawned, "Your anger is giving me nightmares."

Stella blinked and then remembered what Jasmine said was true. They shared a special bond as Master and Disciple. While Jasmine could feel her emotions, she felt the direction Jasmine was in no matter the distance.

"Sorry," Stella sighed and patted her disciple's head. It was always strange expecting the feeling of hair only to feel the texture of grass and flowers. "I don't mean to give you nightmares, I'll go do some research, so I won't disturb you."

"No, please don't do that." Jasmine shook her head adamantly under her palm.

"Why not?" Stella tilted her head in confusion.

"I can't sleep when you do research as I get headaches. A small slither of the stress and frustration you get while reading or absorbing knowledge from your ancestors is transferred to me."

Stella took back her palm and began pacing around the room as she tried to devise a solution. "I could practice sword fighting?"

Jasmine stared at her as if she were crazy, "You get angry and frustrated when you practice sword fighting."

"True," Stella grumbled. She paused by her window and got an idea, "I could do some gardening."

"When you do gardening, you always get an idea for a new pill, which then leads to a crazed two days where you do nothing but hole yourself up in the alchemy lab trying to make a successful pill, and during the entire process, you are nothing but—"

"Angry and frustrated..." Stella sighed, seeing her disciple nod. "What about a night walk?"

"So you can be alone with your thoughts and contemplate life?" Jasmine yawned and leaned against the door, "That sure sounds peaceful."

Stella crossed her arms and leaned against the wall opposite her disciple, "What can I do then?"

Jasmine shrugged, "I don't know. Do you have any hobbies that are relaxing? Perhaps ones that you aren't competitive in, such as sword fighting?"

Stella thought long and hard but drew up a blank. "I... want to be the best at everything I do. It's just my nature."

Jasmine yawned again, and her head drooped, "That sounds exhausting," she turned and trudged down the corridor back to her room, "It's good to have fun in life sometimes, and if you can't think of anything, go to sleep or something."

There was the distant sound of Jasmine's bedroom door clicking shut, leaving Stella to stare at the floor, alone with her thoughts. "Have fun?" she muttered, glancing over her shoulder at the dying landscape, "What do I find fun? Killing people? Kinda, but not really. What about cultivating, research, or sword practice?"

Stella's eyes widened a little as she realized something. It wasn't the acts themselves that she found fun. It was the feeling afterward when others would be impressed or compliment her. She was constantly chasing that high of having her pride stroked.

That realization scared her a little.

"I need to get some new hobbies," Stella clicked her tongue and pushed herself off the wall. Wandering around the dark living room, she used her aether Qi to pick up scattered cushions, toys, random cultivation manuals, and bowls of food that she and Jasmine had left and idly cleaned the room to distract herself. It only took a few seconds for the room to be spotless, and Stella had nothing to do again.

She was utterly stumped for the first time in what felt like forever. There was not a single hobby that came to mind that she wouldn't try to be competitive in.

"Hobbies are a waste of time anyways," Stella grumbled as she left the living room, headed to her own room, and collapsed on her bed. As a cultivator nearing the Nascent Soul Realm, she had no need for sleep, but she felt it call to her for some reason. Dark grey moonlight streaked through the half-closed curtains, illuminating her face, and even Stella had to admit the moonlight that had once healed her soul now felt slightly unsettling.

"Did I make a mistake?" She murmured into her pillow, "Did I let my anger at the world cloud my suggestion for Ash to take on such an affinity?" A sigh escaped her lips as she turned over to the darker side of the bed to escape from the moonlight, "No, this is for the best. The heavens need to pay for what they have done to us—"

"Master!" Jasmine's muffled shout came through her door across the hallway, "Can you think happy thoughts for once? I want to dream of sunshine and rainbows, not death and despair."

Stella scowled, "God damn it," she cursed and wrapped her head in the pillow. "It's not my fault life is such a pain."

***

"Douglas, I need a new hobby," Stella said over the rain drumming on the temporary stone structure they were standing under.

"Eh?" Douglas, overseeing a dozen Mudcloaks hastily building a grand entrance for Tartarus to bait Vincent Nightrose to his death, looked at her with confusion. "Why do you need a new hobby?"

"Jasmine got me thinking last night, and I realized I'm too competitive and only do things for the sake of being better than others," Stella said simply, though it did feel strange admitting such a thing.

Douglas blinked, "That's... quite the realization. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"I'd feel better if I had a nice relaxing hobby to do so Jasmine doesn't have to suffer nightmares, and I can become a less angry and frustrated person." Stella took a seat on a nearby rock and propped up one of her legs, "Have you got any ideas?"

"Sure, but why are you asking me?" Douglas scratched the back of his head, "While men and women often share similar hobbies, I think we are quite different from one another, so what I find fun might not interest you. I'd have thought Diana or Elaine would be better to ask."

"Bingo." Stella pointed a finger at him.

"Bingo?"

Stella shrugged, "It's some word Ash said once when I guessed something right, but that's beside the point. The fact we are so different is exactly why I'm asking you. None of the ones I can think of sound good. So, what are your hobbies?"

Douglas leaned on his walking stick and frowned, "It's kind of an unsettling question to be asked for some reason. My hobbies... I guess I like brewing and drinking spirit wine? Hanging out with Elaine and going on dates, uhm..." His face scrunched up in thought, "Yeah, that's about it."

Stella stared at him in disbelief, and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

"That's it?"

"What do you want from me?" Douglas said defensively, "To say I enjoy writing poems? Helping out the elderly? Cultivating? To hell with all those things. After a long day of work for our beloved tree overlord, I like to do nothing more than kick back with some spirit wine and cuddle up to Elaine. I like the simple life."

Stella rested her chin on her palm, "I can tell."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Douglas shot back. "Besides, you are the one seeking advice on a new hobby. If mine are so bad, what are your hobbies then?"

"I have none. That's the problem," Stella replied simply.

"This is dumb," Douglas huffed and returned to work. Stella stayed on the rock for a while, watching him ordering the Mudcloaks around. Eventually, he sighed and said over his shoulder, "Hobbies aren't something you go out and seek intentionally. You're almost bound to fail."

"Oh? Why am I bound to fail?"

"Let's take chess, for example. A game loved by both mortals and immortals. If you go and play chess with the sole intention of making it your hobby, you will subconsciously be expecting an unrealistic amount of excitement from it." Douglas returned to watching the Mudcloaks, "But if you simply go and play chess with no intentions. One day, you will find yourself smiling and having fun. It's at that moment that chess becomes a hobby."

"I see," Stella contemplated his words, "So I just need to go out and try lots of new things with no intentions. Eventually, I'll find myself feeling the urge to do one of them more, and that will likely become a hobby."

"Something like that," Douglas shrugged, "But what would I know? I have boring hobbies."

Stella lept up from the rock and tapped Douglas on the shoulder, "They may be boring to me, but they are your hobbies. All that matters is you enjoy them."

Douglas turned to eye her up and down, "Where did the bratty murder princess go?"

"Who?" Stella raised a brow.

"Never mind," Douglas smirked, "You should join me for some spirit wine sometime. I'm sure you would enjoy the creation process if nothing else."

Stella nodded with a smile, "Sure, I'll take you up on that offer. Right after we kill Vincent Nightrose, though."

"Ah... so that's why you are looking for a new hobby?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's normal to seek out something new when past burdens are weighing on you heavily. We humans are fascinating creatures enslaved by our own minds." He looked at her seriously, "In the end, there is no greater threat in life than ourselves."

"Uh huh," Stella patted the big guy on the shoulder, "Good talk as always," she wandered off toward the construction. It had been decided to build this entrance to Tartarus during yesterday's meeting after the discussion regarding Ashlock's new affinity had died down.

They had been planning to open Tartatus to the cult of the All-Seeing Eye and the new members of the Ashfallen Sect that had joined after the tournament, so this entrance within Ashfallen City had already been planned. But before it opened to those groups, it would serve as Vincent's grave.

The main issue was that Vincent was still very strong. Even if he was trapped in another dimension under Nox's command, there was a decent chance he could claw his way to Nox and destroy her, so Ashlock was waiting and hoping for Nyxalia to return.

Stella let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Maybe Douglas was right; her greatest enemy wasn't Vincent or the heavens. It was her own mind. "I should go practice for our battle," Stella sighed. The idea of doing more training right now hurt her head, and the idea of Jasmine being grumpy with her tonight again led her to crouch beside a random Mudcloak working on the entrance, "Hey, little guy."

"Hi." The Mudcloak said and stared up at her with big glowing blue eyes and a small hammer in hand.

"That was a more normal response than I was expecting," Stella murmured to herself before coughing into her hand, "Ahem, what kind of hobbies do you have?"

"Hobbies?" The Mudcloak parroted, making Stella think the little monster didn't understand her.

"Yeah, things you find fun."

"Oh," The Mudcloak looked to the floor for a moment before glancing back at her with excitement, "Realm domination!"

Stella's shoulders slumped. She had been hoping for a serious answer. How could realm domination be relaxing or a hobby? Hell, she was trying to do that already, and it was precisely what she was trying to get away from.

"Stop bothering my workers!" Douglas shouted over the drumming rain.

"Yeah, yeah," Stella grumbled as she stood up and walked away, "I shouldn't have asked what hobbies a monster had anyways. I'll figure something out on my own. Maybe I'll wander the city and find random things that interest me?"

Not feeling like walking, she summoned Guppy from the aether. The Darktide Devourer had stepped into the Star Core Realm and grown twice the size since consuming the many dull spirit stones below Nightrose City's castle.

"We are going to explore the city, Guppy. No eating people or melting houses, okay?"

The monster let out a soft cry of agreement. "Good boy," she casually leaped eight meters into the air and sat atop his head. "Now go!" She pointed down the main road of Ashfallen City, which was enshrouded in mist from the intense rain.

***

Ashlock watched with satisfaction as the 9th moon reflected half of his Inner World that had succumbed to desolation.

[Congratulations, you have upgraded your spatial affinity to desolation affinity]

It had taken two days of deep meditation alongside his system and absorbing all the knowledge left by Stella's ancestors to comprehend desolation affinity. If not for it being so closely tied to spatial affinity, there was no chance he could have learned it. Luckily, as he had a deep understanding of many daos, spatial affinity, and things like void due to the upgrades to his system skills, he could change his affinity to desolation.

Ashlock brought up his full status menu to check for the changes.

[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)]

[Nascent Soul Realm: 5th Stage]

[Soul Type: Nine Moons(Desolation)]

[Mutations…]

{Evil Eye [A]}

{Cursed Sap [B]}

[Summons...]

{Netherwood Wraith: Nox [Mythical]}

{Harbinger of the Eternal Ash: Larry [SS]}

{Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]}

[Skills…]

{Skyborne Bastion [SSS]}

{Necroflora Sovereign [SS]}

{Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3662]

{Progeny Dominion [S]}

{Dimensional Overlap [S]}

{Nocturnal Genesis [S]}

{Ethereal Roots [S]}

{Voidstorm Aegis [S]}

{Dao Fruit Production [S]}

{Eye of the Tree God [A]}

{Abyssal Whispers [A]}

{Magic Mushroom Production [A]}

{Transpiration of Heaven's Divinity [A]}

{Abyssal Devourer [A]}

{Blooming Root Flower Production [B]}

{Language of the World [B]}

{Fire Qi Protection [B]}

{Mental Protection [B]}

{Superior Poison Resistance [C]}

Sure enough, his one and only affinity listed under his nine moon's soul had been changed from spatial to desolation.

"Once I get fragments of divinity from other layers of creation, I will be able to unlock the other moons and gain access to more affinities. But for now, desolation will have to do." Ashlock mused as his vision blurred. He left his Inner World and ventured far to the north through his roots.

While he was meditating to change his affinity, the world hadn't waited for him. The beast tide was fast approaching, with the edge of the massive storm a mere stone's throw away from the first line of his offspring.

"System, how much of my Qi has transitioned into desolation Qi?"

[Around half with more on the way]

"Most of the Qi still in my ethereal roots is spatial Qi. I must admit, I'm a little worried about what will happen once it all becomes desolation Qi, and I passively release it into the air within my domain. Will everything decay?"

[You are the one who controls what is and can be decayed through your understanding of daos. Your Qi cannot desolate what you don't understand. If you want your Qi to decay water and only water, you can release desolation Qi with only water dao]

"And if I want to decay everything?"

[Stack every dao you have into your Qi, but this will be more costly. Just like void Qi, destruction of other Qi types is not an ideal way to go about things]

"Except for someone like me who has ridiculous Qi reserves?"

[That's right]

"What if I don't have the needed daos to bring desolation to something?"

[You can go about it the old-fashioned way. Obliterate it with spatial Qi that you can still control]

"Ah yeah, Stella mentioned that even though I have upgraded my affinity, I still have access to everything I had before. It just feels inefficient, according to Diana." Ashlock paused as he looked at the moving wall of the fast-approaching storm. The leaves on his offspring rustled wildly in the gales as rain pounded their barks. Relaxing his block on their emotions, he could feel the utter fear from his children as they faced death.

"Don't worry, my children, this beast tide has dared to encroach on my domain." Ashlock's soul pulsed with immense power as his new desolation Qi soared down his ethereal roots to the border. The grass between the storm and his offspring withered almost immediately, and the air began to shimmer. The desolation spread in all directions until all that remained alive were his offspring and the storm.

He was using the one technique he had learned so far: Desolation Field. It created an area that would decay all matter. A simple continuous manifestation of his desolation Qi with a focus on the slow ruin of reality rather than raw destruction. Attacking the storm with spatial Qi previously had proved ineffective as it would simply reform.

He intended to create a vast buffer between himself and the incoming storm that would utilize desolation Qi to break down the storm and weaken the monsters. If not, outright kill them.

"My offspring will be fine, right?"

[As your offspring, they gain resistance to your Qi signature, so your desolation Qi will not affect them]

"Perfect. I don't know who is controlling this storm," Ashlock said as the desolation Qi spread toward the wall of wind, causing it to take on a grey color before fading away, revealing dozens of monsters that seemed apprehensive of advancing onto the blackened soil. "But it's your Qi reserves against mine. Let's see who can outlast whom."