Ashlock was relieved to learn that his new {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} skill had two modes, much like {Consuming Abyss [B]}. The purple lightning Qi barrier covering the entire mountain range and Ashfallen City from before was still active, just denser than before.
However, for the initial cost of five hundred sacrificial credits, he could activate the Voidstorm Aegis—an immense defensive formation that would create a dome around him. Anything deemed a thr...
2024-05-26 22:15:18 +0000 UTC
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It didn't take long for Xen and Gerald to stumble upon a legion of skeletons mindlessly marching through the sprawling dungeon. The sound of their bare-bone feet scraping on stone as they moved was a dead giveaway before they had even turned the corner.
"Never seen such a big group before," Gerald mused as he poked his head around and squinted in the darkness. "Gotta be at least ten of them."
Skeletons were among the weakest mob types, at least at low levels—...
2024-05-25 16:48:40 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock had been rather busy picking and choosing which Voidmind Elders to turn into Ents, so he hadn't been able to divert attention away to check on Elaine and her mother's rescue mission, but at least the woman seemed in good spirits?
"Is this normal?" Ashlock couldn't help but wonder.
He had been expecting a more natural reaction, such as shouting, crying, or maybe even hurling a few void lances here and there. Instead, Elaine's mother seemed more interested in g...
2024-05-25 00:04:44 +0000 UTC
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Elaine put on a strong front as she stood over Elder Natalia's corpse, and her gaze swept the room. Despite her best efforts, a conflict of emotions was going through her head.
Elders who had fawned over her in youth and taught her the ways of cultivation were now begging her for their lives. But Elaine's love for them died the day they cast her out, and she learned the true nature of cultivators. Once they discovered she was talentless and being sent away by her Father...
2024-05-23 18:50:53 +0000 UTC
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Xen shoved his finger into the eye of the wolf that had tried to sneak up on him and fried its brain with Holy Smite. The pleasant burning smell tickled his nose, and he couldn't help but lick his lips—even though he never ate things with his mouth. This body was nothing but a skin suit, a vessel for his slime body to exert its terror on the world.
Terror. Xen snorted as he crouched down. His fingers turned into purple tendrils and began dissolving the wolf's corp...
2024-05-22 21:23:11 +0000 UTC
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Hello, Patreons! Sorry to bother you, but Book 3 of Tree is out on Amazon today :)!
A review helps a lot with the algorithm and can be done without buying the book (unless you want to, of course). Obviously, due to all of your generous support here on Patreon, I am able to write full-time, but I still want Tree to be seen and read by a wider audience, so any support on Amazon is greatly appreciated and helps the longevity of the series!
2024-05-22 18:10:11 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock knew from the moment Larry gained divine authority over ash and decay that the battle with the Voidmind family would be easy. Void Qi had immense upsides with its capabilities to fight people of higher stages or even realms, but as with anything, it also came with equal, if not worse, downsides. The difficulty of cultivating void Qi aside, it was the only affinity that had absolutely no effect on divine beings.
Now, down here on the lowest rea...
2024-05-21 20:53:49 +0000 UTC
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Gerald's vision slowly sharpened as he blinked away the tears from the terrible stench. To his confusion, a pale-skinned man with black hair that matched his empty eyes loomed over him and offered a hand.
"Xen? Is that you?" Gerald asked apprehensively.
I mean, Xen did just dissolve into a pile of foul-smelling gloop and then a man rose from the sludge with the same soulless eyes. So I can't imagine it's anyone else... But his voice and mannerisms are total...
2024-05-20 20:32:20 +0000 UTC
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Tiberius raised a brow in confusion as the message from the Frozen Star Sect cut out. That had most certainly been Janus Crestfallen's voice as he had spoken with the man a few times before he vanished to the far west, where the only Monarch Realm sect resided on a vast frozen plane.
"Run—they are coming for you," Tiberius muttered to himself as he dismissed the golden words and retrieved his pendant from the table. "Do you have any idea what that means, Stella Crestfallen?...
2024-05-19 20:37:55 +0000 UTC
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While Xen was lost in thought about all the possible skills he would gain, Gerald covered his mouth and suddenly coughed violently.
Bringing away his trembling hand, it was covered in scarlet blood that glistened under the dungeon's ever-present light.
"Ha... just my luck—internal bleeding." Gerald slowly looked up at Xen, "I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think you could take me to the surface? I don't think I have much time left. My vision...
2024-05-18 12:30:52 +0000 UTC
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Tiberius's main objective in calling Stella Crestfallen to his office was to sate his burning curiosity. He had lived a long, long life, and as a Celestial Warden of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, he had connections to powerful cultivators as numerous as stars in the sky.
None of them could make a divine being move to save them. Not even one.
Divine beings were transcendent, meaning they had to originate from a higher plane of existence. Until recently, the Worl...
2024-05-17 19:42:01 +0000 UTC
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Xen felt relief seeing the human open their eyes. While in the heat of battle, he'd forgotten that in his wolf form, his Holy Smite skill originated from his mouth. Thankfully, since his magic stat was pathetically low as a wolf and the skill was only F-grade, all it did was knock out the human and briefly blind the wolves that had surrounded him.
Seizing the opportunity, he had dashed past the stunned wolves and ran deeper into the dungeon. He smashed any monsters he came across...
2024-05-16 20:53:19 +0000 UTC
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Gerald had been having a good day. Brandon, one of the more seasoned team leaders for the lower-grade Hunters in the Iron Legion Guild, put up a notice to clear a beginner dungeon listed as being at risk of a dungeon rush.
Which was good news all around.
The government paid more credits for the clear, and there were bound to be far more monsters than usual to hunt and loot, meaning less time wasted wandering the empty tunnels for prey.<...
2024-05-15 17:06:47 +0000 UTC
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Stella pulled the hood of her black cloak tighter over her face as she scanned the many lines before the Lotus Informants, who all stood behind a counter encircling a jade pillar that dominated the center of the Iron Seeker pavilion.
The Eternal Pursuit Pavilion always gave her the feeling that she was being watched, but now it was especially bad. There were fewer people here than usual, but she still picked the line for a Lotus Informant with the most people. There was no ...
2024-05-15 14:30:15 +0000 UTC
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"Owch," Xen muttered once the [Stunned] debuff finally wore off and he could move his jaw. The iron stench of blood filled his nostrils, and the bristly fur of the wolves he was buried in prickled his bare skin. Honestly, Xen struggled to see the purpose of the human form. Human magic was inferior to the elves. His sense of smell and hearing was far worse than a wolf's, and trying to run around on two legs was stupid. Four legs was far better.
So hot... ...
2024-05-14 17:42:09 +0000 UTC
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Brandon blinked away the blinding light as his broad back met the backs of his fellow Hunters. He raised his tower shield, still glowing with the grey light of the Legion's aura.
Without the boss's powerful aura skill that follows anyone he buffs for two hours, we wouldn't have been able to survive this monster rush. Brandon thought as he looked at the death all around him. His arms were on fire, and his breath was heavy as the Buff of a Berserker from his team's mag...
2024-05-13 16:59:43 +0000 UTC
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Stella's Star Core blazed in her chest as she glared at Grand Elder Valandor, who had appeared out of nowhere on Red Vine Peak. The man was the same as always, with his pristine white robes, flowing white hair, and profound temperament despite his younger face. He watched her with cautious amusement and had his hands raised in fake surrender despite the white soul flames dancing along his shoulders.
It had been years since she had last seen this ghost of her past. Valandor ...
2024-05-13 15:07:42 +0000 UTC
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Grand Elder Valandor couldn't believe his ears as he stared at the black-robed cultivator standing outside his door. "Could you repeat that one more time?"
"Yes, Grand Elder," The woman with hair as pale as her sickly white skin gave a slight bow. Her spiritual heart thumped calmly in her chest, and the thick sense of blood tickled his nose, making Valandor uneasy. He never liked being too near members of the Nightrose family.
"The Ancestor was awoken by a Qi d...
2024-05-10 11:45:33 +0000 UTC
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All nine moons cracked perfectly down the middle and slowly split apart to reveal a hollowed space inside each one, except for the ninth moon that kissed the horizon, glowing with spatial Qi. The divine shard that Ashlock thought he had used to repair his damaged soul was floating between its two halves, held in place by crackling purple energy.
"So a divine shard gives the moon its affinity?" Ashlock mused as he gazed up at the sky and the other moons. The same energy crac...
2024-05-08 11:07:52 +0000 UTC
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Vincent Nightrose, Patriarch and absolute ruler of the Blood Lotus sect strode up to the doorway of his cultivation chamber. Slotting his fingers into a hole in the wall, the silver runic lines glowed a dark red in response to his Qi. His power pulsed throughout the cavern, bathing it in a bloodied light alongside a loud crack as the stone split away, revealing a long tunnel.
Swinging his arms that reached his shins, Vincent lumbered through the tunnel, the scraping of his toenai...
2024-05-06 15:07:15 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock felt a tingling sensation like pins and needles rising up through his roots, enveloping his entire land-spanning body. If the cries of concern echoing through the root network were anything to go by, his offspring suffered a similar fate.
"Is this what it feels like to earn the attention of the World Tree," Ashlock shuddered, causing his bark to creak and his leaves to rustle violently as his Star Core quivered. It was an almost impossible sensation to describe, and it wa...
2024-05-04 16:08:06 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock didn't even have a chance to agree to begin his ascension before multiple-system messages abruptly appeared.
[WARNING: Formation of Inner World and ascension to Nascent Soul Realm will shake the realm. The host is advised to take defensive measures as the process will take a week and there is a recovery time]
[WARNING: Soul damage (32%?) detected. Formation of Inner World is ill-advised due to potential corruption]
...
2024-05-02 12:48:23 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock now understood why cultivators were so eager to go supernova upon dying. Or at least it made perfect sense for a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator like Grand Elder Lunarshade.
[+3143 SC]
Despite the juicy notification confirming that he had devoured the Lunarshade Grand Elder's corpse in its entirety before he could go supernova and destroy everything. Ashlock found himself staring down at the Lunarshade Grand Elder who was standing over wh...
2024-05-01 10:34:00 +0000 UTC
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Hi everyone, today’s chapter is being delayed until hopefully tomorrow, as I was away from my PC on a trip during the last two days.
RoyalRoad and scribblehub won’t be receiving a chapter tomorrow (Tuesday) because of this as well.
Sorry!!! See u all for the chapter Ik u are all hyped for soon.
-xk
2024-04-30 09:03:01 +0000 UTC
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Dorian Lunarshade furrowed his brows in concern. The accursed blood invading his avatar continued to spread despite his best efforts to suppress it, and the demonic tree spreading its roots in his consciousness continued to taunt him with words and hallucinations.
"Mhm, such nice weather today, right? Clear skies and a pleasant breeze. It's almost a shame we are fighting on such a fine night as this."
The white fog encircling the edge ...
2024-04-28 07:44:41 +0000 UTC
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Stella blinked in and out of the spatial plane as fast as the spatial Qi could flow through her spirit roots. Her mind was tranquil and calm due to her bloodline, but her body was struggling to keep up. Her Star Core burned fiercely in her chest, and her Qi-enhanced muscles ached as she deflected a needle of silver from piercing her brain with her sword in a shower of sparks and a terrible scraping sound that howled in her ear.
If not for Ash drowning the whole city in spatia...
2024-04-26 08:52:54 +0000 UTC
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The Lunarshade Grand Elder groaned as he clasped a hand around the shaft of metal that was impaling his side. It had torn through his lunar avatar as if it were nothing but water and had taken out his left arm and lung.
It should be impossible for something this primitive to hurt him to this extent, but Qi was a type of spiritual force at the end of the day. A well-made physical projectile coated in runic formations designed to pierce Qi defenses was difficult to stop, no m...
2024-04-24 07:59:17 +0000 UTC
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Elaine noticed a sudden crushing pressure in the room a moment before Douglas. Without thinking, she grabbed Douglas's broad arm with both hands and twisted her body to haul him to the side.
"What?" Douglas yelped in surprise. Their fall was accompanied by a shockwave filled with shards of glass that threw them further than intended, and Elaine was blinded by a flash of white.
"Ugh," Elaine groaned as she hit the floor hard. She hadn't done m...
2024-04-22 00:35:31 +0000 UTC
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"That seemed to have drawn their attention," Ashlock sighed with relief as the Lunarshade Elders turned their backs on the now-defenseless Geb and were enthralled by the monstrosities birthed from their fallen comrade's corpses.
No matter how much his {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} skill had altered them into new forms, some resemblance to their past selves remained. The dome head and flickering lunar flames told the Lunarshade Elders all they needed to know.
They...
2024-04-20 14:23:03 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock gathered his forces from the Duskwalker's residence under the safety of the Bastion's supercharged spatial shield, which practically glowed with power as he routed an entire forest's worth of Qi into it.
While the Grand Elders from the Duskwalker, Mystshroud, Frostveil, and Blightbane families discussed among themselves, Ashlock noticed that one person stood out from the rest. Elysia Mystshroud was attracting attention for all the wrong reasons.
"Maple, what ...
2024-04-18 05:12:22 +0000 UTC
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