xkarnation

[Tree] Chapter 83: Acting Mysterious

Two coiling dragon-like flames of spatial and water Qi spiraled up and reached for the stars, making the entire pavilion tremble under the wrathful display of power.

It only took a moment for Ashlock to realize that Stella and Diana had ascended simultaneously to the next stage in the Soul Fire realm, causing the supernatural spectacle.

"Stella should be in the 9th stage now and Diana in the 8th. They are both getting close to the Star Core realm." Ashlock mused to himself. "If I ...

[Tree] Chapter 82: Blooming Root Flower

Two weeks elapsed uneventfully since Stella confronted the Redclaw family. After revealing the existence of the legendary spirit root-improving pill and outlining plans for the alchemy tournament, the elders appeared rejuvenated and eager to be under the Ashfallen sect's rule.

They soon tempered their excitement and raised several concerns, such as the scarcity of fire Qi and their lagging behind other sects. Stella assured them that the immortal would provide a solution in two months' ...

[Tree] (Interlude) Chapter 81: The Ultimate Tournament Arc

"Grand Elder!" A woman's distant voice rang through the library's heavy wooden door, which flew open a moment later as she rushed inside. "The representative of the Ashfallen sect has arrived at the gate alongside the spirit beast!"

The Redclaw Grand Elder looked up from the desk covered in parchments still smelling of fresh ink he had been furiously copying over the last week and eyed the young woman with the same fiery red hair as him.

"Amber? Have they really come so soon? The ...

[Tree] Chapter 80: Mysterious Maple

On the dawn of the seventh day since Ashlock had deployed the {Mystic Realm} fog, he felt something other than random sensations of environments through his roots.

Ashlock felt hands clasp around two of his roots, and he felt tiny paws around another. Ashlock wasn't sure how to proceed, but he felt one of the pairs of hands tug on his root with what he interpreted as desperation and urgency.

"I hope this is right..." Ashlock muttered as he pulled that particular root back...

[Tree] Chapter 79: Trapped far from home

Unlike a usual fog that would spread out and dissipate, the {Mystic Realm} fog stayed in a small compact area around half the size of the central courtyard.

Considering it was an S-rank ability Ashlock was baffled. There had to be so much more to it than a simple fog blocking his senses. Panic had naturally set in as Stella, Diana, Larry, and even Maple, who might be in a higher realm than him, hadn't returned from the fog.

The stone in the central courtyard cracked and fell aside...

[Tree] Chapter 78: Demonic Form

Ashlock watched the villagers converse with each other excitedly after Stella returned to the central courtyard and the rift in space closed. After that discussion, he had naturally amped up magic truffle production as he could tell things would get busy soon.

He still didn't know the limits of alchemy combined with his fruit and mushroom production abilities, so he wouldn't rule out being able to turn a talentless villager into a cultivator, but it would be resource intensive.

Fo...

[Tree] (Interlude) Chapter 77: Annoying Mortals

Stella detected with her spiritual sense that Tree had dealt with the monster, so she focused wholeheartedly on the stone that had drawn her interest.

Other than hearing a soft sobbing sound from beneath the stone, she could detect something alive below it.

Removing the stone was a trivial affair—it was lighter than she had initially thought from its looks, and the fact the soil around it had already been partially dug out from the insect monster allowed her to get some grip. 2023-03-29 16:20:46 +0000 UTC View Post

[Tree] Chapter 76: Death by a thousand cuts

Spatial Qi felt odd to use, but was it really that much different from the other affinities?

Ashlock had made a few observations recently through his demonic eye that could see the color of the ambient Qi.

He had always wondered why the Winterwrath cultivators appeared weaker than the Evergreens even when their cultivation realm and stage were equal—the same could go for the Redclaws—Larry had been able to subjugate them with little effort.

But he had already discovered ...

[NB] 79. Mini Dungeon

Victor sensed through the black ocean network that the massive blob of undead soldiers on the upper floor of the Grand Dungeon had vanished and reappeared in the far distance at the southern and western borders of the cursed forest.

"Mhm... Hyveth teleported them further from the borders than I had hoped." Victor mused as he switched from his Demon Core back to his shadow form. He had decided to leave his Netherborne body on the surface with Alice as they would soon invade the Frostland...

[Tree] Chapter 75: A Two Faced Facade

Ashlock had spent enough time around Stella to know there were two sides to the girl—growing up alone and without anyone to rely on had caused her to mature faster than her peers and develop a ruthlessness that she exhibited when fighting.

Ever since she'd appeared in his limited vision as a small child when he was nothing but a sapling—holding a bag containing a severed head, he knew the girl had a screw loose.

Stella was far more reckless than Diana, who was a bit m...

[Tree] Chapter 74: Treeplomacy

Stella felt giddy with excitement—the skin improvement truffle had worked far better than expected, and now she held up the Dao comprehension truffle between her fingers.

She rotated the odd black mushroom ball in her hand and couldn't help but smile, thinking Tree had grown them for her. "Did Ash grow this after seeing me struggle with the portal technique?"

Her cheeks turned rosy from embarrassment as she remembered her attempts. "Ash must think I am so pitiful," Stella grumbl...

[Tree] Chapter 73: Demonic Punching Bag

As it turned out, Diana didn't have a death wish and surprisingly picked a suitable opponent—Bob, the weird slime creature that resided in the mines. Ashlock was glad about this, as Larry would struggle to hold back his strength, and if Diana had chosen to try fighting him, it wouldn't have ended well as he lacked non-lethal attacks other than portals, which were messy and Qi intensive to use.

Diana had turned into a mist and shot down his hollowed-out root, dropping into the mines mo...

[Tree] Chapter 72: Broken Chains & Magic Truffles

Three days had passed since Ashlock had the dream.

A burst of Qi washed over the courtyard, and a brief pillar of purple flame was visible over the pavilion's walls.

As the fire faded, Stella stood up from her uncomfortable seating position in the center of the runic formation and stretched the cramps of staying perfectly still for three days.

Purple flames sprung to life in her palm, and she smiled at it, "8th stage of the Soul Fire realm at sixteen years old." She...

[Tree] Chapter 71: An Immortal Truth

It took an entire day to {Devour} the heap of corpses which was now nothing but a small pile of tattered cloth and scraps of weapon the corrosive fluid from his vines failed to digest.

While devouring, he had also used the excess Qi to portal over the corpses that Larry had gathered outside the white palace.

Who had killed all the people in the white palace was still a mystery, but Ashlock had his suspicions—a fluffy white squirrel who still looked exhausted and sound asleep on ...

[Tree] Chapter 70: One Man Killing Machine

"What is that thing heading toward us, young master?" A nervous servant of the early Soul Fire realm tentatively asked one of the Winterwrath scions.

The man with wild white hair heaved the greatsword he had used to cleave a portal in half over his shoulder. All around him were frozen roots that had wiggled their way through the earth.

Upon his servant's words, the scion's eyes drifted to the mountain, and he squinted at a large creature scuttling down its side.

Due to the l...

[Tree] Chapter 69: Spokesperson Larry

With a bestial roar that made Ashlock's Star Core quiver—the great storm of ash ceased, and Ashlock opened his demonic eye to gaze upon his pet curiously.

What had become of his beloved spider?

[His Highness of the Nine Realms, Ashen King Larry, has completed his ascension]

[Evolution of {Larry} complete]

The crack in the realm overhead closed, and calm returned.

With the ash storm gone, Ashlock could gaze upon Larry without ob...

[Tree] (Interlude) Chapter 68: Rebirth of the Ashen King

Elenor Evergreen felt her peak stage Soul Core hum in her chest as she raced up the side of the mountain.

The sea of twinkling stars gave a magnificent backdrop to the white palace constructed in place of the old Ravenborne pavilion on this pleasant cloudless night.

A cool breeze blew by but did little to calm the girl. Instead, thoughts raced through her mind about what she had witnessed at the base of Red Vine peak. This was a genuine disaster. She should have accelerated her pl...

[Tree] Chapter 67: Tree Warfare

Ashlock felt a sense of kinship with the young tree—a sort of connection that was unmistakable.

He could feel the tree's emotions through the mycelium network. It was happy—not the type of explosive happiness a puppy experiences after its owner comes home from a long day at work.

Rather it was the happiness one felt after a significant burden was lifted, like being adrift in the ocean and finally being rescued or getting that promotion at work.

The young tree felt happy ...

[Tree] Chapter 66: Mycelium Network

As Ashlock watched Diana rip apart a cultivator a few stages higher than her, he understood why the demonic cultivators were treated as dangerous savages.

Just hours ago, Diana had been her usual self—a bit cold and serious but still a rational-thinking individual. But now, as she tore out the women's thorax and began to eat it... he struggled to see her as the same person.

Stella stood off to the side of the fight, trying to find a safe way to step in without getting her own ar...

[Tree] Chapter 65: Rift Assassin

The cool mountain breeze did little to calm Stella's racing heart as she rushed to Diana's side.

The darkness of dusk had masked Diana's condition, but now that Stella kneeled by her side, with her purple flames illuminating Diana's face—she could see black lines like a spider web under her pale skin crawling up her neck.

Diana's eyes were wide open, and her breathing was erratic, as if she was being strangled and gasping for air.

"Diana? Hey?" Stella gently shook Diana an...

[Tree] Chapter 64: Black Blooded

Ashlock had always been an observer, which felt normal as a tree, so he hadn't questioned it much throughout the years. Nevertheless, he was a mind trapped within a body of wood, unable to speak or interact with the people or the world that passed him by except with the assistance of system-granted skills.

However, at the back of his mind, he knew something was missing. He had seen faint whispers of Qi through his spirit sight—he could watch the ebb and flow of the mystical force cons...

[Tree] (Interlude) Chapter 63: He Who Punches The Void

With the turbulent storm gone, the gathered cultivators at the mountain's base watched the sun dip below the valley's mountain range and plunge them into darkness.

Only the subtle moonlight shed a hint of light upon the dirt road that led to Darklight city and the new Evergreen mountain.

Elenor Evergreen frowned for the umpteenth time at the empty road and tapped her foot impatiently. It had been hours since she arrived here with the others, but the Grand Elders were yet to show u...

[Tree] Chapter 62: A Step to Divinity

Ashlock had a problem—one that Senior Lee had pointed out. There was an apparent disconnect between his consciousness, a hazy blue cloud of nodes that connected to everything, and his soul, which was now a Star Core.

Senior Lee had initially believed there were two souls in his body and had claimed his consciousness was incompatible with his body. This was an assessment that Ashlock agreed with as the more he thought about it, the concept that he was a mind trapped in a tree rather th...

[Tree] Chapter 61: Not the time for Alchemy

Ashlock waited for the perfect moment to strike.

When the Evergreen cultivator's Qi had run dry, and he stood only a meter away—Ashlock unleashed his {Demonic Eye}. It was his trump card, and he had no idea if its bizarre effects would even affect the cultivator, but he was desperate.

If this failed—it was all over.

The sound of his trunk cracking open seemed to draw the man's eyes.

However, he didn't shy away or shudder like Stella and Diana; rather, he appeared e...

[Tree] Chapter 60: The Abyss's Cold Embrace

Ashlock felt a surge of pain through the tether with Larry and also through his {Devour}'s vines. The swirling dome of ash that had contracted around the Evergreen cultivator suddenly began to glow red hot as if trying to contain a star.

"Is the Evergreen guy going supernova?" Ashlock wondered, and his mind raced for a solution. At such a close range, would his trunk even survive? Would Stella and Diana perish?

Maybe they could escape down the root into the mine below and survive....

[Tree] Chapter 59: Fighting on Home Turf

Tristan Evergreen stood rooted in place as the dome of ash swirled around him. Within this cage was the Ashen Devourer, a monster of unknown strength and origins that had evaded and slaughtered cultivators with the strength and tactics of an apex predator.

And now, Tristan was alone, in a one-on-one with the monster. His Star Core flared to life, and Qi flooded every fiber of his body, which was intoxicating. He noticed the weight of his sword had lessened, and his body felt light and f...

[Tree] Chapter 58: (Interlude) The Ashen Devourer

Tristan Evergreen rushed up the side of Red Vine peak with viscous green flames enveloping his form. Ever since the scions of Evergreen and Winterwrath betrothal one another, his life had been flipped upside down.

With their combined strength and a beast tide on the way, the Grand Elders of the two families mutually agreed to team up on the Ravenborne family, which had seen a sharp decline in recent years.

They wanted to secure more spirit stones and advance their youth's cultivat...

[Tree] Chapter 57: Eyes In The Sky

Senior Lee smiled as he watched the blonde girl strike down the heavens lightning. He always enjoyed seeing the heavens being defied by mere mortals.

However, that smile soon turned into a frown as he felt a looming presence bearing down on him.

He had angered the heavens far too many times over the years and knew sticking around for a second longer would be a terrible idea. So, walking briskly over to the spirit tree, he touched its trunk and mentally spoke.

"Spirit tree, I...

[NB] 78. Arrival in Eden

THIS IS NOT A DEMONIC TREE CHAPTER

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Time was of the essence.

Victor watched Toby charging off to the east to defend against the Empire World Core, which left 3 cardinal directions undefended. All with World Cores, armies, and delvers likely anxious to invade and slaughter Necron's citizens and his own army for those sweet contribution points.

Victor planned to send a basic undead army manufactured on the top floors of his Grand Dunge...

[Tree] Chapter 56: Divinity Reborn

Stella could feel Senior Lee, and Diana's eyes bore into her back as she charged toward the burning tree. Of course, they would call her insane, ignorant, or downright stupid. But Stella didn't care about any of that—shaking her head, she felt the wind howl and the thunder roar in her ears as she dashed up Ash's trunk.

She had heard Senior Lee's speech, but she disagreed. Why face the wrath of heaven alone when people are willing to die and grow alongside you?

To live as a culti...