Carried by the storm's turbulent winds, the Cursebloom Sap spread rapidly and engulfed the area within seconds. A demonic bull-looking beast whose curiosity had led it closer to the corpse backtracked from the bellowing miasma, yet it was too late. While the storm was suppressing Ashlock's Qi, the ground was his domain. His roots still infected the soil with desolation Qi, causing the weaker monster's feet to rot and fester with open wounds as they marched over the ruined land.
With the...
2025-04-16 14:52:28 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock was staring at his sign-in system in disbelief.
Idletree Daily Sign-In System
Day: 3671
Daily Credit: 13
Sacrifice Credit: 7409
[Sign in?]
7409 sacrificial credits was an absurd amount—especially given the context. Just moments ago, he'd poured nearly all his funds, 5000 credits, into creating the Blessed Land. These 7409 weren't leftovers—they were profits from...
2025-04-14 14:34:02 +0000 UTC
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First of all, for those who didn't see it at the end of the last chapter, Patreon will be following RoyalRoad's M-W-F schedule, so the next chapter is tomorrow (Monday). This is because Patreon reached the target of increasing the backlog to 30 chapters ahead, which has been my goal for almost a year now. My gf has also started her Japanese black company job, so I only get to see her on the weekend.
Next up, regarding the last patreon chapter, there do seem to be some c...
2025-04-13 14:30:52 +0000 UTC
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"System, where are we?" Ashlock asked as he looked around. This wasn't the void despite the endless darkness, and it certainly didn't feel like heaven. Encircling him, souls were moved across a sea of golden hellfire by a nonexistent wind. Their souls were orbs of varying size and color, likely representing their level of cultivation and affinity type when they had been alive.
However, colored steam wafted off the souls as they were bathed in the divine hellfire. He could hear their scr...
2025-04-11 13:21:25 +0000 UTC
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Elysia woke with a start and screamed. The soul-tearing phantom pain of being annihilated by the heavens faded as she filled her lungs with air. After a panicked few breaths, she realized a few things. First of all, she wasn't dead. Second of all, wasn't this Stella's bedroom?
A hand smacked her on the back of the head.
"Can you shut up?"
"Ow—Stella?" Elysia's eyes widened once more, seeing the terrible condition of her cult leader. "What happened to your arm?"
Stell...
2025-04-09 15:55:28 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock watched on as Stella closed her eyes. After taking a deep breath, she spread her arms in a sweeping motion, and the hundred swords wreathed in white flames fanned out and vanished into the aether. Like a conductor, she motioned at the air, and the slaughter began.
In quick succession, her swords cleaved through reality, decapitating unsuspecting monsters from behind. Some she outright killed by herself, while others were already being seen by other members of the sect before she...
2025-04-07 15:13:17 +0000 UTC
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Stella felt a deep resonance between the ash spider cradling her soul and the sphere of ash that was Larry's Monarch Domain.
The aspect of eternal ash. What a fitting name for Larry's domain. Stella placed a hand on her chest. Something about the ash spider there filled her with a sense of safety. Even if Larry had never explained it to them, her soul seemed to understand its purpose. So long as I remain within this sphere of ash, I have nothing to fear. She looke...
2025-04-05 12:39:28 +0000 UTC
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Stella returned to the safety of her house in Ash's Inner World and laid Elysia down on her bed.
"You're going to be okay, Elysia. You hear me? Hey, don't you dare die on me," Stella said with anger, "It's going to be fine—everything always is."
Elysia's mouth barely moved in response. Her face was contorted in an expression of pain. Her black cloak was dampened with blood, and all of her limbs were going off in the wrong direction.
Stella was frankly shaken by the sight. ...
2025-04-03 12:46:37 +0000 UTC
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"Elysia?" Ashlock shouted into her mind as he watched the tree continue to grow out of her body. "Are you okay?"
A voice answered, but it wasn't Elysia's.
"Father." The tree that had bloomed from her chest swiveled its golden eye to look at him. "My name is Mytherion, and it's an honor to finally meet you."
"What have you done to Elysia?"
Mytherion looked down at the body he was growing from...
2025-04-01 13:28:10 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock's immense Star Core hummed with power as he wielded his will without restraint. There was nobody present on Red Vine Peak as they were all attending the grand funeral, but if they had been, they might have been crushed by the immense pressure he was radiating.
For him to put on a show worthy of a god, he wasn't holding back.
Reality all around him crumbled as his desolation Qi crawled across the sky and ate away at the relentless storm over his lands. His roots that went d...
2025-03-30 14:46:07 +0000 UTC
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Jasmine saw fear in the man's eyes as he stared at her. His posture and muscles were tensed, and he seemed frozen—his mind processing something unknown.
She tilted her head, confused. It wasn't often that people had such a strong reaction to her, especially people she had never seen before.
"Do we know each other?" She hesitantly asked, looking up at the looming giant of a man while blinking.
The large man didn't answer. She studied him, trying to put a name to his face. H...
2025-03-26 15:13:45 +0000 UTC
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Sullivan looked down at the murky tea with small black seeds floating on the surface with a mixed expression. Despite its somewhat questionable appearance, it had a tantalizingly sweet aroma.
"What's wrong?" Mary asked from across the table.
Sullivan glanced up at her, "You said you wouldn't poison my drink."
Mary shrugged, "I didn't promise that. I just said that mortals aren't as ruthless as cultivators," she smiled, "sometimes."
Sullivan closed his eyes, feeling the...
2025-03-21 04:28:45 +0000 UTC
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Stella stood upon an unassuming rock formation. It was a shade lighter than the brown of dirt, with tufts of grass and little yellow flowers peeking through the cracks. The fresh smell of nature was carried by a calm but cold breeze as the sun began to set. To her side, at the base of the rock formation, was a tranquil lake giving way to a dense forest of green-leaved trees.
In fact, for as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but untouched wilderness. It was strangely peaceful, ...
2025-03-17 15:07:28 +0000 UTC
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Stella gradually calmed the raging storm within her Star Core, reining in the white aether soul flames that had engulfed her body, blazed in a pillar, and touched the golden barrier above. As the white brilliance receded, she exhaled slowly, her breath carrying the last remnants of her rage.
"Feeling better?" Nyxalia asked.
Stella stared at the bloody mess at her feet with a frown, "No, the Skyrend family really piss me off." She said as she used aether Qi to lift the bastard's bl...
2025-03-13 13:00:13 +0000 UTC
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The Skyrend family had faced three disasters that nearly led them to extinction, and they were now facing their third. It all started with the challenge of the Voidmind family, another of the old families in the Blood Lotus Sect, regarding their role in the deaths of the scions, Theron, and Kassandra. Grand Elder Demetrios Skyrend had presented the Voidmind family with an ultimatum in accordance with the rules: surrender the scion, Dante Voidmind, or confront the wrath of the Skyrend family.<...
2025-03-09 18:13:50 +0000 UTC
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Diana waited patiently before the black stone gate of Tartarus, built into the back of the Ashfallen Trading Company’s headquarters in Ashfallen City. The gate had been further improved since Vincent Nightrose had been led inside. It now featured defensive runic formations inlaid into its surface, which pulsed with a faint silver light like a heartbeat.
“Thank you for accompanying me, Grand Elder Diana.”
Diana glanced at Evelyn standing beside her.
“No pr...
2025-03-04 21:22:53 +0000 UTC
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“He stole the sword I gifted you?!” Stella was livid after hearing Tree’s words. “How dare he! Here we are, minding our own business, and some bastard from the Celestial Empire comes along and takes my gift to you? Where is he? I’m going to kill him!”
“Calm down, Stella,” Ash paused, “I wouldn’t quite put it like that.” His colossal demonic eye almost guiltily shifted to look at Sebastian and Ryker.
2025-02-28 20:18:16 +0000 UTC
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Lyriana Silverspire frowned at the golden hairpin she was twirling between her fingers. “Why didn’t Sebastian answer me?” She muttered as she fiddled with the artifact inlaid with emeralds. It was a long-range communication artifact that she had used to converse with her son’s attendant many times, and he had never failed to answer her until now.
After trying a few times to call him and not getting an answer, she’d resorted to sending a recorded message. “He must not bring R...
2025-02-25 21:16:15 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock appreciated Catherine taking the lead in informing everyone about the funeral. For some reason, he felt that if he were to speak about the funeral plans, it would carry less weight. It felt so much more genuine coming from Catherine—the scene of a mortal mother clasping hands with a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was moving for everyone present.
Well, except for the mantis, the poor little bug likely had no idea what the hell was going on. Despite the harsh words from Stella, h...
2025-02-22 00:59:15 +0000 UTC
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Stella squinted at the mystical fog and felt a sinking feeling in her chest. She could accept the Redclaw Grand Elder reaching the Nascent Soul Realm before her. He was a war hero who had been cultivating for as many, if not more, decades as the years she had been alive. The gap in their life experience and understanding was simply vast, and she respected the man a lot.
But someone or something else had reached the Nascent Soul Realm.
Is it perhaps Kaida? Stella silently ...
2025-02-18 15:19:23 +0000 UTC
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While Jasmine looked around with confusion, she was surprised to suddenly be embraced from behind. Still jumpy from her month of survival in the pocket realm, she jerked her head to look behind.
"Are you not happy to see your mother?" The woman who had captured her smiled.
After releasing a shaky breath, Jasmine relaxed. "Mother, you scared me." She twisted her body to return the hug. "What are you doing here?"
"Am I not allowed to visit my adorable little girl whenever I wa...
2025-02-16 12:13:32 +0000 UTC
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[Chapter warning: Don't be eating food while reading]
-
Jasmine was surrounded by death. That was a rather dramatic way to put it, but it wasn't wrong. Around her were withered corpses of bugs the size of her head who thought she was free food and curious plants that had tried to dissolve her while she was cultivating.
"Ow, ow, ow." Jasmine hissed through her teeth as she plucked a needle from her arm. It left behind a red mark, one of a hundred that dotted ...
2025-02-14 14:39:45 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock couldn't believe how much divine energy naming the flagship had cost him. "System, did you make a mistake? Naming the flagship cost as much as naming Akasha, who is an ancient spirit tree. Why did it cost so much? Didn't I just give the lump of rock that makes up the Bastion a name?"
[When naming something, you give it a state of consciousness and weave a new thread of fate that ties it to you. Since 'Moros' didn't exist in any capacity until now, you efficiently created...
2025-02-12 12:53:14 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock returned to Red Vine Peak with simmering rage. He knew it was due to his own carelessness, but he couldn't remember the last time he had been robbed.
"Why was that bastard from the Celestial Empire even there?! I thought the strongest cultivator left in that region would be the freshly ascended Silverspire Grand Elder." Ashlock sighed, "I suppose temporarily trading a weapon for the knowledge of that man's presence is valuable. If Stella had rocked up to Argentum w...
2025-02-10 14:39:35 +0000 UTC
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Sullivan felt it—everyone did. He was startled awake out of his drunken slumber. His darkened room on the top floor of his brothel reeked of booze, sweat, and sorrow hung in the air. He had returned here a mess after losing his cultivation due to being mind-controlled by Vincent Nightrose.
"Ugh," he groaned as he rolled over on a heap of clothes on the floor beside his bed. He blinked the stars out of his eyes and squinted at the stained bed.
I must have rolled out of it dur...
2025-02-08 13:58:17 +0000 UTC
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[Author Note]
'Spirit of death' was changed to Soul Eater to maintain continuity with an earlier chapter. Also, Nyxalia inhabits the area between Darklight City and Argentum (Silverspire area). Nightrose City sits somewhere between them. Therefore, references to Nyxalia from Ashlock's side will refer to the west, whereas from Argentum, they will refer to her as being in the east. This might have been referenced wrongly in previous chapters, but it will be fixed.
N...
2025-02-06 13:57:39 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock was somewhat taken aback as his sword that harbored Vincent's vengeful soul devoured the Silverspire cultivator's body. He hadn't known it could even do that, especially on its own.
"Stella gave me this Bloodiron sword as a birthday gift. I know it can grow in strength if fed lifeforce, but since when could it eat people? System, is this a new feature—"
Golden words flashed in his mind, silencing his questions.
[{The Sword of New Beginnings} has devoured it...
2025-02-04 14:05:19 +0000 UTC
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Ashlock had kidnapped not one, not two, but twenty aether Qi trees from Stella's pocket realm, and they were all gathered before him like a small, out-of-place forest. Their translucent trunks shifted in and out of reality, giving them a ghostly appearance, and their starlight leaves seemed unfazed by the violent winds. Their roots were exposed atop the stone, yet they showed no signs of needing stabilization.
He stared down at them with his Evil Eye to confirm his hunch—they were, in...
2025-02-02 14:07:06 +0000 UTC
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Vespera Silverspire, second wife of the Silverspire Grand Elder, stood alone in a courtyard of dancing shadows. Her eyes were closed as she listened to the overhead rumbling of the heavens. It had been days since the divine lightning began enacting its wrath upon the peak, meaning her husband had commenced the final step of ascension.
She had no doubts he would succeed. Selene Silverspire, his third wife, was the Matriarch of the Astral branch of the family. She had a high comprehension...
2025-01-31 14:24:13 +0000 UTC
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Amber Redclaw's meditation had been going smoothly. Due to cultivating above a lake of fire while perched on a sword, nothing but streams of fire Qi spiraled through her consciousness, imparting upon her the knowledge of an eternal blaze and flooding her soul with Qi, all of which she greedily absorbed.
Cultivation had never been so easy, and it made up for the last miserable few weeks due to the beast tide's storm. She was about to pull another Divine Enlightenment fruit from her spati...
2025-01-29 13:52:40 +0000 UTC
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