Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

"That will be all for this lecture on how to overcome the limits of your affinity. Are there any questions?" Elaine scanned the lecture hall for any raised hands or confused faces, but all she got back were bored looks or lecherous stares.

She stood on a raised wooden platform surrounded by rows of benches curved around the circular lecture hall. This was so all students, no matter where they sat, could get a good view of her, and the wall behind her that was painted in a thin sheen of low-grade spirit stones so she could draw and write things with her Qi.

Written on the silvery wall in glowing black lines were the fundamental truths that her uncle had taught her, and since she was relatively familiar with this topic due to her own research in an adjacent field, she decided to memorize her uncle's left-behind lecture notes and give the talk today.

A small sigh escaped her lips. The students had come from far and wide across the Blood Lotus Sect to attend this Academy. Most were from noble families, but a few mortals that awakened their spirit roots were sprinkled here and there in their little clusters. They were easy to spot due to their lack of majestic robes and fingers weighed down by golden spatial rings.

Without a noble family to provide the cultivation resources and facilities needed to advance, these cultivators raised by mortals had to spend every Golden Crown they could work for on those resources that the nobles got for free.

Elaine would pity them if not for their and everyone else's utter lack of interest in her lecture. She knew she was partly to blame as she had never been the best at public speaking. However, she wasn't the sole reason for their disregard, as it was also known throughout the sect that Darklight Academy was where the talentless, delinquents and descendants from side branches came to study.

Why would anyone willingly attend Darklight City's Academy when Slymere was a quick airship ride away? Darklight was known for its mining and farming industries. In contrast, Slymere was known for its creative sector and top-tier Academy attended by all noble families, including the Nightrose family.

Comparing the two was like night and day.

"Seriously, no questions?" Elaine glanced at the top row, wholly occupied by those from the Redclaw family. Unmistakable due to their crimson hair, dark red robes, and similar features. Even they seemed a little bored, which hurt Elaine's pride a tad.

With nobody engaged or asking questions, Elaine checked her internal clock. Qi followed the will of the realm, so it was easy to estimate the time by checking the density of various Qi types floating around, such as light.

Elaine touched the silvery wall behind her and pulled the Qi back into her Soul Core. It was teacher etiquette to remove one's Qi from the spirit stone wall, and there was no way Elaine would waste the precious void Qi she had managed to accumulate by leaving it here.

"Well, since nobody has any questions, I shall end this lecture a little earlier than planned. Have a good day, everyone... Oh, and don't forget about the alchemy tournament happening in two days. Everyone from the Academy is allowed free entry."

Elaine's words were drowned out by the sudden chorus of students standing up and gathering their things before leaving the room. Only a few cultivators—mainly from the Redclaw family—gave her a short nod as they walked out. As the region's ruling family, they had been told by their Elders to respect the teachers at the Academy.

With another sigh, Elaine gave the now empty lecture hall a quick glance to make sure nothing was left behind, and then she followed the tail end of the students down the corridor.

Her mind wandered as she walked alone through the hallways.

Elaine frowned as she imagined her father's face if she told him she had almost slept with someone from the Terraforge family. Raised as a scion of the Voidmind family, Elaine had been taught that the Terraforge family were no better than the beasts that howl beyond the walls.

But it was nowhere near as bad as the stigma her father had drilled into her head.

She only caught a brief glimpse of Dante shutting the door behind him before he used Void Step to vanish. The runes engraved in the walls and doors of the corridor flashed with power as they attempted to suppress the influx of Qi, but there was very little in this world that could stop Void Step—the famed movement technique of House Voidmind.

Technically it was a joint study between uncle and her. And it wouldn't be peculiar for the scion of the Voidmind family to enter a study run by his Elder and sister, but it still struck her as odd.

Elaine approached the study's door with bated breaths. The bland wooden door looked normal, like always. It clicked open when she inserted her Qi, and the insides looked as disorderly as ever. The central desk was still covered in parchments.

With the tournament so close and all the noble families arriving today, she saw little need for more meetings, so maybe she could just tell Douglas to call them off. The stage was already set, and they all knew chaos was on the horizon.

Elaine wasn't buying it, but she couldn't find a way to get to the truth without confronting Dante about it, and that was an interaction she wasn't eager to participate in.

There were many ways to die in this ruthless world, but asking too many questions was one of the best to find a sword through one's back.

Elaine sighed as she left the lecture notes on the desk and ran a hand through her silky hair. What was she to do? Why was everything so stressful now?

She found herself pacing the messy room. All that lay before her were twisted paths without clear results—something she hated.

She stopped her pacing and glanced out the window.

***

"Not enjoying the soup?" Douglas looked at her with those warm brown eyes. Elaine just stared and got lost in them. Her mind told her this was illogical and that she was only enthralled with him due to the circumstances surrounding their meeting.

Yet after a few days apart and spending them alone meditating in the Void Chamber or reading research notes, she felt the same warmth she had the first time they met.

"Is there something on my face?" Douglas started licking his lips as if trying to remove nonexistent food from his stubble.

"No, I was just enjoying the view," Elaine smiled—glanced away, and decided to hide her shamefulness by dipping bread in her soup.

Douglas snorted, "Bold today, are we."

"Perhaps," Elaine tapped his shin under the table with her foot, "But wait till after the big day."

Telling Douglas to wait until after the tournament to avoid blowing their cover had been her tactic to delay things so she could get a better feeling for the relationship. She was now more sure than ever that this was a relationship she wanted to pursue after spending time apart. The problem was she had zero experience in dating as she had been moved out of the family before she could be used as a marriage pawn.

This lack of experience had been fine when she felt her life was at risk if she didn't latch onto Douglas. But now it was different. She could approach it with a calm mind, and that just made it all the more stressful.

"Stop teasing me then," Douglas grumbled.

Elaine continued smiling, lost in her own little world.

***

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Ashlock awoke to his system notifying him that yet another day had passed. Honestly, the last two days had been rather dull.

"Isn't the meal at the Immortal Gourmet Pavilion happening tonight?" Ashlock slurred to himself as his mind kicked into gear.

Other than watching the various noble families arriving, he had spent his days overseeing Stella in the cavern, trying to improve the Mind Fortress pill.

On the topic of noble families, he had expected all of them to turn up with big-shot scions after the Voidmind and Skyrend family, but that was not the case. Azurecrest, Starweaver, and Terraforge all showed up with people from side branches or low-ranking scions if the grumbles of Elder Brent were anything to go by.

However, this information didn't put Ashlock at ease. Instead, it made him even more worried. Dante Voidmind's reason for being here was discovered by his sister, so why was Theron Skyrend here with his sister?

"No way he plans to invade too? I still don't understand why Dante needs an alchemist tournament to justify his invasion." Ashlock felt a headache coming on so early in the morning. He needed more information, but the mansions controlled by the various families throughout the noble district were heavily guarded, just like the Voidmind mansion had been.

While mulling over his options, a portal appeared.

Stella and Diana strode through and glanced around.

Honestly, that was unnecessary. {Abyssal Whispers} was an A-grade mental attack skill, it could force its way past even the {Mind Fortress} fruit if he put his full power into it, but he hadn't, as hurting Stella had never been the intention. When he saw her struggling, he'd pulled back his presence and tried to avoid sending any mental attacks her way.

Diana stood there glancing around as if trying to find the white fog Stella was talking about, so he activated the skill and targeted her. He only used a fraction of its full force as she was a realm weaker than Stella. Within a second, he had smashed through her mental defenses and weaseled into her consciousness.

It was a surreal experience, even for him. The sensation of his voice actually being able to leave through his trunk and travel down the mental link through the skill was magical to him in a bizarre way.

Immediately Ashlock felt a force try to push him out, like a hot blast of air. He could resist it by dialing up the power of the skill, but he did so in a way that focused on telepathy rather than all the hallucinations.

"Can you hear me?" Ashlock asked, and Diana practically jumped out of her skin.

"Yes, I can. Wow... this is so weird." Diana's monotone voice came straight into his mind and didn't sound slightly distorted like usual.

"Sorry, Patriarch, I am just a bit distracted." Diana said through the mental connection, "I didn't expect your voice to sound like this."

"Does my voice sound weird?"

"It's hard to describe, but it's like a chorus of a thousand tortured souls all shouting at once past my ears and straight at my soul." Diana laughed, "Meanwhile, I thought you would sound like an old grandpa... no offense."

"None taken," Ashlock replied. It was unfortunate to learn his voice was so hard to listen to, but with a skill named {Abyssal Whispers}, it made sense that he wouldn't have the voice of an angel.

"I can feel a pressure on my soul that's making it hard to stand here," Diana admitted, "As if your words are direct attacks wearing away the barrier on my consciousness from the pill Stella gave me."

This was actually a topic Ashlock had some ideas for but hadn't had a chance to bring it up.

"Diana, you see that pile of bones over there?"

She turned around and saw the pile, "Yes, Patriarch, I see them? Aren't these the bones left over from the hunt a few days ago?"

"Yes, they are the ones Stella didn't snap in half because they didn't have enough Qi to be Dragon Marrow. I had a thought. Would either you or Kaida be able to artificially create Dragon Marrow with demonic Qi?"

Diana was nursing her head after his words, but she slowly nodded, "It's possible, but I wouldn't advise it."

"Why not?"

"Well, if you order me to, I can force my demonic Qi into a single bone, and it may transform the insides into Dragon Marrow. But then I would have wasted weeks of cultivation and thrown off my body's harmony between demonic Qi and water Qi." Diana paused to massage her temples and close her eyes, "Kaida is much the same. It just doesn't seem worth it to me."

Interesting. So it was, in fact, possible, or at least Diana thought it was. But it was such an inefficient method that it was basically off the table.

"Sorry, Patriarch, do you mind retracting from my mind?" Diana half begged, "My soul is trembling."

Ashlock said nothing to avoid inflicting further pain and turned off the skill.