Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

Ashlock awoke to cloudy skies, a cold breeze, and the promise of rain. But that didn't bother him, as today was the end of the Mystic Realm. For once, he hadn't been entirely left out of the fun due to his new {Dimensional Overlap}skill letting him explore distant pocket realms as a tree, and he could even traverse them by floating around with {Skyborne Bastion}.

"I can't wait for them all to get back." Ashlock had been rather bored since Kaida went back into the Mystic Realm. Ideas on how to use Kaida's new abilities had occupied Ashlock's mind since, alongside his vain attempts at learning Warp Strike. Thankfully, the technique seemed more manageable to grasp than Spatial Lock, but it would still take him some time.

Warp Strike aside, Ashlock was still amazed at how Kaida could use his ink Qi to manifest a technique from a book into real life just by gaining heavenly insight from the ink.

"His affinity would be rather useless on Earth, where everything is digital," Ashlock chuckled as he imagined Kaida hissing angrily at a computer screen. Luckily, they were in an ancient-style world where the most profound scholars recorded their deepest insights in ink on parchment for the next generation of heaven-defying youngsters.

"We didn't get a chance to test so many things as I didn't want to hold back Kaida's cultivation just to sate my curiosity, but the potential of Kaida's ink affinity is near limitless," Ashlock mused as the sunlight snuck through the clouds and illuminated the dreary, quiet mountain peak. "Like what if Kaida wrote a hundred different techniques into the scales on his body and then, during a battle, activated them? Could he wipe out an entire army by himself with enough preparation?"

It was an exciting thought, but Ashlock also hoped for great things from the others. Stella should have grown in power, the Redclaws might have gained something useful from down that staircase below the slain fire titan, and Diana and Elaine went off with Maple's siblings, so he had no idea what to expect from them.

While waiting, Ashlock glanced at his sign-in system that had popped up to notify him of a new daily credit. It was weird to think that those daily credits had been so important back when he had been a sapling, but now they felt like a drop in the ocean.

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3559

Daily Credit: 7

Sacrifice Credit: 2303

[Sign in?]

"Seven days have passed since I signed in for my SSS grade skill. So today should be the day—" Ashlock paused as the sunlight hit the Mystic Realm fog, and it evaporated away like foam from a beer. "Yeah, there we go."

He caught the briefest glimpse of pocket realms vanishing, and if someone from his group was inside, they were deposited out. The first to appear were the Redclaws.

"You have done well, Grand Elder," Ashlock said within the man's mind with {Abyssal Whispers} while confused about their odd behavior. What had the Grand Elder done to Elder Brent?

Just from passing his spiritual sight of the group, Ashlock could tell they had grown considerably in strength. However, since they were grouped together, he couldn't tell exactly how far they had grown, so Ashlock opened his {Demonic Eye}.

"It's essential I know exactly how strong everyone in my sect is, so in the future, I never send someone to complete a task above their capabilities." Ashlock mused as the sound of his trunk splitting open filled the mountain peak.

Inspecting them one by one, Ashlock had mixed feelings.

"Grand Elder, you have improved by a single stage and now reside in the 6th stage of the Star Core Realm." Ashlock was a little disappointed as he had hoped the Grand Elder would be closing in on the Nascent Soul Realm a bit faster than this. Curious about why the Grand Elder was seemingly progressing slower than he expected, he asked, "Is there a reason for your slow progress?"

The Grand Elder bowed his head, "I assisted Elder Margret and Elder Mo with reaching the Star Core Realm, and the Qi density in the pocket realm was a bit too low for me, but I must admit there is no justification for my slow progress."

"Mhm, that is an acceptable reason," Ashlock replied as he shifted his gaze to Elder Margret and Elder Mo. They had both reached the first stage of the Star Core Realm. If the Grand Elder only went up one stage to get two Elders to the Star Core Realm, that was a win in his book.

Deciding now was the perfect opportunity to implant a mental seed in his followers while they were all grouped before him. Ashlock used {Abyssal Whispers} on all of them.

"Elder Margret and Elder Mo, you have done well. The more Star Core Elders we have, the better our chances against invading families from the Blood Lotus Sect and the upcoming beast tide."

The Elders in question only seemed slightly perturbed under the influence of his {Demonic Eye} and his {Abyssal Whispers}. It made sense since he had spoken to Elder Margret numerous times, and Elder Mo had an iron will.

His gaze turned to Amber, who gulped, and Elder Brent, who was quivering and looking straight at the ground.

"Sorry, just bear with it for a moment," Ashlock muttered to himself as he looked at both of them but then grew confused. Elder Brent was barely in the 9th stage of the Soul Fire Realm, whereas Amber had caught up and was also in the 9th stage. How was Elder Brent's progress so slow compared to Ambers. Maybe he needed some encouragement?

"Amber, you have done a great job, going up two whole stages," Ashlock said, "Your growth is commendable."

Ashlock then directed his Demonic Eye at the quivering Elder beside Amber. "Elder Brent, your cultivation is lagging behind the others. I'm expecting good things from you, so make sure not to fall too far behind, alright?"

"Good," Ashlock replied as he saw the Grand Elder and Elder Margret exchange a look of grave concern.

"There really must be something wrong with Elder Brent if they look this concerned." Ashlock mused, but he had no more time to analyze the Redclaws as other people had arrived.

"You are all dismissed," Ashlock said to the Redclaws, as he wanted some alone time with the others away from earshot, and the Redclaws needed to regain control of the White Stone Palace as some youngsters had gotten rather rowdy.

The Redclaws gave him a final bow before three brought out large swords and hopped on. Amber got onto the back of the Grand Elder's sword while Elder Brent hopped onto Elder Margret's. The five of them then rocketed toward the White Stone Palace in trails of crimson flame.

"Huh?" Ashlock hadn't seen anything except the faintest ripple of spatial Qi.

"How? Did you learn how to use Spatial Step?" Ashlock asked in awe. That had looked like a very complex technique when he had glanced through the book. How had she learned it in a month by herself without the technique manual?

"I was worried and didn't trust the pocket realms anymore, so I might have gone a little overboard with the protection," Ashlock chuckled, "Luckily, it's been very quiet over here. No signs of Nox returning so far, and I haven't seen any rise of monsters nearby despite checking occasionally."

"So... any growth in your cultivation?" Ashlock asked as he looked at her with his {Demonic Eye}.

"You are half asleep right now, aren't you?"

Ashlock was speechless. "You grew by three whole stages?"

Now that she mentioned it, Ashlock recalled that the pocket realm had been named 'Grand Spatial Array,'and the Qi had been listed in his system at the 4th stage of the Star Core Realm.

"No wonder her cultivation skyrocketed. She basically found a jackpot realm specifically designed to speedrun a spatial cultivator to the 4th stage of the Star Core Realm and no further."

Since the pocket realm's Qi was at the 4th stage, if Stella were to go back there as a 4th stage Star Core cultivator, she would experience diminishing returns. A shame, but if they could find another realm like that next time but with higher-stage Qi, then her cultivation might skyrocket again.

Ashlock turned his attention back to the fog and was surprised to see a familiar-looking woman staring face-to-face with Kaida, who had appeared from a pocket realm next to her. The two looked into one another's eyes briefly before Diana spread her arms, and Kaida rocketed into her embrace while hissing happily.

Surprisingly, Diana wasn't knocked to the ground by Kaida's enthusiastic hug. She dug her heels into the stone and formed two small trenches with her heels as she was pushed back a meter.

Ashlock was also very curious. Diana now stood at an equal height to Stella when she had previously been almost a head shorter. Her usual short, tomboyish black hair was now lustrous with a blue tint and ran all the way down her back. She looked a little older with more defined features, especially in certain areas. If Ashlock had to summarize it, Diana had merged her demon and human form to find a middle ground.

Diana's wings suddenly spread out, and then, in a gust of mist, she propelled herself into the air like an angel of death. She flew around a bit before perching herself on Titus's shoulder and looking down at Stella.

But Stella was gone.

Stella and Diana exchanged a confused look and peeked down at the sudden shout.

Ashlock followed the noise and saw Douglas kneeling on the floor, wearing a strange gemstone crown. Elaine was standing beside him and patting him on the shoulder.