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[Tree] Chapter 511: Invasion (End of Book 8)
🕑 Added 2025-09-19 14:26:35 +0000 UTC[Notice: Elaine, Khaos, undefined, and undefined have exited the Eternal Realm]
Ashlock barely had time to inform Stella of the news before his vision blurred, and he looked within his Inner World at the exit of the Eternal Realm. His anticipation could barely be contained. Just how strong had she become? How were her children? Did the birth go well? If he had to guess, it did, the two undefined people marked by the system message had to be those children.
Elaine was the first to appear out of the celestial fog, having to hunch over so she could be led by two adorable toddlers that couldn't have been more than a few months old. They grasped Elaine's finger and walked at her side. Occasionally, she would have to save one of them from tripping and faceplanting, but honestly, it was baffling to see such a clearly young toddler walking.
The one on Elaine's left was a boy with jet-black hair and eyes, looking around curiously; meanwhile, his twin sister had light brown hair and eyes. Ashlock also noticed that she had freckles decorating her cheeks and, unlike her attentive brother, was busy testing if her own hand was tasty or not.
Khaos appeared a second later, looming over Elaine and the children, standing at a height of three meters. Yet neither toddler seemed disturbed by the void Ent's presence—in fact, the boy glanced back and toothlessly grinned at her.
"Come on, you two," Elaine said, taking in the sights of Ashlock's Inner World, "this is going to be your new home."
"Welcome back, Elaine," Ashlock said directly into her mind, as he was too scared to call on Anubis to act as his mouthpiece and terrify the toddlers. "I see you have brought back two new members to the sect. Congratulations."
Elaine beamed, "Thank you, Patriarch." She then glanced around, "Has Douglas returned yet?"
"He has not."
"Could you bring him back here? He said he was going to focus on getting stronger but wanted to be here when I returned."
"Of course, give me a moment," Ashlock said, and consulted with his system. "Pull Douglas out."
[Understood]
There was a sudden flash of white flames as Stella appeared out of nowhere. She glanced around until she laid eyes on Elaine and the kids.
"Elaine, welcome back!" she said more excitedly than Ashlock had been expecting.
"Hello, Princess," Elaine replied with amusement as Stella dashed over. "Is everything well with you and the sect?"
"Er, yeah. Not bad, all things considered," Stella said as she crouched down and squinted at both of the toddlers. After getting a good look at them, she glanced up at Elaine. "So, how was it?"
"How was... what?" Elaine said, chuckling. "You're going to have to be more specific."
"You know," Stella gestured to the toddlers, "creating these things."
"Well, these adorable 'things,' as you call them, took around three months to develop before I gave birth, which is about average for a cultivator. All I did during pregnancy was cultivate, carefully micromanage the flow of Qi in my body, and try to nurture their development as much as possible."
"Interesting. So creating minions takes around three months. Not too bad," Stella rubbed her chin as she stared into the black-haired boy's eyes. Surprisingly, the toddler just stared back at her without any fear. "Did it hurt?" Stella asked Elaine.
"Childbirth? No, not really. It was quick and more effortless than I had expected, no doubt due to my Star Core Realm cultivation." She lovingly rubbed the tops of her children's heads. "The harder task was getting them to calm down and try cultivating."
Stella's eyes widened. "You already got them to start cultivating?!"
"Of course!" Elaine laughed. "The Qi in there was so dense and high-quality that cultivating was a breeze, even for a newborn. Both of them have reached the mid-stages of the Soul Fire Realm already. Though I really have to thank Khaos." Elaine glanced over her shoulder at the Ent. "Without her help in watching over them while I ascended, it would have been a nightmare."
"Ascended?!" Stella yelled in disbelief.
Elaine smirked, clearly enjoying Stella's utter surprise. "I'm now in the Nascent Soul Realm for my illusion affinity. While the kids were a bit of a handful, I was in there for months and only had to go up a few stages. Surprisingly, my void Qi came in quite helpful during the ascension process in cleanly pulling off a supernova and pulling myself back together."
Stella stood up and looked at Elaine with a hint of awe. "I can't believe it. You, at the Nascent Soul Realm? I never thought..."
"That I'd be strong one day?" Elaine snorted. "To be honest, me neither. However, don't be too impressed. I've pushed my cultivation quite hard, so I'll need to spend some time solidifying my foundation and learning new techniques. Though there is a surprise I want to show you."
"Oh? What is it?" Stella asked.
"Just you wait and see," Elaine said playfully as she stole glances at the Eternal Realm behind her.
[Notice: Douglas has exited the Eternal Realm]
"That was fast," Ashlock mused, but then remembered that with time dilation in play, Douglas was likely given ample time to withdraw from the Eternal Realm while they had their conversation. "I wonder how Douglas is going to react to all of this. He is a tough guy, but he also crumbles when it comes to Elaine."
Douglas confirmed Ashlock's thoughts as he stumbled over himself while running out of the Eternal Realm, and only somewhat calmed down the moment his eyes landed on Elaine. Then, he froze when he noticed the two toddlers staring at him.
"Go on, say hello to your dad," Elaine said, gently pushing the two toddlers forward.
Surprisingly, the girl took the lead. Taking her hand out of her mouth, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she put one foot forward and wobbled her way over to Douglas. The boy needed a few more gentle pushes of encouragement to finally leave his mother's side.
"My children," Douglas said, getting down on one knee to embrace them with tears welling up in his eyes. As he caressed their heads, he glanced up at Elaine with an indescribable smile. "I'm... a father now."
Elaine nodded. "They've been excited to meet you."
He lovingly looked down at the twins. "Have you named them yet?"
"As we agreed, I have already named the boy. His name is Talon," Elaine replied. "It's your choice what our adorable daughter's name will be, as she inherited your affinity."
Douglas looked down and met the toddler's eyes, which sparkled as if she knew what was happening and was anticipating her name.
"Phew, this is a lot of pressure," Douglas chuckled nervously. "Luckily, I had quite a while to think of a suitable one, and now looking into your eyes, I'm certain of the name." He tapped her nose. "Your name will be Hazel. What do you think? Do ya like it?"
The girl dumbly nodded and buried her head in his chest.
"I'm so glad ya love it, my little munchkin," Douglas said, hugging her tightly. Not forgetting about Talon, he focused on him next. "Your mother picked a manly name for you, son," he said, patting his head with a grin. "You should carry it with pride." Talon just mutely nodded in response to his father's love.
Standing up, his attention was now entirely on Elaine. "Now, for something I should have done a long time ago." His expression turned terribly serious as he fished out a small wooden box from his brown suit pocket.
"Erm, now isn't the best time..." Elaine said, seeming conflicted for some reason—yet Douglas pressed on.
"Elaine, we've spoken about this for a while now, and you know there's nobody else I'd want to spend eternity with." He got down on one knee and gently opened the box, revealing a beautifully crafted ring encrusted with a perfectly sized diamond. "Elaine Voidmind, will you become my wife—"
Elaine faded into nothingness.
Ashlock felt his mind break at the scene. Douglas just stared forward, unblinking at the sight of Elaine vanishing. Talon and Hazel both began to cry, their howls filling the void left behind.
"Huh?!" Stella said, breaking the stunned stillness. "Where did she go?!"
Douglas was also understandably perplexed. Standing up with a distraught expression, he glanced around in panic. "Elaine? Was it too soon? Did you dislike the ring or the name I picked for Hazel? I'm sorr—"
Elaine suddenly appeared out of the void behind Douglas. She leapt onto his back and wrapped her arms around his wide frame like a koala embracing a tree.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Elaine said, "I just wanted to show off my new Nascent Soul Realm illusion technique, and the timing was a little awkward."
Relief washed over Douglas's tense expression. "So..."
"Do you really need to ask? Of course, my answer is yes, you big oaf!" She fished her arm around him and displayed her ring finger. He absentmindedly took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger as if his brain wasn't catching up to the situation.
Elaine looked at her finger over Douglas's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "I love it, darling. Did you get this gem yourself?"
He nodded. "I fought a gemstone drake to the death for it."
"How romantic," she said, kissing his neck. "Thank you."
"Sorry to ruin the mood," Stella said, stepping before Elaine, "but can I ask how you did that illusion technique? I didn't know that was an illusion at all, and I can't wrap my head around how you did it?"
"Me neither," Ashlock shamefully admitted. Despite the whole incident occurring inside his own Inner World, he hadn't seen it coming.
"Well," Elaine said, unlinking herself from Douglas, "we already knew void and illusion Qi are quite a good combo, and it gets even crazier once I have an infant soul that I can use to inhabit the illusions."
"Your infant soul, of course," Stella nodded as if that made sense. "When did you switch?"
"The moment I left the Eternal Realm. What you were speaking to was an illusion, while I was over there behind that rock," she gestured a hundred meters away to a random rock jutting out from the mountainside. "By using void Qi, I'm able to mask my presence despite being so nearby."
"Wait—darling, you gave birth and made it to the Nascent Soul Realm?!" Douglas said in disbelief and looked down, feigning sadness. "Now I'm not so proud of barely managing to reach the Nascent Soul Realm."
Elaine pinched Douglas's ear. "Are you trying to suggest that your wife outshining you is something unexpected?! Huh?"
"No... I," Douglas began, trying to find the correct response.
"Don't feel bad, Douglas, I outshine you too! As do many others. It's nothing to be too down about," Stella added, only making Douglas groan in annoyance. "Anyway, when is the wedding going to be?"
Douglas and Elaine exchanged a glance.
"That's a good question," Douglas mused, likely glad the conversation topic had changed.
"I want it to be after the war with the Celestial Empire is over and the Ashfallen Sect rules the land," Elaine insisted, pulling the twins to her side. "Until then, I'll be planning the wedding on the side. What do you think, husband?"
"After the war? Oh yeah, sure," he nodded, seemingly happy with the idea of not having to immediately think about it.
"Then that's settled," Elaine chirped as she inspected her ring. "I really love this, Douglas. It's so pretty."
Douglas grinned and hugged her again.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone now. I've got a lot of sleep to catch up on," Stella said, yawning and turning to leave.
"Oh? What could possibly tire the Princess?" Elaine asked curiously. "I doubt many meetings could have occurred while I was gone..."
Stella flinched. "Nothing much, I was just watching over your class for a few weeks and um, giving them some guidance."
Elaine's face instantly paled. "Stella... what did you do to my elites?"
"Nothing much, honest. Just a few weeks in a forest and a training exercise. If any of them mention an execution, just know that was a joke. Anyway, I really must be off. Bye!" Stella vanished in a flash of white flames before Elaine could say another word.
"I swear if she hurt them..." Elaine narrowed her eyes.
"Jasmine is in the elite class, right? I'm sure you have nothing to worry about with her watching over her Master," Douglas reminded her.
"I suppose you're right," Elaine relaxed somewhat. "Jasmine has a good head on her shoulders."
"You two should leave with the kids," Ashlock said into Elaine's mind. "I'm about to receive a lot of Qi, and I don't know what is going to happen here in my Inner World if I reach the boundary of the Monarch Realm."
Opening a portal before them, the two nodded at each other.
"Okay, we will go then. But I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me use the Eternal Realm, Patriarch!" Elaine said before ushering a curious Talon and Hazel through the portal.
"You're welcome."
"Yeah, me too, Boss!"
"Douglas, report for work tomorrow. A lot has piled up in your absence."
Douglas winced. "You got it, Boss..."
"Now go, enjoy your rest."
The two promptly left, and Ashlock closed the portal behind them.
"Now, let's see. Over the last month, by drawing deeply from the World Tree and spending most of my time sleeping under the nine moons, I was able to push my cultivation even further. Will the Qi from the last month in the Eternal Realm be enough to push me to the elusive peak of the 9th stage, so I can become a true Monarch?"
[Comprehension of void dao has increased]
[Comprehension of illusion dao has increased]
[Comprehension of earth dao has increased]
"Ah, here it is!" Ashlock felt a sudden rush of Qi flood into his soul. His entire Inner World shuddered with power, causing a storm of golden lightning to crackle across Ashlock's Inner World until another system message eventually appeared.
[You have reached the threshold for the Monarch Realm]
Ashlock stared at the system message floating in his mind. Despite somewhat expecting it, he was still in disbelief. Him? At the Monarch Realm? Was this a dream?
However, he was merely at the threshold, and if his ascension to the Nascent Soul Realm was anything to go by, his system would want him to complete a list of tasks. As he expected, the dreaded system message appeared.
[Monarch Realm ascension requirements:
Possess an Inner World: 1/1
Comprehend Desolation Law: 63%
Devour the souls of nine Monarch Realm beings: 0/9]
The list was far shorter than he expected, and he already possessed the first of the three. However, comprehending the law of Desolation Qi was no easy feat, as he required intimate knowledge of dozens of different affinities. "Thankfully, the Eternal Realm can help me with that, but I also have to devour nine Monarch Realm souls? Doesn't that basically set me on a warpath with the Celestial Empire, no matter what? I doubt there are nine other Monarch Realms on this layer of creation... unless I resort to eating my own sect members?"
On that morbid thought, the system message changed to one that lifted his mood.
[Rewards:
Ascend to Monarch Realm
Unlock a suitable Monarch Domain
Initiate the Era of Ascension]
Ashlock focused on that third reward—the Era of Ascension. The event that was orchestrated by the previous World Trees to link the layers of creation and rise toward the heavens.
Except this time, it would be a demonic tree doing the honors. But didn’t the World Tree have to be at the peak of the Monarch Realm to pull that off? How come he could initiate it so soon?
The answer was no doubt system fuckery. He had an Inner World as Nascent Soul Realm after all.
Ashlock dismissed the system messages and left his Inner World. While looking at the distant horizon, he mused to himself.
"All is going to plan. My roots are rapidly expanding along the leyline toward the Celestial Empire. It won't be long until they make contact with the outermost territories of the Celestial Empire, and the citizens begin to grow aware of my encroaching presence. While their leaders find their precious golden sap rotten, chaos will ensue, as the Empire faces a threat it cannot understand."
Ashlock chuckled.
"After all, nobody will expect the culprit toppling an Empire to be a tree."
= End of Book 8 =
Comments
Havics Child
While yes, at this point in time they can likely take out an early to mid monarch that doesn't have backup, any in the upper stages would be out of their league. To kill them and capture the nascent soul will likely require ash to be in range with his roots. They also can't have this battle outside of his root range unless they want to announce their presence having Moros floating through the skies, something that even while shifted into the ather nascent and monarch realm beings alike can detect, just like how more observant people can detect Ashlocks gaze.
Harry Dennehy
i feel like theres going to be 9 monchras in thier realm which includes stellas monther sister and hes going to somehow forget about the pocket realms and caused a rift or somthing with stella and if that happens thats lowkey bad asf writting casue its so obsou when he has access to every single pockrealm
William
Honestly, it feels like monarch realms in general are a little over hyped in Ashlocks mind at this point, cause they DEFINITELY have a few ways to deal with them at this point, for example, Send in Larry and support him with Khaos and Bob, who are now both at the peak of the nascent soul realm (presumably also add the third general that will soon be created). Add in calling a favor from Zepherine and you have a SECOND presumably upper level monarch. And then convince Maple to help out, who's actually power level is quite inconsistent and vague, but DEFINITELY can at least wound a monarch, going by the fact that he has TWICE eaten a monarch realm's arm. Add in Kaida and (dragon guy who's name illudes me) (though they are both a bit under leveled for monarch fights at the moment, they have decent power and versatility to contribute meaningfully). That is a roster of 8 individuals that can at the lowest level, contribute, to a fight against a single monarch realm, and on the upper level, MAY OR MAY NOT, be able to handle one or more weaker monarchs ALONE. And then you can build that team around Ashlock controlling Moros, for a NINTH/10th combatant that can contribute more than the standard amount of a peak nascent soul plus a few parts of the benefit of a 3rd monarch on the team. And this is leaving out that they definitely have a decent handful of other reasonably high level individuals they could call on for more support, (individuals who would absolutely be in the role of "hit once and vanish from the fight") Basically just have that Larry,Zephyrine combo hold the focus of a monarch or 2, while the next rank of fighters inflict damage, or distract/threaten the monarch(s) for LZ to finish the fight. I see little reason that this team could not be used to fully capture/incapacitate and restrain a single monarch, especially in the eternal realm. And honestly by all we've seen, this team is WAAAYYY overkill for that purpose. We technically dont know for sure at the moment that the now PEAK nascent soul VOID ent, Khaos, could not single handedly assassinate or gravely wound a lower level monarch at least. And if its a matter of wanting to always have a monarch on hand at red vine peak for security or something, then AGAIN, the actual monarch on the team is farely interchangeable between Larry and Zeph, by everything we've seen so far of her character, she seems like she would be pretty easily convinced to aid with something like this in return for the promise of a small mountain of Ash's fruit, and/or, an immediate attack on the celestial empire following the monarch hunt. This is ALSO, leaving out that they STILL have not actually used Nyxalia for ANYTHING, and Im not really sure that we even have any reason to THINK that the celestial empire would SURVIVE if they just told Nyxalia to go take a bite out of the Council. This is ALSO, leaving out that Stella could almost definitely just go back to the Tessilate Citadel, and tell them to get her a few well restrained (criminal) monarch realms as a gift for when she comes back next time, probably dont mention that its for her father since that would put more suspicion on why its THEM getting it, but if she framed it as more of her just playing around, and tells them that she'll put in a good word for them with her dad or something like that, or gift offer them some kind of fairly ridiculous gift in exchange or something. And they could pretty easily just have a set of 9 monarchs completely restrained and powerless, ready for her to pick up like takeout for Ash to eat. It REALLY wouldn't be that hard to do this part. The only real issue im seeing is that they dont necessarily WANT, the era of ascension to start right now, since they have bigger advantages than likely almost anyone on any layer of creation right now( except maybe like the top 3 or something). But the point still stands, there are PLENTY of low risk ways that Ash could be getting fed monarchs right now, in fact, since hes been worrying about the slowing of his credit gains lately, this is the PERFECT time to have a feast of monarchs given to him out of the eternal realm like when they slaughtered those space whale things in that one pocket realm with the library in it. He wouldnt be risking much of anything by trading for criminal monarchs with the tessilates and he would be MAXIMISING his credit gains since he wouldnt be rising in cultivation and would just KEEP getting high amounts of credits from eating things higher level than him, in perfect(ish) condition. I just think its about time we stop pretending that monarch realms are an actual threat to the whole sect in anything less than a full group of 4 or 5 of them or a very high level/peak monarch. If its just a handful of them, at similar stage to Larry,, the Ashfallen would almost definitely steamroll the fight just by virtue of how many heavy hitters and strange methods they have that are extremely difficult to defend against. The Ashfallen just have too many WONDERFUL advantages stacked up together at this point to NOT be able to handle individual or small groups of mid-low level monarchs. And by what we know so far, thats really all there should be on the ninth layer at the moment, the celestial empire all together is of course a major threat to the ashfallen still, but unless they come in FORCE, they arent likely to really endanger the sect. And the sect is definitely at the point of being able to hunt/kill a few monarchs here or there. Especially if Larry goes into the eternal realm alone for a little while.
Potatoman89
<3
zozzy the beast
Couldn't he just eat 9 monarchs in the eternal realm. I feel like that's an obvious thing to do.
Pyronite_OD
you can cultivate in an area without your affinity. its just inneficient as you have to convert it to untamed qi, then into your own qi type in your soul
Excess
Xkarnation, in the chapter “sixth layer” Ashlock and Diana still describe the Eternal Realms time dilation as halving each time.
Justice League
My personal thought is, maybe Ashlock does eat the world tree, but can he hide her soul somehow in his weird little flesh-tree? Or give her a tree-life in his afterlife?
Alexey Gladkich
Hmm... how would the Earth and Void affinity children be able to cultivate in an Illusion Pocket Realm? Or did she pick one of the Earth-Illusion mix? But then what about cultivating the Void?
Brian Block
The entire set of nine(maybe more, I can't recall) Celestial Empire council members are Monarchs. We met them in their own chapter and have names for at least a few of them.
Brian Block
The commercialization of it is certainly recent and has somewhat ruined the tradition, at least in Western cultures. The concept of wedding rings or wedding jewelry is at minimum two thousand years old across dozens of cultures and doesn't feel out of place in the story.
Victor DoUrden
Rings are a very recent thing that forever ruined and took a shit on marriage. The stupid as fuck thing was started by a scumbag jewelry company. One of the ones that make worthless rocks artificially scarce
Andrew Fox
I'm pretty sure Diana gave her a crash course before, though I think that was more them playing with eachother than actual sex ed.
Warphole
Great chapter! Is Ashlock going to go fishing in pocket realms for Monarchs? Because outside of Larry and the World Tree family, there are only four Monarch Realm beings we know about—unless I'm missing some. Intriguing stuff.
InfernoDroid
It is my unfortunate responsibility to inform all of you that you have just lost the game
Ethan B.
When is Ashlock or someone else gonna finally have a talk with Stella on how babies are made? I would say they also shouldn't be called minions but from what I've seen of Cultivators in this world it seems unfortunately apt.
Elizabeth Baskerville
I'm calling it now he has to eat the world tree.
PMonk
Not exactly, most likely comes to the fact that you may need to do it the old fashion way, is cool that cultivators only need 3 months to pop a new minion. But keep in mind that Elaine mother must like had a shit load of husband and kids . And did it with the purpose to build a family (in the most losses sense of the word).
Nuurik
I think Ashlock needs to send representatives of the 5 main elements to the Eternal Kingdom to understand the devastation, just like before, during the ascensions in NS, he needed the cores of metal, fire, air, etc. We need to send Riker, Ember, or the Great Elder, his descendants of the trees of water and wind.
Nuurik
I just thought, does this mean the voidmaind race no longer exists? There won't be more people born with an affinity for the void, like Elaine's dead brother, since the previous chapters said that people can't naturally be born with an affinity for the void.
Admiralthrawnbar
Ashlock is already the stepfather to the world tree's daughter, so they're already co-parenting
Demian Buckle
Thank you for the book.
Alex Shinall
Wow 8 books. Normally these types of stories would of lost steam or focus around book 6-7, but Tree has been going strong all the way to this point! I've enjoyed being here since book 1 released and I'm looking forward to seeing to the future of this series ❤️!
IdolTrust
This mission isn’t that hard to do. Because he would be weakening them with the sap plus he got that sword as well and all his generals are now at peak nascent
Basically God
Isn't two trees swapping sap essentially just foreplay?
TreeReader
Awesome end. Looking forward to the fight with the celestial empire haha
XKARNATION
good catch, fixed!
Plateworm
Ashlock could also use the Eternal realm to find some Monarchs to eat. Anyway Tftc
XKARNATION
No
Sargon Yami
Petition to give both of them dogs ...
Someone
And doesn't Ashlock need to reach the Ninth Monarchy Realm and then ascend to the Sovereign of Reality to embrace the Age of Ascension?
Alexey Gladkich
I guess it was retconned.
Curtis Badour
You need to do a slight edit you mix to hazel with maple for names. This is the line : Elaine said before ushering a curious Talon and Maple through the portal.
Tarico Henry
I would love to hear more about thalos dear Author. ->"Father," Thalos said sternly. "What do we know about a girl called Stella, also known as the Slaughter Princess? Because I strongly believe that her father can control time itself." This is such an interesting storyline.
Sargon Yami
Wait wasn't he already on the ninth stage? and isn't the era of ascenion supposed to happen after the tree holder of the fragment reaches peak monarch realm? Just send zeph into the eternal realm and have her pull out a few monarch realm monsters. Problem solved.
Someone
He was already at stage 9 in chapter 503. Thank you very much for the chapter and the book.
Quentin Cozzi
Thanks for the chapter!
PMonk
Great chap. One thing in the end when Elaine leaves you have Talon and Maple, did you meant Hazel
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the chapter
WeabooKyo
Thanks for tree! Super excited for book 9
James Seymour
Awsome chapter that November break is gonna be hell I can allready barely stand the wate for new chapters.
Erik Tóth
Thanks for the chapter! And also: " Elaine said before ushering a curious Talon and Maple through the portal." - I think you meant Hazel here.
