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[Tree] Chapter 312: Visiting Family
🕑 Added 2024-05-19 20:37:55 +0000 UTCTiberius raised a brow in confusion as the message from the Frozen Star Sect cut out. That had most certainly been Janus Crestfallen's voice as he had spoken with the man a few times before he vanished to the far west, where the only Monarch Realm sect resided on a vast frozen plane.
"Run—they are coming for you," Tiberius muttered to himself as he dismissed the golden words and retrieved his pendant from the table. "Do you have any idea what that means, Stella Crestfallen?"
The girl was frozen—staring off into space.
We all have enemies, and one can learn a lot about another person by knowing who opposes them. So Stella... who are yours? Who hunts you from the shadows? Always lurking and waiting to strike at the slightest hint of weakness. Tiberius mused as he sat opposite Stella and patiently waited.
Eventually, Stella snapped out of her daze and met his gaze. "Sorry, I have to go," she said simply.
Tiberius frowned, "Who is after you, Stella? As your new friend, I can help."
"I appreciate the offer, but this is likely something beyond your capabilities," Stella said as she stood up, and Tiberius matched her as he also rose. She eyed him up and down with a weary smile, "I really do have to go. Sorry to cut the meeting short."
Tiberius examined her expression and struggled to get a read on her. If it was anyone else, he would command them to stay or flex his cultivation until they spilled the answer, but this girl's background was far too mysterious. He had brought her here to satisfy his curiosity and had somehow ended the meeting with more questions than answers.
I refuse to believe anything is beyond my help. Who are these people who are after her? I need to know.
Stella turned to walk toward the door.
Tiberius reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder—Stella froze under his grip.
"As the Celestial Warden, I can mobilize the full potential of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. So long as you provide the funds with the selling of your pills, then no problem or group of people is too big to run from—"
Stella slowly glanced over her shoulder, and Tiberius felt the words die in his throat under Stella's gaze. Her previously tranquil eyes, with a hint of madness, had transformed into two swirling orbs of darkness that sent a chill down his spine. The red maple earrings dangling from her ears radiated power, and her hair seemed to float slightly as if defying gravity.
"Take your hand off me."
Tiberius retracted his hand.
"Good. Now stay out of my business," Stella blinked, and her eyes returned to normal, "Okay?" she insisted, offering a smile.
"Sure..." Tiberius had a cold sweat, and his hands felt clammy. This was the first time someone had dared to 'attack' him in his own study, so he hadn't been expecting it, and he was now totally convinced that no ordinary teenage cultivator could display such confidence.
She has to be an ancient cultivator like me, somehow suppressing her cultivation. She made me back off with just her gaze by showing a hint of her true wrath.
"Goodbye, Celestial Warden, and don't call for me again."
With that, Stella was gone, and Tiberius was left alone in his study. He stood there for a long while, staring at the door as he calmed down.
"Don't call on me again? Why is that the second time I have heard such a phrase?" Tiberius unceremoniously collapsed back into his chair with a sigh. The image of Stella's gaze flashed through his mind as he closed his eyes with a frown.
Stella hinted that the group after her was beyond my capabilities, which, if true, surprisingly narrows it down. Only the Celestial Order or the Frozen Star Sect could rival the power of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. Tiberius opened his eyes and studied the ceiling for a moment. "I don't think the Frozen Star Sect would allow such a message to be sent if they were the instigators, leaving only the Celestial Order... but they would only move after a single person if World Tree sap was involved."
Tiberius thought about the rumor he had heard.
A girl born from the World Tree went missing over a decade ago. Tiberius shook his head with a smirk. There's no way that girl is Stella—I bet she is even older than me. However, I wonder how good the reward would be from the Order if I found their missing child.
***
Elaine thought she had gained more confidence from her time in the Ashfallen Sect, but she was currently a bundle of nerves as she stood before the extravagant entrance of the Voidmind residence atop Slymere mountain.
It had been years since she had last been here, yet the memories of the family looking down their noses with contempt at her as she was ushered out and banished in shame to Darklight City to study under her uncle were still fresh in her mind. The mental scars of it had run deep—made even worse knowing the treatment her superior brother received.
"They are always so slow to power down the defensive arrays." Valandor, standing at her side, grumbled as he tapped his foot with impatience, "Maybe they all died to the Skyrend family already? That would help speed up my investigation."
"Hopefully not!" Elaine half-lied—they didn't know who was listening. I do hope Mother is okay.
The plan was simple: They were to have her family lower their defenses and let her and Grand Elder Valandor enter for an inspection. Larry, still waiting in the aether, would then appear and slaughter almost everyone. There was no way her family would suspect such a ruse, as Valandor was supposed to be a faithful agent of the Nightrose family who wouldn't pick a side in a war as they benefit no matter who wins.
What my family hasn't accounted for is that another powerhouse nearby has already decided their fate. Elaine understood that Ashlock had some personal vendetta against her family after her uncle almost killed him, and her family also seemed to make great Ents, so she understood why he decided to eradicate them. I feel weirdly cold about the whole thing. Family values say I should care, but they treated me like an outcast.
There was a ripple of power across the towering black brick walls of the residence, and the silver runic lines dimmed. The defensive arrays were briefly disabled.
"Finally," Valandor clicked his tongue.
The two giant doors glided open, and two black-haired and-eyed cultivators greeted them. However, they were dressed like servants, meaning they were from one of the branch families.
"Grand Elder Valandor, we apologize for the delay." They both bowed and gestured for him to enter. "Please come inside. The Grand Elder awaits you in the main hall."
Elaine bit her lip as neither even spared her a look.
"Don't mind if I do," Valandor strode into the residence.
Elaine tried to follow behind, but the two servants moved to block her.
"Young Mistress, we are currently at war, so someone of your capabilities would only be a liability." The left one said coldly, and the right one nodded in agreement. "Please turn back."
"I'm a liability?" Elaine found that laughable as she flexed her 9th stage Soul Fire Realm cultivation, which wasn't that impressive to an Elder, but it was enough to make two servants rethink their insults as they paled. "If I am a liability, what would that make you two then?"
The two exchanged a glance before the left one cleared his throat. "Young Mistress, don't make it difficult for us. Your Father has ordered us to prevent you from stepping onto the residence grounds."
Elaine knew she had been sent to study in Darklight City, but this was the first she had heard of being completely banned from coming home. Why would Father go so far as to tell all the servants to prevent my entry? Unless he has done something to Mother that he doesn't want me to see.
"Step aside," Elaine said coldly, "I won't tell you again."
"Young Mistress, just because you have seen a little jump in cultivation doesn't mean you can command us around—"
Something inside Elaine snapped. Taking a page from Stella's book on dealing with people who are an inconvenience, her hands blurred as she grabbed their foreheads and pulsed void-tainted illusion Qi into their minds.
"The air makes your lungs feel incredibly itchy," Elaine said as she retracted her hands, wreathed in soul flames from their foreheads. Both servants dropped to the ground. Their eyes were wide as they gasped and clawed at their necks. One of them even began ripping at his clothes and drew blood by scratching his chest as he desperately tried to satisfy an itch from within.
Valandor turned around and seemed impressed, "That's truly horrific."
Elaine gave a weary smile as she retrieved a dagger from her spatial ring and tried to ignore how it trembled in her hand. Unlike Stella, such brutality didn't come as naturally to her, and now she was starting to overthink the situation.
These are just lackeys under my tyrant of a Father. They will likely die to Ashlock anyway, so I best put them out of their misery first. Elaine knew she was doing mental gymnastics to justify her actions, but it was the best she could do. The Ashfallen Sect had no use for a pacifist. Grabbing the black hair of the left one, her body clenched as she rammed the dagger into his throat. Withdrawing it and flicking off the blood, she repeated the process for the second.
Both cultivators fell flat on their faces, letting off desperate gargles before falling silent.
I did it. I actually killed them. Elaine's hand was trembling worse now as she stood over the corpses.
A portal rippled into existence, and a single black root thicker than her body drooped down and scooped the two bodies up and back to Red Vine Peak.
"I'll be honest. I believe that's my first time seeing a spirit tree do that." Valandor ran a hand through his hair, "Quite pragmatic, isn't he? Most spirit trees just sit around and wait for food to come to them."
"Yeah... he is." Elaine's gaze lingered on where the bodies had been before she deposited her dagger and walked down the corridor as memories of the place came flooding back, adding to her already unsettled mood.
"Let's head to the main hall, shall we?" Valandor asked as he took the lead.
"What if we run into people on the way?"
Valandor smirked as white flames wreathed his hand, "The Ashfallen Sect wanted this family eradicated, right? I'll deal with them. Just shout if there's someone I should leave alive."
Elaine was surprised, "Is that really fine? Won't you waste a lot of Qi?"
"It's not like I can ascend to Nascent Soul until Vincent is dead," Valandor winked before looking ahead, "So why not have a little fun with my excess Qi until then."
Elaine's lips pressed into a line. She had heard rumors about Valandor from her family, and she knew the White Reaper wasn't someone to be trifled with, but could he really deal with anyone they encountered?
"Mistress?!" A young maid with freckles that Elaine recognized cried out as she emerged from a side room holding a stack of towels that almost reached her head. "Is that you? You look so... different? Beautiful?"
Valandor casually clicked his finger, and the maid vanished, causing the stack of towels to fall to the ground.
Elaine blinked in disbelief. "Where did she go? You didn't kill her, did you?!"
"I sent her to the basement," Valandor hummed as he kept walking forward as if nothing had happened, "I have no interest in staining the walls with mortal blood. They have no Qi to prevent teleportation, so moving them is almost more efficient than killing them."
Elaine knew aether Qi was a higher form of spatial Qi as it operated with reality on a higher level, but she had never seen it used before. I remember reading in a book once that if spatial Qi was the art of tearing reality apart to forcefully create a pathway, aether Qi gave one the ability to simply phase through reality to their location. If that's the case, teleportation is likely a relatively cheap use of aether Qi, whereas it's one of the more expensive applications of spatial Qi.
The route to the main hall was uneventful except for a few more poor maids and butlers that went poof the moment they crossed paths with Valandor.
"Elaine? What are you doing here?"
Oh heavens, not this bitch of a cousin. Elaine mentally groaned as she turned to see a woman sneering at her. Veronica had always been a massive thorn in her side, as she was the eldest daughter of her Father's second wife, so she would taunt Dante and her endlessly.
"What's with that look you are giving me?" Veronica laughed through her fingers, "Come running back to Daddy for more pills just because you had a glow-up? You know they are wasted on you—"
"Noisy." Valandor flicked his finger, making the stretch of reality between them and Veronica slowly ripple and wobble in a wave.
Veronica eyed the approaching attack with amusement as she casually summoned her void soul flames. "What is this?"
Oh, this isn't going to be good. Elaine thought.
The ripple didn't seem to care much for Veronica's half-baked defense, turning her arrogant expression into absolute fear as the ripple drew her in and didn't let go. She screamed as it stretched her body apart before compressing it, making her blood instantly boil and her body explode, starting from her outstretched arm and then her body.
I know she is only in the mid stages of the soul-fire realm, but that was brutal. Elaine's eyes flickered to Valandor. So that is the power of the White Reaper. I sure hope Stella never learns how to use aether. I don't think the world would be safe.
"Hey, don't look at me like that," Valandor turned away from the corridor, now dyed red. "We are conducting an investigation, remember? Those who interrupt it deserve such a fate."
"It was more the method than the killing... you are having way too much fun with it." Elaine shook her head. The main hall was just up ahead.
Valandor clasped his hands behind his back and assumed an elegant pose as he gracefully led the way, "It's not often that I get to go all out, you know? I have to flex my mastery over my techniques every few centuries—otherwise, I will get rusty."
"Sure, sure," Elaine took the lead and opened the door for Valandor, which had guards a moment ago before they poofed out of existence at the click of a finger like the rest. The aura in the main hall was chilling as they strode in under the stares of all the remaining Elders of the family and her Father, who sat on the main seat and glared at her.
"Grand Elder Valandor, welcome—wait, what are you doing here, Elaine?" The Grand Elder rose from his seat. "I instructed the guards to inform you that it's too dangerous here. Return to Darklight City."
Elaine ignored him and desperately looked around for her mom. A terrible sinking feeling brewed in her stomach as she met Veronica's mom's eyes, who occupied her mother's usual seat at her Father's side. No, this can't be real. Elaine desperately looked around but couldn't see her mom anywhere else, even after searching the faces of everyone present.
"Answer your Father, Young Mistress." One of the Elders called out with a hint of disdain.
"Where is my mother?" Elaine replied. Ignoring the previous question.
Her Father's thin face, which reminded her of Dante, twisted in rage. "Your mother's whereabouts are none of your concern."
"They absolutely are, and I won't ask again," Elaine gulped as every Elder rose from their seats, eyes locked on her. "What have you done with my mom?"
"Maybe you can ask her yourself," Her Father smirked, "Elders capture her and take her to the dungeon."
The Elder, who had called out earlier and was also from Veronica's branch family, was the first to move as he vanished and reappeared before Elaine with Void Step.
"Young Mistress, please come with me."
Elaine sidestepped his grasp, "I don't think so."
"Brat," The Elder scowled, "You should learn your branch has brought too much shame upon the family and is no longer welcome here!"
"That's good to know," Elaine snapped back. "Then I won't need to feel bad about what will happen next. Larry!"
"Larry? What nonsense are you sprouting—"
A portal of white flames manifested behind Elaine, and a storm of silver ash surged past her and engulfed the Elder. He howled in agony before being reduced to nothing but a pile of silver ash. The storm didn't stop there and expanded out into the rest of the room. The Elders all scrambled backward from their chairs toward the far side of the hall.
"Protect the Grand Elder!" Veronica's mom shrieked as the Elders moved to try and fight the storm.
They hurled void attacks at it, but the void dissipated against the glimmering silver ash without leaving a mark that terrified all the Elders. All the dozens of attacks managed to do was force Larry backward for a moment before he reformed and went after the weaker targets.
"You are all useless," The Grand Elder yelled as another one of his Elders was caught off guard by silver ash swirling up his legs and devouring him from below. "Why do I have to do everything myself?"
The Grand Elder summoned dozens of black holes made from the void and threw them at Larry, forcing his body to disperse. Lances of void manifested next and tore through Larry—aiming for his eyes. But Larry was seemingly unfazed as his swirling body continuously reformed.
Valandor kept next to Elaine and blocked any incoming void attacks from the Elders with his aether Qi-wreathed hand. "Will the divine beast be fine?" He hissed over the chaos as he returned fire and killed an Elder.
Elaine looked up at the vague spider-shaped storm that dominated the hall's roof. He shifted around as her Father burned through his Qi reserves to fight a seemingly impossible foe.
"Come fight me, you cowardly monster!" Elaine's Father shouted, and Elaine was surprised to sense a hint of desperation in his voice. Was her Father really going to lose without doing any damage? How was this possible? It was as if the divine spider was immune to the void.
A haunted laugh echoed through the room, and Elaine recognized the voice as Larry's.
"I have no need to fight you, Grand Elder, you’re already dead," Larry proclaimed in the ancient runic language that echoed through the room with power. "My Master's curse festers in your soul—your death will give birth to a new life, so rejoice!"
Elaine was confused by Larry's words, but upon narrowing her eyes at her father, she saw a part of his neck that had turned to... wood? He also stood more stiffly than usual, with his arm hanging at his side like a stick rather than a functional limb.
Is my Father turning into a tree?
Comments
My Blind Third Eye
I'm confused. Why does Tiberious dismiss the idea of Stella being the daughter of the world tree so easily? He seems to think she must be old, because of her very pure and solid foundation, which would take a long time for most to build, and the child was born within the last twenty or so years, so its implausible she could build it that fast. But.... it's a child of a Monarch, of a Divine entity. Of a tree whose roots reach the breadth of a continent. That seems like it would be within reason. It is common knowledge that scions of noble houses and sects rise faster than others. So a child of an even stronger power would develop even faster, have a stronger foundation, even if you yourself don't know how they managed to do it. They know more, secrets to cultivation, and have access to more and better resources. It seems a bit unreasonable to just dismiss, especially with all the clues there are. Floating trees and treents killing a Nascent soul expert on his back door. Stella's curiosity regarding the World Tree. It makes too much sense for someone who makes a living dealing in information to miss. Maybe its fear clouding his judgment? Or maybe he thinks that a runaway wouldn't have the backing of such a powerful force like the seemingly divine Ashenfall faction? Regardless, i think the reasoning could be better expressed.
Jonathan Willis
Thanks for the chapter.
ManguKing
Gives a whole other meaning to "giving wood" lol
Victor DoUrden
Need to fix the lack of a flashback of someone fucking the tree hard enough that it gives birth
Morgan Song
thank you for the chapter
Peter
Elaine >>>>> literally everyone else
Eliseo Rios
Nani!?!?
Eliseo Rios
Now I'm pondering if the world tree has a Driad and she did the deed with someone🤣
Alexey Gladkich
No, where did you get this?
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
There IS an HQ. The Pavilion is an organization based in the Celestial Empire. The one there isn't a branch.
Alexey Gladkich
I don't see the point. If info was given to the Pavilion, then it was given to the Pavilion. There is no Pavilion HQ. It is a single organisation whose branches share data and other services.
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
the second line yet still have the mention of death happening first.
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
That's not my point. My point is that this means that others outside of the Celestial Order and the Celestial Warden of the Pavilion's HQ know about this, and thus that the info can be leaked. This also add the Frozen Star sect as a potential candidate for whom Stella was warned to run from if the Celestial Warden of the branch there figured something out and allied himself with the Frozen Star sect. (and in that scenario, this message would have compromised Janus)
Alexey Gladkich
I think it is to reflect that transformation into a tree doesn't actually kill.
Alexey Gladkich
I don't believe there's a higher position within the Pavilion than a Celestial Warden. There are multiple Celestial Wardens, some more valued, some less, but even among them, he is near the top.
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
No. He's at the top of a branch of the pavilion, not of the organization as a whole. Before that, aka also long before Stella's birth, he used to be one of the Sage Advisors of the Celestial Warden of the main Pavilion, of the HQ within the Celestial Empire.
Alexey Gladkich
He is rather high-ranked, almost at the very top position of the Pavilion in the whole realm. I imagine Celestial Order shared some info on Stella's disappearance to try and get information on her from the Pavilion. But that'd restrict the information only to some higher-ups in the Pavilion and the Celestial Order.
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
Another thing worth of note is how the Celestial Warden knows about a girl being born of the World Tree and her being missing even though he isn't that high rank. This implies that the knowledge of her existence is more common than we thought within the Celestial Empire. Even if most there don't know of it, I expected only the Celestial Order to know about it. This changes things.
phantom
Every single one of them went supernova.
phantom
Nox was a talented person who survived the wilderness. The issue they had with her was she was an ass. This guy really lacks positives. I wonder if a void cultivator would even work with a bastion.
phantom
She, one at the soulfire realm, sneered at any attack from the upper starcore realm. A brutal death is expected for that level of stupidity.
Alexey Gladkich
Nox infected him with the curse. Since the curse is divine, he couldn't purge it with Void Qi.
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
Wait, why did you change the "you are already dead." line into "your death will give birth to a new life, so rejoice!" ? I mean, I get that it's more accurate to the process, but I feel that the first one had more impact. Also, since the second one does imply that death is still involved first, then the original line is still accurate too.
Ether's Blessed One
When was the Voidmind Grand Elder cursed again?
Alex Cox
Everybody is scared of the spooky witch with the sculptures just before the throne-room... Nobody would question why the garden is so diverse
Alex Cox
I believe they're asking about an equivilant factor, which I think would be limited to the concept of chaos or myriad and prolly a higher level of qi or dao comprehension
Alex Cox
Ash will always be where she needs his help
TechLaser
Amazing work! Until the next chapter!
Bernat Saenz
Amazing chapter, can't wait for the next.
Bernat Saenz
Wouldn't that be void qi? After all, void qi it's the absence of all other qi.
Sancturillore -- Élie Simard-Wallot
I love how these earings from early on are still doing so much.
Sebastian Lozano
“You are already dead” is such an absolute banger of a line omfg
THK_The_Beast
"Omae wa mo shindeiru" - Larry
Alexey Gladkich
There's a good chance he'll self-destruct.
XKARNATION
Good point. Added in a reaction from the maid and Veronica
TreeReader
Loved it haha cannot wait for next chapter hahw
Alexey Gladkich
Shouldn't there have been a more significant reaction to Elaine's new appearance? Nobody mentioned it.
Basically God
Thanks for the chapter~♥
XKARNATION
Great point, that slipped my mind. I rewrote the chapter to show this and now made Larry immune to the void
Michael M
Great chapter and loved how the celestial warden thinks stella is really ancient pretending to be young lol
Demian Buckle
Thank you for the Chapter.
XKARNATION
Not all of them just a few
Demonlord
Thanks for the chapter 😊 Her father turning into a void tree is a good repayment for his sins... Also Stella is the only one we know of that can frighten the celestial warden with only a glance 😁😈
NaPewnoKtoś
I am looking forward to new Leshen/Khaos 😈
NaPewnoKtoś
He is too noisy. Ash will turn him into an ent or serve as a meal.
Tinkren
Thank you for the chapter!
Grappleshot
Larry could have said, "You are already a tree". Also would Null Qi be a thing or no?
Travay Currie
Wait, did Larry turn all the elders to ash? Who is going to become a void ent now?
Edgar Martinez
all of ashlock’s enemies are gonna be trees he’s gonna have a grove of old foes
Ethan Barrow
TFTC!! I thought that divinity came with at least partial immunity to void attacks, or was that just an Ashlock thing? Also, Void tree will help Elaine to cultivate which is a nice bonus.
TheIronDragon
Amazing chapter! We absolutely love to see shitty parents get wrecked.
Me
Ohh, a void attribute demonic tree. That could be very interesting^^
Quentin Cozzi
Thanks for the chapter!
