Despite Ashlock's exhaustion, shrouded by the surrounding cold darkness of night, he refused to squander this rare opportunity.
Cultivation had always been his area of control, where he got to learn and practice his own techniques independently of the system, except for it randomly deciding his spatial affinity.
For the rest of his life on this planet as a tree, he had been prepared to coexist with the system, focusing on his cultivation while hoping it would occasionally provide him with useful skills.
But now, he was granted a choice.
[Select the skill you wish to merge with the void Qi]
Ashlock scanned the list that had materialized before him. Predictably, his Mutation and Summon sections were greyed out on the screen and unselectable since they were not skills.
"Shame... it might have been cool to give Kaida the void affinity, but forcing a specific affinity on an F-grade snake seems like a bad idea. Evolution will take care of him and make him strong in the future, so it would be a waste to merge the void Qi with him anyways."
Kaida aside, Ashlock would have liked to merge the void with his demonic eye or blood sap, as those sounded useful. Since, unlike skills, mutations were ever present as they were literally part of his body, so even when the system was offline, they were fully usable.
"Alright, if I'm to choose a single skill, let's see... there are two factors in this upgrade I need to consider. The skill's current grade and the outcome of adding void affinity."
Firstly, Ashlock disregarded the production skills. He wasn't certain about the effects of adding void affinity to them, and he certainly didn't want his fruits, mushrooms, or flowers to transform into odd void variants, as that would diminish the appeal of his versatile production skills.
Having mentally dismissed his production skills, he then evaluated his protection skills, such as {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]} and {Fire Qi Protection[B]}.
Defensive skills weren't what he sought currently, even though enhancing his A-grade lightning barrier could result in an S-rank barrier skill post-upgrade that would be hard to penetrate for anyone out here in the wilderness.
So why dismiss defense despite its potential advantages? After witnessing how effortlessly the Elder within his soul was eliminated despite numerous defensive artifacts, Ashlock deduced that if ever cornered, he'd rather neutralize his enemies than merely ward them off.
Also, he was a tree. He couldn't run away. So the best defense was a good offense, especially in a world where if one of his foes escaped, they could inform someone stronger and come back to kill him.
Having ruled out his production and defensive skills, he was left to choose between his utility and offensive skills.
"The system prompt implies that the chosen skill will upgrade a rank. I wonder if I can survive if I choose {Mystic Realm [S]}, as it would ascend to an SS rank skill," Ashlock pondered. It was a fun thought to have an SS rank skill, and it did have a lot of capabilities for training his allies.
This was an important point because Senior Lee had advised him to focus on training those around him to be as strong as possible to help make up for his weaknesses... But could Stella or Diana even survive in an SS rank realm? And a void affinity one at that? There was a fine line between helping his sect members and accidentally killing them.
"I think upgrading my Mystic Realm is a bad idea... let's see what other utility skills I have..." He scrutinized each of them one by one.
"{Eye of the Tree God [A]} could be a solid contender. It would upgrade to S-rank, and although it achieves neither of the advantages of void Qi that the Voidmind Elder listed if it could let me see through walls or even peer into the void, it could have untold potential." Ashlock frowned as he realized his lack of information for such a crucial decision.
Noting {Eye of the Tree God} as a good option, he moved on to the next A-grade utility skill, {Deep Roots}.
"Another good option with untapped potential. Just the void Qi alone would allow me to spread out my roots much faster, as the void Qi should help with tunneling, and if I ever turn my roots into tunnels, the void Qi could help protect them from being destroyed or broken into."
A headache began to brew as Ashlock struggled with this tough decision, the fatigue from the sunlight deprivation only adding to his discomfort. "Elevating {Deep Roots} to an S rank might even allow me to tunnel into the underworld."
If that were possible, {Deep Roots} might overshadow {Eye of the Tree God}, but it was difficult to discern. Scanning the skill list, he managed to eliminate {Hibernate} as it was just a C-grade skill, and he couldn't see how void affinity could improve it much.
"Mhm, what about my cultivation technique, {Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]}?" Ashlock pondered. Promoting his cultivation technique to A-grade seemed like a universally beneficial idea, but how would the void Qi contribute? Would he end up mastering dual affinities of spatial and void Qi? Or could he convert void Qi from below into spatial Qi?
"System, can you really not tell me what the result of the merge with void Qi will cause for each skill?" Ashlock begged the system, only to receive a flash of the skill list in response, pressuring him to decide.
"Becoming a dual affinity would be amazing, but the risk is too substantial. It would be a colossal waste if I failed to attain dual affinity." Ashlock sighed. He was a gambling man, but this was too much pressure and unknowns.
His current cultivation speed was sufficient thanks to the runic formations and his offspring surrounding him. Hence upgrading his cultivation technique seemed excessive, minus the potential dual affinity idea.
Besides, given the presence of his sect members, the necessity to diversify his Qi was also not a pressing matter.
With that one put to the side, his eyes were drawn to a potentially interesting option {Language of the World [B]}. Upgrading it to A-grade could allow him to talk freely with those around him via telepathy or let him learn local languages super fast.
Communication had always been a limiting factor for him, but how would combining it with void Qi help? Would it let him talk to void monsters or something? It was all speculation, and he felt like he was grasping at straws with his guesses.
"My level of communication abilities is tolerable for now, especially once the Redclaw Elders learn the ancient language so I can communicate with them directly." Ashlock sighed as he added {Language of the World} to his ignore pile.
Ashlock looked at his {Root Puppet [B]} skill and felt like sighing again. This skill had a lot of potential, and he should probably test it now as he'd fully merged with his tree body to see if it was easier to use.
Maybe now he could keep control of a corpse for a lot longer... Alas, the requirement for a corpse to be always available made the skill cumbersome to use, so it was also discarded.
Finally, Ashlock came to the last skill for consideration: his lone direct attack skill, {Devour [C]}. In his view, this skill stood to gain the most from merging with void Qi. However, the bothersome aspect was its current C-grade, making the rare opportunity of upgrading it to a B-grade feel somewhat wasteful.
"It's intriguing that the system has been stingy with direct attack skills. After a decade of drawing skills, I only have one attack skill, which is the one I started with, alongside {Basic Spirit Sight} and {Basic Meditation}. While those F grade skills have since been upgraded by the system to A and B grades respectively, {Devour} has remained stagnant at C grade all this while."
Ashlock was beginning to realize something. "The system focuses on giving skills that help me nurture others. Meanwhile, my cultivation depends entirely on how I want to use it."
Recalling the dreams of how the past world trees had perished, he remembered their tendency to provide to the cultivators and cycle the Qi throughout the nine realms rather than lash out and kill those that harmed it.
"Could this be a world tree system? Is it trying to guide me down a particular path?" The only contradictory aspect to this theory was his mutations, like his cursed blood sap that turned people into trees and his demonic eye, which incited fear and prompted others to flee. "However, the system does label them as mutations. An intriguing choice of terminology." Ashlock pondered.
After a while, Ashlock narrowed it down to {Deep Roots} or {Devour}, and after grumbling for a bit, he decided on {Devour} for the simple fact that his system seemed averse to upgrading or providing a single attack skill. In time, he was sure his other skills would either upgrade through draws or he would find cultivation techniques capable of replicating their effects. Whereas he was suspicious if he would ever get another system-granted attack skill, especially one with void Qi.
It had been a hard choice, but in his mind, nothing seemed as valuable as {Devour} in his current predicament. It would grant him a strong attack skill that he could use immediately without training, unlike a cultivation technique.
It also harnessed a different Qi type than his spatial techniques, which would give him a fighting chance if he confronted someone who could counter spatial Qi with their affinity or a monster like Bob immune to cultivators with a single type of affinity.
"Phew..." Ashlock exhaled a nervous breath within his soul as he deliberated over the {Devour} skill.
[Choose system skill: {Devour}?]
Mentally agreeing with the prompt, it flashed with golden light and vanished. His skill list also disappeared, and Ashlock felt the void corruption that tainted his soul begin to gather into a ball due to a mystical force.
[Skill upgrading... 1%]
Ashlock sighed, the tension of choosing a skill remaining unresolved. He had wished for an immediate outcome, but, as always, the system was notoriously slow. "I sincerely hope I've made the correct choice," Ashlock groaned, his mind succumbing to exhaustion. "I suppose I'll find out in the morning..."
***
Basking in the warmth of the sun on his leaves, Ashlock gradually awakened.
"Tree!" Below his shade, Stella voiced her concern, "Are you alright? The whole mountain was shaking last night. Did the Elder try to escape?"
Ashlock groaned, channeling his lilac Qi to write on his trunk, 'The Elder went supernova last night. Everything is under control.'
As Stella deciphered the words, she cycled through stages of disbelief. "You're fine? But how? Is the Elder gone? What..." She circled his trunk, seemingly searching for a sizable gaping hole.
Ashlock was about to address Stella's queries, but a sudden system notification snapped him out of his daze.
[Void Qi corruption eradicated]
[Skill upgrade successful]
[Upgraded {Devour [C]} -> {Consuming Abyss [B]}]
Details regarding the skill filled Ashlock's mind, and he concluded that he had indeed made the right decision.
He could still utilize {Devour} as he always had, though with certain enhancements. For instance, the black vines now boasted a substantial spike at their ends that could impale and drag victims backward. Also, the vines moved with astounding speed and could hit moving targets. Furthermore, he could now individually control the black vines instead of merely specifying a target and leaving the rest to the system.
Thus, he had complete control over the skill. He could even retract the vines to avoid consuming someone or use them defensively to shield Stella.
With these modifications, Ashlock presumed this would be the outcome had the system ever upgraded his {Devour} skill to B-grade. However, the integration of void Qi truly set the skill apart.
He could toggle the skill to utilize void Qi, which replaced the black vines with obsidian tendrils of void that moved at an incredible speed and were undefendable. An opponent's only options were to escape his range—the area around his trunk—or be a divine entity immune to void Qi.
However, there was a slight catch that Ashlock didn't appreciate at all. "I must expend a sacrificial credit for every minute I wish to operate the skill using void Qi," Ashlock grumbled.
In retrospect, it was reasonable—he was a spatial Qi cultivator, and his Star Core was designed to process and handle spatial Qi, not void Qi. Cultivation and any Qi-related matters were generally his responsibility, not the systems. If he desired the system to perform a Qi-related task, there was a fee—in this case, sacrificial credits.
Interestingly, his daily credits couldn't be used for payment. Did the system perceive them as different? Would more functions appear that only accepted daily credits as payment in the future?
Moreover, the fact that the skill required sacrificial credits to operate made him relieved he hadn't chosen {Deep Roots}. The prospect of expending sacrificial credits to dig deeper was quite upsetting.
"I will need to make sure to have a few monsters trapped in a cage or something down in the mountain that I can consume for emergency sacrificial credits," Ashlock noted.
This was the workaround Ashlock devised since his sign-in system depleted all credits when used, potentially making the system dangerous to use without careful thought. What if he accumulated a hundred points, signed in that day, and a formidable cultivator showed up to kill him because he couldn't use his new void skill?
Whatever the case, Ashlock breathed a long sigh of relief,
{Consuming Abyss} was the answer to his problems. Despite the skill's cost requirements, it sounded darn powerful, and knowing he now had a skill he could employ to defend himself against foes far stronger than himself filled him with confidence.
He recalled how ineffective his spatial Qi-coated vines had been against the Voidmind Elder's void flames. The knowledge that he now commanded such a formidable power gave him hope for his continued survival in the years to come.
Maybe he could even start being a bit more assertive. His gaze landed on Maple, who was peacefully resting atop Stella's head. He pondered if the squirrel was capable of pushing someone as powerful as the Patriarch into his soul, allowing Ashlock to consume them and upgrade another skill with the same affinity as the Voidmind Elder.
Could his soul handle a different affinity, or had he only been able to survive due to his void immunity?
"Actually, didn't the Voidmind Elder mention having a brother slightly more powerful?" Ashlock contemplated the possibility of engaging in conflict with the Voidmind family just so he could capture their members. Frustratingly, this entire plan was contingent on Maple and whether he was inclined to utilize all his strength to trap someone within his soul.
A sudden sensation of a hand made Ashlock look down at Stella, worryingly tapping his trunk. "Hey, Tree? Are you there?"
Ashlock felt like smiling. He could protect her now so long as she was nearby; in other cases, he was sure Maple could lend a hand.
"Speaking of protection, didn't the Elder give me a crazy amount of items?" Ashlock excitedly opened his inventory and began to browse. "I wonder how many of these artifacts Stella can wear at once..."
