Stella opened her eyes as her consciousness withdrew from deep meditation and returned to the real world. As the constant buzz of heaven's whispers faded, she heard the early morning chorus of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the autumn wind playing with her unkempt hair.
Huffing the blonde strands of hair out of her face, Stella yawned and then stretched her back in a vain attempt to remove the stiffness from many hours of meditation.
Ugh, I hate meditation. Stella lamented as she stretched her legs to the end of the wooden bench. How does everyone else sit for days while listening to heaven's whispers? It's exhausting...
The honest answer was that they had no other choice, and she had also been like that in the past. They could either ponder the secrets of heaven or succumb to the deathly grip of time.
It was either cultivation or death.
But ever since Ash had gotten strong to the point he could open pocket dimensions overflowing with Qi and give her such overpowered cultivation resources, Stella felt that cultivating on the mountain peak was a waste of time.
In fact, she wouldn't have even bothered cultivating overnight if not for the fact she had been completely drained of Qi yesterday—her gaze drifted to the culprit—a two-meter-tall humanoid creature that seemed to erase existence around it.
Although Khaos was motionless like the other two Ents and all the trees encircling the mountain peak, she could tell from a glance that Khaos could kill her before she could even react. That thing was an apex predator—and she had contributed to its creation, which was an odd thought.
Stella sighed. It had been a few days since the tournament, and although so much had happened since then with the Ents, she still felt restless.
Cultivation is so dull. There has to be something better I can do with my time.
Glancing around the rest of the mountain peak, she spotted Diana busy cultivating. Since the black-haired girl was still in the Soul Fire Realm, she didn't have a Star Core within her passively generating Qi, so she needed to cultivate back the Qi she had spent on assisting the creation of Khaos.
It's fine. Diana will reach the Star Core Realm from the next round in the Mystic Realm. I wonder if her bloodline will evolve even further once she reaches the next realm?
Stella laid her head against Ash's bark and wondered how to further unlock her bloodline. It seemed to be one she couldn't activate whenever she wished, but she could tell it was still there.
The power of a ruler.
What that entailed, she still didn't know.
What did it mean to rule?
"Tree, are you there?" Stella murmured aloud.
The sun had just crested the horizon, so she wouldn't be surprised if he was just waking up.
"Morning Stella," Ash spoke in her mind, "What's the matter?"
"Got anything for me to do today?" Stella asked while tying her hair back.
"Mhm, let me see," Stella felt Ash's focus shift to somewhere else.
A few minutes passed, which Stella spent plucking fruit from Ashlock's branches with telekinesis. She had eaten quite a few fruit during her night of meditation and almost felt like it was cheating.
The amount of Qi she had spent trying to keep Ash alive yesterday should have taken her weeks, if not months, to recover. But with the mountain peak being so dense in high-quality spatial Qi, her spirit roots being so pure, and with the help of Ash's overpowered fruit, she could recover a third of her Qi reserves after half a day and night.
Ashlock's presence returned with good news.
"I do have a job for you, but can you wait until midday?"
"Sure," Stella stood up from the bench, "Oh, by the way, Tree, when can we next enter the Mystic Realm?"
"Let me see... it next opens on day 3552, so in eighteen days,"Ash replied.
Stella furrowed her brows, "Day 3552? What do you mean?"
There was a long pause before Ash replied, "I have an internal biological clock that helps me keep track of everything since the day I sprouted. I can summon the Mystic Realm every thirty days, and it has been twelve since it was last open."
"Does that mean you have a birthday?" Stella wondered. He should know his exact birthday if he had a biological clock.
"A birthday? Well, I don't know today's exact date, but if we assume right now, it's September by the weather..." Ashlock mused, "Then I guess my birthday would be early January?"
"Not too far away!" Stella grinned.
I should try and become a master alchemist by his birthday so I can make him the best present ever. He has given me so many things over the years that I should return the favor sometime.
"When is your birthday?"
"It's—" Stella's grin turned to a frown. When was her birthday? She couldn't even remember the last time it was celebrated. Did she even have one?
"I have no idea," Stella's shoulders sagged. She didn't even have anyone to ask except maybe the bastard Patriarch, who wanted to turn her into a pill furnace. All her family were dead as far as she knew, and she had never entered high society and socialized, so she had no friends to ask either.
"Why don't we share a birthday then,"Ash offered.
Stella nodded as she felt warmth in her heart, "I'd like that."
"Perfect, we will have a grand celebration in January," Ash said, "You deserve it."
Stella didn't want to start crying, so she hummed in agreement while summoning a portal to the cavern. If she had to wait until midday for this activity, she might as well busy herself with alchemy.
I wonder what other pills I could make from Ash's fruit.
***
Ashlock spent the rest of the morning watching Douglas and Geb carve out an enormous cavern just below the White Stone Palace.
Spiraling up the massive pillars of grey stone that kept the ceiling from collapsing were many platforms. Some had dirt and were likely there for Ashlock to grow plants, while the others were clearly there for alchemy as they had stonework benches. Bridges and slopes connected all the platforms, making the giant cavern easily traversable.
It had taken the pair a day and a night working together to create this vast space that was around three times the size of the cavern below Red Vine Peak in both width and depth.
Ashlock watched as Geb walked in a straight line, his feet turning the hard stone below him soft, which Douglas then molded. Basically, Geb was doing the grunt work, while Douglas did the more intricate part that required far less Qi to do.
"Geb, stop," Douglas said as he rested against one of the massive pillars, "We are done here. I am totally out of Qi."
"You did a good job," Ashlock said after activating {Abyssal Whispers} and targeting Douglas's weary mind.
Douglas scrambled away from the pillar, and his eyes darted around the pitch-black cavern that was only lit by his flickering earthen soul fire.
"Immortal? Is that you?" He hesitantly asked the ceiling while raising his fists.
"Yes, it's me. You aren't under attack," Ashlock said, "I will portal you out of there and then send Stella to talk with the Redclaws."
With that, he withdrew his presence so poor Douglas didn't have a heart attack and opened a portal for them.
Stumbling through the darkness with hesitant steps, Douglas eventually made it through the portal after gesturing for Geb to go through first. Once back on Red Vine Peak, Douglas shielded his eyes from the glaring sun with a relieved expression.
"Have fun?" Stella asked Douglas, and the man flinched at her voice.
"Mistress Stella," Douglas said with unnatural respect as he sat down against one of the demonic trees and closed his eyes under the shade, "If I call digging out a cavern for eighteen hours straight fun, then I would be lying. Without Geb's help, I would have died."
Stella pouted, "Are you still angry at me for dangling you through a portal? It was just a bit of fun."
"I would never dare hold a grudge against you, Stella," Douglas said without opening his eyes.
Stella didn't seem to know how to reply or apologize, so Ashlock gave her a way out by making her a portal to the White Stone Palace, "It's time to go speak with the Redclaw Grand Elder."
"Okay," Stella mentally replied, walking through the portal while glancing at Douglas one last time.
***
The Redclaw Grand Elder was surprised when the door to his study opened, and Stella walked in.
"Greetings, Grand Elder," Stella said with a smile.
"Stella? To what do I owe the pleasure," He replied while rising from his seat and gesturing to the one opposite him, "Please have a seat."
"I come on behalf of the immortal," Stella replied while graciously sitting. One of her many silver spatial rings flashed with power, and a porcelain pill bottle appeared in her hands.
"These are?" The Grand Elder asked after being handed the bottle.
"Mind Fortress pills, they are to be taken when receiving the immortal's words," Stella explained, "Elder Margret and others have already heard the immortal's words, and you may have noticed that without this pill to protect the mind, it's a rather terrifying affair."
The Grand Elder nodded, "I did notice that... does this mean the immortal wishes to speak to me?"
Stella nodded, "Yeah, so take one or maybe two of the pills and brace yourself."
The Grand Elder nodded seriously as he popped the plug on the bottle. A soothing fragrance tickled his nose as he tilted the bottle and deposited a single pill in his palm.
I will only take one as they seem precious, and if I have to take two, they may see me as weak.
He popped the single pill into his mouth and noticed a trace of flavor from the Mind Fortress fruit he had eaten in the Mystic Realm to compete for the Spirit Forge Masters inheritance.
So they are making pills out of the tree's fruits. When will they start making pills out of those truffles that granted miraculous effects?
The Grand Elder felt a soothing chill wash over his mind as he fully absorbed the effects of the pill. Letting out a breath and feeling mentally relaxed, he nodded to Stella, "I'm ready to receive his words."
Stella smiled and snapped her fingers, making a head-sized portal appear right before the Grand Elder's face.
"This is?" He asked.
"Just stick your head through," Stella replied.
The Grand Elder eyed the wobbling portal, but all he could see through it was the black bark of the giant demonic tree on Red Vine Peak.
They aren't going to decapitate me and tell me to meet the immortal in hell, are they?
With a sigh, the Grand Elder leaned forward and stuck his head through. Immediately he felt an immense presence penetrate his mental defenses and overtake his consciousness—forcing him to reel back in his chair.
The portal then snapped closed as a white fog appeared at the edges of his mind. Before he knew it, he began hallucinating floating eyes. Just when he thought it couldn't get any more bizarre, a twisted black tree rapidly grew on his desk between him and Stella, causing him to almost fall out of his chair in shock.
"Hello, Grand Elder," A chorus of a hundred voices echoed in his mind, but he resisted by shaking his head and straightening his back. He was the Grand Elder of the great Redclaw family. He had fought endless wars across centuries. What was this pressure within his mind in comparison?
"Immortal, it is a great honor to finally hear your voice," The Grand Elder replied as respectfully as possible.
"I am using telepathy on both of you, so speak aloud," The many voices of the immortal commanded.
"Understood," The Grand Elder replied aloud as he glanced at Stella past the imaginary twisted black tree that now dominated much of his desk.
"Now, onto business. With war on the horizon and the other families now suspicious of our power, I believe it's time for the Ashfallen sect to begin emerging from the shadows while still under the shade of House Redclaw and Silverspire," The immortal said, "With the tournament now out of the way, it's about time we redefined the Ashfallen Sect."
"Redefine?" The Grand Elder massaged his temples and debated taking a second pill. There were now weird flashing colors of red in his vision and other shifting shadows between the study's bookcases that were unnerving him.
"Yes, it's time for us to scale up operations, which requires a restructuring so everyone is clear about their roles." The immortal explained, "From now on, Red Vine Peak will be home to the Ashfallen Sect's Grand Elders. The cavern below and the surrounding area will be for the exclusive use of those from the Ashfallen Sect."
"Does that mean I lose my Grand Elder status?"
"No, the Redclaws, for now, will remain as a subsidiary family under our rule. That means you have a level of independence so long as you abide by our rules and requests," The immortal continued, "Your main task going forward will be mass recruitment of new cultivators and managing and protecting the new alchemists that will mass produce pills for us in the cavern below this palace."
"Does that mean you accept Kane Azurecrest to work for you?" The Grand Elder asked.
"Yes," The immortal replied, "I will leave the new cavern under Elder Margret's management, including Kane."
"What are your plans for this influx of new cultivators?" The Grand Elder wondered as he leaned back in his chair, "Nurture them all into alchemists? I only ask so I can plan how I go about recruiting them."
"When our pills hit the market, there is a chance of retaliation. So, some will be raised into future guardians to defend the sect. Others will be nurtured into alchemists, as you suggested, and the final group will be tasked with going out into the wilderness to collect ingredients like Dragon Marrow and bring back corpses."
Corpses? Why would he need so many corpses?
The Grand Elder decided it was best not to ask sensitive questions as Stella had hardly reacted.
"How do you plan to raise these new cultivators? Do you want us to handle their education and nurture them?" The Grand Elder asked.
"For the most part, yes," The immortal replied after a moment of thought, "I will try to create groves of various affinities across the mountain range for them, and I will naturally provide pills to speed up their cultivation. Those who show great talent and drive might be able to join the Ashfallen Sect after reciting an oath as you all did. After that, they will be given access to the Mystic Realm, and maybe we can even have Elder Mo make them spirit weapons."
"I see, so the White Stone Palace will serve as the outer disciple peak, and then Red Vine Peak will be for inner disciples?" The Grand Elder mused while stroking his chin, "I can see this working out great. I will start a recruitment drive right after this meeting... I will also need to hire more servants to care for this palace if it has hundreds of cultivators living here."
Stella's spatial ring flashed, and she dumped a literal mountain of Spirit Stones and Crowns on the desk before him.
"Courtesy of the Skyrend family," Stella grinned, "Use these funds for whatever you deem necessary."
"Thank you. I will use them well." The Grand Elder waved his hand, and the pile disappeared. He tried to hold back, but he was beyond excited. How would the other noble families react in a few years?
With the desk clear, the Grand Elder was broken from his trail of thought when he noticed an envelope he had on his desk that he had forgotten about due to the sudden arrival of Stella. Leaning forward, he pushed it across to the girl.
"This was addressed to Roselyn. I received it an hour ago and was about to send someone to hand it to you before you arrived," The Grand Elder said while leaning back.
Stella floated the envelope with telekinesis and sliced it open with a black dagger. Pulling the letter free, she read it in silence, and as she reached the end, she was grinning.
The Grand Elder couldn't hold back his curiosity, "What is it?"
Stella glanced up, "It's from Nox, one of the merchants. After seeing my performance at the tournament, she wants to meet with me in a week to discuss the possibility of conducting business."
"Well, we better get to work then. We got some new pills to create and a business relationship to form! " The immortal said, "Today marks the official founding of the Ashfallen Trading Company."
