Ashlock was somewhat surprised to discover {Abyssal Whispers} was deemed by the system as a tree-specific skill as it morphed into {Mental Anguish} and was added to a sublist in his status screen alongside the other skills that were morphed for his Qi Fruit Production.
"How strange," Ashlock muttered, "Is it because I use my roots to talk to the abyss?"
Going over the information that appeared in his mind, he determined that eating the fruit simply made you go mad from random hallucinations like a bad LSD trip.
"Does this count as an attack skill or a defensive one?" Ashlock pondered. Either way, it was a debuff because whoever ate the fruit would not be in any condition to keep fighting him.
Turning his attention back to their conversation, Ashlock replied to Stella's query regarding whether he had his telepathic technique in a fruit, "I do not have a fruit that grants telepathy, but I do have one that induces madness."
"Madness, you say?" Stella tilted her head, "Like the horrors I see within the white fog while accepting your presence into my mind?"
"Yes, I assume it will be rather similar."
"Interesting, could you grow some?" Stella asked.
Ashlock agreed as he opened the menu and set a few fruits to grow with the new {Mental Anguish}. He almost struggled to find space on his branches that were now drooping with fruit.
With mass production of pills involving his fruit planned in the near future, he had set a load to grow a few days ago in preparation as they took time. Even if most of the fruit wouldn't find their way into mass-market pills, they still had internal uses within the Ashfallen Sect, like {Language Comprehension} and {Lightning Qi Barrier}.
"I've set them to grow. They should be done within the next day or so,"Ashlock said.
He was a little annoyed at himself that he had forgotten about his Qi Fruit Production's ability and had been absentmindedly growing new skill fruits while forgetting about {Abyssal Whispers}, but to be fair, he had been so distracted by Stella's new pill idea that he hadn't paid enough attention.
"Great," Stella said, her tone heavy with exhaustion. Even cultivators of Stella's caliber with laser-like focus would begin to feel mentally exhausted after a few days of nonstop research.
Elder Margret tapped Stella on the shoulder, "Let's figure out the rest of the pills we want to try and sell. And then, while I get the alchemists in the other cavern up to speed on making these pills, you can take a half-day break. After that, I will return, and we can tackle this problem together? Two heads are always better than one."
"I would appreciate that," Stella sighed and then refocused, "Alright, what skill fruit are we left with once we cut the ones that could harm us or are too politically dangerous?"
"Florist's Touch, Enlightenment, Neural Root, Vampiric Touch, and Deep Meditation, I believe," Ashlock replied.
"Mhm, I see," Stella mused, "I'm fine with most of those. Although I'm not sure how easy it will be to sell the Florist Touch... but I can see a potential market for it. However, Vampiric Touch. What does that do again?"
"Those with the {Vampiric Touch} buff can forcefully absorb Qi from others through physical contact. I assume it would be most useful in combat, but could also have some use for transferring Qi between people?"
Ashlock had never thought much about the Vampiric Touch skill fruit, but maybe he should have—there were certainly some niche scenarios where it could be advantageous.
"Now that has really got my mind going. There are quite a few applications, aren't there? The skill doesn't specify that the target has to be alive. And with physical contact being the only requirement, it could be good for Stella, who can reach through portals, or Douglas, who can get in close and take a beating due to his earth affinity," Ashlock mused, "Hell, even Kaida could use the skill and then wrap around someone and suck them dry of Qi."
"Vampiric Touch would sell really well," Elder Margret cut off his thoughts, "But we should avoid that one."
"Why?" Stella asked.
"It would be a quick way to cause the Nightrose family to investigate us... You don't know about them, do you?" Elder Margret said as she studied Stella's confused expression.
Ashlock also didn't know much about the Patriarch of the Blood Lotus Sect. A man who can wield enough power to lord over many noble families and nine different cities couldn't be a normal person.
"Not as much as I should. All I know is the Blood Lotus Sect's Patriarch is from the Nightrose family," Stella shuddered, "And that he wanted my body for a pill furnace. Do you know much about him?"
Elder Margret nodded thoughtfully, "I only ever met Vincent Nightrose once at the Blood Lotus Sect's summit, an event held whenever that crazed man leaves closed-door cultivation."
"How long is he usually in closed-door cultivation?" Ashlock inquired.
"Shortest time was three years," Elder Margret replied, "But it's only been getting longer as his cultivation progresses through the Nascent Soul Realm. I believe the longest on record was recently at twenty years."
Ashlock couldn't imagine sitting in a dark room underground for twenty years doing nothing but cultivating.
"What's his affinity?" Stella asked.
"Blood," Elder Margret shuddered, "Still, to this day, nobody understands how he soared in power so quickly. But I suspect it has something to with him needing pill furnaces."
"What do you mean?" Stella said.
"Well, whenever he emerges from closed-door cultivation, the first thing he does is seek out new pill furnaces, such as yourself, as he will have killed the last batch." Elder Margret dropped her voice to a whisper as if terrified of being overheard, "Vincent Nightrose claims he creates pills filled with lifeforce from the pill furnaces, but he refuses to disclose his recipe and has also never displayed any talent or knowledge in alchemy."
"That is odd," Ashlock agreed, "So how does he go about picking the pill furnaces? That might give a clue."
Elder Margret shrugged, "As I have only met him once, these are all rumors. But the most common rumor is that he can sniff them out somehow."
"So it's not a random selection? He actively seeks them out?" Ashlock asked, and Elder Margret nodded in agreement.
"Does that mean he will hunt me down when he leaves closed-door cultivation?" Stella's voice trembled, her face white with fear.
"Most likely," Elder Margret nodded, "So we should prepare for that eventuality while avoiding any reason that will drag him out faster—such as this Vampiric Touch fruit. He would be thrilled to purchase such a fruit as it would work well with his blood affinity."
Seeing how uncomfortable Stella was with the current conversation, Ashlock decided to steer it back to what they had been discussing before, "Okay, so with Vampiric Touch out, are we happy with the four remaining options: Florist's Touch, Enlightenment, Neural Root and Deep Meditation?"
Both nodded.
"Will you be selling pills made from the truffles?" Stella asked.
It was a good question. His truffles had the most potent effects but were also Qi-intensive to grow. If pills made from truffles became in extreme demand, he would hamper his own cultivation to grow more. It was a tradeoff. Was he willing to suffocate his Qi intake for profit, and if so, to what extent?
"We could, but the truffles are in short supply and costly to grow. We would either need to make the pills extremely expensive and exclusive or water them down somehow." Ashlock explained.
"Not to mention dangerous," Elder Margret mentioned, "After trying your truffles before entering the Mystic Realm, I can confirm a war would start over them. Their effects were simply too instant, and no pill I had ever heard about in this realm of creation could compare."
This was also one of Ashlock's past concerns when he first unlocked the skill and had Stella eat them. Of course, he didn't know the standard for cultivation resources back then, but with his knowledge now, he agreed with Elder Margret's concern. A war was already on the horizon, and he didn't want to cause another one aimed at him.
"Hmmm, how about this," Stella said, "What if we split the strength of the Spirit Root Improvement and Heart Demon Expelling truffle into four pills and then sell each pill separately? That way, they will still have a punchy effect that will get people interested and talking about it."
Elder Margret hummed in approval, "Even at a fourth of the potency, they are still leagues above any other mass-market cultivation resources. Only a pill made by a Master alchemist after years of gathering the materials can compare. And selling one at a time is also a good idea. Makes them feel exclusive and rare, which high-paying clients enjoy."
"I like that,"Ashlock agreed and then asked Stella, "And what about the Skin Improvement truffle? Although a lot more harmless than the others, I think the demand will be very high, and I would struggle to keep up with production."
Stella snorted and replied, "If anything, it might be the most dangerous. Never underestimate a woman's envy of another person's looks."
"That's true," Ashlock mused, "What about as a cream? Or distilled into wine?"
"I don't know about this skin improvement truffle, but a pill or cream is fine—what's this?" Elder Margret stared at the black ball Stella had pushed into her hand.
"It's the skin improvement truffle. It will make you look decades younger," Stella smiled, "Give it a try sometime."
"T-Thank you, Mistress Stella," Elder Margret said while holding the truffle close to her chest.
"As the person who contributed the most to the alchemy tournament's success, you've earned it," Ashlock added.
"I hardly did anything... others are just as deserving of a reward as I." Elder Margret insisted.
"I have fully taken the Redclaws under my branches. There will be no shortage of rewards in the near future," Ashlock assured the suddenly distressed woman, "However, for now, I think it's best we make some progress on these pills. Don't you agree?"
Both of them nodded, and after some discussion, they decided to make an herbal ointment mixed with a tiny amount of the beauty truffle. It wasn't quite alchemy, but it was easy enough to make.
Stella then spent the rest of the afternoon teaching Elder Margret how to make the various pills. Most were just Mortal or Spirit-tier pill recipes like the Heavenly Purification Pill with the fruit mixed in. So, they were simple enough to learn quickly.
Ashlock then opened a portal for Elder Margret to the other cavern so she could teach the alchemists these pill recipes.
Meanwhile, Stella made her own portal to Red Vine Peak.
"Wow, Tree," she exclaimed as she saw his branches almost weighed down by thousands of colorful fruits, "You grew all these in just a few days?"
"That I did. Catch!" Ashlock said as he detached hundreds of the fruit all at once, making them plummet toward the hard stone below.
Stella clicked her tongue. The air rippled as she spread her telekinetic power—freezing all the fruit in place. Then, with a wave of her hand and a flash of silvery light, the fruit vanished into one of her spatial rings.
"That was childish," Stella said with a grin as she slumped down on the bench and closed her eyes for a much-needed nap.
Ashlock left her to sleep peacefully and let his gaze wander. It felt weird to see Diana and Douglas cultivating so peacefully without having to rush around doing things.
"I suppose it was a full month of chaos leading up to the tournament, so they never had time to catch up on their cultivation," Ashlock thought as his gaze settled on his Ents that stood there silently like statues.
"I could send them out to hunt, but that seems incredibly wasteful. They cost so much to power and are too slow to walk around without my constant help with portals," Ashlock sighed.
In truth, Khaos was likely fast enough for hunting—especially if she could use Void Step. Alas, the mere idea of trying to convert his spatial Qi into void Qi was enough to make him sweat sap.
"Wait... now that I have these Ents here, there is no need for Larry to be my guardian beast." Ashlock had kept Larry close to him after recent events and not allowed the spider to go out hunting very often. But with three Star Core Ents under his control and his own strength—Maple hanging around as a last-resort trump card should be enough.
"Hey Larry," Ashlock said through the black Qi tether—one of the demonic trees rustled as multiple long hairy legs emerged from the canopy and eight red eyes locked onto him.
"Yes, Master?" Larry asked gruffly.
"Take Kaida and go out into the wilderness to hunt; the Mystic Realm doesn't open for a few weeks, so there's no point in you hanging around here."
"Does Master not need me anymore?" Ashlock had never heard a spider sound sad before, but somehow, Larry was reminding him of an abandoned puppy right now despite being a house-sized harbinger of death.
"The Ents can guard me," Ashlock explained, "But I'm hungry and need snacks. Do you think you could get some for me?"
That perked the spider up, "Of course, Master! I will bring you only the finest delicacies the wilderness has to offer!"
"Alright, alright. Just make sure you and Kaida eat some, too. I need you both to get stronger, after all."
Larry happily agreed to his new mission. He crawled down from the tree, exposing his entire ashen-furred body, and then crossed the mountain peak toward Diana.
He then carefully pulled Kaida away from the cultivating girl with his leg. The sleepy snake seemed annoyed as he hissed at the spider, but Larry wasn't taking no for an answer as he kidnapped Kaida and headed out into the wilderness with glee.
***
Elaine strode through the hallway of the Academy toward her lecture with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. It was tough to control her expression while walking past the groups of students en route to their next lectures.
You were finally helpful to them! Stella actually needed my help with something! Elaine wanted to jump for joy, fist to the sky, and tell anyone who would listen. Alas, now was not the time for such emotions.
No matter how hard she focused on the decor of the corridor ceiling, it was impossible not to feel the intense glares from the many students roaming the Academy.
Why are there so many people in the corridors? It's usually more empty than this...
Hushed whispers barely concealed by the amateur cultivator's Qi reached her ears. Some commented on her looks, and others gossiped about her subpar lectures to their friends.
It dampened her bright mood from talking to Stella and the Patriarch, but that was for the best, as she needed to focus—she was already two minutes late to her lecture.
Pushing apart the grand wooden doors, Elaine strode in.
"Good afternoon, everyone—" Elaine felt the words freeze in her throat as far too many eyes bore into her.
What in the nine realms is going on? Elaine's gaze swept the room—not a single seat was vacant—there were even people sitting in the aisles and standing along the back wall.
Elaine thankfully regained her composure within half a step to avoid further embarrassment in front of so many eyes and made her way to the podium.
Come on, Elaine, think. Why has the number of people attending your lecture tripled overnight? Could it be because of the alchemy tournament—no, that was almost a week ago. Did they come here after hearing the rumors about my lectures' dullness and came to see it for themselves?
Elaine was now well aware of her newfound beauty, but she also knew there was no way looking beautiful would cause her attendance to triple in a single day. Something else was up.
Buying time, Elaine turned to the giant blank silvery board behind her and began writing the lecture title as slowly as possible.
The room was dead silent.
Turning on her heel, she surveyed the crowd and faltered. There was no way she could give the lecture with the curiosity gnawing at her mind.
"Before we begin, could someone tell me why so many of you are here?"
Over a hundred hands went up.
