Ashlock found himself facing off against Larry in a battle of the soul.
Unlike Stella, whose Qi ripples went faster and faster until they couldn't anymore, Larry went for progressively larger and less frequent waves to fight back against Ashlock's Qi Resonance.
Within a minute of their battle, Ashlock learned that the size of the ripples indicated someone's overall ability to exert their presence on the surroundings. Since Larry had a higher cultivation stage, his waves reached higher. But Ashlock's ripples went further into the distance due to his large body spreading for miles.
But neither the waves' affinity, height, or distance mattered for Qi Resonance. The focus was on matching the frequency. Whoever had a greater range of frequencies they could reach would win, and Ashlock soon found out Larry was the clear winner as he could not force his soul to let out the waves any slower to match Larry.
"You win," Ashlock eventually muttered as he felt his Star Core shudder and refuse his command to make the waves travel out slower. Soon, Larry's soul ripples were overwhelming his own, and Ashlock would have been on the receiving end of a Spatial Lock if Larry knew the technique and was doing any of this on purpose.
"Master, you will defeat me in all aspects soon enough." Larry relaxed his soul, and the ashen crown orbiting his horns slowed down. "I am simply a humble servant to protect you until you far surpass me."
"Yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you for entertaining my test..." Ashlock yawned. The sun was setting, and he felt the need for a deep sleep after being put in his place by his pet.
"Stella," Ashlock spoke in the girl's mind once he had recovered.
"Yes, Tree?" Stella blinked at him.
"I will enter sleep and meditation until the Mystic Realm opens in three days. Make sure everyone is here and ready to enter on the dawn of the third day before I usually awaken." Ashlock said. Since he planned to try and enter the Mystic Realm through his offspring via {Progeny Dominion},he didn't want to waste a single minute as it had a limited timer of a single day from sunrise to sunset.
"Sure thing," Stella smiled, "Have a good sleep, Tree."
"Thanks... I will."
***
Idletree Daily Sign-In System
Day: 3552
Daily Credit: 10
Sacrifice Credit: 449
[Sign in?]
Ashlock spent the next three days trying to figure out the next step of Spatial Lock but had little luck. He knew it involved seizing complete control over someone once their Qi ripples matched to stop them from subconsciously changing the frequency of their soul ripples, but he was unsure how to achieve that.
"Ashlock the Immortal, Good morning!" Stella's voice rang in his mind.
"Since when did she call me that? I guess it's fine, as it's about time all of the Redclaws learned of my great name," Ashlock emerged from his dazed slumber and felt his biology kick into gear as the warm morning sunlight landed on his leaves. Rustling off the cold and morning dew, he looked around with spiritual sight and saw Stella standing before his trunk.
Quickly checking his system, he confirmed today was the day.
{Mystic Realm [S]} [Unlocked]
"Morning Stella, is everyone ready?" Ashlock asked with {Abyssal Whispers}.
"I gathered everyone as you requested." Stella gestured behind her to Ashlock's first offspring, which he had replanted in the center of the mountain peak where the Mystic Realm had manifested the last few times. "They have been waiting here since last night and have all taken the necessary truffles and pills to have the most productive delve into the Mystic Realm."
Around his first offspring was everyone they had approved for this dive into the Mystic Realm. All of the Redclaw Elders were present alongside Amber as she was the most promising youth in the Redclaw family and had been before. Apart from them, Ashlock was drawn to Douglas.
"What happened to Douglas?" Ashlock whispered, "He looks so... different."
Stella smiled wearily, "He ate the skin improvement truffle."
Ashlock had never seen the man look so full of life. If before he looked like a ruffian who had lived a hard life of labor but had a sharp face and muscles, he now looked like a professional bodybuilder and model that he expected to make motivational videos while walking around a mansion.
"I should give everyone else those skin improvement truffles," Ashlock mused, "I just keep forgetting to grow more and give them out."
Elaine was standing beside Douglas and seemed to be barely containing her excitement as she bobbed her head up and down and kept looking around like a kid waiting in line at an amusement park.
Diana seemed much calmer on the surface than the others at first glance. But she stared straight ahead at the demonic tree, balling her fists and biting her lip. She was clearly stressed or nervous about something.
"Understandable, considering Neptune said she had something to show Diana, and this should be the Mystic Realm visit where she finally ascends to Star Core Realm and will then only be a stage or two behind Stella."
Ashlock knew there was a bit of competition between the two, perhaps more on Stella's side than Diana's. But Diana was clearly more hardworking, especially after being almost killed by Lucius over a week ago. Being stamped to near death and treated like an ant likely left a lasting impact and a burning desire to acquire power.
Kaida was coiled nearby and hissing softly at Diana.
"Don't try and go with Diana," Ashlock told Kaida, "You can evolve and progress your cultivation by eating like me, but I think you will benefit more if you go into a pocket realm filled with ink Qi and try to cultivate for once."
Kaida lowered his head and hissed sadly at the floor.
"Don't mope around like that. You are a C-grade summon, and it's time you learned to fight independently. You will be fine, and I hope you will return with a B-grade evolution waiting for me." Ashlock reassured the snake. He wanted Kaida to grow in cultivation, and he felt Diana needed some alone time with Neptune.
"You can always stay back here with me and Larry..." Ashlock added, and the snake's head snapped upward to look at his trunk with the snake equivalent of puppy eyes and shook his head.
"That's what I thought." Chuckling to himself, Ashlock returned his attention to Stella.
"With the sun up, there's no time to waste," Ashlock said to Stella, "Get in position, and I will activate the Mystic Realm."
Stella nodded, and with a snap of her fingers, she summoned a portal and appeared next to Diana by the tree.
"Now, do I activate {Progeny Dominion}before or after {Mystic Realm}?" Ashlock pondered. It was a big concern as what if he could not locate his offspring within the strange fog to cast {Progeny Dominion} on.
The Mystic Realm had spawned at the same place the last two times he used it, but his {Progeny Dominion} let him cast any skills he wanted from an offspring. So what would happen if he released the {Mystic Realm} from another tree than himself? Could he cast it from an offspring and put his main body inside the Mystic Realm?
"What's the worst-case scenario if I cast {Mystic Realm} from my offspring rather than myself? That the Mystic Realm spawns away from the tree I am inhabiting, and therefore, I won't be able to enter it? I think that is fine..."
Deciding it was the best decision, Ashlock cast {Progeny Dominion} first and selected the demonic tree everyone was standing under.
[Progeny selected: Initiating soul transfer...]
The mountain peak trembled as his soul fractured, and the fragment was ripped down through his roots and bound with his offspring's Soul Core.
[Soul fragmented: Damage to soul mitigated]
Ashlock felt his vision blur as he focused on his progeny and found himself looking at everyone gathered around the demonic tree that was suddenly blazing with lilac soul fire.
[Connection complete: Time till sundown 12:30]
"Oh, this tree has spatial affinity, that's helpful." Ashlock felt a hint of pride knowing his firstborn followed their dad's footsteps and picked spatial affinity. Dismissing the system notifications regarding his soul transfer and noting that he had a full day of sunlight left, Ashlock told Stella, "Get ready, activating the Mystic Realm now."
"Everyone, get ready!" Stella shouted, and the Redclaws held onto each other's shoulders to ensure they ended up in the same realm again while Elaine and Douglas stepped aside, and Diana and Stella nodded to each other.
With everyone prepared to enter the unknown, Ashlock wasted no time and cast {Mystic Realm} from his progeny rather than his main body.
"What the hell—" Ashlock shouted in his mind as if half his body had been dunked underwater with his feet in the air. The world spun and twisted around him, and then, with a snap, he found himself surrounded by the celestial fog. Feeling disorientated from that strange experience, he spread out his spiritual senses in an attempt to ground himself.
"Okay, roots are still there, but I can't feel any stone or Red Vine Peak," Ashlock began to freak out. He had become very used to not moving at all and being rooted in place. Suddenly, feeling like he was floating weightlessly in space was disorientating and horrifying.
Ashlock wanted nothing but to get away from this experience, so he switched back to his main body, which worked to his relief. From the view of his trunk, the Mystic Realm looked the same as usual and covered much of the mountain peak, including his progeny.
"Okay, knowing I can switch back anytime makes me feel a little better," Ashlock let out a sigh of relief, and after a moment to enjoy the feeling of secure stone under him, he switched his vision back to his progeny.
"Oh god, it's even worse now after feeling the hard stone around my roots!" Trying to calm down and not focus on the fact that there was no ground and that he was nothing but a floating, helpless, and lost tree, Ashlock spread his spiritual sense further and soon located everyone else. It was only now, with more reference points, that he realized he wasn't floating but was sort of grounded in a way. That made him feel better.
Ashlock noticed that Stella had grabbed Diana's hand and was leading her straight to him through the celestial fog filled with shards as if she had a homing beacon on his location.
"Tree, is that you?" Stella said when she arrived with Maple on her head and Diana in tow.
"Yes, it's me," Ashlock replied with {Abyssal Whispers} and then noticed the Redclaws in the distance and Elaine and Douglas also making their way over to him.
"How did you find me?" Ashlock asked Stella.
Stella laughed, "Well, you are a bit obvious. I could see a ball of blazing spatial Qi through the fog, and I guess I noticed you before Diana due to our matching affinity."
"I see, that makes sense." Since he had been frantic, he hadn't kept adequate control over his soul and had turned his progeny into a blazing beacon of lilac soul fire.
"Well, this is new," The Grand Elder said as a group of scarlet-haired Elders and Amber arrived under the progeny's canopy.
Elaine and Douglas arrived moments later and glanced around.
"This is so cool!" Elaine said as she peeked at the many shards of glass that floated past her, giving her glimpses into other realms. She reached toward one, but Douglas gently lowered her hand.
"Once you pick one, you will be trapped there for the next month, so it's best to pick one that calls out to you," Douglas explained.
Elaine tilted her head, "Calls out to me? I haven't felt anything like that yet."
"Huh, strange," Douglas tapped his chin, "Does your soul not feel the urge to chase after some that float by?"
"No... not really," Elaine grew panicked, "Should I feel something? Will I not be able to enter a pocket realm?"
"It's going to be fine, calm down." Douglas patted her head, "We just need to find you a pocket realm with void Qi, and it will be fine."
"Are any of these realms full of void Qi?" Stella asked, and nobody seemed able to answer as they looked around at the shards that floated past and shook their heads.
Ashlock had finally managed to get a hold of himself and ignore the lack of ground beneath him and had thoroughly concluded that Trees weren't designed for interdimensional travel.
Curious about the answer to Stella's question regarding pocket realms containing void Qi, he spread out his spiritual sense to its max and soon found a border. The Mystic Realm was vast but not limitless. It was as if they were inside a bubble taken from a nebula.
He could sense slight wafts of different Qi types coming off the shards; sure enough, there were none with void Qi. Or at least that he could detect.
"Huh, weird," Ashlock opened his system menu, activated {Dimensional Overlap}, and scrolled through all the pocket realms he could pick from in the menu, and sure enough, there were no void options.
Ashlock was about to relay his findings to Stella when two people rose from the floor of nothingness near his progeny, drawing concerned gazes from everyone nearby. Their totally expressionless faces, eyes of nothingness, and vibrant hair clued Ashlock to their identity. It was Neptune and Mars.
Maple leaped off Stella's head and transformed into his human form, "Mars and Neptune—"
Stella reached forward and grabbed Maple, and held him in her arms like one would a puppy, "Since when could you transform into a human?! And why are you so darn small and cute!" His legs could hardly reach the ground as Stella hugged him tight. "Are these two your siblings, Maple? I heard all about them and have been wanting to meet them."
"Yes... they are my siblings," Maple pouted as he went limp in Stella's arms and resigned to his fate.
"Of course, there are no pocket realms of void Qi," Mars explained as they ignored Maple and turned to Elaine, "Because how can you contain nothingness? Void is the absence of else. When one cultivates void Qi, they cultivate the absence of Qi rather than a type of Qi itself."
"What..." Elaine said as she placed a hand over her chest and looked concerned. "I... I don't understand."
"Of course you don't. That is why my young voidling," Mars said as she stepped toward Elaine, "There is no place for you here. So come with me."
Elaine didn't even get a chance to retort as Mars placed a firm hand on her shoulder, and the two vanished into the nothingness below.
Everyone stared at the spot where they disappeared with mixed expressions.
"Errr, Maple, did your sibling just kidnap Elaine?" Stella asked.
"That's one way to look at it," Maple's squirrel ears drooped against his head as Neptune strode over and then perked back up as Neptune walked past them and stopped before Diana.
"Ready to meet the Ravena Clan?" Neptune asked, and Ashlock felt a ripple of power spread throughout the mystic realm.
Diana's eyes widened, "I can?"
Neptune reached out a hand, "Only if you trust me."
Diana looked at the hand for a moment, but it was evident in her eyes she had made up her mind. Feathered wings sprouted from her back, claws of shadow manifested, and her eyes became swirling abysses, "Please take me to meet those of my bloodline."
Neptune lightly smiled, "With pleasure."
And with that, they were gone.
