Stella's Mother was the World Tree? How the fuck was that even possible?
Ashlock had... questions. Many questions. Even with his system's vast powers, he wasn't yet capable of making a human-looking child and doubted he ever would.
The image of Stella's Father turned to a treehugger in his mind, and he felt his bark shudder at the thought—what horrible, unspeakable acts had occurred for this to happen?
Ashlock's mind was freed from its spiraling thoughts as he heard the silence broken by sniffling. Stella was still curled up in a ball to hide her face, and the more he looked at her, the more implausible her Mother being the World Tree seemed. No matter how you looked at it, she was human through and through.
"Senior Lee has made it very clear that looks can be deceiving," Ashlock mused, but it still seemed impossible. Stella wasn't some godly being from a higher realm of creation but just a girl abandoned by her family... right?
Diana seemed stunned by Stella's words and unable to form a response as her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, so to fill the silence, Ashlock spoke to his daughter.
"What do you think about it?"
Stella raised her head with red eyes, "What do you mean?"
"Do you even believe that your Mother is the World Tree? Are the words of the cosmos to be trusted?"
Stella stared off into the distance with a look of realization, "No... it kept insisting that knowledge without the power to act upon it was nothing but a curse. When I pressed on for answers, it laughed at me as if I was a fool and told me: 'Very well then, I will give you a hint at the truth—or so I claim. Without power, how can you differentiate reality from fiction?'"
"So this cosmos thing could be lying?" Ashlock said, "Did it provide any evidence that your Mother is the World Tree?"
Stella frowned, "No hard evidence, but it did make some good points. I have no memory of my Mother, and my Father hardly ever mentioned her. My family backstory is suspicious at best, with my family apparently dying in the last beast tide protecting the Patriarch."
"Was that all this cosmic being provided as evidence?" Diana said while tilting her head, "Those are some weak points."
Stella shook her head, "The cosmos also pointed out that I formed an unusual connection with Ashlock at a young age and that I can understand the thoughts and focus of trees around me."
"Huh?" Diana said, "You can do that?"
Stella smiled weakly, "Strange, right? When I was young, if I touched Ash's bark, I could tell if he was sleeping. As I've grown older, I can now feel if his focus is on me, and I can feel the emotions of his offspring like Willow."
"Okay, that is weird," Diana bit her nail in thought, "Do you have a dual core with nature affinity or maybe nature dao comprehension?"
Stella shook her head.
"Is it a technique? Perhaps one taught when you were a child, so you forgot about learning it?"
Stella shook her head again, "I don't need to use Qi or even think about it. Actually, until the cosmos mentioned it as a reason my Mother is the World Tree, I never thought about why I could sense the emotions and focus of trees." Stella shrugged, "It felt normal to me, like breathing or blinking."
"Maybe you really are part tree..." Diana squinted at Stella as if she was about to grow twigs out of her ears.
"I still don't buy it," Ashlock said, "Stella isn't the only one who has noticed my spiritual gaze and my offspring emit their emotions through Qi fluctuations. Considering we grew up together and how much Stella depended on my presence, I wouldn't be surprised if she grew more attuned to my spiritual gaze and the fluctuations."
Diana tapped her chin, "That also sounds reasonable..."
Stella gripped her head and pulled at her hair in frustration, "Ugh, I have no idea what to believe! That stupid cosmos was right. Knowledge really is a curse. Today would have been like any other, and I would have lived on in blissful ignorance if I had kept my mouth shut, but noooo, I just had to demand answers."
"I believe the cosmos is trying to teach you a lesson here," Ashlock said, "Which it seems to have succeeded in doing. Unless it told you anything else we can use to verify its words? The World Tree isn't exactly close by to ask."
Stella froze at his words, "There was something equally as shocking, which is made worse because it feels far more possible to be true."
"What is it?"
"My Father..." Stella's eyes widened as if she had just remembered, "The cosmos said he is still alive."
"Alive? I thought he died trying to force his way to the Star Core Realm?"
"That's what I was told through word of mouth," Stella agreed, "I never actually saw his dead body for myself, though. But I assumed it was true because I was still young."
"Assuming he is alive and we found him, what would you—"
"I don't care. That man is dead to me," Stella grumbled as she buried her head back into her knees, "I grieved for him. I cried myself to sleep, wishing he would come back. But he never did. He left me here on this mountain all alone with murderous servants." Stella leaned against his trunk and muttered, "You are a better Father than he ever was. Much better at sticking around."
Ashlock had to admit that he felt some relief hearing Stella's opinions on her Father. "Thank you, Stella, that means a lot," Ashlock said as he moved his root to pat her head.
"Ash... what should I do?" Stella asked after a while, looking up at his canopy. "Should I believe the cosmos?"
"Well, let's think. Verifying if your Mother is truly the World Tree would be difficult. Senior Lee told me the World Tree is capable of something close to speech through complex emotions, so we could ask her, but she is far away in the center of the Celestial Empire," Ashlock sighed, "There is also the issue that Senior Lee gave me the divine fragment that was supposed to be for the World Tree and there's a chance she will try to kill me for it."
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Stella bit her lip, "The cosmos did say that the World Tree was the very thing you would have to destroy to fulfill your destiny."
"That's a rather dramatic way of phrasing it, but that's not far from the truth. Nine divine fragments are spread throughout the realms, and one needs to acquire all nine to become a God. I hold one, and the World Tree needs it to initiate the Era of Ascension and rise to the next layer of creation."
Diana raised her hand, "Question. Couldn't we bring the World Tree another of these divine fragments?"
"We could," Ashlock agreed, "But then neither of us could become Gods as one fragment would be held by the other. It's complicated... there's a whole cycle that the World Tree doesn't know it's a part of, so it will never reach true divinity even if it had my fragment, but I have a chance of ascending to Godhood and ending this accursed cycle. With the help of you two and the others, of course."
"I don't really get it," Diana leaned back on her arms and gazed up into his canopy, "But it sounds like this World Tree is going to be bad news to try and get answers from."
"Yes, as a Monarch Realm being, I am not in a position to defend myself if I catch its ire," Ashlock said, "Or at least I think so. Monarch Realm is an incomprehensible level of power to me. Also, I do not know about the World Tree's combat capabilities other than Senior Lee saying the World Tree's presence was the reason the Celestial Empire could fend off the beast tides."
Diana whistled, "Who knew your Mother was so scary, Stella?"
"Don't even joke about that," Stella glared at Diana, "If she really is my Mother, it opens up far too many questions that I fear the answers to. How was I born? Is my Father human? What am I? Why am I out here in a demonic sect rather than living near her in the Celestial Empire? Will I turn into a tree and become as lazy as Ash—"
"Oi," Ashlock interjected, "When you experience time like I do and have a body the size of a continent, you are allowed to be lazy. I could check on my roots in the far west and then head to the east, and I will be in a different time zone."
"Still lazy," Stella crossed her arms.
"With winter coming up, I am looking forward to being even lazier," Ashlock replied with amusement. Since the nights would be longer, he could spend even more time under the nine vertical moons, bathing in their lunar energies. To him, it was as pleasant as a visit to the spa had been, and he enjoyed the faster growth of himself and his offspring.
"If I do turn into a tree, I am going to grow right over there," Stella said, pointing at the ground near the bench, "I will speak to you all day and night whether you like it or not. So you better hope it doesn't happen..."
"So, not much different from now?" Ashlock laughed, "You know, for someone with legs, you sure like being rooted in place."
"I have portals," Stella pouted, "If I am needed somewhere or I want to visit someone, I can be there in seconds."
"Wait... are all spatial cultivators this lazy? Is this the personality trait of spatial cultivators? Our sample size isn't the best. Willow and I are both trees. Titus is a walking tree, and Stella might be part tree."
"I am not part tree, darn it," Stella muttered, but it fell on deaf ears.
Diana hummed, "I remember my father ranting about Grand Elder Valandor from the disciplinary committee, who is known to use strange white flame spatial techniques and is often late and lazy."
"Wait, Grand Elder Valandor?!" Stella said, "That name sounds super familiar, I think it was one of my Father's friends. Oh yeah, I think he visited here when I was nine, and I tried to introduce him to Tree, but he wouldn't give him any fruit."
A decision Ashlock was still glad about to this day. That guy was bad news.
"Wasn't he the person who said you had to pass that Grand Elder exam to stay as the sole heir to Red Vine Peak?" Ashlock asked as he pictured the white-robed man with a presence that made the whole building creak as it tried to bow to him.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Stella snorted in amusement, "I believed it was impossible to reach Star Core Realm within five years, yet I still have a year left, and I am nearing the bottleneck for the Nascent Soul Realm. Hey, wouldn't it be rather funny to turn up to the exam stronger than the disciplinary committee members overseeing the test?"
"Not to mention your pure spirit roots and ancient bloodline," Diana shook her head with a smile, "It's all so ridiculous. Those old farts would either faint in rage or accuse you of being someone from a higher realm wearing your skin. They would kill you on the spot."
"Do you think Larry would let that happen?" Ashlock said, "With his evolution, he will be stepping into a level of power on par with the Nascent Soul Realm. He might even be able to threaten the Patriarch."
"That's true..." Diana muttered as she gazed up at the cocoon of silver ash nestled among Ashlock's branches overhead.
Stella giggled, "If I summoned the bloodline library again and scared them with the cosmos' presence with Larry at my side, maybe they would bow down and call me Patriarch?"
"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Diana smirked, "I still haven't forgotten how you had hundreds of illusionary Elaine's bow down to you."
"Shut up," Stella glanced away, her face going red.
"Okay, we are getting off-topic." Ashlock paused as he gained the girl's attention, "Asking the World Tree if it's Stella's Mother is far too risky, so the better person to ask would be Stella's Father, who is apparently still alive. If he is found alive, that gives more validity to the cosmos's ridiculous claim about the World Tree. Are we in agreement?"
Both nodded.
"But how are we supposed to find him?" Stella asked. "I haven't heard about him since he supposedly died. I don't even know his real name or remember his appearance."
Ashlock had anticipated this issue. Stella hadn't seen her Father in a long time and had still been a child back then when he supposedly died.
"Luckily, we have some leads. Grand Elder Valandor, for example, should know more about his whereabouts or at least his name and appearance as they were friends, right?" Ashlock suggested, "Another option would be buying information through the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion."
Diana grinned, showing her fangs. "Is it finally time for me to begin my life as a bounty hunter and pill dealer?"
"You both can. We still have those jade masks we looted from those foolish bounty hunters that hide your face and distort your voice, right?"
Diana's spatial ring flashed, and two masks appeared, "Sure do."
"Perfect, you can both use those and climb through the ranks, and maybe we can finally sell some fucking pills," Ashlock couldn't believe how they managed to do everything except sell pills, "I also need to eat Star Core cultivators of each basic affinity to ascend to Nascent Soul Realm so you could use some of the earnings from the pills to place bounties on each other and the Ashfallen Trading Company."
Stella and Diana exchanged a grin.
"On that topic, I have evolved my roots to become more ethereal," Ashlock added as he patted Stella's head again, "It lets me do things like this, which is neat. But more importantly, the space within them is also now compressed, so the tunnels you once slid down to get into the cavern will act more like portals. Once I finish evolving all my roots and expand to reach the Tainted Cloud Sect, you two can freely move between the two sects."
Stella smiled as her hair was ruffled, "I like this part of it more."
Diana reacted differently as she shook her head again, "That's absurd. Forget pills. Do you know how much you could make creating permanent portals between sects? Hell, even roots between cities in the same sect would boost trade."
"I know," Ashlock assured her. He had seen the effects of globalization back on Earth and couldn't even imagine how absurd it would be if portals were involved.
"So what should we do for a few days while we wait for your roots to evolve?" Stella asked as she leaned against his bark.
Ashlock was about to suggest they rest or continue studying their bloodlines, but then he remembered there was someone he wanted to introduce them to... again.
"Talking of becoming a tree, how would you two like to meet Nox again?"
Stella's happy expression immediately soured, "Ash, what did you do."
"Nothing much," Ashlock said innocently. "I needed a guardian tree for Ashfallen City and thought a Nascent Soul Realm shadow tree would be a perfect fit, so I planted Nox's cursed-filled infant soul near the city..."
Stella shrugged off his root and stood up with a grim expression, "Where the hell is my axe?"
