Reborn as a Demonic Tree

The reality-shattering explosion pushed every Bastion backward like a tsunami. The shields on every Bastion except Erebus were vaporized in the shockwave, and the leaves on all demonic trees for miles had been stripped in the wake of the assault. It was a miracle that the Bastions hadn't been blown out of the sky and the forest below wasn't on fire.

As the roar of the attack reduced to a distant rumble, Ashlock wondered if he had spent more Qi shielding the Bastions and his offspring in the forest below from destruction than he had during the attack.

"Did you get him?"

Ashlock was broken from his thoughts and looked toward the voice in surprise. Stella had appeared out of nowhere and was standing next to Elysia on the edge of the Bastion. She was shielding her eyes from the blinding chaos of Qi sprawling out above them, which had replaced the sky.

"No, Cult Leader," Elysia bowed respectfully before pointing into the distance, "The vermin still lives."

"How can you tell—oh god, what happened to you?" Stella sandwiched Elysia's head between her palms and studied her face.

"I thought my mortal eyes could handle a fragment of the All-Seeing Eye's power." Elysia reached up and opened her eyelids, showing the empty space within, "As you can see, I paid the price for my foolishness."

"Sol can heal your eyes—"

"No thanks." Elysia respectfully rejected Stella's offer.

Stella blinked in confusion and tilted her head, "Why?"

Elysia's forehead opened some more, exposing her third eye. "What use are my mortal eyes if they cannot see? They did nothing but feed my brain a false version of reality. But with this, I can finally see."

Stella inspected the grotesque eye, peering through Elysia's cracked skull in amazement.

"I know it might look strange, but trust me, it's far better."

Stella didn't seem to be listening. "This is so freaking cool! Can I get one?"

"No."

"Why?" Stella pouted.

"Your reality is limited to what others, specifically the heavens, decide it will be." Elysia shrugged, "Mystic Qi allows me to alter reality to my ideal. I wanted this eye, so I made it. There's nothing much I can do for you."

Stella looked like she was about to keep arguing, but as the Bastion finally righted itself and the cosmic shield reformed overhead, she lowered her hands. "Fine. But can you catch me up on the situation?" ṞＡꞐՕΒƐⱾ

"I can do that,"

Ashlock spoke into their minds, "But why are you here? I thought you and the other sect members were defending Red Vine Peak from the blood puppets."

"The Mudcloaks were too effective at killing the blood puppets, so I left it to them." Stella shrugged.

Ashlock had caught a brief glimpse of their capabilities and decided that was fine. They seemed to have the situation under control. He was about to start explaining when Diana glided in through the still-reforming cosmic shield and dropped beside Stella. She folded her magnificent wings and seemed out of breath. "Stella, stepping through the aether isn't fair... phew, that was the fastest I've flown in ages."

"Good, you're just in time," Ashlock included her in the conversation and glanced over to Vincent with his evil eye from Red Vine Peak. "To quickly catch you both up to speed, I hit Vincent Nightrose with my bloodlust, and it has briefly made him lose control over his Qi and mind." While explaining, Ashlock moved Orion closer to where he could see Vincent was still hidden. "We have launched two attacks thus far on him, with the last one being the largest and further empowered by Elysia's mystic Qi. The gravity rings surrounding Vincent absorbed the brunt of both impacts, with the chaotic illusion Qi around his body tanking the rest."

Stella bit her lip. "It's so strange. I can feel his presence now that we are this close, but I can't see him other than a slight shimmering in the air. However, looking in the aether plane is a different story. He appears as a black hole of power where his presence warps reality around him."

"That black hole of power you speak of must be caused by his high level of gravity Qi."

"Aether affinity is seriously cheating," Diana sighed, "I can't see shit."

Stella gave Diana an unamused look, "You can eat people's heart demons for breakfast.

"Don't worry. I'll force him to show himself soon enough." Ashlock maneuvered Orion as close to Vincent as he dared. The cosmic Qi Bastion's Core hummed with power as he had it resist the gravitational pull of the rings around Vincent. It felt like casting out a fishing line and getting a big bite. There was a constant tugging on the fishing line, so he had to apply equal force to keep the line taut.

"Vincent is still surrounded by a shield of gravity and illusion Qi, right? How do you plan to get through it if those last two attacks didn't work?" Diana asked.

"Who said they didn't work?" Ashlock said as he activated {Abyssal Devourer [A]}. Credits began to drain from his system as a sea of void spread out from Orion, and dozens of black vines covered in thorns emerged from the darkness. "I couldn't have gotten this close before. The gravitational rings have definitely weakened after the last two attacks."

However, Ashlock had to admit he was quite amazed they had withstood everything he had thrown at them so far. After all, his attacks included void and cosmic Qi, known for being exceptionally destructive affinities. But the problem was that most of his Bastions were still in the Star Core Realm.

"The gap between peak Star Core and 8th stage Nascent Soul Realm really is that vast, huh?"

If he put it into perspective some more, Ashlock couldn't imagine losing a fight to any of the Star Core Realm cultivators in his sect, no matter how many shot attacks at him. He only felt threatened by Nascent Soul Realm existences. Not to mention Nyxalia, Larry, or even Maple. He couldn't imagine how to face any of them.

Dismissing those worries, he focused on the enemy at hand: Vincent Nightrose, an 8th-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. The cosmic shield around the Bastion warped toward the rings of intense gravity as if an invisible hand was trying to pry it off.

"This should be close enough," Ashlock let the void lake fall off the side of the Bastion along with the dozens of thorn-covered vines. Like anchors cast out into the ocean, the vines and void tendrils from his Abyssal Devourer skill were pulled taut by gravity, making the Bastion lurch forward dangerously close to Vincent.

Stella dropped to her knee, and both her palms blazed with aether Qi as she flooded the island with power. Her telekinesis and Ashlock feeding the Bastion's Core with Qi were enough to escape the clutches of Vincent's gravity and prevented them all from being torn apart alongside Orion.

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"Good save, thank you," Ashlock said to Stella. She simply nodded in acknowledgment as she focused entirely on keeping them from falling further. Vincent's gravity continued to pull on the vines and void tendrils as if trying to devour them.

"Ashlock, what are you trying to do?!"

Diana asked in confusion as she tried to keep her balance as the Bastion was lurching back and forth due to Ashlock and Stella playing a death game of tug of war with Vincent's gravity Qi.

"He's devouring his Qi," Elysia said in awe as she intently watched over the side through her third eye. "I've never seen such a thing before."

"What do you mean?" Diana stumbled to Elysia's side before giving up and using her wings for more stability. It was as if they were traversing a rough sea with mountain-sized peaks and troughs.

"Those vines and tendrils seem to have a corrosive aura. I thought it was desolation Qi at first, but I can see the gravity Qi being sucked away and taken by the vines rather than being unmade like I would expect from desolation Qi." Elysia turned to Diana with a grin, "Can you not feel it beneath your feet? The rising power of the floating island? Oh god, this is just too perfect. The All-Seeing Eye doesn't simply kill his enemies. No, he devours their very souls and recycles them into his own strength. How utterly demonic."

Ashlock was glad that Elysia could recognize just how ridiculous the latest upgrade to his devour skill was. Desolation Qi was powerful, but he had to expend a lot of Qi to annihilate the Qi of someone else while also needing a deep comprehension of the required Daos. Meanwhile, the corrosive aura of his Abyssal Devourer skill? It was nothing but benefits if one ignored the cost of sacrificial credits. He could directly steal the Qi and lifeforce of others and have it fed back to him, replenishing his Qi and lifeforce reserves at the cost of his enemies.

The only prerequisite was they had to come close enough to his trunk or one of his offspring to be in range of his vines and tendrils. They also had to stay still and not fight back while being slowly sucked dry of their body and soul.

It just so happened that Vincent was preoccupied with a battle in his mind, giving Ashlock a perfect opportunity to level the playing field by draining as much Qi as possible from Vincent.

More and more vines and void tendrils endlessly poured out of the void until the bottom side of Orion looked like some eldritch monstrosity, which only seemed to further excite Elysia. Yet, despite the added number of vines and tendrils being swept up by Vincent's gravity, the pull on Orion began to lessen.

Ashlock could feel it, too. The flood of Qi he was stealing from Vincent was beginning to overwhelm the Bastion's Core. He had already redirected as much of the Qi as possible into powering the cosmic shield, artillery, and storm, yet it wasn't enough. As Orion blazed with power, for the first time in possibly ever, he received Qi from his Bastion, which was greatly appreciated. If Ashlock were to view his Qi reserves as a bank account, he would be in overdraft with no hope of ever getting his Qi expenditure to equal the amount he could cultivate and draw from the World Tree.

Desolation Qi was no joke, and trying to hold back a horizon-spanning threat by himself and fighting a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was proving difficult.

"He's weakening," Stella announced as she stood up and flicked her wrist to dismiss the white flames wreathing her hand. That was the signal he had been waiting for. While he continued to monitor the situation through his Evil Eye from a mountain range away, he carefully inched Orion ever closer.

Seeing that the gravity rings were now so weak that Orion could get closer without being torn apart, Ashlock decided to move onto phase two: burrowing through the chaotic storm of illusion Qi surrounding Vincent.

"Erebus, move closer alongside Orion," Ashlock instructed. While Erebus Voidmind's soul had been partly destroyed during his death, it had slowly recovered enough under the nine moons to comprehend basic commands.

The void Bastion rotated around Vincent to float to Orion's side.

As Erebus came to a halt on Orion's left flank, it was obvious which of the two bastions was the flagship. Due to the size difference between the two, the mass of tendrils coming out of Orion, and the cosmic tree practically glowing with power due to draining Vincent, the equally dangerous void Bastion seemed to pale in comparison.

"You know, I'm starting to think this isn't how fights between Nascent Soul Realm cultivators usually go," Ashlock said, and Stella snorted.

"The floating island thing is definitely new, but it's quite common for fights between such high-level individuals to go like this. It's rare for a simple standoff where two cultivators shoot techniques at one another until someone dies or runs out of Qi. Usually, entire sects, armies, or spiritual manifestations like the big ice golem the Winterwrath family used during their assault on my father are involved." Diana mused.

"I suppose that's true. The Lunarshade Grand Elder did something similar by surrounding himself in an avatar of lunar Qi."

"Having two souls and such vast amounts of Qi to work with definitely changes the size, scale, and tactics of these fights." Diana paused. "I wonder what a battle between two Monarch Realms would look like."

"I don't want to imagine, but I fear the day we will witness one isn't too far away," Ashlock sighed, "I just hope we aren't involved and can watch from the sidelines."

Stella and Diana exchanged a knowing look.

"Don't give me that look, I'm serious. With Vincent finally dealt with, we should be free to deal with the beast tide."

"The beast tide... are you talking about the largest one in history? The one that's said to contain a Monarch Realm monster?" Diana smirked, "That beast tide?"

"Okay... fair." Ashlock left this debate for later. With Erebus in position, time was of the essence. "Bastions prepare to fire." The fully charged flowers sprouting from the sides of the Bastions swiveled to face Vincent. With those darn gravity rings out of the way, it was time to puncture a hole through the less dense illusion Qi. Since it wasn't a defensive technique and was simply a chaotic storm of unfocused Qi, Ashlock was confident this would be enough.

"Fire!" The world flashed for the third time as orbs of void Qi from Erebus impacted first, followed by beams of cosmic Qi that erupted out of the flowers on Orion. The assault lasted a full five seconds before Orion's Bastion Core bottomed out, and the attack died down.

A sudden spiritual pressure washed over the two Bastions, making their shields ripple and crack.

"I can see him!" Diana said in disbelief. "It's quite creepy to see nothing but a floating torso, but I can finally see!"

Ashlock didn't waste any time and sent his void tendrils and vines through the hole in the chaotic illusion Qi before it filled in. Impaling Vincet's stomach, Ashlock began to fight the man's insane regeneration by draining his Qi and life force directly. He had hoped the void tendrils would tear Vincent apart in seconds as it was known to prevent healing, but this was different. The damaged flesh was not healed. It was regenerated. Blood Qi solidified into muscle and tissue and was woven into new flesh to form a living barrier that was regrowing faster than he could devour.

If not for the influx of Qi, Ashlock would be skeptical if he was even doing anything. But as the man's white skin began to turn a deathly grey, Ashlock could see the fruits of his labor.

The end of this battle was in sight. If he could just devour Vincent from within, he would emerge victorious.

"Wait!" Elysia suddenly panicked, "The illusion Qi, it's becoming less chaotic."

Ashlock focused on it and had to agree. The turbulent illusion Qi was now calm and being pulled back into Vincent, slowly exposing the rest of his body to reality.

He was regaining control—and fast.

"Shit, not yet! I'm so close." Ashlock forced his vines and void tendrils to try and dig deeper. Much of the man's torso had been devoured at this point, but there was a seemingly impenetrable wall of vitality and regeneration focused around his pounding spiritual twin hearts.

"Stab him!" Stella shouted.

"With what—"

"My birthday gift to you."

Ashlock was confused until he remembered what Stella had gotten him for his birthday. A sword cast from Bloodiron, a cursed metal found under ancient battlefields. While as weak as iron on its own, when fed enough lifeforce, it could parry attacks from Monarch Realm beings... and maybe even stab a Nascent Soul Realm through the heart.

Quickly diving into the spatial cave in the center of his Inner World that was serving as his inventory, he found the giant sword in question. It had been made for him, so it was many times larger than a human sword.

"To finish Vincent off with a gift from my 10th birthday from Stella, crafted by Elder Mo from the Redclaw family that Vincent had deemed lesser. What a great twist of fate." Ashlock pulled the Bloodiron sword out of a rift with an ethereal root coming out of Orion and pointed its tip at Vincent.

"I will kill you with a sword empowered by your own downfall," Ashlock muttered as he redirected all the lifeforce he was rapidly absorbing from Vincent back into the Bloodiron sword. The red veins pulsed as if alive, and an aura of slaughter began to radiate from them.

As it reached its zenith and the sword could not take any more lifeforce, Ashlock wreathed it in the purest desolation Qi infused with every Dao he could muster and thrust it forward with the weight of his Inner World.

Right as the sword impaled his chest all the way through until the hilt, Vincent's eyes snapped open. The man seemed momentarily confused as he looked down at the pulsing sword impaling his heart. He inspected its hilt and then looked up to meet everyone's gazes. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and for a brief moment, Ashlock thought these might be Vincent's dying moments.

But then he grinned.