Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Stella was in a terrible mood.

It was the crack of dawn, evident by warm sunlight streaking through crude glass, illuminating the bare stone room. She sat at a table with other central figures of the Ashfallen Sect on a wooden chair with no padding that dug into her back, successfully aggravating her mood further.

How did I get dragged into another meeting? I thought I told Ash to leave all meetings to Diana, yet here I am in another stupid meeting. Maybe I should just stand up and leave. It's not like anyone would stop me...

"Master," Jasmine whispered as she tugged at her sleeve, "If you frown all the time, you will get wrinkles."

Stella side-eyed her disciple, who was sitting beside her. "Who taught you to make jokes like that?"

Jasmine tilted her head, "Joke? I'm being serious. My mother told me it was true."

Stella snorted, "Well, unlike your mother, I have access to unlimited skin improvement truffles, so I don't fear wrinkles. I can frown as much as I want."

"If you say so," Jasmine shrugged and looked away.

Stella felt her eye twitch. Was she really being made fun of by a kid whose legs couldn't even reach the floor right now? Why did I think bringing Jasmine to this meeting would make it more tolerable? Stella scowled as she crossed her arms and leaned back on her chair. As she swayed back and forth, causing the chair to creak, her scowl slowly dissipated, and she relaxed her facial muscles. Will I really get wrinkles?

"I'm sorry for the delay, everyone," Elder Brent quickly walked into the room and sat on the opposite side of the round table. "There was a dispute with the farmers today who were unhappy with how we were taking their crops to feed the citizens, but it has been resolved for now."

There was a moment of silence before a sudden pressure descended on the room.

"Now that everyone is here, we can start." Ash's voice thundered through Stella's mind. She was unfazed alongside Diana, Douglas, and Elaine.

The Redclaw Grand Elder, Elder Brent, and Sebastian took out Mind Fortress pills and downed them. Meanwhile, Julian, Ryker, and Jasmine glanced around in confusion as Ash had spared them from his technique.

Elder Margret finished gulping down the pills and spoke to those left out. "The immortal just contacted us telepathically. I will relay what he says to you three via my Qi so as not to bother the others," Elder Margret said with a smile.

Julian gave her a nod, "That is appreciated. Though I have to ask out of curiosity, if this is a meeting regarding the city's development and future, what is my daughter doing here?"

"Dad!" Jasmine shouted at her Father.

"Don't get me wrong, Jaz. I don't disapprove of your presence here, but I thought you were busy practicing cultivation from dawn till dusk. So I wondered what the purpose of you attending this meeting is."

Jasmine glanced back at Stella, "Actually, I had the same question, Master. Why am I here?"

Stella smirked, "How else will I have you attend these meetings in my place in the future? As my Disciple, it's only right that you have to suffer, ahem, I mean attend these meetings with me."

"Master," Jasmine loudly whispered, "You are letting your true thoughts out."

"I'm about to let a lot more of my true thoughts out if this meeting drags on any longer than it has to because of pointless questions." Stella glared at Julian.

Julian backed off with a smile. "Looks like you have your work cut out for you, Jaz."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jasmine grumbled at her Dad.

Elder Brent coughed awkwardly, "I agree with Mistress Stella. We are all busy people, so let's not focus on unimportant details. Immortal, if you may, what have you summoned us here for today?

"Stella, stop causing trouble."

"I am not—"

"Ahem, getting on topic, last night, I was notified by Nox that there is widespread civil unrest among the populace of Ashfallen City, with gangs starting to form that have attempted kidnappings and even stolen food. There are also unknown cultivators gathering in the mines with unknown origins and goals,"Ash said. The mood around the table turned more serious. "I have brought you all here today to work out a solution to this civil unrest, how to deal with the cultivators, and to improve the lives of those in Ashfallen City."

Stella glared at Elder Brent and the Grand Elder, "Isn't the security of the city your job? What has your failings got to do with me?"

The Redclaws exchanged a glance.

Elder Brent bowed toward the table. "I apologize deeply for my failings."

"Apologies are useless; I want solutions," Ash said. "Elder Brent, in your opinion, what led to this lack of control? Feel free to speak your mind, and don't hold back."

Elder Brent straightened up and coughed into his hand, "If I may really speak freely, then I have a few thoughts."

"Go ahead."

Elder Brent took a breath to steel himself before addressing the room. "The biggest issue we have faced so far is that we are heavily outnumbered. At any one time, around thirty cultivators from our family are patrolling and watching over the city. Even with spirit sight, they can't catch everything happening to a hundred thousand people."

"A lack of manpower rather than outright incompetence then?"

"Well..." Elder Brent scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I will admit I have had some trouble getting the youngsters to take their roles seriously. Most of them see it as a waste of time, and even when the mortals ask for help, they often cause more trouble. It's been getting slowly better over time, but there's a reason the noble families usually leave the mortals to police themselves."

"You're speaking too much." The Grand Elder hissed under his breath.

"No, this is a good discussion. It's better to admit to problems than keep quiet about them to save face," Ashlock rebutted, silencing the Grand Elder. "In conclusion, Elder Brent, and tell me if I am mistaken, the Redclaws are both outnumbered and ill-suited for the job I have tasked them with. Is that correct?"

Elder Brent slowly nodded. "A fact I hate to admit, but it's true. I should have told the immortal about this issue sooner. Please punish me as you see fit."

"There is no need for punishment. My oversight led to me assigning cultivators to a job better suited for mortals. Could someone tell me how a city like Darklight City keeps crime under control?"

Julian stood up and bowed respectfully, "If I may, having lived as a mortal in a city overseen by cultivators and also walking the streets of Ashfallen, I have some insight."

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"Just spit it out," Stella snapped, "The immortal isn't going to eat you for speaking out of line, and this is a meeting. It's what we are here to do."

"Right... wait, eat me?" Julian gulped. "Um, Darklight City is run by a council of mortals. Usually, cultivator families only care about what they can get out of a city, such as spirit stones or labor, rather than how it's run, so they let a group of mortals govern the city so long as the production quotas are met."

"I see, that makes sense. What about crime?"

"Crime?" Julian seemed confused by the question, "Every city has rampant crime because of rogue cultivators."

"Why?"

"I can answer that," Douglas stood up, "For those here that don't know, I used to be a rogue cultivator drowning in debt until I was taken in by the Ashfallen Sect. I did many things I am not proud of to survive and grow in power. It's a cutthroat world of crime out there, so strength is all that matters to staying fucking alive. However, the noble families are greedy bastards, no offense. They buy up and hoard all the cultivation resources, leaving little to go around for the rest, and as you can imagine, the resources left aren't going into the hands of upstanding members of society..."

The Grand Elder chuckled, "Greedy bastards are one way to put it, but he is right. We set quite high quotas for the city to meet each month, so they have little to spare for anyone else."

"See, greedy bastards." Douglas grinned, "Though I have to say I can't blame you now that I live in your shiny shoes. Life is much nicer up here atop a hoard of wealth."

"So the rogue cultivators that Nox detected are likely the source of the crime?"

Douglas crossed his arms and drummed his fingers, "If I had to guess, they are either a bunch of upstarts or a smaller gang that got driven out of Darklight City by the powerhouses and then found Ashfallen City. Although there's little here, there's much to be gained from being the first to take over an area."

Stella had been leaning back on her chair and picking at her nails while listening in. With a sigh, she looked up from her nail at Douglas, "Then we have a solution. I will go slaughter them all, and then no more problem."

Douglas shrugged, "Yeah, that would work."

"No," Elaine shook her head from her seat beside Douglas, "I understand you want the meeting to end quickly, Stella, but that's a short-sighted solution. Unless you want to purge the city every week, they will keep appearing like cockroaches."

Stella narrowed her eyes, "What would you suggest then?"

Elaine pushed up her glasses as she hummed in thought. "Douglas, you mentioned stronger gangs driving out other rogue cultivators. What if we hired someone to act as a gang leader to prevent other rogue cultivators from acting in the city and then have the mortals police themselves?"

"That could work," Douglas agreed.

"Any idea for who we could hire?"

Douglas looked up at the ceiling. "I do, actually. I think Mister Choi would be the perfect man for the job."

That bald guy we hired Douglas from who runs the Golden Springs noodle shop? Stella wondered as the image of the man appeared in her mind. If a mountain could be a human, that was Mister Choi. His bulging muscles had been barely hidden by the purple silk robe embroidered with golden koi, and his shark-tooth grin was enough to make her nervous. I think he was stuck at the 9th stage of the Soul Fire Realm. With a few truffles, he would be quite a formidable cultivator under our control.

"Mister Choi could work," Ashlock agreed. Could you contact him for me, Douglas? I'd like to offer him a heavenly loyalty contract and many benefits for joining. Your growth in cultivation should be proof enough that our methods work."

"I will try my best." Douglas sat back down.

"That just leaves the council of mortals and hiring of guards to maintain order within the city. Julian, could you handle that for me?"

"Yes, my lord," Julian bowed, "But if I may add, Ashfallen City will collapse soon and descend into a civil war even without the rogue cultivators."

"Why's that?"

Julian cleared his throat. "People have been living off the free food and traveling to Darklight City to purchase things they need to live, but eventually, people will run out of Crowns they earned back in Slymere, and with there being no jobs in Ashfallen City, it's only a matter of time before crime becomes more rampant."

"Right, that's a good point. We should focus on having people employed in industries related to farming, manufacturing pill bottles and boxes, guards, and education. Giving people jobs also benefits us as the money will flow back to us when they purchase our pills."

"Are you going to let mortals become cultivators?" Jasmine asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Not quite. I don't have the truffles to turn a hundred thousand people into cultivators at your level. But I can make diluted pills from the truffles such that if they ate enough, they would eventually be able to cultivate."

"Good," The Grand Elder said, "Mortals becoming cultivators is unheard of, so anything stronger than that will attract a lot of attention. Your Disciple and her family should remain as a unique case unless you want every noble family seeking us out."

Stella ruffled Jasmine's hair, "Hear that? You're special because of your benevolent Master here."

Jasmine just pouted as her head was rocked back and forth.

"If you don't acknowledge your Master's greatness, you might regret it."

"Master... please... stop... rocking... my... head."

"Okay, it looks like we are mostly done here." Ashlock said, "Those who want to stay behind and help create the mortal council and the jobs, you are free to stay. The rest of you are dismissed."

Stella was the first to stand up, "I have never heard something better in my life."

"Hold on, Stella. I still need you to purge the rogues in the mine. No reason to turn down a meal that's causing me trouble."

Stella's smile widened, "Killing some weaklings will be a good warm-up for tonight. Come on, Jasmine, let's go."

"Eh?" Jasmine's eyes widened. "Why me?"

"This is the perfect opportunity to get some fighting experience before the tournament later this month. There's nothing like some life and death fights to get the blood pumping!"

"What?! You can't be serious."

***

As it turned out, her Master had been serious.

Jasmine stood before the entrance to the mine wearing the black cloak Elaine had gifted her, and a white wooden mask covered her face. Stella, standing beside her, had a similar setup, and they were attracting a lot of attention. Many mortals passed by, stealing glances at the two.

"Master, am I really ready for this?" Jasmine asked.

"Sure, why not. I will be here to help you, so don't hold back." Stella's ring flashed, and a blood-red fruit appeared in her hand. "Actually, I have a gift for you. Since you have chosen the path of the fist, this will help you."

"What is this?" Jasmine took the small fruit from Stella.

"I think it was called a Vampiric Touch fruit. After eating it, as you punch the shit out of someone, you will steal their Qi for yourself. That should help you believe this is possible, right? Punch someone enough times, and they will be weakened to your level."

"Um... that wasn't what I was worried about."

"Then what's worrying you?"

"We are going to kill a person."

Stella tilted her head, "Not quite."

Jasmine felt a ray of hope, "We aren't?"

"We are going to be slaughtering people." Stella giggled and patted her shoulder, "Now come, my Disciple, the fun awaits."

This is fun for her? Jasmine stood there dumbfounded. She watched Stella as she strode toward the cave entrance and drew her sword.

But I have never killed anyone before... Jasmine looked at the blood-red fruit in her hand. Could I even kill a person?

A man emerged from the dimly lit passage and stood in Stella's way. He was wearing a brown robe stained with dust and blood. A long sword was strapped to his back with leather straps, and his fierce gaze was barely hidden by a fringe of black hair.

"Miss, you are drawing quite the crowd." The man grinned as he surveyed the mortals, and they all avoided his gaze in fear. "May I ask your business here?"

"It's simple, really." Stella shrugged, "You and your friends have become a stain on Ashfallen City that needs to be purged."

The man's grin faded and twisted into a sneer, "Oh yeah? And who are you to decide that? This area is under the control of Brax, a Star Core cultivator! You and your short friend over there should run along if you don't want to get killed for entering the boss's territo—"

"Blah blah," Stella swung her sword upwards so fast it was nothing but a blur as it cleaved the man in two. "Noisy people like you are the worst." The two halves of the man fell to either side, and Stella casually walked through the gap, trailing blood with every step.

Silence filled the area as nobody dared to make a sound.

Jasmine felt her heart pound in her chest at how effortlessly Stella executed a cultivator far above her strength. Her gut was also doing somersaults from the gruesome sight, and she was struggling to hold back from puking into her mask.

Hold it together, Jasmine... if you faint here, it will look bad for your Master. Just... don't look... ugh, it's so disgusting.

A sudden ripple of power across the sky distracted her from the terrible scene as a rift formed overhead. Black vines she knew belonged to Stella's Father drooped down and curled around the pieces of the dead man, much to the horror of the surrounding mortals. They all screamed and began running for their lives, curiosity be darned.

Jasmine let out a shaky sigh. How does the immortal not understand why people see him as a dark god when he does stuff like this?

"Hurry up, Disciple!" Stella waved to her with a bloodstained sword in her hand. "If you dawdle for too long, I will have killed them all without you!"

I didn't want to kill them anyway! Jasmine shouted in her mind and clenched her fists. She forced herself to walk forward while muttering under her breath, "She's insane. My Master is absolutely insane."