Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

When Ashlock activated his new S-grade skill {Nocturnal Genesis}, his world changed. He was still stuck on a mountain peak as a tree, but that is where the similarities between his previous reality and this dreamscape he found himself in ended.

The sparse cloud cover was gone and replaced with a sky full of stars that seemed to stretch on until infinity. However, this breathtaking sight was overshadowed by the nine giant full moons looming overhead in a vertical line from the horizon to the zenith. They were scarily close as if one could reach out and touch them. Ashlock noted that eight of the nine moons were dull in color, much like the Earth's moon, just a hundred times the size.

Ashlock felt a refreshing light on his leaves from these eight dull moons that he assumed to be the lunar energy his new S-grade skill made him capable of absorbing to heal his soul. Looking within at his own soul, Ashlock noticed some hairline cracks slowly fading, which had likely been left from his usage of {Progeny Dominion}.

He had assumed that the 1% damage to his soul caused by Tristan Evergreen many moons ago had been 'healed' by absorbing the divine fragment, but he now noticed the lunar energies wrapping around his soul, and he could feel a part of him... returning.

"Soul damage is scary," Ashlock muttered to himself. He hadn't even noticed that a part of his existence had been taken away until it started returning—almost like a distant memory of a summer long past that he was only reminded of when shown a picture.

Feeling relief at seeing his soul healing, Ashlock looked back outside his trunk at the dreamscape. A celestial wind that carried no scent or sound rustled his leaves, making him feel at peace.

There was just one glaring thing off about this place that was bugging him.

"Why is one of the moons purple?"

The giant moon closest to the horizon had a distinct purple—almost lilac hue—eerily similar to the color of his soul fire, and the light it bathed him in carried traces of spatial Qi. There was no chance one of the moons being the same color as his soul was a coincidence?

If so, what did the eight dull moons without a color represent? Ashlock thought for a while, but it was difficult to focus. Thinking in this place was hard—he felt half asleep. It was so relaxing under the moonlight that Ashlock wanted to stay here forever in slumber.The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.

"If only the others could experience this," Ashlock slurred as he thought of how Stella and the others vanished when he activated the skill and was whisked away to this dreamscape. However, he wasn't totally alone here. "Are you guys enjoying it?" He asked his thousands of offspring, sprawling out like a scarlet sea in all directions.

There wasn't much of a response apart from a wave of drowsiness. Ashlock's offspring were in a deep slumber under the nine moons, and he decided to join them as his consciousness drifted off.

***

Ashlock awoke to shouts, sunlight, and the pitter-patter of rain hitting his leaves. Had the sparse clouds last night gathered into a storm?

"Huh? What?" Ashlock grumbled as he slowly awoke from his dream. His body felt brand new, as if he had just left the spa, and he noticed that his Star Core had refilled far more than usual during the night.

"Good morning Stella," Ashlock said through {Abyssal Whispers}. "What's got you in such a bad mood this early? The sun has hardly risen... is it the rain? A little water never hurt anyone."ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Noᴠelꜰire

"Oh..." It all came rushing back. How his reality changed the moment he activated the skill. The nine moons and how one provided him with spatial Qi while the others remained dull, giving him lunar energies instead. "It's morning..."

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3564

Daily Credit: 1

Sacrifice Credit: 1112

[Sign in?]

Sure enough, his system confirmed that a night had indeed passed. Which was deeply concerning. It would appear the system hadn't lied about the deep slumber his {Nocturnal Genesis} would put him in.

"How hard did you try?" Ashlock asked Stella.

"My presence vanished? What do you mean?"

"Interesting."

That hadn't been listed as one of the skill's features but was more like a happy coincidence. It was almost like a forest-wide stealth skill, letting Ashlock's offspring appear as nothing but typical trees during the night.

"Next time, try more forcefully to wake me up," Ashlock said, "I don't mind if you pull off my leaves, break a branch or punch me. I need to know if it's possible to wake from the deep slumber the technique puts me in."

"What is it, Stella?" Ashlock asked with concern. Had a bounty hunter slipped past his perception?

Ashlock followed her gaze and saw Diana walking casually through the storm. The rain swirled around her but never touched her clothes and hair, keeping her perfectly dry. Elaine and Douglas also took shelter from the rain in her little bubble, and Elaine gave Stella a wave.

"I will ensure my Ents secure the perimeter, so try to relax," Ashlock told Stella. He then instructed Khaos and Sol to guard the mountain peak. They had both been linked to him with a black root to recover their cultivation overnight after yesterday's battle.

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The two Ents unlinked and moved through the rain. Sol was like a lumbering lighthouse, while Khaos was a ghost as she shifted through the rain.

Zeus and Titus remained down the mountain with Kaida to protect the collection of books and the Midnight Inkwing eggs. With Ashlock here, plus Larry crawling around in his canopy, Stella was heavily defended.

Stella returned a nod.

Once they were under his vast canopy and safe from the rain, Diana dismissed her control of the surrounding water, letting it drop to the stone.

Ashlock noted the gem-encrusted stone crown still atop Douglas's head as he slouched on his throne and propped his head up with his arm.

A moment of silence passed between the four members of the Ashfallen Sect as the downpour only worsened.

When he had been a human, Ashlock hated nothing more than getting caught out in the rain, but now, as a tree, he welcomed the rain with open branches. He never felt parched since he could pump water through his roots from various rivers and lakes down on the ground, but the rain was akin to drinking an ice-cold glass of water rather than water from a bottle that had been sitting on a desk all day. It was fresh and hydrating.

Stella pursed her lips.

The image of Dante Voidmind flashed through Ashlock's mind, and he suspected those teachings had failed that man for one reason or another. Compared to Elaine, it was like night and day in personality. It was almost hard to believe they were siblings.

"Or are you just putting on a strong front for the others?" Ashlock mused after Stella's earlier display.

"That we do," Ashlock said to everyone present through {Abyssal Whispers}. Douglas winced, quickly taking a Mind Fortress fruit. Everyone else seemed able to tolerate his A-grade skill, which showed they were getting stronger mentally and in cultivation. "Stella, bring out the rings, and I will break their seals."

Stella retrieved Nox's rings from her pocket and threw them up into the air.

Ashlock caught them with telekinesis. He then exerted his now 8th-stage Star Core pressure onto the spatial ring's seals. Since they belonged to Nox, who was at the peak of the 9th stage, even with the advantages of being a tree and having a large soul, it still took a few minutes.

Having opened a fair few spatial rings in his life and studying them every time he encountered them, Ashlock knew spatial rings were attuned to a person's Qi, allowing people to access a pocket dimension where their items were stored without needing spatial affinity.

Being linked to someone's unique Qi also acted as a protective mechanism to stop people from easily looting from someone's spatial ring simply by shaking hands. Even if the cultivator and the seal were weak, it would take a moment to break, and the seal being breached would be noticable to the cultivator wearing the ring.

While the multiple floating rings were wrapped in his soul fire, the seals all broke simultaneously. Ashlock didn't bother looking inside and simply pulled all the items from them and used telekinesis so nothing broke by hitting the floor.

"Indeed we did," Ashlock replied. "Although it was you who managed to chop her hand off, so it was your own hard work that got it back."

In truth, Ashlock could see that the dress was only a size or two up from Stella and would definitely not fit Douglas's large frame. But it did confirm that Nox was taller than Stella, who was already on the taller side for a girl.

Other than the heaps of clothes, there was a fair amount of spirit stones and mortal currency, which would be very helpful for creating runic formations on the Bastions. But there weren't a lot of artifacts, which made sense when Ashlock thought about it. Why would Nox keep any artifacts in her spatial ring? She would either be wearing them or, as a Merchant, would have sold them off.

"Look for yourself," Elaine said, holding up the pendant.

Stella used telekinesis to take the pendant out of Elaine's hand and drift it over so she could also take a look.

Ashlock looked over Stella's shoulder, and sure enough, a bounty was written in spiritual text on the pendant's surface.

[Death of Stella Crestfallen]

Target's estimated threat level: Star Core 1 [Unverified]

Affiliation with Ashfallen Trading Company: Star Core 9 [Unverified]

Bounty: 6,000 Yinxi Coins. Double if completed by sundown (failed).

The bounty is placed by Nox Duskwalker, and the target is at the marked location. For more information, consult a Lotus Informant.

"Well, that is good," Ashlock said, "The fact they underestimate you and the bounty has halved since the night has passed should be good news? So why do you look annoyed..."

Ashlock could only laugh. "Stella, if we are done searching through this batch, give me the spatial rings of the two bounty hunters we killed. Let's see if they have anything interesting."