Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

Stella had a headache as she stared at the strange-looking ring of shadow in her palm.

"Mhm, is there no way the Silverspires can registerlike they did for Diana?"

"What about registering in another city?"

"Fine," Stella side-eyed Nox's shadow, "So after I register, I then use this shadow ring to have a meeting with your sister, who will likely try to kill us on sight, so we should bring Larry because she is scared of spiders?"

The shadow dryad slowly nodded her head.

Stella fastened the jade mask to her face, "Don't worry, I can remain lowkey if I want to."

Stella felt her ears pop as she stepped through the portal Ash had conjured for her to the Tainted Cloud Sect. Not only did the pressure change, the temperature was a few degrees colder.

"Ashlock did say that Nightshade City was over a thousand miles away," Diana said in a distorted voice as she stepped through the portal, which snapped closed.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Stella asked as she looked over her shoulder at Diana. Like herself, the demoness was wearing one of the jade masks they had looted from the bounty hunters. The masks were inlaid with a runic circuit that distorted one's voice and helped hide one's face.

"The sun appears in different parts of the sky as it travels across the realm. Since we covered such a vast distance, it's as if we went forward in time," Diana said as she walked past and flipped up the large hood of her black cloak. "Anyway, that's not important right now. We should be near the entrance to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion."

Stella scrunched up her nose as a rat ran past. They were standing near the bins behind a restaurant, and it was filthy.

Stella flipped up her hood and nodded to Diana, "Let's go." The two moved in silence down the alleyway, and sure enough, once they were on a main street with a more open view of the sky, the mountain was indeed hard to miss. Not because of its size, as it was nothing compared to Red Vine Peak, but because it was covered in hundreds of ornate pavilions adorned in shades of jade, and even from here, Stella could feel the power emanating from the place. The air shuddered, especially around the top third.

Before she knew it, they were at the gate. It towered over the guards standing before it, processing the many people passing in and out. The bounty hunters of the pavilion were easy to spot due to how they dressed and moved about compared to the more casually dressed merchants and other mortals who wished to enter.

"We don't need to wait in line. I can get us in," Diana said as she flashed the gold and black pendant with a phoenix symbol in her palm.

Weirdly, she still felt a tinge of excitement. Here she was at the gates of an organization filled to the brim with people who would kill her the moment they learned of her true identity, and as fun as teaching Jasmine was, Stella felt herself getting rusty and impatient. Cultivation progress had slowed to a crawl, and instead of learning techniques, she had been teaching Jasmine the basics.

Stella grinned behind her mask as she passed a line of merchants and stood before a guard.

"Business with the pavilion?" The man wearing shining armor asked in a dull tone. He wasn't even focusing on them as his gaze lingered on the clipboard in his hand.

Diana released the slightest hint of pressure from her Star Core, startling the man enough to almost drop his clipboard.

The guard threw himself into a deep bow, not daring to look up. "Esteemed Elder, I apologize for my manners."

Diana's distorted laughter rang through the mask, "At ease, guard. I am no Elder."

The guard hesitantly straightened up and seemed nervous to say the wrong thing.

The mask and the cloak made it impossible to tell anything about Diana's identity. The guard's only clue was her general body shape and strands of black hair that snuck out the hood of her cloak.

"May I pass?" Diana was holding out the pendant of a bounty hunter.

The guard glanced at the pendant before nodding, "Such power yet only an Iron Seeker? Ah, my apologies, that's none of my business. Step on through."

The pendant vanished into Diana's spatial ring, and she strode past the guard.

Stella went to follow, but an arm stopped her.

"Business with the pavilion?" The guard asked with a grin. His previous humble demeanor before Diana was gone in an instant, and it felt as if he was trying to pass on his humiliation to her.

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"She's with me," Diana said with irritation, and the man's hand raised faster than it had fallen.

"A guest of the Esteemed Iron Seeker. Enjoy your stay, Miss. Next!"

Stella clicked her tongue as she walked past the guard. A wave of Qi washed over her as she phased through the main defensive array, and the lingering feeling of Ashlock watching her vanished.

Stella felt her heartbeat quicken as she joined Diana on the other side, waiting on a wide paved road lined with trees that led to a square up ahead that looked like a sea of people.

"I could feel the ripples of Qi near your soul from over here," Diana hissed as they walked. "Remember, we are trying to be lowkey. I don't know what you were thinking, but harming a guard to the lowest level of the pavilion would achieve little. That guy was hardly a step above being mortal. I bet they get replaced all the time."

"Maybe if they had cultivators capable of detecting Qi fluctuations on the gates, they would have fewer casualties," Stella hissed back as they reached the square. "It's not my fault that the bored guard was trying to pick a fight with me."

Diana snorted, "If what Nox told us is true, most Iron Seekers are weaklings. I mean, look around. I can't see a single other cultivator here. It's all mortals moving between the pavilions. That blockhead guard likely took the job to feel superior to people with his meager strength."

Stella glanced around, and Diana exaggerated a bit. The odd cultivator wearing robes and masks was dotted among the hundreds of mortals flowing between giant pavilions.

The largest pavilion that dominated the far end of the square had the words 'Trade Hall' written over a doorway wide enough for a dozen people to walk through side by side. This was precisely what was happening, as guards in shiny armor controlled the flow of horse-drawn carts loaded with goods into the building.

Other than the Trade Hall, there were a few other buildings, such as the Alchemy Hall and Smithy.

"Are you sure about using your real nto register?" Diana asked, using her Qi to mask her voice. The area near the Iron Seeker's pavilion was quieter, and far more bounty hunters were standing around, so that was a smart move. "Using a persona would help you go unnoticed by the Celestial Warden."

"Yes, I am sure," Stella replied, using her Qi to portal her words straight to Diana's ears so nobody could hear them. "Other than Nox, nobody knows that the Celestial Warden is interested in me. So long as I avoid my nbeing brought to his attention, I will be fine. I could even lie to the man if our paths crossed and tell him that Nox is recovering from the curse."

"Hmm," Diana seemed skeptical, "Will that really work?"

"I don't see why not," Stella replied, "Any artifacts he uses to verify if she's still alive will show that her soul is still present in this realm, and I doubt he can leave here to verify."

"That's true. Such a powerhouse wouldn't leave this place unattended just to verify your words. At least until the Celestial Warden grows very suspicious."

Stella nodded, "Exactly. I will admit using my real nis risky, but I would argue using a fake nis even riskier. If someone found out, they could use it as blackmail againstbecause if they reported it, I would be exiled from the pavilion no matter how high ranking I get."

Diana pushed the door to the Iron Seeker pavilion open, and they strode inside. Dominating the center of the room was a large white jade pillar encircled by a counter manned by numerous Lotus Informants. All of them had long lines except for a woman near the end who was serving a single person. Since it was the shortest line, they joined and waited.

"Look up there," Diana pointed at the jade pillar. Following her finger, Stella saw a long list of active bounties in golden letters. Searching down the list that went from high to low with Vincent Nightrose and the Silverspire Grand Elder at 100,000 Yinxi Coins alongside a few others in that range at the top. Further down, her gaze paused.

[Dead or Alive: Nox Duskwalker]

Target's estimated threat level: Star Core 9

Affiliation with Duskwalker Family: Nascent Soul Realm 6 [Pending Re-evaluation]

Bounty: 30,000 Yinxi Coins.

The bounty is placed by The Lunarshade Family. For more information, consult a Lotus Informant.

There was also a surprising number of high Star Core Elders in the 10,000 Yinxi Coin range, and then there was a slight drop.

[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.

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

The rest of the board had low-ranking bounties for mortal merchants and whatnot. Honestly, with only a nto go off, for the pay, they didn't even seem worth the effort. To her surprise, as she was still reading them, every nfloated up a spot, and a brand new bounty appeared at the bottom for 20 Yinxi Coins. It was for the kidnapping of a mortal farmer's wife.

Trying to get a feel for their cultivation level was impossible as the defensive array heavily suppressed the flow of Qi, but if she had to guess, they were in the Qi or Soul Fire Realm at best.

"Next, please!" The Lotus Informant rang a little bell to draw their attention.

Diana stepped forward and placed her gold and black pendant on the counter. "I wish to be promoted to the rank of a Crimson Tracker."

"Have you completed the requirements?" The brown-haired woman asked with a strained smile.

"What are they?"

The Lotus Informant's face fell, and she let out a long sigh, "Another upstart who thinks they are important. Listen here, cultivator. Very few ever make it to the Crimson Tracker rank, you hear me? Your cultivation stage is irrelevant, as we only want talented people. If you want to advance, you must complete ten missions and pass a combat test."

"Well, I haven't completed any missions."

The Lotus Informant gave a deadpan look, "Then we are done here." She rang her bell and called out, "Next."

"The Sage Advisor toldthat I would need to cin person to be promoted to the Crimson Trackers," Diana said calmly. "Does this mean an honorable Sage Advisor lied to me?"

Much like the guard, the Lotus Informant's demeanor did a 180 as her eyes widened, "May I ask for your honorable name?"

"Diana Ravenborne."

"One moment, please," The woman crouched down and dug through a pile of jade slips before finding the one she was looking for. Getting to her feet and inserting sQi, she read the words on the slip. "An honorable Sage Advisor did indeed put in a recommendation for you. Diana Ravenborne, you are approved to skip the necessary missions and can advance after completing the combat test, which will be held in the arena behind this pavilion tonight."

"Thank you," Diana replied simply and stepped aside. A few nearby tables began whispering among themselves, and because of their low cultivation, Stella could easily hear that they were displeased by Diana's usage of connections to 'cheat.'

"How can I help you today?" The woman asked as Stella stepped forward.

"Okay," the woman said, bringing out a jade slip and infusing sQi into her fingertip. "I will need to know your name. Please note that if you use a fake nand it's discovered, you will be exiled and possibly even hunted down." Her eyes raised, and she stared straight at her mask. "And we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Stella's spatial ring flashed, and a slip of parchment with the n'Stella Crestfallen' written on it appeared. She passed it to the Lotus Informant in hopes that it would allow for a quiet registration.

The woman read the note, paused to look at something at the corner of the room, and then gave a sly smile, "Not every day I get a mute cultivator. Just nod if the nStella Crestfallen works for you."

Stella didn't need to be a cultivator to notice how the room suddenly becquieter, and far more heads stared into her back. A few groups even stood from their tables, and someone from the far end strode straight toward her.

A sigh escaped her lips as she gave the stupid Lotus Informant a nod. Things just got tricky.