Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

Ashlock observed the meeting occurring in the dining room from above. As he had planned, Elaine began to write on the parchment in ancient runes, which he and Stella could read without problem.

It was almost like a secret language, allowing them to communicate without looking suspicious.

Dante Voidmind sat a few tables away, and despite Jasper's constant attempts at starting a conversation with the scion, Dante's solid black eyes were set on Elaine's every move. Ashlock could also see ripples of Qi emanating from him as if he were a stone dropped into a calm lake.

Ashlock waited patiently for Elaine to write out three pretend attempts at an array. Clearly, she had zero knowledge about arrays, but Ashlock's {Language of the World} skill effortlessly translated the ancient runic language in his head.

"At the end of the tournament, there will be a Voidmind invasion led by my brother." Ashlock read, filling in the gaps where he deemed necessary. The message wasn't that shocking, as the reason for the scion's participation was dubious at best.

In a world where power was gained through closed-door meditation, why would a scion dare stray from the safety of their cave and waste time at some small-time alchemy tournament hosted in a backwater city by a small cultivation family?

For this very reason, they even advertised the tournament as having meager rewards and being open to rogue cultivators. Ashlock expected a few families to show up with maybe an aspiring alchemist or someone they were training just to show some face to the Redclaw family but to send a scion? An heir to the entire family? That was just nonsense.

It was another reason Ashlock had been so eager to rescue Elaine from that suspicious mansion. Not just for her own safety, as he had no idea what problems her improved looks and spirit roots could cause, but also because he wanted information. What was the real reason Dante Voidmind was here? He hadn't expected her to get such juicy details so quickly...

"An invasion, huh." Ashlock mused as he eavesdropped on the meeting for a while longer. An hour passed, and the only other thing Elaine felt the need to write out in ancient runes translated to her being fine with watching over her brother as she also wanted access to something called the void chamber.

Ashlock wasn't sure what this void chamber was exactly, but he could make an educated guess. It was well known that cultivators needed to meditate in areas with Qi of their affinity floating around if they wished to advance. So this void chamber was likely a place of concentrated void Qi.

"Come to think of it, Elaine has been basically unable to cultivate the entire time she's been at Red Vine Peak as there's no void Qi around, and I didn't let her enter the Mystic Realm this time." Ashlock felt bad about this revelation. And it made him feel even worse, knowing that she was willing to stay with her brother just to have the opportunity to surround herself with some void Qi for once.

"Maybe I can build her a cultivation room." Ashlock sighed, "I still need to get Douglas to build that staircase and hollow out the mountain with rooms for everyone."

It had been so busy recently that none of them had found the time.

"After the alchemy tournament and defeating this Voidmind invasion, I will take a week off and get all hands on deck to turn this mountain into the greatest cultivation abode this realm has ever seen! I just need to find a way to somehow survive many Voidmind cultivators coming here hellbent on taking over my beloved shithole of a city."

Which was going to be no easy feat. Killing the Voidmind Elder had been a mixture of luck and Maple coming to the rescue. Neither of those were very reliable solutions or ones that could be utilized at scale against a full-on invasion. Maple—for all the power shoved in such a tiny body—got exhausted after just a few attacks.

"I do have {Consuming Abyss} this time round which will let me fight void with void. But if the Voidmind Grand Elder makes an entrance, then we might run into problems." Ashlock hummed to himself as he thought of scenarios... none of them looked too good.

"Why do they even want to invade? Would there be a way to call it off? Reach a peace deal, perhaps?" If all they wanted was a chunk of Darklight City or access to the mines, Ashlock didn't mind letting them have some control for a while if it bought him enough time to get strong enough to steamroll them.

"Ah, whatever. Why can't they let us have our little tournament in peace." Ashlock let out another long sigh in his mind. Alas, his wandering thoughts were interrupted by the sound of multiple chairs being pushed back on the dining room's tiled floor.

Stella, Douglas, and Elder Margret stood up from the table.

Ashlock would raise his concerns and ask if peace was an option away from Dante's prying eyes at this next meeting.

Elaine only seemed slightly bothered and uncomfortable in her brother's presence as they exchanged words while eating.

Dante opened his mouth to say something but then shut it. Elaine had seemingly answered numerous of his other questions with that one statement. A few minutes later, they concluded their meal, and the three Voidminds stood and exited the dining hall while drawing many stares and whispers.

Ashlock watched them walk back to their house, and once he saw they were all safely inside without incident, he sighed in relief. He had half expected Dante to kill someone for looking at him funny the entire way home.

With the sun beginning to set, signifying the coming of dusk, Ashlock returned his sights to Red Vine Peak. People were waiting for him.

Stella had brought the group back to the peak via a portal, and they were idly chatting while waiting for his presence. The moment he deactivated his skill and used his spiritual sight to look at the group, Stella seemed to somehow notice his attention.

That didn't sound good. How did the Redclaws plan to run an alchemy tournament without any ingredients to perform alchemy with?

Ashlock had many dragon coins and various artifacts and things he could sell if money was the problem. But according to Elder Margret, money wasn't the issue. Instead, it was a scarcity of resources—likely caused by a rival that wanted to see the tournament fail—that was the problem.

"Hold on. I have an idea..." Ashlock mused as he wrote on his trunk in lilac flames, 'Do you have a complete set of ingredients on hand?'

Stella translated the words.

Elder Margret nodded, and her ring flashed with golden light. A wooden box filled with porcelain bottles appeared between them.

Ashlock was glad they had one complete set of ingredients, as that was all he needed. He planned to create an alchemy empire with his system-granted production skills.

So a shortage of ingredients was no issue for him. He just needed to add the ingredients to his systems database to grow them with his {Blooming Root Flower Production} skill or even create mushrooms and fruit that mimic or replace the ingredients.

Blanketing the area with his Qi, he began to use telekinesis to lift up the porcelain bottles and extract the ingredients from them. This was so he could analyze them for his system.

'Explain each one, Elder Margret.' Ashlock wrote, and she raised a brow, likely confused about his ignorance, but she obeyed anyway.

Ashlock had brought up his {Blooming Root Flower Production} menu and saw the Qi Flowing Grass added to his list of analyzed flowers. It did surprise him to learn that grass counted as flowers, but he wouldn't complain.

Ashlock felt his mind freeze. It had been mentioned in the past about how this was the strongest beast tide yet. But now that Elder Margret laid it out, he became concerned. Senior Lee had told him the world was dying. And during those flashbacks of previous world trees, he distinctly remembered the feeling of the realms around his roots turning into hellscapes overflowing with demonic Qi. By a dying world, is this what Senior Lee meant?

Ashlock had pushed his concerns about the world to the back of his mind and listened to the old woman's tale. He felt sorry for them. In peaceful times like now, those families specializing in something like the Silverspires with their spatial rings will thrive. It's only in times of war when resources and manpower are limited that the all-rounders are preferred.

Ashlock looked at the bone marrow and mentally frowned. That was definitely an ingredient he could not grow, as it had to come straight from a monster.

"But I can drag many monsters through portals without sending out a group of cultivators, so it shouldn't be too hard to source enough of the stuff." Ashlock was starting to realize just how much of a cheat his existence was. He may not be able to move, but that was a small price to pay for the skills of the system.

Ashlock wrote, 'Elder Margret, please return tomorrow with two aspiring alchemists from your family. I have a solution to this problem,' on his trunk after confirming he had added the Qi Flowing Grass and Starlight Lotus to his production menu.

It was time to expand the farm in the cavern, as producing thousands of these resources was a simple affair for Ashlock.

And after listening to Elder Margret's tale, he decided there was no need to wait for the tournament's conclusion to start production. Even after unlocking the cauldron fruit, he had refrained from using the Redclaws as he hadn't trusted them.

But times had changed, and the Redclaws were now an irreplaceable part of the Ashfallen Sect. He no longer had any qualms about going all out to improve and level them up.

It was about time he returned the Redclaws to their former glory, one flower, fruit, and mushroom at a time.