Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

Ashlock was curious about what the Silverspires could want. They had been quiet since their last meeting under his canopy, where Sebastian had helped pick out the mirror artifact for Stella and contacted a Sage Advisor of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion to get Diana registered.

It had been one of the first meetings where Stella and the others showed their faces and welcomed the Silverspires more into the inner circle. Of course, they were still in the dark about many things, like the Mystic Realm and the truffles. But Ashlock liked to think their relationship with the Silverspire family scion had strengthened despite the poor results from selling pills thus far.

"Are they mad about a lack of profits?" Ashlock mused, "Or maybe they have concerns about Ashfallen City appearing overnight at the base of the mountain?"

"Sorry Stella, but Diana is still busy with Julian," Ashlock said. It hadn't been long since Stella and Jasmine left Nox to see Kaida. Diana and Julian still had a lot of things to work out, so they would likely be busy until evening.

Ashlock couldn't believe the slander he was hearing, "I do not only demand things. You are painting a bad image of me—"

The Grand Elder, walking up ahead, remained quiet while Stella ranted. Shaking his head, he opened the door to the meeting room and stepped through.

Stella strode close behind with her usual impatience and arrogance as she scanned the room. There were two sofas and two chairs placed around a small table. Sebastian and Ryker Silverspire occupied the far sofa, and a neat pile of spirit stones was on the table.

Stella reluctantly sat down, and Jasmine sat beside her.

Stella didn't show interest as she waved her hand over the pile, making it disappear like a magic trick in a flash of silver light.

Sebastian and Ryker exchanged a glance.

Ryker lowered his head as if embarrassed.

That confused Ashlock. "Since age isn't the defining factor for strength in this world and the Silverspire family is focused on money making, the logic of sending all the heirs out to different cities and having them compete in business seemed like a good idea to test who is worthy of inheriting the Silver Core," Ashlock pondered. It didn't make sense for that not to be the reason.

Ashlock felt like a bombshell had just dropped. A butler of the second most powerful family in the Blood Lotus Sect openly admitting his family's plan to overthrow Vincent Nightrose, a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, showed a deep trust.

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"It means the Silverspire family is planning to overthrow Vincent Nightrose," Ashlock replied. "It's serious to admit that so openly. This is getting interesting."

Ashlock was curious about what conclusion the Grand Elder had reached, and his oath of loyalty wasn't triggering, so it likely wasn't in bad faith. "Let him."

"Did this old fool really have to bring that up right now?" Ashlock sighed. The Silverspires were about to let them in on a plan to change the Blood Lotus Sect forever, yet he just had to run his mouth. "Why did I let my curiosity get the better of me?"

Stella closed her eyes with a frown.

"I think so? Honestly, I have lost track of what lie we have told who. Best to just play along and nod your head."

Stella opened her eyes and nodded.

Stella nodded again.

Ashlock had no idea where the Grand Elder had gotten these ideas. Larry hadn't even been the one to kill the Ravenborne Grand Elder. The man had gone supernova.

Yet Sebastian seemed convinced by the story and was ready to draw his sword to fight to the death, and Ryker looked equally terrified. Meanwhile, Stella kept nodding with a bored expression, but internally, she wasn't so calm.

"To be fair, we were the ones who told such a ridiculous lie in the first place and left a lot to be misinterpreted," Ashlock sighed again as he got ready to use Spatial Lock on the Silverspires to prevent them from escaping. This was one big mess. The lie they told got them through the early days when they had been weaker than the Redclaw family. But now, it was a chink in their armor. "Just keep nodding, but get ready to pull Jasmine out of there. I have no idea where he's going with this, but to shut him up now will forever sour our relationship with the Silverspires."

"Say what now? Hey Grand Elder, you can't say such a rumor so lightly! The Skyrend family was attacked on their own mountain by a void beast? I can only think of one culprit... that was definitely Maple's doing," Ashlock groaned to himself, "And the rest of those were not plans but rather attempts to survive. The Grand Elder is seeing the results but is clueless of the motives behind them, so he's making ridiculous leaps in logic."

Ashlock was astounded. "How can he be so wrong that he went all the way around to be right? That's honestly a talent."

Sebastian and the Grand Elder turned to look at Stella expectantly.

"Good deflection, Stella," Ashlock laughed, "We got to keep them guessing."

Sebastian paused to gather his thoughts. He seemed to treat Stella even more seriously than before, and Jasmine seemed in awe of her Master as she kept deathly quiet to the side.

Silence filled the room.