Reborn as a Demonic Tree

The portal collapsed with a soft pop, and Stella said nothing as she trudged over to the bench beneath Ashlock's canopy. She collapsed onto it with a long sigh, closed her eyes briefly, and murmured, "That was exhausting. I can't tell if the child or his guard was more annoying to deal with."

Stella was clearly not cut out for politics after spending a childhood alone, but unfortunately, she was the only one other than Larry who currently knew the ancient language.

Ashlock wished he could combine Diana and Stella's talents somehow.

He would request that Diana learn the ancient language, as she was far better at handling politics, but it was clear she had no desire to learn it. According to Stella, Diana had given up after just a week of studying and proceeded to spend the next year in the library cultivating and reading random books.

"You could hear all of that nonsense, right?" Stella said, her voice laced with exhaustion. "How did I do?"

'You did great,' Ashlock wrote on his trunk. Stella translated it in record time, and Ashlock started thinking she was fluent in the ancient language. She really was a genius.

"Thanks." Stella smiled. "I came back here to inquire about your opinion, Tree, as you are the Patriarch of our sect. Personally, I think we should work with Ryker somehow."

It was a great question, as Ryker von Silverspire could bring significant fortune to the Ashfallen sect through wealth, connections, and family. It also helped that he was a clueless child, making it easy to draw him to their side or convince him of certain business ventures without him asking too many questions.

However, it was a double-edged sword, particularly due to Sebastian. While Ryker might be easy to manipulate, the presence of his Star Core level guard would make extracting money from the young lord a challenging affair.

If they could somehow get rid of the guard, everything would be perfect. But how? There was no way the guard would leave if asked and entrust Ryker to a rival family.

As Ashlock's mind raced with solutions, Diana appeared, walking through the haunted mist she had coated the entire mountain peak in to obscure it from the Silverspire family.

"Stella, you look exhausted," Diana said dryly. "What happened over there? Mind catching me up?"

Stella groaned at Diana's comment and explained lethargically, "Ryker von Silverspire, the seventh son of the Silverspire family, is here. Their Grand Elder is ascending to the Nascent Soul realm, and all of his children are fighting over an inheritance."

"Right... what does that have to do with us though?" Diana asked.

"Whichever child generates the most profit for the Silverspire family will receive the inheritance. So, Ryker has come here to set up a profitable business."

"Oh? That's great," Diana said, grinning, a rarity for her. "Anyone from Silverspire is loaded with wealth, and you say it's the seventh son? Must be quite young."

Stella nodded. "Yeah, he's a little brat. His guard said he's only five."

"He has a guard?" Diana inquired, and Stella nodded. "That's unfortunate. I was hoping he came alone, but I guess that's an unreasonable assumption. Do you know if this guard reports everything back to the Silverspire family? If so, we need to be careful around him."

Stella shrugged. "I didn't ask, but that's a good point. I think the guard makes working with Ryker a significant risk for us."

"What's the time frame?"

"For what?"

"The fight for the inheritance," Diana said as she sat beside Stella on the bench. "Depending on the time frame, we might be able to pressure them a bit. I assume the guard wants the best for the child? If so, maybe we can get him to stay away while we extract the money from the child."

"They said it would take the Grand Elder a year or so to ascend, but from the sounds of it, that's just a guess."

Ashlock understood Diana's implication and had to agree. They were dealing with an impressionable young child who had been given far too much money for anyone his age to manage, and he had a strict timeframe to make a significant return. So they were the ones with the upper hand here.

For Ashlock, the spirit stones and dragon crowns would provide ample resources to rapidly develop the Ashfallen sect and perhaps even Darklight City. The gamble was worth taking, but only if they could remove Sebastian as an obstacle.

"Did you suggest any business ideas to Ryker?" Diana inquired.

Stella shook her head, "No, but the kid is dead set on starting an alchemy business."

Diana glanced at Ashlock's canopy. "Just to clarify, our plan is to develop into the alchemy business using those cauldron plants and all the ingredients we can grow, right?"

Ashlock flashed his leaf to signal agreement. Diana couldn't read his words, but she understood his gestures.

"I see. It makes sense." Diana rubbed her chin in thought. "We're a small sect with a unique advantage that we need to capitalize on as much as possible. Alchemy is undoubtedly the best way to quickly gain fame, connections, and money."

"Why do we even need the brat's money? Can't Ashlock handle everything?" Stella asked, apparently nursing a headache. "It would be so much easier to just tell them to leave."

Diana reassured Stella with a warm smile. "Let me handle it, okay? This is a big opportunity for us. You may think Ashlock can do everything on his own, but can he manufacture porcelain pill bottles and grow every single ingredient?"

She looked up at Ashlock's canopy. "Can you grow spirit grass?"

Ashlock looked through his options, and he actually could grow spirit grass with his {Blooming Root Flower Production} since the grass was counted as a type of flower.

Flashing his leaf once, Diana appeared surprised. "Wait, you can? Huh, good to know. Well, I'm sure there's something you can't produce that we may need to purchase, and think of all the formations we can build with those spirit stones!"

"I know, I know," Stella waved her off. "You go deal with it."

"Sure, leave it all to me," Diana said, standing to depart. "Patriarch, I'm thinking of telling them we plan to establish an alchemy guild, hence the tournament. I'll offer Ryker the opportunity to invest his wealth into it for a share of the profits. Something small, like ten percent. That way, we can pursue our own interests, take all of his money, and keep everyone happy."

It was an excellent plan, but Ashlock added, 'We'll construct our alchemy workshop in the mine. Inform them that Ryker can visit anytime, but Sebastian can only come if he swears an oath of secrecy.'

Stella relayed his words to Diana, who nodded in agreement. "Sure, I can tell them that. Anything else?"

Ashlock felt confident in letting Diana manage the remaining negotiations. He wanted to focus on transforming Darklight City into a floral paradise overnight. There was also another issue he had been delaying and intended to address that night. 'Stella, accompany Diana and retrieve a Fire Qi-producing flower from the Redclaw Grand Elder.'

Stella groaned after reading the message, but as the loyal girl she was, the sloth-like human stood up from the comfortable bench and joined Diana. "I'll get the flower and leave right away."

Stella reattached her black wooden mask, and Diana mimicked her action by summoning a different white wooden mask than Ashlock had seen before.

"How many of those things do you have?" Stella asked, and Diana shrugged, "Quite a few."

The Qi in the air shuddered as space tore itself apart. It was astonishing how easily Ashlock found conducting spatial techniques across his body after the merge. Just like before, he made sure to keep the portal aimed away so he wouldn't expose himself.

***

Sebastian maintained his composure as he watched the smug Grand Elder sitting across the table from him. It had been several minutes since the mysterious girl left, and the Redclaw Grand Elder refused to elaborate on her origins or her supposed powerful backing.

Who in the sect could have a more powerful backing than his young master? Especially in a remote city like this. In fact, how had the Redclaws even gained power here?

Things didn't add up, and Sebastian felt uneasy about trusting Stella. Was she from a rival demonic sect? Or a hidden child of the Patriarch?

Had he made a mistake by not bringing more Star Core experts with him to this backwater city? He had researched Darklight City before coming, and although it was impressively large, it was ultimately a mining city with no other noteworthy exports.

The fact that such a small family with a single Star Core cultivator could rule over such a vast city indicated the low level of development here. It was so primitive that he had even mistaken the city for a forest when he had gazed idly out the airship window.

Sebastian nearly jolted in his seat, barely reigning in his orbiting liquid silver in time to prevent it from obliterating the rift in space that reappeared. Through the portal, he saw two women backed by a dense, swirling mist with eerie shadows of ghoulish creatures lurking in the dark.

Stella was the first to step through, her blonde hair in a ponytail and the same black mask hiding her features. Due to the thin sheen of spatial Qi at the peak of the Soul Fire realm coating her skin, Sebastian had no way to use spiritual sight to bypass the simple wooden mask and see her true appearance.

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