Ashlock knew from the moment Larry gained divine authority over ash and decay that the battle with the Voidmind family would be easy. Void Qi had immense upsides with its capabilities to fight people of higher stages or even realms, but as with anything, it also came with equal, if not worse, downsides. The difficulty of cultivating void Qi aside, it was the only affinity that had absolutely no effect on divine beings.

Now, down here on the lowest realm of creation, that shouldn't have been an issue so long as the Voidmind family stayed far from the reach of the World Tree, as historically, it had been the only divine being down here besides the occasional interest from the heavens.

But that had all changed a few short years ago with the arrival of Ashlock. After receiving the divine fragment from Senior Lee, he'd evolved into a Demonic Demi-Divine Tree with unlimited cultivation potential and immunity to the void that lies beyond heaven's carefully woven reality.

These seemingly impossible events lined up and resulted in this one-sided fight and the inevitable fall of one of the Blood Lotus Sect's most feared and influential families.

"It also seems like the Voidmind Grand Elder is infected with my cursed sap, as Dante told me he would be before that fool died," Ashlock mused, "I was going to turn the Grand Elder into an Ent to replace Khaos, whom I lost in the war with the Lunarshades, but a void tree would be fascinating."

The shifting storm of silver ash surged down and rammed into one of the Elders, who had switched targets and was doing everything he could to try and kill Elaine. The Elder howled in despair as his body was devoured and reduced to a sad pile of silver ash.

"M-Monster," the woman standing beside the Voidmind Grand Elder shrieked as she stumbled back. "Why can't we hurt it? Why won't our void attacks annihilate it like it does with all else?"

"Larry, stop eating the Elders!" Ashlock berated his loyal summon, who had switched targets and was now surging toward the woman, "I know they are tasty, but leave at least a few behind. I want to try and upgrade my abilities with the void and make a group of void Ents."

The spider-shaped silver ash storm paused right before the woman before soaring up to the ceiling, scaring the shit out of the woman as she fell backward as a trembling mess.

Since victory was assured, Ashlock's main goal here was to maximize the profits from this battle, unlike the war with the Lunarshades, which he had fought tooth and nail to barely win.

"Let's see... I should try to prevent them from running away first." Ashlock's immense Star Core, many miles away, ablaze with Qi being drawn up from the World Tree, began to pulse as he activated Spatial Lock and targeted many of the Elders. The Qi flowed through his ethereal roots that sprawled across the land and throughout the Slymere mountain. All of this was within his domain of control—nobody would escape.

With the room now locked down and Void Step blocked, the next problem was preventing the Elders and the Grand Elder from going supernova in the face of an unbeatable foe. Larry would likely be fine, but there was no way Elaine or Valandor would survive a void Qi supernova.

"Elaine, can you prevent your Father from going supernova with illusion Qi?"

Elaine looked at her Father and nervously bit her lip, "Maybe. I could give it a try." She mentally replied, "But there's a likely chance he will kill me before I can even get close. He is no fool and has honed his fighting style since his cultivation stalled at the peak of the Star Core Realm."

"Valandor and Larry, do you two think you could protect her long enough?"

"Nobody can harm those my Master commands me to protect," Larry thundered from above, and Valandor gave a more lowkey-nod.

"Okay, go now. I think the Voidmind Grand Elder knows he is nearing his limit as the curse has spread to most of his body, and he's also stopped attacking."

Valandor grabbed Elaine's arm and dragged her through a sudden portal of white flames. Ashlock felt them both effortlessly phase through reality as if they were merely walking rather than tearing a tunnel through space.

Larry flooded the room from above, focusing on engulfing the Grand Elder without reducing him to a pile of silver ash. Valandor and Elaine rematerialized behind the Grand Elder, but nobody noticed their arrival as they were too busy trying to protect themselves from the silver ash storm.

Elaine wreathed her hands in translucent white flames that shifted between various colors like a rainbow. Void Qi then mixed in with the illusion Qi, and she thrust her hands through the ashen storm swirling around her Father and clamped her hands on either side of the man's head.

"You are winning, Father! The ashen storm is nothing compared to your cultivation, which stands at the pinnacle of the Voidmind family. So long as you fight to the bitter end, victory and redemption of house Voidmind will be assured." Elaine whispered into his ear as she pumped his mind full of illusions. "Everyone else are mere ants compared to your greatness. The void bows before you and listens to your every word. Wield the void and crush all who oppose you."

"That's certainly an interesting way to go about it," Ashlock chuckled. He knew there were limits to illusion Qi. If the illusion wasn't something the person could genuinely believe in, then it was far more likely to fail. "Playing to her Father's ego and inflating his pride is a perfect way to prevent him from taking the cowardly way out by going supernova. Elaine never fails to impress me."

A chilling laughter echoed through the room from the Voidmind Grand Elder as Elaine jumped back and disappeared into the aether again with Valandor. Larry dispersed, revealing the Grand Elder ablaze with soul flames so black it was as if he was wreathed in the absence of anything. Like a glitch in a game—reality around him was non-existent. Deleted.

"I alone wield the peak of the void. There is nothing I can't annihilate from existence." The Grand Elder said as he looked up and glared at Larry.

Black wood crawled up his neck and down his arms to his palms, but the crazed man seemed unfazed by his rapid transformation into something inhuman. His focus was entirely on the monster looming overhead he was now convinced he could defeat.

Even Ashlock felt a chill down his bark at the Grand Elder's words. If not for his immunity to the void, this was possibly the last person he wanted as his enemy. Void Qi was not something to be messed with.

The Grand Elder raised his hands, and his totally black eyes widened, "Soul Expansion—"

"No, don't!" the woman at his side shouted and tried to tackle him to the ground, "That will kill you!"

The Grand Elder was unfazed by the woman's plea as he finished his technique. "—Oblivion Ray." All of the void Qi wreathed around his form focused toward his arms. His chest seemingly caved in, revealing what could only be described as a black hole. His arms folded inwards and were devoured by the swirling darkness. Seemingly satisfied with the sacrifice, the void answered the call, and a beam of pure void ten meters wide that deleted reality shot out and smashed Larry square in the face. Despite being immune, the force of the attack caused Larry to scatter, and the beam continued until it tore a hole in the ceiling and shot off into the sky.

Once the beam of void vanished, a thunderclap roared across the land as air rapidly moved to fill the gap left behind.

"Grand Elder..." The Elders around the room gasped in horror as the Grand Elder stood there wordlessly without arms and a hole to the void in his chest. His eyes were unfocused and distant on the ceiling as he wordlessly stood there.

"Illusion Qi is horrifying," Ashlock murmured to himself, "He was so convinced that he had absolute command over the void that he forgot the cost of using such power."

Larry casually reformed, and Ashlock saw the rays of hope dim in the Grand Elder's eyes. Valandor and Elaine reappeared from the aether, and the Grand Elder slowly tilted his head to look at them.

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The few Elders still alive didn't dare move after seeing such an attack have no effect on the ashen spider. All of them had tried to use Void Step to escape, but Ashlock's Spatial Lock technique prevented the void from hearing their call. They were stuck in a room with something they likely thought impossible—a monster immune to the void.

Grand Elder Voidmind's lips slowly parted, and he whispered, "It's so cold... where am I?" The man seemed genuinely lost and confused as if he wasn't himself.

It was then that Ashlock realized the void had taken much more than his arms and body. "No wonder that woman was so hellbent on trying to stop him. I thought Soul Expansion meant he was unleashing the power stored in his soul, but he literally used his own soul to fuel the attack."

"Father, you did this to yourself," Elaine said adamantly, but Ashlock could see redness gathering at the corner of her eyes.

"My daughter?" The Grand Elder whispered as he tilted his head. The whole scene was beyond creepy. The man's eyes were black as if dyed with ink, and an endless void was still swirling in his chest like a gateway to the beyond. The lack of arms also wasn't helping matters.

Elaine shook her head, "Don't call me that. What did you do with mom?"

"She is safe," his head dropped, and he stared at the floor. "I had to protect her from the others... the ridicule was too much." His voice was barely a whisper at this point, and he was almost entirely consumed by the curse, as his cheeks were now wood. "I'm sorry, Elaine. I listened to them."

With those parting words, his body had fully succumbed to the curse, and his mouth and eyes were sealed with bark. The crackling of wood filled the room, and his body began twisting upwards as branches grew like gnarled fingers reaching for the heavens. The hole to the void in his chest remained as he turned into a tree and began to curve toward Elaine, likely influenced by the Voidmind Grand Elder's posture.

A disturbed silence filled the room as everyone watched the transformation.

Eventually, Elaine's gaze swept over the Elders and landed on the woman frozen in fear under the Grand Elder's forming canopy, "What did he mean by that? Did you ridicule my Mother and tell my Father to banish her, Elder Natalia?"

"Is that surprising to you?" Natalia gathered herself and began ranting, clearly unable to hold herself back anymore, "Your brother—her vile spawn—brought ruin upon the family! Nothing has gone right for us since Dante left to attend that alchemy tournament and visit you. Having not been taught proper manners by that wench, Dante killed a scion of house Skyrend and brought war upon our lands. Then, instead of turning himself in and preventing it, he ran off with an intruder. All the while, Slymere City vanished without a trace. Now you return with a void immune monster and somehow turn the Grand Elder into a tree?"

Elaine's lips pressed into a line at Natalia's accusations.

"I believe you two colluded together for the downfall of the family," Natalia pointed an accusing finger at Elaine as spittle flew from her mouth, "So, of course, we shamed the bitch that birthed two hellspawn that cursed our family."

"Hellspawn?" Elaine put the finger on her chin, "What about me is indiscernible from a hellspawn, Elder Natalia? From what I remember, I was always diligent and worked hard for the family."

Natalia sneered, "You were untalented and an eye sore—a leech on the family's resources. Thankfully, the Grand Elder had the brains to send you far away."

"Talent? Don't make me laugh," translucent illusion Qi soul flames flickered to life across her shoulders, "What use is talent if our family is handicapped at the 9th stage of the Star Core Realm? You and I know that, given enough time and resources, we would all meet the same bottleneck. Well... except me."

Natalia's eyes widened along with the other Elders at the soul flames on her shoulders, "T-That is?"

"Oh, this?" Elaine opened her palm, and the translucent soul flames transformed into a small black tree with red leaves that looked suspiciously like Ashlock. "My second affinity—the key to breaking the family's curse. I alone will enter the Nascent Soul Realm, bearing the Voidmind name. So I am asking you, Natalia, who is the more talented? You or I?"

"How?" Natalia looked like someone who had discovered the holy grail floating before her.

Elaine closed her palm, dismissing the illusion. "That wasn't an answer to my question. The answer is neither of us. Talent is mostly irrelevant. I simply stumbled upon an opportunity you have not, and from the greed in your eyes, it seems you desire the same?"

Natalia readjusted her cloak and changed her expression to a friendly smile. The fakeness of it all made Ashlock want to smite her down on the spot.

"It seems I was hasty to lump you together with your brother." Natalia slowly walked forward while her eyes looked everywhere that Elaine was not. It was as if she was afraid to meet her gaze, "In truth, we have hardly ever spoken before, and I only harbor bad feelings toward Dante. I apologize for what I said about your mother. She was a true pillar of the sect."

Elaine smiled, "I am glad you think so."

"So please," Natalia stood before Elaine and didn't even spare Valandor or Larry floating overhead a glance. She was entirely tunneled on the possibility of freeing herself from the curse, "We are family, right? Tell us how to break the curse, and the Voidmind family will rise to heights unseen. We can even overlook the fate of the Grand Elder—no, for this discovery, your mother will be made the head of the family. What do you think? I am sure the other Elders would agree."

Ashlock watched on with amusement. This foolish Elder still believed that Elaine wanted to be accepted back into the family. "In her mind, Elaine is probably a confused child who would jump at the first opportunity to be welcomed back into a position of power within the Voidmind family and gain access to the special void Qi gathering arrays and resources they have. Little does she know that Elaine has already switched to the winning team. Such temptations mean nothing to her."

"I think that's a fair deal, Elder Natalia. After all, with my brother causing us to be at war, now is not the time for me to hold back on a secret that would help us all. Right?"

"Exactly," Elder Natalia nodded. "It's a good job you are such a smart girl. This is why we sent you off to study under your Uncle."

Elaine smiled weary. "I see... well, come here. It's easier if I gift the knowledge to you directly."

Natalia smirked slightly as Elaine put her hands on either side of her head, and she closed her eyes to receive the knowledge. Clearly, she thought she had won.

She had not.

Elaine's smile faded, and her gaze became dark, "The answers you seek lie in the beyond." Translucent flames violently flickered across her hands and into Natalia's head. "Do you see them? The ancient holders of knowledge and rewriters of souls?"

Natalia's eyes widened, and she trembled, "I-I see them."

"The Worldwalkers—they are the key. Do not be afraid of them. Rather, seek the Worldwalkers out—escape the shackles of this curse. There are no lies to my words. I speak only the truth."

"What should I do, Elaine?" Natalia begged, "How can I find them?"

"Surrender yourself to the void. Trust in it, and it will guide you." Elaine withdrew her hands and gestured to the swirling void in the center of the still-forming void tree. "A gateway has been opened for you."

Blinded by false promises and visions from the beyond that likely seemed unbelievably vivid as they were drawn from experiences Elaine had actually lived through, Natalia turned and desperately ran toward the tree like a starving person seeing food.

To Ashlock's surprise, some other Elders began scrambling toward the tree. They had clearly listened in, and since this was already a hopeless situation for them to survive, they decided on a last-ditch attempt at breaking the curse.

Natalia actually summoned void to her hand and conjured void lances to blast them away.

"They are literally fighting each other to die first," Ashlock laughed, astounded at the madness a well-crafted lie could cause when the victims were driven into a corner. "Maybe desperation makes illusion Qi even more potent? I fear how strong Elaine will become once she reaches the Star Core Realm and can manifest her void-coated illusions beyond her body."

"Elder Natalia, don't do it!" an old-looking man shouted from the side as he gripped a chair so hard his knuckles were going white. "Don't believe anything that silver-tongued vixen says! I suspect she led the Grand Elder to his death under the cover of the ashen storm!"

Thankfully, greed blinded Natalia, and she ignored the well-thought-out warning. She plunged her head straight into the gateway to the void, desperate to seek answers—her body fell limp against the tree—headless.

All the Elders that had been madly dashing to follow paused as they saw Natalia's fate. The void had not welcomed her—it had devoured her.

Elaine strode up to what was left of Natalia. Her smile and agreeable attitude from earlier were entirely gone. "I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you sitting in my mother's seat what had happened. Your branch of the family always aimed to dethrone my mother and steal my Father's heart. It looks like you took advantage of the situation to ruin my Mother, so I am simply returning the favor. Now you can join my Father in the void." Elaine turned and glared at the other Elders, "You will all suffer a similar fate."

"Young Mistress..." They pleaded and begged, but Ashlock tuned them out. He wanted to turn the headless corpse into an Ent. He debated opening a portal to retrieve it but decided otherwise, as it would give the Voidmind Elders a way to escape.

"Mhm, the only other way would be doing it through the void tree, but then I would have to connect my roots, which takes some time... wait." Ashlock shifted his ethereal roots and seamlessly merged them with the void tree. "Yeah, as I thought. I upgraded my deep roots skill with void affinity to acquire these ethereal roots, so merging my roots with the roots of a void tree should be easy."

Now that he was connected, he cast {Progeny Dominion} on the void tree.

[Progeny selected: Initiating soul transfer...]

A fragment of the still-forming Inner World broke off and traveled down his ethereal roots before inserting itself into the void tree, making the entire room shudder and creak under a mere fraction of his Inner World's pressure. Everyone, including the Elders, Valandor, and Elaine, kneeled at his arrival as the tree blazed with lilac flames.

"Um, will my Inner World still form correctly?" Ashlock wondered.

[Soul fragmented: Damage to soul mitigated]

"Phew, okay." Ashlock relaxed his pressure on Elaine and Valandor but kept the rest pinned. Controlling such pressure was hard, as it was far higher than he was used to.

A black root snuck out of the cracked stone floor and slithered toward Natalia. It was time to honor Khaos by creating a new void Ent even more lethal than the last in her name.