Ashlock had been rather busy picking and choosing which Voidmind Elders to turn into Ents, so he hadn't been able to divert attention away to check on Elaine and her mother's rescue mission, but at least the woman seemed in good spirits?

"Is this normal?" Ashlock couldn't help but wonder.

He had been expecting a more natural reaction, such as shouting, crying, or maybe even hurling a few void lances here and there. Instead, Elaine's mother seemed more interested in getting her hands on a skin improvement truffle and talking to her daughter.

"Your mom is quite the character," Ashlock said to Elaine as the woman trudged across the room and sat on an exposed root of the void tree with a sigh.

"Tell me about it," Elaine grumbled. "I was so worried about her, but it seems it was one-sided."

"Oi, I was worried about you," Her mother said, chewing on the truffle while walking over and glancing around. "Say, where is your brother?"

"Dante?" Elaine sighed, "He died."

"Oh." Her mother paused for a moment but then continued chewing.

"That's it? Just an 'Oh'?" Elaine said dryly.

Her mother shrugged, "Did you want me to start crying or something?"

"No, I just thought you would have a bit more of a reaction."

Her mother snorted, "Darling, we both knew he was a lost cause. Either he would kill himself doing something stupid, or he would be offered to the Skyrend family to appease them and stop the war. I tried to steer him on the right path but knew it was a waste of time. He's also my... 37th, no wait," she began counting on her fingers, "was he my 43rd child? 46th? Bah, does it even matter anymore?"

Elaine narrowed her eyes, "Which number am I?"

"Next question."

Elaine groaned as she leaned against the void tree, "So you really don't care about his death at all?"

"Darling, I get bored, bring kids into the world, and regret that decision every darn time. They either die off in some dumb duel to defend their unearned 'honor,' or they fall for someone and leave for distant lands with them. All I get is a letter or jade communication years later that they died to some monster or in a battle." Her mother smiled as she slowly ate the last half of the truffle, "Though you turned out quite well so far."

"Would you care if I died then?"

"Of course I would!" Her mother rubbed her head like one would to a cute puppy, "I still haven't met this boyfriend of yours yet," her voice then dropped to a whisper, "Also, you helped me get this truffle."

"Mother, you stink," Elaine pushed her away.

"Really?" she ran a finger along her cheek and then rubbed her two fingers together to produce a few flakes of impurities, "Oh wow, this truffle works fast."

"When I ate that truffle, I had so many impurities I had to bathe in a river," Elaine grumbled.

"That's because you had a lot to improve upon, darling," her mother grinned as she brought out a mirror and cloth and sat down beside her daughter. "I'm sorry to say, but my good looks were worked for, and between you and me, your father's looks didn't help... speaking of, where is he? Dead as well?"

"You are sitting on him," Ashlock said, "He drank my cursed blood, so he turned into a tree."

She burst out laughing, "A tree? You turned Erebus into a darn tree?" she looked the tree up and down in amusement, "You know, now that you mention it, it does kind of look like him."

"So his name was Erebus? What is your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You can call me Elder Morrigan or just Morrigan now, I suppose."

"You don't care about father either?" Elaine asked, clearly unamused at her mother's reactions to everything.

"Meh, he was one of the most boring out of the twenty husbands I've had over the years," Morrigan chuckled, "Which makes him having one of the most interesting deaths rather ironic."

"He's not actually dead," Ashlock informed her, "He sacrificed much of his soul for an attack—"

"Soul something, something ray, right?" Morrigan interrupted as she meticulously wiped away the impurities in the mirror.

"Yeah, that's the one. Due to using it, Erebus's soul was consumed to the point where he's hardly conscious anymore, but he will slowly recover in time."

"Funny that. I listed ways I thought Erebus would get himself killed, and that technique was number one. He always bragged about it, but we all know how soul techniques are, especially those involving the void. A big no-no." Morrigan smirked, "I suspect living life as a tree will suit him, though. He can watch the world go by without having to pretend he's interested in conversations."

Ashlock was starting to realize that this was the first time he had a long conversation with a truly ancient cultivator, aside from Senior Lee and maybe the Redclaw Grand Elder. At first, he had thought she was a bit of an airhead or perhaps someone who didn't take life seriously. But the more they spoke, he realized she simply had the view of a very long-lived person who had seen it all to the point where others' lives were like a game to her.

"So, leader of Ashfallen—"

"You can call me Ashlock."

"Oh, we are on a first-name basis now. How lovely," Morrigan stowed away the mirror and relaxed as she surveyed the room, "So Ashlock, what are your plans for the Voidmind family? Enslavement? Death? Maybe even a little kidnapping? I heard you are a fan of that one."

Ashlock did not appreciate this terrible picture that Morrigan was painting of him. "Quite the opposite, actually. I need the Voidmind family alive, at least on the surface."

"Strange voice in my head; I don't like beating around the bush and speaking cryptically. Just tell it to me straight."

"Fine. Valandor is working with me to fake my daughter's death to buy her some time, as she's earned Vincent's interest. For Vincent to believe that she was killed during the crossfire of this war, I need the war to still be going on when he finds out."

"I see. You need the Voidmind family to still be around," Morrigan tapped her chin in thought.

"Exactly, and that's where you come in. I will power the residence's defensive formations through Erebus here, and your job will be to keep any Voidmind family members or outsiders from learning what happened here."

"So I just have to sit around looking pretty, then?" Morrigan stretched her arms over her head and cracked her neck. "I can do that. Just keep me entertained, alright? Otherwise, I might wander off."

"Please don't," Ashlock chuckled, "I really have nobody left to run this place. It will only be for a few months at most."

"Fiiiine," Morrigan threw a hand around Elaine's shoulders, "So dear, tell me more about this Douglas lad."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Elaine groaned at her mother's affection and tried to push the woman off to little effect.

Ashlock left the mother-daughter pair to their catch-up and focused back on Red Vine Peak. The heavens' wrath overhead continued to roar as lightning endlessly rained down and dissipated on his lightning Qi barrier.

There was only around a day left until his system estimated his ascension would be complete, and so far, Vincent hadn't come to obliterate him, but there was no telling when that could happen.

"The war with the Lunarshades made me realize that I need to focus more on improving my personal power as well as the sect." Ashlock mused. "I will need to learn more techniques via Willow and Kaida, especially because those attacks will now carry the weight of my Inner World. But first, I need to upgrade one of my system skills with the void affinity."

A while ago, he had discovered a system exploit that came with being a divine being immune to the void. Having someone go supernova inside your own soul would usually result in instant death, but since he was immune to void Qi, he wouldn't die, but the system would still need to dispel the foreign Qi from his soul somehow.

"Thank you for bringing these to me, Maple."

Maple nodded before transforming back into a fluffy white squirrel. Like balloons, a collection of void bubbles floated above him.

"I ate two on the way," Maple shamelessly admitted.

"...I guess that's only fair," Ashlock quickly opened his demonic eye before Maple got hungry and ate another. The void bubbles were shepherded through his eye and floated near his still-forming Inner World.

Was this risky... yes. But Ashlock's system had handled such a scenario for him twice before, and he planned to be even more careful this time.

"Okay, crush the void bubbles one at a time until the Elders go supernova. But ensure you contain their blast and carefully let the void Qi into my soul."

Maple was floating alongside the void bubbles and having fun doing summersaults while Ashlock was busy explaining, which didn't fill him with confidence that the Worldwalker had listened to him.

"Maple, did you listen to me?"

"Yes." Maple stopped chasing his own tail and glazed down at his Inner World with curious golden eyes.

"Okay, let's begin then."

Maple tapped one of the void bubbles with his claw, causing it to condense. The Elder inside pleaded and begged, but his cries fell on deaf ears. Worldwalkers weren't ones for empathy toward humans, and Ashlock was excitedly anticipating his skill upgrade.

"You bastards will die in the chilling void for what you have done," The Elder finally yelled before going supernova. Maple opened the void bubble once the man's body was consumed by his own soul, and the leftover void Qi poured out into Ashlock's soul and sort of... fizzled out.

"No system message?" Ashlock waited a moment, but nothing came up. "Does it not work anymore?"

Wondering if it was perhaps because the supernova didn't actually go off in his soul but rather in the void bubble, he told Maple to open the next void bubble at the last moment and direct the supernova in the opposite direction of his Inner World.

Maple did as instructed, opening the void bubble at the last second. An explosion of void Qi erupted out, and rather than wreaking havoc, the void Qi simply mingled with the spatial Qi filling his soul. Once again, there wasn't a system message.

"Well, I only got one shot left because I turned the rest into Ents, and you ate the other two," Ashlock grumbled.

"What should I do this time?" Maple asked, casually ignoring the accusation of snacking.

Ashlock looked to his Inner World. Surely, the system would feel the need to intervene if he blasted it with void Qi... right? It wasn't a totally suicidal idea, as he could see a golden divine aura surrounding his Inner World flickering as it fended off the void Qi he had already welcomed into his soul.

"Direct the blast at my Inner World this time. Just try and clip the side of it, though, in case something goes wrong."

Ashlock watched in deathly silence as Maple forced the Elder to go supernova and directed the blast at his Inner World. The void wave washed over the still-forming planet, making the divine aura glow a pale gold.

[Warning: Foreign Qi Detected]

[High Risk of Soul Corruption]

"Finally!" Ashlock cheered.

[Generating solutions...]

[Convert foreign Qi into spatial Qi]

[Merge void Qi with a system skill to upgrade it]

[Dispel void Qi into the nearby atmosphere]

Selecting the second option, his full status screen appeared.

[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)]

[Star Core: 9th Stage]

[Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)]

[Mutations…]

{Demonic Eye [B]}

{Blood Sap [C]}

[Summons...]

{Herald of the Divine Ash: Larry [S]}

{Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]}

[Skills…]

{Skyborne Bastion [SSS]}

{Necroflora Sovereign [SS]}

{Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3626]

{Progeny Dominion [S]}

{Dimensional Overlap [S]}

{Nocturnal Genesis [S]}

{Ethereal Roots [S]}

{Eye of the Tree God [A]}

{Abyssal Whispers [A]}

{Magic Mushroom Production [A]}

{Lightning Qi Barrier [A]}

{Qi Fruit Production [A]}

{Consuming Abyss [B]}

{Blooming Root Flower Production [B]}

{Language of the World [B]}

{Fire Qi Protection [B]}

{Transpiration of Heaven and Chaos [B]}

{Mental Protection [B]}

{Superior Poison Resistance [C]}

It wasn't too long ago that he had last been met with this choice, and other than {Mental Protection}, he hadn't gained a new skill since.

"Mental Protection doesn't seem that useful to upgrade for now," Ashlock ran down the list and mentally checked off the expensive skills like {Skyborne Bastion} or any skill that involved his offspring, like {Progeny Dominion}.

"Sacrificial credits will only get harder to come by as I advance, so upgrading a skill like {Dimensional Overlap} to SS grade when it's already quite expensive to use seems counterproductive," Ashlock also wanted to focus more on his attack skills or skills that could help him survive if Vincent Nightrose showed up on his mountain peak tomorrow.

"Ignoring my production skills and my cultivation technique, as it's going to upgrade tomorrow anyway, I am only really left with {Abyssal Whispers [A]} and {Consuming Abyss [B]}." Ashlock mused but didn't really like either option.

"Abyssal Whispers is treated as a mental attack skill by the system. Adding void affinity would help me bypass Vincent Nightroses's mental protections. But even when I forced my way into the Lunarshade Grand Elder's consciousness, he seemed rather unfazed by my illusions." Ashlock thought.

He also wasn't too happy with the idea that using this skill may start to cost sacrificial credits as it was his only way of talking to his sect members.

"Meanwhile {Consuming Abyss} has already been empowered with void Qi, so upgrading it here would only increase its grade and make it stronger overall," Ashlock sighed. It wasn't a terrible choice, but it felt like a waste. "Is there really nothing else that would benefit from void affinity?"

His focus landed on his protection skills.

"Come to think of it, my {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]} hasn't upgraded despite the onslaught from heaven. Is that because the current power the heavens can unleash doesn't surpass what an A-grade protection skill can block?"

If that were the case, what would an S-grade protection skill be capable of defending him from?

"Vincent Nightrose is likely some kind of blood affinity, but I only have protection from lightning, fire, poison, and mental attacks. My bark is strong, but without a technique or skill, I definitely can't survive a single direct hit from a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator."

Ashlock hadn't given much thought to protection skills before, as he had focused more on improving his offensive capabilities and uplifting his sect members, which had been the right call in the past. Yet, now he had an Inner World to protect and foes that could appear suddenly and kill him in a single move. If there was an affinity that could defend him in such a situation, it would be void Qi.

"Now the question is, which protection skill should I upgrade?"

{Lightning Qi Barrier [A]}

{Fire Qi Protection [B]}

{Mental Protection [B]}

{Superior Poison Resistance [C]}

"Obviously, it will be between lightning or fire, as upgrading a C-grade skill is a total waste, and mental protection isn't going to save me from getting one shot. The only issue is I am currently using my lightning barrier to fend off the heavens, so it's not the optimal time to upgrade it. However, the difference between an S-grade and an A-grade protection skill is clear, and it seems that upgrading a protection skill past A-grade is only possible with sacrificial credits for now."

It was going to really suck if his new void-based barrier sucked up all his remaining sacrificial credits to combat the heavens, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to take to have an S-grade protection skill.

[Choose system skill: {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]}?]

"Yes."

[Skill upgrading... 1%]

[Skill upgrading... 32%]

[Skill upgrading... 100%]

[Void Qi corruption eradicated]

[Skill upgrade successful]

[Upgraded {Lightning Qi Barrier [A]} -> {Voidstorm Aegis [S]}]

"Interesting..."

If he understood the skill correctly, at the cost of sacrificial credits, it would surround him in a dome that would unleash void lightning at anything he deemed a threat, including people or incoming attacks.

As more detailed information about his new skill settled into his mind, he couldn't help but wonder.

"Isn't this basically an attack skill?"