Ashlock's leaves rustled in the chilly winter breeze as the sun set and the sky became a seemingly endless sea of stars. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and Ashlock knew that somewhere out there in the vast cosmos under the heavens, his sect members were doing their best in pocket realms to achieve their own goals and dreams.

In the stifling silence left in their absence, he awaited their return by distracting himself by mulling over a problem unique to him: how to spend his credits on his increasingly growing list of skills and mutations. For once, he had a rather large budget of 7680 sacrificial credits due to his antics in the shadow realm getting multiplied by Morrigan's slaughter, and he also had far more options than ever regarding what to do with them.

Upgrading skills and mutations was twice as expensive as an equivalent grade gacha pull, but it guaranteed that he would gain something useful for his current situation. Meanwhile, if he signed in with all the credits he had right now, he would get an SSS grade draw that could change the whole game.

There was also now a third option. Do nothing and let the credits multiply due to the divine stock market. But that was boring, and there weren't massive results due to diminishing returns the more credits he had, unless he got someone to do something as ridiculous as slaughtering the Skyrend family while wearing his cult clothes to generate an obscene amount of divine energy.

Ashlock may have gotten a huge boost in power from the Mystic Realm, but he still wasn't strong enough to let credits sit around idly. His Ents had high cultivation levels, but Ents were comparatively weaker than cultivators at the same cultivation stage due to their lack of techniques and being even more simple-minded than monsters.

On the topic of his personal power, Ashlock's jump in cultivation had been considerable, but he was still below many powerhouses. Apart from his unique biology, what gave him a tremendous advantage over the other powerhouses was his system, which gave him skills, summons, mutations, and items at the price of having to spend his sacrificial credits.

He had also gained control over a pocket realm, but it was unclear how that would affect his combat power as he hadn't gotten a chance to explore its capabilities yet.

"Mhm... This was easier when I only had the binary choice of to sign in or not," Ashlock hummed as he glanced over the floating list of skills and mutations in his mind for the tenth time since the sunset. He had already narrowed down a few options he liked and was now debating between them. "System, can you highlight this one and this one? Oh, and this one..."

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

[Nascent Soul Realm: 4th Stage]

[Soul Type: Nine Moons(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]}

{Progeny Dominion [S]}

{Dimensional Overlap [S]}

{Nocturnal Genesis [S]}

{Ethereal Roots [S]}

{Voidstorm Aegis [S]}

{Eye of the Tree God [A]}

{Abyssal Whispers [A]}

{Magic Mushroom Production [A]}

{Qi Fruit Production [A]}

{Transpiration of Heaven's Divinity [A]}

{Abyssal Devourer [A]}

{Blooming Root Flower Production [B]}

{Language of the World [B]}

{Fire Qi Protection [B]}

{Mental Protection [B]}

{Superior Poison Resistance [C]}

Ashlock didn't bother looking at his SS and SSS grade skills as they were out of his budget. He 'only' had 7680 credits to spend, and they were 8000+ and 10000+ credits to upgrade, respectively. So, he focused more on his mutations and a select few skills.

He had highlighted his mutations simply because upgrading them would only cost around 2000 credits, and he felt they were integral to him. Despite their lower grades, his Demonic Eye had given him an edge in many situations, and his C-grade Blood Sap had resulted in vast forests across the land and the death of many powerful cultivators after ingesting his sap in various ways. When comparing his mutations to his skills, they had vastly superior results, considering their lower grade.

If he were to upgrade both mutations, he would be left with over 5000 sacrificial credits, which was enough to upgrade any A-grade skill to S. He had spent the last few minutes debating which one to go with. Of the three he selected, the two he was less sure about were {Mystic Realm [S]} and {Abyssal Devourer [A]}.

"The Mystic Realm is about to end, so upgrading it right now feels like a waste. Either way, I'll likely be locked out from using it for a month, so it might be better to consider upgrading it in the future. Ugh, but how will I raise the needed credits without more visits to high-level pocket realms?" Ashlock retreated into his Inner World and looked at the Divine Flesh Tree, "I suppose the divine stock market might be my only option unless I can turn Tartarus into a monster spawner? Is this why deities focus so much on increasing their influence? I never realized growing in power once you neared the peak was so difficult... no wonder Senior Lee said he was entering closed-door cultivation for an eon."

Ashlock's reliance on the Mystic Realm had now increased considerably as his cultivation outgrew what the 9th layer of creation could offer him. Besides the powerhouses and the final waves of the beast tide, there were few opportunities besides the Mystic Realm to get his roots on a corpse that would be considered more than a mere snack. This made upgrading it very tempting...

"But it's such a useless upgrade for now, yet super necessary for the future," Ashlock grumbled. This would be a far easier decision if he knew what situations he would encounter in the near future. With the war between the Skyrends and Voidminds taking a drastic turn due to Morrigan's interference and involving his cult, he wouldn't be surprised if a full-on civil war in the Blood Lotus Sect broke out any minute now. He fully expected to get dragged into it as the deity of the cult seemingly behind the Skyrend family's slaughter.

"If such a civil war were to break out, I doubt Vincent Nightrose could stay quiet much longer. The problem is, I have no idea what precautions I need to take against him."

Nobody seemed to know for sure what level of cultivation the Blood Lotus Sect's Patriarch possessed. All Ashlock knew was that he had a 100,000 Yinxi Coin bounty, he was able to defend the sect from everyone despite being its sole Nascent Soul Realm, and he could absorb bloodlines, which would likely make him far more formidable compared to another cultivator of his level.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ashlock glanced to the west, where his roots were still spreading through the vast lands of the Blood Lotus Sect. He had reached Nightrose City, the capital city of the Blood Lotus Sect and the home of the Patriarch. He hadn't dared to have his roots actually enter the city yet and instead looked at it through {Eye of the Tree God} from afar. His ethereal roots had infiltrated the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion without notice, but this was different. Nightrose City's ruler had an unknown number of bloodlines, and there was no knowing if one of them would cause him to notice Ashlock's advance.

"Do I have a reason to be scared of him to this extent, though?" Ashlock mused as he looked at the immense city before him, surrounded by heavily enchanted walls of black stone that rose to the heavens, making the people guarding them from atop look like specks. A giant semi-translucent blood-red dome enveloped the city like a barrier. Holes would occasionally open in the barrier near heavily guarded sections of the wall to allow passage of immense airships dozens of times bigger than even the airship the Silverspires had used when they first visited.

Nightrose City, even from afar, was such a metropolis it made Darklight City look like a backwater town in comparison.

"I may not be able to kill Vincent Nightrose from afar through my roots or offspring, but I'm sure that so long as he hasn't stepped into the Monarch Realm, he won't be able to kill me either."

Assuming Vincent Nightrose somehow made it past Hades, Anubis, Larry, and Maple, he had his {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} surrounding him and the assistance of Quill and Kaida once they recovered their ink Qi. If Vincent somehow shrugged off over a hundred lightning bolts of void and the barrage of techniques from Quill and Kaida, he would have to destroy the whole of Red Vine Peak, so Ashlock had no way to regrow.

"A little expansion shouldn't hurt now that I think about it," Ashlock pushed some Qi into his roots, and they began to advance toward the walls in the distance. "Who knows, maybe I can get my roots all the way into Vincent Nightrose's cave undetected and kill him while he's cultivating."

What a pathetic death that would be... assassinated by a tree.

It would take a few days for his roots to pass the walls and sprawl below Nightrose City, so he retreated his view back to Red Vine Peak. He still had decisions to make. Now that he had taken a moment away from the list, looking back at it, he was even more sure of his choice to not consider the following skills for an upgrade:

{Eye of the Tree God [A]}

{Abyssal Whispers [A]}

{Magic Mushroom Production [A]}

{Transpiration of Heaven's Divinity [A]}

These skills already served their intended purpose and didn't have large enough drawbacks, making him want to upgrade them as soon as possible over other skills. This left him with two A-grade skills to choose from since he had decided that the Mystic Realm was likely best left for later.

{Qi Fruit Production [A]}

{Abyssal Devourer [A]}

"Personal fighting power, or boosting my allies." Ashlock mused. "Upgrading my main attack skill again is definitely tempting, but if I upgrade Qi Fruit Production, I will be able to finally make fruit from my S-grade skills: Mystic Realm, Progeny Dominion, Dimensional Overlap, Nocturnal Genesis, Ethereal Roots, and Voidstorm Aegis."

Ashlock had learned in recent wars that no matter his personal strength, he also needed to rely on his allies. He expected many of them would see boosts in cultivation just like he did from this Mystic Realm visit, so being able to grow many new and powerful fruits to empower them further seemed like a great idea.

He was also very curious about what some of these fruits would do.

"System..."

[Finally decided?]

Ashlock was taken aback by this system remark. "Yes? Why did you ask like that?"

[It's almost morning. You have been thinking it over for so long I was starting to worry you had suffered damage to your consciousness during the Qi overflow incident]

"Huh?" Ashlock looked at the sky beyond his trunk. Sure enough, he could see the sky starting to lighten, accompanied by the distant chirps of birds. "Look, system, I had a lot to contemplate, okay? Also, the cold and dark make me sluggish and sleepy."

[If you say so]

"Bastard—ahem. I want to upgrade my {Qi Fruit Production [A]} skill."

[Directly upgrading the skill {Qi Fruit Production [A]} will consume 5201 credits. Are you sure?]

"Yes, do it," Ashlock said, returning to his Inner World, where he witnessed over 5000 flesh trees wither to dust. A number on a status screen was one thing, but seeing the consumption of credits in reality hit home just how costly this upgrade really was.

[5201 credits consumed…]

[Upgraded {Qi Fruit Production [A]} -> {Dao Fruit Production [S]}]

Information flooded his mind, and Ashlock knew he had made the right choice. He hurriedly opened his Dao Fruit Production menu, and sure enough, he could now add the daos he had comprehended for his Inner World to his fruit and seeds.

He had previously grown poisonous fruits containing seeds that birds would eat and then perish to the poison far away from his trunk. Their bodies would provide the needed Qi to nurture his offspring. Despite being his offspring, he had little control over the affinity they would take on unless he heavily altered their environment by spawning in flowers. But now he could inject the knowledge of certain daos straight into the seed, guaranteeing which affinity it would take on and greatly speeding up their cultivation.

He could also do the same with fruits that people could eat.

"System, by having Nox merge with the Dark Throne, did I gain anything regarding shadow Qi?"

[The absorption of knowledge isn't yet complete, but soon you will have dao knowledge of shadow Qi]

"Not Shadow Qi law?"

[You cannot possibly comprehend a law without having the affinity, so no. Only Nox will be able to wield shadow Qi law]

"I see..." Ashlock said. If he gained shadow dao, that meant he now had eight possible daos he could imbue his fruit with. Fire, water, earth, wind, metal, soul, spatial, and shadow. With these new capabilities, he could speed up the growth of the cultivators in his sect and cult to a tremendous degree by giving them dao fruits directly and making larger groves of the various affinities' trees.

Now that he had seen the new feature of his upgraded skill, he was deathly curious about what his new S-grade fruits were capable of.

"System, could you list my new fruits and what they do?"

[Sure, generating list... altering skills not suitable for cultivators... upgrading old skills... done]

{Mystic Realm [S]} -> {Mystic Realmwarp} Upon eating the fruit, the person will leave any pocket realm and return to their last position or a soul anchor point.

{Progeny Dominion [S]} -> {Soul Dominion} For a duration after eating the fruit, the user has complete dominion over their soul. They can fracture it and even temporarily put their soul into items without risk of permanent soul damage.

{Dimensional Overlap [S]} -> {Dimensional Overlap} For a duration after eating the fruit, the user can create a large area around their body from their Qi reminiscent of a Monarchs domain.

{Nocturnal Genesis [S]} -> {Soul Meditation} Induce a level of meditation so deep it heals the soul.

{Ethereal Roots [S]} -> {Ethereal Spirit Roots} For a short time after eating this fruit, the user's spirit roots turn ethereal, allowing for effortless movement of Qi through the body.

{Voidstorm Aegis [S]} -> {Void Protection} Upon consuming the fruit, a large amount of the user's Qi will be consumed to produce a thin barrier of void able to block any single attack for a short duration.

{Dao Fruit Production [S]} -> {Florist's Infusion} After eating the fruit, the user can nurture a fruit with their Qi.

{Transpiration of Heaven's Divinity [A]} -> {Divine Enlightenment} Upon eating this fruit, become capable of understanding heaven's whispers.

{Abyssal Devourer [A]} -> {Corrosive Aura} After eating this fruit, the user can devour other Qi types to replenish their own Qi reserves.

{Mental Protection [B]} -> {Soul Protection} Eating this fruit protects the user's soul from external attacks.

Ashlock's mind was swimming with possibilities while looking at this list. Despite how short the description was for the Mystic Realm fruit, {Mystic Realmwarp} would greatly reduce the dangers that came with the Mystic Realm. If Evelyn had been able to eat a Mystic Realmwarp fruit when she found herself in such a dangerous place, he wouldn't have had to rush in there to save her. She could have simply eaten the fruit and reentered the celestial fog to pick a new one.

The other upgrades seemed to focus on soul-related things, which was perfect. Since many of his sect members were approaching their Nascent Soul Realm ascensions, anything that helped prevent soul damage would be useful when it came time for them to go supernova and split their soul in two.

However, out of all the new fruits, he liked Void Protection the most. Maybe because he was an overprotective parent, but he would be more relieved knowing Stella had a way to survive long enough if she got caught in a bad situation against a superiorly powerful foe for him to intervene.

"Stella has a habit of taunting powerful people, which is made all the worse by her bloodline, turning her into the sin of pride." Ashlock mused as he opened his production menu and began growing fruit containing these new skills. He also created batches of fruits that held the various daos from his Inner World and put seeds in some of them. He planned to create even bigger and better groves.

Ashlock took a moment to enjoy the lightening sky, signifying the coming of morning, before returning his focus to his status menu. It was time to upgrade his mutations.

"Let's do my Demonic Eye first."

[Directly upgrading the mutation {Demonic Eye [B]} will consume 1589 credits. Are you sure?]

"Yes, hit it."

[1589 credits consumed…]

[Upgraded {Demonic Eye [B]} -> {Evil Eye [A]}]

Ashlock felt an intense pain as his Demonic Eye was altered. Unlike a skill that was deployed on command at the cost of Qi or sacrificial credits, his mutations were permanent changes to his very being.