The clouds from a week ago had developed into a ferocious storm that roared in the ears of any who dared to step outside. Freezing winds tore through Ashlock's canopy, and he hadn't relished in the sun's warmth in days. Due to this, he had spent most of his time focusing within himself on his Inner World and helping Douglas with the construction of the floating arena surrounded by a town.

Since many low-level cultivators in the Qi and Soul Fire Realm were going to participate, the usual amenities mortals require, such as housing, food, and water, were needed. The floating island was easy enough to make; Ashlock simply tore a mountain in two by warping space, flipped it upside down, and suspended it above his Inner World with his spatial Qi. Being a god over his Inner World made such feats as easy as breathing. He had then opened a portal to this floating land for the Mudcloaks and Douglas so they could get to work.

Besides floating up more material and opening portals to the outside world now and then so Douglas could weather the worsening storm to purchase materials from Darklight and Ashfallen City with seemingly endless funds, Ashlock didn't have any other ways to contribute, so he left them to it.

After a week of effort, the arena and town seemed nearly finished.

The arena itself was a grandiose structure similar to a coliseum. It was built from polished obsidian decorated with ruby eyes and an ominous decal to give it the vibe of a place owned by the All-Seeing Eye. Seats carved from the same dark stone spiraled upward, providing ample space for thousands of spectators. All of the spirit stones looted from Elder Vortexian of the Azure Clan's spatial ring were infused into every inch of the arena to power a plethora of arrays that Stella had directed construction on using her bloodline's library.

Other than reinforcement arrays that made use of the Inner World's metal and earth dao to keep the arena from taking damage during fights, there was also a spatial bubble that would protect the spectators and an illusion array that made use of Dreamweaver Orchids to allow Ashlock to alter how the arena looked to those under a certain cultivation level. That way, he could theme the place based on the event. Such a structure would have taken much more to construct outside, but in his Inner World, he had absolute control over everything.

Surrounding the coliseum was a currently empty town with a rustic charm due to the rushed job being left to the Mudcloaks' discretion. Yet Ashlock was still quite impressed. Human-sized wooden cottages with tiled roofs lined the uneven cobblestone streets, interspersed with vibrant spaces for marketplaces and serene gardens made from a plethora of Ashlock's flowers and mushrooms.

By tomorrow, a team of maids from White Stone Peak will temporarily move here to staff the taverns, shops, and other places. Then, the tournament can begin to find the first generation of cultivators that will join the Ashfallen Sect ranks.

Satisfied with the progress, Ashlock returned to looking at the outside world. "This storm is getting quite ridiculous." He had experienced many intense weather events brought on by the presence of Qi, but this was something else. "It also seems to only be getting worse. I wonder how the new trees are holding up?"

His vision blurred as he arrived over White Stone Peak and looked down at the courtyard. The three Redclaws he had turned into trees as punishment stood tall despite the storm's relentless punishment. A few Redclaws braved the storms and sat solemnly under the trees with fire Qi swirling around them. Some were cultivating, others were mourning. Harris' mother sat in deathly silence under Isabella, clutching the pendant her son had once worn.

Interestingly, all three of their souls had been distorted and damaged beyond recognition during the transformation into trees. He hadn't expected that, as Nox had been mostly fine apart from the missing memories brought on by lacking half her soul. From this, Ashlock concluded that the strength of the person's soul affected how well they survived the transformation.

"How are you three holding up?" Ashlock asked them through the root network and received waves of more complex emotions than his other trees could provide. He felt deep fear, confusion, and pain from them. "Still non-verbal, huh. But I can see a significant improvement in your egos after only a week. I suspect one of your souls will have healed enough to string a sentence together by next month."

Ashlock readily agreed to Elder Brent's proposed punishment as he needed test subjects to see how strong his upgraded cursed sap was and how fast he could heal a soul.

All three Redclaws-turned-trees were enjoying nights under the nine moons. Ashlock also instructed Kane Azurecrest, along with the other alchemists working under White Stone Peak, to create a new fertilizer from his new Soul Meditation fruit, which induces a level of meditation so deep it heals the soul. This fertilizer was then fed to Nathan and Terrance.

Isabella, the one who was said to have killed Harris, was left out. She deserved to suffer a fractured soul a little longer than the other two, and she served as a good control variable to make sure blending fruits into fertilizer actually worked.

Out of curiosity, Ashlock fed himself some fertilizer, but he didn't feel the effects. His system explained it as something to do with the fertilizer being made from his fruits, which were altered versions of his already existing skills, so it was simply recycling energy he had expended back into himself.

Speaking of his new fruits, he had planted many fire dao seeds around White Stone Peak. Once these trees finished growing, he hoped they would develop fire Soul Cores and maybe even release Qi that carried daos.

To further make the courtyard a great place to cultivate when it wasn't shitting down with rain, he had analyzed the flowers the Redclaws looted from their pocket realm and had them growing along the walls. The Crimson Ember Lily turned out to be a rather rare and majestic flower, and Ashlock could see why the Redclaws may have felt the need to kill over it.

Even in the storm, their vibrant red petals shimmered like molten lava. The petals were edged with a faint golden hue, giving the impression of flames dancing in the chaotic wind. In the day, they were exquisite, but at night, they were simply beautiful. The flower's elongated stamen emitted a gentle, warm glow, and tiny embers would float off through the dark like drowsy fireflies. With how many he had grown, the courtyard was flooded with dancing embers from twilight until dawn.

He hoped their beauty would help lift the Redclaws' spirits after their devastating recent loss. Having loved ones die was bad enough, but knowing the killers were family was a quick way to sow discord among a once tight-knit group of cultivators.

"I'll have to keep an eye on them," Ashlock sighed. If he wasn't careful, the Redclaws could soon resemble the other families in the Blood Lotus Sect—all of whom were rife with backstabbing between the various side branches over resources and to curry favor with the family Grand Elder.

Having finished his daily checkup on his experiments on White Stone Peak, Ashlock returned to Red Vine Peak and peered into Quill's library atop the citadel. Quill had grown a lot over the last few months, and his canopy now shrouded the entire library, keeping the insides dry from the storm.

Both of his summons were also taking shelter in the library. Larry sat quietly on the shoreline near the bookcases in all his divine glory. His crown of ash swirled slowly around his horns, and even while resting, he gave off the appearance of a heavenly creature. Having spent the month in a Nascent Soul level Realm, his cultivation had advanced to near Monarch Realm status. Ashlock wasn't sure who was the outright strongest in the sect, but the divine spider was a strong contender.

The ink lake rippled before parting and giving way to a long snake-like head followed by two muscular arms ending in claws. Ashlock got a good look at Kaida's regrown scales engraved with runic words like tattoos as he clawed his way onto the shore. Ever since the Midnight Ink Lindwyrm had consumed his scales to nuke the Lunarshade Grand Elder with dozens of techniques at once, his cultivation had been significantly setback, and he had been recovering ever since.

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If not for this incident, Kaida would have been ready to evolve by now after the most recent Mystic Realm. Instead, he had spent the month regenerating his scales and progressing his cultivation. Considering how much he had grown and the presence he was giving off, Kaida's evolution to A grade was just around the corner.

Kaida turned to look at the ceiling with curious golden eyes as if sensing his gaze.

"Sorry to intrude; I was just looking around." Ashlock said, then noticed something was missing: "Where is the Midnight Inkwing egg that was in the lake?"

Larry was the one to answer in his usual gruff voice, "Stella requested it."

"Stella wanted the egg?" Ashlock hadn't expected that answer, "What could she possibly need a divine creature's egg for?"

"To create an artifact to conceal her bloodline," Larry helpfully informed him.

Ashlock had been the one to suggest the creation of such an artifact, but he still didn't see what that had to do with the divine Inkwing egg. It was the last one left after Larry had eaten the rest to get his divine evolution option, so he hoped to see it hatch.

"What does the egg have to do with that?"

"According to her ancestors, the divine nature of the Inkwing's soul could overpower the smell of her bloodline. When combined with the ingredients of the Spiritual Nullification Pill to hide her cultivation, she would appear like a normal mortal girl." Larry huffed, "Honestly, most of it went over my head. That girl has an intense way with words when she is deadset on something. I'm still hiding here to recover from her lecture on why it was a good idea."

Ashlock was a bit taken aback by what he was hearing. It all made some sense, but didn't that mean she would need to kill the Inkwing to take out its soul?

"You let her take it, Kaida?" Ashlock asked his summon. He couldn't imagine Kaida willingly parting with the egg he had been looking after for months simply because Stella asked for it.

Kaida hissed loudly and shook his head.

"She stole it before Kaida could react," Larry explained the Lindwyrm's reaction. "The new aether Qi she can wield is quite deadly. She appeared silently wreathed in white flames and vanished with the egg before Kaida could stop her."

"I see. Let me go and talk to her." Ashlock left his summons and went hunting for his unruly daughter.

Finding her was pretty easy as she was inside her newly built alchemy lab, sitting on the floor cross-legged and surrounded by piles of half-opened books. Her arms were crossed in deep contemplation. She had a frown on her face as she squinted at two books floating before her.

"Mhm, that's not going to work," Stella flicked her finger, and the book to the left flew off to the side and haphazardly joined the pile. Another book became bathed in white soul flames and rose from the mess behind her. Its pages rapidly flipped as it floated over to take the place to her left that the useless book had previously occupied. She briefly looked at the new book, compared it to something noted in the right one, and reached the same conclusion. This time, she was slightly more annoyed. "Useless again!"

"Stella."

Her ear twitched at his words, but otherwise, she hardly reacted as the left book flew and another rose from the piles to take its place. The sound of pages flipping and books flying was only occasionally broken by Stella's mumbling and cursing. She reminded him of a crazed researcher or perhaps an overworked university student... just with magical powers.

"Stella, don't ignore me."

"Huh?" Stella was so shocked by his voice that she fell backward. Both books fell on her stomach, and judging by her pained expression, they were as heavy as they looked. Leatherbound tomes as thick as a person's arm were not to be messed with. Pushing them off, Stella winced as she uprighted herself and looked to the ceiling, "Oh, hi Tree, what's up?"

"I heard from Kaida that you stole the Inkwing egg."

"Stole?" Stella tilted her head, "Who did I steal from?"

"Well..." Ashlock trailed off. That was a fair point. Though Kaida had been tasked with protecting the egg, he hadn't been given ownership. Technically, it was his as the egg was under the ownership of the Ashfallen Sect, and he had been the one to steal it, but he had never withheld anything from Stella before. What was his was typically hers as well. She was the second highest authority in the sect under only him, and he hadn't explicitly told her not to touch the egg.

"Are you going to kill it?"

"What? The egg? That was the plan, yes." Stella nodded, "I need its soul for the artifact you suggested I make so I can step out of here without endangering all of us. But killing it is no longer necessary as the Inkwing inside the egg is already dead."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yup," Stella said confidently. "The little guy's soul had almost faded, too. I had to enlist the help of the Blightbane family to extract what was left of it and its remaining life force. Thankfully, it should be enough for my needs. Elder Mo is creating the artifact as we speak with his Spirit Fire, and it should be ready soon."

Ashlock's slight anger faded. If the fetus in the egg had already died, then he was just glad they found a use for it before it ended up having no use other than making a divine omelet.

"I hadn't been keeping tabs on it, but it was rather strange that it hadn't shown any signs of maturing or hatching," Ashlock mused. "Though I suppose it would be quite worthless for a long time even if it did hatch. Unlike my system summons that progress as quickly as I can evolve them, a random Inkwing I hatched wouldn't enjoy the same benefits."

"Has the tournament started yet?" Stella's question broke him out of his thoughts. "I have been rather busy studying, so I haven't stepped outside here in the last few days."

"No, not yet. Everything should be ready by tomorrow, though. Will you be watching?"

Stella smirked, "Of course. My little terror is participating. How could I not enjoy the show?"

"Little terror... do you mean Jasmine?" Ashlock chuckled. The name was rather fitting for Stella's disciple. "How do you think she will fare against the other Soul Fire cultivators?"

"Honestly? I have no idea." Stella stood up and stretched her back. "She has the drive and a sprinkle of insanity a cultivator needs to succeed, as shown by her willingness to endure being poisoned. Because of that, she has the advantage of having a poisoned body constitution, but she is still lacking in many areas."

"Oh? Such as?" Ashlock was quite curious. He wielded immense power but had gained it in a very unnatural way. Unlike a normal cultivator who also had to spend a lot of time practicing the sword and contemplating techniques, he skipped many of those steps.

"Her talent in combat is mediocre at best and is made all the worse by her lack of bloodlust and the intent to kill." Stella shrugged, "Understandable, considering her sheltered upbringing as a noble mortal in Slymere and then us taking her in and showering her with resources. The Mystic Realm was definitely good for her, and I've noticed an improvement in her reflexes and general sense of survival, but it seems she did little combat while in there. Likely in part because Sol went in with her."

Ashlock agreed that sending in Sol had likely robbed Jasmine of a life-altering moment that would give rise to her bloodlust, but Sol's presence had undoubtedly saved her from the maw of a poisonous plant. Those with intense instincts to kill, like Stella, had experienced and survived insane things. Few were born with that desire to kill out the gate unless they were a demon of some kind.

Or a man-eating tree...

Stella leaned against a nearby wall and hummed to herself, "Hmm, you know what? Even if Jasmine loses, I'm hoping this tournament will sharpen that mental blade of hers. There's no room for anything but ruthlessness in the real world; I want her to understand that. I don't have the patience to train someone who can't kill."

"That's fair. So you have little hope she will win then?"

Stella smirked, "She is still my disciple, trained personally by me and given the best resources in the wilderness by you. It will take someone quite impressive to utterly defeat her."

"Has she learned any techniques yet?" Ashlock asked. Since she had stepped into the Soul Fire Realm, she could now exert her will onto Qi beyond her body, meaning she could finally start learning techniques.

"Ehhhh, not really," Stella sighed. "It's a work in progress. Since nobody in the sect is an expert in nature affinity, we are trying to decipher those darn books written by people who should be poets instead of teachers."

Ashlock now had the whole picture and could see why Stella wasn't super confident that Jasmine would secure first place against the other Soul Fire Realm cultivators. While she had many advantages, she was inexperienced and lacked the fighting skills and instincts to thrive in a tournament environment.

Either she would impress them both, or this would be a rude awakening for the 'little terror.'

"I suppose we will find out tomorrow just how effective your teachings have been thus far, Stella," Ashlock said.

After all, the tournament was soon to begin. But first, Ashlock had to check in with Nox. Tartarus had undergone some changes since he acquired it.