The truth behind the immortal? Magnus Redclaw exchanged a look with his family's Elders, who had gathered for the emergency meeting. Even Elder Mo had taken time out of his busy schedule of making spirit fire weapons to be here. His old war buddy looked at the portal overlaying the room's door with anxious anticipation. We have had suspicions about the immortal for a long time, but it was hard to prove anything. Is he really an old master recovering within the mountain and using the demonic spirit tree to communicate and protect his daughter?

Magnus slowly stood—his chair grinding against the stone floor. All eyes in the room turned to him, and he felt the need to say a few words as he scanned the faces of the Ashfallen Sect—my allies.

"While my family was forced into servitude to the Ashfallen Sect via violence, there is no grudge. Immortal, it would be an absolute honor to share a drink with you. Oath of loyalty aside, I'm sure my Elders are in agreement that the Ashfallen Sect has been nothing but fair and generous toward my family." Magnus gave a heartfelt bow, "No matter your circumstances, I will continue to stand by your side."

The scraping of wood on stone filled the room as Elder Margret, Brent, and Mo stood in unison at his sides.

"As will we," Elder Mo said with a hearty grin, and the other two Elders nodded in agreement.

The Silverspires soon followed, and the Redclaw Grand Elder exchanged a slight nod with Sebastian. He had gotten relatively close to the Silverspire scion's guard as the pair had lived within the White Stone Palace for months. The man was of good character, and the kid was a polite genius who only occasionally caused mischief with one of the 'big sisters' in the sect.

"Is this really a good idea?" Stella said, scratching her head. "I know everyone around this table is trustworthy, but we have kept the act up for so long now..."

Diana shrugged, "I'm just looking forward to the look on their faces." The demoness stood with a smile and placed a hand on Stella's shoulder, "Besides, isn't it exhausting having to watch what you say and how you refer to the 'immortal' when people outside the inner sect are present?"

Stella sighed and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, calling him the 'immortal' was quite annoying. There were so many times I almost called him tr—"

Diana stopped her with a scowl. "Don't ruin the fun now."

Stella quickly covered her mouth.

"You're making my mind run with ideas now," Sebastian rubbed his chin in thought. "Still, to this day, I remember witnessing the immortal's power as he snapped that Star Core worm out of existence. Ever since then, I have been deeply curious."

"Well, there's no point standing around here as he won't be coming to greet us," Stella said as she stood up. Her short blonde hair that reached her shoulders bobbed as she walked with a spring in her step around the table toward the portal. "Everyone follow me!" Her body phased through the shimmering purple doorway, and a slightly blurred and distorted version of her waved at them from the other side. Jasmine had followed her Master through without hesitation and was waiting at her side.

"Big sister, I'm coming!" Ryker leapt from his chair.

"Don't call her that..." Sebastian trailed off and sighed in resignation as Ryker passed through the portal.

"Don't worry about it, Sebastian. Ryker's a good kid, and Stella has a soft spot for young talents." Elder Mo chuckled and took the lead. "Though it's best to not keep her waiting."

"True, she can be quite impatient compared to how us older cultivators like to handle matters," Magnus said, following Elder Mo's lead. I can hardly blame her. She has reached such a high level of cultivation in a few short years. I can't say I'm not a little jealous. It took me decades between some stages due to constantly draining my Qi to fight off other demonic cultivators and beasts, which drastically hampered my progress.

Magnus frowned as he remembered those days. The Redclaw family had been one of the strongest in the sect when Vincent first brought them in, and the Blood Lotus Sect was tiny. Yet over time, as more noble families joined, they were politically outmaneuvered and always ended up as the ones who had to expend their Qi to clear out the monsters at the new locations when they moved the sect to avoid the beast tides.

Then Vincent started picking new regions lacking in fire Qi. Heavens, I still shudder when I remember those horrible few decades when we positioned ourselves on the edge of an ice region. We had to travel far and deep into the wilderness on excursions to find spots with fire Qi to cultivate. Many died during those years.

In comparison, those under the Ashfallen Sect seem to have it easy. With a seemingly unlimited source of cultivation resources and wars that were won swiftly and decisively rather than drawn out over decades with constant fights, leaving no time to cultivate and advance. Those two aspects alone would help a cultivator soar in progress, but then you added the Mystic Realm and numerous cultivation groves covering different affinities... that wasn't even mentioning the truffles that improved their spirit roots, removed heart demons, and made bottlenecks a thing of the past.

The Ashfallen Sect was a literal cultivator's paradise, and Magnus Redclaw was filled with anticipation. He was about to meet the mastermind behind it all. He felt the atmosphere around him shift as he passed through the portal. His ears popped, a chilling gale ruffled his cloak, and the heavy drum of rain that had served as background noise for the meeting was replaced with the full roar of the intense downpour. However, no rain reached him as they stood under the vast canopy of the demonic tree that lorded over Red Vine Peak.

It's bigger every time I see it, Magnus thought as he strained his neck to look up the length of the tree's trunk. Branches so thick they looked like trees sprawled out from around halfway up to make up the canopy, and he saw something large with many legs shifting between the branches. It seems like our presence has awoken the guardian beast from his nap.

"Master, it's so cold..." Jasmine complained even as sickly green flames danced across her shoulders. Before Stella could say anything to her Disciple, it seemed the Immortal heard the little girl's words. Spatial Qi, originating from the demonic tree, danced through the air toward the edge of the canopy's reach, where Magnus could see the raindrops pounding the stone ground. The spatial Qi spread out to form a shimmering barrier, and everything stopped at once. The chilled winds were gone, as was the noise of the rain. It was oddly peaceful watching the intense storm all around them yet being unaffected by it.

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"Better?" The immortal's voice echoed in his mind like a strange chorus of a hundred voices overlapping each other.

Jasmine nodded happily.

"Good. I want everyone to be comfortable as we continue our meeting here and enjoy some drinks." A more casual wooden table that appeared as if pulled out of thin air materialized near Stella's bench, or 'throne' as some people liked to refer to it, alongside many chairs. Liquor bottles populated the table alongside a few bowls of juicy-looking fruits and other snacks.

Another portal suddenly appeared, and Grand Elder Douglas strode through it and seemed to be talking to the air. "I'll have the Mudcloaks finish the relocation of Old Bill—oh, we having a party?" He eyed the table as he walked over to Elaine. They hooked their arms, and he smiled at his girlfriend. "What's the occasion?"

"The immortal has decided to reveal his true self to everyone here," Elaine said, standing on her tiptoes and planting a kiss on his cheek. Magnus Redclaw smiled at the lovebirds and wondered how grand their wedding would be.

Douglas whistled, "Woah, really? It's about time, Boss! You have really been holding back on us. I joined the 'inner group' a little late, so even I'm clueless to the full extent of things."

"That has been part of the headache," the immortal sighed, "Circumstances required I kept my identity a secret, but I also needed at least a few close aides to understand my situation to help me progress. But I trust everyone here, and with such massive threats to the life we have built festering on the horizon, it's about time I tear down the walls dividing us so we can all be on the same page."

"About darn time," Stella said as she lounged on her bench with one of the liquor bottles in hand. She popped the cork and wrinkled her nose as she took a sniff. "What is this?" She held it out and eyed it suspiciously, "Why does it smell so weird?"

Diana ran over and confiscated the bottle from Stella's hand. "I don't think you drinking alcohol is a good idea."

"Eh? Why?"

"Here, take this instead." Diana put a cup of juice in her hand. "Made from Ashlock's fruits."

Stella stared at the cup of red juice in her hand and pouted.

Diana rolled her eyes as she took a seat at the table. "Don't make that face. Try it."

Stella took a sip, and her eyes widened.

"So? How is it?"

"I'll admit it's tasty," Stella finished the rest in one gulp as everyone else took their seats. Ryker and Jasmine also had cups of juice placed before them, and they mirrored Stella's satisfaction with the taste.

"They are making me jealous," Elder Brent muttered as he poured himself a glass of spirit wine. "That juice looks darn good—" A cup appeared before him from a small rift. "Oh! Thanks!"

Magnus shook his head at his brother's nonsense. Is he a child? His amusement faded as Elder Brent poured his spirit wine into the juice. He really is a child?!

"Phew, this is good stuff," Sebastian Silverspire said as he set his empty cup down with a satisfied look on his face.

Douglas leaned over to the silver-haired man and whispered, "Stella and I made some even better stuff if you're interested in joining me for a drink someday—"

Stella materialized behind and threw an arm around his shoulder. "We did?"

The poor man froze up and looked like he had been caught red-handed.

Diana facepalmed, and Elaine gave him a side-eye.

"Come on, buddy. Tell me." Stella shook him, which was rather comical as she could barely get her arm around the broad-shouldered man's neck, yet she had so much strength.

Douglas gulped. "Okay, but don't be mad. Do you remember when I came to your alchemy cave and asked to make something with you?

"Uh-huh." Stella nodded along. "You wanted to make a liquid medicine to help your spirit roots, right?"

"Exactly, but it somehow slipped my mind to mention that I planned to brew spirit wine with the medicine we made as an ingredient, as it would make the alcohol more potent."

Magnus smiled in amusement as he saw Stella's eyes narrow.

"It just so happened to slip your mind. Really?" Stella reached over and grabbed his bottle. "So this is spirit wine? A type of alcohol? What even is alcohol? I saw some mortals drinking it when walking through Darklight City, but they either stumbled around or were passed out cold with a bottle in hand."

"That's because it's a poison." Douglas tried to take the bottle back, but Stella swooped it out of his reach.

"Poison? Why would you drink poison?" Stella looked at Douglas as if he were mad.

Douglas shrugged, "Tastes good. Helps take the edge off life."

"Poison can taste good? Interesting... I want to try it." Stella popped off the cork, and with a second of hesitation, she downed a mouthful. "Bleh," she spat to the side, and her distaste was apparent. "Why would anyone drink this—" A shiver of ecstasy ran through her body, and she eyed the bottle again with newfound interest, "What was that burning sensation that just went through my body? It felt... good?"

Douglas smirked, "You should try the spirit wine we made together. It's ten times better than this stuff brewed in Darklight City with inferior ingredients."

"Mhm, maybe I will." Stella put the bottle back next to Douglas before returning to the bench. Her face was slightly flushed red, and she seemed amused.

Everyone had a smile on their face at the Princess's antics. Small talk broke out as food and drink were passed around. Magnus absorbed the pleasant atmosphere but refrained from drinking. He was waiting to toast the Immortal.

"Now that everyone is settled in, I think it's about time I join the party." The immortal said. Magnus looked around but didn't see anyone making an appearance.

Where is he?

A loud cracking noise drew everyone's attention to the tree towering over them.

The trunk, which likely dwarfed any building, began to split with a groaning creak, and the two halves shifted apart like colossal gates being pried open from whatever lay within.

Magnus narrowed his eyes, his frown deepening as his finely tuned danger sense flickered like a warning flame at the edge of his awareness. Yet, even as the instinct clawed at his mind, the Mind Protection pill Stella had given him before the meeting swirled like a cooling mist in his thoughts, dulling the edge of his wariness.

Something moved from within, coming to the forefront of the gap and gazing down at them. It was that eye that seemed to strip one down to their soul. Is the immortal checking on us one last time before making his appearance? I know he uses this technique through the tree to check on us after our Mystic Realm visits and to look at Stella sometimes.

Magnus half expected the immortal to step out of the gap, but that didn't happen. The ominous creaking paused as the eye swiveled down and looked at them all.

"Grand Elder Redclaw, allow me to offer you a toast."

Magnus was confused, but he obliged. Standing, he held out his still-full cup of spirit wine.

An ethereal root erupted from the purple grass surrounding the demonic tree. It arched toward the table as its tip coiled around into a circular shape. Spatial Qi flickered from the root toward the table, lifting a cup. As if there was an invisible attendant, spirit wine was poured into the floating cup from a nearby open bottle. The ethereal root then moved to accept the cup, and Magnus was left dumbfounded as the curled root presented the cup before him to toast.

"There is no man under the mountain recovering from a failed breakthrough—there is no Immortal. My true name is Ashlock, a Demonic Demi-Divine Tree. Leader of the Ashfallen Sect and revered as the All-Seeing Eye." There was a brief pause, "Magnus Redclaw, if you are a man of your word and accept a demonic tree as your ruler—accept my toast."