Year 11, Day 88
Amidst Green Canopy
Present time (4 Hours After Awakening)
“Patriarch… it is a complicated matter.”
Root knew this was going to be a headache to deal with the moment he heard those words leave the old woman's mouth. He had to repress an almost instinctual sigh that wanted to escape his endless pores and roots, and took a deep breath as he said a single word, putting intent behind it as he said firmly: “Explain.” He could feel the forest vibrate with his voice, all the presence of hundreds of thousands of trees came crashing down on the consciousness of the old lady, he had no mercy for her because he knew she would be able to easily resist his pressure. Not because it was a weak pressure- His A Rank skill [Soul Pressure] was a legitimate skill that would apply the pressure of the presence of his soul upon the surrounding targets, and that skill activated the moment he pushed all the focus of the hundreds of souls of the many Tree Spirits that lived in his forest. Sure, they were like and their pressure felt like the pressure of the souls of ants, but even ants can take down an elephant. His pressure was easier for her to deal with because of her soul, seeing as she had a soul similar to one of his Lesser Nature Spirit children, she was naturally more resistant to his [Soul Pressure] and Qi Aura.
“Y-yes, Patriarch-” Even when she had a natural resistance to his [Soul Pressure] skill and Qi Aura, she was still being pressured. Unlike the Flareburns, who even kilometers away, could feel the pressure that was emanating from his body. “-you see, I- I am knowledgeable of the ways from the Golden Greed Guild of Merchants, I am the friend of the leader and creator of said guild. The Lady of the Golden Hand, or Grand Matriarch Gollan, as many would call her, is the sole supreme leader of the Gollan City, the city of Prosperity and Riches, from the Veloah Region.” Elder Ahmi Chiang gave her family a few looks as the pressure from Patriarch seemingly faded into the nature around them. It was like watching a swarm of insects land around you after they attacked you- all Novuswood could feel the Qi that pressured them simply recede back to nature around them.
“Tell me more about this… Lady of the Golden Hand, you say?” Just listening to her name gave Root a little bit of insight into who she was. The sole creator of a guild of people that followed their greed- it was literally in the name of the fucking organization -and most likely followed her commands. How did she get such power? Perhaps she is just strong, maybe she's a few hundred years old and has been cultivating for a long time. ‘If I only knew what her Cultivation Realm was… Maybe Elder Ahmi Chiang can give me some insight into such information.’ He waited patiently for Elder Novuswood to gather her thoughts and words, listening to her as she explained what she could.
“The Lady of the Gold Hand was- Is a rather cunning and tricky person to deal with, and even I, as one of her best of friends and allies, have ended up as pawns in her large games.” Elder Ahmi Chiang Novuswood took a deep breath, her knees buckled as she kneeled before the great tree, continuing: “She is a rather complex person… Sure, she is loyal and a good friend of mine, we have talked for days on end about the most random interests that we could come up with, but she is also a greedy merchant at heart. She will take any opportunity to increase her wealth, her city's wealth, and her guild's wealth.” As if reminiscing about her past, Elder Ahmi Chiang gave a sad look to the ground, her hands clenched into fists of rage, as she barely kept her anger to herself. “We have had our disagreements about different things, and sure, we haven't had the opportunity to speak as much as we used to, but I still consider her a good friend of mine… This whole situation is rather complicated to me, Patriarch, because of the promise I made to her- I swore to the heavens and upon my own cultivation that I would protect her family as long as they are under my presence, while she promised the same to my family… If I allow you to harm the boy, the stupid boy, my cultivation will shatter. A promise made under Heaven's eyes by cultivation is a promise to be kept, no matter what.”
‘So this complicates things.’ Root knew that a headache was coming, but he could try to find loopholes upon this contract signed by the two cultivators under the eyes of the Heavens. “I see and understand your worries, Elder Novuswood, and I raise you the simple question: Are you willing to lose your cultivation for this sect? The crimes the boy you're bound to defend and protect have committed crimes against the people that are under my protection, and therefore, he has disrespected my authority within my forest. If I was a worse being, I would have destroyed him and shattered his soul, so he would never be reincarnated into another pathetic life, be it in this cursed world or the next.” Root really considered killing the guy, but he was testing both Elder Ahmi Chiang's reaction and the reaction from the Heavens. Their authority was, after all, challenged by the same someone they tried so hard and yet failed to purge! His objective here was to test and see if there was such a thing as a promise under Heaven's eyes that bound Elder Ahmi Chiang to her words, or if she was lying.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He has to make sure.
The nature of Elder Ahmi Chiang's promise seemed to be more reactive than active, or so that was the idea that came to mind when Root felt Heaven's Will gaze down upon them. Heaven, with its limited authority, could not truly interfere with whatever Root would do, but it sure would make Elder Ahmi Chiang keep her promise!
“Tell me, Elder Chiang, word by word… How did you swear upon Heaven's eyes?” Root wanted to know if there were ways to exploit loopholes by manipulating the wording used when making the promise. He was gathering data for the future, after all!
“Ah, yes. Uhm, if I'm not mistaken, the words used were [Beneath Heaven's eyes, I swear to you, I shall protect and guard your blood. As long as they are under my presence and it's in my power, I will do my best to save them, protect them, and guard them]...” Her words echoed, and subtly, he felt the presence of the Heavens- Weak, but there.
‘It is quite weird. I've been able to feel and detect this entity's presence whenever their name is spoken by a cultivator, almost like a reactive entity rather than an active one.’ He had a small theory about the Will of the Heavens, as it was called, or rather, what this thing was. You see, if the Heavens are as powerful as many cultivators seem to believe, then why would they bother with beings as weak as them? His theory comes into place then, and he believes he is on the right track, because the presence of the “Heaven's Will” has been rather… artificial, is as best as he can explain it. After his Heavenly Tribulation, he was able to notice these subtle things, but Heaven doesn't seem to have as much weight in this world as the other Cultivators believed.
Sure, it could send lightning bolts down, but it had a limit. Like a bunch of commands in a software, the Heavens reacted to Cultivators and their actions, which led him to believe that Heaven- or at least the active portion of it -is higher up the dimensional ladder that always seems to exist in cultivation worlds. If he, let's say, is at the bottom of this ladder, then maybe the “Heavens” are also just a watered down version of a more active and powerful version of itself which lives higher above the dimensional ladder. That actually makes sense to him- it consumes less attention from the Heavens, and it probably doesn't really require a lot of attention from the Heavens, unless someone was going against the particular notions that it had programs to solve. A cultivator is strong enough to advance to a higher level of cultivation that normally requires a lot of Qi? Chuck lightning at them, that should probably work, right? This theory of him actually makes a lot of sense, and also makes it easier to explain to him that someone was behind his reincarnation- he still has doubts about him ever being a reincarnated human to begin with, maybe those memories were fake, even though they are are rather foggy and he can't truly seem to remember his family at all -and why he's now a tree.
“I see, Elder Chiang, then you shall pay witness and advise how to better deal with this situation without triggering your promise to the Heavens.” Root turned to mentally connect to his son Leaf, but even faster than he could do it, Tahsm already and easily connected his “call” with Leaf and transmitted this soft pinging wind chime sound to notify Leaf of a message from Father: “Thank you, Tahsm… Leaf, please bring the criminal to me, alongside all his little friends. I need to place upon him judgment for his crime against our sect and what he shall do to pay for them.”
Leaf's answer was this softly whispered: “I am on my way, father. Tahsm, please do warn Ahteus of my arrival… I do not wish to repeat what happened the last time I went to his forge without warning him only to find him breaking stones with his dick because he wanted to, and I quote, “learn how hard is rock hard”, whatever that meant.”
Ah, so his kids are getting at that age where they gotta learn about the birds and the bees? ‘Or maybe the ores and the crystals.’ Root thought to himself, or at least he thought he did, because he easily broadcasted that thought to the entire family, who all chuckled and snickered while Ahteus cried out a ‘Hey! I was curious about it. Can't a guy just try to test the hardness of their dick by breaking rocks and stones with it? I also learned that I need to make myself a harder one, because the one I got was way too fragile- Don't worry, I'll get right to it soon, maybe forge it with a few crystals and gold?’
To any human, that may sound strange, but Ahteus could easily make himself a dick whenever he wanted. He was literally made of stone, metals, and crystal, he could just detach that part off of his body- which was what he did in the first place -and use it like a normal phallic-shaped stone. No, he does not have sperm or any reproductive gametes. He can't even really feel pleasure that easily, his skin is literal rocks.
“I shall do your will, Patriarch.” Elder Novuswood nodded, a little apprehensive and scared to trigger her Heavenly made promise, but she could afford to watch and guide, right?
Meanwhile, Jhin De Zhi and his subordinates, that were being held prison made specially made with Corrupted Silver, so his Qi reserves would diminish quickly and he would not be able to use it to escape or attack the only and solem guard- This enormous being of rock and crystal that had gold glowing and flowing through its veins.
He could feel it.
They were taken to this prison after their nightly activity was disrupted by those mortals that they then killed.
Before he could even attempt of make an escape plan to save his hide, the ceiling above them opened and he could see a figure walk into the room as they said: “Ah, your judgment day has arrived. Bitch.”
Yeah, he didn't like this guy.