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"How fascinating!" Senior Lee noted as he flew around. The wisp then looked down the trunk and saw the {Demonic Eye} looking curiously back at him.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the man seemed unbothered by the eye.

Ashlock switched his view to the eye and looked up at the wisp. He could see a colorless tendril of Qi that linked to a spot in his trunk, likely connecting the wisp and the elderly man outside, which he couldn't see through his bark.

Despite the temptation to open his trunk and use his {Demonic Eye} to stare Senior Lee right in the face, Ashlock hesitated. He didn't sense any hostility from the man.

While Senior Lee's wispy body seemed impervious to the eye's effects, Ashlock couldn't be certain that his actual physical body would be as resilient.

Therefore, Ashlock decided against using his {Demonic Eye} for the time being, choosing instead to observe Senior Lee more closely before deciding how to proceed, as he didn't wish to anger the man. Especially considering he was inside his head.

Through his eye, Ashlock watched Senior Lee tilt his head upwards and stare at Ashlock's soul core, which hummed as Qi funneled in from above and then poured down the side of the tree trunk like lilac waterfalls into the roots below.

"Not only a talking tree but one with spatial Qi?" Senior Lee said as he frantically looked around, "But why am I inside your body rather than your mind?"

"What do you mean?" Ashlock asked, and the wisp whirled around and stared wide-eyed at Ashlock. Not his body but his floating consciousness—a hazy cloud of blue nodes that interconnected everything.

"Two souls in one body? No. That doesn't seem right." Senior Lee tilted his head and looked around, "Your consciousness—it seems incompatible with your body. Is that why you can talk?"

That seemed very worrying but also made sense. Ashlock had gotten increasingly used to his life as a tree, but he still thought like a human. So was Senior Lee saying his human mind and tree body weren't intertwined?

Senior Lee continued rambling to himself. "Were you once human and then stuck inside a tree? That would explain why you can talk like one."

"Have you really never met a talking tree before?" Ashlock countered. If possible, he didn't want to disclose his true identity as a reincarnated human. Senior Lee seemed nice enough, but it was always good to be cautious, especially about an unusual and personal topic.

"I have conversed with spirit trees before, but even one at the Star Core realm couldn't form coherent words. Rather, they spoke through emotions like anger or sadness."

Well, that was interesting and also very awkward. How could Ashlock explain his situation now? He'd hoped that saying he was a spirit tree would convince the old man that nothing was abnormal.

"Have you ever met a spirit tree at a higher realm than Star Core?" Ashlock was curious about what his future may look like.

The wisp seemed to enter a state of deep contemplation for a while, occasionally flashing like a firefly. Then, after a while, Senior Lee broke the silence. "Now that you mention it, there was only a single time. But I am oathbound to never speak of the horror we unleashed on the world that day. However, even that tree was unable to talk. But we did feel its wrath and sadness with every fiber of our beings. It still haunts me to this day."

Senior Lee's gaze fell upon the demonic eye, and as he looked down, he noticed it staring back at him, fixated and unblinking with its eldritch curiosity. His composure wavered only slightly, a momentary flinch before he regained his steady demeanor.

"How long have you had this eye?" Senior Lee wondered.

Ashlock wasn't sure of the purpose behind the question, so he kept his answer vague. "Recently."

"I see. It's all starting to make sense." Senior Lee's wisp nodded to himself, "In truth, I didn't come here on a whim."

Ashlock tensed up, and Senior Lee seemed to sense it as he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong here, spirit tree. I mean you no harm. My words simply meant something drew me here, but my intentions are not nefarious."

"What drew you here then?"

"Well, I was on my way to meet an old friend from the Voidmind family." Senior Lee replied, "We have been sworn brothers for many years, but he decided to live out here in the wilderness to continue his crazed pursuit of knowledge. Anyway, as I passed by, I detected a spatial anomaly I haven't felt since..."

The wisp dimmed for a second, "Sorry—that memory still enrages me to this day. Anyway, my insatiable curiosity got the better of me, so I came to investigate. I thought maybe the girl was the cause as she had spatial Qi, but her realm was too weak and her roots too inferior to produce such a phenomenon."

"So you suspect this phenomenon was caused by me?" Ashlock was very nervous.

"Well, yes. In fact, I hope it was caused by you."

"Why?" Ashlock was baffled.

"So I can right my wrongs in this world and set it on a path of recovery. I can't say anymore, as affecting another's path is to challenge fate itself." The wisp flashed with silver, and an obsidian fragment appeared. "Spirit tree, please accept my gift and relieve my shoulders of this guilt."

[Recieved an SSS-grade item: ??? Divine Fragment 1/9]

The fragment was large, about the size of a person, and shaped like a shark tooth. It was obsidian with a glossy, almost glass-like surface and glowed with power.

As he accepted the fragment and deposited it in his inventory, Ashlock felt a wave of power wash over him.

His mind was immediately flooded with a torrent of images that seemed to come from another place and time. He saw jagged cracks in the fabric of space leading to unknown worlds, and he glimpsed the watchful gaze of immortals beyond his understanding, entities that seemed to peer down upon him from another realm with anger. He could feel their rage at his existence. Why?

In the midst of this strange and overwhelming experience, Ashlock felt a sense of exhilaration wash over him, like the rush of adrenaline. He knew that he had been changed by this encounter, that something profound had shifted within him as if a piece of his past had returned.

Qi flooded his body, his trunk shuddered, and his Soul Core glowed like a pulsing purple star, bathing his insides in bright lilac light. A rush of power like no other engulfed his mind, and moments later, his system flickered into view, confirming he had risen a stage.

[Soul Fire: 4th Stage]

But then it flickered again, updating the stage.

[Soul Fire: 5th Stage]

Ashlock felt his Soul Core burn even brighter.

[Soul Fire: 6th Stage]

The rapid rise in cultivation was intoxicating. His body could barely contain the Qi rushing around in a torrent. Senior Lee's wisp watched the spectacle in mute silence, unfazed by the Qi threatening to cause Ashlock's trunk to split and collapse. Instead, he raised his wispy limbs, and Ashlock felt a cool breeze that calmed the Qi slightly.

[Soul Fire: 7th Stage]

The Qi rushing around like a wildfire condensed into liquid and pushed up against the trunk as his Soul Core sent out waves of power like a drum. The liquid rippled up and down like a tide as if his Soul Core had become the moon.

[Soul Fire: 8th Stage]

"AHHHHHHHHHH," Ashlock screamed. A soul-wrenching scream that made his entire body shake, mountain included. A cataclysmic wave of spatial Qi went through his entire body, causing Senior Lee's wisp form to be obliterated.

***

Senior Lee's eyes snapped open, and he found himself staring up at the sky. As he gazed upward, he saw nimbostratus clouds gathering en masse, their dark and dense forms blocking out the sun. A frigid breeze blew past, sending a shiver down his spine.

As he turned to look around, Senior Lee met the terrified faces of the two girls. They stood nearby, their eyes wide with fear as they took in the ominous scene unfolding before them. Just moments ago, it had been a warm, pleasant day with clear blue skies, and now the tree was on fire, the mountain was shaking, and the heavens seemed furious.

But that was not all. A mythical white squirrel stood on its hind legs on top of the blonde girl's head. Its golden eyes were swirling with curiosity and concern at the darkening skies overhead.

Also, a spider the size of an outhouse that Lee noticed earlier had vacated the tree's ablaze branches of lilac Qi and instead hid away in the corner of the courtyard, its many scarlet eyes watching on in concern, and its fangs twitched nervously.

"Is Tree okay?" The blonde girl asked, tears forming at the edge of her eyes.

"He should be fine." Senior Lee lied. "But stand back. The spirit tree may break through to the Star Core realm any moment."

"No! This can't be happening. He will die!" The blonde girl screamed over the roaring wind, her own spatial Qi flaring to life. "You have to help him! He isn't strong enough to face such a strong tribulation!"

Senior Lee shook his head as the girl stood there in fear, not even looking at him anymore. "If he dies, then he dies. To help might hinder your Tree friends' future potential. Tribulations from the heavens are not something to be avoided or protected from but rather something to face head-on with one's own strength. It is a test, and to cheat a test will only lead to incompetence down the line."

Senior Lee moved to stand before the spirit tree. His white robe rustled in the violent winds, and his wooden cane felt heavy in his hand. Nevertheless, it appeared his assumptions were correct. To inherit a fragment of that divine being is to insult the heavens and to entice their wrath.

But this was his heaven-chosen path. He'd held onto that fragment his entire life, never finding a worthy inheritor until today.

Either the tree prevailed and became what it was destined to be, or it never had the potential in the first place. Senior Lee's eyes flashed with power as he watched the Qi build up.

"Everything is going to plan so far." He whispered as his ring flashed with silver, and a gold paper talisman appeared in his hand.

Raising the talisman above his head, he roared, "Emperor land sealing talisman!" It exploded in a shower of golden characters that shot up into the sky before falling back down like snowflakes and blanketing everything in a few-mile radius.

"That should keep the land safe from heaven's wrath." His wrinkled hands rested on the handle of his wooden staff as he saw a flash of lightning illuminate the dark clouds overhead, and a roar of thunder rung in his ears.

The spirit tree was utterly engulfed in lilac flames and illuminated the darkened courtyard. Not even the black trunk or scarlet leaves could be seen through the inferno. But then things began to change.

The flames began to condense and climb up the tree's trunk, gathering in a swirling mass above the tree. At first, it was unnoticeable, but as the wind picked up and Senior Lee had to use his cultivation to not be swept away, the lilac flames condensed into a molten ball.

Senior Lee was witnessing the birth of a Star Core.

An event he had observed many times, but this one felt special—like the closing to a long dark part of his history and the beginning of a new era.

The heavens made their opinion on the matter known. The sky shifted from black to brilliant gold as lightning filled the sky. Over ten bolts arced toward the baby Star Core that was hardly formed.

Senior Lee closed his eyes. He wanted to help, but he knew from experience that helping only affected a cultivator's foundation.

The heavens test for a reason.

They only let the worthy ascend.

"No! Tree!"

Senior Lee's eyes snapped open from the cry, and he saw the blonde hair girl race up the tree's trunk in a ball of purple flame and appear in the air above it.

Her fist was coated in lightning and purple flames, and she looked up at the sky with a grim determination that Senior Lee had only seen on the face of cultivators prepared to die.

"Leave Tree alone, you bastards!" She screamed as her fist punched the incoming lightning bolts.

Senior Lee blinked. What just happened?