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Her cheeks turned rosy from embarrassment as she remembered her attempts. "Ash must think I am so pitiful," Stella grumbled as she lowered her hand, took a moment to readjust her posture, and put away the hand mirror she had used to check out her perfected skin.

When she felt ready and in position, Stella closed her eyes and chewed slowly on the truffle, and its earthy taste filled her mouth. There were no instructions or person to guide her on unlocking the truffle's true potential, so she did what felt natural.

She began to cultivate, her breathing slowed to a steady rhythm, and she silently connected her consciousness to the world around her—opening up her Soul Core and mind to the heavens Qi.

It was a faint connection—as always. The heavens will was a mystical force that was difficult to converse with and comprehend, even on the best days when Stella could enter the most profound state of meditation.

Time slowed as Stella appeared within the void of her mind. Then, with every breath, Qi began to fill the space—swirling around her like a gentle breeze, whispering its secrets into her ear like a cruel teacher. Always reveling just enough to give her hope of comprehension but leaving out just enough to keep her waning.

A while passed, and Stella found herself no closer to the truth of spatial Qi. Half thoughts and vague ideas swarmed her head, implanted there by the heaven's whispers, but she couldn't comprehend them.

But then Stella noticed something unusual. The endless void around her began to shudder and crack, and then, in an explosion of color, the void turned into a myriad of colors. It was hard to understand anything as the whispers of heaven now became a chorus that shouted the secrets of the universe from every direction.

Stella looked around frantically, her heart thumping in her chest as she panicked. She could tell this was a great opportunity but couldn't absorb everything being hollered at her. It would all be for naught if she didn't even walk away with a fundamental truth, so she focused on the one she knew best—the voice she was most comfortable with. Her eyes darted between the swarming colors, located the purple stream, and focused all her attention on its knowledge.

The words were so crisp and clear—far superior to the incoherent mutterings she had learned from for all her life. This was the language of the immortals!

She focused harder and harder. Straining her brain to the maximum to comprehend its unfathomable words. Her eyes widened as everything became clear, her wonders were answered one by one, and she felt moments away from true enlightenment—where heaven and herself comprehend each other perfectly. The ultimate goal of all cultivators.

But then something dark and looming smashed through the myriad of colors, the streams dispersed, and the illusion of truth were shattered as a limb struck through her mind—her eyes snapped open, and she screamed as a hairy leg covered in a layer of ash poked her on the head, and many red eyes were inches from her nose.

"The Master calls,"Larry said gruffly.

Stella could feel the monster's body vibrate as it spoke through the limb poking her head.

She reached up, pushed the ashen limb to the side, and scowled, "I was moments away from true enlightenment! Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a cultivator when they are deep in meditation?"

Stella stood up and stepped back from the monster, glaring at it the whole time. "I have never interrupted your sleep, so why do you disturb my cultivation?!"

"Master wants us to meet with some cultivators on the other peak," Larry spoke slowly, ensuring she could translate every word. "The great tree will portal us over."

Stella frowned, "Right now?"

Larry nodded. "Yes."

"Fine." Stella sighed, "Does Ash want us to kill them? Can't you do that without me?"

She was in a foul mood. A chance at true enlightenment had been ripped from her grasp by these cultivators abruptly arriving. Of course, she had been expecting some cultivators from the other families to turn up eventually. It wouldn't take long for news of two families being wiped out to spread and reach the ears of the other families within the blood lotus sect.

A rift in space appeared behind Larry, and through it, Stella could see the distorted outlines of a few people with red hair.

The spider gestured toward the portal, "The Master wants us to speak with them. No killing if possible."

"No... killing?" Stella couldn't believe it. Did Ash want to try his hand at diplomacy?

***

Ashlock didn't have a root connecting him to the white stone palace yet, so he had to wait for the red-haired cultivators to descend the mountain and enter the forest below, where his root network reached.

Due to his Star Core, and the mycelium network providing his roots with nutrients and water, his roots were able to grow quickly, now covering almost all of the area outside Darklight city.

He still needed to expand into the forests to the east, where the villages housing some mortals were, but that was a project for another time.

Larry moved to wake up Stella, and he was surprised at how angry she was due to being disturbed from her cultivation. "Did she consume that enlightenment truffle I gave her? That's rather annoying..." Ashlock grumbled to himself. Of course, he could always grow another one, but they took weeks and quite a bit of Qi to develop.

Stella's annoyance also highlighted another issue. She had been cultivating in the open courtyard, where she could easily be interrupted.

"When Red Vine Peak is rebuilt, I will ensure to build dedicated closed cultivation abodes for my elders where they can cultivate distraction-free." Ashlock decided to put that thought on his growing list of things to attend to, but for now, he needed to focus on making a good impression.

He knew the Patriarch had entered closed-door cultivation to prepare for the sect's move in the near future when the beast tide arrived.

From what Ashlock had gathered about the Blood Lotus sect, the Patriarch was the strongest, and he silently disposed of any Grand Elders that neared his cultivation realm, like the Ravenborne Grand Elder.

So he should be the most powerful, and since he is in the Nascent Soul realm, he was, without a doubt, Ashlock's main threat. Keeping the Patriarch uninformed for as long as possible was ideal, as Ashlock was unsure how Larry or Maple would fair against a seasoned Nascent Soul expert.

With the cultivators reaching the base of the white palace peak, Ashlock poked a root out of the ground and used it as the anchor point for the short-range portal.

Obviously, this technique was intended to be used at close range, possibly to redirect attacks back at the attacker, but with his body crossing such a far distance, he could cheat a little.

Just a little.

A rift in space appeared before the group of cultivators, and crimson blades coated in scarlet flame materialized in their hands—without a word exchanged, they assumed a defensive formation encircling the Star Core expert at the center.

Stella exited the portal first with a pop of air, and Ashlock had to admire he confidence as she stood non-disturbed before a group of cultivators with weapons drawn—she crossed her arms and waited.

"Who are you—" The Star Core expert began, but his mouth clamped shut as Larry emerged behind Stella, his body towering over the girl and his many eyes peeking over her head.

The Star Core expert's brows twitched, and his flickering scarlet flames mirrored his distress. The lush grass surrounding him flattened as his Star Core flared up, and the man asserted his dominance with his cultivation.

The halo of ash orbiting Larry's crown of horns spun a little faster, and all of the cultivators in the group groaned a little as their bodies struggled to resist an intense wave of gravity.

"Cultivators of Redclaw." Stella began, "I am Stella Crestfallen. What business do you have around these parts?"

She then side glanced at Larry since the Star Core expert struggled to respond to her question with the pressure of Larry's cultivation baring down on him, so the spider relaxed his wrath.

The man straightened himself and coughed. "Ahem, my name is Grand Elder Redclaw. I have come to investigate claims about a great war occurring here on sect grounds."

He glanced around the forest before continuing, "The scent of death is strong here, and there are scars of a quick one-sided battle." His eyes then drifted past Stella to the monster, "I have a reason to believe I found the culprit. Do you have anything else to add about the situation?"

Stella looked over her shoulder at Larry, clearly expecting some direction on the negotiations.

Ashlock noticed the Redclaws didn't explicitly state their actual reason for coming here. An investigation was acceptable, but what was their end goal? If possible, Ashlock wanted to throw them off the scent a bit, to delay them feeling the need to drag the Patriarch out from his closed-door cultivation.

Luckily cultivators were cautious around hidden powers and easy to bribe.

"Larry, tell Stella to be vague and that you are under control."

The spider opened his maw and replayed the words. Stella listened intently to the ancient language and couldn't help but smile as she saw the Star Core experts' distress.

"That thing can speak?" The Redclaw Grand Elder said calmly, but his clenched fist around his sword handle indicated he was far from calm. "Only spirit beasts at the highest realms are intelligent enough to communicate."

"He is not a thing Grand Elder Redclaw..." Stella glared at him, acting offended by his statement. "This fine beast is Larry. He was indeed the one that wiped out the two families overnight."

The Star Core expert gulped, and his goons also shuddered as Larry's eyes looked at them individually.

"Stella Crestfallen, forgive me." The man half bowed, "But if you can sate my curiosity, what language did you two converse in? I have never heard such profound words before."

With Larry's thick accent, it likely did sound rather profound and ancient.

Stella smirked, "It's a language from before the new era."

That made the Star Core expert furrow his brows. "And how does the young miss of house Crestfallen know how to speak such an ancient language?"

Ashlock wasn't sure where Stella was going with this, but he could always order Larry to kill this group of Redclaw cultivators if she accidentally said something that would ruin his plans. So, for now, he sat back and enjoyed the show.

Stella also seemed to be enjoying the change in power dynamic for once. Rather than being looked down on and having to run away from the other families, they were terrified of her.

"How else am I supposed to converse with my ancestor when he comes out of seclusion?" Stella said with a grin. "Did you not hear from your informants about the heavens opening up before the battle?"

The Redclaw Grand Elder slowly nodded, "I do recall a mention of such an incident. So the opening of the heavens was not concerning... Larry, but rather your ancestor coming out of seclusion?"

Larry huffed in annoyance at having his great moment's purpose twisted, but the spider refrained from further action.

Stella reached over and patted his leg, "Larry is the guardian beast of my ancestor. His purpose was to stop people from interrupting my ancestor's cultivation."

Ashlock could feel a hint of malice in her words, clearly still annoyed about having her own cultivation interrupted earlier for this talk.

"I see." The Redclaw Grand Elder nodded, "So let me get my facts straight. Your ancestor was interrupted during their cultivation, so the guardian beast annihilated house Winterwrath and Evergreen in return? That seems rather unfair. How were the houses supposed to know about your ancestor?"

"That's the thing, they weren't supposed to know, and neither should you." Stella replied with a sigh, "Once they found out about my ancestor, they tried to invade and take over Red Vine Peak so they could use his bones and flesh for pills. They believed my ancestor had perished and was nothing but a corpse!"

"Does the Patriarch know about this ancestor of yours?" The Redclaw Grand Elder asked skeptically, "From the rumors I've heard, he wants to use you as a pill furnace—"

Stella raised her hand to silence the man, "Exactly—because the Patriarch spread that rumor, Red Vine Peak and myself have been left alone this entire time. Don't you find it odd that three entire families have perished here in the last year?"

She then shook her head sadly, "The Patriarch wants to keep the truth of my ancestor a secret from the rest of the sect and has anyone that finds out wiped out..." She sneered at the group, "It would appear another family has to be added to the list."

All of the Redclaw cultivators went pale with fear, and the Redclaw Grand Elder put his sword away and clasped his hands. "Please have mercy on us. I'm sure we can come to an understanding. Would there be any way for us to meet with your ancestor to work things out?"

Ashlock was curious about what Stella planned to do now, and her sinister smile wasn't helping.