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Ashlock winced, a jolt of pain flaring as Stella sliced through one of his vines. He sent the now free-floating sword hurtling after her like a guided missile. However, Stella infused her recently acquired leather gloves, which were defensive artifacts, with Qi. Laughing, she easily deflected the sword.

The silver runic formation on the ground glowed with power as spatial Qi drenched the area.

Stella's form flickered as she employed her movement technique. She parried two simultaneous attacks aimed at her head before diving to the side to evade a third. The third blade missed her head by the narrowest of margins.

An hour prior, Ashlock had been taking it easy as it was just a friendly duel, and he didn't want to injure Stella in any way accidentally, but it didn't take long for him to try going all out as Stella seemed unfazed by his attempts.

Although his vines were certainly much more flexible and faster than when the skill had been called {Devour}, their dexterity and speed while wielding the swords left a lot to be desired.

Even when he pumped more spatial Qi into the vines to forcefully bend them faster with telekinesis, Stella could dodge his swings with ease as if they were moving in slow motion to her.

Nevertheless, Ashlock had a strategy up his sleeve. He swung an orange-tinted metal sword toward the giggling girl. As Stella raised her new black sword in response, Ashlock invoked a portal, redirecting the sword slash to emerge from behind her.

The girl's eyes went wide as she realized his genius tactic, but to Ashlock's confusion, a savage grin appeared as spatial Qi surged through her body, and a portal of her own materialized on her back and another on her chest.

Ashlock watched in disbelief as his attack went through Stella's back and came out of her chest, resulting in his own vine being cleaved in half. The portal that created a tunnel through her chest abruptly closed, slicing that vine in two as well.

Eager to maintain the rhythm of the duel, Ashlock launched another attack from the side using a sword-armed vine. Stella seemed to anticipate the incoming assault through her spiritual senses. Without glancing over her shoulder, she leaped into the air to evade the blade, but Ashlock was having none of that.

Call him petty, but he abused his superior cultivation to unleash a wave of gravity from his immense Star Core. Perhaps due to its immense size or Stella's proximity, she was pulled down to the stone below as if chains were attached to her legs.

"Cheater!" Stella shouted as the sword barely missed because she flattened herself against the ground while gritting her teeth, trying to resist his gravity.

Ashlock felt like mentally rolling his eyes. How could she accuse him of cheating when she could practically teleport between his vines, redirect them with portals, and even chop them down? She even had legs, and in his opinion, that was the most cheating of all!

Okay, he had gone a little overboard, but he had tried everything else, and she had triumphed.

"Master, why must you bully your mistress?" Larry spoke gruffly from the side. Kaida seemed to agree with the spider's statement as it hissed toward him.

Ashlock mentally rolled his eyes at the pair and released his gravity, allowing Stella to stand up. She stored her sword away in a spatial ring and collapsed on the bench.

"That was exhausting but fun." Stella grinned, "Most fights end within seconds, but even when I chopped your vines down, you can keep fighting."

That was actually a rather interesting observation. Ashlock had also noticed that most fights in this world ended nearly instantly through sneak attacks or just because the opponent was a realm higher. Therefore the opposition, who was weaker, never even stood a chance.

Stella and Diana had trained together, and it helped they were of equal strength, but neither could go all out at the risk of killing the other. But for Ashlock? Even if Stella were to try and destroy his trunk, he could regrow from a stump.

"Mhm... maybe I should personally help train Stella and Diana up alongside my Mystic Realm and also all the cultivation resources I can grow?" Ashlock pondered. If he could also provide these benefits to other sect members, or even the Redclaws that were under an oath of loyalty to him, there might come a day when his small Ashfallen Sect is more fearsome than the entire Blood Lotus sect.

"Although I must say, I never felt very threatened during the fight." Stella said while relaxing, "The vine's movement is rather predictable and slow. Also, I could always target the vines rather than the swords."

That was good feedback. If Ashlock wanted to become the greatest tree swordsman—well, he likely already was, but if he wanted to become the best swordsman in the realm, he would need to work on his technique some more.

"What if I used telekinesis to control shields that orbit the vines to protect them?" Ashlock mused. He did coat the vines in spatial Qi, but unlike earth or void Qi, spatial Qi wasn't that great for defense. Or was it...

Ashlock looked around at the distorted space barrier that surrounded him. Raw spatial Qi might not be the best for defense, but what if he put a bit more intent behind the spatial Qi other than simply coating and protecting the vine?

"Distortion or making the space around the vines appear far further than it looks could work." Ashlock wondered as he flexed his spatial coated vine wrapped around a sword, "Oh wait, I have an even better idea."

Ashlock requested Stella try and fight again, but she rolled her eyes, "Give me a while to recover. My Qi reserves are almost empty. It won't take long as a lot of spatial Qi is floating around here."

She then entered a meditation pose, and Ashlock saw the spatial Qi gathered by the runic formation pouring toward her. While she recovered, he spent more time working on his new plan.

***

Stella's eyes snapped open as she felt that the Qi within her Soul Core had reached a sufficient level to continue the duel.

Getting out of the lotus position and standing up, she stretched her back while glancing around at the surroundings. The way everything seemed frozen gave her a headache. Even the distant clouds hadn't changed position since morning, the sun overhead had paused, but the sunlight's source had moved, casting shadows that didn't make sense.

She tried to pierce the illusion, but even though she had spatial affinity, she could not see through it. Shrugging, she injected some Qi into her spatial ring and felt the cold metal hilt against her fingers and the weight of her new sword.

A thin smile appeared as she approached the waving black vines with the sword resting on her shoulder. "Alright, Tree, what are we doing this time?"

Glancing over her shoulder, she waited momentarily, and as she expected, ancient words were inscribed in flickering flames on Ash's black trunk. She quickly translated the words and tilted her head, "You just want me to try and cut the vines?" Her eyes narrowed. Clearly, something was amiss here. Was Ash trying something new?

"Fine." She grinned and got into position, her Soul Core humming in her chest as she mobilized her spatial Qi and techniques she had cultivated an understanding with heaven for at the tip of her tongue, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.

Observing the black vines maintaining a careful distance, Stella resolved to seize the chance. A brief surge of Spatial Qi enveloped her form, causing her surroundings to blur. She employed a portion of her lightning dao comprehension to amplify the effect, making her legs propel her faster.

Within a single breath, she had closed the distance. Her sword was already mid-swing, and she laughed as she watched it cleave through the vine—except it passed right through as if it were a mere illusion.

Her eyes widened as she was suddenly struck by a heavy, fast-moving object. As her breath was abruptly forced from her lungs, Stella hurtled through the air, pain searing through her side and confusion gripping her mind. How had her sword failed to strike its target?

Getting back on her feet and launching another attack, a similar situation occurred with a different vine. It appeared to be trying to dodge to one side, but she felt no resistance as if she were cutting air, and then from her blind spot, the real vine hit her.

"I think I see what you are doing here." Stella spat blood to the side and searched one of her spatial rings for a healing pill. Locating the appropriate bottle, she chugged three of them and then wiped the residual blood from her mouth.

Glancing aside, she noted Larry observing her with what seemed like a sorrowful expression. However, it was always challenging to decipher the behemoth's thoughts due to his inhuman features.

"Mistress, is the Master bullying you?" The spider questioned, seemingly detecting her glance.

With a savage grin, Stella shook her head. "No, it's quite alright, Larry. I think I have figured out his little trick, and how am I supposed to get stronger without a little hardship?"

"Why are humans so weird," Larry muttered, and Stella almost failed to translate it due to his accent.

Deciding to ignore the confused spider, Stella reignited her sword with her soul fire and dashed in. However, this time she had her eyes closed. She then cycled her meditation technique to connect with heaven and forced her will upon the spatial plane, a vital part of any spatial cultivator power.

Whenever she wished to cast a portal, she had to consult with the spatial plane connecting all things. In this weird space where only the definitive position of everything mattered, Stella could see the vine in front of her coming from the left side. Opening one of her eyes, she could see in reality that the vine was coming from the right.

"A spatial illusion," Stella muttered as she closed her eye again and went purely by the spatial plane. With a swift slice to the left, she felt the familiar resistance of the thick vine to her blade, but she carved through with the help of her Qi-empowered muscles.

Laughing, she kept her eyes closed and meticulously cut the remaining vines in half. Only when the last of the vines topped over with a thump did she whip her body around to face Ash and open her eyes to witness the scene.

Eight wiggling vine stumps were next to floating swords, and she could also spot the cleaved off parts of black vine staying motionless on the stone ground.

Somehow feeling Tree's gaze on her, she felt prompted to provide her assessment of his new technique.

"A massive step up in difficultly compared to last time, and I think those without absolute detecting techniques would struggle." Stella caressed her chin as she watched the vines regrow and grasp the waiting floating swords. "Diana could handle this trick with her mist, but Douglas would struggle as the deception happens above ground."

Stella put her hands behind her head and strolled back over to the bench.

Knowing that even Tree had to practice new techniques and she could help him put a smile on her face. Sitting on the bench and closing her eyes to enjoy the distorted space, she felt the faint whispers of enlightenment caress the back of her mind.

With a surge of excitement, she got into the lotus position and began cultivating. It seemed she had come to a deeper understanding regarding the spatial dao during that duel with Ash, and the heavens wanted to impart new knowledge upon her. Depending on how much it wished to share, she might be able to begin forming her Star Core soon.

***

While Stella was busy cultivating again, Ashlock retracted his {Consuming Abyss} skill as maintaining those vines and coating them in spatial Qi was draining his resources that he could be giving to the demonic trees surrounding him or contributing to his Star Core Qi reserves.

"Master, I believe your pet wishes your presence," Larry quietly said as he crawled toward him. Clearly careful about interrupting Stella's cultivation again.

Kaida wanted him? What for?

Larry raised a limb to his horn, and the tiny black snake reluctantly slithered off the horn and nestled onto the tip of Larry's leg. The spider then raised his leg up, and the moment it came into contact with his trunk, Kaida stuck his tongue out.

[Kaida has accumulated enough Qi to evolve from F to D grade]

[Grass Snake {Kaida} wishes to evolve]

[Yes/No]

"Oh, nice!" Ashlock exclaimed while reading the notification that popped up. It would appear Larry's hunting with Kaida had been a great success and helped the snake level up.

"Wait... to D grade? What the hell has Larry fed Kaida to give him enough Qi to evolve straight to D grade?" Ashlock grumbled to himself.

How that had been done, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't one to complain about results, so he rolled with it.

In a way, it did make some sense. An F-grade grass snake was unlikely to ever taste the meat of high-grade spirit beasts that Larry could comfortably hunt and feed him.

Obviously, he replied yes to the system prompt.

[Infant Grass Snake {Kaida} has begun to evolve]

[Please select {Kaida} evolution path...]

While he waited for the system to load, Ashlock was excited to see the potential evolution paths.

Would it just give him a single option? Or would there be a long list for him to choose from? Kaida was going straight from F to D grade, so he at least expected some interesting options.

[Infant Shadow Scale Serpent]

A stealthy serpent that can blend perfectly with the shadows. Its scales have evolved to absorb light, providing excellent camouflage.

"Interesting, so does this mean Kaida will have shadow affinity or illusion affinity?" Ashlock mused. He also noted the infant part of the name, suggesting that infants of this snake bloodline started at D grade.

[Obsidian Terra Constrictor]

Kaida grows in size and strength, becoming a powerful constrictor with scales as hard as obsidian. This evolution greatly boosts his physical strength and defense.

"Noticing a lack of the infant tag with this option. Therefore it is likely a rather late-stage evolution meaning this evolution might even cap out at below S rank." Ashlock mused.

By the name of the evolution, he could assume this option would give Kaida earth affinity, which could help him out a lot with digging out the mountain or invading the depths.

[Infant Spirit Whisperer Adder]

A mystic serpent that can commune with spirits and even sway them to its will. This would give him a unique power in both offensive and defensive encounters.

"This option is just weird. How am I supposed to know how strong a power like this could even be?" Ashlock hadn't encountered anyone with spirit powers thus far, leaving him uninformed of its potential.

[Infant Moonlight Asp]

This snake's scales radiate soft moonlight, giving it the ability to manipulate illusions and cast confusing mirages.

"Moonlight affinity sounds like it could lead to a higher affinity in the future like Celestial or Lunar affinity," Ashlock concluded but then ran into another issue. He knew nothing about either affinity, making it hard to decide if this was a good option.

[Infant Ink Serpent]

Kaida evolves into a snake with a body as dark and fluid as ink. His speed increases significantly, and he gains the ability to camouflage in dark environments.

"Ink?" Ashlock wondered to himself. "Does this evolution option give Kaida ink affinity?" Another unusual affinity he wasn't sure about. Why had Larry's evolution options been so much easier than Kaida's? Was it because this was a more early choice that would set up later evolutions?

"Alright, basically all of these options mention 'infant,' and they also have random snake species names rather than referring to mythical snake-based creatures like Nagas, Dragons, Leviathans, Basilisks, Ouroborus, and more. Therefore, this evolution option is more focused on what affinity Kaida will have, rather than what species he will end up as," Ashlock concluded, but then that raised the question.

Which affinity should he choose for little Kai?

Ashlock looked over the options one last time and noted the various affinities: Ink, Moonlight, Spirit, Earth, Shadow. They all seemed to have positives and negatives.