"Let's start that again. I was rather confused why they gave me a list of pills rather than names," Elder Brent chuckled, "Anyway, in 5th place, we have the Blood Essence Revitalization Pill."
Everyone glanced at Kane Azurecrest, and he returned a nod to everyone and went back to looking at the floor.
Phew, I wasn't last. Stella sighed in relief as she tried to ignore the roaring crowd for her own sanity.
"Next up in 4th place was the Cosmic Alignment Pill," Elder Brent peered over the parchment, and Stella followed his gaze to Celeste Starweaver. She seemed genuinely baffled to have come in 4th and shot both Stella and Kassandra a look of suspicion.
Okay, I made it into the top three. I'm unlikely to beat Dante Voidmind, but I HAVE to defeat Kassandra. Stella felt her heart racing as she exchanged a glare with Kassandra. The giant woman seemed thoroughly annoyed that it had come down to this as her eyes pulsed a chaotic blue.
Elder Brent paused for a dramatic effect that was not appreciated by Stella's exhausted legs before he read the words that would seal Stella's fate in this tournament.
"In third place..."
***
Although Elder Brent obscured the parchment from spiritual sight with his Qi aura, Ashlock could see the list over his shoulder with {Eye of the Tree God}.
However, despite knowing the results, he stayed quiet and let Stella have her moment.
"In third place is the Spiritual Enhancement Pill," Elder Brent announced, and the crowd roared as Stella stood there in shock.
Her eyes were wide as she slowly turned to look at Kassandra, who had stumbled back and caught herself on the workbench with a look of pure disbelief.
Eventually, Kassandra gathered herself and shouted to Elder Brent, "I demand the pills get a second opinion! Mine were flawless. What makes hers better than mine?"
"Well, according to the notes here, your pill had some impurities," Elder Brent calmly explained, "Likely due to inferior ingredients or an inability to remove all the impurities before creation."
"Inferior? Inability?" Kassandra Skyrend gritted her teeth as her eyes furiously glowed, "Top alchemists purchased those ingredients, and I purified them to perfection! So what if a few impurities were left? It's impossible to grow perfect ingredients devoid of any defects."
Stella crossed her arms and tilted her head at Kassandra as if she were a fool, "Didn't you know sourcing ingredients is an alchemist's job?"
"There's a limit, Roselyn!" Kassandra shouted as she strode over to Stella, "You can only cheat so blatantly up to a point! I watched how effortlessly and quickly you made that pill. Unless you are the reincarnation of an alchemy god and have access to ingredients from a higher realm, I do not see how your pill could be better."
Kassandra paused just before Stella, but the blonde girl was entirely unbothered.
"Just admit you cheated," Kassandra demanded, "Or tell the examiners to get a second opinion."
Ashlock quickly reminded Stella, "Stick to the plan. Now would be a good time to start planting the seeds of doubt in Dante's mind."
Stella gave a slight nod before she sneered and pulsed her Star Core which sent Kassandra stumbling back, "Maybe I do have connections to someone in a higher realm? In fact, it may be one that Dante Voidmind is familiar with. Isn't that right, Dante?"
Ashlock found it rather amusing that to the spectators, they could see the noble's lips moving but had no idea what they were saying as they carried out their conversation through Qi.
Kassandra shot a questioning glare at Dante, "Who is this person?"
Dante seemed equally puzzled, "Good question. No, Roselyn, I do not know of this person. My family is cursed—"
"Would a perfectly smooth rock perhaps jolt your memory?" Stella asked.
Dante's eyes widened a little, the void rippled, and he reappeared an inch from Stella. "How much do you know?" He questioned while looming over her.
Stella shrugged, "Everything."
"Tell me—" Dante began, but a burst of fire appeared between them, and the Redclaw Grand Elder cut him off.
"Please wait for the end of the tournament to finish this discussion," The Grand Elder said while flexing his cultivation, "It wouldn't do well to ruin the young Silverspire's opinion of you, Dante."
"Tsk," Dante clicked his tongue and stepped back. He waved Kassandra's questions off and returned to his workbench, but his abyssal gaze never left Stella for a single moment.
"How was that Tree?" Stella asked through the mental link.
"Better than expected," Ashlock answered honestly, "You are really good at getting under these nobles' skin."
"Hehe, thank you," Stella grinned behind her mask at Dante's irate gaze, which only annoyed him more.
"Be careful, though, I will try to keep my senses ready to make a portal for you at a moment's notice, but he can silence you at the snap of a finger," Ashlock warned.
"Good point," Stella replied and stopped taunting the Voidmind scion by looking elsewhere.
Ashlock didn't think Dante would murder Stella because he would want to know what she knew about the Head Librarian ascending to the next realm of creation, but it was best to be cautious.
Having broken up the situation, the Redclaw Grand Elder vanished again in a burst of crimson flames and reappeared under the shade of the demonic tree, partially obscured by Diana's haunted mist.
The Grand Elder then gave a nod to Elder Brent, and the showman coughed awkwardly and then continued, "In second place is the Spiritual Nullification Pill, which means the champion of the tournament is Dante Voidmind with the Void Traversal pill."
While the crowd became crazy with excitement, none of the nobles seemed interested in who won as they were engaged in a three-way staring contest.
Kassandra seemed unsure of who to be more mad at. Dante had his eyes deadset on Stella, and Stella taunted both of them with a cheeky smile behind her mask.
"Dante Voidmind, as the victor, please come up on the stage and give the crowd a speech." Elder Brent effortlessly lied. Elder Brent would have called for the top three to give speeches if Dante somehow came second or third.
The goal was simple, give Dante a platform to declare his invasion.
Dante slowly tore his irate gaze from Stella, and with a snap of his fingers, he reappeared on the wooden stage. The black-haired ghoulish man seemed to contemplate what to say for a while as the crowd died down to a respectful level to hear the words of a noble family scion.
"Tree, is it time for the plan?" Stella asked through their mental link.
Ashlock gazed into the dense fog swirling around the demonic tree and could see the very faint outline of Larry's silhouette. Seeing that everyone was in position, he believed it was indeed time.
"Yes, get ready," Ashlock replied.
Dante brought out a crystal of pure darkness that had shadowy whisps evaporating from its surface.
"In truth, I care not for this pointless title granted upon me. Rather, I hope with the tournament's conclusion. I may say what I really came here for." Dante Voidmind said calmly, but his Qi carried his voice to all who dared to listen, "I speak today to the great citizens of this beautiful city and the other nobles in attendance."
His gaze briefly lingered on Ryker Silverspire and the Grand Elder before continuing, "By the power vested in me as the scion of House Voidmind, I declare from this moment that Darklight City will fall under Slymere, and ultimately my house's rule. Does House Redclaw accept this decision and agree to work with us to better this city?"
The Redclaw Grand Elder stepped forward from under the shade of the demonic tree, flanked by swirling mist, and with his hands behind his back, he replied, "House Redclaw does not accept your forced servitude."
"I see, how unfortunate," Dante coldly said as he raised the void crystal, "Then consider this a formal declaration of war—"
"Larry, now!" Ashlock shouted.
The fog surrounding the demonic tree was pushed out of the way by a sudden tidal wave of ash that tumbled down the stands and into the area straight toward Dante Voidmind.
It moved with immense speed, destroying everything in its wake, including the workbenches and the wooden podium Elder Brent had been standing on. Luckily the man had escaped, and so had most of the rest of the nobles by using various techniques but hitting Dante Voidmind had never been the goal.
Kassandra's glowing blue eyes widened as she saw the tidal wave of ash cascade down the side of the stands and on top of her. She tried to call down lightning Qi to move, but the veil of ash above her easily absorbed the lightning bolt that descended from the clear blue skies.
"Ha, it worked!" Ashlock cheered. He had suspected that ash would be the perfect counter to lightning and the best way to trap Kassandra. It also acted as a way to obscure the following activities from the crowd of mortals and the other nobles like Kane and Celeste.
While hiding within the canopy of the demonic tree, the circle of ash orbiting Larry's crown of horns began to speed up, and the dense ash cloud began blanketing the arena to swirl like a forming tornado.
The mortals in the stands began to scramble to leave, and Ashlock made no move to stop them. So long as Kassandra Skyrend remained trapped, their plan would work.
Ashlock then saw a large chunk of the ash cloud vanish as if deleted from existence by a sudden bubble of void. Dante Voidmind stood in the center of the now exposed area with the crystal far above his head. The ground around his feet looked like shifting tar, and three people in black cloaks slowly emerged from the darkness.
All three of them were in the Star Core Realm, and they all gave the scion a short bow.
"Young Lord, what are your orders?" A woman with long black hair in a ponytail asked.
"Elder Lilian, there is a blonde girl with blackthorn tattoos somewhere nearby called Roselyn that knows about Uncle's whereabouts," Dante explained, "You must find her at all costs, and I need her alive."
"As you wish, Young Lord," Lilian nodded and then frowned at the ash encircling them, "This will be a problem. My spiritual sense is blocked, and forcing my way through it with void step will rapidly drain my Qi reserves. Do you have any idea where this girl could be?"
Dante pointed in the direction Stella had been, "I last saw Roselyn over there, so start your search in that area. I will ask Father to grant you more time in the Void Chamber in compensation for your sacrificed void Qi."
"I would appreciate that, Young Lord," Lilian gave one last bow, "I will go and find this Roselyn person now."
With those words, she vanished into the void.
Dante then turned to a middle-aged man with a bald head and well-kept black beard, "Elder Elias, kill all Redclaws, including the Grand Elder. Meanwhile, Elder Lucian, please watch my back and kill anyone else who get's in our way while we observe from above and ensure nobody important escapes."
"As you command," Both replied, and Elder Elias vanished into the void.
Dante and Elder Lucian hopped on swords and took to the skies before the ash cloud could finish encircling them and observed from above.
Ashlock watched as the Starcore Voidmind Elders reappeared within the ash by deleting a small amount around them and chuckled evilly as Larry slowly crawled down from the canopy of the demonic tree, "Have a good feast, but bring back their corpses."
"Certainly, Master," Larry replied and faded into the ash.
"Guess it's time I also joined the slaughter," Ashlock thought as he cast {Progeny Dominion} for the first time.
His vision blurred, and he found himself far up in the sky above Darklight City. He was confused but noticed that many of the demonic trees, including the one in the colosseum, were glowing as if asking to be selected.
Ashlock picked the one in the colosseum, and a system notification appeared in his vision.
[Progeny selected: Initiating soul transfer...]
In the distance, his main body on Red Vine Peak trembled, and despite his point of view being so far away, he felt an invisible force tearing him apart from within.
[Soul fragmented: Damage to soul mitigated]
Suddenly he felt like a part of him was missing, just like when Tristan Evergreen stole a small percentage of his soul, but this time it was far more.
Weirdly he noticed his system menu in the corner of his vision flickering as if it were having connection issues. Was the system this tied to his soul?
Ashlock then watched as the fragment of his soul, appearing as a glowing ball of spatial Qi, was dragged through the fused root network down the mountain peak, under the forest and streets of Darklight City, and eventually shoved into the demonic tree in the colosseum.
[Connection complete: Time till sundown 5:37]
When the system message appeared, Ashlock felt something drag him down from the sky at immense speed, and he watched the world blur as he plummeted toward the tree in the colosseum.
There was a ripple of power as his presence smashed into the demonic tree, and he felt his soul overtake the vessel. A moment later, he sensed his mind split between his main body and his offspring that he was temporarily overtaking.
Looking within, he saw the offspring's infant soul now encompassed within his own much larger soul fragment, like a tiny egg. He felt waves of happiness coming from it.
"Does it think I am giving it a hug?" Ashlock mused, but that wasn't important right now as he had identified his first target to attack. It wasn't Kane or Celeste who had retreated to the stands that were now half empty due to the fleeing mortals but rather Theron Skyrend, who was floating above the enshrouded arena on a small wooden boat.
His eyes glowed with immense power as he raised his arm. A great shadow loomed as the clear blue skies rapidly morphed into a violent storm.
Lowering his hand like an executioner, a pure white lightning bolt arced down and blasted the ash cloud. It superheated a few meters in and then failed to penetrate deeper.
"Kassandra!" Theron roared as he raised his hand again, "Where are you?"
Ashlock activated {Abyssal Whispers} and targeted Theron.
The giant man stumbled on his boat and managed to support himself against its mast as Ashlock forced his way into his consciousness and laughed, "Would you like to meet her down there?"
"Who are you?" Theron bellowed as he clutched his head.
Ashlock took a moment to activate {Consuming Abyss} and watched as a black lake of Void Qi spread out from the demonic tree he was inhabiting and snuck under the ash cloud below Theron.
"Tell me!" Theron shouted to the skies, "Who are you!"
"The one the Redclaws fear," Ashlock laughed, "Roselyn's father."
Before Theron could respond, Ashlock commanded a hundred void tendrils to shoot up through the ash and impale the Skyrend scion.
Theron tried activating his lightning Qi to teleport away, but Ashlock distracted him by saying, "Return to dust. Descendant of a fake god."
The wooden ship exploded as the void tendrils effortlessly tore through its hull and impaled Theron Skyrend. "Heretic..." Was all Theron could gasp out as his head rolled back and his eyes dimmed. He then fell like a rock into the ash cloud below alongside a shower of splinters.
Ashlock sneakily opened a portal on the floor to secure the corpse.
"Y-Young Master, w-what was that?" Elder Lucian asked the Voidmind scion, who stood beside him on a floating sword.
Dante's eyes narrowed as he watched the hundreds of void tendrils retreat into the depths of the swirling ash.
"He's returned," Dante murmured, "Uncle is really back..."
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