After directing the Bastion back to Red Vine Peak through the portal, Ashlock parked the floating fortress on the eastern side of the mountain peak to once again obscure it from Darklight City that lay to the west.
Since the Bastion was now stationary, as a Star Core tree, Willow could power the illusion array himself, but it would slow down his cultivation, so it wasn't worth it. Red Vine Peak was eight thousand meters up, so Ashlock just had to make sure the floating rock wasn't visible to Darklight City, where cultivators from other families were attending the academy.
The fractured part of his soul returned to his body, accompanied by a surge in Qi. Despite the dark-haired cultivator and many monsters he had devoured today, it barely put him on the brink of ascending to the 8th stage.
"A shame, but I did spend a stupid amount of Qi running the Bastion."
The giant portal snapped closed with a rather loud pop, sending a rush of air that rustled the leaves of every demonic tree on the mountain peak and announced their return to those waiting.
Stella hopped off the Bastion and had the blonde-haired man's body floating beside her with telekinesis. Diana and the Redclaws awoke from meditating under the demonic trees and walked across the peak toward her.
"Mistress Stella, I am so glad to see you are safe," The Grand Elder said sincerely with his hands clasped behind his back. "I was heading over to assist you with Nox when the immortal recalled us through portals back here. So, what happened? Where is Nox?"
Stella sighed, "She got away."
The Grand Elder closed his eyes for a moment, "How unfortunate. That woman has much to pay for after the ruckus she caused during the merchant meeting."
"Who's the headless guy?" Diana asked.
Stella glanced at the floating corpse beside her, "A bounty hunter. They were sent by Nox after me and were why she managed to escape."
"Bounty hunters?" Elder Margret's eyes widened, "Did you get any more information about them?"
"From the conversation I overheard, Nox placed a bounty on my head for 12,000 Yinxi Coins." Stella rubbed her chin in thought, "Oh, and when the other bounty hunter died, he said something about an Eternal Pursuit. Does that mean anything to you two?"
The Redclaw Elders exchanged a concerned look.
"The Eternal Pursuit Pavilion is a well-known faction throughout the wilderness," The Grand Elder explained, "It's unclear where they originally started, but they have a presence within every major demonic sect. Those Yinxi Coins are their unique currency stored on-site, which can be exchanged for anything you could think of at any of their pavilions. If they happen to lack what you seek, merchants or bounty hunters can be hired to complete the job. Whether that be a certain pill you need or someone's head on a silver platter."
"Why have I never heard of them?" Diana asked as she stopped inspecting the floating corpse.
"The Eternal Pursuit Pavilion was banished from the Blood Lotus Sect by the Patriarch a long time ago as they caused fighting among the noble families," Elder Margret said, "So unless you have interacted with those from other demonic sects or had a bounty placed on your head, it's unlikely you would have heard of them."
"I see," Diana nodded, "So what's the plan? Is there a way to clear the bounty?"
"Not that I know of," The Grand Elder replied, "Since the Yinxi Coins are stored on-site, and the payment for the bounty is taken when it's set. So even if the person who placed the bounty dies, the bounty will remain active. The only thing I could suggest is attempting to fake your own death or joining the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion and paying off the bounty yourself."
"Wait, you can do that?" Stella asked.
The Grand Elder nodded, "Of course. Anything you can think of can be bought with Yinxi Coins, including your own freedom. However, if the person who placed the bounty really wants you dead, they can keep bidding higher."
"Could Stella become a bounty hunter then and clear her own name?" Ashlock asked through {Abyssal Whispers}. He was somewhat surprised when hardly anyone winced at his words. Only Elder Margret seemed to need to pop a Mind Fortress pill.
"Assuming she could make it alive to one of the branches to register in another demonic sect," Elder Margret said, "Stella does have a rather large bounty on her head after all. It's been years since I last heard anything about the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, but last I checked, a bounty over 3,000 was considered high."
"Damn," Stella clicked her tongue but then seemed to have an idea as she turned to Diana, "Why don't you become a bounty hunter? Nox won't recognize you after your transformation."
"That's a good idea," Ashlock interjected, "After the deal with the merchants fell through, we need somewhere to sell our pills, not just for our sake but also for Ryker Silverspire, who has placed his trust in us. If Diana became a bounty hunter of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, she could trade our pills in for these Yinxi Coins, which can be exchanged for anything we need."
"That's not a bad idea," The Grand Elder nodded in agreement. "Although there are some issues. The main advantage of selling pills through merchants is it obscures the pill's source. This is why merchants often trade with one another or travel to different demonic sects."
"We can come up with a solution to that," Ashlock replied, "Anything else?"
"Crossing the wilderness takes a long time, and depending on how many monsters you encounter along the way, it can be a costly endeavor on a person's cultivation," Elder Margret said.
"We are getting sidetracked from my original question," Diana grumbled and then put a firm hand on Stella's shoulder, "Why are you not more concerned," she said while shaking Stella back and forth, "There will be more of these bounty hunters, right? How will you cultivate in peace with these people after you?"
Stella looked between Diana and the headless corpses floating beside her, "You mean this guy?"
"Yes?"
"Does he look threatening to you?" Stella asked as she used telekinesis to make the corpse wave.
Diana grunted in frustration and rolled her eyes.
"Joking aside, yes, they are threatening," Ashlock said before Diana lost it. He knew Stella was just messing around to bring attention away from the issue herself, as nobody would be able to stop looking over their shoulder knowing such a large bounty was on their head. Her way of dealing with stress was a little unconventional sometimes. "Say, Grand Elder, will they always appear alone or in small groups?"
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The Grand Elder nodded, "The bounty is split between those who participate, so they will find a balance between a group big enough to get the job done but small enough that the cut is worth it."
"I see, how interesting," Ashlock tried to sound as whimsical as possible while asking relatively simple questions to maintain his immortal persona, "And what about their strengths? Will Nascent Soul bounty hunters appear? One of them mentioned that their leader had just left closed-door cultivation and reached the 6th stage of the Nascent Soul Realm."
"Oh, don't worry about that," The Grand Elder waved him off, "They would never move for a bounty this low and especially not for one of unverified strength." The man gestured to the floating corpse, "Those that live long enough to reach Nascent Soul are cautious and calculating rather than great risk-takers like this headless fellow."
"Unverifed? What does that mean?"
"When a bounty is placed, the person will estimate the target's strength. For example, Stella might be a Star Core Four level threat." The Grand Elder smiled, "Very impressive at such a young age, I might add, but I digress. Her level of strength will be tagged as unverified until a few more bounty hunters agree on the assessment."
"So if we kill every bounty hunter before they can report back, it will remain unverified?"
"Correct." The Grand Elder nodded, "And there is no way to tell how many fools lost their lives to an unverified bounty, as people don't have to report that they took on a job."
Diana frowned, "Couldn't bounty hunters create fake bounties to lure people and rob or kill them?"
The Grand Elder laughed, "That happened quite often. Hence, few people go after unverified bounties. The only mark of legitimacy is who placed the bounty."
"Ah." Stella clapped her hands, a look of realization on her face, "Nox's cousin mentioned only coming because he saw it was Nox who placed the bounty."
"So there won't be bounty hunters coming after Stella because she is unverified?" Ashlock asked and managed to suppress his yawn while doing so. The sun had fallen below the distant mountains a moment ago, and he felt ready to sleep.
"Oh, there will, especially for the 12,000 Yinxi Coins on offer." The Grand Elder replied, "It would be far more if Stella's strength was verified."
"Thank you for the surprisingly insightful information, Grand Elder. Where did you learn all of this?"
"It was many, many years ago, but during the peak of the war, I was a member of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. It was very helpful being able to restock on supplies and buy information." The Grand Elder looked off into the distance with a glint of nostalgia in his eyes, "But then the Patriarch had a falling out with them and managed to push the entire organization out of the sect and forbade anyone from having a membership with them, so I turned my pendant in."
His voice then dropped low, "Although there are rumors that the Silverspire family still maintains a connection and uses them to distribute their spatial rings to other demonic sects, and Vincent Nightrose turns a blind eye because he gets a cut."
"I see. Tell Sebastian and Ryker Silverspire to come here tomorrow at noon." Ashlock said, "I want to speak to them about a few things."
"As you wish," The Grand Elder bowed deeply toward the demonic tree that lorded over the mountain peak.
"Take these fire Qi fruits with you as well to help recover the Qi you spent today fighting Nox," Ashlock floated over a few spicy fire fruits from his branches.
The Redclaws took the fruit, gave their thanks, and after being dismissed, they took off on their flying swords toward the White Stone Palace.
Diana shook her head, "This is crazy. How did this all happen in a single day? I thought Nox was supposed to be an easy target?" Her shoulders then sagged, "You should have brought me."
"You only just reached the Star Core Realm and lack a movement skill capable of keeping up with Nox," Ashlock explained, "Your strength is exceptional, but Nox had no intentions of fighting. She just ran and ran, hoping to stall until nightfall."
"Yeah, that's fair," Diana sighed, "I'm still lagging behind. But we will be fine, right? We can defeat these bounty hunters?"
"If they keep coming in small groups, it shouldn't be a problem," Ashlock replied, "Unlike facing the Voidmind or Skyrend families that have hundreds of cultivators and will come in waves and would not stop until Red Vine Peak and my total destruction. These bounty hunters will come in smaller groups and only want Stella's head. Because of this tunnel vision on one person due to the bounty, we can exploit it by forcing them to fight near my trees."
"Fine, fine, I trust your judgment." Diana smiled wearily, "You two want to rest, right? I can take the night watch." With that said, majestic raven wings sprouted from her back, and she took to the skies in a single leap.
"Thanks, Diana!" Stella called after her and sighed as she collapsed onto the bench under Ashlock's canopy. "Say, Tree, what do you want to do with this guy?" She asked while pointing at the floating corpse."
"Good question. Just place him on the ground for now."
"Alright," Stella released her telekinetic control, letting the corpse collapse to the ground like a puppet cut from its strings.
Opening his sign-in system, Ashlock checked on his current amount of credits.
Idletree Daily Sign-In System
Day: 3563
Daily Credit: 11
Sacrifice Credit: 2480
[Sign in?]
"Should be enough for an S-grade draw," Ashlock mused, "The corpse should provide me around a thousand credits as it's a spatial affinity, and the guy didn't have a chance to fight back before he died. Do I sign in now for a gacha draw and then eat the corpse to have some credits on hand? Or should I eat the corpse to guarantee an S+ grade draw but then have no credits? No, that would be stupid, especially with the threat of the bounty hunters. But having over 3000 credits sitting around feels like a waste."
Mulling over his thoughts for a while longer and yawning, Ashlock eventually decided what to do.
"System sign in."
[Sign in successful, 2491 credits consumed…]
[Upgraded {Hibernate [C]} -> {Nocturnal Genesis [S]}]
Ashlock felt the information flood his mind, and he had never been more excited to sleep in his life, which was saying something, considering he was a very slothful tree.
His new S-grade skill had no cost in either sacrificial credits or Qi to activate or use, which was a breath of fresh air, and even more importantly, it rewarded him for doing his favorite activity: sleeping. The only restriction was that the skill was only available during the night.
"When I activate the skill, I will go into a deep slumber. While asleep, the growth rate of my body, roots, and fruit will be increased up to tenfold depending on the phase of the moon. I will also be able to cultivate the lunar energies, which not only progress my cultivation stage but also nourish and heal my soul." Ashlock thought the soul healing alone warranted this being an S-grade skill, but there was more!
"This skill also extends to all my offspring within my root network, so during the night, all my offspring are also able to cultivate and will grow ten times faster in size." Ashlock thought back to the forest of demonic trees he was growing out in the wilderness. If he managed to link his roots with them and that forest grew ten times faster during the long winter nights, it could flourish within weeks.
"The ink tree for Kaida's Bastion should grow faster as well," Ashlock mused.
The only downside he could see was the deep slumber part. He was already a heavy sleeper, but if Stella raised enough of a ruckus, he would wake up despite his drowsiness.
With the sign-in done, Ashlock quickly devoured the headless corpse.
[+1112 SC]
To his surprise, there was a massive rush of Qi as he felt his Star Core rapidly balloon in size. His trunk and canopy became aflame, and he felt waves of excitement through the root network as the mountain glowed with power. "No way? That corpse was enough to push me over the edge? He brought up his status screen.
[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)]
[Star Core: 8th Stage]
[Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)]
He had ascended to the 8th stage of the Star Core Realm—only one more to go until he could start forming his Nascent Soul.
Stella had already jumped up from the bench due to the sudden surge of power and was gazing up at his canopy in awe as a shower of purple motes drifted in the breeze like gentle snowfall, landing in her hair and the surrounding demonic trees. His ablaze canopy and trunk also lit up the night sky with lilac light.
"Stella," Ashlock said once the spectacle had calmed down and his Star Core had settled to its new size.
"Yes, Tree?" Stella replied with stars in her eyes.
"I just got a new skill that lets me and my offspring grow ten times as fast while sleeping, but it might put me into a deep slumber. Can you try and wake me up in a minute?"
"Oh? That's awesome!" Stella grinned, "Sure, I can try and wake you."
"Great, thanks," Ashlock replied and activated {Nocturnal Genesis [S]}. "Good night—" Sleep overtook him instantly, like flicking a switch, and he was in dreamland. Wait... since when could he dream?
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