Aster took a moment to try and discern how this place worked, the castle which was surrounding the giant tree, no, even the tree itself was of a bright yellow color.
Similar to the small yang rich land which surrounded the chain link, which was the place that gave birth to the immature Diamond Bone Orchid, everything here has been radiated by yang.
But the scale was on another level, also the yang in this place was different, instead of heat, the yang here was focused on life, which was probably related to that giant yellow tree, that wasn't covered by crystals unlike all the other trees.
The tree roots then guided them towards the castle, on the way Aster naturally looked for any traps but he couldn't find anything, so it was safe to assume the tree really wanted to reach a deal with them.
They soon arrived at the entrance of the castle which was surrounded by a pit filled with yellow liquid, Aster's eyes glowed as he saw that, the yang energy was so concentrated that it liquified.
Following the same principle as spirit energy, in its normal state it exists in a gaseous state, the next will be the solid or crystalized state in other words things like spirit jades, yin or yang accumulation crystals and the like.
But there is an even better version of it, and that is the liquid state in which an energy can be considered to be in its purest form.
The principle behind isn't the same, but Aster's… "essence" which Lilia has absorbed the most out of all the girls, is practically liquid vitality, similar in a sense to that yellow river.
Naturally the yellow water in the pit was formed "naturally", being created by the heavens after tons of years of accumulation, by something that is supposed to produce it, in this case the giant tree, while Aster on the other hand shouldn't be able to, since he is a cultivator and not a yang nature treasure.
"Luckily Mylene didn't come, she'll go nuts if she were to see that pond of liquid yang energy", mumbled Eris.
'Imagine when she finds out there is an unlimited source of liquid "yang", next to her, right darling~', said Lilia from the mind space as she licked her lips.
'Dear heavens, can't you not think about sex for a single day', said Rya whose training was interrupted by Lilia's playful voice.
'Humph, who are you trying to fool here, in case you forgot I saw you riding Aster yesterday, "Mnnn, that feels good, rub it there", who would have thought that a sword girl could be so lewd~', said Lilia with a little smile, imitating Rya's moaning voice.
'Ahhh, forget about that you lewd dragon woman!'.
Aster listened to his mother and Rya's lively conversation and he chuckled as he shook his head.
He didn't have any problem letting Mylene use his blood for brewing elixirs its effects or using it to help Eris create weapons, or even helping them temper their bodies, but his other "fluids" were exclusive for his girls who had to get them the old nice way, using sperm for alchemy purposes would be a bit too much.
Ignoring the weird idea which Lilia successfully made him think about, Aster returned to reality as they were inside the castle right now.
From the inside it is obvious it only looked as a castle externally, there wasn't a single thing besides the structure, as if it was just made to imitate a real castle.
The tree roots guided them through the corridors until they reached the center of the castle, there a large roofless area appeared in front of them, the base of the giant yellow tree could be seen in the center of the area.
It was protected by a yellow crystal fence, Aster noticed that the roots that were guiding them originated in that tree, which meant it was the tree the one that made the oath, which made sense since to make a Soul Oath, one must be a rational being.
Though everything could be said to have a soul, inanimate objects like rocks and normal trees don't have self-aware, they don't have a Rational Soul thus they can't think or communicate with others, only by obtaining one they can start being considered a complete being.
And the tree has developed one, maybe because of the abundant yang energy, or maybe because it has been alive for a long time.
The trunk of the three lit up a bit and then a genderless voice could be heard coming from it.
"Welcome to my humble home, I'm sorry for the lack of hospitality, but this is the first time I have received humans so I'm not sure of what they consider proper or not, I'll start by introducing myself, I'm the embodiment of the desire of the original ruler of this secret realm who was destroyed by those greedy humans countless of years ago".
"By your standards I don't have a "name" but my species is called Yang Runic Oak, may I know your names?".
The tree was surprisingly polite, though Aster didn't know what to expect, since this is the first time he is talking to a tree.
'Perhaps Kana would have been a great help in this case', thought Aster, since she has it easy to get along with anything related to nature.
"You can call me Aster", he said.
The tree used one of its roots to nod before saying.
"Then Aster, can I consider you the alpha of your group?".
Aster raised an eyebrow at the way the tree talked, but he isn't wrong, since humans are also animals, more evolved but still animals and since he is the one leading, he could be considered the "alpha".
Still, it is a strange way to refer to a leader, which made Aster theorize that this tree hasn't been aware of itself for too long, it is probably a sprout, its huge size is relative, for example according to Eris the Cosmos Tree that is considered a deity in her Divine Firmament, is said to be bigger than planets, in comparison this tree was tall but not immense to that point.
"Well, you could say that, why, do you have something to tell me", answered Aster.
The tree once again used its roots to nod.
"Yes, if that's the case, I wish to negotiate with you, I need your chain link to increase my influence, maybe then I will be able to reconnect with the other two main points to suppress the yin spirit beasts".
Aster didn't answer, he instead looked at Camila from the corner of his eyes, just to see her shaking her head.
"It isn't here, besides the tree, there are no other treasures", she mumbled.
Aster nodded, he also didn't find any other yang gathering point like the one at the highest part of the tree, where the chain link it has integrated with itself resides, in other words the Diamond Bone Orchid isn't in this place.
And that only leaves two other possible places were the Orchid probably bloomed, in other words, the other two main nodes of the formation.
Naturally the plan of the tree had the lowest risks for itself but that didn't work for Aster, he isn't obligated to help, so instead of that he came with a counteroffer.
"And what will I win by helping you, you know how this works right?", he said.
The tree remained silent for a moment before saying.
"What is it that you want, as long as it is a reasonable request, we can discuss it".
"That being the case I won't stop in formalities, I want the Diamond Bone Orchid which is probably at one of the other two central nodes, also I want the Glacial Liger", said Aster, he then paid all his attention to the reaction of the tree.
He could actually feel a faint murderous aura coming from it for a split of a second, but then it calmed down and then said.
"The Diamond Bone Orchid is a natural treasure, if you are capable enough to pluck it, then I have nothing to say, as for your second request… pardon my rudeness but if you don't tell me your reason then I will have to end our talk here and start considering you an enemy just like those humans from before".
Aster could tell the tree held a grudge against the Yin Azure Palace, which made sense, the evil spirit said that this secret realm existed long before it was used by the Yin Azure Palace as a trap, also unlike the people from the Heavenly Quadrants who treated it as a training place, those guys destroyed it however the pleased.
The tree's original body was probably killed by the one who conquered the secret realm and captured it for the Yin Azure Palace's usage, though probably a small sprout survived and hid to then revive thanks to the abundance of yang and the leftover pieces of the yang chain.
Aster wasn't worried, unless he attacked first, the tree can't attack them since it made a soul oath, at most it can choose to not negotiate with him, but that doesn't affect his plans, since he has now confirmed that the Diamond Bone Orchid is at one of the other two nodes, he has already won something out of this conversation.
"Both of the things I want are for my companions", said Aster as he pointed at Aria, who even right now he was carrying in his arms.
"…", the tree was perplexed for a moment, it looked at the eyes of the black-haired youth and also inspected the expressions of all the other members of the group.
'No way, he is telling the truth, that blue haired female has an incredibly pure yin energy, it's completely different to the yin used by those guys, so he isn't allied with them, what's more he doesn't want the treasures for himself…'.
"Forget it, as long as you aren't allied to those guys, I don't care what you do with the Glacial Liger, but if you want to take it then you have to destroy the remaining yin chain that is nurturing it, or they will be able to control it once it's out of the cage, I couldn't destroy the yin chain so I have been suppressing it to delay its escape and return".
"It seems like we have a deal, but I won't give you my yang chain link", said Aster which made the tree frown, or at least it would have done it if had a face.
"Instead of that, we will take the other two central nodes back together, naturally the Diamond Bone Orchid is mine, but in exchange I'll help you eliminate the leaders of the yin spirit beasts".
The tree thought about for a couple of seconds, the situation was against it in all the meaning of the word, the three suns which were its backing were almost fully blocked, the copies of itself that formed the crystal trees were being destroyed left and right.
There were invaders flooding the place and the yin spirit beasts getting stronger, once they managed to set a foot into the Heavenly realms it will be too late, they will be able to destroy the cage with their combined efforts, and after that there are two possible scenarios.
Either the spirit ice will be retrieved by the Yin Azure Palace using the blood seal it was placed on it, or the yin spirit beasts will manage to devour it to evolve, in any case it was a dead end for the tree.
If the people from the Yin Azure Palace can reconnect the secret realm with their territories in the Mortal planes, then the tree will once again become a slave, if the yin spirit beasts become stronger than it, then the tree will be destroyed in retaliation, both results were negative, so it could only look for an ally who was strong enough to bring a change to the situation and that is Aster.
Since it witnessed the strength of the group and judging by what it knows about the invaders, they should be the among the strongest and more importantly they have a yang chain link at their disposal.
"Deal, I need some time to prepare for the battle, I don't have much to offer for humans, but feel free to rest in the rooms of my castle, the beasts won't be able to bother you here, so be at ease".
Aster nodded, they just had a battle and while Agnes and Eris were in perfect conditions, the others could use some rest, especially Tiana, Nerissa and of course Aria.
"If you don't mind, we can exchange information, since I don't know too much about humans, are you planning on gifting her the Glacial Liger as some kind of ritual of courtship?", curiously asked the tree.
Aster chuckled, this tree was rather strange, probably it wanted to expand its knowledge about humans, to better develop its Human and Mortal souls, which are a must if it ever wants to get a human form.
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