"Welcome back," Ashlock said to Stella and Diana as they stepped through a portal with {Abyssal Whispers}. Neither girl so much as winced as his presence bloomed in their minds. "Stella, did you complete the tasks I gave you?"

"You bet," Stella yawned as she stretched her back, "Though that was more exhausting than I expected... All the pills were evaluated, I scouted out a list of bounties and missions, and I figured out the value of the currencies."

"All in a single morning? Good work," Ashlock replied, "Catch me up and then go check on your Disciple before she has to go home for dinner. She's cultivating in her hut and said she had something to show you."

"Oh? I wonder what my dear Disciple has to show me." Stella side-eyed the stone hut as she strode to sit and relax on the bench under his vast canopy. As her spatial ring flashed with power and she lined up four pill bottles, the later afternoon sunlight made her short blonde hair glow slightly as the wind played with it. She hummed to herself a tune as she prepared her little presentation for him.

"I've missed having you around over the last few days," Ashlock said. Is this how parents felt when their children went to university for the first time? Home suddenly felt so quiet and empty without the usual people around.

Stella glanced up at his canopy of rustling leaves with a smile, "That sounds funny coming from you. Aren't I loud and annoying to the point you drop fruit on my head to shut me up?"

"That's true," Ashlock chuckled, "But without you around, the silence is deafening."

"Well, I will bother you more than usual to make up for it," Stella smiled, "Though you don't have to worry so much. Once the Duskwalker residence is all set up as our proxy and I have reached the Crimson Tracker rank, I will have little reason to spend much time at the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. I have a Disciple back here to look after and other things to focus on."

"That's true. But what about reaching the rank of Jade Sentinel?"

Stella shrugged, "What benefits are there to reaching a higher rank anyway? I want to escape the Iron Seeker area because it's full of corrupt Lotus Informants, too many mortals, and too limited in the missions and bounties I can take. As for becoming a Jade Sentinel? Since I must complete a hundred missions, it will be a grind that will take some time. It's better for someone like Diana to focus on reaching that rank for now than me."

"I agree," Ashlock replied as he looked at the demoness standing nearby, watching the sun hover over the distant mountain range with her arms crossed.

Glancing over her shoulder at Stella's words, Diana grinned, "Yeah, just leave it to me. I'm sure there are some unforeseen benefits to reaching the top rank of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion that are yet to be discovered. If that is all, I will head off now," Her giant raven wings of feathered darkness sprouted from her shoulders, and she took to the skies, "I am going to check on how the mortal branch of the Ashfallen Trading Company is coming along now that we have rough values of the pills. See you two later."

With that, she was gone, soaring through the sky toward Ashfallen City.

"That reminds me," Ashlock said, returning his attention to Stella, "Where is Larry? Why didn't he follow you two through the portal I made?"

Stella snorted, "Funny story actually, remember how I told you about Elysia? The crazy Mystshroud girl that fought Diana with one of Maple's siblings?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, she forced her way into the meeting room alongside those people who had been chasing us to inform the Grand Elders about Diana, and then she saw Larry. Despite Grand Elder Mystshroud's efforts, Elysia couldn't be convinced that Diana didn't make Larry out of mystic Qi."

"Elysia thought Larry was Diana's summon?" Ashlock felt a headache coming, "I hope the misunderstanding was cleared up?"

"Nope!" Stella held back a laugh. "Elysia promptly prostrated herself before Diana and begged to be her Disciple."

"What the...? How did Diana respond?" Ashlock asked. From what Stella had told him, Elysia had displayed a cultivation level comparable to Diana during the duel, and Diana knew nothing about mystic Qi, so it would be a rather fruitless master-disciple relationship.

Stella failed to hold back anymore and burst out laughing. "Oh heavens, I wish you were there, Tree. I have never seen Diana so disgusted. She looked down at Elysia as if she were a dead bug on her shoe and outright refused her, saying she wasn't even worth looking at. I think Diana was harboring some pent-up frustration from their duel and took it out on her."

"That does make sense..." Ashlock chuckled, "Elysia refused to surrender by abusing the duel's rules, forcing Diana to waste a lot of Qi and become Pluto's plaything for ten minutes. So it's no wonder she would have such a reaction, though I fail to see what this has to do with Larry."

"Oh, I was getting to that," Stella leaned back on the bench with a big grin, "It seems that pet of yours has gotten smarter since his evolution. Larry stayed behind after Diana rejected Elysia to convert the Mystshroud family's cult into worshiping him and you."

"What... Larry has become a cult leader?" Ashlock imagined Larry in a dark cave surrounded by a cult, all praying to him. "I suppose that's fine? It's probably for the best that Larry stays protecting the Duskwalker residence for now anyway while we get everything set up."

Stella nodded, "That's what I thought."

"Anyway, we are getting off track. What did the pavilion evaluate the pills at?" Ashlock asked with a hint of excitement. He felt like a student waiting to hear back from a test he thought he did very well on.

Stella glanced down at the lined-up bottles of pills, "Err, the Enlightenment and Deep Meditation pills were both evaluated at 10 Yinxi Coins per pill, if I remember correctly. However, this number may be higher or lower once the effect of the pills is fully tested. But the Lotus Informant said that was the competitive price for pills that directly help with cultivation, so it should be close enough."

"Interesting. Though I doubt the price will change much after the evaluation."

"Really?" Stella tilted her head, "I thought it might go a little higher, considering how high quality the ingredients you grow are."

"My fruits are impressive for a cultivation resource, but we use one fruit to make ten pills, greatly reducing the effect. It's for the best. We don't want to attract as much attention with these mass-produced low-grade pills." Ashlock replied, "That aside, how much are Yinxi Coins worth?"

Stella looked down at her hands and started counting on her fingers, "According to Elder Evelyn, one Yinxi Coin is equivalent to one High-Grade Spirit Stone or three Dragon Crowns, which is enough to buy a full-course meal."

"I see," Ashlock replied as he fell into thought.

"Due to how bountiful food is in this world of Qi, from what I have seen by scouting out the menus outside restaurants in Darklight City, you can get an entire meal for the equivalent of around ten dollars back on Earth." Ashlock mused, "So that means one Yinxi Coin is worth $10. With that in mind, a single one of these pills sells for $100 or $1000 for an entire bottle of ten... and I can produce dozens of bottles a day. Who the hell said money doesn't grow on trees? I am about to be a very rich tree!"

Stolen story; please report.

"Tree? What are you so happy about?" Stella raised a brow, "I can see your branches wiggling slightly."

"Ahem, nothing much," Ashlock dismissed Stella's words with a cough, "What about the other two pills?"

"Not quite as high, Neural Root was valued at five, while the Florist's Touch was valued at two Yinxi Coins per pill." Stella shrugged, "Apparently, alchemists hate buying pills from others, hence the lower value. Whereas Neural Root needed more testing to determine a good price."

Ashlock was honestly surprised anybody would be willing to pay the equivalent of $20 for a pill that let them handle plants slightly better. The fruit's full effect was quite useful, but it was quite weak when split between ten pills.

"Honestly, it's surprising how expensive being a cultivator is," Ashlock mused, "No wonder only noble families that exploit mortals for labor can afford to cultivate to the higher realms. Just a small Qi gathering formation needed a thousand High-Grade Spirit stones, so around $10,000 in Earth money, and that's not even factoring in labor! It took Douglas and Stella a few hours, and I bet cultivators aren't usually cheap to hire as they have to use up their Qi. Hell, that technique manual Stella bought from the Merchants that contained the knowledge of short-range portals was a thousand Dragon Crowns, or around $3000." Ashlock snorted in his mind, "For a book that was more poetry and nonsense than an actual guide and once learned only let the cultivator make portals between their hands that was a steep ask."

"Regarding bounties and missions, I noted down quite a few," Stella said, drawing his attention as she pulled out a parchment. "I told Seth today that I would be going along with him tomorrow to kill Evelyn Duskwalker's husband, Albis Lunarshade."

"I don't trust him at all. Be extra careful, and remember I can't help you directly."

Stella rolled her eyes, "I know, I don't trust him either, but he seems to be the only one with a lead on Albis, and it's hard to say no to that 10,000 Yinxi Coin bounty." Her eyes then widened, "Oh, I forgot to mention I saw a demonic tree planted in the Crimson Tracker area. You should totally make it one of your offspring!"

"Is that even possible? What about the defensive formations?"

Stella shrugged, "I noticed the defensive formations were weaker in the Crimson Tracker area than in the Iron Seeker area. Although Qi is quite suppressed on the mountain, I don't think people would find it too strange if the demonic tree there turned into a weak spirit tree."

"Okay, I will look into it."

Ashlock knew nothing could stop his ethereal roots, not even the extensive defensive formations of the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. It's just that he didn't want to earn the ire of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator like the Celestial Warden, but if a demonic tree was already there that he could sneak a root to, that made it easier.

"As for bounties and missions, you wanted me to focus on people or monsters with fire, water, earth, wind, and metal affinities, right?" Stella asked as she looked down at the parchment in her hand.

"Yes, I need to devour cultivators or monsters with those affinities to form an Inner World and advance to the Nascent Soul Realm," Ashlock replied. He wanted to form his Inner World as soon as possible, ideally before the Mystic Realm later this month.

"Huh, I thought cultivators formed an Inner World at the Monarch Realm?"

"Really?"

Stella shrugged, "It must be a tree thing. You are already ageless, so I suppose there's not much interest in forming a second soul to escape the deathly grasp of time. Wait, if my Mother is the World Tree, does that mean I won't age too?"

"You are growing up so fast that I sometimes wonder where the little girl who was so clueless about the world went." Ashlock sighed, "I wouldn't put too much truth on that cosmic being's words until we find your Father."

Stella nodded, "800 Yinxi Coins, and I might get a lead by learning his name from the bloodline records. Killing Albis tomorrow will give me enough money, but if that doesn't work out, the first payment collection from the Grand Elders selling our pills should be enough." Stella looked to the horizon momentarily before returning her attention to the parchment, "Anyway, I found quite a few suitable bounties and missions for you..."

***

"Quite a spectacular sight..." Ashlock mused. He was using {Eye of the Tree God} to gaze down at a fissure running through a mountain range as if some godly being had tried to crack the mountain apart like an egg.

At the mountain's base and near the opening to the fissure, he could see a fortified town protected by formations populated mostly by mortals with a few cultivators here and there. It was a mining city, evident by the constant stream of mortals hauling bags of rocks on their backs out of the fissure and into the town.

Stella had given him a long list of bounties and missions, and he had chosen a mission that had led him here.

Bounties were more problematic for him to pursue for now as he wouldn't be able to recognize his target even if he saw them standing out in the street. Tracking down a bounty required a lot of talking to those close to the target or stalking places they are known to frequent. It was not his area of expertise, but hunting down monsters and gathering plants? That he could do.

"This looks like the right place. Ironclad town south of the Tainted Cloud Sect." Ashlock shifted his view away from the town and followed the line of mortals into the fissure. Evening sunlight barely reached here, so the mortals relied on lamps hammered into the silvery spirit stone veins for light.

The pay for this mission was terrible, considering it was to kill a Star Core level wyvern, but Ashlock didn't care. The monster apparently possessed the wind affinity, one of the affinities he needed to form his Inner World. The fissure was also home to a metal affinity flower he planned to harvest when nobody was looking so he could make a grove for Ryker and Sebastian.

"Night draws near! Keep your eyes and ears open!" an earth cultivator supervisor shouted over the constant beat of mining. "The wyvern may show up again tonight. If it does, remember to run for your lives and leave the spirit stones behind. The wyvern only seeks your flesh and blood. We can collect the dropped spirit stones tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a chorus of agreement that came across as fatigued and depressed. Ashlock went closer to one particular miner who was discussing something with the person beside him.

"We have already lost so many to that beast." The man hissed through gritted teeth as he raised his pick overhead and swung down, dislodging a piece of dulled spirit stone, "It's too dangerous. Why do they keep us mining instead of dealing with that fucking wyvern?"

The other man grunted, "The leader claimed he sent a request to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion for help, you know?"

"Don't make me laugh," the man snorted and shook his head as he picked up the spirit stone he had mined and chucked it into a sack at his feet. "Whatever reward that frugal bastard offered would be far too low for a competent bounty hunter to travel all the way out here. It's not until we are all dead that he might consider it a problem worth hiring a Crimson Tracker to deal with."

The other man shrugged, "And what will you do about it? Run away, only to get caught and used as a test subject for pill experiments or target practice? Don't make me laugh. Just keep mining if you want to keep your head and your family fed"

A roar from a great beast echoed through the fissure, and Ashlock could sense something fast approaching through the darkness like an arrow. A howling wind threw up a wave of dust, announcing the arrival of the monster he had come to kill.

"It's coming!" The earth cultivator shouted before he began to sink into the stone. Leaving the mortals behind to their deaths.

"Oh shit." Both miners he had been listening to exchanged a look, dropped their pickaxes, and turned to run alongside the hundreds of others slaving away below. "We are going to fucking die!" One of them shouted as he scrambled toward the light.

The wave of dust was pushed aside as a looming shadow revealed itself to be a dark green-scaled wyvern. It was around the size of a bus, with a maw of shark-like teeth. A ball of condensed wind was gathering like a dragon's breath within its mouth, and if fired, it would annihilate everyone trying to escape.

Ashlock needed the monster's corpse in good condition so Stella could prove completion of the mission and he could guarantee enough Star Core wind Qi to satisfy his Inner World requirement, which limited his attack options.

"First, I need to stop this dumb lizard from moving," Ashlock muttered as he surged spatial Qi through his roots and opened up a massive rift above all of the fleeing miners. Through it, he glared at the wyvern with his {Demonic Eye} and slammed his entire presence down upon it.

The wyvern let out a strange cry as its eyes widened in horror. It lost control and veered to the left, smashing into the side of the fissure and diving down to the ground in a shower of rubble.

Ashlock used telekinesis to pause all the flying rocks from pulverizing the fleeing mortals before hurling them back at the downed wyvern.

"This almost feels unfair," Ashlock thought as hundreds of black vines shot through the giant portal and wrapped tightly around the injured wyvern limbs. The wyvern struggled and thrashed around, which was annoying, so Ashlock crushed its neck with his vines. It let out a final shriek as the life left its eyes. With the corpse secured, he used a mixture of his vines and telekinesis to haul the monster through his rift and back to Red Vine Peak.

"I should grab some flowers while I am here," Ashlock hummed to himself as he used his vines to smash at the rock and free a few flowers, which he also floated through his rift. With the goods secured and the mortals safe, "I wonder how the mortals are reacting to my benevolence..."

He looked through the portal with his {Demonic Eye} and saw hundreds of miners had frozen in fear. They were all looking up at the rift looming overhead with blood tricking from their noses and wide eyes.

"A dark god has come to save us," one of them muttered, starting a chain reaction. In a wave, the miners all started speaking about a dark god, and some even began prostrating before the rift and calling him the all-seeing gaze.

"I think this is my hint to leave," Ashlock said, closing the rift and withdrawing his presence from the area. Back on Red Vine Peak, Jasmine was poking her head out of the doorway of the hut with a look of awe at the dead wyvern.