Ashlock awoke to the golden radiance of a summer daythe sky was crystal clear, extending to the horizon without a hint of cloud or storm. It was perfectalmost too perfect.

"You were supposed to die."

Startled, Ashlock looked down at the source of the voice and saw a majestic young man wearing simple white robes sipping from a steaming teacup.

"Senior Lee?" Ashlock wondered. He still remembered the old man's distinctive jawline and stature, and despite this man's youthful appearance, he matched the memory of the old man in his mind. "Why was I supposed to die?"

The man didn't reply, taking another long sip of his tea before placing the teacup beside him on the bench.

"In your moment of death, who gave you life?" Senior Lee asked calmly as he gazed at the horizon beyond the thousands of stunning red-leaved trees that Ashlock had never seen before.

Ashlock pondered Senior Lee's words. Stella's Qi had given him hope in that all-consuming darkness and perhaps helped revive his dying Star Core.

"Stella saved me," he answered with a touch of pride.

"No wonder the heavens were so angry on that fateful day when I saved her," Senior Lee chuckled. "If she had perished, so would you. So perhaps your fates are more intertwined than I first thought."

"Our fates are tied?" Ashlock glanced around but couldn't find Stella anywhere, or anything for that matter. It was eerily silent. There wasn't even the sound of a gentle breeze or distant cries of birds.

"The universe works in mysterious ways like that sometimes." Senior Lee smiled as he continued to look into the distance, "Nobody gets to the peak of creation alonewhether they create a mountain of corpses to reach the apex or nurture those around them into dependable allies and tackle heaven's trials together, there's no right way to the top."

There was a brief silence as Ashlock considered Senior Lee's profound words, but something had been bothering him. "Senior Lee, why are you so youthful? Last time we met, you looked on the verge of death."

"You are still naive to be blinded by outward appearances. Our bodies are nothing more than vessels for our souls." Senior Lee leaned back on the bench and crossed his legs. "I just happened to be feeling youthful today, especially after seeing your rebirth."

"Rebirth?"

Senior Lee gazed up at the rustling canopy despite the absence of sound. "Rebirth is nothing to fear, as it's a way to reshape our vessel to match our soul. When we first met, I could tell your soul was trapped rather than merged. How a human soul is even bound to a tree still baffles me. So I gave that fragment to you, hoping it would save you..."

Ashlock looked inside himself and noticed that the fragment was gone. "I don't have that fragment anymore. I think it was taken by the Dao Storm."

Senior Lee shook his head. "It's now a part of you rather than an add-on. You are now a real spirit tree with a soul that is no longer trapped. Go, take a look inside yourself and verify my words."

Ashlock complied, and sure enough, Senior Lee was correct. There was no floating blue cloud representing his consciousness. The fragment was also no longer necessary to connect his Star Core to the heavens, as even his Star Core was gone. Now his entire trunk pulsed with power as if it were a furnace of the gods.

"Unlike humans, the heart of a true spirit tree is its trunkas the trunk lies between the branches that reach for heaven and the roots that delve into the darkest depths of hell." Senior Lee laughed. "There's a reason why it takes spirit trees so long to cultivate, and only one can reach the peak of creation by absorbing everything. The sheer amount of Qi you need to develop your cultivation when your soul is the size of your trunk is tremendous."

Ashlock pondered Senior Lee's words and didn't like the idea that it would take him so much effort to cultivate.

Senior Lee then became serious. "Ashlock, listen to me. You might be the key to breaking this world's cycle and saving us all from heaven's wrath. The nine realms have been in a state of collapse ever since the fall of the last world tree."

Fragments from those dreams depicting a possible world tree's death made Ashlock uneasy about Senior Lee's words. "Do you want me to grow so I can be devoured by greedy cultivators or so my bark can be harvested for weapons?"

Senior Lee blinked, and a massive grin formed. "Good, good! That is exactly what we want to avoid. When I first stumbled upon you, I saw a glimmer of hope."

"What about me gave you a glimmer of hope?" Ashlock hated it, but he was naturally suspicious of Senior Lee and his motives. The old man had randomly appeared one day, handed him a fragment of some divine thing, and possibly caused a Dao Storm to appear that nearly ended his life.

"What happens when a world tree dies? Do you know from those dreams?" Senior Lee inquired.

Ashlock thought really hard, but the details of those dreams were fleeting. All they left was a vague instinct, like a bad feeling of what could happen to him, and hazy potential scenarios that could lead to his death.

"The Cycle of Life," Senior Lee explained when the silence lingered, "A World Tree sprouts from a divine seed in the 9th realm, then cultivates for thousands of years until it reaches the Monarch Realm, the highest possible realm attainable due to the scarce amount of Qi down here."

Senior Lee pointed to the sky, "Once it develops its World Tree domain at the peak of the Monarch Realm, it uses its unlimited cultivation potential, inherited from its divine ancestry, to transcend to the 8th realm of creation. We call this the Era of Ascension."

"Era of Ascension? Why is it called that?" Ashlock asked.

"Because Qi from the higher realm floods the lower realm, enabling everyone to cultivate to the Monarch Realm much faster than before and invade the higher realm."

Ashlock didn't understand. "Why does any of this matter? Are you saying I'm the World Tree? Do you want me to not cultivate to the next realm?"

Senior Lee chuckled and shook his head, "No, you are merely a demonic tree with a human ego. A World Tree is already born from the divine seed in this realm. It resides in the center of the Celestial Empire and is the sole reason that bastion of humanity has withstood the vicious beast tides."

"Wait." Ashlock couldn't believe it. "There's another powerful spirit tree down here with me?"

Senior Lee nodded, "And only one of you can ascend to the next realm."

"Why?"

"You know that fragment I gave you? I was supposed to give it to the World Tree in the Celestial Empire, but I encountered you on the way and decided to give it to you instead. Quite the twist of fate, don't you agree?"

Ashlock recalled that when he merged with the fragment, the system had informed him that he now possessed unlimited cultivation potential. "Is the World Tree trapped down here because it doesn't have unlimited cultivation potential?"

"You catch on quickly," Senior Lee observed, "The spirit tree has already reached the peak of the Monarch Realm, and if I had given it the fragment, it would have broken through the realm and initiated the Era of Ascension. With you as the inheritor of the divine fragment, it will remain here indefinitely unless it consumes you."

"So there is a Monarch Realm spirit tree that wants to consume me... can it speak?"

"Almost," Senior Lee rubbed his chin, "I spoke with it a few times. It's not as adept as you, but it can harness its emotions to convey complex thoughts."

That was quite intriguing. Ashlock wanted to meet this tree and engage in a lengthy conversation about tree life, but something bothered him. "Why can't we both ascend?"

"There are nine realms and nine fragments. Absorbing just one unlocks your cultivation potential to that of a demi-divine, but you need all nine to surpass the heavens and become a true divine being. Even if the World Tree somehow stumbles upon another fragment, it will never reach the heavens as you have one of the nine fragments."

Ashlock listened to Senior Lee's words. He would have been thrilled if he had learned about the path to becoming a divine being before his rebirth, but now he felt a sense of melancholy about the entire situation. "Why would I want to ascend and become a divine being? Can't I become the strongest and remain in the lowest realm of creation for all eternity as an immortal?"

Senior Lee stood up from the bench. His long white hair fluttered in the silent breeze as he clasped his hands behind his back. A moment of silence passed as his eyes lingered on something in the distance.

"What is immortality?" Senior Lee seemingly asked the heavens. "Agelessness? A mountain does not age, yet it can be split in two. A tree does not age, yet it can be consumed by hellfire. If one can be reduced to dust, are they truly immortal?"

Senior Lee then turned to gaze intently at Ashlock's trunk. His eyes appeared as infinite galaxies. "What use is strength in a lower realm when someone like me could descend and obliterate you with a mere thought? When an insect crawls on the ground, do you even notice when you accidentally crush it underfoot? Did you not feel helpless when the Dao Storm tore you apart?"

A sense of helplessness washed over Ashlock as Senior Lee stared him down.

After a moment, Ashlock blurted out, "What's the purpose of cultivating if there's always something stronger that can kill me like an insect? Or a random Dao Storm can come along and snatch my life away?"

Senior Lee closed his eyes and the immense pressure Ashlock had felt disappeared. He laughed softly and responded, "As you cultivate and grow stronger, the number of threats to your life diminishes until, eventually, you sit at the apex as a divine being beyond the heavens, with nothing left to challenge your existence. Only then are you truly immortal."

"Is such a thing even possible?" Ashlock asked as fleeting dreams played through his mind. Surely, if he were about to become the strongest, those at the top would suppress him.

Senior Lee slowly opened his eyes and nodded. "Indeed, it is. Otherwise, how would I have reached there? Does a mortal human care if an ant conquers their garden? Do they go out of their way to hunt down the king of the ants and extinguish them if they aren't a bother? Only the ants that invade a human's home, eat their food, and sting their foot earn the humans' godlike wrath."

"So if I don't anger or draw unnecessary attention from those above, it's possible to reach the top?" Ashlock asked. In a way, it made sense. He didn't go out of his way to kill mortal humans, as their deaths were meaningless to him. He didn't see them as threats, and their corpses wouldn't provide any credits. Was that how those lofty cultivators of higher realms thought? Was he just an insignificant twig to them?

Senior Lee nodded. "Grow slowly so as not to attract attention, raise those around you to be equally strong, and when it comes time to ascend, you will be able to with their help. That is why I believe you can break the cycle this universe has been trapped in."

"How so?"

"You have the greedy ego of a human with the ability to think and scheme for your continued survival rather than the naive and nurturing ego of a World Tree." Senior Lee grinned, "It's that quality that leads me to believe you could become the first tree to bridge the gap between the highest realm and heaven. Only then can we launch an assault on heaven and free ourselves from this prison."

Senior Lee then turned and began to walk away with his white robes and hair flying in the turbulent breeze, "Ashlock, my time has come to an end, so I must go. I will see you at the top, my friend." And before Ashlock could reply, Senior Lee's body dissipated in the wind like smoke, and the world shattered like glass, suddenly becoming loud with noise.

[Qi Reserves above the minimum threshold]

[Merge... complete]

[Sleep mode deactivated]

The sun seemed to teleport through the sky, indicating that it was late afternoon rather than midday, with a few clouds dotting the blue expanse.

Ashlock glanced down at the bench and saw Stella fast asleep where Senior Lee had been sitting, yet the steaming cup of tea remained where the man had left it.

"So it wasn't a dream," Ashlock murmured to himself, gazing out at the horizon over the sea of red trees. The view was so foreign to him. If not for Stella lying on the bench, he might have believed he had been reincarnated on another planet.

Where had the pavilion he called home gone? Had the Dao Storm wiped it out?

"Also, why are there so many demonic trees?" Ashlock wondered.

[Automatically established mycelium network with nearby trees]

Ashlock felt a sudden influx of Qi entering his body. Only now did he have a chance to examine himself, and he was horrified to see how small he had become. But in real-time, he could feel his wood cracking as he rapidly grew upward with the Qi from thousands of trees pouring into him.

[Estimated time until full recovery: 7 Days]

[System will remain in low power mode to maximize recovery speed]

"Hey, system. Can I use credits to speed up the repairs?" Ashlock wondered, and the prompt silenced him.

[Estimated credits for full recovery: 7260 (insufficient balance)]

"Alright, never mind. I can spend a week planning what I want to do next."

Everything was happening quickly, and he had much to contemplate.

Senior Lee had provided him with a new perspective and long-term goals to strive for, such as a supposed monarch realm world tree in the celestial empire that wanted to devour him.

"So first I have to get as strong as the Patriarch, then survive the beast tide that wipes out entire demonic sects, and finally fend off a monarch realm tree at the heart of the celestial empire that wants to eat me so it can transcend this place and initiate the Era of Ascension."

Ashlock took a deep breath and felt the air flow into his leaves, bringing peace to his mind.

He was finally a spirit tree with limitless potential.

The world was bleak and out to kill him, but somehow he felt optimistic about the future. He looked down at the bench and saw how the gentle breeze played with Stella's hair.

It was easy to get caught up in long-term goals that might take eons, but for now, he would focus on and cherish each and every day as if it were his last.

While lost in his thoughts, Ashlock was surprised when Diana crested the mountainside with a man in tow.

"Stella! Wake up!" Diana shouted. "Mister Choi found us a rogue cultivator adept at construction."

Stella stirred from her sleep and looked around in confusion. "Didn't I fall asleep while leaning on Ash? How did the bench come back..." She then pushed herself up and eyed the cup of tea while furrowing her brows. "And who left tea here?"

While Stella was puzzled, Diana spoke with the man. "Douglas, this is the Ashfallen Sect, your new home."

The large man with golden brown hair and muscles fit for a miner surveyed the mountain peak devoid of anything other than a rapidly growing tree and a single bench with a half-asleep girl sitting on it.

"You can't be serious," Douglas grumbled. "What kind of sect is this? There's nothing here but a fucking tree."

Diana replied in the flattest tone, "Exactly, that's why you are here to build what we lack."

"Eh," Douglas replied as he scratched his head, "Where the hell is your leader? I want to speak with them."

Diana walked forward and bowed before Ashlock. "Patriarch, I see you are still recovering, but can you grace us with your presence?"

Ashlock wanted to remain silent until he fully recovered, but since Diana asked so nicely, he felt it was only right that he took a look at his sect's latest recruit.

Douglas snapped his mouth shut as the rapidly growing tree split open, and an eldritch eye gazed upon his soul. He then shakily knelt down and lowered his head. "Bloody hell, why in the nine realms is a tree glaring at me? Is this your Patriarch? A tree?"

Ashlock hummed to himself. The man was a little rough around the edges, but with some training, he could serve the Ashfallen Sect well. The Dao Storm might have wiped out his pavilion and torn him apart, but in its wake, it had given him purpose and a chance at rebirth.

A rebirth he planned to live out to the fullest by reaching for the stars and protecting those closest to him from harm.