Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

Ashlock stared at the system message floating in front of Neptune's face.

[Neptune wishes to form a pact]

As he had learned with Maple, a pact involved mutual cooperation where both parties could act independently without the other's permission. For example, Maple often went off to do his own thing without Ashlock ordering him to, and he could also deny Ashlock's request for help. Whereas Larry, who was a summoned creature by the system, wasn't even allowed to evolve or pick his evolution path without Ashlock's approval.

"If I were to enter a pact with Neptune, I would gain another formidable ally that could help me against the incoming beast tide, the Blood Lotus Patriarch, and finally, the other World Tree in the heart of the Celestial Empire that wants to eat me." Ashlock paused, "But... Maple is completely unhinged and undependable. Would I really be able to coexist with another, even more powerful Maple? He goes off and does his own thing or spends the days sleeping, which I now know is because he is trying to conserve energy to grow stronger. But still! He's so useless half the time!"

Ashlock liked having some level of control over his surroundings and allies, as he lacked control over his body and could not move. Betrayals became more dangerous as he could not flee, and if Neptune signed the pact and then went off by themselves to wage war with the Blood Lotus Sect and subsequently draw enemies toward him, there was nothing he could do except fight.

It was risky... but he was still tempted. At the end of the day, if they entered a pact, Neptune would become his ally, and who wouldn't want an even more powerful void monster than Maple on their side? That small squirrel alone had trapped a 9th-stage Star Core Realm Voidmind Elder, slaughtered the Winterwrath and Evergreen Grand Elders, and even caused two families to go to war with each other over a misunderstanding caused by Maple and Stella's mischief.

Neptune tilted their head as if confused as to why he was stalling.

"They are Maple's family. It wouldn't be fair for me to deny them," Ashlock sighed as he mentally accepted the pact notification.

[Pact failed: Divinity tier too low]

"Although accepting a pact with such powerful beings related to a rascal like you might be a bad idea..." Ashlock said, almost laughing at Maple's scowl, "That's not what happened. I think my divinity is too low to make a pact with you, Neptune."

Neptune became lost in thought, evident by how she stared blankly at the sky.

[Mars wishes to form a pact]

Ashlock accepted it without any hesitation, but once again, it bounced.

[Pact failed: Divinity tier too low]

"So, a massive gap in power and age," Ashlock mused to himself, "But what about this divinity tier my system is talking about?" He opened his status screen and soon found the answer.

[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 9)]

[Star Core: 5th Stage]

[Soul Type: Amethyst (Spatial)]

{??? Divine Fragment [SSS] 1/9}

"I just need to collect at least one, if not a few more fragments, before I can make a mutual pact with Mars and Neptune," Ashlock assumed as he closed his status screen. It was a bit of a revelation to learn that each divine fragment was more significant than he had first thought, and maybe more upgrades were waiting for him when he collected the next fragment.

Which brought him to his following line of thought... how and where could he get more fragments?

"Neptune and Mars, I believe the reason I can't form pacts with you is because I need more fragments of divinity. Senior Lee gave me the first one and mentioned only eight more existed. Is that true?"

"Why wouldn't they ascend to the next layer?" Ashlock asked in confusion. It didn't make sense that there would be one powerful being guarding a fragment on each layer. Wouldn't they all rush toward heaven with their unlimited cultivation potential like him?

"I thought people couldn't go back down once they ascended?" Ashlock asked.

Ashlock absorbed the information and went silent momentarily as he mulled it over. These fragments were starting to sound more and more like bad news, and shouldn't people start to hunt him down on this layer of creation since he had a fragment?

"Senior Lee did mention that the World Tree would catch onto the fact I have a divine fragment and start to hunt me down. How does a Monarch Realm World Tree hunt anyway?" Ashlock sighed. He had a feeling he didn't want to find out.

"I worry about the Blood Lotus Patriarch, who is barely at the Nascent Soul Realm and this incoming beast tide, whereas the Celestial Empire hasn't had to move to avoid a beast tide since their founding and they don't fear the demonic sects. Which means they must be far more formidable than any demonic sect out here in the wilderness."

Ashlock then set his sights on the future and decided to ask the Worldwalkers while he still could, "So when I reach Monarch Realm and initiate this Era of Ascension, won't I be jumped on by all the people from the higher realm who are after my fragment of divinity."

"Right..." Ashlock appreciated the optimism but didn't feel it would be that easy.

Ashlock was stunned and now felt like an arse for debating whether he should accept the pact with the Worldwalkers. "Okay, how powerful are people in the next layer of creation?" Ashlock asked quickly, "Because I won't be able to increase my divinity tier until I kill the strongest being on that layer, and only then can I accept a pact with you two... I think? So I need to find a way to not die instantly the moment I ascend. How strong do my allies and myself need to be?"

The void began to tremble again like it had when Neptune mentioned that Diana was part of the Ravena clan, which was apparently forbidden knowledge as it had something to do with bloodlines.

And on that note, the void collapsed in an instant. Neptune and Mars were gone in the blink of an eye, and Maple briefly became a mass of wiggling tentacles as he reverted to his squirrel form.

[Dimensional Overlap Restored]

Ashlock noticed another hundred sacrificial credits get drained from his sign-in system as reality around him warped, and he felt his consciousness expand into the void beyond reality and through the celestial fog until it finally latched onto the pocket realm he had picked in the menu previously and then pulled it back with him through the tear in reality.

A bubble of spatial Qi expanded out from his trunk as the epicenter for a few meters. It felt... strange. It was like being trapped inside a fish tank with liquid Qi so dense it was swirling around him.

Diana began to cough violently. She quickly grabbed Kaida and stumbled out of the pocket realm that barely enshrouded his entire body. Since she only had to walk a few meters to reach the edge of the bubble, Diana managed to leave before Ashlock could even help. The boundary of the pocket realm was a thick layer of spatial Qi that she had to push through with a bit of effort, but other than that, she could leave freely.

"So I will definitely need to find a way to keep someone in here to stop them escaping so easily like that in actual combat," Ashlock mused, "Luckily, I have my vines and Ents that are great for that."

Ashlock then noticed his Star Core begin to fill up faster than usual as all his leaves began pulling in the surrounding spatial Qi and draining the pocket realm. "Wait, I can cultivate using {Dimensional Overlap}?"

Ashlock was perplexed as he had initially thought {Dimensional Overlap} would be a perfect attack or support skill as it would allow him to alter environments to suit his allies or counter his enemies' affinities, but he could also use it to power himself up like how his allies used the Mystic Realm?

"Guess that's an S-grade skill for you," Ashlock chuckled as he tried to gaze out of the spatial pocket realm but found everything outside was very blurry and tainted in a purple hue, "Okay, so there's some drawbacks here. My allies might struggle to shoot at enemies outside the pocket realm if they can't see through the bubble, but I can get around that."

Shifting his view through his roots, he could now look at himself from the outside. Diana was standing there with Kaida, watching the giant dome of spatial Qi that covered around a third of Red Vine Peak and the entirety of his trunk.

"Interesting, looks like I can use this as a sort of defense or camouflage skill if I pick the right pocket realm. Wouldn't a pocket realm filled with illusion Qi be good to hide myself from powerful foes? Or would I just stick out like a sore thumb?"

Ashlock stopped rambling on in his mind and decided to ask Diana with {Abyssal Whispers}, "Hey Diana, could you fetch Stella for me? I need her help testing this new pocket realm I have summoned."

"Huh, that's pretty cool," Ashlock thought as he focused back on the peak, and then he remembered Titus, his only spatial Qi Ent. The pile of black wood was slowly repairing himself with a combination of the Qi Ashlock was providing him and the Qi his own Star Core produced. But it was pretty slow due to how extensive the damage was, and there was no way in hell he was paying hundreds of credits to repair him instantly.

"Titus, crawl your way into the pocket realm," Ashlock instructed the Ent as Titus's eyes flared up with purple flames, and he began to move, "I want to see if it helps you heal faster in here."