Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

Ashlock inspected Kaida and discovered the reason for his explosive growth in size.

"My summons and monsters generally don't follow the same cultivation system as humans, but if I had to guess, Kaida has gone up around three stages in the Star Core Realm," Ashlock muttered with a hint of surprise. Just how much ink Qi had this greedy snake absorbed, "If he experiences this much growth in the next Mystic Realm visit, he might be closing in on his evolution to A grade."Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novelenglish.net . Fir(e).nᴇt

Since Kaida's entire body was made from heavenly ink, the more he absorbed, the more he would grow.

The Lindwyrm, now easily thirty meters long, frowned at his favorite human's words.

Through his demonic eye, Ashlock saw how the heavenly ink Qi that made up Kaida's body began to condense, and his body started to shrink. It continued until he reduced his length from thirty meters to only three.

Diana gasped in relief as she stopped being coiled around and looked down at Kaida, who was now wrapped around her feet and clearly asking to be picked up like old times with his big golden eyes.

Kaida licked her face, leaving an ink stain across her cheek as if someone had taken a paintbrush and slapped her with it.

Ashlock noticed her muscles were tensed, and if she didn't keep cycling her Qi through her body, lifting Kaida would be impossible. "Even with her partial demonic form due to her bloodline, which gives her immense strength, she still struggles to pick up Kaida. Though if she was to fully transform, I am sure lifting him would be a piece of cake."

Kaida hissed in annoyance from Diana's arms.

Stella did, in fact, not look fine at all. Her white clothes were soaked with blood and were shredded in places. It was as if she had crawled out from a warzone. But through his demonic eye, he could verify that Stella wasn't lying. Even with Sol's healing light and the pills working in harmony, the rate at which her bones and organs were healing was horrifying. Cultivators really were a league above humans, as what Stella was treating as nothing to be concerned about would have killed a mortal person a hundred times over.

"Sorry, Stella, I got distracted by other pointless things. I should have repaired Sol first and had him heal you again," Ashlock said through {Abyssal Whispers}.

"Nothing a long sleep can't fix," Ashlock reassured her. His system had offered to repair him for thousands of credits, but he had no interest in that. A few long sleeps under the nine moons and he would be as good as new.

"Next time will be different," Ashock said, "I am on the cusp of ascending to Nascent Soul Realm, and you have all grown considerably since I last saw you. Stella, to block Nox's attacks and survive, you must have had a very productive session in the Mystic Realm."

"Very impressive," Ashlock agreed, "You are a step behind the Redclaw Grand Elder while being only sixteen."

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As Diana spoke, Ashlock saw Stella's gaze slowly grow more tranquil.

Ashlock would have to disagree. If what he saw through his demonic eye was to believe, she had grown in leaps and bounds.

"Is this really a good idea?" Ashlock asked, "Back then, the most you two could do was cause some damage to buildings, but now you could kill one another in a single well-placed attack."

"No, you don't." Ashlock reminded them, "Dante struck Sol with a void attack, so he will take a while to repair."

Ashlock had no interest in spending many of the hard-earned sacrificial credits he needed for his ascension on repairing Sol just so Stella and Diana could compare their egos. Cultivators really were unruly sometimes.

While they took up their positions a hundred meters apart, Ashlock had to wonder when Diana had changed. She used to be the more cautious member of the group but was now more arrogant and up for fighting.

"She became more emotional and impulsive ever since awakening her bloodline and transitioning into a demoness," Ashlock muttered, "Is this the fabled demon's pride?"

Ashlock chuckled, "Yes, though I suppose they act more like competitive sisters. Stella has a bit of a habit of getting jealous and paranoid when others progress faster than her."

That was a good question. "Hard to say. It all depends on how serious Stella is about winning, and if her tranquil gaze is anything to go by, she is taking this duel seriously, so Diana may be in trouble if she isn't careful. But Stella is also injured, and Diana did experience some explosive growth in the Mystic Realm, so it's hard to say."

"Yes, though her bloodline is far more mysterious than Diana's. We are still learning more about it every day..." Ashlock said and realized something. Why had her bloodline activated during a duel with Diana?

"From the top of my head, her bloodline activated during the alchemy tournament, fighting Nox near me and the bounty hunters on the Bastion." Ashlock mused, "But it didn't activate when she tried to chase down Nox or trespassed the Azure Clan library. I was starting to think it activated when she felt threatened or if my life was in danger, but why wouldn't it activate when being stared down by an Elder from an upper realm?"

Ashlock looked at Stella. She stood with her sword tip pointed at Diana on the other side of the mountain peak with an utterly calm expression as the wind messed with her hair.

Ashlock felt this situation further cemented his hypothesis that Stella's bloodline was that of a ruler. "Perhaps Diana hadn't been far off. Stella really is the sin of pride and envy, for better or worse. If she feels her authority or pride is at risk, her bloodline will activate to help bridge the gap."

It was still a hypothesis, but it seemed to fit when compared to all previous examples of her bloodline activating. Ashlock had noticed how Stella's pride turned to envy when Diana mentioned how much she had grown in the Mystic Realm despite all the good reasons for their differing growth.

Ashlock had thought that Stella was simply too immature and seeking praise to understand that just because Diana and Elaine grew by three stages did not diminish the fact she was one of the strongest in the whole sect at only sixteen.

But perhaps it was less about her personality and something ingrained into her, just like how Diana would enter a berserk state when fully unleashing her demon form.

If not for his demonic gaze, Ashlock would be unable to tell Diana apart from the shadows inhabiting the mist. The difference between this mist made from her new affinity and the one made from water Qi in the past was like night and day. Due to the addition of the demonic Qi, this haunted mist was far harder to penetrate with spiritual sight and seemed to empower Diana.

"Now I am not so sure who will win..." Ashlock mused as he watched Stella fearlessly walk toward the encroaching mist. "I suppose whoever strikes first will be the winner; the question is, does Stella have an answer to Diana's mist?"

As it turned out, she had more than just an answer.