Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 495: Buying a House is Easy

After three long months, Kael prepared to leave his bedroom a changed man—both mentally and spiritually. He half-expected Stella, the strange princess from a higher layer of creation, to be gone, as it had taken him so long to rebuild his cultivation from the ground up.

Rushing to the Star Core Realm at such a young age had terribly corrupted his spirit roots, and his heart demon battle was one he would never forget. His knowledge of the dao had been fragmented, and only with the help of some miraculous pills Stella provided was he able to glean the true insights the heavens had been whispering to him all along.

As he opened his bedroom door, there she was, sitting on the couch exactly where he had left her. Her eyes were closed, and the room was filled with that same dignified aura from before that only someone of high stature could possess. As he stepped into the room, he noticed that not a single speck of spatial Qi acknowledged his presence. It was as if the entire room had yielded to her authority.

Sensing his presence, Stella's eyes snapped open. She appraised him for a split second, and to his utter relief, she smiled.

"Now that's more like it," she said, nodding in approval. "That second skin improvement truffle I gave you definitely helped, and your aura is totally different now."

"Sorry for the wait," he said sheepishly. "I hope you weren't too bored waiting in this cramped apartment."

"Oh, don't you worry—I've managed to keep myself busy."

Kael glanced around. The apartment was a total mess. Tables he didn't remember having crowded the room, and it looked as if an entire pill-brewing guild had set up shop in his living room. The smell was eye-watering, but nothing compared to his bedroom. Honestly, the whole apartment needed to be abandoned at this point. Scanning the floor, he noted masks, dresses, and other garments strewn about. Bending down, he picked up a porcelain mask and raised a questioning brow.

"I used those for disguises," Stella explained.

"Disguises? Why did you need disguises?"

Stella lazily rose from the couch and picked up an outfit neatly laid on a coffee table—unlike the ones thrown around the floor, it seemed unworn. "I told you I've been busy," she said, floating the clothes toward him with telekinesis. "I got you this."

Kael was in disbelief. "You bought me clothes? Why? How?"

"Did you forget I'm going to buy a house? One big enough to build a spatial array. It's why I gave you all those pills and truffles—to improve your looks to match a noble cultivator so you don't embarrass me."

Kael took the garments, marveling at their quality. He rubbed the earthy brown fabric between his fingers—it felt like silk sheets. Never in his life had he experienced such luxury, and as someone who knew how rare and expensive fine cultivator garments were, he was stunned.

"How did you get the money to afford this?" he asked.

"I had to get a little creative," Stella admitted. "While I have great wealth inside my spatial ring, everything is too valuable or strange to sell without earning the Tessellate Council's interest." She gestured to the room. "After some snooping around, I discovered which pills the Tessellate Council officially sells. By mirroring them one-to-one, I managed to sneak a few into the supply."

Kael gave her a dubious look. "While pills are valuable in the Citadel, a few couldn't cover the cost of these garments that are fit for a king. What about the house? Did you sell pills for that too?" His tone was sarcastic.

"No," Stella said honestly. "The pill selling worked for a while, but I eventually caught attention. Apparently, the main family missed multiple deliveries and hasn't been responding to requests. I wasn't able to get much more intel than that, so I tried to find array experts with money, but they're all employed and monitored by the Tessellate Council."

Kael scratched his head. "So how did you get the money, then?"

"Simple, really. I took out debt—a lot of it."

Kael blinked. "You took out debt as a princess?! How are you planning to pay them back? You don't have any money."

"Exactly!" Stella said, smirking. "When you don't have enough money to pay off debt, how do the debt collectors respond?"

For a moment, Kael recalled his own brushes with debt collectors during slow periods at the courier company when he couldn't afford food or rent. They were brutal. Those bastards would take everything if you missed a payment. Suddenly, realization dawned on him.

"Did you give spirit stones to debt collectors to settle your unpaid debts?"

Stella grinned wildly. "I sure did. Figuring out how to sell them for money is now their problem. I might've been scammed on their true value, but honestly, it wasn't worth the hassle—they know the black market channels better than I do."

"Make others do the work for you," Kael nodded approvingly. "Handled like a true princess."

Stella narrowed her eyes. "Hey, I don't like the way you worded that. I put in a lot of effort, you know?"

Kael raised his hands defensively. "You're right, my bad. Thank you—these clothes are insanely nice. I'd never even get to touch fabric this fine, let alone wear something like this."

"Great. You should get changed quickly. I will too. I think it's time we both got out of here."

Nodding and trying to ignore the thought of Stella changing, he retreated to his room with the new clothes in hand. He stared at them in mute disbelief for a while. Was Stella an angel sent by heaven to grace his life?

Shaking his head, he started to strip down and change. Halfway through, to his horror, he heard the door click open behind him.

"What's taking you so long? Did you fall and hit your head or something?"

Their eyes met. He froze midway, pulling up his trousers—currently wearing nothing but his undergarments.

Stella looked baffled. "What are you doing?"

Kael blinked in confusion. "Getting dressed?"

"What kind of spatial cultivator gets dressed like this?" she said, vaguely gesturing. "Use a darn spatial ring—it takes half a second. Wait, you don't have one?" She took off one of her rings and threw it at him.

"Ah, thank you," he said, feeling stupid and embarrassed as this whole situation was because he had spent a while spaced out.

He deposited his new clothes into the spatial ring and, with a flash of silver, they adorned his body. The texture was smooth and cold against his skin—he almost wanted to lie down in it like a blanket, but now wasn't the time.

"Where to next?" he asked, turning to Stella. "If you want to buy the house right away, I know a few places in the Upper District that sell property."

Stella shook her head. "Citadel prices are wildly expensive from the research I conducted on my own. I can't buy directly. Not without crashing the economy here and earning the Tessellate Council's ire at least."

"Then how are we going to get property? It's not like we can steal it." He paused, concern growing. "That wasn't your plan, was it?"

Stella shook her head. "No. I had another idea—we're attending an auction."

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"An auction? There are rarely auctions in the Citadel," Kael said, confused.

"A month ago, an anchor pylon was mysteriously destroyed, causing a section of the noble district to suffer extreme spatial distortions and potentially drift off the main island. An auction was set up to sell those properties, and it's happening tonight."

Kael blinked in disbelief. "What are the odds?"

Stella didn't seem to mirror his disbelief at fate.

"Come on, we should move," Stella said, turning to leave. She'd changed into a typical oversized cloak worn by Citadel nobles. However, it was white with a silver tint, decorated with thorn-covered vines inlaid with gold. He'd never seen such a design. It must have been custom-made, greatly hiking up the cost.

Just how much did she scam out of those debt collectors? Kael wondered as he followed her. I hope they don't come after us or sell her out to the Tessellate Council when they start asking where those spirit stones came from.

He had a bad feeling his fears would come to fruition. Stella wasn't exactly as low-key as she seemed to think she was.

"Now listen, Kael. You will be my assistant and refer to me as Lady Roselyn. I'm unsure of the auction's requirements, so we'll have to deal with that accordingly. Our goal is to secure a property large enough to accommodate a spatial array. It doesn't need to be the most expensive or fancy."

"Got it," Kael said.

Stella glanced over her shoulder and raised her brow. Kael paused, cleared his throat, and bowed ever so slightly. "Your wish is my command, Lady Roselyn."

Stella smiled. "Much better. Let's head to the upper layer of the Citadel."

***

As expected, a problem arose the moment they arrived. The Citadel was a tight-knit community, and the noble district was even more so. Few people came and went from the Citadel besides members of the Tessellate family. Because of this, everyone knew each other, so Stella's appearance naturally drew attention.

Sometimes he wondered if she did this deliberately, almost as if she were asking for trouble. Whatever her motives, he stuck to his lane and did everything he could to avoid standing out. While his garments matched those of the people around him, his way of walking and talking certainly didn't. He felt like an impostor, as if his façade would be discovered at any moment. Thankfully, he could walk in Stella's shadow, as the confident aura she commanded was almost blinding.

Without paying any heed to the people at the entrance, she attempted to stride into the auction like she owned the place.

"Excuse me, miss," a man wearing the sigil of the Council called out, forcing Stella to halt.

"What might be the problem?" Stella said in an irritated tone, as if in a hurry.

"My apologies, miss, but may I know your name?" he asked. Kael felt his stomach drop. Catching Stella's gaze, he remembered his role and swiftly stepped forward, gesturing toward her.

"This is Lady Roselyn," he said with a serious expression. "It would be unwise for you to stand in her way."

The guard chuckled. "My deepest apologies, but I've never heard of a Lady Roselyn before, and we don't allow mortals to enter the noble district."

Kael faked his best smile. "You're mistaken. She is not a mortal, and the reason you haven't heard of her is that she's visiting from the mainland."

The guard's demeanor instantly shifted, and he appraised Stella more closely. "You're from the mainland, miss?"

It was high-brow speak for someone originating from the sixth layer of creation, or basically anywhere except the Citadel.

She leaned in, flexing her soul pressure. "I'm trying to keep a low profile, so it would be best if we avoided a scene," she said, while drawing a crowd of eyes.

The guard frowned. "I understand your predicament, but I can't let you through without proof."

Stella sighed in irritation and opened her palm. A small, yet impossibly pure white soul flame ignited.

"Is this enough?"

"A white soul flame…" the guard muttered, swallowing hard.

She closed her hand, dismissing the flame.

"You may proceed," the guard said, stepping aside.

Stella didn't say anything more and made her way past the trembling guard.

A well-dressed servant hurried forward and bowed.

"We are honored to host someone from the mainland for this auction," the servant said in a measured tone. "Please, let me guide you."

Stella simply nodded and seemed unfazed by the attentiveness. Kael, however, felt out of place. While starving in the slums of the Citadel, he'd wondered what life was like up here. Just months ago, serving nobles would have been his dream. But now he was being attended to like royalty, all because of the woman walking before him.

The servant led them down the tunnel that was ten people tall. There were many other groups of nobles making the trip, yet not all of them had a servant personally leading them.

Which, unfortunately, meant more attention landed on them, a two-person group being attended to by a seemingly high-ranking servant.

The tunnel began to slope downwards. It appeared the auction was held underground, in an expansive space carved into the Citadel's rock. He'd assumed nobles lived only above, where the spatial Qi was strongest, but evidently, they also enjoyed staying underground beneath all these layers of defensive formations.

He had only been standing in the Upper District for a few hours and already felt relief not being under constant spatial pressure now that they were underground. Sometimes, too much Qi could be toxic, and it was exhausting trying to stop the surroundings from forcefully pulling the spatial Qi out of his soul.

His wandering thoughts came to a pause as they reached the end of the passage, which opened into an expansive hall. Plush chairs were arrayed in small clusters that levitated in three layers from the floor to the ceiling. Their servant led them to a corner seat in the front row with ample space around it. Clearly, it was the best seat outside the balcony boxes surrounding the hall.

With only one chair, Stella took it and dismissed the servant. She clicked her fingers, and suddenly the world around them felt detached from reality. A few nearby glyphs glowed brightly with power but seemed to fail at stopping Stella's technique.

"Good job back there," Stella said, reclining in the chair. "But why does everyone react like that when I show my white flame?"

"Because the main branch of the Tessellate family is famous for their white soul flames," Kael explained. "While having white flames doesn't guarantee that you are from the main branch, it's a strong indicator. Your appearance, mannerisms, and that flame made it easy for the guard to believe you."

Stella nodded and fell silent. Kael took the chance to survey their surroundings. He'd expected a natural cave, but the walls were too smooth, decidedly man-made, with towering pillars supporting the Citadel above. Nobles in silk cloaks chattered or took their seats. While the atmosphere seemed peaceful, dozens of inquisitive eyes bored into them from behind as they sat in the front row. He felt like they stuck out like a sore thumb as he had no option but to stand there next to the casually seated princess.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention, please."

Kael breathed a sigh of relief as the room quieted and a well-dressed man stepped forward. He wore finer attire than the servants but less ostentatious cloaks than the seated nobles.

"My name is Magister DuVont, and I will be conducting today's auction of the spatially damaged properties in the noble district. As you know, an Anchor Pylon was destroyed a month ago, likely by a Rift-born."

Angered murmurs spread throughout the room like wildfire.

Kael silently ground his teeth at some of the things he heard. However, remembering his new position as Stella's servant, he held back and analyzed the strange situation.

I doubt it was done by a rift born. The Anchor Pylons in the noble district are heavily defended and would need a bomb of a magnitude stronger than the one I had to take them out.I wonder who actually did it? Maybe a noble? I can't imagine it being anyone else.

Once the murmers quieted, Magister DuVont continued.

"Many landowners in the affected area wish to sell. This is understandable, as any region without an Anchor Pylon has highly erratic spatial Qi and risks separating from the Citadel into the spatial storm. Consequently, these plots will sell below market value due to the danger. Now, without further ado, let us begin with the first lot."

He walked across the stage toward a large, pulsating slab of black metal. The lanterns, which seemed to be leather-like and floated throughout the room like the chairs, cast a shifting light on his hands as he pressed them to the stone. A projection of a truly massive estate bloomed into view.

"We will be starting bids on this plot owned by Thalos Tessellate for two million—"

Stella suddenly choked on the tea she had manifested out of heaven knows where.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Kael whispered, using Qi to mask his voice as best he could. "What happened? Is the price too high?"

"No—well, yes, I don't have that much," Stella said, calming herself as bids began flying through the room. "It's that name."

"Thalos Tessellate?"

Stella nodded and looked the most serious he had ever seen her. "He's the debt collector I sold spirit stones to, but I had no idea he was part of the Tessellate family."

Kael paled at that information, his eyes darting to the VIP booths around the hall. All of them, no doubt, had someone from the Tessellate family present in them. Purchasing a random cheap house wouldn't have garnered much attention.

But buying it with money she had gotten from the family while pretending to be in debt?

That was unlikely to go well.

"My lady, I think we should leave," he whispered.

"I can feel their eyes on me already," Stella replied, leaning forward in her chair. "Leaving now would only invite more suspicion. All we can do is hope Thalos isn't here and avoid buying any properties owned by him."

"Sold for 3.2 million!" Magister DuVont announced, slamming his hand down onto the slab with a resounding thunk. He then gestured to one of the VIP booths. "You can acquire the deed to the property from Thalos Tessellate at the end of the auction."

A spotlight shone onto the booth. A tall man wearing a shimmering cloak and flanked by two guards emerged from the shadows and waved to the nobles below. His gaze swept across the seats and seemed to linger on theirs for a moment longer than the others.

"You have got to be joking," Stella grumbled, keeping her eyes straight forward.

"What if all the properties are owned by members of the Tessellate family?" Kael asked. Every bone in his body was begging him to flee this lion's den. The Tessellate weren't just strong, they were merciless tyrants.

Stella chuckled nervously. "Then it looks like I'll be meeting the Tessellate family again sooner than I would have liked. I just hope I don't run into her again."

"Her?" Kael asked, confused.

"Yeah, the one who saw me blow up the Anchor Pylon."