Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 509: A Cruel Lesson

Stella fled the lecture hall through the portal, enraged at herself.

You idiot! What is wrong with you? she berated herself as she emerged into a forest deep in the wilderness. You had so many lesson ideas, why did you fold under the pressure of all their expectant gazes and come up with this ludicrous idea? Execute one of them if they fail to get a hit on you? Elaine is going to execute me if this gets out.

"Are you really going to execute one of them if they fail?" Ash asked in her mind, his tone sounding less severe than she had expected, almost as if he was finding this entertaining.

"Of course not," Stella said, letting out an annoyed huff to calm herself down. "Though I might kidnap one of them and make them train out in the wilderness alone for a while to give the illusion that I did."

"Ah, the classic of leaving a weakling on a monster-infested island, not expecting them to survive, yet calling it a kindness."

"I'm not that cruel," Stella said, glancing back at the portal that Ash had conjured for her. "I want them to get stronger for the sect, so sending them to die would be counterproductive."

"Yet you threaten to execute them?"

Stella rolled her eyes. "That's just to raise the stakes and get their blood pumping. You know? To make it more exciting. If all they do is sit inside listening to Elaine's lectures all day, they will never become dependable cultivators in war."

"That's true, this could be good for them, as they have mostly fought weakened monsters from the beast tide and each other in tournaments. Are you planning on teaching them anything, or just hoping they develop tactics on their own?"

That was a good point.

"I'll leave some openings in my defenses and give occasional chances for them to strike me, and I suppose I could watch how they fight and give them pointers to beat me," Stella narrowed her eyes. "Ah, my first contender is about to arrive."

The portal rippled, and a blonde-haired youth charged through. Stella recognized the boy but couldn't immediately put a name to his face, which was strange; she usually had a good memory. His sword was raised high, prepping for the most obvious downward slash of all time. Stella didn't blame him too much; she had said all they needed to do was land a hit on her, and an overhead slash was fast and contained a lot of power. She was also seemingly defenseless without a sword. The problem was that no matter how much strength he put into it, he couldn't contend with a fraction of Stella's true strength or speed as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

If he wanted to strike her, such a telegraphed assault was never going to work.

"I will be the one to claim the medallion!" he yelled, reaching her and slashing down.

"Not if you come screaming at me like an idiot," Stella said, simply kicking him in the chest as lightly as she could. There was a brief moment as if time had frozen as her foot dug into his chest—followed by a cracking noise, his face contorting in immense pain, and then the rushing of wind as he was hurled back through the portal.

Stella slowly lowered her leg and looked at it, then back at the portal. "Well, shit."

"Maybe kicking them is a bad idea."

"Yeah..." Stella slowly nodded in agreement. "Who knew an earth cultivator could be so weak?"

"Stella, you are two realms above him. It's like a titan punting a human child. Your presence alone could squash them into paste."

Stella gulped, her face paling. "Is he alright?"

"I'll have Sol heal him up as good as new," Ash reassured her. "Maybe go for a more evasive approach rather than responding with physical force? Possessing unfathomable speed and inhuman reaction times to dodge everything is always more impressive anyway, as you give the illusion of being beatable."

Stella nodded, liking the sound of that. It would be slightly more challenging for her as well if all she could do was dodge, and it was an easier way to show their gap in power without having to break their ribs.

The portal remained quiet for a moment, so Stella took a few steps away and into a clearing. Hopefully, seeing that boy flying through hadn't discouraged the elite disciples.

Maybe it will make them more determined to face me? Revenge for a fellow cultivator is a great motivator.

As if confirming her theory, the portal rippled, and multiple disciples came through, including her own, Jasmine.

Ah! I suddenly remembered that boy's name. I think it was Sam?

Compared to Sam, the others seemed less eager to charge at her.

"Don't be afraid and come at me all at once," Stella said, putting her hands behind her back. Her eyes turned tranquil as her bloodline automatically activated—likely because she was acting prideful, which was in line with her bloodline's wishes. Not that she would deny its help, considering the rather arrogant undertaking.

While Sam was a weakling compared to her, being in the mid-stages of the Soul Fire Realm, not all of the sect's chosen elite disciples were as weak. Amber, for example, who answered her demands and stepped in front of Jasmine with fire coiling around her arms, was at the 5th stage of the Star Core Realm—strong enough to be considered an Elder in most sects and was treated as such in the Ashfallen Sect—and by the determination in Amber's eyes, she would stop at nothing to get that medallion.

Raising her arm, she clicked her fingers, and a fireball erupted. It rapidly enlarged, filling Stella's view with its blazing brilliance as if it were a miniature star. As it roared toward her, the grass was charred black in its wake, and Stella could feel the encroaching heat. Yet all she had to do was skillfully leap to the side, letting it pass and smash into a tree behind her. Not a demonic tree belonging to Ash, thankfully, but a tree nonetheless, which made Stella sad to see it go up in flames behind her.

"Nature doesn't deserve your wrath, Amber," Stella said, smiling. "Try to aim at me instead."

As expected of an elite disciple, Amber hardly reacted to her taunts and was already conjuring the following technique. This time, she raised both palms coated in fire Qi and pushed forward. The air ignited, and a wave of fire cascaded toward her, carrying the force expected of a Star Core Realm cultivator.

Stella simply summoned a small shield of aether Qi by tracing her finger through the air, creating a hole in the wall that let it pass harmlessly around her and wash onto the grass behind her, setting it alight. "You're going to have to do better than—" Stella swallowed her words as she had to quickly bend backward to avoid a fire lance aimed right at her head. It carried on through the rising smoke, obliterating multiple trees behind her in a line and carving a smoldering trench in the ground.

That was close, Stella thought, somewhat surprised. She was used to teleporting around and blocking things with her sword. Limiting herself by keeping her hands behind her back, she closed the gap between herself and the elite disciples more than expected. She grinned wildly. Who would have thought this could be a lesson for her as well?

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Straightening up, she felt the heat from the raging fire behind her and was surrounded by bellowing smoke. Amber seemed surprised that her well-thought-out combo hadn't worked, which made Stella feel all the more in control—a feeling she loved.

"Don't hold back on me now," Stella said, releasing some of her bloodlust as she began walking forward. The moment she did so, every one of the elites paled. Which was understandable, but if they couldn't stand up to a fraction of her true bloodlust, how could they call themselves the elites of the Ashfallen Sect?

"You look quite scary right now," Ash chuckled in her head. "At this rate, they might truly believe you will kill them, especially after kicking Sam like that."

Ash's words only made her grin more.

To strike fear and harden their hearts was the goal of this lesson.

***

Three weeks later, Jasmine was hugging her knees in a ditch and munching on a fruit. Its sweetness did little to lift her sour mood as she was caked in ash and mud from head to toe, and the stench of smoke in the air made her eyes water. Yet, despite the forest being aflame and a dense haze of smoke and fog blanketing the land, she had no problem locating Stella. Not because of their Master-Disciple link, but because of her bloodlust. While her Master didn't leak any Qi due to her concealment artifact, she certainly didn't hide her presence—and seemingly intense desire to kill them.

Jasmine, of course, knew it was all an act by now. Stella was having a lot of fun, and despite her sour mood about the situation, she had no plans to ruin her Master's fun. Instead, she played along, especially because Stella was actually trying to teach them.

The noise of someone rushing through the forest drew Jasmine's attention. A moment later, a body came crashing down into the ditch.

"Hey?!" Jasmine yelped in surprise. "You almost crushed me."

"Sorry, sorry," the boy said, and only when they met gazes did Jasmine realize it was Sam. He looked shaken up and out of breath. "You're so short I almost squashed you," he joked between deep gasps.

Jasmine snorted. "I'm still growing."

"I'd hope so," Sam said, almost looking concerned at that statement, which just annoyed Jasmine more.

"Why are you here?" Jasmine grunted. "And why are you so out of breath? Did Stella mess with you that easily?"

"It wasn't Stella—or at least not her directly. It was one of her creations that hunted me down."

"Ah," Jasmine nodded in understanding. After Amber failed her series of attacks on the first day, nobody had gotten within striking distance of Stella since she began radiating bloodlust. Some had tried ranged attacks, but she simply sidestepped or blocked them with aether shields.

After a stalemate developed, Stella seemed to grow bored and devised a new way to test, or some would say, haunt them.

By using telekinesis, she crafted floating beings out of leaves, twigs, and stones. They roamed the burning forest, shifting effortlessly through the haze like phantoms on the hunt. After being unlucky enough to encounter one, they would chase you until you honored a duel and fought back. Unless destroyed, they wouldn't stop until you were either too exhausted to stand or managed to show Stella something impressive.

"By the way you were running, you didn't manage to beat it?" Jasmine asked. After seeing Sam slowly shake his head, she clicked her tongue. "Go find another ditch to call home for the night."

"It stopped chasing me, though," Sam refuted.

"So you showed her something impressive?" Jasmine raised a brow.

"I guess so?"

"Mhm," Jasmine drummed her fingers, not believing him. "I still think you should go somewhere else. I was enjoying my alone time here in nature."

"You know as well as I do that Stella likes to drop rocks on people if she finds them sleeping," Sam said, rolling his eyes. "Let's work together to keep watch."

Jasmine sighed. That was a good point. "Fine. But you keep watch first—wait, something's coming."

They both tensed as an object whooshed over their heads. Rather than the expected being crafted from charred leaves, it was a parchment being controlled with telekinesis. It paused before Sam, and an ink-dipped quill began writing on it. At the top, a sentence was spelled out:

You did well, but here are some areas for improvement.

Sam let out a sigh of relief. "I think that means I'm safe for now."

The quill continued scratching words on the surface, and Jasmine noticed Sam's cheeks reddening with embarrassment as he was called out for all the dumb things he did when trying to fight. He wasn't the only one who had received this treatment. For the last three weeks, as dusk fell, parchments would find everyone.

Jasmine had already received hers and was deliberately sitting on it so Sam couldn't read it. However, Jasmine had no shame in leaning over and taking a peek at Sam's.

You still announce your attacks with too obvious body language. Try to use feints more often and attack from blind spots.

Your sword skills leave a lot to be desired—they remind me of a brute with no brains. Perhaps consider dropping the sword and focusing on another weapon or fighting purely with techniques.

The advice continued for a few more points until the quill gave up and the parchment fell into Sam's lap. He stared at it for a moment and grimaced. "Of course, my sword skills leave a lot to be desired compared to yours," he hissed through clenched teeth. "But I trained day and night—"

"So did I."

Sam paused and stared at Jasmine. "What are you talking about?"

"I used to train with my sword day and night."

Sam looked perplexed. "But you don't use a sword? You use a whip, no?"

"Exactly."

"Exactly what?"

Jasmine sighed. How was this boy so thick-headed? "I trained day and night and still sucked with the sword, so I switched to a whip. While the sword is the most common choice of weapon for cultivators, it's not ideal for everyone. Judging from Stella's feedback, you should pick something else."

Sam leaned back against the mud of the ditch in apparent contemplation, his face ever so slightly illuminated by the moonlight. "Drop the sword, huh. But then what weapon should I use? The princess claims I have too obvious body language, which I've tried to fix over these last few weeks, but I can't seem to."

"Have you thought of focusing more on techniques rather than weapon arts?"

Sam winced. "Cultivating and trying to decipher those techniques are so difficult and time-consuming, though. The only ones that made any sense were given by my master, but I can't use them yet—" he coughed and went silent.

"Master?"

"What?"

"You said you had a master?" Jasmine eyed him curiously. "Who is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sam said, looking like he was about to stand up.

Jasmine grabbed his shoulder and forced him to remain seated. She studied his shifting expression. "You're not delusional to think... Stella is your master, do you?"

"Heavens no," Sam said. "I have no master, really."

Jasmine narrowed her eyes. "I can help you get that medallion."

Sam paused. "You can?"

"Yeah," Jasmine nodded. "But the level of help I'll give is based on your answer. Who is your master?"

Even as she asked the question, she wondered why her words sounded so insistent. Perhaps it was her competitive side wanting to remain ahead of Sam at all times. The idea that he had picked up a mysterious master unnerved her.

"I can't say," Sam said, shaking his head. "All I can tell you is that he is short and very wise."

"Short and wise?" Jasmine repeated, her brows furrowing. What kind of useless hint was that?

"Now, the help with the medallion," Sam said, looking genuinely desperate. Out of everyone, he had probably charged into the area flooded with bloodlust the most, and she could tell from his expression that he had become deeply haunted by it. He almost seemed rabid. "Come on, Jasmine, you're the disciple of that demon. Surely you know something that can help me. Even an embarrassing story to make trudging through her bloodlust a little easier would be appreciated."

Jasmine frowned. "Your hint wasn't good enough for me to dare disclose such a thing about the Princess."

"People are going to die, Jasmine! Your Master is a psycho!" Sam hissed through clenched teeth. "Listen, I didn't mean that. But it's been three weeks already in this hell of a forest. Help me put an end to her tyranny."

Jasmine would usually refute such accusations against her Master. Yet, despite being pretty sure of her Master's true intentions, it was hard to deny the evidence that she was going too far when the forest was blanketed in enough bloodlust to fill an ocean. Even if one got the luxury of sleep, the bloodlust spawned nightmares.

Frankly, this was bordering on some level of torture, and she was also tired of it despite her usual resistance to Stella's training methods. It was time to put an end to this, not only for her sake but also for Stella's reputation among the elite disciples.

"Fine." Jasmine held out her hand. "But only if you agree to tell me who your master is once you have the medallion."

Sam stared at her hand for a long while, his expression troubled. Eventually, he shook her hand, albeit with a weak grasp. "You have a deal."

"Great," Jasmine said. "Now, although Stella is holding back tremendously, there are still many things that need to go right for my plan to work. But first of all, how good are you at holding your breath?"

"My breath?" Sam looked understandably confused.

"We can't beat her the normal way," Jasmine explained. "I've been studying her every move and how she approaches each situation. I think I've found a deliberate chink in her armor, and what we need to take advantage of it is a trap."

A trap that would frankly only work with the involvement of an earth cultivator, which is why she was willing to work with Sam in the first place.

The only question that remained was whether Stella's pride would allow her to be beaten.