Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 510: Spreading the Curse

Stella massaged her skull as a headache brewed after sending out the last of her parchments and writing out her advice to the elite disciples. It had been a long few weeks, with today being the worst yet, marked by unrelenting coordinated attacks from the disciples, forcing her to remain on her guard at all times.

A normal lesson for a few hours twice a week would have been way easier than this. Just what were you thinking?! What kind of idiot would suggest a three-week-long battle with a bunch of weaklings? Stella sighed and looked up at the canopy of a tree. Moonlight shone through the rustling leaves in soft beams that danced around her.

"Oddly, restraining myself to this degree is far more tiring than letting myself go all out," she murmured to herself. "Every time they jump at me, my first instinct is to go for the kill." She glanced down and flexed her hand. "There have been one too many close calls where I almost pulverized or decapitated one of them because they caught me by surprise." Shaking her head, she sighed. "Hopefully, it's not too many more days until Elaine returns. It's been three weeks so far, plus the few days before the lesson started, so almost a month? I'm not sure of the Eternal Realm's current time dilation, but surely many months have passed for them by now? Wait... does that mean Elaine's twins have been born?"

Stella smiled. She was eager to meet them.

A calm wind blew by, carrying with it the stench of burning that tickled her nose. Amber and a few other members of the Redclaw family had been working together to relentlessly hurl fire at her and surround her in a blaze, restricting her movements. Of course, she could usually counter such a tactic by teleporting around, flying over it, or more. But the whole point of this exercise was to give them a chance, so she played along.

No teleporting, no flying, no checking the spiritual plane, and she greatly limited her spiritual sense. Her spiritual pressure was also nullified by her Phantom Veil Amulet to that of a mortal. Honestly, she felt she was being too easy on them. All she did was dodge or block with aether Qi and leak a fraction of her bloodlust—just to make her seem serious about killing them. It was going to be impossible to imitate the life-and-death struggles she went through as a child, but making the forest seem like a place that promised death was the best she could do.

The lack of monsters or wildlife willing to approach the area due to the bloodlust also made things too easy, so Stella had upped the stakes by creating beings of her own. They were nothing special, just some floating rocks and sticks, but without the help of the spatial plane, controlling them was a nightmare. Which meant good practice.

"While this hasn't been a waste of time, I'd like to enjoy a moment of rest," she clicked her tongue. "I swear if Elaine has a problem with what I did in her absence, I'm never offering to help again!"

A presence suddenly bore down on her from the sky, making her glance up.

"Come to check up on me, Dad?"

"Yeah. How are things? Have you killed anyone yet?" Ash asked in a joking tone.

Stella rolled her eyes. "Not that I know of."

"I see. Has anyone impressed you so far?"

"Impressed me? Mhm," she tilted her head, trying to think if any had. "They have all made tremendous progress, besides Jasmine, actually. I think she managed to figure out that the threat of death isn't real and thus hasn't been devoting herself to the lesson as much as the others. I think they can all feel the pressure of the end drawing near—I could see the fear in their eyes as they charged at me with everything they had today, and I have no doubts the attacks will continue into the night."

"Interesting. I never thought about how far one's body and mind will go to survive, but it makes sense. You and I went through so much to be here—horrors and battles that these elites will likely never have to face in their lifetimes."

Stella nodded. The only time these elites would see actual battle was if the Celestial Empire launched an all-out assault on the Ashfallen Sect, and in that case, a bunch of Star Core Realm and Soul Fire Realm teens weren't going to make a difference. Battles like that were fought and won by the true powerhouses.

Though this was still worth the effort in case she found a diamond in the rough that was worth investing a lot of resources into powering up into a future pillar of the sect.

With the Eternal Realm, anyone can be turned into a powerful cultivator quickly, such as myself. A month ago, Amber might have been able to land a hit even if I was using my full strength, as we were both in the Star Core Realm. However, now more than nine stages and a whole realm separate us, because I spent that month in the Eternal Realm, while she stayed here, attending lectures and slowly cultivating the ambient Qi. While perhaps not fair, there's a lot more besides the cultivation realm that separates Amber and me. She still has some growing up to do.

"I actually came here to update you on something."

"Oh?" Stella asked, her curiosity piqued. "What is it? Have you chosen your next General?"

"Yes, but I'll do that tomorrow, as I still need to gather a few more corpses. What I wanted to tell you about is the result of a conversation I've had with your mother."

"Mom?" Stella perked up. She snapped her fingers and surrounded herself with aether Qi, both to block her words and prevent anyone from interrupting her. If a fool got too close while she was busy discussing her mother, she couldn't guarantee their safety.

"Yeah, as Morrigan suggested during the founding of the Covenant, a forward assault on the Celestial Empire likely isn't possible. Not only is each member of their Council a Monarch Realm powerhouse, but we would be fighting far from home."

Stella remembered their brief delve into the beast tide aboard Moros. It was clear that the Ashfallen Sect wasn't able to display its full strength when fighting away from Ash.

"So we are going to approach this a little differently compared to how we have in the past. Slow and steady will be the key."

Stella didn't like the sound of that, as her mother was actively suffering, but she understood that storming the Celestial Empire wasn't exactly possible either—not without incurring many casualties.

"What did you have in mind?" Stella asked, curious.

"Our best bet is to cause as much internal strife as possible. According to your mother, she already unintentionally caused tension by starting to defy the Chairman who built and controls the grand formation that enslaves her soul."

"Why did she only start to defy him now?" Stella asked.

"Because defying the Chairman causes her pain, but she deemed it worth it as the beast tide led by Zephyrine was coming soon to wipe them out and free her."

"She should have killed them herself! You trees are too passive sometimes."

"Even in her own soul space, she can only bring forth a fraction of her strength due to the formation restricting her, and they are still Monarch Realm powerhouses with defensive items and more. She said she was powerless to fight them directly."

"What if we removed the formation?" Stella suggested. "Would my mom be able to wipe them out then?"

"Possibly, though the formation spreads throughout the entire Celestial Empire. Utterly destroying it isn't possible, but we can weaken it enough that your mother can overpower it. The only problem is that the Council needs to be fractured enough to not mount a collective defense when that happens and restrain her again."

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Stella slowly nodded, seeing the vision. "So that's where the Covenant comes in?"

"Yes, a few well-timed assassinations will fracture the Council. But I've come up with another idea."

"Go on," Stella said eagerly.

"We are going to taint the World Tree's golden sap with my Cursebloom Sap."

Stella's eyes widened. "That's... possible?" she asked in disbelief. "Isn't just one of my mother's roots a thousand miles across? Do you have that much sap to make a difference?" To Stella, it sounded like pouring out a wine bottle into an ocean and expecting the sea to dye red.

"It will be a slow process, but your mother retains control over the flow of her sap and Qi. It was how she could create the spiritual springs. Because of this, she can carry my cursed sap directly to the points in her trunk where her golden sap is harvested. We don't need to curse all of her sap, just the stuff being extracted."

"That's actually genius," Stella muttered, nodding to herself. "I like it. If their precious golden sap becomes tainted, they will try seeking out the source. If it somehow leads them to us, we will have the home advantage in a fight. Have you started yet?"

"Yeah, as of a few days ago. It shouldn't be long now until the cursed sap I'm sending reaches the Celestial Empire. It should line up nicely with the first wave of the beast tide being spotted on the horizon of their outer cities."

Stella blinked. The idea that it took days to move some sap through the World Tree's roots was a testament to her sheer scale.

"Okay, good, keep me posted." Stella felt giddy. One of the reasons she had wanted to help out after returning from the Eternal Realm was to distract her mind until the true battle against the Celestial Empire began.

"Will do. Oh, Morrigan wanted to know how her body was coming along and if you had found anyone suitable for the Covenant from among the elites you're training?"

Stella frowned. "Her body is in the works, but I've been quite preoccupied being hunted down to devote much thought to it. As for her question, whether anyone out of these elites is capable of joining the Covenant? I don't think so. They are all too pampered. The Covenant requires a specific type of person, one forged in the flames of tragedy and hatred."

"Doesn't that mean nobody in the sect is suitable?"

Stella pondered for a moment. "Maybe some people from Desolark City? They experienced the fall of the Nightrose family, and there's been a flood of people fleeing the now-destroyed Tainted Cloud Sect. I'm sure there are some people there harboring the right kind of hatred to become hardened assassins."

"I see, that's a good idea. I'll have someone take a look," Ash paused. "Switching topics, Ryker is one of the elites you're training, right? I've thought about sending him in next. How has he been?"

"Ryker? Don't bother. He's not participating like Jasmine. Well, that's not entirely true. I'll show you." Stella snapped her fingers to dispel the aether Qi and began walking through the forest. It was eerily silent for how many eyes were likely tracking her movements from the foliage. While she couldn't see them, as she deliberately toned down her spiritual senses even more during the night to add a deliberate weakness, her sixth sense was tingling.

Someone, or many people, were watching her movements. Yet she didn't care. Her mind was preoccupied with everything Ash had just told her. It was all too exciting.

Reaching a nearby clearing, Stella paused a fair distance from Ryker, who sat in a lotus position upon a rounded rock resembling a tortoiseshell. His silver hair shone in the moonlight as beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, and he seemed to tremble ever so slightly as Stella approached. All around his rock were piles of leaves and sticks, likely from Ryker destroying some of her wandering telekinetic creations.

"What is he doing?" Ash asked curiously.

"Cultivating a resistance to my bloodlust," Stella answered as the leaves crunched underfoot. At first, she had thought he was simply ignoring the whole game and focusing on his own cultivation, but that's when she noticed he had no metal nearby to draw Qi from, and he would always move to cultivate near her.

"Fascinating. I know Ryker is a cultivation prodigy and has already reached the Star Core Realm, despite being only five. Still, I suppose he hasn't experienced bloodlust before due to his pampered life as the seventh son of the Silverspire family and rarely fighting monsters."

Stella smirked and flared her bloodlust, making Ryker suddenly gasp and almost fall over backward. His eyes shot open, and he stared at Stella in panic.

"I've been checking on you almost daily, and it's been three weeks, yet you still haven't built a resistance to my bloodlust?" Stella said, genuinely surprised. "You really are a child."

Ryker's face was ashen, and he was trembling. "How could I possibly develop a resistance to your bloodlust?!" he yelled out, oddly loud as if genuinely upset about it. Tears began welling up in the corners of his eyes, and he sniffed. "I'm scared, big sis. You're terrifying!"

Stella stepped back, feeling panicked. Had she gone too far today with the flare of bloodlust? Why was Ryker reacting so strangely? Sure, a few weeks exposed to intense bloodlust would haunt anyone, but this was Ryker they were talking about. He should be stronger than this...

Her gaze softened.

While powerful, he is just a child, Stella thought as she dispelled her bloodlust and crouched to his height. Maybe I went too far... what?! Stella barely reacted in time to slap away two vines that had erupted from the ground out of seemingly nowhere. The sudden attack sent her mind and body into a panic. A foot came into view next, belonging to Ryker.

Stella glanced up to see Ryker's grinning face, which was nothing like his terrified one a second earlier, as he flew from the rock toward her. Everything was happening in a split second as her mind raced. Ryker hadn't been distressed? He was the bait? But for whom? Those vines had likely belonged to Jasmine, but she had managed to fend them off. In that case, was this kick from Ryker the main attack? If it landed, it would be game over.

She would lose.

Me lose? To such an obvious attack? That's ridiculous. How can I get out of this?

Stella was still crouched, putting her in an awkward position to dodge to the side, and she wouldn't be able to misdirect Ryker's kick without losing balance. Deciding up was the only way—the world returned to normal speed as she quickly leapt into the air like a frog and watched Ryker harmlessly fly foot-first below her and crash into the ground. Since it was a full-power kick from a Star Core Realm cultivator, the forest trembled as the leaves and sticks flew up alongside a plume of ash that had coated the forest from days of burning.

"Ryker, I'm impressed," Stella said as she landed back on the ground and eyed the boy through the dense cloud of ash, who was climbing out of the crater he had just formed. "For a moment there, you almost had me—" The ground beneath her suddenly caved in, and she ungraciously tumbled into a hollow space.

Another trap?! Before she could even blink, a dagger's razor edge was pressed against her neck from behind. The reason to why Stella hadn't noticed the attacker's presence below her became apparent when she realized the person had been encased inside the mud as the wall crumbled around her.

The attacker pulled on the blade as hard as they could, and after some struggling, they barely managed to break her skin.

Stella felt warm blood drip down her neck as moonlight shone into the hole and illuminated the face of the attacker who was looming over her. It was the young man she had kicked back through the portal on the first day. Mud-caked blonde hair and a perfectly ordinary-looking face greeted her—nothing special or memorable, like any other random gray pebble one would pass when walking through a forest.

"Is that you, Sam?" she asked, hesitant if she had remembered the boy's name correctly. For some reason, it kept escaping her. Was it because of how ordinary he looked?

"Believing you are untouchable is what gives you the arrogance to overlook those beneath you," Sam hissed through clenched teeth and pushed on the blade harder. "Now, I've won."

"Impressive," Stella said. Without taking her eyes off Sam, she finally stopped holding back and flooded the entire area with her aether Qi. The ground for a hundred meters cracked and rose as she, alongside Sam, ascended out of the hole. Without lifting a finger, she pushed the blade and Sam's arm away and created distance. Running a finger along the paper-thin cut on her neck, she confirmed she was bleeding.

She had been injured by someone in the Soul Fire Realm, no less. Ryker stood on one of the floating pieces of the forest she had risen with telekinesis, as did Jasmine. The three of them had worked together, and after three weeks, had bested her.

"You both made me think you weren't trying," Stella said, frowning as she looked between Jasmine and Ryker. "And you," she focused on Sam, "I like that look in your eyes."

Despite Sam's ordinary appearance in every way, even after being disarmed and facing her true strength, he still had a hardened gaze and was seething with bloodlust. In fact, she was surprised she hadn't felt his bloodlust before.

"I don't need your praise," Sam said. "Just admit I won."

Stella clenched her jaw. "Yes, you won. The cut on my neck is proof."

His muscles strained as he barely managed to uncurl his hand despite her telekinesis. "The medallion."

Stella appraised Sam for a moment. "Do you hate me?"

Sam instantly changed, as if a switch had flipped in his brain. That aura of a hardened killer thirsting for her death vanished, and the expression of a scared teen replaced it, changing his entire demeanor. "No, of course not. You did all this for our benefit. How could I hate you for that?"

Stella felt... creeped out. The difference between the two was too stark. With a sigh, she floated over the medallion and set it in his hand. "I suppose a deal is a deal. There it is." Dispelling her telekinesis, she put everybody back on the ground. "Tell everyone to return through the portal back to Red Vine Peak. Class is dismissed."

"Wait, Grand Elder Stella."

"Mhm?" Stella glanced at Sam. "What is it?"

"When can I use this?" he asked, holding up the medallion.

"Good question—"

"Stella!" Ash suddenly said excitedly in her mind. "Elaine has returned!"

"Sorry, Sam. I have to go, ask Elaine in your next class!" Stella said excitedly and took off, leaving the hellish forest she had spent the last three weeks in behind, and shed a silent tear.

There was no more need for lessons.

Elaine was back!