Chapter 105: A Moral Dilemma

Elder Voidmind felt his peak stage Star Core burning in his chest as he desperately resisted the compressive force enveloping him. It was as though he was imprisoned within a collapsing pocket dimension, and the only thing preventing it from imploding into a singularity and obliterating him was the outward pressure exerted by his own Star Core.His sight and senses were completely eclipsed; his Qi was powerless against the crushing force, leaving him isolated in a void that felt so unfamiliar.

But then, all of a sudden, the collapsing realm shattered, and the Elder let out a gasp as he was enshrouded by spatial Qi. Although it wasn't as dense as his own Qi, enabling him to push back in spite of his drained Star Core, it was still almost suffocating.

After shouting some obscenities at his situation before quickly entering a meditative state honed over centuries, reaching out to the ever-present whispers of the void. To his relief, he detected faint traces of void Qi emanating from below and rapidly absorbed them.

***

Ashlock gazed down with his {Demonic Eye} at the Voidmind Elder inside him. The sensation was deeply unsettling, given that his entire body had transformed into his soul. Consequently, the Elder was essentially cultivating within his soul.

"Thank the heavens this bastard isn't a spatial affinity cultivator. Otherwise, he would cultivate me to death." Ashlock shuddered at the thought. But what was he supposed to do now?

Fortunately, the Elder seemed engrossed in cultivation, allowing Ashlock to switch his focus to the chaotic scene outside his trunk. Stella was frantically circling him while anxiously questioning Maple, the mystical squirrel of dubious origins resting atop her head.

Maple, wounded and exhausted, merely snorted in response. This seemed to be his usual state after performing a major technique, leading Ashlock to speculate suspiciously about the squirrel's true power level. It was as if he were a super powerful being trapped in a weak body that couldn't handle much of his true power... Ashlock felt like squinting suspiciously at the squirrel.

Now that he thought about it, there had been too many occasions where Maple's true strength had come into question, the last big one being the attack he had unleashed on the Dao Storm.

Even after what he had seen mere moments ago, Ashlock still found it hard to believe Maple could be that Worldwalker he had tried to summon years ago, as the system had claimed the summon failed. But the giant eldritch monster had shifted out of view at the last second, and then Maple appeared asking for a pact... there was no way they were the same monster, right?

"Maple, are you a Worldwalker?" Ashlock queried through their mental link. The squirrel merely glanced at him before closing his eye, falling back into slumber, "I know you can speak now, stop pretending!"

Alas, the squirrel remained as elusive as ever.

Meanwhile, Diana cast a worried glance at Ashlock's trunk. Eventually, she voiced her concern,

Stella halted, furrowing her brow.

Diana gestured towards Ashlock,

Stella mused, her gaze drifting to the damaged runic formation beneath her. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NovᴇlFɪre .ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Diana glanced around,

That was terrible news, as who knew how long the Voidmind family would continue to snoop around looking for their Elder.

Furthermore, Ashlock's Soul Core was nearly completely depleted. Just a thin layer of spatial Qi left on the inside of his trunk maintained his normal operations. If that was the volume of Qi he was stuck with until the Voidmind family gave up their search, he would be in big trouble.

Diana added,

Prompted by this, Ashlock felt compelled to inquire, 'How formidable is the Voidmind family?'

Stella relayed the query, and Diana responded, considering Stella's lack of insight into Blood Lotus Sect politics. Diana then gazed at the horizon beyond Darklight City,

So incredibly dangerous, then. The Voidmind Elder inside his trunk was already in the 9th stage of the Star Core realm, and his brother was supposedly a half step into the Nascent Soul Realm.

Ashlock's gaze fell upon Maple, the slumbering squirrel perched atop Stella's head. Without question, the squirrel was the most powerful among them. However, could he withstand two individuals of the Elder's caliber if they arrived? Unfortunately, Maple's lack of transparency about his true power made it hard to plan a defense around him.

Stella added,

This reminded Ashlock of another Voidmind individual he had encountered in Darklight City. The assistant who had been studying the demonic tree and had witnessed the Elder's hasty departure through the portal. "Shit." Ashlock cursed, "Shit shit shit. What should I do? She's the only loose end that could connect the Elder's disappearance to the demonic trees."

The fact Darklight City was so overrun with demonic trees and how they floated through portals was suspicious enough and already drew far too much attention. However, someone knowing with certainty that these trees were linked to Elder Voidmind's disappearance was a problem.

Ashlock hastily wrote, 'A woman from the Voidmind family witnessed the Elder enter one of my rifts at the academy. What should we do?'

As usual, Stella read it out loud. And while Diana mulled over his question, Stella answered,

Diana seemed taken aback,

Stella tilted her head as if looking at a fool,

Stella nodded with a smile,

Although Ashlock appreciated the kindness behind Stella's intentions, he wasn't certain that was a good way to go about things. He had no problems with killing anyone standing in front of him, waving a sword around, and threatening him, but preemptively dispatching assassins based on mere speculation seemed extreme and likely to complicate matters.

But then there was the flip side of how brutal this world was and how important it was for him to protect those around him. Unable to decide, he left Stella and Diana to argue it out.

Diana crossed her arms,

Stella retorted,

Diana exhaled a weary sigh.

Stella said.

Seeing Stella bite her bottom lip, Diana continued,

Seeing Stella frown, Diana offered a weary smile, Diana sighed,

Diana glanced at Ashlock,

Ashlock listened to Diana's lecture, and he had to agree. Given the emotional numbness induced by his new biology, it was crucial to establish boundaries to prevent becoming a murderous tyrant. Legitimate threats warranted elimination, but an innocent bystander? Perhaps not...

Stella objected.

Diana nodded,

Stella seemed at a loss,

Diana raised a hand, silencing Stella.

Ashlock flashed a leaf in agreement. He could already see where she was going with this.

Stella frowned deeply, her mind likely racing with thoughts.

Diana continued.

Stella grumbled,

Diana chuckled.

Both perspectives were valid. Stella's approach may lean toward paranoia and extremity, but Diana's solution bore its own risks. The Voidmind family specialized in void Qi, notorious for eradicating things from existence, making the woman's imprisonment challenging. And there was no way he planned to cram all the Voidmind family members inside his trunk.

Another issue loomed: who would be tasked with surveilling the assistant? He certainly didn't want to spend his day observing her, and his {Eye of the Tree God} couldn't penetrate the academy walls.

"Larry," Ashlock spoke through the tether to his pet.

Larry replied gruffly.

"Can you control those tiny ash spiders that spew from your mouth from a considerable distance?"

Diana and Stella turned curiously toward the colossal spider engaged in a one-sided conversation with Ashlock.

Larry thought momentarily before replying,

"I see..." Ashlock mused. "Could you employ them to spy on someone?"

Larry shook his enormous head.

"Despite their connection to you?"

Larry replied.

Diana whispered to Stella.

Stella grumbled,

Diana smiled. Water began to surround Diana's hand, and she reached up to her head.

Diana grabbed a few strands of Stella's long, flowing blonde hair stuck together with black blood.

Stella looked up as Diana calmly cleansed the blood with water conjured from the humid air, an action that seemed to dissipate Stella's anxiety.

Diana said with a whisper.

Stella huffed, blowing the hair strands out of her face,

With Stella's permission, Diana lowered her hands and stepped before Ashlock,

After deep consideration, Ashlock assessed the situation as a relatively low risk that would take some time to escalate. The Elder had gone through the portal merely half an hour ago. It would take the assistant several hours, if not days, to begin to worry, and he faced larger, more immediate concerns—like the Elder within his trunk who had just opened his eyes.

Flashing his leaf to show his agreement, he switched his view to his {Demonic Eye} and glared down at the Elder, who was looking straight up at him while engulfed in void flames.

***

Time passed, and the Elder finally opened his eyes with a sigh of relief. His Star Core's capacity was above its critical minimum, allowing it to generate enough void Qi passively to resist the spatial Qi of his new environment.

For now, he was safe. Yet a deep frown mirrored his chaotic thoughts. How had he survived an attack from a Worldwalker? They were demi-god beings that wandered the void and stopped void cultivators from freely traversing between the nine realms.

"Could it be realm suppression?" The Elder mused aloud. He had encountered references to it in the archives, explaining why those from higher realms rarely descended to lower ones—the lower realm would stifle their cultivation, and they would struggle to replenish lost Qi.

Shaking his head, he resolved that the wisest course of action was to secure his immediate surroundings before formulating a strategy for the Worldwalker. "Where in the nine realms am I?" Below him was sheer darkness, while around him cascaded waterfalls of spatial Qi, some flowing downwards, others rising. When he dared to look up, he saw... an eye that made his skin crawl.

"Am I inside that spirit tree?"

"Yes." An indescribable voice resonated, causing his entire body to quiver. It wasn't a word he directly comprehended. Instead, he sensed pure intent behind it. Soul speech, he concluded—one of the rarest forms of communication.

The Elder swallowed hard, attempting to suppress his excitement. He had just heard the utterance of a divine being trapped within a tree! And its eye was directly above him... ripe for the taking.