Chapter 413: Fight Monsters with Monsters

"Douglas, don't just stand there," Ashlock spoke into the man's mind, breaking him from a daze, "You aren't good at fighting. This isn't the place for you."

"I'm sorry, Boss." Douglas's shoulders slumped, and he looked angry with himself. "You invested so many resources into me, but I couldn't win against a few beasts despite having the ground advantage. I failed you."

"No, don't feel bad. Your cultivation may have rapidly increased due to my assistance. But I always demanded your time and focus toward building projects instead of giving you time to hone and master new techniques befitting of your newfound strength." Ashlock sighed, "This is my fault, but at the same time, the Ashfallen Sect already has plenty of powerhouses capable of fighting, but only you can manage the Mudcloaks to build things so quickly. I don't need you to be good at fighting. Let us handle that."

Ashlock opened a rift that led back to Ashfallen City beside him.

Douglas eyed it with a hint of defeat on his face. In a world where might made right, being sent off a battlefield would be seen as a great dishonor. But Ashlock had no intention of letting his prized builder die trying to fight off some weak monsters.

To encourage him to go, Ashlock used telekinesis to float the half-dead body of some earth cultivator he had seen Douglas fighting with through the rift. Douglas's eyes followed the man, and he stared at him through the rift with a look of resignation.

"Go now. That new city won't build itself."

Douglas clenched his fists at his sides before relaxing. He looked away from the rift and toward the pillar of divine flame looming over the wall. "Boss, thank you for your insightful words and timely assistance." He bowed slightly. "Please evacuate the Mudcloaks and any other earth cultivators from this border, too. I will need all of their assistance."

"Consider it done."

"Thank you," Douglas said. He gave the darkened skies of the incoming beast tide one last look before returning to safety. The portal snapped closed behind him, leaving Stella alone on the wall.

Her eyes were closed, and she was lightly humming to herself as she orchestrated a massacre. A storm of swords wreathed in aether flames that seemed to carve through reality slaughtered hordes of these weak lizards. Ashlock almost felt bad for the monsters as they didn't even have time to react—the moment they emerged from the storm and before his desolation Qi could begin to decay them, a sword had already punctured a gory hole through their heads.

Ashlock watched the performance for a while and felt quite proud.

"Stella is a perfect example of someone whose cultivation I helped elevate, but instead of falling behind, her skills and techniques actually surpassed her cultivation level. Her understanding of aether affinity is profound, and her level of control over her Qi is a sight to see."

Of course, Stella was a unique case. Her ancient bloodline gave her access to the past knowledge of her ancestors and the ability to focus to an inhuman degree.

While Douglas had been held back by the tasks assigned to him, Stella had every advantage possible: a bloodline, resources, free time to practice, teachings from people stronger than her, and more. While privileged, she didn't squander the opportunity given to her and made the most of what he could provide.

"It's interesting to compare her to others in the sect." Ashlock mused. "I mean, just think of the Redclaw Elders. Heart demons prevented them from advancing their cultivation for decades or maybe centuries. I noticed Grand Elder Redclaw has managed to keep up his techniques despite rising many stages in the Star Core Realm, but I suppose that makes sense. His mastery of his techniques would have been beyond his cultivation stage as he had a lot of time to hone his techniques because he couldn't advance his cultivation."

Ashlock paused his line of thoughts to open portals across the wall so the Mudcloaks could escape to Ashfallen City. The monsters were being dealt with, so he simply sat back to observe while thinking to himself. A bad habit he had developed, but when doing things on such a large scale, he sometimes found himself a bit trapped in his own head.

"Where was I? Ah, yes, comparing the talents in the sect. Now that I think about it, Diana would likely be the best example of someone who made good use of the boons I've provided. While she consistently lags behind Stella despite having a higher starting level of cultivation, she doesn't have the advantage of a knowledge-boosting bloodline."

There was also Jasmine, who seemed to be progressing well, though she was nothing compared to that Silverspire kid who was already at the Star Core Realm.

"That kid is a terrifying talent. That reminds me that I need to call on some allies, such as the Silverspires, to assist me when the beast tide starts to ramp up. This is still the beginner stage, so it's easy to deal with, but I doubt it will stay like this."

Ashlock paused as the last of the Mudcloaks escaped, and he began closing portals. After spreading out his spiritual senses to ensure that all the earth cultivators had gotten out, he quickly checked his status screen to confirm something.

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3660

Daily Credit: 4

Sacrifice Credit: 265

[Sign in?]

[Demonic Demi-Divine Tree (Age: 10)]

[Nascent Soul Realm: 5th Stage]

[Soul Type: Nine Moons(Desolation)]

[Mutations...]

{Evil Eye [A]}

{Cursed Sap [B]}

[Summons...]

{Netherwood Wraith: Nox [Mythical]}

{Harbinger of the Eternal Ash: Larry [SS]}

{Midnight Ink Lindwyrm: Kaida [B]}

[Soul Weapons...]

{The Sword of New Beginnings [?]}

[Skills...]

{Skyborne Bastion [SSS]}

{Necroflora Sovereign [SS]}

{Divine Cycle of Creation and Ruin [SS]}

{Mystic Realm [S]} [Locked until day: 3662]

{Progeny Dominion [S]}

{Dimensional Overlap [S]}

{Nocturnal Genesis [S]}

{Ethereal Roots [S]}

{Voidstorm Aegis [S]}

{Dao Fruit Production [S]}

{Eye of the Tree God [A]}

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

{Abyssal Whispers [A]}

{Magic Mushroom Production [A]}

{Abyssal Devourer [A]}

{Soul Fortress [A]}

{Blooming Root Flower Production [B]}

{Language of the World [B]}

{Fire Qi Protection [B]}

{Superior Poison Resistance [C]}

"As I thought. Since I was asleep for a week, there are only two days until the Mystic Realm opens up again. With the time dilation and all my resources, I might be able to power level a few more people within my sect to a level where they can help against monsters of this level. What was her name... Amber? She seemed promising. Also, Tartarus should be set up by now, but with Nox focusing on keeping her alter ego Nyxalia under control somewhere, that might have to be put on hold for now."

Ashlock dismissed the system's golden words floating in his consciousness and focused back on the grand battle... or should he say, one-sided slaughter. Even without his input, besides telling his Bastions to open fire and coat the sky in their storms, he might have overreacted with the forces he had brought. The monsters couldn't even leave the storm without being butchered.

The term 'spawn camping' came to mind. Stella and the Bastions were simply a whole realm above these grunts that the beast tide was sending their way.

"Stella has this area locked down. I wonder how the rest of the wall is fairing." He could still hear the horns blaring down the wall in both directions, but it seemed oddly empty with all the Mudcloaks now gone.

"Let's check on Diana first."

She was a few miles down the wall to the east in her demoness form. She glided along the edge of the storm like a grim reaper. When a group of monsters emerged from the storm, she would dive bomb down and, with a swipe of her Qi-wreathed nails, tear them to bloody shreds that fell to the wasteland below like fleshy hail.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the wall, Sol was zapping the emerging monsters with light beams. Each beast lasted a few seconds as its cloak of darkness melted away, followed by their bodies exploding from the heat like bloody popcorn. They would try to soar toward Sol to take him out, but the desolation Qi would reduce them to weaklings that didn't last a second against the Ent's eight arms that could shoot out light in all directions.

"What a terrible matchup for these poor monsters. They are all mostly in the Soul Fire Realm with shadow affinity, while Sol is in the 9th stage of the Star Core Realm with light affinity." Ashlock returned to where Stella was. There were far more monsters here than the areas that Sol and Diana were holding. "I wonder why? Without this darn storm, I would better understand what we are facing. Speaking of, are my new Ents done?"

He had dragged some of the corpses to the tree he had overtaken with {Progeny Dominion [S]} before they were disintegrated and had used {Necroflora Sovereign [SS]} on them. Since they were all weaklings in the Soul Fire Realm, they weren't even worth eating for credits or Qi.

"Can these even fly?" Ashlock mused as he looked at the small horde of Ents gathered around the tree and hanging from the wall. They looked like vaguely humanoid wyverns made of twisted strands of purple wood. None of them exactly inspired awe or terror. They had been crafted from grunts, and since he hadn't wasted Qi to shape their outcome, they looked like... well, grunts. But that's precisely what he needed. Cannon fodder made from the corpses of the fallen that he could send right back at his foes without care for their survival.

"Take to the skies and attack any monsters you see," Ashlock instructed the group of Ents. He had discovered through many uses of Necroflora Sovereign that an Ent's intelligence depended on the corpse it was made from and its cultivation level. Monsters were usually dumber than humans, and weaker monsters even more so. Luckily, Ashlock didn't need these wooden wyverns to do anything that complicated, just fly and attack.

In unison, the dozen or so purple wyverns looked to the skies and fanned out their wings. To Ashlock's surprise, they actually had wings made from what appeared to be a thin black paper that almost looked like skin suspended between branches. Shadow erupted from their bodies, coating them in a dark haze before they jumped up into the sky. For a moment, Ashlock half expected them to fall back to the ground, but with a flap of their darkness-coated wings, they remained airborne.

"Ents that can fly, who would have known." Ashlock realized this was the first time he had made Ents with wings.

"Stella, relax for now," Ashlock spoke into his adopted daughter's mind.

Her eyes opened, and she pouted, "Why? I was having fun."

"There's no reason to burn so much Qi killing these weaklings for fun. The objective of saving Douglas and the Mudcloaks has been completed."

Stella crossed her arms in protest, "This is hardly burning much Qi. I'm just dragging a few swords in and out of the aether, and the heads of a few monsters happen to be in the way. Also, due to the knowledge I gained from Valandor regarding the aether affinity and my perfect spirit roots, my Qi usage is super efficient—"

"Okay, okay." Ashlock interrupted her protests, "The real reason is I want to test my new Ents, and you are killing the enemies too fast."

"Oh," Stella blinked, "My bad."

She recalled all her swords from the battlefield and stored them back in her spatial rings. Squinting, she looked up to the skies and pointed, "Are those your new Ents?"

"Yeah, I made them just now."

Stella vaulted onto a nearby battlement and perched on it like an owl as she observed from afar. "They seem kinda weak, and their movements are really telegraphed."

"Ents will never be as strong as the corpse from which they were created unless I invest a lot of Qi into their creation to shape their direction. These are grunts, and I want to see how they compare."

"They will lose without a doubt," Stella declared.

"You really think so? I was interested to see if the fact they are made of wood instead of flesh and bone would give them an advantage."

"Pfft, not a chance," Stella raised her hand and flexed her fingers, ending in nails wreathed in white flames, "The only good part of these monsters is their speed and sharp claws. Neither of which your Ents have. Due to being made of wood, it seems the death seed thing warped them into more bulky and slow versions."

"I see... oh, here's a group now. Let's see if you're correct." Ashlock didn't give the Ents any further instructions or help. If he were to fight the beast tide on the scale it required of him, he simply didn't have the attention span to micromanage so many Ents. He wanted to see how they would fare independently with no further guidance.

The smaller group of monsters that soared out of the storm didn't immediately notice the Ents above them. Their focus seemed to be on the wasteland below and the desolation Qi that began to eat away at the shadows coating them. Yet curiously, they only seemed to press onwards despite noticing the danger.

"They must be flying away from stronger beasts lurking behind them in the storm. Such is the nature of the beast tide. The only path for the weaker monsters is forward, and whether they like it or not, they are used as a stone to dull the blades of those foolish enough to stand in the tide's way. Which just so happens to be me."

As their shadows faded and the desolation Qi began to eat at their flesh, the Ents diving down toward them grabbed the monsters' attention. They let out a roar before hastily dispersing, causing the slower-moving Ents to miss their mark.

The Ents were encircled by monsters, who cautiously observed these strange new enemies. As the Ents' orders were to fly and attack monsters, the Ents didn't waste time and went after the dispersed beasts. Since their numbers were greater, some Ents went after the same monster and got in each other's way.

The monsters effortlessly out-maneuvered the slower Ents in the air, getting behind them and landing on their backs. As Ashlock had predicted, the Ents' stronger wooden body proved quite resistant to their claws, so the monsters resorted to tearing off their wings.

"See? They are being toyed with by the monsters," Stella shook her head in disappointment.

"Maybe, but there's something you're forgetting."

Stella tilted her head, "Huh? From what I see, this is a total loss."

Most of the Ents plummeted to the ground, and the monsters tearing at their backs crashed into the wasteland, sending up a plume of dirt.

"You're forgetting these Ents are disposable, but most importantly, as my creations, they aren't affected by my desolation Qi." Ashlock chuckled, "The Ents never had to win."

Stella's eyes widened, "They just had to last long enough."

As if detecting something was alive, the black mist of his desolation Qi erupted from the cracked earth and engulfed the monsters. Having already erased their shadow protection, their bodies didn't last long when they were so close to the wasteland.

"Good, the monsters are downed. But I need to find a way to capitalize on their victory." Ashlock noticed the few Ents that had survived. They were still flying and gave him an idea. "New orders. Your job is to patrol along this storm. If you encounter monsters, you are to fight them to the ground. Once they are weakened enough from my desolation Qi, bring them to Willow."

The Ents let out a cry of acknowledgment before diving down to pick up the half-decayed corpses. Unfortunately, the bodies were likely to make weaker Ents because of the decay, but it didn't matter. With this new strategy, they didn't need to be strong in the first place. Just good enough to distract the monsters long enough for the desolation to finish them off.

He left the half-dead wingless Ents on the ground. They weren't worth the Qi to repair and could serve as ground forces to slow other monsters.

Returning his attention to the sky, he watched as the Ents flew up to Willow, who was looming overhead, and phased through the Bastion's spatial shield. Dropping the corpses off, he felt Willow's confusion through the root network.

"Willow, your job is to maintain a portal and float corpses through it to me on the ground so I can turn them into Ents," Ashlock explained. He had played with the idea of switching his {Progeny Dominion [S]} target to one of his Bastions but he could do so tomorrow. It wasn't worth the soul damage, and this would be a long war.

Willow opened the portal but seemed worried and... a little hungry.

"Don't worry, Willow, I know they are still alive. That's what Khaos—" the four-armed void Ent appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the monsters in the head, killing them "—is here for. Feel free to take a corpse or two for yourself as a snack."

Willow sent a wave of happiness and got to work. His trunk became wreathed in spatial flames, and the corpses began to levitate with telekinesis. One was moved to be beside his roots and began to slowly dissolve into the floor. The others were floated through the portal to Ashlock's progeny as instructed, where he would turn them into Ents.

Back on the ground, Ashlock got to work creating a new army before turning his attention to the surrounding forest of offspring. With his newfound SS grade cultivation technique {Divine Cycle of Creation and Ruin}, he had some trees to start powerleveling.

"Stella, get those spirit stones ready. I'm going to need them."