Chapter 451: Converse with Monsters

[Progeny selected: Initiating soul transfer...]

A fragment of Ashlock's immense soul traversed through his ethereal root network and embedded itself in his chosen offspring. "Huh, you use water Qi?" He said to the progeny as he looked at the ocean-blue soul floating in the trunk next to his fragment. The soul pulsed happily in response. "A water-wielding demonic tree—if you learn to imbue poison or my desolation Qi into your attacks, that could be quite devastating."

His offspring took his words to heart, and it seemed to pulse softly, as if deep in thought.

"I'll help you practice on these monsters," Ashlock said, returning his focus to beyond the tree. The wyverns and drake were eying the offspring that was now glowing with a golden hue with understandable unease. Only the fire wyvern seemed smart enough to try and flee.

"Abyssal Maw," Ashlock said, activating his new S-grade skill. A hundred sacrificial credits vanished, and the void answered his call. With his progeny as the epicenter, a gaping maw to the abyss rapidly expanded outwards as if the world itself was falling into the darkness. The Hungering Maw was like an unstoppable surge compared to the usual void lake that expanded outward at a normal human running speed. Within a few seconds, it had enveloped the group of monsters. The maw rotated like a void whirlpool of tendrils and black vines hungering for flesh.

Even the prideful monsters could tell now was the time to flee. The fire wyvern had been right—they should have feared the trees but not for the reason they initially anticipated. No, it was far worse. With a desperate roar, they all turned in unison and ran.

"Can't let them get away now, can we?" Ashlock mused as he flexed his soul pressure imbued with the weight of his Inner World. Recently, he had been trying to suppress beings far above his level with his soul pressure, so it had felt lackluster.

But against these low to mid-stage Star Core Realm monsters? He might as well have dropped a spiritual mountain on their heads—crushing them like the bugs they were compared to him. The fire wyvern that had taken the initiative to flee before the others and been mid-flight was violently pulled down to the ground, making the beast eat a face full of dirt. He wasn't the only one—every wyvern was unable to even raise their heads under the might of his soul pressure.

The silver drake was trembling yet managed to remain standing. While Ashlock respected the drake's tenacity, the Abyssal Maw skill cost a hundred sacrificial credits a minute, so he wanted to end this quickly.

"A silver aura like that suggests he uses metal Qi, but he mentioned being in service to Mistress Nymeria, who in turn was the daughter of some Celestial Star Dragon, so this drake might have cosmic affinity—which means possible access to teleportation."

The intense Qi storm around him greatly limited his spiritual senses, making it nearly impossible to deduce one's affinity simply by looking. He would need to look with his Evil Eye to be sure, but that was a waste of time.

Besides, if the drake did have cosmic Qi, that made him the perfect target to test the Hungering Maw's unique effect of preventing teleportation, however, for that effect to work, the target had to be cursed. There was already Curseboom Sap miasma in the air from the fire wyvern's earlier attack, so Ashlock hatched a plan to use its tendency to go after injuries.

Ashlock's soul fragment pulsed, and the air bent and warped as he unleashed a wave of Desolation Blades at the drake. The silver-scaled monster reacted in time by flaring its Star Core and coating its skin in demonic Qi. Unfortunately for the drake, the Desolation Blades also carried the weight of Ashlock's Inner World and were infused with demonic dao.

While he had a weak comprehension of demonic dao, the poor drake stood no chance. The wave of Desolation Blades tore through the storm and smashed into the drake, knocking it clean off its feet and leaving multiple deep gashes in its left flank and down its neck. The monster groaned and tried to get back up, but the wounds were too severe. It swiveled its head to look at the tree, and its eyes widened as the miasma surged toward it and into the wounds.

The silver drake roared with pain and helplessness as the Cursebloom Sap infected its body and corrupted its spirit roots. The sheen protecting its body flickered like a dying candle flame. A moment later, he could feel that the curse had marked the drake, and the Hungering Maw reacted instantly. Innumerable vines and void tendrils shot out from the abyss and impaled the drake—it died instantly, and the corpse was dragged down into the abyss.

Still pinned down by his immense soul pressure, the surrounding wyverns let out confused and terrified roars. They were likely shouting out to one another, but it was so chaotic Ashlock couldn't pin down any particular words.

[+73 SC]

Watching the scene unfold, Ashlock realized a slight issue with his experiment. The Cursebloom Sap corrupted spirit roots, preventing the flow of Qi. So, if he were to use his sap to mark a target, they wouldn't be able to teleport away regardless of whether the Hungering Maw was there or not.

"A shame, but it's hard to argue with how effective this skill is." Ashlock mused as he switched targets. It was time to wrap this up.

"Oh, great tree!" One of the wyverns snarled out—far louder and clearer than the others. While that caught Ashlock's interest, as he hadn't expected one of the wyverns to try and speak to him, he was on a time limit.

He mentally marked all the wyverns for his Hungering Maw skill—except the one that had called out to him. The response was instant; vines and tendrils shot out from the abyss, killing all the market wyverns in an even more efficient and brutal fashion than the drake before them. Due to the wyvern's weaker bodies, some were torn apart in the process, and what was left of them was dragged into the darkness below.

[+184 SC]

The inflow of credits was also faster than he was used to. It was as if the bodies were devoured instantly. Another thing he noticed was how the Hungering Maw grew in size from each corpse it ate, and now his progeny looked relatively small compared to the swirling abyss surrounding it. All that remained was the one trembling wyvern that had called out to him and his other offspring in the area.

"257 credits in total, so the skill paid for itself. Not too shabby." Ashlock mused as he recalled the skill before it charged him another hundred credits. While this specific usage of the skill had been profitable, that wouldn't always be the case. All the monsters had fled the area, so he would have to use telekinesis to drag them into the abyss or perhaps have Ents shepherd monsters toward the maw. But even then, this group of wyverns had been a lucky find. Almost all the other monsters were in the Soul Fire Realm for now.

As the Abyssal Maw closed, Ashlock had Anubis—his Nascent Soul Realm shadow lich Ent—step out of the darkness. He also released his spiritual pressure on the fire wyvern and was impressed that it had the intelligence to remain put and not attempt to flee.

The wyvern narrowed its reptilian eyes at the shadow lich and snarled, "Are you with the tree?"

Ashlock spoke through Anubis, as speaking directly into the wyvern's mind would likely liquify it.

"Yes, I'm the spokesperson for the great spirit tree."

The wyvern shook its large head, "I don't understand anything but the common beast tongue and a little draconic."

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Ashlock hardly understood what the wyvern was saying, but it seemed there was a severe communication barrier. He spoke in the ancient runic language, which didn't seem to be one the wyvern could understand. Opening his system window, he saw a skill he hadn't so much as looked at since he got it.

"System, tell me about my {Language of the World [B]} skill."

[It allows you to understand the basics of every common language but not write them. As you listen to a language, you quickly gain fluency, even in languages not covered by the skill]

"It's basically a listening comprehension skill. Even if I fluently understand a language, I cannot write or speak it by relying on this skill. That's been fine until now, as I had everyone learn to understand the ancient runic language, which I can write. I could also speak telepathically using soul speech, which isn't a language but raw intent. If I want to talk to monsters without frying their brains with Abyssal Whispers, I will have to upgrade the skill."

The wyvern was getting increasingly uneasy being stared down by the unspeaking shadow lich, so Ashlock went ahead.

"System, upgrade my language skill."

[Sign in successful, 724 credits consumed...]

[Upgraded {Language of the World [B]} -> {Language of the Eldertree [A]}]

[You now not only understand every spoken and written language—be it human, beast, spirit, or ancient forgotten tongue—but can also speak, write, transcribe, and create new dialects. This includes deciphering runes, understanding divine scripts, and detecting falsehoods in sacred contracts or cursed glyphs. Whether rustled through your leaves or projected telepathically, your words now carry an aura of understanding, allowing even the dullest beings to grasp your meaning. As a passive skill, your offspring also inherit this skill]

While not an offensive or defensive skill, it was certainly worth the upgrade. In fact, reading over the description, Ashlock was a little annoyed he hadn't upgraded it sooner. Though to be fair, this was the first time he had so many credits to spend, and all previous upgrades had been vital to his survival.

"Pardon me, let's try this again," Ashlock said through Anubis and was taken aback by the beastly snarls coming out of his Ent. "Do you understand me now?"

The wyvern nodded, "I understand you perfectly."

"That makes two of us," Ashlock muttered to himself. The snarls coming from the wyvern sounded like his first language now. The contrast between before and now was stark.

"Excellent, my name is Anubis, servant of the great spirit tree." Ashlock had the lich give a slight but respectful bow. There was something about a higher existence bowing to a lower one on account of their overlord's order that was a true power play—one the wyvern seemed to understand.

"My name is Ignarok," the wyvern bowed his head in an almost practiced manner. Something Ashlock hadn't expected from a monster.

"Ignarok, would you prefer we converse in the common beast tongue or draconic?"

"Common tongue," Ignarok snarled in response, "I learned enough draconic to converse with the dragons and not be killed, but I am far from fluent."

"What do you mean by that?" Ashlock questioned, which earned a strange response from the wyvern.

"The dragons consider the common beast tongue too primitive for their ears. If you wish to speak with one, they consider anything but draconic to be an insult."

The wyvern paused, "Except Mistress Nymeria, she is more reasonable. While proud of her dragon lineage, she understands that draconic is the hardest language to master, so she allows the common language to be spoken in her presence."

That was an interesting piece of information. If he ever encountered a dragon in the future and wanted to be on its good side, he would open the conversation in draconic—a language he could now speak.

"I've never heard of this Mistress Nymeria before. Who is she?" Ashlock asked.

He would question why Ignarok had called out to him in the first place, but he had too many questions for now. The monsters seemed far more advanced than he had anticipated. He knew monsters gained sentience at the Star Core Realm and further developed intellect as their cultivation increased, but they almost sounded... humanlike. Which meant the possibility of negotiations but also that they were far more dangerous.

A dumb being, no matter how powerful, could be fooled into defeat. But if the waves of beasts became not only more powerful but also more intelligent? Then he was in trouble.

"Mistress Nymeria is a dragonkin born between the great Lord Celestial Star Dragon Astralis and a human," Ignarok said with reverence in his voice. It was clear he respected Nymeria greatly.

There was a lot to unpack here. Not only did this suggest that some humans—likely cultivators—had close interactions with monsters, but they also had children together.

Ashlock decided to tackle the easier one first. "Who is Astralis?"

"One of the Primal Overlords," Ignarok responded without missing a beat.

"And a Primal Overlord is..." Ashlock felt like this would be an endless Q&A at this rate.

"The apex of each monster species. Astralis is the strongest of the dragons and has ruled over all wyverns, drakes, and dragons for as long as any of us can remember."

"Is he the one who made this storm?"

Ignarok shook his head, "It's likely made by Zephyrine, the one who rules over the Primal Overlords."

"How strong is this Zephyrine?"

The fire wyvern thought for a moment, "At least the Monarch Realm, but it's hard to tell. Even the true strength of Astralis is unknown, and very few interact with Primal Overlords and survive. Even Mistress Nymeria was thrown through a wall and almost killed the last time she spoke to Astralis."

"I see," Ashlock said. If anything, that description of Astralis just raised another question. How did a human get close enough to him to have a child? "Is it normal for a dragon to impregnate humans?" Ashlock couldn't help but ask.

"No," Ignarok said with certainty, "I heard that was a special case."

"How so?"

"The human woman was stronger than Astralis and beat him into submission—or at least that's the story the other Primal Overlords claim. Meanwhile, Astralis says that's false and that the woman was a goddess."

Ignarok snorted a puff of fire in apparent amusement, "It's a whole mess that Mistress Nymeria doesn't like to discuss."

Ashlock had Anubis raise a finger in contention but then dropped it. This wasn't a conversation rabbit hole worth going down.

"Right," clapping Anubis's hands, he retook control of the conversation, "Why did you call out to me?"

"I wanted to live." Ignarok groveled, "Also, I think you should meet with Mistress Nymeria."

"Maybe I can let you live if you can set up a meeting between us." Ashlock was initially cautious of letting information about himself leave the area after his experiments, especially considering Abyssal Maw was supposed to be his trump card. But he wanted to speak with Nymeria now.

"Yes," Ignarok nodded, "It will take a while for me to fetch her, but it is possible."

"Can't you call out to her with a communication jade and stay here?"

Ignarok looked at him with confusion, "What's a communication jade?"

Ashlock created a tear in space leading to his inventory, and Anubis reached into the tear and pulled out a long-range communication jade. Walking forward, Anubis held out the jade for the wyvern.

"Give this to Mistress Nymeria. She can use it to contact me." Ashlock said. Since she was half-human, she could likely use artifacts designed for humans.

The wyvern took the tiny stone in its claw.

"If not, you can approach one of the demonic spirit trees and ask them to contact me," Ashlock added, just in case Nymeria was less human than he thought and could not work the artifact. He would hate to miss out on this conversation.

Ignarok gave the offspring his soul fragment was inhabiting an odd look but eventually nodded in agreement. "Okay," he snarled, "I will make sure the two of you meet."

"Then you can go," Ashlock dismissed the wyvern. With an appreciative bow of his head, Ignarok took the skies and disappeared into the storm. Ashlock waited around until morning but didn't hear anything. He entertained himself by teaching his offspring how to infuse a water cannon technique with his desolation Qi, which proved incredibly effective at blasting random monsters in the face that drew too close—much to his offspring's apparent amusement.

While his new language skill claimed his offspring could speak, that wasn't quite true. They didn't know any telepathy skills or techniques. But the skill description had clued him in on a potential solution. It said he could make new dialects and communicate by rustling his leaves. All he had to do was invent a new language that trees could understand.

"Darn. Maybe I should have injected some Cursebloom Sap into Ignarok to ensure his loyalty—never mind, the curse is too potent now. He would have turned into a tree mid-air before making it a few miles." Ashlock grumbled as he withdrew his soul connection from his offspring.

It was now morning.

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3672

Daily Credit: 14

Sacrifice Credit: 1024

[Sign in?]

Ashlock decided to save his credits for now. As it was a new day and everyone had gotten some rest, it was time for Moros and his sect to visit the Silverspire family and retrieve his sword. He returned to his lands, only to find out the battle he had left them to had turned into something far more.