Chapter 473: A Chat Between Siblings

"But first, I want to ensure we can speak alone," Stella said, clicking her fingers. Her Star Core roared to life, and aether Qi erupted out of her in all directions, engulfing her surroundings and pulling herself and the projection into the aether.

Janus smiled. "My little sister is smarter than I thought."

Stella ignored him as she ensured her little bubble of aether Qi was as secure as possible. "Of course, I'd take such precautions. While I don't think the Celestial Warden is necessarily an enemy of mine, I don't trust him either. He feels way too accommodating toward those he can benefit from to be trustworthy."

"That's true... That's why I sent such a short and simple message last time instead of a face-to-face call. Since you're calling me like this, I assume you somehow escaped from the Celestial Empire?"

Stella slowly nodded, "Not quite. My father scared them off for me, so I'm not on the run, but we haven't fully got them off our tail either."

"Wait... father?" Janus raised a brow. "I'm sorry to break the news to you Sis, but we don't have a Father—"

"—We were made, I know," Stella said, cutting him off. "Mother told me."

"Mother—what?! You spoke to her?"

Stella nodded. "Yeah, Father managed to speak to the fragment of her soul that's in her Inner World, and we had a conversation. Before that, she was endlessly begging for help through the leylines from you, me, and Zephyrine."

Janus slowly nodded, "I suppose it makes sense for her to be calling out to her children for help."

It was Stella's turn to be confused. "Zephyrine is also her child?"

Janus nodded, "She is our older sibling, the first one made during the experiments and considered a failure by the Celestial Empire because she turned out to be a monster. She was locked away for centuries until Mother finally helped her escape—something she paid dearly for."

"Mother paid dearly?"

"Mhm," Janus nodded, "Mother has always been more passive, but she finally reached a breaking point and flexed some of her power to save Zephyrine. While she managed to free her first child, the Celestial Empire answered in kind by doubling the containment formations and torturing her soul. Since the containment formations are engraved into her, the more she fights them, the stronger they become."

Stella felt her heart twist in her chest. "How long ago was this?" she asked in a whisper.

"Must have been a thousand years or so," Janus shrugged. "Way before my time, at least."

"How old are you?" Stella asked. With every answer, she felt like she had more questions. This was starting to feel like a rabbit hole, but it was one she was thrilled to explore.

"A few hundred years old. You stop keeping track after the second century." Janus leaned back. "Now, time for a question from me. I'm curious about this Father figure you keep mentioning."

Stella hesitated. How much should she really share? Janus was her biological brother and had saved her life. But there was no telling who was listening over his shoulder right now.

A brief silence stretched between them. Stella sighed. There was no way she could hide this and expect Janus to answer the rest of her questions. Besides, while Ashlock's true nature was kept within the Ashfallen Sect's Inner Circle, the fact that there was a super powerful spirit tree lording over the Sect wasn't exactly a secret anymore.

Millions knew and praised him as their god.

"He's a spirit tree. A demonic spirit tree, to be exact, called Ashlock."

A strange expression appeared on Janus's face. He simply stared right at her and muttered under his breath. "It can't be..."

Stella shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Had she said something wrong?

Janus leaned in, "Was Ashlock planted in the central courtyard of Red Vine Peak?"

Stella slowly nodded. "How do you know about him?"

Obviously, Janus had been with her on Red Vine Peak, posing as her Father and the Grand Elder of the Crestfallen Family. But that didn't explain why he remembered a random tree that had been nothing but a sapling when he faked his death and disappeared.

"Because I planted him," Janus said simply. His eyes carried a hint of nostalgia and wonder as he leaned back. "During my escape from the Celestial Empire with you, I came across a seed like no other. Trapped within it was a human soul. I decided to plant it on Red Vine Peak and raise it. Partly out of curiosity, and also for... you. As we have the blood of the World Tree in us, we are naturally attuned to trees. I thought one with a human soul might even find ways to communicate with and become your friend."

Stella was stunned in her seat.

"You see, I knew there might be a time when I'd have to leave when the Celestial Empire would catch onto me," Janus continued. "As you were still weak, I could suppress your bloodline from developing. This also worked well to buy time as Vincent Nightrose would hide you away until you developed. But I could only suppress mine for a few years before my soul started to fracture. That's why I left elsewhere, drawing the Celestial Empire's attention and allowing my cultivation to breathe. I came here to the Frozen Star Sect to beg the Patriarch to assist me in saving you."

"Why would they agree to save me..." Stella asked, her mind drifting. Unable to focus entirely on what was going on, yet simultaneously grasping at every word.

"Because the Frozen Star Sect's Patriarch is at the Monarch Realm. Without the World Tree initiating the era of ascension, they have no hope of ever advancing further, and any use of their Qi sets them back tremendously. To them, this layer of creation is a prison, and we are the key."

Stella tilted her head. "Why would we be the key?"

"A few Councilmen from the Celestial Empire tried to bargain with the World Tree in the past, but she refused to even humor the idea of initiating the era of ascension until Zephyrine was returned to her. That desire for the return of her children now extends to us," Janus calmly explained.

Stella was confused. "Only some Councilmen want the era of ascension to start?" In her opinion, any cultivator should want more Qi and the ability to ascend to the higher layer.

Janus tapped his chin, "Yeah... it's complicated. Those with high talent but are younger want the era of ascension because it will flood the lower layer with Qi, allowing them to progress in cultivation faster and surpass the older Councilmen who are only ahead in power because they had centuries more time to cultivate. Meanwhile, the oldest and most powerful of them want to keep things as they are."

"I see," Stella muttered, her eyes glazing over. It all made perfect sense, yet she was struggling to follow. The great mysteries of her life were being so casually unraveled, and there was an elephant in the room she couldn't get over.

"Janus."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Mhm?" The man hummed in reply.

"If you planted Ashlock... doesn't that make you my grandfather?"

Janus's serious facade cracked, and he chuckled. "I'm your brother Stella—don't overcomplicate it. If you see that spirit tree as your father, that's fine. But I don't. Besides, it's not like I created the seed—I just found it on the ground and planted it."

A relieved sigh escaped Stella's lips, "That's good."

This talk was quite informative. As it turns out, Zephyrine was her older sister, meaning the importance of speaking with her through a Primal Overlord was of utmost importance. There was no way she was going to wage a pointless war against her own sibling.

"But to think Ashlock has become strong enough to fight off the Celestial Empire in your stead in such a short time," he scratched his head. "Maybe the Celestial Empire was onto something but was going in the wrong direction. Instead of trying to give a human the capabilities of the World Tree, they should have put humans into spirit trees?"

"Yeah... I guess so," Stella absentmindedly replied.

She looked intently at her brother. His blonde hair and pink eyes matched her own. He looked middle-aged and was showing that same smile filled with kindness she remembered from her childhood.

But rage still brewed in her heart, thinking back on everything she had endured in his absence. If the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion's records were correct, he was in the Nascent Soul Realm. Why hadn't he come back for her yet? Clearly, his cultivation had recovered to a suitable level, yet he had left her in an empty pavilion with no guards, friendly cultivators, or people she could rely on. Except for Ashlock, but by his reaction, Ash's rapid rise to power hadn't been in his plans.

"Why did you leave me here with nobody to depend on, and why have you not come back for me yet?" she mumbled. Her fists were balled, and she was tense from the resurfacing of her suppressed anger.

Janus frowned, "I don't know what you went through, but I did leave you under the careful watch of Grand Elder Valandor from the Disciplinary Committee. He should have protected you. As for why I have not yet returned, your bloodline wasn't set to manifest for a long time. The only way that could have happened is if someone interfered to awaken it early." His eyes narrowed, "Who was it?"

"I don't understand, brother," Stella replied, furrowing her brows.

"A slither of my Qi was in your body, suppressing your bloodline. While it would slow down your cultivation, it was for your protection. If you started leaking your bloodline, it would invite all types of calamities. I would know, as someone who's been on the run from them my whole life."

"Calamities?" Stella thought back, and one stuck out in her mind. The dao storm that had almost taken Ash from her.

Janus nodded. "Honestly, my Qi seal was so intertwined I think you would have needed to die and be reborn to break out of it without your soul being damaged. Trust me, I did it for your own good."

"Die and be reborn..." Stella's eyes widened. She had been stupid enough to try and save Ash from the heavens by punching away the divine lightning. If not for that magical pill Senior Lee gave her, which brought her back from the brink of death and healed her body, she would have died for sure.

She looked up and locked eyes with Janus, seriousness overtaking her.

Her lips trembled, and words she should have led with came out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry."

Janus seemed surprised. "What for?" he asked, curiosity flashing across his expression.

"You saved me from the Celestial Empire, created a home for me in a foreign land, even planted and helped nurture Ashlock, who is possibly the most important person in my life... yet I harbored such disdain for you deep in my heart. I initially thought you were my talentless father who got overconfident and died trying to ascend to the Star Core Realm. Then I learned you were still alive and began to make assumptions. Even when Mother told me of your feats, I still harbored hatred. Blaming you for everything that's gone wrong in my life, yet it wasn't your fault at all." Stella paused to catch her breath—the words had cascaded out her mouth as if she were afraid that the connection would cut and she would never get to apologize again to Janus.

She hung her head and stared at her feet and the endless white of the aether that was below. "A wandering cultivator called Senior Lee. He saved me from the brink of death with a pill, undoing the binds you had placed on my bloodline. It was from that moment on that everything went wrong," she clutched her chest with a frown, "and Grand Elder Valandor was a terrible babysitter."

With everything said, she was breathing heavily and didn't dare raise her head. All the hatred that had simmered in her soul for years had washed out. She felt light yet strangely burdened. What would Janus feel? How would he react to being told to his face that she had hated him for all these years due to factors outside his control?

"Stella."

Her stomach clenched.

"Everything is going to be alright."

She slowly raised her head, and her eyes lingered on that ever-kind smile of his.

"Y-You think so?" She sniffled.

"I know so," he nodded. "I still have things to finish up over here before I can head back to Red Vine Peak. I anticipated that Vincent Nightrose wouldn't have taken an interest in you for a year or two more, nor was the Celestial Empire supposed to be focusing on you," he reached into his cloak and retrieved his pendant, "Let me try and make it up to you a little."

He pressed something on his pendant.

"Check your pendant."

Stella raised a brow as she retrieved her VIP pendant and flipped it open. Written in golden letters on its surface was a message.

[Janus Crestfallen wishes to transfer you 200,000 Yinxi Coins]

[Accept transfer? Yes / No]

"It's everything I've managed to save over the last decade."

Stella's finger hovered over the options and eventually accepted them.

[You have received 200,000 Yinxi Coins. Your balance has been updated to 207,392 Yinxi Coins]

"We should now be even. I've also added you as a friend through the Eternal Pursuit Paivlion's network, so you can message me anytime."

Stella felt a little giddy hearing that. Having spent almost all her life cut off from her family, she now had a direct line to her brother, and with Ash's help, she could speak to her Mother sometimes. All that was left was making contact with her elder sister, Zephyrine, a Monarch Realm monster.

Closing her pendant, Stella smiled at her brother. "Thank you for the gift. I'll be sure to pay it back soon."

Janus chuckled as he didn't seem to take her words to heart. "They are for you to spend as you please..." he trailed off as he looked toward something in his room. "Sorry, Stella. My disciple is here to see me, so I must go."

"You also have a disciple?" Stella said.

Janus paused and repeated her question to her. "Huh? You also have a disciple?"

"Yep," Stella grinned. "Her name is Jasmine. I'm raising her to be able to take meetings for me in the future."

Janus's jaw hung open, "What?! I'm raising mine for the exact same reason!"

"What did you say, Master?" A boy's voice, which Stella assumed was that of the disciple, came through the interface.

"Nothing," Janus cooly replied—he gave Stella a wink, and the connection abruptly cut.

Stella stared blankly at the interface for a moment. She was saddened that the call ended so soon but also a little glad as her Star Core was nearing its limit. Pulling in the aether, the bubble around her vanished, and she was back in reality.

The Celestial Warden was sitting in the middle of Jasmine and Ryker and seemed to be telling them a story of some kind. At her reappearance, all three of their heads turned to look at her.

She raised a finger to silence them before they asked.

"I need some time to think over what I was just told and to rest. Carry on with whatever you were doing." She put her feet up on the desk, closed her eyes, and leaned back. Her consciousness soon drifted off.

***

"Stella?"

She was shaken awake by her disciple.

"What is it, Jasmine?" She asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

The office was bright with the rising sun. It seemed a whole night had passed.

"Check your pendant," Jasmine said excitedly as she bobbed up and down.

"Okay, okay," Stella yawned. Bringing out her gem-encrusted VIP pendant, she saw the notification.

[Your balance has been updated to 6,707,392 Yinxi Coins]

Stella grinned. The mortals had been moved to Desolark City, and she had been paid.

"Finally," she said. Switching to another menu on the pendant, she found her brother's name.

"What are you doing, Master?" Jasmine asked.

"Nothing much," Stella smirked as she used her Qi to mentally insert a command and a number. "Just paying back a little debt of mine. You could even see it as an investment into our expansion in the Frozen Star Sect."

[Pending payment to Janus Crestfallen of 500,000 Yinxi Coins]

[Message to Janus Crestfallen: Hey Brother, it's your little Sis here. I'm a Yinxi Coin millionaire now, so I thought I'd return your little gift with extra! Thanks anyway, and don't spend it all at once :)]

Looking at the two notifications with amusement for a moment, she snapped the pendant close and got up from her seat. It was time for her to get to work.

"Come on, Jasmine, we need to go on a spending spree before this place is overrun with monsters."

"Master... does this place even have over six million Yinxi Coins worth of spirit stones lying around for us to buy?"

Stella shrugged, "Probably not, but you bet I'll be buying their entire stock and anything else that can help us survive this beast tide and get to my Sister."

Her shadow suddenly rippled, and Anubis stepped out of her shadow alongside a Mudcloak.

"What's this about?" Stella asked.

Anubis gestured to the little monster that was actually in the mid stages of the Star Core Realm.

"The Mudcloaks require some items from the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion for Moros's upgrades. Do you think you could go shopping with it?" Ash said through Anubis.

"Of course," Stella said, picking the Mudcloak up from under the armpits. It wiggled in her grip but calmed down as she held it to her chest. "Come on little guy, let's go shopping!"