Chapter 487: War

"Who sits above you?" Ashlock asked, hiding the annoyance in his tone. He had expended an immense amount of effort to reach Zephyrine, only

"Who sits above you?" Ashlock asked, hiding the annoyance in his tone. He had expended an immense amount of effort to reach Zephyrine, only to be told she couldn't help him. What was this, some sort of phone call with the bank where he was stuck being endlessly passed up the layers of management until someone with actual authority could help him?

"The World Tree," Zephyrine said, looking into the distance. "She is the one who artificially creates the spiritual springs and leads the beasts around via the ley lines. I just gave the spiritual springs more structure and summoned a storm to get the monsters moving when the Qi suddenly started to deplete."

"But I spoke with the World Tree, and she couldn't stop it either. I was told to speak with you," Ashlock grumbled.

"While working together to raise this force of monsters to free her, we are unable to speak with one another. Perhaps she believes I have far more control than I actually do?" Zephyrine sighed. "The beast tide is an unstoppable force that even I can't shepherd to the extent you are requesting of me."

"Not even with your storm?"

Zephyrine shook her head. "The storm was to motivate the monsters to move on as I filled it with Qi to supplement their journey away from the dying spiritual spring. It doesn't work as a threat. Whether the storm is there or not, they will go where they please unless I start killing them."

"Hold on, when you say the spiritual spring is dying, what do you mean?"

"A few months ago, I noticed the edge of the spiritual spring rapidly closing in. For whatever reason, my mother wasn't providing enough Qi through her roots to maintain the Qi-rich land. Because of this, the monsters started fighting and even encroaching on the Primal Overlords' lands. The death of the weaker monsters serves us no benefit, as they are useful for weakening the sects we encounter along the leyline, such as yours. So I made the decision to have us move early." Zephyrine paused as her eyes widened. "I think you're the reason the spiritual spring began to dry up."

"Me?" Ashlock said, surprised at the sudden accusation. "What do I have to do with it? I just got here."

"The amount of desolation Qi you were pumping out to fend off the tide isn't possible without draining your reserves dry," she said, her eyes narrowing. "I've heard spirit trees are well-versed in gathering Qi from their surroundings. Did you happen to do anything a few months ago that could cause a drop in the World Tree's Qi output to the north?"

Ashlock didn't have to think for long. A particular incident of him connecting his roots to the leyline and stealing Qi from it surfaced in his mind. He had stolen quite a lot to fuel his offspring and his own cultivation, and that draw only increased as the beast tide approached and he had to mount a defense.

In a twisted way, it seemed his greed had brought on his own downfall.

"Ah... you might be right," Ashlock said. "I've been siphoning Qi from the leyline."

Zephyrine crossed her arms and looked understandably annoyed. "That Qi is not for you. It's for the beast tide," she said, venom in her tone. "Do you know how much Qi I've wasted because of you?"

Looking into Zephyrine's eyes, Ashlock felt genuine fear.

Opening a small desolation portal, he dropped a spirit root improvement truffle into Anubis's hand. This was the most potent one he had, a perfect truffle he had been saving for a special occasion.

"Qi comes and goes, but let me make it up to you. By eating this, it will help you progress in your cultivation faster than before," he said, and had Anubis hold out the truffle for Zephyrine to take.

She eyed the truffle. "Why are you giving me a mushroom? Is this some spirit tree apology custom I'm unaware of?"

Stella burst out laughing, instantly killing the tense atmosphere.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Zephyrine asked Stella.

"No, no, Ashlock is serious. Wars would be fought for that truffle. I just can't take this situation seriously anymore after imagining Ashlock apologetically giving someone a basket of mushrooms. Sorry, ignore me," Stella said, wiping a tear from her eye.

Zephyrine gracefully plucked the truffle from Anubis's hand and analyzed it as if it were a precious egg. Sniffing it, she seemed somewhat convinced. "I can smell the density of Qi stored in here, but otherwise, I can't see why it would be so special."

"Eat it and find out," Ashlock said.

"I don't usually eat unknown foods from beings I just met," Zephyrine said, glancing at Stella, who was still trying to recover. "But if my sister swears by it, then I'll give it a try."

Ashlock watched with anticipation as Zephyrine nibbled at the truffle like a rabbit. After swallowing, she tilted her head as if confused by something. Taking a far larger bite, her interest seemed to increase as she ate faster and then devoured the whole thing.

"These are incredible. The change is small, but I can feel the Qi flowing through my spirit roots improving ever so slightly."

As expected of a monster birthed from the World Tree's sap to be a perfectly crafted cultivator, her spirit root purity was already incredible. If anything, Ashlock was surprised his truffles could improve them at all.

Holding out her hand, she stared at Anubis.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you have another one?"

"I do..."

"Give it to me."

Ashlock stared at Zephyrine. Why did she remind him so much of Stella?

Reluctantly, he brought out another truffle and handed it over. Zephyrine gobbled it down with gusto and then held out her hand again.

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"You want another?! Just how greedy are you?"

"Greedy? I think we will be even if you give me a dozen more," Zephyrine said.

Ashlock didn't want to seem like a pushover, so he said, "One more, and that's all I'll give you for now. I have some other truffles that grant different effects if you are interested?"

Zephyrine took the third offered truffle, her ears twitching with interest. "Such as?"

"Heart demon removal, and there's also one that makes you more beautiful. Actually, on second thought, the heart demon removal might be dangerous. As a monster, your body is corrupted with demonic Qi, and I've never seen the strength of a Monarch Realm heart demon."

"What? I want it. Both of them," Zephyrine said, holding out her hand again.

"How about I give them to you after we have figured out how to stop the beast tide?"

Zephyrine frowned. "I already told you, only the World Tree could stop the beast tide. My storm merely served as a blanket to shield them and provide Qi, motivating them to move. Storm or not, the beasts will move down the leyline regardless of what I do."

"But if Mother stops providing Qi to the leyline, all the cultivators around Red Vine Peak will suffer, and the beasts will only be more motivated to charge down the leyline to the next spiritual spring," Stella said, providing another point of view.

"So the beast tide is unstoppable," Ashlock said, but paused as he realized they were looking at this the wrong way. Zephyrine had taken his request literally, as if she could command a million monsters to take a massive detour around Ashlock's lands to the next spiritual spring.

Of course, that wasn't possible. The monsters were independent beings who all sought to reach the next spiritual spring as quickly as possible to secure a suitable location for cultivation, as being late was practically a death sentence anyway. Because of this, they would fearlessly take the most direct path, which just so happened to run through Ashlock's lands, as he was situated dead center on the leyline.

"That's actually fine," he said, surprising everyone. "I never feared the beast tide in the first place. My main concerns were you, Zephyrine, and the storm you summoned, which made it incredibly difficult to fight the monsters. Would it be possible to retract your storm, or at least have it avoid my lands?"

Zephyrine nodded. "I'd be happy to do that. As I've already summoned it, I think it's best to keep the storm going as it will help once we reach the Celestial Empire, but I can certainly have it avoid your lands. But the monsters will still come, you know?"

"That's fine. As I said, it wasn't the waves of weak monsters I feared. If anything, I welcome them. My concerns were the storm that made fighting any monsters far more difficult, and your involvement."

Ashlock felt like this was actually a best-case scenario. He had always seen the beast tide as a buffet. Without the storm, his desolation Qi could significantly weaken the monsters. Then his own tide of Ents could handle them, endlessly bolstering their numbers and feeding the stronger corpses to him for sacrificial credits.

"I see. Well, so long as the majority of the monsters survive, I don't see an issue with this," Zephyrine said.

"Actually, I can turn monsters into beings that listen to me. I call them Ents," Ashlock said, and had Anubis gesture to himself. "This shadow lich is one such example. So don't worry, the beast tide's strength will only increase with my involvement."

"Then I have nothing to worry about," she said, looking into the distance again. "I believe it will be easier to redirect my storm around your lands if I were to visit them. Should we go now?"

"I'll lead you, Zeph!" Stella said excitedly, standing beside her sister.

"Thank you, Stella." Zephyrine smiled and followed her lead to the portal. Before walking through, Zephyrine spoke into the wind and instructed the Primal Overlords to avoid fighting and await her return.

She then passed through, vanishing with Stella.

"Everyone, we are heading back," Ashlock called out to Larry, Kaida, Grand Elder Redclaw, and Elysia.

"Master, what should we do about Astralis?" Larry asked.

Ashlock glanced over the side of Moros and saw the dragon being practically devoured by a swarm of ash spiders while thrashing around on the ground. The feral dragon was being pinned down by the combined efforts of the spiders and Larry's soul pressure. The moment they left, there was no telling what damage Astralis would cause.

"Work with Veylorak to drag him to my Inner World where I will try to heal him under the nine moons," Ashlock instructed as one by one, his sect members floated back to Moros. Once everyone was aboard, he tore open a massive desolation rift before Moros and had the flagship pass through.

Their excursion into the beast tide, while chaotic and brutal, had come to an end. He briefly surveyed the destruction and the Primal Overlords glaring at him before leaving. His vision blurred as he returned to Red Vine Peak, only to find Zephyrine staring up at him.

"I thought you would be bigger," she said, disappointment on her face.

"How do I compare in size to the World Tree?" Ashlock asked.

Zephyrine snorted, "Maybe you would reach the top of one of her exposed roots? Or could be considered a small branch."

Ashlock couldn't even picture the scale of such a tree. Just how large would her soul be in that case? It was no wonder the leyline he sat on was nothing but one of her roots.

"Now, let me see what I'm working with," Zephyrine said. Her body exploded in a storm, and within a moment, she had transformed back into a beautiful, white-furred deer. Towering over Stella and Nymeria, she effortlessly jumped a thousand meters into the air.

Stella blinked in confusion as she looked up at Zephyrine, who was now a tiny speck against the sky. "How did she do that?! Even teleportation isn't that fast."

"I have no idea," Ashlock muttered. If they had to fight, how could he possibly ever hit Zephyrine with a skill or technique if she had speed like that? Even the void lightning from his {Voidstorm Aegis [S]} skill didn't travel that fast. Worst of all, she had made it look so casual and effortless...

Just what were true Monarch Realm monsters capable of? Ig'Zal had been an easy matchup, and the World Tree came across as weak despite her truly ridiculous Qi pool as she was restrained by a formation.

But Zephyrine was the real deal.

The deer in question closed her eyes, and a gale gathered around her, rustling her snow-white fur. "Mhm, I see," Zephyrine said, her eyes slowly opening. "Your roots spread quite far."

"The monsters can pass over my roots, that's fine. I just want the storm to avoid the cities where possible," Ashlock told her. "With the storm gone, I can handle any monsters that trespass into my lands."

"Very well," Zephyrine said coolly. Storm Qi coalesced before her into a dense, crescent-shaped mass, crackling with raw power. She poured more Qi into it, the air trembling with strain, until the construct could hold no more. With a casual blow as if she were snuffing out a candle, the crescent detonated outward, streaking across the sky like a tidal wave of shrieking wind. As it collided with the storm blanketing the beast tide on the horizon, Ashlock watched in awe as the oppressive clouds were peeled back like a curtain, revealing the millions of monsters that had been concealed beneath.

Gone was their cover—the only thing that had been saving them until now.

"I leave the rest to you," Zephyrine said, falling back to Red Vine Peak with as much speed as she had ascended. Ashlock had to blur his vision to keep up with her.

Transforming back into a human, she sat down on Stella's bench and held out her hand. "I want those truffles now."

"Stella, can you deal with your sister for me?" Ashlock asked, handing over the responsibility to Stella. His vision was entirely focused on the buffet before him.

Opening his sign-in system, he checked what he had to work with.

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3686

Daily Credit: 6

Sacrifice Credit: 840

[Sign in?]

"840 credits?" He looked to the million monsters on the horizon. "Let's see if I can gather 10,000 by the end of the day."

He tore desolation rifts open in the sky as he mentally commanded every remaining Bastion he had to take to the skies, including Serena Blacktide, who served as the guardian tree of Ashfallen City. The mountain trembled as he mentally commanded Geb, the Mudcloaks' walking fortress, to rise, and he called on Douglas to gather the Mudcloaks and cultivators of the Ashfallen Sect.

He had no intention of holding back.

It was time to teach the monsters about the true overlords of this land.

It was time to fight back.

It was time for war.