Chapter 289: All Seeing Eye

Chapter 289: All Seeing Eye

Ashlock enjoyed the afternoon sun as he idly watched Jasmine complete her laps. Judging by her cursing at the skies, she seemed to think she was alone up here, but that was not the case.

"Don't you think over a hundred laps is a bit too far, Stella?" Ashlock asked his adopted daughter, who was hiding away from her Disciple in his canopy.

Her eyes were closed as she rested her head against his trunk and listened to his rustling leaves. It had gotten colder as winter approached, but the cold didn't bother cultivators. Stella wore her usual white clothes, which looked more like pajamas, and no shoesa getup that would cause a mortal to shiver in this cold, but Stella was unfazed.

"It was her choice. She should live with the consequences," Stella murmured without fully waking up. "Do you not agree with my methods, Tree?"

"I wouldn't have gone along with your plan of devouring the man as you granted him 'freedom' if I disagreed with the lesson you were trying to teach Jasmine, but she is still an eight-year-old mortal girl. Running a hundred laps in this cold is too much."Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

Stella stirred awake with a frown. "She isn't a mortal anymore."

"I suppose that's true," Ashlock hesitantly replied. "But she is only in the fourth stage of the Qi Realm, right? Isn't that a level of cultivation mortals could naturally reach by the end of their lifetime if they live in a Qi-rich area?"

Stella stretched her back with a yawn, "The fourth stage sounds a little high for a mortal to naturally reach, but that's not important. She's not a normal cultivator either."

"How so?"

"There are diminishing returns, but I have fed Jasmine a Spirit Root Improvement and Heart Demon Expelling truffle every single day to give her a flawless foundation." Stella pushed Ashlock's leaves aside and peered through his canopy at Jasmine in the distance. "Foundation aside, she is also keen to learn and listens to me most of the time, which is rare for someone so young."

"She does seem like the perfect student for you," Ashlock agreed. "Do you think she is on track to be able to compete in the Darklight City tournament in a few week's time?"

"I don't see why not," Stella said, returning to sitting against his trunk and hiding from her Disciple. "Her cultivation speed is coming along nicely, and she shows promise in combat after fighting my illusions. I would even go so far as to call her rather talented at cultivation, but she has a fatal flaw. No matter her cultivation level and capabilities in a fight, it's all useless if she's unable to go for a killing blow when it matters."

"Jasmine is too naive." Ashlock sighed. "Kindness to a foe could lead to the death of a friend."

Stella nodded. "A lesson I would prefer she learned without having to cradle the corpse of a loved one in her arms. She may call me a heartless demon of a Master or be cursing me right now as she runs those laps, but one day, she will thank me."

"You know, I will admit I had low expectations, but I am starting to think you are not so bad as a Master."

Stella smiled, "Thanks Tree."

"I still won't admit you are the best Master until you win the bet, though!"Ashlock laughed, "Remember, Jasmine has to beat Amber Redclaw in a duel for me to admit that."

"Yeah, yeah." Stella waved him off, "I will train her well, and in the end, even she will have to admit I am a great Master"

"Master... is a... demon!" Jasmine shouted to the sky from across the peak between deep breaths, "I'm going... to... die..."

"Are you sure about that?" Ashlock asked, and Stella's eye twitched.

***

Eventually, Jasmine passed out after sixty laps, and Stella took her to sleep back at home before heading over to the Duskwalker residence with Diana to prepare for the killing of Albis Lunarshade later tonight.

Meanwhile, Ashlock looked down at the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion from above with {Eye of the Tree God}. Stella had told him a demonic tree was growing in the Crimson Tracker area, and he fully intended to see if he could link his root up with it.

For the last few hours, he had been pouring Qi into an ethereal root, and so far, it had easily penetrated every layer of defensive formations as it rose through the center of the mountain. Sometimes, he had to narrowly direct it around a room built inside the mountain to avoid drawing attention to himself. If a tree could sweat sap, he would be drenched right now.

"This sure is risky," Ashlock mumbled, "But there is no sign of them noticing my root yet, and I should be drawing close."

The defensive formations couldn't stop his ethereal root. However, they suppressed his spiritual sense, so he had to eyeball where the Crimson Tracker area was from outside by the vague colors he could see through the formations. It was far from ideal, and if anyone caught on and alerted the Celestial Warden, he would have to abort the mission as fast as a tree could, which was a speed comparable to a slightly alarmed turtle.

"Just a few more meters..." Ashlock took his time as the afternoon turned to evening. Just when he thought Stella might have been mistaken, his ethereal root made contact with another tree's roots, and judging by the acid it secreted into the soil, it was definitely a demonic tree.

Intertwining his roots, Ashlock knew it would take at least a day before their roots fully fused and this demonic tree joined his offspring. But he still wanted to look around, so using the demonic tree as cover, he poked his ethereal root out of the soil within a gap under one of the tree's exposed roots.

Expanding out his spiritual senses, he was surprised that the suppression was less up here than when traveling through the Iron Seeker area. "Everything is so blurry, though," Ashlock grumbled as he glanced around. He could only see a few dozen meters in every direction, and what he assumed was the Crimson Tracker pavilion was completely unpenetrable.

A few figures wearing black robes and red jade masks strode past, neither paying the silent demonic tree in the middle of the square a second glance. "This reminds me of when I first came to this world. Blurry vision, distorted voices, and unable to do much."

***

Elysia Mystshroud wiped the blood off her forehead. The cold stone beneath her knees was cracked and pounded into the shape of her face as she had continuously bowed as deeply as she could since last night.

Her plan was simple. If she pounded the glory of this divine monster into her consciousness, perhaps it would recognize her, and its teaching would become clearer. The spider, made from a cloud of shimmering divine ash, had uttered incomprehensible words of wisdom thus far and shown them how to pray to it by waving its legs.

If only I could comprehend a speck of its divinity, I'm sure I would be able to peer further into the beyond! Elysia got giddy just thinking about it, so with all her strength, she bowed once again, smashing her face into the rock.

"Rejoice!" A woman's voice carried by Qi filled the room, silencing everyone.

Who dares? Elysia straightened her back and was surprised to see the words had come from the cloaked woman beside the divine spider.

"Your devotion has been acknowledged by the Herald of the Divine Ash, his highness King Larry of the nine realms!" The woman continued as she raised a black dagger and pointed it to the ceiling. "As such, you have earned the right to be gazed upon by the immortal who summoned him, the All-Seeing Eye!"

Elysia's entire body trembled in anticipation as she slowly rose to her feet. Yes, yes, yes, yes, this is it! The divine spider finally accepted my faith! My self-torture was not in vain!

A sudden pressure descended on the room, making everyone buckle slightly. Elysia grunted as she strained the muscles in her neck. She refused to miss the arrival of this all-seeing eye.

"Suffer under the gaze of the all-seeing eye! Those worthy should step forward under its scrutiny to receive his profound words."

The air above the woman holding the dagger cracked and rippled before a rift like no other, reaching all the way to the ceiling, slowly opened. Peering through it was an eye that would dwarf a human and contained an indescribable gaze.

This is... Elysia's mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the words to describe what she saw. The eye of man contains desire, lust, and pain, while the eye of a beast is shrouded in rage, insanity, and hunger. Elysia felt all the hairs on her neck stand at attention, and an ice-cold shiver ran down her spine like no other. This gaze is different. It belongs to a being beyond such trivial emotions and seems capable of peering straight into my soul and judging it. Something alien and incomprehensible to my puny mind!

Elysia cycled mystic Qi and opened her mind to a full mental assault. The edges of her consciousness shuddered and cracked as if something was trying to claw its way in from the other side. Even as she coughed up blood, she let it continue.

The more broken my mind, the greater my power! Elysia grinned with blood-stained teeth. It was the truth her summon had whispered to her at night as it showed her horrifying visions. The less she resisted the terror, the easier it became, and the stronger her summon also grew.

Laughing manically, she strode forward toward the eye and the portal, along with a few others trailing behind.

The dagger-holding woman and the divine spider stood aside and revealed a second, smaller portal that seemed to lead to a forest enshrouded in fog. Without fear, Elysia stepped through and felt her ears pop, and a cold wind blew past.

Is this demonic Qi mist? Elysia wondered as she glanced around. She could still feel the eyes gaze on her, so looking up, she saw the moon in the sky, which had been eclipsed by the eye peering at her through another portal. It really is the all-seeing eye. Not only can it glimpse into my soul, but it's always watching wherever I go.

A while passed, and a small group of cultivators from her family had been deemed worthy and managed to step though the portal. Some were coughing blood while others were tearing out their hair, but overall, they seemed as sane as usual.

Elysia had since calmed down and almost felt comforted by the gaze that replaced the moon.

"Okay, now that you are all here," The woman announced and pulled off her hood and mask, revealing her short blonde hair and crazed pink eyes. "My name is Stella, and I will be guiding this service today for the cult of the All-Seeing Eye. If you want to reach the next level of acceptance and to receive his divine word, you must first eat these fruits to shield your mind from breaking beyond repair and another to understand the teachings."

What fruit? Elysia wondered but was soon answered when two fruits fell through the portal in the sky and floated before her. Reaching out, she devoured both without another thought. One tasted sweet, the other sour. She felt a calming wave pass through her consciousness and also heightened attention to those speaking around her.

"Everyone done? I hope so. Otherwise, you may never be sane again." Stella laughed as the tree behind her suddenly extruded a presence similar to the one from before and burst into purple flames that reached the skies. "Now gather close. You don't want to be left out."

Elysia obeyed the words of the cult leader and huddled with the others below the burning tree. A bubble suddenly spread out, engulfing them in another dimension filled with mystic Qi.

Stella was gone, leaving them alone with the tree.

"I have deemed you worthy of joining the cult of the All-Seeing Eye." A thousand voices echoed in Elysia's mind, and the surrounding mystic Qi seemed to mirror the being's thoughts as it transitioned from an aimless purple mist to a dense forest of towering demonic trees casing a looming shadow.

Everyone else was gone; it was just her kneeling before the all-seeing eye.

Despite her surroundings, Elysia could feel the encroaching darkness barely held off by the fruit she had eaten and a million eyes on her.

The floating eye shifted and looked at her more closely, "I can feel great potential in you, Elysia Mystshroud. More than the others as you have seen things others have not."

Elysia planted her head on the ground, "I am honored by your praise." The eyes and thousand voices sent visions through her mind as if existence bent to its desires. Am I going through enlightenment?

"I appoint you as the new cult vice leader under Stella."The voice declared, "Serve me well."

Elysia looked up and met the eye's gaze. "It would be an honor."