Ashlock held his breath.

If resisting Stella's Qi was like warding off a tsunami with a shovel, then the Grand Elders Qi was like throwing a pebble at a star—his death was inevitable if the Grand Elder deemed it so.

Ashlock attempted to appear as harmless as possible. "I am a harmless humble tree mister. Please don't kill me." Obviously, the man couldn't hear his pitiful plea, but it was worth a try.

Stella curtly replied as she rocked on her heels.

The Grand Elder sagely nodded his head as he inspected the demonic tree.

The Grand Elder opened his eyes and removed his hand from Ashlock's trunk with a smile tugging at his lips.

Stella scratched the back of her neck as if embarrassed to admit something.

The Grand Elder shook his head. The Grand Elder picked up the golden fruit he had placed on the bench and twirled it in his hand.

Stella walked up and patted Ashlock, —

The Grand Elder lightly smacked Stella on the head, causing her to whimper. The man stroked his chin and looked at the leaves rustling in the summer breeze with a distant look.

No matter what the Grand Elder said, Ashlock planned to play dumb. Cultivator worlds were ruthless, and backstabbing was common. Keeping your true strength and trump cards close to your chest was the first rule of surviving in such a dog-eat-dog world.

The Grand Elder positioned his hand below a fruit. A few seconds passed by with nothing happening. Stella scratched her cheek.

The Grand Elder grumbled, A breeze went by, and the happy chirping of the birds accompanied the awkward silence. The Grand Elder resolutely declared, withdrew his hand, and assumed a whimsical stance.

Stella tactically decided to remain silent for the Grand Elders' dignity and to avoid drawing any more attention to the tree. She knew in her heart that the tree spirit was there. Not only did it drop her fruits, it even gifted her earrings, and the most beautiful piece of wood Stella had ever seen, which she had turned into daggers—both of which were carefully hidden away. She was not strong enough yet to protect such rare treasures.

The man winked as he left.

Stella bowed, and the man waved her off.

Stella's mouth gaped open.

The Grand Elder shrugged,

Stella was stumped, and The Grand Elder cared little for her inner turmoil as he turned his back to her and started channeling Qi, causing the surrounding air to vibrate and groan as he began to tear reality apart with his two hands. Finally, the white flames that shrouded his body created a wormhole, a crack in existence, and without a hint of hesitation, the Grand Elder stepped through, and with a pop, he was gone.

Stella collapsed to her knees and just stared at the spot the Grand Elder once stood with vacant eyes, her arms hung by her sides and her shoulders slumped. Then, after a while, she picked herself up and, with a huff, collapsed onto the bench under Ashlock's shade.

A tear threatened to spill from her eye, but she brushed it off with the sleeve of her black robe.

Stella held back a sniffle as her arms dangled off the side of the bench.

Stella never finished the sentence and instead opted to watch Ashlock's red leaves gently sway in the wind.

The weather was perfect, and the chorus of summer helped lighten Stella's mood... somewhat.

Her hands balled into fists at her side.

Ashlock tactically sniped Stella's head by dropping fruit.

Stella rubbed her head and scowled at the tree.

She picked up the golden apple and sensed the thick Qi, and her stomach rumbled from the delicious scent. Taking a bite, her eyes went wide, and she spoke with her mouth full, She ignored the tears streaming down her face and relished the delicious fruit.

That was the fruit Ashlock had poured a lot of Qi into six months ago.

"Sigh... this is quite the conundrum." Ashlock had felt firsthand the difference between Stella's Qi and the Grand Elders.

If he guessed correctly, the Grand Elder was in the elusive Star Core realm, one major realm above Stella. "I can't imagine Stella could obtain that amount of power in just five short years... hell, I went from the 1st to the 6th layer of the Qi Realm in that time... Stella would need to obtain 7 layers in a higher realm in the same timeframe."

Stella patted his bark with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

Stella then marched directly toward the training courtyard and spent the next few hours smashing the ever-living shit out of the training dummies. Finally, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Stella collapsed in exhaustion.

Seeing Stella work so hard inspired the slothful tree to finally do something useful. "I can sleep during the winter, but while summer persists, I best use my time... no more pointless sleeping... Maybe." The horrors of the {Hibernate} skill made him almost terrified of closing his eyes. What if he got trapped in that state of mind again?

Ashlock decided to run away from sleep by distracting himself, and his first call to action was to utilize his new skill {Deep Roots}.

First, Qi that he had collected throughout the day surged toward his roots like a cascading waterfall, and he felt them wiggle with power.

Next, his roots began to expand like little fingers, seeping into every nook or crack in the rock. Then as the roots weaseled their way in, the Qi caused the root to rapidly expand, causing the rock to fracture and crack more, allowing the roots to delve even deeper.

It was a horrifically slow, Qi-intensive, and mind-numbing process. Luckily his roots helped hold the rock together, so there was little chance of the mountain collapsing.

"Heh. Soon the entire mountain will be one big tree."