Reborn as a Demonic Tree-Novel

"This is why system skills are so much better than techniques. I just think about using them, and bam, there we go. But techniques? I actually have to consider and practice to use them. How bothersome." Ashlock flexed his Star Core to exert his presence on the pocket realm and tried once again to Spatial Lock Stella in place to prevent her movement, but she effortlessly summoned multiple portals at the click of a finger and got away.

Ten minutes had passed since the start of their practice duel, and Ashlock felt no closer to figuring out the teachings of the Azure Clan contained in that book Stella had shown him.

"It doesn't help that all they provided was the technique's title, 'Spatial Lock,' and a short description of its end result," Ashlock grumbled, "Making portals hadn't been too hard as I had my knowledge from Earth regarding bending space to better convey my intentions to heaven. As without heaven understanding my will, the technique will not manifest."

No wonder everyone wasn't running around with a hundred techniques in their arsenal. They were such bother to find and then learn even with his perfect connection with heaven due to his large Star Core, translation skill, and fragment of divinity, which basically made him one of heaven's chosen.

Meanwhile, Stella hadn't been able to understand a word of the Azure Clan concepts book as it was all written in confusing, nonsensical language, as that's what the heaven's whispers were to the cultivators of this world. A load of indecipherable nonsense that only became clear by piecing the fragments together after years of meditating.

"The problem with this Spatial Lock technique isn't that I can't tell heaven what I want, but rather I have no idea how to make it happen. I've tried to exert my influence and assume control of all the spatial Qi in this pocket realm, but I've had mixed results as the spatial Qi in this pocket realm isn't mine. It belongs to the pocket realm; therefore, assuming total control isn't easy as Stella has tight control of the spatial Qi a meter or two around her."

A loud clang reverberated through the pocket realm dyed in a purple hue as Stella emerged headfirst from a portal and ruthlessly hit one of the swords wielded by his thorn-covered vine with enough force to make the vine yield to her might, and the sword fly out of the vines grasp and clatter to the stone below.

Ashlock withdrew his focus from the vine to numb the pain, and despite the damage she had caused, Stella seemed unsatisfied as she paused beside the vine, lost in thought.

"Something the matter?" Ashlock asked through {Abyssal Whispers}. Not getting an answer, he asked, "How are you finding fighting in the pocket realm?"

"It will come in time," Ashlock reassured her, "Focus on one of those goals first. How about the Spatial Step technique? What have you tried so far?"

"I think that's the right direction, but you must change your perspective." Ashlock replied, "Portals let one part of you stay still while another pierces through space and appears elsewhere. Think about it: when Nox used Shadow Step, did she leave anything behind? Was she able to Shadow Step her sword forward but stay standing still?"

"Exactly. Maybe think of folding or compressing space instead of piecing it or setting anchors? That way, by taking a single step, you effectively move a long distance at once."

Ashlock was just saying what made sense to him. In truth, he also had no idea how movement techniques like that worked, but that wasn't his problem. He had little use for movement techniques, being a tree and all. His goal instead was to find ways to stop them. He didn't like foes being about to escape his areas of control, either around his main body or that of his offspring.

"Stella, I have a question."

"Spatial Lock, from the description, allows spatial cultivators with a higher cultivation stage to lock onto a target's spatial Qi, preventing them from teleporting or moving using spatial techniques such as portals or Spatial Step within their range. Yet I have run into a slight issue: you have a bubble of spatial Qi firmly in your control around your body. I may be able to stop portals from forming a distance away from you, but as long as you create them nearby, I cannot prevent their creation. How do you think I can get around this?"

"No, hold on... you might be onto something," Ashlock replied. It did sound ridiculous, but she was right. Either he needed to somehow isolate Stella and her Qi from heaven so she couldn't use techniques or somehow gain control of her own Qi.

"Spatial Lock is a far more sinister technique than I anticipated," Ashlock mused, "I might need to learn a few stepping stone techniques first, like finer Qi control or how to isolate people."

A moment passed, and Ashlock decided he would ponder on this later. Checking his sign-in system, he noted that less than a hundred credits remained, so it was about time to wrap this training session up and dismiss this pocket realm, but there was one thing left he wanted to test.

"Stella, I can't hold this pocket realm open much longer, and the Qi density has decreased significantly to the point it's not that much better than the area around the spatial affinity trees outside, so further cultivation or fighting in here is a waste of my energy," Ashlock explained, "But I do want to test how well this pocket realm works as a defensive shield. Could you go outside and try and blast it with spatial Qi attacks?"

Ashlock's vision blurred, and he joined her outside by looking through a root. The purple hue of the pocket realm had lightened considerably, and he could now see the shadow of his giant trunk lurking within.

There were also two other people here.

Elaine was bent over her knees, gasping for breath as if she had just run a marathon in the desert heat. Meanwhile, Diana calmly stood beside her, retracting her raven wings into her back.

"Is she trying to make a miniature black hole?" Ashlock wondered as he witnessed Stella waste a bit more Qi than she probably should on such an experiment. A sword slash or two embued with spatial Qi would have sufficed. "Whatever, it's fine. The mystic realm opens up soon, so any Qi spent now won't matter too much as her cultivation will soar by leaps and bounds by spending a month in a pocket realm far better than this one."

Ashlock switched his view to inside the pocket realm and watched as the ball splattered on the bubble. A wave of purple spread out through the pocket realm from the impact point but soon fizzled out and dispersed.

"Hardly any damage," Ashlock noted and relayed to Stella, "It seems this pocket realm can be used as a shield against spatial Qi."

Stella seemed miffed about the performance of her overpowered attack.

Ashlock wondered if she was about to try and attack again, but to his surprise, she turned and shouted at the pile of healing Ents.

"He is healing, Stella," Ashlock chuckled, "And don't go asking him to smite you. You aren't totally lightning resistant, and there's no telling how much your body can absorb before you explode."

The moment her claws made contact with the spatial bubble, there was an intense ripple across the pocket realm's surface. With Diana as the epicenter, black corruption spread throughout the pocket realm like wildfire, causing the whole thing to collapse and eventually pop like a balloon out of existence.

[Dimensional Overlap Destroyed]

A notification sprung into view and vanished as Ashlock felt the world return to normal. The purple hue was gone, and he could now see everyone clearly.

"Okay, demonic Qi is very effective against my dimensional overlap, so it won't be advantageous against the beast tide unless I summon a pocket realm from hell?" Ashlock wondered but became concerned as Diana collapsed to her knees.

Diana shuddered as her long black hair that reached her waist regressed like snakes up her back and reverted to her usual tomboyish hair that obscured her eyes, which shifted from pure black to dull grey. The majestic raven wings sprouting from her shoulder blades and the demonic Qi that had been shrouding her hands in the shape of claws vanished. Finally, her black jeans and white t-shirt became baggy, her body became less voluptuous, and she shrunk an inch or two in height.

She was back to 'normal'.

"Stella, did you forget Maple has been asleep on your head this whole time," Ashlock laughed as the squirrel hissed and rolled back onto its stomach, "Also, don't mention bloodlines unless you want the heavens to strike you down."

The courtyard soon became filled with the clashes of swords and Elaine begging Stella to relax for just a moment as she hadn't recovered from running across the entire mountain range after Diana.

Ashlock decided to leave them to it and cycled his meditation technique. Occasionally, he would leave the dark recess of his mind to check on things before promptly returning to his consciousness to converse deeply with heaven and further his understanding of spatial techniques.

Hours turned to days, and before Ashlock knew it, a week had passed with the arrival of good news. Elder Brent had returned from his hunting trip with snacks.