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A celestial wind swirled around the Starweaver Grand Elder, picking him up from his kneeling position and making him stand up tall. The man raised an accusing finger and pointed straight at Ashlock\'s Evil Eye.

"The heavens are aware of you and your origin\'s scheme!" he shouted, his Qi-infused voice parting the clouds and making the portal Ashlock was looking through ripple, "The threads of fate demand an intervention."

"Wait!" Ashlock thundered into his mind with Abyssal Whispers, "What do you mean by my origin\'s scheme?"

Morrigan had previously mentioned that an origin had taken an interest in him, so she initially tried to form a pact with him, which he had denied. She had then accused him of being an origin. However, Ashlock suspected his system was the origin but did not know what type, and his system wasn\'t keen to answer his questions.

Unfortunately, his question fell on deaf ears as the Starweaver Grand Elder seemed possessed by a higher power. "I will now commence your eradication." The Starweaver Grand Elder declared as he clapped his two hands together, and an immense amount of Qi shot into the sky. Ashlock\'s Evil Eye swiveled to look around, but nothing seemed to be happening. There were no falling stars or meteor showers.

"A misfire?" Ashlock thought but suddenly felt an immense pull on his soul.

[WARNING: Voidstorm Aegis was automatically triggered to block an incoming attack]

[Qi reserves lacking to block further incoming attacks]

[Requesting intervention]

"What in the hell?" Ashlock closed the portal right in front of his Evil Eye and glanced up at the sky over Red Vine Peak. It was supposed to be the middle of the afternoon, yet all he could see was the vast cosmos overhead. Black lightning arced up from his Voidstom Aegis to meet intense beams of starlight shooting down at him, and he also saw hundreds... no thousands of meteors burning through the atmosphere toward Red Vine Peak and the entire region.

It looked like the end of the world.

"No wonder my system said I don\'t have the Qi reserves to repel this attack." Ashlock cursed.

While his Qi reserves had grown tremendously since he first unlocked the S-grade defensive skill, each bolt of void lightning still took around one percent of his reserves. The skill was terrifyingly lethal and effective, but not against a wide-scale attack like this. This was the type of attack that would level cities and make Nascent Soul Realm patriarchs bend their knees in awe.

Unfortunately for the Starweaver Grand Elder, the foolish old man had chosen to fight with a demi-god who didn\'t take attacks on himself lightly.

"So this is the wrath of the heavens," Ashlock said with Abyssal Whispers to the sky. "Do you think I\'m an insect that will be easy to crush?" His Inner World suspended within his vast Star Core began to spin faster. Spatial Qi mixed with divine energy taken from his sacrificial credit trees crackled violently as his soul pressure skyrocketed. Red Vine Peak began to glow as a beacon of power across the entire region as Ashlock glared at the heavens. "Let\'s see who will be eradicating whom."

A bubble of reality-warping divine-empowered spatial Qi rapidly expanded upwards like a shockwave toward the heavens. The moment it hit the thousands of meteors, the fire wrapping them was extinguished, and a second later, they exploded in a wave into tiny pieces that were then thrown back into the cosmos.

With the meteors that would have wiped out the entire region dealt with, Ashlock needed to find a way to stop the starlight beams. They were too high intensity to block with spatial Qi alone, and while they were all targeting him right now, there was no guarantee they wouldn\'t start targeting the surrounding cities.

"How is this attack even possible? It\'s far beyond something a Star Core Realm cultivator could be capable of..." Ashlock recalled the merchant Lucius, who worked with Nox and gave his body and soul to the sun god to unlock far more power. The Starweaver Grand Elder\'s actions before unleashing this attack had seemed in line with what Lucius had done. "The heavens must be using the Starweaver Grand Elder as a proxy to try and smite me down."

It was well known that the heavens couldn\'t unleash their full power on lower layers of creation.

Ashlock reopened a portal to Nightrose City and looked down at the Starweaver Grand Elder with his Evil Eye. Sure enough, the man\'s soul was breaking apart under the strain. The heavens were using him as a disposable pawn to try and kill him.

"Khaos, kill him," Ashlock commanded his reaper. Not even a second after his command, a four-armed headless Ent emerged from the void and skewered the Starweaver Grand Elder with over a dozen claws. The man\'s night sky eyes widened, and he gasped in pain.

It was sad to see such a powerful cultivator being controlled by the heavens, but that was the outcome for those who listened to the threads of fate. They were lies spun by the heavens, not a future to live by.

"You..."

The Starweaver Grand Elder wheezed before coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"This was always your fate," Ashlock told the dying man, "From the moment you stated that I was an evil god and we would become enemies after dealing with the beast tide. I\'ve simply moved up the timeline."

"Under you... there is only darkness on the horizon," The man\'s body slumped forward, the life leaving his eyes, "Devourer of worlds, I curse you sin of gluttony."

"Is that what the heavens are calling me?"

The Grand Elder spat on the ground with a disgusted grin, "I\'ll never answer the likes of you."

"Alright," Ashlock said, "I will see you again very soon."

"I hope to never see you aga—"

Khaos silenced the Starweaver Grand Elder by tearing him apart. What was left of the old man plopped down in a bloodied mess with Khaos standing over him.

"What you hope doesn\'t matter to me. Sin of gluttony? What a joke." Ashlock mused as an ethereal root cracked from the ground and loomed over the corpse. Khaos poked a tiny hole with her claw into his root, and a single drop of cursed blood fell onto the Starweaver Grand Elders\'s body. "If the heavens are already aware of my existence and the threads of fate call for my eradication, I will take control of everything I can to survive. Starting with making a cosmic Qi bastion."

Ents were good, but they couldn\'t grow in power. Already, his Ents were starting to fall behind him in power, except for Anubis and his void Ents, simply because void affinity was so strong. Meanwhile, Bastions could grow in cultivation, and he could use {Progeny Dominion [S]}on them, turning Bastions into an extension of himself. Bastion cores were also linked directly to Ashlock\'s soul and Qi reserves, allowing his Bastions to make use of his vast Qi pool, which would be perfect for a Qi-intensive affinity like cosmic.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The Starweaver Grand Elder was nearing the peak of the Star Core Realm, so he would make a strong Bastion, and Ashlock had seen the highly destructive potential of cosmic affinity during Celeste\'s fight. The cursed blood spread throughout the two halves of his body, and moments later, black wood spiraled upwards, and the two joined into one. Branches sprouted out at unnatural angles as if reaching for distant stars. Translucent leaves bloomed with veins of celestial energy that, when looking from below, reflected a map of constellations. When Ashlock thought the process was complete, the roots around the tree thinned into threads that radiated divine energy and began spreading out.

"I don\'t know what your name was before this, but you will be known as Orion from now on," Ashlock declared. It was a fitting name of Greek origin, meaning heaven\'s lights and the name of a constellation. Power surged through the tree, making it glow with an ethereal light. "Now, system—"

[Do you wish to activate the Skyborne Bastion? The cost is 1000 sacrificial credits and the required materials to form a Bastion Core]

"How did you... oh yeah, you can read my mind. Yes, turn him into one." Ashlock paid the thousand credits and began the process.

[Forming Bastion Core...]

The castle\'s courtyard, now covered in rubble and signs of battle, began to tremble as waves of power rippled out.

[Bastion\'s Qi source has been designated as {Ashlock}]

[Bastion\'s operator has been designated as {Orion}]

Since Orion was already in the Star Core Realm, forcing a tribulation was unnecessary.

[Bastion\'s affinity type set to Meteorite (Cosmic)]

Below the courtyard, a shard of black and silver meteorite with intricate carvings formed and linked up with his ethereal roots, giving him the feeling of absolute control.

[Skyborne Bastion Active]

Ashlock paid some extra credits to increase the size of the Bastion to encompass the entire courtyard, including the stone statues of Vincent Nightrose.

"I wonder if I should keep them as the idea of Vincent fighting a flying island with his own statues on it sounds quite amusing," Ashlock pondered but eventually gave up and decided to figure it out later. For now, he would leave Orion here. He needed to go after Nyxalia and inform others about the state of things.

[Immense inflow of divine energy detected]

"Huh? What for?" Ashlock thought back on what had happened and then felt dumb. He had just been defending himself, but he realized his display of defiance against the heavens had been in full view of everyone in Ashfallen and Darklight City.

Ashlock looked inside his Inner World, and while on the way to watch his forest of sacrificial credits grow, he passed the floating arena and realized the tournament was still going on inside his Inner World. It had been put on a brief hold, but there were still many cultivators inside his Inner World that had no doubt seen the inside of his soul as he repelled heaven\'s wrath.

"System, how many credits do I have?"

Idletree Daily Sign-In System

Day: 3643

Daily Credit: 0

Sacrifice Credit: 822

[Sign in?]

"Decent. I\'m sure it\'s about to go a lot higher than that once all the divine energy has been harvested," Ashlock moved away from the floating arena toward Stella\'s house. He knew she was worried as he hadn\'t had time to explain.

***

Stella sat on the couch in her house, twiddling her thumbs. An oppressive mood blanketed the room as she stole glances at the others sitting around the house\'s biggest table in silence. It had been an hour since Ash had hurriedly told her to take everyone into his Inner World. They had already exhausted their list of theories and concerns regarding the outcome of the battle in Nightrose City.

"We are going to be fine, right?" Elaine asked in a small voice that everyone heard. She was the most on edge, as there had been no sign of Morrigan. All they had experienced was having their void shields popped in various ways and teleporting back to Quill\'s library.

"Trust in Ashlock," Douglas said, softly rubbing Elaine\'s back with a kind smile, "When has he ever let us down?"

"But..." Elaine trailed off, but everyone knew what she wanted to say.

Vincent Nightrose is nearing the Monarch Realm. Stella closed her eyes and leaned back as she felt an ache in her stomach from the nerves. Every passing second felt like an agonizing hour. Ash is strong, but there\'s no guarantee he can deal with such a powerhouse.

A sudden wave of power washed over the entire house, making Stella\'s eyes snap open. She stood up, as did everyone else, and they scrambled toward the windows.

"What is happening?" The Redclaw Grand Elder said, glancing at Stella.

"How would I know?!" Stella replied in a panic as she stared up at Ash\'s turbulent soul that made up the sky. It seemed an immense amount of Qi was being diverted somewhere, and divine energy was also being used. Whatever Ash was fighting, he was going all out. "We have to go help him," Stella\'s Star Core hummed in her chest. She was about to step through the aether when she felt a firm grasp on her shoulder, rooting her in place.

"Where do you think you\'re going?"

Stella glared over her shoulder at Diana, "Why are you stopping me?"

Diana cocked a brow, "Are you suicidal now? If Ashlock has to exert this much effort to kill something, it is way out of your league."

Stella ground her teeth.

"Am I wrong?"

"No," Stella said through clenched teeth as she shrugged Diana\'s hand off her shoulder but didn\'t make any moves to leave. Diana was right; if she was to go out there, she would only be a hindrance. "It\'s just frustrating. I want to be useful, but—"

"I know," Diana ruffled her hair, "But it\'s not our fault Ashlock can grow in cultivation so fast. We can only do our best to keep up and be useful when the time calls for it."

"Diana is right," Douglas sighed while not taking his eyes off staring out the window, "Whatever this is, it ain\'t our fight. Sometimes, it\'s best to sit back and let the godly beings fight it out."

"Besides, it\'s not like the fight is here on Red Vine Peak," Diana added, "I bet he\'s beating the shit out of Vincent through one of his offspring or Bastions."

Stella slowly nodded, only half convinced. Somehow, she felt the fight was much closer than they expected, but even then, what would she do as a measly Star Core Realm cultivator? If Ash, who had a literal planet inside his own soul, had to go all out, she would just get in the way.

I need to get stronger. Otherwise, I will just be a burden to Tree moving forward. Stella stepped away from the window and sat back on the couch. Her spatial ring flashed with silver light, and the books on aether affinity Valandor had given her appeared in her hands. Flipping to the first page, she began to read while the rest continued watching the awe-inspiring display of power outside the window.

A few confusing minutes later, Stella felt Ash\'s presence breathing down her neck, followed by his voice.

"Watcha reading?"

"Tree!" Stella had never felt so relieved. She had been using this hard-to-read cultivation manual to distract her wandering thoughts, but she had begun to fear the worst.

Everyone turned at her shouting, and soon came a wave of questions toward the ceiling.

"Okay, everyone relax. One at a time."

"Is Vincent Nightrose dead?" The Redclaw Grand Elder asked the burning question.

"No,"Ash replied, "He ran away, leaving a giant illusion formation to cover his escape. Though it\'s not all bad. I used Elysia to turn the whole thing into an opportunity to incorporate Nightrose City into our cult."

Stella felt her stomach sink. The man who wanted to hunt her down and was powerful enough to threaten Ash was still out there. But she also couldn\'t believe Ash managed to turn that situation into one that benefited him.

"Sorry to ask, but do you know what happened to Morrigan?" Elaine asked with hope in her eyes.

"Oh, Morrigan? She\'s doing just fine." Ashlock replied with some sourness in his tone. "Not sure where she ran off to, but that old fox can take care of herself."

"I see, that\'s good." Elaine breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned into Douglas.

"Ashlock, I have a question. What was that earlier?" Diana asked while pointing outside, "We saw you using a lot of Qi and even divine energy to fight something."

"Oh, that?" Ashlock laughed, "Nothing too serious, just some old fool colluding with the heavens to try and kill me."

"Who was this old fool?" Stella said, her eyes narrowing. Was it someone she could go and hunt?

"The Starweaver Grand Elder, but you don\'t need to worry about him. I already turned him into a tree. Actually, you can come and see for yourself." A portal rippled into existence, showing a truly breathtaking tree in the middle of a destroyed courtyard backdropped by a destroyed castle that looked very different from the one they had seen earlier, "Just make sure to wear your artifact, Stella. We don\'t want Vincent sniffing your bloodline\'s location just yet... at least not until we have a suitable trap set up for him."

"You think he will come?" Diana asked, "He is one paranoid bastard and is bound to sniff out a trap from miles away."

"I don\'t \'think\' he will come," Ashlock paused, "I know he will. We have something he can\'t live without. The question isn\'t if he will strike, it\'s when."