[Tree] Chapter 638: A New Mutation (Patreon)

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[Unlocked an A-grade mutation: Amber Chrysalis]

Ashlock was pleasantly surprised he'd rolled a mutation, as they were always rather interesting, and unlike skills, they altered him on a biological level, elevating him into a new being.

"Amber Chrysalis?" Ashlock murmured.

The name was a little less obvious than his other mutations like Evil Eye or Cursed Blood of the Demon Tree. Though he could feel a slight burning sensation running through his trunk and roots as the mutation took hold, which was rather concerning.

"System, what is this?" he asked. It was A-grade, so it was bound to be good, but he still wanted to know what he was working with. Thankfully, his system was keen to explain.

{Amber Chrysalis [A]}

[A network of amber veins now runs beneath your bark, parallel to your cursed blood. At will, any surface of your body, whether it be your trunk, branches, or roots, may weep molten amber that hardens upon contact with the air, entombing whatever it embraces within a chrysalis. Anything sealed inside is held in perfect stasis: flesh does not rot, Qi does not disperse, souls do not fade, and time does not flow. The chrysalis is opaque to Qi, meaning anything encased inside is unsusceptible to spiritual senses. Those below your cultivation realm cannot easily break free from within]

The first part that caught Ashlock's attention about his new mutation was that, unlike his Cursed Blood that came from wounds, he could secrete this molten amber at will. That was nice, as it meant nobody could harvest any from his roots when he wasn't aware, like with his Cursed Blood. Which was definitely a good thing, as this amber sounded incredibly valuable.

"If I remember correctly, some trees back on Earth would secrete tree resin, which would eventually harden as a way to heal wounds and defend against insects. Of course, my system takes that basic tree function to another level by practically giving my tree resin time magic and the ability to capture souls. Though it doesn't say how fast the resin hardens, so I should test that before trying to use it in combat to restrain someone."

Ashlock ignored the tribulation going on around him and focused on one of his lower branches that was heavy with ripe fruit. Invisible to others, he could feel the molten amber flowing beneath his bark. With a simple thought, he slowly forced it out through the gaps in his bark, and it felt like squeezing a lemon. The dull golden resin seeped through the crack and, like maple syrup, poured over the fist-sized fruit, encasing it.

After a minute or so, the resin hardened into amber, sealing the fruit in an amber chrysalis.

"Where did the fruit go?" Ashlock wondered. To him, the moment the amber chrysalis finished forming, the fruit within seemed to disappear. He read over the skill description again and realized what had happened. "I'm using spiritual sense to see, but the amber blocks all spiritual senses. So I can't even see that there's a fruit inside? But wait, what about Gaze of the Tree God?"

Activating the S-grade skill, he had to shove a lot of Qi into it until he could perceive that there was a fruit encased within the amber, but not its properties.

"I can do one better."

Ashlock's trunk slowly split open, and he swapped to his Evil Eye, which possessed true sight, allowing him to peer through any barrier or illusion. Thanks to his Evil Eye's true sight, he could finally see the fruit clearly and sense the Qi stored within.

"This amber isn't using Qi to block spiritual sense or keep things in stasis," Ashlock murmured. "It's like a property of the material itself. It's totally devoid of Qi. I've never seen anything like it."

Ashlock tried to inject his Monarch Realm desolation Qi into the amber, only for it to be outright rejected. All he managed was clouding the surface layer of the amber before the stalk holding the fruit finally snapped under the strain, and the amber-encased fruit dropped to the ground, bounced twice, and rolled before coming to a stop under Zephyrine's hoof.

"What is this?" Zephyrine asked, pulling her hoof away and revealing that the resin showed no sign of damage despite the fall.

"Something new I'm experimenting with," Ashlock replied. "Oh, Zephyrine, can you sense what is inside?"

"Well, I can see it's a fruit," Zephyrine said. Unlike Ashlock, who relied on spiritual vision to see, she had two working eyes, and the amber was partially translucent, just like on Earth. "But this golden resin encasing it is somehow blocking my spiritual senses. How strange, I've never seen something like this before."

"Can you try crushing it under your hoof?"

Zephyrine gave him a weird look. "You sure? I might break it."

"I'm hoping you can."

Zephyrine hesitated for a moment before doing as he asked. She started carefully by putting her weight on it, then leaned more into it. When it still refused to be crushed, Ashlock noticed the muscles beneath her snow-white fur tense.

A portal appeared, and Stella walked through with Diana.

"What's going on here—" Diana began right as Zephyrine's jaw clenched, and she angrily stamped down with the full force of a Monarch Realm.

The Amber Chrysalis detonated into a million pieces alongside the contained fruit, leaving only a smear behind on the cracked stone. Stella and Diana were frozen while Zephyrine quickly withdrew her hoof and returned to her senses.

"Ashlock, I'm so sorry—"

"There's no need to be," Ashlock assured her. "I can make as much of that amber resin as I wish, and the fruit is worthless to me. I simply wanted to know its limits, and you've shown me it's able to withstand a Monarch Realm's strength... to a point."

Zephyrine seemed relieved. "I was worried that was something really valuable. But to think you can make resin that can block spiritual sight."

"He can do what now?" Stella asked, and Diana seemed just as curious.

Ashlock sighed and explained everything again for them.

"So anything stored inside is not only invisible to spiritual senses, but is held in perfect stasis. Not even Qi or souls can escape?" Diana said slowly, as if she still didn't quite believe it.

"It's also harder than most Qi-enhanced metals I've seen," Zephyrine said. "Have you thought of what to use it for yet?"

"Well, obviously it would be useful in alchemy for preserving ingredients. I could also use it to stockpile food to avoid future famines, and I suppose to keep monster corpses fresh."

The reason he didn't bother to keep many in his spatial storage was that they rotted and the Qi from them dispersed, resulting in them being worthless for sacrificial credits or being raised as Ents. But if he stored the corpses in resin, they would be as good to eat as the moment they were slaughtered.

"Can I see it?" Diana asked.

Ashlock obliged by coating a few more fruits and had them drop to the ground. As before, all survived the harsh fall.

"So this is your new resin?" Stella said as she picked up a fruit. "Did you perhaps get jealous of Mother's golden sap and want something of your own?"

"No, that's not true at all," Ashlock chuckled. But perhaps his system did? It wasn't like he got to pick the draws, as they were random. "Though ours are quite different. Sylva's sap is an amazing cultivation resource while mine has almost the opposite properties. It's all about preservation and prevention rather than helping progress."

Stella slowly nodded. "This will be perfect for alchemy, and I already have a few ideas. But there are also combat uses since it's resistant to Qi." She held the fruit out and released her grip, only for it to drop unceremoniously to the ground. She then stared at her hand as if there were something wrong with it. "That was strange... my telekinesis slid off. It was like trying to grasp air."

Ashlock tried to pick the fruits up himself and encountered the same problem. No matter how much Qi he shoved into the technique, it failed to get a hold on the amber.

"I see what you mean."

There was a loud crunch, drawing Ashlock's attention to Diana. She had seemingly crushed an Amber Chrysalis with her Archdemon strength alone.

"It's certainly strong," she noted. "But since it's Qi-resistant, it will be counterproductive to craft weapons or armor out of it, as it would inhibit the user as much as the foe."

"Mhm, that's true," Stella agreed as she picked up her fruit again and held it against the sun. "If a sword were made out of this, I wouldn't be able to use telekinesis to use it at range or empower it with my Aether Qi."

"What happens if you can't empower it?" Ashlock asked since he rarely used weapons.

"They break," Stella said simply. "I can still use the daggers you gave me because I enhance and sharpen them with my Qi. If I'm using a sword crafted from this resin that can't be brought up to my level, then I will eventually trade blows with a foe the material's strength can't keep up with."

"It's likely already outgrown you since it shatters under decent Monarch Realm strength," Diana noted. "But there are still many applications for this... like crafting currency out of it, for example."

"Currency?" Ashlock had his curiosity piqued.

"Yeah, there are three factors that make a material ideal for currency in my opinion. It has to be rare, which this is since only you can make it. The material also has to be workable into small pieces like coins and strong enough to not be easily damaged."

"Are we in need of a new currency?" Ashlock asked. There were honestly so many, he had stopped keeping track.

"Yes, though I only thought of it just now." Diana began pacing as she expressed her thoughts. "If we think about it, spirit stones are about to lose a lot of their inherent value due to the ambient Qi rising, and access to the next Layer of Creation will surely inflate the supply. Meanwhile, the currency used by those from the wilderness cities like Darklight City is made of metals that are about to become readily available, as mining in the wilderness will be easier now that the beast tide is gone. We can't adopt the currency the Celestial Empire used, as my demons have uncovered dozens of counterfeiting operations, and the fleeing nobles took their savings with them, starving the supply. The value of Yinxi Coins is also in jeopardy as we absorbed the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion, and the Hunters don't trust what we are going to do with it."

"You've got a lot of insight into this," Ashlock said. He was honestly impressed. Cultivators were masters of the Dao and their affinity, but there was a good reason they often left the workings of the economy to the mortals. It was typically considered a matter beneath them, so he was surprised that Diana was so aware of how economies functioned.

Diana grinned. "Of course I have, and now that we have grown from a Sect to an Empire, we should have our own currency. We could even control the value by pegging it against our pills and the food we supply."

Ashlock could smell the possibility of corruption in every idea Diana was suggesting, but thankfully, he had no interest in obtaining wealth for himself. All of this was for the good of the people in his Empire.

"Diana, you're a genius," Ashlock praised her. "When can you get started on this idea?"

"Now should be fine. It's only my clone going on Moros to the next Layer, so I can start working on it alongside some demons while you explore the next Layer."

"Sounds amazing. Thanks, Diana," Ashlock said. He was about to ask why she kept mentioning demons when the lightning and thunder abruptly ceased, and within the dust haze left behind by the heavens' wrath, six heads rose to the sky and roared in defiance.

[Tribulation has been successfully endured. Morthex's cultivation has been raised to Monarch Realm 2nd stage]

[Death affinity identified. Under {Necroflora Empire [Mythical]}, this General will comprehend the law of the affinity it was raised from without your intervention. No assimilation is required of you]

[Warning: Morthex was not a Monarch in life and held no Domain. No withered remnant can be inherited. As their Overlord, you may author this General's Domain]

[Morthex is now a Monarch and designated as the fifth General]

[Notice: five Generals now draw sustenance from your Inner World. Current output remains sufficient. Expansion of the Inner World is advised before a sixth is raised]

Morthex spread its massive bone wings and charged toward Ashlock with all the grace of a landslide and the energy of a puppy.

"Say, Zephyrine. When you oversaw Morthex as a Primal Overlord, how would you describe their level of intelligence?"

"Minimal, like a golem or undead," Zephyrine replied. "Why?"

"No reason."

In truth, this was a good test. Would raising such a beast to the Monarch Realm and promoting it to a General grant it a level of intelligence? Bob had been a living door, and now could at least talk and think at a child's level. Yet somehow, he had less hope for Morthex.

"Morthex, stop," Ashlock commanded before it plowed into him.

To his relief, the rampaging beast understood that much and came to an abrupt stop before his trunk and let out another mighty roar. It really was like a puppy, and compared to his trunk, it looked small. But in reality, the monster towered over the others with a height rivaling Sol.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Ashlock asked.

The monster nodded one of its heads, but didn't offer a reply of its own.

"Not a great talker, but it understands me at least," Ashlock sighed. "That means I need to come up with your domain myself."

After a moment of pondering, the perfect domain for a death hydra that was going to raise armies in his stead came to mind.

It was almost too perfect.

[Author Note]

Morthex affinity was death, not rot. Has been fixed.