[Tree] Chapter 647: Home Troubles (Patreon)

Diana blinked, and her attention snapped back to her main body. That meeting was far more fun than I ever expected, she mused, licking her lips. And those twisted souls were some of the finest I've tasted.

She was seated before a window in her office, in the tallest tower of her palace that the Mudcloaks still hadn't finished. In hindsight, though, asking for nine towers may have been a little excessive, given the labor shortage. But she stood by her decision despite the slow progress, as she was the Archdemon who oversaw the Empire, and her palace needed to inspire awe in all who visited.

After all, only the most trusted sect members could visit Red Vine Peak, so her palace, built on a Bastion floating over the Ashfallen Empire, served as the center of governance. It was also one of the most mysterious places to the general populace as it loomed over their cities, and Diana had heard through her demons the tales told about the Floating Mist Palace.

Beyond the crystal glass window, rippling with defensive enchantments, demonic mist blanketed the Bastion so thickly that the scaffolding around the seventh tower seemed to float on a gray sea. Mudcloaks scurried along it, hauling blocks of black stone three times their size and seemingly unfazed by the perpetual demonic mist that gave the place its name.

Diana leaned forward to peer down into the courtyard.

Good to see he's being taken care of, Diana mused, watching her demon gardener tend the spatial-affinity demonic tree that operated the island. Now that Ashlock's ascension was over, the tree was far more willing to create portals across the Ashfallen Empire for her, so she happily rewarded the tree for the hard work.

Since her tower was the tallest, she could peer over the demonic mist shrouding the island to the World Tree's trunk, which filled half the horizon like a wall at the edge of the world. The other half showed twilight and random strikes of lightning in the distance.

Ever since the Qi in the 9th Layer increased, so many cultivators have been going through ascensions at once that the lightning storms have been nonstop. I'll need to do something about that.

Diana leaned back in her chair and idly watched the Era of Ascension Rift through the gaps in the World Tree's immense canopy. As she did so, warmth spread through her chest as demonic Qi trickled down through the rift. It was a gift from her clone on the 8th Layer, and despite the annoyances of governance awaiting her, a smile bloomed across her face. Her clone had already taken the main share of the feast, so she would need to meet with it in person to eat her fill. But even this little taste was enough to lift both her mood and her cultivation.

Spinning her large chair around, she returned to her desk.

Now, where was I before I had the pleasure of that gruesome meeting? She fished her quill from the pot and confronted the unsigned document before her. Ah yes, a grain tariff proposal from Argentum.

Diana signed her name at the bottom, as she had already read it earlier, and set it on the finished pile. She then reached for the next one from the far taller unfinished pile.

Alright, what's next?

She pointedly ignored a muffled thump through the wall to her left and the domineering voice that was unmistakably her own as she scanned the next document.

"One of the fallen Empyrea noble families desires another meeting? What could it be this time?" she muttered, but didn't let it ruin her good mood. She begrudgingly approved it and moved on to the next.

"Mistress?"

Diana glanced up from the piles of documents.

A demon named Desmond stood beside the closed door, a tea tray carefully balanced in one hand and a leather-bound book tucked under his arm.

He had been head steward to House Virelios and had spent a century skimming from the other servants' wages, having anyone who noticed killed and incinerated by a gang. When Diana had looted House Virelios for treasures, she had smelled the man's heart demon from the courtyard and hunted him down. Now Desmond had slit pupils, a small black horn poking through neat black hair, and he made an excellent pot of tea.

Desmond had been greedy as a human, but he had earned his role as head steward, and those talents only improved after becoming a demon.

"Is something the matter?" Diana asked as she fished the next document from the unfinished pile.

"You're smiling instead of grumbling like usual," Desmond noted, smiling back. His gaze flicked toward the left wall as something in the next room fell over and rolled across the floor. "Is it because of how much fun your clone is having with her guests?"

"Guests?" Diana raised a brow. It certainly sounded like a party over there as the headboard began knocking against the wall in a steady rhythm.

"Yes, Mistress. I let them in two hours ago," Desmond said. "I thought you were personally in control of the... fun, so I remained here to watch over you and with tea at the ready."

Diana snorted. "Thank you, but no, that's all my clone's doing. I had matters to attend to on the 8th Layer, which is why I was distant."

She had long since learned to tune out what her clones were up to unless she needed to know. With over a dozen of them spread across the Ashfallen Empire at any given moment, it was that or frankly go mad.

I honestly have no idea how Ashlock remains sane with all his offspring, especially with some of them reaching the Nascent Soul Realm and now being intelligent enough to hold a conversation like Timmy.

"Then can I assume the business in the 8th Layer is proceeding well?" Desmond asked as he set down the tray and poured a cup of tea with expert precision.

"Yes, things are progressing more than smoothly," Diana mused, staring into the golden-brown tea that rippled with every thrust next door. "I killed three rotten Elders and dined on their souls."

There was a sudden muffled cry.

I really need to move those activities to another tower, Diana thought as she enjoyed the tea's aroma and took a sip. It was exceptional, as always.

"So that's why your skin is glowing, Mistress," Desmond said smoothly. "It must have been quite the feast you enjoyed. Were they strong?"

Diana shook her head. "Technically, they were stronger than most. But their insides were rotten." Diana swirled her tea as she mulled over the meeting aloud. "Though today was strange. Usually, when someone has their heart demon stripped, a person is still left behind. Depending on how rotten they are, they may feel hollow or confused afterward, but at least they are still alive. Even Aurelian needed to be drained dry before his soul gave out."

"But this time was different?" Desmond asked with cautious interest. It wasn't a servant's job to pry into their master's business, but Diana didn't mind sharing. Desmond was a loyal demon bound to her, after all.

"Indeed. There was this Elder named Corwen, and he was more heart-demon than man. He was so driven by his own twisted views and ideals that, once I extracted his heart demon, he simply... slumped over and died. It was as if his soul collapsed." Diana pursed her lips and set the teacup down. "I killed the other two by ripping off their heads, but they were equally rotten."

"The 8th Layer sounds quite interesting," Desmond said, smiling. "And a perfect place to harvest tainted souls. Ever since..."

"The Ashfallen Trading Company started selling those pills, yes, I know. There's hardly anyone worth tasting anymore—" There was a loud noise from the other room, and then finally silence. Diana glanced at the wall, then at Desmond. "I know you didn't come all the way here to serve me tea and comment on my mood." She sighed. "What's in that dreaded notebook of yours?"

Desmond gave her a pitying look. "I apologize, Mistress, but these matters demand your attention." He took the leather-bound book from under his arm and opened it.

"Firstly, the demon minters have finished the first batch of new Ashfallen Coins." His spatial ring flashed with silver light, and a pouch appeared on the table before Diana. "Please, take a look and give your thoughts."

Diana picked up the pouch and tipped it into her palm. Three different-looking coins slid out. Each was round, made of dull golden amber, about the size of her thumbnail, and incredibly light.

She laid them out on the desk. The smallest had the imprint of bark's texture on its surface. The middle one had a maple leaf imprint, and the last had an eye. All three had a small hole through the middle, wide enough to string thread through.

"What's the purpose of the hole?" she asked.

"Allow me to check..." Desmond flicked the page in his book, and she saw his eyes scan it. "Ah, it's so you can create stacks of a set amount and bind them together with string. It also makes counting them far easier with spiritual sense due to the holes."

"Really?" Diana closed her eyes and swept her spiritual senses over them.

The world was brighter with Qi, partly because they were now closer to the World Tree, but mainly because of the Era of Ascension rift. She looked around. Qi was everywhere. The desk, the tea, and the very air shimmered faintly with Qi. Against all of that, the coins were three crisp discs of nothingness, their outlines sharp against the table.

"You were right, Desmond," Diana muttered. As it turned out, the holes had slightly different shapes, making them easy to tell apart with spiritual senses.  

"The demons and Mudcloaks carved the molds, and the All-Seeing Eye has been filling them in when he has a spare moment," Desmond said. "The raised rims keep them from sitting flush when stacked, so each one can be sensed separately. Threaded on spirit-silk, even a newly awakened cultivator can count a string of a hundred with ease. We tested it on the kitchen staff, and they said it was easier to count than spirit stones that had differing Qi densities."

"What about the forgery tests?" Diana asked, idly picking up the maple leaf coin. "Were any successful?"

"None. We asked three experts to craft a fake one, and they all failed. Every attempt couldn't compare to the utter lack of Qi in the All-Seeing Eye's amber." Desmond chuckled as he read something. "Apparently, one artisan's tools broke when he tried to recarve the bark coin into a eye coin and has requested compensation."

"Grant it," Diana said, pinching the coin between two claws and squeezing with enough force to break steel. It didn't even crack. If she used her full Archdemon strength again, it would shatter into a million pieces, but this would be indestructible to most.

"I shall see to it. If you are satisfied with the coins and approve, they will enter mass production and be introduced into the realm by pegging their value against our own pills and food stores. In fact, Captain Ryker has Team Quicksilver ready to begin distribution through the Ashfallen Empire on your word." Desmond hesitated. "It's noted here that he also asked, quite firmly for a six-year-old, that it happen soon."

"I agree with him," Diana said, glancing at the stack of documents. Over half of the documents in her finished pile concerned currency issues. Merchants wanted to know the exchange rates between spirit stones, crowns, and what the Celestial Empire used. All of those calculations were being thrown off by the rising ambient Qi, turning regular spirit stones into high-grade spirit stones. There were even reports of dulled spirit stone deposits regaining their Qi.

Effectively, spirit stones were becoming worthless.

The collapse is happening faster than I thought it would. Diana drummed her fingers on her armrest. "Tell Ryker we will start production of the Ashfallen Coins immediately," she told Desmond. "Anything else?"

Desmond nodded, turned a page, and his expression soured. "Captain Amber of Team Phoenix has sent a report. It is... long."

"Summarize it for me."

"There's a lot, but the most pressing matter is that every cultivator from the old Celestial Empire who has been stuck at a bottleneck for the last century is breaking through. All at once. It's attributed to the rising ambient Qi and access to the Ashfallen Trading Company's pills."

Diana glanced out the window at the distant lightning. She could now count five ongoing storms, and while none seemed on the level of a Monarch Realm ascension, those were bound to happen too.

A market district on the edge of Floridawn had already been destroyed by an ascending Star Core Realm cultivator who refused to head out into the wilderness and conduct their ascension elsewhere.

Desmond chuckled again.

"What is it?" Diana asked.

"Nothing, Mistress, it's just a highlighted line from Amber's report. It mentions that dragging a half-ascended Elder out of his own bathhouse by the ankles was, and I quote, 'the worst hour of my life.'" Desmond slid a document across the desk. "She did propose a solution to the problem and is requesting your approval. It would make breaking through within city limits without a permit a punishable offense."

"A tribulation permit," Diana said flatly as she read it over.

"Yes, Mistress."

While Diana found all the holes in Amber's clearly emotionally fueled and over-the-top proposal, Desmond had more to share.

"There are some notes here about increased crime due to people all over awakening as cultivators even without the help of our pills. Apparently, that has thrown the slums of every city into chaos as the poor and downtrodden rise up and fight. Team Koi is working with Team Phoenix to contain it."

"Send some demons too," Diana said. "I'm sure there will be many twisted criminals in those slums to turn into lesser demons such as yourself."

"As you wish," Desmond said, bowing a little. "There was one last thing."

Diana gave him a stare. "Really?"

"I promise."

"Fine. Out with it."

Desmond drew out a single parchment bearing Evelyn Duskwalker's seal. That caught Diana's attention, so she sat up and set Amber's suggestion aside.

"What's this?"

"A division of Team Wraith has been studying all the reports regarding the Era of Ascension. Incidents of abrupt breakthroughs among cultivators, mortals awakening their spirit roots, and even beasts mutating into monsters are occurring in every city. Everywhere except one." Desmond leaned over and tapped the parchment. "Goldreach—the old Celestial Empire mint city. No reports of any tribulations in the area, which seemed odd. Captain Evelyn sent two of her people to confirm, and they reported that the ambient Qi there is actually less than it was a year ago."

"That is strange." Diana frowned.

"Indeed it is, Mistress. Team Quicksilver has also noticed that Celestial Empire merchants are buying spirit stones across the Empire for next to nothing and hauling them to Goldreach by the wagonload."

Diana rose from her chair, report in hand, and flexed her wings.

"This smells like a scheme from one of the unaccounted-for sins." She stored the report away and circled her desk. "Clear my schedule. I'm going to check it out."

"With your main body?" Desmond asked with concern.

"Of course not," Diana chuckled. "I'll take over the 'duties' of my clone in the other room and send her to work."

"Ah," Desmond said, bowing. "I wish you a pleasant night, Mistress."

[Author Note]

There was some discussion in discord about the lack of attention given to the 9th layer and what effect the Era of Ascesion is having on the general populace. I though this chapter was a fun way to show a few of the things happening, as well as demonstrate Diana's clone ability. She's going to be a useful POV character moving forward due to the clones so this was a good time to establish that. This will be a short arc, or be told in split POV chapters with Ash/8th layer stuff. It serves as a nice arc to fill in the gap until the Red Tide starts.

As always, never totally sure with these types of chapters. It was less slice of life than some of the others I've posted and I know it won't be everyones favourite. But I hope it was at least a little fun to end the week on. :)