[Tree] Chapter 654: Earthen Jaws (Patreon)

Timmy set the glasses Diana had given him aside and sank his infant soul golem into the ground because things were about to get ugly.

With his father's cold attention weighing heavily on the entire island, anything short of absolute victory was out of the question. In his eyes, Ashlock was more than his father—he was his god. His father had granted him the gift of life, endless power, and deep knowledge that even the heavens lacked. Which meant that if he disappointed, it could all be taken away as easily as it had been given.

Timmy had millions of siblings. Yet, he had been chosen for this important role over all of them, and now he had to prove why. These Wavescale Sect fools were going to be on the unfortunate receiving end.

"There's nothing here besides some withered trees!" the first Wavescale Sect member to set foot on the island called out to the others. His sea serpent lurked in the shallow waters a step behind him, waves gently crashing against the shore. The man kicked at a nearby mangrove tree root, splintering it. "They are alive but too brittle to be of much use besides firewood."

Timmy was deeper inland, hidden behind a wall of mangroves. He had to deal with the intruders before they got too far and spotted his canopy looming in the darkness.

Let's see how strong they are first.

Timmy carefully expanded his spiritual senses and learned that both the cultivator and the sea serpent were in the Star Core Realm. Neither was trying very hard to suppress their spiritual pressure, considering this seemed to be a stealth mission. Amateurs, Timmy concluded silently as he let a dozen cultivators atop sea serpents enter the alcove. But at the Star Core Realm, they can still be deadly to me. I'll let a few more enter the alcove since the first wave should be the weakest, as leaders will hang back and send their disciples in to scout ahead.

He had learned that from Diana, among other things. Unlike spirit trees that worked in harmony and for the collective, humans were selfish and self-serving, which made them predictable.

Unfortunately, as a spirit tree, his sight was quite limited. Anything beyond the mouth of the alcove was a blur. He saw spiritually through his roots, which extended throughout the entire island, including the basalt shelf under the invading airship that had settled onto the water. He could sense over fifty sea serpents lurking in the water between the alcove and the airship, but his spiritual sense didn't extend far enough to sense the cultivators likely atop them.

Not a problem. I'll deal with them next. Timmy turned his attention back to the alcove where almost a dozen people were now stalking through the withered mangrove trees and fast approaching him. Let's deal with this lot first.

Earth Qi poured from his soul, down his roots, and flooded into the surrounding basalt with little resistance, as he had already soaked most of the island in his Qi, making it an extension of himself. The whole island was crafted from basalt, ancient lava that had risen from the seafloor and cooled into tightly packed hexagonal columns of stone. Each column was easy to isolate with Earth Qi, leaving Timmy to decide which ones went up and which ones came down.

These fools hadn't simply walked into an alcove—they'd walked into the mouth of a mountain monster, and he commanded its jaws.

"Wait," one of the cultivators said, raising a hand. "I sensed something."

"Did you trigger a trap?" a second asked.

"Possibly," the first responded, dropping to one knee and placing his palm on the stone. "A lot of Earth Qi is suddenly flowing beneath us."

"Earth Qi?" a third echoed. "Are you sure it's not the island's erosion resistance array you're sensing?"

"Isn't Elder Maren an Earth Qi user? Perhaps she set it up," a woman suggested.

"You talking about that Elder that sits out of every war?" The second one chuckled. "Though spending this much Earth Qi to maintain the smallest and saddest of the islands would explain why their Patriarch tolerates her—"

You're going to regret badmouthing someone who cares for trees, Timmy thought. Because it's showtime.

A loud crack echoed through the alcove, and Timmy sensed all the intruders tense up at once and look at the ceiling for the source. If they had ever fought an earth cultivator before, they would know a loud crack is the sign to run, not stand around.

"Everyone, look! The mouth is closing!" the first one yelled after a few seconds. "Retreat!"

It seems they aren't all idiots.

They all scrambled to their waiting sea serpents, but Timmy wasn't going to let them escape that easily. Along with the basalt columns dropping like teeth to close the alcove, he lifted the alcove's bay and the sea serpents with it. Water quickly drained through the gaps he left, sending the sea serpents into a panic now that they were beached.

This move had also deprived the cultivators and sea serpents of access to water, and since most of them were water cultivators, that heavily weakened them.

"Forget the serpents, just go!" The first cultivator lunged for the narrowing gap between the alcove's stone jaws. His head and shoulders cleared the opening, and he was about to make it all the way through when Timmy flared his Qi and drove the column down. The cultivator resisted being crushed for a moment, his Qi flaring wildly, but ultimately the basalt teeth crushed his torso into paste with a wet crunch. With a final gasp leaving his body, the cultivator's head tumbled into the ocean.

With a thunk, the basalt jaws of the alcove shut, sealing the cultivators inside in total darkness.

"What in sunken depths was that?" one of them yelled. "Did the island just eat us?"

Timmy wasn't done. Before they could get over the horror of their companion being crushed, he unleashed a wave of Nascent Soul Realm spiritual pressure from everywhere at once, making the weaker Star Core Realm invaders freeze briefly.

Then from above, he drove down a basalt column he had loosened earlier.

None of the trapped cultivators noticed it silently falling through the darkness.

"Did you guys feel that spiritual pressure too?" The second cultivator hissed. "Was that Elder Mar—" He was cut off as the column smashed through him, showering the nearby cultivators in blood and splintered bone before striking the ground with a thunderous crash. The column then stood proudly for a moment, like the grand marking of a tomb, before losing its balance and toppling over, crushing one of the thrashing sea serpents beneath its weight.

The ground trembled violently, and the roaring crash boomed through the pitch-black enclosed space.

Even with the Language of the Eldertree inherited from his father, Timmy got lost trying to listen to humans shouting over one another. Their chain of command had collapsed, and it seemed it was every cultivator for themselves as they tried to blast a way out through the basalt jaws, but it was hopeless. His roots threaded the basalt, and his Nascent Soul Realm Qi infused it. It would take them decades to cut through with Star Core Realm water techniques alone. Not to mention, without water, every technique they used pulled water from the air, turning the alcove into a dry prison.

I need to kill them all before they figure out that escape is impossible and turn their attention to the demonic tree orchestrating all of this, namely me, Timmy mused. But how should I go about it? I could collapse the entire ceiling on them, and the squishy humans wouldn't stand a chance. But Father is watching. This is a rare chance to show him what I can do, and simply crushing them all is far too one-dimensional a tactic.

He mentally pushed his glasses up, even though they were set aside.

That's something my siblings would do. Not me.

He was his father's chosen. Only absolute victory, brought about in the most creative and brutal manner, was acceptable. That thinking and approach had led his father to rule over billions of humans, and he planned to follow.

Those outside the island can't be allowed to flee and spread rumors of my capabilities. That is the next priority, Timmy decided, leaving the fools to try and escape and focusing his attention beyond the island. A large group of sea serpent riders floated near the sealed mouth of the alcove, inspecting the bloody remains of the first man Timmy killed.

"Something is wrong. We should retreat and tell Torvun that the Saltstone Sect is more heavily defended than we were led to believe."

"You want to report this to Torvun? Are you a fool?!" An older-looking one of them rebuked. "This is the Saltstone Sect! There's no way Torvun will even believe us, and if we fail to make landfall, Ferrin will mow through our forces unpunished!"

"I agree, Elder, but I'm just worried Elder Ossian lied to us about this secret entrance to the island. Do you really believe a tunnel leads all the way to the island's center, past all their defensive formations, when this happened to those we sent inside? It's clearly a trap—"

The enraged Elder grabbed the cautious cultivator's robe. "Your concerns are unnecessary. Ferrin is on the open ocean as we speak, leaving the Saltstone Sect undefended. If we retreat now and squander this rare chance to seize his sect from behind, we lose the battle. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Elder," the first replied.

Timmy estimated this Elder was in the lower stages of the Nascent Soul Realm like him. Stronger than those trapped inside, but not strong enough to force his way through the basalt jaw in any reasonable time. The stronger Elders of the Wavescale Sect were likely being fielded against Ferrin.

"Good. Then gather everyone and blast a hole through this wall! We have to free those trapped inside and make it to the tunnel!"

"Yes, Elder!" Everyone shouted in unison atop their sea serpents. Their Star Cores blazed, and the ocean answered their call as techniques twisted the sea into whirlpools, spears, and massive waves that crashed into the island with trembling force.

Compared to the cultivators trapped inside and deprived of water, these cultivators had the whole ocean to command.

It will still take them hours to force their way in. What matters is they are desperate. That gives me a major advantage. Timmy began curling his roots within the cliff above, crushing and grinding the basalt into sand. The cracking sound drew their attention, but none dared defy their Elder, so they stayed on task.

After a few minutes, Timmy was ready to begin phase two. The goal? To draw the airship closer and destroy it, since it was too far away to lob boulders at and could fly away before he could rupture its hull with rising columns of basalt.

Step one: blind them and sow chaos. With a burst of Earth Qi, the cliff he had been grinding detonated high above, ejecting a cloud of basalt sand onto the cultivators and airship below. Usually, the breeze would carry his attack away, but he also inserted his roots into the array's anchor stones, forcing the fog array blanketing the island to cling to the sand.

"Enemy attack!" The Elder roared, and everyone scrambled back to the airship atop their sea serpents. Minutes crawled by as everyone stayed on high alert, searching their surroundings.

It was hopeless. The fog array already clouded spiritual sight, and with the addition of black sand, it was like being trapped in thick smog. They had to bury their noses in their robes just to breathe and wouldn't notice an attack if it came.

Timmy didn't use the confusion to attack. Instead, he compelled the basalt pillars to open and reveal an alcove.

"Do you all hear that?" The Elder asked his crew.

"The island is moving again," his second-in-command said. "We should wait—"

"Elder!" a cultivator's Qi-empowered voice called from the alcove. "Come quickly! We found the tunnel!"

Timmy couldn't see the Elder's face, as he listened through roots on the basalt shelf beneath the airship and sea serpents, but he could imagine his smile.

"What did I say?" the Elder said arrogantly. "Elder Ossian would never lie to me."

"What about the ship? We might lose it in the fog and get stranded here."

The Elder sighed. "Fine. Bring it closer to the island."

Timmy watched as the airship drifted closer to the island. Once it was a stone's throw away, the Elder led everyone else into the alcove.

"Disciples, where are you?" the Elder shouted as he made landfall inside the empty alcove.

"Over here..."

The Elder turned and glared at the human silhouette lurking in the darkness.

It was Timmy. He had used the Language of the Eldertree to bait the Elder in, and because of the sand-filled fog, they couldn't tell that this was a different alcove. It was one he had made just now, devoid of mangrove trees, meaning Timmy had no problem collapsing the ceiling.

"Who are you?" the Elder demanded.

"The keeper of this place," Timmy replied. "And your demise."

A loud crack sounded as Timmy triggered a landslide overhead, and boulders the size of buildings crashed down upon the parked airship, obliterating it and sending a massive wave of water and basalt rock crashing into the small alcove.

"Elder, it's a trap!" the second-in-command said as he mobilized his Qi to slow the wall of water. But it was too late. Timmy quickly dropped the basalt teeth with a deafening thud, sealing them inside.

"I must apologize, but my father isn't easy to please," Timmy said, his voice echoing through the darkness. "Only your deaths will satisfy him."

"Wait," the Elder demanded. "Keeper of the island, perhaps you're unaware. Unlike the rest of this lot, I'm an esteemed Elder from the Wavescale Sect! Harming me would bring about the wrath of Torvun Wavescale! Have you heard of him? He's in the Monarch Realm—"

Timmy burst out laughing, causing the entire cavern to tremble and loose basalt to fall on their heads.

Were humans always this funny?

"I see why my father enjoys eating you humans now," Timmy said. "The way you beg is just so entertaining. But unfortunately..."

"No, hold on!" the Elder begged, but it was pointless.

Timmy had already wasted enough of his father's precious time on these fools.

"...This is goodbye."

Timmy dropped the ceiling on them.

***

Elder Maren was on the front line with Ferrin and First Elder Brannoch when a deafening boom sounded from the island behind them.

"Always keep yer eyes forward in battle," Ferrin said before Elder Maren had even turned to look.

Elder Maren gulped. A night of fighting the Wavescale Elders to a bloody draw had exhausted her.

"Now," Ferrin said calmly, keeping his eyes on the three Wavescale Elders lurking in the fog before them. "You said you felt a whisper of pain from one of those trees you raised?"

"Yes," Elder Maren said. "I thought it was nothing, but now..."

"It does seem a little more concerning now that the island is falling apart behind us," Ferrin sighed, raising his battleaxe. "Perhaps our friend was preoccupied, and some Wavescale Sect members are making trouble on our land. I'll push forward with First Elder Brannoch while you go and investigate."

"Will you be fine?" Elder Maren asked.

Ferrin chuckled. "I haven't even used my domain yet, but with no sign of Torvun taking to the battlefield, I think it's time I went all out."

Elder Maren nodded. "Alright, good luck."

"Don't yer fucking die back there, yer hear me?" Ferrin said as he gathered Qi to his battleaxe. "Now go!"

"Don't you die on me either," Elder Maren said with a small smile and shot across the water toward home.