Reborn as a Demonic Tree
chapter-300

The Lunarshade Grand Elder groaned as he clasped a hand around the shaft of metal that was impaling his side. It had torn through his lunar avatar as if it were nothing but water and had taken out his left arm and lung.

It should be impossible for something this primitive to hurt him to this extent, but Qi was a type of spiritual force at the end of the day. A well-made physical projectile coated in runic formations designed to pierce Qi defenses was difficult to stop, no matter how dense his lunar Qi avatar was.

Such a primitive weapon would be a waste of resources in most fights, as I would teleport away before it grazed my fair skin. Yet, a technique originating from that darn spirit tree protected by a shield prevents my passage through the moonlight.

"Dorian, are you alive?"

The Grand Elder glanced up at the group of Elders left and scowled at the one who had uttered his name. "Elder Elio, are you cursing me to die?" He wheezed out at the man as he only had one lung. "Or have you grown so bold to utter my name as you believe I will not strike you down before you have contributed to this battle?"

Elder Elio clasped his hands and bowed deeply. "My deepest apologies, Grand Elder. That was not my intention. I will repent to the moon for my unthoughtful words."

"Good, now help remove this rod."

Elder Elio floated down with the rest, and Dorian granted them passage through his avatar of moonlight. He wouldn't usually trust his Elders to this degree as he knew they all eyed the seat at the top of the Lunarshade family that he had spent centuries building up to be a position of prestige.

Especially Elder Elio. He thinks I am blind to the family's ongoings as I enjoy my moonlit baths surrounded by jade beauties, but little does he know they whisper rumors in my ears as we make passionate love. I know his branch has started aggressively buying up pills from the pavilion, and his branch's younger generation has been locked away in closed-door cultivation for months. They are clearly preparing for a takeover.

The Elders tried to pull the rod free, but it was firmly planted into the earth and had somehow fused to his skin.

It must have an earth core below the metal coating, and the earth's Qi keeps it rooted in place. What an interesting weapon these bastards have devised.

"Overload it with Qi. The runic formations can only take so much." Dorian instructed.

His Elders exchanged a reluctant look.

He flared his pressure to remind these bastards that they were currently inside his avatar, and crushing them like insects would be easy. They took the hint and quickly got to work.

I could use my Qi or strength to destroy this rod, but I need all I can muster to keep this ash spider from consuming me alive. The infant soul will decay to nothing at this rate, and the Qi I gathered for it over the last few centuries will be wasted.

Lunar Qi surged down the silver metal rod, which must have cost thousands of high-grade spirit stones to make. The formations glowed white, and cracks appeared. Elder Elio reeled back his fist, and with a well-placed punch, the metal casing shattered and fell aside, revealing a stone core hardened with glowing earth Qi, as Dorian had suspected.

Now free from the rod that had been sapping away his Qi, Dorian pushed lunar Qi to his wounds and watched as the soft moonlight began regrowing his flesh and limbs. Within seconds, he had undone the damage caused by the projectile.

Just how rich are these bastards to waste so many spirit stones on a one-time-use weapon that hardly did anything? Dorian shook his head as he expelled his Elders from his avatar and rose to his full height once again. Whatever, let's regain control of this battle and remind these insects why I am known as the Phantom Moon's Heir.

Raising his hands to the moon, which had reached its zenith, he said a prayer. This was a last resort for most, as calling upon a divine being's assistance never came cheap, whether the debt be paid in this life or the next. But he had already lost too much for this to go on. At this rate, he might even lose to the ash spider.

"Goddess of the moon, cleanse me of this filth that dares to cloud the skies and sully your everlasting beauty." Dorian bellowed to the heavens, and he felt it answer his call. A price would be paid for this salvation in due time, but for now, he did not care. This creature that dared to eat him alive needed to perish.

The heavens took interest, and the moon answered his prayer. The celestial object dominating the sky took on a sinister glow, and Dorian's face fell as he felt the price of his request. Strength left his body as life force was torn from his soul and gifted to the moon.

Such a steep price. Dorian couldn't believe it. A tribute of Qi, or perhaps a bottleneck, was to be expected, but life force? Did I ask the heavens to strike down a fellow divine or something?

It was unexpected but not the worst outcome. So long as I can recover my infant soul before my lifespan is up, I can reincarnate into a new body and continue living.

Having taken its tribute, the moon rapidly expanded in size as if trying to snuff out the stars and dominate the entire sky. Dorian could feel its pitiful gaze upon him as it honored his pathetic request.

The world went white as a moonbeam of unfathomable power bathed him in its cleansing wrath. The ash spider that had been devouring him barely managed to disperse in time through a hastily summoned portal, but most of it was disintegrated by the moonlight.

A moment passed, and the spider did not return.

It's a tall price to pay, but at least the main threat has been dealt with.

"Let's end this war... wait, where are the rest of you?" The Grand Elder asked his remaining Elders. At least four were missing. Had they died in the moonlight blast, too? Had the moon goddess deemed them unworthy of her cold love?

"They were slain in a dishonorable battle, and then the bastards that dared to invade your sacred lands defiled their honorable corpses by turning them into twisted monstrosities and were made to fight against us," the very helpful Elder Elio informed him while pointing at humanoid-looking white trees near the spirit tree.

Dorian followed his Elders finger, and sure enough, there were three lunar-wreathed abominations that strangely resembled his Elders despite their new monstrous forms. They stood in formation around the spirit tree as if guarding it. Many prominent Grand Elders of the other major families in Nightshade City were floating before the shield on swords, and they weren't the only ones. He could detect others, such as Magnus Redclaw, fighting off a wave of incoming bounty hunters in the distance.

"Elders, go and attack the ones fighting the bounty hunters from behind," Dorian instructed his Elders. They all teleported away to fulfill his order. He wasn't sure if the bounty hunters were on his side or not, as the Celestial Warden was likely involved, and that man's motives were never clear.

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Friend or foe, my Elders should keep them busy. Now, let's deal with these pests one by one.

Dorian raised his hand. While he had the moon's attention, his Star Core pulsed as he called upon a Nascent Soul-level moonbeam from the heavens and aimed at the tortoise monster in the distance.

The heavens delivered, and the world went white. The head of that giant red wood mountain in the distance blew up. Since it was stationary and posed the most threat, he chose to eliminate it first as it was the thing that could shoot projectiles capable of killing him. In comparison, everyone else here was a weakling hardly worth his attention except for one other major threat.

Dorian's eyes narrowed at the creature from the beyond. Mystic Qi coated its wriggling tendrils and giant green eye, giving it a purple glow, but this monster felt real, unlike the other illusionary creations from the Mystshroud family. How such a young girl could order around a beast from the void was beyond Dorian, but the fact that it was a threat that needed to be eliminated didn't change.

There's a reason I never dare to dally in the beyond. Dorian thought as he looked into the girl's eyes. They were crazed to the degree that unnerved anyone as if she knew things no human should know and could break your mind by merely uttering these truths.

Lunar affinity was of a higher order than most, which is why he could shift between reality and the void and also had control over the spatial plane. Naturally, mastering it to the level he had required an unfathomable amount of time and dedication. Something his now slain heir had shown promise of.

"You fuckers will pay for what you have done." Dorian clenched his avatar's fist, "And you will be the first."

The Mystshroud girl grinned wildly, "You dare defy my god's grace?"

"Defy?! I outright reject anything that isn't the lunar goddess's light!" Dorian dashed forward as teleportation was blocked and planted his avatar's lunar Qi wreathed fist into the void monster. The mystic Qi coating its body evaporated in a wave, exposing the monster's body to reality. It let out an otherwordly scream of pain that shook Dorian's consciousness.

Killing a void monster is near impossible without me expending all the Qi I have, but to send it back to where it came from is easy enough. Without the mystic Qi protecting it, heaven will expel it from its carefully woven reality for me, as creatures from the beyond aren't welcome here.

"What did you do?!" The Mystshroud girl shrieked as the void monster reentered her 3rd eye carved into her forehead and vanished.

Dorian had no interest in educating a brat who relied on borrowed power. He twisted his body and slapped away the many illusionary creations coming at him from the other Mystshroud members. If not for the vast difference in cultivation, these would be harder to deal with than the void monster, as he couldn't simply get rid of the outer layer and would have to destroy them outright or somehow disrupt the Mystshroud's imagination with mental attacks so they lose focus.

"Enough of this nonsense." Dorian hissed in annoyance. As a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, he could fly around unassisted by a sword, so he simply floated toward the Grand Elders and unleashed his pressure upon them.

Rifts opened around Dorian, and black vines coated in thorns surged toward him. Some even wielded swords coated in spatial Qi, and to his surprise, they could strike from seemingly impossible angles and tear into his avatar.

Luckily, like the void monster coated in mystic Qi, there was a simple solution. Dorian didn't even bother trying to cut or freeze the vines. He sent out a crescent slash from his sword and severed the portals instead. The popping sounds and rush of air accompanied the thuds of the thick black vines and the clattering of swords falling to the ground.

Their coordination is terrible, and they rely on too many proxy attacks. Only the ash spider dared to attack me head-on with his body. It's impossible to defeat a stronger opponent with such safe attacks from afar. My regeneration is unbeatable, and so long as the moon is at its zenith, I can call upon its wrath.

A yawn almost escaped Dorian's mouth as a wall of ice erupted from the ground.

"Are you trying to prevent my passage with ice? Do you know who I am?" Dorian sneered at the Frostviel Grand Elder as he snapped his fingers, and the wall crumbled into a sad lake of water in the mud.

The monstrosities birthed from his fallen Elders guarding the spirit tree began to move toward him. "My Elders feared and obeyed me in life. What do you think they could do to me in death?" Dorian opened his palm and reversed gravity on the Ents.

They groaned, and the sound of snapping wood filled the air. They were uprooted and pulled toward him. Once they collapsed below him in a pile, he floated down and greedily drew the moonlight from their souls into his avatar.

Dorian grinned at the refreshing feeling as the Ents withered as he drank on their souls. Even in death, my Elders serve me. Annoyingly, he couldn't recover his life force through this technique. For that, he would have to reincarnate via his infant soul or conduct a complicated sacrificial ritual with his own children.

With the Ents dealt with, Dorian floated up and sneered.

"Your attacks are all weak and pathetic. That ash spider was an interesting opponent, but I really have to wonder who gave you all the gall to slaughter my son? My Elders alone outnumber you all, and only the Celestial Warden has the strength to harm me. Did you truly think this fight would end any other way?" Dorian questioned the Grand Elders as they desperately tried to remain airborne under his crushing pressure. The weaker Elders of their family had already crashed into the ground below, sending up dust clouds.

Receiving no reply, Dorian's patience began to waver.

"I was content in letting you insects live alongside me so long as Evelyn Duskwalker pleasured my son and kept you all in line." Dorian glared at Evelyn Duskwalker, "It seems my son's lust led to his downfall as he was enchanted by a vixen such as yourself. I knew you were bad news, always coming to my family and requesting funds in such a pitiful manner."

Evelyn glared at him with hatred, "It's not my fault you and your son are such fools and ugly bastards that were begging for death. If not by my hands, someone was bound to end your tyranny one day."

Dorian blinked in disbelief at Evelyn's words. She was supposed to be a weak kitten who would kneel and beg at his feet for scraps like an animal. To think it had all been an act, and she had been a tigress all along, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill his dear son when he had his guard down!

"You finally show your true colors," Dorian floated toward her and opened his palm, "I will keep you as a statue to serve as a reminder to future generations to stay wary of two-faced bitches like you."

Calling on the dark side of the moon, the air around him crystallized into hail as ice Qi gathered in his palm. He used reverse gravity to pull her toward him and was about to encase her in ice when a rift tore open between them, swallowing Evelyn and transporting her somewhere else.

A vein popped in Dorian's forehead as he ground his teeth. Spatial cultivators were among the most troublesome to deal with. Usually, he could call on his comprehension of the spatial plane, which came with his lunar affinity, to block them. Yet, despite being in a lower realm, the amount of Qi this spatial cultivator had to blanket the entire city was monstrous. It was impossible to wrestle away control from them.

Dorian glared at the spirit tree aflame with spatial Qi under the shield. Ignoring the pathetic attacks from the weaklings, he floated closer, and, raising his hand, he slammed down on the shield. It rippled, and he noticed the spirit tree's flames flare even more aggressively.

A wide grin appeared on his face. He could feel its fear. This is how it should be. The weak should bow and cower before the strong like him. Sometimes, in eras of peace, people forgot who the true hidden dragons of this realm were. Dorian had no problem being given a chance to personally dish out that reminder.

Placing both palms on the spatial shield, he pulled deeply on both of his Star Cores and began squeezing the shield like an egg while burning it with lunar Qi. It only lasted a dozen seconds before it perished.

"Got you," Dorian said, grabbing the tree trunk and ripping it free from the black rock. He held it overhead and easily tore it in half. The pressure that had shrouded the entire battlefield since the beginning faded, and the spatial flames enshrouding the tree and its canopy were snuffed out. Just to be sure he eliminated all traces of this spatial cultivator, he threw the pieces of the tree to the side and crushed the black rock with his foot.

The technique that had been locking him out from the moonlight vanished, which should have been good news, but Dorian shook his foot in concern. "What is this?" A strange black liquid with the viscosity of blood was rapidly spreading through his avatar.

He shook his foot and stumbled backward from the black rock, noticing many severed roots leaking the same black liquid.

That same presence from before bloomed in his mind, and a demonic spirit tree appeared in his consciousness. Despite his efforts, he could not purge it from his mind this time, and he felt its roots sprawl out through his soul and join up with the black blood corrupting him.

"Grand Elder Lunarshade," a chorus of a hundred voices echoed creepily through his mind. "Have you ever wondered how nice it would be to bathe under the moonlight as a tree?"