Reborn as a Demonic Tree

Chapter 458: Silver Core Inheritance

Cassian Von Silverspire watched Stella leave in a flash of white flames. One moment, she was there; the next, she was gone. Like a phantom, there was not a hint of disturbed Qi left in her wake. He was aware of pills that could suppress oneʼs cultivation realm by a few stages, but outright masking it? Impossible.

Either her cultivation was in the Monarch Realm, or her Qi control was simply divine. Both options were too scary to think about. With her leaving, he wasnʼt able to relax as another member of the Ashfallen Sect had taken her place. A seductively beautiful yet equally dangerous-looking demoness. The only silver lining was that this demoness could not mask her cultivation.

9th stage of the Star Core Realm, only a step below me. If we were to fight seriously, thereʼs no way I would lose, but the true threat is that Monarch Realm spider thatʼs still here to my left.

He was flanked on either side by the Ashfallen Sect, making his throne feel more like a prison than the position of power he was used to. Clearing his throat, he was about to continue the Silver Core inheritance when he felt a call incoming on his own Eternal Pursuit Pavilion pendant. Subtly bringing it out, he saw a name.

Lioren -Starweaver Elder

Mentally connecting to the pendant with his spiritual sense, he accepted the call in his mind.

”Now is a really inconvenient time, Lioren.” He began, ”Can I call you back later?”

”Cassian Von Silverspire, is Stella Crestfallen still alive?”

He raised a brow. ”Yes? Why, whatʼs the matter—” There was the sound of something crashing and a shout of rage on the other end, ”Hello?”

”Shit—and the Enforcers? Are they alive?”

”Dead. Stella slaughtered them all, from what I understand.”

There was a long pause.

”Hello?”

”Things are moving too quickly—that shouldnʼt have been possible. Her, no their growth. Itʼs beyond possibility. It might be too late, shit.”

”Youʼre not making any sense.” Cassian insisted, ”Explain from the beginning.”

”The Ashfallen Sect will bring about the end of the nine realms. The threads of fate that had once been forever long are starting to fray, and at the end of those strands, there is one existence that caused it. Understand? The heavens will fall if the Ashfallen Sect isnʼt crushed now while itʼs still in its infancy.”

”...infancy?”

”Yes, infancy. Do you not remember the name Stella Crestfallen?”

”Not particularly?” Cassian admitted. While he could vaguely recall the name from somewhere, he couldnʼt put his finger on it.

”She was on Vincent Nightroseʼs list to be devoured. She possesses a rare bloodline that he was waiting to mature. From our records, she is seventeen and didnʼt show any cultivation prowess until recently. The same goes for the Ashfallen Sect. Within a year time frame, they went from unknown to a Divine-level sect.”

Wait, Stella got that strong in only seventeen years? What a monster.

Cassian hated how in the dark about everything he felt. ”The Ashfallen Sect is considered Divine-level? So the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion evaluated them as equal to the Celestial Empire?”

”Correct, you can check for yourself. Listen, we are returning to our territory from your lands now. Whatever you do, do not accept any offers to join the Ashfallen Sect. They are demons posing as reasonable cultivators—they worship an evil god, for goodness sake. They arenʼt even subtle about it.”

Cassian side-eyed the literal demoness standing at his side. ”Right... you might have a point there.”

”Listen, Cassian, I hate the Celestial Empire as much as any other noble family in the wilderness, but joining sides with the Ashfallen Sect is not the answer. If the heavens fall, the days of cultivation are over. We will all be reduced to mortals.”

”I hear you, I really do, Lioren. The problem is they have left me with no choice.”

”No! Cassian, you and your family can escape this fate. You just need to run—”

”Um, Elder Starweaver, I think you are the one who needs to run.”

”Why?”

Cassian was staring straight ahead where the giant airship Moros had been moments earlier. Much like Stella, it had vanished in a flash of white flames, leaving the beautiful dusk behind.

”The airship—itʼs gone. It might be heading toward you.”

”We will be fine; this ship has cosmic Qi engines, making them faster than those ships the Enforcers used...” the Starweaver Elder paused, ”I can hear the word Moros being whispered in the back of my head.” Fear gripped the man as he began shouting to others likely on the ship with him, ”Where are they? Do we see them? Huh? What do you mean itʼs above us—”

The connection cut.

”Is everything alright, Cassian Von Silverspire?” The demoness smiled at him.

”Huh?” Cassian stared blankly at the demoness as the sound of static from the cut connection filled his mind. ”Oh, yes. I got distracted by something,” he snapped the pendant closed and stored it away. ”Everything is fine. Ahem,” he focused on his sons and daughters that stood before him while his mind was a mess. Today had been far too much, but he had to press forward. He had been through the greatest wars in the last few centuries, yet they all paled compared to today.

They killed that Starweaver Elder just like that. Even the Celestial Empire would struggle to pull something like that off unless a Council member got involved. Cassian closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself. If the fall of the heavens at the hand of the Ashfallen Sect is inevitable, wouldnʼt it be better I stand at their side than try to fight them?

Opening his eyes, he made his decision as head of the Silverspire family. His goal was simple. He wanted power—and it seemed the Ashfallen Sect was capable of supporting that if Magnus or Rykerʼs growth was anything to go by. So what if they were demons? Legend has it that demons are famed for offering the best deals, and he was willing to pay the price.

I never liked the heavens anyway. Being blasted with lightning and having my will tested during my ascension has left me bitter toward them.

”Iskiel,” he called out to his firstborn with Zenovia, ”We will start with you. Outline your business plan and how much it generated in Yinxi Coins.”

A timid-looking young man with short silver and white hair stepped forward. As the oldest of this generation of children, Iskiel was in his late twenties. His build was as scrawny as always, and his eyes were glued to the floor. Never once had Isekiel dared to look him in the eye, or anyone for that matter. While his talent for cultivation wasnʼt bad, it left a lot to be desired.

Because of that, Cassian had always been disappointed in him. In fact, Iskielʼs mediocrity and Zenoviaʼs terrible personality are what motivated him to create a harem and have more children.

His one and only wish was to have a direct descendant worthy of inheriting his Silver Core and maybe even his Golden Core in the future.

”F-Father,” Iskiel began as he fidgeted with his white robe, ”I sold treasure digging permits.”

Cassian felt the confusion and frustration at todayʼs events fade away in the wake of his firstbornʼs nonsense. ”What, dare I ask, is a treasure-digging permit?”

Iskiel flinched, ”I bought a plot of Qi-rich land outside the city.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

”Right,” Cassian nodded, ”And then?”

”I emptied my spirit ring of all its valuables and buried them in the land. I then sold day-long permits for the equivalent of 1 Yinxi Coin and rented Qi-enhanced metal shovels for another 2 Yinxi Coins.”

Cassian rubbed his chin in interest, ”Certainly a decent idea. 3 Yinxi Coins per person per day could add up quite quickly. How much did you make in total?”

”Around 17,000,” Iskiel said sheepishly.

”Letʼs see, I was gone for six months, meaning you had around 160 days to do this. At 3 Yinxi Coins per person,” Cassian ran the numbers and did a rough estimate, ”You only had thirty customers a day?”

Iskielʼs shoulders drooped, ”It took me a month to come up with the idea and set up the place. Most believed it to be a scam at first, and it wasnʼt until a loudmouth mortal found a sword after a month of opening that people began coming. I would say I had closer to a thousand people a day in recent weeks.”

”A thousand a day, paying three Yinxi Coins should be more than 17,000...”

”Most didnʼt rent shovels. They just dug with their hands or anything they could find. For a mortal, one Yinxi Coin was already too much. The only ones to rent shovels were cultivators.”

Cassian sighed. This didnʼt sound like a business befitting a scion of house Silverspire—it sounded more like a game. He glanced to the side and was surprised to see the demoness taking notes.

”So, you made 17,000 Yinxi Coins in six months. Wait,” Cassian paused, ”You buried everything you had? Did you include that in the setup cost?”

Iskiel scratched the back of his neck, ”No...”

”How much would you say the items in that spatial ring were worth?”

”Um,” Iskiel looked like he wanted to run away, ”The sword alone was worth 5,000... so perhaps everything equaled more than 20,000?”

”How much was dug up in the end?”

”Pretty much everything.”

Cassian was in disbelief, ”So you lost money. A scion of house Silverspire actually dared to lose money? Are you a fool?!” His voice boomed through the room, and everyone scornfully looked at Iskiel. Wealth was everything to a metal cultivator. To lose money was a sin worthy of death.

”I guess I did,” Iskielʼs head dropped even lower, ”Sorry, Father.”

”Valessia, you better have performed better than your brother,” he said sharply. The ice-cold beauty who was Zenoviaʼs daughter, unfortunately, was the spitting image of her mother in both looks and personality. Her only redeeming quality was that she was quite talented.

”Of course I did,” she said, looking down her nose at Iskiel.

”How much did you make?” Cassian said flatly.

Valessia looked offended, ”Father, donʼt you want to hear my idea first?”

He let out a sigh, ”Fine, go ahead.”

”Ahem,” Valessia composed herself and continued, ”A long time ago, our branch of the family developed a lantern artifact that would glow brighter if two opposing energies came near it. I had the genius idea to create a dating agency using this artifact.”

Cassian massaged his temples, ”How would a lantern that detects two opposing energies help with dating?”

”Opposites attract, like you and mother,” she said as if that made sense. ”She was a beauty, hardworking and capable. You are... well, you.”

”What is that supposed to mean?” Cassian narrowed his eyes.

Valessia ignored him, ”Anyway, I would charge people to sit before the lantern, and then I would bring prostitutes before the lantern one by one. Whichever caused it to glow the most would be sold to the customer. How great of an idea is that?”

”That doesnʼt sound like dating at all,” Cassian sighed. ”Whatever. How much did it make?”

”Over 5000 Yinxi Coins! And unlike my brother,” she side-eyed Iskiel, ”That is all profit!”

”Right, so I have one in the negative and you with 5000 Yinxi coins so far,” he was not impressed at all. ”Daedrin, talk to me. What did you do?”

With Saphira dead, Daedrin was the last remaining child of his second wife, Vespera, who oversaw the Silvernight branch of the family. Known for their expertise in assassination, he had a guess at what Daedrin would have set up.

Daedrin was a tall young man with jet-black hair streaked with silver, much like his mother. Looking his father in the eye, he calmly outlined his activities.

”I set up an underground bounty-hunting company and secured a few high-end deals before returning here. In profits, I made around 15,000 Yinxi Coins with 10,000 Yinxi Coins of unrealized bounties that are in the process of being done now.” While his voice never rose above a whisper, he commanded everyoneʼs attention. He was concise and straight to the point, which Cassian appreciated.

”Those are very impressive results, Daedrin. Well done.”

”Heʼs also a cheater,” Valessia declared, crossing her arms. Daedrin glanced at her yet said nothing—which only seemed to enrage her more. ”Not going to say anything? We all know your mother helped you by sending the Ghost Edge to ʼworkʼ for your little start-up. Yeah, thatʼs right. Your branch of the family isnʼt the only one with an intel network.”

”Valessia, didnʼt you say the lantern you used for your business idea came from your branch of the family as well?” Cassian reminded her.

”Thatʼs not the same!” She pointed an accusing finger at Daedrin. ”All he did was rent a building and take orders of bounties from people at slightly below the market price by using the Ghost Edge as free labor.”

Cassian tapped his chin. He hated to admit it, but Valessia did have a point. While it sounded impressive, if the rumor of him using the Ghost Edge as free assassins were true, that did invalidate his achievements.

”What do you think?” He asked the demoness beside him.

”They are both worthless,” Diana said coldly and didnʼt elaborate further.

Shrugging, Cassian dismissed Daedrin and eyed his next target. Alric, the only remaining child of Selene, his third wife. As members of the Astral branch of the family, they had knowledge of cosmic dao and limited access to the threads of fate. What type of business would a cultivator knowledgeable in metal, cosmic, and celestial dao cultivator create? He was deeply curious.

Alric stepped forward under his motherʼs encouragement. While older than Ryker, he was only thirteen, so he still had a lot of room to grow in both wisdom and power. His hair was a light purple with streaks of iron, hinting at his Iron Core Realm cultivation.

”I did fortune telling at first, but it was draining and not that profitable, so I decided to open a tavern.”

”A... tavern? Selling drinks?”

Alric stood firm despite Cassianʼs scrutiny, clearly determined to win the Silver Core for his branch of the family in light of his older brother having been killed for insulting the All-Seeing Eye.

”Yes, but it wasnʼt any ordinary tavern. I used the money I earned from fortune telling to develop an artifact that could distill memories from willing cultivators and store them in spiritual orbs. I marketed it as a way to extract and trap heart demons, leading to more seamless cultivation.”

Cassian raised a brow, ”Did it work?”

”To a degree,” Alric admitted, ”It was a bit of a stretch, and I think the cultivators worked that out quite quickly.”

”How much did you make?”

”Around 5,000 Yinxi Coins... same as Valessia.” He stiffened as the woman in question glared at him from across the room.

”You made as much as me?” She laughed, ”Impossible, little Alric. What is a kid doing opening a tavern anyway? You should be disqualified for sullying the Silverspire name, and Daedrin should be expelled for cheating. Leaving me as the clear winner.”

Silence befell the room. Valessia, believing in her victory, crossed her arms and stared at Cassian. ”Was there really a need to make us go through all this trouble to prove the inevitable? Iʼm the only one deserving of your Silver Core, a truth we knew from the start.”

Ryker stepped forward, ”Are you forgetting someone—”

”No.” Valessia glared at him, ”I did not forget you. I just didnʼt believe you would have the audacity to ask for the Silver Core after what you did.”

”What I did?” Ryker tilted his head innocently.

”You,” she pointed a finger at him and shrieked, ”killed my mother! Did you think you could get away with it? The moment the Ashfallen Sect is gone, Iʼm going to kill you myself.”

Ryker shrugged, ”She tried to kill mine. As my big sister said, itʼs not murder if they deserve it.”

”Oh? Is that so? Then I suppose nobody will care if your real big sister cuts off the rotten branch of the family right now.” She strode toward Ryker, her Silver Core humming with power.

Ryker didnʼt back down, to Cassianʼs surprise. The five-year-old radiated the same if not more, spiritual pressure than Valessia.

”I wouldnʼt fight him if I was you.” The demoness beside him said calmly, sending a chill through the room.

”And why is that?” Valessia snapped, ”Are you going to defend the brat?”

Diana snorted, ”Nothing of the sort. Itʼs just heʼs much stronger than you,” she grinned, ”he was trained personally by myself and the Princess.”

Valessiaʼs eye twitched, and she paused her steps.

”Iʼd also advise that if you want to keep living, you should leave Ryker alone. You see, Stella quite likes Ryker, and she has a hobby of hunting down people that hurt people she likes,” Diana narrowed her eyes, ”Which would be you should you hurt him.”

”Thatʼs not fair.”

Diana shrugged, ”Lifeʼs not fair, but it certainly helps to befriend a murderous tyrant.”

”Fine,” Valessia clicked her tongue, ”We will fight with what really matters, our wealth. Go on, Ryker, tell Father how little you made you twerp.”

Ryker held up his hand, showing five fingers.

”Five?” Valessia burst out laughing, ”You made five Yinxi Coins? I suppose thatʼs impressive spending money for a kid.”

Ryker shook his head and showed both hands.

”Ten? No, fifty?” Valessia snorted, ”Whatever it is, itʼs leagues less than my 5000 Yinxi Coins.”

Ryker smirked, ”You misunderstand, sister. I made fifty thousand Yinxi Coins. Ten times you.”

”Thatʼs impossible.” Valessia sneered, ”Youʼre five years old. What business could you possibly have to generate so much?”

”I own 15% of the Ashfallen Sectʼs pill-making empire.” Ryker shrugged, ”One simple deal, and I make more money than you without doing anything. So long as the Ashfallen Sect stands, my pockets will be overflowing with endless wealth.”

A jaw-dropping silence filled the room.

Cassian rose to his full height, a massive grin on his face.

Today may have been a disaster, but from the rubble and destruction, a shining star made itself known in the family. A once-in-a-thousand-year prodigy. Not only was Rykerʼs cultivation realm exceptional for his young age, but he showed wisdom and decorum far above his siblings.

He was worthy of inheriting his Silver Core.

Floating down from his throne, he came to a stop before his youngest son.

”Ryker Von Silverspire, my 7th child. You are the only one worthy of inheriting my legacy.” His spatial ring flashed, and a ball of silver that fit in his palm appeared, flooding the room with immense pressure. He used his own soul pressure to restrain it a moment later, but it had already brought many people in the room to their knees.

Contained within his Silver Core was not only a lot of Qi he had shed during his ascension but also echoes of all of his dao knowledge. If someone were to inherit it, they would be bound to follow in his footsteps and reach the Golden Core Realm within their lifetime.

Ryker bowed, ”Father, it is a great honor. But I have a request.”

”What is it, my boy?” Cassian asked.

Ryker met his gaze with a deep resolve. ”I want to give it to someone else.”