Ch 43: Ooops

When I woke up, it was really weird. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t see, I could sorta hear, but not very well, and my body sure didn’t feel like it normally did. My divine sense worked though, which let me quickly figure out: I was a tree. Not just any tree, I was my tree, the one I’d made into my home. The tree I’d put a bunch of my soul into. My gamble worked, but what now? I abandoned my previous body to enter the tree, and the tree was now my body. Except I don’t know how to cultivate as a tree. I did learn a little in my studies of plants, but since the goal was just to make plants that were better for cultivators to be around, I didn’t really study what it took for a plant to improve along the cultivation path.

The worst part of all, was not being able to communicate with Tessa. She was right there, living inside me, and I couldn’t say anything to her. The only hope I have is cultivating enough to gain the ability to. The slowest would be cultivating all the way to spark of divinity. Then I could communicate telepathically through divine sense. As it is, she can speak to me, but I can’t speak back. 

“It’s okay, Alice. I’ll wait. I’m sure you’ll figure something out. You always do.”

---

The first thing I discovered about plant cultivation was that my only affinity was wood ki, and I could convert other ki types to wood. The second thing I learned is that I get most of my ki through my roots. Thus the best way to accelerate my ki collecting is through expanding my roots. 

The next thing I looked into was my impact on the surrounding soil. I didn’t want to deprive others of ki with my rampant growth. So, I used my roots and internal ki channels to create new formations and ki flow patterns such that my own ki flow began to move in a kind of beat. Like breathing. To expand my ki capacity, I need to keep current ki above my max. To avoid draining the surrounding land, instead of pulling in everything I can, I alternate between pulling it in, and letting it back out. This results in an average sustained ki growth of only half what it could be, but this way the area around me stays plentiful, and I think as I grow, the total amount of ki in the area I can pull on should actually increase due to other beings benefitting from the ki I provide.

One of the side effects of my strategy is that the amount of wood ki in the area will increase. Plants naturally convert ki to wood ki. It’s a slow conversion, but it means that when I release ki, it’s got more wood ki in it, than it did when I first pulled it in. This should greatly help any plants in the area.

Ch 44: Mourning

Catherine’s view

It really hurt when I saw Alice die. I didn’t think it was possible to die during ascension like that. Did the upper realm reject her? 

Tessa tells me that Alice yet lives, and is in the tree we live in. I was skeptical. I joined the other beasts in mourning Alice. Yet, when we later started to feel the change in the earth, I began to wonder if Tessa really told the truth. 

Everyone could feel it. The tree was growing even stronger, and the land was becoming even more full of life. We even began seeing rare herbs and flowers only seen in places rich with ki, which this place had clearly become.

Soon, a rumor began to spread, that the goddess still lived, and continued to bless this land. I believed it. As the tree grew faster than before, it became more and more clear that Alice was still here. I might not be able to play with her anymore, but she hadn’t left. I hope someday she’s able to play again. I miss her.

---

Council of Elders

“Hah! I told you all that Alice was no good! Even the heavens reject her!”

“Oh shut up! She’s died during cultivation before from doing something incredibly stupid when she was in my sect. She probably died for a similar reason this time.”

“How did she fail an ascension? That’s an achievement all of its own in a way. The light only comes down when someone has met all the requirements.”

“If she were still alive, I’d certainly love to ask her.”

“I’d rather ask how she ascended so fast. Her ki level seemed too low. She wasn’t even five thousand years old yet.”

“Who can know the thoughts of that madwoman?”

---

Tessa’s view

After Alice ‘died’, I sent word out to all our children, and they all came back to pay their respects. I made sure to let them know that she was still alive, but couldn’t talk because she’d become the tree. Sadly, no one had any knowledge of how plants would cultivate, as even the old legends of plants that lived long enough to become plant spirits would only mention the need for good soil and time.

Thus everyone decided to just talk about their lives so far. The most notable tale was how Michelle, Milly, and Pearl had founded their own sect, and taught students to befriend mystic beasts, becoming famous as the greatest beast tamers. Following Alice’s example, they made their own sect’s books available to any who wanted them, sharing copies through the network of wandering cultivators that now had connections all across the world.

Ch 45: Size

I think I went too deep. My roots found a place with nothing there. Go far enough underground, and it’s just nothing at all. Not even air or ki. I withdrew my root from there pretty quickly, it was a very unpleasant feeling in that place.

That event reminded me: this world isn’t a sphere.

I’m actually a little worried. If I keep growing, I could run out of space. I really need to figure out how to do body reformation and create a formation for remaking my body, but I’m not sure how to do it. In the past, I could afford to be reckless, but now, my current state has too large an impact on the world to be reckless. If I messed up, it could ruin an area the size of a country. It’s not just me at risk.

Now, one might think: there’s no way a tree can get larger than the world itself, right? Well, all this growth in ki, and size doesn’t seem to translate to advancement in cultivation of the sort I need. I have tons and tons of ki, but I’m not really sure how to use it. 

Sure, if one is just measuring raw ki, my current ki isn’t higher than it was before I became a tree. However, I’m still basically in ki collection and body refinement, with ki refinement being an automated process I don’t even need to pay attention to. For someone without a foundation or core, this amount of ki is absurd. I’m pretty sure the lack of a core is related to why I grow so fast. Without a core, my body has to keep growing to contain it all.

I can’t use human cultivation as a guide. It clearly doesn’t apply. If I listen to my instincts, I feel like what I need is soul refinement and maybe redoing spark of divinity to get my body and soul in alignment. My soul is still shaped for my old body.

Catherine’s view

Alice’s territory is expanding. She doesn’t appear to discriminate between human and beast lands. Her reach is slowly expanding in all directions. 

Humans don’t seem to have noticed, but the beasts notice immediately. The number whom have offered prayer and thanks to the great tree or the goddess continues to grow. As her territory grows, so does the richness of the land. Everywhere her power reaches becomes blessed.

Sometimes I wonder if this is really the work of that airhead. Unless Tessa or I were distracting her, she always seemed to be thinking about other things, and never really did much besides cultivate or sometimes write in her books. Yet now she turns the land into a rich paradise.

Ch 46: What would Alice do?

Tessa’s view

I found myself thinking: what would Alice do? So much of her life had been dedicated to cultivation, but I couldn’t really focus on it right now. I also could not produce the insightful books she’d written on the nature of it. 

As I continued to think, I then remembered way, way back, when she instructed me on how to make water pumps for people. I was good at metalworking, and somehow, I had the feeling that if cultivation didn’t exist, we’d probably be traveling around helping people like that, instead of cultivating. 

Having made a plan, I told Alice, and headed for the exit. I wasn’t sure if Alice could hear me, but seeing a flower fall down to me as I left, I was certain she did hear me. Alice never produced flowers before, this pink peony was probably her way of saying goodbye.

“Thanks. I’ll be back.”

I was going to travel for a while, and see how ordinary people lived. I hadn’t done this in a very long time.

---

Catherine’s view

With Tessa gone, I was left as the de-facto ruler of Alice’s territory. I wasn’t sure what to do about that, so I asked myself: what would Alice do? The answer was obvious: nothing at all! She’d never really paid the beasts any attention, nor did she spend time looking over her territory. All she ever bothered with was cultivation and her books… and Tessa, so much time for Tessa.

That sounded like a fine plan to me. Cultivation as a great cat just means curling up and sleeping in a place with good ki, like right here in Alice and Tessa’s bed.

---

Elder Eun’s view

As I lay waiting for my inevitable end (even cultivators eventually die of old age if they don’t ascend), I found myself wondering: Is it really just a coincidence that the event which began the downfall of my sect, involved a girl named Alice? Alice killed Lyndi, and Tessa fled. That Tessa now is known to serve a woman named Alice who recently died in a failed Ascension. That same Alice is given credit for the rise of the Divine Sea Sect and for helping Elder Darya ascend. Could it really be the same girl that caused us so much trouble?

I will have to warn my successor: don’t use the human cauldron technique ever again in this sect. We don’t want to risk angering a god. Who else but a god could die so many times and still live?

---

Random farmer’s view

“Have you noticed the crops are growing better lately?”

“Yeah, didn’t you notice the change in ki? You should train your ki perception more. Alice’s books explain how plants benefit from ki rich soils, so of course they’d grow better with the improving ki.”

“Why is the ki improving?”

“Beats me, I’m not the sort to question good things! Maybe someone’s been secretly improving the ground when we aren’t looking.”

“Who would do that? No idea. Those who follow Alice’s teachings will often improve the soil and plants of an area, but they do it pretty openly to spread the word of Alice. As awesome as she may have been, she’s just another cultivator. I swear some of those people seem to think she’s some sort of god. Everyone knows she never actually ascended to immortality, she failed!”

“Yeah, I think some are actually trying to form a religion or cult. I pity those who fall for it. If Alice wanted something like that, she could’ve done it herself. All I’ve ever heard of her doing is writing books and cultivating.”

Ch 47: Plant Cultivation

Ah, cultivating as a plant is so weird! Foundation building and core formation seem to be completely not even things for plants! It’s like all ki storage and channel systems are already fused with the body in a way that prevents such structures from being built. Which means there’s really no way around the growth that comes with ki accumulation unless I find some kind of loophole or trick.

Refining my soul and reforming it to better fit my new body does help. My control over my body, as well as my divine sense are both improved by it. Being able to sense everything in my territory is a bit awkward though. I’ve had to practice my skill at ignoring things to avoid serious TMI. There are things going on in my territory I really don’t want to watch.

I’ve been careful to keep my roots deep below the surface, so I wouldn’t accidentally destroy farmland or housing or something like that. I suppose if someone kept a deep underground secret basement I might accidentally wreck that… no, correction, I did wreck one of those in a neighboring kingdom. I didn’t take anything! Just… broke the barriers and caused a cave-in. It wasn’t on purpose, really!

While I was definitely making progress towards being strong enough to start using telepathy (something normally unlocked by completing the Spark of Divinity stage) I really didn’t want to wait that long. So I tried something else.

Normally a good soul weapon can be moved with one’s will. That’s how the original flying swords worked, until people figured out shortcuts to flight and began making flight artifacts. 

However, there is a type of soul weapon that’s quite different, known as a soul puppet. There’s two methods of making one, the forbidden method and the allowed method. The forbidden one uses someone else’s soul to give the puppet both power and smarts, and when done right, produces a similar end result to enslaving a person. Obviously, that’s not what I’m going to be doing.

The other method involves using one’s own soul to inhabit the puppet’s body. This method is rarely used, because it can hinder one’s cultivation if they aren’t careful, and it’s frankly very expensive relative to the advantages gained. The few who use it mainly use it for scouting purposes because it’s possible to share senses with the puppet. Making a puppet strong enough to fight is usually not worth the effort.

Normally, taking full control of a puppet for senses and communication like I intend can be a problem, because all the attention spent on the puppet is attention not spent on one’s own surroundings. However, I’m a tree! What do I need to pay attention to? Not much! Mostly just need to ensure I’m not sending roots the wrong way. 

Ch 48: Together again

Tessa’s view

It was a little weird how even long after I’d left Alice’s tree, I could still feel her below me. Did her roots really reach this far? I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just my imagination.

“Tessa!”

A familiar voice rang in my ears, and I small object leapt from the ground at my chest. I caught it and saw a tiny Alice, only as tall as my hand is long.

“Alice?”

“Yup! I made a doll! Now we can travel together!”

“You don’t want me to go back?”

“Nah, you’re right, this is totally what I’d do if I wasn’t busy with cultivation, and trying to teach others through books. Besides, we’ve got plenty of time before we need to worry about ascension. Though you’d better not forget entirely about it. I don’t want to ascend without you.”

“What would even happen when a tree ascends?”

“I don’t know! It actually worries me. If I were to suddenly disappear, it could be really bad for the world. I’ve gotten huge, like really huge!”

“How far do your roots reach?”

“I’m not sure yet, I don’t really know how big the world is, and it’s a little hard to estimate distances as a tree. I do know for sure though: this world is like a box. I already hit the bottom, and the top. It’s scary outside the world! There’s nothing at all, just emptiness! No matter how empty a place looks in this world, there’s always ki. Outside the world, there’s no ki. Well… I suppose I’m leaking some ki out there now, but it just kinda moves back to the world and doesn’t stay out there.”

“What about the sun?”

“Oh, right… I’m not sure. It’s super weird. I thought the sky was flat like a skybox in a video game back in my first life here. Now, I can totally confirm it is. When I hit the top, it became clear that the sun and stars are just sorta drawn on the sky. They emit light and heat in a perfect simulation of a proper sky, but somehow, it’s just a fake.”

“Do you think there might be a real sun somewhere?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure. Honestly this whole world feels weird. It’s like it’s just a piece of a much bigger world that got separated. I don’t get it.”

“Well, we have plenty of time to figure it all out.”

“Yeah, I might need it. One thing I’m sure of though: I want to fill this world with ki.”

“Isn’t it already filled with ki?”

“Yeah, but, you know how plants will fill the area they’re in with ki if they’re strong enough? I’m a plant and I keep growing stronger. If I get big enough, I can fill the whole world with way more ki than it normally gets! People would be able to cultivate a lot faster!”

“You’d better not explode on me this time.”

“Oh, yeah, I do need to make sure not to explode. That would be horrifying. Might even shatter the world, or at least my own territory. The number of casualties and the damage to the land...” Alice shuddered as her words ended. No doubt imagining what she’d just described. I just quietly stroked her head and hair. 

“Your ears seem a bit weird.”

“Are they?” Her hands went up to touch them. “Eh, I’m like an elf! Ah, I probably got all sorts of things wrong when I made this doll. Well, it’s not like I need it to be perfectly accurate.”

“You’re right, now that I look more closely, all your proportions are more like a child’s doll than a real person. Your head and eyes are a bit too big. You do look really cute though. I’m gonna need to make a pouch to carry you in.”

Ch 49: Playing around

As we travelled together, Tessa and I did all sorts of things. Made bicycles and taught others how to make them. Improved suspension on carriages, made a ki powered motorcycle. The most fun though was the jet.

First we made a ki powered rocket, then made a jet engine which is quite a bit more efficient. Finally added in wings and controls, and introduced the world to the sound of the sonic boom! Pretty sure the cultivators of this world haven’t discovered the sound barrier yet. Well, they’ve heard us break it now! Hahaha!

We did share the designs with others, but it’s pretty expensive to make. Due to the technology level of the world being pretty low, only powerful cultivators can make such a thing. As such, it’s mainly just the big sects that have built one.

However, a small number of speed addicts have used simplified versions to add a speed boost to their flying artifacts. They might not be hitting the sound barrier, but they still go a lot faster than before.

It was pretty nice just travelling around and seeing the world. 

What I found to be the most amazing change, and also the most heartening, was how much knowledge and practice of cultivation had spread. It seemed like everyone had at least a little bit of ki, and the overall fitness, health, and wealth of everyone seemed higher than it was when I first arrived in this world. 

Though I definitely needed to teach people about the importance of proper sewage management and waste disposal. While the cities weren’t nearly as bad as I’d read historical cities got, no doubt thanks to cultivators having an abundance of power, wealth, and vanity, they still had serious issues. 

… Oh, this is why cultivators never stay in big cities long: the ki is awful due to all the waste and sewage that hasn’t been properly disposed of. I don’t think there’s a proper name for it, they just call it impure or polluted. It’s really more like there’s ki that embodies the essence of waste and filth. Not the sort of thing most people would cultivate. It might be possible to clean the ki, but that would probably require plants… or fire... maybe I should learn about composting.

Ch 50: Trying Again

Eventually, Tessa and I went back home to focus on cultivation. Since Tessa was deliberately holding back to avoid ascending before me, and I was delayed by becoming a tree, Catherine ended up ascending first. 

The next to ascend was me. Except, I’d grown so large my roots went through the entire world in all directions while my branches covered the world from above. I was careful not to block the sun, which is why most of my branches grew outside the world despite how uncomfortable it was. 

The world, I discovered, was shaped like Australia. I couldn’t tell you if the size actually matched or not, but the shape was similar to what I remembered Australia looking like. The waters of the ocean did not go past the boundaries of the world, so there was no giant waterfall or anything like that. 

I was worried about the Ascension, but I’d at least filled the world with enough ki, that it should be able to withstand whatever happens. I tried to warn as many as I could before it began, and then, the door appeared.

Except no one else could see it, or the light. It appeared above me, outside the world. As I rose towards the door, the entire world came with me.

Tessa’s view

“So, when does it begin?”

“WTF?! The door is huge! It’s outside the world!”

“It’s begun already? I don’t see or feel anything.”

“Yeah… I… We’re ascending now.”

“We?”

“I think the entire world is coming with me. I can feel the weight on my roots. I really hope this isn’t a problem. I don’t want to be responsible for breaking an entire world.”

“What do you think is on the other side? Does this make everyone immortals?”

“I doubt it. Usually in these kinds of stories, the upper realms aren’t really all that different from the lower ones. I’m not really sure what the purpose of such a world structure is.”

God’s view

It worked! It actually worked! One piece fixed, 463 left to go. Now I’ve actually got a clue how to do it. World trees, eh? Though, I don’t think I can expect normal trees to accomplish that without a lot of help.

I look forward to the inevitable fights that will break out after Alice arrives in the upper realm. Should be entertaining. Almost all the plants that ascended before took human form to learn cultivation from humans. Alice is the first to properly develop plant cultivation and remain fully in plant form.

How much would other gods pay for this information? I can’t help but wonder.