Root Maker: Tree Cultivation

To understand what happened in the Ice Rose family sect, let's rewind a few hours.

Patriarch Rong was a very powerful Ice Qi cultivator and Yin Qi cultivator, and he had a secret. Do you know the reason the Yang Cultivators are always suppressed and talked down by the Ice and Yin cultivators? 

Atop the fresh white snow, stood a manor. This was the main Ice Rose family's home, where the Ice and Yin cultivators of the Ice Rose family gathered. Here lived the patriarch, his wife, the elders, legitimate children, and promising young cultivators. The manor was built with pale white wood, this wood came from a tree bathed in Ice Qi for a hundred thousand years before it was cleansed from Yang Qi and turned into material for a home for Ice and Yin cultivators. 

"This Elder greets the patriarch." A tall lanky man bowed before a throne of black ice, the room they were inside exuded, emanated a powerful quantity of Yin, Dark, and Ice Qi in varying quantities. There was a smaller throne beside the large one of black Ice, this one, however, was made of a pure pale blue ice. "This Elder greets lady Rong." Both the man and woman that sat upon those thrones nodded to the old man, urging him on to continue what he sought to say. The elder had sweat running down his brows as he said: "This Elder apologizes, but he has demanded more." The air, already very cold due to the Dark, Yin, and Ice Qi upon the atmosphere, grew so cold that ice could be seens forming upon the walls- 

This was a simply technique that all Cultivators can do- Aura Release. 

This technique consists of the user just letting their suppressed aura free, or force their aura to lash out against others. Aura is the manifestation of the cultivator's power! Be it mental power, physical power, spiritual power, or more. Generally, the aura has the power to shape the surrounding area to the cultivator's advantage. If a Fire cultivator releases their aura, then fire will burn and blaze the world around them! The same applies to all cultivators and their types. 

-of the spacious and dark room around. "More?" The patriarch sighed, a hand coming to place upon his face. He couldn't help but groan… "Give him five more." The patriarch said, making his wife frown. 

"Five more?" She asked, outraged: "That's too much for the amount he gives us! If we give him five more for the same amount of Yin Qi we receive, it'll be a waste of those brats." Her husband knew this, but he couldn't really do anything but give the thing five more! "Say, instead of five pathetic ones, we give it a single majestic one?" The patriarch's eyes glowed with curiosity as his wife smiled like the devil.

"The girl with the Yang cultivation root." The corners of the Patriarch's mouth slowly rose as a large, inhumanly large, grin grew. His wife, seeing such a thing happen, also smiled like him- The beast would certainly give them more Yin Qi if they sacrificed the most pure prey. "...get Yue Rong's corpse… she shall be enough." When a cultivator dies, their Cultivation tends to go with them, but only after a few hours or days to even years or decades, depending on the cultivator's power. When they die, their corpses can be used to boost another's cultivation, which is the method many Demonic Cultivators use- The consumption of another being's cultivation through their corpses, that they treat as simple cultivation materials. 

Killing is a tool to collect their materials.

"Very well, this Elder shall do as you say, patriarch." The elder once again bowed to show his respect and fear for the man sitting upon that black ice throne, quickly taking his exit to obey the Patriarch's command. He went through the dark stairs, leaving through a large black iron gate that closed with a rumbling thunderous impact behind him, into a pale home with white walls and soft wooden floor, the walls had these small crystals of pale blue ice that glowed, illuminating the home and also spreading Ice Qi into the surroundings, making it colder within the home. He walked with a hurried step, the sweat on his brows had already frozen and solidified into small tear shaped ice that clung to his face- Everyone here knew him as Teardrop Elder, or that's what the young ones call him, due to him having to constantly deal with the Patriarch and the Lady of the House, who were always beneath the house, always cultivating with the purest Ice, Yin, and Dark Qi they could get.

Only him and a few other elders (not counting the patriarch and the lady of the house) knew the darkest secret of the Ice Rose family… The Beast thay laid beneath their home mountain, thousands of feet deep down the earth, where an array gathered and moved the Qi through the rock, making sure no Qi was lost the long way, where it emanated upon the basement of the Ice Rose family home. 

That's the secret of the Patriarch's power and the reason the Yang Cultivators were suppressed by the entire Ice Rose family… They were fodder, cattle to feed this beast that in turn, granted power to the Patriarch, who stood firmly at the highest cultivation realm the Elder has ever seen in his lifetime. The patriarch was at the Nascent Soul realm, once he reaches Brilliant Soul, he can immediately ascend to a higher plane of existence to cultivate there and increase his cultivation even further beyond that. 

But the Elder thinks the patriarch will never be able to achieve such a goal- He depends on a gruesome and cruel creature of demonic origins to increase his cultivation, and that will certainly mark his soul. No matter how pure the Dark Qi and Yin Qi he receives from the beast is, it still comes from a demonic beast! All the Yang Cultivators that took their lives or ran away? They were devoured by this beast.

But that was not his problem.

He has prepared himself for the downfall of the Ice Rose family for the last century, he has everything he needs to leave safely once the family is completely gone. 

He only hopes he can survive till then…

Amidst the snow, freshly fallen.

"Thank you, Elder Sister." Cui Rong bowed to her superior, but to her surprise, her elder sister simply chuckled and hugged her. Her pale skin was surprisingly warm, even though she looked like a soft freshly fallen snowflake.

"You're welcome, Little Cui." Smiling softly like she always did, Yue Rong walked, her steps not making a sound, as if she did not move with her legs but floated in the air. "Come with me, i still have something for you." Birthdays in the Ice Rose family were celebrated, but no Yang cultivator had the day they were born celebrated, but instead, they had that day marked to be shamed that day, shamed by anyone from the Ice Rose family. 

Thankfully the majority of the members of the Ice Rose family did not check the Days of Shame, instead doing so every single day. 

So… yay? 

Following her older sister, Cui Rong felt like this was the best day of her life! She held the soft Ice Flower in her hands, this was probably given to her sister by one of her suitors who wanted her hand in marriage… or just use her as a concubine or common lady of the night. Seeing as how the flower that was given was an Ice Flower- a pretty common Cultivation resource, one formed every 10 years on the pale white tree in the middle of the Mirror Moon Lake that reflected the moonlight every single night for the Yang Cultivators to cultivate the Yang Qi -then the one who gave it to her could be anyone in the Ice Rose family. From Elders to Disciples.

"Older Sister Yue, where are we going?" Asking softly, Cui Rong continued following her older sister as her pale silver hair glowed, reflecting the bright light from the sun and looking like the moon itself was her hair. "It's a surprise~" The teasing tone on her older sister's voice made Cui Rong pout like a little kid, but still curious followed along her. They went deeper into the shabby lesser home, where the Yang Cultivators were kept away from the sun. 

It wasn't as luxurious as the main house, but it was good enough to keep them away from the sun.

"Here-" Older Sister Rong pushed open the door to her room- It was visibly better. Everyone here loved her because she was always kind and lovely to everyone, they were in this together, they were abandoned by the Ice Rose family, so they don't consider them their family anymore, but instead their keepers. Keepers they can't run away from… "-found it." Older Sister Rong smiled softly as she handed Cui Rong a small pale blue pill. Cui Rong's eyes widened as she looked at it- 

"An Ice Skin pill?" 

Indeed, it was a pill made with Ice Qi materials that served as an enchanter of the body. It created a small, thin barrier of Ice Qi above the skin, it was not used for combat but cultivation. However, the effects of pill on Yang Cultivators was different! 

It allowed them to walk into the light of the sun! 

"I will give you one of my pills, just for today okay?" As the representative of the Yang Cultivators, Yue Rong was tasked to always supervise them, and she did so with the permission of the Elders. So, she would monthly receive bottles of this pill, so she could always be ready to be called over by the Elders to answer questions or just be punished by anything the others would have done.

Because yes, there is this sadistic man named Zhu Youn Rong, who is the heir to the Ice Rose family, who loves to torture Yue Rong. 

Everyone knows that, which is why the majority of the Yang Cultivators do not do anything too risky, so as to not anger Zhu Youn Rong and have him punish their soft and beautiful Yue Rong. 

Cui Rong hugged her older sister, who hugged her back, and they spent the entire day together. Tonight they were tasked to take the Yang Qi again! As Cui Rong, who had her pill and Ice Rose on hidden in her robes, stepped into the moonlight, she could feel the soft touch of the warm Yang Qi. Her older sister was not present here, which had Cui Rong worried… As she looked over the hundreds or so yang qi cultivators, she coule not spot a single hair of her older sister. 'Maybe she's late…?' Cui Rong, worried about her older sister, decided to look into her older sister's room…

Where she found her, back turned towards the door. "Older Sister?" Cui Rong stepped inside and her older sister turned towards her and smiled: "Ah, sorry, I'm almost done here." In her hands rested a soft pale white and blue butterfly. "Cui Rong." Hearing her older sister call out to her, Cui Rong walked towards her, and when she stopped right beside her, she could see tears on her sister's eyes. "Older sister?" Worried, Cui Rong touched her- 

"Run." 

"Wha-" 

There was no time to react, Cui Rong was bathed in blood. Her sister's blood, as her head flying feet upon the air and her body falling down. Cui Rong instinctively reacted, taking her headless corpse as her head fell upon the ground, blood splattering everywhere. 

The pale white and blue butterfly turned into a ring as it landed on Cui Rong's finger- When she looked up, she saw a man with red glowing eyes staring back at her with the most sinister smile she could ever see. 

The ring on her finger glowed for a split second, her form turned ethereal as the ring shattered, then her body turned into a butterfly of pale blue and white, that flew out of the room faster than a lightning bolt. 

This ring was a gift from an elder tht fancied Yue Rong and didn't want her to die tonight, she was told to run, but the consequences of said action would ripple on her fellow Yang Cultivators… She was conflicted, she wanted to live, but she didn't want her people to die. 

In the end, she died while her people lived…

But for how long?

Beneath the Manor, in a Dark Basement.

"...one escaped?" The patriarch asked.

The poor elder was completely covered in sweat once again.

"Let her be." His wife said, arrogantly. "What can one Yang Cultivator, that little girl, even do?" 

Oh, one day she would deeply regret her own words.