Liu Shu was watering some of her plant children with her
They were unique, and the fruits some of them bore were used in various potion-making. Their leaves as well, and even the dew that gathered in the morning on their petals, were useful to a certain extent.
Still, they were not a super-tier resource that could create miracles. Moreover, they were sentient to a large extent, making them adorable little dears. "Hm~? You say that today's water is more delicious? Hahaha, you are such a cutie, love."
The small tree in front of her rustled her leaves, happy that Liu Shu was watering her today. The tree was exotic, with a black colored trunk and purplish leaves. The fruits were easily visible, as they even glowed faintly in white.
However, one would make a mistake if they ate those fruits. The reason these fruits were so visible was the tree's hunting method. It was a poisonous fruit that caused the brain of whoever ate it to feel a pleasant scent coming from the tree. Then, they would settle nearby, and the poison would take over their bodies, causing their bodies to drop at a root-reach of the tree.
It was one of Obsidianis's and Liu Shu's plant babies, a carnivorous tree species. Its fruits were perfect to make hallucinogens and other types of mind-altering potions. If concentrated, creating drugs would also not be difficult. After all, it had all the ingredients for it.
Still, drug use was very well regulated in the Golden Sap Empire, so besides the military potion manufacturers, such things were almost impossible to find. It was one of the few things that Liu Shu became quite aware of after conquering the Nexus and Covenant Solar Systems. There, drugs were not rampant, but there were incomparably more addicts compared to the Golden Sap Empire.
As she was pampering her ominous, pretty tree, Liu Shu heard the wet sounds of tentacles walking behind her. Liu Shu almost burst into laughter when she turned around.
Malyra was dragging Sariel in such a strangely inappropriate manner that it felt strangely comical because of their expressions. Liu Shu's eyes flashed strangely. 'It is like one of those sensory deprivation traps I read in that book I accidentally swallowed.'
It was not that Liu Shu didn't "eat" fantasy novel books. Nevertheless, they were neither a priority nor something fun for her. After all, Liu Shu absorbed the "knowledge" in the content.
So, unless she read them with her Avatar's eyes, what she received after eating them was not the story, but the facts that occurred during the story. Something like: "A went to city B. In city B, A underwent an adventure and found Treasure C. With treasure C, A was able to open Cave D and get Treasure E…"
Something like that.
Therefore, Liu Shu was shocked when she received the following information among many other strangely erotic content. "[A] fell into a sensory deprivation trap and was stuck for an hour. An hour later, [A] received all the pleasure inflicted on her at once and fainted while getting a
After that, out of pure curiosity, Liu Shu decided to read the novel where that appeared. Up until now, Liu Shu didn't know if she regretted the experience or not. '...To write about someone gaining only sexual corruption-type skills and slowly becoming addicted…'
So, when she looked at how Malyra was carrying Sariel, those thoughts flashed for a second before she shook her head. "Sariel, Malyra, you came?"
She stopped watering the tree after kissing its trunk and walked toward them. Malyra dropped Sariel and dug into Liu Shu's embrace. "Mommy! Hehehehe…"
Liu Shu looked at the very wide smile and deep, dark eyes of her daughter with love. "You are beautiful, baby."
Malyra's smile widened even more, her tentacles wriggling around adorably.
Then, Liu Shu turned to look at Sariel with the same gentle look. "Welcome back, love. It has been a while."
Sariel felt a touch awkward. On one side, her feelings toward Liu Shu as her mother made her feel warm and cozy. On the other side, her feelings toward the Heavenly Willow, the God of her faith, made her feel reverence and that she could not be blasphemous toward her.
So, she just nodded stiffly, as if stuck in the middle. Liu Shu had naturally listened to Elyne's and Sariel's conversation, so she stopped hugging Malyra and approached the stiff Seraph Bloom.
Liu Shu's Avatar was quite short, so once before Sariel, she had to look up quite a lot. Alraune's were tall because their flower lower halves were massive. Even the shortest alraunes were over 180 centimeters tall when they stood on the ground. Sariel, together with her flower half, was a little over 2 meters tall!
"Come down; I can't hug you otherwise."
Sariel nodded, lowering her upper body slowly. Liu Shu gave a mischievous look and, manipulating some nearby roots, yanked Sariel down, causing her face to fall straight into her voluptuous chest.
Sariel stiffened. Liu Shu ignored her reaction, hugging her close and caressing her gorgeous white hair. "I missed you a lot, baby. Come visit a bit more often, alright?"
Sariel's senses were overwhelmed. Her nose smelled Liu Shu's scent, making her recall her memories from when she was little. The soft pressure on her face was the same, bringing her fuzzy and distant memories of her childhood. The soothing hand caressing her hair also made Sariel recall times when she felt somewhat frustrated and Liu Shu soothed her.
"Ah…" A sound escaped her mouth with a sigh. It was a sound without meaning, but also a sound of realization.
Sariel's tense body softened, her eyes closing slightly as she buried her face deeper into Liu Shu's warm and loving bosom. Liu Shu looked down at her and spoke gently. "Sariel, you are my child. Always remember that, alright? Mom would be very sad if you ever decided to stray away from me. You can adore me, you can worship me, but never become fearful or reverent of me. Before you are anything else, you are my child. Understood?"
Sariel nodded, her fair ears turning red with shyness. Her arms and wings also moved to hug Liu Shu tighter, and finally, she spoke with a soft, gentle voice. "Mom."
Liu Shu caressed her head, kissing the crown of her head. "Yes. It is Mom. Be it the Heavenly Willow or Tianlian Liu Shu, both are Mom."
Sariel nodded, tightening her embrace. Malyra approached, hugging Liu Shu from behind and propping her face over her shoulder with curiosity. "Did something happen, Mommy?"
She had noticed that Sariel was acting somewhat awkwardly. She was, after all, a Nightmare Bloom who was sensitive to negative emotions. So, she had clearly felt the anxiety and confusion coming from Sariel. It was also because of that that Malyra decided to hug Sariel closely when she arrived. She wanted to make her Big Sister feel better!
Liu Shu turned her head to kiss Malyra's soft cheek. "There is nothing wrong. Your sister was floundering over something important, and now she understands."
"Of course. Big Sis Sariel is super clever!"
Sariel chuckled and separated from Liu Shu, straightening her body and pulling Malyra's cheek gently. "You silly girl. Are you mocking me?"
"Huh? Huh?"
Sariel laughed, her angelic face gaining a radiant beauty. "You were always above me in the exams, so who are you calling clever, eh?"
Malyra blinked and pouted. "Big Sis Sariel was also ranked high!"
Sariel shook her head with a smile. The Nightmare Blooms, with bodies that would classify them as the temptress of an era, were truly adorable once you got close to them. 'I worry she will be snatched by a bad man… sigh.'
While Sariel didn't have any intent to find a mate for now, as she was focused in her religion, that was not the case for her sister. Sariel knew that, after they became adults, Malyra's charm was something that attracted people.
In the past, they mocked Malyra because she was strange. However, now that they were adults, mature thinking led to people understanding more about Malyra's true charm. Therefore, she was somewhat popular… for many wrong reasons.
Body, characteristics, and everything else made Malyra outwardly look like a creature that would truly give you pleasure
Being creatures more attuned to negative emotions, they didn't really search for lust as much. In truth, instinctively, Nightmare Blooms were more attracted to those who feared them than those who loved them.
Therefore, it was subtle to say that Nightmare Blooms could find a proper partner by themselves. So, for now, Liu Shu and Obsidianis kept them at home most of the time, leaving them to go to work and such as they pleased, of course.
Liu Shu recalled the Sanguine Blazes. 'It is a situation where we need to find that proper partner that will click with them.'
As for the Seraph Blooms… Liu Shu also had a little bit of a headache. Seraph Blooms were not attuned with positive emotions per se, but with hope, faith, and reverence. So, to put it simply, a Seraph Bloom would be more attracted to her obsessive stalker than someone who loves them normally.
'I wouldn't stop such loves if the ending of those relationships was not telegraphed even before they started.'
Liu Shu glanced back and forth as Sariel and Malyra spoke. 'Strangely, in the wild, these two species are quite suitable. The Seraph Bloom fears the Nightmare Bloom, but they can feel the twisted affection a Nightmare Bloom has toward them due to those feelings. Therefore, they created a paradoxically virtuous-and-vicious cycle when they were together.'
'Do I just…' Liu Shu's head throbbed for a second. 'No, that would be a bit strange…'
She decided not to think too deeply about it for now and to spend time with her daughters as usual. A while later, the working Sylvans returned.
"Oh? You are home, Sariel."
Sariel turned to look and saw Seraphina, Obsidianis, Verdantia, and quite a few others walking over. There were even some of her Sylvan Big Sisters. Sariel smiled widely. "Hello, Mother."
Seraphina's eyebrow raised gently once, and then a deep smile appeared on her face. "Yes, baby. Hello. Have you been well?"
Tempestria glanced at Liu Shu while those two spoke, after giving her daughter both an amused and annoyed glare. "Liu Shu, you won't believe it."
"Hm?"
Tempestria slapped Arlyn, her eldest Sylvan daughter, on the back and spoke. "Tell her."
Arlyn coughed and smiled shyly. "Um… Warlya is pregnant~. Hehe."
Liu Shu's eyes widened, and her jaw floored. "What?"
Arlyn, the usual cold and elegant woman, smiled proudly. "Hehe, I am going to be a Mom."
This was the day Liu Shu realized that her daughters had successfully wooed her Big Sisters. It wasn't only Arlyn, Faye and Faylin, Verdantia's eldest Sylvan twins, had wooed the most guarded Azure Rose.
Pyralis, Cinderielle's eldest Sylvan daughter, became part of Celestial Lotus's harem and managed to snatch the most pampered position.
Meldy, Harmonixia's eldest Sylvan daughter, became Skyflower's first partner.
To put it simply, the first five Sylvans her lovers gave birth to wooed all her eldest World Tree Big Sisters. Liu Shu became dizzy. '...Wow.'