Chapter 323. Seven Petaled Flower.

Once she arrived at the base of the World Tree, Cinderielle saw one of the Willow Tree’s long branches reach down until she could grab it. The massive figure of the World Tree was so large that she felt vertigo when looking up. ‘She is growing so fast. I wonder if she will continue to grow without end. Do World Trees stop growing, and if they don’t… how will her increasingly large size fit in the World?’

Cinderielle grabbed the branch and felt the tip coil around her leg. Soft as it was in comparison to other trees, Cinderielle could still feel the firmness that made Liu Shu’s physique so dangerous. 

After being grabbed by Liu Shu, her body was lifted until she reached around half of Liu Shu’s height. “Hm?” Stopping here was not something Cinderielle expected. With the relatively smooth and gently curved belly of the gorgeous World Tree so near, she sneaked a few intense glances. ‘Ah~, if I were her size, I would love to pat and caress her belly gently. It looks so nice, with a perfect curve that highlights… UGH. So pretty!’

“Ahem. Cinderielle.” 

The fantasizing woman snapped out of her daze and looked up at her. “What’s wrong, Tiantian?”

Liu Shu felt shyness and didn’t know how to bring it up, so she was struggling to speak the first words. It felt like she had a blockade, unable to utter a single word. The serpent hissed gently, a hint of laughter in her voice. “Liu Shu, don’t worry much. She is someone you love and someone you’ve recognized, right?”

“W-Well, yes. But…” She was about to ask Cinderielle to inspect a very intimate part of hers. They had not even exchanged feelings, even though it was clear that they were reciprocated ones. 

Liu Shu looked at Cinderielle and saw her patiently waiting while dangling on her branch. The Sylvan woman was smiling gently, her warm orange eyes shining like hot embers. When that gaze landed on her, the World Tree felt somewhat flustered. It was full of so much love and patience. Even then, while she became shy and emotional, Liu Shu happily basked in the warmth of Cinderielle’s gaze.

Eventually, she finally gained enough courage and spoke, her voice as quiet as a mosquito, hard to understand but clear enough. “Um. You see. There is a strange thing happening, so, um, can you enter inside of me and check what’s happening?”

Cinderielle’s gentle face cracked, and her eyes widened slightly. ‘Huh? What did she just ask? She wants me to enter… enter her… Ah. I die.’

“C-Cinderielle!?”

The woman started bleeding from her nose as her eyes rolled up in pure euphoria. 

“H-Huh!? Snake big sister, what happened!?”

The Arboreal Winged Serpent didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. “That way of saying it… Well, don’t worry. She will snap back from her blissful imagination in a few seconds.”

Liu Shu was doubtful. “Are you-”

“Huh!? Where am I?”

The Fire Sylvan snapped back from her blissful imagination and blinked a few times, looking around. The World Tree asked cautiously. “Are you okay, Cinderielle?”

“I am.” The Fire Sylvan said solemnly. Then, looking up, she commented. “I just imagined that you said something quite blissful, making me quite excited.”

“… You didn’t imagine it.”

“Oh.” Cinderielle blinked a few times, her lips hooking up. “I see.” A chuckle escaped her, her eyebrows raising. “So, is this the moment that you confe-”

“Silly Cinderielle! Stop twisting my words!”

The embarrassed World Tree cut her off. Then, throwing all caution into the wind, Liu Shu placed Cinderielle in her belly button. “There! That’s the place I want you to explore!”

Cinderielle blinked a few times and looked around the strange cave she was placed into. She knew that this was not “that” place since she knew from all the biology books she’d read that “that” place was slightly moist and warm like a normal one. “This… Where am I?”

Liu Shu spoke bashfully. “My belly button.”

“Ah.” Cinderielle nodded. “So, this is what heaven looks like? I’ll go meet god real quickly.” And then, she fainted with a blissful smile.

“…” Liu Shu was beyond speechless. A strange anger ignited in her core, and she scolded Cinderielle with passion. “Stupid Cinderielle! I am trying to rely on you, and you keep being silly! If you continue like this, I’ll hate you!”

Cinderielle instantly stood up and put on a serious face. It was as if she had not fainted at all in the first place. “Worry not, my dear Tiantian! I, Cinderielle, will deal with whatever doubts plague you and love you for eternity and beyond!”

“WAH! SILLY CINDERIELLE! I SHOULD’VE CALLED TEMPESTRIA INSTEAD!”

Cinderielle burst into laughter and asked, this time seriously. “Okay, Tiantian. Explain what has happened. I am still lost as to what you want me to investigate.”

Hearing the change of tone, Liu Shu also became slightly more serious and explained. “Well…”

This time, she explained a bit more in detail. Once she heard it, Cinderielle’s eyebrows jumped. “This…”

Her reaction surprised Liu Shu. “Oh? You know what happened?”

Cinderielle crossed her arms under her chest and hummed. “Let me check, and I’ll explain if it is what I think it is.”

“Okay~.” 

As much as she played with them, Liu Shu trusted the Sylvans with all her being. Even Harmonixia was not different, regardless of how late she had met her. It was as if she knew that these four would never betray her. 

Cinderielle pointed her index finger up and created a gentle flame, illuminating the inside of Liu Shu’s belly button, which was around 5 meters in width due to her size. Cinderielle walked forward with an interested expression. ‘I wonder, has she truly developed what I think she has? If that’s the case… Hehe. It’s time to truly begin the attack~.’

After walking for a little bit, she reached the end of the tunnel. Right at the end, she saw a strange circular door. ‘Huh?’

This was not something that she had expected. At least, not entirely. Cinderielle pondered as she tapped her chin. “From what I know, some World Trees develop an inner <Core Room> where they can manifest a normal-sized self. This self is similar to their trunk’s shape, and only World Trees that have this <Core Room> can give birth to new “pure” Sylvans. 

However, it will remain dormant until someone enters this place. The entrance to the <Core Room> was usually one or two. The less developed World Trees only had an entrance to that room through the vaginal canal in the World Tree shape. Only those the World Tree really loved could enter this <Core Room> since the entrance was through such an intimate place.

Other ones developed an additional entrance. This extra entrance was so individual that there was not really an “average” or predetermined entrance to it. The places were in much less intimate locations, but even then, giving access to the <Core Room> was a sign that the World Tree thought of that person as either a potential mate or a chosen mate.  

The reason for Liu Shu to feel strange about asking Flor to come check was that. While Liu Shu dearly loved Flor and Ignatia, it was a familiar love. Hence, her instincts told her to ask the Sylvans.

While Cinderielle stood in front of the circular door, Liu Shu was feeling ticklish. ‘Ugh… I can feel Cinderielle’s everything. Her breath, her heartbeat, her steps, her flames… It’s so…. asgsgsjnas. AH! I shouldn’t have told her to do it! Why am I even-Hyan!?’

“Cinderielle!? W-Where are you touching!? Don’t touch weird places!”

Wherever the Sylvan had touched, Liu Shu had felt as if her entire body had been electrocuted. Cinderielle heard the deep embarrassment in her voice, making her laugh faintly. “I’ve touched the door that’s at the end of your belly button. Is it ticklish?”

“Y-Yes! So, um, don’t touch-HAWAH! WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING MORE!?”

Cinderielle laughed as her fingers caressed the door’s intricate patterns. ‘I wonder what these patterns mean?’

The circular door had a large flower printed on it. The flower had seven petals and a core. The image of the flower itself was very simple; even a child would be able to replicate it. However, the gorgeous patterns around each petal made it a work of art that was hard to replicate. “These patterns…” Cinderielle pondered and ignored Liu Shu’s embarrassed protests.

Her fingers traced one of them and squinted. “This… It looks like clouds. No. Wind?” Her eyes shifted to another petal and hummed. “These flowers and trees around this petal… Is it life?” 

The more she looked, the more her heart beat fiercely. ‘Wind, Life…’ Her eyes moved and spotted one petal surrounded by something that made her body heat up. “…Fire.”

While she didn’t want to guess too much, these hints were just impossible to ignore. If she found the last one, her doubts would become half-confirmed truths. As she closely looked at the remaining petals, she saw several things. One was engraved with rays of light, illuminating a world with gorgeous brilliance. Then, opposite to that one, another petal was surrounded by something that looked like darkness swallowing everything. 

The last two petals were the most special ones. One of them had a pattern resembling the Moon and Sun, intertwining but not separated. It was so beautiful that she couldn’t take her eyes off it for a few moments. Then, the final one was… “Sound.”

The patterns resembled musical notes, but that was not all. There were visual shockwaves and threads that seemed to manipulate everything around them. ‘Wind, Life, Fire, Darkness, Light, Twilight, and Music?’

Her eyes finally moved toward the center, but once she did so, her excited mood turned, and her blood drained from her face. “W-What is this?”

The patterns in the center were intertwined, making one feel dizzy from just looking at it. The mess of things that mixed was resembling one thing. Cinderielle muttered it. “Pure Chaos.”

While Cinderielle immersed herself in the door’s intricacies, Liu Shu gave up and tried to resist the constant ticklishness. ‘Silly Cinderielle! I will spank you! I will let you know that you cannot tease this venerable one so easily! Ahh! Why are my senses so heightened around that area? Why can I feel the soft skin of Cinderielle’s fingertips!? UGH! AH! WAH! QAQ!’

“CINDERIELLE!”

A high-pitched scream echoed in Cinderielle’s head, snapping her out of her reverie. The Fire Sylvan knew that she had overstepped her boundaries and stopped touching, lifting her hands innocently. “Sorry, sorry. I became mesmerized with what I found here.”

“HMPH! That’s not a reason to torture me! I am feeling strangely hot now! What do I do!? This feeling is so strange, as if I have an itch deep inside me that I want to scratch.”

Cinderielle gulped. ‘Dangerous, dangerous. Those words can make anyone go mad. So innocent yet lewd…’ Cinderielle cleared her throat and commented. “Tiantian. I am going to inject my Aether Mana here, okay? Can you resist for a little while longer?”

“NO!”

Cinderielle smiled wryly, looking longingly at the seven-petaled flower. “Sigh. Okay, okay. I’ll return tomorrow.”

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