“What if I combine Water Thread and Shadow Entangle?”
Water Thread binds the physical body, while Shadow Entangle traps the shadow. A double layering.
That would be an inescapable, dimension-reducing strike!
“Also, what if I disguise Scale Powder Burst as falling petals...?”
The opponent would most likely think it was just a beautiful visual illusion, and by the time they realized the truth, it would already be too late.
The previously dismissed Swaying Flower Dance seemed like it could actually be of great use here.
After rapidly simulating and reorganizing all her skills, Qimeng could no longer suppress the fervor in her eyes. She suddenly stood up.
“Let's test it out.”
She walked over to the training ground alone to attempt the skill fusion.
Activating Shadow Step, her body melted into the tree shadows, instantly crossing a distance of ten meters.
At the same time, she condensed Scythe Blades on her forearms. With a flick of her wrists, she slashed toward a wooden stake.
Thwack.
A clean, even cut was left on the wooden stake.
Qimeng tilted her head, staring at the mark.
She hadn't even used her full strength, but the entire process from activation to sheathing the blades was far smoother than she had anticipated.
“Composite skills are completely feasible.”
However, a simple slash was not enough. She had to introduce other distracting elements during her movement.
She activated Shadow Step once more.
This time, as she merged into the shadows, she scattered pale dust and flower petals.
In an instant, the air filled with a swirling dance of petals and pale dust, resembling a beautiful yet tragic rain of falling flowers. It completely masked the trajectory of her disappearance.
Boom!
Two terrifying Scythe Blades slashed out violently from a blind spot at an unbelievable angle!
If the enemy was confused by the dust and distracted by the petals, the true killing blow would quietly slip in from the opposite side.
Qimeng landed gracefully.
Behind her, the wooden stake split open with several even more precise and vicious gashes.
“With Shadow Step as the core, incorporating the butterfly-flower distraction, dual Scythe Blades, and a three-directional strike...”
The black-haired girl retracted the sharp blades on her arms with a reverse flick, her exquisite face filled with pride.
“I shall name my composite skill system Myriad Manifestations! And this move will be called Flower Shadow Dual Flash: Earth Slash!”
Not only that, but once the spark of inspiration was lit, it became unstoppable.
“If executed while dropping vertically from high altitude using Dive Acceleration, that would be Flower Shadow Dual Flash: Aerial Drop.”
“The absolute crowd-control chain of Water Thread and Shadow Entangle will be Myriad Manifestations: Chain Bind.”
“The ultimate defense combining Iron Bones and wooden armor will be Myriad Manifestations: Iron Wall.”
“Excellent. This system has limitless growth potential. In the future, once I devour even stronger magical beasts, I can keep adding new elements to it.”
At this moment, Qimeng realized that the potential of composite skills was countless times more terrifying than simply spamming individual skills at random.
“That's enough for today. Tomorrow, I'll find some blind magical beast to test this out in actual combat.”
Having mapped out her path to becoming stronger, Qimeng was in a fantastic mood.
She immediately turned around, humming a little tune as she walked toward the luxurious bath nearby.
Inside the bath, the stones Xiaomi had heated up earlier that afternoon were still steaming.
Qimeng unfastened her somewhat cumbersome leaf dress, lightly lifting her delicate foot to step into the water.
The warm water enveloped her tender skin.
Midst the thick, white steam, she closed her eyes comfortably, her mind still simulating several new skill combinations.
The future was truly something to look forward to.
...
The next day.
Qimeng had used her Scythe Blades to shave and polish the Earth Amber throne.
The edges were rounded out, the seat was carved to perfectly fit the curves of her waist and hips, the backrest tilted slightly backward, and armrests were fashioned on both sides.
The half-person-high Earth Amber was as warm and smooth as jade. When she sat on it, the earth-element mana crawled up from her tailbone, making the entire tree feel incredibly lazy.
That was probably where the term "sloth" came from.
Qimeng curled up inside, one leg bent with her foot resting on the seat, while the other leg dangled off the edge. She rested her elbow on the armrest, propping up her chin with her hand.
She stared blankly in the direction of the Firefly Garden, still pondering skill combinations.
Due to her sitting posture, her leaf dress had slid up to the root of her thighs, but she was too lazy to pull it down.
Xiaomi flew past her three times. The first two times, Qimeng didn't budge. Only on the third pass did she slowly lift her eyelids.
“What are you buzzing around in front of me for so early in the morning?”
“Strange... I was clearly counting the Nightglow Mushrooms very carefully, but why does it feel like there are fewer and fewer of them?”
Xiaomi stopped flapping her wings. Just as she was about to complain, her gaze shifted and caught sight of Qimeng's rather bold sitting posture.
Her small face instantly flushed bright red, her expression turning incredibly awkward.
“U-Um... Master! The way you're sitting, your skirt is practically rolled up to your waist! That's... that's way too unladylike!”
Qimeng shot her a sidelong glance, completely unbothered.
“Relax, your master is wearing bloomers, okay?”
“That is completely not the point!”
“Besides, there's no one else here to look.”
“Am I not a person?!”
“You're a bee.”
“Ugh...!”
Xiaomi was so choked by the response that she rolled her eyes, angrily flapping her wings as she flew away.
Having chased away her worrying little vassal, Qimeng shifted into an even more comfortable position, leaning sideways into her warm throne and closing her eyes.
The feeling of being enveloped by earth-element mana like warm water made her feel like a stray cat basking in the sun, wanting nothing more than to melt on the spot.
After enjoying fifteen minutes of pure slacking, Qimeng sluggishly got up and headed to the outer perimeter of her territory to patrol.
Thanks to her aggressive devouring over the past few days, the range of her root control had expanded outward by another circle.
Within the newly integrated unknown area, she was pleasantly surprised to find several clumps of thick herbs with purple-glowing edges.
Snapping off a leaf, a bitter and refreshing scent drifted out.
“If I remember correctly, these should be detoxifying herbs that are at least a century old...”
Qimeng had seen similar records in the herbology manuals of the Royal Library, though she wasn't certain if these possessed the exact same medicinal efficacy.
Still, driven by her human hoarding instinct, she uprooted them all, brought them back to the Firefly Garden to plant next to the Nightglow Mushrooms, and stuck a small wooden stick in the ground as a marker.
“From now on, this area will be set aside specifically as my Divine Farmer's Herb Patch.”
Immediately after, to ensure the absolute security of her territory, Qimeng added a circle of sinister new defenses around the perimeter.
She wove trigger-activated loop snares from vines and main tree branches, burying them all beneath the thick layers of fallen leaves.
Step on one, and you'd instantly take flight. While useless against high-ranking magical beasts, they were an absolute godsend for keeping out small pests.
Yet, as fate would have it, a certain foolish bee girl happened to be flying back to the Firefly Garden.
She flew straight into one of the hidden, low-altitude tripwires.
“Watch out!”
Qimeng's eyes narrowed. She barked a warning just in time, while simultaneously severing her mana flow. Only then did the rope, which had been on the verge of hoisting Xiaomi into the air, slacken at the critical moment.
“Master! I beg of you, can you please treat me like a normal, official vassal?!”
Having narrowly avoided being strung up like a hanging ghost, Xiaomi hovered in mid-air, her thin wings fluttering in fright as she pouted pitifully.
“For something as important as setting traps, you should at least inform the Defense Captain beforehand...”
“Well, aren't I telling you now?”
“B-But what if I actually stepped on it just now?!”
“Then wouldn't you have perfectly helped your master test the trap's real-time trigger mechanism on the spot?”
Staring at Qimeng's beautiful face, which looked entirely sincere and genuinely puzzled, Xiaomi felt a surge of frustration choke her throat. After holding it in for a long time, she could only complain with a self-abandoning sob.
“Master, you... you are truly the absolute worst! Waaah!”
“Alright, alright, I'll definitely let you know in advance next time.”
Qimeng waved her hand with complete insincerity.
Xiaomi only then snorted, turning around to fly back to the Firefly Garden. After flying a short distance, still feeling a lingering fear, she turned back and yelled.
“It's a promise! Next time there's any kind of pitfall, you absolutely, absolutely, absolutely have to tell me beforehand!”
“I know, I know. Wait, don't fly to the left—”
Thump!
Snap!
“Aaaahhhhh!!!”
Xiaomi plunged headfirst into a newly set wooden spike trap.
A row of sharp spikes sprang out from both sides, pinching her right in the middle like a colorful little sandwich biscuit.
“You're... you're bullying me too much! Waaah!!”
Qimeng turned her head away, whistling as she pretended to admire the scenery.
Relying on the flight skills she had honed through sheer suffering, Xiaomi nimbly dodged the sharp spikes.
Nursing her grievance and flying blindly in her panic, she unconsciously drifted to the very edge of the territory.
Qimeng was just about to return to the Tree Court when she suddenly heard a piercing, terrified shriek.
“Help! Master, save me... I don't want to become fertilizer! Aaaahhh!!”
Qimeng whipped around to see Xiaomi caught in a white spider web, being dragged from the air toward the edge of the territory.
The web was incredibly tough. With her wings tightly bound, Xiaomi couldn't break free and could only let out sharp, desperate cries.
The other end of the web was connected to a hole in the ground, and the net was rapidly being pulled inside.
Xiaomi slammed heavily onto the ground, dragged a few more meters before vanishing into the entrance of the hole.
“Ma... ster... save...”
Desperate, sobbing cries echoed faintly from the underground cavern.
“Damn it!”
Qimeng burst into her top speed, rushing to the edge of the territory.
However, the moment she arrived before the entrance of the hole, her root perception cut off.
The underground entrance before her sat precisely within an absolute blind spot, just beyond the boundaries of her territory!
Her footsteps ground to a halt right on the boundary line.
Once she left the territory, she would revert back to a normal human girl.
Completely devoid of mana, disconnected from her roots, and unable to activate the Water Core, she would have to rely solely on her knight fundamentals. It would be a struggle just to protect herself, let alone rescue anyone else.
Rate on N.U.
