Dual Cultivation: Omnipotent Villain with Reader System!-Chapter 77: Madam Cai and Madam Lan.

The day is breeze and the night is silence. The sun sets, the moon rises, the moon falls and the sun rises. In the grand scheme of the Dao, a human life is but a blink of an eye, a spark in a hurricane. Yet, it is within this brief flicker that the seeds of immortality are sown.

Life is a fleeting dream; the monk is a passing cloud.

Within, the main courtyard, Madam Cai and Madam Lan, clad in mourning white dresses, sat on the side chair made up of jade, enjoying the streaming hot tea, which calmed their mind to some extent.

"That Madam Zhu and that Vixen Biyue, I don’t have good feelings about them. I think they are trying to seduce my son," Madam Cai said, her voice soft but laced with the sharpness of a hidden dagger. She took a sip of the tea, the steam curling around her face, masking the turmoil in her eyes.

"I wonder what they are teaching my son?! I fear those old women will corrupt his Dao heart." Madam Cai continued, her fingers tracing the rim of the porcelain cup, her brow furrowed with the worry of a mother who sees the wolf circling the lamb. "Tianmo is still young. His foundation is set, but his heart... a heart that is too easily swayed by the softness of the flesh is a heart that will eventually be pierced by the sword of reality. He has grown strong, which makes me very happy as his mother, but I fear, he might go astray."

After all, she has just started her cultivation journey, and she isn’t aware of the vast difference between Heaven and earth.

Madam Lan, the First Wife, sat with the posture of a queen, her pure white vermillion robe catching the morning light, shimmering like the scales of a sleeping dragon. She did not look at her sister Cai; her gaze was fixed on the ripples in the tea, seeing patterns in the chaos that others could not.

"Sister Cai," Madam Lan started, her voice smooth, like water flowing over polished stones, devoid of the tremors that plagued Cai’s tone. "You speak of corruption as if it is a disease to be avoided... But in the cultivation world, corruption is often just another word for ’experience.’ The Dao is not found in the sterile halls of abstinence; it is found in the mud and the blood, in the heat of the bed and the coldness of the grave... He will learn slowly about, how the world works."

She paused, lifting her cup to her soft cherry lips, the action precise and elegant likely to be born in an educated and disciplined family.

"Tianmo is not a child playing with sticks in the courtyard. He is a dragon who has tasted blood. Do you think the women of this clan can corrupt a man like him? At best, those women are acting for self-interest. Even that Biyue’s spirit root has upgraded, likely, she has seduced Tianmo and secured a spirit upgrade fruit... Have to say, even I am tempted to offer myself to him for spirit upgrade fruit, but I am not a woman of impulse."

"I always hated that Biyue... She used to act high and mighty for her spirit root, but now she isn’t even someone special... Maybe, her insecurity and impulse acted as a catalyst for her to make a move. What say you? You are his mother, you should at least be able to secure some Spirit-upgrade fruit from him, right?" Madam Lan added, her tone shifting from philosophical to a pragmatic, almost conspiratorial tone. She set her cup down.

"Think about it thoroughly, we are his mothers, thus, the first one to benefit from him should be us," Madam Lan continued, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, the air between them thickening with unspoken ambition.

After all, they indeed should be the first priority.

"Sister Cai, you are free to call me greedy, but in this world, greed is the engine of survival. If we do not grasp the reins of power, the wolves will tear us apart... Of course, that’s my belief. You, being the gentle one, might not understand the cruelty of the Dao. With the death of our husband, our loyalty to him ended. If I were still a mortal, I would have accepted Xuhan as my eternal husband, but that’s no longer the case anymore, I have millennia to live. Tianmo is certainly a fine man, young, resourceful but he possesses the Devil-fire making him the enemy of the world, and the backing of the dragon court whose purpose is unknown to me, thus, I refrained from making haste movement."

Madam Cai sighed softly, setting her china cup on the stone table with a hard clink. Despite her concern, her face maintained a composed mask, like an imperial noble. "I understand your reasoning, Sister Lan, one is free to be love themselves and it’s better to respect oneself to the dead ones," she replied, nodding slightly. "But the thought of Tianmo’s heart swayed by those women..." Her words trailed off, the worry in her voice barely perceptible, but present nonetheless.

Madam Lan leaned back in her chair, her gaze fixed on the garden’s landscape, the wind lightly playing with the sleeves of her white dress.

Madam Cai’s eyes flicked towards the garden as well following sister Lan, her expression thoughtful. "You speak of the world’s cruelty and the necessity of seizing power," she mused, shifting on her seat. "But we are his mothers... Shouldn’t we guide him along his path rather than think of him for our own gain?"

Madam Lan met her gaze, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Guiding him and benefiting from him aren’t mutually exclusive, Sister Cai," she retorted, her voice firm.

"I am simply saying, as his mothers, we should be the first priority. I never claimed he MUST, I just said that’s my opinion, I trust you my sister, after all, we have shared the same husband for years, so, I am opening up myself to you rather than keeping it to myself, if you believe I should keep my thoughts to myself, I understand it, I... I simply thought we had a certain level of trust and understanding among us."

Madam Cai sighed once more, her features softening slightly. She knew her sister well enough to know that beneath Madam Lan’s pragmatic veneer, concern for their son lingered, even if it wasn’t readily apparent.

"Of course, we trust each other, Sister Lan," she replied, her tone genuine. "And I value your honesty. It’s just..." Her voice trailed off, eyes flickering back towards the garden, watching the swaying willows and the dancing butterflies.

"It’s just that... I can’t help but worry about Tianmo. Our son has always been..." She paused, searching for the right word. "Unwise, perhaps? Especially when it comes to women."

Madam Cai tore her gaze away from the garden, focusing on Madam Lan.

"But you’re right," she continued, her voice firmer. "As his mother, it’s my duty to guide him even in the matters of the heart."

Madam Lan nodded in agreement, a hint of satisfaction sparking in her eyes. "Good. You are finally seeing the truth of the Dao. Power is not a gift; it is a harvest. If we do not plant the seeds of loyalty now, the weeds of betrayal will choke the roots of our family before the first fruit can ripen."

She stood up, the white silk of her robe pooling around her like a cloud of snow. "You should speak with him, and try to talk about the spirit upgrade fruit as well. I believe you can do it. Also, remember mother needs to be a little harsh as well, if you soften, you will only put his future in jeopardy."