Chapter 322: The Strongest Childhood Friend, Standing Tall in Beihai! |
Bingtang did not have a strong possessiveness toward Jiang Si.
Rather, within the Azure Cloud Sect, she had always been the one to mediate the relationships between Jiang Si and the other disciples.
She wanted Jiang Si to get along with the disciples, and went to great lengths to make them respect and like the Sect Master.
When it came to Little Yumo’s crush, Bingtang supported and encouraged it like a mother.
Although the two of them sometimes had small disputes over treatment, neither Bingtang nor Little Yumo would become upset about it. Most of the time Bingtang would deliberately yield, giving Little Yumo more chances to interact with Jiang Si.
It was better if the Azure Cloud disciples liked the Sect Master and took the initiative to interact with her.
After all, even though Azure Cloud Sect was Jiang Si’s organization, he rarely managed the sect and had little emotional attachment to the disciples. If Bingtang hadn’t been willing to push and indulge, the sect wouldn’t have had so many fanatical supporters for the Sect Master.
Those fervent followers were born from the Sect Master’s personal charisma and strength, but without Bingtang’s promotion and indulgence, they could not have reached such a scale.
Even for disciples like Yueji who wanted to replace her, Bingtang only encouraged them to work hard and challenge the true-transmission.
After all, they were too far away.
Standing too far away served no purpose.
Yet there were always some people who could not be ignored, and whose presence could not be accepted.
Bingtang looked across and involuntarily radiated a little chill.
“Oh, fiancée, huh.”
The girl across from her showed no surprise. She stirred her orange juice, as if there were some sediment in it. “I don’t mind, but do Jiang Si’s parents know?”
“Are you that kind of traditional person who thinks you must get parental approval before marrying your lover?”
Bingtang watched the environment change around them while absentmindedly checking how the other disciples reacted.
It seemed the tremors in the world were beginning to ease.
Shuangye was trying to contact Fengqin in Chaos Land, but so far there had been no reply; their network line seemed severed.
The situation looked troublesome.
“Doesn’t parental approval carry more persuasion and credibility?” Lu Ya rested her chin on her hand, tilting her head, a gentle smile on her face. “It’s like an official stamp of approval.”
“I think needing parental approval to form a romantic relationship is pathetic.”
Bingtang instructed the other true-transmission disciples to head to the fractured areas, and contacted the Disaster Control Bureau personnel to make evacuation arrangements.
“Isn’t it more meaningful to have a marriage that can still be achieved despite parental disapproval? Doesn’t that show stronger feeling, as in ‘fate formed by flowers, acquaintance formed by paintings, love born from time’?”
“‘The High-Grade Winter Scholar’ Lu Wei?” Lu Ya sounded surprised. “That’s not the kind of novel he’d like.”
“Sometimes he’ll be bored with fantasy and cultivation stories and ask me to tell him other kinds.”
“Is that so? But don’t you think a family-backed Xie Dao would suit Chen Caozhi better?”
“That wouldn’t be good. Parental approval but estranged hearts is common. If they persist despite parental opposition, that shows real affection...”
“Are you not on good terms with your parents?”
“We weren’t discussing my family, were we?”
Lu Ya shrugged at Bingtang’s refusal. Her fair fingers tapped a rhythm on the table. On the cracked sky above, tiny drops of rain began to fall.
“Having family support is more reliable than a private vow. If the relationship breaks down, parents can help salvage it. A private vow leaves no recourse when things go sour.”
“Talking from the premise of relationship breakdown is weird in itself.”
Bingtang’s toes tapped the table leg. Increasing streams of information came in from all over the world; she was beginning to get a clearer picture.
Although the world’s collapse had slowed, it had not stopped.
Judging by the scope and destructive power, it looked like an entity with Chaos Land access rights had been forcibly dropped into the new world—exactly like what happened the last time with the Sect Master.
“After a relationship breaks, asking parents to fix it is stranger still. Romance is between two people. Or are you the kind who would have children and leave them to your mother, keeping a private two-person world?”
“No, I don’t like kids. Why should there be another emotional burden between two people? Besides, don’t you feel it’s unbearable to have half your lover’s affection split with a child? I hate that. I don’t want what’s mine split with anyone.”
“Then give half your love to the child.”
“I can’t share it.” Without much thought, Lu Ya murmured, “I can’t give even a little, so I don’t want my lover to share it either. Just the two of us for life—what’s wrong with that? Or are you the kind of person who happily shares their lover with others?”
“People might think you’re just afraid of childbirth pain.”
“I can give him everything if he wants, even my heart or kidneys, but I can’t accept a child.”
Their exchange was casual, not particularly confrontational—sounding more like friends gossiping.
An Shiyu, who had arrived early, listened from the side and thought it strangely amusing.
“This sounds like married women chatting,” she couldn’t help commenting. “Talking about having kids and stuff, so impressive.”
“How should I put it? Even though I’m older, looking at them makes me feel like a young pup. Young and carefree... Little An, we shouldn’t butt in.”
“Don’t worry, I also think it’s scary...”
An Shiyu and Mu Jin had come out as soon as the world began having problems.
After receiving Bingtang’s contact, they rushed to this cold drink shop. The shop still had customers, so it wasn’t hard to find.
Although they didn’t know why Bingtang wanted them, knowing Jiang Si’s relationship with Bingtang, An Shiyu trusted her and assumed something important had happened.
They didn’t expect to be greeted by the two women’s explosive baby-planning talk.
Though neither seemed much older than An Shiyu, she felt inferior and small—a childishness she believed couldn’t compare.
Every day she thought about how to date Jiang Si, where to eat desserts.
If she could secretly hold his hand or steal a kiss, it would be an achievement...
Marriage was still far in the future—who was already planning babies?
An Shiyu suddenly had an intuition that these two might have even picked names already.
“So you like kids?” she asked.
“No, depends on his view.”
Bingtang glanced into the distance as golden threads of light began weaving through the sky.
[Supreme Work Tenfold, Golden Skyline].
Jincha’s ability had a high ceiling but had been used in clerical roles, seldom displayed.
Since the Disaster Control Bureau had been incorporated under Azure Cloud Sect, Jincha’s development had accelerated far beyond before.
Her talent matched that of a true-transmission. Through Yumo’s mobility, she threaded the splitting continents back together.
No matter how terrifying the power tearing the world, the golden threads firmly stitched the continents and preserved the planet’s basic form.
This was one of the measures Azure Cloud Sect recorded after the last incident.
“I don’t dislike children either, nor am I particularly fond of them.” Bingtang’s finger lightly traced a wedding magazine, finally resting on the dress Lu Ya said Jiang Si would like. “So, it depends on his feelings.”
“I think he probably isn’t that interested.”
“Maybe he’ll change his mind. Since you used to be his deskmate, you should know he changes his mind a lot.” Bingtang paused, “Except when it comes to the Great Dao.”
Lu Ya sipped her juice and sighed. “Yeah, sometimes I feel I can’t keep up with his thoughts.”
“That’s normal. Anyone near him will feel their thinking isn’t agile enough.” Bingtang seemed to comfort her. “That takes time and proximity—a long time by his side.”
Lu Ya could not help but laugh. “You’re so confident you’ll be the one who spends the most time with him?”
“It’s a fact.”
“Oh, I envy you.”
“Mutual.”
An Shiyu listened for a while and asked softly, “Senior Mu Jin, how did their relationship suddenly get so good?”
“Dummy Little An, who wants to be the first to rip off the mask? Whoever does loses face. Even if we fake it, we must seem generous! Damn, we can’t get a word in.”
“You want to butt in?”
“Of course. No matter what, the first to accept Jiang Si’s confession should be us; we have unbeatable advantages!”
“Senior, only I accepted.”
“Okay, fine—what’s the distinction between you and me at a time like this...”
Light rain began to fall, and the quiet street lost even the sounds of engines and horns.
When the anomaly started earlier, the Disaster Control Bureau and Azure Cloud Sect had simultaneously evacuated people. Soon, citizens in dangerous areas had gone to shelters, and a few Magical Girls flew overhead to check for anyone left behind.
All the cities had quickly become empty wastelands.
As An Shiyu observed, the cute, familiar-looking girl across suddenly asked:
“To the cute little sister over there, what do you think?”
An Shiyu looked around and pointed to herself. “M-me?”
“Yes. You like Jiang Si too, right?” Lu Ya tilted her head expectantly. “Do couples need children?”
“Huh? That was the topic? But weren’t we just—”
“I think it’s very necessary!” Mu Jin momentarily took over An Shiyu’s body and raised a hand like an eager student answering. “Of course, Little An might not handle childbirth well, so it should be a C-section. Names—we haven’t decided, but the first six will carry Jiang Si’s surname, the next two will be An, and the last one will be Mu... Kids are adorable, so of course we must have them.”
An Shiyu tried to push Mu Jin’s spirit back. A small wing covered her eyes. “No, that’s not me! I’m not mature enough to be a mother...”
“How sweet,” Lu Ya exclaimed. “Among girls who like Jiang Si, there are also ordinary cute types like this.”
“There are many, I’m quite ordinary too.”
“Heh, you and I, forget it.”
“Oh, so self-aware?”
“After all, he hates those who are unaware of themselves. You can fool others but not yourself.”
Bingtang no longer answered Lu Ya and looked up.
The golden threads mending the continents were beginning to snap with the sound of fabric tearing.
Shuangye and Six Leaf’s Perception Obstruction quickly expanded.
It made the fabric forget that it had been torn.
“But I really am just an ordinary girl beside Jiang Si.” Snowflakes began to fall from the sky as Bingtang folded the wedding-dress page Lu Ya mentioned and put it in her bag. “Only I’ve been around for a long time. It’s not that I’m special or that he likes my personality or ability.”
“Lucky.”
“Yes, lucky.” At some point Bingtang had taken up an umbrella and asked leisurely, “What about you?”
Lu Ya tapped her fingers on the table.
Then all the shaky golden threads snapped!
Shuangye and Six Leaf’s Perception Obstruction could no longer make the threads forget being torn, because those threads now had no future or past that kept renewing them!
The world began to tremble and split again.
“Actually, I never sat next to Jiang Si.”
When she spoke, Lu Ya changed the subject. “There were several attempts to shuffle classes, but we were always separated. We were never in the same class.”
Mana spilled from Lu Ya, melting the snowflakes as it roared like a beast toward An Shiyu and Bingtang.
The ice-blue Magical Girl only turned her umbrella; delicate ice shards like fragmented jade cut and froze the onrushing magical blades bit by bit.
“That’s a pity. If you weren’t deskmates, you’d rarely meet at school.”
“That’s true.”
Lu Ya no longer concealed her aura. The terrifying energy swelled; the new world collapsed faster under the inflating rights.
“Even if you greet him during recess, there’s little to say. Teachers keep class, and when I wanted to go to the bathroom with him I was stopped. Time to talk was little. After school he wouldn’t come to my house. When I wanted to stay at his, my parents refused.”
Her voice grew darker and more intense; the nearly unbearable black emotion she restrained seeped outward.
The world further fractured with her litany.
All the golden threads vanished, heaven and earth split, and continental plates separated at a visible pace.
Lu Ya flicked her fingers toward Bingtang.
The condensed mana was repelled in an instant, leaving Bingtang unable to avoid the mana attack!
“Miss Bingtang!”
An Shiyu gasped as Bingtang, bathed in the mana cannon’s light, stepped back only once. Blood leaked from her lips, but she did not appear disheveled—still elegant and composed—nodding slightly. “That makes one angry just hearing it.”
Lu Ya snorted. “Do you always like to play at disguise?”
Bingtang tilted her head. “Shall I kneel and beg now?”
“Show a little pain at least?”
“Sorry, I’m used to being with Jiang Si.” Bingtang gave a slightly embarrassed smile. “Used to the pain.”
Lu Ya shook her head. Just as her mana surged again at Bingtang, the ice-blue Magical Girl grabbed An Shiyu and leapt into the air.
Snow whirled, coalescing into a sky-to-earth snow tornado.
Lu Ya’s mana quickly blackened the white snowtwister.
Soon the snow vortex collapsed completely in space.
Bingtang hauled An Shiyu onto the rooftop, hair slightly ruffled; An Shiyu felt her thin figure tremble a little.
“Wait until Jiang Si returns.” Bingtang glanced at the distance where the riven land kept swallowing buildings, cars, poles, and streetlamps. “I’ll say it was all your doing.”
“It’s fine. Maybe he won’t come back?”
Lu Ya didn’t argue; she finished her juice. “I’ll make him forget this place.”
The mana cannon annihilated the building under Bingtang’s feet, yet Bingtang floated like a snowflake in the air.
“A bit excessive, isn’t it?”
“Jiang Si, though he seems cold, actually isn’t good at rejecting persistent kindness.”
Dodging through the mana blasts, Bingtang’s umbrella was knocked away and she scattered a shower of icy needles toward Lu Ya. “I agree.”
“Some may understand it as indifference, but clinging to him under the pretext of kindness won’t make him do anything. It’s infuriating. In school someone did that; she thought having Jiang Si as a boyfriend was cool and wasn’t truly in love.”
The rain of needles melted. Lu Ya used her rights to summon magma from the ground, engulfing Bingtang and An Shiyu.
“She would mock friends who joked about Jiang Si’s indulgence, saying he was just pretending indifference but actually lustful, always showing a cold facade to attract girls, this clownish boy.”
Bingtang’s frost froze Lu Ya and the surrounding street, buildings, and shops. She frowned. “Disgusting person.”
Lu Ya slowly stepped out of the ice and nodded. “Right? So we must control who gets close to Jiang Si. Girls who disgust him must all be cleared away. Oh, and don’t be angry; that girl later left Jiang Si on her own and never came near him again. She even cried and apologized.”
Bingtang’s expression softened. “Thank you for that.”
“I suppose you handled things too.” Lu Ya nodded constantly. “Jiang Si only reacts to those who take violent action. He’s too independent—people gossip, mock, and slander behind his back. He doesn’t care, but just watching makes one furious, right?”
“Yes.” Bingtang smiled. “In that regard, we must protect him. Those who gossip must be silenced physically.”
Lu Ya nodded. “Seems we think alike. If we hadn’t met like this, maybe we’d get along well.”
“Even meeting like this, I still think we’d get along.” Bingtang answered.
“Perhaps that’s true.”
With many true-transmission disciples personally pulling at the continents, the world’s separation was slowed again.
Lu Ya tapped the ground with her toe.
In an instant, sky and earth were sliced into neat blocks as if cut!
“But I don’t think I can get along with you.”
Lu Ya looked up at the world being divided.
She reached out, seemingly wanting to crush everything.
Azure Cloud Sect and the Disaster Control Bureau could no longer stop the world’s collapse.
“Watching you and Jiang Si create his world bit by bit makes me jealous. I want his world to be created only by you and me.”
“Then I’m sorry.”
Frost crawled from Bingtang’s feet; the fractured land turned to ice.
Bingtang inhaled deeply. Pale lines of frost crept across her face; her hair began to turn crystalline.
“But there is one thing I want to correct. I did not create this world with Jiang Si.”
Ice spread as she smiled, and little chunks of ice slipped from her face. “I only live in the world he created.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
Bingtang drew in another breath. Cold surged into her chest, each lung lobe feeling sliced by an ice blade. Her body almost entirely crystallized; skin looked translucent, hair tips frostbound.
Between heartbeats came a faint sound like glass shattering. Bingtang pressed her hand to her chest, then turned and looked gently toward An Shiyu with warmth that could melt ice:
“Miss An Shiyu, I’m entrusting the rest to you.”
An Shiyu nodded vigorously. Mu Jin reappeared. “Leave it to us!”
World collapse and the Sect Master’s absence had always been central worries for Bingtang.
In truth, she was somewhat relieved the Sect Master wasn’t present.
Otherwise having him act against an old friend would have been exhausting, even for him.
It was better that she handle it.
Lu Ya in the distance pulled down the sky; countless stars were about to fall.
Bingtang looked up. The three figures’ silhouettes overlapped; a soft voice rose like a river under ice finding an opening.
She turned her voice to the sky, to the world, to that girl she had resented so much!
“Mental Landscape Expansion.”
Silence fell over the world.
Bingtang had never revealed it to others. For her, it was somewhat dangerous.
When the domain spread, everything around began to freeze.
The first to freeze was Bingtang in the center.
She turned into an ice-crystal statue, like a frost blossom stopped in mid-bloom; life drained inch by inch in the extreme cold.
Lu Ya felt the chill creep up her shoulders; her fingertips grew slightly translucent. The sound of Fengqin could be faintly heard at her heart.
The Mental Landscape boundary silently extended outward, seemingly limitless, yet the expansion was not rapid.
Lu Ya, controlling the outside world, sent magma and boulders convulsing with mana to violently crack Bingtang’s icy shell.
“—Mental Landscape Expansion!”
Until a second mental landscape expanded and completely strangled her thoughts.
Thanks to long training with Mu Jin, although An Shiyu had not yet reached Blooming, she finally mastered the mental landscape.
Even if not powerful or polished, by using the heart-image resonance technique she had learned, she overlaid her mental landscape onto Bingtang’s, like an ice blossom melting into a river.
Then, using spatial heart-image folding, she repeatedly folded, extended, and pushed Bingtang’s landscape boundary, making that frozen boundary surge outward at an astonishing speed!
In a few breaths, Bingtang’s domain already covered the whole world!
This was why Bingtang had summoned her.
Although Bingtang’s expanding mental landscape had no limits and could endlessly spread like ceaseless snow, it moved too slowly—so slow that even if Bingtang lost consciousness it couldn’t embrace the entire world in time.
An Shiyu’s spatial resonance perfectly compensated for that flaw.
These days they had learned the South China heart-image resonance technique thoroughly; Azure Cloud Sect’s path-seeking would follow the Sect Master’s steps and never stop...
Thus the previously teetering world transformed into boundless ice and snow.
It was not cruel freezing, but a careful sealing. Land, sky, magma, sea, and the mana and rights within—everything was arrested at the instant before destruction.
It stilled all life and time with Azure Cloud’s strongest heart-image:
Absolute Zero.
Lu Ya looked up at the ice-sculpted Bingtang standing at the domain’s center—perfect, captured as if preserved in amber.
Frost silently crept along her hems, hair, and fingertips, layer upon layer. Even with rights, she was gradually overwhelmed by this gentle dead end.
In the silent snowfall, a faint breath formed a soundless whisper.
“When did your time stop?”
Lu Ya’s voice froze within the ice; even the echo was swallowed by the cold.
The world fell into quiet.
“It’s annoying to see girls who like Jiang Si like that.”
Was I being petty?
Transformation failed.
The seed’s light vanished; the bell stopped.
Yet Jiang Si was fearless. He suddenly sprang up, grabbed Sura’s head, and slammed it hard into the hull below!
Glass shattered; the pungent smell of potion and glass burst out. Su stretched a hand.
“Wait—wait—wait, that slot AI—why do you let it take over my body when it gets hit! You’re hitting me!”
Jiang Si followed up with another punch and smashed Sura’s head into the stone beneath the hull; the whole hull exploded!
“Damn, can you hear me?”
He lifted her by the collar. “You mean to let it control you and let us die here?”
“Uh...” Su was stunned, then put on a pitiful face. “Fine, hit me...”
Before she could finish, another punch knocked her nearly into the ground!
“Damn, at least be a bit polite!”
As Jiang Si battered Su and made the AI lose control of her body, he glanced at Witch Shion in the distance.
When Witch Shion raised her hand—
Even having prepared, Jiang Si crashed through hundreds of thick pillars like a cannonball.
He embedded into the metal sheets!
“You domestic-violence types look exciting to watch...”
Jiang Si crawled out of the metal and leaped upward to dodge Witch Shion’s next punch.
The first punch had left him bleeding—he felt death’s presence for the first time.
After all, one of his three households had this level of power; a physical gap with them persisted.
He looked at the Miracle Seed in his hand.
The earlier transformation failure had started to make the seed disappear.
He glanced at Witch Shion and the other heart that belonged to him.
No one expected his last life’s heart to be brought into this world.
Even more surprising was how that heart’s surging Personal Reality interfered with transformation here—blocking himself.
But such self-conflict was common on the path of the Great Dao.
In an odd mutation battle, the Primordial Heavenly Emperor had seen an aged, decrepit version of himself, which shook his Dao Heart greatly. Yet he overcame that heart demon with unprecedented courage, tempering his Dao Heart and breaking the gloom that hung over ancient outcasts—saving many.
Now this was the “mutation” Jiang Si encountered when igniting his divine fire and breaking through his realm.
His heart had not only been taken by the lower corpse Witch Shion, it could also use a Personal Reality equal to his to reject his transformation...
Though Dragon Lord Shion remained a contingency, Jiang Si felt the familiar desperation and laughed aloud.
The laugh baffled both the AI and Sura.
“I clearly know that every person’s path is irreproducible. I walk my own path. No matter how violent the winds and rains, no matter how thorny the road, I still grin foolishly.”
He tried to recall his hardships—after a long time, he couldn’t think of many. So he recalled the tribulations of his ancestors.
Names and relics crowded his mind—the Medicine Old, Ancestral Stone, Celestial Record, Dream Ice Silkworm, Nine Judgments of Darkness, God-Striking Stone, Supreme Bone, Kunpeng Techniques, Ancient Saint Body, Mother Qi Cauldron, Divine Elephant Prison Suppressing Strength, Past Amitabha Sutra, Meteor Tears, Delin, Golden Horn Beast, Ultimate Sword Dao, Sky-Grasping Vase, Heaven-Reverse Pearl, Extreme Realm, Chu Xuan, Hundred Lives Book, Reversal, Cubic Space, Deep Blue, Little Gold, Mo Mountain Divine Persona, Earth Knowledge, Burning Lifespan, Dao-Born Pearl, Fire Stick, Gem Scepter...
All those names spoke blood and tears.
That emotion welled up in his chest in an instant!
“I feel—”
“I feel this taste, hahahaha. I believe the lone boat will one day see green mountains on both banks, with birds and insects singing.”
Before he could continue, the AI stole his line through Su’s mouth.
No need to recall ancestral deeds anymore—the emotion flared up hot!
“Don’t be mad. You always stole my lines before.”
Jiang Si expressionless: “I can give lines, but you can’t steal them.”
“Alright, I’m sorry,” the AI immediately laughed. “I clearly know that every person’s path is irreproducible. I walk my own path. No matter how violent the winds and rains, no matter how thorny the road, I still grin foolishly... You continue from there.”
“No interest.”
Sura weakly raised her hand. “Am I just part of your couple play? Leave me alone...”
Raincoat clutched Witch Shion’s arm, trying to stop her. Though she didn’t know what had happened to her baby, she sensed something was very wrong.
Seeing Witch Shion rush in, Jiang Si casually pulled another Miracle Seed out of the air!
Personal Realities belonging to himself collided and interfered with transformation, but Jiang Si merely smiled.
“The me of this world is destined to be invincible. That is my belief! The past me becomes a variability; I am the one eternal for all ages!”
Without techniques or gimmicks, his confrontation with himself was blunt and direct.
Two Personal Realities collided.
At the stalemate, the Miracle Seed formed by belief exploded in his palm!
Thousands of light filaments pierced the gap between the two Personal Realities. In Witch Shion’s eyes, the past self’s confusion flashed, then astonishment.
Jiang Si was tearing at the foundation of his own existence, crazily fusing the two Personal Realities!
Boom!
The two realities mirrored each other, producing countless images of Jiang Si—struggles across two lives, each choice, each stubborn moment flashing and dying within the mirrors.
The ephemeral Jiang Si spat blood and laughed more arrogantly, “So you know, I am simply myself!”
As his voice fell, the myriad reflections converged.
He reached through layers of reality and grabbed the apparition of his past self.
As if the present had seized the future!
“Break!”
The two Personal Realities collided. Witch Shion stood dazed; the heart she had absorbed throbbed wildly!
Using the past-life heart as a core and the whole Chongxu to maintain its Personal Reality, that reality was almost devoured by the boy’s immediate Personal Reality!
The Miracle Seed in his hand strained his knuckles white, nearly breaking his fingers as he squeezed the fragile hope!
“Heaven and earth are not humane.”
His voice was low, but Chongxu trembled.
Raincoat, the AI, and Su were all stunned, staring at the boy—or rather the Magical Girl now—burning with towering purple flames.
The flames seemed to erupt from his bone seams, boil in his soul, and finally burst forth!
“As all things are straw dogs!”
At the last word, the boy abruptly looked up. There was no hesitation or confusion in his eyes—only a madness and resolve to swallow the world!
“Transform!”
The long-silent ancient bell sounded again. From far to near, the clangs rang.
Purple flames rose like a furious dragon, instantly engulfing all of Chongxu!
Personal Reality pressed against world laws; miracles became ordinary and descended.
The entire space trembled and wailed, bowing before this one person. The ground below fractured; surrounding space cracked; several people lost footing and fell into endless darkness.
But no one noticed anything else. Their eyes were fixed on the transforming youth—
Now truly a Magical Girl.
Purple flames contracted, coiled, and shaped into the most splendid, burning magical outfit. The dancing flames, like living things, kissed her skin and wove boots, ribbons, a moon-and-star-studded flowing gown, and a face of breathtaking delicacy.
She was indistinguishable from Witch Shion.
Raincoat looked at Witch Shion, then at the original Shion afar.
Her pupils were full of confusion and shock.
Sura gaped, mouth agape; not even the AI could control her expression.
“Holy—holy—holy—”
Sura screamed until her voice cracked. “Beloved, how did you suddenly become a babe! This is too Chongxu! Brain wife... wait, brain husband—no, no...”
Screaming, Sura became incoherent. “I’m going to fall in love with you, not joking, brain-wife, I’ll marry you, you must take responsibility for confusing my heart! Really, you fulfill my tastes all at once, only you are my true lover...”
Her mad confession was cut off.
The Shion across didn’t blink. She casually formed a spear of condensed mana in her palm that shrieked through the air and pierced Sura!
Sura gripped the spear lodged in her body and laughed, dragging the AI down into darkness.
Shion didn’t even look at her and reached for the lower corpse of her household. The past-life heart had been mostly consumed; if she didn’t act now, the lower corpse would lose control.
In a blink, the world flipped.
Witch Shion was gone, and Raincoat vanished too.
Then Shion realized her position had changed.
Her surroundings were endless glaring lights—cold, empty, dead silence. She had fallen to the deepest underworld of Chongxu.
Shion slowly straightened, a cold smile curling at her lips.
“Heh.”
Mana swelled again.
Purple flames surged from her body, blanketing the sky and sweeping outward to fill, burst, and crush the deepest underparts of Chongxu!
Just as everything seemed to melt and evaporate under her mana, she suddenly saw that village again in the haze.
Shion didn’t think much and formed the Fire Lotus to throw down.
Her motion felt right—whatever it was, she’d blow it up first!
As the Fire Lotus twirled and was about to fall onto the village, she saw Lu Ya fly up from the village below.
The four-colored Fire Lotus spun and was unexpectedly swallowed by Lu Ya’s body with no ripple.
Shion paused, her eyes narrowing with some puzzlement.
The sensation was off.
Was this another memory?
Because the Lu Ya before her was not the AI but a projection of the real Lu Ya; she could tell the difference.
Having absorbed the Fire Lotus, Lu Ya fell back into the village.
Shion did not pursue; she watched quietly.
No villager came to comfort them; they hid indoors, alarmed and watchful.
Lu Ya struggled to rise, intending to continue the confrontation, but seemed unable to get up.
Hatching entities flew over and gathered around Lu Ya, blocking her and then chattering.
“Why can’t she transform? She should beat her if she can transform!”
“She clearly has a Personal Reality far beyond normal...”
“She should be the strongest Magical Girl, so why can’t she obtain a Miracle Seed?”
“What a pity, Miss Lu Ya, why is that?”
Yes—why?
Shion looked at the silent Lu Ya over there and her gaze dropped to Lu Ya’s chest.
Why is the heart beating in your chest... mine?
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