Chapter 324: The Showdown Between Ex-Wife and Legal Wife! |
"The captain is amazing!"
Inside the witch space of Chongxu, Jialan, who had just been pulled up, waved her arms excitedly.
The place they were in was an independent small space created using Mirror Kingdom technology, isolated outside of Chongxu. This was also the reason why the Witch Association could remain detached and aloof in Chongxu.
In terms of pure technology alone, the Mirror Kingdom might not necessarily be inferior to Chongxu.
After all, they had different directions, coupled with different positions. If their positions were swapped, Chongxu's fate wouldn't be much better than the Mirror Kingdom's...
"Our experimental product can actually go toe-to-toe with the original witch! Keke, kill her!"
Beside her, the Witch Association's President, wearing a black robe that concealed her entire body, let out a sigh as she watched the wildly gesticulating Jialan. "You're so grown up now. Can't you be a bit more mature, Jialan?"
"President, aren't you excited? This is the Witch Association's pride! The strongest Perfect Witch of the Witch Association, created by the captain! And that one over there is also a witch. Holy crap, our witches are about to rise up!"
"Are you even a witch to say 'our witches'?"
"She's a Magical Girl, alright. Does Keke even recognize herself as a witch?"
"Whether she does or not, she's still the pride of our Witch Association! Not only can she match the original witch, but Shion is just roadside trash in front of her now!"
"How much did you bet on Keke?"
Jialan's movements froze, and she let out a dry laugh. "Not that much, President."
"Once the Saint Hall completely takes over Chongxu, all those currencies in Chongxu are going to become worthless."
"President, save me!"
Jialan, whose entire assets were in Chongxu, immediately burst into tears and snot.
The Witch Association's President ignored her, simply watching Keke, who was able to contend with the original witch.
She took a sip of tea. "But where did the captain get the technology for creating two Personal Realities back then? The Witch Association doesn't have that kind of technology."
"Who knows? Maybe it was just a coincidence?"
"Hah. Somehow, I feel like the captain's identity isn't simple..."
"Wait, she's been dead for so long. Isn't it a bit late to say her identity isn't simple now? She was just a newbie village boss... If anyone's identity isn't simple, it should be ours."
"It would be nice if Twins were still here."
Jialan spat. "Don't mention that girl. Bad luck. A traitorous thing who sided with the Azure Cloud Sect early on!"
"Maybe she's a double agent."
The President said carelessly. "Next time, let her come back."
Then she watched as the original witch, finding Keke so difficult to handle, directly kicked Keke out of Chongxu.
Her expression immediately turned serious.
"She's shameless—directly kicking people out! Has she ever won before? We're dealing with someone who plays dirty! But don't worry, our Keke will still take her down!"
Then she patted Shan Lan's forehead. "Hurry up and contact the Saint Hall and the Azure Cloud Sect. Get them to help!"
"Boss, if they come, won't they be stealing the credit? Aren't you upset about that?"
"You idiot! If the original witch wins, the first one she'll settle accounts with is our Witch Association!"
"Execute immediately... Wait, it looks like the Azure Cloud Sect people have already arrived?"
...
Near the garbage dump, inside an independent world bubble.
"Why are there still Witch Association people watching? And they even dare to send us messages?"
Thousand-Pinweed was paying attention to little sister Keke's condition. Only when Keke was kicked out of Chongxu did she glance at the incoming message, somewhat puzzled. "Are they rebelling, or is our Azure Cloud Sect too gentle?"
She adjusted the world bubble for a better view of Keke, while also searching for the Witch Association's nearby location.
Ever since the Sect Master had created long-lasting world bubbles recently, Thousand-Pinweed was the first true-transmission to master them.
Not only could they be used for a second transformation, but most importantly, they could serve as temporary resting places.
"We've killed them all and you call that gentle? If we were any more brutal, we'd have to exterminate their entire clan. The problem is, that clan might accidentally include our own Azure Cloud Sect members..."
Jiegeng, dressed in miko clothing, fell into deep thought, looking exceptionally elegant as she seriously considered it. "How about we just exterminate three generations? Or hang their household bodies up for public display—that would have a better effect? After all, we came to Chongxu to kill the Witch Association anyway, so we might as well go all the way..."
"The main mission is to establish my Harry Potter Branch Sect..."
Thousand-Pinweed muttered, somewhat suspicious about whether this guy still remembered the agreement.
On the other side, Jiegeng had already lost interest in the Witch Association topic. While wanting to assist Keke, she cursed and flipped off the Witch Shion hiding in the void above. "How can you be so shameless? Kicking someone out of Chongxu and then kiting them over there? Just wait until we get up there—we'll tear off your hood and slap your face off!"
"She's using our Sect Master's body, you know."
The nearby Thousand-Pinweed reminded her, but Jiegeng didn't care at all.
"It's fine. The Sect Master won't blame us. Last time I accidentally punched him in the nose, he only broke my arm and didn't even scold me."
Thousand-Pinweed couldn't help but sigh at Jiegeng's words.
If she had a choice, she really didn't want to come with this somewhat hot-tempered colleague. After all, she was here to spread the teachings and open a branch sect, not to fight and cause trouble.
But in the entire Azure Cloud Sect, besides Jiegeng, no one else would be willing to come to Chongxu with her to set up a Harry Potter Branch Sect.
What dark cultivation immortality, what capitalist cultivation—none of them were as charming as their Hogwarts school.
Thousand-Pinweed felt that what Chongxu needed most right now was a mysterious Hogwarts Academy, to share everyone's burden and let them enjoy the beauty and freedom of magic.
Which young child didn't dream of going to Hogwarts?
But the two of them hadn't been in Chongxu long before the original witch used the Sect Master's body to launch a sudden attack.
She hadn't even finalized the land for her school with the Saint Hall yet!
Biting her fingernails, Thousand-Pinweed glared hatefully at the invisible Witch Shion in the distance. After being kicked out of Chongxu by the other's authority, getting back in would be difficult. She had to support Keke in giving that garbage-eater a few slaps!
In your opinion, all those Complete Witches were just a bunch of garbage-eaters.
And that world's number one garbage-eater couldn't be any weaker than Voldemort, right...
Seeing Keke being beaten into seven fleeing directions outside the garbage dump within the Chongxu encirclement, Jiegeng cursed loudly. "I'll fuck your sister! A Full Bloom peak Dao Master, beating up a young genius who's an alternative Full Bloom with combat power only at initial Full Bloom—and you're still so underhanded! You're unworthy of being a Dao Master!"
Just as she was about to rush out and fight, Thousand-Pinweed casually pulled her back.
"Calm down first."
"If I don't act now, little sister Keke will be dead!"
"The Sect Master's sister isn't that useless."
Jiegeng was stunned. "Huh? She's the Sect Master's sister?"
Thousand-Pinweed was also taken aback. "Huh? You didn't know? Didn't you know that the Sect Master is Jiang Si?"
"I knew that, but no one told me about the Sect Master's sister..."
The previously dazed Thousand-Pinweed suddenly broke into a smile. She took off her hat, tossed her witch hat in her hand, and laughed heartily. "Hehe, so you didn't know that either. Hehe, looks like I'm not the only one left out... Wait, didn't you see it during the Mirror Kingdom incident?"
"Huh? She was calling Jiang Si the Sect Master? I thought it was just someone with the same name..."
Alright, this true-transmission was just plain stupid.
The one truly left out was still only herself.
Before they could finish their conversation, Jiegeng shook off her hand. "No way. The original witch—that shameless Dao Master—daring to bully a young prodigy from the Azure Cloud Sect. If she wants to challenge a superior, did she ask the Azure Cloud Sect's permission? I have to go help!"
Thousand-Pinweed sighed and put her witch hat back on. "Do you look down on Keke that much? I bet Keke can win. If you lose, you only have to fight for the branch sect opening—nothing else."
Jiegeng hesitated. "Really?"
"Really."
So Jiegeng sat down, put away her bow and arrows, and started waving her portable cheer sticks.
"Go Keke! Go Keke!"
"Wait, you bet on Keke losing!"
"I know, but I hope Keke wins. If she wins, I'm happy. If she loses, I don't have to help you open the branch sect—no loss either! Go Keke!"
Thousand-Pinweed suddenly felt like she was the one who had been cheated.
Then she looked back at the screen and saw Keke being sent flying again. Her eyelids twitched, and she couldn't help but stand up too!
...
Although she didn't know what the "original witch" meant, Keke understood it was something extraordinary.
No wonder she could control Teacher Shion the witch—in this form, Teacher was a witch.
When she was kicked out of Chongxu, Keke felt everything around her blur into streams of light. The immense repulsive force from the world sent her tumbling into the periphery.
Headfirst into the ground, smashing through countless layers.
It took a long time to stabilize.
When she came to her senses, she was already deep underground!
Lifting her head slightly, she could see the path she had taken.
A series of vitrified holes, and the layers of steel sky collapsing and falling!
"Bad, bad, this is bad!"
For Keke, the biggest problem with Dream Core Full Bloom was actually—
Another voice in her ear.
When she was banished to the void by Chongxu's authority, that voice became clearer and clearer.
"What's bad about it!"
Keke pried herself out of the underground pit. Glassy gravel and crystalline fragments clattered down from her Magical Outfit.
The cracks beneath her extended like spiderwebs, spreading from the tens of thousands of miles deep crater she was in, across the entire platform, until they covered the entire space.
The next moment, she rolled and tumbled, barely dodging a mana arrow shooting at her from above.
Without a doubt, it was Teacher Shion's masterpiece.
The arrow grazed past her hair ends. Where its trail passed, the steel sky turned to nothingness!
Then it embedded itself in the ground behind her, buzzing and trembling.
Purple flames exploded from it like magma, instantly filling every crack, illuminating a purple hell!
Keke gritted her teeth, resisting the witch's high temperature. Her magic wand danced like a sword, crackling and exploding into brilliant clusters of fireworks in the air.
Red, blue, gold—cluster after cluster, wave after wave of explosions, destroying everything in their path.
Whether it was the endless iron mountains around her or the rare massive structures, within a few breaths, they were reduced to powder in the overwhelming force!
Even the smoke and dust were devoured!
Just the aftermath—
Sent her flying backward continuously.
"The bad thing is you're about to be killed! Next, I'll take control of your body and put serious pressure on Jiang Si, making him fully realize the terror and ferocity of Magical Girl Ruri!"
"In your dreams!"
From the moment she entered the underground, Keke had already spread out her demonic sense.
For her, whose combat power had reached Full Bloom level, spreading her demonic sense over thousands or even hundreds of millions of kilometers was a piece of cake.
But even so, she didn't know where she had been thrown.
The distance her demonic sense had scanned, extending hundreds of millions of kilometers, was enough to fit, well, maybe two or three Earths?
This was already beyond imagination for a Magical Girl who had just finished learning "Understanding Earth" in eighth-grade geography and was about to enter ninth grade...
But outside her demonic sense, and beyond that, there was still endless high walls and steel earth.
Keke momentarily had the thought, "Is my demonic sense malfunctioning?"
She wasn't sure whether she should extend her demonic sense further to investigate.
Looking around, even what she could see with her naked eyes was a bizarre, silent space.
Countless enormous capsules were arranged not far away. Keke could see them clearly even without her demonic sense—each of these capsules was almost as big as Beihai!
Even bigger than Beihai!
Inside were densely packed seats. The capsule doors were wide open, completely empty, like some kind of abandoned shelter.
Mana arrows rained down like raindrops, continuously driving Keke away, not allowing her to stop.
Some arrows grazed Keke, causing massive explosions. Many capsules were blown to pieces, and more than half of the affected ones cracked and fell apart. As Keke scurried around, some un-exploded arrows stuck densely into the capsules, trembling dangerously!
The laughter in her heart grew more and more unrestrained.
"When things get bad enough, a strange excitement burns in your heart. Don't you think so? When big brother finally breaks with us completely, maybe we'll discover a new world."
"I'm not a masochist!"
This annoying voice was the other self that only appeared during Full Bloom.
Was this what my dark form was like? A bit annoying, but actually kind of cool...
Dark Keke was this Dark·Night·Ice·Crystal·Sorrow—a name Keke had come up with for a manga protagonist before.
But the annoying thing was, it was too independent, completely different from her. It felt like another person trying to seize control of her, and also big brother...
"Do you think it's possible that Jiang Si actually likes this sister of his more than he likes you? If you gave your body to me, maybe Jiang Si would be happier?"
"Big brother is my big brother only! He won't like another sister more!"
As she was thinking, the flight speed and trajectory of several arrows suddenly changed!
In the world bubble, Jiegeng's expression shifted. "Damn, cause before effect! Copying me, you shameless little shorty! Not allowed!"
Sure enough, Keke couldn't dodge in time. The arrow exploded right above her head!
Compressed mana scattered like shattered glass. The shockwave slammed her into the ground. Keke used the momentum to roll and absorb the force, but her back pressed against an arrow embedded in the ground.
"Shit!"
Jiegeng, who had been watching, jumped up, stomping her feet in anxiety.
Thousand-Pinweed's heart also skipped a beat.
The Sect Master's mana arrows had a fatal characteristic: if they didn't hit someone, they wouldn't explode. They would just sit quietly on the ground, like ordinary glowing feathers.
But if you bumped into them—
Boom!
Just like that, a pitch-black mana flower bloomed!
Keke was sent flying. Before she could stabilize, a second, third, fourth arrow... The places she rolled through were like a triggered minefield, explosions chasing her tail.
For a moment, Keke was blown away, rolling and crawling!
"Smile, smile, other me. If you don't smile, the damage doubles. Then I can use your body to break with big brother."
Keke was momentarily angered into laughter.
But the continuous explosions gave her no chance to breathe. The shockwaves wrapped around her, rolling and bouncing, leaving her completely unable to control her body—until she finally slammed into some enormous steel structure.
With a teeth-grinding screech, her body pierced through giant gear assemblies, through city-sized steel ruins, through planetary-scale factories.
But there was no sign of stopping!
Countless outer walls and high barriers were crazily pierced through. Even the load-bearing Buzhou Mountain was broken by the impact.
Keke flew like a shooting star.
Until she shot out from the other side of the Chongxu periphery!
When she finally stopped in the void beyond, she finally saw the complete picture of the place where she had just fought Shion.
The factory she had just crashed through was now slowly collapsing like a mountain. Various machines, gears, and hydraulic arms began to crush each other like debris!
Amid the deafening roar, the factory's location was like an exploding star.
And around it, various enormous mechanical structures, wrecked spaceships, construction debris, Dyson sphere ruins, including the still-collapsing factory and the massive garbage dump covered in endless trash, all formed a huge wonder like Kowloon Walled City!
Floating in the dark void!
Keke was dazed for a long time.
She thought she had been blown to some unknown corner, never to return to the new world.
Panicked, she immediately used her demonic sense to frantically scan the entire wonder, discovering that this damn place was hundreds of billions of kilometers long, and her demonic sense couldn't reach its end anytime soon!
For a moment, she stood there stunned, forgetting she was in danger, until the other self's mocking voice came from her ear:
"Still looking? Stop looking, country bumpkin. This is the Chongxu periphery."
Snapping back to reality, Keke touched her Magical Outfit and took a deep breath.
Even against Teacher Shion's level of mana bombardment, she was basically unscathed.
Of course, this wasn't because her strength had reached Teacher Shion's level.
It was one of the characteristics of her Dream Core Full Bloom.
As long as she maintained a cheerful heart, preferably laughing heartily, she could be immune to all physical attacks.
Back in the Mirror Kingdom, one of the main reasons she was struck down by Bai Mei's sword was that she couldn't laugh at the time.
When Keke couldn't laugh, her combat ability was greatly reduced.
Another arrow shot toward her. The moment it left the bowstring, the dark void let out a piercing shriek.
Dazzling white light instantly ignited a corner of Chongxu, like a blazing sun falling!
The power of this arrow was almost comparable to the real Teacher Shion.
Too fast!
Her pupils contracted sharply, and the arrow was already at her face!
Keke instinctively raised her arm to block. The moment of contact, intense pain instantly invaded her brain, freezing Keke's smile, the corners of her mouth trembling uncontrollably.
An arrow specialized in pain enhancement...
The arrow pierced through her right arm. But Keke gritted her teeth and, using her already limp right arm, fiercely flung it!
She deflected the arrow that was heading straight for her face.
It grazed her cheek, dragging her off-balance body for who knows how far, until even the distant exploding sun became small.
Only then did Keke forcefully yank her arm, directly pulling the entire arm off.
The broken arm, still holding the arrow, flew off without looking back.
It tore through the floating spaceship wreckage along the way, once again causing a terrifying explosion.
Keke's hair danced wildly!
Her right arm was broken, but Keke just grinned, happy as a superhero.
So the injury quickly healed.
"That's right, that's it~ Even though things are bad, we pretend we're the villain in an anime, keep a wicked smile, and things become interesting. The other side will think we're unpredictable."
Looking at the missing corner of the Chongxu periphery, Keke took a cold breath. "A wicked smile doesn't trigger Full Bloom's effect. This ability is passive—it requires a smile with positive emotions to activate. The activation speed depends on the positive emotions brought by the smile. If enough positive emotions aren't generated, the smile's effect activation slows down, and the effect is greatly reduced..."
"...You're really unromantic." The voice sighed softly. "I'm telling you interesting things, and you're explaining the ability manual to me."
"After all, I'm not as idle as you!"
A ball of flame instantly engulfed the spot she had just occupied. Hot air surged.
Wherever it passed, everything turned to magma. The space distorted in the high temperature, as if she were in a boundless inferno.
The bottom of Keke's shoe was licked by the flame. An intense burning pain shot up from her sole, making her smile waver again for a moment.
The other side seemed to have figured out her ability.
All attacks were accompanied by unbearable pain.
Shion was doing it on purpose.
Every arrow, every ball of flame, was stirring her emotions, destroying her smile.
Defense and recovery were indeed strong under the smile, but the pain couldn't be eliminated. Once overwhelmed by pain, Keke couldn't maintain a happy smile.
Gritting her teeth, Keke immediately suppressed the pain and suddenly flew toward the Chongxu periphery!
She couldn't stay in the void!
"She had to re-enter Chongxu. Otherwise, she could only be beaten outside."
"Why don't you just leave?"
"Everyone is still in Chongxu!"
"What everyone? What does it have to do with you?"
Circling the Chongxu periphery, Keke dodged Witch Shion's arrow rain that seemed like automatic attacks, looking for a breakthrough.
The other party's attention should no longer be on her. If she could find an opening, breaking back into Chongxu wouldn't be difficult...
The problem wasn't whether there was an opening.
The more she delayed, the more anxious she became. The more anxious she became, the harder it was to smile. The harder it was to smile, the more anxious she became!
This vicious cycle was like an invisible hand, slowly tightening around Keke's throat.
She could feel the smile at the corners of her mouth becoming stiff. Happiness was being squeezed out, gradually mixed with bitterness. Once the smile no longer carried positive emotions, Full Bloom's effect would visibly decay like a leaky balloon.
She had already circled the enormous Chongxu periphery who knows how many times—at least a dozen—but still felt like a headless fly.
Gradually falling into the vicious cycle, Keke couldn't hold out against Teacher Shion's dense arrow rain.
Hit by numerous arrows, she was forcibly pushed, falling deeper into the void—
If this continued, she would be lost in this chaotic space, perhaps unable to even find her way home.
And the Dream Core Full Bloom time was almost up.
Dream Core Full Bloom only lasted three minutes total. Once the time was exceeded, Dream Core's power would disappear, and Full Bloom state couldn't be maintained.
After exiting transformation, it would probably be the real death...
Keke took a deep breath. Although using a big move here would be a waste, and there would be no chance to counterattack if she re-entered Chongxu later—
But if she didn't use it now, whether she could even survive was a problem.
"Mental Landscape..."
[Someone like you being his sister is truly laughable. Remember, since you're his sister, you can't embarrass him!]
Keke was stunned and immediately looked down at her Little Profound Mirror.
But the sound didn't come from the system—it was a familiar girl's voice.
Before she could speak, Witch Shion's attack followed.
[No flying under the royal court without an audience.]
But then the space rippled. A massive data stream enveloped the Chongxu periphery, distorting the space within it. All the arrows instantly fell into the darkness.
Everything floating outside the Chongxu periphery instantly fell into the void!
Keke watched, dumbfounded, and blurted out:
"Miss Itaen!"
...
"What did I say? She couldn't hold back."
Chongxu, Saint Hall.
Although the entire Chongxu was now under the control of the original witch Lu Ya, and most of the Saint Hall members were unconscious—
Ruo Yun had actually made preparations for this situation.
The mirror space reopened from within Chongxu—Mirror Kingdom technology was fully applicable here, and Chongxu's authority couldn't extend into the mirror space at all.
A fully data-based Chongxu ultimately couldn't control the moon's reflection in the water or flowers in the mirror.
Beside her, Hyacinth was leisurely eating snacks, soaking pastries in milk and stirring slowly.
Just looking at it made Ruo Yun feel sick. She thought the preferences of rich people were too strange.
Fortunately, even if she were rich, she wouldn't become like this...
"No need to worry. She can't let go of Keke."
Hearing Hyacinth's words, Ruo Yun rolled her eyes. "Can't let go of Keke, or can't let go of the Saint Hall Master?"
"Well..." Hyacinth gave a faint smile. "Better not say too much. One must always leave some leeway."
"Heh, you're the one who talks about people behind their backs the most. Now you know about leaving leeway."
"That's a real slander, Captain Ruo Yun. But isn't your prediction a bit too accurate?"
Hyacinth watched the battle in the mirror. Although Keke had been beaten all over the place earlier, she hadn't taken any real damage, which impressed her. "Although we've been working together for a long time, and I know your style is always to prepare for the worst, this time your preparations were overly thorough, and your predictions so accurate—it's quite rare."
"What, do you think my abilities are lacking?"
"Of course not. I just wanted to praise the captain for being so amazing. It's like you have clairvoyance, knowing things before they happen, predicting with divine accuracy. Soon Jiang Si will probably have to give you the position of Saint Hall Master..."
"Oh, that wasn't actually my prediction."
Hyacinth's gray-white pupils froze.
For the first time, Ruo Yun had gotten the better of her. She smiled slightly. "It was advice from a true-transmission of the Azure Cloud Sect named Tiyana."
"By the way, she also suggested it would be best to inform Itaen about this matter."
"Because in her prediction, the probability of Itaen helping her sister-in-law was—"
"One hundred percent."
Hyacinth couldn't help but purse her lips. "Sister-in-law, huh..."
She repeated the term, her tone somewhat teasing. "But even Itaen can't use much power right now, can she?"
"I lent her that."
A look of shock appeared on Hyacinth's face. "Huh? Lending it to her isn't really appropriate, is it?"
"Don't worry." Ruo Yun said calmly. "Consider it helping the Saint Hall establish its reputation. The probability of Itaen betraying us is very low. Her intervention also serves as a showcase of the Saint Hall's achievements over the years."
"Miss Tiyana said the probability of victory is as low as ninety-nine percent."
"Are you sure she didn't use the wrong word?"
"That's what she said. To her, ninety-nine percent still carries great risk."
"...The true-transmissions of Azure Cloud are really... distinctive."
"Right? Although Teacher Bai Mei is the most normal one, she's actually the strongest among these weirdos!"
"Can you please not keep steering the conversation toward praising Bai Mei?"
"Heh, ignorant child. Never mind, I won't argue with you."
Ruo Yun cupped her chin, shaking her head as she watched the mirror image. "Let them witness it—the Saint Hall's ultimate weapon!"
...
Chongxu periphery, void.
Before Keke could wipe the dust off her face, she looked at the Little Profound Mirror that had suddenly started moving on its own and immediately cheered:
"So cool, Miss Itaen!"
[Hmph. Average.]
Keke could clearly hear that her voice carried a hint of pleasure.
But that arrogance was well hidden.
Although she had known from the beginning that Miss Itaen wasn't a bad person, having her come to help at such a critical moment was an unexpected surprise for Keke. She immediately seized the opportunity.
"Sister Itaen, help me save Chongxu!"
[Don't get it twisted. I haven't forgiven you and your brother. I'm just here to watch you make fools of yourselves.]
"I see."
Keke was a bit disappointed. Then another voice sounded in her mind: "Don't be sad. It's just because she can't handle Chongxu, so she's using this excuse to give herself a way out. Blocking Witch Shion's arrows earlier already exhausted her..."
[You've got some nerve, Jiang Keke.]
Keke froze, then realized that the other voice hadn't just sounded in her mind—it had come out of her mouth!
"No, I didn't say that!"
[Chongxu's technology is just a pile of garbage! How can it compare to my great Mirror Kingdom! With the Omniscient Domain built on my system, I can even reverse-erode all authorities. Mere Chongxu can be destroyed with a snap of my fingers!]
Keke immediately applauded. "The Mirror Kingdom is very powerful, but if you don't actually do anything, no one knows if it's real or fake..."
The other voice also chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. We're not doubting you. We just want to see if the technology of the fallen Mirror Kingdom can really match up to Chongxu?"
[Ignorant and shallow. Just this once. You shall witness—the glory of my Mirror Kingdom!]
From somewhere unknown, Witch Shion extended a massive hand from the void.
Five fingers came together—the Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palm!
This palm had almost world-destroying power. The massive Chongxu periphery seemed like it could be crushed in this single hand!
The might was overwhelming!
Even Keke, with her happy superman-like rule ability—
Under this terrifying power, her Magical Outfit cracked, her mana trembled, and her internal organs felt like they were churning!
[This is a creation of the Saint Hall and the Mirror Kingdom! You Chongxu country bumpkins, kneel and submit before the great technology of my Mirror Kingdom!]
The space in front of Keke shattered and recombined. Piece by piece, like a puzzle, it quickly assembled into a huge mirror, shining with blinding light!
[Supreme Emperor's Weapon·Void Mirror!]
The Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palm struck the Void Mirror with full force!
The mirror's surface immediately became covered in dense cracks, like a spiderweb!
Just as Keke felt it might not hold and wanted to get up and fly away, she saw the entire Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palm slowly sink into the Void Mirror!
It was as if the entire arm was devoured by the Void Mirror, and the cracks on the mirror's surface healed at an incredible speed.
[Omniscient Domain analysis complete.]
[Resistance complete. Replication complete. Modification complete...]
The Void Mirror flashed again. An even more massive, powerful, and terrifying Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palm shot out from the mirror!
Not only that—the Void Mirror locked onto the attack's origin. The enhanced Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palm followed the same direction, smashing through the void, and pressed directly toward Shion hiding behind it!
Even Witch Shion had to raise her hand to block her own full-powered strike. Her body was directly smashed into the ruins beneath Chongxu!
It took a long time for Witch Shion to crawl out of the ruins. She looked at the still-shining Void Mirror and momentarily dared not attack again.
"Who are you?"
Facing Witch Shion's questioning, the voice in the system let out a cold, complex laugh.
[Questioning me like this is great disrespect. But considering it's your first offense, I'll spare you this time.]
The Void Mirror flashed again!
Countless Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palms rained down like raindrops toward the breached Chongxu!
Witch Shion also sneered. "Oh, I remember now. You're the girl Jiang Si divorced in the Mirror Kingdom, aren't you? Or do you prefer the title Jiang Si's ex-wife?"
Witch Shion's originally indifferent pupils flickered. A sword slowly materialized in her hand.
With a single slash, thousands of Great Desolate Prisoner Heaven Palms were all cut apart!
Space collapsed, the sun and moon shifted—but it also left an unhealable gap in Chongxu!
[Those who disrespect the royal court deserve death!]
The Void Mirror didn't even absorb—it just reflected the sword energy and slashed back with the same sharpness!
Witch Shion caught the blade with one hand and twisted it fiercely. Polluted Magic spread along the sword energy onto the Void Mirror. Black patterns immediately covered the mirror's surface!
"Can the poisonous woman dumped by Jiang Si stop causing trouble?"
[You bitter woman who never even wore a wedding dress don't get to point fingers at me. And it's not that he dumped me—I simply didn't want to play with him anymore.]
"Well, good. Since there are so many girls around him, having to deal with them one by one would be really troublesome. Jiang Si, after all, belongs only to me."
[It's been a long time since I've been amused. Disrespectful one, your joke was decent. I forgive your disrespect.]
"As long as you don't get in my way, I'll let you off."
[Heh. I'd already lost interest in Jiang Si. But since you put it that way, I think I must marry him and lock him in the cold palace, just to see how anxious you get!]
Witch Shion slowly swung her sword. Before the blade fell, the sealed Void Mirror surface was already covered in cracks!
But even as it shattered, equally sharp sword energy bounced back from the broken mirror surface!
What a powerful weapon...
Just as she was about to seal the space, Witch Shion's movements stiffened slightly.
Because Keke had somehow crossed the spatial gap and stepped back into Chongxu.
She even came right in front of her and grabbed her wrist.
Having just seized Witch Shion's body, control wasn't very good. Especially against a Magical Girl like Keke, who was skilled in mana manipulation. This moment of negligence allowed Keke to get this close without being noticed.
Just as she was about to slap Keke's forehead, Keke grabbed her wrist with one hand and pressed the other against her own chest.
Her eyes blazed as she stared at Shion.
"Don't think of running."
"Mental Landscape—"
Flames erupted like lava, roaring outward with the two of them at the center!
"Unfold!"
An endless domain of fire smashed through the entire Chongxu!
In an instant, the authority on Chongxu and Witch Shion was burned away completely!
"Victory—!!"
"I knew it—our Witch Association's strongest witch!" In the Witch Association, Jialan dropped to her knees and screamed!
She wanted nothing more than to hug Keke and kiss her!
Every brick and tile of her big house in Chongxu had been blasted into existence by Keke, shot by shot!
The President, who hadn't originally believed Keke would win, looked somewhat helpless but also had a flicker in her eyes, watching the flames erupting from Keke's location with a complicated expression.
Saint Hall.
Ruo Yun and Hyacinth high-fived, both letting out sighs of relief.
The other members in the space who hadn't fainted also cheered, applauding Keke.
"I told you she could win!"
"Who was about to run just now?"
Only in the Azure Cloud Sect's world bubble—
Thousand-Pinweed pretended to tap Jiegeng's forehead with her magic wand. "I told you, no problem! Trust Keke! Keke is our pride!"
Jiegeng nodded repeatedly, just praising:
"Good fight! Damn, that fight was satisfying!"
"So, it's Keke's victory!"
Shion looked at the little paper man flying around in front of her and said proudly, "Naturally."
If her subordinate couldn't even defeat this, then this little sister wasn't worth having.
But more importantly—
"How did you get in here, Tiyana?"
"Reporting to the Sect Master. I walked in from the ground, back and forth."
After being pinned down by the Sect Master's finger, Tiyana immediately became honest. "I had Lady Bingtang place me on you earlier."
Shion did remember that. When Bingtang was arranging her clothes earlier, she had casually stuffed a ball of paper into her pocket, telling her to bring it along.
She had forgotten about it after arriving in Chongxu.
Before activation, Tiyana's paper clone was no different from ordinary paper.
As a follower of the Path of Caution, even Shion had to admit this was truly hard to guard against.
"To be honest, the risk was really great. Following Master to this damned place, after communicating with my outside self, I realized that the time here is completely cut off. It's like splashes of water in the river of time being frozen, then trapped here forever..."
The little paper man noticed Shion was spacing out and paused.
"Squeak, Master, do you understand?"
"The Great Dao of [Time]. I probably taught you about it before."
"Mm hm. Anyway, that's the situation. This place is different from the [Scene of Cause and Effect]. It's more like a [Pseudo-History]. Chongxu's authority probably realized it couldn't deal with you, Master, so it threw you into this frozen time deep within Chongxu, trying to suppress you. Although I don't think mere [Pseudo-History] can trap you, it's safer to find the core and lift the time freeze..."
"Do you know why I don't call myself a follower of the Path of Caution, Tiyana?"
Hearing Shion's question, the paper man paused. "Because no matter what Master does, the probability is one hundred percent. So the Path of Caution has no meaning for you."
"No one dares to claim one hundred percent."
Shion stood up, looking at the tall tower. "Try to do things with less than fifty percent probability more often. Otherwise, you'll eventually lose your true-transmission position."
"...I humbly accept Master's teachings."
Watching the little paper man turn to ash and dissipate, Shion understood that Tiyana's power probably couldn't do much here either.
Actually, Jiang Si didn't dislike Tiyana. Compared to Thousand-Pinweed, Tiyana was more likable in many ways.
As long as you called on Tiyana, no matter what it was, she would consider everything thoroughly and do it perfectly.
The downside was that Tiyana hadn't done anything with less than ninety percent probability for a long time.
Even a ninety-five percent success rate was considered a big risk in her eyes. She was increasingly unwilling to take responsibility.
Even if it started as mere imitation, once it became a habit, it would eventually become an obstacle on the path of the Dao.
After all, a Magical Girl's path ultimately relied more on miracles.
From this perspective, Tiyana was far inferior to Thousand-Pinweed.
In fact, when it came to how far one could go on the path, few true-transmissions could surpass Thousand-Pinweed.
For the subsequent true-transmission replacements, as Sect Master, Shion most wanted to replace Tiyana, not Thousand-Pinweed.
Direction didn't matter—how far you could go was what counted.
But purely from a current standpoint, Tiyana had always done well, so Shion was willing to continue giving her chances.
As for the time-frozen village before her, Shion didn't care much.
It was more about resting, thinking about further optimizing the Azure Cloud Sect after returning.
Later, with the Magic Kingdom, the World Tree—probably all the myriad worlds would need the Azure Cloud Sect to manage them. The true-transmissions' responsibilities were the most important.
The path of seeking the Dao was like sailing against the current—if you didn't advance, you fell back. She had to find more Magical Girls to push the true-transmissions.
Give them a greater sense of crisis.
"Shion, Shion..."
Over there, Lu Ya waved at her through the window, looking somewhat weak.
"Time to eat."
She had been here for a long time. Of course, Shion had an absolute sense of time—she was sure only a few hours had passed outside.
But here, nearly half a year had disappeared.
She saw those Magical Girls who interacted with Lu Ya, but the time freeze here was somewhat blurry, so even she couldn't clearly see their faces.
Most came and went. Although they were on good terms with Lu Ya and planned to build Chongxu together, they weren't really close friends who could talk about anything.
More like colleagues.
The villagers in the village were also getting fewer.
The spirit of Bullying Village wasn't bad. Even though they had been taught many lessons by her, even though bullying her and Lu Ya could get them killed, these villagers still bravely persisted in their bullying.
They were worthy of recognition. If they weren't all already dead, Shion might have given them the greatest respect by sending them on their way together.
As she walked toward the tall tower, the villagers' crying and the hanging white banners made her glance sideways.
Recently, more and more people were dying. Soon, they should all be dead.
When she entered the tall tower, Lu Ya was still chatting with several other colleagues. She didn't know what they were talking about, but they all looked very excited.
But as soon as Shion came in, they quickly stopped.
It wouldn't be long before all these gathered companions left.
"Oh~ Is this your new friend? So cute."
One of the girls, wearing a black robe covering her whole body, smiled ambiguously at Lu Ya before leaving. "You can't treat her better than me, okay?"
"Don't talk nonsense, idiot!"
Lu Ya laughed and scolded her, pushing her out of the tower.
It was a while before she came back and said, "Don't mind her. That one likes to joke."
"What organization is she going to establish?"
Lu Ya thought for a long time before saying, "Something like the Witch Association?"
Shion frowned slightly.
The founder of the Witch Association?
"Anyway, even though she's a Magical Girl, she wants to seek power outside of Magical Girls. Really strange."
After cooking for Shion, Lu Ya picked up something the Magical Girl had left behind. "Ta-da! Look what this is?"
It was a tree branch, fresh and new, with dewdrops slowly dripping from it.
But when she looked closely, those weren't dewdrops. They were time condensed into water droplets. And the branch was hollow inside.
On its surface, something flowed unceasingly, like the image of a river—
That was time.
"They found this treasure from the World Tree. It's a branch related to time. But after it was taken from the World Tree, this branch seemed to freeze. No matter what, it couldn't be used."
Lu Ya waved the branch cutely. Her originally weak body seemed to have regained some strength. "But it definitely contains the Dao Fruit of time—no mistake about that. What's left is figuring out how to draw out this power."
As she spoke, the girl's gaze became somewhat distant. "Then I'll be able to meet him."
"It's time to give up."
Shion interrupted her fantasy while eating. "You can't become a Magical Girl."
"Mm. I've given up."
A Personal Reality that didn't belong to her, combined with Lu Ya's personality—
From the ground up, she was incompatible with Magical Girls.
In the end, those Incubators were only after the Personal Reality on her heart. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't turn Lu Ya into a Magical Girl.
"But there's never just one way to achieve a dream, right?"
Lu Ya smiled at her, innocent and lovely.
She always smiled so purely, so affably that she seemed like the natural girl next door who grew up with you.
A girl's appearance—when it was too beautiful, it often carried sharpness and distance.
Whether Bingtang or Shion, they probably felt hard to approach.
Even someone as socially adept as Bingtang inevitably gave off a sense of distance.
But Lu Ya was different. One smile, one word, and it felt like confessing to her wouldn't matter.
Whatever you said wouldn't be disliked.
You could easily become a close friend who talked about everything. That kind of affability and trust-inspiring loveliness probably couldn't be matched by any beautiful girl.
So many villagers gradually accepted Lu Ya and got along with her.
Even inviting them to the tall tower for a visit was never refused.
At night, when she walked outside the basement of the tall tower, she could see Lu Ya in the laboratory, extremely serious, trying various potions. Occasionally, the founder of the Witch Association stood beside her,
casually discussing the effects of the potions, the reactions of the villagers, and the characteristics of the raw materials...
Shion watched quietly from outside the window.
The frozen time could naturally stir ripples if she exerted force, but it would eventually return to the frozen moment.
She watched the experiments progress step by step until they approached the witch surgeries she had participated in.
Every time she watched for a long time, Lu Ya, who was concentrating on preparing potions for the villagers, would suddenly look up and turn to her.
Her face splattered with blood, tools for dissection and injection in her hands, still wearing that endearing, pure smile that seemed to make the blood on her face disappear.
"Ah, do you want to try too?"
In the end, Shion didn't respond. She just turned and left.
Lu Ya, holding the tools, scratched her head and could only snort.
"Fine. If you don't want to, don't."
Chongxu was being expanded day by day according to plan. Most of the experiments weren't going smoothly. The villagers dwindled day by day.
The village was gradually being modernized—larger, more splendid, more orderly.
More and more Magical Girls came and went. More and more Disaster Beasts appeared.
More and more companions gathered around Lu Ya.
Lu Ya was also experimenting on herself. Some experiments succeeded, some failed.
Day by day, she grew weaker. Her body began to collapse. The video recordings she made for herself stopped. She no longer went out. She barely spoke to Shion.
But the experiments continued.
Her companions began to notice problems. One by one, they started checking her basement, asking questions on the side.
About the disappearance of Disaster Beasts, the deaths and reduction of villagers, the strange phenomena and bloody smell in the tall tower.
Until one day, everything was exposed. All the Magical Girls showed disgusted expressions. Even the Witch Association's President disappeared.
"How disappointing, Lu Ya!"
"Why would you do something like this... We trusted you so much."
"We said we would use the World Tree branch to build a new kingdom for Magical Girls..."
The weak Lu Ya still said nothing. She just hung her head and apologized softly.
The Magical Girls originally wanted to drag her to the basement. But seeing how weak she was, someone finally couldn't bear it and carried her instead.
When they opened the basement door and entered the laboratory, everyone fell into dead silence.
There were many Disaster Beast remains, of course, but also many human remains. Soaked organs. Various body parts...
A scene like hell.
But Shion wasn't surprised.
When she had seen Lu Ya hugging organs preserved in formalin, she had basically already anticipated this.
Sooner or later, she would lose reverence. Sooner or later, she would start to indulge. Sooner or later, she would become twisted and black.
Once a crack opened, infinite possibilities emerged. Ultimately, it depended on the guidance of the environment.
But most importantly—it was her own choice.
Because nothing could be entirely blamed on living environment or family background.
The Magical Girls were both angry and upset. But seeing the weak Lu Ya, on the verge of death—everyone could tell.
Her life span was only a day or two.
No one made a move. But no one dared to just leave her here.
They didn't want to kill a girl who was already dying. But they didn't want to give her any chance to escape and do more evil.
Until Shion walked in.
When she entered, the girl slightly lifted her head to look at her.
Even lying weak in bed, those sparkling eyes still carried the warmth and vitality that made people fond of her.
Then she began to speak.
"Shion. I left an AI. The Complete Witch experiment—almost there..."
"Does the way I look now... not ugly? If I see him like this... will he hate me?"
"Time... time... if it were him..."
"You can take everything except my heart... except my heart..."
The Magical Girls' multicolored pupils stared at the two of them.
Shion ignored everyone. She just gathered up all the tools Lu Ya had used before, walked up to her, and interrupted her murmurs. "Do you know what you're doing?"
Even on the brink of death, the girl still wore a sweet smile. "Love is chaos outside of order."
As if answering Shion, or as if speaking to those Magical Girls.
But it only made the Magical Girls angrier.
"Isn't this too chaotic?"
Shion replied for the Magical Girls.
Then she flicked the syringe she had picked up, filling it with anesthetic. As she prepared to inject Lu Ya, Lu Ya shook her head. "No need. No need. It's better this way."
Shion nodded. So she picked up the scalpel.
When the sharp blade pierced her shoulder, the weak body tensed.
Her fingers dug into the bed board. Her legs under her skirt curled, then straightened. Her waist arched slightly. Her breathing quickened.
But her expression—the girl biting her lip still wore a smile. Only her pupils overflowed with pain.
"So this is what it feels like."
Amid heavy breaths, the murmurs escaping her lips sounded almost joyful.
But when the blade moved downward, the tensed muscles, as if imbued with mana, tightly gripped the surgical knife.
Behind her, the Magical Girls shuddered. Some of them frowned at Lu Ya.
"Relax."
The girl instinctively relaxed.
The intense pain had already robbed her of speech.
When the scalpel cut through her chest, laying her open, the girl had completely collapsed on the operating table.
Just as Shion reached for her chest, Lu Ya tightly grabbed her hand.
Like a flash of light before death, her pitch-black eyes stared at Shion with a hint of danger. "I said... this... you can't touch."
The other Magical Girls also crowded around.
Although it was punishment for a sinner, the Magical Girls' kindness still didn't allow them to ignore Lu Ya's dying request.
"Leave the heart alone."
"Don't torment her."
"You seem close to Lu Ya? You weren't involved in the experiments, were you?"
"Stop..."
Amid the clamor, only Lu Ya and Shion didn't speak.
Shion looked at her quietly. For a long time.
Then suddenly—she canceled her transformation.
The basement fell silent.
Compared to the stunned Magical Girls, Lu Ya, who had always been emotionally indifferent, reacted most violently!
Her originally dim pupils dilated. Her gray eyes even regained their color.
Her body, gradually losing vitality, began to move.
Then came helplessness. Like a child who had done wrong, she kept curling up, retreating on the operating table.
Trying to escape from in front of him.
"No. I... it's not like this..."
"Don't look at me!"
She wanted to deny her present self.
From the beginning, she never intended to let him see herself like this. It was supposed to be impossible to meet anyway.
She wanted him to see the more distant, cleaner version of herself...
But Jiang Si just pressed her down.
Then, amid the Magical Girls' gasps, he reached into her chest cavity.
Lu Ya instantly fell silent.
The Magical Girls grabbed Jiang Si together—only to find they couldn't budge him!
Unmoving, Jiang Si just asked, "This is my heart. Why was it transplanted?"
Lu Ya had no reason for a transplant. She didn't have heart disease, and there was the risk of rejection.
"Because... it was too cold..."
The girl replied softly, with a hint of a sob. "In that water-filled jar... so cold... so cold..."
As she spoke, she held Jiang Si's hand—the hand that held the beating heart.
Thick blood covered both their hands.
"Like this... it will warm up... Isn't it... warm?"
"Yeah."
Warm enough to burn.
"The other parts?"
"I... I didn't touch them." Lu Ya answered obediently.
"Did you eat them?"
The operating room was quiet except for heavy breathing.
The Magical Girls were all watching these two lunatics numbly, not knowing what to do...
The ripples on time quickly calmed. Soon, Lu Ya's expression gradually became confused.
Because when Jiang Si slowly pulled out the heart—the things wrapped around it weren't blood vessels.
But dense wires. Various contaminated parts were propping up the heart.
Then Lu Ya let out a long sigh, revealing a relieved smile. "I... I told you. It wasn't me. I'm the second-generation Lu Ya AI..."
Her gaze wasn't like that of the dead. It was like a newborn baby's—bright and lively as she looked at Jiang Si.
Her lips moved slightly, unable to form words. The words echoed in the heart that had just been seized.
No one knew—
Whenever I say I love you, I am a rotten fruit.
I only dare to show you the half that isn't rotten.
I hide it desperately. Hide it desperately.
Even if I cut off the other half completely, I will never let you see—
My rotten form...
"What you saw... none of it was done by Lu Ya."
Jiang Si silently looked at the heart in his hand. The Magical Girl beside him gently tugged at his arm, telling him to put it down.
The heart, imprinted with the Dao Fruit, even had traces of the World Tree branch.
Jiang Si stared into Lu Ya's eyes and slowly spoke:
"The Dao Fruit... is actually just one step away from the Great Fruit."
Amid the Magical Girls' confusion, only Lu Ya understood the joke. With a puff, blood spurted from her compressed chest cavity as she laughed into a flower.
Someone let out a short scream.
The other Magical Girls looked at Jiang Si, their gazes gradually turning horrified and disgusted. Many drew their magic wands.
Countless beams of magical light flickered, ready to drown Jiang Si and Lu Ya together!
Jiang Si didn't even look. He just took a bite.
Swallowing the Dao Fruit that belonged to him, yet had been brewed by Lu Ya!
Amid the enormous, violent explosions and impacts—
The frozen time finally began to flow!
