Chapter 252: Sink Jiang Ming!

After Qianjing sent a last-minute plea to her teacher for help,

she immediately sealed herself, Shui Ling, and the entire Jiangming City — now shrouded by thunderclouds — inside crystal.

Once encased in crystal, everything stops.

All time, all space, all life are fixed and preserved beneath the crystal’s protection.

This was the most reliable protective magic Gan Jing could perform for Jiangming City—

Qianjing’s crystal spark fluctuation!

Inside the crystal there’s no need to worry about food or drink, only about when someone will come and pull them out.

Sometimes Qianjing was really frightened; she’d close her eyes and open them again,

and the whole world would be different.

It would look like the future, a place she didn’t recognize, with everyone she knew gone, forcing her to survive alone in this strange world...

That’s why, when she sealed things this time, Qianjing specifically pulled Shui Ling into the crystal with her.

Partly to prevent Shui Ling from being struck by lightning, and partly so that if she opened her eyes to a drastically changed world, there would be a friend beside her to cling to for warmth...

As it turned out, her decision was the right one.

When Qianjing’s crystal melted, she looked at the colossal thing rising at the city’s edge and the altered surroundings and knew,

they were completely doomed.

They were in the future; they had crossed over.

At first glance it looked like thousand-meter-high mountain ranges had appeared outside the city, but when Qianjing swept her gaze around, she sucked in a cold breath.

What surrounded the whole of Jiangming wasn’t mountains at all, but a wall thousands of meters high!

Not only that, everything around—ground, walls, buildings, trees—was no longer the same as in memory; they had all turned purple!

Purple crystals constantly fell from above, pattering down, making the sky feel glaring and dizzying.

Teacher, I seem to have become Minister Li...

“Shui Ling, Shui Ling, we’ll never see Master again, we’ve gone to the future, woooo...”

After a moment of daze, Qianjing grabbed her friend and burst into tears.

The environment had changed so drastically, the world turned over; everything was purple,

it even looked like after the end of the world...

“Could Jiangming be one of the last groups of humans in this world? It’s so scary. Do you think we can be good Ministers Li and revive humanity?” Qianjing sniffled and cried, “Mingming, do you think we can be good emperors...?”

“Stop crying, Qianjing.”

Shui Ling blankly pointed upward, “Are you sure we’re in the future? Or did the Sect Master come to the future too?”

When she looked up properly,

she finally noticed that the circular patch of sky within the low walls was cut by several purple streaks.

Huge A-level Disaster Beasts had been pierced by purple arrows, nailed to the high wall.

The sky over the city had once again become a massive execution ground; though the string of disaster beasts wasn’t numerous, each was so huge that they still blotted out the sun and looked terrifying.

That day, the two of them finally recalled the horror of how the Disaster Beasts had once been controlled by the Sect Master’s raging might, and the dread present even when the sky had been bright...

This time, they couldn’t even hear the faint low roars; the silent corrupted magic had been burned into purple mana crystals by the arrows’ purple flames, which shattered and fell.

While the two were stunned, a drizzle of crystal shards began to fall.

“Is it possible that the Sect Master’s aesthetic has corrupted the whole world, that the entire world turned into a giant Sect Master...?”

Qianjing wiped her tears and whispered.

Shui Ling stood, dusted off her skirt, and pulled Qianjing up to fly toward the sky.

They had run outward from Jiangming to avoid bringing trouble to the city; after being locked by the purple lightning, they had had to crystallize in the suburbs.

They’d incidentally included the whole city in their protective crystal.

So it wasn’t strange for Qianjing to think they’d gone to the future, because the suddenly appearing high wall looked like something formed over many years. Her teacher’s novels had taught that walls taller than ordinary peaks were either the insides of volcanoes or formed by continental collisions.

For example, when the Sun–Moon Continent collided with the Battle Demon Continent it took ten thousand years.

Covered in purple crystals, at first glance it really looked like some future K-zone,

but those Disaster Beasts were too conspicuous.

The strung-up beasts clearly bore the Sect Master’s personal style.

Neither of them had actually met the Sect Master; they only heard of the Sect Master’s power from their teacher Bai Mei.

After all, Magical Girls of their rank weren’t qualified to meet the Sect Master.

It was said that most inner sect disciples in the Azure Cloud Sect couldn’t meet the Sect Master; never mind low-ranking branch disciples like them.

Although they had gradually broken through to Blooming, passing the inner sect exam was exceedingly difficult.

They studied many times hoping to pass it in one go, but several mock exams had been far from enough...

Avoiding the falling crystal rain, they flew out past the high wall and saw the highway and forest outside—

this was the wooded area near Jiangming City, and the wall they had been inside was actually the rim of a huge crater. Purple lightning and scorched blackness coursed around it. Deep within, Jiangming City lay sunken thousands of meters underground, unseen by sunlight; the waking citizens began to cry out, voices as if coming from the abyss.

Both of them were stunned and couldn’t move for a long moment, then they looked at each other.

“There’s a big world outside that wall; we’re really Ministers Li now. Did the Sect Master do this?”

“Did she leave it unfinished beyond the wall, then jump in years later to finish it? Is that even plausible...”

“Maybe not ten thousand years! Maybe Teacher Bai Mei asked the Sect Master to step in!”

Shui Ling immediately made that judgment, “Check if Teacher has replied to our message!”

They both took out their phones at the same time.

Unread.

They exchanged a look and both drew a deep breath.

That meant the teacher didn’t know they had self-sealed at all—then somehow the Sect Master had discovered them, come to their aid, not only helping unseal but also dealing with the attacking disaster beasts...

Although they didn’t know how the heavenly lightning had come about, why it resembled the Sect Master’s purple magic,

both girls felt a deeper reverence and longing for the unseen Sect Master.

“We must work hard to get into the inner sect and see what the Sect Master is really like!”

......

Before dawn, reports from every place flew in.

Phones rang nonstop, and Magical Girls flew everywhere to investigate.

Keke followed beside Silver Lotus and naturally saw the damage reports.

The direct property loss from the lightning wasn’t high; in most cases buildings weren’t destroyed by the purple-magic lightning.

All the lightning was locked onto Magical Girls; even if someone hid inside buildings, the lightning would pass through structures and strike the girl.

The only exception was the Central Bureau.

The one involved, Iris, insisted the Central Bureau’s purple lightning would definitely destroy buildings, so even though she accidentally blew up half the bureau, she essentially protected it.

In the end, Jincha accepted that explanation and promoted Iris as the hero who protected the Central Bureau.

The total number of attacked Magical Girls hadn’t been fully tallied, but over a hundred had already been confirmed hit by lightning.

The good news was there were no casualties; all lightning strikes ended after the Magical Girls de-transformed.

Even Iris, though her Mental Landscape had been blown once, wasn’t seriously harmed—she just fell down and suffered no other injuries.

Keke breathed a sigh of relief.

After working with Teacher Shion for so long, how could she not recognize the purple lightning?

Only Shion could accomplish something like this—cross three regions to lock onto so many Magical Girls,

avoid striking structures, and precisely stop once the girls had de-transformed...

As for the reason behind it:

“After being struck and holding on, the Seed suddenly gained a kind of purple magic. I can freely convert my mana into the purple attribute, and I feel like I understand and control the nature of mana better...”

Exactly. The girls struck by lightning had all gained a purple magic.

Because of the new magic, everyone gained control over two types of mana and could even change their mana’s attribute once.

That was why Shion had called down the heavenly lightning.

Keke had noticed this too—she felt an improvement in her mana control and could change the nature of her pure mana.

It came from Shion’s lightning.

She wasn’t sure at first whether it was only herself or if others had the same effect. After confirming that those who successfully underwent tribulation had it too, Keke relaxed,

and knew that Shion never did anything pointless. Every operation was well thought out and had reasons.

However, correspondingly, those who passed tribulation received a qualitative improvement.

Those who failed suffered significant penalties.

Take Silver Lotus, for example.

As a captain, she received the most calls after the tribulation. Contacts and statistics from the Central Bureau and orders from the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau were all handled by her.

After flying over the city for a long time and finishing all the tasks, she returned with a miserable face and clung to Keke:

“I finally reached mid-Blooming, Keke, and my mana just dropped back to early stage...”

Silver Lotus looked aggrieved. “I called Dandelion and she said I’m a Blooming sapling now.”

Keke blinked, “What does sapling mean?”

“It means those who didn’t make it through aren’t truly early Blooming. They only have Blooming-level mana quantity, but not the Blooming mysteries and techniques. They’re called Blooming saplings, only fit to bully Seedling Peak, ”

Silver Lotus said angrily, “She said because I didn’t make it through, the lightning compressed my mana and re-leveled me; now I’m only a sapling of Magical Girl Ruri. She said it in such a nasty way, wah...”

Indeed, failed-tribulation girls all dropped in realm.

Not as far as from Blooming back to Seedling, but Blooming girls usually see a large increase in total mana when they reach the realm; but if they can’t withstand the lightning, their mana instantly shrinks, dropping to levels worse than an early Blooming shift—almost indistinguishable from Seedling Peak Perfection.

Silver Lotus was one of the unlucky ones.

Now she was sulking on Keke, miserable.

“Your teacher is so mean, Keke.”

Keke patted her head, “Teacher wants you to solidify your base. Don’t be overambitious; if the foundation isn’t firm, your strength won’t be enough. She’s doing this for your good.”

“You’re totally siding with Shion!”

“I’m not, I’m just being honest!”

Silver Lotus pouted like a child, “I don’t care, I don’t care, my realm fell, you must compensate me.”

“What do I have to do with it?”

“Shion made it happen, teacher and disciple share responsibility!”

“Heh, then go call the police.”

Silver Lotus bit Keke’s arm, and Keke pinched her cheek back without yielding.

The two girls tussled and went back inside; Silver Lotus finally gave in and begged, “Train with me tomorrow, Keke. I don’t want my realm to be this low. I don’t want to be a sapling.”

“No, I want to read manga.”

“I’ll buy you ice cream three times a day!”

“Consider it...”

White Fox quietly watched the two girls go inside. Keke and Silver Lotus greeted her and asked if she was tired, if she wanted to rest.

White Fox just shook her head, thanked them politely, and kept sitting on the sofa reading.

She glanced out the window from time to time.

Even hours after the lightning, that dense mana could still be clearly sensed, filling the space—or rather, the whole world.

Everyone was affected by that mana.

White Fox knew better than anyone what it was and where it came from.

Shion.

The existence known to everyone in the old world, also her target.

Her knuckles holding the phone whitened slightly with tension, but White Fox quickly relaxed.

The internet said that describing knuckles whitening was mechanical phrasing.

Likewise there were stone dropped into a lake, a steady tone, calm voice, cold voice, the string called rationality—

those were machine phrases people should avoid. As a human, one should avoid them.

She was already halfway through the book; after learning some techniques, her reading speed had increased and comprehension deepened.

On readers’ suggestion she’d also read other books and found some enjoyment,

or resonance, in certain texts.

She had been slightly immersed when that world-shattering purple lightning roared, leaving her uneasy.

Keke and Silver Lotus came over again asking if she was hungry, whether she wanted to eat. After refusing, the two made breakfast, leaving a portion on the table for her.

“If you’re hungry, you can eat.”

“Thank you.”

The two girls had been hit pretty hard by the lightning last night; after breakfast they went back to the bedroom to catch up on sleep.

White Fox stared at the phone, its page unturned for a long time.

Every time she read a section she’d forget what she’d just read and have to start again; she had re-read this chapter multiple times.

“Why don’t you turn the page?”

She instinctively drew a knife, but in the next second her wrist was firmly pressed down, leaving her unable to move.

She looked up; the youth who had gone out last night was looking at her indifferently.

When she looked back down, she realized the hand pressing her wrist was just one finger.

Lightly resting on her wrist, it made her feel like a mountain pressed down, so that her whole arm couldn’t lift.

“I was thinking about you, sir.”

Jiang Si released his hand and picked up the breakfast his sister had made for White Fox, “Who allowed you to think about me?”

White Fox lowered her head, “Sorry.”

Jiang Si ignored her and glanced at her phone's contents while eating.

She was halfway through; efficiency was acceptable.

But mere theoretical study didn’t do much; practical instruction was necessary.

“Did you see yesterday’s lightning?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you know who did it?”

“It was Miss Shion, sir.” White Fox’s fingers moved and she finally turned a page, “the old world’s greatest enemy of the Witch Association.”

“Have you seen her?”

“Those who saw her all died, sir.” White Fox spoke softly. “No old-world place that she found survived; even children were silenced by the name Shion.”

“Even knowing her strength, do you still want revenge?”

White Fox put down her phone, and Jiang Si didn’t scold her.

She looked up with the same hollow, indifferent gaze; the beautiful eyelashes seemed unmoving, cold and hard:

“This is the meaning of my life, sir.”

A tediously uninteresting answer.

For Jiang Si, this wasn’t the response he wanted to hear.

“Didn’t the Prince tell you I’ve never beaten Shion?”

He had worked hard for so long seeking ways to ascend—dragon body, witch abilities, personal improvements—yet even as the Golden Calamity Dragon King he still wasn’t a match for Shion.

Not to mention that now, with Shion’s advanced Mental Landscape Purple Mansion, his physical body stood even less chance against Magical Girl Shion.

White Fox only said, “Only you have that possibility.”

“Who told you that?”

“Prince-sama.”

“And your own thoughts?”

The girl only looked up blankly.

Jiang Si rubbed his forehead and sighed.

What a troublesome creature.

Making this thing reach Full Bloom would really be no small challenge.

But that would make it fun.

Everyone knows gameplay is high difficulty; White Fox looked like the kind of person who would max out gameplay.

Something to play with at last.

“Today come with me to the Old World Alliance’s independent mirror space.”

White Fox studied his expression and instinctively said, “Sorry, please don’t abandon me.”

“Is that the only line you know?”

“Sorry, I don’t want you to abandon me.”

“...I’m only taking you to talk to the Old World people about Shion’s intervention.”

“All right.”

....

Inside the independent mirror space it was silent; no one had turned on lights.

Though called a mirror space, there wasn’t a single mirror in sight.

After all, everyone had seen how one independent mirror space had been blasted by Shion’s arrow.

Observing Beihai or even observing Shion on one’s own could easily be traced back.

Old-world people were nearly terrified.

The emergency meeting was called because everyone felt insecure in their own independent spaces; though banding together didn’t guarantee safety, at least they felt they had companions to die with.

As the host of the meeting, Water Shengquan felt a headache.

To control these old-world desperadoes, only the Prince could really do it—she was more reckless and had the authority to rein them in; after all, the Full Bloom Plan’s success largely relied on Mirror Kingdom technology.

But the Prince had somehow entered a slumber, and the Mirror Kingdom system forbade disturbing her. Now a remnant old-world Magical Girl had to act as proxy.

Water Shengquan relaxed slightly as his gaze landed on Simo Tu.

This chaotic meeting’s only reliable pillar was this Prince’s fiancé; seeing him reassured Water Shengquan somewhat.

“So who told them to take the initiative?”

The first to speak was the leader of the Great Forest Realm, covered in leaves and vines like a wild man, “Prince-sama said many times the Full Bloom Plan was about to start—don’t stir up trouble, don’t stir up trouble! But did those damn Withered Wind people not understand human speech? Now look, maybe Shion was peeking at us!”

After the Great Forest chief spoke, a chorus of sighs followed.

Only Simo Tu adjusted his mask slightly.

“Withered Wind realm wanted to help everyone implement the plan; the dead matter more...” Water Shengquan had intended to say a few good words for the fallen ally.

The Great Forest chief was even angrier, “They just made things worse—help? From the beginning they shouldn’t have been allowed in. I said back then they should be expelled like the Witch Association! Water Shengquan, why are you speaking up for them!”

Water Shengquan was momentarily at a loss and looked to Simo Tu for help.

After all, these were the Prince’s allies.

Simo Tu merely nodded, “Heavenly lightning striking was predictable.”

“Predictable?” The leader of the little Simo faction sneered, “Do you think we’re fools? Did you really think the thunder would help us against Magical Girls? You doing purple lightning for what? To fish for trouble? Are we the only idiots who’d jump into a pit someone dug? With the Azure Cloud Sect’s strength and schemes, it can’t be that simple!”

Those words momentarily left Simo Tu without a retort.

Although he had considered that incident might not be accidental—just a way to give a youth a promotion and test the heavenly tribulation’s results—his subconscious had indeed entertained that possibility.

To Water Shengquan, Simo Tu seemed lost for words; the Prince’s fiancé wasn’t great at argument.

“Arguing now is useless. We must consider whether Shion has targeted us...”

At these words, everyone inhaled sharply.

No one wanted to face the outcome of being targeted by Shion.

“What do you think, Simo Tu? You’ve had the most contact with Shion,” Water Shengquan couldn’t help asking, “Would she find us?”

All eyes turned to Simo Tu.

He just nodded, “Don’t worry, she won’t find this place anytime soon.”

“You are safe, for now.”

Relief spread among the people.

On one hand, Simo Tu, as the Prince’s fiancé, could not be underestimated; on the other hand, his feat of fighting Shion head-on in Beihai and walking away alive had already become old-world legend.

That was part of why Simo Tu became a Witch Association legend.

As Shion’s strength grew, Simo Tu’s status rose too...

The Great Forest leader said in a grave voice, “Regardless, we must find someone who can hold Shion off. Even if she finds us, someone who can stall her would buy us time to escape... At least before the Full Bloom Plan completes, we cannot be captured by Shion!”

One old-world member raised a hand, “What about the Saint Hall that’s been famous recently?”

At that, many people brightened.

The Saint Hall’s recent performance in the old world was evident to all.

“The Saint Hall is reliable, but the Demon Squad’s strength isn’t quite enough yet,” Water Shengquan sighed, “To hire them we’d need a Saint Hall Envoy, but their price is high; we probably can’t afford it.”

“And I asked last time,” the Great Forest leader continued, “the Saint Hall Envoy appears and disappears unpredictably; even they find it hard to contact her. I heard they wander other worlds selecting their Saints; who knows when they’ll return next... We can’t rely on them.”

Simo Tu cleared his throat; “What about that strongest old-world remnant girl, An? She could probably do it.”

“Too bad she’s broken with the Witch Association; otherwise their president might block Shion—she once did similar things...”

“New Alice developed by Mirror Kingdom isn’t small either.”

The group talked over one another, eagerly discussing forces that could stand against Shion,

as if discussion itself could increase courage and security.

At last, when the talk quieted, the Great Forest leader said, “Only Simo Tu has actually fought Shion. Whether he can do it is for Simo Tu to decide.”

Everyone fell silent.

The Great Forest leader grabbed a nearby girl.

“Please have Jiang Si Tu inspect, whether your weakest fighter can really stop heavenly lightning!”