Chapter 304: Lu Ya and Tang Xiao

Just as Shion had expected from the start, the Mirror Queen’s Full Bloom opened up a new path for her.

The three Full Blooms catalyzed by the Mirror Queen were nothing special. Locking in the magic loss with self-made Miracle Seeds to avoid having their mana and life force drained by the world—most people could have thought of that.

What was more noticeable, though, was that White Fox and the others were still gradually losing some kind of power.

Their Personal Realities were starting to dissolve as well.

The three White Foxes probably hadn’t realized it themselves. The Mirror Kingdom never meant for them to be truly flawless Full Blooms; it only gave them an illusion.

By exploiting information asymmetry to deceive and use the Lower Cultivators, the Mirror Kingdom could indeed be said to possess the virtues of an Upper Cultivator.

Of course, even so, Itaen did not have a direct method to simply extract and use the three Full Bloom powers.

Shion had probably anticipated that the three Full Blooms would be jointly sent beyond the world.

The Mirror Queen’s initial plan likely involved killing the three Full Blooms first and then using Changgeng, hidden in South China, to harvest everything.

Even with Azure Cloud Sect attacking, directly siphoning the powers of three Full Blooms would still be a heavy burden for Changgeng.

After all, someone who could possess the powers of three Full Blooms shouldn’t have been stuck playing around with Mùjǐn for so long.

And for Shion, Changgeng as a template was wrong.

That crude fusion of three Full Bloom magics—without further utilization of their rules—was of no practical reference to Shion.

She could do that without a reference.

Until the Mirror Queen, Itaen, acted personally.

The perfect fusion of four Full Bloom powers, the interlocking and recombination of rules.

Including the weaving of Personal Realities through data.

The possibility of reproducing miracles via technology, due to its logical rigor, greatly increased its referential value.

For Shion, the most valuable aspect was the different ways those four Full Bloom magics could be fused.

She had already noticed this back during the Heart Image Remnant incident.

Although Full Bloom magic surpasses Blooming in power, in terms of rank it still lags slightly behind her.

It was possible that the replicant Mùjǐn’s magic inherited the original Mùjǐn’s clumsy augmentations,

so when faced with the grand hand of Full Bloom Upper Cultivators, ordinary Magical Girls can only watch their magic be eroded by the Upper Cultivators, becoming the assailants’ forms and beating them in return.

They would ultimately throw up their hands and adopt a tactic of avoidance and waiting it out—yet that was Disaster Control Bureau thinking!

At Azure Cloud Sect she had already tried countless variations of Pure Mana’s nature and fusion. Relying on the rank increase from Pure Mana’s nature changes, Azure Cloud Sect’s Magical Girls could already resist the erosion of dregs and even Full Bloom magic.

But the fusion between Polluted Magic, Pure Mana, and dregs’ polluted magic had hardly been attempted beyond Divine Sense.

Attempts outside Divine Sense had mostly failed.

Because the natures of the four Full Bloom magics were completely different, the Mirror Kingdom’s operations on the changes and fusions among the four magics exceeded Shion’s expectations.

Using Polluted Magic, Pure Mana, and dregs’ magic as a base, by manipulating those eight types of magic, they adapted to like-with-like nature changes, then matched proportions to respectively simulate seven Full Bloom magic “elemental attributes.”

Those magic “elemental attributes” changed endlessly, but none followed a fixed cycle.

With Divine Sense she could sweep the system and see the periodic table of magic the Mirror Kingdom had already prepared. Although many gaps remained, this table resembled the periodic table of elements.

The periodic table—legendary as the ultimate fill-in-the-blank question; fill one and you get a Nobel...

Although it was rumored the Yongle Encyclopedia already recorded it: evidence being that a generation of Ming princes had names drawn from the periodic table. Unfortunately, the Dao Fruit was lost, and outsiders appropriated the findings.

As for whether the Mirror Kingdom calculated this magic fusion periodic table or dreamt it like Mendeleev dreaming the Yongle contents, no one knew.

In any case, the “elemental attributes” in that magic periodic table unquestionably represented the Great Dao of Full Bloom Magical Girls.

They were the rules manifested after a Full Bloom’s Personal Reality covers a world!

Attributes like the Dream Incubators’ “Wither-and-Bloom” or White Fox’s “Blue Silver Grass” could be found on this table.

For Magical Girls this was hugely significant. From now on, the framework of magicscience was finally established—the discipline itself was born.

With this magic elemental periodic table, how to combine Pure, Polluted, and dregs magic to replicate other rule-bearing magics, and even deduce more combinations via patterns, became much simpler. Many magic elements remained unknown, but with the Magical Girls plugged into experiments,

completing the periodic table was only a matter of time—and she could already fill part of it.

Shion waved her hand and several magic element names were entered into the missing opening slots:

[Yì]:

[Yīn], [Yáng];

[Sun], [Lesser Sun], [Greater Yin], [Lesser Yin];

[Qián], [Kūn], [Kǎn], [Lí], [Zhèn], [Yì]...

Ha—this magic elemental periodic table is itself part of my Azure Cloud canon. The Mirror Kingdom’s system had long recorded Sister Three’s 1,623 masterpieces; producing this table under the rites of shadow reflection was inevitable.

After all, the origin of all things is Taiji. Taiji is the first Great Dao beneath chaos!

One can only lament that the system glimpsed this heavenly text before others in dreams...

Even incomplete as it was, the table’s applications and combinations for the three types of magic provided Shion with ample inspiration and models.

Although Shion hadn’t understood the magic periodic table at first, relying on her own Dao practice, she once stewed all sorts of elements together and produced a Golden Core that directly elevated her to Dragon Lord status.

The result was not bad, but it was done without understanding; once separated, that Golden Core might never be the same.

By referencing Itaen’s fusion methods, she even worked backward to deduce a method for magic decomposition.

Thus the sages’ wisdom allowed her to sever the three corpses successfully.

Since the principle had been unveiled, the Golden Core could revert to a world bubble without fear of disappearing; simulating Full Bloom positional magic stabilized its state, allowing it to be reforged at will.

By fitting different proportions, Shion could become Witch Shion dominated by Polluted Magic; Magical Girl Shion dominated by Pure Mana; Dragon Lord Shion dominated by dregs’ magic.

They could even appear simultaneously.

Each one’s power was indistinguishable from the original; the only drawback was that each of the three corpses required its own consciousness control and could not act autonomously.

But for Shion, multitasking with three minds was trivial—no big deal.

The flaw was that once she untransformed, the Witch and the Magical Girl would become true corpses.

Unable to move.

Understandable—three corpses are still corpses, aren’t they?

Also through Itaen, Shion determined the subsequent upgrade path.

Full Bloom is not the pinnacle; her goal never stopped at Full Bloom. Mere Full Bloom is far from the Celestial Emperor who rules over eternity. From the beginning, Shion’s ambition lay beyond Full Bloom:

the Immortal realm.

Itaen had merged the three Full Bloom powers into Changgeng so Changgeng could unify all the Full Bloom magic.

Plainly put, Changgeng was a filter and fusion medium. After Changgeng’s fusion completed, various technologies would be used to pour the power into Itaen, supported by Alice armor, producing a tech-version flawless Full Bloom.

This would be Shion’s next upgrade method.

Three Full Blooms, with one used as a filter and fusion medium to absorb all the power and then pour it into the host.

She intended to use Jiang Si’s mortal body to step into Full Bloom, and beyond Full Bloom!

Three-corpse reincarnation, proving the mixed-origin Dao—

the flesh becomes sacred!

This was Shion...Jiang Si’s pursuit!

“Do you really no longer want the Magical Girl identity?”

Half-hidden, once the Golden Core could be remade and no longer needing to ride a tricycle, the Emperor couldn’t help but whisper, “It feels a little wasteful...”

As for the Black Dragon, when Shion began to consider these matters, the Emperor already clapped a hand over the Black Dragon’s mouth to stop it from blurting things and angering Shion.

Shion only said lightly, “The saintly body is the unconquerable path; why borrow transformation magic?”

Now Jiang Si’s physical tier only barely brushed the threshold of Lush Leaves. After ascension, Full Blooms will be everywhere—must she forever maintain Shion’s guise?

Moreover, if one truly attains Dao as Shion, how would the ancestors look upon him?

Hence the desire to attain Dao in Jiang Si’s mortal body had always been overwhelming. Thanks to the Mirror Kingdom and Itaen providing such an excellent model, he finally found a way.

Perhaps in the future, he could truly shed the Magical Girl identity and attain Dao as his true self!

The Little Black Dragon muttered softly, “Keeping it as a second-stage trump card is good, right? Don’t people always like hiding a hand... As they say, the saintly body is the invincible path—more bones, more ways.”

“Humph.” Shion snorted, offering no contradiction.

If there were no other assets, keeping a secret hand was fine.

Looking up, Witch Shion had already vanished.

The Dao Fruits of each Full Bloom could not serve as the source of the New World. The New World was precarious; she probably needed three portions of world essence. If she used the New World’s essence, it might collapse prematurely.

So she must seek other worlds’ essence outside; at least Chongxu must be visited.

Witch Shion’s presence had exhausted all her witch reagent reserves; she needed to master the Chongxu witch reagent formula.

If she could find a one-time solution, even better—perhaps uncovering the true nature of witches.

Why, despite her mastery of Polluted Magic, did she still require reagents to transform?

Maybe it was another empty-credential Dao, the same as the Mirror Kingdom’s card-entry Magical Girls.

If so, she must be wary of Upper Cultivators setting traps—after all, the wands in that final South China battle were destroyed by Changgeng, founder of the South China Dao tradition.

If not for the heavenly tribulation where Blackberry and other outstanding students successfully passed and mastered their magic, total annihilation might have been possible.

Come to think of it, they had previously shut down the Tribulation system to avoid affecting the Mirror Kingdom plan; now it could finally be reopened...

As Witch Shion left, Magical Girl Shion sent Mùjǐn and Blackberry back below the world.

Seeing Shion split into three, Mùjǐn and An Shiyu inexplicably quieted. They watched her vibrantly without speaking, as if whispering secrets.

Blackberry, meanwhile, carefully touched the tip of her tail, like teasing a cat toy.

As she descended, the two were immediately pulled away and escorted by Azure Cloud Sect members.

Then she received cheers fit for a hero.

The wave that started in Beihai spread to every city that could see her, with one shout after another of her name rolling across the land.

Looking at such fervent worship and praise, she felt only bothered.

Flowers, applause, accolades.

She felt like she was attending her own funeral.

Just glancing at it made her inwardly impatient.

On the path of seeking Dao, such trappings were unnecessary.

Most matters could be left to Bingtang to handle. After this battle, Azure Cloud Sect’s task would be to accept all Disaster Control Bureau administrative duties, including the Central Bureau.

However, many Central Bureau permissions still lay with the Magic Kingdom.

This suggested that an extraworldly demon had placed surveillance within her cave dwelling.

Who would let another snore at the bedside?

This trip to Chongxu would have to locate the Magic Kingdom and erase that hidden danger completely.

Once she obtained permissions, she could probe every corner of the world—especially with Divine Sense.

If the Magic Kingdom still existed within this world, it would be impossible to hide.

Like Chongxu, it lay outside the world; within the world it could not be found.

Bingtang reported on the handling of White Fox, Keke, and other Old World members.

Many had chosen to seek refuge with the Saint Hall, which had become a kind of Old World sanctuary.

Neither the Disaster Control Bureau nor Azure Cloud Sect could easily take action against the Saint Hall.

Shion didn’t care much; if Ruo Yun intended to lead Saint Hall away from the world, extra help was welcome.

“Itaen seems to have been rescued by the Saint Hall too.”

“Let her go.”

Bingtang led Shion back to the Illusory Moon Cavern Dwelling. Although the previous fight nearly split heaven and earth, the underground cavern remained unscathed.

“When we were an independent group, raising funds was simple. The Ice Color Group backed us, so we never lacked money. Now our power grows and everything requires oversight. It’s getting stressful.”

“We need to find ways to increase productivity using Magical Girls...”

Bingtang complained but did not discuss it deeply with her.

Her words reflected that being an independent group had been easier. Now, ruling the world meant everyone’s lives were tied to you—pressure was inevitable.

Previously, if something went wrong, people would just blame the Disaster Control Bureau. Now if something went wrong, Azure Cloud Sect would be blamed...

Shion thought it better to nominally leave administration to the Disaster Control Bureau.

True rulers are not as carefree as shadow emperors.

Let Azure Cloud Sect bear the burden; let the Disaster Control Bureau take the scorn.

Bingtang also suggested sending several true-transmission disciples with the Sect Master to the world beyond and leaving several behind. Many true-transmission disciples were still studying; going beyond would interrupt their studies and prevent graduation.

She implored Shion to ask whether transfer-school procedures could be arranged after ascension, allowing students to complete their degrees above and have them recognized here.

Whether or not they later sought jobs, Bingtang cared about the disciples’ education—she didn’t want Azure Cloud disciples to be gossiped about as low-educated vocational Magical Girls.

This stumped Shion.

Would transfer-school procedures even be possible after ascension?

Still, disciples ascending with sect support above could be taken care of—this was more like advancing schools than transferring.

How degrees from above could be used below was another matter...

“Should we let Keke transfer above too?”

At Bingtang’s question, Magical Girl Shion fell into thought.

Night fell and many matters could wait. After organizing documents, she turned off the computer.

Bingtang devotedly admired the Sect Master’s face; seeing original Shion had been rare and she missed it. Now leaning on the table, she peered up at that face.

Even a death-view looked heart-stoppingly beautiful.

No awkward chin-to-face compression.

She reached out naturally to touch and pinch.

Shion casually slapped her hand away a few times, but Bingtang persisted, bringing her nail-polished fingers to explore the soft skin, tracing from chin to the corner of the mouth, fingertips wet...

If she reached any further the Sect Master would scold her, so Bingtang pressed her fingertip to the Sect Master’s lips and gently rubbed, wiping them, tracing the rounded face to the brow...

“Have Keke and White Fox been sent home?”

“Sent.”

“The wedding with Itaen caused a stir. Better have an explanation prepared,”

“Don’t worry.”

When the wedding was mentioned, Bingtang suddenly remembered something.

She pulled an invitation from her pocket and placed it on the table, pushing it toward the Sect Master.

Her gaze trembled like faint water ripples. “My uncle is getting married. He wants me to be a bridesmaid.”

Shion distractedly nodded. Bingtang poked Shion’s excellent-feeling cheek with a fingertip.

“If you’re free, be my best man?”

......

Elsewhere, in Chaos.

Dragon Lord Shion opened her eyes and glanced at the place Witch Shion had departed.

Finding worlds outside this one proved much harder than imagined.

Fengqin did not dare disturb her.

When Mùjǐn and Blackberry had come earlier, she had carefully hidden, never letting them discover her.

After all, if they knew that in the past it was her incompetence that left South China’s root connections in the Hundred Fragments area weak—leading to repeated disasters—no amount of kowtowing would suffice; death penance would be necessary.

Although the world itself was patched together by her and the Dream Incubators, and she had kept it stable alone until now, being a born coward made her feel useless.

Fortunately Shion resolved every problem perfectly, eliminating the South China instability.

The Mirror Kingdom had been dealt with; many from the Old World retreated. The world’s crises were no longer a worry.

Great, everyone...

“Are you sure about that direction?”

“Sure. I saw people from Chongxu come out from over there before.”

Fengqin answered immediately. “But whether we can actually find it I don’t know—I’ve never been. If I’m wrong, can you forgive me? I’ll kowtow—the whole thing...”

Shion didn’t respond.

Manipulating three bodies at once—one below handling affairs with Bingtang, one above searching for Chongxu, she would remain in Chaos, wear the rings, maintain permissions to keep the world from collapsing.

It was effectively imprisonment—such is the fate before becoming an emperor...

With no patience for idle talk while multitasking, she was silent and cold. Fengqin’s heart pounded.

What to do—she seemed a little unhappy! Is it my fault? Must I take responsibility?

Filled with a sense of mission and guilt, Fengqin awkwardly laughed, “Then, shall I tell you a joke?”

Ignored.

Fengqin scratched her head. “If you stay silent, I’ll assume you want to hear it?”

Still nothing.

So Fengqin knelt properly, straightened her back, and earnestly recited what she found hilarious,

“Do you know what festival the Xuanwu Gate Incident is?”

Silence.

“It’s Halloween!”

Ignored.

“Because if you don’t give Tang, they make trouble! So it’s Halloween, hahaha...”

Her laughter dwindled until she patted the floor and said, “Sorry, not funny at all...”

Unexpectedly, Shion slightly tilted her head and glanced at her.

“Very funny.”

Fengqin froze, then became ecstatic at the approval, “There’s more later, even funnier! I’ll tell you...”

“Li Yuan’s biggest problem is that he didn’t know Halloween customs.”

Fengqin, just excited, was stunned. “How do you know that?”

Shion fell silent a moment, then asked coldly, “Where did you hear that joke?”

Fengqin hesitated a long while, then cautiously replied:

“A very, very gentle girl told it to me.”

“Her name is Lu Ya.....”

The Little Black Dragon and the Emperor inside her both erupted with excitement!