novelraw Chapter 110: Fierce Fight with Shion
Chapter 110: Fierce Fight with Shion
For Jiang Si, it was indeed a bit of a miscalculation.
He of course knew.
With his flesh at the pinnacle of Half-Step Ninefold Impeccable Golden Body Perfection; combined with immortal power at Half-Step Impeccable Golden Core Foundation Building Peak Perfection; paired with a nascent soul at Half-Step Ultimate Blooming Seedling; and having just broken through from Half-Step Ninefold Impeccable Immaculate Ultimate Golden Body Foundation Building Peak Perfection into early Blooming with a depleted nascent soul,
facing seven true-transmission disciples at full strength was actually not easy.
So the first thing he did was banish Bai Mei, not letting her participate.
If she’d been given the chance to land a couple of sword strikes on him, he figured he wouldn’t have been able to hold out and would have had to transform.
Bai Mei was well-read in online fiction, erudite and cunning, versed in subterfuge—when it came to sneak attacks she had a reputation, never shy about underhanded methods.
A sword cultivator should fight openly and head-on.
But against crooked methods and stronger opponents, one needn’t be bound by such rigid rules—just call on your ancestor to possess you!
That was the mark of a good disciple he had taught.As for the other true-transmission disciples, Yumo was to manage the outer matches; although she was a little unhappy, among the true-transmission disciples Yumo was the fastest and had top-tier locking and tracking ability, so if something happened she could arrive at any time.
Plus Qinghua had another eternal puppet, Dandelion, and a swarm of ordinary Dandelion puppets for support.
The branch’s matches could be carried out in earnest, without risk, and they would raise the disciples’ level.
That was Bingtang’s plan.
Keke could go, you could go, it made sense that only Azure Cloud Sect would be treated as the Witch Association’s trial target.
The Witch Association likewise shouldn’t be treated as the sect’s trial target.
When sect interests were at stake, Bingtang was willing to take any loss.
Before Yumo left with a bunch of colorful Dandelion puppets, only Qinghua and the Twin Leaves remained among Beihai’s true-transmission disciples; the sect master was more ambiguous about the Twin Leaves’ ability than anyone.
Because the development direction had been proposed by the sect master, the method to avoid being interfered with by the Twin Leaves was crystal clear.
Just use One-Heart of Ten Thousand Beasts.
As a core method cultivated before the primogenitor ascended to nascent soul, it was not limited to controlling Disaster Beasts.
As long as a few Disaster Beasts were carefully spawned, the nascent soul could not split off any magic sense to synchronize with the Disaster Beasts, anchoring their perception of reality.
Then simply bury them nearby.
Unclear Confusion—drops a tangible curtain between the target’s perception and reality, making the target “able to see” in a certain way, what’s called clarity. The reverse is also true; if the caster themselves sees the Disaster Beast, then how could they be affected? The resulting misjudgment becomes perceptual delusion.
So there was no question of “seeing” the sect master’s nascent soul; mind and soul were unified, and the nascent soul provided another safeguard.
Besides, an S-level Disaster Beast’s nascent soul was comparable in stature to the peak of the Joda tier; it was precisely the kind of thing the two girls could temporarily exceed in rank.
Therefore, the ones to deal with were only Bingtang and Qinghua.
And although Bingtang and Qinghua hadn’t yet broken through to Xilan’s level, even if their technique and related abilities matched Xilan’s, they were still limited to the Seedling tier.
He himself had already broken through to Half-Step Fourfold Impeccable Ultimate Golden Body Foundation Building Peak Minor Perfection. Facing two Seedlings should be manageable...
“Boom!”
A terrifying purple magic force slammed into them with a strong shove to the back.
The rampaging power whipped up a tsunami of dust, obscuring sight, and the chaotic magic surge made magic-sense locking impossible.
Jiang Si rolled several times to steady himself, then saw the Complete Witch fly over, grabbing and pulling someone out. Looking again, he saw half of Xilan’s body was gone.
Fortunately, a Complete Witch can regenerate as long as the Grief Seed remains...
But the Grief Seed had been shattered.
Though there was still a breath and a heartbeat, without the Grief Seed the Complete Witch, having suffered such a heavy injury, was basically finished.
Bingtang’s shot had been aimed at the Complete Witch.
Sighing, Jiang Si dragged the not-quite-dead Xilan and rolled behind a mottled courtyard wall.
This nearby courtyard had been uninhabited for a long time; under the sweep of howling magic it was oddly not much damaged. Bingtang’s control of magic was not much worse than his.
He patted his pocket with a grimace.
“Life-and-Death Wheel Pill, you’re lucky.”
He pulled a Grief Seed from his pocket and pressed it to Xilan’s skull.
Of course a Complete Witch’s Grief Seed was not identical to a Disaster Beast’s Grief Seed; its composition and magic properties differed slightly.
But that didn’t matter—he had already memorized the structure and magic properties of her Grief Seed.
Now his emergency alchemy skills would have to do.
He simulated the way magic circulated in Xilan’s Grief Seed. When the seed on her brow began to function again at the dried blood-seal mark, the hollow, vacant look in her eyes gradually returned to life.
Good, the emergency alchemy succeeded.
Then a large amount of polluted magic began to fill her damaged body. After a short pause Xilan began to gasp for breath in huge gulps, even retching.
Tears welled up in her eyes from the stimulation; she grasped Simo Tu tightly.
Although the near-death experience was hazy, she had noticed what he had done. Her voice trembled as she said, “Simo Tu, thank you...”
Waves of emotion surged through her heart.
She had heard what artifact had been used to save her—her heart swelled with gratitude and admiration!
Within the Witch Association there was never a consciousness of saving comrades; most members followed a “kill the comrade, spare the sect” mentality, especially in that near-fatal moment just now.
Xilan was certain no one else in the Witch Association would have been willing to save her!
Not even someone like herself!
“Brother, from now on you will be my rebirthing parent. If you tell me to go left, I will never go right. If you don’t mind, I am willing to—”
She meant to voice her gratitude emotionally, but the words stuck in her throat and never came out.
A large shadow covered them from overhead.
When she looked up she saw the purple-gold Magical Girl standing heavily under the mottled courtyard wall.
There was a rustling wind from the long-abandoned yard; skirts and purple hair fluttered. The girl bowed her head to look at them, voice cold and indifferent.
“Finished speaking?”
Jiang Si threw Xilan forward!
A magic spear instantly pierced where Xilan had just been!
The huge impact sent Jiang Si flying; he rolled twice and slammed into a long-abandoned high-voltage tower nearby.
The steel frame creaked and swayed; several power lines snapped with loud cracks, producing blue electric sparks.
Jiang Si rolled to his feet, and the next second Shion was already in front of him.
Tilting her head slightly, that heart-stopping face showed the faintest hint of a smile.
“Go all out, that was your promise after all.”
A tiny hand touched her face gently. Then Jiang Si felt an unstoppable, terrifying force lift him up!
So this was what facing her felt like...
He thought this as he tightened his right hand with the knuckleduster, and punched Shion’s chin!
That delicate, exquisite chin raised slightly; the knuckleduster grazed along it, and Jiang Si hooked around and grabbed her visage!
Both of them exerted force, slamming each other’s foreheads hard against the support of the high-voltage tower!
More electric sparks burst above, the wires whipped wildly, and the high-voltage tower tilted and began to fall!
Shion had already released her grip and tried to make distance, but Jiang Si would never allow that.
There was a fundamental gap in magic strength—once distance was opened and they began to compare magic, there would be no chance.
He knew her body better than anyone.
Grabbing with one hand the tilting high-voltage tower, Jiang Si’s eyes flashed savagely. He yanked the falling tower and defiantly hurled it toward the opposite-facing Shion!
Purple magic detonated; the petite Magical Girl kicked the incoming tower aside. The scattered steel supports fell in pieces, raising dust and a thunderous crash.
Just as she tried to step back and gather the magical spear in hand,
the fox-masked youth had already closed in front of her!
The spear in his right hand was instantly grabbed, and then, with a sudden heave,
the previously stable pure magic, having been interfered with by polluted magic, began to churn violently!
A fierce magical explosion swallowed the two of them. Shion was the first to be thrown out; the magic armor on her right arm had already vanished, revealing a fair little forearm.
It was impossible to imagine how that tiny arm could have erupted such terrifying power.
She had no time to gather magic and cast a spell; Jiang Si had already charged out of the blast!
Although a corner of the fox mask had been blown off, it still concealed the youth’s face.
Wearing the knuckleduster on his right hand, he delivered a blur of stabbing punches to Shion’s face. She dodged deftly and attempted to gather magic for a counterattack.
But Jiang Si’s reflexes were too fast. While the stabbing punches came in without a gap, his left hand could always catch her movements as she attempted to condense magic, inserting polluted magic at the right moment and disrupting her plan.
This tactic would have been useless for Jiang Si himself.
After all, when transformed he could perfectly manipulate polluted magic.
But against an ice puppet posing as Shion, it was highly effective.
Bingtang hadn’t expected Jiang Si could pull this off.
In her view, bringing out the Shion puppet was already a victory; they held an absolute advantage. Even if Jiang Si could manipulate polluted magic, in terms of raw magic and everything else he was massively outclassed by the Shion puppet.
Yet unexpectedly he had them suppressed...
No wonder it was Jiang Si—always capable of the unpredictable.
Bingtang had become used to it; Jiang Si always managed what others could not comprehend.
“Too bad, the gap is still too big,” she muttered.
Jiang Si’s pupils narrowed slightly; the tide-like right-hand assault dulled for a moment. Looking up,
a purple finger had silently formed above their heads.
It slammed down with a roar!
Before the knuckleduster could fire its bullet, his right fist had already arrived at Shion’s face!
The moment Shion reached to catch the punch, the bullet skimmed past her cheek!
The next second, Great Barren Imprisoning Heaven Finger pressed down from the sky!
The magical shockwave spread everywhere. Xilan, hiding in the ruined courtyard, was instantly hurled outward; if she hadn’t grabbed a beam mid-flight she didn’t know where she would have landed...
The crystal ball in Simo Tu’s embrace dropped and shattered from the blast beyond repair.
When everyone looked up, the purple magical tidal waves rippling outward gradually faded.
Simo Tu had been embedded into a farther wall and took a long time to pry himself free.
His coat had more tears now; it billowed less heroically than before.
On the other side, Shion looked even more tragic.
Purple fluid flowed down her fair little arm—like blood, but thicker, more like concentrated magic.
Although the rest of her magic armor remained intact, her flawless face now had a tiny scar beneath the left eye.
The wound was minuscule yet painfully conspicuous.
Like a precious art piece marred by a hairline scratch, it destroyed the perfect beauty.
Any blemish on that face was a profound desecration.
Silently, Shion used her forefinger to lightly wipe the wound on her face.
“What did you do?”
Jiang Si smiled coldly. “You won’t forget, Unclear Confusion is something I taught them, right?”
Against a being far above them in rank, Unclear Confusion could do very little; if it had been Bingtang herself, or Shion personally, it would have made no impact at all.
But controlling a puppet was a different matter.
Magic transmission was never perfectly real-time; perception and cognition through a puppet had inherent delay.
That was where Unclear Confusion could operate. That invisible veil was perfect to drop between a puppet and its controller.
If you slightly offset Bingtang’s perception of her own magic in timing and space at the last moment—even a sliver was enough to decide the outcome...
That had been the plan.
But Jiang Si admitted he had still underestimated his own puppet.
Even a direct, full-powered Great Barren Imprisoning Heaven Finger impact infused with polluted magic did only minimal damage to Shion.
It could be said the scene looked dramatic,
but it hadn’t actually caused substantive harm...
This mechanism as a boss design could be likened to one of those beloved infinite-world attractions, the God’s Gate of Enyl Erilim from the Shadow Realm.
“Whatever, I’ve never beaten you before anyway,” Bingtang murmured, controlling the puppet with a gentle smile.
“Still, even as a puppet, having the face injured is unbearable.”
For a moment, Xilan felt suffocated.
It was as if something in the air had frozen.
The next second, Simo Tu lunged over!
He grabbed her collar from behind and ran like mad into the distance!
Facing Shion, he clearly saw the purple-gold Magical Girl holding a small lotus blossom in her hand.
Icy blue and purple merged; the two-colored lotus, like petals of flame, slowly rose into the air.
Growing larger and larger!
Shion breathed slightly, her smile faded and a hint of fatigue showed.
“Unfortunately, I’ve only trained to this point for now.”
“Please accept it.”
Buddha’s Wrath, Lotus of Fire!
The immaculate destruction lotus floated lightly, pulsing in rhythm with the heartbeat.
The quietly rotating petals subtly warped space, swallowing surrounding light and sound, then—
As the blossom dropped behind them, a dazzling aurora engulfed the entire world!
Xilan lost consciousness again.
...
Everyone stared in shock as Beihai’s east district outside the city turned to wasteland under the fire lotus.
It even affected several high-voltage towers; power went out across a swath of the east side.
The Disaster Control Bureau sprang into action—although whether it was truly quick was debatable, but at least they acted.
Qinghua even spotted Keke.
Listening to the sirens and the Civil Engineering Team’s vehicles outside, Qinghua inhaled sharply. “Lady Bingtang, is—this really okay?”
Bingtang smiled faintly. “Trust him. He can cross these boundaries.”
Gazing at the half-sky scorched deep purple, Qinghua whistled but said nothing.
To be honest, the sect master’s close-quarters brawl with the Shion puppet had been shocking.
Qinghua had made the puppet herself and knew its strength. This version was very close to the original.
With Bingtang, who knew Shion intimately, directly operating it, it could reach roughly seventy to eighty percent of the original’s combat power.
Yet the sect master had still been able to suppress it in close-quarters combat without transforming...
What next—would the sect master be able to defeat all of them without transforming?
Bingtang retrieved the Shion puppet while asking, “Twin Leaves, did you clearly see how the sect master used Unclear Confusion?”
Six Leaf stuck her head out from the Azure Cloud Sect’s spiritual hall next door.
“Yes, Lady Bingtang, we saw. The sect master was too sly!”
“So all our interference didn’t work…”
Four Leaf looked downcast. “We tried so hard, but the sect master still used it better.”
“Hmm, Four Leaf, I want to ask—was that first magic spear failing to completely annihilate the Complete Witch because Sect Master Celestial Being used Unclear Confusion?”
Six Leaf immediately raised her hand. “Yes, Lady Bingtang. The sect master used Unclear Confusion to cause your perception to shift...”
“No wonder my feel was off.” Propping her chin, Bingtang pondered. “During the fight, every time my magic condensed it was dispersed...”
“The sect master used Unclear Confusion to make you think you were being disrupted. Some of your condensations were indeed successfully interfered with, but some were not. Even the sect master couldn’t perform interference that fast every time; he made you think you were disrupted and so you canceled your actions.”
The battle moved too fast for the Twin Leaves to warn Bingtang in time.
Nodding, Bingtang sighed, “Didn’t expect we’d be taken in the whole time.”
Qinghua nodded repeatedly. “No wonder I didn’t notice when the sect master suddenly vanished from among my puppet army! It turns out he used Unclear Confusion on Qinghua. How despicable, Sect Master!”
“No, that’s just you being terrible,” Four Leaf said without hesitation. “The sect master didn’t use Unclear Confusion on you.”
“Ah this...” Qinghua immediately shook her head. “Impossible, absolutely impossible. The sect master must have used it secretly, otherwise Super Qinghua would never have fallen so easily!”
“He didn’t.”
“It must be that Four Leaf didn’t notice!”
“No way!”
Watching the noisy disciples quarrel, Bingtang chuckled and didn’t stop them.
She fell into thought.
If the sect master had entered the Heart Image Remnant using a Witch Association slot, then they could use An Shiyu as a key.
But she’d keep that in reserve for Jiang Si—if the Witch Association failed, An Shiyu could send him in.
Although Bingtang wanted to avoid leaving the two of them alone,
Jiang Si’s opening to the world was not something to be careless about.
She was considering whether to find another way into the Heart Image Remnant when she received news from Susan.
“The Central Bureau suddenly contacted us, saying they want to cooperate with the Azure Cloud Sect!”