novelraw Chapter 172: Let's debut, Magical Girl Shion
Chapter 172: Let's debut, Magical Girl Shion
After the meeting ended, Bingtang immediately resumed her work.
Qingluán watched and felt a bit of admiration.
Although the various members of the Azure Cloud Sect each had their own issues, making Qingluán feel they were somewhat abstract, Lady Bingtang was the sole exception.
She was truly reliable, just like Senior Jincha...
Then, her gaze fell upon Jiang Si, and she took a deep breath.
She wanted to ask Jiang Si more about Full Bloom and also hoped the Sect Master could help her find a way to save her senior.
However, after the meeting ended, the Sect Master had been discussing something with Bai Mei the entire time, leaving her no room to interject.
Just as she was about to muster the courage to interrupt their conversation.
Qinghua, sitting beside her, grabbed her arm.
"New here, aren't you? The Sect Master is in high spirits right now. Running over to disturb the Sect Master, do you have a death wish?"Qinghua wagged a finger at her, "This is a major taboo in conquest games! Favorability would directly drop to zero. Then it wouldn't be a bad ending, but a death ending!"
Qingying listened, dumbfounded. "Then, then what should I do?"
"Just wait. Wait until the Sect Master Celestial Being is finished speaking."
Qingluán had no choice but to sit down, listening as the Sect Master and Bai Mei engaged in a serious discussion over there.
"How should the realm between Full Bloom and Blooming be defined and chosen?"
"Sect Master, which ancestor are you planning to pay homage to?"
Qingying listened, utterly confused, and humbly whispered to Qinghua beside her, "What does that mean?"
"Ah, it means which book to copy." Qinghua waved her hand dismissively, "Our Azure Cloud Sect's settings are all copied. This is called emulating our ancestors..."
"Qinghua."
Bingtang, who had been busy working, called out softly. Qinghua immediately sat up straight and shut her mouth.
Qingying seemed to understand but not quite, then suddenly remembered Xingxuan.
Could it be that the Azure Cloud Sect is just a larger version of Xingxuan...
But then she heard Bai Mei say, "After meditating last night, I came up with the following several types, divided into Primordial Ancient, Archaic Ancient, Pre-Ancient, Remote Ancient, High Ancient, Middle Ancient, Recent Ancient, Coming Ancient, Light Ancient, Gu Gu, End Ancient, Kui Ancient..."
She spoke and then fell silent.
The Sect Master looked at her, "What's wrong? Continue."
Bai Mei smiled sheepishly, "That's all."
You just couldn't make up any more, could you!
Qingluán screamed internally, but didn't dare say it out loud. What if Bai Mei got angry out of shame and slashed at her with her sword? She wouldn't be able to block it.
And, actually, she was still a bit impressed.
To actually find so many words with 'ancient' in them!
She was starting to not recognize the character for 'ancient' anymore!
Then she whispered, "Why list so many?"
Qinghua beside her also lowered her voice, "The Sect Master's requirements are strict. Senior Apprentice Sister Bai Mei definitely believes more is better..."
"And what do all these mean?"
"Actually, they refer to—"
Then she heard the Sect Master say, "Keep Primordial Ancient, High Ancient, and Kui Ancient. Discard all the others."
"Primordial Ancient is the Dao lineage of the Primordial Heavenly Emperor, High Ancient is Han Tianzun, Kui Ancient is Heavenly Emperor Ye." Qinghua looked at the bewildered Qingluán, "You'll understand later. These are all the great powers passed down through our Azure Cloud Sect's ancestral tradition. Recent Ancient is the Fruit Position Dao lineage, which the Sect Master hates the most. And Middle Ancient is from the Battle Demon Continent."
Ah, I'm familiar with that one...
If only Xingxuan were here.
Qingjia had never missed that eccentric junior so much before.
Because compared to everyone in the Azure Cloud Sect, Xingxuan was just too normal!
Bai Mei was already immersed in the art of setting creation and just continued, "Although I have never truly witnessed the power of a Full Bloom Magical Girl, based on the information currently available and the Sect Master's description, Bai Mei believes the performance of a Full Bloom Magical Girl at her peak could be described as: suppressing extraterrestrial heavens with a single hand, merging heart with the Heavenly Dao to form external manifestations, divine abilities profound and wondrous through the ages, existing with Primordial Spirit after exhausting one's own methods."
"Below, they can conquer Nascent Souls with ease;
above, it is difficult for them to oppose Soul Unions. They can be classified as equivalent to the Nascent Soul Transformation realm."
"Not bad." Jiang Si expressed approval. "Continue."
"Thus, we can continue to emulate ancient systems and list a newly divided Azure Cloud Sect Magical Girl realm system—"
"Sprout, Seedling, Blooming, Lush Leaves, Flourishing Branches, Cycle Sea, and Full Bloom."
Jiang Si clapped his hands and laughed, "As expected of the Chief True-Transmission! Exactly so, exactly so! Just seven realms!"
"However," Bai Mei's tone shifted, "The above are just the realm names I thought suitable for use with Magical Girls. Corresponding to the cultivation path divisions within the Azure Cloud Sect, please let the Sect Master clarify."
"Foundation Building, Golden Core, Forming Infant, Nascent Soul, Immortal Platform, Nascent Soul Transformation will suffice." Jiang Si had long been clear about this. With his vast knowledge of immortal path potential, he gave the answer without even needing to think.
His train of thought became active following the words of his great disciple Bai Mei. Jiang Si then continued:
"Foundation Building is divided into Acquired and Innate. Acquired Foundation Building corresponds to Sprout. Breaking through the Innate barrier, with mana transforming into wings to tread the air, is Seedling. These two cultivation promotion paths remain unchanged, still following the path of the Infinite Foundation Building Promotion Method. Use the [Magical Girl Nine Revolutions Method] well to solidify the foundation, strengthen the root and cultivate the origin until reaching Seedling-peak."
"The criteria for Great Perfection will add one more: the ability to preliminarily perform dual-color mana fusion, and use mana shaping to create a roughly formed fusion attack."
"Blooming corresponds to Golden Core and remains unchanged. However, since the promotion from Seedling to Blooming has been changed to use the [Ascension-Lift General Ascension Method], the conditions can also be set more leniently. As long as one reaches Seedling-peak, regardless of how many revolutions, those capable of promoting themselves can directly ascend. In this era of great competition, there's no need to deliberately stay at the Peak Great Perfection pseudo-level."
"Won't this cause the disciples within the sect to have unstable foundations?" Bingtang, who had been listening all along, inquired, "Especially the outer sect disciples and miscellaneous duty disciples. Hastily achieving Blooming might easily reduce them to the level of the Disaster Control Bureau, damaging the face of our Azure Cloud Sect."
"Insufficient foundations can be made up after reaching Blooming. The so-called Ascension-Lift, of course, can also mean lifting oneself." Jiang Si smiled slightly, "Once at the Golden Core stage, isn't creating an original Foundation Building stage magic technique as easy as lifting a hand? Flying to the same destination is definitely faster than walking on the ground. Seeking the Dao is the same;
reversing one's train of thought sometimes surpasses ten years of arduous cultivation."
"Moreover, promoting from Seedling to Blooming isn't something one can do just because they want to. From now on, all Seedling Magical Girls of the Azure Cloud Sect who wish to promote will need to undergo a Heavenly Tribulation, regardless of inner or outer sect. They just need to endure the [One-Nine Wind-Thunder Heart Demon Tribulation] without canceling their transformation."
"[One-Nine Wind-Thunder Heart Demon Tribulation]?"
Qingjia listened, stunned. She suddenly remembered the lightning that struck Iris.
Could it have been the Sect Master's doing...
"Mhm, three tribulations in total, in order: Heart Demon Tribulation, Wind Tribulation, Thunder Tribulation. First, consciousness enters the Heart Demon Dojo to face the heart demon directly and refine the Dao Heart, while resisting the invasion of Polluted Magic into the body. After overcoming the heart demon, withstand Yumo's puppets' full-power Profound Wind Killing Formation for a while. Finally, endure a thunder strike from a Shion Puppet at one-tenth of its power. The process is quite simple."
Where is it simple! At that time, Iris was at Half-Step Full Bloom and was still struck back by a single lightning bolt!
The Seedling Magical Girls will cry!
Sect Master, this doesn't seem to intend to let anyone break through at all!
But then, thinking about how Iris turned misfortune into fortune and kept her life, she suddenly felt it seemed pretty good.
She got to experience Full Bloom power for free once...
"After reaching Blooming, one must complete mana nature transformation. No matter the method, only by successfully fusing two colors of mana, causing a permanent change in mana nature and gaining an additional [Innate Divine Ability], can one be recognized as Blooming Peak Great Perfection."
"Eh, what about Mental Landscape?"
"Mental Landscape involves Full Bloom, which is a Nascent Soul Transformation method. It's not placed within the Golden Core stage." Jiang Si paused, "What comes next is the most crucial part: the criteria for Forming Infant, Nascent Soul, and Immortal Platform."
Everyone held their breath.
"In three thousand years of campaigning in this world, communing spiritually with fifty thousand ancestors, I have come to understand one thing from the long road of seeking the Dao."
"To achieve Nascent Soul Transformation, one must cultivate [Six Natures Perfection]!"
"I am still exploring these three realms myself, but I have gained some insight into their mysteries. For now, I will only convey them through three Great Dao true words. All are forbidden knowledge. I hope everyone will treat them seriously after hearing and explore with caution."
The atmosphere grew tense.
Jiang Si exhaled a long breath of purple energy, his eyes blazing with divine light. Then his aura suddenly soared as he spoke mystical words:
"Five-colored mana follows the heart completely, myriad transformations allow divine abilities to act. Magic, mana, magic body path—with all three foundations complete, one Forms the Infant."
"Intention emerges from the heart's sea, divine consciousness leaves the body. Three flowers gather at the crown, five energies pay homage to the origin."
"Dao Heart Purple Mansion, Magic Body Cave Heaven. Nascent Soul transforms, mana undergoes qualitative change!"
Boom—!
A thunderous roar suddenly sounded, continuous and unending, as if a shocking great secret had been discovered!
Furthermore, a fierce wind rose from the spot, causing the entire Cave Dwelling to tremble. For a moment, it was as if heavenly punishment had descended.
Qingluán was startled. Turning around, she saw Yumo hiding behind that pile of spirit tablets, blowing wind towards them. On the other side, Six Leaf was sitting in Four Leaf's arms, holding a large speaker playing thunder sounds.
"..."
Qingluán looked back at the others. Some were lost in thought, others looked serious.
No one found it strange!
"This is getting way too complicated..."
Qingluán couldn't help but mutter.
Who knew Bai Mei beside her actually heard and turned towards her—although her eyes remained closed, it made Qingluán's heart tighten.
Bai Mei smiled in her direction, "Settings determine the life and death of a book. Maps, cultivation levels, techniques, lifespan, magical treasures, etc., all need to be carefully researched and set before starting the book. Among them, the division of realms involves the underlying design of the cultivation world."
"Especially since we are now redefining Magical Girls, patching up the hastily divided system of the Disaster Control Bureau. This is an act of opening a new path! To make the orthodox cultivation path of Magical Girls great again requires even more serious treatment!"
"After all, if a web novel's settings explode in the later stages, the author can personally fix the bugs. But if our Magical Girl realm cultivation settings explode later on, it's not like there will naturally be successors to fix it!"
Qingying could only nod repeatedly in agreement. Seeing that the two seemed to have finished their discussion, she was about to step forward to ask the Sect Master about Full Bloom.
Unexpectedly, Bingtang stood up again, "It's about time. Jincha should be arriving soon. Bai Mei, come with me."
"Yes, Lady Bingtang."
Traveling all the way from the Disaster Control Bureau to the café, Jincha couldn't help but sigh.
No wonder they dared to claim that Beihai's civil engineering teams were number one in the world.
In just these two short days, almost all the damaged roads and public buildings had been restored.
Although many buildings still needed more fine decoration, looking from the sky, apart from the super-sized construction vehicles repairing the forest outside the city, Beihai was almost no different from before the incident.
This efficiency had reached an unbelievable level.
Magical Girl Mochi, terrifyingly formidable. If she could be brought to the Central Bureau, perhaps she could become a member of the Idol Project...
The café's layout had also changed quite a bit from last time, appearing much simpler.
Jincha observed carefully and realized that this café also seemed to have been recently rebuilt.
Some of the paint on the walls wasn't even dry yet...
Upon entering, she could see Magical Girl Winter waiting for her in the same small private room on the second floor.
Although there were no other Magical Girls around this time, Winter was sitting with a girl whose eyes were closed.
Jincha recognized her—the Magical Girl who had cleaved apart the gray-white dregs with a single sword strike.
Bai Mei of the Azure Cloud Sect's Seven True-Transmissions. She had already gained considerable fame back when the Witch Association launched their challenge against the Azure Cloud Sect.
Later, witnessing her strength firsthand had left Jincha utterly awestruck.
"Welcome, Miss Jincha."
"Thank you."
After a simple exchange of pleasantries, Jincha sat down and looked around the room again.
That purple-haired Magical Girl—who later turned into a black-haired Magical Girl—had not come this time.
After the coffee was served, Jincha confirmed that the mysterious Magical Girl wasn't coming before she spoke up, "This conversation is quite important. Your Sect Master, Magical Girl Shion, isn't coming?"
"Apologies, she is not adept at participating in such activities."
"I see." Jincha fell silent for a while.
So Bai Mei was the first to speak, "Regarding... the Sect Master's original body, we hope Miss Jincha can help keep it confidential."
"Although it's not a major issue, dealing with it would ultimately be somewhat troublesome."
Jincha immediately nodded with a smile, "Naturally."
But to be honest, this was rather difficult.
Especially after hearing Li Yi and Keke's inner voices...
"Regarding the enemies who attacked Beihai this time, it can basically be confirmed that they are the World Ghosts the Disaster Control Bureau has been monitoring."
Jincha actively poured milk into her coffee, stirring as she spoke, "The issue of World Ghosts might be a bit complicated to explain, but simply put, they come from other old worlds..."
While stirring her milk coffee, she revealed some key information to the other side.
Since she intended to cooperate, Jincha naturally didn't plan to hide the intelligence she knew.
Bingtang listened for a long time and sighed, "This explanation... did an Incubator tell you?"
Sect Master, this doesn't seem to intend to let anyone break through at all!
Generally speaking, Incubators would never tell other Magical Girls about these things.
Even some Full Blooms didn't know.
Among them was Mujin. Until her death, she only thought the Mirror Kingdom was an isolated case.
Let alone an organization like the Azure Cloud Sect, which is outside the Disaster Control Bureau's control.
Incubators with relevant permissions should absolutely never reveal this content to them...
While still pondering the reason in her mind, she saw Bingtang wave her hand.
Bai Mei beside her brought up an iron box from below.
When the iron box was opened, an Incubator completely frozen in ice appeared before Jincha's eyes.
"It says it's Old World Observer No. 340 of the World Observation Team, called Xiao Qi." Winter tapped the ice block, "After we killed the Magical Girl Killer, we found an independent small space. There, we found the World Ghosts from other worlds you mentioned spying on us. And this Incubator was imprisoned by them. Do you recognize it?"
Jincha took a deep breath, "I do. The truth about the old world is a secret among Magical Girls, so the work of observing the old world is done by Incubators. Observer No. 340 has been missing for a long time. I never thought it had been captured."
"It seems it cannot die?"
"No. 340 was once the Incubator of a Full Bloom Magical Girl."
"I see."
If it was the Incubator of a Full Bloom Magical Girl, then it made sense.
It probably inherited part of the Full Bloom Magical Girl's rules, resulting in infinite resurrection.
Regarding Incubators inheriting part of a Magical Girl's power, actually, the Incubators never hid this from the beginning.
After all, as long as they are active, they borrow the Magical Girl's power. At critical moments in battle, they can even use magic on behalf of the Magical Girl.
"I don't understand why No. 340 would reveal this information to you." Jincha found it strange, "Logically, it should have chosen to conceal it."
"It hopes we can cooperate with it." Winter shrugged, "Who knows?"
Jincha murmured, "To actually make the same judgment..."
Bai Mei raised an eyebrow, though her eyes remained closed, "What do you mean?"
After taking a sip of her milk coffee, Jincha added more sugar, "After the previous Heart Image Remnant incident, the Central Bureau held a meeting. All council members unanimously agreed to establish cooperation with the Azure Cloud Sect. Because multiple Incubator observers have detected Old World Ghost activity. The Mirror World has been in contact with other old worlds and seems to be reaching some cooperation agreement."
After drinking the sweet milk coffee, Jincha let out a breath, "The South China region might be quite chaotic during this period. The Witch Association is also muddying the waters. So, we hope the members of the Azure Cloud Sect can support us."
"The Azure Cloud Sect is the leader of the righteous path under heaven." Winter smiled slightly, "This world naturally belongs to the Azure Cloud Sect. Exterminating invading enemies is considered part of our duty."
Caught off guard, Jincha almost sprayed out her milk coffee.
She forced it back down and coughed twice.
Bai Mei then said gently, "Drink slowly. No one is competing with you. No need to drink so hastily."
Jincha couldn't help but feel a bit of bitter amusement in her heart.
Who could keep their composure after such a sudden statement like that...
Perfectly fine, then suddenly having an episode, I ask you?
It took her a good while to stand up, then elegantly take out a handkerchief, wipe the milk coffee from the corner of her mouth, and reveal a calm smile, "Apologies, I just choked."
The tone of Bai Mei's words just now made it sound like she was some country bumpkin who had never seen the world, guzzling milk coffee desperately, trying to break her defenses.
To protect the Central Bureau's and her own dignity, Jincha naturally had to explain herself.
Though she had to pay attention to her demeanor while explaining...
"However, since you call it cooperation, the Azure Cloud Sect can provide personnel and effort for the Disaster Control Bureau. Shouldn't the Disaster Control Bureau offer something in return, right?"
Jincha, with the topic back to normal, immediately entered her comfort zone and smiled slightly, "Of course. Just as agreed before, we will allocate Mental Landscape trial slots to Azure Cloud Sect disciples. The exact number of slots is still being deliberated."
"At least three."
Winter said in an indisputable tone, "Any fewer, and the righteous energy of our Azure Cloud Sect will also diminish."
Jincha tried hard to maintain her expression, not letting herself look too dumbfounded, "Righteous energy? What does that mean?"
Bai Mei beside her continued to explain gently, "It means, if the return is not equivalent, our Azure Cloud Sect might as well step onto the demonic path, refuse cooperation with the Disaster Control Bureau, and dominate the world alone!"
What kind of encrypted conversation is this?
Can you speak some human language? Is this human language?
Why does the same language sound like it's developing reproductive isolation...
Could this be the real reason I can't hear their inner voices?
"Fine, fine." Jincha could only respond reluctantly, "I will discuss it properly with the other council members. We will definitely satisfy you."
"And also..."
For a moment, Jincha even wanted to kneel on the chair and beg them not to say anymore.
Can we just leave it at this...
"Regarding the Disaster Control Bureau's realm settings, I have here a detailed document about realm division."
Jincha was stunned for a moment, then took the file Bai Mei handed over.
From Sprout to Blooming, the differences within each minor realm were described in considerable detail.
The main differences between the early, middle, and late stages of Sprout, besides mana amount, included how many magics one could master.
The Sprout Peak Great Perfection realm was defined by how big a crater one's destructive magic could blast out.
The depth, size, and even smoothness of the crater were described in detail, and measurement methods were provided.
The differences from Sprout to Seedling were even more numerous, including mana release range, changes in mana control precision, and of course, the most important—Seedling stage magic destructive power.
Still measured by crater size...
How much of an obsession do you have with crater-making?
Although she really wanted to ask, Jincha tried hard to suppress her confusion.
Regardless, quantifying Magical Girl strength to the greatest extent was more important, and simpler.
As long as a Magical Girl fights once, records the scene, and performs calculations using these settings, it would be easy to anchor the approximate strength of an unknown Magical Girl, avoiding the need to guess.
Even Magical Girls themselves could very accurately know what realm they had reached.
However, seeing the middle part, she was dumbfounded again. She looked up at Bai Mei:
"Um, why are there three extra realms between Full Bloom and Blooming?"
"Because the gap between Blooming and Full Bloom is too large. Your division is too rough, to the point that even the Azure Cloud Sect was misled and took a detour." Bai Mei said indifferently, "Now that the Azure Cloud Sect knows the secret of Full Bloom, naturally we are correcting the collapsed realm system. No need to thank us;
it's all part of the Azure Cloud Sect's duty. However, we have only roughly divided the strength levels. The rest needs you to explore yourselves."
Why would I thank you...
Looking at the three extra realms, Jincha sighed.
She had already given up arguing.
"Fine, let it be so. Thank you all for your hard work."
"If you insist on thanking us, it's not unacceptable either."
Jincha stared dumbfounded at Winter, who was climbing the pole offered.
The mature, elegant, mysterious image she had in her mind before had almost completely crumbled...
However, Winter naturally didn't care at all about her mental image.
After all, for her, this was one of the key points of this meeting.
Once the Mental Landscape trial slots were confirmed, there was only this one matter left that she wanted to cooperate with the Disaster Control Bureau on.
"Regarding the Magical Girl Idol Project, our Azure Cloud Sect is very interested. You know, our Azure Cloud Sect has many famous Magical Girls with high popularity, but we've never had a channel to monetize it."
Where is the fame? Where is the high popularity, may I ask?
In the Witch Association? Their popularity there is quite high.
But do you expect the Witch Association to spend money for you?
Taking a deep breath, Jincha thought for a moment, then smiled, "That's true. Although Miss Winter might not be well-known elsewhere, here in Beihai, you do have quite a few supporters. Perhaps we could open a special pool for Beihai..."
"No, no, no."
Winter immediately shook her head, "What we need is a full-scale promotional campaign. The card pool must be of the highest specifications. Of course, we also hope you can pair it with corresponding promotional activities. Money is not a problem;
our Azure Cloud Sect can provide the funding."
"...Why?"
"Nothing much. Just hoping to use the Magical Girl Idol Project to do a promotional campaign for us." Winter smiled slightly, "And the target of the promotion isn't me."
"It is our great Sect Master, Magical Girl Shion. The Azure Cloud Sect will surely rule over the world. The common masses of this world should also know and gaze upon the majestic dignity of our Sect Master."
Bai Mei immediately nodded repeatedly, "Lady Winter speaks truly."
True my ass...
Jincha finally couldn't help getting a bit agitated: "Her original body is a man!"
"As long as it's not exposed, there won't be a problem."
That's not the problem!
Most of the Magical Girl Idol Project's fans are male!
Are you saying you want a bunch of male fans to spend money and go crazy over a Magical Girl whose original body is a boy?
"If even such a small matter is impossible..." Winter's expression turned cold, "It seems the Disaster Control Bureau's sincerity isn't very sufficient."
Jincha immediately nodded: "No problem, no problem!"
Forgive me, fans of the Magical Girl Idol Project...
Even if it's a man, you'll definitely be fine with it, right...