novelraw Chapter 192: The Richest Man in Beihai
Chapter 192: The Richest Man in Beihai
For Jiang Si, he had actually wanted to try to impact Full Bloom a long time ago.
It was just that the danger brought by the first attempt at Full Bloom forced him to stop.
Later, many things happened—including the matter with Iris—which also made Jiang Si certain that this Disaster Control Bureau truly had deep foundations.
Incubators could not only forcibly help a Magical Girl achieve Full Bloom, but could also forcibly seize the power and life of a Full Bloom Magical Girl.
Isn't this just forced power transmission?
Even in the cultivation world, reaching a high realm in one go without a solid foundation is a suicidal act.
Basically, it's either a higher-level cultivator finding a lower-level cultivator to be a scapegoat, or becoming bait—one world, one cycle of prosperity and decline.
The problem lies in the subsequent forced seizure of the Full Bloom Magical Girl's power and life, which is clearly the path of a devourer.
Have you not seen Yu Muxian of Wangyue Lake, with his Purple Mansion potential, who didn't understand the power of a Purple Mansion True Person's spiritual sense, mistakenly took a higher-level cultivator for a good person, exposed that he possessed a heavy treasure, resulting in decades of bitter cultivation vanishing in a single day of life and death, his path extinguished.
Have you not seen the Green Sprout Sword Immortal Li Chijing, who forged his immortal foundation with the essence of the moon, how famous his Moon Palace Sword Intent was, a Qi Refining Sword Immortal who slaughtered demons in the Southern Border, a single sword intent that made his name resound across the land, shaking the many families on the lake so they dared not touch the Li Family of Lijing, yet in the end, he was nothing but a human pill.Higher-level cultivators treat lower-level prodigies as great medicines, devouring them immediately once their cultivation is complete.
And very clearly, Full Bloom is this threshold.
Once Full Bloom is reached, the Incubator will eagerly devour the power and life of the Full Bloom Magical Girl.
Moreover, the Magical Girl herself finds it very difficult to resist;
she needs other Magical Girls present to stop it.
Whether it can truly be stopped is also questionable.
After all, according to what Qingying said, the Incubator at that time did not belong to Iris, so it might not have been able to obtain the Full Bloom mana alongside Iris, rendering it unable to contend with Iris—Jiang Si had encountered an Incubator with Full Bloom-level mana at the Beihai Disaster Control Bureau.
When a Magical Girl has no defenses against her Incubator, as the Magical Girl steps into Full Bloom, the Incubator will also gain the same strength, as the two share mana.
On the other hand, judging from past data, once a Magical Girl truly steps into Full Bloom, the Incubator actually doesn't need to tear off the mask to collect the power.
Jiegeng herself was the same;
she just gradually lost her power and died over the course of a week, unrelated to the Incubator.
Iris's situation was special at the time;
she had just stepped into Full Bloom when her realm was knocked down, and the Incubator was eager to collect the power, which led to the Incubator forcibly collecting it. If Iris had remained in Full Bloom state, the Incubator probably wouldn't have needed to tear off the mask.
Regardless, one must guard against the fact that Incubators can collect a Magical Girl's power.
Even an Incubator not your own can still collect your Magical Girl power.
This is also the reason Jiang Si has been pursuing other powers all this time.
Whether it's the Magical Girl Killer's forced removal of Personal Reality, or the Incubator's forced collection of Magical Girl power, both represent that there are many methods in this world to handle Magical Girl power.
Under someone else's system, you are ultimately at their mercy;
a single misstep could lead to complete ruin.
Now, his main body's strength can also contend with Peak Blooming level, and he even has the methods of the Calamity Dragon and the Golden Calamity Dragon King.
As long as he gets all the Witch Potions in hand, plus Witch Shion's trump card.
This way, even if the Incubator has a way to deal with Magical Girl Shion, they can't deal with him, Jiang Si, the Calamity Dragon, the Golden Calamity Dragon King, and Witch Shion.
If he can also turn the power of the Dregs to his own use, that would be even better.
The Azure Cloud Ancestor said long ago, the more trump cards, the better.
The wisdom of the ancestors, you have to believe it.
Judging from the fact that after Iris's power seizure by the Incubator failed, the other Incubators didn't have much of a reaction.
The Incubators might not be unified.
Including that Incubator codenamed Xiao Qi, who told the Azure Cloud Sect about old world intelligence, in fact, did not exchange information with other Incubators.
From this point of view, Incubators are not inherently sharing intelligence, and Incubators also don't care about the life or death of other Incubators. The Azure Cloud Sect's Incubators have almost all been suppressed and used as batteries, but the Disaster Control Bureau's Incubators showed no particular reaction.
And within the Disaster Control Bureau, they are not opposed to Magical Girls discarding their Incubators;
Iris herself threw away her Incubator, which led to needing Qingluan's Incubator to guide her to Full Bloom.
It seems to be a very loose structure, which suggests that the Incubators themselves might not be the true masterminds behind the scenes, thousand-year-old monsters.
They are probably just tools of the hidden masterminds deep within the Disaster Control Bureau.
So whether they live or die, are controlled or exploited, it doesn't matter;
the Disaster Control Bureau doesn't really need Incubators to collect Magical Girl power.
From their origin, they might truly be used to cultivate Magical Girls, to nurture them to Full Bloom, whereupon the Full Bloom Magical Girl's power is automatically collected.
Whether it's the Awakening Moment or the Heavenly Tribulation;
whether it's extraterrestrial demons coming to protect the world, or great powers contending and placing pieces against each other.
No need to care if these are real or not, shoot the arrow first then draw the target, just need to get one result—
The Magical Girl is no match, so she achieves Full Bloom.
Think about it carefully, it's truly not a loss. As long as one Full Bloom Magical Girl is born, obtaining Full Bloom power is enough to make up for the resources and time spent cultivating many lower-level cultivators over a long period.
They probably have no interest in ordinary Magical Girls.
And if he hadn't had the power of the Calamity Dragon, the Golden Calamity Dragon King, and Witch Shion back then, had he dared to achieve Full Bloom, naturally he also wouldn't have escaped the fate of being drained dry.
Fortunately, his cultivation is profound, and he saw the problem at a glance.
But, up to now, Jiang Si has actually only gained a few more trump cards;
regarding the issue of Magical Girl Full Bloom, he still needs to explore step by step.
As a thousand-year-old monster, a system used by higher-level cultivators to harvest lower-level ones, it presumably cannot be cracked so easily.
One must maintain the utmost caution.
That's why Jiang Si is very interested in the Mirror Kingdom's Full Bloom plan.
Although he is already walking on the Full Bloom path he deduced himself, confident that following this path, he will eventually prove the supreme Dao fruit, his status reaching or even surpassing Full Bloom, there are after all no precedents.
He can first look at the methods for stable Full Bloom in the Dao traditions of other worlds.
Maybe he can cross-reference a wave.
The Mirror Kingdom can undoubtedly skip the harvesting by the Disaster Control Bureau's Incubators, preserving the strength of Full Bloom Magical Girls.
They are just missing one domain.
This is also why Jiang Si, even knowing the Prince deceived him, was willing to give her a chance.
As long as he goes to the Disaster Control Bureau to obtain the Mental Landscape, then through the Mirror Kingdom's technology, tries a method that can skip the Incubator's harvesting,
then the current Magical Girl Shion might be able to easily advance further, stepping into Full Bloom without any worries, and then nourish his own Dao tradition.
If it doesn't work, it can still serve as a reference for his own Dao tradition.
Of course, before that, he must have the Mirror Kingdom conduct several more experiments to ensure there are no problems.
Even with other powers as a safety net, Jiang Si absolutely does not want to lose the power of Magical Girl Shion.
He can feel that, as one of this world's most fundamental powers, the potential of Magical Girls is far from fully developed.
Full Bloom might not be the end.
Just think through the logic: if Incubators can harvest power, why don't they harvest the polluted magic from negative emotions or those gray-white dregs?
Clearly, they have this ability.
Not doing so means the value of those powers is far inferior to that of Magical Girls.
Harvesting at Full Bloom means that beyond Full Bloom, the Incubators might not be able to contain it.
The more he uses it, the more clearly he can feel that Magical Girl power has almost no upper limit.
Jiang Si has a premonition that in the end, he will still have to follow the path of the Magical Girl to reach the peak of the Great Dao.
"Hey, young man, need a ride?"
On the dark street, vehicles occasionally passed by, but few people could be seen.
A late-night taxi stopped in front of him. The driver was a middle-aged uncle who asked warmly.
"Not faster than me running."
The driver was stunned by Jiang Si's words, then laughed heartily, "It's the middle of the night, there won't be traffic jams, how could it not be faster than you running?"
Then he saw the young man start running.
At a speed far faster than the vehicle, as if about to take flight!
The driver rubbed his eyes, and by the time he looked again, the figure was already gone.
A cold night wind blew past. The driver shivered, quickly rolled up the window, and floored the accelerator.
Forgetting about making money, he immediately drove towards home!
"Met a ghost!"
...
Jiang Si naturally didn't know that his casual warm-up had changed the schedule and work of a late-night taxi driver.
Later, legends of a running ghost at night even spread.
Of course, even if he knew, he probably wouldn't care.
After warming up, Jiang Si wasn't in a hurry to return. Instead, he went to the Azure Cloud Sect.
He wanted to get some money.
For Jiang Si, in the past, there weren't many places where he truly needed money, so he had always been too lazy to use the Azure Cloud Sect's funds.
After all, it didn't concern his own cultivation. Things like refining artifacts or alchemy were just small playthings;
he could get enough resources from the Witch Association, and even if he failed, it wasn't a pity.
If it wasn't serious business, there was no need to waste the Azure Cloud Sect's money.
But now, the Prince gave him ten fake Black Gold Cards and took out a loan to buy Witch Potions for him. The loan ultimately needs to be repaid. Since the Prince can't be relied on, he can only depend on the Azure Cloud.
Although forcibly seizing the potions is also an option, losing the identity of Simo Tu would make it troublesome to obtain the Witch Association's technology again.
After all, the Witch Association's main base location is still unknown. According to Bingtang's speculation, it might be in the old world.
All their technology is managed by the headquarters at the main base. The technologies distributed to the lower levels are either not critical or are controlled through special memory methods that can't be extracted through torture.
Just like the Witch Potions, if he hadn't infiltrated the Witch Association and had someone like Xilan there, he wouldn't know where to find this stuff, what it's for, or how to use it, let alone seize it.
After all, without such strict control, the Disaster Control Bureau would have long ago analyzed all the technology.
If he had relied solely on brute force to wipe out the Witch Association back then, forget about Witch Shion, he probably wouldn't have even obtained the powers of the Calamity Dragon and the Golden Calamity Dragon King.
This is the importance of super intelligence.
Those who don't know how to leave a backup plan and proceed slowly either have a lower-level cultivator's perspective or have been cultivating demonic fire since birth, cultivating so much their brains are gone, or both.
He observed that many in the Witch Association have powers that are violent and savage, as if controlled by their own Dao tradition, probably even their brains have become water composed of polluted magic.
Saying they are like cultivators of demonic fire is an insult to the demonic fire tradition.
Because demonic fire makes you stupid, yet its power is extremely strong!
Are those kinds of people in the Witch Association even related to strength?
Merging body and mind, merging nature and spirit, burning nature and harming life, damaging the will... Hiss, this description feels very familiar.
Recalling Keke, whose strength is increasing but whose intelligence is becoming more infantile.
Also a fire attribute playing with fire.
Could it be that Keke is a natural child of the demonic fire fate?
He has already seen Keke's state of sleeping on the floor with a broken back.
Perhaps the next step upon returning is Keke playing with fire and wetting the bed.
No, that's still a bit biased. It feels like most Magical Girls he's met are a bit stupid.
It's more likely a problem with Magical Girl and Witch power.
Especially since Magical Girls are generally stronger, using it every day, and overuse burns the brain.
Naturally, they are worlds apart from a wisdom-focused cultivator like himself.
In the end, they are all controlled by their Dao tradition, not controlling the Dao tradition. If you can't control it freely, what's the use of cultivating it...
He has already decided that if Keke wets the bed while sleeping on the floor in his room, he will go pee in Keke's room.
So Jiang Si still plans to get some money from the Azure Cloud Sect to buy the Witch Potions through proper channels, ensuring his position as Simo Tu.
To continue leveraging his unique style as a cultivator to scheme for more benefits from the Witch Association that he currently doesn't even know about.
Of course, if he can find the main headquarters, that would be even better, saving a lot of trouble.
When he entered the sect, he saw Bingtang asleep on the desk.
Qinghua, hearing the sound, peeked out from the memorial hall, cautiously looked around, then seeing the Sect Master, put down the game she was halfway through, and tiptoed over.
"Lady Bingtang hasn't slept for several days, she just fell asleep today. Sect Master, could you wait a bit, let Lady Bingtang rest a little, please be considerate..."
Hearing Qinghua's soft plea, Jiang Si didn't say anything, just nodded.
Then he sat down beside Bingtang.
He glanced sideways at the files on the computer—all things he couldn't understand, and he had no intention of understanding. Bingtang, lying on the desk, was pressing down on her own hair, even strands at the corner of her mouth.
She looked tired and somewhat disheveled.
Usually, Bingtang cared quite a bit about her appearance.
"Hehe, Lady Bingtang is pretty, right? Sect Master."
Beside him, Qinghua lowered her voice, whispering in Jiang Si's ear, "Lady Bingtang's skin is so good, why don't you touch it? At a time like this, whatever you do is safe. You can even pinch Lady Bingtang's tongue."
Jiang Si, with nothing better to do, looked at her. "Qinghua, let's spar."
The previously grinning Qinghua knelt down with a "thud." "Sect Master, if I've done something wrong, just say it, I'll definitely change!"
"Your practical combat experience is too lacking."
Jiang Si evaluated, "Always hiding behind controlling puppets, lacking practical combat experience is a huge hidden danger. You should spar with me more."
"I'm not hiding behind when I control puppets, boss. I fight properly too. Super Qinghua's practical combat experience is definitely not lacking..."
"Then it's even more important to spar and let me see."
Super Qinghua was almost in tears. "The problem is I haven't finished my daily tasks yet, Sect Master. After getting beaten up, I'll have to lie in bed for days. I'll miss the Magical Girl Idol Project events. I heard they're about to start the pre-release activities for your banner pool."
"Fight or not?"
Although she thought of a bunch of reasons, when Jiang Si asked this, Qinghua nodded with a bitter face, "Fight. If the Sect Master wants to see, then Super Qinghua will definitely fight. But to avoid disturbing Lady Bingtang, let's go outside..."
"Fine."
Five minutes later.
Jiang Si carried the unconscious Qinghua back. Bingtang was already awake, glanced at the Qinghua in his hand, then smiled helplessly, went over, and casually picked Qinghua up.
"When did you wake up?"
"Just now." She checked Qinghua's body;
there were basically no injuries, just unconscious.
She can sleep peacefully now.
After all, Qinghua stayed up late playing games every night, which gave Bingtang quite a headache. She had dark circles these past two days, and being busy, she hadn't had time to manage it.
Now that the Sect Master has dealt with her, she'll probably behave for a long time and finally sleep properly.
After putting Qinghua back on the futon in the memorial hall and covering her with a blanket, when she came out, she heard Jiang Si ask her, "How are the arrangements for the Disaster Control Bureau's Mental Landscape trial going?"
"It's in the next few days."
Bingtang said as she walked over, "I've already sent some Inner Sect disciples over for exchange in advance. Jincha also really wants to help the Disaster Control Bureau's Magical Girls improve, so she hopes the Azure Cloud Sect disciples can teach them."
"That's good."
Jiang Si nodded with satisfaction. "Teach them more. My Azure Cloud Sect originally aims to spread its teachings throughout the world, making everyone in this great era as mighty as dragons!"
"The Sect Master's heart embraces the world, deserving of reverence for all ages!"
"Not at all. If all Dao paths in the world are kept secret, where is the room for progress? The Azure Cloud Sect's cultivation methods aren't given to them for free. Mutual exchange enhances progress faster."
Bingtang looked at her Sect Master with admiration. "As expected of the Sect Master Celestial Being, with foresight."
"In the book 'Zhu Xian,' it was recorded that various ancestors, due to sectarian bias, refused to exchange cultivation methods and insights, causing chaos, to the extent that the path to immortality was right before them yet no one knew."
Jiang Si quoted classics, speaking in a deep tone. "Taking past people as a mirror, we must not repeat their mistakes. Now, the methods of both righteous and evil paths are in my hands. Perhaps we can integrate all powers, comprehend the Heavenly Scriptures. We still need more exchange, more learning, and must not be arrogant."
"Yes!"
Whenever her Sect Master spoke about cultivation, he could always utter truths that filled Bingtang with admiration.
She never felt the Sect Master was speaking nonsense in this regard. She kept all her Sect Master's words about cultivation firmly in mind, intending to compile them into a book later as the Azure Cloud Sect's golden rules to educate all disciples.
"Oh, and about the Witch Association..."
Jiang Si originally wanted to talk about the Witch Potion matter.
But before he could finish, Bingtang interrupted, "Sect Master, please close your eyes for a moment."
Seeing Bingtang's mysterious and expectant expression, Jiang Si nodded. "Hurry up, I still have important matters to discuss with you."
"Don't worry, it'll be quick."
After he closed his eyes, Bingtang walked behind him, rustling, rustling, not sure what she was fiddling with.
"Done yet?"
"Almost, almost."
After waiting a little longer, Bingtang finally stopped.
"Alright, Sect Master, please open your eyes~"
Jiang Si then opened his eyes and was slightly stunned.
Ten beautiful Black Gold Cards appeared completely intact before him.
"Ta-da!" Bingtang even added her own sound effect, leaning over from beside his shoulder, smiling and saying, "Look what this is, Sect Master. I helped you reapply for all ten of those shattered Black Gold Cards!"
Jiang Si took the ten Black Gold Cards and felt them.
The texture was even better than before!
The previous Black Gold Cards were indeed fakes, inferior products;
the texture just wasn't as good as the genuine ones!
"Didn't you say you couldn't apply for them?"
"After all, ten at once, I didn't know if it would work. What if it didn't and I disappointed you?" Bingtang wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning against his shoulder. "If successful, it's a little surprise. If failed, you wouldn't be disappointed. Of course I couldn't promise."
"Indeed, quite a surprise."
"Hehe, as long as you like it."
Then Jiang Si remembered the Twins' words.
And the Prince's admission.
So he looked back at Bingtang again.
The girl blinked her eyes, looking expectant for praise.
Jiang Si stroked those Black Gold Cards, feeling the card numbers on them. After a long while, he asked another question, "Reapplied cards?"
Bingtang tilted her head. "Mhm, reapplied cards."
The hall fell quiet for a moment, leaving only the sound of their breathing.
Then Bingtang chuckled. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking, what if they can't be used? The cards given by others might have problematic sources."
"Don't worry, these ten Black Gold Cards are absolutely fine. Five hundred million each. Use them however you want."
Bingtang said softly, "After all, they're cards given by others, it doesn't matter."
Jiang Si finally stopped questioning, just nodded. "Okay."
Bingtang quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Jiang Si reached back and patted Bingtang's head, praising, "Well done."
Bingtang then proudly hummed twice, then buried her head against his shoulder. "So what's the important matter?"
"Gone."
"Okay."
"The Mirror Kingdom said they want to study Iris's Miracle Seed to research Full Bloom power." Jiang Si thought for a moment. "I want to take Iris's Miracle Seed to see if they have a method to achieve Full Bloom while bypassing the Incubator, to open a true Full Bloom path for all Magical Girls in the world."
"Isn't that the important matter?"
Bingtang thought about it. "I'll negotiate with Jincha. Directly stealing would have a bad impact, after all, we're partners now."
"Fine."
Jiang Si didn't mind. If Bingtang's formal negotiation fails, he can still go get it himself. It doesn't affect anything.
Less trouble is better.
"And, how long are you going to hug me for?"
"The whole night."
"Go to sleep."
"I won't."
Jiang Si looked at the ten Black Gold Cards and ultimately let her hug him.
"Oh, right." Bingtang, back on her stool, directly lay down on Jiang Si's lap, then rolled over to look up at the Sect Master. "Thousand-Pinweed will also go to the Disaster Control Bureau this time. She hasn't seen you in a long time. She and Jiegeng both miss you a lot."
"Tell her to get lost."
"Ah, don't be so cold. Thousand-Pinweed will cry."
Jiang Si snorted coldly. "She's not participating in the Mental Landscape trial, what's she going there to make a scene for?"
"I told you, it's just to see you."
Bingtang poked her Sect Master's chin with her finger. "Be a bit nicer. The development in West China has been managed by Thousand-Pinweed all this time. She's put in a lot of effort. Thousand-Pinweed also investigated some traces of the Witch Association and old world members over there. Even if there's no merit, there's hard work. Don't always be stern and look down on her."
"Got it." Then Jiang Si casually asked, "What old world did they discover in West China?"
"Seems to be an old world called Chongxu."
"Special?"
"Thousand-Pinweed said it's a place where everything depends on money."
"Huh?"
Kunxu?
Quite copyright-conscious, thinking changing a character means it's not infringement?