novelraw Chapter 267: Slaying the Prodigy at the End of the Immortal Ancient World
Chapter 267: Slaying the Prodigy at the End of the Immortal Ancient World
All the Magical Girls within these world bubbles were using Shion's mana.
Jiang Si was beginning to understand why the other party had thrown him into that kind of world bubble.
The forced transformation was probably also part of Dream Incubator Xiao Qi's plan, all to extract a massive amount of mana from him.
For a world bubble's phantom to become real, even to the point of maintaining its own strength after leaving the bubble, the amount of mana required was clearly somewhat absurd. But for the mana reserves of Magical Girl Shion, it was merely a drop in the ocean.
Although the world bubble where Lu Ya was located at the time couldn't drain Shion's mana completely, it was still enough for its use.
This was the first time he had encountered someone daring enough to use Shion in such a way.
"This one was once the strongest Magical Girl in a certain world."
Xiao Qi sat quietly on the shoulder of the blue-purple Magical Girl, considerately explaining to them.
"Magical Girl Xiyue once saved her own world six times. It wasn't until the seventh time, when the world's origin was depleted and all Magical Girls lost their miracles, that she alone relied on her Mental Landscape to defeat an S-class Disaster Beast, even ending the Awakening Moment without reaching Full Bloom."
Beneath the blue sea were the countless remains of Disaster Beasts.Churning waves continuously pushed dismembered limbs, entrails, and pitch-black Polluted Magic onto the shore.
Xiao Qi affectionately nuzzled her cheek. "If she hadn't lost her Magical Girl powers and, out of habit, tried to stop a robbery, leading to her original body being shot and killed, Magical Girl Xiyue could still have summoned a miracle once more. This is the strongest Magical Girl that once existed in a world."
The blue sea continuously eroded the golden Emperor's domain.
The blue-purple Magical Girl paid no attention to Xiao Qi's muttering. Her vacant eyes were only warily watching the Golden Calamity Dragon King and Jiang Si.
Having just awakened from the projection, she only knew she had to fight.
Although her initial Mental Landscape Expansion did manage to damage the Emperor's domain, the Emperor quickly caught up with the rhythm.
Expansive-type Mental Landscapes had unparalleled advantages over replacement-type ones, but in actual combat, it came down to skill. For example, Magical Girl Xiyue's Mental Landscape was originally replacement-type, yet it didn't suffer any disadvantage against the Emperor's expansive-type domain.
A Mental Landscape activated second naturally caused damage to one already formed.
In a clash of Mental Landscapes, the first factor was the type of domain each side had, the second was the order of activation.
The third was the characteristics of the Mental Landscape.
Under the constant erosion of the sea, the golden Emperor's domain was gradually fading.
This was Xiyue's Mental Landscape, a Mental Landscape with the characteristic effect of [Dissolution].
From the moment she discovered the Emperor's expansive domain, she flipped its exterior and interior, letting the outer shell of her Mental Landscape make contact with the Emperor's expansive domain.
Once the Mental Landscapes collided, the opposing one would be dissolved first, unable to harm Xiyue's domain.
An expansive-type Mental Landscape couldn't directly destroy a replacement-type one from the outside. The advantage of domain types was instantly reversed!
"In Xiyue's world, there was no distinction between Full Bloom and Blooming. Mental Landscapes were quite common; almost every Magical Girl possessed one. Her combat experience with Mental Landscapes far surpasses yours."
Jiang Si ignored Xiao Qi and just patted the Emperor's head.
"At the edges of the domain, alter the probability of contact, delaying the speed at which the rules of the two Emperor domains neutralize each other."
Xiyue was stunned for a moment, then immediately followed the Mental Landscape's command, proceeding with calculations and constructing a model. She then caused all sorts of unexpected events to occur within the contact range of the two domains: spatial rifts, collisions of shattered rocks, deceleration zones, or the sudden intervention of world bubbles.
It wasn't about using probability manipulation directly on the opponent's Mental Landscape, but rather manipulating the environment to slow down the rate at which the Mental Landscape's rules were dissolved...
However, this was only defense; it couldn't prevent her own Mental Landscape from ultimately collapsing.
"Continue expanding."
The Emperor hesitated for a moment.
Because continuing to expand meant the probability changes at the contact edges of the Mental Landscape would become more random and difficult to control.
Yet, she only hesitated for an instant before immediately following Jiang Si's command and frantically expanding her Mental Landscape once more!
There was no need to worry about mana. The mana flowing from Jiang Si was almost inexhaustible!
The blue-purple Magical Girl in the distance drew a trident from the sea of her own Mental Landscape.
Jiang Si, who had been indifferent until now, immediately turned his head to look, his gaze full of appreciation as he stared at the trident in her hand.
"It's actually the Sea God. Worthy of the title 'strongest'."
The corner of the Emperor's mouth twitched slightly, and she just reminded him, "The Mental Landscape is about to collapse!"
As the expansion continued, constructing the Mental Landscape became increasingly difficult. An expansive-type Mental Landscape was almost like painting on a canvas-less space. Due to its non-enclosed nature, it was actually easier to break from the inside at this point than a replacement-type one!
Because the structure was too loose.
A replacement-type Mental Landscape was almost impossible to destroy from the inside; one could only defeat the Magical Girl herself or extend an expansive Mental Landscape to the outside to shatter the shell.
But the weakness of an expansive-type Mental Landscape was that once an enemy's destruction of it reached a certain critical point, this "castle in the air" would crumble!
And Magical Girl Xiyue was clearly too familiar with Mental Landscape battles. While continuously dissolving the Emperor's domain within her fixed-range replacement-type Mental Landscape...
She even took out her trident, shot it outside her own Mental Landscape, and directly stabbed it into the Emperor's golden domain!
That pale blue magic then spread further along the trident, accelerating its diffusion!
Xiyue understood their weaknesses like the back of her hand...
Just the step of flipping the interior and exterior of the Mental Landscape wasn't something an ordinary Magical Girl could accomplish.
Xiao Qi also tilted its head, revealing a smile. "You can't possibly win a Mental Landscape battle against Xiyue. You have no idea how many Mental Landscape battles she's fought. In that world where every Magical Girl had a Mental Landscape, she became the strongest relying on her own replacement-type Mental Landscape."
As Xiao Qi spoke, the Emperor's Mental Landscape finally began to show signs of collapse.
The golden color was rapidly disappearing. It could no longer even surround Xiyue, allowing the Magical Girl to move freely and begin approaching them!
"I can't hold on any longer!"
Despite the Emperor's warning, Jiang Si remained unhurried. "It should be about time now."
"Touch the inner spatial boundary of this Disaster Beast."
The Emperor was taken aback, then indeed discovered that her Mental Landscape, after expanding to a certain living barrier, could no longer continue expanding outward...
She suddenly remembered that this place full of world bubbles was actually inside a certain Disaster Beast.
And since it was inside a Disaster Beast, there were naturally boundaries, not the true boundless nature of the world.
"This is the boundary and shell of your Mental Landscape."
Jiang Si spoke as if he had already guessed it, his tone indifferent.
"Close it off."
Originally having no edges, the Mental Landscape, upon touching the inner wall of the Disaster Beast, spread to encircle all the inner walls through expansion.
It completed the enclosure!
The Mental Landscape, which was originally like painting in thin air, suddenly had a canvas. After truly gaining a shell and edges, the Emperor's expansive-type Mental Landscape acquired the characteristics of a replacement-type one, stabilizing once more!
Both Xiao Qi and Xiyue over there showed expressions of disbelief.
"Impossible." Xiao Qi finally couldn't hold back, jumping down from Xiyue's shoulder. "An expansive-type Mental Landscape shouldn't have replacement functions..."
"A Mental Landscape is essentially still something constructed. Expansion and replacement are just characteristics."
A gleam appeared in Magical Girl Xiyue's eyes as she looked at the youth in the distance with awe and admiration. "But it also requires this special environment, 'the world has boundaries,' to achieve it. Truly remarkable. Did you notice this from the very first moment?"
Even within a world bubble, one couldn't touch the boundaries. Although they appeared to have boundaries from the outside, internally, one could never actually reach them. This technique was only possible within a living being's body.
For Xiyue, the other's judgment was genuinely impressive.
It was as if he had also experienced countless Mental Landscape battles.
"The problem is, now that both are replacement-type Mental Landscapes and mutually enclosed, what should we do?" Xiao Qi tilted its head. "It's not the time to praise the opponent, Magical Girl Xiyue."
"Naturally, there's a way."
Xiao Qi looked at her with full anticipation. "Come on, let them see the strongest Magical Girl's countermeasures for Mental Landscape battles!"
Magical Girl Xiyue, holding the trident, turned and ran!
"Mental Landscape Sprint!"
Even Jiang Si and the Emperor were stunned for a moment, not expecting the other to simply flee.
Weren't you the one who came to fight?
"An expansive-type Mental Landscape of this scale must consume a huge amount of mana. We just need to wait until they run out of mana!"
Xiao Qi was also speechless. "Does this still count as the strongest?"
However, Xiyue just contracted her Mental Landscape's range to reduce mana consumption. "Winning is what matters. Why bother with so much? When it's time to run, you run!"
"The problem is, this entire area has already become her Mental Landscape's range."
"An expansive-type Mental Landscape expanded to such a large scale can't possibly have a guaranteed lock-on." Xiyue smiled calmly. "Now, they are the ones who should be anxious."
The facts were indeed as Xiyue said.
It wasn't easy for the Emperor and Jiang Si to maintain such a large-scale Mental Landscape Expansion either.
After the Mental Landscape expanded to its limit internally, there was no guaranteed lock-on effect.
However, the Emperor's own speed had already surpassed Xiyue's!
Granting probability manipulation to herself, her flying speed was almost invisible to the naked eye!
In an instant, she arrived above Xiyue and spat a dragon breath without the slightest hesitation!
The trident in her hand swung, thrusting fiercely toward the dragon breath, only to snap with a "crack"!
Xiyue's pupils contracted sharply.
The trident was an extension of her Mental Landscape's ability, capable of fusing with the opponent's magic. It shouldn't have broken so easily...
The opponent's probability manipulation curse had spread to the trident!
This meant her Mental Landscape neutralization had already begun to fail. The breakthrough speed was too fast!
Yet the next second, Xiyue threw the trident with extreme speed. The entire trident exploded and expanded ahead, instantly simulating a small Mental Landscape that swallowed the Golden Calamity Dragon King's breath.
A minor technique of Mental Landscape segmentation wasn't difficult for her, used as a shield at critical moments, but it also caused significant damage to her own Mental Landscape.
Continuing like this would naturally lead to her collapsing first...
Then she saw that youth jump down.
The speed of his leap reached the extreme, making his figure transform from a point into a line.
Concentrating on a single point, power and speed reaching the pinnacle, he crashed down onto Magical Girl Xiyue with a thunderous impact!
The tremendous force even shook her flipped Mental Landscape shell. Xiyue instantly plummeted into the world bubble below, then fell all the way to the deepest part!
"Hey, hey, hey, is this a human?"
Xiyue, who had climbed up from the ground, couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Currently, he doesn't quite count as human." Xiao Qi answered her like this.
Getting beaten until she spat blood while in her Magical Girl state... this was the first time in her life...
Indeed, as long as you're alive, all sorts of miraculous things happen.
When she looked up, she found that youth descending toward her head like a meteor once more!
She immediately rolled to dodge, but the massive impact force from him stomping on the ground sent her flying. She crashed through another world bubble, tumbling for a long time before barely coming to a stop.
Xiyue scrambled to put distance between them. Grabbing a trident to steady herself, she watched the youth about to charge again and expanded her shrunken Mental Landscape.
The sea covered the ground. The youth's movements immediately slowed, becoming unable to advance even an inch.
Polluted Magic dissolved. Disaster Beast transformation. When dragon scales began to appear on his body, they too rapidly dissolved!
Even the incomplete Mental Landscape of Mùjǐn that Jiang Si intended to expand was dissolved!
Countless Disaster Beast remains below began to move, piecing together into a colossal monster that roared furiously at the youth, swimming up from the depths of the sea and biting toward him.
Yet the youth merely lifted his foot and stomped down hard!
The monster that had just started swimming upward was instantly stomped back down!
The seawater beneath his foot was split apart by his stomp. Beneath the massive whirlpool was the dried-up seabed. All the seawater was pushed away by the impact force of that stomp, unable to gather again for a long time.
The effect dissolving his body temporarily vanished.
But it wasn't until the Golden Calamity Dragon King approached and Jiang Si's entire body was enveloped in golden curses that he completely shook off the dissolving effect within the Mental Landscape.
A sea of rules that could dissolve almost anything...
The Primordial Imperial City Sea, the water on the Road to the Yellow Springs.
[Yellow Spring Water]!
Jiang Si's expression turned serious. Something even the mighty Emperors Huang and Ye encountered on their Defying Heaven path... he never expected to experience it himself.
Carrying the water of the dead across time and space to dissolve all enemies? What a Young Supreme of the Immortal Ancient Era, what a First Generation of that time!
Without transforming, it would truly be difficult to deal with.
"To be honest, I've never been pushed to such a state before."
Xiyue gasped rapidly, a trident appearing in her hand once more. She continued.
"If you two experienced a few more Mental Landscape battles, my title of 'strongest' might truly become undeserved."
Xiyue raised her head, looking into the distance as if seeing her hometown. "Perhaps one day I will truly lose. Perhaps one day I will no longer have confidence in Magical Girls."
"But, definitely not today!"
The blue-purple Magical Girl forcefully thrust the trident in her hand into the ground.
"Mental Landscape, Expand!"
The Mental Landscape expanded once more, causing both Jiang Si and the Emperor to frown.
"What's the use of expanding the Mental Landscape here again!" Xiao Qi also asked, puzzled. "It's going to shatter!"
Yet Xiyue just grinned. "This place is the edge of the world."
The Emperor was startled and looked down.
Attached to the inner wall of the Disaster Beast, the edge of the Mental Landscape clearly appeared!
"An expansive-type Mental Landscape can achieve enclosure by borrowing the 'edge' of the world." Xiyue looked at the youth and slowly said. "Does that mean a replacement-type Mental Landscape can also obtain the characteristics of an expansive-type one by shattering its own shell?"
The Magical Girl revealed a somewhat crazed and excited expression.
"Let's gamble!"
"Three seconds of boundless replacement-type Mental Landscape expansion!"
Three seconds was the limit of time the Mental Landscape could maintain after its boundary was shattered.
The trident abruptly pierced her own Mental Landscape shell. Immediately after, as the 'edge of the world,' the inner wall of this world bubble-devouring Disaster Beast suddenly expanded outward once more!
Although the boundary constructed by the Emperor's domain hadn't disappeared yet, it prevented the Emperor's Mental Landscape edge from tightly adhering to the interior again!
Jiang Si sharply looked at Xiao Qi. The only one who could manipulate the expansion of this sky-devouring world bubble Disaster Beast's inner wall was it.
He saw Xiao Qi smiling calmly and composedly.
"This is the strongest Magical Girl in Mental Landscapes."
Jiang Si sneered coldly and simply commanded the Emperor, "Continue expanding."
The Emperor immediately expanded her Mental Landscape again, wanting to cling tightly to the inner wall to ensure the stability of the Mental Landscape boundary.
However, Xiyue's own boundary-less Mental Landscape, shattered by herself, expanded to the periphery of the Emperor's domain at an even faster speed within this three-second limit!
Replacement-type Mental Landscapes inherently had an unparalleled advantage in expansion speed compared to expansive-type ones!
In an instant, it dissolved the boundary of the Emperor's expansive-type Mental Landscape!
Although when the boundary was destroyed, a massive amount of golden curses poured into the Mental Landscape, Xiyue's Mental Landscape itself could dissolve these curses.
Jiang Si instantly crossed the distance between them, delivering a fierce high whip kick aimed at Xiyue's head!
A Mental Landscape that had lost its shell could no longer stop him!
Yet Xiyue seemed to have anticipated this as well. Numerous waters wrapped around herself. Although this kick still landed solidly on Xiyue, sending the Magical Girl stumbling backward, almost falling.
She still hadn't canceled her transformation or her Mental Landscape.
Xiyue's Mental Landscape re-enclosed in the final third second!
Jiang Si quickly pulled back. Even if he were swallowed by the Mental Landscape, it would be difficult to handle without transforming.
Although sweat beaded at Xiyue's temples and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, she revealed a brilliant smile. "It seems it's feasible."
Not only had she destroyed the enclosure of the Emperor's domain, but because Xiyue's Mental Landscape now occupied the edge of the Disaster Beast's inner wall.
The Emperor's Mental Landscape could no longer close!
"Now, let's start over!"
Xiyue declared with confidence and wild abandon. "A clash of expansive-type and replacement-type Mental Landscapes!"
Returning to the beginning, with Xiyue's Mental Landscape continuously dissolving the Emperor's expansive-type one, it was, in reality, already a dead end.
The Emperor's Mental Landscape was beginning to waver precariously...
Suddenly, Xiyue's expression froze. She looked up to see the boundary of her own Mental Landscape flip once more!
After a replacement-type Mental Landscape closed, its shell was fragile and easily shattered by an expansive-type one from the outside. However, the interior of a Mental Landscape was different. Generally, the toughness of a Mental Landscape's interior was beyond imagination, absolutely impossible for someone to break from the inside.
So, when facing expansive-type Mental Landscapes, she developed the technique of flipping the shell to ensure her Mental Landscape wouldn't quickly collapse within the expansive one.
But now, suddenly, the shell of her Mental Landscape flipped on its own...
Probability manipulation? Impossible. The Mental Landscape had been continuously neutralizing the Golden Calamity Dragon King's Mental Landscape magic effects. Probability alteration couldn't take effect on her own Mental Landscape...
Xiyue abruptly looked down at her own body.
The golden curse was blindingly conspicuous!
Then she looked at the youth who had charged in earlier and kicked her.
It was the curse brought by that kick when the opponent passed through the Mental Landscape during its expansion!
Curses were ineffective within the Mental Landscape, but if they hit the Magical Girl herself in this manner, there was no way to avoid being affected!
Because of the probability alteration of the golden curse, when she operated her Mental Landscape, a tiny error occurred, causing the Mental Landscape's boundary to flip...
This golden curse, even when affected by it, was hard to realize on one's own until problems with the results appeared.
Only then would one barely react.
It was truly... too exaggerated...
"Remarkable, Xiyue."
The youth praised her, and the next second.
Boom!
Without any chance to operate, countless curses, and even that youth's terrifying attacks, had already landed on the fragile shell of the replacement-type Mental Landscape!
A right leg like an axe cleaved through the Mental Landscape while smashing fiercely onto Xiyue's body!
"I proclaim you, an Ancient Freak! An Immortal Ancient Aberration!"
The shockwaves and ripples from the Mental Landscape explosion spread outward again and again. Xiyue, who had exited her transformation, crashed like a meteor into a world bubble above. The entire world bubble rapidly cracked and shattered!
Xiyue, along with the fragments of the world bubble, plummeted to the ground. She struggled for a moment, then lay limply on the ground.
"You... you've already won, and you still insult people..."
Looking at the youth in the sky, Xiyue pouted, saying aggrievedly, "But, forget it. Since you won, you have the final say..."
Dream Incubator Xiao Qi slowly came to her side, tilting its head.
"What a pity. The once strongest Magical Girl, Xiyue, actually lost a Mental Landscape battle to someone else."
"There's no helping it. Even though I'm called the strongest, every time I was actually fighting with all my might." Xiyue, her face covered in grime, spoke with composure. "Many, many times along the way, I almost lost. I was just... very lucky, that's all. It's just that this time, it seems luck isn't on my side."
After all, the opponent was a monster who cheated by manipulating probability.
I tried so hard. Everyone, will you forgive me?
Xiao Qi licked her cheek. "It's a shame. We cannot return you to the past to make up for regrets, to take revenge on the one who killed you, to realize your wish..."
"I never made a wish to you."
Xiyue looked at the approaching Golden Calamity Dragon King and the youth, saying softly, "I just wanted to keep protecting them. That was my wish. It's a pity I lost. I'm really sorry, everyone..."
"You and your world have long since vanished."
She heard the youth sitting on the Golden Calamity Dragon King's head say. "What exists now is merely a reflection."
The words of the victor always made people believe them involuntarily.
Because there was no reason to lie to the defeated.
"Is that so." Xiyue murmured. As she gradually faded away, she still smiled with relief and joy. "That's really great. Even if I lose, I won't... harm everyone. That's really... great..."
The Emperor looked at the fading Xiyue. "Ancient Freak and Immortal Ancient Aberration were both praising you."
The fading Xiyue then curved her eyes, revealing a satisfied smile, before scattering with the wind.
Jiang Si tapped the dragon's head.
Xiyue's phantom disappeared, but Shion's mana didn't completely vanish. Instead, it was absorbed once more by the Incubator.
Then, Shion's mana awakened more world bubbles.
One by one, the Magical Girls who were once the strongest in their own worlds opened their eyes.
The Magical Girls who hadn't participated in the battle earlier, having received more of Shion's mana, also gathered around.
At a glance, it was as if Young Supremes from all heavens descended across the river of time from the Immortal Ancient ruins, shining like countless stars!
All of them unabashedly released Magic Suppression no less powerful than Xiyue's!
Dream Incubator Xiao Qi swayed its tail, looking at the already exhausted Golden Calamity Dragon King and Jiang Si.
After Xiyue perished, the Golden Calamity Dragon King's Mental Landscape also collapsed.
Its goal had been achieved. After the Mental Landscape collapsed, the Personal Reality would develop problems. The efficiency of mana circulation, and the control and use of magic, would all be affected.
Even the Golden Calamity Dragon King was no exception.
Now it couldn't even maintain the Golden Calamity Dragon King form, gradually shrinking and transforming into thirteen dim crimson-gold light clusters that returned to Jiang Si's body.
"Successfully stripped the Golden Calamity Dragon King's power."
"Your remaining power now consists only of your physical body and the Magical Girl transformation."
Dream Incubator Xiao Qi said seriously. "The Polluted Magic in your physical body and the Disaster Dragon transformation state have been dissolved. Its strength is also starting to decline. Without Disaster Beasts, you cannot replenish your physical body's power either."
"Although the performance far exceeded expectations... it is temporarily consistent with our plan."
More Magical Girls, radiating mana fluctuations surpassing Xiyue's, began to appear behind Xiao Qi.
"Transform into a Magical Girl, Sir Jiang Si."
That flat tone carried an indescribable arrogance, as if everything about Jiang Si had already been calculated.
From the moment he entered the world bubble, every step had been calculated with precision. From using the world bubble to absorb mana to stripping the Golden Calamity Dragon King, who knows how many times this had been rehearsed.
Jiang Si didn't dislike the feeling of being studied and countered.
He felt the world bubbles he had absorbed internally and was gradually grasping the knack of using world bubbles to supply mana.
But it wasn't enough. For the current situation, this alone was insufficient.
He took out the Miracle Seed. The purple seed burned. Even if he lost all power, as long as he took out the Miracle Seed and transformed, he would possess power that could crush everything.
As soon as Xiao Qi saw him take out the seed, its tail wagged slightly faster.
"Let us witness the true power of Magical Girl Shion!"
However, Jiang Si just shook his head.
"Unfortunately, you're still a bit short."
"Is that so?" Xiao Qi tilted its head. "Then let's give it a try?"
Numerous Magical Girls simultaneously expanded their Mental Landscapes. Dense forests, eerie mountain peaks, cities, vast empty space—various Mental Landscapes covered him!
Yet Jiang Si, holding the Miracle Seed, didn't even glance at those Magical Girls' Mental Landscapes. Instead, with even greater arrogance, he laughed at the Dream Incubator. "A mere Burial World, shadows of the defeated—"
"How dare you block my path to the heavens."
Then, he gently waved his hand.
The awaited transformation chant did not appear. The youth's lips moved, but he only uttered four words.
"Mental Landscape Expansion."
The world's miracle vanished here.