Starting with magical girls, I'll reign supreme for eternity.

Chapter 54 You Are the Challenger (5000 words)
Rock Sugar was in a bad mood.

On the chessboard of heaven and earth, a single move made, losing to Yu Mo, it's hard to be in a good mood.

She remembered that there was a winning strategy for Gomoku, but the match was rushed today, and she had forgotten to memorize it beforehand, which led to her carelessness and loss to Yu Mo.

This girl seems to have secretly memorized a winning formula, which is why she was so confident in demanding a game of chess between heaven and earth.

Got infected.

Yu Mo is getting more and more cunning. What will she become in the future? As the deputy sect leader, I'm actually having trouble dealing with her.

This is absolutely outrageous...

Half of Shion's magic power is certainly enormous. Even if it is divided into two puppets, it is enough to last for two or three days as long as there is no intense battle that would accelerate the consumption of magic power.

But of course, I don't want the rock sugar to run out in just two or three days...

Asking Jiang Si for magic power once or twice is fine, but it's unlikely to work every time.

However, seeing Yu Mo's happy expression made her feel relieved.

Well, it's not like there isn't any, two or three days is fine.

Today is naturally the day to inspect the results of Qinghua's work. Originally, Bingtang was worried that the magic power of Qinghua's two magic puppets would not be evenly distributed.

The results showed that the magical power distribution between the two puppets was extremely precise, with a difference in magical power no greater than the thickness of a hair.

"Ugh, Yu Mo kept me up all night, I need to catch up on some sleep, but I feel like my control over magic has improved quite a bit..."

After handing in her task, Qinghua muttered to herself as she found a corner, wrapped herself in a blanket, and went to sleep.

Qinghua has now dropped out of school. Among the true disciples, she is the only one whose studies are terrible. Even the teachers don't care about her. Bingtang had initially considered letting her study properly.

But they found that she really wasn't cut out for it, and forcing her to study would only be torture for both of them, so they gave up on the idea.

Qinghua currently does some part-time work online. She enjoys it and earns some money, so there's no need for her to stay in school for long periods.

With the salary from the Qingyun Sect, as long as I don't mess around, I should have no problem living a comfortable life.

I'm afraid Qinghua will squander his money. Among his disciples, Qinghua is the most unruly.

Yotsuba, Rokuyo, and Yumo have all gone to school. Yumo stared at the blue-and-white porcelain all night yesterday, so she'll probably just catch up on sleep at school...

Although it's nothing, Qingyun Sect has special tutoring time. After all, they often miss classes when they are on missions to clear out disaster beasts. In order to avoid delaying their studies, Bingtang will hire teachers for them at her own expense to provide tutoring.

As for Bing Tang herself, since Jiang Si didn't go to school, she was almost too lazy to go either. She had a one-on-one tutor at home, and she had already finished all the high school courses when she was in junior high school.

If Jiang Si hadn't been still in high school, she would have already gone to university. According to her family's plan, after completing her university studies, she would immediately return home to take over the relevant business, and then find a husband to marry into her family and live a peaceful and stable life.

Of course, if Jiang Si were to marry into the family, Bing Tang thinks it wouldn't be out of the question...

To be honest, her family definitely wouldn't mind. It's just like an ordinary family's son marrying into the family, and Jiang Si is the kind of person who has absolutely no interest in money or company power. It's exactly what her family wanted, and there won't be any trouble.

Jiang Si definitely wouldn't agree to that...

Moreover, there is the Qingyun Sect business. Although it was built by Bing Tang, she never felt that the Qingyun Sect belonged to her. It was Jiang Si's business, and she was just a partner.

With such a large company and such strong capabilities, how could he possibly become a live-in son-in-law?

She manipulated Shion's puppet, sat down in front of her, and then shook hands with it.

The feel of a puppet is actually quite different from that of a real person. After all, magic has no temperature. The burning sensation that Shion feels when using magic comes from her own control over the magic.

Essentially, magic loses its warmth once it loses its master's control.

Although it looks nice, I always feel that the rock candy feels pretty good to the touch.

The craftsmanship of blue and white porcelain is still reliable.

She touched the fingers of the Purple Orchid Doll, pinching its nails; between its fingers, it was almost indistinguishable from a real person.

When you press your palms together, it feels like you're pressing them against a wall.

Of course, what's most hard to ignore is that perfect face.

She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that she could still see some resemblance to Jiang Si in his facial features.

However, there are also many subtle changes in many places, so much so that the actual differences are quite large.

After all, Jiang Si's appearance can only be described as pretty, not particularly feminine.

She reached out and smoothed the Purple Doll's hair. Hmm, the hair felt much more realistic than skin.

She had thought about doing Ziyuan's makeup before, and even took a lot of cosmetics from her home vanity, but after looking at Ziyuan's eyebrows...

After trying to draw a couple of strokes, I felt like I had just gone to the wrong place...

No matter how much makeup you put on, it always seems like an unnecessary addition, or even ruins the overall aesthetic.

After wiping off the makeup, Bing Tang fell into deep thought.

Is it a bit too hasty to take the puppet shopping now? It might make it seem like my motives for asking Jiang Si for magic are impure.

But if I don't take the puppet out shopping now, I'll probably have even less time when I get busy later...

If it were really used for training, I'd be a little reluctant to use it. Combat consumes magic quickly, and it wouldn't last even two days.

Even if it's just for show, we still need to do combat training, otherwise we won't be able to ask Jiang Si for magic power in the future.

It would be best to wait until Jiang Si comes to the Qingyun Sect before showing it to him...

It would be great if it could be preserved permanently.

Jiang Si once said that the path to immortality encompasses everything, including puppet soldiers.

While the blue and white porcelain dolls are stunning, they are like water without roots or wood without soil, ultimately reflecting a lower level of thinking.

If we can obtain the necessary materials, we can certainly make further progress.

It concerns the art of crafting puppets and refining weapons for immortality, and in the future, it can provide sect disciples with the sect leader's personal trials indefinitely. It is practically all benefits and no harm.

It's absolutely not because of my own personal selfishness; for the sake of the sect, we must find a way to permanently preserve the Violet Puppet...

She lay comfortably on the lap of the Purple Puppet, looked up at it, and reached out to touch its chin. It was so tender that it seemed like you could squeeze water out of it. She wondered how Qinghua could make it so delicate.

She had worked with the previous Shion Puppet before, and the details of its skin were actually quite different from what she sees now.

It really was through making magic puppets, and with Yu Mo's encouragement, that I improved my precision in controlling magic by a lot.

My fingertips traced across the puppet's lips, feeling like I was squeezing jelly.

This makes me wonder if Ziyuan's lips are really that plump and bouncy? Did Qinghua add a little something extra...?

The puppet's lip was scratched by nails that hadn't been trimmed in a long time, though they were quickly repaired by magic.

But even such a small waste of magic made Bing Tang feel a little heartbroken, so she rummaged through her bag and took out nail clippers.

I was going to fix it myself, but after looking at Shion, I felt it wasn't necessary...

He handed the nail clippers to the puppet and manipulated it to begin trimming his nails.

Admiring the puppet's focused expression, one can imagine that Shion herself would have a similar look.

Then I thought of something else.

Since it's a puppet, the toenails should be fine too...

Lost in her fantasies about what to do next, the mirror left behind by Yotsuba lit up.

After the leaves emerged, a series of intelligence reports were transmitted.

The new magical girl at the General Administration is of the Blooming level, which Bing Tang also knows, but why did she suddenly go to Jiang Si's house and even try to recruit Jiang Si into the Disaster Management Bureau?

Upon hearing this news, the precision with which he manipulated the puppet dropped, and he almost cut his own flesh.

After receiving news of the appearance of a B-level disaster beast, Bing Tang quickly left Qingyun Sect and rushed to the scene immediately.

She only cut her nails halfway, and there was even a notch in the nail of her index finger.

For someone like me who always strives for perfection, this is extremely irritating.

I'm in a really bad mood.

I finally have some free time today.

Therefore, when Iris knocked over the monster, she lost interest in hiding it.

"This is Qingyun Sect territory, newcomer."

Iris also carefully observed the other party. Standing atop the high-rise building transformed into an ice sculpture, the blue magical girl was surrounded by snowflakes.

Winter Lord.

Besides Shion, she is the most famous and strongest magical girl in the Qingyun Sect.

She had read the relevant reports and records of the Qingyun Sect in Beihai. Most of the time, it was this Dongjun who handled the affairs of the Qingyun Sect, negotiated with the Disaster Prevention Bureau, and fought against the disaster beasts. Ziyuan, on the other hand, rarely showed up.

Or rather, the Disaster Management Bureau rarely recorded the events during Operation Aster.

The Disaster Management Bureau has compiled a very comprehensive record of Dongjun's abilities, to the point that even ordinary citizens in Beihai know quite a bit about them.

Most importantly, the level is only for new seedlings.

"As an illegal organization, it's a bit impolite of you to mark off territory in front of officials, Ms. Fuyuki."

Iris tilted her head slightly, her expression haughty. "I don't mean to be rude, but you should call your leader over."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the giant elephant beast tried to rush into the city. Iris landed on the ground and tapped the ground lightly with her wand.

The enormous calamity beast sank into the ground, its terrifying gravity pressing it down relentlessly.

"Excuse my bluntness, but your strength is not yet at the level where Lady Shion needs to take action."

"is it?"

Iris was about to give her a hard time when she suddenly realized that the giant elephant, whose body was half-buried in the ground, was roaring and running underground!
Dirt flew everywhere, power poles and trees collapsed and broke, and the monstrous elephant, even under terrifying gravity, continued its frenzied charge! It plowed a deep abyss into the ground!

Completely unexpectedly, a B-rank calamity beast was able to withstand his gravity suppression, and in the blink of an eye, the calamity beast charged right in front of him.

Iris took a step back, her wand glowing with a dazzling blue light, ready to increase the gravity once more!

However, when she looked up, the girl who had been standing on the high-rise building had somehow appeared in front of her and even lightly stepped on the head of the monster.

Where her toes touched the head of the calamity beast, thin ice spread rapidly until the charging calamity beast completely lost its momentum and came to a stop just in front of the Iris who was waiting in full force.

The enormous monster turned into a perfect ice sculpture in the blink of an eye, and even the ground that the monster had cleared along the way was frozen.

A chill swept over her, and Iris took a breath. Her previously confident and relaxed expression turned serious.

This is something that a new magical girl like Shin-chan could never do!

"Your magic manipulation seems a bit rough; you actually managed to let a B-rank monster break free."

He frowned, ignoring the provocation.

The snowflakes were still falling, and Iris realized that her magic was not functioning smoothly.

Isn't the ability limited to low temperature and controlling ice?

Why is even the flow of magic frozen?

“Mediocre work, secondly, a lost place of infighting.”

An invisible force field spread out from around the iris, causing all the falling snowflakes to turn and fly back into the sky!

Even Dongjun's opinion has changed somewhat.

To be able to achieve this level, one must possess considerable magical power and control.

This was the first time she had ever seen such a level of skill in a magical girl outside of the Qingyun Sect.

It seems the General Administration isn't as useless as it thought.

No wonder the headquarters is so confident that it sends magical girls from various branches to further their studies every year.

As Iris felt the magic power beginning to flow smoothly within her body, she smiled nonchalantly.

"Just as I thought, the culprit blocking the flow of magic is your snowflake. It's an unbelievable ability. How can your basic ability develop the effect of freezing magic?"

Dongjun didn't say anything, but simply picked up a snowflake and blew it away.

Fine ice needles came crashing down like a torrential rain!
Masterpiece, number six: Rain of Pear Blossom Needles!
Iris released her wand, and the blue wooden wand transformed into a halo that enveloped the nearby ground.

"You're saying my magic manipulation is rough?"

Instead of covering every corner with gravity manipulation, Iris targeted each ice needle, precisely and meticulously covering the gravity field!
This action was like using a wheat awn to poke down every single needle; it had no other purpose than to show off to Dongjun his absolute control over magic!

Among her classmates at the headquarters, no magical girl can control her magic better than her!
However, the next second, each ice needle precisely grazed the side of the gravitational field, and the position of each needle was adjusted differently, perfectly and thrillingly avoiding the constraints of the gravitational field.

This means that in that instant, the opponent not only manipulated all the ice needles with magic, but also changed their direction at the same time!
There are far more than a thousand of these ice needles.

It's not just the astonishingly delicate manipulation of magic, but also the ability to multitask as if one has a complete overview!
Iris no longer acted arrogantly; the blue halo formed by her wand suddenly expanded, and the gravitational field instantly covered the entire surrounding area.

All the ice needles were simultaneously annihilated in the gravitational field!
It doesn't matter if the precision of magic manipulation is not as good.

As a manifestation of her burgeoning magical power, she has an absolute advantage. No matter how precise her manipulation is, she can simply overwhelm it with her magical power!

Iris's expression turned serious. "I'll offer a word of praise; your control over magic is indeed astonishing. It's a pity you're only at the Seedling level. If you were at the Blooming level, I might indeed find it troublesome. But against a Seedling, I have no reason to lose! There's an insurmountable chasm between Seedlings and Blooming!"

The gravitational field expanded again, and the gravity within it suddenly became extremely chaotic. The frozen calamity beast was instantly shattered into pieces of ice crystals by the gravity!

boom!
As Dongjun fell from the high head of the calamity beast, the umbrella in his hand folded up, and when he stepped onto the ground, it made a huge tremor.

It felt as if a mountain had been lifted to the ground.

The ice on the ground cracked, and the crisp, cracking sound traveled from Dongjun's feet all the way to the distant high-rise buildings.

"Got you!"

Gravity held Fuyuki firmly within, while Iris stood with her hands behind her back. "Either you obediently come back to the Disaster Management Bureau with me, or you call Shion..."

The cracking sound of ice breaking came from the soles of Dongjun's feet and instantly spread throughout her body!

Iris's smile froze; she initially thought her gravity had injured the other person.

However, since she is in magical girl form, even if she is torn apart by gravity, she will not be in any danger to her life after exiting the transformation.

But the next moment, the rising dust made her realize she had been overthinking things.

That shattered Winter Lord was just an ice sculpture!
"Let me correct two of your mistakes."

The ice dragon roared as it charged from afar, a chilling wind howling along its path!

With a casual wave of her hand, Iris tore apart the enormous ice dragon in an instant. However, the shattered ice fragments condensed again into ice spikes, densely trapping Iris within them.

Gravity enveloped her, and all the ice spikes fell to the ground, but the cold air spread across the ground without stopping, quickly rising to her feet and beginning to climb up her body.

Ice spikes rose from the ground, forming a cage that trapped her inside.

"First of all, I am not a new seedling, but a half-step bloomer. I am stuck at the half-step bloomer not because I cannot break through, but because I do not want to break through for the time being."

The gravity around the iris twisted, forming a tornado that swept up and blew away all the ice shards.

Looking up at Winter, who had somehow taken out the Seed of Lamentation of the Calamity Beast in the distance, Iris glanced around again.

Because it was obvious that the Dongjun she saw was still not the real Dongjun.

The other party has already left.

"Secondly, your strength is only at the peak of the early stage of the Blooming Realm. There is no insurmountable gap between you and the Half-Step Blooming Realm."

Dongjun turned to the side, opened the umbrella again, and gracefully twirled until her figure gradually disappeared.

"You still have a long way to go, newbie."

The snowflakes and ice in the sky suddenly froze, and the entire suburbs fell into a cold silence.

The gravitational field cannot change the coldness of the Xuanbing.

……

By the time Susan arrived, Dongjun had already left. She looked at the iris frozen in ice and her heart skipped a beat.

She originally thought that only Ziyuan in the Qingyun Sect could handle the iris, and she was worried that Lord Dongjun might suffer a loss.

Looking back now, I realize I really looked down on Lord Dongjun...

Just as I was wondering how Lord Winter had won, the ice block that had sealed the iris suddenly shattered and flew away!

The iris, now fallen to the ground, remained silent, staring blankly into the distance.

As a fully blooming flower, it's surprising that it lost to a new shoot. Although it doesn't seem to be injured at all, Iris must be very upset.
Thinking this, she was about to go over and offer a few words of comfort as a teammate.

Unexpectedly, Iris suddenly turned her head and looked at her with a serious expression:
"Susan, what do 'half-step bloom' and 'peak of early bloom' mean?"

(End of this chapter)