Chapter 16: Stop Destroying Our Worldview

A purple one, a magical girl?

Yinlian's heart sank.

The true leader of the Qingyun Sect was a purple magical girl; Dongjun was merely the figurehead. This was the only piece of information the Disaster Strategy Bureau had managed to uncover regarding that mysterious organization.

However, no one knew exactly what level the purple magical girl was.

Dongjun was nearing the "Full Bloom" stage, possessing strength roughly comparable to Yinlian, the Magical Girl Captain.

Although the Bureau had the "Full Bloom" rank, in reality, the highest-level magical girl within the Bureau was a Full Bloom.

"Full Bloom" status was almost never seen.

But reaching Full Bloom was no easy feat. Generally speaking, if a magical girl—whether official or a freelance one—promoted to Full Bloom, the Bureau would be able to observe it through certain abilities.

And the Bureau had not observed any Full Bloom-level magical girls in Jianghai City.

Logically, the purple magical girl should be at most comparable to Dongjun, at the "New Sprout" level approaching Full Bloom.

Yet, even among New Sprouts, there were hierarchies. The Qingyun Sect was an organization that placed immense value on power levels; if the purple magical girl was above Dongjun, her strength would likely be greater than Dongjun's as well.

She just didn't know by how much...

But most importantly, why did Keke know her?

*You're going to fail your political vetting at this rate, Keke.*

While she worried, the two firebirds took flight once more in the next moment.

Yinlian quickly regained her composure. Regardless of who the purple magical girl was, the most pressing matter was to deal with the Disaster Beast.

However, the two firebirds suddenly merged into one and turned, racing toward the outskirts of the city!

Yinlian never imagined that a dignified B-class Disaster Beast would actually flee.

Most Disaster Beasts were monsters driven only by instinct, and their instinct was destruction. Generally, they did not possess emotions like fear; even when facing powerful enemies, they would fight to the death with absolute madness.

Many novice magical girls would succumb to the relentless brutality of Disaster Beasts, losing heart even if they possessed sufficient strength.

Therefore, it was generally better for new magical girls to be led by seniors; the casualty rate for a freelance magical girl's first battle was extremely high.

B-class Disaster Beasts possessed a slight degree of intelligence; they could recognize a gap in strength and even employ deception, but overall, they were still like beasts, fighting to the death.

In all her years as a magical girl, Yinlian had never seen a B-class Disaster Beast turn and run...

Furthermore, the firebirds were incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, they had flown into the distance, becoming nearly impossible to track with the naked eye.

She immediately took out her phone to contact the Disaster Strategy Bureau. A B-class Disaster Beast charging into the city was a catastrophe; the Bureau had to quickly lock onto its location. There happened to be a magical girl on duty in that direction...

However, before the call could go through, the purple magical girl standing above gave a light wave of her right hand.

A massive amount of magic shimmered, gradually converging in her hand to form a giant bow.

The mysterious purple magical girl was not tall, roughly the same height as Yinlian in her non-transformed state, perhaps even shorter. Although her expression was indifferent, her features were actually quite cute, making it difficult for anyone to feel fear toward her.

The longbow formed from magic glowed with iridescent light; the small girl wielding the massive bow created a striking contrast.

Her right hand slowly pulled an arrow from the air, also composed of purple magic, its edges flickering like flames. As she notched it onto the bowstring, her long purple hair fluttered, appearing as if it were one with the arrow.

As she drew the string, a dull, creaking sound of accumulating power could be heard.

The moment she released it, it was as if a brilliant sun had flashed for an instant, forcing people to squint.

The surging magic expanded, even blowing Keke away.

Yinlian quickly flew over to catch Keke, who had nearly fallen. When she looked up, the arrow streaking through the air had left a long, purple scorched trail in the sky.

The firebirds, already far away, let out a shrill, agonized cry!

Then, crimson flames mixed with purple light plummeted from the sky, crashing onto the distant highway.

Although the Bureau had done its best to evacuate nearby civilians...

The firebirds had flown too fast, stretching the battle line too long. There was no telling if anyone was still on that highway. The B-class Disaster Beast had been shot down, directly smashing a section of the highway and submerging it in a sea of fire.

She hoped no one was caught in the crossfire...

But more shocking to Yinlian than anything else was the opponent's strength.

The power of that single shot was something only a Full Bloom-level magical girl could achieve!

Though the purple magical girl was secretive, she had actually made appearances over the past few years.

The Bureau had observed her at least four or five times. They simply couldn't find her true identity, only knowing she had close ties to Dongjun and was highly likely the true leader of Dongjun's organization, the Qingyun Sect.

According to previous deductions, the purple magical girl's strength should be comparable to Dongjun's—a New Sprout of the same level.

At full strength, she could approach the Full Bloom level.

But now it seemed the Bureau's deduction was completely wrong.

That casual strike had already reached Full Bloom; she was undoubtedly a true Full Bloom magical girl...

Why did she appear now? What did she want? Would she attack them?

Clutching Keke tightly, Yinlian's entire body tensed. Her petals multiplied rapidly; she dared not hold back, unleashing almost all of her magic.

The massive amount of petals possessed not only offensive and defensive capabilities but could even distort light to create visual displacement.

Of course, the effect of the petals did not stop there. In truth, her petals originally had only one effect: using floral fragrance to induce hallucinations in opponents, thereby stripping them of their ability to fight.

The surrounding mass of petals seemed to be increasing her defense, but in reality, they were constantly secreting nectar and fragrance, attempting to drag the opponent into a hallucination...

However, the purple magical girl stepped forward. Her petite frame stopped before the swirling petals. Tilting her head with an indifferent expression, she extended a slender index finger. Her fingernail was a pale, natural pink, and she lightly tapped a petal.

Her finger sank into the flesh of the petal.

A violent, scorching magic instantly swept through all the petals!

They burned into a purple sea of fire!

Yinlian's magical girl combat suit was also instantly incinerated by this magic, forcing her out of her transformed state.

"Run..."

Yinlian only managed to utter those words before falling unconscious, plummeting helplessly toward the ground.

This time, it was Keke's turn to grab her captain. With her other hand, she grabbed her broom to avoid falling, but her eyes remained fixed on that purple figure.

"Teacher, Teacher Shiyuan," she stammered, "That was amazing."

Her mind was still reeling from the shock of that arrow.

As for Yinlian's petals being burned away, causing her to lose her transformation and fall unconscious, in Keke's eyes, it was simply that Yinlian had attacked first, and Teacher Shiyuan had merely defended herself...

Shiyuan glanced at her but didn't take it to heart, turning instead to fly toward the direction where the firebird had fallen.

The Seed of Lament—the magic crystal—had not been obtained yet.

B-class Disaster Beasts were extremely rare.

In BH City, she had only encountered two B-class Disaster Beasts in total. The last time she faced one, she was only a New Sprout and had failed to hunt it down.

The magic of a B-class Disaster Beast was nearly comparable to a New Sprout magical girl; they were incredibly rare.

Such a massive amount of magic would surely provide a significant boost; she had to get her hands on it.

"Teacher! I joined the Disaster Strategy Bureau!"

Behind her, Keke closed her eyes and shouted with all her might, "I am now an official magical girl!"

"I know."

Shiyuan looked at her younger sister. "You don't need to tell me."

"I... I heard that Senior Shiyuan, you are a freelance magical girl, the leader of the Qingyun Sect..."

As Keke spoke, her voice grew smaller. "Why... why didn't you take me to the Qingyun Sect back then? You guys have always been recruiting magical girls, right?"

Ever since Yinlian had introduced the Qingyun Sect to her, this had been Keke's greatest confusion.

The Qingyun Sect had been competing with the Bureau for people, aggressively recruiting magical girls.

So why hadn't they recruited her?

Back then, if Teacher Shiyuan had only said the word, she would have definitely joined the Qingyun Sect.

But Teacher Shiyuan had left without ever mentioning it.

Was it because she was too busy? Or was it because Teacher Shiyuan didn't want her to join the Qingyun Sect and ruin her life?

She didn't want to keep overthinking, so she simply asked.

"Why didn't you take me with you?"

Thus, the purple girl turned around.

Her appearance was as lovely as when they first met; her exquisite features formed a cute face, yet it possessed a majesty and coldness that made one's heart race. The intense contrast always left a deep impression.

Moreover, Keke had personally experienced her gentleness when she was saved by her.

"Because you are too weak."

The tone was icy, and the words were unbearably cold. "Too weak, and your personality is too soft. You aren't suited for the Qingyun Sect; the Disaster Strategy Bureau is a better fit for you."

"I... my personality isn't soft!"

Regarding being too weak, Jiang Keke had no way to argue, but regarding her personality, she stiffened her neck and retorted.

"Not soft? Hiding on a rooftop to eat by yourself."

Jiang Keke's face instantly flushed red, leaving her speechless.

Then she felt a sense of confusion—how did the other person know?

Had she been watching her even before the Disaster Beast arrived? Or was Teacher Shiyuan a classmate from middle school?

Regardless, she had been paying attention to her...

While Keke's mind wandered, Shiyuan did not wait for her, turning to fly toward the crash site of the firebird.

Consequently, Jiang Keke shouted from behind again, "I will get stronger, Teacher Shiyuan!"

"I will work hard to get stronger and catch up to you! When that time comes... when that time comes, please be my friend!"

Hearing the shouts from behind, Shiyuan felt a flicker of surprise.

Was Keke usually such a proactive girl?

In her memory, Keke had always been a quiet, somewhat passive girl.

Even though her relationship with her family was extremely poor, most of her reactions were based on how others treated her.

She was like a toad—only jumping when poked. If ignored, she likely wouldn't react at all.

So, for her to take the initiative to ask to be friends was somewhat beyond Shiyuan's understanding.

*The kid is growing up, I suppose. She is in her second year of middle school, after all.*

As for letting Keke join the Bureau, on one hand, it was indeed because Keke was too weak.

On the other hand, by joining the Bureau, she would inevitably enter a magical girl combat team, which meant one more source of information.

While moles like Susan could obtain most of the Bureau's information, they actually couldn't access much information regarding the magical girls themselves.

The magical girl combat teams were relatively independent within the Bureau, and their movements were difficult to monitor; having Keke there would make things easier.

And there would be no need to worry about being discovered if she transformed too close to her.

Arriving at the crash site, she saw the wreckage of two or three cars that had already exploded and burned. The highway had been severed, though the collateral damage wasn't massive.

The magic of that arrow had been focused very precisely, preventing the destruction from spreading to the surroundings; most of the impact here was actually caused by the Disaster Beast's self-destruction.

Following the magical signature, she found that someone had already beaten her to the corpse of the firebird and extracted the Seed of Lament.

A black cloak, an ominous magical aura, and withered skin beneath the cloak.

And the signature blood-red cross pattern on the forehead.

The figure stood atop the firebird's corpse, holding the Seed of Lament as if offering it up in worship and awe.

"This is a treasure we spent a long time procuring, Lady Shiyuan."

Raising an eyebrow, Shiyuan asked, "The Witch Society?"

A disciple of the Qingyun Sect had once fallen and joined the Witch Society, leaking some information about the sect.

So, it wasn't strange that the Witch Society knew her codename.

She had no intention of hiding the name Shiyuan.

"It is an honor that a great figure like the Sect Leader of the Qingyun Sect has even heard the name of our Witch Society."

"The existence of the Witch Society is older than the Qingyun Sect."

"But our influence is far inferior to the Qingyun Sect you have built over these recent years."

The raspy voice sounded as if it were enduring great pain. "Truly, the student has surpassed the master. However, the strength of the Qingyun Sect is still far from enough to contend with the Disaster Strategy Bureau. You should know how many powerful magical girls are in the Bureau's headquarters; the power of the Qingyun Sect is still far behind."

Seeing Shiyuan fall silent, the member of the Witch Society raised the Seed of Lament. "So, how about we cooperate? The Witch Society has always respected your ability—not only for stepping into Full Bloom so quickly but also for gathering so many loyal magical girls. If you cooperate with us, we can provide you with more and stronger Disaster Beasts."

Then, lowering her voice, she added, "There is even the Seed of Miracles, which is enough to elevate your power to Full Bloom!"

"The three you just stole from the Bureau?"

The Witch Society member looked surprised, then nodded. "As expected of Lady Shiyuan, nothing escapes you. It's not just these three; we can obtain more. As long as you cooperate with us, we can give them all to you..."

Halfway through the sentence, Shiyuan's finger lightly tapped the woman's forehead.

The withered face lifted, looking at her with a sense of confusion.

*How did this magical girl touch me? And how did she get so close?*

*Have my magic sensing and pollution abilities both failed?*

"I don't need you to bring them to me," Shiyuan said, looking at her expressionlessly. "I will go and take them myself. They were mine to begin with."

A purple flash instantly pierced through the Witch Society member's head. The withered woman's head snapped back as she fell onto the corpse of the Disaster Beast. The Seed of Lament was thrown from her hand, and Shiyuan caught it casually.

The magic was indeed delightfully rich.

Just as she turned, an icy blue light descended beside her. Dongjun approached in a few quick strides, produced a handkerchief, and took Shiyuan's finger—the one she had just used to tap the member's head—and began to wipe it meticulously.

"You should have waited for me to handle it. It's not good to get your fingers dirty. I'll be out of school any moment now."

"..."

Then, Dongjun glanced at the corpse of the Witch Society member on the ground and asked, "Is it alright to use such methods to snatch things from the Witch Society? It doesn't quite fit our identity as the leaders of the righteous path of the Qingyun Sect, does it?"

"Listen, Dongjun. In our cultivation world," Shiyuan said seriously, using that cute face that was hard to find intimidating, "we don't bother with 'martial ethics' when dealing with the unorthodox and evil."

*Robbing criminals is just a daily occurrence, after all.*

However, to maintain the persona of the righteous leader of the Qingyun Sect, Shiyuan did not say that out loud.