Starting as a Magical Girl, I Alone Shall Rule for Eternity

Jiang Si regretted that he couldn't find the tape recorder.

When he fought Dujuan yesterday, the recorder had fallen; although it played the bell sound at the perfect moment during his transformation, and the effect had pleased Jiang Si immensely.

It fit the fantasy background music in his head of an immortal making an entrance.

But unfortunately he couldn't appear as an immortal—he could only take the form of a Magical Girl, which felt like a waste.

He'd forgotten about it when he left.

The recorder itself wasn't expensive, bought from a two-yuan shop; if it was lost, whatever. What hurt was losing the recorded bell sound.

That bell had been absolutely perfect—Jiang Si had never encountered a bell tone that matched his taste so well. Now it was gone, and he might never be able to record the same one again. It was a real pity.

After searching a while longer and confirming it was impossible to find, Jiang Si gave up, looked up, and glanced toward the Disaster Control Bureau.

He didn't know what Su Shan had come for, but Yin Luo had clearly looked unfriendly.

Ever since he jumped six meters high at the Disaster Control Bureau, they should have been wary of him.

Of course Jiang Si had done that on purpose.

As Keke's brother and a Magical Girl's family member, he would inevitably have to face Disaster Beasts and all kinds of enemies in the future.

He had never hidden his daily training; anyone who looked carefully could discover his weaknesses.

But that power was simply the result of straightforward training.

So there was no need to conceal it—growth in strength leaves traces, and investigations wouldn't turn up anything abnormal.

If you've done nothing wrong, you have no need to hide it; Jiang Si was innocent and had nothing to conceal.

However, judging from Yin Luo's attitude today, it seemed the Disaster Control Bureau had developed suspicions about him.

That suspicion probably wasn't about his power, but something else.

Was it because of last night's battle?

Their clairvoyance should be unable to see him, and they couldn't see Shion either…

Wait, they couldn't see him?

Jiang Si suddenly realized: he only disabled the Barrier Leaf in places without suspicion, like at school or at home.

When he fought or transformed into Shion, he would normally switch the Barrier Leaf on to hide himself.

Six Leaf's ability was especially convenient—the person protected by the Barrier Leaf could switch it on and off voluntarily.

Although no one had been actively scouting him before, Jiang Si had kept this habit to avoid being accidentally discovered by someone one day and exposed.

But the problem was, if they watched him too closely they could detect anomalies.

Last night, the Disaster Control Bureau people had been searching for him; that Peony was probably using clairvoyance to watch. They couldn't see him, so it was natural they'd become suspicious.

Sigh—Barrier Leaf was just a petty trick, far inferior to the immaterial sight barriers of the immortal schools.

It only did shielding, not interference or misdirection; its limitations were too great.

He needed to properly develop Six Leaf's ability, letting her reach the level of an immaterial sight barrier; that would make Azure Cloud Sect's future operations easier.

This was the most convenient thing about Magical Girl powers.

As long as a branch ability relates to the user's original power, with belief and persistent training it could be developed into various divergent branches.

For example, a Magical Girl who uses water—if she could truly believe water can burn, she could turn her water into Sea-Core Flame.

Believe that ice can burn and she could create Bone-Spirit Cold Fire.

Of course, actual power depends on the Magical Girl's rank and mana level; she probably couldn't match a genuine supernatural flame.

Besides, most Magical Girls have basic common sense; it's hard to make them sincerely believe in things that violate physical law.

He and Bingtang had conducted many experiments on this—belief was a Magical Girl's strongest weapon.

So the remaining question was how to make Six Leaf firmly believe her ability could progress toward an immaterial sight barrier.

Children were malleable; give them a solid enough reason and they'd accept it easily.

Getting Magical Girls to believe something was calculated and farsighted.

Jiang Si never begrudged developing abilities for his disciples—developing some powers gave him new ideas and made copying possible.

But abilities like Four Leaf's divination with hexagrams often had flaws: either very high thresholds and environmental requirements preventing real-time calculation, or severe backlash requiring long recovery after a use, sometimes limited in number until the ability vanished permanently.

Four Leaf suffered heavy backlash and needed a long rest after each use, so Jiang Si wasn't too interested; that kind of ability was troublesome and hindered combat.

As for Six Leaf, her development had been only at a basic novice foundation level before; he had ignored her. If he could later develop her to the immaterial sight barrier level, Jiang Si would need to pilfer a Dao fruit and copy it.

He thought of Yin Luo, the one who had spoken to him.

Most likely she was a Witch Association foot soldier.

Not worth fearing—have Bingtang deal with her.

He wasn't interested in tangling with ordinary people who didn't even possess transformation ability.

With that thought, he continued his morning run toward the city, doing counter-surveillance on the way. He covertly swept the surroundings with a trace of mana to confirm no one was tailing him, then ducked a few alleys and used the Barrier Leaf to enter the Azure Cloud Sect.

He went straight to Bingtang to discuss how to handle the suspicion. His recent movements had overlapped too much with Shion's; if the Disaster Control Bureau investigated seriously, they'd easily find clues.

They had to make sure no one guessed he was Shion.

When Jiang Si arrived at the sect and told Bingtang his idea,

Bingtang, who had just received a message from Su Shan, immediately and matter-of-factly said, "Then have Jiang Si and Shion appear at the same time, right?"

Jiang Si felt a surge of respect—this was indeed the simplest and most effective plan.

"The Disaster Control Bureau already knows you have an ability to shield against clairvoyance. This time, let them see you and Shion meet and act familiar. That will explain why you can block clairvoyance while preventing them from guessing you're Shion. Heh, as for why you're familiar—our Great Shion wants to personally get to know and recruit Keke through Brother Jiang. Isn't that reason convincing enough?"

"I told you not to recruit her."

"But Keke has shown astonishing potential. Who says Great Shion can't change her mind, hmm?"

Jiang Si was silent for a moment, then asked, "Won't the Disaster Control Bureau turn hostile?"

"You have connections as Keke's brother; they have to consider the fallout. Besides, although the Disaster Control Bureau mouths threats, they've always avoided confronting Shion." Bingtang smiled. "They won't really offend us. The Disaster Control Bureau still relies on us to handle Disaster Beasts. They won't make a move unless it's critical. You're just an acquaintance of Shion and not close to Azure Cloud Sect—so no need to rush. Wait and see how the Disaster Control Bureau acts next and we'll decide accordingly."

"Okay. Also, Bingtang, deal with Yin Luo at the Disaster Control Bureau..."

...

Back in her own room at last, Jiazhuyao took a deep breath, switched off the light, and took out a crystal ball.

Compared to before, the bright crystal now showed only three images, making the view feel much more spacious.

"Cough cough cough! Cough cough cough!"

A violent coughing fit came from the captain in the center. Jiazhuyao and the other female member remained silent until he finished.

"What's the matter?" the girl who had never reported her codename asked with genuine puzzlement. "Been under the weather recently?"

"Cough, cough—ran into Winter."

"Winter again?" the girl laughed. "Then it's no wonder. Lucky to come back alive. Oh, I really want to see the captain getting thrashed and rolling around from Winter's beating."

"Twins, watch your words."

Jiazhuyao had to speak up. "Don't use honorifics for enemies, and show the captain some respect."

"You, a newcomer, telling me what to do—mind your own business." The girl snorted and then asked the captain, "Where are you hurt? It's odd—Winter's not as cruel as Shion, but she usually doesn't leave survivors."

"Not wounded—just frozen by her cold." The captain coughed twice more and cleared his hoarse throat. "Heh, not wounded, but I caught a cold from the freezing. I already bought cold medicine, don't worry."

For a moment both girls were a little speechless.

"Does Winter have a virus-spreading ability?" Jiazhuyao casually asked. "Has she developed a new power? Her abilities have always been versatile; although intelligence is public, who knows what else she can do?"

"Unlikely. Winter's ability is just low temperature; all her other powers derive from that. The captain's constitution is weak—this is the first time I've seen someone catch a cold from Winter's power."

"After all, most Witch Association members who've encountered her basically died." The captain seemed to justify himself. "Also, I didn't just meet Winter this time—Shion and Dandelion were both there."

Twins immediately straightened with respect. "You came back alive? Captain, I'm officially impressed."

"A bunch of little girls, that's all." The captain naturally wouldn't admit he hadn't actually charged in; he’d only symbolically struck a couple of lightning bolts before Winter directed a gust of cold at him and gave him a cold.

After all, their Witch Association members, who had not become Disaster Beastized, didn't have much capability to fight Magical Girls head-on.

When they discovered Dujuan surrounded by Azure Cloud Sect members, the captain only dared to watch from a distance and offer marginal support.

Of course, that was temporary—once the plan succeeded, things would be different…

"I thought she went to find Jiang Si?" Whenever the topic drifted, Jiazhuyao would intervene. "How could Azure Cloud Sect members discover her? Did the mist fail?"

The mist was the Witch Association’s countermeasure against precognition and detection—why they had evaded Azure Cloud Sect and Disaster Control Bureau for years.

The captain shook his head at once. "Impossible. The mist is still working. I already asked the Brush Spirit; it couldn't see how Dujuan was discovered by the Azure Cloud Sect members."

This was the downside of counters to precognition and detection—not only the Witch Association's mist but also Azure Cloud Sect's Barrier Leaf and the Disaster Control Bureau's wristbands would cause their own precognitive abilities to fail.

They had to rely on other means of contact.

That confusion explained why Dujuan had been surrounded and killed by Azure Cloud Sect without understanding why.

"Could it be that Azure Cloud Sect found a way to break through the mist?"

Twins's suspicion was immediately rejected by the captain. "If that were true, Jiazhuyao would be exposed first."

"Probably just a coincidence." Jiazhuyao toyed with the crystal ball. "Azure Cloud Sect people sometimes wander the city. There are lots of them; a chance encounter isn't unbelievable."

"She's just unlucky then." Twins laughed sweetly. "Women who don't smile are prone to misfortune. You too, Jiazhuyao—be careful."

"No need for you to worry about me."

"Awww, such a cold tone. Are you upset with me?"

"I'm just not fond of unserious people, not aimed at you."

"But I'm the only unserious one here—aren't you targeting me?"

The captain coughed violently again, interrupting the two girls' banter. "Cough cough, now is not the time to argue. Dujuan and Hu Lang are dead; we must unite…"

The captain, coughing, sounded a little angry. "The Azure Cloud Sect and the Disaster Control Bureau haven't clashed—yet you two want to fight because of both sides' relationships? What a joke!"

Twins, whose tone had been murderous, immediately switched back to impish. "I was teasing her, captain."

"I was teasing you, brat."

"Shut up, listen to me." This time the captain would not let them talk freely. "Don't force me to turn you into Disaster Beasts."

Twins shrugged and quieted; Jiazhuyao also fell silent.

"I'd hoped you could distribute all the seeds, but given the situation, I know things aren't that simple."

The captain produced a metal test tube as he spoke. "I'll send the medicine to you. I allow you to use one Miracle Seed first. Jiazhuyao—if it doesn't work, forcibly secede from the Disaster Control Bureau and deliver the seed yourself."

Jiazhuyao bowed her eyes slightly and nodded. "Understood. Thank you for the trust, captain."

"Don't disappoint me, Jiazhuyao. I'm looking forward to your results."

After Jiazhuyao's communication ended, Twins lazily said, "Is this really okay, captain? She joined us to get that medicine, right? She already has a seed and the medicine—will she still want to come find us? Whether she wants to deliver the Miracle Seed depends entirely on her loyalty."

"This is both a test and an opportunity."

The captain said slowly, "I hope she doesn't act clever on her own, or that would be a real pity."

Twins immediately raised a hand. "Captain, I want to take the organization's test too—give me one."

"Get out."

"Tch." Twins clicked her tongue. "I'll be waiting to see your failure then."

The captain waved a large hand. "No matter what, this operation is secret—we appear weak while hiding our intent; the advantage is ours!"