Chapter Forty: A Minor Foundation Establishment Cultivator

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Jiang Si sat by the table, applying some ointment to the wound he had inflicted upon himself. Fighting against one’s own self was quite a novel experience, but for Jiang Si, it also revealed a new method for improvement. Perhaps in the future, he could always ask Qinghua to craft magical puppets for him to spar against and thus enhance his skills.

Although the gap between the physical body and magical puppets was significant, future training could involve using his transformed state to spar with the puppets, or investing different types of magic power to create puppets of varying strength gradients, allowing his physical body to break limits step by step. This would also cultivate his ability to multitask.

If effective, this method could be promoted throughout the entire sect. It would also further develop Qinghua’s abilities. Qinghua was usually lazy and needed more prodding; her skills were crucial for the future development of the sect’s cultivation arts, including mid-path weaponry, puppetry, and external manifestations.

As for the outcome of his date, Jiang Si was quite satisfied—the Disaster Control Bureau had indeed lifted their surveillance on him. After all, as long as one wasn’t connected to the Witch Society, the Bureau wouldn’t monitor so strictly. And with such a big scene made, even if the Bureau later perfectly matched his movements with where Zi Yuan appeared, they would never suspect he was Zi Yuan himself, but rather think it was just a couple’s outing.

Moreover, with the relationship with the Qingyun Sect, he could freely use concealment spells to hide his whereabouts, no longer worrying about being noticed. It was truly a triple win.

Initially, he had doubted Qinghua’s proposal, thinking it somewhat unreliable, but judging by the results, Qinghua had clearly thought it through carefully. Inner disciples of the Qingyun Sect, even those like Qinghua who seemed carefree, should not be underestimated.

Although Jiang Si considered himself talented in the cultivation path, with the demeanor of a great emperor, he was not arrogant enough to think he could foresee everything. He always needed someone to assist him in considering matters thoroughly to avoid oversight. This was the greatest help Bing Tang and the inner disciples could offer him.

Naturally, he wouldn’t attend school today either. The senior year courses had been mostly reviewed already; when the college entrance exam approached, he would seek the principal’s permission for exam eligibility, then familiarize himself further—no problem at all.

If not for the constant urge to cultivate at the Qingyun Sect and at home, where he couldn’t help but train, he might never have attended school even once. Only because the school environment was closed off, with little space for cultivation, could he empty his mind and focus on studying, finishing the senior-year curriculum.

After all, the Qingyun Sect and home were filled with training equipment and lacked restrictions—how could any normal person resist training?

After bandaging his wounds, Jiang Si closed his eyes, savoring the final battle of the day’s date. Fighting against himself made it easier to spot his own weaknesses and mental laziness. In his physical state, he occasionally couldn’t resist using tactics from his magical girl form, leading to many flaws.

If he truly encountered a magical girl of a higher realm, he couldn’t be so reckless; he would have to hold back and remain ready to change tactics or retreat. Although Jiang Si didn’t believe he would lose his transformation ability, the development of this world was always unpredictable—who knew what might happen?

If he lost the magical girl’s power, how would he fight? How would he escape from a higher-level magical girl? This had always been one of Jiang Si’s most valued questions. It was better to prepare before the storm.

On the other hand, he felt the power of the Miracle Seed had its limits. The longer he stayed at the Full Bloom level, the clearer this became. A fully exerted magical girl was like burning firewood; although at Full Bloom the burn rate lagged far behind the supply of magic power.

This was completely different from the Golden Core he understood. Even the Outer Core stage shouldn’t feel like burning timber.

No one could say what the state of Full Bloom’s peak would be like.

Once his magic power was completely consumed, what would a magical girl burn to use her abilities?

The few answers he could think of were not very promising.

Moreover, the known limit for magical girls was Full Bloom, whose destructive power at normal levels was at most city-level devastation. Of course, combined with the magical girl’s mobility, destroying a nation was not impossible.

This power couldn’t be called weak, but it was undoubtedly far from the great path Jiang Si aspired to.

In his understanding, the Golden Core Nascent Soul stage was roughly at this level. Although he had seen many unconventional methods of strengthening—like Three-Thousand Golden Core, Purple Mansion Golden Core Dao, Thousand-Year Qi Refining, Golden Core Great Dao, and Heavenly Court laws—those were exceptions.

Jiang Si did not consider himself special; he was just an ordinary cultivator.

As for certain Golden Core practitioners who could casually manipulate cause and effect, achieve immortality, predict past and future, and influence entire realms—Jiang Si had always dismissed such claims.

Foundation Establishment minor cultivators were simply Foundation Establishment minor cultivators. What was a Foundation Establishment great power? If Golden Core practitioners were this formidable, what about the great experts at the Great Perfection, Fusion, and Ascension stages?

Not to mention the immortals.

It was pure nonsense—challenging authority, overturning classics, and confusing people under the guise of past cultivation levels.

Nonetheless, all these advancements helped cultivators grasp rules, elevate their status, and ultimately transcend the world.

But in this world, trying to transcend through magical girl power alone seemed difficult.

Therefore, Jiang Si did not intend to put all his hopes solely on the magical girl form.

The Despair Seed’s power was also a strong supernatural force—it could not only amplify the Miracle Seed’s magic but also directly strengthen the physical body over time, despite its various negative effects. This was something the magical girl’s pure magic power could not achieve, which could only be borrowed in small areas for brief periods without transformation.

For Jiang Si, having multiple paths meant more possibilities. No matter what kind of supernatural power, he would accept and try it.

Of course, he was not in a hurry. Since becoming a magical girl, Jiang Si had grown remarkably patient.

Holding such extraordinary power, patience was hard to avoid. The methods for using the corrupted magic power of the Despair Seed could be slowly learned from the Witch Society. Besides, right now, the Miracle Seed was more important than the corrupted magic power.

He wanted to see what Full Bloom’s peak truly was to plan his next steps.

After treating some superficial wounds, Jiang Si reheated the leftovers he had brought back, preparing to eat and then sleep.

Today had been particularly exhausting—not because of fighting, but from multitasking to control the magical puppet while shopping.

It felt like threading a needle to embroider—precisely manipulating the puppet’s expressions while ensuring neither his movements nor the puppet’s gave away any clue to onlookers.

From morning till afternoon, he couldn’t relax for a moment.

Even Jiang Si felt this training was excessively harsh and grueling.

When he finally gave up controlling the puppet, his mind felt a heavy release.

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Jiang Si, who could face broken limbs without changing expression, experienced for the first time the torment of the mind.

That was why he intended to frequently ask Qinghua to craft puppets for him to control.

Jiang Si sought absolute mastery over his body—including mentally. No matter how much pain or torment he endured, he needed his body to remain under his control.

No matter how painful or agonizing, he wanted to suppress all reactions with willpower, never screaming or panicking.

When reading online novels before, he despised characters who panicked and screamed after minor injuries or killing someone, even vomiting or crying in shame.

He would never allow himself to show such disgrace. No matter how severe the pain or suffering, he would use his will to perfectly control his body and suppress all reactions.

That was what a true protagonist was.

Controlling the puppet made him feel torment, even unbearable at times, meaning his training was insufficient.

He planned to train harder until he was numb to it, able to manipulate the puppet with ease every day, strengthening his mental fortitude until flawless.

While planning future training, he had just eaten when the door was pushed open. Coco entered, glanced at him, took off her sneakers, put on slippers, and went straight to her bedroom.

Jiang Si glanced at the time; school was indeed over.

After casually eating a few mouthfuls, Coco tossed her backpack into her room, changed clothes, and came out. Jiang Si habitually stood, preparing to tidy the table and leave.

“Wait a moment.”

Coco suddenly called him over, sitting beside the table. “I want to talk to you. Please don’t leave yet, okay?”

Jiang Si held his bowl and chopsticks, thought for a moment, then went to the kitchen to clean up before returning to sit down.

“Go ahead.”

Coco avoided his gaze, looking at the repaired floor.

She suddenly realized how little she truly knew about her blood relative.

She didn’t know how Jiang Si had negotiated with relatives in the past, nor what he had done these years.

As a younger sister, Coco had always taken everything in her life for granted.

But during a phone call with their second uncle, she vaguely sensed this was not so.

Relatives were not easy to deal with. Even those who owed the family a lot of money didn’t pay much attention to her pleas.

At the end of the day, two children who had lost their parents’ protection could not rely on relatives’ or others’ pity or softness, much less their own begging.

This world didn’t have many selfless philanthropists willing to help for free. Dreaming that everyone would unconditionally help because she was pitiful for losing parents, especially long-term, was naive and childish.

In the past three years, due to their cold war, she knew very little about Jiang Si, so when she saw Zi Yuan and Jiang Si together, she couldn’t imagine the reason.

Now she was slowly beginning to find qualities in Jiang Si that would make Zi Yuan teacher fond of him—for instance, that he had lived independently without relying on anyone for three years.

She fell silent for a long time. Jiang Si sat there calmly, occasionally sipping water, as if already thinking about other matters.

After a while, she composed herself and took a deep breath.

“May I ask—how did you and Zi Yuan teacher meet?”

“By chance.”

“By chance?”

Jiang Si thought for a moment. “On Saturday, after school, on the way home.”

Coco then recalled Jiang Si hadn’t gone home at that time, and Captain Yinlian had been saying he was missing.

So he had met Zi Yuan teacher.

Only two days acquainted? Their relationship had already progressed to dating? That was too fast...

A flicker of doubt and regret stirred in her heart. If only she had found Jiang Si back then.

But soon she suppressed those feelings.

“Did you talk about anything?”

“She asked about you.”

Coco’s heart jumped and she clenched her fists. “What did she ask?”

“About your grades, your strength as a magical girl, and your social connections.”

Thinking about it, those were indeed things she would inquire about—not a lie.

Jiang Si was always straightforward and honest.

“How did you answer her?”

“Normally.” Jiang Si stood. “Good grades, good strength, good social relations. That’s it. Nothing else. I’m going to sleep now.”

He then prepared to go upstairs.

“My grades have improved by thirty points since last time,” Coco said, also standing and raising her voice. “My strength has grown too. Yinlian said I’ll soon reach the Sapling level. And my social relations—I’ve recently become good friends with Captain Yinlian.”

Jiang Si stopped, turned back with a puzzled expression, grabbed a cloth, and casually wiped the table. Coco bowed her head.

“Next time you meet her, you can answer like that.”

“Oh.”

No need to answer; he had already heard it.

Just as he began ascending the stairs, Coco called after him.

“Wait, I have something else to ask...”

“Say everything at once.”

The air froze for a moment.

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Coco shrank her hand. Although the tone was not unkind, it was too cold and stung her.

“Well, will you bring Zi Yuan teacher home sometime?”

The question was difficult to ask.

But she had to, after all, they were a couple. Bringing a girlfriend home was normal.

Even staying overnight was normal...

The air froze so still that Coco felt time had stopped. The agonizing wait felt as long as three classes.

Finally, Jiang Si replied, “It won’t disturb you.”

Coco’s expression was a mix of hope and hesitation. “If she comes, could you let me know in advance?”

“I’ll try.”

Watching Jiang Si go upstairs, Coco finally exhaled slowly and sat down.

Although the fact that Zi Yuan teacher was with Jiang Si made her feel both upset and awkward, having more chances to see Zi Yuan teacher in the future was a good thing.

She even made herself laugh quietly at her own bittersweet thoughts, then rested her head on the table, lightly bumping it.

No matter Jiang Si and Zi Yuan’s relationship, she would first try to build a closer bond with Zi Yuan teacher.

Maybe she could learn how to use magic power from her, like Senior Hyacinth.

As for being banned from entering the Disaster Control Bureau because of Jiang Si’s relationship with Zi Yuan, and only being able to act with Captain Yinlian—it didn’t matter.

While imagining how to ask Zi Yuan teacher to teach her, her phone suddenly rang.

It was a message from the Disaster Control Bureau.

“Tomorrow, a large number of disaster beasts will appear. All team members, please prepare for battle.”

She wanted to contact Captain Yinlian to ask what was going on but found the phone was unreachable.

She could only wait until tomorrow.

…

Bingtang watched the gradually dissipating Zi Yuan puppet, face full of regret.

Despite trying her best to get the puppet back, she was still too late. By the time she returned to the Qingyun Sect, it could no longer maintain form.

When she reached it, Bingtang didn’t have time to reach out before the puppet began to disintegrate into ashes.

Who knew when the next puppet could be made...

“Lady Bingtang, there’s news from Susan,” Yoye said, looking serious, holding a mirror.

Susan relied on her divination ability to send intelligence.

“Didn’t Susan say the Disaster Control Bureau was strict now?”

“Apparently, they detected a large number of disaster beasts about to appear. The Bureau is very busy and chaotic inside. She finally had a chance to send out the intelligence.”

Bingtang frowned slightly. “A large number of disaster beasts?”

“Yes,” Yoye’s face showed concern. “The Bureau’s disaster beast monitoring is technology delegated from their headquarters and has never been wrong. They plan to abandon the southern region, and the Bureau informed us in advance.”

“Heh, ‘abandon’ means they’re just throwing it to us to handle.”

Bingtang was not surprised. The Bureau always did this; both sides had a tacit understanding.

“How many disciples remain in the southern sects?”

“Three at Sprout level, one at Sapling.”

“That’s enough.”

Qingyun Sect assigned disciples to regions in groups of four, usually led by a Sapling-level magical girl. Since there aren’t many Sapling magical girls, sometimes a stronger Sprout would lead.

“Have them stay alert and have Yumo ready to support at any time.”

“Understood.”

Usually, the Bureau’s monitoring gave a day’s warning, so preparation time was sufficient.

The mass appearance of disaster beasts was likely connected to the Witch Society.

Naturally occurring disaster beasts rarely appear en masse simultaneously.

So Bingtang was worried about possible accidents and deemed it safer to have Yumo ready to help.

“The Witch Society seems to have finally lost patience,” Bingtang pondered. “What about Yinluo? Did Susan keep an eye on her?”

“Susan left first; she doesn’t know if Yinluo returned afterward. But Susan is guarding near the safe room where the Miracle Seed is stored. If Yinluo tries to act, she’ll head there first. She won’t miss it, making it easier to gather evidence of her Witch Society membership.”

“Good. This time, we must ensure she brings out the Miracle Seed. Tell Susan not to lose track of her.”

After arrangements, Bingtang sent the current plans and latest intelligence to Jiang Si as usual.

Then she suddenly thought of the magical girl combat team captain.

Yinlian had recently been on good terms with Coco.

She sighed with regret for her, unsure what would happen to her next, hoping Coco wouldn’t be involved.

After reading Jiang Si’s reply, she looked back at Yoye.

“Have Qinghua and the others prepare. The Witch Society might become active tomorrow. The sect master’s order is clear—don’t let a single one escape.”

“Yes.”