Chapter 4: I Am Magical Girl Shucao!

“Transform!”

Mo Yao endured the discomfort in her body, gripped the gem tightly in her hand, and shouted the words with all her might.

A brilliant pink light immediately burst from the gem, illuminating the dark forest.

The light then transformed into soft, flowing ribbons that layered over one another, forming a pink cocoon of light that slowly enveloped Mo Yao’s body. 

The wooden nails pinning her arm were gently pulled free by the ribbons’ miraculous power.

Mo Yao felt sensation return to her pierced, ice-cold arm. 

Her hazy consciousness grew sharp and clear once more.

Startled by the sudden change, she closed her eyes. 

She sensed herself being wrapped in warmth as gentle radiance continuously washed over her body, making her flesh feel stronger and more resilient. 

At the same time, her mind became sharper and clearer under the light’s baptism.

Is this… the power the voice spoke of? It’s real?

She did not know why she had trusted the voice so completely. 

Perhaps it was simply because she had desperately wished for power. 

What she had never expected was that the power would actually come.

“Far from it. The real show is still to come. For now, open your eyes.”

Hearing the voice again, Mo Yao slowly opened her eyes, determined to see exactly who—or what—was speaking.

There was no figure in front of her, only a vast, sparkling starry sky. 

She stood alone within it.

While she was still confused, glowing screens appeared around her, unfolding like paintings against the backdrop of stars.

As the light on the screens faded, the images within them became clear.

Mo Yao looked closely and realized the scenes showed moments from her own life: playing with Bai Qiushui, the crushing disappointment of discovering she had no spiritual roots, watching helplessly as the black-robed men slaughtered the villagers, and other fragments of her past.

She turned and saw that the images behind her were completely different. 

They depicted many girls in strange, colorful outfits battling monstrous creatures amid clusters of tall gray buildings.

These… are my memories? 

Then what are the ones behind me? 

Someone else’s memories?

Just as she reached out to touch the screens, they dissolved into countless glowing particles that flowed into her body. 

Her vision was once again swallowed by light.

When she opened her eyes again, Mo Yao found herself back in the mountain forest. 

The scenery looked almost identical to before the ribbons had wrapped around her, yet something felt subtly different.

Why does everything look… shorter?

She muttered to herself in confusion, but the moment the words left her mouth she noticed something even more wrong.

“Why does my voice sound like this?!”

The voice that came out was not the familiar one she had known for sixteen years. 

It was a clear, gentle, unmistakably feminine tone.

She was no longer “he.” She was “she.”

Mo Yao now had waist-length pink hair adorned with several blooming cherry-blossom ornaments. 

Her eyes, a soft gem-like pink, widened in shock as she stared down at her transformed body.

She wore an ornate lolita-style dress decorated with layers of elegant ribbons.

Her slender legs were covered in white stockings and finished with small pink leather shoes. 

Of course, she had no idea what any of these garments were called.

“I… turned into a girl?!”

Mo Yao examined her new form. 

It felt as though she had been given an entirely different body. 

Although it was nothing like the one she had known, moving in it felt completely natural and effortless.

What unsettled her most was the body itself. 

After living as a boy for sixteen years, the sensations of a girl’s body filled her with deep embarrassment and discomfort.

So this is the so-called “price.”

Since the change had already happened, Mo Yao could only sigh in resignation. 

She remembered the unfamiliar memories she had seen on the glowing screens.

Her current outfit bore some resemblance to the clothing worn by the girls in those scenes, so she assumed she had become something similar to them.

“That’s right. You are now a magical girl.”

The mysterious female voice spoke once more inside her mind.

“Even though you’ve taken the form of a girl, the power of a magical girl is incredibly strong.”

Hearing the voice, Mo Yao carefully tested her new body. 

She could tell that her physical strength alone was several times greater than it had been in her male form.

“There’s no time to waste. Hurry back to the village. I’ll explain everything else once the village is safe.”

“Mm.”

She glanced at the Shadow Recording Stone lying nearby. 

Bloody light filled its surface, showing Bai Qiushui confronting the stone’s owner. 

The sight told her she had to return as quickly as possible.

She kicked off the ground with force. 

The powerful thrust sent fallen leaves swirling around her as she shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Qiushui, hold on just a little longer. I’m coming.

***

Inside Qinglu Village.

Bai Qiushui was the first to fully sense and control the spiritual energy within her body, successfully stepping into the early stage of Qi Refining.

The instant she broke through, she activated the emergency communication talisman. 

Infused with her spiritual energy, the talisman turned into a streak of light and shot into the sky. 

At the same time, she rushed out to find the black-robed man and stop him from harming any more villagers.

Racing through the burning village, Bai Qiushui thought of the people she had known her whole life. Just that morning they had greeted her, chatted with her, and congratulated her on becoming an immortal’s disciple. 

Now they were being slaughtered, their souls extracted, their bodies reduced to nothing. 

She had not even been able to see Brother Yao one last time.

The nausea and rage in her heart deepened. 

She could not understand how anyone could treat human lives so cheaply or view others as nothing more than resources for their own advancement.

Following the source of the sinister spiritual energy, Bai Qiushui quickly located the black-robed man who was casually chasing a few terrified youths.

“Hee hee hee. Keep running! If you stop, you’ll lose your lives!”

Just as the man summoned a skull and ordered it to devour the soul of the boy ahead of him, a firewood chopper wrapped in spiritual energy flew in from the side and shattered the skull.

“Stop right there. Your opponent is me.”

A cold voice rang out. 

Bai Qiushui leaped into view, fury written across her face. 

She held a sword she had grabbed from the ruins. 

Though it was only an ordinary weapon, the spiritual energy coating it made it a real threat to a cultivator.

“Early-stage Qi Refining? You broke through that quickly? Not bad talent. But you really think one little girl can defeat me? How naïve.”

The black-robed man sneered at the girl before him.

“What if we join her?!”

Two more figures appeared behind the man—Lü Yang and the other youth who possessed spiritual roots.

Seeing the three of them, the black-robed man could not help but laugh.

“Hahahahaha! I never expected three early-stage Qi Refining cultivators to appear in such a short time. Looks like the massacre gave you quite the motivation. But without proper techniques or magical artifacts, trying to make up for the gap in strength with numbers alone… Heh. Why don’t you all come inside my soul banner for a chat?”

With a flourish of the soul banner in his hand, two skulls shot out and shrieked toward the two boys behind him. 

At the same time, the man lunged straight at Bai Qiushui.

The boys immediately circulated their spiritual energy, wrapping it around their limbs.

Using ordinary martial arts, they dodged and weaved around the skulls. 

Though the skulls were powerful, without direct control they had trouble landing clean hits. 

After each dodge, the boys’ spiritually enhanced fists slammed into them, weakening the black energy around the skulls slightly. 

The effect was small, but better than nothing.

On the other side, the black-robed man swung his banner. 

The yin-energy-covered shaft smashed toward Bai Qiushui again and again, carrying fierce gusts of wind. 

She could only block desperately with her sword.

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you so arrogant before? Look at you now—so pathetic!”

The man mocked her relentlessly, yet he was secretly puzzled. 

Why was the spiritual energy on her sword so resilient?

His soul banner had devoured hundreds of mortal souls and should have been able to shatter an ordinary weapon’s energy on contact. 

Instead, it only scattered part of the sword’s spiritual coating. 

And the moment she pulled back, the energy quickly reformed.

This girl must be hiding some secret. I’m even more eager to see what kind of living soul she’ll become once she enters my banner.

While the man was thinking this, the other demonic cultivator fighting Peng Yue sent him a voice transmission.

“Stop playing around! They’ve called for reinforcements. The support is almost at the array’s edge! Finish the leader’s mission first. We can deal with the souls later.”

“Tch.”

The black-robed man clicked his tongue in annoyance and retracted his banner, flashing to the side.

“I was hoping to play with you a little longer and let you savor the taste of despair, but the mission comes first.”

He formed a hand seal. 

The blood-red light screen covering the sky flared brilliantly.

“Bad! Stop him!”

Bai Qiushui shouted. 

She and the other two youths charged at the man, desperate to interrupt whatever he was doing.

“Rise!”

With a loud shout, a powerful shockwave erupted from the man’s body and sent all three flying. 

At the same time, waves of blood-colored ripples flowed in from every direction and swirled around him.

Screams rose from all over the village. 

The people who had hidden themselves had their blood and qi forcibly extracted the moment the blood screen activated. 

Young and old alike—every villager of Qinglu who had not yet been found—were instantly turned into dried husks!

Only the three youths, protected by their spiritual energy, survived.

“You bastard! What have you done?!”

Bai Qiushui roared and hurled her spiritually charged sword. 

The blade shot forward like a rainbow, aiming straight for the black-robed man. 

But the moment it touched the blood-colored ripples surrounding him, it was brought to a dead stop.

“I said hiding would let you live a little longer. I never said you’d survive.”

The man smiled contemptuously and flicked his finger. 

The sword became coated in blood-red energy, reversed direction, and pointed its tip directly at Bai Qiushui!

“Let me show you the difference in power!”

With a fierce shout, the sword turned into a streak of bloody light and flew straight at Bai Qiushui. She had no room to dodge.

Time seemed to slow for Bai Qiushui. 

She stared helplessly at the oncoming crimson sword light, trying to move, but the blood-colored ripples around her held her completely immobile.

Am I… going to die? Damn it, I haven’t even avenged Brother Yao and the others yet.

With that thought, she glared fiercely at the man, eyes filled with unwillingness.

I wonder… after I die, will I get to see Brother Yao again?

Right at that moment, a flash of pink radiance streaked down from above, punching straight through the blood-red barrier and landing directly in front of Bai Qiushui.

BOOM!

The pink light smashed the bloody sword shadow aside and slammed into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust that forced everyone present to close their eyes.

When the dust settled and they opened their eyes again, the pink radiance had taken the form of a girl!

The petite girl wore a strange, ornate outfit. Her round face was adorable, her skin smooth and delicate, and her gem-like pink eyes gazed gently at Bai Qiushui.

To Bai Qiushui, the girl looked like a heavenly immortal. She was momentarily lost in awe.

“It’s okay now.”

The girl’s small cherry-pink lips moved, and her clear, gentle voice reached Bai Qiushui’s ears.

“Who… are you?”

Bai Qiushui asked, staring at the girl before her.

“Me?”

The girl looked at Bai Qiushui and answered with a soft smile.

“I am Magical Girl Shucao.”

Then she turned to face the black-robed man, her eyes burning with anger.

She stretched out one hand, placing herself protectively in front of Bai Qiushui. 

Glancing back, she gave her a reassuring smile and said,

“Leave the rest to me!”