“We seem to be done for,” Su Xiaocheng said gloomily.
“Xiaocheng, later I’ll try to restrain the Witch for a few seconds. Take everyone and retreat while you can.”
Lu Yinxi stepped forward, her eyes carrying a trace of reluctance.
“You won’t be able to run away—not a single one of you!”
The mysterious seed bloomed with light inside the Flower Witch, supplying her with massive amounts of magic power while simultaneously purifying her body.
“Wouldn’t it be better to calm down a little?”
A clear, ethereal voice echoed through the underground cavern.
Just hearing the voice made one feel her helplessness.
[Savoring Tea: Calm Heart, Quiet Mind]
A cup of clear tea appeared out of thin air and splashed onto the Flower Witch.
The magic power supplied by the mysterious seed was cut off.
The Flower Witch’s aura instantly weakened.
The vines stabbing toward the group went limp and fell to the ground.
“Who are you?” the Flower Witch demanded.
“Just an ordinary Magical Girl passing by.”
The Flower Witch tried to see through the old woman’s strength, but in her perception the Tea Grandma was like she didn’t exist at all—not a single trace of aura leaked out.
“Little thing, you’ve been causing trouble right under my nose for thirty years. I was simply too lazy to deal with you before, and now you dare to probe me?”
Tea Grandma sensed the Flower Witch’s prying and spoke bluntly.
Having her full information seen through in a single glance, the Flower Witch’s eyes gradually became clearer.
“Can we reach a compromise?”
“What do you think?”
Tea Grandma gave an evil, charming smile.
The wrinkles on her face bunched up together, giving her the perfect image of a major villain.
The Flower Witch spat out the mysterious seed, transformed into a seven-colored streak of light, smashed into the rock ceiling above, and carved out a new tunnel.
She fled without looking back.
“Tea Grandma, aren’t we going after her?” Su Xiaocheng asked in confusion.
“No need to chase.”
Tea Grandma caught the mysterious seed and said lazily, “If she hadn’t run, I would have been the one running.”
“Ah?”
“What ‘ah’? Did you really think you could use me as a thigh to hug?”
Tea Grandma conjured a tea table out of thin air and beckoned.
“Come sit, all of you. I’ll explain slowly.”
The group obediently sat down with their teacups. After refilling everyone’s tea, Tea Grandma’s eyes filled with reminiscence as she slowly began speaking:
“A very, very long time ago, I came to this place. Back then, it was still a barren mountain. I cleared a small courtyard on the summit and planted some tea bushes.”
“It matches the legend quite well. The only difference is that the legendary Magical Girl planted flowers,” Su Xiaowei said.
Everyone stared at Su Xiaowei with strange looks.
“W-what are you all looking at me for?” Su Xiaowei felt a little guilty.
“The flower you mentioned? Isn’t it right here?”
Tea Grandma tossed the mysterious seed onto the table.
“Isn’t this… a seed? Is this the seed left behind by that flower?”
Su Xiaocheng asked.
“Flower? I never actually managed to grow any back then. I don’t even know what kind of seed this is. I was too embarrassed to let others know I couldn’t even grow a single seed, so I used magic to create a projection and pretended I had grown it.”
Tea Grandma leaned back lazily in her recliner as she spoke.
“……”
The mysterious seed that had been casually tossed onto the table rolled and rolled until it stopped right in front of Su Xiaocheng, about to fall off the edge.
Su Xiaocheng instinctively reached out to steady it.
Then, the mysterious seed dissolved into her hand in a watery, glistening manner.
“Ah?”
Su Xiaocheng stared at her hand, lost in thought.
“Xiaocheng, are you okay?”
Lu Yinxi asked worriedly.
Remembering how the Flower Witch had suffered terribly after swallowing the seed, she prepared to act at any moment to extract it.
Tea Grandma stared at Su Xiaocheng, making her feel uneasy inside.
“Tea Grandma, what… is going on?”
Su Xiaocheng didn’t feel any discomfort, but she still asked weakly.
After examining Su Xiaocheng thoroughly several times, Tea Grandma asked, “Do you know what this seed is?”
“What is it?”
“It is an un-sprouted Miracle.”
Tea Grandma said with a complicated, resentful tone.
“Miracle?”
The unfamiliar term immediately caught the attention of all four girls.
“You should all know that the key to breaking through A-rank is to master your own inherent domain. However, a domain is ultimately just a manifestation of magic power and has a limited capacity.”
“Then what is a Miracle?” Su Xiaocheng vaguely guessed something.
“That’s right. A Miracle is an essential item for breaking through to S-rank. Something that theoretically shouldn’t exist is called a Miracle.”
Tea Grandma’s emotions were complex.
The Miracle she had obtained back then was this very seed, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t fuse with it.
In the end, she had no choice but to give up and settle for a different Miracle.
Tea Grandma stretched out her hand. In her palm was a vibrant, green tea leaf.
“This is my Miracle—[Aged Glory]. It has the effect of prolonging life and granting immortality.”
“Immortality?”
“That’s correct. I’m not exaggerating. I am actually a Magical Girl from five hundred years ago. In one battle, I was on the verge of death. Relying on the power of [Aged Glory], I returned to this place where I once lived, planted a tea garden, and have been lingering on ever since.”
“Then… that seed?”
Su Xiaocheng felt her heartbeat quicken.
It seemed she had obtained something extraordinary.
“I don’t know exactly what it is. I only know that the Miracle it corresponds to is related to purification. Only after it sprouts and grows will it become a complete Miracle. Right now, it can only be considered a quasi-Miracle.”
Tea Grandma said seriously, “Even though it hasn’t fully matured yet, it already possesses power comparable to some relatively ordinary Miracles. For five hundred years, it has been accumulating purifying power. Just the purifying power stored within the seed right now is already far beyond what an A-rank could withstand.”
“It’s a good thing the Flower Witch didn’t successfully fuse with it,” Su Xiaocheng said, feeling lingering fear.
“Her?”
Tea Grandma scoffed disdainfully.
“The Flower Witch was born from negative emotions thirty years ago. She was lucky enough to be born near this seed and absorbed a bit of purifying power, which allowed her to maintain her sanity.”
“She was already blessed with great fortune, yet she was still greedy and wanted to refine a purification-type Miracle as a Witch. If I hadn’t stepped in to save you all, I wouldn’t have needed to do anything. If I had just ignored her, she would have been completely done for in a short while.”
“But Xiaocheng hasn’t even mastered her domain yet. Wouldn’t it be dangerous for her to come into contact with a Miracle so rashly?”
Lu Yinxi asked worriedly.
Tea Grandma said seriously, “That’s exactly what I wanted to warn you about. The power of a Miracle is not something you can control right now. I can give you two choices.”
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