“Flashy but impractical. Magic power utilization efficiency is too low. A huge amount of magic was wasted on unnecessary special effects. If it weren’t for the Purification attribute carrying her, who knows where Xiaocheng would have been sent flying to.”
Li Yanyan paused for a moment, then added after careful observation, “By the way, Xiaowei, was your protection still active just now?”
“Big Sister, you’re on your own.”
Su Xiaowei silently mourned for Su Xiaocheng for a moment before nodding.
Since Li Yanyan had already noticed, there was no point in lying anymore.
“Huh? Was it really that bad? I thought it was pretty good…”
Su Xiaocheng instantly wilted.
These moves were ones she had created by combining what she had learned recently, but listening to Li Yanyan’s evaluation, it seemed they weren’t even as good as just firing a couple of magic beams.
“It’s not all bad. The final move still had some merit,” Desert Fox said.
Close-quarters combat with magic power burst — that was Li Yanyan and Desert Fox’s style.
Su Xiaocheng hadn’t learned nothing.
“No. Use that kind of move less. It’s too dangerous,” Lu Yinxi immediately objected.
A move that involved directly shoving the magic staff into a witch’s mouth to output power did deal extremely high damage, but the risk was also very high.
One mistake and it was easy to flip the situation.
It was precisely because of the witch’s desperate struggle before death that Su Xiaowei’s protection had activated.
“Xiaocheng, you don’t need to rush either. A magic’s inclination is the most suitable way for a magical girl to use magic. Magic formula theory saves you the process of finding a magic style that suits you. You can use it, but the real way for a magical girl to grow stronger is still to walk her own path.”
It sounded very metaphysical. She didn’t understand it at all.
But in times like this, nodding and pretending to understand was always the correct choice.
Su Xiaocheng nodded blankly.
Lu Yinxi also spoke up. “Xiaocheng, it’s fine to be more idealistic. Magic itself is an idealistic existence. Don’t try too hard to force a breakthrough.”
“Big Sister, think more about our bond!”
Su Xiaowei’s domain had really been awakened by shouting about friendship and bonds.
“That’s right. I suddenly felt like I had an epiphany one day, and then I awakened Garden of Splendid Dreams.”
Lu Shiyuan also shared her experience.
After the bath and the sparring, it was time to go back and eat.
The group cleaned up the area and returned to Rain Curtain City.
***
Western Capital, the capital of the Security Council.
In the most prosperous downtown area of the Western Capital, inside a building covered with various banners opposing the Parliament’s latest policies, Ye Chan, the leader of Wildfire, was lazily sprawled across the luxurious sofa in her private office.
Although Wildfire was a resistance organization, the Security Council was a place that valued freedom.
Resisting the Parliament was completely legal, and all kinds of resistance groups bloomed everywhere.
Wildfire was simply one of the outstanding ones among them.
“Hmm? An Li is buying Absolute Spirit Sand?”
Looking at the latest message she had received, a trace of surprise appeared in Ye Chan’s beautiful eyes.
“This is quite the coincidence. I remember there seemed to be Absolute Spirit Sand at that ruin an explorer team found before? I think I handed it over to someone to handle?”
A few months ago, a fairly capable explorer team had ventured deep into the Eye of Yellow Sand and discovered a ruin.
In the end, almost the entire team was wiped out, with only two people surviving by luck.
After returning, one of them sold the information to Wildfire.
However, according to his description, there was still a key in the hands of the other survivor, which had been sold to a collector.
Ye Chan hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time and simply handed the matter over to her subordinates.
She never expected that place could actually come in handy.
“Well, since An Li needs it, I’ll just give it to her. Who told us to be good friends?”
Ye Chan casually sent a message to the person labeled as “Third-in-Command.”
Far away in Rain Curtain City, Cai Hui received the instruction from Ye Chan and subconsciously recalled the information about An Li.
“Hiss… Now that I think about it, this An Li… isn’t she the little girl who was at the same table as that fox that night?”
Cai Hui asked his underling uncertainly.
“Boss, I think so. The little girl wearing a white lab coat.”
“This is perfect! That ruin — if someone enters without the key, it’s a nine-out-of-ten chance of death. As long as I lure them over there… Hehehehe.”
“Boss, this isn’t a good idea, right? This is an order from the leader after all.”
The underling tried to stop Cai Hui from courting death.
“Hmph. The leader only told me to pass on the message. How could I go against the leader’s instructions? As for someone dying inside the ruin, what does that have to do with me?”
“The leader is far away in the Western Capital and doesn’t know the situation inside the ruin. That’s only natural. Even if the Research Institute blames us later, it’ll be their own fault for walking into it.”
“Besides, An Li is a Chief Researcher. Would she personally go on an adventure? This kind of dirty and tiring work will definitely be handed over to her subordinates. Desert Fox? Mercenaries are paid to do exactly this kind of job, aren’t they?”
Cai Hui let out a sinister laugh.
***
“Huh? There’s news about Absolute Spirit Sand already?”
Hearing Desert Fox’s message, An Li put down the instrument in her hand and spoke with pleasant surprise.
“Yeah. It’s information the Association acquired, but the authenticity still needs to be verified.”
Desert Fox nodded.
An Li needed Absolute Spirit Sand for her research, so Desert Fox had casually posted a related bounty through her own Association.
Unexpectedly, someone had actually provided information.
“Where is the location mentioned in the intel?”
“Eye of Yellow Sand.”
Just thinking about that damned place gave Desert Fox a headache.
The Eye of Yellow Sand was a forbidden zone deep within the northwest desert.
It was constantly shrouded in an aura of death.
Because this death aura was highly beneficial to witches, extremely troublesome witches would occasionally appear there.
Moreover, due to the local environment, witches’ combat power would increase by several times, making them extremely difficult to deal with.
“Is it very dangerous there?”
An Li asked worriedly as she looked at Desert Fox’s furrowed brows.
“Dangerous. Going there basically guarantees you’ll encounter A-rank witches.”
“Just A-rank?”
An Li began calculating whether her budget was enough to bring Su Xiaocheng and the others along to gather materials.
Li Yanyan was S-rank.
Adding Xiaocheng’s group, plus herself and Desert Fox, they had a total of six A-rank combatants.
Even if they ran into an S-rank witch, they should still be able to retreat safely.
“Eye of Yellow Sand? That’s actually a pretty good place.”
Li Yanyan felt that as long as the funding was sufficient, going there wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Huh? But it sounds really dangerous…” Su Xiaocheng said.
“Don’t forget that your trial still requires finding a wild [Miracle]. Ordinary places won’t give birth to a [Miracle].”
“It’s decided then. We’ll make a trip to the Eye of Yellow Sand. By the way, Teacher An, remember to route the payment through the Desert Fox Association. They take a smaller cut.”
“?”
An Li felt like she was seeing some kind of evil Finance Minister.
Since when did magical girls also do financial planning?
“Alright, it’s decided. We depart tomorrow. Destination: Eye of Yellow Sand!”
Li Yanyan made the final call on the itinerary.
“A forbidden zone filled with the aura of death… Will there really be a [Miracle] in that kind of place?”
Lu Shiyuan muttered quietly.
“Only by moving toward death can one truly be called a [Miracle].”