“Is it possible that the Flame Emperor actually had a little bit of a problem with the whole annulling the marriage thing too?”

When the light in the scene faded, the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect obediently sat down on the ground.

Because the Heart Image Remnant had been completely destroyed, they were actually floating in spatial turbulence.

But the Sect Master had merely pinched the remnants, molding them into a flat floor so they could sit down.

Many Inner Sect disciples were also escorting the captured members of the Witch Association and the old world who had come to the banquet.

All the Magical Girls had already canceled their transformations. Now, like curious students, they sat on the ground, looking up at their Sect Master, waiting to be let out of the spatial turbulence.

At that moment, Shion's expression was somewhat lonely.

Although she had destroyed an S-level Disaster Beast from the inside with a single strike, not only had those around her not been harmed, but she had also casually molded the beast's remains into a floor for everyone to stand on.

Yet, Shion still seemed unsatisfied, so much so that a few true-transmission disciples had gathered beside the Sect Master to comfort her.

“I think Nalan Yanran’s role wasn’t bad either.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The golden curses around them constantly blocked the spatial turbulence's invasion. As a result, An Shiyu and the Azure Cloud Sect disciples remained completely safe in the turbulence even without transforming.

An unparalleled sense of security.

So much so that the Inner Sect girls, seeing the true-transmission adults fussing around Shion, began to whisper among themselves:

“The Sect Master seems really lonely... Could it be that this fake marriage actually touched a real nerve?”

“Nonsense. As if some outsider could be worthy of the Sect Master’s affections. I think it’s the true-transmission adults who are truly qualified. By the way, Yueji is actually the most likely candidate. I heard that three years ago...”

“Enough. Take it away. We've already tasted enough of that dish. Everyone knows Yueji is your teammate.”

“No, no! The Sect Master clearly wants to cultivate the Path of Emotionlessness. This move is about ‘killing one’s wife to seek the Dao,’ building the immortal foundation of the [Seven Emotions Ascending Heaven Art], then using the lives of the seven true-transmission adults as kindling to ignite the Divine Annihilation, burning away her humanity, elevating the immortal foundation to a Perfect Destiny in all directions, using immortal essence to transcend the Three Realms, and then going to fight at a higher level...”

“Wow, a dark web novel reader has appeared. Everyone, stay away from her, or you’ll get sacrificed...”

Listening to the chattering gossip around her, Mùjǐn couldn’t help but sigh within An Shiyu’s body.

The Azure Cloud Sect disciples’ blind trust in Shion, and Shion’s strength that could fully answer that trust...

This was probably the key to why the Azure Cloud Sect could crush the Disaster Control Bureau.

Magical Girls, of course, trusted their seniors and their companions.

But in times of crisis, many Magical Girls would instinctively want to sacrifice themselves, wanting to protect everyone themselves.

After all, this was the very reason they had all become Magical Girls.

They didn't want others to get hurt. They didn't want others to die in front of them. They wanted to use their own power to protect others.

The Mùjǐn facing the Mirror Kingdom had been like this. The Iris and Qingluan in the Heart Image Remnant had been like this. The Hyacinth glimpsed in the Mirror Heart Reality had been like this. Even Changgeng from the past had been like this...

These over-conscious, justice-seeking heroes, with their beautiful dreams, had inadvertently created one problem:

They always tended to trust themselves more in critical moments.

Of course, this wasn't a bad thing. It was just a different choice, that's all.

Besides, if the Magical Girls of the Disaster Control Bureau had followed Shion, they would likely have developed the same trust.

Trust, in essence, was a habit formed day after day.

As long as you experienced it daily, trust would naturally develop. There was nothing magical about it.

The magical thing was only Shion herself...

Rather, what Mùjǐn was curious about was what Shion had done all this time to make the Azure Cloud Sect disciples trust her so unconditionally.

To think that not long ago, many Inner Sect disciples didn't even know Shion's true identity.

An Shiyu looked up at Susan beside her.

Her face showed no shock or unease, only excitement and a hint of envy.

“You actually know Shion’s identity, huh.”

Hearing An Shiyu’s question, Susan glanced sideways at her. “What I’m asking is, how do you know?”

“Hmph. The Sect Master and I are childhood friends, so of course I know. I know even more!”

Before An Shiyu could speak, Mùjǐn had taken over the body. “But I see you look really envious of those people?”

Susan snorted and looked back at the true-transmission disciples and the Sect Master in the center.

“One day, I’ll walk beside the Sect Master too!”

“Little Susan was born for this. I’ll be with you then.”

“Get away from me!”

As for the true-transmission disciples gathered around Shion, it was actually just Shuangye and Qinghua.

Tragically, the two of them weren’t very good at comforting people.

Seeing their Sect Master’s unhappy expression, Four Leaf and Qinghua had racked their brains.

Especially Qinghua. She hadn’t read much of *Battle Demon Continent*, and it had been a long time. The senior apprentice sister’s story had no continuation, unlike those games which had a beginning and an end. She really didn’t want to revisit it just to feel the disappointment of being left hanging by the author again.

She didn’t remember much, so she could only argue based on her memory:

“Actually, Nalan Yanran wasn’t really a villain either. She was just a temporary opponent. The main problem was that the Flame Emperor’s family at the time was terrible. The civil officials in the family were constantly oppressing the clan leader’s son, making the Flame Emperor very sensitive. When someone came to annul the marriage, not only did they not protect their own, but they tried to sell the Emperor for glory. Add Nalan’s arrogance to that, and it just ended up unpleasant...”

Four Leaf beside her nodded repeatedly. “Right, right.”

Six Leaf was behind her, jumping and trying to grab the tip of Shion’s tail, but Shion’s raised dragon tail swayed above, and no matter how Six Leaf jumped, she couldn’t reach it.

Those two girls hadn’t read many web novels, being quite young. Most of their knowledge came from others’ retellings.

Super Qinghua got more and more excited:

“So, it wasn’t Nalan Yanran who annulled the marriage with the Flame Emperor, but the Xiao Family who annulled it with the Flame Emperor! If it weren’t for the Flame Emperor guarding the clan’s gate, the family’s face and honor would have been completely ruined by the civil officials within. This just shows the Flame Emperor was too kind. If it were Bai San, the White Sea Emperor, he would have just bullied the entire Xiao Family, refined them all into soul bones, and offered them to Elric...”

Four Leaf blinked. “Elric? Isn’t the ring grandpa called Tingyou?”

“How did you read the book?” Qinghua smiled confidently. “That was the Ancient Sage, the *Ancient Sage*. *The Ancient Sage* from *Profound Mirror Demonic Sects*.”

“Isn’t the spirit in *Ancient Sage* called the Heavenly Demon?”

“You’ve got the species wrong. That was *Demon Moves the Universe*!”

“Isn’t the spirit beside Ancestor Lin the Nine Nether Sparrow?”

“You’ve got the gender wrong too. That was Lin Lei and Grandma Delin... No!”

Qinghua was startled. She turned her head sharply and saw the Sect Master looking coldly at her. Her heart instantly felt like it had dropped into ice.

Damn it. I got everything wrong too...

Qinghua quickly tried to change the subject to distract the Sect Master:

“I-in short, Nalan was just a little arrogant. She didn’t really do anything bad. In fact, she even offered the Qi Gathering Powder. She was a completely good girl, unlike the girls today who demand half your property at the drop of a hat... So, Sect Master, taking Nalan’s path is completely fine. You’re also a good girl. I remember *Battle Demon Continent* had a sequel called *Nalan Yanran’s Revenge*, which tells the story from Nalan Yanran’s perspective...”

“That’s fan fiction.”

“Oh, there’s also *Dark Auction House*, *Thousand-Year Change*...”

“What have you been reading? Stick to the original story.”

“It’s mostly suitable for gamifying...”

In the end, Shion just sighed. Even if she had messed up the lines, she wasn’t really that annoyed.

She just felt a little regretful. The opportunity was fleeting. If you missed it, you missed it.

She had originally wanted to use Nalan’s lines to enter the annulled marriage plot, but she hadn’t expected the Prince to steal the Flame Emperor’s lines, causing her to deviate too and mix up everything she’d memorized. Rather, the Prince deserved praise. To investigate her, she had even watched *Battle Demon Continent*. She had almost ruined her plans.

To gather enough imagery, she had always used the Acting Method to experience the mental states and mysteries of her ancestors.

Every time she successfully acted, her understanding of the Great Dao deepened a little more.

Wasn’t it said that mastering one method leads to mastering all methods, and all paths under heaven lead to the same goal?

These so-called imageries were just perfect for the Acting Method to gather, as if everything was arranged...

“Is it possible that someone just plagiarized and adapted it...”

Before Little Black Dragon could finish speaking, the Emperor silenced her.

The mother and daughter were still desperately pedaling the tricycle, dragging Shion’s massive form along, keeping her Golden Core from easily going out of control.

As long as Little Black Dragon could still work and create surplus value for her, there was no reason to eliminate her...

Thinking about how to steer the plot back on track, Shion felt Six Leaf hugging her tail. She flicked her tail, tossing Six Leaf into Four Leaf’s arms.

Forget it.

The annulled marriage was ultimately a trivial matter. Seeking the Gold was the top priority.

We’ll talk about it after the Prince’s unprecedented great achievement is complete.

She stood up and had Four Leaf and Six Leaf modify the memories of the remaining Inner Sect disciples and those members of the Witch Association and the old world.

It was better that not too many Inner Sect disciples knew her identity.

With the Divine Sense shielding, people in other places probably couldn’t learn her identity either.

As for those members of the Witch Association and the old world, they would have their memories erased before the disciples dumped them at the Disaster Control Bureau.

The Disaster Control Bureau was now the Azure Cloud Sect’s trash can. Whatever needed throwing away, they just threw it in there.

“I always felt that, in terms of character, the Flame Emperor might be a little inferior to the White Sea Emperor...”

“Girls would probably prefer Bai San, right?”

“I think the Flame Emperor is better...”

Although she didn’t quite understand the relationship between the Flame Emperor and the Sea Emperor, when everything settled down, An Shiyu let out a small sigh.

Susan beside her had already hit it off with the Azure Cloud Sect disciples. Although An Shiyu wasn’t without Inner Sect disciples near her, after she politely smiled and declined their offers to chat, no one came over to bother her.

“Don’t you think Miss Prince is particularly pitiful...”

Just as they were about to leave, An Shiyu looked at Shion from afar, watching her tail wag back and forth. She had no intention of going over to say hello.

For An Shiyu, she hoped to be alone with Shion, to say some private things, or pour out the thoughts in her heart.

To surround Shion like those brilliant and beautiful true-transmission disciples—An Shiyu didn’t think she would be noticed.

And she didn’t like to join in the fun at times like this.

As a small, extravagant hope, An Shiyu wished she could hold a slightly special place in Shion’s heart.

It didn’t need to be particularly important attention. Just that when Shion saw her, or thought of her, she would feel differently than she did about other girls.

Even if they could never become lovers, even if it was just as friends, An Shiyu wanted Shion to recognize that specialness every time she saw her.

Although Mùjǐn had reminded her not to use the person she liked as a benchmark for evaluating herself in the world...

But it was so easy to think that way...

However, after watching the entire annulled marriage process, the person An Shiyu could most empathize with was Miss Prince.

The bold and proactive attack, the magnificent wedding hall, the numerous guests, the nearly flawless arrangements and plans...

An Shiyu had certainly fantasized about such things. If one day she attacked boldly and proactively, could she truly walk with him into the hall of marriage?

She hadn’t done it because she lacked the ability.

The Prince was like a capable version of herself, doing everything she had fantasized about.

And then Shion had given her the answer.

She had seen her entertain guests with the entire nation. She had seen her marriage break and her heart wounded.

It was just a farce.

She didn’t know how the Prince felt, watching all her efforts turn to nothing under everyone’s gaze. Because such a proud and strong woman would surely be stronger than her, and better able to bear the pain.

But when An Shiyu thought of herself standing in the Prince’s place one day...

She felt her hands and feet grow cold. It was a terrifying scene, almost like a nightmare.

“Don’t think too much about the enemies of the Mirror Kingdom.”

Mùjǐn only answered her like this. “Maybe it’s all part of the Prince’s plan. We’re all just ordinary little girls. We can’t outsmart these deep-thinking old monsters. And you’re even pleading for one of them. Didn’t you see the two of them going back and forth, having a great fight? They were neck and neck. They both know what’s what. It’s a mutual agreement, so don’t meddle.”

“Senior is not little anymore.”

“Out of that whole long sentence, that’s the only thing you heard, huh!”

As they followed the Azure Cloud Sect out of the spatial turbulence, some Azure Cloud disciples left with the old world and Witch Association members, while others followed the true-transmission disciples towards West China and North China.

Finally, Shion turned her head and glanced at her. “You’re not going back to Beihai?”

An Shiyu was flustered for a moment, but quickly calmed down. She nodded and pulled Mùjǐn out.

Before, Senior Mùjǐn was always pulling her out to take the fall. Now it was her turn to take the fall for Mùjǐn.

“That’s right. We need to see how South China is doing. Now that the Mirror Kingdom is making its move, I have to watch over South China. They can’t bear any more suffering. Whatever your goal is, Sect Master, please pay a little attention to the lives of us ordinary folks, alright?”

“Naturally.” Shion nodded. “The Azure Cloud Sect is the righteous leader of the world.”

An Shiyu and Mùjǐn had heard this many times before.

“Good. The rest is up to you. I can’t control how you want to stir things up...” Mùjǐn thought for a moment, then asked, “But Little An has a question for you.”

“Speak.”

“Will you kill Miss Prince?”

Shion turned her head to look at Mùjǐn. The other party’s gaze was calm, and it was impossible to tell if it was Mùjǐn or An Shiyu controlling the body.

“Why do you ask?”

“I only sealed the Mirror Kingdom back then. For the sake of my good friend Changgeng, I didn’t want all of them in the Mirror Kingdom to die, because the Mirror Kingdom also has good children, you know. Look at the Prince. If you communicate with her properly, she’s just a little girl who lacks affection...”

As she spoke, Mùjǐn scratched her head. “Switching drivers! Little An, you handle it yourself!”

Suddenly switched back, An Shiyu was stunned for a moment, then felt somewhat at a loss in front of Shion. She stammered, “I-I just think Miss Prince might really like you. If she gets killed, it would be so pitiful...”

Huh? That wasn’t the original reason, was it?

Mùjǐn was stunned, then felt somewhat helpless.

In front of Shion, she simply couldn’t tell a lie, Little An...

But Shion only sneered. “That’s just acting and pretense. She’s the dignified Mirror Queen. How could she truly fall for some random Witch Association member on the street? Don’t underestimate her. From all our feigned civility along the way, I know her better than you. She is a cold, true ruler who never lets emotions sway her decisions.”

An Shiyu felt a little embarrassed and started fidgeting with her bangs. “Sorry, I asked something I shouldn’t have...”

However, just as Shion was about to leave, she couldn’t help but ask again, “Will you kill her?”

“That depends on her fate.”

Although it was only a vague promise, watching Shion’s retreating figure, An Shiyu felt a slight sense of relief in her heart.

Deep down, she felt a little happy for the Mirror Queen.

Because Shion didn’t really see her as an irredeemable wretch... People like that, Shion wouldn’t give a way out.

“What are you so happy about?”

“Because it was the Prince’s constant gestures of goodwill and proactive intimacy that made Shion feel she didn’t have to die. It proves that Miss Prince’s efforts weren’t in vain. That’s really good.”

An Shiyu said softly. “It also helps me understand him a little better.”

“What?”

“Even if he doesn’t respond, as long as you keep appearing before him...”

An Shiyu watched Shion’s departing back, revealing a bright smile. “But actually, she will remember. She remembers the changes around her and what people do. She doesn’t truly ignore them.”

“Oh, so what?”

“If no matter what you do, her attitude and evaluation never change, wouldn’t that be too terrifying?” An Shiyu clenched her little fists. “Now it’s proven that it actually works. So our efforts haven’t been wasted... She must remember that confession from back then.”

Mùjǐn also realized. “There’s a chance.”

Before she could finish speaking, a pillar of light suddenly shot up from the direction of East China.

The light pillar pierced through the clouds, and a blinding white light replaced the sun, dyeing the entire world a strange, snowy white. A visible shockwave erupted from within.

A terrifying aura and power surged within the light pillar, layer upon layer of ripples spreading like a tide across the sky.

“What is that...” An Shiyu’s eyes widened.

She saw Mùjǐn’s phantom appear beside her, her face serious:

“Someone is about to reach Full Bloom!”

...

Shion didn’t even spare another glance at the situation in South China.

The Mirror Kingdom’s focus wasn’t there either. Especially since the three key Full Bloom personnel weren’t in South China now. It was probably just a diversion.

By the time she reached Beihai, Bingtang had been waiting for her on the high-rise for some time. As soon as she got close, the girl held up an umbrella for her.

Following by her side, walking as she spoke: “We are currently monitoring the Mirror Kingdom and the Prince’s movements with high vigilance. The Disaster Control Bureau is ready to cooperate at any time. If she has any intention of publicizing your true identity, we can deal with it at the fastest possible speed, ensuring it doesn’t spread.”

Shion looked from South China back to North China and replied, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Bingtang’s light blue eyes blinked, then she said wryly, “Yeah, it really was hard work. Watching the Sect Master mess up her lines was really frustrating.”

The tip of her tail poked Bingtang’s cheek, and Bingtang playfully bit the tip of the tail.

Shion gave a cold snort but didn’t say much.

After all, she had indeed made some slip-ups, so it was hard to argue.

She was naturally aware that Bingtang had made arrangements for this annulled marriage.

When she saw Twins, Shion basically understood what was going on.

That included the arrival of many sect disciples and the fact that the Prince wasn’t even her true body—Shion could tell that too.

It had almost reached the point where she needed to ask for outside help.

She knew about the Prince’s determination to complete the wedding, even planning to hold the ceremony directly during the engagement.

After all, with the System at her disposal, this person’s understanding of web novels was no less than her own.

If it had actually succeeded, it wouldn’t have been an annulment. It would have been a divorce!

If, in the future, some heavenly rule dictated that a divorce would split one’s cultivation in half, that would truly be a failed scheme.

The Prince had entered the game with her own body, trying to beat fate by half a move. She could be called the most formidable opponent among the geniuses of the ages.

With a single open strategy, she had made Shion herself unable to find a point to develop the annulment.

Fortunately, Bingtang could always help her turn the tide in such situations. She forcefully advanced the plot, using Twins to arouse the Prince’s suspicion and testing.

She prepared the audience—the numerous Azure Cloud disciples—to minimize the impact.

This included, after the Prince left, taking control of the propaganda departments and various online channels, and combining forces with the Disaster Control Bureau’s large-scale magic information distortion barrier to prevent the Mirror Kingdom from spreading the word.

Everything had perfectly helped her achieve the annulled marriage plot while minimizing the impact and ensuring her identity wouldn’t be exposed.

All of this, without Shion having said a single word.

Bingtang had already, as if telepathically, figured out Shion’s intentions and perfectly devised a countermeasure for her.

This was the reason Shion could never abandon the Azure Cloud Sect.

‘Over at Keke and Silver Lotus’s side, Yueji reported no major problems. She also killed that Alice. But Yueji said she doesn’t want to go back. She doesn’t want to see her parents again.’

“Let her be.”

“Mm.”

Actually, Bingtang felt the same way about this, but she still had to report it to the Sect Master.

“By the way, the Mirror Kingdom has been secretly collecting a large amount of Dream Cores recently.”

When Bingtang mentioned this, Shion finally became a little more serious. “How much have they collected?”

“Because there aren’t many Dream Cores in South China, total is probably just about two or three times what Keke has.”

“Is the Dream Core also related to the Mirror Kingdom’s Full Bloom?”

“We don’t have much intel on that front.”

Shion smiled to herself.

She was still just a little girl. There were bound to be oversights. The Azure Cloud Sect still needed its Sect Master’s decisions.

So she waved her hand grandly and said in a deep voice, “We cannot fall behind. No matter what the Mirror Kingdom plans to do, we need to collect some Dream Cores now. The faster, the bett...”

Before she could finish, Bingtang handed her a jar. “Although we couldn’t collect more, we did intercept a considerable amount of the Mirror Kingdom’s Dream Cores.”

Looking at the jar of Dream Cores Bingtang had handed her, Shion was silent for a moment. After thinking it over, she said again, “If you take all the Mirror Kingdom’s Dream Cores and their Full Bloom plan fails, won’t all the bets my Azure Cloud Sect placed on the Prince be wasted? That flawless Full Bloom path was a rare find. This wasn’t a very sound move.”

Bingtang just chuckled dryly:

“Don’t worry, Sect Master. I’ve observed that the Mirror Kingdom’s demand for Dream Cores isn’t very high. I only took one person’s share to give to the Sect Master for emergencies. I didn’t touch the rest of the Dream Cores. Besides, there are backup Dream Cores in South China, available to be replenished at any time.”

After she finished speaking, she looked at the silent Sect Master and tilted her head. “What’s wrong, Sect Master? Is there anything else you’re not satisfied with?”

“No.”

Walking right beside the Sect Master, Bingtang smiled lightly and added:

“It’s all thanks to the Sect Master’s exploration in South China. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have known about such an important thing as the Dream Cores.”

Seeing the Sect Master’s expression ease slightly, the light-blue girl then hung the umbrella on the Sect Master’s tail.

She was holding documents and reports, so holding the umbrella too was inconvenient—though mostly she just thought it was fun to hang an umbrella from a tail.

The tail was actually very smooth. If the Sect Master wasn’t willing, the umbrella would just fall.

However, even though Shion frowned, when Bingtang let go, her tail naturally curled around the umbrella.

Holding the umbrella for both of them.

“The members of the old world in West China and North China have been located. Qianying and Water in the Spring each have two or more true-transmission disciples watching them. The surrounding residents have also been evacuated to avoid any accidents. According to the Sect Master’s instructions, we are conducting pressure tests to see if they will reach Full Bloom early. But we still haven’t found the last one...”

The Azure Cloud Sect’s goal was still to let the Mirror Kingdom trigger a Full Bloom, to find that flawless Full Bloom path.

Not only would it allow Shion to advance further on her Great Dao, but it would also give the Azure Cloud Sect disciples another way to break through their bottlenecks.

Furthermore, the Mirror Kingdom seemed to have a way to open the barrier.

Just as that pillar of light flared up, Bingtang and Shion both stopped in their tracks. The umbrella tilted from Shion’s head as her tail swished, and they both looked up.

A surging, pent-up magical power, on the verge of Full Bloom, was even continuously drawing on the essence of the new world!

And the location of that magical power pillar was right in the middle of Beihai!

“But, the aura still seems a bit off. She...”

As Bingtang frowned, analyzing the current Full Bloom magical aura for the Sect Master,

The sounds around them suddenly vanished.

A light rain began to fall from the sky, and at the traffic light intersection, a speeding car splashed up water.

But both the splashes and the raindrops in the air came to a standstill.

A trace of green began to sprout from within the water droplets.

Bingtang looked up and saw the figure across the street.

The red light was flashing, stopping traffic on both sides in the rain.

The pale, hollow girl releasing the aura of a Full Bloom stood there silently, unmoving, staring at them.

Like an exquisite sculpture.

A Magical Girl exuding an unstable magical aura that was still growing stronger.

Having just transformed, she had already stepped into the Blooming realm. A genius.

One of the Full Bloom Magical Girls chosen by the Mirror Kingdom.

White Fox.

The girl, holding the rainwater, looked up at the traffic light, and then her faint voice traveled across the rain:

“Shion.”

Roots of Blue Silver Grass slowly crept across the ground, following the rainwater, spreading and extending towards Bingtang and Shion.

Until the moment the green light flashed, amidst the blaring horns and shouts, the dense Blue Silver Grass on the ground exploded like depth charges, abruptly turning into a waterfall that overturned all the vehicles on the road and swallowed the two of them!

“I’ve come to kill you.”