East China, Beihai.

With the traffic light turning green, the wildly growing Blue Silver Grass engulfed the entire street.

It drizzled lightly. White Fox looked up, clouds thick overhead, showing no sign of clearing.

Vehicles around her drifted like sailboats at sea, pushed along by the surging Blue Silver Grass; drivers and passengers had already been lulled to sleep with the help of the grass.

Only after clearing the area did the Blue Silver Grass tighten again, compressing, almost crushing those trapped inside.

White Fox remained motionless as she watched the Blue Silver Prison.

Her hair and the grass were both wet—she hadn’t brought an umbrella, and didn’t want one.

Getting soaked felt blissful.

In the old world, rain was a luxury ordinary people rarely experienced.

She reached out and felt the rain’s chill and moisture, a life force that penetrated to the core.

In her pupils, raindrops hung on the grass tips like pendants, swaying, then falling to the ground and breaking into diamond dust.

Until a chill began to spread from the center of the street, which had been drowned by the grass.

In her vision, the falling raindrops slowed, time seeming to halt. Suspended droplets slowly unfolded six silver needles from within, as if embroidered with exquisite stitches.

A raindrop crystallized into a snowflake and fell silently.

Then, millions of droplets crystallized at once, and the sound of rain vanished in an instant.

What had been a gentle drizzle shattered midair into a sky full of snow.

The flourishing Blue Silver Grass withered and decayed within those drifting flakes.

In no time it melted into the snow and became part of the silver-clad land.

The strongest life energy of the Blue Silver Grass turned fragile in that ice and snow.

A cold wind scattered the snowflakes and the grass together like drifting fluff.

The intersection that had been submerged in grass finally cleared, and Shion and the ice-blue Magical Girl beside her, holding an umbrella, looked over curiously.

“That’s the White Fox?”

“Mm.”

“Doesn’t look like much, does she?”

“She’s got talent.”

“Really?”

Their idle, patronizing chatter, as if sitting by a hearth, radiated an unbearable arrogance and ease.

White Fox crouched down.

She dipped her fingers into the snow—these flakes were tangible manifestations of the ice-blue Magical Girl’s mana.

It wasn’t any special spell or technique, merely the natural outcome of the mana’s properties.

Since entering the world of Magical Girls, the things Sir had taught her slowly clicked into place.

Sir rarely lectured on theory; he only gave her a basic understanding of mana properties.

Even that was a simple overview—he never explained things in depth.

“The most important thing for a Magical Girl is imagination. Don’t restrict it. Don’t strangle your possibilities.”

“More important is having a resolute heart that believes in itself.”

The so-called Dao Heart of cultivation.

Those snowflakes weren’t killing the Blue Silver Grass from the outside; they were fundamentally freezing its mana, extinguishing its life force.

The most formidable trait of Blue Silver Grass is its adaptability.

Over the sky full of snow, silver-white blades of grass began to unfurl!

Nobler, colder, proud silver grass quickly covered the snowy ground!

“See.”

Shion said faintly, “Quite talented—the Blue Silver Emperor.”

White Fox froze for a moment, surprised Shion would give such an appraisal.

Because those were words Sir would say...

White Fox, who tended to operate single-threaded, couldn’t form more thoughts or judgments.

She snatched at a nearby snowflake.

The Blue Silver Emperor didn’t merely bloom through the snow; its tenacious vitality quickly adapted to the icy environment and even found a way to accommodate Winter’s mana nature.

It turned Winter’s mana-snow into its nourishment and grew madly!

The ground vibrated as many white Blue Silver Emperors broke through the soil, fanged and clawing, intent on swallowing the two of them again!

Shion still showed no move to intervene, only watching calmly, though a flicker of impatience touched her pupils.

She stepped forward.

White Fox immediately began to back away, and at the same time she grabbed Shion’s ankle in a sudden, fierce clamp!

Countless Blue Silver Emperors surged and wrapped toward Shion’s ankle.

But just before touching her, the movements of those grasses slowed.

White Fox, who was pulling frantically back, didn’t notice; she scooped a handful of snow from a passing window sill and scattered it.

The flakes became countless square seeds in the air, forming a massive net-like cage intending to trap Shion!

Yet a thin frost quickly coated the surface of all the Blue Silver Emperors.

White Fox hadn’t taken it seriously.

She’d already adapted to Winter’s mana; the Blue Silver Emperor grew from Winter’s mana and was essentially the same kind of existence.

Ice shouldn’t freeze ice...

But the flexible stems became as brittle as glaze under the frost.

She watched the grass trapped by the ice.

It ignited...

No warmth—this frost began to flicker slightly, like pale flames.

The burning wasn’t fierce; it quietly consumed.

The blades didn’t blacken and curl; they shattered and drifted apart, each fragment burning away in midair without leaving ash.

In a single breath, all the Blue Silver Emperors were ignited, burning vigorously in the white, cold flames!

“This thing is called Bone-Spirit Cold Flame.”

Winter hadn’t acted; she only looked at her gently and said, “Ranked eleventh on the Exotic Flame list, an annihilating exotic flame of Dou Zun level.”

Obviously it was merely a change in the mana’s nature...

Because the tone and phrasing mirrored Sir so closely, White Fox instinctively wanted to speak up in rebuttal.

But the Bone-Spirit Cold Flame spread through the mana and crawled onto her body as the Blue Silver Emperors ignited.

Most critically, Shion had already stepped forward and stood before her!

Ignoring the Flame about to burn her Magical Outfit, White Fox instantly unfolded her Blue Silver True Form!

By transforming into countless Blue Silver Emperors, any blade of grass could become her host.

She possessed almost infinite vitality and could avoid any lethal attack.

However, when Shion’s airy claw fell, all the Blue Silver Emperors were crushed under immense pressure and fused into the ground!

The Blue Silver True Form disintegrated in an instant. When White Fox rematerialized, everything in front of her blurred.

A thick tail struck her body; her surroundings instantly collapsed into chaos—trees, buildings, vehicles, snowflakes, lights—all merged then stretched, creating an environment that blurred perception.

A hard impact at her back followed; walls shattered, rebar snapped, glass, wood chips, sparks, and water splashed and flooded her senses.

When her vision finally stabilized, she saw the building she had slammed into, its midsection sheared off and leaning.

Shion casually straightened it, and the building returned to normal.

It crashed again with a roar, almost embedding into the asphalt, and White Fox looked up at the white pale moon with a chunk missing from it.

Looking at the mark left by that sword splitting the sun and moon back then,

the stronger you become, the more you understand one thing.

A frog sees the moon.

A lizard sees the sky...

“Why not full bloom.”

The cold voice came, and a pair of black-gold small leather boots entered her sight.

Suddenly White Fox felt a wave of indescribable nausea.

She didn’t understand why she felt so sick when Shion’s punch came down from above.

The Blue Silver Emperors pulled her body aside to avoid the fatal blow.

But the aftershock still flung White Fox like a kite with its string cut.

Looking back, huge cracks spread from where she had lain. Fortunately, she had been in a plaza; only a central tall tower had tilted and plummeted into the pit.

The girl who had created that terrifying chasm was also sunk so deep that when she poked her head out, only her pair of rounded, cute dragon horns were visible...

Cute?

When that thought crossed White Fox’s mind, she felt an absurdity well up.

Could such a monster be cute...

As soon as the huge dragon wings unfurled, that illusion dissipated completely.

Shion’s dragon wings bore gilded patterns, the black wings had a strong metallic feel. The massive black-gold wings exuded an indescribable tension and ferocity.

It was hard to make out the scales on the wings—they were almost an integrated work of art.

One gentle flap sent the surrounding ruins, rubble, woodchips, and detritus flying.

“Full rise.”

The authoritative order pierced the eardrums with a force that could not be disobeyed.

Staggering to her feet, White Fox finally realized why she had felt nauseous: Shion resembled Sir.

Why did she resemble Sir so much?

The last time she’d felt such burning disgust had been when she saw the Mirror Queen embrace Sir.

Such intimacy, making her feel like a mere outsider, had triggered a visceral aversion in White Fox, who had hoped for Sir’s praise after transforming into a Magical Girl.

This time, sensing Shion’s exceptional relationship with Sir, the same wave rose up again.

What did she even mean to Sir?

She looked up at the majestic girl. An impulse and unfamiliar emotion made her lips move.

“You really are...”

When she spoke, the corner of her mouth naturally twitched into a smile.

This should be called happiness, she thought.

“Disgustingly nauseating.”

The reply was a dragon roar.

A thin, soft, cute voice—yet it released an ancient-beast pressure. The resonance from her deep throat exploded into boundless waves of heat!

At the instant before the roar, dense Blue Silver Emperors sprayed out like spider silk toward the surrounding buildings and ground!

Silver blades wove and spread, but despite the protective Blue Silver web, White Fox was swept up in screaming burning waves and blasted backward!

The webbed Blue Silver Emperors didn’t break completely; their toughness, exceeding a century-old bamboo, was drawn taut, bringing immense pulling force, collapsing the buildings they had wrapped around. Massive walls burst open!

Skyscrapers shattered like cracked jars; the ground heaved up, vehicles, pumps, lampposts, and power poles were flung into the air.

White Fox and the Blue Silver Emperors hurtled northward out of Beihai, carving an unfathomable gorge before finally stopping when they buried into a small mountain outside the city.

A horrific scar reappeared in the city.

The electrical grid flickered as circuits were damaged; lights went out one after another. Evening descended under heavy clouds, and the brilliant radiance that had once enveloped White Fox vanished. For a time, Beihai sank into pitch-black silence.

When White Fox crawled out of the shattered mountainside, Shion already hovered above, looking down at her.

“Full bloom.”

She repeated the word mechanically.

White Fox had no intention of talking with her either.

“I thought you were a proper Magical Girl,” she murmured, not truly confiding, just talking to herself.

“If you loved Sir, you would protect him.”

Shion tilted her head in slight puzzlement and replied with, “What?”

“But you killed Sir and maternal figure.”

White Fox clenched her hands, emotions erupting more violently than ever from her chest!

“I refuse to accept that you are a Magical Girl.”

Countless Blue Silver Emperors condensed, contracted, squeezed, and finally formed a giant dragon—

Soul Skill Nine, Blue Silver Cyan Dragon Soul.

The ultimate finishing move of a level ninety Titled Battle Demon. The fanged dragon roared and lunged at Shion!

Shion merely turned and swung her dragon tail.

The tail collided with the Blue Silver Dragon Emperor in midair with a thunderous crash. The impact cleared the surrounding ground again; the black tail and the blue-silver dragon met like welding sparks, showering blinding light.

Though the tail split that Blue Silver Dragon Emperor the next moment and grass fragments flew, Shion’s pupils nevertheless brightened.

She had grown stronger.

Her power was edging toward a level ninety-five Super Battle Demon.

“You’re angry about that trash?”

Shion slowly folded her wings inward. “Jiang Si is nothing, just a worthless fool who can’t even transform.”

Her aura contracted slightly.

White Fox suddenly lifted her head. The surging emotions poured out like a waterfall, manifesting through the Blue Silver Emperors behind her!

Thousands of blades of Blue Silver Grass surged toward Shion like a torrential storm!

Rain of Pear-Needles!

Shion’s wings closed as a shield, and sharp Blue Silver Emperors sparked as they struck the interlaced black-and-gold scales.

Then with a wave of her wings, all the Blue Silver Emperors dispersed.

The monstrous-looking girl only showed a mocking smile.

“This is Qingyun.”

“There is the Dao Master’s word to open the world’s law.”

As she spoke, an overwhelming pressure instantly crushed down; White Fox was pinned to the ground, all the Blue Silver Grass trembling but unable to rise an inch.

No matter how desperately she tried to channel mana, everything inside and out sank into stillness, leaving only primal trembling.

Until even instinct faded, a terrifying presence descended from the highest mountain and stood before her.

White Fox became a carpet.

She forced her head up but could only see a pair of pretty black-gold little boots.

“Heroes of the world are like fish crossing a river; they all enter Qingyun; only Jiang Si is useless—a parasitic brute.”

“You, who can never fully bloom, and Jiang Si, who stubbornly believes you will, are equally ridiculous.”

The dragon tail coiled around White Fox’s neck like a constrictor, winding tightly and lifting her up.

“Do you know what he said on the wedding day, before he died?”

Shion watched her expressionlessly.

“He believed you would definitely full bloom and avenge him and Jade Fox. Right up to his dying moment, he fantasized you could breakthrough miracles.”

“Growing up with a guardian like Jade Fox—taught, guided, backed by the Mirror Kingdom’s tech and resources—yet you remain barely entering Lush Leaves, a waste.”

“You and those who believe in you are the same—failed trash.”

As each sentence poured out, White Fox gripped another Miracle Seed between her fingers.

Watching White Fox begin to burn, Shion’s lips curled slightly as she continued:

“Oh, well—your mother was a failed Magical Girl, a final self-doubting straw bag. It’s no wonder her child turned out like you. Jiang Si’s the same—always trying to escape me, yet unwilling to leave my power, pinning his hopes on you like a coward...”

“What are you saying?”

White Fox clutched the dragon tail with one hand, her fingernails nearly digging into the scales.

Shion’s gaze flickered; she spoke as if discussing everyday matters like meals: “What a pity, the entire light... the destruction of the old world was predetermined, unavoidable. Black Mountain Realm neared collapse but birthed a powerful Magical Girl and a peak A-level Disaster Beast.”

“If she had awakened early and exploited Black Mountain Realm, using wastes like you as fodder, stepping out sooner, then the old world might have become Jade Fox’s pasture—she could rule life and death, and might even have reached Nascent Soul.”

White Fox’s pupils clouded; her struggles lagged, her gaze fixed as if at an incomprehensible monster.

“Wildfire burns not cleanly, spring wind revives again. The masses of the old world are vain illusions to beings at our level. You can cut one batch down and another will grow; it can never be exhausted. What a pity—lower cultivation is always lower.”

White Fox could no longer hold it in; a torrent of emotion escaped her mouth as she spat two words.

“Shut up.”

“Must I keep talking?” Shion’s golden eyes glittered as she leisurely folded her hands behind her back and said, “The remnants of the old world are my provisions. Are they even people? You and your rebel helpers—”

“—were born to die.”

At last, White Fox’s Magical Outfit began to collapse; she might any moment revert out of transformation.

Yet her expression gradually calmed.

Why had she gone expressionless?

A voice somewhere in Shion’s mind asked that question.

Only then did Shion react.

Indeed—why did she show no expression? Shouldn’t she erupt and press further at a moment like this?

But an even deeper doubt stirred within: could she truly full bloom?

When Shion looked into White Fox’s eyes, all uncertainty dissipated.

White Fox still clutched the dragon tail with all her strength, nearly tearing off a few scales!

Shion asked, “What are you persisting in?”

The failing Magical Girl who had achieved nothing breathed shallowly.

Then she raised her head.

Ever since Qingyun’s appearance, the old world’s living things had been struggling like mangy dogs; life-and-death power all lay in Qingyun’s hands, resting on this one thought from Shion.

Humiliation, contempt, crushing dominance.

Are the old world people inherently inferior to those of the new world?

They have stories, heroes, lives, and dreams of their own.

They are not disaster beasts that vanish naturally after being defeated. The societies and relationships built among people constantly respond to fear of future death and pain.

Each person fights desperately to survive. Those who have struggled since birth—what original sin do they bear?

Why must they be toyed with and slaughtered by this monster who isn’t even a true Magical Girl?

Why must it always be us who die?

Grabbing the dragon tail, she slowly unwound it from around her neck.

White Fox spoke without expression, each word deliberate, answering the towering monster before her.

It was like the voices of countless old-world lives coalescing to respond to the new world’s ruthlessness.

“I... refuse!”

Shion laughed. “Is that your stubbornness?”

How disappointing.

Just another incomplete full bloom.

The dragon tail tightened again, but this time, the mana radiance from the Miracle Seed in White Fox’s other hand flared and, bit by bit, pushed the tail open!

Immediately, three dazzling columns of mana rose simultaneously from North China, West China, and South China.

Ignoring all obstacles, the same voice resounded across the land at that moment:

“She’s right.”

Shion snapped her head up.

Those three differently hued columns faintly resonated with White Fox’s mana column.

Four streams of resplendent light pierced the sky together, probing the world’s origin and igniting starshine!

It was as if thousands upon thousands of old-world people appeared in the heavens—miserable yet resolute—willingly being refined into the three full-bloom mana columns from East, North, and West China!

A deep, sonorous voice gradually formed into an earth-shattering reply:

“We refuse!”