Chapter 1801: Chapter 1218: Magic Girl Cultivation Chronicles (A Sleepy and Exhausted Cat Curls Up)
When Duanmu Huai returned to Dali City, he startled the Witch Queen and others. To think he just went out for a little while, and now he’s back?
“The Water Demon Beast is dealt with.”
Duanmu Huai nodded to the Witch Queen and said confidently. After all, when Duanmu Huai defeated the Water Demon Beast, the system prompt appeared. In other words, the so-called task of Demon Beast invasion in this world referred to the Water Demon Beast—honestly, this guy wasn’t that tough.
Of course, Duanmu Huai could say this because he held the divine position of the God of Destruction. If it were someone else, things might be different.
“The Water Demon Beast has been eliminated?”
Needless to say, hearing Duanmu Huai’s response left the Witch Queen stunned. Though she expected this outcome, Duanmu Huai’s speed was alarmingly fast.
In fact, Duanmu Huai spent most of his time traveling.
Like a speedrun player in a game, the majority of wasted time was in travel and dungeons, while the boss battle ended with a single hit of 99999 damage. The time spent on task storyline dialogues was longer than fighting the boss; such is the player’s status quo.
“That’s right, the Leader of the Worship Moon Sect and the Water Demon Beast merged, and I solved them both. Oh, by the way…”
While speaking, Duanmu Huai looked at Ann and pulled out a blue orb to toss it over.
“For you.”
“Thanks, how beautiful!”
“P-please wait a moment!!”
Seeing Ann holding the blue orb in her hands, the Witch Queen’s eyes widened in shock.
“May I ask where you found this orb?”
“Oh, I found it after I dealt with the Water Demon Beast, probably from its body… I’m not very concerned with these things.”
“………”
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s answer, the Witch Queen was dumbfounded. After a moment, she let out a long sigh.
“It’s said that our ancestors exterminated the Five Elemental Demon Beasts and refined their soul bones into spirit beads. Never did I imagine that today I would have the fortune to witness this…”
While speaking, the Witch Queen looked toward Duanmu Huai.
“I have a presumptuous request…”
“What is it?”
“May I borrow the Water Spirit Bead? With the Water Demon Beast gone, there’s a way to resolve the drought in Miaojiang now. If all five spirit beads are gathered, we can commence the ceremony to pray for rain and save Miaojiang’s people from their plight.”
Where did they get water here? What do you mean by gathering five spirit beads, can they summon a dragon?
Duanmu Huai wanted to quip, but restrained himself.
After all, it’s just a figure of speech.
“No problem, use it as you like.”
“Thank you, both of you.”
Gratefully accepting the Water Spirit Bead from Ann, the Witch Queen sincerely thanked them both. Then she turned around and spoke to a young girl beside her.
“Ling’er, I entrust this task to you. This is the first thing you must accomplish since reclaiming your rightful position, as a descendant of Nuwa…”
“Who is that girl?”
Duanmu Huai looked quizzically at the young girl listening to the Witch Queen’s teachings, then asked Ann, whom he had approached. He didn’t recall seeing this girl before, and judging by the Witch Queen’s behavior, she seemed quite close to her? You have been a statue for decades and still have such a wide network?
“Ah, she’s Zhao Ling’er, the Witch Queen’s daughter.”
“The Witch Queen’s?”
“Yes, according to the Witch Queen, when she was imprisoned in the Nanzhao Kingdom, she entrusted her infant daughter to a trusted aide to take her to the Central Plains. Now that the Witch Queen is resurrected, she seems to have used some method to notify the aide, who brought the grown Zhao Ling’er back to reunite with the Witch Queen. Apparently, they were sobbing in each other’s arms when they met a while ago.”
“Oh, so what’s the progress on the Spiritual Formation’s development?”
Duanmu Huai, like an unfeeling employer, didn’t care about their encounters and only wanted the task completed on time. Whether it was a mother-daughter reunion or anything else had nothing to do with him.
“……… it was not easy to reunite with her daughter, Mr. Knight, can’t you give her a little more time?”
Ann rolled her eyes silently. Apparently, even if his body turned into a cute girl, Mr. Knight was still the same Mr. Knight, with no sense of adorable ambiance whatsoever.
“Thank you, both of you.”
After giving instructions to her daughter, the Witch Queen turned back to thank the two once more.
“With the Water Spirit Bead, most of the problem is resolved. I have already asked the Fire Qilin Elder for the Fire Spirit Bead, and now only the Wind, Earth, and Thunder spirit beads are left. Unfortunately, I have no idea where these spirit beads are…”
“Ah, if that’s the case…”
Hearing this, Ann’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“If they are orbs formed by pure elemental energy like the Water Spirit Bead, I happen to have three of them here.”
While speaking, Ann produced the three orbs she had before. Seeing this, the Witch Queen’s jaw almost dropped to the ground.
“This, this, these are the remaining three Elemental Spirit Beads! May I ask where you two got them from?”
“Eh? Are these the Spirit Beads?”
Seeing the Witch Queen’s excited expression, Duanmu Huai and Ann both froze in surprise.
“We encountered a few demons on the road, casually defeated them, and then this thing dropped. I thought it was the demons’ demon cores.”
“Isn’t this the spirit core of a Demon Beast?”
Duanmu Huai and Ann exchanged glances, speechless. They had merely beaten a few demons, so how had they inexplicably acquired such things? After all, they had heard Caiyi mention the Five Elemental Spirit Beads during their journey… How could they have obtained such legendary items just by casually fighting a few demons?
Well, maybe it’s just good luck.
Anyway, as long as the Five Elemental Spirit Beads are complete, it’s fine. Up next is the magic ritual, followed by a heavy downpour. As for whether this will stop the conflict in Miaojiang—Duanmu Huai and his group couldn’t care less. After all, they weren’t here for such trivial matters.
Fortunately… in the end, Duanmu Huai’s goal was finally achieved!
“Hah…!”
Facing the black Grief Seed, Tamaki Iroha raised the crossbow in her hand. Soon, the gem in the center of her crossbow began to shimmer with pink light. A magic circle appeared behind her, transforming into brilliant light that shone on the Grief Seed.
Under that brilliance, the black Grief Seed seemed to melt away like snow under sunlight, gradually disappearing and transforming into strands of white light that flew toward Tamaki Iroha, vanishing into her body. After completely absorbing the power of the Grief Seed, the magic circle behind Tamaki Iroha also disappeared.
“Very good, not bad at all.”
Once everything was over, Duanmu Huai, standing nearby, clapped his hands and nodded with satisfaction.
Through the collaborative research of Witch Queen and Ann, they really managed to concoct this thing, didn’t they?
Of course, Duanmu Huai didn’t understand the specific principles. In short, according to the two’s description, this is a Refinement Array driven by a Magic Girl’s power, which, when activated, can refine the power of a Grief Seed and use it to repair the Magic Girl’s soul.
The effect… was acceptable. According to Witch Queen’s inspection, this refinement and absorption process isn’t harmful. Moreover, after repairing the soul, a Magic Girl can continue to absorb the power of the Grief Seed to strengthen herself.
Of course, as Witch Queen said, this is somewhat like cultivation, dependent on aptitude. Some might spend ten years in Qi Refinement, twenty years to build a foundation, while others might take a hundred years without reaching that level. Even if all Magic Girls have aptitude, it still depends on circumstances.
Hmm, Duanmu Huai could understand this. Looking at Tamaki Iroha and then at Tomoe Mami, the power gap between the two was like night and day.
“Just that if there could be some BGM, it would be even better…”
Duanmu Huai was still somewhat dissatisfied, as it wasn’t quite complete. When these Magic Girls activated a magic circle, it was primarily an Array based on the Yin-Yang principle, enhanced by Ann’s contributions. Although it worked, Duanmu Huai felt it could be more aesthetically pleasing, like with colorful blacks or something…
“Let’s stop here.”
Hearing Duanmu Huai’s mutterings, Ann was almost in tears.
“How could activating the array also play music automatically?”
“I-I think it’s fine this way…”
Even Tamaki Iroha and Tomoe Mami shook their heads in disagreement. The thought of a BGM accompanying them during the array activation made them feel extremely awkward…
“Alright, let’s leave it at that.”
Of course, Duanmu Huai merely said it casually. Seeing everyone’s reluctance, he didn’t insist and quickly made a decision.
“Since everything’s settled, we should go back. Next up is the large-scale clinical trial in Kaname City!”
“But, are there that many witches in Kaname City?”
Tamaki Iroha was still a bit concerned. In her view, though Kaname City had many witches, they were also quite powerful. Additionally, Kaname City had even more Magic Girls, and if Duanmu Huai intended to alter all of them, she feared the Magic Girls might end up fighting each other.
“That’s not a problem.”
Duanmu Huai shook his head.
“I remember Nanami Yachiyo mentioning before that there’s an Adjustment Shop in Kaname City? All Magic Girls go there for adjustments, paying Grief Seeds as compensation.”
“Ah, yes, Miss Yachiyo took me there.”
Tamaki Iroha nodded, recalling how Nanami Yachiyo had shown her the Adjustment Shop when she first arrived in Kaname City. To be honest, it was the first time Tamaki Iroha saw someone using Soul Gem techniques to adjust and reinforce other Magic Girls. It left a deep impression.
Of course, now with this “Magic Girl Array,” the Adjustment Shop was naturally redundant.
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”
Duanmu Huai waved his little hand.
“Since that’s the case, there must be a lot of Grief Seeds in that Adjustment Shop.”
“Uh… and then?”
“Then?”
Duanmu Huai looked at Tamaki Iroha matter-of-factly.
“We just need to take them, right?”
“…”
What can you say? This was… definitely his typical style.