Chapter 160: Qi

While the battle in the high sky intensified, the evacuation of the headquarters building of the Special Strategy Bureau was also proceeding in full swing.

Bursting out of the building with the crowd, Tian Sheng struggled to raise his head amidst the shoving of his colleagues, looking up at the sky as if some perception had arisen within him.

Above the blue sky, between the buildings, amidst the magic curtain woven of purple-red and misty white, several familiar streaks of blue suddenly appeared.

That faint blue swayed and flickered, as if gathering strength and waiting. Then, at a certain moment, it erupted suddenly, scattering all the white mist around, the azure color making the sky seem to return to its true hue.

Amidst the surging tide of magic, Senior Cuique hooked a fluorescent blue thread with her left hand and gripped a purple-red pair of scissors tightly in her right. Her petite figure stood straight, her gaze distant and firm.

Blue and purple magic crossed and intertwined, yet vaguely drew a distinct boundary line. Light threads emitted a faint glow from her palm, tracing fine, almost imperceptible paths across the blue sky. The exquisite scissors flashed in her hand, with an undeniable cold gleam hidden between the tiny blades.

"It feels unexpectedly light..."

Feeling the weight of the scissors in her hand, she exclaimed with some surprise.

The scissors reproduced by Hong Siyu were identical to her original magic armor in both appearance and feel, but its greatest feature was its consumption of magic.

Magic girls consume their own magic when using magic armor; this is inevitable, and the consumption varies according to the strength of the magic armor's abilities and the user's proficiency.

The original Weaver of Fate was a magic armor that consumed magic extremely intensely; if Senior Cuique's own magic reserve were not abundant among magic girls of her level, she truly could not have sustained such consumption.

In fact, the more complex the form of the magic armor, the more so it is; in the records of the Realm, there are even cases where magic girls failed to advance to the Bud rank because their magic armor was too complex.

And now, when Senior Cuique held the scissors reproduced by Hong Siyu, she could hardly feel any loss of magic. Moreover, there was even a faint fluctuation of magic feeding back from the scissors.

"Although it can only last five minutes, the consumption is all from my magic."

Seeing Senior Cuique's surprised expression, Hong Siyu suppressed her desire to claim credit, averted her gaze, and said somewhat awkwardly, "So, do not worry about the issue of magic reserves; use it to fight with confidence."

"... Thank you."

Senior Cuique understood that the more sincere the kindness, the less need there was for excessive politeness and refusal. Expressing the most direct gratitude with the briefest words was the only thing she could do now.

After a brief explanation, she turned her head and looked seriously at the buildings not far away.

Yuan was floating there quietly, waiting with interest.

"Ready? Can we start fighting?"

Seeing Senior Cuique turn her gaze toward her, she picked up the ink-metal in her hand again, her lips curling upward: "Using magic armor to complete magic armor, this is truly eye-opening."

"I thought you wouldn't let the gap during the handover pass."

Senior Cuique lightly waved the tailor's scissors in her hand: "Why didn't you attack just now?"

"I said it, I won't stop others from using their own abilities. Whether it's Mirage Realm or Fan Kai, only by defeating an opponent who fights with full effort can I feel satisfied."

Yuan waved a finger: "Interrupting an opponent's preparation through a sneak attack, even if you win, is not a manifestation of 'strength', but merely a slave to 'victory'."

"I thought the Claw Marks would all be unreasonable bad guys."

Senior Cuique shook her head expressionlessly: "It's a pity I didn't know you sooner."

"It's not too late to know each other now; join us, and we will have no conflicts."

Yuan raised her hand slightly, assuming a fighting stance: "However, before that, let me see your true strength. If you are too weak, I have no interest in bringing a weak magic girl back to see the leader."

"Thank your organization for its high regard, but I currently have no interest in leaving the city I guard."

Senior Cuique also stood ready: "Please leave Fang Ting City yourselves."

"More words are useless!" Yuan pushed off with both feet, shouted loudly, and suddenly lunged forward, "The victor leads everything!"

Having said this, ignoring the cry of "Don't act on your own" from Semi beside her, she once again opened the prelude to battle.

Black and blue magic collided instantly; amidst the surging tide of magic, the two figures did not increase their distance but engaged in fierce close-quarters combat. Ink-like fluid metal appeared incredibly nimble in Yuan's hands, transforming freely into spear, sword, blade, dagger, and other forms; her moves were tricky and exquisite, making it extremely difficult to parry.

But the tricky moves did not put Senior Cuique at a disadvantage; on the contrary, although slightly passive, the threads in her hand also changed form with Yuan's rhythm, constantly weaving different masterpieces. When the opponent slashed or thrust, she defended; when the opponent swung or cut, she counterattacked. The two exchanged sword against sword, spear against spear, transforming similar weapons in different ways, clashing at speeds difficult for the naked eye to capture.

Threads and ink, two magic armors that did not appear to be weapons, were now enough to replace all weapons, unfolding a primitive yet magnificent battle here.

"Actually... is there really someone in this world who can engage Yuan in close combat without falling behind?"

Thrown aside by the fierce battle, Semi stabilized her figure, looked at the battlefield not far away, and couldn't help but widen her cat eyes: "Am I dreaming?"

No wonder she was surprised, for even within the Claw Marks, Yuan was famous as a close-combat maniac, with top-tier prowess in hand-to-hand combat. Although the Claw Marks had been established for many years and their interventions were few, once entering the realm of close combat, few could withstand her ferocious attacks.

And Cornflower, as a once-famous magic girl, Semi knew her active time did not exceed three years. In other words, a magic girl with only three years of frontline combat experience had drawn with Yuan in close combat.

Of course, her thoughts could not affect the battle; the two in the center of the conflict had already reached a fever pitch in just two minutes, with punches and kicks producing dull thuds, and the flashing of blades and swords being breathtaking.

However, only Senior Cuique could feel the pressure of fighting Yuan.

In fact, even with the scissors form of the magic armor back in her hands, she could only manage not to fall behind in close combat; finding an opportunity to attack was almost impossible.

The more troublesome thing was not limited to the changes in moves during close combat, but the layer of misty white fog surrounding Yuan.

Senior Cuique could not identify what it was, but this fog constantly maintained a flow with Yuan's breathing; within this fog, the power of all magic attacks was compressed to the extreme, and her magic could hardly escape her immediate surroundings.

"This fog... is not your magic, nor is it your magic armor."

After several sensations, Senior Cuique blocked Yuan's slash during a gap in an attack and stated firmly, "It should also have nothing to do with the power of the Remnant Beasts; it is something entirely different."

"Magic? Of course not, this is my 'Qi'."

Seemingly feeling the joy of battle, Yuan had no intention of hiding it: "Although I am a magic girl, I am more of a martial artist; this power comes from the ancient inheritance of the Donghua region and is naturally not the same thing as magic."

"'Qi'?" Senior Cuique couldn't help but frown, "I'm not talking wuxia with you."

"Creation often comes from reality; if books mention 'Qi', it is naturally not without cause."

Yuan widened her eyes slightly, the yin-yang fish in her gaze slowly rotating: "Of course, it is normal for people nowadays not to know; things that cannot adapt to the times will be eliminated by the times, eventually becoming dust of history. Martial arts are merely a corner of that dust, no different from others, nothing worth remembering."

"Cannot adapt to the times?" Coping with the opponent's attack, Senior Cuique tilted her head back slightly to dodge a jab, "Why?"

"Because the so-called martial arts, the so-called Daoist arts, as supernatural arts for human self-defense, are completely unable to compare with magic formulas."

Yuan's emotions were quite high, and her voice was quite loud: "Cultivation is slow, costs are high, and talent requirements are one in ten thousand; and even at the end of cultivation, one can only fight against mortals, having no power to resist against true crises and disasters—the Remnant Beasts."

"No matter how talented, how quick-witted, or how heroic one is. The exploration of generations of martial artists on this path has not made the path longer; on the contrary, the more one cultivates martial arts, the more one discovers it is a dead end."

"Martial arts rely on a young body, requiring vigorous qi and vitality. However, as martial artists age, their qi weakens and blood declines; no matter how full of passion, they cannot maintain their physical state, and can only watch helplessly as they decline, eventually unable to climb any higher."

"So, the former me chose to join the Realm, obtaining a longer time with the unchanging body of a magic girl, to see if one could go further as a magic girl."

Blocking the masterpiece in front of her with a slash amidst the fierce battle, Yuan grinned: "And what you see is the result of my cultivation over these long years."

"Then why did you join the Claw Marks?"

She retracted the silk threads into her hands, adjusted her posture slightly, then launched another attack as if tireless: "Betraying your nation and consorting with monstrous beasts—is this the path you truly want?"

"Betrayal? Consorting?"

Yuan blinked, then suddenly smirked: "Sorry, is it really seen that way by you? I never thought about any of that."

"My leader found me, told me joining Claw Mark would let me see new power and possibilities, then defeated me—so I followed her."

"To me, the form and nature of power are external things. The only pursuit is to keep walking the path of becoming stronger. Good and evil, beauty and ugliness, merit and guilt—they mean nothing to me. I don't care about any of it."

After an intense exchange, the two briefly separated. Yuan lightly tapped her foot, her face wearing a distinctly exhilarated smile: "What others think doesn't matter. I'm growing stronger—that's enough."

Hearing this, Senior Cuique knew persuasion through words was futile.

Though her contact with Yuan had been brief, Senior Cuique had already sensed that Yuan, as a "villain" from Claw Mark, was not the same as the irredeemable monsters of Black Ash Dawn.

Add to that Yuan's formidable combat strength—she could not be easily driven off by force alone—which had led Senior Cuique to briefly consider persuading her to abandon her stance through words.

But now, hearing those words, she understood: Yuan was no simple villain, yet she held no pure goodness either. The concept of good and evil meant nothing to her; she had not become a villain merely because she found it meaningless—just as she herself was no true good person either.

Someone like this could be reasoned with if an ally—but as an enemy, there was nothing left to say. To resolve this crisis, only overwhelming force would suffice.

Yet, after their exchange, Senior Cuique realized this would not be easy.

Yuan's close-combat skill was no weaker than her own, perhaps even slightly superior. Without external interference, this battle could drag on indefinitely—but Senior Cuique knew she had no such time.

Hong Siyu's replicated demonic armor could last only five minutes. After that, both its integrity and her magical energy would plummet, making this level of combat impossible to sustain.

Therefore, to end this battle, she had to act quickly—finish it swiftly.

With this thought, she focused sharply and began drawing immense magical power from the scissors in her right hand, unhesitatingly activating the Weaver's Fate scissors' form.

In the brief lull of their fierce clash, the small tailor's scissors glowed in her grip. Without hesitation, Senior Cuique aimed them at the white mist surrounding Yuan, slightly parted the blades, then snapped them shut.

Crack.

A sharp sound rang out—and a large portion of the white mist encircling them instantly vanished.

Almost simultaneously, Hong Siyu, clutching her book nearby, turned pale. Behind her, one-third of the book wall vanished with the scissors' motion.

"Ugh… cough, cough, cough!"

She staggered backward a few steps, leaning against the ruined wall of the reception room, pressing her forehead, and after a long moment, managed a bitter smile: "So this much magical drain… was Senior Cuique really fighting with this armor all along? It's… ridiculous."

Her reaction was intense—and the battle's center bore the brunt. Yuan's assault nearly halted; her breathing grew ragged. She coughed as if choked, pulled back slightly from Senior Cuique, took several deep breaths, then raised an eyebrow in confusion: "My qi… has been weakened?"

Nearby, Senior Cuique, gripping the scissors, also breathed heavily.

This was the first time she had used the replicated scissors to activate their ability—and now she saw that while functional, the drain on Hong Siyu was immense.

The effect of that single cut was the scissors' innate ability—separation.

The Weaver's Fate scissors' form, though mostly used in tandem with Mirage Realm to remove large-scale concepts, did not mean the scissors themselves lacked power.

In fact, even without Mirage Realm, these scissors possessed formidable ability. In this moment, with just a simple motion, Senior Cuique had severed Yuan's "qi" from her.

Though this tactic felt dishonorable, it was precisely why she had asked about the mist earlier. Once Yuan explained the nature and mechanism of her "qi," granting Senior Cuique sufficient understanding, she could activate this ability to "separate" it from the source.

Of course, this separation was not permanent.

The initial act consumed vast magical energy, and maintaining the separation required her to continuously channel magic into the scissors—now all of that burden fell upon Hong Siyu.

That was why, during the Full Moon Festival night, to permanently remove the large-scale "monstrous beast" concept, she had been forced to shatter her own scissors. Without doing so, she would have had no magical energy to achieve such an effect.

Now, to end this battle swiftly, she had no choice but to use this ability again.

After two days of rest, I felt somewhat recovered, so today I squeezed out this update.

Sorry for keeping you all waiting, meow.

(End of Chapter)