Proving one's status starting with magical girls

The sky was overcast.

The middle-aged man leaned against the dilapidated walls of the venue, his face pale, and a sharp pain kept coming from his shoulder.

Looking at his twisted and bleeding left arm, Yuan Tu'an felt a sense of peace.

As a field member of the magic tactical countermeasures unit, Yuan Tu'an had thought that he might die at the hands of inferior beasts one day, but he did not expect that day to come so soon.

Who could have imagined that a routine exhibition duty and order maintenance would suddenly turn into a rampage by a scoundrel?

In fact, he and his colleagues could have escaped immediately. The countermeasures unit also has regulations that allow evacuation under special circumstances, provided that their own safety is guaranteed, and that they will not be held liable.

But after seeing the city's hero fall, he knew he couldn't escape.

"What magical girl nonsense! In the end, she's just a child..."

He leaned against the wall, feeling the slow, trembling vibrations of the beast behind him.

The other field colleagues in the countermeasures unit had already been killed minutes earlier.

He was crushed to death, smashed to death, run over... In the end, only he was left, barely clinging to life.

But this wasn't because he was so powerful; it was because this inferior beast did it on purpose.

That's how these monsters are; they instinctively enjoy toying with their prey when they're in dire straits.

"If the First Division were here, they might be able to hold out until they arrive..."

The gap between inferior beasts and humans is so vast that even the top commanders of all national armies couldn't help but curse when they saw the insurmountable barrier between them.

Let alone these few field personnel, even if the entire elite force of the Linjiang City Countermeasures Division were mobilized and equipped with all the cutting-edge equipment that humans have developed so far, they could only exert a certain restraining effect on defective and adult inferior beasts.

Thinking of this, Yuan Tu'an felt a strange sense of pride.

See? Even though I didn't make it into the first unit, I was able to hold off the beast for so long, allowing the surrounding people to evacuate safely. After he dies, his daughter will probably be proud to have such a heroic father.

I just regret not being able to properly apologize to her before I died.

Even if I apologize, I doubt my daughter will accept it...

The tremors behind him had stopped, and a massive shadow gradually loomed over the middle-aged man's head. Yuan Tu'an looked at the enormous beastly eye that was closing in, and without the slightest hesitation, pulled the trigger with his right hand.

"Bang."

The bullet struck the cornea and was then ejected. For the first time, a hint of human mockery appeared in that terrifying beastly eye. Yuan Tu'an remained expressionless and used his last bit of strength to smash the empty pistol away.

This feeble shot naturally missed the beast; the pistol flew a comical arc and landed in the ruins, as if mocking his overestimation of his abilities.

As the crimson maw continued to fall, in his last moments, Yuan Tu'an thought not of his posthumous medals or the glory of the army, but of his daughter who was still in junior high school.

"I really am a failed father..."

Thinking this, he quietly awaited his death.

Suddenly, the entire sky darkened, and a full moon hung high in the sky.

The next moment, a white light streaked across the sky, striking the massive beast like a dazzling meteor.

In a daze, Yuan Tu'an vaguely heard a clear, melodious voice.

"Taiyin Xuan Guang—Go!"

……

What exactly is a magical girl?

This is something Yuan An has been pondering ever since he learned of this name.

It is neither the ancient cultivation method of nourishing one's nature with breath, nor the supernatural method of the Purple Mansion Golden Elixir, nor the demonic method of "different mansions in the same furnace".

To instantly gain the power of a great cultivator with a mortal body—it may sound absurd, but in Yuan An's memory, it was not an impossible thing.

Before them, there was the immortal kingdom of Wei Dynasty who upheld the profound Dharma, and after them, there is the compassionate Maha of Buddhism. Both of them can do similar things.

But all of this requires a prerequisite: the True Lord above must first take action and create similar unorthodox methods so that later generations can emulate their predecessors and attain a position of authority.

In other words, there must first be a True Lord in the position of Fruition!

Even if there is no one in the Golden Palace now, there should at least have been a True Lord above it before!

However, the golden position in this world is not prominent, and even the Taiyin path is extremely primitive. How can it seem as if a true ruler is in power?

Moreover, with so many magical girls in the world, if they were truly of the same ilk as Chi Xuan, wouldn't every True Lord above be repeating the old story of Li Qianyuan?

This is clearly impossible.

If that were the case, the world would have been in chaos long ago, and there would be no world where mortals rule and immortals and gods are nowhere to be seen.

After eliminating all other possibilities, only one seemingly impossible but most fitting answer remains.

This far-fetched guess was only truly confirmed by Li Jiangqun after he came into close contact with the unconscious magical girl and discovered the seed crystal in her hand.

This was because within the seed of hope that the magical girl used to transform, there was something he knew all too well.

"...Golden nature!"

Although Yuan An also thought it was a fantasy, the facts were right in front of him, leaving him no choice but to believe it.

What's even more baffling is that this piece of gold is completely pure, showing no signs of being tainted by a True Lord. It was neither forged with supernatural powers nor left behind by a True Lord.

"This is a piece of primordial gold, naturally formed between heaven and earth!"

"...Although I had some suspicions, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I probably would never have believed such a thing could happen!"

Now that the answer was right in front of him, Yuan An felt as if everything had suddenly become clear, and all the mysteries seemed to have been solved.

No wonder, no wonder!

"Because it is related to the element of metal, the highest level of attainment can spontaneously bestow profound mysteries when no one is around, allowing mortals to instantly gain considerable magical power..."

"The girl's transformation into a purple aura wasn't because the seed contained purple gold energy, but because the girl possessed a purple destiny. This original gold energy, influenced by her destiny, transformed into purple energy, thus borrowing its profound power from the gold element!"

"At the same time, because this magical power is borrowed from the Gold position and not truly cultivated by themselves, the overwhelming supernatural abilities are uncontrollable. As the magical power overflows, the Gold element will condense this portion of magical power into a tangible form according to the image they most desire to become deep within their hearts..."

"...and thus, various magnificent robes naturally came into being worn."

Previously, when that magical girl transformed, Yuan An had seen her transformation completely.

"She chants the incantation, then unites her mind with the metal element, connecting with heaven and earth, allowing the metal element to lend its power, which she then holds within her body... This is what is meant by a magical girl!"

After learning how magical girls transform, a thought couldn't help but pop into Yuan An's mind.

"If she can be a magical girl, why can't I?!"

As he looked at the immortal elixir floating in his hand and the faint, mysterious power within it, a vague idea began to emerge, eventually evolving into the sentence he spoke to his disciple.

"My disciple, you said before that you wanted to become a magical girl, right?"