Chapter 41: The Return of Tian Lanxing

The words reverberated through Hua Mu’ai’s mind, each syllable landing with a crushing weight.

Her memory instantly rewound to the night on the Ferris wheel, to the two sentences she herself had uttered.

“Your expression never changes, Xia Xingyan.”

“Are you truly expressionless?”

…

That serene, exquisitely beautiful face now superimposed itself upon the blood-stained visage before her, a face struggling to conjure a faint smile.

It was Xia Xingyan!

The madwoman who had meticulously schemed, all for a single glimpse of her!

She… had awakened as a Magical Girl?

And to save her… was now on the brink of death?

A maelstrom of shock, guilt, and sheer absurdity churned into an ineffable emotion, abruptly seizing Hua Mu’ai’s heart.

As she watched the light in Xia Xingyan’s eyes slowly dim, and the blood ceaselessly welling from the corner of her mouth, Hua Mu’ai was gripped by an unbearable anguish.

She yearned to reach out and touch Xia Xingyan, yet her body, ravaged by Void Energy, remained utterly immobile.

She tried to cry out, but only a hoarse, mournful gasp escaped her throat.

‘Don’t die…’

‘No one else should die for me…’

Su Wanning had met such a fate; was Xia Xingyan to follow suit now? Why!

Tears streamed uncontrollably from Hua Mu’ai’s eyes.

She could no longer bear to witness anyone sacrifice their life for her!

Amidst this profound despair, a feeble yet urgent thought suddenly resonated within her mind.

[Hold on just a little longer! We’re almost there! It will be ready any moment!]

It was Yuena!

The next second, the Heart Stone materialized before her, erupting in a blaze of unprecedented brilliance!

[Your form restrictions have been temporarily lifted; your power is now restored.]

Yuena’s voice, though weary, carried a hint of exhilaration.

“Buzz—!”

A surge of warmth erupted from the Heart Stone, coursing through Hua Mu’ai’s entire being in an instant!

The Void Energy that had plagued her body, inflicting agonizing pain, was instantly purified by this newfound power, vanishing like snow melting under the scorching sun.

Her pink hair receded, transforming once more into her iconic long silver tresses.

Her petite frame elongated within the radiant light, swiftly transforming into a tall, slender figure.

Tian Lanxing had returned!

The instant his transformation was complete, without a moment’s hesitation, he immediately crouched down, continuously channeling his immense Star Power into Xia Xingyan’s dying body.

Among Magical Girls, Star Power could be used to mend each other’s wounds.

However, this practice was immensely draining, and its efficacy varied greatly from person to person.

Only an entity like Tian Lanxing, whose Star Power reserves were nothing short of prodigious, could forcibly snatch a person from the very precipice of death.

Under Tian Lanxing’s selfless and unreserved infusion of Star Power, the grotesque wound on Xia Xingyan’s back began to heal at a visibly rapid pace.

The scattered light in her pupils also began to coalesce once more.

“You…”

Xia Xingyan gazed weakly at the familiar face before her, momentarily speechless.

“Rest easy now,”

Tian Lanxing’s voice was imbued with a gentle tenderness.

He gently lowered Xia Xingyan to lie flat on the ground.

Then, he slowly rose to his feet and turned his head.

“What comes next, is my battle.”

He did not immediately make a move, choosing instead to stand calmly, his silver hair gently swaying in the night breeze.

Within his deep blue eyes, only an icy, bone-chilling resolve remained.

The very atmosphere of the battlefield shifted.

An oppressive aura, potent enough to freeze one’s very soul, caused the heart of the previously overbearing Black-robed cadre to skip a beat.

An unprecedented fear began to crawl up from the soles of his feet.

‘This girl truly was Tian Lanxing!’

He had just been reveling in the thrill of crushing a legend beneath his heel, but now, the tables had unequivocally turned.

“Xiangyanghua, kill her!” the Black-robed cadre shrieked, his voice laced with panic.

Upon receiving the command, blue flames surged within Xiangyanghua’s eyes, and a chilling murderous intent burst forth from her hollow pupils.

Innumerable black vines once more burst from the earth, several times thicker than before, coiling towards Tian Lanxing from every conceivable direction.

Yet Tian Lanxing paid them no mind. He simply raised his right hand and made a subtle grasping motion towards the ground.

“Space, lock.”

Buzz—

An invisible ripple emanated outwards, with him at its epicenter.

The wildly thrashing vines halted abruptly a mere meter from his body, as if slamming into an invisible barrier, frozen in mid-air.

The entire space had been solidified.

Time, in that moment, lost all meaning.

The Black-robed cadre stared, utterly dumbfounded.

This was absolute dominion over space! A realm possessed only by deities!

“Run!”

This was the sole thought that consumed the Black-robed cadre’s mind.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he spun around, his Void Energy erupting as he transformed into a shadowy blur, rapidly fleeing into the distance.

However, Tian Lanxing simply raised his right hand and, aiming it in the direction of the cadre’s escape, gently snapped his fingers.

With a soft *snap*, the Black-robed cadre, in his rapid flight, suddenly jolted to a halt, as if striking an invisible wall, and was forcibly repelled backwards.

His desperate attempt at escape had been rendered a mere farce by that dismissive flick of a finger.

‘It was over.’

The Black-robed cadre plunged into despair.

For he horrifyingly discovered that the space surrounding him had solidified like steel, and no matter how he channeled his Void Energy, he could not budge it in the slightest!

Then, Tian Lanxing’s figure materialized before him like a phantom.

He couldn’t even discern how his opponent had moved! One moment, he was dozens of meters away; the next, he was within arm’s reach, as if the very concept of distance held no sway over him!

There were no flashy techniques, no dazzling displays of light.

Tian Lanxing simply extended his index finger, and upon its tip, a minuscule speck of stardust, radiating a pure, ethereal moonlight, slowly coalesced.

‘What was that?!’

A shiver of primal terror caused the Black-robed cadre’s hair to stand on end.

That speck of stardust carried not an ounce of killing intent, yet it ignited a profound terror deep within his heart—the instinctive shiver of a soul confronting its utter annihilation.

Then, Tian Lanxing gently leaned forward, touching the center of the Black-robed cadre’s forehead.

There was no explosion, not even a sound.

Starting from his forehead, the Black-robed cadre’s body began to decompose inch by agonizing inch, dissolving into its most fundamental particles.

The expression of defiance and terror etched upon his face, along with his very soul, was utterly obliterated by the pure starlight, dissipating into the ether.

In a single strike, it was as if he had never existed at all.

Tian Lanxing withdrew his finger, then turned to face Xiangyanghua, who remained eerily still.

His expression grew complex.

She had once been his comrade, a girl as warm and bright as the sun, always smiling.

Now, however, she was merely a puppet, encased in Void Energy, her very soul weeping in silent anguish.

He did not directly obliterate her, as he had the Black-robed cadre.

“Rest in peace, Xiangyanghua.”

He whispered softly, pressing his palms together.

A gentle moonlight descended from above, enveloping the witch’s form.

There was no pain, only a serene purification.

The dark demonic attire dissolved within the moonlight, and the violent Void Energy was gently soothed away.

Two dark streaks, like tears, slid down Xiangyanghua’s hollow face.

Ultimately, her entire body transformed into countless specks of shimmering light, dispersing into the night breeze.

The battle was over.

From the moment Tian Lanxing rose to his feet until all was settled, barely a minute had passed.

“Senior!”

“Captain!”

Gu Qianqian and Lin Xiaolu, supporting each other, hobbled towards him, their faces alight with unbridled excitement.