Chapter 48: The Younger Sister's Resolution

Inside Bai Youqing’s room, a faint green light pierced through the pitch-black darkness.

Clad in an emerald-green magical dress, Bai Youqing appeared on the balcony, gazing gently at the bright moon.

"Father, I’ve become a magical girl. I now have the power to protect my family, and I no longer need to hide under my brother’s arms to shield myself from the wind and rain.
With all that thunder and rain today, you couldn't possibly have been craving spicy crawfish, could you? If so, you really have no ambition at all! When others receive omens, they serve as warnings for their family's fortune, but you—you're just thinking about food..."

The young girl looked up at the moonlight, pouring out many thoughts from the depths of her heart.

She only stopped when the moonlight was completely swallowed by dark clouds. Turning her head, she saw Xiao'ai struggling to hold a smartphone nearly as big as herself, lying across her bed and playing a game.

At this moment, Xiao'ai’s color was slightly dimmer than before, predominantly a deep translucent blue, tinged with subtle shades of fluorescent purple and pink that gradually faded outward from the dark core.

A pair of fairy wings fluttered gently, exuding a charming and illusory aura.

"When did you come out?"

Bai Youqing’s cheeks flushed slightly. Many of the thoughts she had just spoken aloud were things she would never dare utter to another living person.

"Relax, I didn't hear much—just from the part about your father liking spicy crawfish onward. As for the part later about wanting to find a boyfriend just like your older brother, I didn't hear a single word of it."

Xiao'ai remained utterly engrossed in her phone, without even lifting her head.

Bai Youqing’s fists clenched. She genuinely wanted to silence this magical sprite permanently and make her disappear without a trace.

*Sniff, sniff~* "I smell killing intent!"

Xiao'ai twitched her nose, looked up, and found Bai Youqing’s face glowing red like an apple, her gaze filled with anger and embarrassment.

"Let me warn you, the spirit network among us magical sprites is fully interconnected. If you dare do anything bad to me, I'll broadcast your embarrassing secrets to every single magical sprite on Earth instantly."

"Go ahead and tell them then. I'll just send you straight to Sister Yuyi. Even if it means social death for me, you won't ever get your freedom back either."

Bai Youqing adopted a reckless, all-or-nothing attitude.

"Sigh, don't you humans always talk about building a community with a shared future for mankind, aiming for win-win cooperation? Why are you always thinking about doing things that hurt others without benefiting yourself?"

"Every other magical sprite does their absolute best to help magical girls grow stronger, but you—you're completely consumed by mobile games day in and day out. Tell me, how are we supposed to achieve win-win cooperation like that?"

The more Bai Youqing thought about it, the angrier she became. Especially upon seeing that Xiao'ai had used her account to rack up a miserable KDA of 0/7/5, her frustration flared even higher.

"I *want* to help you too! But your magical power is lacking, and you don't have any magical armaments. Even the cleverest housewife can't cook a meal without rice, so what can I do? I have no choice but to project my soul onto the rivers and mountains, escape from the Jianghu, and lose myself in mobile games!"

"You're being too much! Even though what you said is true, couldn't you have put it more tactfully? Besides, as a magical sprite, you could at least teach me some basic knowledge about Calamity Beasts and magical girls."

Bai Youqing looked at the magical sprite, who had already cuddled back up to the phone, with a somewhat gloomy expression.

"Alright, alright, stop making that disappointed face. I can't teach you magical combat skills for now, but I can share some theoretical knowledge—such as the magical girl ranking system, and the characteristics and weaknesses of Abyss Calamity Beasts, Abyss Minions, and Abyss Demon Concubines..."

"Oh? I'd like to hear that."

"Don't rush, help me salvage my gold and economy first." Xiao'ai handed the phone over to Bai Youqing, her implication crystal clear.

"Your economy is already four or five thousand gold behind the others. How is that even salvageable?"

"I don't care, I don't care." Xiao'ai rolled back and forth across the bed, leaving the blankets in a messy heap.

After a moment of hesitation, Bai Youqing took the phone. What else could she do? After all, this was her own account!

"Magical girl tiers are primarily divided into Seed-bearing, Budding, Spreading Leaves, Breaking Pods, and Blooming Flowers."

"Then how many Blooming Flower-tier magical practitioners do we humans have nowadays?"

"According to the internal records of our magical sprites, there are currently 34 Blooming Flower-tier magical practitioners left worldwide. The all-time high was 68 the year before last, but 34 of them made the ultimate sacrifice."

"That's so few."

"None of that concerns you right now. The most important thing for you is to summon your magical armament before you turn eighteen."

"Why?"

"If you reach adulthood without summoning a magical armament, your body's connection to the magical medium will grow weaker and weaker until you can no longer sense magic at all, ultimately reducing you to an ordinary person."

At this, magical sprite Xiao'ai sighed softly.

Going from someone with supernatural abilities to an ordinary person overnight was a harsh reality that many magical girls simply could not accept.

Because of this, quite a few magical girls, reluctant to let go of this extraordinary power, resorted to extreme measures and fell into the ranks of witch organizations.

Fortunately, the relevant departments of the human world promptly introduced numerous welfare policies for retired magical girls. While this couldn't completely eradicate the phenomenon, it significantly curbed the trend.

"I see, I see. Then what does a magical armament actually look like?"

Bai Youqing asked, feeling rather puzzled.

"A magical armament is equivalent to a magical girl's advanced weapon. The magical core of every magical girl possesses the Power of Purity. When the Power of Purity reaches its peak, the wand you usually use will condense into the magical weapon you desire most in your heart.

Every magical girl's magical armament is unique and varies in shape, but undoubtedly, only those magical girls who manifest a magical armament are truly qualified magical girls."

As she spoke, a white light washed over Xiao'ai's delicate form. Amidst the blinding radiance, Bai Youqing seemed to step into an alternate space. There, countless colorful magical armaments swirled around her, dazzling her eyes:

"Scissors, threads, magical staves, bows, ribbons, magic rings, grimoires, bows and arrows, spears..."

*Whoosh.*

With a soft sound, Bai Youqing snapped back to reality.

"Well? Those ones you saw just now are magical armaments. Was there any one you liked?"

"Mm."

Bai Youqing nodded. Having practiced martial arts since childhood, she hoped her magical armament would be something like a blade, spear, sword, or halberd. She really couldn't get into the magic wands used by the magical girls in anime.

Compared to fragile, high-damage-low-defense APCs, she preferred a DPS character who could take hits and deal them back.

"Since you have a goal in mind, that settles it."

Sprite Xiao'ai never worried about Bai Youqing's talent; it was only a matter of time before she summoned her magical armament.

"Xiao'ai, watching anime before, I always thought Calamity Beasts were weak and foolish monsters. But the lesson at the wetland park last time taught me that they are truly insidious and cunning. Why do anime portray them as being so weak?"

"Do you think the very first Calamity Beast you faced was strong?"

"Uh... very weak..."

"The strength of Calamity Beasts shown in animations is actually quite close to their real-world capabilities—magical girls can generally eliminate Abyss Calamity Beasts of the same tier. However, during the Third Black Tide Crisis, humanity's resistance repeatedly fell behind for two reasons.

First, as long as the Gate of the Abyss remains open, the stream of creatures invading Earth is endless and inexhaustible, whereas on the human side, cultivating a qualified magical girl takes a very long time.

Second, it's precisely because of the existence of the Abyss Academy that those simple-minded Calamity Beasts learned how to cooperate, becoming insidious and cunning."

"Abyss Academy?" Hearing this bizarre term, Bai Youqing froze for a moment, then asked, "Is it a building like our human schools?"

"Yes."

"Then if I get the chance in the future, I must destroy the Abyss Academy."

Bai Youqing made a silent vow, setting her very first minor goal.

Immediately afterward, she asked again, "Xiao'ai, what is Abyss Qi? I see the news constantly reporting on this plague-like gas over the past few years."

"Abyss Qi is poison to humans; it strips them of their sanity and turns them into monsters. For instance, those flesh monsters and minions you saw today were all humans transformed by corrosion.

However, for magical girls, it's 'exp'—experience points. When they ordinarily kill Calamity Beasts, the beasts drop Abyss Stones or turn into Abyss Qi.

The former can be preserved and contains a high concentration of magic power, but its downside is that it has many impurities and is difficult to absorb, requiring a magical armament to properly utilize.

The latter cannot be stored and has a lower concentration of magic power, but its advantage is that it's easy to absorb. Without a magical armament, you can only absorb Abyss Qi and purify it through your magical core into the Power of Purity for your own use."

Sprite Xiao'ai chattered away endlessly, but the moment she saw that Bai Youqing had painstakingly dragged her economy back to first place, she snatched the phone right back.

This left Bai Youqing, who needed her for information, too angry to speak up.

A few minutes later, despite the sprite's best efforts, the match was lost anyway.

The human and the sprite lay sprawled on the bed. Having already obtained the information she wanted, Bai Youqing snatched the phone back.

Xiao'ai, neither fussing nor making a noise, stared blankly at the ceiling and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Xiaoqing, I probably won't be able to appear in the real world very often from now on. You need to learn to take care of yourself..."

"What's wrong? You make it sound like you're about to die." Bai Youqing turned her head to look at the little sprite, feeling puzzled.

"Tell me, what meaning is there in a sprite's life if she has no phone?" Xiao'ai drooped her head, looking at her with a pitiful expression.

"..." Bai Youqing fell silent for a moment, then let out a deep sigh. "How on earth did I end up encountering a sprite who is expert at nothing except eating, drinking, and playing?"

"When we formed our contract, I already told you I was an 'Unlucky Sprite'!"