You'll Get Used to It / A Brief Calm...

"She's Ling Mengxue? The one called 'Star Dream Beneath the Moonlight'?"

Tang Xiaohua was slightly surprised, but even more excited. This is my chance to become famous in one battle!

Get Used to It

If there was one Astral Mark Girl Tang Ling and the others least wanted to run into, it was undoubtedly Ling Mengxue.

She was strong—really damn strong. As for just how strong, even Qiu Yun'er had witnessed it herself. Although they had merely passed by at the time, both she and Ye Yiren had seen it.

Back then, they had been debating whether to go up and save her. While Qiu Yun'er and the others were still struggling with the decision, something unbelievable happened.

The Astral Mark Girl, who had originally been surrounded and attacked by ten Magical Girls, had actually killed them all! There had even been professional Magical Girls among them—girls trained in the Magic Association's professional combat techniques—and they had still lost.

If there had only been two or three opponents, Qiu Yun'er and the others would have rushed in to help without hesitation. But against ten people, going out there would only mean throwing their lives away.

That had also been her battle that made her famous. According to rumors, she was not merely an Astral Mark Girl who knew how to wield swords.

Now that she was seeing the real person, Qiu Yun'er was a little excited too, shouting in her heart, This is it, this is it. Thank you for nature's gift~

"I didn't expect you to know Dream Sis too," Liu Yinxuan said to Qiu Yun'er.

"No, I didn't know before either. She's Ling Feng's cousin."

The moment those words came out, the entire place fell silent.

Huh? Ling Feng's cousin? Not only were they stunned, even Ling Feng himself looked at Qiu Yun'er in disbelief.

Damn it, Ling Feng had never expected Qiu Yun'er to say it outright. He should either pretend not to know in the future, or these women would definitely keep pestering him with questions.

"Ling Feng has such a pretty younger sister. No wonder he wouldn't accept me," Lan Xinyu said sourly.

All Ling Feng wanted to say to her was, You're seriously overthinking this!

Liu Yinxuan and the others were also thinking rapidly when someone suddenly spoke, plunging the scene into silence.

"Star Dream Beneath the Moonlight, right? I want to challenge you one-on-one! Don't think being pretty is enough to scare me. A pretty face is still just a pretty face!"

Tang Xiaohua pointed righteously at Ling Feng. Everyone else was dumbfounded. This was someone who could take on ten people alone—was she sure she wanted to try?

Tang Ling and the others had fought Ling Feng more than ten times already. The results were obvious, so they had all chosen to give up.

The most recent time had been a few days ago, when they had almost instantly lost all ability to fight.

It was rather embarrassing to say, but during that one-versus-ten battle, Ling Feng had only received the Astral Mark Necklace the night before. She had wanted to see what other Destiny Sign holders were doing, so she secretly followed a Magical Girl, only to trail her all the way to their gathering spot and get discovered.

She had just wanted to explain, but they attacked before she could speak. That was how the battle had started.

Ling Feng had not done it on purpose. After beating them up, she had left behind her allowance as medical expenses before leaving. After all, interrupting someone else's gathering was not exactly a good thing.

Catching everyone off guard, Tang Xiaohua raised her little star-shaped wand and began chanting.

"O great Fire God, heed my prayer—Flame Ball!"

The sudden burst of magical fire startled everyone. The young couple from earlier had already fled in panic, but before leaving, the man even pulled out his phone to take pictures.

When the girl saw that her boyfriend was still taking pictures, she was so angry that she immediately threatened to break up with him. Only then did the man hurriedly run away. This was huge! This was magic! It would definitely shock the entire world!

"Is that Trial-Tier Magic?"

Ling Feng was completely unfazed by Tang Xiaohua's sudden attack. She had learned about magic rankings from the Destiny Sign, but magic of this level was useless against her.

The magical flames contained an extremely high amount of energy. The fire at its center was nearly white and remarkably pure, utterly incomparable to ordinary flames.

Tang Ling and the others were stunned as well. They only knew beginner magic, while Trial-Tier Magic was something only professional Magical Girls could use. None of them had expected Tang Xiaohua to be this strong.

But the one she faced was Star Dream Beneath the Moonlight! How could it possibly be that easy?

Sure enough, Ling Feng remained expressionless as a silver-black Tang saber suddenly appeared in her left hand.

She brought it down in a vertical slash, like a mighty Japanese sword saint cutting through a waterfall with a katana. With a single stroke, she cleaved the Flame Ball in two, and the scattered fire dissipated into smoke on either side.

Tang Xiaohua was left completely stunned, but the others were already used to it. She had just been proudly showing off her magic, only for it to be broken in the blink of an eye.

Realizing things were going badly, she tried to follow up with another spell. Ling Feng raised her right hand and pulled the trigger. Tang Xiaohua immediately sensed danger and hastily used defensive magic.

"O unceasing flames burning in the depths of hell! In the name of God, I summon you forth! Burn my enemies, reduce their bones to ash, and make their blood boil... become tiny embers! Spirits dancing within the blazing fire, turn your fury into a wall of flame and separate everything—Flame Shield!"

The moment she finished speaking, a wall of fire appeared before Tang Xiaohua, completely enveloping her.

Her chanting speed was actually faster than Ling Feng's bullet. Even Ling Feng was surprised for a moment.

No, it seemed Magical Girls could already activate magic while chanting it.

But Ling Feng paid it no mind. Instead, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Then, before everyone's shocked eyes, the bullet veered off along an incredibly strange trajectory, curving behind Tang Xiaohua before ricocheting back toward her!

The bullet struck the magic wand in Tang Xiaohua's hand. Her little hand trembled slightly, and by the time she reacted, the wand was already lying on the ground.

The scene fell silent. Tang Xiaohua stood there blankly with a complicated expression, seemingly lost in thought.

Lan Xinyu walked over as though this were nothing unusual, patted Tang Xiaohua on the shoulder, and sighed.

"Get used to it. My condolences."

A Brief Calm

The final outcome went without saying. Lan Xinyu and the others had lost yet again.

As usual, Ling Feng made them stand in a row. This time, however, there was one more person.

That person was Tang Xiaohua. No matter how unwilling she was, she had no choice but to lower her head. She had indeed lost, and Ling Feng had not done anything to her.

For one brief moment, Tang Xiaohua looked at Ling Feng with admiration. But it lasted only an instant before she came to her senses. Tch, she was just lucky. That has to be it!

With that thought, Tang Xiaohua regained her confidence. She planned to find another chance to get revenge later. She was a member of the Linzhou Magic Association—when had she ever suffered such humiliation? And at the hands of an Astral Mark Girl, no less!

Qiu Yun'er found the sight extremely satisfying. Tonight had been fucking awesome! She had never expected these Magical Girls to have a day like this! Just as she was feeling smug, Ling Feng's voice drifted over from afar.

"You stand over there too."

"Huh?"

Even Qiu Yun'er herself was stunned this time. Weren't they on the same side?

By then, the four Magical Girls were already clapping to welcome Qiu Yun'er into their ranks. She could easily see their gleeful expressions, but she still did as she was told. What else could she do? This was Ling Feng's younger sister!

"Final exams are next week, and you still have time to arrange fights?" Ling Feng said sternly.

"Um, Dream Sis goes to Dragon Soaring High School too?" Liu Yinxuan asked timidly, but Ling Feng ignored her.

In the end, all five of them received Ling Feng's "friendly education." Not one of them dared to talk back throughout the whole process, though Ling Feng did not think they would listen anyway. This was already the nth time.

A few words could not resolve the conflict between the two sides, but as long as they eased things a little, that was enough.

By the time Ling Feng returned home, it was already past eleven at night. Fortunately, Ling Feng had changed back. But for some reason, the remaining Voice-Changing Pills had vanished into thin air?

What kind of rule was that?

With the matter settled for the time being, Ling Feng was exhausted. Early the next morning, Ling Xiaoyu had already prepared a lavish breakfast.

"How was it? Did you have fun yesterday?"

"Tell your sister about it. Did anyone do anything to you? Boys have to protect themselves when they're out there."

Ling Xiaoyu looked deeply worried. Ling Feng nearly cursed when he saw it. Are you really my biological sister?

At school, Class 1 of Year Two at Dragon Soaring High School.

Just as Ling Feng expected, Tang Ling and the other Magical Girls looked at him very strangely today.

When Lan Xinyu saw Ling Feng, she was somewhat unwilling to accept it, but she held herself back. She had never expected that one day, someone would surpass her in looks, while also utterly crushing her in strength.

Tang Ling wanted to ask something, but ultimately said nothing. Looking at Ling Feng, who was "seriously" reviewing his textbook, she sighed softly. He probably did not know anything.

Next semester would be their final year of high school, so everyone took this final exam seriously. If they wanted to relax properly during Spring Festival, they first had to get good grades and earn a bigger red envelope. Even Zhao Lei, who normally hated reading, had started cramming at the last minute.

Their homeroom teacher, Liu Yan, was also very strict. Over the next few days, Ling Feng noticed that these Magical Girls were especially well-behaved, which gave him a small sense of relief.

Yet while Ling Feng remained unaware, changes were also taking place in the outside world.

"Hey, look, look! This is a Magical Girl figurine I just bought. What do you think? Pretty, right?" a boy bragged.

"Tch, what's so special about that? Look at this, see it? This is a signed photo from a Magical Girl herself!"

"Holy shit, how did you get that? I'm so jealous."

"Hehe, I went to an idol concert before and won it in a drawing."

"Sigh, I wish I had one too." The boy sighed dejectedly.

Several girls walked past and naturally overheard their conversation. One of them looked wistful. "I wish I could become a Magical Girl too."

But another girl shook her head after hearing that. She did not like those little Magical Girls. Weren't Astral Mark Girls cool too?

Things had already begun to split into different camps. Many girls liked the cool fighting styles of Astral Mark Girls, while many others dreamed of the beauty of Magical Girls.

Naturally, boys liked Astral Mark Girls too. They were both beautiful and cool. But who would not like cute, energetic Magical Girls? Especially shut-ins.

Because Magical Girls possessed overwhelming combat power, Astral Mark Girls were fewer in number and at a relative disadvantage, rarely appearing in the public eye.

A Transfer Student? An Astral Mark Girl?

Ling Feng had thought such peaceful days would last until the final exams were over.

But what he did not know was that their class would receive an unexpected visitor today.

The first class on Friday morning was taught by their homeroom teacher, Liu Yan. Liu Yan stood at the podium and was just about to speak when she froze, because she realized she seemed to have said these words not long ago.

"Students, a new classmate will be joining our class today. Everyone should get along well from now on. Wan Qing, come in and introduce yourself first."

After speaking, the homeroom teacher looked toward the door. Meanwhile, the students below the podium had already begun discussing it heatedly.

"Damn, finals are next week and we're still getting a new student?"

"Hehe, what do you think, a guy or a girl? Is she pret—"

"Stop. I know what you're going to say, but I only have four words for you: none of your business!"

Similar conversations were taking place throughout the classroom. After all, a transfer student had arrived not long ago, and now there was another one. It was simply too unusual.

Sure enough, before the homeroom teacher had even finished speaking, a girl dressed in clean, neat clothes walked onto the podium.

The girl moved with graceful steps, her beautiful eyes sparkling. She wore cloth shoes and a plain white dress, giving her a somewhat ladylike air, yet she also seemed pure and adorable.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Ling Wanqing. I'm a transfer student from Yanjing, and Ling Feng's cousin. Also, I'm an Astral Mark Girl, and my brother is also—"

"I'm not!"

Just as everyone was listening eagerly to Ling Wanqing's introduction, a voice suddenly cut in. Ling Feng slammed his hand onto the desk and shot to his feet, startling both the homeroom teacher and the entire class. Was there some problem?

In truth, Ling Feng had already become alert the moment he heard Ling Wanqing's name. Once he heard what she was saying, his heart tightened even further.

This familiar scene, these familiar lines—wasn't this exactly what had happened when Tang Xiaohua first arrived?

At that moment, the entire class turned their eyes toward Ling Feng.

Ling Feng sat back down with an embarrassed expression. When Ling Wanqing saw him, her face lit up, and she immediately walked down from the podium. But no one had forgotten what she had just said.

"An Astral Mark Girl? One of those girls in school uniforms?" a boy asked excitedly.

"Astral Mark Girls are so rare. You only occasionally see them in gossip news about Magical Girls."

"Of course. Experts never show off. I heard they're incredibly skilled, every one of them a top swordswoman and god-tier sharpshooter."

That was enough to send the entire class into another uproar. But since they were still in class—and it was their homeroom teacher's class—the classroom quickly quieted down again.

However, upon hearing Ling Wanqing say that she was an Astral Mark Girl, the expressions of the Magical Girls in the class immediately turned ugly.

Especially when Ling Wanqing walked toward Tang Ling and Tang Xiaohua's side, their expressions became even more serious. Another enemy had arrived?

Although all of them felt uneasy, Lan Xinyu was the angriest.

"How does Ling Feng have so many pretty younger sisters? No wonder he ignores me."

Lan Xinyu thought sourly, recalling how she and Ling Feng had eaten together and gone on walks at the start of the school year.

But because the conflict with Astral Mark Girls had been intense during that period, she had turned down Ling Feng's invitations two or three times. By the time she wanted to make up for it, Ling Feng no longer had time to do those things with her.