What was Bud great perfection?
Why did great perfection still have "half-step" in front of it?
Bingtang could never figure out the principles behind all this, but she knew just one thing.
Jiang Si knew so much.
He always came up with wondrous terms she had never heard before. Although she did not understand them, she thought they sounded impressive.
She firmly believed everything Jiang Si said, and after three years, she almost never asked him what any of it meant.
If it was useful, he would explain it later anyway; if it was useless, she would never hear it again.
Jiang Si used quite a few one-time terms, too.
By the time she finished copying the homework, Jiang Si had finished warming up.
"Time for actual combat."
Indeed, exercise could certainly let you feel yourself improving.
But to Jiang Si, only training that could be applied in actual combat was effective.
Just as the essence of studying was actually to develop your own learning methods.
Most high school and university knowledge was of no use once you entered society, but learning methods would never stop being useful.
If you could not see through to the essence and became absorbed in exercise itself, you were putting the cart before the horse, lying in your comfort zone and numbing yourself.
He had once gone through such a period of confusion himself, but by now, he was long past being fooled by superficial improvements.
If he could not translate his training into real strength, it was utterly meaningless.
After every workout, after feeling a tangible increase in strength, he had to verify it in actual combat.
"Winter Lord."
"I told you, just call me Bingtang..."
She grumbled a little, but still obediently took out her Magic Seed.
The clear blue seed looked like an ice sculpture.
When she gripped the seed, ice-blue power began to bloom. Cold air spread unchecked, and Bingtang's gaze gradually grew firm.
In a voice too quiet to hear, she softly recited the incantation.
Ice coalesced into a mighty dragon, its enormous body emerging from the seed in her hand and coating the entire cave abode in frost.
"Primordial Dragon Descends!"
The enormous ice dragon swooped down from above and swallowed Bingtang in one bite!
The girl was thus frozen inside a dragon-shaped block of ice, until she reached out and gave it a gentle push.
The surrounding ice shattered into specks of starlight and dispersed, and Bingtang had already become the blue magical girl who had eliminated the Calamity Beast in front of the shuttle bus that morning.
The magical girl Winter Lord.
Over the past three years, to keep Jiang Si's identity hidden, she had handled most of the Calamity Beasts.
Her strength went without saying; she already had one foot in Full Blossom.
Even the current Disaster Countermeasures Bureau had no particularly good way of dealing with her, and still could not even find her.
Although Jiang Si thought that was because the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau was simply too lousy.
"Why were you chanting so quietly? Didn't you eat breakfast?"
Faced with Jiang Si's abrupt question, Bingtang tugged at her crystalline magical-girl dress. "Because it's far too embarrassing to say out loud, of course..."
It was pretty cool, though.
Jiang Si had helped Bingtang come up with her transformation incantation, but there was nothing he could do if she refused to say it aloud. He merely urged her, "Whatever. Hurry up and release that Calamity Beast from this morning."
Taking a deep breath, the blue magical girl extended her white-gloved right hand, the lace around her wrist resembling strings of ice crystals.
"Mediocre Work, number one, Crude Reflection in the Mirror."
The frost emanating from her hand swiftly condensed, taking the form of the big-eyed Calamity Beast that had stood in front of the shuttle bus that morning.
Its icy body was somewhat stiff, and even the slightest movement sent shards of ice falling off.
Bingtang exhaled a puff of white mist. Manipulating ice for prolonged periods made her own body temperature drop considerably.
Magical girls who had yet to reach Full Blossom always faced various restrictions.
"By the way, aside from the four major stages, their Disaster Countermeasures Bureau actually has a specific numerical classification, too. They divide a magical girl's abilities into six specific stats, including strength, magic power, reactions, speed..."
"The stat-based approach is even more rubbish."
Watching Jiang Si charge toward the big-eyed Calamity Beast, Bingtang merely said nervously, "This Calamity Beast's stats are higher than your physical body's across the board..."
Before she could finish, a fierce side kick slammed into the big-eyed monster like a blade or an axe!
Ice crystals instantly shattered and clattered across the ground.
Bingtang's eyes widened.
With her frost magic, even a reflection constructed for the first time possessed unquestionable strength.
But judging by the stats, it should have been a level above Jiang Si's untransformed state.
"Who competes over bigger numbers in a fight?"
Jiang Si's disdainful assessment brought Bingtang back to her senses, and she nodded in wholehearted agreement.
"Yes, ultimately, actual combat is what matters. But your physical body really is getting stronger and stronger. I'm afraid even some magical girls are no longer your match. It's truly incredible."
"It's nothing special."
Jiang Si was not being modest. His current body was far too weak compared with his strength after transforming into a magical girl.
Transforming into a magical girl came with restrictions, and it made him an easy target for scrutiny.
If possible, he wanted to push his physical strength, reactions, and speed into the realm of magical girls as much as he could.
Transforming into a magical girl should be his final trump card, not his regular way of fighting.
Xiao Yan would not open with Buddha's Fury Flame Lotus, nor would Tang San start with Blue Silver Bind.
Unfortunately, he could not do it yet. His body grew stronger too slowly; he could only take his time.
After moving his body a little, Jiang Si was about to turn back and continue training when he noticed the shattered ice on the ground had reassembled into the big-eyed Calamity Beast.
"It's not over yet, though. That big-eyed Calamity Beast's most distinctive feature was its ability to restore itself."
Looking at Bingtang's impish smile, Jiang Si merely snorted.
Just as he was about to go over and smash the big eye again, red light shone down from the Calamity Beast's eye, instantly immobilizing him.
It then slowly rose into the air, putting distance between them.
The surrounding power converged, the immense crimson energy inside its eyeball growing increasingly concentrated as it aimed at Jiang Si.
No matter how much he trained, even a powerful physical body could not jump that high.
Reaching that altitude already required flight, and his body could not yet tread on air.
The instant crimson energy blasted out of the big eye, a wisp of purple flame quietly rose.
A fleeting, lovely figure flashed past, and the airborne ice-crystal Calamity Beast was instantly engulfed in purple flames, burning fiercely!
Jiang Si landed in what almost amounted to a crash, his feet embedded in the ground. Holding a scorching purple seed, he blew out a breath.
The burning flames ahead instantly dispersed.
A split-second transformation? Or had he not transformed at all? Had he only borrowed the magic power inside the seed?
Bingtang realized she could not keep up with Jiang Si's speed at all.
Of course, what disappointed her even more was that she had failed to get a clear look at Jiang Si's adorable transformed appearance.
It was not easy these days to catch a glimpse of the magical girl who had saved her back then.
"Looks like I need more training."
Somehow arriving at that conclusion, Jiang Si had already put away the seed and plunged back into frenzied training.
Bingtang undid her transformation, rubbed her hands together, breathed onto her palms, then glanced at her phone.
"Lingling, who's undercover at the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, sent a message."
Jiang Si, who was doing push-ups nearby, asked casually, "What message?"
"The Disaster Countermeasures Bureau detected several Calamity Beast birth singularities, but they're short-handed, so they're planning to leave a few of them alone for now..."
Looking at her phone, Bingtang suddenly froze, then picked it up and checked again.
"One of the birth singularities is at your younger sister's middle school..."