Chapter 358: Azure Cloud Sect’s Grand Harem, Ruling from Behind the Curtain
“Master, my plan wasn’t bad, was it?”
Jiang Si, having just left the End Land, shot a glance at Tiyana as she sidled up to him. He let out a cold snort. “Too many loopholes.”
Tiyana immediately whipped out her little notebook. “Like what?”
“I should have been the one to kill Black Keke myself.”
Her movement froze slightly. Tiyana chuckled awkwardly and scratched her head, putting her little notebook away.
No kidding—if she actually let the Sect Master kill Black Keke, Lady Bingtang would curse her out to death.
Jiang Si could treat Black Keke like she wasn’t his sister, but for them as disciples, they couldn’t really act like Black Keke wasn’t the Sect Master’s sister.
From the very beginning of her plan, she had done her utmost to avoid letting the Sect Master personally kill Black Keke...
“Because of your plan, my Keke didn’t get the Reincarnation power.”
“I’m innocent, Master! That was Keke herself not wanting it. There was nothing I could do.”
“That’s why I said I should have gotten it first, saved it for her, and given it to her when she finally comes around.”
“That sounds like you’re talking about a New Year’s red envelope...”
Tiyana felt a bit powerless. “But even if we killed her, we might not have gotten the Reincarnation power anyway...”
“Her Mental Landscape Space can swap abilities.” Jiang Si said in a deep voice. “Control her with Perception Obstruction and make her swap out the Reincarnation power.”
It was precisely because he wanted to force Black Keke to hand over the Reincarnation power to Keke that Jiang Si had been holding back all along, letting her escape, even arranging for the two to meet.
Throughout, he had only let Black Keke show off her abilities without putting up much resistance.
In fact, Black Keke’s entire Mental Landscape’s capabilities were very suited to Keke. If Keke could gain Black Keke’s Mental Landscape and the Reincarnation ability—
Plus her own combat power, after some refining, she might not be inferior to him.
“But the issue is, from my proposal that you, Sect Master, pretend to abandon Keke and ally with Black Keke to extract more intel from her, it was a complete success, right? The intelligence you wanted on the Magic Kingdom is already in hand, and we’ve also gotten a part of the End Beast’s abilities. That’s very successful, isn’t it?”
“The Reincarnation power is the main point. The rest isn’t that important.”
“Th-then you never said that before! Plus, having Keke confront Black Keke so she could overcome her past and future selves and step onto the path of becoming an Emperor was your own proposal...”
Before she could finish, Tiyana threw down her notebook and collapsed onto the ground.
She started crying and rolling around.
“I don’t care, I don’t care! Master promised that as long as this plan succeeded, the previous punishment would be wiped clean! You said it yourself—Keke’s matters had to be handled by her, that she had to overcome herself and step onto the path of becoming an Emperor. That’s why I didn’t make any contingency plans for Keke’s side! It was Master who agreed from the start, and now you’re putting all the blame on me! It’s not fair, not fair! Master is bullying me! Waaah...”
Watching Tiyana roll around on the void ground, Jiang Si felt a headache coming on.
Even when An Shiyu caught up, Tiyana showed no sign of getting up. She just kept rolling around Jiang Si, crying and fussing, making even An Shiyu’s heart soften a little.
Kneeling beside Tiyana, An Shiyu tugged at her, but she couldn’t pull her up. Instead, she was yanked off balance herself.
Instinctively grabbing at something to steady herself, she ended up pulling up the Sect Master’s pants...
So when Keke arrived, she saw Big An holding her brother’s pants down to his ankles.
And Tiyana, a true-transmission disciple, rolling and crying at her brother’s feet.
A hellish tableau.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m interrupting...”
Keke nodded and bowed, turning to leave.
An Shiyu scrambled to pull Jiang Si’s pants back up. “It’s not what it looks like, Keke. I...”
“It’s not what what looks like?”
Mùjǐn seized control of the body with a domineering air and wrapped her arms around Jiang Si. “Keke, I’ll be borrowing your brother for a while...”
“Get back in there, Senior Mùjǐn!”
“Wait, Little An. Let me try something.”
“What...”
Without warning, Mùjǐn suddenly erupted, lifting her foot and kicking Jiang Si right between the legs!
Clang!
The sound of striking steel echoed out. Mùjǐn hugged her right leg, wincing, her face caught between pain and laughter. She just gave Jiang Si a thumbs up.
“Solid!”
Keke and Tiyana were both stunned. Tiyana even forgot her crying and rolling, staring at An Shiyu in terror.
As for An Shiyu, her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.
“What are you doing, Senior Mùjǐn?!”
“Look, if we just reach out and touch him, wouldn’t that seem really unladylike? With this kick, we look proper, and we get to be the first to touch...”
“Senior Mùjǐn, you idiot!”
“I’m doing this for your own good! There’s definitely no harm done. Even if I really broke it, he could just transform back and it would be fixed...”
“Die, die, die, die, die, die, die!”
“Hmph, you’re too young to understand. You’ll thank me later for how much I’ve won for you...”
Watching An Shiyu look like she was about to cry, Keke couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her.
Having someone else messing around with your body, and doing it to the person you like...
It must be absolutely despairing.
Tiyana just turned her head to look at Jiang Si and asked quietly, “Master, are you okay?”
“Heh.” Jiang Si let out a cold laugh. “With that little power level, you think it can break through my defense?”
After so many battles, he had taken plenty of impacts all over his body.
Let alone a kick like that—when mana pressure came crashing down, his whole body was under enormous strain.
His physical body wasn’t anywhere near the level of Magical Girl Shion. Even using his own three corpses for strength training,
he often had blowout incidents.
Not to mention when he was occasionally engulfed by ice and fire. His body wasn’t immune to those either.
Being turned into a roast chicken or a freezer block from time to time was common.
A light, casual kick was no different from a gentle shove.
“That’s sexual harassment, you know. Harassment.”
Tiyana immediately whispered.
But when she saw An Shiyu hiding in a corner in a state of self-isolation, with Keke comforting her, Tiyana snapped back to reality and started rolling and crying on the ground again. “Master...”
“Scram.”
Tiyana just clung to Jiang Si’s thigh, looking up at him with tearful eyes. “Then let me kick you once too, Master...”
Jiang Si lifted his foot, and Tiyana was so scared she curled into a ball. “I was joking, Master! I was just trying to get off the hook! I finally got a chance to redeem myself, and if Master doesn’t agree, I can’t even go back to the Illusory Moon Cavern Dwelling... I want to go back, Master.”
Ever since Bingtang got angry, Tiyana’s status as a true-transmission disciple had been reduced to just an honorary one.
Not only had her benefits been severely cut, but the most important thing now was that even meeting other true-transmission disciples was difficult.
Everyone made fun of her, and she, Tiyana, was the biggest joke.
Although she wouldn’t lose her true-transmission position—after being acknowledged by the Sect Master, even Lady Bingtang couldn’t strip her of it—Lady Bingtang had plenty of ways to make her life worse than death.
And Tiyana had always respected Bingtang the most. Being hated by Lady Bingtang was enough to make her utterly miserable.
That was why she had been constantly looking for opportunities with the Sect Master to atone for her crimes, hoping he would put in a good word.
Let Lady Bingtang cool down, so she could return to the Illusory Moon Cavern Dwelling.
Finally finding a chance—when the Sect Master wanted Black Keke to leak information and transfer the Reincarnation power to Keke—
she had concocted this plan to have him seemingly break with Keke and choose Black Keke as his sister.
The plan went smoothly. Black Keke was successfully controlled. But then things went wrong on Keke’s side.
Keke didn’t take the Reincarnation power. Of course, she didn’t care.
She couldn’t use the Reincarnation power anyway. No matter how angry the Sect Master got at Keke, he wouldn’t do anything to his own sister.
In the end, he could only take it out on her...
Letting Keke defeat Black Keke, transcend herself, and step into a new realm—that was Teacher’s own emphasis in the plan.
But when things didn’t go as hoped, he dumped all the blame on her.
As a disciple, what could she do? She was still in a state of penance. All she could do was roll on the ground, cry, and beg for the Sect Master’s mercy.
“I dream of going back, Master. I really, really want to go back. I want to find Lady Bingtang. If this keeps up, she’ll forget me, treat me like an outsider, a sinner, and never forgive me. Master, please, wuwuwu...”
“The problem now is, what about Keke’s Reincarnation power?” Jiang Si looked at her coldly. “How am I supposed to explain this to Mom and Dad when I see them?”
“I don’t think they’d care about something like that...”
But seeing that her master was really unhappy, Tiyana had no choice but to say, “And it’s not like it’s completely gone. As long as Black Keke’s Personal Reality is still shared with Keke, whenever they encounter a tough spot in the future, if Keke is willing, she can take everything Black Keke has at any time...”
“When we had Black Keke steal Keke’s Magical Girl power back then, wasn’t that the core of the plan? To further merge Black Keke’s Personal Reality with Keke’s. In the end, as long as Keke takes back her Magical Girl power, Black Keke becomes a fish on the chopping block, at Keke’s mercy. She’s basically a backup energy source...”
When she got to this point, Tiyana’s confidence surged. “That’s right! Black Keke is now Keke’s hidden trump card for the future. No one would expect it. It’s sure to catch some enemy off guard!”
Only then did Jiang Si’s expression soften a little.
But having a cheat like that lying around outside was unsettling.
It still had to be firmly in hand.
A sense of security was important—very important. No web novel reader likes seeing the protagonist’s exclusive cheat used by someone else or even known about by others.
“Fine.”
Jiang Si nodded reluctantly, then took out a letter and handed it to Tiyana. “This is your letter of pardon. Take it back to Bingtang. She’ll understand once she sees it.”
“Of course! It only takes a word from you!”
“Thank you, Master!”
Tiyana leaped up, took the letter, then shyly leaned against her master. “Master, when you chat with Lady Bingtang during the day or sleep with her at night, could you say a few good words for me...”
Over on the other side, An Shiyu and Jiang Keke both pricked up their ears, listening intently.
What’s this about sleeping with Bingtang...
An Shiyu even forgot her sadness and wanted to move closer to hear what the two were talking about.
But Jiang Si noticed and casually waved his hand.
The space shifted, and the sound was directly cut off.
Keke and An Shiyu both let out sighs of regret. Then An Shiyu glanced at Keke. “Can you... ask your brother what’s going on?”
Keke nodded but kept her mouth shut.
If she acted too close here, it would be a betrayal of Yiyi.
She, Keke, had always been on Yiyi’s side! She would never betray her!
But then Bingtang flashed through her mind.
Did her brother really win her over?
That was the Vice-Sect Master of Azure Cloud Sect, who was said to be second only to Teacher Shion in status and power.
No wonder her brother had been having conflicts with Teacher Shion back then.
He was dating Teacher Shion and then made a move on Bingtang...
And it probably wasn’t just Bingtang. The Azure Cloud Sect girl in front of her called her brother Master.
Could it be that her brother had already set up his own faction within Azure Cloud Sect?
In that moment, Keke’s eyes sharpened, and her mind had already written a hundred-thousand-word backstory.
Her brother must have used his previous relationship with Teacher Shion to control the Sect and force Bingtang to submit. Then, out of hatred came love, leading to an illicit romance with Bingtang, and then this and that...
For a moment, she couldn’t contain herself. She felt it was necessary to secretly jot this down. The titles were already thought up.
*The True History of Azure Cloud*, *A Hundred Azure Cloud Sect Disciples Who Absolutely, Totally Love My Brother*, *The Cock Crows and the Hen Rules: The Unspeakable Affairs Between Me and My Girlfriend’s Disciples*, *The Story of Azure Cloud’s Dismembered Bodies*, *The Secret Master-Disciple Relationship*...
She couldn’t help but make a judgment in her heart. Her brother was ruling from behind the curtain!
The more Keke thought about it, the more she felt indignant for Teacher Shion.
She had to tattle to Mom and Dad! Her brother was a scumbag!
Although she didn’t know what her brother meant by seeing Mom and Dad, Keke was already thinking about what she would say when she met them, ready to pour out all the grievances of this period...
Her brother wouldn’t lie to her. He said they could meet.
They definitely could!
On the other side, Tiyana was still trying to get Jiang Si to put in a good word for her in front of Bingtang, to change her view of her.
But Jiang Si shattered her illusion with one sentence.
“I don’t sleep with Bingtang. I’ve also said I won’t interfere with Azure Cloud Sect’s reward and punishment affairs.”
“Huh? You’re not sleeping together yet?”
Tiyana bit her nails in frustration. “That’s way too slow, Lady Bingtang! With Qinghua’s support and such an advantage, how could she be so... forget it. Anyway, I’m not asking you to interfere with Lady Bingtang’s judgments. Just say a few good words for me.”
“I’ll try.”
Jiang Si brushed it off casually.
Meanwhile, Shion, who had finished fighting the Beast of Eternity, finally returned.
Her Magical Outfit was tattered, and her face was a little dirty, but her aura hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
She was just a bit tired.
The Beast of Eternity was still very troublesome. It was too difficult to settle things conclusively. In the end, she had only managed to drive it back into the sealed land.
Black Keke’s plan had been equally flawless.
By continuously expanding her Mental Landscape to probe the limits of Shion’s abilities, she had gleaned most of Shion’s combat intelligence, and had even kept the End Beast as a last resort to block Shion’s escape.
If it weren’t for Tiyana’s arrangements, Black Keke might have actually gotten away...
Of course, in the end, the plan to guide Keke to confront and block Black Keke, ultimately having Keke take Black Keke’s Reincarnation ability, had completely failed. The final result wasn’t much different from letting Black Keke escape anyway.
Regardless, the intel on the Magic Kingdom and the acquisition of the End Beast’s related abilities were indeed thanks to Tiyana. Jiang Si felt it was fine to reduce her guilt and allow her to return to the Illusory Moon Cavern Dwelling.
“Shion... Teacher, are you okay?”
When she saw Shion return, Keke immediately stood up, at a loss, looking at the tired, damaged Shion.
It was the first time she had seen Teacher Shion looking so vulnerable.
Wasn’t Teacher Shion supposed to be forever strong, composed, indifferent, and proud?
Able to casually defeat any powerful enemy she faced.
Power that seemed to have no end...
That was precisely why, for Keke, Teacher Shion always felt so distant.
Sometimes, when comparing power or talking about Magical Girls, Keke would naturally exclude Teacher Shion from the equation.
The constant off-scale thinking had also never made Keke think she could compare to Teacher Shion.
But when she saw Teacher Shion like this—
Her tattered Magical Outfit, the dirt smudged on her delicate face, the weariness in her brows that couldn’t even maintain her usual coldness and majesty—a fragile, little-girl image.
It wasn’t just concern.
It also sparked an irreverent thought in Keke’s heart—
For the first time, she felt she might be able to touch Teacher Shion.
It was as if the once aloof, out-of-this-world deity had been dragged down to the ground, giving the impression that she could be reached, even defeated.
Once that thought arose, it was unstoppable. Keke even began to secretly plot in her mind what methods she would use to defeat Teacher Shion.
When Tiyana saw Shion, she immediately knelt respectfully on one knee. “Greetings, Sect Master!”
Keke snapped back to reality and glanced at her brother again.
Sure enough, big brother, have you charmed another Azure Cloud Sect disciple?
Couldn’t you pick someone other than Teacher Shion’s disciples?
Even rabbits don’t eat the grass around their own burrows. The fact that Teacher Shion hasn’t killed you while you’re nibbling on her turf makes her practically a saint.
An Shiyu also kept rubbing her face to make her expression look normal and not embarrassing. Then she said softly, “You’ve worked hard, Miss Shion.”
Shion just nodded slightly, then looked at Jiang Si and then at Keke. She casually tossed a milky-white energy block to the two of them.
“The power of the End Beast. I got it for you.”
Keke looked confused, then heard Jiang Si say, “Thanks.”
So she sidled up to her brother and whispered, “What’s this, bro?”
“The Magic Kingdom materializes souls. Only the End Beast’s power can isolate that effect, so you don’t die outright when you enter the Magic Kingdom.”
Keke touched the strange fluid in her hand. “Materializes souls?”
“The conversion of matter and soul.” Jiang Si couldn’t be bothered to explain too much. With Keke’s middle school education, she wouldn’t understand anyway. “In short, to enter the Magic Kingdom and see Mom and Dad, I asked Shion to bring us a piece of the End Beast’s power. This way, we can avoid being soul-materialized when we meet them.”
Keke nodded blankly.
Although she didn’t understand what her brother was talking about, she could grasp the key information.
Mom and Dad were in the Magic Kingdom.
She wasn’t surprised by that. Many people in the Disaster Control Bureau, the Miracle Seeds of Magical Girls, would eventually be brought back to the Magic Kingdom by the Incubators.
And that place was an eternal paradise. The souls of Magical Girls would attach to their Miracle Seeds and go to the Magic Kingdom to live happily forever.
So the residents of the Magic Kingdom should all be souls—though she didn’t understand how Mom and Dad, who weren’t Magical Girls, had ended up there.
But right now, more than that...
“Bro, are you and Teacher Shion on good terms again?”
This was what Keke was really concerned about.
The Magic Kingdom matter could wait, but seeing Teacher Shion with her brother was a rare opportunity.
As his sister and her student, she had to seize the chance.
To find out the state of their relationship.
“It’s okay, I guess.”
Jiang Si said casually. “If we can’t be lovers, we can at least be friends.”
Friends my ass!
If you can’t be lovers, the best you can hope for is to be strangers. Not becoming enemies is already a blessing, and you’re talking about friends!
Keke cautiously glanced at Teacher Shion, then nudged her brother. “Bro, go help her out.”
Even if they were just friends, or even ex-girlfriends, this was no time to just sit back and do nothing.
“Teacher Shion is so tired. Since you’ve made up, carrying her back shouldn’t be a problem...”
Let Si and Shion get back together!
Just as Keke was thinking this, she saw her brother casually grab Teacher Shion by the back of her collar
and lift her up.
“Not like that!”
Keke covered her face. “Can’t you be a little gentler?”
“This is more convenient.”
“No! That’s too disrespectful to the teacher. Change your hold!”
Annoyed, Jiang Si casually threw Shion over his shoulder. “Is this okay?”
“No! That’s tiring for her.”
Jiang Si then dropped Shion onto the ground and started dragging her. “This way, she’s not tired.”
“...Let’s go back to the first one, bro...”
“Always micromanaging.” Jiang Si said coldly as he picked Shion up again.
Through the gaps between her fingers, watching the normally dignified Teacher Shion wobble in her brother’s hands—like a real doll—made Keke feel an incredible sense of wonder.
Teacher Shion actually lets him do this...
Before Keke could say anything, Tiyana suddenly spoke up. “Oh, right, right. I almost forgot to mention something.”
Tiyana took a few invitations from her bosom and, amid the confused looks from An Shiyu and Keke, stuffed them into their hands.
“Shion and Jiang Si broke up a long time ago. Right now, our Azure Cloud Sect is discussing with Jiang Si on behalf of Lady Bingtang. Lady Bingtang plans to first hold an engagement with Jiang Si. I took the liberty of inviting the two of you on her behalf...”
A long-planned way to raise Lady Bingtang’s favorability!
Tiyana smiled smugly.
Heh heh, when Lady Bingtang sees Keke attending the engagement ceremony, she’ll definitely be happy. And if she’s happy, she’ll pardon me!
And she had already planned it: only let Keke see the engagement, not the divorce ceremony that follows. In fact, don’t even let other guests see it.
The divorce ceremony was an internal performance of Azure Cloud Sect. Outsiders just needed to see Lady Bingtang and Jiang Si getting engaged.
Although she heard that the other seven true-transmissions had designed dresses and corresponding engagement performances—
only she, Tiyana, didn’t have one. True-transmission bullying.
But, for the Path of Caution, you had to endure and think broadly!
Return good for evil and help Lady Bingtang complete a perfect engagement!
“What do you mean by ‘right now, our Azure Cloud Sect is discussing with Jiang Si on behalf of Lady Bingtang’?”
An Shiyu immediately caught the key point. “Does that mean it will change later?”
“Oh, everyone in Azure Cloud Sect is after Jiang Si. When Lady Bingtang gets tired of him, it’ll be our turn...”
Before she could finish, Jiang Si kicked her aside.
An Shiyu then carefully asked Jiang Si, “Is that true?”
“Do you believe everything she says?”
“I... I only believe Jiang Si.”
“It’s fake.”
Little An finally breathed a sigh of relief, then became a little troubled again.
Regardless, the Azure Cloud Sect disciples had a big advantage...
“You absolutely must not join Azure Cloud Sect, Little An. If you do, our advantage is gone. It’s precisely because we’re not Azure Cloud Sect disciples that we have a better chance! Don’t lose to Bingtang...”
An Shiyu just suppressed Senior Mùjǐn again.
She had made up her mind: she wouldn’t let Senior Mùjǐn eat her favorite snacks this entire month!
But what Senior Mùjǐn said wasn’t wrong.
Now, how could she take the next step? As a girlfriend...
For the first time, An Shiyu, who had only ever thought of being Jiang Si’s girlfriend and getting close to him in a relationship,
began to advance her mental preparation.
She was ready to strive toward being a bride.
Only Keke stared at Shion, then at her brother, for a long time. As they left the End Land and headed straight for Chongxu, Teacher Shion broke free from Jiang Si’s hand midway and left on her own.
Confirming that Teacher Shion and her brother’s relationship really wasn’t that bad, Keke felt that Teacher Shion truly was a saint.
But she was also annoyed that her brother didn’t appreciate Teacher Shion.
When they returned to Chongxu, she couldn’t help but ask:
“Bro, when are we going to the Magic Kingdom?”
I want to go find Mom and Dad to tattle!
Jiang Si just asked, “What time is it now?”
“Eleven...”
“I’m asking about the date.”
“Oh, oh. It’s almost September.”
Jiang Si nodded. “School is about to start.”
Keke was stunned.
“Go report to school first.”
It was only then that Keke reacted. “S-sch-school?”
“What’s wrong? Haven’t you had enough fun over the summer?” Jiang Si frowned. “Get your head in the game! How can you meet Mom and Dad like this!”
Keke fell silent, feeling a bit defeated.
Then Jiang Si’s voice turned even colder. “You haven’t finished your summer homework because you were too busy playing, have you?”
Keke shrank her head back.
“Go back and stay up all night to finish your homework!”