From a Bronze Stomp to a Master-Level Fight

Ran Jiuyi, sent flying by the impact, stabilized herself and landed firmly, immediately dropping into a combat stance to prepare for Cheng Ya’s pursuit.

“That last hit wasn’t bad, right? I suggest you stop holding back now, or you’re going to lose miserably.”

In less than three seconds, Cheng Ya’s severed arm and chest wounds had completely finished regenerating. Judging by her composed expression, Ran Jiuyi’s previous attack had failed to leave any lasting impact.

“It was decent, but not enough. If this is your limit, it’s not worth my full power yet.”

Ran Jiuyi spat out a dislodged tooth and wiped the blood from the corners of her mouth and nose. Her facial injuries healed instantly as well.

The damage the two had received was worlds apart, yet Cheng Ya had fully recovered even faster than Ran Jiuyi. In a contest of pure regenerative speed, Ran Jiuyi had no advantage.

However, it was too early to decide the victor. From the current situation, both were transcendents specialized in recovery; this battle would likely devolve into a war of attrition. In such a fight, the deciding factors were mana capacity and mana recovery speed—two areas where Ran Jiuyi feared no one.

Realizing that trading blows in close quarters yielded no advantage, Ran Jiuyi decided to test her opponent from a distance. Dozens of Erosion Needles manifested in the air around her, lashing out toward Cheng Ya.

Under Ran Jiuyi’s control, the needles moved in chaotic, irregular trajectories. They weren’t exceptionally fast, but they perfectly covered every possible path of escape. With the needles under her absolute command, Ran Jiuyi didn’t believe Cheng Ya could dodge them all, regardless of her elite reflexes.

However, when the needles were within two meters of Cheng Ya, Ran Jiuyi suddenly felt her connection to them snap.

Deprived of their guiding force, the needles continued toward Cheng Ya due to inertia, but their paths were now predictable. Relying on her superhuman perception, Cheng Ya effortlessly danced through the volley.

“If this were the first time I’d seen that, I might have been in trouble,” Cheng Ya remarked. “Luckily, you used that trick against the Magical Girls, so I had time to figure out how to break it.”

“The method is simple,” Cheng Ya continued. “I noticed a thread of your mana is constantly attached to every needle. That’s how you control them. So, I simply increased the mana density around my body to a level that disrupts your connection the moment they get close. Just like that—instant loss of control.”

Ran Jiuyi replied coldly, “An effective method. But you don’t think that’s enough to beat me, do you?”

She had encountered this before. Against experienced powerhouses with high perception, it was common for the weakness of the needles to be discovered within a few rounds. For this, Ran Jiuyi had developed her own solution long ago: a different way to utilize her needles.

She manifested dozens of needles again, but this time, the target wasn’t Cheng Ya. It was herself.

“As you said, needles outside the body are susceptible to your interference. So… what if I put them inside my body?”

In the next instant, every needle floating around Ran Jiuyi drove itself deep into her own flesh.

The sudden, immense agony didn’t elicit even a flinch from her. Having done this more times than she could count, she had become entirely desensitized to the pain.

“What are you doing?” Cheng Ya asked, genuinely curious. “Self-mutilation? I actually quite like that.”

Ran Jiuyi answered with an attack. Driven by the needles embedded within her, she blurred across the distance and lunged at Cheng Ya’s throat with a clawed strike.

By inserting the needles into her own bones and muscles, she used her ability to manipulate them to provide extra mechanical power to her body, while simultaneously using the needles as high-speed mana conduits. It was a suicidal method that vastly boosted her physical capabilities.

Undoubtedly, this caused the needles to continuously tear through her tissues, resulting in excruciating pain. It was a tactic only a madman would use. Yet, with this method, Ran Jiuyi had defeated countless famous opponents.

To her surprise, Cheng Ya—who had been roughly her match in speed earlier—suddenly accelerated as well, keeping pace with Ran Jiuyi’s boosted movements.

With a side-step, Cheng Ya dodged the strike and counter-punched Ran Jiuyi squarely in the abdomen.

The ground beneath them shattered into a web of cracks, and the shockwave from the blow was visible to the naked eye. Ran Jiuyi coughed up a spray of blood. The power behind this punch was more than double what Cheng Ya had shown before—it was beyond what Ran Jiuyi’s body could withstand.

Using the needles to anchor herself in place, Ran Jiuyi ignored the internal damage and swung her claws again, aiming to decapitate Cheng Ya.

But her claws were stopped by Cheng Ya’s arm. The blades that could slice through steel failed to even scratch Cheng Ya’s skin.

Realizing something was wrong, Ran Jiuyi retreated immediately, firing a dozen needles from her body as cover. At such close range, Cheng Ya had no room to dodge, so she simply charged through, letting the needles pierce her body and leave horrific holes.

Was the attack effective? Ran Jiuyi knew it wasn’t. The left arm that had blocked her claws remained completely unharmed by the needles.

A localized defensive ability or a body modification… Ran Jiuyi analyzed. Currently, only one of the opponent’s arms could ignore her attacks. Could Cheng Ya extend that defense to her entire body?

There was no time to think. Having taken the hit, Cheng Ya closed the distance again. With a delighted, almost manic smile, she launched a heavy roundhouse kick.

Unable to dodge, Ran Jiuyi was forced to block with her left arm. Upon contact, a thunderous crack echoed across the wasteland.

Using the momentum of the kick, Ran Jiuyi put distance between them. But looking at her blood-soaked, grotesquely twisted left arm, it was clear she had paid a heavy price.

In a few seconds, Cheng Ya’s wounds finished healing again. “The bone in your left arm is broken, isn’t it? Don’t bother lying; I can feel it.”

Ran Jiuyi replied indifferently, “So what? The needles in my body can forcibly reconnect broken bones. This won’t stop me.”

“Only if the bone isn’t shattered. Right now, it’s in over twenty pieces,” Cheng Ya noted. “I know you can use needles to force your body to move, but you don’t have enough needles for that.”

“Based on your current state, you’d need more than half the needles in your body just to make that one arm functional again. By that logic, if I turn your entire body into a pile of minced meat, a few dozen needles won’t be enough to keep you mobile.”

Having her weakness exposed, Ran Jiuyi countered, “I’ll just heal it.”

“Don’t lie. Your self-healing is good, but to recover from a break like that? You’d need at least thirty minutes. That’s fast for a transcendent, but for me, it’s far too slow.”

She was right. The injuries from the “Three Little Ones” earlier had been extensive but superficial. The core muscles, bones, and nerves hadn’t been compromised, allowing for a quick recovery. But Cheng Ya’s kick had completely pulverized the tissue, including the nerves and bone—the two things Ran Jiuyi healed the slowest.

Cheng Ya pointed to the thorn pattern on her skin. “Also, are you using that life force drain? I don’t feel anything. If you are, let me know.”

“I’ve been using it since the moment I hit you,” Ran Jiuyi admitted. “I have to say, your life force is unnervingly vast. Draining you feels like trying to empty an ocean with a drinking straw. I have no idea when I’d ever reach the bottom.”

“And I suspect that like me, you have a way to convert mana into life force. Given your speed, your conversion efficiency is probably higher than mine. In my current state, I have no chance of winning.”

“So, are you going to use your full power?” Cheng Ya asked. “You’re a Magical Girl—you should have that ‘Ascension Form,’ right?”

Ascension Form was a state only a handful of peak-level Magical Girls could achieve. It was the true summit of their power.

As one of the top Magical Girls in the world, Ran Jiuyi naturally possessed it.

She took a deep breath. Honestly, my Ascension Form isn’t exactly a ‘good’ thing. I avoid using it whenever I can. But she is far stronger than I expected—strong enough that I have no choice.

As the words left her mind, countless needles surged around her. They began to layer onto her body, interlocking and connecting in a complex lattice. A suit of violet-black armor materialized, wrapping around her.

When the final needle clicked into place, the Ascension Form was complete.

Unlike typical heavy armor, this suit was streamlined, fitting her perfectly like a metallic second skin. The plating on the torso was extremely thin, with the bulk of the heavy armor concentrated on her limbs and head.

Cheng Ya looked her up and down. “So this is your Ascension Form? It looks a bit… ordinary. Does it have a name?”

“Armor of Myriad Erosion. It’s a name from an old news report; I liked it, so I kept it.”

“Your armor reminds me of a joke,” Cheng Ya said after a pause. “Why does ‘bikini armor’ exist? Because scientists did a survey and found that most soldiers who survived battle came back with injuries only to their limbs.”

Ran Jiuyi stared at her blankly. “That’s not very funny. And I know about survivorship bias.”

“Ah, well. I suppose I’m not great at jokes. But the armor looks normal enough—why were you so reluctant to use it?”

Ran Jiuyi lifted her left arm. The limb that had been a shattered, useless mess was now moving with perfect fluidity.

“You said before that I didn’t have enough needles to deal with a comminuted fracture.”

Cheng Ya’s eyes widened in realization. “So, your left arm right now is…”

“Exactly. Hundreds of needles are currently driven through this armor into my body, acting as artificial bone and muscle, allowing me to move freely.”

“And across my entire body, the number of needles embedded in me has reached several hundred. That’s why I hate using this. The sheer, constant pain isn’t something a normal person could endure.”

“I’m not exactly normal, so I can handle it. But unless it’s absolutely necessary, why would I ever want to put myself through this hell?”