47: Chapter 47 Lu Changsheng, a resolute refusal

"Sword Saint of Breaking Seas, Sword Saint Lu Changsheng."

When Li Qingyue spoke this name, the air in the great hall seemed to be sucked away.

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen looked up abruptly: "Sword Saint Lu Changsheng? Isn't he long since—"

"Three years ago, during the seventh large-scale Abyss invasion, he intercepted three Tier-9 Abyssal Poison Dragons alone in the Canglan Strait."

Li Qingyue's voice was as flat as if she were reciting a file.

"He slew two of them. Before the third died, it injected a full tube of Abyssal corrosive fluid into his body. His right arm from the shoulder down was dissolved into bone meal. His lower body—legs, pelvis, lumbar spine—all rotted away. When the medical team pulled him back, the flesh and blood of his lower body had already melted on the stretcher."

No one in the great hall replied.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng, supreme master of the sword, Tier-9 Mid-stage!

He was once among the top five individual combat powers in the human camp. His technique, "Breaking Seas," had truly broken the sea—not as a metaphor, but in the physical sense. He had cleaved a three-minute vacuum zone through the narrowest part of the Canglan Strait with a single sword strike.

And now—

The lower half of this man's body and his sword-wielding right arm had been melting in Abyssal poison for three years.

"What is his rank now?" Phantom Sovereign asked.

"Nominally, he is still Tier-9." Li Qingyue turned, walked to the round table, traced her finger through the air twice, and pulled up a data panel.

"But in reality, he is using a prosthetic limb made of secondary materials. His right hand's mana conductivity is less than forty percent of the original. The spatial support structure of his lower body needs recalibration every three days. He hasn't participated in any frontline battles for three years."

A line of glaring red text popped up on the data panel.

Current combat output: Tier-7 Low-stage.

Falling from Tier-9 Mid-stage to Tier-7 Low-stage.

A drop of two full tiers.

"If we could reshape his crippled body with the Kyubey Card—"

Li Qingyue stopped there. There was no need to finish.

Everyone understood.

A Magical Girl who has turned into a soul gem does not need a physical body. She only needs a soul gem and a heart that is still beating—or more accurately, it doesn't matter if the heart beats or not. Once the soul is extracted and sealed into the gem, the physical body becomes a remote-controlled mecha that can be repaired infinitely.

The problem with Sword Saint Lu Changsheng was not that his soul was weak, but that his physical body was ruined.

And the most outrageous thing about this card was that it bypassed the physical body once and for all.

"Connect to him."

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen made a prompt decision.

"Connect now."

The encrypted holographic communication was connected within five seconds.

It wasn't because the Truth Sanctuary was efficient. It was because Sword Saint Lu Changsheng was always online; after he was crippled, he had nothing to do, so he spent his days in the sanitarium watching livestreams, reading papers, and cursing the younger generation for having poor fundamentals. He had even watched Su Bai's Monthly Exam yesterday.

A pale blue light screen unfolded in mid-air.

The screen showed a hospital room with excellent lighting. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were rolling snow-capped mountains, probably some sanitarium sanctuary in the north.

In the center of the room sat a wheelchair.

On the wheelchair sat an old man.

To be precise, a man who looked to be in his early sixties but was actually between eighty and one hundred years old (the upper limit of a Tier-9 powerhouse's lifespan remained unclear to this day). His upper body was still intact—broad shoulders, a weathered but still rugged face, and long, greying hair draped behind his shoulders.

But his right arm—from the shoulder down, it was a gleaming silver prosthetic limb.

His lower body—from the waist down, it was covered by a dark grey blanket. The outline beneath the blanket was unnaturally collapsed, as if something had been dug out from there.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng.

"Yo."

He lifted his eyelids, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper grinding on rock.

"Quite lively, aren't you? When did the Truth Sanctuary change its profession to holding tea parties?"

"Old Lu." Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen leaned forward, "Long story short. We have a card that can make you stand up."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's left hand trembled.

Stand up?

Nothing could move or shock him more than this.

He took a deep breath. His entire upper body was trembling slightly.

"How to reshape? What materials are needed? What is the process? Is there an adaptation period?"

His speaking speed grew faster and faster. There was no longer just light in those grey-blue eyes—there was fire.

"I fear no cost. It's been three years. I've tried hundreds of schemes; I've suffered every hardship. Whether it's spatial prosthetics, soul grafting, or flesh regeneration, you say it, I'll do it."

"Senior Lu."

Li Qingyue spoke. Her voice was still flat, but when her fingers traced through the air, they paused noticeably.

"The specific plan—I'm sending it to you."

A document was transmitted via an encrypted channel.

"Conceptual Armament · Incubator Kyubey — User Manual (Recorded by universal balance)."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng clicked open the file with his left hand.

He read very quickly. Three years of wheelchair life had given him extremely efficient reading habits.

Page one. Card overview.

His pupils shrank. It was actually a wish-granting card? Tier-1, Rainbow Card... But what is this Magical Girl thing? Transform into a Magical Girl... A system I've never heard of. Is it some kind of title similar to "Valkyrie"? Why is it limited to girls... And I'm not a girl.

Doubts flashed in his mind, but his gaze swept quickly downwards.

Page two. Contract process and soul gem transformation mechanism.

He frowned—the soul is extracted and sealed into a gem? A bit weird. But not unacceptable. Since the body is already ruined, living in a different form is fine.

Page three. Magical Girl transformation form display.

His left hand stopped.

In the image, Li Qingyue's Tier-8 clone was wearing an extremely gorgeous and intricate Gothic Lolita Magical Girl dress, with black and silver intertwined bows, a starry-patterned fluffy skirt, absolute territory, over-the-knee white stockings, and a pair of black high heels embedded with stardust. She held a giant pair of scissors taller than a person.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng stared at this picture.

He stared for one second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Then he slowly raised his head.

"Li Qingyue."

"Yes."

"This clone of yours—what is she wearing?"

"Magical Girl combat uniform." Li Qingyue remained expressionless, "Automatically generated by the Law of Causality when the contract is completed. The style depends on the contractor's soul attributes."

"Soul attributes..."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng repeated these four words, then he flipped to the next page.

This page was a simulation diagram for a male user.

In the image, a two-meter-tall Berserker transformed into a Magical Girl after using the Kyubey Card... The two-meter height directly became about one meter four, his face softened, became quite cute, and it even came with twin tails, a little skirt...

"I have a question."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng said in a deep voice: "What is the meaning of this simulation diagram for a male user?"

"As you can see, the Berserker turned into a Magical Girl." Li Qingyue explained.

"What about the junk?"

"What?"

Li Qingyue didn't react for a moment.

"What about my little brother?" Sword Saint Lu Changsheng changed his phrasing.

Li Qingyue finally realized what he was talking about and gave him an angry look: "Senior Lu, watch your wording; that is truly vulgar."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng took a deep breath: "What about my precious little brother?"

"...I don't know." After pausing, Li Qingyue said, somewhat bewildered.

Who the hell knows if the little brother is still there... Because no one has tried this stuff yet! It's said to be a Magical Girl transformation, but in reality, only Li Qingyue's clone has transformed; no male has ever tried to transform.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng closed the file.

He moved his left hand from the armrest and pressed it on his knee—below that was the root of his thigh, and further down was the empty grey blanket; there was nothing there.

He was silent for a long time.

So long that Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen thought the signal had been lost.

Then Sword Saint Lu Changsheng spoke.

"You people."

His voice was very steady. Too steady. Like the surface of the sea before a storm.

"Truth Sanctuary, the highest authority of the human camp, the Tier-9 Council, all mobilized."

"You give such a top-tier Sword Saint a rehabilitation plan that you've probably been researching for years."

"And in the end—"

He took a deep breath.

"You recommended a path of perversion to me!"

No one in the great hall dared to reply.

Phantom Sovereign turned her head away. Qi Yuan took off his glasses and began to wipe them frantically. Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen opened his mouth, then closed it again. Even Li Qingyue, who was leaning against the window—the corner of her mouth twitched.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng didn't stop.

His voice began to rise. Not a shout of anger—it was a kind of near-manic laughter after being pushed to the point of absurdity.

"I, Sword Saint Lu Changsheng, held a sword at twelve, entered Tier-9 at nineteen, and guarded a city alone for three days and three nights without sleep or rest at twenty-five. At thirty, I created the Breaking Seas Sword Intent, and at forty, I split the Canglan Strait with a single sword."

"In my life—I have never begged anyone! I have never knelt to anyone! I have never bowed my head in front of anyone!"

He slapped the armrest of the wheelchair.

"And now you want me to change my gender?!"

"And f*cking turn into a little loli?!"

His roar echoed in the cabin. The mana lines of the communication channel trembled slightly from the sound waves.

"Senior Lu, maybe you can make a wish; when the time comes, you can wish to keep your little—"

"Shut up!!"

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's left index finger pointed at Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen, his fingertip trembling.

"You are crazy!! You are making a mockery of my honor, my sword path! And wishing, why don't you change your gender!"

Armored Mage Emperor Lu Chen: "..."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng looked at Li Qingyue again, furious: "And you! Do you have some kind of fetish, trying to force your image onto everyone? Why would there be such side effects when developing a card? Did you do it on purpose or by accident?"

"I didn't design it." Li Qingyue said flatly, "It was Su Bai, a student. Also, my current appearance is due to the influence of the Laws of Space-Time."

"Then he is even more outrageous!!"

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng panted twice. His grey and white long hair fell down because of that roar just now, resting on his face. He raised his left hand and brushed those strands of hair back, his movements carrying a roughness unique to an old soldier.

Then his voice sank.

It sank below the freezing point.

"I, Lu, have always acted openly and honestly, my sword intent is vast, and I have never let anyone look down on me."

"I am crippled now, sitting in a wheelchair, and I might not even be able to beat a Tier-6 monster."

"But—"

He raised his head.

In those grey-blue eyes, there was still something burning that even Abyssal poison could not corrode.

"But my sword is still here."

His left hand pressed against his chest.

"The sword intent is still here."

"I, Sword Saint Lu Changsheng—would jump off this building. I would rather rot in this wheelchair and be gnawed on by monsters. But I will never change my gender!"

"I won't change even if I die!!!!"

The communication cut off.

The blue light screen flickered twice in mid-air, then extinguished completely.

The great hall fell into silence.