What kind of magic? This is called cultivating immortality!

The old rules were completely different. Netizens collected photos of all known magical girls without permission and uploaded them for voting. Since it was online, netizens naturally spoke without restraint, and their casual comments angered many magical girls. Ultimately, everyone involved in organizing the competition was investigated by the relevant authorities.

Having learned from that previous experience, the new organizers were so frightened that they changed the rules overnight, turning it into the current open model where contestants voluntarily register and upload their photos.

Muyue is petite and adorable. Every year she would excitedly participate in the Moe King competition, but she always ended up as a runner-up and never won the title of Moe King.

However, her interest remained undiminished. Cangxing had long been used to her participating in the competition every year, and thought that she would just join in the fun as usual this year. But now this girl actually came to her house to announce the good news, which made people wonder.

She couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's the good news you mentioned?"

"Didn't I tell you?" Mu Yue blinked her bright eyes, looking completely innocent. "I uploaded photos of everyone in our Floating Light Team to participate in the competition."

Upon hearing this, Cangxing's expression changed from sunny to gloomy.

Being judged by strangers is what she hates most, so she always avoids these kinds of events, but this guy actually uploaded her photos without her permission.

Cangxing angrily raised her hand and slapped Muyue's head again, then took out her phone and opened the official website of the Century Moe King Competition.

There are already hundreds of contestants on the list, and all kinds of magical girls have posted their best photos, striking all sorts of cute poses.

Cang Xing quickly swiped the screen and soon found the competition section for the Floating Light Team. Photos of all six team members were displayed there, each with over ten thousand comments and a considerable number of votes.

When she saw the photo with the most votes, she took a deep breath and grabbed Muyue by the back of the neck: "You'd better explain what's going on with this photoshopped picture?"

In the photo, Muyue is still charming, lively, and full of energy. However, unlike her solo photos, she has her arms outstretched and is holding a girl with pink hair, a blue dress, and a cool and aloof face.

"Oh, don't be jealous!" Mu Yue blushed and shyly turned her head away. "Couples can participate in this competition! So I teamed up with Zhong Hui. How about this, I'll definitely team up with you next time!"

"Who's jealous?"

"Who wants to team up with you?"

Cangxing was so angry that he was speechless. He raised his hand and gave Muyue a good beating on the head.

"Waaah! I'll get really angry if you hit me again!" Mu Yue clutched her head tightly, protesting angrily.

Cangxing completely ignored her.

Seeing that her head was about to be swollen from being hit if she stayed any longer, Mu Yue decisively transformed, turned around and ran away, shouting at the top of her lungs as she ran:

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young girl's potential!"

In the blink of an eye, she vanished without a trace.

"Neuropathy."

Cangxing casually muttered a complaint, closed the door, and shook his hand, which was sore from knocking.

Back in the living room, she saw Zhong Hui leisurely sitting on the sofa drinking Sprite, and she was speechless: "That guy took your photo without permission, photoshopped it, and even faked a couple's identity to participate in the competition. Aren't you at all concerned?"

"It was fake to begin with, so let it be."

"You're really open-minded."

Since the person in question didn't seem to care, Cangxing naturally didn't say anything more and plopped down next to Zhong Hui.

"Would you like a Sprite?" Zhong Hui casually handed over the drink.

"No, I've gained several pounds recently." Cangxing shook her head.

"You look perfectly normal, just like before. You're overthinking it."

"It's obvious!" Cangxing's voice rose several octaves as she reached out and pinched her waist. "Look, when I sit down, the fat on my waist bulges out."

Zhong Hui glanced at her slender waist and thought it was too exaggerated.

But that's normal. All girls are like that; they can't escape two obsessions in their lives: youth and weight loss.

He tilted his head back and finished the last sip of Sprite, saying, "By the way, I am about to advance to the Golden Core stage, and I urgently need some money right now."

How much money do you want?

"I'm not sure, but it should cost one or two million."

"How much?!" Cang Xing was instantly taken aback, looking at Zhong Hui who still appeared calm and collected, her face full of surprise. "What are you buying? Why would it cost so much money?"

"Naturally, I will purchase some rare and precious medicinal herbs." Zhong Hui said calmly, "I intend to refine a Heaven-Mending Pill and then seek out the Xuanhuang Qi to create an eternally immortal Nine-Patterned Golden Pill."

The Golden Core realm is divided into nine levels, with one level being the lowest and nine levels being the highest. It is similar to the Foundation Establishment of the Heavenly Dao. Zhong Hui, who always pursues the ultimate in everything, naturally had to reach the highest level when he tried to break through to the Golden Core realm.

Why would someone willingly give money to a scammer?

Cangxing hesitated for a moment before suggesting, "Instead of spending money to buy medicine, why don't we go into the mountains and pick it ourselves? Wild herbs are definitely of better quality and more effective than those you buy, don't you think?"

“That makes sense.” Zhong Hui nodded in agreement.

"They're so easy to fool!" Cang Xing breathed a sigh of relief and immediately agreed, "Then it's settled, we'll go up the mountain to gather herbs tomorrow."

……

Muxi has been having a terrible headache lately.

As the chief secretary to Minister Lin Guohui, she was already very busy, often so busy that she didn't even have time to eat. She thought that with the witches eliminated, her workload would finally be reduced, but who would have thought that several abnormal events related to the creation of witches would suddenly occur recently? The headquarters has not yet found out the source of the information leak, and petitions from magical girls are flying in like snowflakes every day.

She had planned to take a vacation, but now she's getting busier and busier.

After organizing all the materials to be reported today, Mu hope gently patted her cheeks to dispel her fatigue, adjusted her state, picked up the documents, and strode towards the minister's office.

"Dong dong."

"Enter."

Mu hope pushed open the door and placed the compiled report on the table: "Minister, these are the magical girls' petitions today."

"Okay, let's leave it for now."

Lin Guohui, dressed in a military overcoat and carrying his ever-present enamel teacup, adopted the demeanor of a veteran cadre.

Mu hope put down the documents, bowed, and left.

Lin Guohui blew away the rising steam from the cup, slowly sipped the hot tea, and then opened the report to read it carefully.

Half an hour later, he closed the file, rubbed his sore and swollen eyes, and sighed helplessly: "This is never going to end. I finally managed to deal with the witch and thought I could have some peace and quiet for a while, but I didn't expect the dead Creation Witch to reappear and cause trouble everywhere. She's really giving me a lot of trouble."

He tapped his fingertips lightly on the table and muttered to himself, "Perhaps we can put the new equipment developed in the lab into use... But no, the time is not right yet, let's wait and see."

After all, if that thing were to be officially released, it would harm the interests of a number of people and could even exacerbate conflicts.

Chapter 72 Gathering Herbs in the Mountain

The next day, August 7th, Zhong Hui and Cang Xing got up early.

After washing up and having a simple breakfast, Cangxing began to busy herself with sun protection, skin care, and makeup, a series of tedious and meticulous procedures, since she was going to go up the mountain to collect herbs today.

Zhong Hui sat listlessly on the sofa, reaching out to tease the evil-eyed white tiger at his feet.

Little White was very cooperative, obediently lying on the ground, letting himself be petted and stroked, occasionally letting out a few soft, cute whimpers in response. However, what puzzled the little dog was that its male owner did not seem to be interested in its cuteness, and his eyes instead showed a deep disappointment.

Just then, Sousei, who was lightly patting sunscreen on in front of the mirror, turned to look at him and asked, "Aren't you going to put on some sunscreen? The sun is very strong today."

Zhong Hui casually tossed the unambitious fellow aside, leaned back on the sofa, and said indifferently, "No need. We cultivators should strive for improvement in our own cultivation. Appearance, height, weight, and build are nothing but useless embellishments."

"Your comment is so typical of a straight man."

Cangxing shook her head helplessly and stopped trying to persuade her. Instead, she focused on doing her makeup, adding a few more touches to her already beautiful face in the mirror.

Since ancient times, women have always spent a lot of time on makeup.

At first, Zhong Hui patiently waited. But in the end, he got so bored that he could only rest his chin on his hand and stare blankly into space.

It wasn't until Cangxing exclaimed with a hint of joy, "It's done!", that his wandering thoughts were pulled back.

Zhong Hui looked over and saw that Cang Xing had delicate features and a radiant complexion. She was wearing a pure white floral dress that made her look elegant and refined, and she was walking towards him in a very good mood.

Anyone else would surely be tempted to offer a few words of praise.

Zhong Hui frowned, his face full of confusion: "Why are your eyes different? Could it be that what you call makeup is actually some kind of eye technique you're practicing?"

Cangxing was both amused and exasperated: "These are colored contact lenses."

"Double pupils?"

"Colored contact lenses! You idiot!" Cang Xing was completely speechless. She had never seen such a straight-laced guy speak in her entire life.

"Oh~" Zhong Hui nodded as if he understood, then asked a question that many boys would wonder about, "What is this thing used for?"

Cangxing replied irritably, "Didn't you notice that I look better after I put on makeup and wore colored contact lenses?"

"I think you look pretty even without makeup."

Upon hearing this, Cangxing angrily slung her bag over her shoulder, too lazy to pay him any more attention, and turned to walk away.

Zhong Hui was left standing there, completely bewildered, unable to figure out where he had said something wrong.

……

Jiangxing Mountain is a well-known mountain located on the outskirts of Fangyuan City.

The mountains are covered with lush forests and verdant greenery, with flowers and plants everywhere, and birds, beasts, insects and fish inhabiting the area, making it a place teeming with life.

It is precisely because of its good ecological environment, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, the fact that no tourism company has contracted to develop it, that this place has naturally become a popular destination for locals to take short trips and camping vacations.

The two took a taxi and sped along the road, taking more than forty minutes to reach the foot of Jiangxing Mountain.

At this moment, the foot of the mountain is filled with private cars, tourists are taking photos in various poses, and many vendors have already set up their stalls and are constantly hawking their wares.

After paying the fare and getting off the bus, Cangxing's anger had actually subsided considerably.

But the thought of her carefully applied makeup being casually dismissed still made her feel awkward. She didn't really want to talk to this straight man and started walking up the mountain on her own.

Seeing her cold expression, Zhong Hui assumed she was still sulking, so he quickly caught up with her and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing much."

"But I can tell you're clearly unhappy."

Cangxing thought to herself: How could I be happy! I spent over an hour painstakingly creating a perfect full-body makeup look, and instead of complimenting me, you said I look good even without makeup.

She felt resentful and sad, but then she thought that this guy didn't understand girls' feelings at all. No, strictly speaking, his thinking was completely different from ordinary people, and arguing with him was a waste of time.

After taking a few seconds to compose herself, she took a deep breath and spoke as if a mother were instructing her child: "Remember this. If any girl asks you if her makeup looks good, just tell her she looks good, understand?"

"why?"

"There are no so many whys, just do it."

"Oh."