I dug up the magical girl's corpse.

Chapter 85 Imaginary Body

That's not a transformation.

Chen Mu held Lin Yongxi down, telling her not to make a fuss like an outsider.

He had already seen it once when he watched the video last night.

This wasn't the first time Duan Zhiyao had used this move, so he wasn't too surprised.

"Look closely, her clothes haven't changed; they're still the same clothes. It's just that the wounds have turned into gemstones."

Chen Mu pulled Lin Yongxi aside and pointed it out to her.

"Wow, really?"

Lin Yongxi squinted and looked over, only then realizing that something was wrong.

Aside from the initial surprise, upon closer observation, it was indeed discovered that Duan Zhiyao's "transformation" was a bit strange. Logically speaking, a magical girl's transformation would drastically change her attire, such as wearing gorgeous dresses and armor plates, etc. These are all condensed with magic power and are exclusive images created based on the concepts of "heart flowers" and "gems".

Just like with [Kapok] that time, you can clearly see that she has a lot of fiery red armor on her body, which is her changed clothes.

But this time, Duan Zhiyao was different. She was still wearing the same clothes she had on stage. The only change was that a shard of gemstone had fallen from her wound...

"It's like... bypassing the stage of clothing and simply turning the body into a jewel?"

"That's right. This is a magical girl's secret technique, called 'Imaginary Body'."

Chen Mu praised her keen senses and explained:

"To put it simply, it's a trick to use the Jewel Body early in the [Seed] stage. In the early days of war, the number of magical girls was relatively scarce, and many newly awakened magical girls had to go to the front lines. However, these novices who had not yet learned to transform had a very high casualty rate when encountering monsters. Their flesh and blood bodies were easily maimed by injuries."

"At this time, in order to help these novices, a senior magical girl invented this technique. Essentially, it adopts the idea of ​​visualizing the 'heart flower'. Do you remember? The process of awakening the heart flower is to envision the future shape and development of the heart seed in advance, to decide 'what kind of flower' it is, and then use a false flower to shape the growth direction of the heart seed."

"The so-called 'imaginary body' works on the same principle. Normally, a magical girl needs to reach the 'bud' level to awaken her gem and gain the power to transform. However, we can use a trick to first conceive of a 'gem' and use this gem as a concept to forcibly modify the body with magic, thus achieving an effect similar to transformation."

Lin Yongxi was greatly surprised after hearing this:

"It's...it's still possible to do this?"

This was the first time she had ever heard of such a technique, that one could use the Gem Body ahead of time at the [Seed] level. Wouldn't that make one invincible?

Chen Mu continued, "However, the [Imaginary Body] is, after all, a 'pseudo-transformation' form. It cannot possess the enormous magical power of the [Bud] level, nor can it achieve the all-round amplification and enhancement of a true transformation. It can be described as a kind of defensive specialization, using gems to increase one's defense, reduce the probability of injury, and increase the survival rate."

"You really know a lot."

Yulan, who was standing to the side, was also surprised. She hadn't expected Chen Mu to speak so eloquently, even revealing details that she didn't want to disclose.

Even those in-depth information that she herself was unaware of, Chen Mu knew more about than she did.

She paused for two seconds, then understood: "Dawn must have told you quite a bit, no wonder. As a Flower-level being, she must have a deeper understanding than the rest of us."

Chen Mu did not respond to that sentence.

Therefore, he knew that he didn't need to hide too much, and there was absolutely no need to carefully conceal his knowledge and intelligence.

These clever guys will find their own explanations, especially with Lin Chaojing's identity as a cover for him. It's not surprising that he knows anything and has any knowledge.

Although he acquired this knowledge from past revisions.

"For the sake of our friendship, I have to give you a heads-up."

Chen Mu looked at Yulan with a serious expression: "While the [Imaginary Body] technique is powerful, there's a reason why it hasn't spread widely. It's essentially a shortcut with side effects. Pre-selecting a gem at the [Seed] level will affect the magical girl's future possibilities, making it impossible to awaken the gem through natural intuition."

In other words, the direction of development is predetermined. This kind of gem may not be the most suitable for a magical girl, but once the choice is made, it can never be changed.

This is a gamble, exchanging future development for present strength, and prematurely mortgaging the future.

This technique is not recognized by the current higher-ups of the Magic Academy, so although it is not considered a foul in the competition, this secret technique has been hidden and is basically lost.

I don't know where Yulan got her knowledge from.

"Thank you, but I already knew about these negative effects, and so did Xiaoyao."

However, contrary to Chen Mu's serious reminder, Yulan smiled calmly.

She gazed at the arena, her eyes distant, and slowly said, "But we have no other choice. Since we've chosen to settle down for a year, it means her magical power must be suppressed below the [Bud] level and cannot break through. To be on the safe side, we have no other option but to use this method. As long as we win the championship, the rewards and resources afterward will naturally make up for it."

Normally, Yulan gives people the feeling of a gentle smile, like a kind older sister, but at this moment, her eyes revealed a firmness.

It seems that she has truly placed all her knowledge and hopes on the students on the stage.

Perhaps it was just as she had said, because at this moment, Duan Zhiyao's battle was also nearing its end.

The [Imaginary Body] technique may have side effects, but at this stage, it remains an undeniably overwhelming and devastating skill. The girl, who possessed a gem-enhanced body ahead of time, displayed terrifying suppressive power and irresistible aggression. Opponents who could previously contend with her were now forced to retreat in disarray, constantly at a disadvantage, utterly unable to fight her!

"Damn it!"

The girl was covered in sweat and couldn't find a solution at all.

No matter what kind of magic strikes it, it can only damage the gem and consume Duan Zhiyao's magic power, but it cannot harm her body or slow down her movements.

Despite his injuries, Duan Zhiyao charged forward, relentlessly attacking with his heavy, hard fists! He showed no mercy as he went straight for the body!

Physical combat was no match for her; for the girl to fight her was like fighting a piece of steel or an entire mecha—it would only result in injury.

A true case of throwing an egg against a rock.

Finally, the girl was forced into a corner with nowhere to retreat, covered in wounds and barely able to raise her hands to defend herself, before a look of despair appeared on her face:

"I give up..."

"Hmph." Duan Zhiyao's leg stopped precisely in mid-air halfway through the kick, and she lowered it with some dissatisfaction, perhaps because she hadn't had enough of hitting him yet.

At this moment, the referee announced:

"Match ended! Winner—Duan Zhiyao!"

Loud applause and cheers erupted from below the ring!