Chapter 419: Lonely Island, City of Stage, Donghong Division

September 20th.

Donghong Federation, North Dragon Sea.

The sky was high and the clouds were light. The sun was bright. The feeling of early autumn was not found here in this near-tropical sea. The shining sun still generously provided warmth and light for all living things to grow.

Splash, splash.

The ferries, each with different country flags, created numerous waves as they drew closer to their final destination.

The girl’s smooth black hair flowed in the wind like silk, glimmering with colorful reflections. She stood on the deck, gazing into the distance. A lonely island, not marked on any map, came into her view.

Chu Wang Shu whispered softly,

“Is that the City of Stage, the shining capital?”

Tang Liuli leaned close behind Little Moon like a cat clinging to someone’s clothes. She looked like she had just woken up, her green eyes hazy and misty. Hearing this, she covered her mouth and yawned, mumbling,

“We just finished filming and came straight to the ferry for the competition. Dream Weaver Rabbit is really tough.”

Xie Qingxuan walked over, pushing her suitcase. She glanced at the sleepy green-eyed cat and gently stroked her head. Perhaps due to her tiredness, the cat didn’t fluff up as usual but instead drooped her eyelids, continuing to use Little Moon as a pillow.

Seeing this, Kirimi Miyuki couldn’t help but reach out to pet the cat as well. This made the green-eyed cat glare back angrily, as if to say, “Don’t be too mean, bad woman.”

Little Sakura, feeling a bit guilty, looked away and changed the subject,

“I wonder what the rules for this competition are?”

Xie Qingxuan traced circles with her fingertips. The dark magic spread out, creating a water mirror that reflected dozens of miles away. After adjusting her perspective, she looked around and said,

“I don’t see many ferries in the harbor. There isn’t an airport on the island, so there probably won’t be any audience members here. I heard this time there won’t be any judges either. It might be very different from before.”

Chu Wang Shu pondered thoughtfully.

Speaking of judges, ever since the two major contest areas, Kyoto and Sea City, merged and the ten teams officially debuted, the show “Dazzling Stage” had done away with judges.

In fact, long ago, when “Heart Flow” became prevalent and many contestants possessed unique skills, evolving toward a magical stage, the importance of judges diminished.

During the phase when the core of the magical girls was revealed, judges became even less relevant. First, they didn’t understand magic. Second, their prestige as seniors faded, and they no longer dared to critique the contestants who had reached this stage.

From the present perspective, judges mainly served to create an impression of a “star-studded cast” early on for marketing purposes.

Chu Wang Shu sighed and said,

“The top three from other areas will gather here; there should be some very strong idols, right?”

Tang Liuli felt a little more energized upon hearing this. After boarding the ferry, she had stayed in her room, scrolling through topics about this. On the forum, someone had already thoroughly analyzed the top three teams from each country.

This included criteria such as: appearance level, singing and dancing skills, past achievements, team cohesion, Heart Flow ability, stage charm… and numerous other data, extensively listed.

After “Dazzling Stage” expanded its audience, not only typical idol fans but also serious power fans had joined in, striving to compile a more reliable ranking list of Donghong competition power using every scrap of data they could find.

The green-eyed cat was so tired because she hadn’t been sleeping properly and had been busy browsing gossip and data about other little idols in the Donghong region.

According to fan speculation, almost all the top contestants in the entire Donghong Federation were equipped with Heart Flow, teamed with a magical girl. Their performances almost always employed magic energy and emotional “special effects,” akin to the glowing dishes in food shows, making them challenging for ordinary people to discern and truly amazing.

The most popular post also included detailed video links or screenshots of little idols publicly displaying their magic abilities to prove their credibility and strengthen the reliability of their data.

Ranking number one, without exception, was the country’s own Pure White.

The reason for this ranking was clear: failing to promote this way would undoubtedly subject them to a local fan backlash.

Second, because Daxia was the largest country in the Donghong Federation with the most people, the best of the best came from there, making its number one very valuable.

The third reason was that Charlotte, in the Sacred United Country’s competition district, caused Pure White to lose a strong rival and brought much less controversy.

After that, the rankings became very confusing. The poster put Pure White at number one as the steady anchor, then began to go wild, pushing the Ji Shuzhu team down to sixth place, while the third-place team even fell out of the top ten.

Tang Liuli watched with great interest, realizing that the outside world’s interesting “Heart Flow” was unexpectedly abundant.

For example, Deborah from the Agate Country had a “Heart Flow” called “Guardian Angel.” Every stage, a ghostly angel appeared behind her, pulling the rhythm and melody’s high points. At key moments, it became solid, giving her or the audience a hug or growing wings on their backs. The special effects changed a lot and looked very cool.

Of course, from the perspective of a magical girl, as the origin of Patronus Magic, the “Guardian Angel” born from “Heart Flow” might truly appear and give the disaster beast a big scare.

Additionally, there was a Daxia contestant competing in another country who successfully debuted and even joined the top three. Her name was Bi Xuan Su. Her grandfather was a naturalized Taoist priest who taught her Taoism since childhood. Later, due to business reasons, she studied abroad, and her journey to becoming an idol was extremely difficult.

Her “Heart Flow” was deeply influenced by her family and was praised by netizens as “Heaven and Earth as the Alchemy Furnace.” Its effect was very abstract. It used the stage as the furnace and shining light as the fire to burn away impurities and negative thoughts, treating them as materials for refining a powerful medicine. It helped herself, her teammates, and the audience reach a very clear and calm state.

Simply put, “Heaven and Earth as the Alchemy Furnace” cleared the mind, making it pure, calm, and happy. After one stage, one would sweat profusely, melting fat into substances beneficial for the body. It was like painless weight loss, rapid healing, with colds or fevers disappearing instantly, just like taking a magical medicine.

This may not seem very idol-like, but it was truly useful.

When Bi Xuan Su first debuted, her team was ranked ninth, but after her “Heart Flow” demonstrated its power in the first tour, her team’s scores skyrocketed. They gradually became stronger and ultimately seized first place by a large margin.

In the Donghong team battle power ranking list, her team was ranked fifteenth.

In the Donghong individual power ranking list, she was ranked sixth, a clear example of one person leading the entire team.

Tang Liuli thought this “Heart Flow” had great potential. Perhaps, like the alchemy furnace of the Supreme Elder, it could directly turn disaster beasts into medicine.

Besides that, there were other intriguing and novel “Heart Flows” like “Melted Heart,” “Aurora,” “Torch,” “Inherent Time Field,” and “Dance of the Mandala.”

Compared to these, their team’s “Heart Flow” appeared too plain and simple, lacking in flashiness. It had a kind of honest and strong beauty, leading to less discussion about it.

The green-eyed cat looked at the island drawing closer and stopped cuddling with Little Moon. She stretched lazily and remarked with bright eyes, “Even though I’ve seen many things online before, I really wish to see other people’s stages in person.”

Kirimi Miyuki nodded in agreement and said excitedly, “Most of the people who can join the competition this time will probably become our future teammates.”

Xie Qingxuan remained silent; she didn’t think many magical girls would meet her standards for teammates. Even though the Virtuous King hadn’t fully recovered yet, not to mention the awakened Patronus Magic, the multiple layers of power from The Power of the Titan had returned her to 3% as the Demon King.

This 3% might not seem like much, but it was sufficient for her to accomplish many things.

For instance, she could cause this island, which spanned thousands of square kilometers, to collapse, be destroyed, and evaporate in an instant.

In this season of Dazzling Stage, only the new witches who shared the same experience and blessings from the first playthrough—such as her teammate Kirimi Miyuki, fully awakened Liuli, and the gifted Little Shu—could contend on the same level as her.

The other witches were too weak.

This wasn’t arrogance; it was merely stating a fact.

At least in the Daxia region, whether it was Ji Shuzhu, Chen Yining, or Lin Yuxia, once the top in Kyoto, they could still compete on stage, but in the simulation battlefield, they were as weak as helpless chickens, unable to withstand a single strike from the law.

Conversely, Liang Xiaoxiao, who wasn’t a magical girl but had the Disaster Beast Gene implanted and controlled disaster with her will, left surprising data in the simulation battlefield that provided Xie Qingxuan with many unexpected insights.

It had only been a few months, yet this former roommate seemed as though she had been tempered and beaten countless times, transforming from a plain, fragile individual into unyielding steel. In battle, she resembled a nightmare ignited from the dark waves, completely different from the other light and airy magical girls.

Although she couldn’t withstand the blessed strike, The Power of the Titan was like having an advantage; not being able to stop it was normal.

At the very least, Liang Xiaoxiao could resist her command.

Meanwhile, Liang Xiaoxiao’s spirit was incredibly resilient, fierce and wild with an intense will to fight. Her application of disaster and power was imaginative and unrestricted. Her combat techniques were straightforward and effective, and occasional flashes of brilliance evoked a strange sense of déjà vu.

In short, as a newcomer entering the fierce battlefield for the first time, she was already very outstanding. You could see the marks of hard work, and she truly had a bright future.

Xie Qingxuan wasn’t very interested in the Donghong tournament matches; instead, she hoped that expanding the tournament could bring Dream Weaver Rabbit to combine the simulation battlefields from other regions, so she could see if there were more interesting opponents than Xiaoxiao. Of course, it would be even better if the matches themselves were big free-for-alls.

Time passed, and after a few minutes, the green-eyed cat pointed to the island nearby and said, “Almost there, get ready to get off the boat.”

The ferry from Daxia arrived at the port. The small group of idols, fewer than 20 in total, lined up to get off the boat. They all got on buses decorated with national flags and headed towards the competition venue. Just five minutes later, the beautiful natural scenery by the shore disappeared, and they could see a glimpse of the city.

Dream Weaver Rabbit wore a hat like a tour guide. It waved a small colorful flag and floated happily in the air. After greeting everyone, it began to introduce by itself: “This used to be the research base for the Fire Seed Program. At first, it was planned to become a Self-sustaining City. But after the draft plan for the ‘Dazzling Stage’ was made, they changed it to what is now the City of Stage.”

“Both the Donghong Federation and the Sacred United Country each have one.”

“As you can see, this island, true to its name, holds many stages with different styles made for idols to perform on. Each can fit over one million people and all are amazing sights.”

Inside the bus, the young idols chatted excitedly. Some were curious and opened the windows to look outside. Far away, they could faintly see a cube-shaped tower hanging upside down in the sky. A little to the side was another strange building like the Great Pyramid of Giza, but taller and grander.

The most eye-catching was a spiral tower wrapped with flowing water that constantly changed shape. In the sunlight, it sparkled beautifully like a rainbow. If they looked closer, they could see a long dragon inside the waterfall, twisting from top to bottom, all connected together but staying still.

Just as Dream Weaver Rabbit said, these “stages” all looked very strange.

Lin Baor was greatly amazed: “Is this a seat? The stage is in the middle?”

Dream Weaver Rabbit explained: “That stage is called the Water Pavilion Steps. It is made from fluid filled with Etheric Substance. It hasn’t fully come back to life yet. When it does, its shape will change with the feelings of the audience, the heart waves carried by the stage’s ‘Heart Flow,’ and the music’s melody.”

Ruan Wutong bit down on her grape-flavored lollipop and said, “Wait a minute, if the music gets a little more exciting, and the feelings get stronger, won’t the audience be thrown off or even get sick?”

Liang Xiaoxiao pointed out a more important question: “It sounds like the stage isn’t still. How can people dance properly on it?”

Dream Weaver Rabbit smiled and said, “Being thrown off is impossible. All the equipment keeps the audience perfectly safe. At worst, they might get a little scared.”

“As for whether you will feel dizzy or sick, and how you will finish your performance when the stage is shaking, these are the questions you need to think about when you get this stage.”

“If you want to get a perfect score, you must overcome all of these perfectly.”

After the words faded away, the little idols on the bus fell into silence.

Wait, what does that mean? Could it be that the competition has to take place on such strange stages? That’s just too cruel!

Although if there is a magical girl in the team, she can use her magic early to help her teammates stand firmly on the stage and avoid accidents; singing aside, the dance would still be badly affected.

The more I think about it, the scarier it seems.

Green-eyed Cat’s pupils shook at the words. She grabbed Little Sakura’s arm tightly, her cute face tense. Just imagining dancing on such a stage made her brain start to shiver.

This…

This is even worse than making her fight a disaster beast!

At this moment, Esther glanced at the trembling Liuli Cat. She smiled kindly and continued explaining the rules: “Of course, this kind of duel is not a problem for those who have trained for a long time in the Ideal State’s simulated battlefield.”

“So, we will fill the stage’s audience seats with ten thousand puppets and one thousand Calamity Seeds to see how many disaster beasts you can stop from hatching and how many spectators you can protect.”

“I am really looking forward to your performance.”