Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 77: Gladiolus

Vol 2 Chapter 77 Gladiolus

In the fragmented memories of Lu Hongdou’s childhood, the most vivid was an escape.

Blistering sun, sand swirling in the air, and a desperate, aimless flight into exile.

Her hometown—a small frontier city in Donghua Province—was destroyed by a Ravager attack when she was just five.

She didn’t have many clear memories of the disaster itself. All she could recall was being shaken awake in the middle of the night by her parents, then the three of them setting off on their journey as refugees. But misfortune didn’t stop there. She got separated from her parents during their escape and ended up alone in the wasteland, completely lost.

A five-year-old child wandering the wilds alone—it was basically a death sentence. The only question was whether she’d die sooner or later. But by some twist of fate, Lu Hongdou got lucky. She was found by an old man traveling through the wasteland.

Later, Lu Hongdou learned the old man wasn’t just any ordinary person. He had mastered a very unique craft—he called it martial arts.

Because he practiced martial arts, the old man could survive alone in the wild. Because of martial arts, he could avoid the dangers that lurked there. And whenever he talked about martial arts, a light would shine in his weathered eyes.

The old man took Lu Hongdou in and brought her to another city. But instead of living in the urban center, they settled in the mountains outside the city.

For the next several years, Lu Hongdou called the old man “Master” and trained under him in martial arts up in the mountains.

Training was grueling—far beyond the usual hardship.

Maybe it was the trauma of surviving the wasteland as a child, or maybe losing her parents made her mature early. Either way, Lu Hongdou endured it all and threw herself into her martial training with everything she had.

In the scorching heat of midsummer, she stood like a pillar under the blazing sun; in the biting cold of winter, she practiced sword forms against the wind. She stayed focused, never slacked off, and in time, her effort paid off.

A few years later, Lu Hongdou’s talent in martial arts began to shine. By the age of fourteen, she had mastered everything her master could teach her and became an exceptionally gifted martial artist.

And just when she was full of ambition, ready to ask her master what came next on the path of martial arts, the old man’s answer poured cold water on her fire.

—"Where you are now... is pretty much the end of the road."

"The end? What do you mean?" Lu Hongdou didn’t get it at all.

"I mean that from where you are, there’s not much left. You can learn more techniques, gain more combat experience, or develop a stronger body. Sure, you can keep improving, but you’ll never break through to a higher level—you won’t reach a new realm."

The old man spoke calmly. “Martial arts have limits. And that limit is the limit of us as mortals. No matter how much we train, we can’t beat those Ravagers. Even I, when faced with one, can only suppress my presence and stay out of its way.”

“Why?” Lu Hongdou still didn’t understand.

“There’s no why. Just like the changing of seasons or day and night—it’s a rule of the world. It’s always been this way.”

His answer was grounded, cold, and powerless.

But Lu Hongdou refused to believe it.

So, at fourteen, she said goodbye to the man who raised her and left the mountains alone, determined to find her own path forward in martial arts.

It was the first time since she was five that Lu Hongdou set foot in a human city again.

At first, she was clueless and completely unfit for urban life. Before she left, her master had given her a small sum of money, but he’d never saved much to begin with. That bit of money was only enough to keep her from starving.

In the first step of her journey to pursue martial arts, Lu Hongdou lost to survival.

She ended up living with beggars in damp alleys, barely scraping by with street performances and begging. She refused to lower herself or blend in with the local thugs and criminals, which led to her being ostracized. Even finding a safe place to sleep was hard—most nights she curled up beside trash heaps.

Life was hard, but Lu Hongdou never regretted her choices. Her master had always taught her that a true martial artist must uphold justice. And at the heart of justice is protecting the weak, never bullying those beneath you.

Fortunately, Lu Hongdou adapted quickly. In time, she found her own rhythm amid the struggle. Using her martial skills, she started catching pickpockets, guarding shops, and scaring off local punks. Slowly but surely, she began earning money and carving out a place for herself in city life.

With that, she resumed her search for the path beyond martial arts. She kept up her training, hoping to see if the so-called “limit” could be broken. She also went around asking if there were other martial artists like her.

She didn’t find any kindred spirits. What she found instead… were old enemies.

—Ravagers appeared.

It was the first time since she was five that Yuan had encountered a Ravager in real life. At first, she didn’t even recognize what it was. Only when the civilians around her screamed and scattered in terror, and the bustling street fell into chaos, did she realize the monster before her was a Ravager—the very same “beasts” her master had warned about.

Can martial arts defeat Ravagers? Her master’s answer had always been “no.”

But Lu Hongdou didn’t believe it. In fact, she’d never forgotten that these creatures were the reason she’d lost everything as a child. So she refused to run away.

She charged at the Ravager head-on, throwing everything she had into the fight, using her strongest techniques.

It ended in a crushing defeat.

She was battered bloody, bones broken, pinned to the ground by a massive claw. The Ravager’s mouthparts were already pressed against her throat, just about to pierce through her skin and take her life.

Then, in that final moment—someone saved her.

A "Heavenly Maiden."

That’s what people in Donghua called these girls. It was like they were chosen by the heavens to protect the world from Ravagers.

This time was no different. Just as Lu Hongdou stood on the brink of death, a Heavenly Maiden appeared and rescued her. And in less than a minute, she killed the monster that had nearly ended Lu Hongdou’s life.

The crowd cheered. The civilians praised their savior.

But Lu Hongdou lay on the ground in silence.

Partly because she was too badly injured to speak—but more so because her understanding of martial arts had just been shattered.

An enemy she couldn’t defeat no matter how hard she tried… was effortlessly destroyed by the Heavenly Maiden. What kind of power was that?

No one could tell her.

Not the people around her, and not even the Heavenly Maiden, who left immediately after slaying the beast. Lu Hongdou didn’t doubt that even if she had stayed, she likely wouldn’t have answered.

So, she clung to her question and kept walking her martial path.

Three years passed.

By the time she turned seventeen, Lu Hongdou still hadn’t found the answer.

As time went on, despite her daily training, she made little progress. She finally understood what her master had meant—that her martial skills had reached their limit.

She left the city and returned to the mountain. There, she sorted out everything she’d experienced and shared it all with her master—her regret, her disappointment at wasting three years chasing shadows.

“When I realized the truth back then, I felt the same way you do now.”

Her master, now clearly aging, spoke gently: “I didn’t believe it either. That’s why I tried to travel all across Donghua Province, across the wastelands, looking for the future of martial arts. I even went to abandoned cities to search for ancient history.”

“Did you find anything?” Lu Hongdou asked, full of hope.

“No,” the old man shook his head. “Martial arts in Donghua were never well-developed. They had many chances to flourish, but they all died out.”

“The level we’ve reached—what the ancients called the ‘postnatal limit’—is the highest we can get through hard work alone. Beyond that, we can’t break through.”

“Even the ancients couldn’t do it?” Lu Hongdou’s disappointment was clear.

“No, they couldn’t.”

The old man’s voice was steady. “But that doesn’t mean there weren’t any theories.”

“Theories?” That word piqued Lu Hongdou’s interest.

“Yes. While we’ve never realized them, countless clues suggest there may indeed be a next step beyond. We call it—Qi and Momentum.”

“What does that mean? Like using your aura to scare people?”

“Not quite. ‘Qi’ and ‘Momentum’ are distinct concepts, but also one. Martial arts may be limited in physical development, but if one can grasp the power of Qi and Momentum… maybe we can go further.”

That night, the old man spoke endlessly.

It was as if he were racing against time, pouring out all his discoveries, historical findings, and martial insights to Lu Hongdou. Neither of them slept.

Lu Hongdou didn’t mind. Deep down, she sensed something.

She suspected this might be the last time she ever spoke with her master.

By dawn, the old man was utterly exhausted. Barely able to breathe, leaning in his chair, voice barely audible, he still held her hand and gave his final words of advice.

—"Remember this: a warrior’s path begins with righteousness. Only with righteousness can martial arts be called the Way. Without it, there is no martial path..."

At sunrise, when the first light touched the mountain, the old man closed his eyes forever.

She didn’t understand his last words—but she engraved them in her heart.

Then, she made her decision—to become a Heavenly Maiden.

Because through that final conversation, she understood: pure martial arts held no future. Her only hope lay in learning from others—seeking new answers in other sources of strength.

Becoming a Heavenly Maiden was surprisingly simple. She tracked down the same one who’d saved her, expressed her gratitude and admiration, and was given a chance to test her aptitude.

She passed.

From then on, she rarely used the name Lu Hongdou. She used her alias as a Heavenly Maiden—Tang Changpu.

Or rather, they weren’t really called Heavenly Maidens at all. The name they called themselves was “Magical Girls.”

Lu Hongdou, the martial artist, became Magical Girl—Tang Changpu.

But becoming a Magical Girl didn’t mean she abandoned martial arts. On the contrary, her obsession only deepened.

While other Magical Girls studied their Magical Armor, she looked for ways to integrate it with her martial techniques.

While others learned spells, she explored how to use Magic to open her meridians and artificially generate “Qi.”

While others reached the peak of Ability Blooming and tried to amplify their power through Grand Flourishing, she studied the essence of Momentum.

This research relied heavily on Magical Girl powers and Magic support. Eventually, Tang Changpu even gave up her life in the Material World and moved to the Magic Kingdom, becoming one of its citizens.

She grew isolated—detached from the world. Disheveled. Obsessed. "Getting stronger" became her only goal.

And in the end—Tang Changpu succeeded.

She didn’t just recreate the legendary Qi and Momentum—she combined them with Magic and created her own style, making her a top-tier combatant.

But at the same time—she failed.

Because what she’d created wasn’t pure martial arts—it was a Magic-based adaptation of martial concepts. If her Magic disappeared, so would her Qi and Momentum.

She couldn’t accept that.

Her ideal martial path had to be self-sufficient. If Magic was required, it wasn’t martial arts—it was just another branch of being a Magical Girl.

And unfortunately, even in the Magic Kingdom, Magical Girls didn’t retain their Magic forever. If their term ran too long, or they were injured and lost combat ability, they could be forced to retire.

Tang Changpu was on that path.

Without realizing it, she’d spent too much time on her own research, rarely taking on dangerous missions.

In other words, she hadn’t contributed enough.

She held onto Magical Girl powers but wasn’t fighting Ravagers or protecting the Kingdom or the Material World. Girls like her were at high risk of being forcibly retired.

If that happened, her Qi, her Momentum, everything she’d built—would vanish like mist.

It was then that her superior came to her—the Magical Girl codenamed Purple Diamond, head of the Court of Finance.

“My dear Tang Changpu, my most capable assistant. I know a way you can harness the power of Ravagers. It might help your research.”

She was direct. No nonsense.

“…Boss, just tell me straight. What do you want me to do?”

By then, years of training had dulled her childhood hatred for Ravagers. Compared to her obsession with martial arts, that old grudge meant nothing.

“I’m planning to leave the Kingdom. Start my own organization.”

Purple Diamond smiled softly, like a girl confiding in a close friend. “To help those Magical Girls and Fairies who aren’t accepted by the Kingdom. To build a home for us—outside its borders.”

“For girls like you, who might be forced into retirement. If we stand together, we won’t have to give up our strength.”

“You’ll help me… won’t you?”