Lixing District is located on the easternmost side of Fangting City and is one of the earliest established administrative divisions there. Therefore, the basic infrastructure is also relatively early, whether it's the roads or the surrounding buildings, all are comparatively old. Due to the development mainly shifting westward over time, it eventually became known as the "old district," where both the pedestrian flow and traffic gradually thinned out.
Moreover, since it was a weekday afternoon when Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang arrived at this block, they could clearly feel the lack of vitality.
Fortunately, not far from there was their destination—the First Welfare Institute of Fangting City. As a building that housed a large number of people, the surrounding facilities were very well-equipped, which to some extent alleviated the sense of desolation.
A few minutes later, as they continued to move forward, they could already see the Welfare Institute's buildings and walls in the distance. After confirming that it matched the location provided by Emerald Sparrow, they quickened their pace, planning to catch Moko by surprise.
However, this plan was thwarted as they neared the Welfare Institute.
For they discovered that an invisible wall had appeared out of nowhere, blocking their advancement.
After feeling around and taking a closer look, Xia Liang realized that the obstruction in front of them wasn't truly "invisible," but merely difficult to discern.
With her perceptual abilities, she could sense that there was a considerable amount of magic power circulating within the structure in front of her. Clearly, it was a Magical Barrier.
Xia Liang's expression turned somewhat grave, and the usual smile on her face also diminished slightly, "I'm afraid the situation isn't what we thought."
Lin Xiaolu reached out and touched the transparent wall in front of her, seemingly reminded of some unpleasant memories, her brows furrowed tightly, "Could this be... a Magical Barrier?"
Both of them were no longer novices like when they first became Magical Girls; they now possessed a better understanding of Basic Series Spell Techniques like the "Magical Barrier."
In this world, not many people could use Spell Techniques; they were either magicians from the material realm or Magical Girls whose abilities had bloomed to a level beyond the leaf stage. No matter which type of person it was, appearing around the Welfare Institute and setting up a Magical Barrier was abnormal.
"Better notify Emerald Sparrow first,"
Lin Xiaolu's memories of Magical Barriers were far from pleasant, and an inexplicable sense of déjà vu made her first instinct to call for help. She immediately took out her phone and dialed Emerald Sparrow's number.
Previously, Emerald Sparrow had repeatedly stressed to her that should she encounter an event that might exceed her abilities, she must notify her first. Although unsure why such an overly protective requirement was in place, this did not prevent Lin Xiaolu from following her advice.
Only this time, after waiting with her phone for a moment, her expression became somewhat bewildered: the dialed call rang for a long time, but in the end, there was only a voice message indicating that no one had answered.
"No answer?" This was an outcome Lin Xiaolu had not anticipated.
"Leave a message in the group. Let's try if we can break the barrier with magic power,"
Faced with a somewhat urgent situation, Xia Liang took out her own Seed of Heart and decisively transformed: "In this situation, if we have to wait for the junior to answer the phone, Moko might be in danger inside."
Upon hearing this reminder, Lin Xiaolu realized it wasn't the time to just stand idly by. After leaving a brief message in the group, she also took out her Seed of Heart and transformed into a Magical Girl.
After both transformed, they began attacking the barrier with Magic Power Beams, trying to breach it by force. However, although their attacks caused the barrier to tremble continuously, they still couldn't completely destroy its structure.
After several unsuccessful attempts and seeing their magic power depleting quickly, they had to stop once again.
Lin Xiaolu looked visibly anxious, while Xia Liang, who had also failed to make a breakthrough, stared at the barrier in front of her, seemingly deep in thought, "Perhaps, we should try a different approach."
"What approach? Do you have a better idea?" Lin Xiaolu asked, somewhat puzzled.
"You'll know if we try,"
Xia Liang smiled mysteriously and then raised her Magic Wand, "Xiaojin, Magic Power Structure Disassembly."
With her chant, the Magic Wand in her hand transformed into a magic power nebula, then recombined to form a small vanity mirror—this was her Magic Power Structure, Diversion.
Lin Xiaolu, who was beside her, recognized Xia Liang's Magic Power Structure but couldn't think of its use, "Why are you taking out Diversion?"
"All right, don't ask so many questions. Just watch,"
Without further explanation, Xia Liang started her attempt. She divided the handheld mirror into several pieces and then adjusted one of the mirrors to be large enough, nearly the height of a person.
Next, she placed the person-sized mirror against the Magical Barrier in front of them.
"One of Diversion's abilities is to transmit magic power between mirror surfaces, changing its direction. That is to say, magic power that comes into contact with its surface will be transferred to the opposite mirror,"
Xia Liang began to explain, "The junior mentioned in her lectures before that although a Magical Barrier is a Spell Technique, the essence of Spell Techniques is still magic power, just arranged in a specific state according to the Spell Technique's structure. So, if my guess is correct..."
She stretched out her hand, pointing to the other mirror that wasn't attached to the barrier.
Lin Xiaolu turned her head to look and saw that the mirror was indeed twinkling with lights, indicating that magic power was passing through. That the mirror was transmitting magic power meant there necessarily was a source.