The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 1009: Peep into the sky and the earth
As Zhao Chen asked the "question," ripples of water appeared on the surface of the silver mirror, and soon, images emerged within it:

A sinister and terrifying figure, with a face exactly like Fairy Mingguang, emerged from the mirror and merged into Mingguang's "Earthly Deity" body. The latter immediately began to "mutate," and no matter what methods she used, even resisting with the "Five Emperors Paying Homage to the True Ones" supernatural power, it was to no avail.

Finally, when Fairy Mingguang was about to give up, a handsome monk suddenly entered her villa, took the "Bagua Mingguang Mirror" from her, and also took one of her clones.

This clone was created from her original body before she was conferred the title of Earth Deity, and it bears a trace of her spiritual imprint.

However, due to the close connection between her original body and the "Starship Accessories", she was not eroded by the pollution of "faith".

This was originally her last resort, because the mark did not contain her cultivation foundation—she had truly severed her connection with the "candidate" back then, otherwise the "Eight Trigrams Bright Mirror" would not have been extracted.

Therefore, even if she were to revive through the brand, it would be extremely difficult, since she would not only lack cultivation but also her memories, and she would even have to start cultivating all over again using that already aged body...

After the monk offered a better solution, she naturally gave up this backup plan... Moreover, with the clone far from the main body and further isolated by the "mystery of history," she could be guaranteed not to be implicated, which was actually more advantageous to her.

Immediately afterwards, the scene in the mirror shifted, and the monk fed the clone a strange fruit, restoring her youth. However, the clone's spiritual imprint was completely blank, like a newborn infant, knowing nothing and possessing power but unable to use it...

The monk spent a year with her, teaching her basic common sense, before drifting away and turning to dust.

After creating a clone, he cultivated on his own. When he reached the "Gang Sha" realm, he clearly understood the identity of his clone. So he switched to cultivating the "Huang Tian Miao Fa" and wanted to use the great supernatural power of "The Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise" to sever his past karmic ties and destiny and create a new life.

However, due to the obstruction of the "historical fog," her attempt to end her life was not entirely successful. Although she barely managed to complete herself, she was still connected with Mingguang's fate.

This caused her to suffer a backlash from the "Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise" supernatural power, drastically reducing her lifespan. Before her death, she could only use a "reincarnation treasure" that she had obtained by chance.

When she was lost in the "underworld" and lost all time, she became a "human" again, and she was already Ming Hongyue, the Princess of Weihe of the Ming family.

The scene in the silver mirror ended there.

Recalling what he had just seen, Zhao Chen pondered for a moment, then listed three obvious problems:
"First, why did that monk only teach Mingguang Fairy's clone for a year and then abandon her? He even paid for it with a priceless 'ginseng fruit'! What was he after?"

Yes, Zhao Chen recognized at a glance that the fruit the monk gave to Mingguang's clone was the famous "Ginseng Fruit." After all, he had observed it up close in the Heart Realm Ruins of Xuancheng, and its eerie appearance was unforgettable. It was only because Mingguang's clone didn't understand anything at the time that he would never have eaten it.

"Secondly, what is the origin of the 'Huangtian Miaofa' that it is connected to the fate of Mingguang, Mingguang's clone, and Hongyue? If someone really used the special characteristics of Mingguang and Hongyue to make a scheme, then the 'Huangtian Miaofa', or rather the being that is the source of the 'Taiping Guangmiao Huangtian Zhenfa', is the most suspicious!"
"Hmm... The ancient history of this world is entirely fictionalized, so this method might come from the so-called 'Old Immortal of Nanhua'..."

"And I remember that 'Old Immortal of Nanhua' should refer to Zhuangzi, right? Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly... Is it some powerful being from the realm of the mind causing trouble?"

"Furthermore, the way that monk vanished was very similar to the 'Sambhogakaya'... Perhaps this is really related to the 'mind realm' in Buddhism!"

Zhao Chen couldn't help but think of the original owner's origins, as well as his elder brother and mother, who were still suppressed in the "Old Star Raft" and shared the same origin as the original owner. He felt that after achieving supernatural powers, he could also make use of them, but he still needed to think more about how to use them.

"Thirdly, why did Hongyue become connected with the source of the 'Four Fiends Hall,' that 'Emperor Shaohao,' after her reincarnation... From the scene I just saw, there didn't seem to be anything related to the 'Birdman'..."

"However, if I had to say, the 'reincarnation treasure' obtained by 'chance' is rather suspicious!" There may be 'chance' in this world, but it is impossible for something so high-end to happen. After all, items involving the 'laws of heaven and earth' must be related to cause and effect.

Some benefits, once "paid in advance," must be "paid back" in the future, and even reincarnation cannot escape them.

In addition, there is actually a fourth "suspicious" point, which is the name "Red Moon." I wonder if it foreshadows anything...

"I hope I'm overthinking it." Zhao Chen sighed slightly. Seeing that it was past midnight and the second day had begun, the number of uses of the "Sky-Gazing and Earth-Measuring Mirror" had been refreshed, so he "summoned" it again.

"What exactly is being bred by the pollution deep within Ming Hongyue's spirit?" Zhao Chen asked the silver mirror.

But this time, the mirror didn't react at all, as if it were "broken".

"So, even after I investigated the pollution with the 'Jade Book' and was inside the 'Star Raft,' I still couldn't detect what it was nurtured? This must be something at least close to the 'Ascension' level!" Zhao Chen gasped, realizing he had underestimated the pollution deep within Ming Hongyue's spirit.

If we were to try to force a solution now, the success rate would probably be much lower than expected.

"What exactly is it that would make the evil god behind the 'Four Fiends Hall' go to such lengths to arrange for a 'Ming family woman' who is the reincarnation of a 'candidate' to conceive?"

"Do the True Lords of the Ming family know this?"

“If I can find clues, surely that ancestor wouldn’t have been unaware… tacitly approved? Or perhaps he used the arrangements of demons and evil spirits to set up a bigger scheme? Or maybe he simply didn’t care about these ‘trivial matters’?”
"So, even without me, Hongyue probably had other ways to survive. Could it be that 'Di Shaohao' was originally here to help her through this difficult time?"

"The whole 'Xuancheng' incident was all about this vinegar, like dumplings?"

"Hmm... If it weren't for me, and if Hongyue had been saved by him when she was in dire straits, she might have really trusted that 'birdman' even more."

Since the previous question hadn't been answered and didn't count as a "number of attempts," Zhao Chen thought for a moment and asked again:

What is the true nature of "Emperor Shaohao" deep within Ming Hongyue's spirit?

The surface of the silver mirror rippled like water, and soon a line of text appeared: "In essence, it is a wisp of false divine thought with a small amount of knowledge of the One Step Dao Lord 'Shao Hao'. It does not possess power itself, but it can forcibly call upon nearby laws of the same origin to perform supernatural-like abilities."

The appearance of this line of text reveals two facts:

First, that "birdman" could probably unleash the combat power of a top-grade divine ability in a short period of time.

Second, this false divine thought has not reached the "ascending to the profound" level, and is not even "penetrating the profound" level!

(End of this chapter)