The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 904 Assassination and Response

Is "Lord of the Starship" a "concept"? I remember Her Majesty the Empress said before that possessing a certain "concept" is a prerequisite for stepping into the second step of becoming a Dao Lord...

In other words, the so-called "candidates" are actually vying for the "qualification" or "ticket" to become the second-level Dao Lord.
Hiss... The concept of "Lord of the Starship" probably has some unknown issues. Otherwise, those True Lords who know about the existence of the "candidates" would have already made a move to seize it, and I wouldn't have had a chance to collect "Starship Parts".

Furthermore, the "Vermilion Brush" that has the effect of suppressing demons and monsters... Could this be referring to the "Demon-Sealing Vermilion Brush"? But the information given by the "Demon-Sealing Vermilion Brush" originally indicated that it came from the "Demon-Sealing Emperor" of the Great Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu?

In other words, Zhang Zongwang, the founder of the Longhu Sect, may be the same person as Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty.

That seems plausible. There is no exact date of when the Dragon Tiger Sect was established, but it was roughly shortly after the Great Xia unified the world... If we extrapolate reasonably, it is because Emperor Taizu of Song used the hand of Emperor Gaozu of Great Xia to sever his karmic ties with the "Star Chariot" and extracted the "Demon-Sealing Vermilion Brush," while he himself abandoned the past, took the surname Zhang, and created the current "Dragon Tiger Sect."

This also explains why Demon Cloud True Lord did not seek revenge on Great Xia after Emperor Taizu of Song's death... because she knew her husband was not dead!

If this speculation is true, then Chai Xun is truly pitiful...

Zhao Chen shook his head, then noticed another discrepancy in the intelligence report that contradicted his own understanding:
Didn't Zhang Zongwang perish more than 5,000 years ago for unknown reasons? This was the official news released by the Dragon Tiger Sect... Why does it say here that he disappeared, and the time of his disappearance is unknown, possibly entering the "fog of history"?
The Dragon Tiger Sect... is this the final verdict? They don't want their founder to return?

Or is Zhang Zongwang's disappearance actually a result of internal strife within the Dragon Tiger Sect?

A series of questions flashed through Zhao Chen's mind, but unfortunately, he had too little information to connect these doubts, and naturally could not analyze any more intelligence.

He sighed slightly, then began to "chew" over the two titles he mentioned later: "Fairy of the Clouds" and "Queen Medusa".

This wasn't the first time he'd seen the title "Fairy of the Clouds." When he "authenticated" the Golden Crow Crown of the Clouds, the description clearly stated that it was "the golden crown worn by Fairy of the Clouds."

He was also familiar with the "Queen Medusa." The Tethys wizard Moretti, hired by the Yu family, belonged to the "Giant Serpent Fangs," an organization that was destroyed by "Medusa."

“My cheap 'grandfather' once said that the surviving 'candidates' are not necessarily friends… I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it’s always better to be careful… Well, in short, before I reach a certain level of strength, I should try to avoid direct confrontation with them and just investigate from the side.”

After muttering a few words, Zhao Chen's gaze lingered on the words "become a treasure of the Star God after death." His heart turned cold, because this description inexplicably reminded him of the demons kept by the Western wizards.

The "characteristics" extracted from the dead demons will become materials for wizards to advance!
Perhaps the wizards drew inspiration from the "candidates"? Or perhaps this was simply one of the "correct" paths for Xuan Tian.

If the "candidate" is the vessel that nurtures similar "characteristics"... then what about me? What role am I playing?
After a moment of silence, Zhao Chen let the "Demon-Sealing Vermilion Brush" fly up, suppressing the few strands of "knowledge" that had gone out of control. Then, he forced an ugly smile and thought to himself:

It's probably too late for me to get off the ship now...

……

Inside the compartment of the "Longhua" train, after making a breakthrough in the research on "Ming Xueling's body structure," Zhao Chen paused his research in this area and instead took out the newly acquired "Taiyin Demon-Slaying Sword Manual" outline and began to carefully study it.

Meanwhile, Ming Xueling gained a deeper understanding of human emotions and feelings during the research process, and was currently taking a bath and changing clothes.

Just as the carriage fell silent, a shadow slipped through a gap in the train's built-in sealing array and infiltrated the compartment. The shadow was extremely well concealed, even divine sense couldn't see it directly. After pausing for a few seconds to determine its location, it headed straight for Zhao Chen.

But before it could get really close, another shadow "swam" out from Zhao Chen's shadow and "covered" the shadow that had sneaked into the private room at an extremely fast speed.

"No! You... Judge?!" A voice filled with disbelief rang out, only to be quickly silenced.

Zhao Chen, who was "translating" the Great Dao text, didn't even raise his head, as if he hadn't heard anything.

After all, as a member of the "underworld," Zhong Ying not only told him immediately about someone hiring someone to kill him, but also deliberately arranged for someone who didn't get along with her to "die."

As for the employer, it wasn't someone from the "Liang Prince's Mansion," but rather one of the subordinates of Ming Xueqi, the second son of the Prince of Xiang.

Although the Imperial Concubine and the Empress promoted the third son of the Prince of Wei and the second son of the Prince of Xiang only to help the Emperor muddy the waters, the advisors gathered around these two princes of the imperial clan obviously did not think so.

When Prince Liang was still alive, they could maintain a wait-and-see attitude and observe the situation. But now that Prince Liang has completely lost power, Zhao Chen, a guy of unknown origin who is suspected to be a "prince," has actually gained the emperor's favor, and the empress and the imperial concubine have also changed their stance and are extremely fond of him...

This naturally became a thorn in their side.

Even if the second son of the Prince of Xiang and the third son of the Prince of Wei themselves didn't care, they were still willing to fight for their "master".

Because these people had complicated backgrounds, some of whom were even members of Qingling's own family, Zhao Chen couldn't overstep his bounds. In any case, the power these people could use posed no threat to him.

The forces that can truly threaten him are most likely located outside the Great Wall.

After all, the "Yuantong" True Lord had served as the "Celestial Master" in the Great Xia for thousands of years, possessing profound knowledge and influence. He had countless incarnations, avatars, disciples, and former officials outside the Nine Provinces.

He might not deliberately make things difficult for me, a nobody pushed out by the emperor to "take the blame," but if he did encounter me, I would certainly not have a good outcome.

"So apart from this hothead who dared to make a move in Kyushu, there's no need to deal with the others for now. We can use them to cover up my true whereabouts."

Zhao Chen seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps explaining something to the shadowy figure.

……

The "Longhua" set off from the capital and its final destination was Xiaoguan in Guang Prefecture. It would stop at seven or eight major cities along the way, one of which was Yingchuan, the capital of Xu Prefecture.

As evening approached, the train had just stopped at Yingchuan Station when a station staff member boarded and handed Zhao Chen a brocade box.

"This is the gift that Qingling was referring to?"

(End of this chapter)