The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 998 Goddess
When Zhao Chen returned to Mirror Village, apart from the disappearance of the silver mirrors hanging in front of every household, it was almost the same as in ancient times, but Zhao Chen's state of mind was completely different.

Last time it was a cautious exploration, but this time it's a condescending examination.

"The houses of these dozen or so households roughly conform to the 'trapped dragon' pattern in feng shui, but it's not rigorous. It's clearly just a decoy, intended to mislead passing cultivators into thinking that ignorant villagers are trying to imprison the so-called 'God of Fortune' to enhance their luck..."

"Yes, according to the information obtained from Wang Daoyi, the villagers do think so too, but in reality, they are imprisoning a local deity who has transformed into a 'Dao Nie'!"

"It could also be the first corrupted and defiled Earth Deity of Xuantian."

As Zhao Chen's thoughts raced, he and Ming Hongyue descended from the clouds and landed in Mirror Village.

Although most of the independent adventurers had left because the benefits had been largely divided up, there were still quite a few people in the village at this time.

Some of them were Taoist officials sent by the "Taoist Officials' Office" to monitor and record these "returning" places, some were scholars who came to conduct archaeological research, and of course, some were independent cultivators who were unwilling to give up.

The three groups each occupied a portion of the village's houses, clearly separating their respective areas, except for the central mansion, which they tacitly agreed not to occupy.

At this moment, seeing Zhao Chen and Ming Hongyue descend from the sky, they knew that these were at least experts at the "Magic Power Realm" level, so they naturally dared not provoke them—the highest level of cultivators still here was only the "Refining Aperture" level.

Since Zhao Chen and Ming Hongyue had done their "homework" before coming, with the former even revisiting the place, they didn't need to find a "guide" and headed straight for the central mansion.

"I heard that apart from the 'Summoning Edict' that my people obtained and the few items that Hong Li acquired, most of the valuable things in Mirror Village are hidden in the central mansion."

"The house was not only full of traps and mechanisms, but also had many entrances to 'mirror spaces', which contained a lot of evil energy and strange materials, but now it has been basically looted."

"Most of the independent cultivators who are still in the village are searching for possible hidden mirror spaces..." Ming Hongyue said, while casually mentioning a few examples of independent cultivators who had gained a lot in Mirror Village.

It was precisely because of these people that the rather low-profile Hong Li did not become the target of public criticism.

“There is indeed a hidden ‘mirror space’!” Zhao Chen said with a smile.

Ming Hongyue was not surprised by this and asked directly, "Is it the location of that disciple from 'Tianyong City'? Do you have any leads?"

All she knew was that a true disciple of "Tianyong City," who was conferred the title of "Earthly Deity" when his lifespan was about to end, had established a separate residence in Mirror Village. She did not know that the person had already transformed into a "Daoist Demon" and had been sealed and suppressed.

Of course, since the "Earth Deity" itself had already been taken into the "warehouse" by the "Great Sun Star Raft," it didn't matter whether they knew or not.

“No, that’s just the entrance to his ‘Biefu’.” Zhao Chen shook his head and said meaningfully, “The real ‘Biefu’ will definitely surprise you.”

Upon hearing this, Ming Hongyue turned her head to the side: "You seem to know about the situation at the other residence?"

Zhao Chen did not deny it, but said in a somewhat mysterious tone, "You'll find out soon enough."

Seeing this, Ming Hongyue, though full of curiosity, did not ask any more questions and followed Zhao Chen into the central mansion, arriving at the "Tenshukaku" (Sky Keep), a building with a hidden interior but only a three-meter-high wall on the outside.

Without hesitation, Zhao Chen pulled Ming Hongyue directly inside.

Some of the rogue cultivators who had been watching the two "experts" scoffed at the sight. They had already discovered the space inside the "Sky Keep" and had looted it thoroughly, even taking all the monster's remains. It was completely worthless to explore. In fact, if the "Sky Keep" hadn't been impossible to move by any means, it would have been taken home and used as a secret base long ago.

While cultivators at the Divine Power Realm and above could take it away, they didn't lack such an inconvenient "space".

After entering the "Sky Keep", Zhao Chen scanned the area with his divine sense and found that it had indeed been "cleaned" quite thoroughly. Even the traces of his battle with Fei Meng had been covered up and completely disappeared.

"Tsk, if it weren't for the fact that they couldn't destroy the structure here, I think the rogue cultivators might have been able to tear down the floorboards." Ming Hongyue, who never lacked cultivation resources, clicked her tongue in amazement.

Of course, the floorboards here withstood the battle between Wang Daoyi, a low-grade divine power user, and his mirror image. If they could be dismantled, it would be an invaluable asset for a rogue cultivator.

Zhao Chen mentally complained, then walked to the stone platform where the "Bagua Bright Mirror" had once been enshrined.

With a thought, he entered the "Star Chariot" and materialized the "Eight Trigrams Bright Mirror" into reality, placing it in the spot where it had once been enshrined.

The next moment, the compass around the Bagua Mingguang Mirror slowly began to rotate, revealing a deep passage on the central mirror surface.

"This is the hidden 'mirror space,' let's go in," Zhao Chen said with a smile.

When she saw the passage appear, the princess, who was taking her first adventure in over a decade, blushed and appeared extremely excited.

She took a deep breath and then nodded to Zhao Chen.

Seeing that she did not back down, Zhao Chen pulled her along and they transformed into sword light, flying into the mirror.

The "Eight Trigrams Bright Mirror" then dissipated, and the passage closed.

Meanwhile, Zhao Chen and Ming Hongyue arrived at another "Sky Keep" with a layout completely opposite to the previous one.

However, the walls here are covered with portraits of "Amaterasu". They are everywhere, on the walls and the floor, so dense that there is no place to step. The style is the same as the scroll that Zhao Chen got from Hong Li.

However, most of the Amaterasu goddesses in these paintings have ferocious expressions, with no trace of kindness in their eyes, but rather full of indifference and bloodlust, like demons.

Only a few paintings have retained their original appearance.

"What... what's going on? Is that 'Earth God' infatuated with this goddess from Yingzhou?" Ming Hongyue looked around and couldn't help but wonder.

Zhao Chen was silent for a moment, then sighed, "While that may be a factor, the essence is that it's polluting that goddess."

What he was thinking at that moment was: Amaterasu's feeling was too similar to that of the goddess of light in Ctesi; she was most likely an incarnation of her.

And Fei Meng has a close relationship with the Goddess of Light!

Sure enough... I obtained the "Eight Trigrams Bright Mirror" when I entered "Mirror Village", and Fei Meng obviously didn't come away empty-handed either... that "Bodhisattva Picture" won't assign tasks randomly!
She most likely absorbed the "normal" power remaining from Amaterasu, which explains why her strength increases after each mission and why she has so many trump cards...

(End of this chapter)