Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 437 The Mark of the Moon Goddess
Lu Zheng pondered whether this person was telling him this information to imply that she, as an avatar, was more important to the Moon Goddess herself.

If Lu Zheng and the others really take her to the Shu Kingdom, or destroy her, it will make the Moon Goddess herself want revenge.

Lu Zheng remained calm. He wasn't easily frightened, so naturally he wasn't afraid of anything.

Lu Zheng looked at the Moon Goddess's avatar and said leisurely, "No wonder I felt you were different from the other gods before, and so difficult to kill. It turns out your path of cultivation is different from theirs..."

Lu Zheng paused, then said, "Since that's the case, I know your secrets, and you know some of my secrets, why do you think I'll let you go?"

The Moon Goddess's voice suddenly rang out, "There is no mortal enmity between us. I can swear an oath to sever all grudges and karmic ties with you..."

Lu Zheng thought that the Moon Goddess possessed great supernatural powers, and oaths and such would probably have no effect at all.

Lu Zheng shook his head upon hearing this, "You've been a god for hundreds of years, after all. If it were you, do you think you would believe it?"

The Moon Goddess fell silent for a moment. She didn't know if she would believe it, but her clone had not been easy to cultivate, and it would be a great loss if it were to perish. Therefore, she had no choice but to compromise with Lu Zheng.

At this point, there's no room for trust between the two sides.

The Moon Goddess then said, "You should think this over more carefully. This is the State of Chu. Killing me will do you no good..."

"Confucianism and Taoism are not very prosperous in the Great Chu, but your talent is better than I thought. I can help you become a great Confucian scholar, or a martial arts saint, or even cultivate the path of a true god like me... Anything that Anguo can give you, I can give you too."

After observing for the past few days, the Moon Goddess felt that Lu Zheng was probably not some powerful being reincarnated. If Lu Zheng really had that ability, he would have already broken her seal.

Therefore, the Moon Goddess felt there was still a chance to win over Lu Zheng.

"My true self is definitely searching for you outside. You do indeed possess a magical artifact that conceals the secrets of heaven, but how long can you hide here?"

"That person in Anguo probably didn't give you enough to save your life, otherwise you wouldn't be in this situation..."

Upon hearing the Moon Goddess's words, Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly. Did she really think that his backing was that half-saint from Anguo?

That's a misconception; that person didn't give him any treasures at all.

In truth, Lu Zheng has no connection whatsoever with that half-saint; it's just an exaggerated rumor circulating outside.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "I've heard that you, Moon Goddess, are skilled in divination and even able to foresee the future. It seems you're nothing special... What you're saying is nothing but empty talk to me."

"What?" The moon goddess didn't quite understand.

“Coercion, bribery.” Lu Zheng paused, then said slowly, “Coercion? You’re not qualified enough. Bribery? What Anguo can give me, what you can give me, is not what I want. Why would I care about these things?”

"What do you want?" the Moon Goddess asked curiously.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "A peaceful and prosperous era."

Upon hearing this, the Moon Goddess fell silent, feeling a sense of absurdity. She even wondered if Lu Zheng had gone mad from reading too much.

But considering that Lu Zheng's Confucian and Taoist cultivation is so extraordinary, he doesn't seem like a bookworm who only knows how to talk nonsense.

Lu Zheng's words were serious... Moon Goddess thought to herself.

But even so, there are plenty of people who dream of a peaceful and prosperous world, but how many of them can actually achieve it?
The Moon Goddess couldn't help but say, "Anguo can't give you what you want, Chuguo can't give you what you want, do you really think you can do it on your own?"

Lu Zhengdao said, "You have to walk the path yourself to know what you're going to find. Our paths are different, so there's nothing more to say..."

After saying that, Lu Zheng turned and went to the study in the courtyard, and soon returned with two jade boxes.

The jade box was covered with intricate seals, yet an aura still emanated from it—the aura of the Holy Path.

Lu Zheng opened the jade box, revealing two dazzling scrolls of silk.

The Moon Goddess within the crystal was astonished. Lu Zheng actually possessed two sacred artifacts? Judging from their aura, they were classics of Confucian sages.

Could it be a gift from the Half-Saint of Anguo? The Moon Goddess pondered, but then thought again, that person would not be so generous as to give away such a thing, and giving it to Lu Zheng would not allow the sacred object to be fully utilized, which would be a waste.

Lu Zheng looked at the two scrolls of silk. The existence of this Moon Goddess avatar was a ticking time bomb. It seemed that he had to risk the powerful backlash of the sacred artifact to solve this problem.

With two chapters on sainthood, Lu Zheng still didn't believe he couldn't destroy the Moon Goddess's self-sealing.

Upon seeing this, the Moon Goddess was startled. Lu Zheng was willing to risk everything to destroy this clone of hers.

She didn't know how much backlash Lu Zheng would suffer afterward, but she was definitely gone.

"You really want to do this..." the Moon Goddess couldn't help but transmit her voice.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "There is no other choice."

Seeing that Lu Zheng was determined to kill, the Moon Goddess knew she wouldn't hold back either.

"very good……"

Over the years, Lu Zheng has been the only young man who has left a deep impression on her.

The moon goddess whispered softly, and the originally solid crystal rippled with a Daoist rhythm.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng raised his hand and waved the silk scroll, intending to suppress it.

But in the next instant, the crystal exploded, and the moon goddess's avatar within it was annihilated and disappeared.

The explosion generated terrifying power, and a surge of energy shot into the sky, disappearing into the bright moon.

Immediately, a special aura emanated from the bright moon, and moonlight sprinkled across the world, its silvery-white glow dreamlike like mist.

Lu Zheng only had time to suppress the terrifying explosion, but not enough time to stop the strange phenomenon of the bright moon that was impacting him.

That was the aura of the Moon Goddess, the lunar Daoist essence cultivated by the Moon Goddess. Although it was a small amount of Daoist essence, it still permeated the small world and could not dissipate for a while.

A hazy, ethereal figure materialized in the sky—the very image of the Moon Goddess. The Moon Goddess looked at Lu Zheng and said softly, "Lu Zheng, I will remember you. We will meet again soon."

She ended her own life with supernatural powers, merging her last strength into Lu Zheng's luminous moon phenomenon, thereby imbuing Lu Zheng's inner world with her aura.

This would make it much easier for the Moon Goddess herself to find Lu Zheng.

After saying this, the illusory image of the Moon Goddess gradually dissipated, and this avatar of the Moon Goddess was completely annihilated.

Lu Zheng frowned slightly; he could easily see what the Moon Goddess had done.

Without hesitation, Lu Zheng altered the layout of the small world in an attempt to eliminate the residual aura of the Moon Goddess.

Soon, he discovered that his moon-shaped phenomenon could not fully absorb or repel the power given by the moon god in a short period of time.

For some time afterward, the phenomenon of the bright moon was marked by the moon goddess, providing a basis for identifying the moon goddess herself.

With the death of the Moon Goddess's avatar, her true self will surely notice it soon and track her to this place. Even staying in the small world is not safe.

Lu Zheng had no choice but to stuff the moon into the literary palace and seal it away with other treasures.

"We can't stay here anymore, we need to find somewhere else..."

Lu Zheng quickly cleaned up the mess, then left the small world with Qing Wan. He then crushed a teleportation talisman and disappeared.

……

Thousands of miles away, the true form of the Moon Goddess is on a high mountain, divination for the future.

Suddenly, she felt a tightness in her chest for no apparent reason, and a bad thought popped into her mind.

"died……"

The Moon Goddess frowned; her clone had ultimately met with misfortune, dying and vanishing.

The Moon Goddess's face darkened slightly as she raised her jade-like fingers and drew runes in the air.

In a short while, the Moon Goddess determined the location where her clone had died.

She slowly rose, grabbed with her jade-like hand, and tore through space, disappearing into the void.

Before long, the Moon Goddess appeared in the mountains where Lu Zheng had stayed.

She looked around but found no trace of anyone. She opened the void again and sensed a trace of residual energy.

"Little world?"

The moon goddess discovered that a small world had once existed here.

"This child actually possesses a small world of his own?"

A strange glint flashed in the Moon Goddess's eyes. No wonder she had difficulty deducing the location of her clone before. It was suppressed in the other party's small world, rather than in the territory of Chu. Based on this alone, it was difficult to make a deduction.

Moreover, Lu Zheng should possess other treasures that conceal the secrets of heaven.

The Moon Goddess tried to determine the location again, but only saw a blurry image and could not accurately calculate where Lu Zheng had gone.

However, she wasn't in a hurry. Her clone was dead, and some of its residual aura had leaked out. As long as Lu Zheng was still in Chu, it was only a matter of time before she found him.

Moreover, she has already made arrangements in many places, including Yunmengze.

……

"Huh, this place... isn't this Ghost State? How did we end up back here again?"

Having just been teleported to another location, Qingwan discovered that the surrounding area was filled with yin energy, making it feel chilly even in broad daylight.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng calmly said, "I chose this location. Let's go. It shouldn't be far from Ghost State City."

Previously, Lu Zheng went to the city to confirm his exact location.

Then, when he teleported just now, he specifically set a direction, which was to Ghost State.

Lu Zheng is preparing to expose the hidden dangers of the gods in the Chu Kingdom.

There's a saying that the most dangerous place is also the safest place.

Since the Moon Goddess's clone had left its aura on him after its self-destruction, he might as well go directly to Ghost State City.

That's where the Moon Goddess's clones usually stay, so they must have left behind a lot of traces of her presence.

Lu Zheng's arrival at this moment would be a good opportunity to conceal the aura of the Moon Goddess on his body.

If the Moon Goddess herself were to use the power of her clones to deduce the truth, she probably wouldn't have guessed that Lu Zheng was in Ghost State City.

Of course, there was an element of gambling involved in Lu Zheng's actions, but it was the best place he could think of.

In the distance, a majestic ancient city came into view.

The towering city resembled a colossal black beast crouching on the earth, shrouded in a clearly visible gray aura.

Lu Zheng's eyes flashed with light. Using his aura-gazing technique, he could barely see a few wisps of divine aura, but they were extremely thin and almost completely obscured by the yin energy of Ghost City.

Lu Zheng thought to himself that this Ghost City was really as rumored, with so many ghosts among its inhabitants that even gods were unwilling to come.

It's estimated that apart from a few special priests, there are no other gods in Ghost City, making it a good place to hide one's identity.

(End of this chapter)