Chapter 830: Taihua Mirror
Lady Scarlet was in no hurry to return to Dayu Mountain; she immediately took residence aboard the Heaven Patrolling Boat.
According to her, after the forbidden land in the Heaven Patrolling Zone experienced several events such as ascension to the Immortal Realm, descent into the Withering Realm midway, the selection of Dayu Mountain to descend upon, and the initiation of a war that massacred the demons in the mountain, the authority of the Heaven Patrolling Temple became much stronger than during the Primordial Realm’s period!
Now, sects like LiMountain Elixir Sect, Celestial Lotus Sect, Taiyi Sword Alliance, Ancient Vine Sect, Profound Invisible Sect, as well as countless rogue cultivators from the Heaven Patrolling Zone, are all under the jurisdiction of the Heaven Patrolling Temple!
The Heaven Patrolling Temple maintains its original structure, with the top echelons still being Divine Bridge Realm cultivators, along with many powerful Golden Cores from various forces and rogue cultivators.
As for the non-urgent matters of LiMountain Elixir Sect, the high-level figures of the Elixir Sect can handle them independently; all significant affairs are still managed by the Heaven Patrolling Temple. Besides her, there are five Immortal Masters of the Divine Bridge Realm within the temple, so her presence or absence does not make much difference!
Therefore, even if Lady Scarlet were to disappear for decades due to closed cultivation or external experience, it would not be a significant problem.
Knowing this, Shen Mo decided to bring Lady Scarlet to Dayu Mountain in Dongjie Continent after his cultivation advances to the late-stage of the Divine Bridge Realm and pay a visit to the Ancient Vine Sect to collect the long-overdue Enlightenment Tea.
However, after leaving the Immortal Mansion Dungeon and returning to a safe environment, Lady Scarlet behaved more excessively, teasing Shen Mo in words and actions whenever Zhao Lingyin was cultivating or conducting Alchemy, and even unconsciously using seductive techniques on him!
This unusual behavior made both of them realize that something was amiss.
No matter how intense her feelings or desires were, with her Divine Bridge Realm cultivation, Lady Scarlet should be able to fully control her conduct and behavior, not resort to behaving like a cat in heat, barely able to restrain herself!
After obtaining her consent, Shen Mo used "Insight into All Beings" to take a meticulous look.
Only then did he understand that this was a special effect brought about by the Charming Body!
Due to various reasons, it had now reached a point where there was no solution; even if Shen Mo fulfilled her wishes, it would be impossible to restore the two to their initially platonic relationship.
Perhaps, because Lady Scarlet inherited the origin power of Danchen Zi and Duanmu Yuan to advance to the Divine Bridge, there were deficiencies in her understanding of the Great Path and her mental state. Coupled with the heavy injuries she sustained at the Moon Palace, these combined factors made it increasingly difficult to suppress the influence of the Spiritual Body on herself!
Knowing this matter, Lady Scarlet seemed to find a reasonable excuse and increasingly stopped concealing her intentions.
For Shen Mo, he was somewhat helpless, and could only hold onto his Path Heart, letting her be...
Hopefully, once Lady Scarlet fully recovers from her injuries, she may manage to restrain herself slightly. Once she addresses the foundational deficiencies in the future and raises her Realm, she might be able to diminish to some degree the special effects of the Charming Body!
During their daily interactions, even Zhao Lingyin, inexperienced in worldly matters, sensed Lady Scarlet’s abnormal behavior and unexpectedly showed a temper to Shen Mo.
Shen Mo explained for quite some time and appeased her before finally calming Zhao Lingyin.
Mainly because Lady Scarlet had recovered from her injuries and knew not to offend Zhao Lingyin, her words and actions were more restrained than before, which prevented her from being driven away.
Due to this incident, outside of studying the Alchemy Path during her free time, Zhao Lingyin clung to Shen Mo to cultivate "The Sutra of Cloudy and Rainy from Wushan," hoping to quickly establish the Divine Bridge; not only out of a cultivator’s instinct to walk further along the Immortal Path but also to enjoy longevity and accompany Shen Mo longer, lest she falls and Shen Mo seeks another Dao companion after her lifespan ends.
This made Shen Mo’s feelings somewhat complex and baffled. Despite his painstaking efforts to spur Zhao Lingyin’s cultivation, the results were not satisfactory, whereas Lady Scarlet’s arrival inadvertently made her more diligent — truly, man plans and heaven laughs.
...
The Heaven Patrolling Boat once again set sail, heading towards its next destination!
With no pressing matters, Shen Mo thought to accompany Zhao Lingyin on her travels for a few more years to roam the entire Jade Spring Mountain, as it wouldn’t affect his refining of the Demon Lord’s flesh and blood to boost his cultivation.
However.
Half a year later, above Jade Spring Mountain, suddenly rose a mirror bright as the Bright Moon.
All creatures on the mountain could see and sense its presence. The luminescent spirit light, mystical immortal aura — it was evidently a celestial artifact!
"What is this..."
Shen Mo, Zhao Lingyin, Lady Scarlet, and Qian Xiaofeng were all stirred, stepping onto the boat’s deck to gaze at this celestial mirror.
"This Treasure Mirror openly appearing above the Immortal Mountain is likely an artifact in the Jade Spring Fairy’s possession. I wonder what has transpired?"
Given the past behavior of Jade Spring Fairy in sheltering countless creatures on the mountain for countless ages, she is clearly not a cruel and evil immortal like the Dragon Rearing Pool master and Hallow Venerable; moreover, the mirror’s light is gentle without murderous or destructive intent, and [Chanjue] Destiny does not give any warning, so Shen Mo is not worried about calamity descending.
"The mirror light seems to have a guiding intent; you all stay here, don’t move. I’ll be back soon!"
Shen Mo admonished Zhao Lingyin and the others with a few words, then, sensing the guiding force, with a slight shift of his mind, in an instant, the mirror light enveloped him. His entire being disappeared from the boat’s deck as if he had used the Sword Escape skill.
Transported by the mirror light, Shen Mo found himself in a brightly dazzling, strange space.
It somewhat resembled the world within "Universe in the Sword," except there were no sword moves formed by myriad things around; instead, there were diverse mirrors of various shapes and materials suspended in the vast, unbounded space — dazzling under billions of mirror lights!
After quite a while, Shen Mo adapted to the light here and started to examine his surroundings.
He was standing upon a brilliant, large Treasure Mirror, with mirrors suspended all around, and reflected in the mirror ahead was a captivating silhouette, smilingly observing him.
"Taihua Mirror Artifact Spirit, greets Fellow Daoist Qingyun!" The alluring silhouette detected Shen Mo’s gaze, performed a salute, and spoke to him.
Shen Mo returned the gesture immediately, with countless doubts in his mind, unsure where to start his inquiries.
Before he could ask, the Taihua Mirror Artifact Spirit faintly smiled, and as the mirror light around flowed dreamily, a massive amount of information flooded Shen Mo’s mind.
A moment later, Shen Mo digested this information and leisurely said, "The female immortal who saved me from the Hallow Venerable was indeed Jade Spring Fairy! Now, finally, one must make a move toward the Southeast’s Ten Thousand Mountains, I suppose?"
In those past years.
After Shen Mo captured the demon forces of Five Dragon Mountain’s Hou Corpse Cave, relying on the Sword Escape skill, he fled all the way northwest to the vicinity of Jade Spring Mountain.
This attracted Hallow Venerable who attempted to kill him, nearly leading to his demise, until an unknown female immortal blocked the killing strike for him, even severing Hallow Venerable’s forefinger, along with leaving a jade slip for Shen Mo!
From the jade slip’s information, Shen Mo learned that this unknown female immortal had enmity with Hallow Venerable, but he could never confirm her real identity as Jade Spring Fairy.
Now, he had received the answer!