Chapter 567: It’s Not Easy to Be a Villain Either

“No!”
Princess Aoqing let out a shriek. Her originally clear and pleasant voice became extremely harsh, her reaction even more intense than Su Che had expected.
Su Che was startled by the scream. It wasn’t out of cowardice, but because his actions amounted to breaking his word, leaving him already feeling guilty. The act of putting on a false face earlier was merely an act of deception.
“It seems that being a villain also requires some courage,” Su Che said with a self-mocking smile.
“You want another reward… Fine, as you wish. Consider it a reward!” Princess Aoqing said loudly, excitedly. “You can have any other reward you want, but the Dreamflower Divine Mirror is off-limits. You must give it to me—it was what we agreed upon!”
“But this mirror won’t benefit you at all. You can’t rely on it to make up for your regrets.”
Su Che’s artificially cold expression collapsed instantly, proving that he was not cut out to be a villain. He spoke gently, “It will only drag you deeper, making you indulge in illusory happiness and hindering your future prospects.”
Su Che’s words were both an excuse for himself and carried a hint of sincerity. This young girl was quite lively and adorable, endearing to everyone. Her cultivation talent was unparalleled, and with the powerful financial resources of the Middle Tang Dynasty, as a princess and granddaughter of the Left Prime Minister, her future achievements could be limitless. It would be a shame if she delayed her cultivation due to inner demons.
As for her intense longing for her mother and her doubts about her own fate, ordinary people might be able to relieve or cure these through illusory methods. But as a cultivator, if she couldn’t overcome them with her own strength and instead relied on external things to numb herself, those inner demons would grow more terrifying, and one day, she would lose everything because of them.
“Leave it to me!”
Princess Aoqing’s shriek was almost deafening. Her face turned red as she stood up, pointing angrily at Su Che. She ordered her four bodyguards, “Arrest him! Arrest him now! I want my mirror back!”
The four bodyguards glanced at Su Che but didn’t act immediately, because they also recognized the logic in what he had said. If the young princess relied on the Dreamflower Divine Mirror to ease her troubles and pain from now on, it would only bring harm to her future.

Any mentally mature cultivator could understand these principles, but the young princess was still too young—having experienced few trials and setbacks since birth, her mental maturity was even far inferior to that of a young cultivator of the same age who had just entered the Qi Cultivation stage. Of course, this was just one reason. More importantly, with the intuition derived from their own Cultivation of the Divine stage, they could faintly sense that even if the four of them joined forces, they might not be a match for Su Che, and could even bring tremendous trouble to the currently weak Prime Minister’s household…

Faced with the extremely agitated Princess Aoqing, Su Che did not display the imposing aura of a Cultivation of the Void stage to threaten her. Instead, he maintained a friendly expression, saying gently, “Princess, please calm down. We can discuss this matter slowly…”

But before Su Che could finish speaking, Princess Aoqing, in a fit of anger, grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at him. “Nonsense! What’s there to discuss? I order you to return the Dreamflower Divine Mirror to me immediately! Otherwise, I’ll lock you up in prison and torture you until you spend the rest of your life there!”

Su Che casually caught the teacup as it flew toward him. He felt no strength in it—she hadn’t even used the true energy force expected of a Golden Core cultivator. It was like the actions of an ordinary girl in a fit of rage. This showed that the girl truly had a kind heart and likely had never used her magical powers to kill any living being, never having shed blood.

This made Su Che even more reluctant to cause any harm to such a young girl.

Whoosh!

Su Che immediately used his teleportation technique, vanishing to a distance of thousands of feet, thus leaving the restaurant far behind and disappearing from Princess Aoqing’s sight. After reaching the mid-stage of Cultivation of the Void, Su Che’s teleportation ability allowed him to cover distances of thousands of feet, making it highly effective for escaping or dodging powerful attacks from enemies. Although it was far inferior to advanced teleportation techniques and not comparable at all, it was still considered top-tier among ordinary teleportation spells in the mortal world.

“Where is he?”
“Where has he gone? Did he escape?”

Through his consciousness, which covered an area of hundreds of thousands of feet, Su Che could hear Princess Aoqing’s frantic and panicked screams from inside the restaurant’s private room.

“Yes, Princess, this man is extremely powerful. He might be a cultivator at the Lingxu stage; we simply can’t stop him,” one of the bodyguards replied in a low voice.
“Impossible!”
Princess Aoying shouted, “In this situation, how could a cultivator at the Lingxu stage dare to show himself around? He should have hidden long ago. You’re all such failures—unable to catch even such a petty thief, let alone stop him…”
Whoosh!
Before she could finish scolding, Su Che, who was hovering in the air, flashed away again and instantly returned to the private room in the restaurant, reappearing before Princess Aoying.
“Ah! You…”
Princess Aoying seemed shocked. She pointed at Su Che, ready to curse, but…
Whoosh!
Su Che flashed away once more and disappeared.
Princess Aoying raised her arm, pointing at the empty space, frozen in place.
Whoosh!
Su Che returned and said to her, “See? Your men can’t stop me at all. If you still can’t calm down and talk properly, the next time I leave, I won’t come back. Then you’ll never see me again.”
“You little thief!”
Princess Aoying growled through gritted teeth, trying to suppress her anger and sit down to talk to him properly, but…
“Fine, since you’re cursing, then goodbye.”
Whoosh—Su Che vanished once again.
“Ah?”
Princess Aoying opened her mouth slightly, her expression utterly bewildered. She really thought that little thief would never return.
The four bodyguards struggled hard to hold back their laughter, as their senses extended far beyond the princess’s, allowing them to realize that Su Che hadn’t gone far—he was just…
Whoosh!
Su Che returned and said, “Fortunately, I’m not someone who keeps my word. I’m back.”
After all this, Princess Aoying was completely out of temper. She wanted to call him an idiot but didn’t dare speak out, forcing the words down inside.
“Whatever it is, we can discuss it slowly. Getting angry isn’t the solution,” Su Che asked gently. “You should agree with that, right?”
Princess Aoying pouted and nodded reluctantly. In all her life, no one had ever dared to treat her like this or tease her like that.
Several yards away, Su Che and the princess sat face to face again, while the four bodyguards stood guard beside her, fulfilling their duties loyally.

Su Che first let out a soft sigh and said to her, “Honestly, if you rely on the Dream Mirror for a long time, it will be extremely harmful to your will and thoughts. For most cultivators, this thing is like a slow-acting poison. It’s not an exaggeration to call this Dream Mirror a demonic mirror…”
“I know!”
Princess Ao Qing still looked annoyed, clearly conveying an attitude of “stop meddling.”
Su Che, being very patient, asked again, “I guess you need the Dream Mirror because you hope to see your mother again, right?”
When her mother was mentioned, Princess Ao Qing’s expression changed noticeably. Though she didn’t give a direct answer, she seemed to acknowledge it.
“There are actually other ways to solve this problem, for example…”
Su Che asked tentatively, “When your mother was trying to advance to the next level, did she prepare in advance by having some spiritual-concentrating treasures, just in case she failed?”
Advancing to the Divine Transformation stage meant death if unsuccessful—the danger was self-evident. Even with a 100% success rate, one would still prepare various safeguards, at least to preserve a chance of reincarnation.
At this point, even Princess Ao Qing, no matter how irritable, could calm down temporarily. Moreover, she was a very intelligent girl. She realized that Su Che was likely a powerful cultivator above the Void Refinement stage, daring to roam the world during such difficult times—probably someone with special abilities.
So, she calmed herself down and said softly, “My mother’s soul was indeed preserved, but no one knows what kind of person she will become in her next life after reincarnation. When she failed to advance, her original spirit shattered, leaving only a fragment of it attached to this necklace.”
As she spoke, she gently pulled out a delicate necklace from her bosom—clearly a special-type treasure. “Since this necklace was passed down to me, I wear it every day. It seems to give me the feeling that my mother is always by my side. But when I try to talk to her, she never responds.”
“Many times, I’ve tried to use the Dream Mirror to reunite with my mother, but my father and that woman refused repeatedly, refusing to agree no matter what. I hate them so much!”
Princess Ao Qing murmured softly, sharing some of her inner thoughts.
Of course, she wasn’t treating Su Che as a close friend; rather, she hoped Su Che would understand her suffering and return the Dream Mirror to her.
“A fragment of her original spirit?”

Hearing this news, Su Che felt a stir in his heart and secretly rejoiced.
The concept of a cultivator’s original spirit and soul is not confused; it’s just that while alive, the original spirit and soul are closely linked, as if they form one entity. But when a person’s natural lifespan ends and they die normally, the original spirit cultivated through hard work dissipates into nothingness, while the soul can, like that of an ordinary person, be reborn to start a completely different life or take on the form of another creature.
According to the laws of this universe, once a mortal cultivator’s original spirit dissipates, all their cultivation efforts from this life are reset. Even if a trace of the original spirit remains, it’s like a candle flame in the wind, capable of going out at any moment.
Even if it’s fortunate enough to reside within some magical artifact, it serves only as a reminder—it’s impossible to use this remaining trace of the original spirit to rebuild a physical body and return to the human world.
Unless it’s those beings who have transcended the mortal world and are extremely powerful—even a mere fragment of their divine spirit can be quite formidable. For example, the fragmented original spirit of the Sky-Devouring Rat can reside in each piece of the Demon God’s bones. Another example is Yu Qing—a top-tier powerhouse from the immortal realm—whose existence stems from even a tiny fragment of his divine spirit.