Chapter 566: Be a Bad Person for Once

Hearing Shadow demand that mirror, Su Che indeed felt somewhat troubled. It had been agreed beforehand that the mirror was to be given to Princess Aoqing. Next, Su Che planned to discuss with her whether she could help him obtain the Grafting Divine Stone. If he took the mirror now or simply told Princess Aoqing, “The theft is done, but the loot belongs to me,” then there would be no way to bring up the Grafting Divine Stone later—nothing would work.

However, since Shadow rarely made requests after following him, the more so, Su Che felt even less willing to refuse his demands…

sensing Su Che’s hesitation, Shadow said again, “Su Che, for the Grafting Divine Stone you need, I can just go to the Central Tang Palace and steal it for you. There’s no need for Princess Aoqing’s help at all. Women are troublesome—best not to mess with them.”

“Alright.”

Su Che smiled to himself. “Since this mirror is so useful to you, then I’ll be a bad person for once. I’ll tell Princess Aoqing directly that the task is complete and the mirror belongs to me. As for the Grafting Divine Stone, it can only be left to you to handle.”

“No problem!”

Shadow replied excitedly. It was clear that obtaining this mirror was a huge surprise to him.

Now that he had decided to be a bad person and keep the mirror, Su Che’s curiosity arose. He wondered, “What’s the use of this mirror? Why do you value it so much?”

“This mirror is likely a naturally formed divine artifact. Though it lacks destructive power, it possesses two quite amazing functions,” Shadow explained slowly. “First, it can reflect your true self, helping you see yourself more clearly, understand your strengths and weaknesses, and know exactly what you want. It also allows you to figure out which people and things in this world are most important to you.”

“Understand oneself?”

Su Che nodded inwardly. “That’s right. It’s easy to say, but actually very difficult. Some people never manage to understand themselves in their entire lives, while others only realize what’s truly important to them after losing it… Still, I think one should rely on improving their own spiritual realm to gradually understand themselves, rather than relying on such external objects.”

“Exactly!”

The Shadow agreed, “Su Che, you’re absolutely right. This mirror can create dependence and gradually weaken one’s ability to judge independently. I also think it’s better not to rely on it. Therefore, this function is completely useless to me.”
Su Che nodded inwardly, waiting silently for the Shadow to mention the mirror’s second function—probably the most important and miraculous one.
The Shadow continued, “The second function is extremely important to me. This mirror can reflect a completely imaginary world based on your thoughts, one that resembles the real world you’re in. But when you immerse yourself in this imaginary world, you’ll find that you can fully control your own destiny—have whatever you desire, bring good luck, and obtain anything you think of.”
“Everything unattainable in the real world can be obtained here; everything lost in the real world can be regained. It can create all the happiness and beauty you desire. The most amazing part is that when you’re immersed in it, you don’t realize it’s all imaginary at all—it feels completely real, even more real than the real world…”
“Is that so?”
Su Che was astonished. “It could almost be called a dream mirror. But no matter how wonderful the world in the mirror is, it’s still imaginary—like a beautiful dream. When you wake up, you’re still with empty hands, having gained nothing… I feel this thing isn’t good. It seems like a harmful item designed to destroy people’s minds and numb their thoughts. If one relies on it for too long, they will surely be completely ruined.”
Thinking of this, Su Che gradually understood. “Could it be that Princess Aoqing wants this mirror not only to harm that woman but also hopes to use this dream mirror to regain the motherly love she lost and reunite with her mother from her memories…”
“That’s likely,” the Shadow replied. “I hid in that woman’s shadow for several hours. Through her self-indulgence, I learned that she is indeed Princess Aoqing’s stepmother. Her current life isn’t very happy, and there are irreconcilable conflicts between her and Princess Aoqing.”
“Indeed.”
Su Che nodded. But since these were others’ family affairs and had nothing to do with him, he asked the Shadow, “So, what benefit does this imaginary world in the mirror bring to you? Are you, as a shadow, too bored in your life and need it to pass the time and numb your thoughts?”
“I certainly don’t need that!”

The shadow replied, “For ordinary beings, the projected world reflected in the mirror is purely illusory. But I am already a shadow, so I can utilize, borrow, or absorb any projection power. Should you understand now?”
“It seems so, I get it a bit…”
Su Che guessed, “Does that mean you can use this illusory world reflected by the mirror to enhance your real strength? Or in other words, you can treat this illusory world as your training ground, right?”
“More or less,” the shadow replied cheerfully. “The principles behind it are quite complex and hard to explain clearly. In any case, with this mirror, my strength can increase at least ten times faster. Even if I ascend to the immortal realm in the future, it will still be useful to you and won’t hold you back.”
“Strength increases ten times faster?”
Hearing this, Su Che had no hesitation. This item was simply made for the shadow—it should have belonged to him from the start.
“Hmm, we’re taking this mirror. It’s worth being a bit of a villain for it!”
Su Che nodded firmly, his smile carrying a hint of mischief.
It’s fine to be a villain once in a while, right…
The next morning, in the same luxurious private room at the restaurant on the same street as the inn, Su Che met Princess Aoqing again—her whole being radiating playfulness and vitality.
At just sixteen years old, she already had the cultivation level of the early Golden Core stage. Such achievements would be unprecedented and incredible in the cultivation world. But as the Princess of Zhongtang, who possessed endless wealth in the Spirit Realm, it wasn’t that remarkable for her. If she stopped being so playful and worked harder, reaching the late Golden Core stage wouldn’t be a problem.
Without Su Che saying anything, Princess Aoqing had already learned about the theft of the ‘Dreamy Mirror’ the previous night. Since it was a matter related to her family, it was impossible for her not to know.
“Not bad, not bad!”
Princess Aoqing clapped her hands happily. “I really didn’t expect you to complete the task so quickly. You weren’t exaggerating at all—your stealing skills are truly excellent!”
“Thank you for your praise, Princess,” Su Che replied with a smile.
However, Princess Aoqing’s expression changed. She sized Su Che up, furrowing her brows slightly, and asked in a low voice, “We can discuss your reward later. But where’s the mirror? Didn’t you bring it?”

Ao Qing certainly knew that mirror, over two feet tall, could neither change in size nor be stored in any storage space or magic compartment. Yet this little thief had empty hands and was clean and tidy—there was no way to tell that he had brought the mirror with him.
“What I want to say to the princess is that this mirror should be considered a reward for me! And it can only be called a reward, not some kind of grant. I’m not from the Middle Tang Dynasty; even if I met your emperor, I wouldn’t need to kneel. So where does the idea of a grant come from?”
Su Che suddenly took control of the situation, his smile fading, his expression turning cold, and his tone becoming grave…