Chapter 332

Xia Zhi watched the mirror for a while, observing Madame Ping. 

He then asked Mirror, "What kind of adeptal art is she using?" 

"[Radiant Mirage]." 

Xia Zhi was slightly taken aback. 

He remembered that he hadn't stolen this skill from Madame Ping. 

Yet, the name of the skill seemed oddly familiar. 

Xia Zhi thought carefully for a moment, and with his photographic memory, he quickly recalled the relevant details. 

He then opened the system panel and navigated to the skills page. 

Among the skills listed, some were ones he had taken from Zhongli, including various Geo divine arts, Geo-based skills, and a mix of adeptal arts, cultivation techniques, and passive abilities. 

He hadn't used them much, but he had once browsed through them out of curiosity. 

After a moment, he found the skill in the list. 

[Radiant Mirage]: By harnessing the power of radiant light, one's appearance can become ever-changing. 

A high-level disguise technique… 

Morax, now transformed into Zhongli's appearance, must be using this skill as well. 

In the future, he could transform into Morax's form and use His skills to attack others. 

Xia Zhi scrolled through the skill panel and spotted another skill: [Music Master]. 

He remembered stealing this one from Madame Ping. 

While most of the adeptal arts and cultivation techniques used by the adepti were taught by the Geo Archon, some were unique to them, such as Moon Carver's divination techniques and Madame Ping's musical skills. 

Xia Zhi closed the system panel and looked down at the mirror again. 

"Show me the Sacred Sakura in Inazuma." 

The image on the mirror flickered slightly. 

A massive sakura tree appeared in the mirror. Even though it was already autumn, the tree still had many pink cherry blossoms blooming on its branches. 

"The shape of this tree…" 

Xia Zhi couldn't help but feel puzzled. 

"...Why does it look like a big fox?" 

He gently touched the mirror, and a sentence appeared on its surface: "Pruned by the Grand Narukami Shrine." 

"So that's it… What a strange aesthetic…" 

Xia Zhi slid his finger across the mirror, rotating and zooming the image. 

After carefully observing the Sacred Sakura for a while, aside from finding it amusing and beautiful, he didn't notice anything unusual. 

Xia Zhi directly asked the mirror, "Why do the cherry blossoms of the Sacred Sakura contain fluctuations of time law?" 

This time, the mirror didn't immediately provide an answer. It fell silent, as if it was trying hard to foresee the answer. 

After a while, words slowly appeared on the mirror. 

"This is a Sacred Sakura that was planted in the future but grew in the past." 

"Planting the cause in the future, reaping the fruit in the past?" 

Xia Zhi lowered his head in contemplation. 

"So it's a product of reversed time, no wonder its blossoms carry the fluctuations of time law. In the future, who will plant it?" 

"Baal." 

"And what is the purpose of planting it?" 

"To purge the Abyssal power that invaded Inazuma in the past and to grow into a miraculous tree that protects the people." 

"Baal, as the Electro Archon, wields the power of lightning. Where did she obtain the power of time law?" 

The mirror fell into a long silence again, as if the internet connection was poor and the webpage wouldn't load. 

Xia Zhi waited patiently. 

After an even longer time, a few words slowly appeared on the mirror. 

"Ruler of Time, Istaroth." 

Seeing the answer on the mirror, Xia Zhi's expression turned serious. 

He had glimpsed this name in the fate fragments of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. 

It was in the distant past, when there were four gods in the heavens. They were the four shadows of the Heavenly Principles who created the world. 

Their nature and identity were completely different from the current Seven Archons of Teyvat. 

However, just as the words on the mirror finished appearing, they twisted and disappeared within three seconds. 

Immediately after, Xia Zhi heard a low, crisp sound. 

The mirror cracked with a shallow fissure. 

"What's… going on?" 

Xia Zhi ran his finger over the mirror, asking for an explanation. 

But the mirror no longer responded, as if the webpage had suddenly crashed. 

Broken? 

Xia Zhi frowned and tried using [Time Rewind] on the mirror. 

The time law seemed to have no effect on it. 

The mirror remained unchanged, with the crack still there. 

Xia Zhi stored the mirror in his inventory and checked the system's item information. 

[Phantom Mirror? Damaged] 

Quality: Diamond. 

Type: Auxiliary Item. 

Traits: Truth-Seeking, Otherworld, Foresight. 

Effects: Can see through illusions; can enter the mirror world; can foresee events. 

Hidden Effect: +100% effectiveness of stealth and illusion skills. 

Xia Zhi noticed that the item's name now had a [Damaged] red status indicator. 

He tapped on [Damaged]. 

The system displayed a new prompt. 

[This item is damaged. Its effects are temporarily unavailable until repaired, but the hidden effect remains active.] 

Mirror was indeed broken. 

It must have been the name it foresaw earlier that caused the issue, accidentally touching some forbidden knowledge of this world and frying its CPU in the process. 

Divination is risky. 

Fortunately, I have Hat's [Anti-Divination] trait, so that unintentional act shouldn't have been detected by the other party. 

Xia Zhi also checked the [Recyclable] option at the bottom of the item information, which was now also red. 

Recycling was out of the question. 

He was just curious to see what it would say. 

The system displayed another prompt. 

[This item is damaged. It can be recycled for 1000 points.] 

The price had dropped to one-tenth of its original recycling value. 

Never mind. 

I'll just wait for the mirror to be repaired in the future. 

Xia Zhi shook his head, stored the damaged mirror, and entered the shop to search for the keyword [Repair]. 

A list of items appeared on the panel. 

Xia Zhi looked through them and found that most were special medicines for repairing the body, soul, or cultivation level. 

After some searching, he finally found one. 

[Repair Hammer] 

Quality: Gold. 

Type: Consumable. 

Trait: Repair. 

Effect: Can be used on any damaged item of a quality no higher than this item. After use, the item will be fully repaired. 

Hidden Effect: None. 

Price: 500 points. 

Xia Zhi examined the item carefully. 

From the image on the panel, it looked like a small, delicate golden hammer. 

The price was 500 points, which was a bit steep. 

The effect was a one-time full repair, which was perfect. 

However, since its quality was Gold, it could only repair items of Gold, Silver, or Black Iron quality. 

But that wasn't a big issue. Xia Zhi could buy it, then take it to the [Evolution] page to evolve it from Gold to Platinum, and then to Diamond quality. At that point, it could be used to repair the Diamond-quality [Phantom Mirror]. 

With good luck, it might only cost two or three thousand points. 

With bad luck, it could cost seven or eight thousand points, which was almost the price of buying a new Diamond item. 

Xia Zhi glanced at his point balance, which was over four thousand. 

This was reserved for purchasing [First Meditation Technique]. 

Since he didn't use Mirror much anyway, he could prioritize it later and repair it slowly in the future. 

Still, tonight was a huge loss. 

Xia Zhi sighed and took out a Gold Treasure Chest from his inventory. 

This was one he had obtained from Kirara today. 

His cousin really understood him. 

He had only tugged at her sleeve, and she immediately understood his intention, naturally asking Kirara to stay. 

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