Chapter 500: Zhuangzi’s Legacy And A Dream Of Being A Butterfly


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“This is?”

Chen Mo looked at this jade pendant and key.

“Under the Blue Frost Star Field of the Heavenly Phoenix Earthly Emperor’s Snowfield Star Kingdom, there is an ‘Earthly Phoenix Palace.’ Back when Wang Mang was made a Star Marquis, she was temperate, modest, respectful of the wise, and she held fame for her fighting prowess in Star World. She once obtained an intact Vermilion Bird soul in the Earthly Phoenix Palace. For the sake of a True Phoenix’s reincarnation, she sealed this Vermilion Bird’s soul in the Earthly Phoenix Palace. She had fought Liu Xiu to be Star Marquis, and according to reason, there should have been a victor. However, the Son Of Heaven’s personality is aloof, and Wang Mang had exceptional foresight and heart. After she obtained the Four Symbols Vermilion Bird, she stationed troops to guard it, and thus, was also granted the seal of a Star Marquis.”

“This jade pendant and key permit you entry to the Earthly Phoenix Palace, and Wang Mang would not be able to detect you.”

Chen Mo was not modest in accepting her gift.

“You may only make your move when we attack Zhu Yuanzhang. You must not be hasty, nor can you tarry. You have less than seven days.” Su Mian reiterated once again.

“And when the time comes, there will be someone to help you. Of course, when you kill Fu Jian, you can make the excuse that she coveted the Purple Cypress Divine Fruit.”

Hearing Su Mian’s ruthless and vicious way of settling matters, Chen Mo seemed to reacquaint himself with her.

“When night falls, I will send you to the Blue Frost Star Field. For now, make your preparations at Mount Hua.” Su Mian said.

Chen Mo first went to the Heavenly Medical Pavilion to see Sun Yingmeng and the others.

Duke Wu Of Liang Li Su Li Xiaoxiao was still unconscious, but her Star Crest was scorching hot. Her body was wrapped up like a chrysalis in Star Energy. King Of Medicine Sun Yingmeng was carefully watching over her. From time to time, she stuck the Spirit Hinge Ice Heart Needles into acupuncture points, assisting the connection of her Star Meridians.

The girl’s attention was fully upon Li Su, and her forehead’s Star Crest was like gold. The Spirit Hinge Ice Heart also seemed to seep out from “Yin and Yang,” for they brimmed with mystery.

This was her second Innate Skill after concocting medicine, “Acupuncture and Moxibustion.” She could nurse a Star General’s fate by pricking her Star Acupuncture Points. To use the phrase “steal Heaven, change fate” did not do her justice. This was one of Star World’s strongest Innate Skills.

“Mengmeng, you comprehended your second Innate Skill?” Chen Mo said in pleasant surprise.

“Yes, all thanks to you.” Sun Yingmeng rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.

“Your Highness.” To the side, Yang Su rose, courteously greeting him.

“Chesu, your complexion looks good.” Chen MO smiled.

The white-clothed woman’s Confucian air was as before, comparable but a bit less arrogance. Two kinds of changes could arise from having an arrogant edge ground down from torment. One was that she would become discouraged, unable to recover from this stumble; the other was that she would have a sudden realization. She finally became indifferent to glory and dishonor, making her mentality become even more unshakeable. Very clearly, Cold Blooded Beauty Yang Su was the latter.

“This is all thanks to Mengmeng’s aid.” Yang Chesu said gratefully, “To be able to receive the care of the Star World’s number one King Of Medicine is my fortune.”

“As long as you know. Then you must properly attend to Chen Mo from now on.” Sun Yingmeng harrumphed.

“Where did you learn the phrase ‘attend to?'” Chen Mo also rolled his eyes at her.

Yang Chesu faintly nodded.

Yang Chesu’s Innate Skill was “Official Judgment.” Her Great Void Weaving Fate and her unparalleled Innate Skill made Sun Yingmeng simply look upon a new domain. A Star General’s Star Meridians were formless and connected to fate. As Sun Yingmeng helped nurse Yang Chesu back to health, the Cold Blooded Beauty unleashed her Innate Skill without reservation, allowing the King Of Medicine to finally see through the meridians of fate. Henceforth, she activated her second Innate Skill, Acupuncture And Moxibustion.

Now, Sun Yingmeng’s Star Name already reached the peak of Earthly Star. The Star Energy over her body covered every meridian like a silk cocoon, just like Li Su. She only needed to wait to hatch and leap into Heavenly Star.

“Did you gain anything from going to the Literary Excellence Convention? Were you left dumbstruck by the Star Generals’ Poetry Realm?” Sun Yingmeng slightly winked.

“Exactly, and you will be left dumbstruck soon.” Chen Mo chuckled.

“Chen Mo, your laugh is a bit strange.”

“Your Highness, have matters outside been settled?” Yang Su asked. She was aware of the Star Marquis’ encirclement and assault even while recovering in the Heavenly Medical Pavilion. If not for her injuries being too severe, she would have wanted to head out into battle.

“Mostly. Su Mian has come.”

“Dream In A Millennium came.” Sun Yingmeng gasped. She honestly wanted to see this legendary majesty.

“Dongzi desires for the destruction of Mount Hua. If Dream In A Millennium is unwilling to let Confucianism become dominant, then she will not give this up.” Yang Su said with inevitability.

“This is not the crux of the problem.” Chen Mo summarized Zhu Yuanzhang’s matters, leaving the two flabbergasted.

“Yang Su, hurry and recover. I need you.” Chen Mo sincerely said.

“Understood.”

“Then what about This Girl?” Sun Yingmeng unhappily said.

“Of course I need you more.” Chen Mo smiled.

After chatting awhile, Tan Daoji walked in. The woman stared at Chen Mo with an expression of incredulity. “Senior Sister, what’s the matter? Does your look mean you’ve fallen in love with me?” Chen Mo winked.

“It truly is very difficult for Senior Sister to not love you.” Tan Daoji giggled. “Enough, the Ancestor has summoned for you at the Chess Pavilion.”

“Fine.”

Chen Mo and Sun Yingmeng traded a few more words before he left the Heavenly Medical Pavilion. Tan Daoji gazed at this man’s back and sighed. This made Sun Yingmeng and Yang Chesu feel perplexed.

“Seems you two still do not know… Chen Mo showed incredible performance at the Literary Excellence Convention.”

“…”

Chess Pavilion.

Chen Tuan’s eyes were shut. On the other side of the chess table was a gilded wooden dummy in the fashion of a brocaded young lord. Upon careful inspection, it slightly resembled Daoist Shang Zhao Yunchen.

She was currently playing chess against Zhao Yunchen’s Divine Intent.

“Ancestor Xian’er.” Chen Mo deferentially greeted her.

“I am injured. The current Mount Hua’s fortunes depend on you.” Chen Tuan opened her eyes.

“Disciple will surely not fail Xian’er’s expectations.”

Chen Tuan shook her head. The girl seemed to already no longer regard success or failure as important, as if she did not care about the rise and fall of Mount Hua. “I hear you obtained the sages’ aspirations at the Ten Thousand Sages Hall. Presumably, you should have seen the Realm of ‘Zhuangzi?'”

Chen Mo nodded. Among the topics, there was indeed a question on the Northern Darkness Has Fish section of “Carefree Wandering.”1

“It appears that this is the will of Heaven.” The Zhao Yunchen dummy spoke.

“Hm?”

“Follow me.” Chen Tuan grabbed Chen Mo’s hand, and the next moment, they vanished from the chess pavilion.

“He truly makes me jealous.”

Zhao Yunchen let out a lonely sigh.

The surrounding scenery changed. Chen Mo arrived at a remote valley. This place appeared to be a corner of one of Mount Hua’s peaks. Unremarkable, the surroundings had unique and strange vegetation. The verdant grass stretched like a sea, and the wind was like a crashing wave.

Sleeping Immortal Chen Tuan stood in front. The refined girl’s body suddenly had a kind of sadness from being enshrouded in the “mundane world.” This made Chen Mo feel incredulous. That sorrow spread to Chen Mo, and the heart of the Black Turtle, which was as immovable as stone, seemed to sofen. Surprisingly, he was also suddenly in a sad mood.

“Xian’er.” Chen Mo softly called.

Chen Xian’er sighed, blowing away her frozen grief. The girl glanced at him, “Do you know what this place is called?”

Chen Mo shook his head. This valley was not large, maybe even a bit narrow and tiny. It was covered in lush grasses, fluttering butterflies, and the splendor of a hundred flowers. However, this was a very common sight on Mount Hua.

“This place does not have a name at all.”

Chen Mo listened with rapt attention, for he knew that Chen Xian’er would continue.

“This is the spot where ‘Zhuangzi’ Star Released.” Chen Tuan looked at this familiar everything. Her memory seemed to pass through the past thousand years and returned to that scene from back then.

“Zhuangzi” stood quietly on this meadow. She raised her head to look at the sky.

Back then, Chen Tuan did not understand at all what Zhuangzi had been looking at, but she knew that her master’s gaze contained an unprecedented depth, of which one could sink into.

“Xian’er.”

Chen Xian’er suddenly felt her a warmth in her hand that melted her ice-cold thoughts. The girl was taken aback and returned to her senses.

Chen Mo watched Chen Tuan lost in thought. Her soul seemed to be wandering beyond the heavens. This was the first time he had ever seen such a thing ever since he met Chen Tuan. Chen Mo was a bit worried, so he breached propriety.

Chen Xian’er blinked and softly said: “Thank you.”

“You must have heard about Zhuangzi’s legacy from Tan Daoling?” Chen Xian’er said.

“En.” Chen Mo remembered that Tan Daoji used the alias Lu Xiujing for the purpose of finding this legacy of Zhuangzi. Reportedly, after Zhuangzi Star Released at Mount Hua, she left behind powerful Daoist energy. If one could inherit her legacy, that would simply be stepping into Heaven in a single bound.

“This is real, but it is not something the average person can inherit.” Chen Xian’er said.

“Ancestor, do you mean to have me inherit it?” Chen Mo promptly declined: “Your Servant’s cultivation is insufficient. We cannot sully Zhuangzi’s intentions.”

“Since you already obtained the sages’ aspirations, there is a chance. If the day should come that Mount Hua is truly destroyed, then I do not wish to see the things that Master Zhuangzi left behind be defiled by others.” Chen Mo slowly said. “I brought you here merely to inform you of her Star Release location. Whether or not you can inherit her legacy will depend on if you can fully grasp Zhuangzi’s intentions.”

“Go, then. Let Master ascend Maiden Mountain in peace.”

Chen Tuan’s figure vanished, and her words echoed. The valley fell into silence, leaving only fluttering butterflies.

Chen Mo heard the sadness in Chen Xian’er’s voice. He sat in silence. After he obtained the sages’ aspirations, the intentions of the spiritual power Star Generals in the world were in his mind with an unprecedented flash of understanding.

Chen Mo quietly pondered.

The wind of the valley grew stronger and stronger. The hundred flowers wafted their fragrance while the butterflies flitted about.

Chen Mo felt his body become increasingly light. As if opening his eyes, the world seemed to become even more vast. Only then did he find that he had apparently become a butterfly.

A flock of butterflies fluttered in the wind, flying towards the area ahead. Chen Mo felt an unprecedented sense of freedom, where no constraint in the world existed. Then, he flew among them, and a girl’s figure appeared before him.

The girl’s long hair flowed like a river, spilling all over.

Her back silhouette was so beautiful. The Sage Of Painting’s brush could not draw her, the Sage Of Poetry’s verses could not describe her, the Sage Of Writing’s books could not record her, and the Sage Of Calligraphy’s characters were unable to portray her. Yes, the extremely masterful sages were unable to depict one “bit” of the perfection of this woman’s back.

Such a beautiful back seemed to exist only in distant legends, making one unable to help but stare. Chen Mo the butterfly endlessly flapped his wings. He wanted to fly in front of the woman, but all of the butterflies fell around the woman. No matter how he looked, just like in the legends, there seemed to be a mysterious veil vaguely hiding her true appearance.

“Once upon a time, Zhuang Zhou dreamt that he was a butterfly, a dream not from the use of drugs. The butterfly self in this dream was happy with itself! He was not aware that he was Zhou. Suddenly, he awoke, and had returned to being the unmistakable Zhou. He wonders, though, is he the Zhou who dreamt he was a butterfly? Or is he a butterfly now dreaming it is Zhou? But there must be a difference between Zhou and the butterfly. This is that which is called the ‘Transformation of Things.'”2

The girl’s red lips softly spoke with a heavenly voice.

Chen Mo was relieved in his mind.

She was none other than Zhuangzi.


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  1. 逍遙遊. In 108 MOD, I translated 北冥有魚 as “northern darkness has fish.” According to James Legge’s translation, this should be “In the Northern Ocean, there is fish…” More specifically, a “kun.”
  2. An adapted passage from Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream.

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