The Longyuan River surged without rest, waves crashed into the seemingly endless river, as if there were really a dragon secretly hiding in its depths.
This river was one of the important rivers in Dali Empire’s territory it stretched for thousands of Li. The water constantly formed grand waves that crashed into the coast and flowed out from Longyuan Province. Thus the province was named after the river.
Dark night.
Looking out into the distance, Longyuan River seemed to be a huge black dragon, coiled on the earth with the boundaries of the river giving off a majestic atmosphere, and making the water scene both breathtaking and glorious.
A bright moon shone between the lotus-like clouds the night wind blew through the clumps of reeds. The scene had an artistic beauty.
However, just upriver one hundred li out from Longyuan Province, a tall, burly middle-aged man wearing dark golden clothes was running atop a beach. He was unceasingly running and jumping to the point that he was even faster than a cheetah.
“Chi la!” “Chi la!”
The speed of his Corporeal Body while running caused the air to quiver and tear, which created billowing waves that surged within the agitated river water.
Even the fastest steed was not half as fast as him.
“Sou!” “Sou!” “Sou!”
While he was running the tall, burly, middle-aged man adorned in dark-gold clothes saw that ahead of him on the shore of the river was a sudden burst of fire. The man’s image flickered. Finally, countless sturdy crossbow bolts whistled through the air as they approached him.
“Flying Crane Repeating Crossbow!”
The middle-aged man faced the shower of arrows, his eyebrows slanted. He tucked his body and dropped to the ground like a piece of paper stuck to sandy shore Unexpectedly he managed to avoid all of the arrows from the crossbows.
“Bai Hai Chan¹, you can no longer run away. Take out the 「Nine Vision Golden Pellet²」and the「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map³」and give them to us! If you join the Fang Clan not only will you avoid capital punishment, but you can also live a life of great wealth and prosperity. Given that you have trained to the tenth level of the Corporeal Body Realm, Godly Transformation, you would be treated like an honored guest within our Fang Clan!”
Under the light of a torch, hundreds of people had surrounded this middle-aged man called Bai Hai Chan.
The leader abruptly stood out from among them clasping his hands behind his back while talking with a lofty expression. He wore bright, magnificent clothing. He had graying hair that fell down to his temples and had a facial expression that reflected his reservoirs of worldly experience, and very bright eyes which reflected the moonlight like a gem.
“Longyuan’s Fang Clan, Fang Ze Shan4!”
Bai Hai Chan stood erect, watching the leader speak while simultaneously looking around only to find out that he was surrounded by several hundred people, every one of which was brimming with strength. They were separated into several waves, the members of the innermost wave were warriors all brandished dazzling swords that seemed to devour the light essence from the area. The people located in the center of the circle all took aim with their repeating crossbows. The people on the outermost wave of the encirclement held torches and were placed as stoppers to plug every possible hole in the formation.
The top of the repeating crossbows those warriors held was adorned with milky white ivory cranes, with the bolts being shot out of the crane’s mouth.
This type of repeating crossbow had great range and extreme penetrating power and was a true weapon of mass destruction that the Longyuan Province’s Fang Clan was gifted from the Yuhua Sect.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Fang Ze Shan stated with a smile, “I would have never thought that Mr. Bai Hai Chan would actually be able to recognize me.”
“Your brother Fang Ze Tao5, was the governor of Longyuan and was currently acting as a local governor for the area. The Fang Clan, received favoritism from the Dali Emperor, since I came to the grounds of the Fang Clan, how could I not first be familiar with the people of the house? However, to think that you guys know that I have the 「Nine Vision Golden Pellet」 and the 「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map」. It seems as if you have received information from the Yuhua Sect.” Although Bai Hai Chen was surrounded, he didn’t care in the slightest and continued to talk comfortably.
“The ancestor of my Fang Clan was a disciple of the Yuhua Sect, we did indeed receive the information carried by flying crane regarding Mr. Bai Hai Chen from them.” Fang Ze Shan moved his body, his feet lightly treading forward, his joints quaking, as if he was playing some pleasant music.
“Bai Hai Chen, your excursion into the ancient grave of the Yellow Springs Mountain where you found the 「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map」, and 「Nine Vision Golden Pellet」, was not known by other people, but the Yuhua Sect knew it very clearly.”
“ The「Nine Vision Golden Pellet」 is a medicine that can help one look into the secrets of the Godly Expert realm. As for the 「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map」, it contains the secrets of a massive deposit of treasures. Could it be that the Fang Clan is up to something?” Bai Hai Chen laughed.
“Shut up! My Fang Clan plans to give the 「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map」 to the Emperor. As for the 「Nine Vision Golden Pellet」, it will allow the Fang Clan to gain a master of the Godly Expert realm and greatly increase the power of our family in the imperial court.” Fang Ze Shan continued, shouted, “It seems you don’t want to give away these two things. Then I can only take them from your corpse!”
“Oh really?!”
Bai Hai Chen suddenly shut his eyes, leaving only a thin slit, then violent light burst forth! As his body rush forward, the clothes on his body began to flutter and convulse, his body was like a fish and like a dragon. A distance of dozens of steps was surprisingly done in a short moment, and he appeared in front of Fang Ze Shan, without even leaving him and his men time to react.
Oh oh oh, oh oh oh……
Fang Ze Shan only felt the strong compression of the air around him, being pushed out, as if he was stuck in a vacuum. Then he saw the incoming fist as it expanded on its course to destroy him.
The power of the fist was fierce and violent.
“Crane Dancing in the Open Sky!” Faced with a life or death situation, Fang Ze Shan finally showed his real strength, bracing the muscles on his back.
“Shua!”
As if he had grown a pair of crane wings, his body began to lighten, riding the force of the wind emitted by the punch.
“Nice Longevity crane fist. You have managed to train to the ninth level of the Corporeal Body Realm, Spiritual Expert. However, you are still no match for me! Call your brother Fang Ze Tao to come out!”
Amidst his talking, Bai Hai Chen hadn’t stopped moving and had charged into the midst of the group of people.
Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!
A guard’s skull was directly smashed, he died on the spot. Five guards had their temples pierced by his fingers. Fresh blood sprayed, seconds later ten more people were knocked off the ground by his ghost-like body, and all of them had their five vital organs6 ruptured as if they had been hit by a one thousand kilogram horse chariot.
Those who trained to the tenth level of the body realm, godly transformation, couldn’t be torn apart by the force of five horses, their bodies were simply too imposing and tough. They were simply invincible, a lethal human weapon.
In a flash, Bai Hai Chen had broken through the hundreds of people surrounding him.
“Fang Ze Shan, if you dare to try to stop me, I will put you on my hit list now and come take back your life in the foreseeable future.” Bai Hai Chen after killing those surrounding him turned around and left.
The remaining guards, all shot their Flying Crane Repeating Crossbows, but the few arrows which did hit Bai Hai Chen’s body were all blocked by his dark golden clothes and were unable to penetrate through it.
To think that his dark golden clothing was a treasure which didn’t fear swords or arrows.
Those that had such a treasure protecting their body, combined with their extravagant power, in this world, was there anyone who could stop them?
“Bai Hai Chen, you just arrived, are you leaving already. What’s the rush?” Suddenly a faint voice rang out from nowhere, as insubstantial as smoke
“Who!?”
Bai Hai Chen stopped, standing as still as a mountain or trees. He condensed his consciousness, searching everywhere.
Then, in the center of his vision, a woman wearing white clothing appeared. She had creamy skin, eyebrows curved like the moon, bones as beautiful as jade, and icy like skin. She walked over under the moonlight.
It was as if the palace of the moon had produced a fairy!7
As if the dragon princess of Longyuan River had appeared from her palace!8
The earth and sky were cleansed, and there was a holy taste wafting in the air.
As soon as this white-clothed lady appeared, all the guards stood up and said, “First lady!”
Fang Ze Shang also stopped, “Qing Xue, why have you come?”
This white-clothed female was indeed the first mistress of the Fang Clan, Fang Qing Xue9.
“Second uncle, I have just returned from the Yuhua Sect.” Fang Qing Xue nodded towards Fang Ze Shan, “This matter, please hand it to me.”
“Hand it to you? What arrogance!” Bai Hai Chen watched Fang Qing Xue, then suddenly raised his hand. A line of dark light flew towards Fang Qing Xue.
This line of dark light was a palm-sized flywheel, its two sides covered with sharp serrated blades.
This was Bai Hai Chen’s last resort hidden weapon, the “Dark Evil Wheel.” It was made of tungsten and had the godly transformation five horses strength behind it. When tossed out, within its range of three hundred steps, any master practitioner would be immediately be run through the body upon contact.
This move was Bai Hai Chen’s killer move. His confidence came from knowing that, even if the opponent was the same level as him, they still could not escape death from this move.
However, the unthinkable happened.
The “Dark Evil Wheel,” upon coming within three chi of Fang Qing Xue’s body, it suddenly stopped! There was no reason for it to stop, it was as if around Fang Qing Xue’s body, there was a circle of invisible force which froze everything.
“Zi Zi, Zi Zi, Zi Zi Zi”
A dense net of numbing electricity formed. It was as thin as gossamer and shone like crystal, as it appeared around Fang Qing Xue the surrounding people were filled with numbing currents of electricity that made their hairs stand on end.
The current lashing the tungsten made the “Dark Evil Wheel,” melt as if it was a candle. As the wheel dropped on the beach, the melting metal causing the sand to begin smoking.
To think that an electric net would be densely surrounding her body! To think that it could melt metal!
This type of power, it wasn’t normal but divine!
“Ah! Godly expert! You’ve entered the godly expert realm! This young, and you’ve already trained to this realm, what a genius! The Fang Clan will rule the world! The immortal school’s Yuhua Sect has trained yet another genius!” Bai Hai Chen roared, completely shocked. He then turned around and bolted!
By training the body realm to the top, one gains a strong and vigorous body, causing the heart to pump all nutrients to the brain, allowing the brain to gradually unlock its latent potential. Through special cultivation methods, this latent potential turns into a mysterious magic power, thus allowing one to manipulate thunder, fire, to fly, the ability to control flying swords to kill, etc. Various methods which are unthinkable by normal people.
This is the secret of the godly transformation realm!
Under the sky, there are many martial masters, but those who can train in the secrets of the Divine realm, are one in a million.
The godly transformation realm’s boundary divides those who are gods from the mortals.
Although Bai Hai Chen had trained to the pinnacle of the body realm, he was missing the one breakthrough needed to enter the godly transformation realm, something that was harder than ascending the sky.
Against those master practitioners who had entered the godly transformation realm, Bai Hai Chen could only turn tail and run away.
“Purple Yin Electric Knife”
Watching Bai Hai Chen run away, after a few breaths, he was already almost out of Fang Qing Xue’s sight. Fang Qing Xue’s white clothes fluttered, a low-sounding chant, she opened her fingers, and a ball of purple lighting about the size of a fist collected in her hand, revolving, then suddenly fiercely shooting out, splitting into six knives, traveling a thousand steps, aiming to behead Bai Hai Chen.
The powerful current violently passed by, causing the clumps of reeds by the river to all burnup.
“Hong!”
There was no room for even the slightest movement to try and dodge.
Bai Hai Chen’s entire body was hit! resulting in a charred and burnt smell. The golden clothes that could block swords and arrows were also ripped, and tore by the fierce current.
“Hua la!”
His body fell into the midst of the rolling Longyuan River.
“Your life is definitely over, why bother trying to escape?” Fang Qing Xue walked forward, body still in midair, until she reached the surface of the river, the waves underneath constantly rolling forward, upon reaching the spot where Bai Hai Chen fell in, she grasped using a single hand.
A strong force of suction came from her hand, the water being sucked into the air, forming the crude shape of a pillar. Surprisingly, Bai Hai Chen’s body was in the middle of the water pillar.
“「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map!」” Fang Qing Xue looked at Bai Hai Chen’s body, and by raising a finger, caused an ancient picture scroll and a palm-sized gold and iron box, to appear.
These two treasures fell into the hands of Fang Qing Xue, and went through an immediate change. Exposed to the nourishment of magic, that ancient scroll suddenly began shaking, “Shua!” and immediately opened.
This picture, the background was pitch-black, seemingly immeasurably deep, and shadowed, like the depths of the Acheron. In the middle, there is a vague picture of a dragon, as if in deep sleep, or as if wide awake.
The dragon opened its eyes suddenly, rolled up Bai Hai Chen, and then entered the river, in a moment, no trace could be found.
“So apparently this 「Coiled Dragon Acheron Map」 should not be stirred by magic, upon receiving my magic, it awakened its power! It is indeed a mysterious ancient divine treasure.”
Fang Qing Xue musingly looked towards the river, where no shadow could be seen. The dragon, upon entering the water, had moved one thousand Li in a flash, how could one possibly catch up to it?
“Qing Xue, you actually managed to train in the secrets of the godly transformation realm! In our Fang Clan, a godly transformation realm expert has finally appeared!” Fang Ze Shan was extremely excited, although he had let Bai Hai Chen run away, in his heart, he was still in ecstasy.
“Second uncle, arrange for people to come down and search the river. Within the boundaries of the Longyuan Province, have them search up and down the Longyuan River. Bai Hai Chen was hit by my Purple Yin Electric Knife, his life has already been taken, and he cannot survive much longer. Although that map absorbed some of my magic, activating a large array in it, it’s no big deal. Find the map, I will return to the Yuhua Sect and present it to our supreme leader.”
Fang Qing Xue lightly said, “I will head off first and go see father.”
Amidst talking, this stunning lady who had trained to the godly transformation realm glided away in the sky like a crane and disappeared from their line of sight.
“Transfer the order down, each district, each government house, all must supply personnel to search the territory!” Fang Ze Shan issued the orders.
The head of the Fang Clan was the governor of Longyuan Province, a powerful official, and also in control of military forces. The Fang Clan held the greatest authority, and the decrees they passed, no one dared to defy.
“Hai!” “Hai!” “Hai!”
The night had passed, and the dawn was beginning to creep in, as Fang Han finished his work, he secretly hid in the clumps of reeds outside of the city by the Longyuan River and following the training methods he had secretly learned. Unceasingly he trained his strength.
After being whipped by the second lady of the Fang Clan, Fang Qing Wei, and being rewarded, Fang Han became even more hard working during his training.
Tied to his four limbs were several sandbags, as he continued running, jumping, and tumbling up and down striving to train his limbs and waist to full power.
Every morning the core disciples of the Fang Clan would come out and refine the “longevity crane fist.” One strike at a time, Fang Han had clearly memorized the strikes in his heart, but he didn’t practice it.
This was because he realized, first he must train his four limbs and waist to be strong and sturdy and have enough flexibility, only then could he train in it. Otherwise, there would be no effect, all moves would be powerless like an empty basket.
Healthy, practicing force, martial arts, the three steps. One must train step by step.
One punch at a time, sweat dripping in all directions, under the light of dawn, like gems in the reeds.
“Aiyah!”
Suddenly, Fang Han hit the crude sandbag, one after another, he threw a few hundred punches but stopped when he started to see stars, his head buzzed, his body having reached its limit.
Afterward, his legs felt powerless, “Peng!” He fell and laid on the beach, amongst the reeds.
“Still not enough, nowadays, although the 5 taels of silver have improved daily life, it still could not be compared to the lives of those Fang Clan core disciples. Every day, they eat bird’s nest, deer velvet, ginseng, and chicken. With my 5 taels of silver, I can only occasionally eat meat, and thus it’s impossible for me to carry out such vigorous training every day.
Looking up at the sky while lying on his back on the beach, Fang Han sighed.
Originally, those days he secretly learned martial arts, secretly training, although there was some effect, it was still incomparable to the disciples of the Fang Clan. After all, the difference between their ability to nourish themselves was too much.
If it continues this way, there would be no way for me to train my body to the fifth realm of godly strength.
“As a servant, I am already unable to read books. It’s even more impossible for me to train in Martial Arts. Am I really going to be stuck as a servant for all of my life? Eternally ceding control of my fate to other?”
Fang Han muttered.
“Hua la!” “Hua la!”
At this time, in the reeds by the river, was the loud sound of water. As if a big fish had jumped and become stranded.
“What happened?” Fang Han forced his soreness body to get up, and walked over, expecting to only to see reeds swirling in an eddy, but to actually see a person floating in the water!
The man wore dark golden clothing.
- Bai Hai Chen in Chinese is written as 白海禅 (Báihǎichán). The Surname Bai means “White.” Hai means “Ocean” or “Sea.” Chan means “Meditation”.
- The Nine Vision Golden Pellet has been renamed since the previous translation, the reason for this is because of the actual effect of the pill, saying it here would be spoiling therefore I won’t go into detail too much.
- The Coiled Dragon Acheron Map has also been changed since the previous translaton. This is mostly a style change, the Acheron mentioned in the name is the European equivalent to the Yellow Springs, in other words, it’s a reference to the river styx.
- Fang Ze Shan in Chinese is written as 方泽山 (fāngzéshān). The Surname Fang is naturally the same as in Fang Han’s name, it means “Square.” The name Ze means “pool” or “pond.” Shan means “Mountain.”
- Fang Ze Tao in Chinese is written as 方泽涛 (fāngzétāo). The Surname Fang is naturally the same as in Fang Ze Shan’s name, it means “Square.” The name Ze is similarly “pool” or “pond.” Tao means “Big Wave.” This pair of brothers have water based names, at the moment I don’t have any theories about the reason behind but it is interesting to see the theme.
- The Five Vital Organs in Chinese Medicine are the liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney
- The Palace of the Moon is a classic Chinese mythical story
- The Palace of the Dragon Underneath the Ocean (or river) is another classic Chinese mythical story
- Fang Qing Xue in Chinese is written as 方清雪 (fāngqīngxuě). Her name bears strong resemblance to her younger sister Fang Qing Wei, its possible that the Patriarch of the Fang Clan names his children with that kind of theme in mind. The Surname Fang means “Square.” The name Qing means “Clear.” The name Xue means “Snow.”
Rozen Fantasy Translations 