"Boom!"
A vast, desolate planet, ravaged by war. In the sky, on the ground. Flowing platinum flames and deep blue frost. Two completely different forces intertwined, fighting, neutralizing, and eroding each other. The void and the earth were destroyed and cracked under their influence. A scene resembling the end of the world.
From high above, it was clearly visible. At least one-third of the entire planet was occupied by blazing white and deep blue, and this color continued to spread to the remaining areas. On the ground, two figures were constantly colliding, fighting to the death. One of them was engulfed in raging platinum flames.
These flames outlined magnificent and profound sun god patterns on his body. A three-legged divine bird materialized behind him and above his head. This made him appear as if he had stepped out of an ancient scroll of the starry sky, a primordial deity who governed light and heat, powerful and noble.
The other was shrouded in deep blue frost. Brilliant glaciers and ancient ice rivers flowed and rose from beneath her feet. She was the opposite of the former, her destined rival, a goddess of frost who governed the extreme cold of the world. This planet-shaking battle was more like a myth reflected in reality, a fateful battle between gods. A clash of ice and fire, a confrontation of cold and heat.
Suddenly, the handsome youth who governed light and heat uttered a low shout, throwing a single, even punch forward. "Fifth seasons of the heavens!"
In an instant, it was as if five million stars simultaneously ignited within him. The platinum flames surged explosively and thousands upon thousands of three-legged golden crows burst forth from them. Then they all converged upon the youth's fist.
In an instant, an invisible, almost indescribable heatwave of annihilation rapidly spread out. The void cracked open layer by layer, like a tattered rag. The sky and the earth, the flowing rivers, the floating glaciers: in the instant the annihilation wind and heatwave swept through, they all crumbled and melted away. The deep blue areas of the planet rapidly transformed into platinum at a visible speed.
Fire! A world engulfed in fire. Strange fluctuations rippled across the handsome youth's fist, as if some cosmic force was about to be captured by him, until his fist completely pierced through his opponent's chest. The latter transformed into a thick cloud of black smoke within the platinum flames, billowing into the handsome youth's body.
That thin veil—which seemed as though it could be pierced with a single finger—remained unbroken. [TN: The thin separation between the Fifth and the Sixth Realm of fist techniques, where the peak of the Fifth Realm is the perfection of rules—which Lu Sheng went through already—and the Sixth Realm is the manifestation of Laws. No new Law yet.]
"What a pity…"
Lu Sheng slowly withdrew his fist, his face bearing a look of deep regret. The mysterious gray hue in his eyes quickly faded. That was the sign of his withdrawal from the Martial God state.
He had a flash of insight while in the Martial God state: "if this were in our own universe, this single punch of mine would have perfectly derived the rudiments of the Ancient Fifth Season, allowing my fist technique to break through to the Sixth Realm. And I would have grasped the corresponding Law power. But the laws of this universe have already perished."
A hint of wistfulness flickered in his eyes. Laws are the very foundation upon which a universe operates. The Dream Space universe is a universe that has long since perished; the laws inherent within it have naturally vanished and been obliterated long ago.
What remained were merely the imprints preserved within the bodies of martial arts experts at level 13 and above. Yes. He felt that the word "imprint" was the best description.
"But it wasn't entirely without gain."
Lu Sheng looked at his hands, at the platinum-gold divine patterns that had grown from his flesh and bones, floating on the surface of his skin. His Martial Body, a fusion of the Stellar Martial Dao with the Immortal Dao, was becoming increasingly perfect and powerful.
Five million Immortal Cells were the source of his power. The Immortal Golden Core played a harmonizing and lubricating role.
If it weren't for the latter, Lu Sheng felt that even in his Martial God State of absolute control, he wouldn't have been able to so quickly and perfectly control the power of the five million Immortal Cells after his breakthrough.
In the battle against the Lord of Oblivion, he had just entered level 12. The sudden surge of five million immortal cells' power was far from being perfectly controlled. That punch, seemingly dazzling and brilliant to the extreme, actually wasted a great deal of power.
"If it were now, that punch... the Lord of Oblivion would have had more than just an arm severed."
Lu Sheng lowered his arm, the platinum patterns on his body gradually disappearing into his flesh, and he withdrew from his Main-Sequence Star State. This state was now perfectly under control, thanks in no small part to the Immortal Golden Core.
Sheng felt a connection to his teacher, Yang Yizhou, the Lord of the Celestial Billow Star Domain, and to his Dao of Nature, a state of harmony between man and nature. [TN: Yang Yizhou's Dao of the Five Elements is indeed a Dao of Nature since it relies on natural elements.] It was a subtle, gradual transformation, one that left Lu Sheng speechless with amazement.
"It filled my entire Dantian; it wasn't a waste of time."
Lu Sheng sat cross-legged in the void. Only then did he begin to absorb and digest the martial arts memories he had just inherited from the level 13 expert. Her name was Danskil Wintersun. A strange and difficult-to-pronounce name. She was the ruler of this nearby stretch of the cosmos, a starry sky hegemon.
Before the Dream Space universe was completely eroded and destroyed by the Dark Side Universe, she had an incredibly brilliant and glorious life. She was even personally praised by a Galaxy Lord as having the potential to reach level 15 in her lifetime! This is already an extremely remarkable evaluation. This is a high affirmation of the Dao she has comprehended by a galaxy-level expert.
Lu Sheng chose her as his first whetstone after reaching level 12 precisely because of this. Indeed, it is remarkable. Even with only a wisp of will remaining in her body, Lu Sheng barely managed to defeat her by exerting almost all his strength without using the power of laws.
And he also inherited Danskil Wintersun's martial arts and her law, the Law of Ice.
The essence of this law is absolute freezing and annihilation of all life. Looking upwards, it may even freeze space and time. Purely in terms of level, the Law of Ice mastered by Danskil Wintersun seemed even stronger than the Law of Thunder that Lu Sheng already possessed.
And this law, for Lu Sheng, serves as a foundation.
The Complete Martial Dao he had previously created, aiming for level 17, required the five Elemental Martial Daos of Metal, Wood/Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth/Soil as its foundation.
The Stellar Dao is the foundation of the Fire Martial Dao, and the Divine Crystal Dao is the foundation of the Metal Martial Dao. Both of these Daos have long been perfected to level 15. Before level 15, Lu Sheng only needed to inherit and comprehend them step by step. [TN: Wang He aka Milway King's Stellar Dao and Duan Yifeng aka Wish Gale's Divine Crystal Dao]
However, the three elements of Water, Wood, and Earth/Soil required Lu Sheng to piece them together and build them up himself, level by level.
Now, for advancing to level 13 his Water Martial Dao—the "Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow", Sheng could use Danskil Wintersun's Law of Ice as a cornerstone.
It couldn't be more suitable.
"Crack, crack—"
The power of the Law of Ice entered his body, and the color of his pupils rapidly turned snow-white. His long, jet-black hair also turned deep blue. An unparalleled chill quickly emanated from his body. This chilling aura was far more powerful than Monroe's, whom he had fought before.
Monroe's chilling aura could only freeze dying stars. But this chilling aura… could even freeze Lu Sheng, a supreme sun carrying five million star seeds!
Soon, the arrival of the Law of Ice naturally clashed with Lu Sheng's Stellar constitution. This conflict was unavoidable. It was almost inevitable. Allowing two extreme forces to coexist within one body was no less difficult than keeping a star burning normally within an icy sea.
However, Lu Sheng had considered this possibility before the battle even began. He had already devised a solution. Mobilizing the power of the universe's origin, Lu Sheng silently recited in his mind:
"Deduce a perfect solution to the current situation."
The next second, a progress bar appeared before Lu Sheng's eyes. As the power of the origin rapidly consumed, the progress bar also climbed rapidly. Very quickly, he reached 100% completion. The instant it was finished, incredible and wondrous changes began to occur within his body.
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
Translation notes by dhoo
-
The handsome youth, Junwei Qingnian
俊伟青年 (trad.俊偉青年) jùnwěi qīngnián, 俊伟 handsome 青年 youth
A new nickname for Lu Sheng
-
Martial God State
武神状态 (trad.武神狀態), wǔ shén zhuàngtài: 武 martial 神 god 状态 state
A state that "allows Lu Sheng to perfectly control every bit of power within his body". (chap. 563)
See chapters 532, 563, 568, 576, 583
-
Fifth Season
A name which will also be used a few times in later chapters.
第五季 (trad. dem), dì wǔ jì: 第 No. 五 5 季 season - I found 7 occurrences of 第五季 in chapters 511 (x2), 583 (x2), 591, 605, 613.
Heaven's Fifth Season aka Heaven Abovehead Fifth Season - 天有第五季, tiān yǒu dì wǔ jì - I found only 1 occurrence of 天有第五季, in chapter 583.
-
Danskil Wintersun aka Dancekill Winterfire or Wu Sha Dong Jing
A starry sky hegemon with level 15 potential who didn't survive the calamity and roams the Dream Space universe as a zombie. Sheng uses her Law of Ice to improve his Water Dao. Danskil's gender wasn't specfed in the novel, see the chapter titled Character Changes.
舞殺冬淨, wǔ shā dōng jìng: 舞 dance 殺 murder 冬 winter 淨 sun - I found 4 occurrences of 舞殺冬淨, all in chapter 583 (x4).
-
The Four Symbols in Chinese astronomy and feng shui
玄武 (trad. idem) Xuánwǔ - the Black Tortoise of the North, representing Water
朱雀 (trad. idem) Zhūquè - The Vermilion Bird of the South, representing Fire
青龙 (trad. 青龍) Qīnglóng - the Azure Dragon of the East, representing Wood
白虎 (trad. same) Báihǔ - the White Tiger of the West, representing Metal
Black Tortoise is also called Black Warrior or Black Turtle-Snake or Black Turtle
-
Black Tortoise, Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow, Water Dao
In Chinese astronomy, the Black Turtle Xuánwǔ is a constellation making up one of the Four Symbols of Chinese astronomy. In feng shui, the Black Turtle is a representation of water and direction north. Xuanwu is a Taoist god.
Black Tortoise - 玄武 (trad. idem), Xuánwǔ: 玄 xuán black, 武 wǔ martial - I found 11 occurrences of 玄武 in chapters 502, 513 (x2), 515, 521 (x5), 583, 584.
Northern Black Tortoise - I found 9 occurrences of 北方玄武 in chapters 502, 513 (x2), 521 (x4), 583, 584.
Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow - 北方玄武真水流 (trad. idem), běifāng xuánwǔ zhēn shuǐliú: 北方 north region 玄武 Black Tortoise 真 true/real 水 water 流 flow/current - I found 2 occurrences of 北方玄武真水流 in chapters 583, 584.
The Black Tortoise appeared in earlier arcs, before chapter #500. Sheng already cultivated the "Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow" before the Tournament.
Chapters #502-#521 correspond to Monroe's figths during the Tournament and what Lu Sheng learned from Monroe's Extreme Cold Dao. In chapter #513, Lu Sheng planned to absorb Monroe's Dao in order to "make his own Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow more perfect". In chapter #515, Monroe showcased his Extreme Cold Dao in the Tournament, "his body was covered with tattoos of Qilin and Black Tortoise. [TN: Qilin is a propitious Chinese mythological beast]. In chapter #521, Lu Sheng claimed that "Monroe's Frozen Prison can freeze stars, reach level 13 and even level 14. It's a perfect complement to my Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow". He processed Monroe's inheritance in the Dream Space after defeating him; on Sheng's Martial Dao Dharma Projection Body, a Black Tortoise tattoo "shone brightly, radiating endless icy aura".
So, Monroe is a level 12 martial artist. Lu Sheng defeated him but didn't kill him. Sheng inherited some of his knowledge and "integrated" Monroe's Extreme Cold Dao by fusing it with his own Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow to improve the latter.
Chapters #583-#584 correspond to the further improvement of Sheng's Water Dao allowed by inheriting/absorbing Danskil Wintersun's Law of Ice. Danskil was a level 13 martial artist and a zombie in the Dream Space universe. Chapter #583 is pragmatic: [Now, for advancing to level 13 his Water Martial Dao—the "Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow", Sheng could use Danskil Wintersun's Law of Ice as a cornerstone.] Chapter #584 is rather picturesque and poetic: [Sheng's "Northern Black Tortoise True Water Flow"—his Water Martial Dao—settled upon the Immortal Dao Golden Core, and rivers and lakes immediately appeared on the core's surface. Of course, most of these rivers and lakes were frozen and covered by a thick layer of ice. Towering glaciers rose abruptly from the ground, impervious even to the sun. Their icy chill seemed capable of freezing the sun itself.]
-
Translation doubt
I wote "It filled my entire Dantian; it wasn't a waste of time."
The original version is: 好歹佔據了我一整個丹田,可算是沒白養一個廢物."At the very least, it occupies my entire dantian—so it seems I haven't wasted my time nurturing a useless person after all." with 廢物 garbage/good-for-nothing. What do you think?