The enormous Star Spirit Flower spaceship silently traversed the vast starry sky. Suddenly, a large amount of bright green, viscous, liquid-like substance emanated from the front of the spaceship. This substance landed in the void at the front of the spaceship, instantly melting the void and creating a huge cavity. The vessel gently slipped into that cavity, like a colossal cosmic whale slowly swimming into its lair.
Zi Yanxin stood in the spaceship's cockpit, quietly watching this scene unfold. After the spaceship entered the void cavity, the scene before her eyes immediately changed. The vast starry sky vanished, replaced by countless ring-shaped tunnels teeming with silver light. Within these tunnels, the Star Spirit Flower repeatedly, either actively or passively, collided with the silver rays within.
With each collision, the outer defensive shield of the spaceship rippled violently. During this process, the shield's light gradually dimmed, like ice melting under the scorching sun. When the shield was on the verge of collapse, Zi Yanxin spoke.
"Exit."
"Yes."
The countless personnel in the cockpit immediately sprang into action. The massive Star Spirit Flower spaceship once again spewed out a large amount of bright green viscous substance, melting an opening in the tunnel wall for the spaceship to enter and exit, and quickly flew out. In the instant it flew out, a large wave of silver light crashed into the ship's tail fin. The vessel shuddered slightly, and its outer defensive shield shattered silently. But thankfully... they were out safely.
"Phew—"
Most of the people in the cockpit breathed a long sigh of relief. Even for an immortal-class spaceship, each passage through a star gate is a significant challenge. Zi Yanxin's gaze relaxed slightly as she asked the person beside her. "How's the damage?"
The person quickly reported, "A total of twenty-three areas were affected, with damage exceeding eighty percent. Two have a value assessment below level eight."
"Hmm."
Zi Yanxin nodded. This level of damage was far within her acceptable range. During a journey through thousands of star sectors involving nearly a hundred Space Jumps of varying sizes, it would be unrealistic to expect no losses whatsoever. Minimizing losses was her primary responsibility as the caravan leader.
"Let's change shifts. Everyone gets half a day off."
Zi Yanxin gave the order, hearing a soft, relieved cheer. The others could rest, but for her, the more important work was just beginning. Each time the Star Spirit Flower undergoes a space jump, it needs to enter the local universe for a period of rest. This allows it to replenish energy, maintain its hull, and prepare for the next jump.
During these periods, the stellar hyenas—the Space Pirates—began to stir restlessly. Zi Yanxin's task is to prepare for any unforeseen events that may occur and to make timely personnel adjustments. Of course, this process may also be peaceful, without any unexpected incidents.
She shifted to a more relaxed posture, picked up a light green refreshing drink, and took a small sip. Then she asked her subordinates, "How are Lord Wu Tian and Lord Haiji Dao now?"
These two were the Star Spirit Flower's greatest asset in surviving this unknown journey—two level 13 martial arts experts who had mastered the power of laws.
A subordinate replied, "Lord Wu Tian went to Entertainment Zone 9543 and is still there. Lord Haiji Dao has been staying in his room."
"Hmm."
Zi Yanxin gave a slight nod. Of these two level 13 powerhouses, the former had long been a revered figure of the Star Spirit Flower Guild. Years of collaboration had forged a steadfast and reliable bond of trust. The latter, however, was a last-minute stowaway who had joined this voyage. He remained an unknown quantity, still under observation. Naturally, her focus shifted more toward him.
"Ensure Lord Haiji Dao is well attended to. Every single one of his requests must be promptly fulfilled. By the way, what about his two disciples?"
"They are also staying in their rooms."
"Hmm."
Zi Yanxin nodded; she had only asked casually. Two mere level 12 experts were insignificant to the entire spaceship and didn't warrant much of her attention.
Just then, a soft alarm sounded in the cockpit. Someone rushed in, reporting, "Guild Master, we've detected traces of Space Pirates ahead."
The total number of pirates was around 120, led by seven level 12 powerhouses. Zi Yanxin's eyes flashed as she downed her drink in one gulp. With a cold smile, she issued her command: "Immediately issue a bounty order to all beings above level 12 on the ship."
"Yes." The latter responded, and he hurriedly left.
Zi Yanxin leisurely opened the ship's external display. The Star Spirit Flower, fully loaded with cargo, resembled a bloated and fat fish in space. But in a sense, it could also be a ferocious predator. With a level 13 martial arts expert to guard it, any pirate group that dared to covet them was simply offering themselves up as food.
After a long journey, the guild could often obtain a considerable haul from the pirates who had been slaughtered along the way.
Zi Yanxin only needed to quietly wait and watch as those foolish creatures were crushed and torn apart by the power of the Star Spirit Flower. In the long and tedious journey, this was a rather interesting and regular pastime.
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"What are the Four Extremes?"
In the vast starry sky, the white-haired old man uttered a leisurely voice. The powers that formed the four cornerstones of his Dao evolved into countless forms in his hands.
Lu Sheng suppressed the surging thoughts and sorrow in his heart, watching all this intently. Countless insights and understandings of the Four Extremes Dao flowed into his body like a gentle stream.
"What are the Four Extremes? Ground, Wind, Water, Fire."
Lu Sheng had never been able to understand or comprehend his master's Dao. This was because the Ground, Wind, Water, and Fire mentioned in his Dao were somewhat lacking and contradictory to the Five Elements Dao—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Soil—that he had comprehended.
He had always tried to integrate the Four Extremes into his own Five Elements, but he simply couldn't do it. However, now, under Willow Keel's interpretation and evolution, Lu Sheng realized he was wrong. He had completely misunderstood.
"The Four Extremes and the Five Elements are, at their core, fundamentally the same. The Four Extremes are four foundational forces that compose the universe. The Five Elements are also such forces. Only, the Five Elements are another form—or another stage—evolved from the Four Extremes.
Earth represents resilience, wind represents lightness, water represents moisture, and fire represents warmth. These four characteristics are neither conflicting nor extreme.
The Five Elements, however, seem extreme. They completely break down and divide the characteristics of the Four Extremes, reorganizing them into five points which form complex cycles of mutual promotion and regulation, generation and destruction. [see Wuxing below]
The Five Elements have many more variations than the Four Extremes. It can be said that it is closer to maturity than the Four Extremes.
"This is also the true reason why I was finally able to glimpse that sliver of opportunity belonging to the level 17 domain in my master's discourse on the Dao!"
Lu Sheng suddenly realized this. He abruptly discovered that, unknowingly, he had already been standing on the shoulders of his master, Willow Keel. His master's Five Elements Dao was originally derived from the Four Extremes Dao. The instant he realized this, the golden core planet within Lu Sheng's dantian, which contained all his martial arts, began to rapidly undergo new changes.
A vast amount of insight into the Laws quickly merged into his body.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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For more complete translation notes (Chinese characters, chapters where keywords appear, translation questions) including keywords that I didn't list below because they appeared in previous chapters, check my Glossary, published right before chapter #530.
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Space Pirates aka Star Pirates
Introduced in chapter #596. See my Glossary for more information.
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Wu Tian aka Wu Tian daren ("Martial Heaven sir"), Lord Wu Tian - NEW character
Wu Tian and Haiji Dao are the two level 13 martial artists on this spaceship. Wu Tian has been working for the Star Spirit Flower guild for a long time.
See my Glossary for more information.
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Willow Keel aka Yang Yizhou: see chapter #597 or my Glossary
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Four or Five Elements in this webnovel
The Four Extremes (四極, sìjí) of the Four Extremes Dao (四極之道, sìjí zhī dào) are the Ground, Wind, Water, and Fire (地風水火, dì fēng shuǐ huǒ).
The Five Elements aka Wuxing (五行, wǔxíng) of the Five Elements Dao (五行之道, wǔxíng zhī dào) are the Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Soil (金木水火土, jīn mù shuǐ huǒ tǔ)
Ground and Soil are both often translated as Earth. Indeed, the Chinese characters 地 and 土 can both be translated as earth, but 地 rather refers to the surface/ground you walk on while 土 rather refers to the material/soil it is made of. Someone said somewhere online that "地 (ground, earth) is a collection of 土 (soil, dirt)."
Note: The concept of the Five Elements aka Wuxing (五行) is an important concept in Chinese Taoist philosophy, see below.
Note: Feng shui (風水) is a Chinese "system of spiritual energies". The Four Elements appear in many ancient cultures, see below.
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I copied the above section in my Glossary with additional occurrence counts to know in which chapters these words are mentioned: 四極, 地風水火, 五行, 金木水火土
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Four or Five Elements in real life
The so called classical elements (古典元素) described in ancient India, Greece, Tibet, Angola, Mali, etc. include sometimes four, sometimes five elements. In one of Plato's works, the four elements are Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire (地風水火). Earth is often written 地, the ground.
In Chinese philosophy, the Wuxing (五行) aka the five transformations or the five elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth (金木水火土). Earth is written 土, the soil. These elements form a complex interconnected cycle.
I used the words ground and soil to convey this difference (土 vs 地) into English and to illustrate the conundrum Lu Sheng was facing when trying to mix both systems, which only precisely share water and fire.
As stated in the novel, the Wuxing aka five transformations or five elements form complex cycles, promotion (e.g. wood feeds fire as fuel), regulation (wood stabilizes the earth with roots), overaction (wood depletes the earth), weakening (wood depletes water) and counteracting (wood dulls metal). It's very interesting, but also indeed complicated. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)
So, Lu Sheng is starting from cycles of material elements/transformations (four then five of them) and he is trying to comprehend what space itself is. Interestingly, several ancient cultures (philosophy, medicine, cosmology) had a fifth element that was either aether or space (空). In a way, the author is having Lu Sheng go on a quest that illustrates evolutions of ancient philosophies, trying to understand what matter is, and then pondering about what's beyond matter, non-matter, trying to understand what space/void is.
For example, Aristotle added a fifth element—aether—to Socrates and Plato's commonly used list of four elements. Similarly, "The Buddha's teaching regarding the four elements is to be understood as the base of all observation of real sensations rather than as a philosophy. The four properties are cohesion (water), solidity or inertia (earth), expansion or vibration (air) and heat or energy content (fire)." (source: Wikipedia) And then this idea evolved within Buddhism, fo example Tibetan Buddhist medical literature speaks of the five"elemental properties" (pañca mahābhūta): earth, water, fire, wind, and space.
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I copied the above section as is in my Glossary.
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Lu Sheng's current goal is to understand the Law of Space. His next goal is one that modern scientists are struggling with: the fabric of the universe, spacetime. Given his cultivation speed, who knows, he might only need another year to comprehend it :)