Maiden Galaxy

"Chen Mo, Junior Brother, wake up, don't scare me." Lu Xiujing's forehead dripped with sweat from worry, but every time she approached, she was repelled by the Five Dragons Hibernation Art.

Lu Xiujing did not know just what Chen Mo's state was and did not dare be forceful, but the condition that Chen Mo currently showed was completely like he "lost his Divine Soul."

Cultivators without their Divine Soul were like walking corpses, something more dreadful than death.

Lu Xiujing's expression was grave, hesitating over and over again. She tapped her forehead, and the design of a splendid Star Crest appeared on her forehead. Surprisingly, the design altered itself.

"Thirty-six Stratagems – Borrow Corpse, Resurrect Soul!!"¹

Lu Xiujing's thoughts surged. A starlight emerged from her Star Crest and gushed towards Chen Mo's forehead. Her Star Energy broke free of the Five Dragons' resistance and entered Chen Mo's mind.

Lu Xiujing's whole body shook.

This was bad, she was unable to sense his Divine Soul.

The woman took a step back, her complexion increasingly pale. This was troublesome. Originally, she wanted to rely on Chen Mo to solve the chess game then enter the tomb of Zhuangzi afterwards. She already considered that they would encounter all kinds of danger, but she never expected Chen Mo would fall into this state.

"Shit. The Ancestor, that's right, I must quickly go find the Ancestor." Lu Xiujing suddenly recalled that now was not the time to panic. Since her hands were tied, she could only go find Sleeping Immortal Ancestor Chen Tuan.

Since Ancestor Chen Tuan had stayed in the stone chamber, she must know more than Lu Xiujing did, and she would understand the current situation much better. At this time, Lu Xiujing could only seek her aid.

"Here I go!"

Lu Xiujing moved her feet, turned around and instantly vanished from the stone chamber.

If Chen Mo was awake, he would definitely exclaim – this Escape Technique is simply perfect.

…

Zhang Chao Valley throughout the years had always been shrouded in mist, so it was also called Mist Valley. Because of this, it also became a restricted area for people to cultivate the Dao. Even Mount Hua's other disciples could not approach without permission.

The quiet fog received a disturbance all of a sudden. A green figure rapidly approached Mist Valley.

There was no time for Lu Xiujing to consider Mist Valley's taboo. Right now, Chen Mo was on the brink of crisis, and she did not have time to stop and think. A figure seemed to erupt from the ground, stopping her way forward.

"Lu Xiujing, the Headmaster is currently in seclusion, are you unaware?"

The one blocking her was Mount Hua's first Law Protector, Gao Shanxue.

"Sister Shanxue, something bad has happened." Lu Xiujing cried out anxiously.

"Calm down a bit. You have cultivated at Mount Hua for so long, are you still unable to achieve a heart still as water?" Gao Shanxue chided her with deliberation in every word.

Lu Xiujing truly was very worried.

This was the first time Gao Shanxue had seen her so frightened. She asked: "What happened?"

"Something happened to Junior Brother Chen Mo…" Lu Xiujing grit her teeth and spoke.

"The one who passed Mount Hua's Three Checkpoints half a year ago…" Fearing this cold and watchful Law Protector had forgotten him, Lu Xiujing reminded her.

"I know him!" Gao Shanxue coldly said: "What has happened to him?"

Lu Xiujing hesitated.

"Hurry and speak!" Gao Sahnxue's tone was stern.

Lu Xiujing swallowed, then she summarized the game at the stone room.

"What? Chen Mo solved the Green Cloud Stone Chamber's Supreme Ultimate Diagram record?" Gao Shanxue was stunned.

"Sister Shanxue, do you know what happened??" Lu Xiujing saw there was hope and breathed a sigh of relief.

How could she have expected that Gao Shanxue's expression would instead become even more strict. "Troublemaker, how could he have the capabilities to challenge the Supreme Ultimate Diagram game right now!"

"But Chen Mo clearly solved it?"

"I will inform the Headmaster of this. You are to wait here for the time being." Gao Shanxue coldly glared at her. Lu Xiujing shrunk back in fear. In Mount Hua, the one she was most scared of was Gao Shanxue. 

Just at this moment, mist descended from the sky and appeared in front of them. After the mist dispersed, two figures appeared.

One had a tall figure, a goose yellow silk long skirt clinging to her skin, and bits and pieces of protective armor adorning her. The tiara on her forehead exuded an amber glow like it was a crown. The woman's blood-red eyes were boundless as the sea, leaking a slightly cruel aura.

The girl beside this woman formed a stark contrast. She was little more than seven or eight in age, and her young figure was dressed in a simple Daoist robe. Her silver hair was tired in a bun, her eyes were tightly shut, and her appearance was dainty. 

Although she appeared very young, she had long distanced herself from mundane matters. She gave off a kind of extraordinary temperament, making people have the urge to prostrate in worship.

"Headmaster."

"Ancestor!"

Gao Shanxue and Lu Xiujing respectfully greeted her when they saw her.

The woman beside Ancestor Chen Tuan showed a sneer: "If that man Chen Mo is dead, then he is dead. Just perfect. It is improper for a man to stay at Mount Hua."

Lu Xiujing stole a glance at "Flying Phoenix General" Li Guang, thinking to herself that this woman's bloodlust was so strong. Could it be that Chen Mo had been indecent to her. In the half year since she came to Mount Hua, the Ancestor unexpectedly still was unable to completely curb her murderous impulses. Indeed, a super first-rate martial general was on a whole other level.

"Ancestor, this happened to Chen Mo because Disciple…" Lu Xiujing was about to explain. 

Chen Tuan calmly stopped her impetuousness. A peaceful air covered Lu Xiujing's heart, making her calm down immensely: "I already know."

"Disciple has disturbed Ancestor's sermon."

"Let us go look." Chen Tuan said.

…

"This is bad."

Li Xiao hurriedly dashed to the Supplement Pavilion. The first thing that greeted her was a pungent medicinal aroma, and she immediately fanned her face.

King Of Medicine Sun Yingmeng was in the middle of dully concocting medicine, "Fussing over things, it's not even time for your medicine yet."

Li Xiao cursed: "Tch, I'm not sick."

"Hmph, I see you're quite ill." Sun Yingmeng snorted: "What's bad, don't tell me that the Tyrant has finally decided to attack Mount Hua? Well, your Mount Hua is screwed for sure. However, with the Central Star Field, what are you afraid of."

"Not this, our Ancestor isn't afraid of Yang Guang." Li Xiao said. "I meant that Chen Mo is screwed."

"Huh?" Sun Yingmeng bolted to her feet, carelessly knocking her decoction pot over.

"Look how worried you are, he isn't even your lover." Li Xiao glared at her: "The one at your side eating medicine is me, Li Su."

"Chen Mo is my test subject. I refined so much Defense One Qi for him, he can't possibly die. Just what the hell happened?" Sun Yingmeng worriedly rummaged through her Astral Bag to see whether or not she could find resurrection medicine.

"This time, you won't be able to help him even if you are the ‘King Of Medicine.'" Li Xiao said: "I heard that Lu Xiujing took him to some Green Cloud Stone Chamber. Junior Brother Chen Mo seems to have won a game of chess, and then he lost his Divine Soul afterwards. Even the Ancestor is rushing over right now. Right, you'd best go take a look."

"Li Xiao, what are you doing still blabbing for, hurry and take me over there." Sun Yingmeng said anxiously.

When Li Xiao and Sun Yingmeng rushed for the Green Cloud Fairyland, they happened to notice that the elegantly dressed Jiang Kui had hurried over as well and was in the middle of peeping through the door.

"Yuezhuo, what's going on?" Li Xiao asked her.

"Clear Empty Shadow" Jiang Yuezhuo pursed her lips and shook her head: "I only just got here."

"I'll take a look, there must be something I can help with."

Inside the Green Cloud Stone Chamber, Ancestor Chen Tuan, Gao Shanxue, Li Guang, Lu Xiujing were already assembled around the stone table inside the room. "Yingmeng, you came just at the perfect moment. Quickly examine just what happened to Junior Brother Chen Mo?" Lu Xiujing eagerly said.

Chen Mo sat as still as a statue in front of the stone table, very serene. Sun Yingmeng's eyes glowed. Her medical arts were already at a level she could see through the hundred meridians. With just a glance, she was able to discern the condition of her target's body.

Sun Yingmeng's expression slightly changed, and her mouth hung agape.

"Just what has happened to him?"

"Chen Mo isn't dead. His bodily functions are operating very tranquilly, even moreso than when he is lucid." Sun Yingmeng had never seen such a phenomenon: "It's just that he isn't breathing, he has no awareness, and he seems to be lifeless. His Divine Soul isn't present."

"Then isn't he just a living corpse." Jiang Yuezhou softly said.

Everyone was stunned.

Even Star World's best "King Of Medicine" Sun Simiao was helpless. The others turned their gazes to the refined and elegant girl, their only hope. From start to finish, Chen Tuan was calm and indifferent. Her level of Daoism was unmistakably displayed on her body.

Chen Tuan shut her eyes and swept her hand over the game on the table.

The endgame was already gone.

"Chen Mo's Divine Soul has merely entered a different world, so we are unable to sense the existence of his breath. But he is not hurt at all. At least for the time being." Chen Tuan's words greatly eased everyone.

"His Divine Soul has entered a different world? Ancestor, I do not understand your meaning. Just what mystery does this Green Cloud Stone Chamber's game record have, can it actually be related to Zhuangzi?" Lu Xiujing asked apprehensively.

"Have you heard of the legend of the Rotten Axe Handle?"² Chen Tuan's voice was ethereal, each of her words able to enter the innermost depths of one's heart.

"The Rotten Axe Handle?"

They were at a bit of a loss.

"I heard of it." Jiang Yuezhou softly spoke. As one of Mount Hua's graceful poets, one who studied verse, she was much more interested in matters other than fighting.

Mount Hua had many a legend, and among them was one about a man named Wang Zhi. One day, he went to Mount Hua's Ethereal Peak to go chop wood. There, he spotted a child and an elderly gentleman playing chess on a boulder by a creek. Subsequently, he set down the hatchet he used to chop wood beside the creek and spectated. 

After a while, the boy said: "You should go home." When Wang Zhi stood up to take his axe, he saw that his axe's handle had already rotted away, and its keenly polished edge was also full of nicks and dents. Wang Zhi was very puzzled. After he returned hime, he discovered that his home had already undergone enormous changes. No one remembered him, and when he spoke with several elders, they all said to him that he was speaking of events that had already passed centuries ago. It turned out that when Wang Zhi went to chop wood at Ethereal Peak, he had intruded upon the Immortal Realm and met with immortals. One day in the Immortal Realm was a century in the human world.

"What does this mean?" Li Xiao did not understand. It seemed that this game had been going on for centuries?

"Don't tell me that Chen Mo is going to be like that Wang Zhi?" Sun Yingmeng came to her senses.

Ancestor Chen Tuan spoke: "Aye. This ‘Supreme Ultimate Diagram endgame' has been here for a millennium. The one able to solve this game can gain an opportunity, and Chen Mo has entered the immortal plane now."

"Ancestor, did you also play chess in the immortal plane?"

"En."

"Ah, then this is a good thing for Chen Mo, right?" Lu Xiujing harbored a bit of hope.

"Naturally, if you are a chess sage, but to the current Chen Mo, it is a disaster." Gao Shanxue coldly assessed.

"Why?" Lu Xiujing was nearly mad.

"For Chen Mo to recover from a different ethereal world, he must completely understand it." Chen Tuan said: "If you are merely an ordinary person…"

The girl suddenly fell silent.

Jiang Kui said: "Can it be that Chen Mo will be need several hundred years to be able to recover, like Wang Zhi from the Rotten Axe Handle?"

The girl shook her head and ethereally said.

"It will be a thousand years!"

1. 借屍還魂 ↩
2. This is sometimes referred to as the Chinese Rip Van Winkle. ↩

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