Battle Through the Heavens Prequel – The Legend of Yao Lao - BestLightNovel.com
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Chapter 4 - Tigerflame Gra.s.s
Regardless of how chaotic,b.u.mpy and dark it was, time will heal all wounds leaving behind only a crooked scar to serve as a reminder of what had happened.Afterwards, when looking at the scar, the agony felt in the heart will not be as intense as it was back then.
Two years later…
A lanky youth sat atop a bell tower facing the morning rays, gazing at the distant public square and the ancestral stele in it with desire in his eyes.
“Brother Chen, i knew you’d be here.”
In the direction of the voice was a chubby youth huffing and puffing as he clambered onto the roof from the bell tower smiling as he rushed towards the lanky youth.
“Right, there’s news on the whereabouts of the Tigerflame gra.s.s that you wanted my help in finding last time, my brother picked some as he was returning from his training.”
The youth’s eyes lit up.
“Really, i can trade an Azureflame pill for it”
The chubby youth shook his head.
“There’s no need to trade for it. My brother has said that if brother chan has need of it , you can just take it. It’s not a particularly precious ingredient anyways, it’s just that one needs to exchange merit points for it in the medicine clan so it’s inconvenient for brother Chen. However, brother Chen, you’ve gathered so many good materials this year, are you planning on partic.i.p.ating in the medicine tournament?”
The lanky youth in question was Yao Chen who upon hearing what was said, turned around and gazed deeply at the majestic ancestral clan stele.Before his father’s death, his father had brought him to the stele and the meaning of his actions were understood by Yao Chen who was now fifteen. He nodded his head.
“This is a chance, if i can prove myself in this tournament, maybe i can….hehe Luo Shu, let’s go”
The medicine tournament was a very important event in the medicine clan that was held every five years, that was open to all of the clan’s youths below the age of twenty four.In the tournament, the youths compete with their skill in refining and the eventual champion would be crowned number one receptarier which to the clan’s youth, was a honor beyond compare.
The chubby youth was Yao Chen’s childhood playmate Luo Shu, who for reasons unknown, had taken a liking to shadowing Yao Chen in the past two years. If Yao Chen wanted him to go west, he would never go east and not even his father and brothers could get him to do otherwise.
Luo Shu’s eyes flashed as he too gazed at the ancestral stele, the look in his eyes was one akin to that of pious devotion and reverent wors.h.i.+p.In the medicine clan, regardless of whether one’s surname was Yao, everyone held the act of carving their name onto the stele as the greatest honour.[TN: Yao = medicine]
However….Luo Shu rubbed his tummy and said :
“Brother Chen, no matter how good the stele is, it can’t fill our tummies.Let’s go back for some food, i’m famished.”
*Rumble rumble*
Luo Shu’s tummy growled, seemingly agreeing with what he said.
Yao Chen smiled as he nodded his head
“Alright, let’s return”
Luo Shu nodded his head happily and talked about the dinner dishes with Yao Chen as they walked home.
“Aunt Qing is cooking braised fish, and braised rabbit; There’s plenty to go around so don’t finish everything later and leave some for later in the day when we can get some bamboo wine. It’ll make a perfect supper, hehe… remember not to let yourself go”
“Letting yourself go, don’t you mean stop getting fat?”
Yao Chen smiled as he shook his head
Generally speaking, Luo Shu would never dispute what Yao Chen says with the sole exception being the topic of his body. When Luo Shu heard the word fat he flared up, disputing what Yao Chen said.
“Brother Chen, you don’t understand, this isn’t fat but baby-fat.Back then my brother was even fatter than me, yet he’s handsome and das.h.i.+ng now”
“I can’t be bothered with you”
Yao Chen shook his head.
As the both of them reached the alleyway leading home, Yao Chen saw his mother standing at the entrance, looking towards them.
Yao Chen quickened his footsteps.
“Mom, i’m back”
“Aunt Qing, is dinner ready?”
Luo Shu’s drool was spilling out of his mouth, it had long become a habit of his to come to Yao Chen’s house for dinner.
Yao Qing’s smooth laughter rang out.
“Have you washed your hands?”
“Yes, isn’t that right Yao Chen?”
Only after seeing Yao Chen nod his head did Yao Qing speak
“Alright, dinner is served.”
Kids in p.u.b.erty,bankrupt their families; Yao Chen and Luo Shu were at the age of p.u.b.erty and like a raging storm, devoured the dishes on the table till not even a sc.r.a.p was left.
Luo Shu was rubbing his tummy, gazing at the empty table when he suddenly remembered that he originally wanted to save some braised rabbit for supper.
“Aunt Qing….”
Luo Shu turned towards Yao Qing eagerly
“Relax, there’s still plenty left in the pot”
“Yay, c’mon Yao Chen, let’s head to my place for some fun”
Luo Shu jumped to his feet and pulled Yao Chen outside.
“Yao Chen, don’t forget that we’ll be testing your Dou Qi’s progress tonight”
Yao Qing’s quickly withdrew her smile, her voice becoming stern.
After his father pa.s.sed away, his originally gentle mother became strict, especially when it came to his cultivation.Two years ago Yao Chen explosively advanced his cultivation level though the side effects of it caused his meridians to be thrown into disorderly chaos for two years and also caused damage to his innate talent base.
“I know mom, i’ll be back soon.”
Yao Chen nodded his head and followed Luo Shu,whose house was just past the courtyard.
It was dinner time and Luo Shu’s family was having dinner too, however the dishes on their tables was pitiful in comparison with there only being a plate of white mantou without any accompanying dishes. As for meat, if they wanted it they had to go hunt for it themselves in the mountains out back and could only eat what they had personally hunted, and could not share it.This was considered training and had already become part of Luo Shu’s family’s rules. To be honest, with Luo Shu’s figure, if he did not eat at Yao Chen’s house, he would probably never be able to eat meat in his life.
“You’re back? Have you eaten? Come, eat this. I heard it’s more effective if taken after food.”
The one who spoke was Luo Bing, faint guilt could be seen in his eyes as he took out a bottle and pa.s.sed it to Yao Chen.
“Thank you Uncle Luo”
Yao Chen nodded his head without standing on ceremony as he opened the bottle containing a thumb sized pill, a strange scent spreading out from the bottle as he did so. He swallowed the pill with a gulp and as the pill was swallowed, it seeped into the bottom of his heart where waves of medicinal power were absorbed into his meridians.
This was the root solidifying musk pill, it wasn’t an ordinary pill and could strengthen the Dantian’s circulation and increase the amount of dou qi. Disciples of the medicine clan could acquire one from the clan storehouse every month.
After the incident two years ago, Luo Bing resigned as a guardsman and was now a squad leader of the clan’s guardians. With his past as a guardsman and the authority he now had as a squad leader added together, he had the special right to receive 5 root solidifying musk pill from the clan storehouse every month.
He would give the pills he acquired every month to Yao Chen, this was the only way to a.s.sist that he could think of.
After Yao Chen’s father pa.s.sed away, the clan’s resources that could be allocated to a branch family member like Yao Chen reduced and were it not for the a.s.sistance of Yao Huo’s brothers in the guards,someone who had his dou qi run amok like Yao Chen would never be able to cultivate again.
If was precisely because of this a.s.sistance that Yao Chen was able to recover during the past two years.
Yao Chen closed his eyes as he felt his meridians absorb the medicine and as he opened his eyes, he saw Luo Bing’s face break out into a smile.
“Not bad, you only need one incense’s time to absorb the medicine, far better than Luo Shu that good for nothing”
The chubby Luo Shu laughed
“Since i have Brother Chen looking after me in the future, why not give him my share as well?”
“Rubbish, though the root solidifying musk pill is good, a maximum of two can be taken per month. Do you think medicinal pills can be eaten as you wish?”
Luo Bing glared at Luo Shu angrily.
Actually, it is not impossible to take more of the pills however, all medicine are three parts toxins and medicinal pills are no exception.Without additional pills to counter the effects of the toxins, though one might have vast improvements if they were to consume the pills excessively, it would cause naught but harm in the long run.
Disciples of the main branch or branch families with power and influence will naturally have pills to counter the toxins given to them however for ordinary branch family members like them, one root solidifying musk pill every three months would be considered a great benevolence, let alone the antidote pill that was even more precious.
Yao Chen smiled as he showed his thanks to Luo Bing.
“Thank you Uncle Luo”
Luo bing nodded his head and patted Yao Chen’s shoulder as if he had more to say but after a few twitches of his lips, held himself back.
“Right, i still have things to do and i’ll be making a move. You guys have fun.”
Once Luo Bing left, Luo Shu ran to his brother Luo Shan.
“Hey hey , bro where’s the Tigerflame gra.s.s?”
Yao Chen looked at Luo Shan with antic.i.p.ation, since two years ago, he had been preparing for the upcoming medicine tournament .
Actually, the majority of the preparations was done by Yao Huo, but he pa.s.sed away before he had a chance to tell Yao Chen about the tournament.
No matter how much preparation is done, it would never be enough. In the medicine clan, geniuses are a dime a dozen and if one wants to fully display his abilities, relying on the ordinary medicinal ingredients provided would be impossible even for a world shaking genius. Only with meticulous preparation and refining a special pill would one be able to stand out from the crowd.
However, Yao Chen was a branch family member and after his father’s death, while the daily necessities were taken care of by the clan, acquiring the special and rare ingredients for the tournament is incomparably tough and even with the help of his father’s brothers in the two years, Yao Chen was still lacking several special ingredients .
The Tigerflame gra.s.s was among the hardest to acquire, and one could not exchange merit points for it as even the clan storehouse was facing a shortage. Rumour had it that recently the pills a clan elder was refining needed huge quant.i.ties of the Tigerflame gra.s.s and the existing stock in the storehouse had been taken by him.
Luo Shan was Luo Shu’s elder brother, he was twenty this year and had a steady personality and could already take charge of a sector in the medicine clan. A tiger does not beget a dog, and Luo Shan takes after his father.He was already a nine starred martial master and could advance to a martial master at any time now.Few could compare to him amongst the clans youth as he possesses not just martial prowess but was also calm and decisive, completing numerous missions with ease and had already been chosen as a clan guardian.With his potential,it was not a problem for him to become a squad leader like his father or even a guardsman that needed stricter requirements.
Luo Shan smiled at Yao Chen.
“There are fluctuations in your dou qi, two years have pa.s.sed… it should be time for you to attempt advancing to a martial master?”
Yao Chen nodded his head lightly.Advancing to the martial master level at the age of 15 was only average however, in the past two years due to his foundation being damaged, Yao Chen directed his cultivation towards his soul perception and sensitivity instead of dou qi.
In pill refining, what is most important was neither precious and exquisite ingredients nor was it the flame used but the control over the flame and this control was not something that was dependent on experience. Perhaps for ordinary pills, one could refine it hundreds or thousands of times and gain a semblance of competence, however for high grade pills where just collecting the ingredients would take a year, repeated refinings of hundreds or thousands of times were out of the question and one could only rely on his soul perception.
Yao Chen’s soul perception was extraordinary since young and it was precisely because of this reason that his father had devised a strict training regime with regards to his soul perception.Due to him concentrating on his soul perception, Yao Chen’s dou qi cultivation had lagged behind though he could still be ranked amongst the middle among the youths of the branch families. However when compared to the geniuses of the main branch, the difference was akin to the distance between heaven and earth.
“Work hard, Yao Feng and Yao Tong who are the same age as you are already three starred martial master”
Luo Shan nodded his head and pulled out a half jade case; This was a half dou stone and half dou jade case that had medicinal preserving properties.
Luo Shu stuck his tongue out
“Bro, Yao Feng is from the main branch, who knows how many root solidifying musk pills he takes a month? Brother Chen can only take two pills a month so how can you compare the both of them? Why don’t you use Yao Wan Gui for comparison? I heard that he’s already a two starred martial grandmaster”
Luo Shan shook his head, gave Luo Shu’s forehead a knock and without another word, opened the jade case. Inside the case were over 10 pieces of a strange red coloured gra.s.s that was faintly emitting heat with shadows of a tiger moving.
Upon seeing the tiger shadows, Yao Chen’s eyes lit up and he took the jade case.
“This…. is top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s?”
Tiger shadows can be seen on high grade Tigerflame gra.s.s, though the shadows are unmoving; Moving shadows are indicative of Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s
Luo Shan nodded his head
“I had good luck this time and managed to pick quite a few top grade ones. The majority have been handed over to the clan storehouse but i’ve saved some for you so work hard for the tournament this time round”“Brother Shan, thanks”
Yao Chen was deeply touched, with the top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s in hand,he had confidence in his chances at the tournament. However, he did not know what he could use to repay the favor,the azure flame pill… was the only pill that he had, but it was nothing compared to the value of the top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s.
“No need for thanks, others may not know about your real ability nor am i clear on it so take it as an investment in you. When you’ve become a rank 5 receptarier, just refine a few grade 5 pills for me and i’ll have recouped my investment.”
Luo Shu laughed heartily
“Rank 5? Brother Chen will become a rank 7 receptarier”
Luo Shan started laughing as well
“That’s right, one should be more ambitious, i’ve looked down on you”
Yao Chen laughed as well
“Since it’s good to be ambitious, why not aim for rank 9?”
Luo Shu and Luo Shan however, did not laugh; In the medicine clan, only the clan leader Yao Dan was a rank 9 receptarier.
“Would…. this be aiming far too high?”
Yao Chen rubbed his nose, seemingly embarra.s.sed.
“Duh!! “
Luo Shan, who was normally calm and steady jokingly admonished Yao Chen.
“You just simply… don’t know your limits”[TN:Literal translation is how high the heavens are and how thick the earth is, the expression should be familiar to all y’all]
Luo Shu said loudly
Yao Chen smiled, if he knew his limits, how would he carve his parent’s name onto the stele? On the stele, in the tens of thousands of years that pa.s.sed, how many branch family members were able to carve their names on the stele?
Amidst the thousand plus names on the stele, the ones born from the branch families only numbered in the tens.
Branch family disciples who wished to carved their names on the stele must not only be outstanding, they must contribute more…..after all the ancestral stele was the highest honour in the clan!
After acquiring the Tigerflame gra.s.s, the pressure on Yao Chen’s to acquire ingredients had lessened considerably since he already had the whereabouts of the items and only had to use sufficient pills to exchange for them.
The three of them played around for awhile when Luo Shu rubbed his stomach, although he wasn’t hungry he felt the craving for food and wanted a bite to eat
“Let’s go brother Chen, it’s time for supper. Elder brother you coming?”
Luo Shan shook his head, smiling
“I want to but i’ve got a night patrol mission. You guys go ahead”
“Let’s go”
The two of them were neighbours and the path back was less than a hundred metres long.Yao Chen held the Tigerflame gra.s.s, looking at it as he walked. Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s was very delicate and had to be watered with dew after picking to maintain its top grade medicinal properties.
At this moment, Yao Chen notices some irregularities in the movement of the tiger shadows and knew that it was time to water it with dew and he told Luo Shu so.
“Hold on, it should be time to water it, you go on ahead, i’ll go to a corner to water it”
For outsiders,if they wanted to acquire dew, they had to head deep into the mountains before the sun rises to acquire it. However for members of the medicine clan, it was as simple as using a pill. The morning dew pill was a grade 1 medicinal pill and Yao Chen brought it with him wherever he left home; He took a pill out and walked towards a waterway by the side.
The waterway was links springs together and had a formation as it’s core. It was spread throughout the clan and had was purified and had its odour removed by the formation and every household could use the water for their daily needs.
Yao Chen used a bottle for storing pills to scoop some water up, crushed the morning dew pill into powder and threw it into the bottle. Once it reacts with the water, the pill would take effect and transform the water in the bottle into dew.
Yao Chen opened the jade case once more, and with the aid of his dou qi, carefully dripped the dew onto the Tigerflame gra.s.s.
Just as the last dewdrop touched the Tigerflame gra.s.s, a sound rang out from a road branching off into the sides and Yao Chen’s face changed when he saw a bunch of youths walking over. The youths were schoolmates of his, though their relations.h.i.+p was not amicable.
“Eh? Yao Chen?”
“Huh? Tigerflame gra.s.s ! Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s!”
The youths were stunned when they saw the Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s in Yao Chen’s hands, and some of them even rubbed their eyes to get a better look. Yao Chen was a renowned pauper in school, where did he get the Tigerflame gra.s.s?
Perhaps he used merit points to exchange for it? However….
“That can’t be right, i remember the Tigerflame gra.s.s in the clan storehouse have all been taken by the elder to refine, you shouldn’t be able to trade for it.”
“Hey Yao Chen, where did your Tigerflame gra.s.s come from?”
“You… didn’t steal it did you? You’ve got guts Yao Chen, how dare you steal from the elder!!”
Young people are meddlesome by nature and would make a mountain out of a molehill when bored; They were unable to maintain their calm when they saw the Tigerflame gra.s.s in Yao Chen’s hands and started shouting.
Luo Shu who was waiting for Yao Chen nearby heard them and rushed over, incensed.
“Bulls.h.i.+t, my elder brother brought this back when he returned from outside the clan, maligning a fellow clansmen without evidence is a serious offence”
“What did you say, you d.a.m.ned fatty?!”
“Serious my a.s.s, beat him!!”
They were all young and hot-headed, what was reason to them? Reason was talking after they had finished fighting, reason would be with the party that had the bigger fist.
The group of youths charged together with their dou qi circulating, yet it was not a mindless brawl as they moved together in sync, separating Yao Chen and Luo Shu before continuously attacking.
These youths only had a dou qi level of a 8 or 9 starred dou zhe, but had the advantage of numbers and at this moment,they were using the combination attacks taught in school and knocked both Yao Chen and Luo Shu to the ground shortly.
Yao Chen roared angrily as a wave or power surged forth in his body; The explosive surge that damaged his foundations two years ago had some advantages as a huge power lay hidden in his body after having been sealed for two years.
“Die!!!”
Luo Shu covered his head and with a roar,hugged someone and bit down on him.
“Owowowowowowow….he’s biting!!”
Yao Chen’s cheek muscles twisted and he was about to counterattack with everything he had when all of a sudden…
“What are all of you doing!!!”
The sound of someone berating them rang out
“Aunt Qing, help us!!”
The little fatty who was so valiant moments ago stopped biting and yelled.
The one who arrived was Yao Qing who had heard the shouts coming from outside.
When the youths saw an adult appear,they scrambled away in a flurry and in scant moments, not a trace of them could be found.
Yao Qing hurried over and after checking Luo Shu, walked over to Yao Chen
“Are you alright?”
“Mmmhmm, i just took a few punches”
Yao Chen nodded
Yao Qing was unconvinced and took Yao Chen’s pulse, relaxing only when she could not find any irregularities in his dou qi.
“Before we finish the final step, remember to not get into a fight with others, no matter how tough it is, you must not get into a fight”
Yao Chen nodded his head and answered
“Mmhmm, i understand”
Luo Shu was at a loss as he turned around and saw Yao Chen
“Brother Chen, this isn’t fair! Why is my face swollen , and yet you’re fine?”
“That’s because your face was originally fat to the point of being swollen”
“What about my bruise?”
Luo Shu grabbed the back of his head, however much he thought about it, it just didn’t seem right.
kencephalonkencephalon January 2016
Hey guys, do let me know what you think about my translations and what you like/dislike about it and please do let me know if you think there are any areas i can improve upon.
Would you prefer i stick to a more literal translation of the text, or would you prefer what i am doing now, taking some liberties with the original text to better convey (IMO at least) the meaning of the original text?
E.g "Not knowing your limits" instead of "Not knowing the height of the heavens and vastness of the earth", etc etc
JohnDoeJohnDoe January 2016
Hiya!
I see you're new to the Ww scene. It's fine if you keep the literal translations of idioms (chengyu) the way they are. Most Ww readers have already picked up the common ones from other novels. If it's one that you think we can't understand, add a translator's note under the sentence.
e.g.
"Not knowing the height of the heavens..." is actually used quite often in Martial G.o.d Asura. Most of us have picked it up from here.
Another case is when the reader can guess the meaning of the idioms from their individual words.
e.g.
There was one from WuDong QianKun about each successive wave pus.h.i.+ng the one before it. In context with the MC surpa.s.sing his parent's cultivation, we can guess this idiom's meaning.
In other words, if we can guess the meaning from the context, leave it. If not, add a note. Always translate the idiom literally; it's an authentic piece of Chinese culture.
Regardless of how chaotic,b.u.mpy and dark it was, time will heal all wounds leaving behind only a crooked scar to serve as a reminder of what had happened.Afterwards, when looking at the scar, the agony felt in the heart will not be as intense as it was back then.
Two years later…
A lanky youth sat atop a bell tower facing the morning rays, gazing at the distant public square and the ancestral stele in it with desire in his eyes.
“Brother Chen, i knew you’d be here.”
In the direction of the voice was a chubby youth huffing and puffing as he clambered onto the roof from the bell tower smiling as he rushed towards the lanky youth.
“Right, there’s news on the whereabouts of the Tigerflame gra.s.s that you wanted my help in finding last time, my brother picked some as he was returning from his training.”
The youth’s eyes lit up.
“Really, i can trade an Azureflame pill for it”
The chubby youth shook his head.
“There’s no need to trade for it. My brother has said that if brother chan has need of it , you can just take it. It’s not a particularly precious ingredient anyways, it’s just that one needs to exchange merit points for it in the medicine clan so it’s inconvenient for brother Chen. However, brother Chen, you’ve gathered so many good materials this year, are you planning on partic.i.p.ating in the medicine tournament?”
The lanky youth in question was Yao Chen who upon hearing what was said, turned around and gazed deeply at the majestic ancestral clan stele.Before his father’s death, his father had brought him to the stele and the meaning of his actions were understood by Yao Chen who was now fifteen. He nodded his head.
“This is a chance, if i can prove myself in this tournament, maybe i can….hehe Luo Shu, let’s go”
The medicine tournament was a very important event in the medicine clan that was held every five years, that was open to all of the clan’s youths below the age of twenty four.In the tournament, the youths compete with their skill in refining and the eventual champion would be crowned number one receptarier which to the clan’s youth, was a honor beyond compare.
The chubby youth was Yao Chen’s childhood playmate Luo Shu, who for reasons unknown, had taken a liking to shadowing Yao Chen in the past two years. If Yao Chen wanted him to go west, he would never go east and not even his father and brothers could get him to do otherwise.
Luo Shu’s eyes flashed as he too gazed at the ancestral stele, the look in his eyes was one akin to that of pious devotion and reverent wors.h.i.+p.In the medicine clan, regardless of whether one’s surname was Yao, everyone held the act of carving their name onto the stele as the greatest honour.[TN: Yao = medicine]
However….Luo Shu rubbed his tummy and said :
“Brother Chen, no matter how good the stele is, it can’t fill our tummies.Let’s go back for some food, i’m famished.”
*Rumble rumble*
Luo Shu’s tummy growled, seemingly agreeing with what he said.
Yao Chen smiled as he nodded his head
“Alright, let’s return”
Luo Shu nodded his head happily and talked about the dinner dishes with Yao Chen as they walked home.
“Aunt Qing is cooking braised fish, and braised rabbit; There’s plenty to go around so don’t finish everything later and leave some for later in the day when we can get some bamboo wine. It’ll make a perfect supper, hehe… remember not to let yourself go”
“Letting yourself go, don’t you mean stop getting fat?”
Yao Chen smiled as he shook his head
Generally speaking, Luo Shu would never dispute what Yao Chen says with the sole exception being the topic of his body. When Luo Shu heard the word fat he flared up, disputing what Yao Chen said.
“Brother Chen, you don’t understand, this isn’t fat but baby-fat.Back then my brother was even fatter than me, yet he’s handsome and das.h.i.+ng now”
“I can’t be bothered with you”
Yao Chen shook his head.
As the both of them reached the alleyway leading home, Yao Chen saw his mother standing at the entrance, looking towards them.
Yao Chen quickened his footsteps.
“Mom, i’m back”
“Aunt Qing, is dinner ready?”
Luo Shu’s drool was spilling out of his mouth, it had long become a habit of his to come to Yao Chen’s house for dinner.
Yao Qing’s smooth laughter rang out.
“Have you washed your hands?”
“Yes, isn’t that right Yao Chen?”
Only after seeing Yao Chen nod his head did Yao Qing speak
“Alright, dinner is served.”
Kids in p.u.b.erty,bankrupt their families; Yao Chen and Luo Shu were at the age of p.u.b.erty and like a raging storm, devoured the dishes on the table till not even a sc.r.a.p was left.
Luo Shu was rubbing his tummy, gazing at the empty table when he suddenly remembered that he originally wanted to save some braised rabbit for supper.
“Aunt Qing….”
Luo Shu turned towards Yao Qing eagerly
“Relax, there’s still plenty left in the pot”
“Yay, c’mon Yao Chen, let’s head to my place for some fun”
Luo Shu jumped to his feet and pulled Yao Chen outside.
“Yao Chen, don’t forget that we’ll be testing your Dou Qi’s progress tonight”
Yao Qing’s quickly withdrew her smile, her voice becoming stern.
After his father pa.s.sed away, his originally gentle mother became strict, especially when it came to his cultivation.Two years ago Yao Chen explosively advanced his cultivation level though the side effects of it caused his meridians to be thrown into disorderly chaos for two years and also caused damage to his innate talent base.
“I know mom, i’ll be back soon.”
Yao Chen nodded his head and followed Luo Shu,whose house was just past the courtyard.
It was dinner time and Luo Shu’s family was having dinner too, however the dishes on their tables was pitiful in comparison with there only being a plate of white mantou without any accompanying dishes. As for meat, if they wanted it they had to go hunt for it themselves in the mountains out back and could only eat what they had personally hunted, and could not share it.This was considered training and had already become part of Luo Shu’s family’s rules. To be honest, with Luo Shu’s figure, if he did not eat at Yao Chen’s house, he would probably never be able to eat meat in his life.
“You’re back? Have you eaten? Come, eat this. I heard it’s more effective if taken after food.”
The one who spoke was Luo Bing, faint guilt could be seen in his eyes as he took out a bottle and pa.s.sed it to Yao Chen.
“Thank you Uncle Luo”
Yao Chen nodded his head without standing on ceremony as he opened the bottle containing a thumb sized pill, a strange scent spreading out from the bottle as he did so. He swallowed the pill with a gulp and as the pill was swallowed, it seeped into the bottom of his heart where waves of medicinal power were absorbed into his meridians.
This was the root solidifying musk pill, it wasn’t an ordinary pill and could strengthen the Dantian’s circulation and increase the amount of dou qi. Disciples of the medicine clan could acquire one from the clan storehouse every month.
After the incident two years ago, Luo Bing resigned as a guardsman and was now a squad leader of the clan’s guardians. With his past as a guardsman and the authority he now had as a squad leader added together, he had the special right to receive 5 root solidifying musk pill from the clan storehouse every month.
He would give the pills he acquired every month to Yao Chen, this was the only way to a.s.sist that he could think of.
After Yao Chen’s father pa.s.sed away, the clan’s resources that could be allocated to a branch family member like Yao Chen reduced and were it not for the a.s.sistance of Yao Huo’s brothers in the guards,someone who had his dou qi run amok like Yao Chen would never be able to cultivate again.
If was precisely because of this a.s.sistance that Yao Chen was able to recover during the past two years.
Yao Chen closed his eyes as he felt his meridians absorb the medicine and as he opened his eyes, he saw Luo Bing’s face break out into a smile.
“Not bad, you only need one incense’s time to absorb the medicine, far better than Luo Shu that good for nothing”
The chubby Luo Shu laughed
“Since i have Brother Chen looking after me in the future, why not give him my share as well?”
“Rubbish, though the root solidifying musk pill is good, a maximum of two can be taken per month. Do you think medicinal pills can be eaten as you wish?”
Luo Bing glared at Luo Shu angrily.
Actually, it is not impossible to take more of the pills however, all medicine are three parts toxins and medicinal pills are no exception.Without additional pills to counter the effects of the toxins, though one might have vast improvements if they were to consume the pills excessively, it would cause naught but harm in the long run.
Disciples of the main branch or branch families with power and influence will naturally have pills to counter the toxins given to them however for ordinary branch family members like them, one root solidifying musk pill every three months would be considered a great benevolence, let alone the antidote pill that was even more precious.
Yao Chen smiled as he showed his thanks to Luo Bing.
“Thank you Uncle Luo”
Luo bing nodded his head and patted Yao Chen’s shoulder as if he had more to say but after a few twitches of his lips, held himself back.
“Right, i still have things to do and i’ll be making a move. You guys have fun.”
Once Luo Bing left, Luo Shu ran to his brother Luo Shan.
“Hey hey , bro where’s the Tigerflame gra.s.s?”
Yao Chen looked at Luo Shan with antic.i.p.ation, since two years ago, he had been preparing for the upcoming medicine tournament .
Actually, the majority of the preparations was done by Yao Huo, but he pa.s.sed away before he had a chance to tell Yao Chen about the tournament.
No matter how much preparation is done, it would never be enough. In the medicine clan, geniuses are a dime a dozen and if one wants to fully display his abilities, relying on the ordinary medicinal ingredients provided would be impossible even for a world shaking genius. Only with meticulous preparation and refining a special pill would one be able to stand out from the crowd.
However, Yao Chen was a branch family member and after his father’s death, while the daily necessities were taken care of by the clan, acquiring the special and rare ingredients for the tournament is incomparably tough and even with the help of his father’s brothers in the two years, Yao Chen was still lacking several special ingredients .
The Tigerflame gra.s.s was among the hardest to acquire, and one could not exchange merit points for it as even the clan storehouse was facing a shortage. Rumour had it that recently the pills a clan elder was refining needed huge quant.i.ties of the Tigerflame gra.s.s and the existing stock in the storehouse had been taken by him.
Luo Shan was Luo Shu’s elder brother, he was twenty this year and had a steady personality and could already take charge of a sector in the medicine clan. A tiger does not beget a dog, and Luo Shan takes after his father.He was already a nine starred martial master and could advance to a martial master at any time now.Few could compare to him amongst the clans youth as he possesses not just martial prowess but was also calm and decisive, completing numerous missions with ease and had already been chosen as a clan guardian.With his potential,it was not a problem for him to become a squad leader like his father or even a guardsman that needed stricter requirements.
Luo Shan smiled at Yao Chen.
“There are fluctuations in your dou qi, two years have pa.s.sed… it should be time for you to attempt advancing to a martial master?”
Yao Chen nodded his head lightly.Advancing to the martial master level at the age of 15 was only average however, in the past two years due to his foundation being damaged, Yao Chen directed his cultivation towards his soul perception and sensitivity instead of dou qi.
In pill refining, what is most important was neither precious and exquisite ingredients nor was it the flame used but the control over the flame and this control was not something that was dependent on experience. Perhaps for ordinary pills, one could refine it hundreds or thousands of times and gain a semblance of competence, however for high grade pills where just collecting the ingredients would take a year, repeated refinings of hundreds or thousands of times were out of the question and one could only rely on his soul perception.
Yao Chen’s soul perception was extraordinary since young and it was precisely because of this reason that his father had devised a strict training regime with regards to his soul perception.Due to him concentrating on his soul perception, Yao Chen’s dou qi cultivation had lagged behind though he could still be ranked amongst the middle among the youths of the branch families. However when compared to the geniuses of the main branch, the difference was akin to the distance between heaven and earth.
“Work hard, Yao Feng and Yao Tong who are the same age as you are already three starred martial master”
Luo Shan nodded his head and pulled out a half jade case; This was a half dou stone and half dou jade case that had medicinal preserving properties.
Luo Shu stuck his tongue out
“Bro, Yao Feng is from the main branch, who knows how many root solidifying musk pills he takes a month? Brother Chen can only take two pills a month so how can you compare the both of them? Why don’t you use Yao Wan Gui for comparison? I heard that he’s already a two starred martial grandmaster”
Luo Shan shook his head, gave Luo Shu’s forehead a knock and without another word, opened the jade case. Inside the case were over 10 pieces of a strange red coloured gra.s.s that was faintly emitting heat with shadows of a tiger moving.
Upon seeing the tiger shadows, Yao Chen’s eyes lit up and he took the jade case.
“This…. is top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s?”
Tiger shadows can be seen on high grade Tigerflame gra.s.s, though the shadows are unmoving; Moving shadows are indicative of Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s
Luo Shan nodded his head
“I had good luck this time and managed to pick quite a few top grade ones. The majority have been handed over to the clan storehouse but i’ve saved some for you so work hard for the tournament this time round”“Brother Shan, thanks”
Yao Chen was deeply touched, with the top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s in hand,he had confidence in his chances at the tournament. However, he did not know what he could use to repay the favor,the azure flame pill… was the only pill that he had, but it was nothing compared to the value of the top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s.
“No need for thanks, others may not know about your real ability nor am i clear on it so take it as an investment in you. When you’ve become a rank 5 receptarier, just refine a few grade 5 pills for me and i’ll have recouped my investment.”
Luo Shu laughed heartily
“Rank 5? Brother Chen will become a rank 7 receptarier”
Luo Shan started laughing as well
“That’s right, one should be more ambitious, i’ve looked down on you”
Yao Chen laughed as well
“Since it’s good to be ambitious, why not aim for rank 9?”
Luo Shu and Luo Shan however, did not laugh; In the medicine clan, only the clan leader Yao Dan was a rank 9 receptarier.
“Would…. this be aiming far too high?”
Yao Chen rubbed his nose, seemingly embarra.s.sed.
“Duh!! “
Luo Shan, who was normally calm and steady jokingly admonished Yao Chen.
“You just simply… don’t know your limits”[TN:Literal translation is how high the heavens are and how thick the earth is, the expression should be familiar to all y’all]
Luo Shu said loudly
Yao Chen smiled, if he knew his limits, how would he carve his parent’s name onto the stele? On the stele, in the tens of thousands of years that pa.s.sed, how many branch family members were able to carve their names on the stele?
Amidst the thousand plus names on the stele, the ones born from the branch families only numbered in the tens.
Branch family disciples who wished to carved their names on the stele must not only be outstanding, they must contribute more…..after all the ancestral stele was the highest honour in the clan!
After acquiring the Tigerflame gra.s.s, the pressure on Yao Chen’s to acquire ingredients had lessened considerably since he already had the whereabouts of the items and only had to use sufficient pills to exchange for them.
The three of them played around for awhile when Luo Shu rubbed his stomach, although he wasn’t hungry he felt the craving for food and wanted a bite to eat
“Let’s go brother Chen, it’s time for supper. Elder brother you coming?”
Luo Shan shook his head, smiling
“I want to but i’ve got a night patrol mission. You guys go ahead”
“Let’s go”
The two of them were neighbours and the path back was less than a hundred metres long.Yao Chen held the Tigerflame gra.s.s, looking at it as he walked. Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s was very delicate and had to be watered with dew after picking to maintain its top grade medicinal properties.
At this moment, Yao Chen notices some irregularities in the movement of the tiger shadows and knew that it was time to water it with dew and he told Luo Shu so.
“Hold on, it should be time to water it, you go on ahead, i’ll go to a corner to water it”
For outsiders,if they wanted to acquire dew, they had to head deep into the mountains before the sun rises to acquire it. However for members of the medicine clan, it was as simple as using a pill. The morning dew pill was a grade 1 medicinal pill and Yao Chen brought it with him wherever he left home; He took a pill out and walked towards a waterway by the side.
The waterway was links springs together and had a formation as it’s core. It was spread throughout the clan and had was purified and had its odour removed by the formation and every household could use the water for their daily needs.
Yao Chen used a bottle for storing pills to scoop some water up, crushed the morning dew pill into powder and threw it into the bottle. Once it reacts with the water, the pill would take effect and transform the water in the bottle into dew.
Yao Chen opened the jade case once more, and with the aid of his dou qi, carefully dripped the dew onto the Tigerflame gra.s.s.
Just as the last dewdrop touched the Tigerflame gra.s.s, a sound rang out from a road branching off into the sides and Yao Chen’s face changed when he saw a bunch of youths walking over. The youths were schoolmates of his, though their relations.h.i.+p was not amicable.
“Eh? Yao Chen?”
“Huh? Tigerflame gra.s.s ! Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s!”
The youths were stunned when they saw the Top grade Tigerflame gra.s.s in Yao Chen’s hands, and some of them even rubbed their eyes to get a better look. Yao Chen was a renowned pauper in school, where did he get the Tigerflame gra.s.s?
Perhaps he used merit points to exchange for it? However….
“That can’t be right, i remember the Tigerflame gra.s.s in the clan storehouse have all been taken by the elder to refine, you shouldn’t be able to trade for it.”
“Hey Yao Chen, where did your Tigerflame gra.s.s come from?”
“You… didn’t steal it did you? You’ve got guts Yao Chen, how dare you steal from the elder!!”
Young people are meddlesome by nature and would make a mountain out of a molehill when bored; They were unable to maintain their calm when they saw the Tigerflame gra.s.s in Yao Chen’s hands and started shouting.
Luo Shu who was waiting for Yao Chen nearby heard them and rushed over, incensed.
“Bulls.h.i.+t, my elder brother brought this back when he returned from outside the clan, maligning a fellow clansmen without evidence is a serious offence”
“What did you say, you d.a.m.ned fatty?!”
“Serious my a.s.s, beat him!!”
They were all young and hot-headed, what was reason to them? Reason was talking after they had finished fighting, reason would be with the party that had the bigger fist.
The group of youths charged together with their dou qi circulating, yet it was not a mindless brawl as they moved together in sync, separating Yao Chen and Luo Shu before continuously attacking.
These youths only had a dou qi level of a 8 or 9 starred dou zhe, but had the advantage of numbers and at this moment,they were using the combination attacks taught in school and knocked both Yao Chen and Luo Shu to the ground shortly.
Yao Chen roared angrily as a wave or power surged forth in his body; The explosive surge that damaged his foundations two years ago had some advantages as a huge power lay hidden in his body after having been sealed for two years.
“Die!!!”
Luo Shu covered his head and with a roar,hugged someone and bit down on him.
“Owowowowowowow….he’s biting!!”
Yao Chen’s cheek muscles twisted and he was about to counterattack with everything he had when all of a sudden…
“What are all of you doing!!!”
The sound of someone berating them rang out
“Aunt Qing, help us!!”
The little fatty who was so valiant moments ago stopped biting and yelled.
The one who arrived was Yao Qing who had heard the shouts coming from outside.
When the youths saw an adult appear,they scrambled away in a flurry and in scant moments, not a trace of them could be found.
Yao Qing hurried over and after checking Luo Shu, walked over to Yao Chen
“Are you alright?”
“Mmmhmm, i just took a few punches”
Yao Chen nodded
Yao Qing was unconvinced and took Yao Chen’s pulse, relaxing only when she could not find any irregularities in his dou qi.
“Before we finish the final step, remember to not get into a fight with others, no matter how tough it is, you must not get into a fight”
Yao Chen nodded his head and answered
“Mmhmm, i understand”
Luo Shu was at a loss as he turned around and saw Yao Chen
“Brother Chen, this isn’t fair! Why is my face swollen , and yet you’re fine?”
“That’s because your face was originally fat to the point of being swollen”
“What about my bruise?”
Luo Shu grabbed the back of his head, however much he thought about it, it just didn’t seem right.
kencephalonkencephalon January 2016
Hey guys, do let me know what you think about my translations and what you like/dislike about it and please do let me know if you think there are any areas i can improve upon.
Would you prefer i stick to a more literal translation of the text, or would you prefer what i am doing now, taking some liberties with the original text to better convey (IMO at least) the meaning of the original text?
E.g "Not knowing your limits" instead of "Not knowing the height of the heavens and vastness of the earth", etc etc
JohnDoeJohnDoe January 2016
Hiya!
I see you're new to the Ww scene. It's fine if you keep the literal translations of idioms (chengyu) the way they are. Most Ww readers have already picked up the common ones from other novels. If it's one that you think we can't understand, add a translator's note under the sentence.
e.g.
"Not knowing the height of the heavens..." is actually used quite often in Martial G.o.d Asura. Most of us have picked it up from here.
Another case is when the reader can guess the meaning of the idioms from their individual words.
e.g.
There was one from WuDong QianKun about each successive wave pus.h.i.+ng the one before it. In context with the MC surpa.s.sing his parent's cultivation, we can guess this idiom's meaning.
In other words, if we can guess the meaning from the context, leave it. If not, add a note. Always translate the idiom literally; it's an authentic piece of Chinese culture.
