Maiden Galaxy

Under the sal trees, the wind blew away the falling leaves.

A man sat under a tree, immersed in braiding something. Several fine fibers in his hands were like butterflies flitting through a meadow, weaving like a net. Beside him was a seven to eight year old girl dressed in a black court dress. This girl was a budding beauty, her little hands clutching his clothing. Her starlight-like eyes glimmered as she concentrated on his every detail.

Chen Mo was currently weaving sal tree leaves into a bracelet for Nianyou. His craftsmanship had already reached a level of perfection, and a short while later, he finished it.

"Done."

Nianyou looked at this bracelet that was perfectly woven from just a few sal leaves, lovingly touching it.

"Don't you feel embarrassed as a man doing something as womanly as weaving." A seeming laugh came from in front of him.

Chen Mo lifted his gaze. Zhongli Sanmei walked over towards him. Seeing that woven sal bracelet, the King Of Extinguished Ashes pursed her lips.

"I wove one for you, too." Chen Mo took out another sal bracelet.

Zhongli Sanmei took it in her hand and fiddled with it for a while. It appeared more exquisite than she had thought. The sal bracelet seemed spun from the veins of the leaves themselves. Furthermore, the weaver's formidable workmanship labored over every last bit. There were even some Astral Cent fragments embedded like gems inside the sal bracelet. This made the bracelet look very gorgeous.

Not only this, but Chen Mo had even used casting master array engraving techniques to add a defensive array to the bracelet. This way, the Astral Cents inside could activate this function at a critical moment, and it could give the Star General an additional bit of Star Energy, even use that Star Energy to erect a small defensive formation.

"If you like it, I can use Star Dollars to craft a few of these when I have time in the future." Chen Mo said.

"This King shall reluctantly accept this." Zhongli Sanmei put on the bracelet and examined it.

"Sanmei, did you find any Star Generals?" Chen Mo asked.

"This King sensed what appeared to be a Star Energy fluctuation but did not see any Star Generals." Zhongli Sanmei was very dispirited.

Star Generals were inherently as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns in the Outer Star Fields. Now that he thought about it, to be able to see Star Names like Qin Guan, Great King Mulu, Murong Chui, and Huan Wen could already be considered unbelievable.

"Big Brother, her." Little Nianyou suddenly whispered.

"What ‘her' is Nianyou talking about?" Zhongli Sanmei was confused.

Chen Mo knew that Nianyou was referring to that frightening woman. To be able to make the gestating Nianyou somewhat scared, that woman's identity ought not to be simple. "Oh, a while ago, I actually bumped into a woman that felt very much like a Star General."

"Really? Tell This King."

Chen Mo summarized what happened. As far as the woman's appearance was concerned, it was difficult to be very specific. She felt as if she had lion-like ferocity, but she also had fine kindness within her. However, her tall build left him with a deep impression.

"A tall build, an appearance like a beast?" Zhongli Sanmei wrinkled her brow. If Chen Mo had not mentioned that whatever tiny bit of compassion, the King Of Extinguished Ashes honestly would have thought she knew of someone like this in her recollection.

It can't be her, right?

Zhongli Sanmei felt she was overthinking. At least a thousand years had already passed for the people she once knew. In Star World, a millennium was not considered long nor slow, but after experiencing that great battle, it was enough to make everything change.

"Do you remember anyone?" Chen Mo curiously asked.

"There are too many Star Generals like this. This King doesn't remember." Zhongli Sanmei said.

Chen Mo thought so.

"Did anything catch your interest after looking around?" Chen Mo asked.

"No Star Generals, nothing interesting."

"Then let's just stroll around for fun. I heard that the Buddha Washing Festival's vegetarian banquet, eating karma beans, and greeting Buddha's image are all grand activities."

"Oh, that so?"

Faraway atop a pagoda, Chen Mo was completely unaware that the woman he conversed with earlier was currently concentrating on their every movement and gesture. When she spotted Zhongli Sanmei appeared, the woman's beast-like pupils suddenly contracted, releasing a blindingly terrifying aura.

"Found you."

A demanding voice brimming with anger came from behind her, simultaneously breaking the woman's surging cold intent.

The woman glanced out the corner of her eyes. The one who dared to speak like this behind her was an approximately ten year old little girl. However, in Star World, even seven to eight year old little lolis were existences that were not to be looked down upon. There were some Star Generals that cultivated age reversal and regression arts that could turn them younger and younger, but these young bodies nevertheless hid inside them the power of a millennium.

However, the little girl in front of her apparently did not belong to this category. That brash and reckless appearance actually was appropriate for this age when one did not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth.

Dreamless Princess Cui Wumeng pointed at the woman, completely fearless of that beastly intimidation: "You must be a shill that Chen Mo asked for."

"What?"

"You have to be. If it wasn't for that turning the spear nonsense you spoke about, that lotus flower pendant would definitely be Mine, and Chen Mo would have already lost." The more Cui Wumeng thought about it, the more unreconciled she was. She could not bear to comprehend Zen, and that whatever "attack a mistake with another mistake," that random eloquence seemed even more baffling in her eyes. It was a bunch of gibberish, so she very naturally felt the two of them had cheated her.

Chen Mo?

The woman thought about this name and finally recalled that man.

She turned her gaze back. Chen Mo's figure was already lost in the crowd.

"So what?" The woman very simply replied.

Cui Wumeng was startled. She had thought that the woman would be reluctant to admit it, "Yes, you and I will go make Chen Mo concede defeat."

The woman expressionlessly stared at Cui Wumeng. The focus of her eyes concentrated into killing intent. That was a not very friendly gaze, about to devour someone at any moment.

Cui Wumeng felt all of her skin suddenly blast apart, her pores completely open. An unprecedented fear crawled into her body from somewhere unknown and filled her heart.

"You should learn that an uncivilized attitude will cost you your life." The woman's tone was extremely indifferent, full of disinterest towards Cui Wumeng's life or death.

Cui Wumeng suppressed the urge to run. The arrogance that grew since she was small made her unable to shrink back.

"I am a Saint Of War, I'm not afraid of your bluff." Cui Wumeng shouted suddenly. Her Three Flowers gathered over her head, and her asura punch-intent soared into the sky. Immense punch-intent charged towards the woman, and the images of Buddha on the pagoda shook on the verge of disintegration.

Bang!

A sound that seemed to rip through the primordial chaos of the world tore her asura punch-intent apart.

What?

Cui Wumeng's complexion was white as a sheet of paper, panic-stricken as she watched her own punch-intent was ignored by the woman. With a single step, the woman arrived in front of Cui Wumeng, bearing an absolutely arrogant and condescending mood.

Shit, this woman is too strong.

Powerful pressure put Cui Wumeng's entire body in a state of terror, making her unable to move.

The woman stretched her big, wide hand over Cui Wumeng's cranium.

I'll die.

Cui WUmeng was in despair.

"But I am very appreciative of warriors who dare to face me. Today, I shall teach you etiquette on behalf of your parents!"

Her palm bore down, and Cui Wumeng suddenly lost consciousness as the world spun around her.

…

"Eh."

Zhongli Sanmei once again stopped walking, turning her head back in uncertain bewilderment.

"Hm?"

Chen Mo looked at her strangely, noticing that Zhongli Mo had been unusual lately.

He wondered whether or not Star Generals had a relative visit every month.

"Interesting." The corner of Zhongli Sanmei's mouth curled in amusement.

Chen Mo turned his head around and looked. Far in the distance, there was a heap of people playing at a pagoda. To laymen who were unable to reach Qi-blood Nine Turns, this activity was indeed quite lively, but it was insufficient to make Zhongli Sanmei feel interested.

"Let's go."

Not allowing Chen Mo to utter a word, Zhongli Sanmei grabbed Chen Mo's hand and pushed the crowd aside as they moved together towards that place.

Chen Mo, Zhongli Sanmei, and Nianyou enjoyed themselves at the temple fair. Eventually, they somehow reached the bottom of the Wanshou Temple's mountain. The masses in this place were even more numerous and even more devout. From faraway, they could hear the knells coming from the temple atop the mountain.

Afterwards, countless Zen adherents prostrated themselves in worship. Among them, many warriors were also in the middle of deliberate meditation, pondering over the sound of Zen in the hopes of comprehending something.

At this time, a defeating chant rang in the surroundings. The masses on both sides of the road suddenly fell quiet, and every person stopped whatever they were doing, their faces showing solemn expressions. Chen Mo glanced over. At the end of the road, a group of Buddhist monks were wearing temple robes and holding tools. They were arranged in a specific sequence according to the things they held.

They slowly walked over as they chanted.

The leading monk was dressed in a Zen master's great robe, his hands holding up a statue of Buddha. The two following him played chimes piously, and the two after them held aroma plates. Wherever the main monk passed, attendants followed, chanting all the while.

The only sound audible was the symphony of the chanting and the chime stones.

"Lower your head and convert to the great awakening, the supreme humaneness, witness to the suffering of all creatures. Arrive at the Temple of Heaven, traces of the imperial palace; the snowy mountains mend karma. The magpie nest up top, three layered rampart, six kalpa asceticism. If people convert to the great awakening, never fall into degeneration."¹

The chanting echoed throughout Shouyang County, shaking Heaven and Earth. Tens of thousands bowed in worship, respectfully greeting the Buddha statue as they proceeded meticulously towards the Wanshou Temple's main hall. This was an incomparably spectacular sight.

Little Nianyou had never seen such solemnity and could not help but forget to lick her tanghulu.

This was "greeting Buddha's image," the most important activity of the Buddha Washing Festival.

Afterwards, there was still the washing, to wrap the Buddha in holiness; as Fang Xi said, to bathe in Buddha's water.

"How about it, Sanmei, this greeting Buddha's image should be quite spectacular, right." Chen Mo said complacently to Zhongli Sanmei. When he turned his head, he found that the King Of Extinguished Ashes' figure was nowhere to be seen.

Atop a tall pagoda, a woman expressionlessly looked on at the "greet Buddha's image." The look in the woman's eyes somewhat disapproved of the tens of thousands of people who worshipped and chanted.

All of a sudden, a crimson silhouette landed on top of a statue of Buddha nearby like a flying bird. Red boots carried the feeling of ashes after a blaze. This top-notch copper statue under her feet immediately began to slowly melt into molten metal.

"You've come, Zhongli Mo!"

The woman turned around, adjusting the collar of her overcoat.

Zhongli Mo's pupils were like fire, and a Star Crest flashed upon her forehead in accordance with her mood. Scorching air stifled the surrounding atmosphere. Flowers and grass began to wilt. Zhongli Mo looked at the woman before her, the fire in her eyes burning ever more intensely. Following the copper statue below her melting halfway, Zhongli Sanmei finally spoke.

"Sister Long,² it's been a thousand years. You're still alive, huh."

"Are you very surprised, Sanmei?" The woman called Sister Long faintly smiled. This grin made the surrounding blazing flames meet an ice-cold chill that slowly cooled and formed mist.

"Ha, ha, not even a bit. After all, you are the leader of Her Excellency's Five Great Generals…my good Elder Sister!"

The mist pervaded this pagoda, concealing it like magic.

Then, her words revealed everything from inside this scene mystery.

"King Of Qiankun, Long Ju!!"³

Zhongli Sanmei attacked.

1. Ugh, I tried. This is some sort of song by 天母慈悟寺法師. ↩
2. 龍姐 ↩
3. 乾坤王龍且 ↩

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