Maiden Galaxy

Chen Mo knew that the time had finally come. This seemingly affable big sister was not the least bit empathetic. "I never expected Sister Meng to have this kind of interest."

Mi Fu snickered at Jiang Kui, "Sister Yuezhuo, don't you feel like Chen Mo is getting married, like he is being accosted by potential mothers-in-law."

Jiang Kui slightly blushed, fully agreeing.

"More reserved than before yet as ostentatious as ever." Qin Weiyu spoke from the heart. Her gaze scanned the crowd in the banquet.

"Young Lord Chen Mo, do not take offense."

"Speak."

"We have worked on this couplet for a long time already, but we nevertheless are unable to finish the second half. We wonder if perhaps you can offer a response." Liu Yuxi opened her mouth.

"This poem is a bit special…It is quite long." Meng Jiao said.

"I will try." Chen Mo modestly said.

"Lone Goose Dongye" muttered to herself briefly. Then a song came slowly from her red lips.

"A tall tower alone supports the northwestern peak, gathering nearby rivers and faraway mountains, the subject of a long scroll. Gather snow of the Pamirs, scatter mist over Baihe, heat the red sky, dye black clothes with mist. Occasionally, bards commemorate the past, and occasionally, fierce warriors line the boundary. The most pitiful stamen withers, and the spring chamber's precious mirror is already buried. To whom does this half of the river and moon belong to?"

Everyone was astonished to listen to the length of this couplet, but the imagery was very vivid, spectacular.

This couplet was longer than he had imagined, and Chen Mo could not help but contemplate a while.

"If you are unable to respond, you have to drink some more." One Cup Accomplished Yuan Zhen flippantly picked up a wine bottle to pour more.

"Got it." Chen Mo already had a couplet. "First thing of the millennium…"

Just as he was about to respond, a majestic and graceful woman's voice came from beyond the door and answered first.

"First thing of the millennium, time and again changing the western river's situation, using up a sheet for immense control. An adorned hero, a leaping dragons, a phoenix upon the slope, a crouching tiger, a frog calling from the bottom of the well. All of a sudden, iron cavalry and golden spears. All of a sudden, silver reeds and jade flutes. Though unlike a long song or a short essay, sprinkle and write about beauty, hate, leisure and worries; songs at the threshold echo down the corridor, enjoying good wind and rain. Look, is that cloud my sky?"

The couplet complete, the bystanders agreed with each other that this was the perfect supplement.

"Who entered without invitation, to actually dare intrude upon the River Viewing Pavilion. How thick your cheek." Yuan Zhen sneered.

Everyone was startled and turned their gazes at the same time.

A young woman walked out from the door. That girl had icy skin and jade bones, fresh and clean, cultured and sophisticated.

Her azure eyes seemed to gather the spiritual power from all of Star World's oceans, giving them a feeling of boundlessness. She had walked in from the door and made a couplet. She was clearly very close yet unreachable and unapproachable.

"Ha, ha, none of the banquets in Qu Yuan City honestly interest me, not even your ‘River Viewing Four Heroes…'" The girl laughed. She was unquestionably scornful, her words very inevitable and right, giving people the feeling this was only logical.

Even the more prideful spiritual power Star Generals had no choice but to acknowledge her words.

Indeed.

She was "Peerless Star Hero" Su Shi.

Star World's current most famous spiritual power Star General, and close friend of the Central Star Field's master, "Dream In A Millennium."

"Oh, I am so sorry, I stole your thunder, Chen Mo."

Su Shi happily shrugged, her smile sweet and alluring.

"As expected of the Star Hero, this couplet truly is the best." Liu Yuxi voiced her praise.

Everyone was impressed, and she instantly upstaged Chen Mo completely.

"Peerless Star Hero, welcome, your presence brings light to my humble home. Please join us in the seat of honor." Meng Jing rose. 

"This Elder Sister need not be so deferential. I did not come here at all to interact with you." Su Wanyang held her hands behind her back as she strolled confidently about. "There were steles outside, and on those steles were characters. Presumably, they were the works of you River Viewing Four Heroes?"

"Precisely. Does Your Distinguished Self Su Shi have any pointers?"

Su Shi was currently a towering figure no one dared approach in the Literary Excellence Convention, a powerful candidate for the Hundred Sages Simultaneously Shout. Hearing she was about to evaluate their work, Meng Jiao and the others listened respectfully and very earnestly. Even the others were very curious to personally see what capabilities this Peerless Star Hero had.

"No pointers, though I actually had inspiration for a Realm."

Su Wanyang walked into the center of the banquet hall. She gestured in empty space, and a jade pot and wine cup floated in front of the girl. Sparkling amber wine was poured in midair, its fragrance spreading all around, comfortably spreading through the hall.

Chen Mo was not sure what stunt she was pulling and listened with rapt attention.

As she drank the wine, she said: "Oh, Ziyu, beauty of the southern kingdom. Quite bright of culture, a reputation from youth…Frivolous Yuan, unsophisticated Bai, cold Jiao, unproductive Dao. A clear cry, everyone's work is humble…Sing this poem of libation, a goblet I offer to you!!"

This eulogy-like poem startled everyone.

The eight words "reckless Yuan, unsophisticated Bai, cold Jiao, unproductive Dao" made Yuan Zhen and the others change expressions.

"Hm?" Su Wanyang's eyes were slightly aglow: "As long as you understand."

"Su Shi, what is the meaning of this." One Cup Accomplished Yuan Zhen rose to her feet and berated her. She admired this Star Hero's talent, but she nevertheless did not fear her power. "Do you feel there is not one good point about us sisters?"

"Yuan Zhen, your ‘Meeting True Poems Thirty Rhymes' is too gaudy, simply frivolous and careless. Bai Juyi's is not bad, yet she is too average and dull. Hm…Meng Jiao and Jia Dao are quaint and bleak, austere and desolate, shattered to pieces. Furthermore, you agonize too much, forge sentences with a hammer, temper yourself with cold, hard, feelings."

Su Shi spoke voluminously, naturally and unrestrained, pointing out critical details.

Between the four sisters, Yuan Zhen was infuriated while Meng Jiao and Jia Dao showed displeasure. To be criticized by someone else, this was an embarrassment even if they were magnanimous of face. Poetry Realm criticized by others was not worth a mention.

"Little Sister, Confucianism has the doctrine of the mean. If you can make something unsophisticated that everyone in the world can understand, that isn't a bad thing at all." Chen Mo said. The youngest Bai Juyi had yet to experience the world's changes, but hearing his words, she pondered upon them.

"I actually want to see what Realm you have that you can suppress us, Shi Shi!"

Yuan Zhi cursed. She leapt forth, her fingernail pointing at the girl's forehead.

At the same time, the unresigned Meng Jiao and Jia Dao leapt forth. Bai Qingyu watched her three sisters make their moves. She could not possibly stand by and watch, so she also pointed a finger.

The four sisters' fingers contained their Poetry Realm mastery. Withered, haggard, desolate, thin qi pounced towards Su Shi.

Their combined powers seemed to form a prison to trap Su Shi. Even a Heavenly Star would find it very difficult to avoid.

"Frivolous Yuan, unsophisticated Bai, cold Jiao, unproductive Dao. I see all of your flaws." Su Wanyang's gaze was like lightning. She pointed her hand and tapped. All air in the world seemed to quell, returning to its original flatness.

Yuan, Bai, Meng, and Jia's Realm instantly broke apart. That dull Realm scattered in all directions, leaving the four of them utterly shaken, their organs flipped around.

"Good tastes in the world are pure joy."

Mi Fu took a deep breath.

"I am not someone who despoils a beautiful scene." Su Shi swept her hand, and a warm wind blew, healing the four sisters' wounds.

Every move she made was unstoppable. Everyone stared dumbstruck.

"This Su Shi is so formidable, the four of them together were unable to break through her."

"En, frivolous Yuan, unsophisticated Bai, cold Jiao, and unproductive Dao!! Ai, she hit the nail on the head, this Realm is too profound." Qin Weiyu also furrowed her brow, feeling powerless. However, as for the pointers they could receive from Su Shi, Qin Weiyu was actually a bit jealous. To be criticized was not a bad thing. Sometimes, it could instead stimulate potential.

"As expected of the Peerless Star Hero, we have lost convincingly." Meng Jiao felt even more frustrated.

Su Wanyang paid her no attention. She tidied her clothes and lifted her gaze: "Your Ode To Chrysanthemums was not bad, Chen Mo. I came to find you this time."

Chen Mo grunted.

"I have a poem with a first stanza but no second. I wonder if you could compose one. Of course, the others are welcome, too." Su Shi said.

A poem's second stanza?

This was a bit novel.¹

"To actually be able to make you, the famous Peerless Star Hero, unable to compose the second stanza, I truly want to hear what this is." Chen Mo said.

Su Shi grunted. She particularly hated this man's smile, damn him.

"Listen well to My first stanza."

The entire place fell silent.

Su Shi spoke.

"A young man's chivalry connects with the five capitals' heroes. No guts. Raised hackles. In discussion. Life and death are the same. A promise worth a thousand gold. Push the outstanding hero. Boast of heroics. Pull down the soft canopy. Take the flailing reins. Reach the old city in Chang'an. Drink up all you want, spring excess and cold vessels. Suck the sea and bend the rainbow. The screeching eagle drives the dog, white feathers pluck the carved bow. A crafty cave is suddenly empty, cheerful in a hurry."²

"Amazing."

"What a strong first stanza."

"As expected of a future Sage Of Poetry."

Everyone was simply in awe.

Su Shi's first stanza vividly depicted a girl coming into acquaintance with heroes in her youth. The opening used the words "chivalry" and "heroes" to establish the mood of the entire poem, mainly of boldness. It was very fitting for Su Shi's Poetry Realm. Then, her words were imposing and majestic, arrogant. The feeling of making friends with grand heroes, the power to devour the mountains and rivers, causing boundless fascination. On the contrary, the last few words of "cheerful in a hurry" were a spontaneous end, like a lingering memory, yet also like a sudden plot twist.

This stanza was sufficient to move the Literary Excellence Convention. If the second stanza completed, then it could possibly be at the level of lasting for a hundred generations.

No wonder Su Shi felt vexed.

Meng Jiao, Jia Dao, and Yuan Zhen looked at each other. Their styles were exactly as Su Shi determined. The Prisoner Of Poetry and Slave Of Poetry were unable to match such a formidable stanza. Furthermore, they perceptively noted that this poem was not very easy to match. The first stanza depicted heroism, and Su Shi already controlled the direction. No matter how the second stanza finished, it would be picking up where the first one ended, a disadvantage.

Chen Mo stared at the girl.

Su Wanyang wore an arrogant grin. As they had thought, a second stanza that conformed and followed was an inevitable loss.

Since this was the case.

"A good poem, I shall make an attempt, pardon my incompetence." Chen Mo brainstormed quickly and thought of the next stanza.

"Allow me to listen to that sorry verse of yours." Su Shi was already certain Chen Mo would lose.

But when she heard the first word of Chen Mo's stanza, the girl's smile completely vanished.

"Like a dream of golden millet. The departing red phoenix. The bright moon together. Overflowing the lone sail. The sinecure serves as the official, bad load. Falling dust covers. A compendium of registers and books. There are as many generals' hats as there are clouds in the sky, used crudely, suddenly with wonderful results. Start at Yuyang, the grieving old man, the uninvited long tassel, they seize heavenly arrogance. Sword roars at the western wind, climb in regret the mountain overlooking the lake, the hand holds the seven strings, watch the departing goose."³

After Chen Mo finished, he looked at the girl.

The River Viewing Pavilion was even more silent. Everyone was speechless, staring at Chen Mo in disbelief.

This second stanza's first phrase "dream of golden millet" made for a dramatic change. The second stanza changed the poet's situation to being trapped in the career of an official, full of gloom, becoming a someone filled with discontent. The sequence of three words and a pause were like a series of enormous waves pointing into the heavens and engulfing the injustice of talents. "Sword roars at the western wind" pushed all grief and intensity towards a furious peak, but what was the point of it all??

The ending three phrases made a return.

The regret turned the snarl into sorrow, where towering ambition was put to use nowhere, and there was no choice but to play the zither, compose poetry, and watch the mountains, rivers, and geese.

Su Shi's first stanza placed the world in her hands, the towering heroic Realm instantly reducing down to a dream of golden millet in Chen Mo's hands, a lie to fool others and oneself. 

"How amazing…"

"This stanza is the work of a god."

"Heavens, a man actually is able to make such an artistic poem, this is too unbelievable.

The banquet cried out.

"Big Brother truly is too formidable." Bai Qingyu's eyes were bright.

Su Shi's expression slightly changed. Was this man a monster? Her poem was originally to ridicule Chen Mo, to obstruct this man's drive, but she did not foresee that Chen Mo would reverse the situation and exploit it, surprisingly turning her lofty heroism to a sorry defeated state.

Could he actually be the reincarnation of Maiden Mountain's Star of Literature.

This was the first time Su Wanyang had been put in a disadvantage by someone else. Although that graceful poem by Liu Yong indeed surpassed her, their styles were different. Su Wanyang paid no attention at all to decadent recitations, but this time, she nevertheless was defeated in Poetry Realm. This was a bit hard to swallow for her.

"Lady Wanyang, since I have composed your second stanza, I just so happened to have a couplet I would like to consult you with. I wonder if perhaps you could." Chen Mo rolled his eyes.

Qin Weiyu knew at a glance that Su Shi was met with misfortune again. However, if it was couplets, this should be an easy victory given the Peerless Star Hero's Realm. That lofty hundred character couplet of the Chongli Pavilion had been easily matched just now, after all.

"Couplet?" Su Wanyang snorted, finally recovering her peacock arrogance.

To her, matching couplets was child's play. Did this man want to bolster himself?

Su Shi would immediately want to slap herself in the face for her naive thinking.

"Right now, no one has been able to match my couplet. I wonder if you could, Wanyang. If you can, surely you can be immortalized in a story passed on for generations." Chen Mo sounded enticing.

"Many apologies. Matching couplets is very easy to Me. Being immortalized like this would never happen at all." Su Shi's words were very bold, so much so that Chen Mo wanted to cheer for her.

"Good, then I will start."

Chen Mo smiled and wrote in the air five characters.

Su Wanyang wanted to die when she saw the five characters.

Willow Pond Locked In Smoke!!

"Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth…The Five Element radicals." The girl was shaken. Indeed, she was the Peerless Star Hero. In a mere instant, she recognized this as an absolute. Even if she were to barely match it, that artistry would absolutely be inferior.

Willow pond locked in smoke was very famous as an absolute. Chen Mo remembered this couplet would appear in any random novel. In terms of artistry, even if one found five element radical characters they, could not form such an artistic image. There was a "clogged town building burned in fog" that barely could, but he was confident that Su Wanyang did not know this at all.

Everyone looked eagerly at Su Shi, hoping she could answer this shocking absolute.

A deep breath.

Su Shi faced Chen Mo. She exhaled and spat out five characters.

I do not like you!!

1. This had better be different from matching couplets. ↩
2. This is the poem, "六州歌頭·少年俠氣," by He Zhu. Pretty abstract, so I just tried my best. ↩
3. From the same poem as above. As with the first stanza, much too profound for me to understand, let alone translate. Seems gibberish to me. ↩