Maiden Galaxy

Mount Hua, north.

A woman gazed into the distance. Her figure was extremely gorgeous, and she wore a green fur coat worth millions of Astral Crystals. This green coat was rumored to have created from the ancient divine bird Green Luan's feathers, supplemented with the green clouds above the primordial Star World's nine firmaments, and refined using ancient starlight; it was precious and beautiful.

Her green hair flowed like a river. Each strand of her hair was wrapped in strings that were half gold and half green. These strings were formed by gathering the light of the sun and moon. They were bright and glittering, called "Heavenly Silk." She wore a Sun And Moon Sky High Empress Crown, a half mask that was like a merciful Buddha. It was forged from the sarira of nine hundred ninety of Buddhism's best cultivators, and it contained the powers of Buddhism.

She also had a phoenix plume, bodhi bracelet and more, every single thing she had was extravagant to the extreme.

Out of nine thousand Star Fields, even the ruler of the Central Star Field, Dream In A Millennium, could not possibly enjoy this kind of luxury.

These Purple Rose Astral Treasures and gorgeous jewelry were very rare in Star World, so much so that they were equivalent to an entire Star Kingdom's worth of power.

Top-notch Star Generals were not very fond of wearing accessories that were unrelated to them. Such conduct would otherwise disturb their Star Energy and inhibit the growth of their Star Name. Very few were dressed as glamorously as this woman. The rings on one finger were worth more than tens of thousands of Astral Crystals.

Across all of Star World, only one person could be so extravagant.

She was none other than.

Wu Zhao was a staunch proponent of glamorous appearances. Although her status as a Star Marquis was due mostly to Li Shimin, she was not resigned to decline. She expended her kingdom's power to purchase for herself an outfit befitting the Xuannü of the Nine Heavens.

Not only did she treat herself this way, the Divine Dragon Star Kingdom that Wu Zhao ruled also had an appellation, "one kingdom, two beauties, five generals." This appellation was precisely to correspond to the Central Star Field's "two stars, four lords, ten permanent functionaries." 

Wu Zhao stood on the mountain. Upon careful inspection, one would find her barefoot. Her feet were not touching the ground, however. Rather, they hovered above it.

"Zhu Xi already ordered the destruction of Mount Hua. Fu Jian and Yang Guang have already started. Wan'er, have Guo Ziyi hurry and finish our preparations!" Wu Zhao tyrannically ordered.

One of the Divine Dragon Star Kingdom's Two Beauties, "Jade Hairpin Flower God" Shangguan Wan'er, turned her head back and grunted.

On Wu Zhao's right, the other Beauty, "Princess Taiping" Li Lingyue, very unhappily said: "My Goddess, that Guo Ziyi completely ignores you. At such a crucial juncture, she is actually still gorging herself on food and drink. She says she refuses to go to battle without a full belly. Hmph, how could Elder Sister Liangyi send such a good-for-nothing fathead."

"Lingyue, do not be impudent." Wu Zhao growled. She turned her head back to look at a golden Divine Dragon Tent behind her.

"This God Of War Made Duke is very fond of eating, so let her eat her fill. Do not offend her. Even in the Heavenly Tang Star Kingdom, she is also an influential character." Wu Zhao still knew some things. 

"Her power was unparalleled, but the court did not suspect her. Her achievements were greater than anyone else's, but her master did not doubt her." This evaluation described the Heavenly Tang's number one character.

"Yaa, Goddess, you say this, but Ziyi is a bit sorry to offend you, Princess Of Treasures."

A charming voice came from behind.

Wu Zhao did not turn her head. She stared back into the distance, a smirk on her face.

Li Lingyue turned to look and was startled. God Of War Made Duke Guo Ziyi had appeared behind her at some point in time.

God Of War Made Duke was a girl about eighteen or nineteen years old in appearance. She wore canary-like ancient scented clothes and a silken jacket with exquisite buttons. Black gauze was faintly visible on her shoulders. Her upper body's hem was clearly layered, half-covering the fork of her legs, and there was a bird tail-like train behind her butt.

Her patterned gloves reached past her elbows, and her shins wore translucent black silken boots.

She wore odd and scented clothing matching those dark gold eyes of hers, brimming with a hidden appeal. Compared to the blindingly gorgeous Wu Zhao, the girl's clothes were very plain, but she nevertheless appeared to be more peerless in beauty compared to Wu Zhao.

"Lady Ziyi!" Li Lingyue lowered head and quivered.

At any rate, Guo Ziyi was a glutton, happy to chow down on food. She did not bother with nasty words others said behind her back.

"The strongest of the Holy Goddess' ‘Fiver Generals,' the ‘Five Wives,' seems to be only True Phoenix Eighth Stage. To have them go help the Goddess attack Mount Hua, the only thing eliminated would be your own standing. Goddess is quite reasonable." The girl smiled. She skipped about, her skirt fluttering like tail feathers.

The "Five Generals" behind Wu Zhao hung their heads in embarrassment, not daring to make a retort.

"Ziyi, since you are full, we should face Mount Hua. This feat of destroying Mount Hua cannot be yielded to the others." Wu Zhao smiled.

"Feat?" Guo Ziyi was a bit distended: "If not for Liangyi's orders, Ziyi has no wish to destroy Mount Hua at all. Mount Hua is the root of Daoism. This clearly is a move in Dong Zhongshu's plan to dismiss the Hundred Schools and revere only Confucianism. This only conveniences her."

God Of War Made Duke's words were very clear, but to a Star General who wanted to seize achievements, this was meaningless. Perhaps only Star Generals who stood at the top would ponder this issue.

"But…I should exercise a bit after eating." Guo Ziyi's smile was like a flower. She stretched her arms and puffed out her chest. The girl's breasts were like tender shoots jutting from the earth, erect and perky. Taiping Princess lowered her head to look at her own flat chest. Upon seeing her feet below her "great flatness,"² her heart was honestly envious.

On what basis was this girl's strength top-notch, and how were her breasts so huge. Not even the Holy Divine Goddess could compare to that curvaceous figure.

Goddammit.

"We will do everything to assist you." Wu Zhao nodded.

Guo Ziyi watched for a moment longer, "It is not yet time to take action. I can eat another ten plates of ‘Phoenix Heart and Dragon Eye.'"

Wu Zhao was speechless.

How did this girl not get fat??

…

After entering the Ten Thousand Sages Hall, Chen Mo spotted an enormous divine pillar pointed straight at the sages' platform in the sky. This divine pillar was unfathomable. He could not see the end of it, and the fish scale patterns were layered like clouds. It was like the backbone propping up the Ten Thousand Sages Hall. 

Having only just entered, Chen Mo could already sense a vast, ancient sagely air permeate his entire body. The Literary Excellence Jade Pendant's light gradually paled from its purple color. 

When the jade pendant reverted to its true white, that would be the end.

"Junior Brother Chen Mo, do not relay. The sooner you enter the sage terrace, the better your advantage." Huang Yuheng reminded him.

Su Wanyang entered and moved towards the highest level of the sage terrace.

And the further upward one moved, the stronger the sages' air. This air was all the Ten Thousand Sages Hall's trial. At the end, Star Generals could gain the aspirations of the sages, and the closer the aspirations they received were to their own selves, the better they could achieve Hundred Sages Simultaneous Shout at the highest terrace.

There were many arched gateways leading to the top, "ballad," "calligraphy," "verse," "chess," "guqin," "painting," and other fields that represented different spiritual power Star Generals.

There was a time limit to the Ten Thousand Sages Hall. Spiritual power Star Generals and cultivators would always choose what they were most adept in to seize even more of the sages' power.

Su Shi undoubtedly chose verse first. Liu Fengxi also went to verse while Huang Yuheng went to ballads.

Chen Mo went to chess.

Very quickly, he sensed the first sage's power.

Warping lines appeared in midair, crisscrossing, forming a square.

A yellow-clothed girl appeared opposite him.

The girl's face was plain, her expression calm as a dry well.

"This Sage knew you would choose chess."

"I heard Xian'er mention the fame of the Sage Of Chess. Today, I specially came to learn. Please teach me, Senior." Chen Mo deferentially replied.

The woman in front of him was one of the Seven Sages Of The Bamboo Grove, "Sage Of Chess" Huang Longshi.

Chen Mo's chess at Mount Hua with Chen Tuan underwent rigorous exchange and massively improved. Add on that experience from his previous life, Chen Mo was confident for this battle.

As expected.

When Chen Mo placed the third piece on the "3-5 point," Huang Longshi was quite taken aback.

She had never seen such a move in all her life playing chess.

"Chess Fellow, this move…How unpredictable." Huang Longshi was worthy of being called the Sage Of Chess. She already saw the variations in the following hundred moves.

In truth, Chen Mo's move in modern chess language was called, "large slant joseki of thousand variations," known as one of chess' most complex, large-scale joseki. The main idea was to target the star point or the 3-4 points lower slant to then make a large knight's move to capture a piece. The slightest bit of carelessness would lead to a fierce battle.

Huang Longshi pondered a while. As the Sage Of Chess, she could not possibly ponder for too long. She pointed a finger.

Her piece moved through the lines in space.

Huang Longshi's moves were very conservative, giving each piece and abundance of thought. Even the large slant joseki was somewhat unable to expand. Indeed, her experience was abundant. However, the variations of the large slant joseki were countless. Among them, there was even a "magic sword" sequence.

Star after star was embedded into the board.

On the one hundred and seventieth move, Huang Longshi slightly grinned. A bright star suddenly entered the board.

"Ah…" Chen Mo looked and was astonished.

Huang Longshi had surprisingly created a "ko fight." The Sage Of Chess had already seen through that the large slant joseki's myriad follow-ups were very disadvantageous to herself. In order to win, she needed to strike first, to turn variation into variation. In chess, a ko fight could be said to be a spectacle of every description, of unfathomable changes.

With this ko fight on the board, the situation seemed to suddenly change.

This situation was a bit difficult to play through. Chen Mo wrinkled his brow and muttered to himself, thinking that he could not fight this ko, or he would fail at the end for lack of effort. He chose to avoid this fight and did not care for this ko.

Three hundred moves later, Sage Of Chess Huang Longshi relied on her formidable experience and wisdom to unexpectedly turn the complex large slant joseki into a "ko fight" to check him. Chen Mo lost by a move.

With this game done, Chen Mo was covered in perspiration. He felt that he had experienced a lifetime. He saw that the light of the Literary Excellence Jade Pendant was beginning to become much more faded.

"Not bad, not bad. Chess Fellow can last three hundred moves with This Sage. I am endlessly impressed." Huang Longshi gave him a very high evaluation.

"Senior is strong indeed. Your Servant must study harder."

"I shall allow you a three stone handicap…There are still nine games." Huang Longshi faintly grinned. The chess board cleared, and space became a lake. Under a willow tree, there was a stone table, benches, and a chessboard. The woman sat across from him and beckoned Chen Mo over.

Their earnest exchange had only just begun.

This made Chen Mo recall the Ten Games of Dang Lake, one of the most famous games in Chinese chess history. Huang Longshi imposed a three stone handicap on himself on a set of ten games with his apprentice, Xu Xingyou. The ten games were filled with blood and tears, but after this, Xu Xingyou's chess strength greatly improved as a result, and he became the next Sage Of Chess.

Chen Mo sat down and took a deep breath, activating the Bodhi Soul Technique.

"YOu need not use a soul technique. All you need use is your mind." Huang Longshi.

"Alright." As she said, Chen Mo put all of his attention on the game.

"3-3 star tengen" start.

Outstanding beyond compare.

…

"…I will draw the bow as round as the moon, aim to the northwest, and shoot the Sirius!!!"

Su Wanyang's delicate hands seemed to draw a bow, shooting two stars into the sky, depicting a poetic state of boundless desolation. In the sky, the Sirius star howled like a Demon Beast and scattered like ash.

This minor trial was honestly too boring.

Su Wanyang pursed her lips.

"As expected of the Peerless Star Hero. Your Poetry Realm is overbearing without equal, impressive, impressive. What a line, ‘aim to the northwest, and shoot the Sirius…'" A voice came from behind her. Su Shi threw her counterpart a glance, her black hair fluttering.

In her eyes, there was suddenly a glittering gold dragon. Its claw reached over, grabbing straight at the girl's head.

Earth Rank: Golden Dragon Grab!

1. 天照星'聖神娘娘'武曌 ↩
2. 平 = great peace, but it can also mean "flat." ↩