Stellar Transformations Book 1 Read online

  Stellar Transformations

  By I Eat Tomatoes

  Translation by He-Man

  http://www.spcnet.tv/forums/showthread.php/37833-Stellar-Transformations#.Uld8E1BONqY

  Stellar Transformations

  Introduction by He-Man (translator)

  Glossary

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 1: Qin Yu

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 2: Resolution

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 3: Midnight Discussion

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 4: Father and Son

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 5: Secret books on practicing

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 6: The only choice

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 7: Master selection

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 8: Zhao Yunxing

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 9: The essentials

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 10: Limit training (1)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 11: Limit training (2)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 12: Aurora (1)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 13: Aurora (2)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 14: High-speed transformations (1)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 15: High-speed transformations (2)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 16: High-speed transformations (3)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 17: The Yuchang sword

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 18: First kills of fury (1)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 19: First kills of fury (2)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 20: Life or death (1)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 21: Life or death (2)

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 22: Life or death (3)

  Introduction by He-Man (translator)

  - Name: Stellar Transformations (星辰变 -- Xingchenbian)

  - Genre: Web fanta-xia, i.e. stories about fantastical and chivalrous events which are written and distributed via the Internet. (The actual Chinese term for the genre is Xianxia 仙侠, which has no equivalent in English and literally means chivalrous stories about people who practice to become immortal beings.)

  - Author: I Eat Tomatoes (我吃西红柿) -- one of the hotshots of the fantasy genre in China.

  - Synopsis: In a galaxy far away, there is a kid with an innate inability to practice internal techniques. In order to gain the respect of his father, he resolutely chooses to follow the more difficult and painful path of practicing external techniques. As the years go by, he grows up, but what really changes his life is a mysterious meteoric crystal stone -- the Meteoric Tear. This stone fuses with the young man’s body unnoticed, and he seems to undergo drastic transformations as a result. After that, everything is changed. Eventually his father knows that the son for whom he hasn’t really shown a lot of consideration possesses astonishing abilities. And there’s a lot more to come.

  - Trivia: This fiction was made into a popular MMORPG with the same name in China and has spawned a bunch of copycats.

  - Length: 18 books, for a total of 680 chapters (book1 22 chapters; b2 24 chaps; b3 24 chaps; b4 27 chaps; b5 34 chaps; b6 16 chaps; b7 16 chaps; b8 16 chaps; b9 15 chaps; b10 48 chaps; b11 68 chaps; b12 70 chaps; b13 47 chaps; b14 64 chaps; b15 48 chaps; b16 64 chaps; b17 32 chaps; b18 45 chaps.)

  I choose to translate this novel into English because I’ve got really bored with traditional wuxia fictions; furthermore the plot is fast-paced and incorporated some wacky stuff from Western sci-fi and cosmology, which happens to be my favorite subject, into Chinese wuxia.

  It’s been quite some time since I used English on a regular basis so you will possibly find quite a few weird phrases, made-up words and grammatical errors in my translation. Please bear with them. There are also terms which will be left in pinyin and explained in a separate glossary post because they would sound plain silly if translated. Feel free to tell me if you have better choices.

  Although this is a lengthy novel, its chapters are pretty short and the wording is FAR LESS complicated and polished than that of Jinyong novels, so I think anyone with above average English and Chinese skills can translate it without much difficulty. If you want to translate any chapters, you’re welcome to jump on board. If you don’t have the original or don’t like to read it on Chinese websites, I can email it to you too. Just send me a message. The more the merrier.

  Ok, enough with the intro. It's time I got started. Hopefully I can finish 1 chapter or 2 today or by tomorrow.

  - Chinese text: http://xingchenbian.lsxiaoshuo.com/

  Glossary

  *** C ***

  - Cun: 寸 -- unit of length in the story, ~ 3.33 cm.

  *** D ***

  - Da: 大 -- big -- friendly way to call someone older and close to you. For example: Da Shan

  - Dacheng stage: 大成期 -- basically means the stage of completeness. The final stage, it’s after the Dujie stage.

  - Dongxu stage: 洞虚期 -- basically means the stage of hollowness. It’s between the Yuanying stage and the Kongming stage.

  - Dantian: 丹田 -- the energy center of a person.

  - Dujie stage: 渡劫期 -- basically means the stage of overcoming tribulation. It’s between the Kongming stage and the Dacheng stage.

  *** H ***

  - Houtian: 后天 -- Post-Heaven, i.e. something that is not innate.

  *** J ***

  - Jin: 斤 -- unit of mass in the story, ~ 0.6 kg.

  - Jindan: 金丹 -- solidified internal energy in the form of a compact golden ball, representing a high level of martial arts, vital to the practitioner. This is a Taoist term, literally meaning Golden Ball.

  - Jindan-stage: the stage at which a practitioner’s entire internal energy is condensed and solidified into a jindan.

  *** K ***

  - Kongming stage: 空冥期 -- basically means the stage of void and darkness. It’s between the Dongxu stage and the Dujie stage.

  *** L ***

  - Li: 里 -- unit of length in the story, ~ 0.6 km.

  - Liang: 两 -- unit of mass in the story, perhaps ~ 50 g.

  - Liu Xing -- 流星 -- Qin Yu's fake name, which literally means Meteor.

  - Loose Immortal: 散仙 -- basically means a wandering, free immortal. In this story it means a person who keeps practicing using their yuanying without their physical body after the body has been destroyed by a tribulation.

  *** N ***

  - Neidan: 内丹 -- literally means an internal ball. This is a variant of the jindan, formed by animals which practice the Xiuyao way.

  *** Q ***

  - Qian Long continent: 潜龙大陆 -- literally means the Hidden Dragon continent.

  - Qi Men Dun Jia: 奇门遁甲 -- roughly means The Mysterious Gates Escaping Technique -- an ancient Chinese metaphysical art. (You only need to know that much. But if someone feels interested in it then here's the wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_Men_Dun_Jia)

  - Qin Yu: 秦羽 -- Qin as in Qin Shi Huang; Yu as in Guan Yu -- main protagonist; also called endearingly Yu'er or Xiao Yu.

  *** S ***

  - Samadhi flame: 三昧真火 -- a term half borrowed from Buddhism; literally means the true flame of meditative concentration.

  - Shangxian: 上仙 -- literally means a superior immortal being.

  - Small Round: 小周天 -- xiaozhoutian -- an important path for energy circulation in Qigong.

  *** X ***

  - Xian: 仙 -- immortal beings, or related to them, or supposed to be related to them.

  - Xiantian: 先天 -- Pre-Heaven, i.e. something that is innate.

  - Xiao Hei: 小黑 -- literally means Little Black, Qin Yu's black eagle and a secondary protagonist.

  - Xiumo: 修魔 -- basically means practice to become a devil -- the supposedly evil way of Xiuzhen, kind of similar to the Dark Side of the Force.

  - Xiuxianist: 修仙者 -- people who practice martial arts to become immortal beings. They are mostly based on Taoists. You can think that they are Taoists on steroi
ds.

  - Xiuyao: 修妖 -- basically means practice to become a demon -- the animal way of Xiuzhen, used exclusively by self-aware animals.

  - Xiuzhen: 修真 -- roughly means pursuing universal truths through practicing martial arts.

  - Xiuzhenist: 修真者 -- roughly means a person who pursues universal truths through practicing martial arts. It is a much broader term than Xiuxianist but oftentimes they are used interchangeably.

  *** Y ***

  - Yuanying: 元婴 -- literally means the child of essence; a vital, solid body of internal energy in the dantian which looks exactly like a miniature version of the practitioner; when a jindan’s energy reaches a certain level in both quality and quantity, it will transform into a yuanying.

  - Yuanying-stage: the stage at which a practitioner’s entire internal energy forms a yuanying.

  *** Z ***

  - Zhang: 丈 -- unit of length in the story, ~ 3.33 m.

  BOOK 1 CHAPTER 1: Qin Yu

  It is a day in the winter. After heavy snows, the whole Yan City seems to be covered in a silvery coat. A very large city, Yan City can accommodate several million people, and so the mansion of the person who is in charge of the 3 counties comprising the Eastern region -- ‘East Vanquishing Prince’ Qin De -- is located in the city.

  The East Vanquishing Prince mansion occupies an extremely large area with its main entrance kept open all the time. The main entrance is also very large, enough for 6 or 7 people to enter at the same time.

  Moreover, two bare-chested vigorous men who are about 2 meters tall and look as if they are carved from rock are standing on the left and right hand sides of the entrance with their eyes coldly glancing at the crowds of passersby. Each of them is carrying a huge blood-red battle knife on his muscular tiger-like back. At first sight, the knives are at least 1.5 m long.

  It is a winter day, the ground is totally covered by snowflakes, the temperature is frighteningly low and even the rivers have frozen, yet these 2 men are bare-chested.

  Nevertheless this is not the most shocking thing. What is even more frightening is that there is a ferocious tiger standing beside each of them.

  The tigers are red like flame from top to toe and are about 2 m long. Every time they sweep their iron-whip-like tails, they cause the air to tremble. Their eyes radiate cold rays of light. These tigers are called ‘Fierce Tigers.’

  Suddenly, 2 men walk out from the East Vanquishing Prince mansion. They are also bare-chested and leading a fierce tiger each. They have come to change shifts with the other two.

  Outside of the mansion, people all wittingly bypass it whether they are members of powerful families, aristocrats or commoners in Yan City.

  In a secluded courtyard in the East Vanquishing Prince mansion, a middle-aged man dressed in green is sitting on a stone bench. A lovely boy is sitting on his legs. 12 people are standing in front of him. These 12 people are either old men or beautiful women or young men, but they have one thing in common -- they are all dressed in purple.

  ‘Father, what have you called up so many teachers for?’ asks Qin Yu, who is just 6 years old and is sitting on his father’s thighs. Idly kneading a snowball in his hands, he looks at his father Qin De with doubtful eyes.

  Qin De caresses Qin Yu’s head lovingly then looks up and turns to the 12 people. He suddenly says: ‘You have taught Yu’er for some time. All right, don’t be hesitant. Let me know if you have any judgments.’

  The 12 people look at each other. Then a white-bearded man takes a step forward. ‘Your Highness,’ says he, ‘having observed Third Prince from every aspect, we see that Third Prince has some interest in unconventional skills, but has absolutely no interest in such matters as the way of ruling. According to our judgments, it is impossible for Third Prince to become a perfect ruler.’

  It seems a bit subjective for them to make such an assertion after having stayed in contact with the boy for only several days, but Qin De has no doubts nonetheless.

  He gives a deep sigh, looks at unwitting Qin Yu and says with a forced smile: ‘I see. Yu’er is like his mother. He has no interest in worldly power. But in terms of practicing martial arts he is…’

  Saying up to here, Qin De suddenly stops. He then waves his hand and says: ‘This period of time must have been troublesome for you. You all can now leave the mansion.’

  ‘Your Highness, we take our leave!’

  The 12 people bow in unison then leave the secluded little courtyard in turn.

  Now there are only Qin De and his son Qin Yu in the courtyard. Qin De remains silent. After a while, he looks at Qin Yu with meaningful eyes. Anyway, 6-year-old Qin Yu is still unable to understand the meaning of this.

  ‘What’s the matter with father? Why isn’t he talking?’ wonders he. But he is very clever so he does not disturb his father. Having been without his mother since he was very little, in his heart father is the most important person in addition to his 2 older brothers.

  After some time, Qin De is still sitting. Qin Yu has been sitting quietly on his father’s thighs all along.

  Suddenly a cry of a crane rises.

  A white Xian crane is flying towards them. On the Xian crane is sitting a handsome middle-aged man with an elegant, lofty demeanor. The Xian crane takes only a short while to arrive at the courtyard.

  As soon as he sees this middle-aged man, Qin De stands up and asks hurriedly: ‘Brother Feng, there’s something wrong about Yu’er’s dantian. I wonder if you can think of…’

  Seeing Qin De like that, Fengyuzi naturally knows what is wrong with his good friend. He only sighs and says: ‘As I said earlier, there’s absolutely no hope of success for Yu’er in practicing martial arts, Your Highness. His very strange dantian can’t accumulate internal energy so of course he can’t practice martial arts. This kind of dantian is innate and there’s not even a chance of finding it in millions upon millions of people. So I have no solution either.’

  Hearing this outcome, Qin De slowly sits down and contemplates for a long time.

  ‘Father, what is internal energy? Why can’t my dantian accumulate internal energy? Just now those teachers also talked about a ruler or something. What did they mean?’ asks 6-year-old, wide-eyed Qin Yu doubtfully.

  He remembers what was said not long ago clearly.

  Qin De smiles bitterly inside, but he still soothes Qin Yu: ‘Yu’er, don’t ask too much. You dislike studying this and that, and want to go to Misty Villa, don’t you?’

  Qin Yu’s eyes immediately shine with excitement, looking like bright stars in the night sky. He says: ‘Ah, so I don’t have to study those boring books anymore? Misty Villa, I love the hot spring, love looking up at the stars, and love watching the sun rise.’

  Qin De smiles: ‘Alright, alright, alright, Yu’er, if you like, I’m going to give you Misty Villa. There’re also 1000 crack soldiers who will be yours to command. If you want something, just tell your father directly.’

  ‘Ah hah, this is awesome. Wow, Misty Villa is mine now. I’ll be able to soak in the hot spring every day. It’s going to feel very good,’ says Qin Yu. His cheeks are red with excitement.

  The smile on Qin De’s face is totally forced but Qin Yu still does not notice anything unusual.

  ‘It’s good that you like it. Yu’er, you should get some sleep first. Whenever you want to go to Misty Villa, you only need to tell your Grandpa Lian,’ smiles Qin De while tapping Qin Yu on the head.

  ‘Goodbye Father. Goodbye Uncle Feng.’ Qin Yu waves his hands then goes to his room.

  Qin De smiles and watches Qin Yu enter the room. His face then suddenly hardens. With a shake of his body, he seems to turn into a wisp of green smoke and disappears from the courtyard. Fengyuzi also disappears after him gracefully like a floating cotton fiber.

  …

  In a secret room of the princely mansion, there are 3 people at the moment -- Qin De, Fengyuzi and a scholar who is dressed in black and holding a folding fan.

  ‘Your Highness, you have r
eally made the decision?’ The black-dressed scholar looks at Qin De and asks him doubtfully.

  Qin De nods: ‘Since Yu’er can’t become a leader or an expert of the Xiantian level, it is better if he doesn’t take part in this. That strange dantian of his, alas, perhaps the only thing I can give him is 10 odd years of happiness and quietude. When the time comes for us to put my plan into action, Yu’er won’t be able to have a peaceful day either.’

  Fengyuzi thinks for a while then decides to speak out.

  ‘Your Highness, must this plan of yours be executed? You should know what consequences that plan will bring about once it’s carried out, should you not?’ asks Fengyuzi once again.

  Qin De’s face hardens immediately. His eyes flash with cold lights. He says: ‘It doesn’t matter if it is for the ancestors of the Qin clan or for Jing Yi, this plan must be carried out. Jing Yi left me 3 sons, although there’s something wrong with Yu’er dantian. But Feng’er and Zheng’er are good at martial arts and literature respectively, enough to make this matter of importance successful. Xu Yuan, has the first move ‘Shadowy Chess’ been started?’

  The black-dressed scholar Xu Yuan waves his fan a couple of times then folds it and says with a smile: ‘Don’t worry, Your Highness. I have everything in the palm of my hand.’