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Chapter 229. Nüwa Mends the Heavens (2) The Fall of the Purple Star[1]紫薇星 (Zǐwēi xīng) – In Chinese astronomy, this refers to the Polaris (North Star) or the “Purple Forbidden Star”, historically symbolizing the emperor or a figure of great … Continue reading
The white-haired, youthful-faced woman didn’t seem surprised by Ye•the newly appointed Nuwa•Mo’s hesitation. She maintained a kind smile, giving her ample time to think.
The other onlookers gathered in the wilderness, no matter how dissatisfied they felt, dared not make a commotion and remained standing quietly in place.
Seeing this scene, Ye Mo decided not to rush into answering. Instead, she quickly began assimilating the memories of the body she now inhabited. Since Nuwa was already over three hundred years old, the fragments of memory were extensive, and it took quite some time to sort through them all.
Modern biological research has shown that the genes on the additional X chromosome in females are more dominant than those on the Y chromosome.
This doesn’t mean women are inherently stronger than men, but rather that women have a higher likelihood of awakening physical-based supernatural abilities, while men have a greater chance of awakening bone-based supernatural abilities.
During the mythological era, when the Earth was rich with spiritual energy, women’s overall strength surpassed that of men. Many tribal leaders were female, and there were countless powerful goddesses.
A 300-year-old Nuwa could hardly be considered a powerhouse. She was simply fortunate to have been born into the strongest tribe—the Yanzi Tribe, led by Yanzi herself.
Yanzi, also known as the Weaver Girl[2]Zhi Nü the Weaver Girl (from the famous Cowherd and Weaver Girl love story) may have origins in Yanzi.
– She symbolizes mastery over weaving, stars (Vega in Lyra), and cosmic order. or the Mysterious Lady.[3]Xuan Nü , a goddess of war, strategy, and esoteric knowledge (like helping the Yellow Emperor defeat Chi You).
– Xuannü is a patron of martial arts, magic, and shamanic practices.
The stars in the night sky are in constant motion. Currently, the brightest star in the heavens is not Polaris (α Ursae Minoris) of the 21st century, but Vega, named after Yanzi.
Because the Yanzi Tribe was the most powerful in this world, Vega is also called the Ziwei Star (紫薇星). Here, “Zi” (紫, purple) carries the meaning of “Xuan” (玄, mysterious/profound), so the Ziwei Palace refers to the Temple of the Mysterious Lady (玄女宮) or the Palace of the Weaver Girl (織女宮). Later generations of emperors borrowed the supreme status of the Ziwei Star to symbolize their own imperial authority.
Nüwa was fortunate to be born into such a pinnacle tribe of powerful beings. Her ancestral surname was Fēng (风), shared by all of the Yanzī tribe, while ‘Nüwa’ was her clan designation Shì(氏). Thus, she could also be called Nüwa-shi (女娲氏).
This was a clan-based society, where the clan name Shì(氏) held the highest importance, followed by the name Xìng(姓). [4]TL note: I don’t know if I translated these 2 paragraphs correctly, because this text is quite confusing for me. So I asked AI for help with this , In ancient Chinese naming conventions, the … Continue reading
As for personal names, they weren’t self-bestowed, rather, they were titles given by others once someone became famous. Examples include Weaver Girl (Zhi Nü/织女), Mysterious Lady (Xuan Nü/玄女), and Ziwei Star (紫薇星).
With Yanzi, the Zhi Nü, watching over them, the Yanzi Tribe lived without worries, carefree and content. In Nuwa’s memories, her 300 years of life had been blissfully naive, like a carefree young girl whose greatest joy was sneaking out of the tribe to play.
Despite Nuwa’s extraordinary innate talents, being one of the rare individuals with perfectly balanced Five Elements, which allowed her cultivation to advance without spiritual imbalances and even awakening the bloodline of the Ancient Azure Dragon, making her uniquely blessed by heaven…
She never took her studies seriously. She was a bit like Huang Rong from wuxia novels[5]The Legend of the Condor Heroes, she skilled in many areas but a master of none, far from reaching the heights of someone like Huang Yaoshi.
Meanwhile, Ye Mo, who trained diligently day and night but, due to lack of resources, opportunity, and strength, remained as weak as the young Nuwa: “…Lemon fruits under the lemon tree.”[6]Lemon Tree” Meme– Adapted from the Chinese internet phrase “柠檬树下柠檬果” (envious over someone’s luck).
There were many people in the Yanzhi tribe like Nüwa; some were better than her, some were worse. Everyone had developed a severe dependence on Zhi Nü.
Zhi Nü Yanzhi had lived for over 22,000 years, almost since the dawn of human life. All the people of the Yanzhi tribe believed she could live as long as the heavens themselves.
However, things didn’t go as planned. Zhi Nü actually fell, perishing with a group of monsters and demons that appeared out of nowhere, leaving not a single word behind.
The entire Yanzhi tribe was stunned.
Meanwhile, the leaders of other tribes—such as the Suiren, Leize, Dongyi, and Yinyou clans, and even the Shennong, Xihe, and Changxi clans, who had gradually grown stronger over the past millennium, were eyeing the Yanzhi tribe’s status and resources with covetous gazes.
The Yanzhi tribe finally stopped grieving. They had to choose a new leader to guide the tribe through these difficulties and back to glory.
Before Nüwa volunteered to be the leader, the Yanzhi tribe had already had five previous leaders. However, the combined reign of these five leaders didn’t exceed 30 years. All of them met tragic ends at the hands of other tribal leaders, some even by joint assassination.
As for questions of moral boundaries, those who mocked the Yanzhi tribe or gloated would retort: “Isn’t the Ziwei Star the strongest in the world? Zhi Nü Yanzhi could take on all tribal leaders alone, but you can’t?”
When the wall collapses, everyone pushes it. When the drum breaks, ten thousand fists pound it.
Moreover, the Yanzi Tribe had indeed grown arrogant and greedy, hoarding resources recklessly, making them an easy target for ridicule and attacks.
Actually, the Yanzhi tribe wasn’t particularly weak. They had strong members and some deep reserves; they could at least rank among the top five in this world. However, this was a far cry from when Zhi Nü was around. Zhi Nü Yanzhi alone possessed the strength of ten thousand strong individuals.
The Yanzhi tribe was searching for their next leader. Due to insufficient personal strength, fear of death, or an inability to shoulder the responsibility, everyone was in a dilemma. Only Nüwa stepped forward and volunteered herself to Wū zhù (the tribe’s shaman/high priestess).
The current Nüwa is definitely not the strongest in the Yanzhi tribe; her strength is only mid-tier. Therefore, many people thought she was overestimating herself, even scoffing dismissively and openly ridiculing her.
Based on the situation in the “Irish Town II” dungeon, Ye Mo suspected the legendary Nuwa might have been… thin-skinned. (Unbelievable, but the memory fragments suggested it was possible.). How did she go from being mediocrity to a Human Emperor on Earth?
Everyone else was laughing, but only the Wū zhù didn’t laugh. After Zhi Nü Yanzhi’s death, the Wū zhù became the person with the highest status in the Yanzhi tribe.
On a side note, Being the highest in status didn’t mean being the strongest. The Wū zhù was a light-attribute mystic, her expertise lay in rituals, astral divination, and combat support spells.
With her authority clearly established, the Wū zhù’s rebuke immediately silenced those who were scoffing. This is the exact situation Ye Mo, the newly-installed Nuwa, witnessed upon entering the dungeon.
‘So before saving the world, do I have to win a tribal power struggle first?’
Ye Mo suppressed these questions, raised her eyes to look at the Wuzhu, her gaze clear and firm, and replied with conviction: “I’m ready. I am willing to be the new leader of the Yanzhi tribe and follow in Zhi Nü’s footsteps to become the second Ziwei Star.”
In that moment, the Wuzhu saw a completely transformed Nuwa. The tribe’s wayward child had matured at last. She laughed heartily, looking up at the sky, repeating “Good” three times.
Immediately after, she clasped her hands together to form a seal and chanted a long incantation. Because she chanted so quickly, many only caught distinct words like “Ziwei Star” and “Yanzhi.”
Following this, two beams of white light shot out in a fan shape from the shaman’s hands, spreading into a circular halo above Ye Mo’s head, enveloping her entirely.
Enveloped in the white light, Ye Mo felt a warm, incredibly comfortable sensation, like a baby safe and warm in its mother’s womb. Her rationality couldn’t control her expression; a joyful smile unconsciously spread across her lips.
What powerful blessing-type light magic! It’s too strong, dozens of times stronger than her own light magic.
At this moment, the Wuzhu motioned for Ye Mo to stand beside her, then solemnly declared to the entire Yanzi Tribe: “Nüwa-shi shall be the seventh chieftain of the Yanzi Tribe.”
This world reveres strength, but tribal societies also place great emphasis on hierarchy. Regardless of their personal feelings, at this moment, they all had to enthusiastically cheer for the new tribal leader.
Their celebration took a dazzling form: under the watchful light of the Ziwei Star in the night sky, they unleashed a spectacular display of spells toward its direction. The more skilled the magic, the greater the passion it conveyed.
What followed was breathtaking.
The Yanzi tribespeople needed no wands, their hands alone wove intricate seals, many chanting silently as vibrant beams of energy shot upward, exploding across the heavens in a riot of color.
Each act outshone the last.
A roaring sea of flames rolled across the sky. Then, an enchanted frost mist sculpted itself into delicate ice carvings of flowers, birds, and beasts. Moments later, hundreds of thousands of blossoms burst into full bloom in midair…
It dwarfed any fireworks display on Earth. The night turned bright as day—no exaggeration as spell light illuminated the darkness.
Suddenly, crackling purple lightning slashed the sky directly above Ye Mo. The thunderclap boomed so close it rattled her bones.
This was no tribute—it was a challenge.
Ye Mo looked at the person casting the lightning spell. It was a woman with beautiful phoenix eyes, about the same age as Nüwa, both over three hundred years old, perhaps with only a twenty or thirty-year difference. She was one of the outstanding talents of the younger generation.
Her clan name was Daiqing, and she too bore the surname Feng.
Daiqing pressed her palms together and bowed toward Ye Mo, a perfunctory gesture of respect for the new chieftain. Yet before and after the motion, her eyes burned with undisguised challenge.
A full of 81 bolts of lightning flashed. In any other Xianxia story, that’d be enough for the protagonist to ascend to immortality!.
If Ye Mo not secretly reinforced herself with a light shield, her already untamed hair would’ve been reduced to a full-blown afro, which would have been truly embarrassing.
With DaiQing’s unruly example set, several more spells were then “performed” over Ye Mo’s head.
Golden spikes. Devil vines. Poisonous springs. Fire dragons. Sandstorms. Tornadoes. Ice arrows. Over a dozen different abilities took turns bombarding her, each more powerful than the last.
A good forty or fifty of these spells were powerful enough that even standing her ground was impossible, let alone dodging. She endured the onslaught, battered but unbroken.
The fact that she wasn’t injured was only thanks to the casters’ ‘restraint’ and their not truly aiming for a kill.
The Wuzhu did not intervene, silently condoning these provocations toward the new leader.
After all, if Nüwa couldn’t even endure this much, how would she face the targeting of tens of thousands of other tribes in the future and embark on the path of a king?
Honestly, the Wuzhu was very satisfied with Nüwa’s calm demeanor in the face of everything. Even when disheveled, she remained composed. Nüwa used to be a spoiled, naive girl, but now, it seemed this girl had truly grown up, become sensible, and matured.
Even if she’s still weak now, it doesn’t matter. When Nüwa was born, she had a human body and a dragon tail, possessed all five elements, and was naturally balanced. This was something that even Zhi Nü Yanzhi was surprised by, she had personally held her and praised her talent.
As long as Nüwa becomes ambitious, her strength will surely catch up. Perhaps she truly can lead the Yanzhi tribe towards another glorious future.
The ambitious new leader, Ye Mo, outwardly composed. But in her heart, she was meticulously jotting down every transgression in her little black book. She couldn’t settle the score now, but they would see about it later!
References
↑1 | 紫薇星 (Zǐwēi xīng) – In Chinese astronomy, this refers to the Polaris (North Star) or the “Purple Forbidden Star”, historically symbolizing the emperor or a figure of great importance. |
---|---|
↑2 | Zhi Nü the Weaver Girl (from the famous Cowherd and Weaver Girl love story) may have origins in Yanzi.
– She symbolizes mastery over weaving, stars (Vega in Lyra), and cosmic order. |
↑3 | Xuan Nü , a goddess of war, strategy, and esoteric knowledge (like helping the Yellow Emperor defeat Chi You).
– Xuannü is a patron of martial arts, magic, and shamanic practices. |
↑4 | TL note: I don’t know if I translated these 2 paragraphs correctly, because this text is quite confusing for me. So I asked AI for help with this ,
In ancient Chinese naming conventions, the term “氏 (shì)” doesn’t exactly mean “clan name” in the same way we think of surnames today. The key is : – “Fēng” = xìng (shared tribal surname). – “Nüwa” = shì (specific clan identifier). – “Nüwa-shi” = A formal way to reference her by clan. |
↑5 | The Legend of the Condor Heroes |
↑6 | Lemon Tree” Meme– Adapted from the Chinese internet phrase “柠檬树下柠檬果” (envious over someone’s luck). |
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AloeVera[Translator]
Aloe there!