Tuesday, May 01, 2018

The Fish's Overflowing Fragrance Chapter 1: Ah Lian


Despite being mentally prepared, Ah Lian was still awestruck as she stood outside the extravagantly magnificent Ninth Heavenly Pavilion Academy which was shrouded in a shimmering glow. Heavenly pavilion indeed! 
di
Boasted to have one of the best scenery throughout the three realms, this academy was once closed off to the rest of the realms, only accepting disciples with innate heavenly talents fated with immortality. 

With the gradual harmonious relationship between the realms, the Ninth Heavenly Pavilion Academy started to recruit disciples from the other realms, even demons. However, even if demons did manage to become disciples, the condition for demons on their path to immortality is harsh and ridden with difficulties and challenges. Also, the number of acceptance each season is limited and only a handful of such disciples are accepted. 

This time the opportunity was given to the smaller places like Lake Dongze, with only two disciples being accepted. 

******

Hailing from Lake Dongze, Ah Lian is a little fish a little over three hundred years’ worth of cultivation experience. Out of all the creatures that live in Lake Dongze, Ah Lian is not the only fish in the lake and definitely not the one with the highest cultivation. When Ah Lian’s best friend, Ah Pang, learned that she was going to apply for the exam, she naturally give her two cents worth of advice and tried to dissuade her from going. “Ah Lian, you have already lived such a comfortable life for so long, why would you want to go to suffer?” 

However, Ah Pang was aware that the little fish Ah Lian was a stubborn creature insistent on her ways. Once she made up her mind, it was impossible to dissuade her. 

Ah Pang is a little freshwater crab with five hundred years of cultivation and Ah Lian’s only friend. They are the perfect pair. Despite her beautiful appearance, Ah Pang is aggressive and not very well liked, while Ah Lian is a timid little thing and rare ventured out, having little friends. 

Well, Ah Lian did have friends… fish friends who were unluckily caught by fishermen and landed on plates for dinner. As time went by, none of her friends survived and a rumor started to spread that Ah Lian was a jinx and misfortune would befall on her friends. She was hurt and decided not to make any more friends, until she encountered Ah Pang trapped between two rocks and was not successful in freeing herself. Ah Lian hesitated, but eventually went to help her and since that day the two of them were as close as real sisters.

After many failed attempts at trying to dissuade Ah Lian, Ah Pang gave up and knew that Ah Lian would only give up when she experienced failure. Unexpectedly, Ah Lian actually managed to get selected! 

Although Ah Lian passed the selection exam, she suffered quite a bit. Once originally a plump white fish, she became a battered fish riddled with injuries. Ah Pang’s heart ached when she saw Ah Lian’s condition, and gave her a good scolding. 

After a month of re-cultivation, Ah Lian managed to recover from her injuries. During her recuperation, Ah Lian was almost caught by fishermen. Fortunately she managed to escape the clutches of the fishermen. The more Ah Pang thought about it, the more she agreed with the saying that silly people have silly luck indeed.

******

Snapping out of her memories, Ah Lian took a deep breath and carried her little backpack. The moment she entered the academy, she was greeted by a male-female disciple pair. The other candidate from Lake Dongze who passed the exam was a male white ferret, notorious for his tyranny. So naturally, Ah Lian tried to keep her distance from him as best as she could. 

The white ferret went with the male disciple, while Ah Lian was led by the female disciple to the female disciples’ dormitory. The female disciple who was leading Ah Lian wore a light green dress, was tall and looked delicately beautiful. Ah Lian recalled Ah Pang’s advice to be friendly and took the initiative, sweetly asking, “Beautiful Senior Sister how should I address you?” 

Although beautiful, the senior sister was aloof and ignored Ah Lian’s query with a deadpan expression. Well, one cannot blame the beautiful senior sister as all the other disciples went to welcome new disciples who were elites and had prestigious backgrounds; they would definitely be big figures in the heavens in the future. As for her, out of all the new disciples, she was given the task to welcome a little fish demon from a distant and relatively unknown place like Lake Dongze. So when the senior sister heard Ah Lian’s question, it further added to the insult as it was obvious that Ah Lian was trying to lick her boots, reminding her of her lackluster task as Ah Lian was a nobody.

Having received no response, Ah Lian was a little embarrassed and awkward but she knew that the disciples were all elites from the three realms, so it would be understandable that they would look down on the little her who had no background and give her a cold shoulder. 

As they walked on, Ah Lian tried to break the ice again and asked, “Senior Sister, I heard that the God of War, Rong Lin, will be coming to teach at the academy?” 

The senior sister who was intending to ignore her, immediately halted and turned to look at Ah Lian, encountering those limpid big eyes, “You want to meet the God of War, Rong Lin?”
Rong Lin, was a famous character throughout the heavens; the unrivaled God of War. The senior sister already had a bad impression of Ah Lian, and the  question about the God of War made her disdain Ah Lian even more. 

Although a marvel existence,  Rong Lin was actually quite anti-social. He did not like to go out, and did not like to receive any guests. The only opportunity to catch a glimpses of him was when he taught at the academy. 

It was not the first time the senior sister was asked such a question. After all most if not all of the female disciples who entered the academy come because of him; hoping to catch a glimpse of this god. 

With contemptuous eyes she scrutinized the little fish demon in front of her, she had to admit the fish did have some beauty to her. But the God of War, being such a revered and high existence, how could she allow this little lowly fish demon to lust after him? 

She decided to let Ah Lian know her place, “The lessons are not given to new disciples. Even us, the older ones, hardly have an opportunity to meet him. I advise you to not waste your efforts and give up wanting to see him.” 

Ah Lian was relieved that she finally got a response out of the cold beauty, but upon hearing that he doesn’t give classes to new disciples she was a bit disappointed. The main reason she come to the academy was precisely because of this God of War.

When she was still at Lake Dongze, it was her ambition to meet this god and now that she was a little closer to where he was, she was not satisfied. Swallowing her disappointment Ah Lian thanked the senior sister, “Thank you Senior Sister for you advice”. 

Seeing her reaction, the senior sister took it that Ah Lian took her words to heart. What she said was the truth, the God of War really did not teach new disciples. Even for the older ones like herself, they have never been given the grace to be close to him. To be able to attend his lessons at such close proximity was already a luxury. 

Ah Lian had her doubts about what she heard, especially with how obvious this senior sister disliked her; even more so when she asked about the God of War. So she made a resolution - she will definitely meet her idol. Since she has already entered the academy officially, there will be plenty of opportunities to meet him in the future.


<< Previous Chapter [Content Page] Next Chapter >>

6 comments:

  1. Snowy Codex has this translated to chapter 17, would it be alright to start translating at chapter 18?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Thank you for dropping by! :)

      Although the first 17 chapters were translated by Snowy Codex, I needed to get into the flow of the story and maintain consistency.

      Please be patient as I translate to chapter 17.

      Delete
  2. Thank you for picking this novel up😊 can you tell me the schedule for this novel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pastel. Thanks for dropping by! :) For now, I am aiming for one chapter per week. It might increase in the future.

      Delete
  3. Isn’t it weird though? Since snowy codex hasn’t seem to drop this novel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmm... why would it be weird? It's just different people's interpretation/version of the novel, and its from chapter 1, not a continuation (which would be weird).

      Delete