Above the Galaxy
Chapter 385 - 247, Little Monkey Fishing for the Moon!_2

Chapter 385: Chapter 247, Little Monkey Fishing for the Moon!_2

"Heh..." Tang Fei wanted to laugh, yet felt it was entirely inappropriate.

Xing Lan looked at Tang Fei and asked, "You think I can’t do it?"

"How could that be?" Tang Fei immediately remedied, saying, "I think senior brother is joking. With senior brother’s ability, isn’t this an easy task? What kind of ambition is that? Suggest one that you cannot achieve, something more challenging..."

"..." Xing Lan.

"You see, you can’t even think of one, can you?" Tang Fei shrugged, with a helpless expression, and said, "For geniuses like you, the greatest trouble is that everything comes too easily, without any challenge. One must endure the greatest hardships to taste the sweetest sweets... You haven’t suffered enough hardships, so you can’t taste that real sugar."

Xing Lan looked at Tang Fei and asked, "What about you? What do you want?"

"I want to be like senior brother," Tang Fei stated.

"Like me?"

"Yes," Tang Fei nodded and said, "I also wish to be born having everything I want."

"Didn’t you just say, ’One must endure the greatest hardships to taste the real sugar’?"

"In the Old Land, there’s a saying, ’If you endure hardships, you must always endure them.’ I’m lazy by nature, unwilling to take risks, and don’t want to strive, so... I want to live a life like senior brother’s."

"Let those who like suffering endure it and those who like sweets eat them. That’s my ideal life."

"..."

Xing Lan knew that Tang Fei was a maverick, someone who didn’t play by the rules, yet he still found himself occasionally choked by his words.

After all, atop New Star, no one talked to him like that.

"What realm are you in now?" Xing Lan asked aloud.

"Tongyou."

"Top grade?"

"No, middle grade." Tang Fei gave a bitter smile and said, "I’m not a genius like senior brother, unable to break through one realm each year."

"That’s not right." Xing Lan shook his head and said, "I remember when you first transferred to New Star, you participated in the entrance exam of the Imperial First Military Academy; at that time, you were still in the Qi Control Realm... Qi Control top grade."

"Because of that good-for-nothing cousin of mine, I remember this quite clearly. With the Qi Control Realm, you defeated Tongyou Realm’s Qingping..."

"Now, in less than a year, you’ve already reached Tongyou middle grade..."

Xing Lan looked at Tang Fei in astonishment and said, "Half a year to break through, three grades in a year?"

All along, Xing Lan had not considered Tang Fei as a real rival.

Even though his master had told him the story about the catfish, in the proud heart of Xing Lan, he was convinced he would be the final winner.

Tang Fei? How could he?

But now, thinking it through, Tang Fei’s progress was terrifying.

When he first came to New Star, he was merely at the top grade of Qi Control, and in less than a year, he had reached Tongyou middle grade.

Within this year, he not only broke through realms to reach the higher Tongyou Realm, but also advanced two grades within Tongyou Realm...

One grade per year, one realm every three years.

Those who could achieve this were already top level cultivation geniuses.

What would you call Tang Fei?

No wonder the master took him as a disciple and said he wanted to create a rival for him, pushing him to compete and strive.

I really have to get serious now.

Tang Fei is worthy of being my opponent, he is fully qualified to be my opponent.

Tang Fei waved his hand and said with a smile, "It’s all luck. I had already been in the upper realm of controlling Qi for several years when I was in the Old Land. I tried everything, but I just couldn’t break through the realm."

"After having the chance to come to New Star and receiving guidance from a master and being willing to put in the hard work, I finally had the opportunity to step into the Tongyou Realm..."

"However, my little achievement and the brother who is about to enter the Grandmaster Realm can’t be compared, it’s not worth mentioning at all."

"What was it like for you in the Old Land... how did you become a cultivator?" Shen Xinglan asked. "On the doomsday of Blue Star, civilization collapsed, and it’s said that finding a cultivation secret manual or a cultivator was extremely difficult..."

"Not only were you able to enter the cultivation system, but you also became quite strong, reaching the upper realm of controlling Qi. Your younger brother... has an exceptional talent as well. I heard that after his assessment ended, the teachers in the Martial Arts Department fought over him... Finally, Shang Xiulin took him as a disciple, and Shang Xiulin is no ordinary person..."

"My younger brother and I were both orphans, adopted by an old man when we were very young..." Tang Fei said, knowing that he couldn’t hide these things.

With Shen Xinglan’s intelligence and steadiness, he would surely send someone to explore the true situation in the Henshan Region.

Even if he didn’t do it, the Shen Family would handle it properly for him.

"He forced my brother and me to practice the ’Dragon Elephant Demon Suppressing Skill’ since we were young... I didn’t want to practice because it was too hard, so he whipped me with a spiked whip..."

"With a stick at the bottom, filial piety emerges; under his coercion, I began to cultivate... Fortunately, I realized the Yin Yang Qi, and my path in cultivation was relatively smooth..."

"My younger brother was pitiful, beaten black and blue, and he still can’t feel the Yin Yang Qi even now. He relies solely on brute strength in fights..."

"The reason those teachers fought over my younger brother was entirely because of his brute strength, and their own competitive nature... They wanted to see if, under their influence, my brother could feel the Yin Yang Qi..."

"Wouldn’t it be a huge boost to their reputations and positions if they got a person who hadn’t been able to cultivate for more than a decade to feel the Yin Yang Qi?"

Shen Xinglan knew all about the situations Tang Fei described, which completely matched the information he had received. He asked, "The old man who adopted you and your brother... Where have they gone? Why didn’t they come along with you to New Star?"

"He left. He left a note and then disappeared," Tang Fei said with a downcast expression. "He said he was too old and wouldn’t live much longer, so he didn’t want to come to New Star and embarrass us... My brother and I have always wanted to find him and bring him to New Star to enjoy our blessings."

"Yes," Shen Xinglan nodded and said. "The most sorrowful thing in the world is when a child wishes to provide care, but the parents are no longer there. He was greatly kind to both you and your brother, and it would be right indeed to bring him here to be well taken care of."

"Thank you for the guidance, senior brother. Once this expedition is over, I’ll go to Henshan to find him and see if I can bring him back."

Tang Fei looked grateful and said to Shen Xinglan, "Senior brother, let me speak frankly; originally, when we set out, my younger brother was a bit worried."

"Worried about what?"

"He was worried that senior brother might want to kill me... I got angry and seriously told him that senior brother treats me like a brother, always helping and teaching me, with absolutely no intention of harming me."

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Shen Xinglan’s mouth as he asked, "Why would he have such a concern?"

"He said it was because I was getting too close to Princess His Highness. Senior brother also knows that I met Princess His Highness accidentally... If it weren’t for someone harboring ill intentions towards Her Highness, I wouldn’t have had a chance to save her, let alone get to know such a distinguished person..."

"I originally thought that after Princess His Highness came to New Star, we would no longer be in contact. Unexpectedly, Her Highness is also grateful and managed to bring both my brother and me to New Star..."

"Senior brother knows the rest... Her Highness has been exceptionally kind to me. But, senior brother, being the intelligent man you are, do you think there is any chance for me and the princess to be together?"

"Man is the master of his own fate."

Tang Fei became angry, pointing at Shen Xinglan and said, "Senior brother, you are not being honest. I’ve told you such a personal matter, and you still deceive me with these lies. Do you think the Royal Family would agree to Princess His Highness marrying someone like me... someone like me?"

"Why not?" Shen Xinglan looked at Tang Fei seriously and said, "Although you are from the Old Land and have no foundation in New Star, if your performance is brilliant enough... the Royal Family might also consider it."

"Forget it." Tang Fei waved his hand, looking very dejected and said, "I thought that if I sincerely engaged, senior brother would treat me similarly. But I didn’t expect senior brother to still deceive me with such falsehoods..."

"Although I haven’t read much and don’t understand these complex relationships and games on New Star, I know there is absolutely no chance for me and the princess..."

"Senior brother, you’ve heard of the story of the little monkey trying to fish out the moon, haven’t you? The moon is in the sky, not in the water. How could the little monkey possibly take the moon?"

(ps: Thank you all for your understanding and condolences. I have already sent the elder off to the mountains, and there’s a bit of wrap-up work left. Once it’s done, I can return to Beijing and the updates will stabilize. Of course, I will also find time to write in the next few days.)