Zhu Xian (诛仙) by Ding Xiao

I am going to attempt to translate Zhu Xian (诛仙) by Ding Xiao.
This wuxia series is relatively new since it was published in 2003, but seem to be quite popular. I have not read the whole series, but it seem promising.

Viet title for this seris is "Tru Tiên". Author name in viet is Tiêu Đỉnh.

I believe an MMORPG game is out there for this series under the English title of Jade Dynasty. I have not tried the game so cannot recommend on how good it is.

This book have 258 chapters. The translation will be based on the Viet translated version I found online. I will try to keep the names in Chinese if possible, so if i get any wrong, feel free to correct me. I apologize ahead of time for my poor attempt at translating this series.

Time: Unknown, perhaps a very long, long time ago.
Place: Shen Zhou

Since the early dawn of man, humanity have observed the strange and hostile world surrounding them. From the sound of rumbling thunder, the fearsome bursts of lightning, the heavy rainstorms accompanied by howling winds, devastating floods that wrecks destruction and cost massive loss of lives, and countless other natural disasters, humanity reached the stunning conclusion that these strange and powerful forces of nature were beyond the power of any one man to create and impossible to resist against. This insight leads them to believe that divine beings lived in the nine heavens above, and demons dwell in hell, beneath the great earth. Because of this, tales of divine beings passed down from one generation to the next. Owing to humanity imaginations to rationalize the harsh and unpredictable world around them, humanity created elaborate rituals to worship these false gods.

From ancient times till now, no man, no matter how powerful or great they are in life, have ever escaped from the cold grasp of death. All men craved for life’s sweet delights and fear death’s cold embrace. Just the mere mention of death will send a small chill of fear down the spine of men. Due to this irrational fear, humanity begins their fruitless struggle against death in search for Immortality.

Compare to other living species, humanity is physically weaker, but yet they have dominated all living species. This is no small feat. Humanity’s secret to their dominance is being able to pass the knowledge they gathered during their lifespan and passing it on to the next generation. So as one man lie down, another man rises up to pick up his mantle. Following the same process that they did for dominance, humanity persistently continued their lifelong pursuit for Immortality. Unfortunately, up till now, Humanity still has not found the secret to Immortality.

However, stories are told that a select group of Taoists have seen into the fabric of creation of Heaven and Earth. Using what they have learned, these Taoists have decided to take humanity destiny into their own hands. Using mysticism, alchemy, and various other magical tools, they can make Heaven and Earth shake with the sound of thunder.

Other stories tell that many of these enlightened Taoist Elders live to be thousands of years old, maybe even achieving immortality. The common people assume that these enlightened Taoist have become deities, so therefore attracting more people to join in the practice and study of the Way of Tao.

Shen Zhou is a wide and open land. However, only the Central Plains is lush and fertile. Nine out of ten people lived here. The surrounding lands of the Central Plains is treacherous and almost uninhabitable to man. This is mainly due to large mountainside and toxic water. In addition to this, various wild and dangerous beasts roam through this inhospitable area. Rumors of blood thirsty barbarians tribes exists here. According to ancient legends, there are still remnants of ancients creatures and long lost civilization hidden there, but no one alive have seen or witness this

To this day, many priests practice the way of Tao, but very few have complete understanding of it Due to the large expanse of Shen Zhou, the Taoist priests are many, they practice various ways, but not all Taoist priests’ practices are the same. Since they have not discovered the secrets to Immortality, the world is split into multiple sects and clans, both good and evil. Due to these differences, these sects and clans compete against one another which often resulted in endless killings.

With Immortality remaining a distant and elusive goal, strength and power became the focus of many of these practitioners. Today, Good is in ascendence, and Evil is on the decline. Thus the Central Plains is the domain of the various Good sects and clans. Of these Good sects and clans, three stands out as pillars of the Central Plains: Qing Yun Sect, Tian Yin Temple, and Fen Xiang Valley.

This story begin with Qing Yun Sect.

Note:
Qing Yun Sect = Green Cloud Sect
Tian Yin Temple = Sounds of Heaven Temple
Fen Xiang Valley = Incense Valley

Thank you very much for this new translation. Not much to discuss yet... I will wait for the first fight :-D

thank you. waiting for the next chapter.

Yes, there is a mmorpg based on the book. It is very popular! Very exited that someone is finally translating Zhu Xian. Looking forward to the next chaper!!!

Qin Yun Mountains tower magnificently over the Central Plains. On the north side of the mountain flow a large rvier called Hong Chuan (洪川) and to the south, lies Yang Cheng Town (河阳城), an important town due to it’s strategic geographic location. Qin Yun Mountains stretches consecutively for hundreds of miles long, filled with undulating ridges and peaks. There are seven high peaks that are often surrounded by clouds. On an normal day, the peaks would be hidden by these clouds. Qin Yun Mountains is famous for their dense forest, serene waterfalls, jagged cliffs, and rare wildlife.

More famous than these natural wonders is a religious sect located at the foot of these mountains called Qin Yun Sect. Qin Yun Sect has a long varied history. From its founding until now, Qin Yun Sect has been in existence for over two thousands years. It is one of the top tier sects in the world of good and evil today.

Legends say that the founder of the sect was a master practitioner in Jiang Hu (martial arts world) who spent half of his life disappointed and wandering aimlessly. At the age of 49, he traveled thru Qin Yun Mountains. Here, he saw how divine the mountains looks and felt. He felt that heaven have spiritually blessed this place. Immediately, he descended to the foot of the mountains. Feeling inspired, he trained in the Way of Tao. Not long after, he discovered an ancient, unnamed book within a secret cave. The book contained secret knowledge of profound magical and martial arts that were both incredibly wonderful and powerful. Blessed with this treasure, he focused his time to train from this ancient book. Twenty years quickly flew by, with minor improvements to his skills, he left the mountain. Weathering the ups and downs of Jiang Hu, although he did not dominate the world, he did establish himself a reputation as a hero. Returning to Qin Yun Mountains, he established a sect called Qin Yun Sect. The arts he learned from the ancient book was similar to the Way of Tao, so he set aside his mundane clothing, and started wearing the marking of a Taoist priest. He called himself Son of Qin Yun. Later disciples would proclaim him Qin Yun Saint. Qin Yun Saint lived to be a 167 years old. He accepted ten disciples. At his deathbed, he told them the following: “I have learned many magical arts during the latter half of my life. The skill that I am most proud of is Feng Shui. Qin Yun Mountains is a rare and blessed location, and will definitely allowed us to become a top tier force in the future. No matter what happen, my heirs must never give up these mountains ranges. Remember these words. Remember these words.” The ten disciples firmly nodded their heads in agreement and promised him that they will follow his death wish. Content with their promises, Qin Yun Saint closed his eyes and died peacefully.

During the next one hundred years after Qin Yun Saint’s death, instead of flourishing, Qin Yun Sect went thru a great decay. It is unknown if this was due to heaven’s will or a lack of faith of the Qin Yun Sect’s disciples, but Qin Yun Sect encountered one misfortunes after another. Of the ten disciples that Qin Yun Saint accepted, two died early; four died trying to make a reputation for themselves within Jiang Hu; one became disabled, and one went missing. Only two out of 10 disciples survived.

The misfortunes continue during the next fifty years, when, within a hundred miles surrounding Qin Yun Sect, a massive earthquake hit causing terrible flooding; thereby killing countless people within the Sect. Those who survived these catastrophes were mostly untalented and did not do Qin Yun Saint any justice to his reputation. To rub salt into the wounds, enemies attacked and demanded their sacred book. If it was not for the magical weapons that Qin Yun Saint left for his heirs, Qin Yun Sect would not have survived these catastrophes. These misfortunes continue for another 400 years. Qin Yun Sect did not prosper at all, but continue their downward decline. It could be said that Qin Yun Sect was on its last leg. Qin Yun Sect was only able to retain one out of the seven peaks, Tong Tian Peak (Sky Peak). The other six was taken by enemies and was used as a base to attack, loot, and harass Qin Yun Sect and the surrounding areas with no one to put a stop to them. Observers from other sects who did not understand the situation were merciless in their comments about Qin Yun Sect misfortunes, accusing them of falling to the Evil path and were in cohoots with the bandits.. Qin Yun Sect’s disciples try to explain the situation and kill the enemies, but they lacked the skills to do either. Reflecting back, this was indeed a dark period within Qin Yun Sect’s history.

It was not until one thousand three hundred years ago, that a new development happen to turn the situation around for Qin Yun Sect. It is unsure if Qin Yun Saint’s death wishes finally came true or if heaven was tired and decided that it had punished Qin Yun Sect enough. During the eleventh generation of Qin Yun Sect, a talented, moral disciple with peerless character appeared and took leadership. His name was Taoist Qin Ye (Green Leaf Taoist). Qin Ye’s layman’s surname was Ye. He was originally a poor scholar. Although he was extraordinary gifted, due to how poor he was and his lack of connections, he was unable to get a post within the government. Fate, feeling sorry for Qin Yun Sect, cross Qin Ye’s path with Wu Fang Zi (无方子),the tenth generation leader of Qin Yun Sect.

At the age of 22, Qin Ye was accepted as a disciple of Qin Yun Sect. A year after Qin Ye join the sect, Qin Ye have grasp all the secret arts and Taoist ways that Wu Fang Zi could teach him. He seized the rank of the number one disciple within Qin Yun Sect. Another year after that, it was only due to years of Wu Fang Zi years of training and deep insight that he was able to fight on par with Qin Ye. Wu Fang Zi was both shocked and pleasantly suprised. Seeing this, he decided to take out the ancient sacred manual that Qin Yun Saint left back and gave it to Qin Ye to reflect and meditate on. Secluding himself to Huang Yue Cave behind Tong Tian Peak, Qin Ye mediated and trained from the ancient sacred manual.

Thirteen years later, all was quiet on the night of a full moon. The full moon was high up in the sky, bathing the entire mountain range with its radiant light. But suddenly an evil wind came from up behind the mountain, howling and shrieking like the raging sound of an angry dragon, causing clouds to hide the moon radiant light, casting darkness on the mountain. The howling winds could be heard for miles around, causing goosebumps for all who heard it. Suddenly, a large explosion could be heard from within Huang Yue Cave. Qin Yun Sect members ran to Huang Yue Cave to investigate. From the cave, a bright purplish light rose up from the earth and illuminated the sky flooding everything with it’s warm glow, and Qin Ye slowly emerge. His hair and beard have changed completely to white, and his face was glowing causing everyone there to wonder if he had attained immortality and became a Saint.

After 13 years of secluded mediation and training, Qin Ye formally renounced the worldly life, and officially became a priest. For his priestly name, he took the word Ye from his surname and the first word Qin from Qin Yun, and he named himself Taoist Qin Ye. That day, Qin Ye bidded farewell to his master and said, “Master please wait. Disciple will take leave for a day to take care of some business and then return.”

Qin Ye departed, leaving everyone confused. The next day, Qin Ye returned. The enemies located on the other six peaks have been surrounded and eradicated. Qin Ye’s skills was deadly and efficient. Within a short period of time, he have made a reputation for himself and his sect within Jiang Hu. A year later, Wu Fang Zi transferred the leadership of the sect to Qin Ye. Wu Fang Zi retired from the day to day matter of the sect to fast and meditate in peace. Qin Ye took his leadership position seriously. He whole-heartedly helped his fellow sect members, chose a successor, and due to the knowledge gained from the ancient book, he gained considerable wisdom and power.

Fifty years later, Qin Yun Sect had become a pillar of power for the good sects within Jiang Hu. After another 200 years, Qin Yun Sect had become the defacto leader of the good sects. Qin Ye lived to be 550 years old. He kept strict discipline within his sect. He accepted 7 disciples and divided the seven peaks among them. He ordered the 7 branches of the sect to live in peace and harmony. The main branch of the sect was based on the central peak, Tong Tian Peak.



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At the foothill of Mount Qin Yun, away from the big city of “HeYang”, about 50 miles to the northwest, there exists a small village called Cao Miao Village (Grass Temple Village). It is home to about 40 families. These families are honest hard working villagers, who gathered firewood for a living and sold the collected firewood to Qin Yun Sect. The villagers commonly saw the Qin Yun Sect disciples go up and down the mountain. Qin Yun Sect had always taken care of the villages within the mountains. The villagers had no worries. The village and Qin Yun Sect had a harmonious relationship.

Today, the sky was heavily covered with clouds, making Mount Qin Yun dark and boding. The villagers of Cao Miao Village have live here for generations, so a grim sight like this did not changed their daily routine or cause them to notice anything out of the ordinairy.

“Stinky Brat, where can you run off to?”

The sound of yelling follow by a small laugh came from the mouth of a young boy, about 12 to 13 years old. His name was Lin Yu (林惊羽). He was leading 5 other children as
they chased the boy ahead of them. The boy being chased was about ten
years old. The ten years old boy would often turn around and make faces
at the other children chasing after him. The 10 years old boy was named
Zhang Xiaofan (张小凡) .

Zhang Xiaofan turns around and yelled “Pooh, what kind of idiot do you think I am!” After saying that, he ran even faster.

Continuing their chase, soon they reached a dilapidated, old temple. Zhang Xiaofan, quickly bolted thru the door of the old temple. Not paying attention, he tripped over a board and promptly fell down. Lin Yu and the rest of the children were ecstatic when they saw this turn of event. They piled on top of Zhang Xiaofan and started beating him. Lin Yu said, “This time we have caught you. What more do you have to say?”

Zhang Xiaofan promptly responded, “This doesn’t count! This doesn’t count! You ambushed me.”

Lin Yu was suprised at his response and angrily yelled, “How did I ambush you?”

Zhang Xiaofan responded: “Great job, Lin Yu. Are you going to tell me that you didn’t plant this board here so that I would trip?”

Lin Yu yelled back, “How in the world could I do that?”

Zhang Xiaofan, bit back his tongue, gave a defiant look at Lin Yu with the intent of refusing to give up. Lin Yu got angry and started to beat him into submission while yelling, “We stated earlier, if you we caught you, you will have to admit defeat.”

Zhang Xiaofan stubbornly refused to submit. Lin Yu, red in the face, added more strength to his hands and started choking him while yelling out over and over again: “Submit or not?”

Bruises started appearing from the beating that Zhang Xiaofan was getting, but still he refused to submit to Lin Yu and his gang.

Lin Yu, in his anger, continued his choking and yelling. Not noticing that the other children have started to back off and have huddled off together, Lin Yu continued on. Then suddenly, within the old temple he heard, “A Mi Tuo Fo, quickly stopped your beating.” Two fingers darted out from the Buddhist monk and touched both of Lin Yu’s hands, causing electric shocks to course thru his body causing Lin Yu’s hands to limply fall to the side.

Release from the choke, Zhang Xiaofan grasped desperately for air, but overall was fine. The 2 boys stared at each other for a while, remembering the situation that just happened. Lin Yu quickly said, “I’m sorry Xiaofan. I don’t know why…”

Xiaofan shook his head and took a deep breath and said, “Don’t worry about it.” He then turn over to the monk and said, “Sir, who are you?”

The rest of the children move their gaze to where Xiaofan was looking at and saw within this old temple, there was an old monk standing there. His face was old and wrinkle. He was wearing an old robe, and from top to bottom, he was very dirty. Held between his hands was a rosary of jade beads that was crystal clear and blinding to the eyes. The curious thing was among the dozen or so of these smooth jade beads of the same size, there was a bead that was not jade or stone, but was dull and dark violet.

Partial update. Chapter 1 kinda ended weirdly.

The old monk did not say anything. Instead, using his sharp eyes, he gazed at the 2 children, and then looking over at Lin Yu again, he said: “Good talent, but why is your personality so extreme?”

Zhang Xiaofan took a step forward and ask, “Hey! Old man, who are you? How come I have never seen you before?”

Cao Miao Village is located near Qin Yun Sect. Taoism is much more prominent. Rarely does any Buddhist monks visit the area. This is the reason why Zhang Xiaofan ask this question.

The old monk glanced over at him, opened his mouth wide and laughed. Instead of answering Xiaofan’s question, he asked Xiaofan the following: “Lad, a short while ago, your life was in peril, all you had to do was admit defeat and you would have been free. Instead, you struggled in vain. If not for my intervention, you would have died! Why did you struggle instead of admitting defeat?”

Zhang Xiafan understood in his guts that what the old monk said made logical sense, but regarding the situation that he was just in, he was unable to express why he did not submit.

Lin Yu rolled his eyes and looked at the monk, while tugging at Zhang Xiaofan’s hands and said: “Xiaofan, this old monk is strange and weird. Let’s not give him any more attention.” Saying this, he pull Xiaofan from the temple and left.

The rest of the children follow his lead and left the temple. From early on, they had always follow Lin Yu’s lead. Zhang Xiaofan subconsciously follow Lin Yu and the rest of the children. After quite a distance, he couldn’t help himself and turn back to look at the old temple. He could still see the outline of the old monk still standing there against the darkening sky, but he was unable to make out the old monk’s face.

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Very interesting plot so far!! Can't wait for the next chapter!!!

Chapter 2 continued

Late that night.

The roaring sound of thunder, the rustling of the wind, the outside sky darkened with storm clouds.

The wind and rain was approaching, massively sweeping the sky.
A huge storm was approaching.


The old monk was still staying at the small grass temple, meditating on the ground. The old monk lifted up his eyes and stared. Qin Yun Mountain from afar was just a distant blur.
A sudden flash of lightning lighted the temple, followed by a roaring thunder that deafen the ears. At that moment, the old monk had already stood by the door. With solemn eyes, he lifted his face up to the sky and crinkled his eyebrows tightly.

West of the village, a large black cloud, thick as ink, appeared out of nowhere, swirling nonstop. The old monk, standing by the temple, stared deeply into the black cloud.

Suddenly, the black cloud rapidly swirled toward the temple away from the village. In the blink of an eye, the swirling black cloud have reached the temple.

Peering into the black cloud, the old monk’s sharp eyes can see the profile of the young boy he met today. The young boy was Lin Yu. The old monk’s face sagged, but he did not hestitate. Without analyzing the situation, he dived into the black cloud to retrieve the boy.

In the dark cloud, the old monk was unable to called out the little boy’s name; he barely managed an astonished, soft cry: “Huh?”

After a few soft desperate moans, the black cloud immediately stopped in its track, and swirled above the small grass temple.

The old monk held Lin Yu tightly to his side, and slowly descended. The back of his robe had been torn. By the faint light, he could see that both of Lin Yu’s eyes were closed, breathing steady, but he was unsure if Lin Yu was asleep or unconscious.

The old monk did not place Lin Yu down. He turned his head and look at the swirling black cloud hovering in the air and said: “Your skills are very high and advance. How come you attack an innocent child? This is not the proper behavior of an expert of your level.”

From within the black cloud, a husky voice responded: “Who are you? How dare you butt your nose into my business?”

The old monk did not respond to the question, but said: “This area is Qin Yun Mountain. If Qin Yun Sect know the crimes that you have committed here, in the future, you will have a hard time moving about Jiang Hu.”

“Pffft.” The voice from the black cloud responded in contempt: “ Qin Yun Sect, what of it? Qin Yun Sect only depends on its countless members. Bald old monk, stop with your ramblings. If you know what is best for your health, then hand the boy over to me.”

The old monk clasped both of his hands together and said: “A Mi Tuo Fo. A monk must have a compassionate heart. I cannot stand by and watch you harm this boy.”

The voice angrily responded : ”Good for you, you old baldy. It’s your own grave you are digging.”

As the voice said that, from within the swirling black cloud, a red light, full of evil aura, shot out in a flash and surrounded the area near the small grass temple.

“Poison Blood Banner!” (毒血幡) (Du Xie Fan) The old monk’s face quickly grew angry: “Evil creature, how dare you train in this evil, unconscionable manner that will do vicious harms to other. Today, I will definitely not let you survive.”

That husky voice gave out a cold chilling laugh. Without saying a word, accompany only by a whistling sound, the red light flooded the temple, the air quickly turn noxious, sheets of red banner streaming 20 feet long emerged.

At that moment, the sounds of demonic voices could be heard crying out terribly, as if multiple soulless ghosts were moaning in the shadow of the night, accompanied by the sounds of bones clicking that were too horrifying to hear.

“DIE bald stinky old monk!” The person within the black cloud yelled out loudly. All of a sudden, from the red banners, a devilish face appeared with 4 eyes, long sharp canine teeth, accompanied by the crackling sounds of bones. The sound persisted: “Crackling, crackling, crackling”... The 4 eyes on the devilish face open widely, with a single loud roar, formed into a single entity. Carrying with it the disgusting smell of old decayed blood, it flew out from on top of the red banners and rammed into the monk.

i guess i did not search hard enough when i started translating but there is already a translation for this book going on

link to it can be found below


http://jd-forum.perfectworld.com/sho...741#post394874

so my translation attempt at this book will end
thank you to all those who did read my version, however short it might have been

Too bad for doing work already done. But I liked your version and lucky for us there is already a translated novel now we can read.

Thank you for your work until now.

Maybe you could translate one of the Wuxia novels of Giddens Ko? Since he is now popular with his "Apple"-movie it could peak interest. I think he has a modern wuxia novel simply named "Kung Fu" out there?

Yeah... I'm greedy :)

i would have to know if he have a viet translation out there or not....but i did found some translations of his stuff:
http://musicalpoems.wordpress.com/ca...8%80%EF%BC%89/

The other side is great but none of his Wuxia work.

I don't know vietnamese but I found this sentence via google:
[quote]
Đọc “Kungfu” của Cửu Bả Đao cũng hài hước, dí dỏm hệt như “Kungfu” của Châu Tinh Trì, càng đọc càng cảm thấy hứng thú, một khoái cảm hoàn toàn mới mẻ cứ thôi thúc lòng hiếu kỳ, từng bước từng bước theo đạo sương mù được vạch mở trong truyện, khiến cho ngũ tạng lục phủ lâm li thư sướng,
[unquote]
source: http://comicvn.net/forum/thread/-11560-1-1.html

And if his novel is compared to Stephen Chows "Kung Fu Hustle" in my opinion it needs a chance :-D

Is it this one? http://truyen.vnsharing.net/Truyen/Kungfu-Cong-Phu (Just found out that this is the comic version...)

Thanks Wandering for the link. An interesting novel. Put your talents to another series .....

i'm going to try to finish moon demon that grundle started working on a few years ago...

Sadly it seems this magnificent series has been discontinued over @ http://jd-forum.perfectworld.com/sho...d.php?t=393891 . So I figured I would take a chance by beating this dead horse, [i.e you could beat a dead horse all you want but its doubtful it will start moving again lol] :wiggle: and see if I could generate any translator interest ;)

I was listening to the viet audio books for it for a while.
but sadly i never finished the series.
but lately i have been thinking of this series...so I might start looking at it again...if the translation project over at perfect world is truly stalled.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shi-Potian

Sadly it seems this magnificent series has been discontinued over @ http://jd-forum.perfectworld.com/sho...d.php?t=393891 . So I figured I would take a chance by beating this dead horse, [i.e you could beat a dead horse all you want but its doubtful it will start moving again lol] :wiggle: and see if I could generate any translator interest ;)

---

Yeah. Please continue the translation. Waiting for 4 months. Thank you.

Just finished reading all 18 pages at perfectworld. Nice change of genre. Loved it...

I am interested in translating this novel from the viet version and i was wondering if anyone would like to help me edit my translation. I will start off where the one on zhu xian forum stopped.