Master of the Stars

Luo Nan put everything to rest and rolled onto the bed. He stripped until he was just wearing his underwear. He calmed his breathing and did his evening exercises. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his body after half an hour of tao yin breathing exercises, but the states of his body and mind were restored to their peak. The flame of the heart lantern of the eyes orifice radiated within his head from beginning to end.

Luo Nan stirred with intent, and the heart lantern flickered, casting its glimmering light into his inner organs.

Gym Master Xiu once said that after achieving initial success in cultivating in the eyes orifice, the light to observe within would become like the sun and the moon illuminating the mountains and rivers. Even if one couldn’t completely understand the marvels of vitality, nothing would be missed. One could even pierce the clouds and break through the fog, revealing the essence of mist.

Luo Nan observed himself internally with psychic illumination. He saw the structure of his inner organs. They were shaped like lumps. They were like high cliffs looking over ravines, towering mountains of rock strewn at random, their outlines dim. Luo Nan disregarded these shapes. He just used his mind, the light of his eyes illuminating below with the rotation of the sun and the moon. He locked on to the life gate located at the lower spine. He heated and refined the life essence there, pouring it into the bed of the perineum. The perineum filled with yang energy, which then naturally rushed up to immerse his inner organs.

What happened in this instant was truly akin to water being sprayed on magma. Vital energy sputtered and boiled into vapor, alike the whirling of iridescent clouds. The myriad of extremes deformed.

Luo Nan felt an omen the instant he heated and refined his life essence. After a fright, came delight. "Fill the mountains with mists of energy by refining with the pill furnace. I have reached this step in the technique of refining essence to energy. I’ve almost reached the limit. The next step is to grind down the mountains and redevelop the fields of blessing.... No wonder the gym master said that I first need to obtain a torrential flood to pour and overflow the passes before making a decision. The maturity is sufficient. It will clearly happen today!"

It must be said that Luo Nan, with his body and soul structure in imbalance, had an obstruction between the internal and the external. He had no choice but to use the vital energy of his entire body to nourish the eyes orifice and form the Body Gear. Only then could he draw upon the towering and vast power of the God Gear. In fact, channeling the power of this grinding gear carried substantial risk. If Luo Nan didn’t comprehend the technique of coupling, he might have had to endure several months worth of torment and undergo some augmentation surgery in order to maintain the frail balance between his body and soul.

But things could only move in the opposite direction when they reached an extreme in this world. The moment Luo Nan received his mother’s blessings in obtaining comprehension over coupling, he was able to cross the most difficult of junctures. The crisis transformed, allowing him to reap greater benefits.

When normal people cultivated internal refinement techniques, they relied completely on water grinding arts. This could take any possible amount of time to reach the level that could fill the mountains with mists of energy by refining with the pill furnace; be it seventy-seven days, eighty-eight days, ninety-nine days, or even a hundred days, a year or three years.

But in Luo Nan’s case, the potential energy of Formatting Theory was truly far too large. A glacier suspended tall above a vast body of water. Even if a bit of its power was channeled, that power was subject to loss in interference. And yet, this power would still boldly forged its way forward. When Luo Nan obtained initial success with the heart lantern of the eyes orifice, the limits of interfering the material with the mental was broken open. It had already gone out of hand within the last seven days.

In the instant a mere few thoughts flashed in Luo Nan’s mind, the mist energy coalesced within his chest and abdomen. The energy were dyed in five colors. The liver and gallbladder locations were most particular. The green energy glowed slightly. It was very dense.

According to oriental classical theory, the pure eyes orifice was akin to the mouth of a spring, and its source laid below. There was something called, ’Inside and outside the liver and the gallbladder, open an orifice at the eyes, grasp its splendor, and fill the muscles.’ Luo Nan’s success with the eyes orifice wasn’t merely the opening of an orifice in the middle of his forehead. He had opened an entire set of mechanisms and systems with the liver, and its mechanisms influenced everything in the entire body. It involved the liver, the gallbladder, the eyes, the fingers, the fascia, and so on. The system seemed to jump all over the place, but in fact, it was linked in one breath. This was what Gym Master Xiu meant when he said, "The body is a mountain range with dense vegetation and thick soil. The breath is like the length of flowing water, winding and moving."

"I have finally opened through to the fountainhead of the eyes orifice reservoir. I finally obtained flowing water!"

Before, Luo Nan had exhausted all the vital energy of his body to open a way to the eyes orifice and received the terrifying might of the God Gear with great difficulty. The vast ocean iceberg continued to channel soul strength to him, and his simple eyes orifice was merely a reservoir the size of a pond. There were limits to how much it could endure. Even though Luo Nan was using coupling, the repeated clashes from the God Gear caused his pupils to crack like ice and lightning to flare within.

But right now, his situation was different. The eyes orifice now had a path to the blood and energy of his liver and gallbladder, and this could even transfer to the fascia of his entire body. If he continued to clear away the obstructions, he would be able to get through to the inner organs, the muscles, the bones, and the skin and hair one after another. The amount he could endure from the God Gear would dramatically increase, as he would form the true Body Gear that would revolve without end.

He could be said to have obtained a path from the internal to the external. Luo Nan’s hard times were over, and the good times were just beginning. Just feeding off the power of the God Gear was enough for a while of good enjoyment.

It was now midnight. The energy of his liver was appropriate. After feeling emotions of delight, Luo Nan repressed his excitement and fixed his mind. He carefully adjusted and guided his energy to clear the obstructions. He hungered for a complete success.

His efforts this time caused two hours to pass in the blink of an eye. He waited as the yin and yang of his liver and gallbladder automatically conditioned the fire of the heart and the water of the liver. As they circulated, Luo Nan naturally woke up.

He opened his eyes, and his thoughts stirred. He felt a sensation, and he knew that it was about three o’clock in the morning. At the moment, he was overflowing with essence energy. His mind was fresh and invigorated, not suitable for going back to sleep. But this wasn’t part of his usual tempo when it came to work and rest. He was mulling over what to do when his mind pulsed once more.

There was someone speaking nearby, and they even mentioned his name.

Based on the level of Luo Nan’s mental senses, he could glimpse and see the information of every living being within a range of several kilometers if he put his mind to it. It was just that the information was far too complex, and Luo Nan was affected by his longtime use of his soul strength. This added to his burden, so Luo Nan maintained his mental senses at a radius of a dozen meters in his day to day life. Most of the time, his mental senses remained in a standby state. He only reacted when faced with evil intentions and other dangers.

But the sensitivity of his mental senses increased substantially, possibly due to his great progress in his cultivation just now, and the way it presented itself was quite different from before.

His mind was akin to a smooth lake reflecting the countless stars. It seemed to be the inverted image of the distant, starry sky. And the corresponding information joined and transformed, to compose more tangible images of people’s figures. This included their speech, and it was all reflected in the mind lake.

Oh, it’s Aunt and Uncle.... Right, who else can it be?

The two elders were in their bedroom. They were lying side by side atop their bed. They whispered in conversation. It looked like they hadn’t slept at all this night, talking all the way until now.

Even though Luo Nan possessed an inconceivable mental sensing ability, he wasn’t someone who would go eavesdropping on people in his daily life. He just heard his name, and last night he committed quite the folly, so he couldn’t help feeling a bit diffident. He was curious.

"I’ll just listen for a bit... just for tonight."

Luo Nan gave himself an excuse before truly putting his mind to sensing. This time, he was like an invisible ghost hiding within his aunt and uncle’s bedroom. It was as if he was there in person, listening and watching with his eyes and ears.

Luo Nan was unable to retrieve what they said previously, but the first few words that entered his ear stimulated his mind.

"...Is it Dad? Or did Zhongheng’s friend come to Xia City?"

"He was in the Wilderness for twenty years, avoiding civilization all that time. With that kind of sensitive project, he’s lucky to have any friends who haven’t become enemies. It’s impossible for any of them to show up."

The one who spoke first was Aunt Luo Shuqing. The ’Dad’ she spoke of was naturally Luo Zhongheng’s grandfather, Luo Yuandao, and Zhongheng was Luo Nan’s father, Luo Zhongheng. From Luo Nan’s perspective, these two names were what he cared about the most, though the emotions toward them weren’t quite the same. The mere mention of these names attracted 120% of his attention.

Luo Shuqing was a bit dissatisfied with her husband’s response. "Don’t play the fool! You know who I’m talking about!"

"Yes, I know.... But I checked the entrance and exit records of the airport. Yan Yongbo took flights over the Pacific Ocean back and forth recently. He’s been to Los Angeles at least six times already. His troubles are obviously coming from within Quantum Corporation. Do you think they can have an influence on Quantum Corporation?"

They? Who’s ’they’? What is their relationship with Grandpa? With Dad?

Luo Nan didn’t understand who they were talking about, but he knew that the subject his guardians were talking about right now involved the ’family friend’ Yan Yongbo.

Also, there was the time when Yan Yongbo humiliated their family at the restaurant. Luo Nan had made a solemn vow to seize back the fame from Yan Yongbo’s dad, Yan Hong. Rational or not, Yan Yongbo had the backing of Quantum Corporation, so he really gave others a lot of stress.

A few days passed, and this dude suddenly disappeared without a trace. It was like having a tiger’s head and a snake’s tail; a strong start but a weak finish, and it made one quite suspicious.

Luo Nan didn’t have a complete understanding of the whole sequence of events behind this matter, but when compared to other matters of greater importance, Luo Nan had no intentions of mulling over such small details.

But from the perspective of his aunt and uncle, the tiger that was Quantum Corporation was quite intimidating in normal society. Even if their family was a relatively affluent middle-class family, there was more than a level’s difference when they were compared to Quantum Corporation, a capitalistic behemoth. One bad move, and the family would become bankrupt, and people would die.

Luo Nan couldn’t help feeling ashamed thinking about this point. His aunt and uncle bore such large pressure this month, but they never mentioned it to him. Luo Nan wasn’t troubled by these matters, and there were many times when he completely forgot about them.

I should think of a way to comfort these two guardians.

Luo Nan was mulling over this matter when he heard his aunt sneer, "Do you despise vagrants? Even me, an HR worker, know that the trend of vagrants heading back to the city has been quite fierce in recent years. Some of them have their criminal records cleared. They take on new leases of life and become big bosses. There are more than one or two cases of this happening."

Luo Nan’s uncled sighed, "Then are you hoping that a former vagrant with a cleared criminal record is helping out?"

"That’s not what I said."

Luo Nan’s uncled pulled out a drawer from the bedside cabinet. He took out a sealed e-cigarette. He was about to place it in his mouth, but he stopped, twirling it between his fingers instead. "I would rather them stay in the Wilderness forever. This group of people are used to the law of the jungle, and they are involved with religious elements. They are never lacking in craziness and ambition. When the old man was in this world, he was at least a symbol. There existed constraint. But once there’s a change in the situation, I don’t believe that they will reason with us. It seems likely for them to converge with the major powers of the city. I’m afraid things are about to get much livelier."

Luo Shuqing was quite vigilant. "They’ve sought you out again?"

"I haven’t seen them face to face. I’ve just have had contact with them through the phone. They’re simply requests to alter some data and the like. Whether or not it is done successfully, they remain all very polite.... You’ve spoken correctly. There is a trend of them entering the city."

The focus of Luo Shuqing’s attention changed. "What about Nanan? Have they made contact with Nanan? Are you saying that this Wu Zhao...."

Luo Nan’s uncle finally placed the e-cigarette into his mouth. The vapor rose into the air as he sighed, "I don’t know. I really don’t know."

In the bedroom, both the husband and wife no longer had the mood to talk. Time just passed, and the pressure from silence slowly accumulated.

Luo Nan’s telepathic thought remained there for a few minutes. He felt quite depressed, so it quietly withdrew.

After retracting his senses, Luo Nan lay there, lost in thought.

His aunt and uncle’s guess over the history of Her Majesty Empress Wu went completely in the wrong direction due to the unreliability of their source of information. But the information within their dialogue made Luo Nan understand something. In this world, in a certain corner of the boundless Wilderness, there actually existed a group of people that possessed a strange yet intimate relationship with his father and his grandfather.

Wilderness? Vagrants?

All right, another loose thread suddenly appeared.... It looked quite removed, but the things behind it appeared very serious.

Luo Nan lay in bed, looking at the ceiling. He was in a leisurely mood, finding something to do since he had nothing to do. In an instant, his thoughts turned chaotic, existing side by side with feelings of agitation and melancholy.

There were too many things he had to do. Too many things that were hard to accomplish.

He thought about it, and he was no longer happy with the bit of success he just obtained with internal refinement.