Master of the Stars

Xue Lei acted like a large cat for a while before coming over. He just so happened to catch some of Xiu Shenyu’s words, and was very surprised by them. "Gym Master, Luo Nan just opened an orifice, and you’re teaching him this much stuff. He may not be able to digest it all."

"This may have been the case in the past, but there aren’t any problems now. The cultivation of the nine orifices and six roots is the sole truth when it comes to the dual cultivation of life and nature. He has made further progress in cultivating nature, so that trend of imbalance still exists. It isn’t a mistake to forge forward bravely in cultivating life."

In layman’s terms, nature was the cultivation of the mind, while life was the efforts of the fleshly body. Luo Nan was able to understand the gym master’s words, but what did he mean about him making further progress in cultivating nature? It seemed to have nothing to do with his progress in the eyes orifice.

With the technique of subdivision between the receptacle, nature, and trigger to lay the foundation, Luo Nan had absolute certainty in Gym Master Xiu’s insight. Luo Nan’s thoughts turned to a different path as he subconsciously recalled the special experience at Gear in the early morning. He became lost in thought.

Then suddenly, his mind went on alert. Someone’s hand came probing over, and Luo Nan tried to slip away... but it was ultimately useless. Gym Master Xiu had his hand on his shoulder, exerting subtle force, indicating that he should change his stance.

"Crouching tiger."

Luo Nan hesitated for a moment, before obediently kneeling to the ground. He extended his back forward and over his elbows, and his legs naturally curled up. He turned to a different sort of large cat—a sleeping large cat.

This movement belonged to the tao yin techniques he learned before. He could do it without any difficulty.

And the many days of practice had imprinted this movement into his consciousness. He naturally did the true breathing corresponding to this stance. He was like a fierce tiger in its lair, seemingly tense, yet not, seemingly lax, yet not. Within the languidness seeped the tension of the kind of beasts. Within a marvelous equilibrium, looseness and tightness cycled back and forth everywhere in the body and mind.

Xiu Shenyu squatted down and gently pressed against Luo Nan’s forehead. He opened his mouth and spoke.

Frankly speaking, Luo Nan was unable to hear what he was saying at first. He just felt something strange. The sound waves didn’t seem to be transmitting through the air. Instead, they followed Xiu Shenyu’s palm and seeped into his skull, rumbling like thunder.

The sound of thunder entered Luo Nan’s brain, stimulating the latent orifice on the forehead into vibrating. This feeling then spread to the rest of his body. The thunder and vibration pressed forward layer by layer, causing the Body Gear to shake as its internal links were subdivided. Nine orifices, the internal organs, and twelve nodes all resonated in earnest. The six roots of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and thought suddenly knew their places.

Only now was Luo Nan able to distinguish Xiu Shenyu’s words clearly. And thanks to the experience brought about by the sound of thunder, the new knowledge had become a validated experience. It was tantamount to a synchronized memory between the body and the mind.

And so, his Body Gear constantly turned, and his God Gear answered. Coupling made these two gears move evenly, endless amending the details. Luo Nan gradually disregarded Xiu Shenyu’s voice, as he cast his full mind to the delicate adjustments of the frame of body and soul. He looked at how blood, energy, and other fluids circulated and transformed among the inner organs, layer by layer. It was akin to water flowing within the mountains. The water flowed above ground and below ground, circulating between and within mud, dirt and stone.

Luo Nan watched until a certain degree, and his intent stirred. He felt the vital energy boil in his heart, chest, and spleen. The blood and energy circulated upward to reach the face of the head. Then it took a slight turn, and suddenly Luo Nan had a mouth full of saliva. It was sweet and moist, like drinking nectar.

With further clarification from Xiu Shenyu, Luo Nan was clear on the direction of his next step.

The orifice of the heart opens from the tongue, and the spleen has an orifice via the mouth. Though the mouth and the tongue are distinguished, they are in fact one orifice. And in classical theory, there are talks of the heart and spleen being two sides of the same coin. Luo Nan had simultaneously opened up two systems of inner organs: the heart and the spleen.

It looked like there was some truth to this. Before Formatting Theory had truly formed within Luo Nan, he had developed the Appetite King skill first. His digestion was like a great valley of water, providing his body with sufficient energy. The spleen and the stomach gained this ability.

And ever since he started practicing martial arts from Xiu Shenyu, his body became robust with blood and energy. His heart truly was the master of his blood, and it worked quite nicely with the drainage of the energy of his liver. There was a saying, "Fire is born from wood, and earth is born from fire."

So, the liver, heart and spleen were three sets of systems that were connected to each other. Whether it be the circulation of blood and energy or the inter-promotion and inter-restraint between the five elements, all of it made sense. Luo Nan didn’t delve any deeper into this.

He paid more attention to the experience of the Body Gear’s operation. But he also felt as if a pool of nectar had been opened up with the root of the mouth and the tongue. The liquid constantly spilled over, sweet and juicy. There was also the heart and the spleen, which utilized the mechanism of the inner organs to transform breath into internal energy. Life essence became abundant and solid, and vital energy went into a boil with just an instant of heat and refinement. The vital energy spread everywhere to the tendons and muscles, causing Luo Nan to break out with a layer of sweat in the blink of an eye. His blood and energy flowed smoothly. This method should be quite decent.

Luo Nan maintained crouching tiger for quite some time. Some of the children on the training grounds looked at Luo Nan with interest. They believed that he was like them, crawling over with meows and purrs.

Xue Lei was given a scare. He wanted to stop the children, but he was stopped by Xiu Shenyu instead.

One of the children didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation, simply bumping into Luo Nan. Luo Nan remained in that state of subtle experience. He did not move an inch, but his body was soft and flexible, as if it possessed no bones at all. He didn’t feel even an ounce of pain when the child bumped into him.

The child rubbed and pressed against Luo Nan in fun and delight, and quite a few other children followed suit. They laughed as they gathered over, taking Luo Nan to be a large pillow. They pressed and bumped against him, not slowing at all.

If Luo Nan could truly maintain his experience, then he would have been divine. He made a low growl as he extended his body. He was like a sleeping tiger who was startled awake. With this stretch, the skin and flesh naturally rippled with force. Latent energy bubbled forth, and the surrounding children fell to the ground, yet not a single one was injured.

Luo Nan saw that the ground was full of laughing children. His childish heart reverberated, and he rolled like a cat or tiger, spreading his four limbs out and stretching his muscles and tendons, appearing very lively.

The group of children were excited that someone had come to play. They jumped over screaming.

Xiu Shenyu finally called out for them to stop.

Under the impulse of the appropriate trigger, Luo Nan had a flash of insight. However, since his foundation was not firm, there was a chance of an accidental danger occurring if he were to continue playing around.

As Xiu Shenyu waited for Luo Nan to stand up, he turned to Xue Lei and said, "His tendons and muscles have been nourished. From today forth, he can train in punching techniques. From tomorrow forth, you two will spar."

"Sparring so soon?"

"Does he have time to go learn punching techniques at his leisure?" Xiu Shenyu’s lips were angled with a hint of sarcasm. "In any case, it’s for him to adapt to his new physique, and to practice his reactions. It’s fine to just teach him a few random moves.... His ambitions lie elsewhere, after all."

Xue Lei watched Luo Nan, who scratched his head and said, "The gym master is amazing."

From Luo Nan’s perspective, his cultivation progress was reflected upon his fleshly body, upon the operation of the Body Gear. But for him to describe it in completion was not an easy task. After all, there were far too many specious things within the classical theories. He only had a smattering of knowledge. There were many concepts that he seemed to understand but really didn’t. Most of it was given to him by instinct, the memory of his body.

Tonight, what truly touched upon his soul was a different set of knowledge that Gym Master Xiu imparted. It was his words on the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger.

This set of knowledge was like a clear border and outline being laid down. It made his mind feel a lot clearer. It was little bit like....

Right, it was like the feeling he got when he drew.

When Luo Nan first learned how to draw, how to make quick sketches, he instantly knew how to utilize composition, lines, light and shadow, and other methods to draw figures that were true to life. He felt like he could draw the entire world.

Of course, the facts later taught him how to be a man.

But this whole new realm that he just accessed, this clear feeling of a realization of talent, was the most beautiful illusion of this world.

If this could touch upon reality, this feeling would become much more alive.

Reality.... Perhaps it was there.