Translator: Strivon

  Luo Nan quietly gazed at the skies and the earth ahead. He didn’t move for a long while. He didn’t even respond when Xue Lei made his way up the viewing platform and greeted him.

  Xue Lei was a bit scared. He could see that Luo Nan’s face was smeared with tears of blood, painting the aberrant face of a demon. The corners of his eyes were bloodshot, and his eye sockets had a clear film of red. This appearance truly indicated that one should be immediately sent to the hospital.

  "Hey, is anyone going to talk?" Zhang Yingying had been ignored for quite some time, and she smacked her steering wheel once again.

  "Sister Ying, I see that something’s not right with Nanster’s state." Xue Lei began to feel nervous as he rushed to tell Zhang Yingying. However, Luo Nan’s current calm state of mind was similar to the air Gym Master Xiu exuded in his daily life. He subconsciously lowered his voice for fear of disturbing Luo Nan.

  Before Xue Lei could get a response from Zhang Yingying, Luo Nan’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear, "The breathing of heaven and earth may be seekable."

  His words came out of nowhere, stunning Xue Lei in his place. However, these words inexplicably felt familiar to Xue Lei. Xue Lei carefully pondered for a while before recalling that this was related to the gym master’s theory on opportunity. Xue Lei had talked about this stuff to Luo Nan earlier on.

  However, the gym master originally meant that heaven and earth were grand and vast, while people’s powers were insignificant in comparison. Cultivators needed to always work hard and be diligent in every area in order to be able to borrow the strength of heaven and earth for their own use. What stood out was the circulative channel of the mind, where the mind came before energy, and energy came before strength.

  With these words from Luo Nan, it seemed that some internal core within Luo Nan had changed.

  Xue Lei didn’t quite understand Luo Nan’s way of thinking. He was also worried about Luo Nan’s state. He could only ask carefully, "Nanster?"

  "The circulation and running of river water. The existence of life and death in the jungle. They each have their rules in a self-formed system. It could be said that they each possess formats. These small formats are like natural sets of gears made by heaven. They are pieced together to form a large format of heaven and earth."

  Luo Nan had already entered this mental state, and he continued explaining, "From the perspective of Formatting Theory, the Heaven and Earth Format is grand and marvelous without bounds. It is abundant in layers, and there are no limits to its transformations. It is like a production line that assembles and installs complicated machinery. Countless gears operate according to order, transmitting motive power down the line."

  "It’s happening again!" Zhang Yingying couldn’t refrain from groaning. There had been a similar spectacle of Luo Nan talking to himself during the night at Frost River Reality, and it was repeated today. Unfriendly thoughts, concepts, and ideas assaulted her ears.

  Zhang Yingying never expected Luo Nan to act in a way that seemed like he was opposing her. Zhang Yingying’s complaints were lost to the wind. Suddenly, Luo Nan came out of his extremely self-centered state in search of interaction. He raised a question for both Xue Lei and Zhang Yingying.

  "The production line of the Heaven and Earth Format won’t ever stop. In this situation, how does one insert a self-made ’gear’ inside for seamless integration?

  "……"

  "The answer is coupling!"

  Luo Nan was like a kid striving to show off. He impatiently announced the answer. A smile burst forth upon his demonic face, which was blotted with tears of blood. It was exceptionally bright and splendid.

  Xue Lei was stupefied once more. He really didn’t understand what Luo Nan was saying, but this was the first time he had seen such a bright and refreshing appearance on Luo Nan’s face ever since he had met him.

  Luo Nan was indeed extremely delighted. He grew all the more fascinated by the marvels of Gear the deeper he observed it.

  This building, Gear, was embedded within the Heaven and Earth Format. It became part of the rumbling and operating production line. The rules were precise, and it fitted seamlessly. There was not a hint of the air of a man-made craftsmanship to it. It seemed to be inherent to heaven and earth.

  This wasn’t possible if the breathing tempo of heaven and earth was not mastered.

  Because of this, Luo Nan was able to confirm a conjecture he had made earlier. His mother’s Coupling Design was closely related to Formatting Theory. It was like a sort of application or interpretation. It put to use Formatting Theory in the plane of reality for the people of the world to see.

  And this real and tangible achievement belonged to his mother!

  "Formatting Theory? Gear?"

  Xue Lei finally found the key words in Luo Nan’s speech, and he sought to trace the direction of Luo Nan’s gaze. Xue Lei was actually able to discern the outline of the jungle and the symbolic building off in the distance with his acuity and limits of vision. But an outline was all there was to it.

  "Nanster, you can see Gear from here?" Xue Lei was skeptical of the level of Luo Nan’s visual acuity, but he was mostly concerned. For Luo Nan to use his eyes this much in his current state; the burden was far too great.

  "I can see it. It’s truly beautiful……" Luo Nan’s voice swayed like the wonders he saw in front of him.

  The marvels contained within Gear could not be accessed by purely using the fleshly eyes, or the clairvoyance of mental senses. Only when the two modes of vision and mental senses, intersected and positioned in a coupling of information, could the truth be accessed behind the exterior. Luo Nan looked at the incorporeal power of order. He watched it rotate silently within the void of heaven and earth into a genesis.

  Luo Nan gazed at all of this with an insatiable thirst for more. It was not enough no matter how much he looked at it.

  Xue Lei hopped madly from anxiety. He was unable to understand the world within Luo Nan’s eyes, but he was able to grasp a few things from the aura radiating from Luo Nan’s body.

  Xue Lei only understood one part: Luo Nan’s energy function of the eyes orifice was flourishing too greatly. It was like the wild growth of a plant. Before, it had been a sapling; but then it turned into a towering tree in the blink of an eye.

  Where did this terrible power come from? Did Luo Nan have enough stamina? Could the structural strength of the human body and its acupoints support it?

  One mistake and Luo Nan would be crippled!

  "Right, I need to find the gym master!" In life-threatening matters, the first person Xue Lei thought of was his gym master.

  But right as he was about to exit from the three-way call to call and find the gym master, Luo Nan suddenly drew in a deep breath. His arms pressed against the protective glass, his head hung down, and his eyelids drooped to physically prevent Luo Nan from doing the incomprehensible action of gazing off into the distance. Luo Nan appeared utterly tired.

  Xue Lei rushed over. "Nanster, you all right? Why don’t we first take a breather……"

  Luo Nan didn’t open his eyes. He just laughed. "I may have a bit of a situation going on."

  "What?"

  "Order can be seen as a gear. The coupling of two orders is the meshing of two gears. If there isn’t a precise plan for their integration, if there exists an excessive disparity between the two masses instead, things become very troublesome."

  Xue Lei was knocked stupid once more, while Zhang Yingying vented angrily, "Forget about him! He’s hopeless!"

  In his mind, Luo Nan understood that his friends had different ways of expressing their concern and worries. However, it was difficult for him to continue explaining the situation happening with his body. This was because it involved his deep secrets.

  The heart lantern of the eyes orifice formed a coupling relationship with the mental senses. In essence, the cultivation with the human body that Luo Nan just started had come in contact with the rather extensive Formatting Theory System.

  They could couple, but friction and collisions couldn’t be avoided. Ten days of cultivation, with the phenomenon of lightning striking the heart lantern occurring sixty times, already clearly revealed the elements of risk within.

  Plus, yet another change occurred with his present situation, and the trend wasn’t looking too good. It was like a thundercloud high in the sky. The electrically charged particles interweaved. Something big was bound to happen……

  A strong light suddenly flashed. The external neuron was akin to a dragon roaring with the wind and thunder. Its showed itself within the shrine of his brain, and it jolted into a bolt of electricity that smashed upon the heart lantern.

  This was the sixty-first time! And it was stronger than any other!

  This was a direct collision between the external neuron and the eyes orifice structure.

  Luo Nan long had this foreboding in his heart, but the intensity of this impact was still beyond his expectation. His body suddenly spasmed, and his brawn became muddled. Within his daze, he seemed to hear the sound of his eyes shattering.

  The impact endured by the cranial nerves passed through the closely interwoven nervous system to transmit to every part of the body. This included muscles, bone, blood, and fascia. They all spasmed by reflex.

  Luo Nan curled up and crouched down. He reached out his hands to cover his eyes. Uncontrollable tears flowed from his eye sockets. His eyeballs burned hot, and his eyelids twitched wildly. It was utterly painful.

  He heard Xue Lei’s startled cry and Zhang Yingying’s panicky shout. The two were both confused.

  Against all reason, Luo Nan’s thoughts became clearer within the pain. He could feel a change in the tactile sensation of his hands covering his eyes. They weren’t holding tears of blood, but something more viscous. The intense and powerful pressure had caused great harm to his body.

  This wasn’t much. He knew what was going on.

  Luo Nan calmed himself down, for he had obtained excellent results. There was probably nothing in the near future that could shake his heart more than him discovering the marvels of Gear.

  Even if his eyes couldn’t see material objects, he accurately grasped Xue Lei’s extended arm for support. He whispered, "I’m fine. Someone’s coming from behind."

  As soon as he spoke those words, the sound of water exploded, heavily muffled, in the direction of the Heavenly Ocean Lake. The colossal devil ray soared up and smashed down, setting off an enormous wave in the pool.

  A human figure gracefully leaped up in sync with the devil ray. The person jumped atop the supporting frame structure at the edge of the pool. He wore a black diving suit that showed off the powerful and formidable contours of his body. He sported massive diving goggles on his face, and he had no intention of removing them.

  This was a member of the investigation team sent by Headquarters—Puppeteer.

  Xue Lei spun around, guarding Luo Nan behind him. Vigilance could be seen within his eyes.

  Puppeteer didn’t say anything. He used his good position from the high ground to look down from above. His pupils behind the diving goggles continued to size up the two people at the edge of the viewing platform. He paid special attention to Luo Nan. He was very interested in Luo Nan’s pained squatting state.

  Only a few seconds later, two elevators close to the Heavenly Ocean Lake area came one after another.

  The first to come out was Black Beetle. He had thrown away his sunglasses, and his expression was still a bit green. His eyes pierced over with a chilling gaze. He ignored Xue Lei, only training his gaze on Luo Nan’s bent form.

  Xue Lei held nothing back from this person. He glared fiercely and viciously, but he remained a bit nervous inside. Luo Nan was in a completely terrible state. Xue Lei had to deal with a double front attack simultaneously. With that, having to divert some mental energy in protecting Luo Nan seemed barely possible…… Oh, right! There was another elevator! Could it be the enemy’s backup?

  The door of the other elevator opened in the midst of his headache.

  Xue Lei’s mind went blank. He barely adjusted his cognitive direction and identified the person.

  "Tian…… Senior Sister Tian?"

  It was none other than Tian Si who had come out of the elevator. This cute and beautiful schoolmate had a deathly white complexion. She walked stiffly, and the upper part of her body was held in a weird posture.

  Her two hands overlapped each other as they clutched at her own neck. Her grip was quite strong, for her fingers dug deep into her tender skin. The pressure was so great that her mouth gaped slightly and her lips faintly trembled.

  The scene looked bizarre and absurd.

  Because of the existence of self-protection mechanisms, a normal person couldn’t possibly use this method to strangle themselves to death. However, the situation was different when one was controlled by supernatural powers.

  Xue Lei ground his teeth in anger when he saw this. "You people…… you call yourselves members of the Society!?"

  No one paid any attention to him. Above the pool, Puppeteer opened his mouth, but he spoke to Tian Si. He spoke calmly, without any distinguishing quality, like he was engaging in a normal chat. "Meeting again after a small time apart. Do you have anything to say, beautiful girl?"

  Tian Si’s lips trembled, and Xue Lei could even hear her teeth clatter with his nimble eyes and ears. Such an aberrant and cruel technique had been cast upon her body. She could be considered strong for not having a mental breakdown.

  Shaky words were squeezed out of Tian Si’s throat with great difficulty.

  "I—I took the stairs the whole time."

  "……"

  Everyone on the viewing platform stared with stupefaction.

  Only Luo Nan, who had a knee on the ground from the pain, voiced ’ha’ in a spiteful laugh; though his laugh was a bit shaky. He didn’t look back. He just raised an arm toward her.

  "My bad."