Translator: Strivon

  Of course, the starry sky atop the title page was merely an illusion, but the changes within the Format Pyramid were real.

  Luo Nan felt restless sitting on his bed. He got up and walked around in a circle. An intense premonition came upon him. He studied Formatting Theory for over five years. Perhaps it was only now that he was able to truly touch upon the doorstep to the core research of his grandfather’s work.

  "What do I need to do next? What do I need to do next?"

  Luo Nan’s mind remained clear, for he had done arduous and crucial preparations to tackle today’s juncture. However, he never expected to start up this smoothly. It was so smooth that it was out of control. After the star atlas transformation of the Format Pyramid, all his previous plans were completely invalidated. He needed to follow the new structure and sort out another rough train of thought.

  But the true problem didn’t lie with the fact that his trains of thought were too few. Instead, there were far too many!

  He flung himself onto the bed, picking up his own loose-leaf notebook. He wrote and wrote, venting out his thoughts. Soon, seven blank pages were crammed full of words, figures, and symbols. Yet this was still not enough. Impulses of attempts jumped endlessly from his mind.

  Luo Nan never expected to have such a day bursting with insights.

  It was already 11 o’clock by the time he snapped back to reality from recording his insights. The AI housekeeper followed its programmed schedule and made lunch, inviting the only member of the household at home to eat at the dining table.

  Luo Nan spent an entire morning burning his mental energy. His energy consumption was out of the ordinary. An alarm went off within his instincts, and he simply brought the notebook downstairs as he prepared to use lunchtime to further mull over his thoughts and write. He wouldn’t tarry at all.

  He shoveled a few spoonfuls of food in his mouth as his mind wandered, drawing and writing another half a page of words and symbols. Luo Nan felt all right with things. He could continue like this at the dining table.

  But a notification message reminded him of something at this moment.

  "The lunch session has arrived. Shed some sweat, young man!" the HexaEar vibrated, and Xue Lei’s thick timbre laced with stifled laughter was exceptionally amused. This was a notification that they recorded a few days ago when they had the leisure. This was to ensure that Luo Nan exercised control over his daily schedule.

  Gym Master Xiu’s teachings were inherently very strict. Luo Nan had to pay the most attention to habit and tempo. He had to know good cultivation habits and and efficient tempo. This was the foundation to realizing results in martial arts. The requirements were high, particularly after Luo Nan succeeded with the heart lantern of the eyes orifice. This was unavoidable, perhaps due to his extremely special circumstances. Every day, he had to do morning sessions, night sessions, and lunch sessions by the dot, not shaken even by thunder. He couldn’t be lazy. Xue Lei was a good friend, and he acted as a serious and rigid supervisor.

  Having strictly controlled himself for over ten years, supervising externally and pressing internally, Luo Nan had already formed an initial tempo for cultivation. However, his tempo became a bit messy because of his commitment to internal refinement, which yielded real results. He had yet to completely adapt to these changes.

  Luo Nan looked at the time and struggled mentally for a little while. In the end, he still closed his eyes, pushed his notebook aside, and ate faster.

  The benefits he just accessed with the mouth and tongue orifice displayed themselves at this moment. The digestive acids of the stomach displayed a clear increase in its energy conversion function. Luo Nan vaguely felt essence energy trickling down his throat along with the tasteless and calorie-heavy nutritious meal. As Luo Nan ate, the essence endlessly circulated throughout his entire body, replenishing his own energy.

  "The pace is extremely good, and the vital energy of the inner organs is stable. There isn’t any clear imbalances. According to Gym Master Xiu, a thick root receptacle means a sturdy foundation, sufficient to bear…… Huh?"

  Luo Nan suddenly became aware of something. As he subconsciously ate his food, he had nearly jabbed his chopsticks into his nose. But he was also unable to deal with this sorry situation, as his thoughts continued to churn. "Gym Master Xiu has helped control the progress of the Body Gear. Though it is weaker than the God Gear, every step is solid. Planting thick roots into the soil of the body that is akin to a mountain is an absolutely decent process. In comparison, the God Gear driven by Formatting Theory has been a road of wild and violent progress. The growth is uncontrollable, giving me a great deal of troubles. If a second explosive outbreak were to occur from the drive of insights, this little life of mine may no longer exist."

  His thoughts were clear. Luo Nan’s back was drenched in sweat. He flipped through his notebook once more, completely crossing out some extreme and bold plans of his. He looked for some conservative and gradual plans, carefully mulling over them.

  "That’s right. When it comes to researching Formatting Theory, my current root receptacle isn’t thick, my root nature isn’t clear, and my root trigger is super early. I need to carefully sculpt and solidify my foundation before making any more plans. The way I express my thoughts when quick sketching is actually very suitable for this."

  Luo Nan smacked the table, making a firm resolution in his heart. He stuffed a few mouthfuls of food into his mouth, tidied up a bit, and went up the stairs to perform his noon session.

  He did a set of exercises. While his vital energy circulated within his inner organs, while his muscles, skin, and flesh trembled as he fixed himself in the proper stance, Luo Nan naturally seized a bit of calm. He easily shifted his attention to the living starry sky of his clairvoyance, beginning his afternoon research.

  Compared to the lightning strikes of insight in the morning with its series of bursting intensities, his mind was steady in the afternoon. His mental state was much more moderate, and he merely quietly observed the marvelous and splendid starry sky.

  Instead of viewing at the starry sky with the logic of Formatting Theory, he used the acuity of an artist.

  Luo Nan had been in the middle of a vicious battle fraught with dangers when he first mulled over the drawing method of the Life Sketches. He had been pressed, and time was of the essence, exhausting all the things he learned and experienced then. At the time, he had the experience of the out-of-body state, the pattern and tempo of soul breathing, and an understanding of a configuration for the operating structure of energy and information. With his many years of speed sketching as a foundation, having drawn thousands upon thousands of sketches, Luo Nan was able to utilize the keen ability to grasp the characteristics of people quickly and easily.

  He was quite proud to be able to integrate super complicated elements into such a grand and gigantic work of art.

  But from the harshest perspective, a rushed drawing and a meticulous work were far different at the competition level.

  In the end, the Life Sketch was merely a sketch. It was drawn through the method of speed sketching. It imitated the form and appearance, grasping a general impression. It was far from perfect in many details, such as in composition, scale, and structure.

  Needless to say, the current Luo Nan lacked in quite a bit. He didn’t have the ability to endure, nor did he have the acuity, knowledge, and experience.

  But now, by learning arts from Gym Master Xiu, by continuing to cram the fundamental knowledge pertaining to the world, by putting coupling between the God Gear and Body Gear into practice, Luo Nan had repaired one flaw after another. He was like a young artist with a modicum of success in art. He looked back on his own initial training drafts and was appalled by the sight. He knew where he was lacking, and he knew how to go about fixing them.

  There existed an overall order to the living starry sky, but the figures themselves were lacking in precision. The image was large, but of no real use. A basic mold was already formed with the starry sky, but there was practically no room to add detail.

  If Luo Nan wanted to amend the star atlas-transformed Format Pyramid, Luo Nan would have to reify the star atlas. This was his direction.

  Luo Nan slowly adjusted his breathing, and the starry sky formed from the joining of Life Sketches was like a just-completed composition. It was the draft of a structure recently drawn. It simply waited for Luo Nan to use his pen, go line the work with more exquisite layers of light and darkness, and make key details appear.

  Thousands upon thousands of amendments had to be made to the star atlas. It was an enormous undertaking without compare. Yet, it was the steadiest and most solid step Luo Nan could take. Of course, the first thing that had to be molded and revised was still Luo Nan himself.