Chapter 383: A Large Tonic (Part 2/2)
Translator: Strivon
Oh right, this was in line with the perspective of a victim from Ocean Sky Cloud City...
Though these were Luo Nan's thoughts, Luo Nan felt quite affectionate when he heard Tian Si's sigh. His mind became much more lively and quick-witted than usual. He immediately laughed and said, "Then Senior Sister can take me out for a meal as well."
Tian Si responded extremely quickly, "Tonight?"
"Tonight?" Luo Nan started, "Tonight I have an event..."
"Really?"
Suspicion could clearly be read in Tian Si's tone and perhaps even a bit of disappointment as well. This made Luo Nan feel quite embarrassed.
The gears churned in Luo Nan's brain, and he suddenly came up an idea, "Oh, that's right, why don't you come tonight as well, Senior Sister?”
Tian Si was surprised, "You're inviting me?"
"Yes, actually you know everyone who's going. It's Mo Peng, Mo Peng...Remember them?"
"They're your cousins, right? Last time at Frost River Reality..."
Her voice suddenly dropped, while Luo Nan's brain was becoming more and more perceptive. He knew that Tian Si was afraid that things would be awkward. After all, the last outing was actually meant as an chance to establish relations between Luo Nan's third older cousin, Mo Qiu, and Tian Si. It seemed that such an outcome did not occur and would certainly not happen in a second attempt.
Well, such a slip was inevitable with Luo Nan's level of social communication ability. He really didn't know how to remedy the situation, but Tian Si chuckled and said,
"All right then. I'll just bring along Tian Qi - he's closer in age with you all. Last time he had a decent time. I heard that he still keeps in contact with your family."
"Oh, so such a thing was happening." It didn't matter whether Tian Si was telling the truth or not, as long as she didn't mind going. Luo Nan let out a breath of relief. Such plans, from his perspective, could be considered as killing two birds with one stone.
Mo Han and Mo Peng were both devil incarnates. There should be some older people around to give them pressure. From their experience of the get-together with Tian Si and Mo Qiu, the inclusion of Tian Si would create an awkward atmosphere. Let's see how those two fellows will deal with this!
Uh, weren't these thoughts of Luo Nan a bit despicable?
Luo Nan ended the call with Tian Si and shook his head. His thoughts took another turn, his expression darkening. Tonight's event was a small matter. The exceptional power and its information that the Wraith Sign just transmitted over was the crucial problem that needed to be understood.
It stood to reason that the Wraith Sign still resided within the Bloodflame Order. People let it 'graze' everyday; they let it consume other Human-Faced Arachnid clones to strengthen itself. In the objective of city safety, the Wraith Sign was simply a top notch street cleaner.
Such actions by the Wraith Sign had brought on quite a bit of trouble to Luo Nan in the past. It imbalanced the road of between his body and soul, making it a longer walk.
However, ever since Luo Nan built a clear-cut frame of body and soul—the coupled rotation of the God Gear and Bloodflame Order—the negative effects brought upon by the sudden hunt and consumption of the Wraith Sign grew smaller and smaller. Luo Nan was more than happy to let it reside in the Bloodflame Order, so it could collect bits of secret information.
But in that very moment, it could be said that the explosion on the mental plane was the most intense impact that Luo Nan had ever received from the Wraith Sign.
According to Luo Nan's estimate, the fluctuations from the turmoil in that very instant spelled the Wraith Sign encountering a powerful foe. The Wraith Sign had unleashed its full power and had emerged victorious. It ate its fallen foe, causing an impact that was akin to a meteor striking the earth.
The true intensity of the link lasted only an instant. Luo Nan didn't have the time to see it; he missed it just like that. Then there was the awkward event in the auditorium, which distracted him. By the time Luo Nan had the leisure to pay attention to what was happening with the Wraith Sign, the Wraith Sign had already calmed down.
Luo Nan was only able to see the Bloodflame Order's herder from the Wraith Sign's perspective. It was none other than Elder Mo Lun. He was in the form of a soul, appearing as a body of black smoke. He flew with haste, and Luo Nan could see that his smokey body, which was hard to pick out, was unstable. He was in a sorry state, having likely been injured.
Luo Nan had looked up information on this Elder Mo Lun recently. He knew that Elder Mo Lun was a backbone force of the Bloodflame Order. He dual-cultivated in the very rare combination of spellcasting and martial arts. At his peak, he was an existence that made even Extraordinaries raise their eyebrows.
It must be stated that Elder Mo Lun wasn't even sixty; he was in his robust years. He should be at his peak. Unfortunately, he had received a critical internal injury during the division of his Order. Things were no longer smooth for him. It became even harder for him to break through the boundary to become an Extraordinary. His bodily functions rapidly declined, causing him to rely on spellcasting techniques to support the organization.
Though these were Elder Mo Lun's circumstances, Elder Mo Lun was able to suppress an elite of the Society, Mr. Bai. He was quite amazing, really pushing Mr. Bai into a sense of urgency. The martial power from the ignition of life force and the summoning of the Bloodflame Will was extremely terrifying.
So therein lies the problem: who was able to injure this experienced B-rank ability user? Back then during their encounter, He Yueyin had relied on the Psychic Wave Network to summon a long-ranged attack from President Ouyang - even that attack didn't result in this much damage.
If the enemy Elder Mo Lun encountered really was on President Ouyang's level, then it would be impossible for the Wraith Sign to prevail in combat, let alone consume the enemy.
Right, so then what did it eat?
Luo Nan's God Gear structure was gradually stabilizing, but it was still affected by the impact. The vast ocean iceberg's water level continued to sharply increase, along with a wonderful sensation of a sudden rise in temperature. Luo Nan observed this for a moment, and he discovered that there were two different sources of force clashing in conflict. They affected each other.
"Clearly the Wraith Sign hadn't swallowed another clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It had swallowed something else, and the difference in nature was quite large. Much effort was required to digest it after the forceful consumption..."
Luo Nan made a series of reasoned assumptions, but he wasn't able to come to a conclusion.
It must be known that the thing understood as the Wraith Sign possessed a nature of chaos. It moved purely based on instinct. It only lives in the present, possessing zero concept of past or future, let alone relevant memories. Plus, Luo Nan didn't know how to examine the memories of his believers. Even if he did know, he wouldn't be able to begin. He could only stare blankly at the stealthy escape of Mo Lun and the Wraith Sign.
There wasn't anything he could do. He just set a reminder with the Wraith Sign. He would immediately shift his consciousness over whenever a significant change occurred with it. He wanted to clarify the situation.
Lunch time was extremely tight yet precious for Luo Nan and Xue Lei. Naturally, they would politely decline going to the school hospital. After Luo Nan's knee clotted up, the two ate lunch and went to their midday classes.
Luo Nan was currently cultivating in the eyes’ orifice. Now there was the addition of the mouth and tongue orifice, the inner organs needed to be attended to as well. His cultivations required more time. After everything was done, he had only a moment to nap. He closed his eyes for what felt like a blink and it was now time for class. It was hard for him not to feel emotional. Yes, it could be said that he had some complaints.
"Three sessions. One in the morning, one midday, and one in the evening. It's not easy to stick with this schedule. The time in a day is split into three sections by the three sessions. It'd be great if I can concentrate fully on cultivation, but a minor change can make it hard to complete just two sessions..."
"So do you know why many martial artists like to go into seclusion upon reaching a certain level? It is to avoid being disturbed by the external world to the greatest degree. In any case, since you're cultivating in this world, you will be influenced by the turbidity of it. How can you expect to keep the working routine and have everything be smooth sailing? However, you must not use these words as an excuse."
"I know already discipline, brother!" Luo Nan groaned. He stretched on the electric shuttle, the bone, flesh, and tendons of his entire body crackled as they tightened.
The restlessness didn’t go away, and the vast ocean iceberg was a bit lacking in stability due to the rising temperature. However, when it coupled with the Body Gear, the interference power formed was much more livelier than before.
Luo Nan proceeded with his midday session of cultivation. He felt the heart lantern burn luminously, his spiritual pond overflowing along with the rise and fall of his vital energy. It was as if a stream was formed from the spring sun thawing snow. It seemed warm yet cold, and the stream would wrap around the inner organs. The refinement process became three times more effective, having been nourished by the stream.
This was the sign of that the mouth, tongue, and eyes orifice working together in harmony. Luo Nan originally felt that he needed ten days to achieve this -- he never thought he would have results so soon. Not even three days had passed.
Luo Nan couldn't avoid thinking about the 'large tonic' that the Wraith Sign had consumed, and wondering if it was correlated.
From the signs that were present over Luo Nan's body, Xue Lei nodded over and over as he heard them, "Tempering the fleshly body is indeed the entry way. We will practice sanshou, Chinese boxing, this afternoon and exchange some blows."
Luo Nan shot a glance at Xue Lei's arm, which could be a match for his thigh in size, and didn't continue with this topic. He just asked, "Tonight at the large activity area. Frost River Reality. You're coming, right?"
Xue Lei obviously wouldn't refuse. He even reminded Luo Nan, "Don't cause trouble. Make sure you go home early."
"Make what trouble!" Luo Nan shrugged, "All right, then let's first meet at Gear."
"First practice sanshou," Xue Lei emphasized again.
"I have class today."
"Isn't 'Notes on the Major Characters of the World' the only one left?"
"It's a new class," Luo Nan blinked. He reached a hand to grasp the air. A small bead of water was in his hand when he opened it again. It appeared to be stuck to his palm, but it was actually floating. It whirled and spun.
There were only two more courses for school in the afternoon. They involved writing, and Luo Nan wasn't really interested in them. He didn't pay much attention to the specific details during class. He just made subtle movements with his fingers, causing the small water bead to revolve between them.
This water bead wasn't the external neuron in the form of a divine rebirth. It was coalesced later. The total set of the Condensation Ring and the five auxiliary structures roamed around his fingers. It was like a dull blade slashing against his skin, yet it looked like it could crumble at any time.
This was not a misconception. If Luo Nan were to brush the water bead with force from his fingers, then the result would simply be akin to detonating a bomb at his fingertips. He would suffer some.
Luo Nan's physical control was quite lacking. He would certainly suffer a setback if he exceeded the time limit. The better method of training was to rely solely on using the mind to control. It was one of the small skills for daily cultivation that Her Majesty Empress Wu had taught in Xia City branch's mid-level training course. However, Luo Nan's mind wasn't completely focused on it right now.
After the Wraith Sign sent the signal to Luo Nan, the unlucky Elder Mo Lun experienced an hour or so of torment in his escape before finally returning to a secret rest point. He began to communicate with others.
He was at a large fitness center of a senior member's suite. The interior decoration of the room was mostly in a mauve color, and the lighting was a bit dim, bringing a bit of an exotic atmosphere.
Aside from the two wooden chairs in the corner, most of the space in this decently sized room was filled with exercise equipment. There were yoga mats, treadmills, bicycles, ellipticals, and so on. There was even a small swimming pool in the corner. Elder Mo Lun's fleshly body was already there. He sat naked and cross-legged in the swimming pool.
But Mo Lun's soul didn't return back to its body. Though returning back to his body would aid in the recovery of his injured soul, it would also make his fleshly body worse with its hidden injuries. Mo Lun could only endure it for now.
Mo Lun's soul just floated in the center of the room with the Wraith Sign at his side. Of the two wooden chairs in the room, one of them was left unused. It was left for Mo Lun. It was a display of respect even though he wasn't sitting in it.
There were six people gathered here, core members of the Order who had received the information. Having seen each one of these people on and off over the past month through the Wraith Sign, Luo Nan was able to recognize and identify all of them.
The person who sat in the other wooden chair was the current First Oblatum of the Bloodflame Order—Lady Halder.