Chapter 138: Boshan Building (Part 2/2)
Translator: Strivon
It was as if there was a layer of mist and dust surrounding Baze's projected image within the Format Pyramid. Starlight subtly glowed.
Luo Nan's mind was drawn over, and he saw the starlight similar to the water of a river. It rolled and billowed within the Format Pyramid and set off ripples. There were also waves surging below that pushed Baze's portrait to bob up and down. An impressive scene to the eyes.
However, aesthetic could not purely support this situation.
The uncontrolled growth of soul strength broke through the capacity limits of the Hollow Depository. This outbreak led to the continuous increase of the interference effect between the mental plane and the material plane, which caused the disturbance toward the Format Pyramid Interface to grow stronger and stronger.
Luo Nan was a bit worried when he woke up to the situation in front of him. The layout of the Format Pyramid and the rankings of his believers were going through huge changes.
Luckily, no problems had occurred so far. His mind swept over Baze's portrait and touched upon some key openings. A long shadow steeped in darkness pierced through the clear rippling starlight. This was the instantiation of an order frame, the dark chains. These marvelous chains were like a dragon of legends. They bobbed up and down the endless star river, flickering in and out of sight.
Right now, it spiraled around Baze's portrait, as it emitted a faint noise. There was a meaning contained in its actions. It was likely showing the way to Baze's order.
On the night at Frost River Reality, An Weng had tried to control the demon without complete success. He lost control of the chaos element. The chaos element surged through the mana channels within the bodies of the Oblatum Knights and eroded their life force. This was the primary reason why the elites of the Order were all wiped out.
Baze had suffered from the attack then as well. He was on the verge of exploding and dying. In his moment of despair, he sought out Fairchild. He hoped to find an honorable death. But then, Fairchild restrained him and requested Luo Nan to use his order frame to help Baze find a new path to life.
Luo Nan was in fact successful in doing so. Although chaos element might have eroded and replaced Baze's life, Luo Nan was able to establish a whole new restrictive order within this sheet of chaos. Baze was relying on none other than this to live in this world.
Yet, it was also because of this that Baze's life was in Luo Nan’s hands.
Of course, Luo Nan had saved Baze because Fairchild asked him to. Luo Nan was not going to really do anything to Baze. Baze was quite strong. Luo Nan was not sure he could stop such a person from seeking death.
Luo Nan had not tried to do anything toward Baze's body after that night. Then, Luo Nan had entered the hospital for treatment, vexed over the uncontrolled growth of his soul strength. The high level members of the Order of Justice called Fairchild back for questioning and investigation. The two sides did not contact each other at all. There were many moments when Luo Nan simply forgot about this matter.
The unforeseen event with the Mystic Arts Research Society had wound Luo Nan's train of thought over here. He was thinking whether or not he should contact Baze.
He hesitated for a moment, but he still did not make the next move.
Aside from the Wraith Sign and Ink, Luo Nan had yet to utilize this channel to make contact and control a single person. It was one matter to do this toward an unintelligent Darksider life form or his own pet. To do this toward Xie Junping, Cat Eyes, and even Baze, these highly intelligent living beings, was a totally different matter.
He also did not know just what sort of applications the order frame was capable of in the end.
Furthermore, it felt kind of like a joke to go contact Baze for the matter with the Mystic Arts Research Society. The level of a school society was far too inferior in the eyes of someone as powerful as Baze.
Luo Nan shook his head, and his mind departed from this space.
The so-called saying, ‘Cultivation Without the Sun and Moon’, largely referred to the state of meditation and calmness where the sense of time toward the outer world was completely lost. Luo Nan's self-perception had spent a full circle within the Format Pyramid Interface. Nearly half an hour had passed in reality.
The Phantom flying car speedily continued along under its autonomous driving mode and had already made it to the River Wu District. The car's AI was already inputted with the address that Xue Lei gave. The AI had planned the route, and it quickly brought Luo Nan to Boshan Building, the location of Divine Yu Gym.
There was a large detached high-rise that occupied over a hundred acres of land. It was named Boshan because its design was a replica of the Boshanlu, or Hill Censor, of ancient times. This was the famous landmark building of the River Wu District.
Boshan Building had the shape of a mountain. It was wide at the base and sharp at the top. The bottom floors were neat and tidy offices. The top floors formed the jagged peaks of a business district. Various stores were strewn at random there. There was also a bright green aerobic runway that spiraled upon the building and stretched to a rooftop garden at the very top.
This was the highest class business district in the River Wu District. Since they were able to run a store here and able to open a gym, that Gym Master Xiu must have a high social status.
Luo Nan parked the car at the underground parking structure and took an elevator to the high class business district. He gave Xue Lei a call and soon found the location of Divine Yu Gym thanks to his guidance.
If one were to view Boshan Building as an artificial mountain, then Divine Yu Gym would be located about halfway up the mountain. It did not take up too much space, and its construction was of an open classical courtyard style. The terrain of the business district limited it, making up of three courtyards in ascending height. The whole construction took up three stories, and it faced the sun in a corner. It was as if it was built in accordance to a mountain, and it looked utterly refined.
Though it was located in the bustling business district, the front of the gym was rather simple. All that hung was a simple plaque that said, ‘Divine Yu’. It was upright and straight but not fancy. There were not many characteristics to it.
Xue Lei rushed out to welcome Luo Nan at this time. He wore light gray training clothes. The same outfit that Luo Nan saw him in when they first met. There was a tripod cauldron logo on his chest. His muscles bulged tightly against his training clothes, which made him look magnificent.
Luo Nan's gaze rested a moment on the tripod cauldron logo. Suddenly, he recalled the gym master's name. Of course, this was also the name of the gym. It was highly likely that the name originated from the classical story ‘Yu Cast Nine Tripod Cauldrons’.
Just from the name and the look of the layout and exterior of the gym, Gym Master Xiu Shenyu was indeed an old-fashioned character.
Xue Lei did not know the thoughts that instantly flashed through Luo Nan's mind. He split his lips into a slightly embarrassed grin. "Nanster, the gym master is teaching a class right now. I'm afraid you'll need to wait a bit. He will be good in half an hour."
Luo Nan was in no hurry. "This is nothing. Oh right, can I take a look?"
Xue Lei scratched his head when he heard this. "Uh, not this class. They're all seven, eight year old kids. They haven't fixed their essences yet. If their frame disperses, it would be hard for them to coalesce the energies back... Why don't we first wait at the mind study?"
Luo Nan did not push it. He followed Xue Lei inside. He was just a little curious. "The gym master is personally teaching kids?"
When Luo Nan was a kid, his aunt and uncle had the children of the family take hobby classes in martial arts and fighting for exercise. It was hard to meet the boss during those times. Normally, trainers were the ones who taught the courses.
Uh, daoguans and training classes were quite different.
"There aren't many people in our daoguan. We don't have the resources. Plus, it’s very important for children to lay a good foundation, so the gym master personally came."
Xue Lei glanced around and whispered, "Actually, very few kids are able to endure; they can't handle the pain. The gym master says that there aren't many who can embark along his path, and it's not necessary to forcefully mold them. Yet, he also can't hamper their progress. Its fine to turn them from stubborn stones to unpolished jades and reveal their light. Maybe one day in the future, they will receive a moment of enlightenment and still be able to rely upon this path."
Luo Nan laughed as he looked at Xue Lei. "So you're saying that you're along the gym master's path?"
Xue Lei answered a bit rudely, "Yea, man. The gym master once said that I was quite like him when he was young."
Luo Nan turned to look at Xue Lei's simple and honest face. He tried mixing Xue Lei's face with a sage-like old-fashioned character, but it was hard for him to imagine the resulting appearance.