Master of the Stars

Chapter 146: Flexibility Lies in the Eyes (Part 2/2)

Translator: Strivon

"Yes, yes, that's right. I can't make it to the hospital this morning..." Luo Nan rode a bike as he asked Bai Xinyan to take this treatment session off. His breathing was heavy and a cold wind caused him to choke. He coughed a few times.

Bai Xinyan's ears shot up. She had a rough understanding of Luo Nan's current situation. "Early morning exercise, eh? Pay attention to your amount of exercise. Right now your condition is stable, so it's fine to miss a treatment session once in a while…. Oh, right. How did learning the sleeping skill go?"

Luo Nan responded with grunts and groans. He didn't say much.

Bai Xinyan didn't inquire any further. She soon hung up. From her attitude, it seemed like she was determined to carry out the happy-go-lucky treatment until the end.

Luo Nan took deep panting breaths, which formed faint white mist in the cold, crisp morning. It was now 7:20 in the morning. He was still a street away from his destination, Acumen College, but the last of his physical energy had been squeezed clean from these two hours of cycling. Xue Lei was even beating him ahead.

At that moment, Luo Nan’s thighs felt paralyzed, his calves spasming, and his chest and back were drenched in sweat. He lacked even the strength to stand up on the bike.

Xue Lei glanced back at him and slowed down a bit. It was obvious that Xue Lei still had energy in the tank.

Luo Nan was envious of his friend who was like a tireless beast. Xue Lei had ran a distance of fifty kilometers straight up with vitality. He ran the whole way like a long-distance runner, during which he changed his running style several times. He frequently punched out with his fists or kicked out with his legs. He jumped between stories to keep on going forward. The amount of exercise he did and the amount of energy he consumed had to exceed the cycling Luo Nan by a dozen-fold.

Though the two's pace slowed down at the moment, Xue Lei, with his distance ahead, increased the intensity of his movements. Fists and sleeves could be heard tearing through the air right next to him. He was simply dripping with sweat as he subjected himself to crazy training.

If Xue Lei did this every day, Luo Nan could understand why Xue Lei had such astonishing strength. So astonishing that even Zhang Yingying and the other Awakened all praised him highly.

Speaking of which, today, Luo Nan had been roused by Xue Lei's rhythm and had thus brought out a competitive spirit within him…. Luo Nan felt embarrassed being beat by a runner while he was cycling, now that he thought about it.

At last, Xue Lei's morning exercise came to an end. He collected himself, exhaled deeply, and switched to walking with large strides. Perhaps Xue Lei felt Luo Nan's gaze, for he turned to look at Luo Nan. "Nanster, please don't be offended. It's hard for me to talk and split my attention when I train."

Indeed, Xue Lei spoke practically not a word the entire journey. This was rather different from his straightforward and talkative nature.

"It's nothing. Things are quite nice this way." Luo Nan really admired Xue Lei. He spoke emotionally, "When it comes to training, doesn't one have to devote their entire concentration to it?"

Xue Lei didn't immediately respond. He sized up Luo Nan a few times and split his lips into a grin. "The gym master says this often: The opportunity to train and cultivate is number one. If one can't grasp an opportunity, then nothing is worth mentioning!"

Luo Nan was stumped. He really couldn't think of the relevancy of these words. He couldn't help asking, "What sort of meanings are contained in those words?"

"The gym master had said a few things while teaching breathing techniques in previous sessions. I'll give you the rundown."

Then Xue Lei spoke with a swaying and bobbing head, "The human body possesses the breathing of life. Heaven and earth also possess the breathing of life. We, as people, are insignificant. We are short-sighted. We can only see what is in front of us. We concentrate only on our own inhalation and exhalation. The breathing of heaven and earth can only be found in the middle of the long hazy river of time.

"We are unable to see the passage of time. It is difficult for us to harmonize our breathing with the breathing of heaven and earth, but we can be sailors. With our bodies as boats, we can sail on the billowing waves of the river of time. Through fine work, we can capture the dribs and drabs of the directions of the winds and the power of the waters. Ultimately, the breath of heaven and earth can be used to aid the breath of a single person. The true meaning of cultivation is when the speed of the boat prevails over the speed of the waters, regardless of the flow and the waves."

"Of this, the directions of the winds and the power of the waters are opportunities. The accumulation of many sands make a tower. The amassing of trees make a forest. Gathering several small forces make a large force. One by one they answer upon the body and soul. Powerful capabilities. The transformation of vital energy…. Do you understand?"

Xue Lei wasn't quite certain of Luo Nan's comprehension near the end.

Luo Nan grunted. He knew that Xue Lei wanted to let him know a few things. These things were probably focus, perseverance, and so on, but the concrete details weren't clear to him.

Xue Lei smiled. "I didn't understand when I first heard these words. Then the gym master explained them to me. We're all steering boats, traveling the river of time. It is hard for us to avoid being surrounded by perils. In ancient times, the boatmen of rivers had to spend a great deal of energy to avoid being wrecked when encountering dangerous rapids and torrents. They spent a great deal of mental energy exploiting the nature of water. This was essential.

"Training and cultivation may look like it involves only the tempering of one's strength, but in fact, it demands the forging of one's willpower. The mind is what suffers, and regardless of whether it’s normal training or facing a foe in battle, the mind comes before energy, and energy comes before strength. This concerns the importance of consumption and loss. It is logical for them to go down in this descending order."

Luo Nan looked at Xue Lei. He was finally able to confirm something this time.

In this bicycle ride, didn't his physical energy consumption far exceed his mental energy consumption? The bodily functions of his entire body had reached their limits, but his mind was still very lively. From Xue Lei's perspective, was his mental concentration lacking?

Was Xue Lei criticizing him?

This was the most tactful Xue Lei could be with his honest nature. Then, the weary feeling through Luo Nan's body became a bit prickly. Even his panting breaths became hot.

Xue Lei was concerned that he spoke too far. He subconsciously waved his hand, but he himself was a bit nervous. "Nanster, actually I…."

"How should the mind be used for it to be focused? What would be sensible?" asked Luo Nan seriously. He wasn't going to let Xue Lei just say nonsense.

Luo Nan wouldn't be mad at his friend for something as little as this; he just really didn't understand. It was reasonable to say that he had learned and practiced with extreme commitment from last night until now. He didn't let his mind wander, nor did he goof off at all.

Xue Lei let out a breath of relief when he saw that Luo Nan was behaving quite well. He rushed to explain, "Nanster, you really have been diligent, but you’re not quite familiar with the ways within. Your diligence is crude. You need to know that walking, sitting, and lying down are all forms of cultivation. Every single movement must be made diligently and must be made with intent. You're cultivating in the eyes orifice. The eyes are the light of the mind. The eyes must follow the heart. Every single movement of the hands and feet must correspond with your sight..."

Luo Nan looked at his hands and feet. He laughed bitterly, "But I'm cycling, man."

"Everything flourishes, then reverts to their roots. The movements of the hands and feet can all be seen from the dantian, two inches below the navel. These are just small tricks. What is truly hard is to look at yourself, look at your person, without losing a strand, without missing a drop. Look from the outside to in. Return to the roots, and return to destiny. Only then can you know what it means for the heart lantern to shine; what it means for strength to be near-unattainable. Only then can you know where to apply your diligence, and only then can you know true pain and suffering….” Xue Lei coughed. “The gym master forbade me from saying these things until we got to this spot."

The last few words underpinned the whole explanation.

Luo Nan was dazed for a moment. His gaze moved away from Xue Lei's body, and he first looked at his clothes that were nearly drenched clear with sweat. He then raised his head and looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the road.

Most of the pedestrians were students at this place, but they were of all kinds of figures and colors. There were many, and they were jumbled together. Luo Nan's mental clairvoyance gave an approximate calculation of seven to eight hundred people on this road. This skill of his was rare even in an Awakened. A normal person was far inferior to him.

But if he were to go down in detail, look at the movements of their hands and feet, and observe the changing bodies without missing a single wisp…. Focusing on the five or six people coming and going around him was enough to exhaust him both mentally and physically, let alone the entire street.

Of course, there was himself as well…. The requirement was precision and detail. Did he really have to take every flesh, nerve, reaction, and change of his entire body and incorporate them into his cognitive process?

Was this attainable by a human?

Was this the only way for it to count as cultivation?

Luo Nan had a foot down from his bike. He stood there, lost in the stream of people. Within his contemplation, he gained a whole new understanding of what Xiu Shenyu meant when he said, "Prepare for some pain and suffering."