Chapter 378: Dark Cloak

Translator: Strivon

A long metal thread, approximately eight centimeters long and appearing like spider's silk, radiated lightning on the mental plane. It had turned into a donut ring with a thickness of 0.005 millimeters and a diameter of 0.02 millimeters before Luo Nan's eyes. It just weaved and knit this way, and perhaps it coalesced and shrank, to ultimately form a miniature structure on the micron scale. It revealed marvelous characteristics between the material and mental planes.

Fine. In any case, Luo Nan had never once truly grasped the volume, mass, and material of the external neuron.

Luo Nan was very cautious of the new type of Condensation Ring floating before his eyes. He carefully made contact with his soul strength, and the Condensation Ring matched him in an impeccable manner. Luo Nan's thoughts spun and he found controlling it to be effortless. He felt that there wasn't much difference between this version and the previous version of the Condensation Ring.

Luo Nan was careful and cautious at first but when everything went so smoothly and naturally, he was unable to clearly distinguish the differences between the two versions of Condensation Rings. He just controlled it subconsciously, letting the water bead dance around in the bedroom.

Luo Nan's remaining brain capacity was in complete occupied in thought. He was thinking, what was the concept? What was the principle? What was the pattern... So many goddamn questions!

Luo Nan was stupefied by the magical transformation of the external neuron. After a series of useless thoughts, he finally recovered the drive he ought to possess. The emotion boiled, knocking down all of his thoughts.

Though this divine rebirth was a marvelous fortune as it possessed a profound theory within that pointed to the essence of the cosmos, it was not enough to surpass the ecstatic emotions that were bubbling in Luo Nan's heart.

No matter how great profound theories were, it was impossible for them to surpass reality. Wasn't this true?

Luo Nan was already clear on the practical significance brought about by the changes. From now on, he could carry the external neuron to any place his soul body could reach.

Of course, this also included Gear.

People’s minds were quite strange. No matter how intense the thirst is in people’s hearts, they are still able to maintain calmness even when their goal is out of reach. But as soon as one confirms that the goal is within reach, all previous practice instantly breaks apart.

The pleasant surprise brought by the external neuron had yet to fade. Luo Nan's mind was occupied by thoughts of Gear.

Luo Nan already confirmed that Gear harbored a great secret. It was simply a giant hidden treasure for him. And the key to unlocking this treasure was most likely the external neuron and its own great hidden secret. Perhaps their secrets could only be revealed when the two make contact.

Luo Nan didn't know if this conjecture was correct. After all, how could he know if he doesn't try?

Luo Nan was unable to control his emotions. He was simply impatient and itching to go. His soul body flew three laps around the room before he thought of three reasons:

The first. Today was Sunday. The construction team wouldn't be working. There weren't any idle employees there.

The second. The external neuron was a structure on the micron level. It was tantamount to the cross-section of a strand of spider silk. It was tiny—microscopic. No one would notice it coming and going with his soul carrying it in the out-of-body state.

The third. It was still quite early in the day. He could make a round trip in five minutes. There was plenty of time for exploration. If everything went smoothly, he could return in time for dinner. If things do not go smoothly, he could go back to Gear after dinner.

All these reasons supported going. Every condition was fulfilled. What was he waiting for?

Before he finished his thoughts, his soul body simply went straight out of the room. The window screen and the like were nothing to him. He arrived at the courtyard, only to flicker once more and leave the community. He flickered again and broke into the high skies.

Clasping the external neuron in the form of the Condensation Ring, Luo Nan's soul body flew at blazing speeds. Practically nothing affected them. Light traces of water could still be seen in the courtyard, but there weren't any traces in the air.

The afternoon four o'clock sun seemed to become part of the dense forest of skyscrapers. All that remained were the boundless rays dying the clouds as before. The time was approaching rush hour. Small and medium-sized flying vehicles traveled back and forth upon the high altitude traffic layers.

The late autumn sun was warm but the high altitude winds were cold. The two weaved, melting a bit of Luo Nan's impulsive emotions. He came to a sudden realization. The external neuron possessed a material body. God knows what would happen if it were to collide with something else in this high-speed travel.

There weren't any problems in hastily unearthing the hidden treasure, but what if he were to accidentally lose the external neuron? He was carrying it on him right now. If that happened, he might as well bang his head against the wall and die in a ball!

Luo Nan had nearly flown out of Nade District by then. He immediately stirred with psychic intent and his soul body's flying speed slowed a little. He also kept some distance away from the highest traffic layers. As for the external neuron in the form of the Condensation Ring, it floated in front of Luo Nan's soul body from beginning to end. The bead of water it gathered suffered from too much wear and tear due to the high speed travel. It was unable to completely form. Though it was continuously being replenished, it was still several times smaller than its peak phase.

An odd thought formed in Luo Nan's mind as he saw this situation. In the next moment, Luo Nan used his soul strength as a guide, absorbing the external neuron directly into his soul body. In this manner, two merged to become one, moving in tandem. As long as Luo Nan doesn't get into a car accident, the external neuron would remain in good health.

The taste from swallowing the external neuron was very subtle for the soul body. This was because a relationship of the transmission of soul strength constantly existed between them. As soon as the external neuron was absorbed, the transmission relationship was completely integrated into the soul body as well.

The process went approximately as follows: Firstly, the soul body infused soul strength into the external neuron, which was reshaped into the Condensation Ring. The power didn't do anything before, but it suddenly possessed the characteristics of interference ability, and it began to gather the water molecules in the void.

The water bead was constantly suffering damage from the high-speed flight, yet it was also being continuously replenished. The early process of the accumulation of water molecules existed on the nanometer scale. Luo Nan couldn't do anything with it. But then, with time, the water vapor accumulated to a scale that allowed Luo Nan to observe it.

The taste was akin to having the soul body swallow in and spit out water vapor. It was a peculiar sort of breathing, naturally causing a connection to form with the external world.

Traditionally, the soul body merely possessed the standard of a shadow. It was certainly impossible to realize this kind of connection. In fact, the source of this phenomenon had its origins in the new version of the Condensation Ring. The Condensation Ring radiated out interference power. Using the gathered water molecules as a medium, it affected the soul body itself, permeating its every inch.

And then...

Luo Nan suddenly stopped his high-speed flight. He floated in the skies above as light streaks of flying vehicles whistled past below him. It seemed that the entire metropolis was operating at high speeds. Only he was independent of it, distanced from the world below.

Luo Nan didn't have the leisure to be emotional. He merely found an interesting processing machine for soul strength quite unexpectedly.

This machine swallowed 'nothing' and spat out 'something'. It absorbed '0' and its output was '1'. It burned 'nothingness' and it coalesced 'substance'.

This was none other than the Condensation Ring. This was none other than the external neuron.

As interference power gradually diffused through his soul, there seemed to be a set of incorporeal yet qualitative framework of energy channels being stuffed inside his soul body. It was like putting on flesh and fascia of the same nature.

Fine, this description was far too exaggerated. More realistically speaking, under ample interference power, there seemed to be a layer of firm, incorporeal yet fantastical, gradually folding and plating Luo Nan's soul body.

Figuratively speaking, the soul body seemed to have turned into a cloak. Luo Nan's core consciousness resided in the center. Through this cloak, his consciousness made contact with both, the mental and the material, worlds simultaneously.

The cloak became the cross section of the mental and the material. It intersected with the two planes. It was thin to the point of nothingness but it had marvelous effects.

Luo Nan's consciousness was bound in the cloak. There was a sense of independence. There seemed to be an indescribable distance between him and both, the mental and material, planes. The sensation was quite subtle.

At the moment, Luo Nan no longer resided on any one of the planes. Instead, he existed in the interval between the two planes of mental and material. Wherever his mind's intent faced, that was the direction it fell.

Of course, his soul body in its current state was naturally more inclined to the mental plane. The resistance there was the smallest for him, verging on the brink of nothing. To forcefully interfere with the material plane certainly required a great deal more consumption. More links would be involved as well... But no matter how great the consumption, the fact remained that Luo Nan had made a breakthrough!

Luo Nan's consciousness suddenly flashed and the incorporeal cloak moved. It fluttered within the storm-like soul strength, smacking and heaving against the void.

A wind was born out of nothing under the rays of the sun. It turned into a fine strand of current, creating a vortex. It swept far, several dozen meters away, along the high-altitude traffic layers. And only then did it dissipate.

As the air current went far away, Luo Nan's mood whirled in a similar manner in endless unrest. But when the air current dissipated, his mood had expanded to its limits.

Just look. Such a crude attack was able to cause such unrest visible in the material world. What did this prove? This proved that Luo Nan had stepped out of the stage of a shadow-soul, for now he could truly interfere with material world. Through the minute Condensation Ring, he could channel interference power to the entire world.

This sort of progress was akin to jumping from the ground and into the cloud-filled skies. But this was only logical under the catalysis of the external neuron. It was natural.

Because this was a jump from nothing to something. It was a qualitative change from zero to one. One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things, evolving into unlimited possibilities.

From this perspective, there was no overstating how hugely significant it was. Frankly speaking, everything was brought about by the external neuron.

How did it do it?

What in the world is this item?

What else can it do?

It could serve as the frame of Luo Nan's God Gear. It could be the manifestation of a structure of nothingness. It could be the backbone upon which to transform soul strength. Everything it revealed of itself seemed to be merely unearthing the tip of the iceberg. It could certainly do much more. For instance:

Gear, Gear, Gear, Gear, Gear....

Whatever doubts Luo Nan had in his mind, he also had the same amount of expectations toward Gear. He knew that this attitude wasn't healthy, but he couldn't hold it back anyway.

The soul suddenly resumed its flying state, accelerating in speed. His current connection with the external world became more and more real, and his perception of the late autumn sun as it set and the high-altitude cold winds grew clearer and clearer. So much so that he forgot that he was in the form of a soul. He pumped himself up, yelling to his heart's content.

Luo Nan didn't deliberately strike out in the material world, nor did he possess the substantial power to disturb the void, but the incorporeal attack rapidly spread in all directions on the material plane. Luckily, Luo Nan was concealed deep enough on the material plane. He had done something major at a depth unreachable by the overwhelming majority of ability users.

Even if he had caused a major mishap, Luo Nan was unable to change it.

He cut into the Pingjiang District of Acumen College in the blink of an eye. Within his mental senses, which had a range of two dozen kilometers in radius, Gear was in distant sight.

There was nothing else that could attract Luo Nan's attention beside Gear in this very moment. But the areas within Gear did possess different magnitudes of attraction.

The moment Luo Nan's mental senses covered Gear, he locked onto the westernmost area of the building. It was fifty meter deep with a diameter of twenty meters. It was the atrium.

With a sudden jump, Luo Nan's soul body cut into Gear and arrived within the atrium. He floated in the center.

Emotions of urgency and expectation suddenly changed upon his arrival. Luo Nan began to feel nervous. No matter how much he had looked forward to it, no matter how impatient he was, these emotions had completely transformed into nervousness. Not a single wisp escaped.

But the fluctuations of his shifting emotions didn't affect his perception.

Within the atrium, the entire structure of Gear guided and developed the chilly flowing energy. It was just like what Luo Nan had experienced that night. Wave after wave accumulated here. Upon being transferred here in an orderly manner, the flowing energy lost all direction. It turned chaotic.

A diditata sound cried out here on the mental plane. The sound appeared to possess a clear rhythm, but it lacked any direction. It was like a combination lock that had been deliberately spun into a mess. It had waited for a successor who knows the secret to come crack it open. Of course, the successor also needed to bring a special key.

Luo Nan's soul floated above as he suppressed the turbulent emotions in his heart. He earnestly used his senses for a moment, confirming the present circumstances. There weren't any changes between now and that night, so he would follow the same plan as last time. He gave himself a reinforcement and stirred the chaotic flow of energy once more.

Last time, Luo Nan's reinforcement appeared as the typical visualization diagram—the geometric figure consisting of a tetrahedron, inscribed sphere, and outer-scribed sphere. But following the star atlas transformation of the Format Pyramid, the symbol displayed this time had turned into a whirling nebula. Its appearance was substantially different.

But the effect was the same. They bestowed this space with the impetus of order. The process of cycling acceleration began, akin to a particle accelerator.

Once this process started, it was no longer an option to decelerate or stop.

Luo Nan's soul floated by itself in the atrium, calmly embracing the crazed scene of layers upon layers of constraint, rotation, and acceleration. He experienced the myriad of curtains of the mental plane flutter, intersecting layers and layers of bizarre information.

Luo Nan had long known that the mental plane held in his eyes was different from the mental plane held in the vast majority of ability users. Mainstream theory on the structure of the mental plane divided it into three zones, one region, and one realm. It was a simple definition. However, from Luo Nan's perspective, the mental plane was a deep structure consisting of many layers of curtains. There were hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Endless.

The vast majority of phenomena on the mental plane could be easily explained by the universal theory of the inner world. In comparison, Luo Nan's perspective was far too complex. However, Luo Nan had never encountered an explanation capable of describing President Ouyang's Logic World, capable of being more accurate and close-fitting than his 'many curtains' perspective.

Yes. Logic World.

Luo Nan had never stopped thinking about the strange phenomena in the atrium these past two days. He could already feel it. The atrium cyclotron he perceived now was actually a bit similar to the Logic World. At the very least, they were both methods of warping the mental plane. Of course, there were many differences between them.