Master of the Stars

Xue Lei enjoyed the VIP treatment as Luo Nan’s friend with the host being Mrs. Luo Shuqing.

When Luo Shuqing sent Xue Lei home last time from the Limestone Water Village Pub, she had a rather favorable impression of this tall and burly boy with a mild temperament.

But the events at Frost River Reality had caused this boy’s status to soar in her mind.

That night, Luo Nan had been stranded in the middle of the conflict zone and was practically among the last batch evacuated people. By that time, he had already fainted and they sent him straight to the hospital. He could not completely conceal this sort of situation. When Luo Shuqing heard the news, she was said to have flown into a rage. She lectured everyone who was involved in the get together that night with a torrent of abuse—from Mo Qiu to Mo Peng. Explaining the matters that happened that night was a huge problem. The magnitude was so big that it scared Luo Nan, and he considered pretending to faint again.

In the end, it was Zhang Yingying who came up with the plan to use the Xue Family father and son duo to divert her attention. Their story was that Luo Nan had fainted from the trauma. Then, Xue Weilun and Xue Weilun had worked together to rescue him.

The father and son pair owed Luo Nan a favor. They were also people in the know, so they were good spokespeople. The nimble hands of a copywriter had weaved a brilliant image of Luo Nan, a zealous civilian helping the police, and removed all implications of Luo Nan being involved in a dangerous solo activity.

Because of this, Mo Haihang and Luo Shuqing had specifically invited Xue Lei’s family for dinner. It was quite a coincidence. Xue Weilun was the backbone of the special forces. Mo Haihang was the technical expert of the SCA. They were both in the field of social privileges, law, and order. They had even worked together twice in the past and were not strangers.

The two had good impressions of each other during their previous two meetings and this time went just as well. The friendship between the two families was rapidly heating up; it just made Xue Lei quite tired. With Luo Shuqing present, the topic would inevitably change to the matters of that night and Xue Lei was fearful that he might slip something out and waste all his previous efforts. In the end, he and Luo Nan brought their heads together. They went mm, mm and yes, yes. It was unknown what they were saying.

Luo Nan saw just Xue Lei’s distressed state and began to cough. One cough came after another and he could not stop. Then, he used the acupressure technique that Mr. Bai had taught him, but the effects were not obvious.

Such a scene was quite normal for Luo Nan, but Luo Shuqing immediately became worried when she saw this. "You’ve been under treatment for nearly half a month. Why hasn’t the coughing gone away? When did that Doctor Clay get here?"

She got up as she spoke and was going to massage Luo Nan’s back to help his breathing. Xue Lei rushed to take the lead. "Aunt Qing, let me."

Xue Lei’s large hand pressed against Luo Nan’s back. As he massaged, he slowly increased the pressure. Luo Nan coughed, not from pain, but from a marvelous heat that permeated into his back and spread to his inner organs. It was as if vapor was rising to form clouds, filling his throat. It was like the moisture of warm water. His condition greatly improved for a time.

Luo Shuqing could no longer sit still. She had come over today because she still did not understand the treatment situation. She immediately said, "Leister, You and Nannan chat here for a bit. I’m going to take a stroll with Doctor Bai."

"Okay. It is best for you to go Aunt Qing. I will be here to keep Nanster company. Just rest easy." Xue Lei’s tongue had gotten quite sweet after saying nearly a week’s worth of lies.

Luo Shuqing gave the two a smile, as she hurried out the door.

After this adult left, Xue Lei was able to speak much more easily. He expressed his worries, as he massaged Luo Nan. "You can’t keep coughing like this man. The gym master told me once. Breathing in, one can observe the inner organs, move a myriad of veins, and take in the soul. Breathing out, one can observe heaven and earth, know yin and yang, and visit the divine. It is the key valve in controlling the body and mind, in channeling the inner and the external.”

He only said half of what he wanted to say. Based on your supernatural ability and how bad your breathing tempo has become, how badly damaged is your body? Just how hard a task is it for you to recover?

Luo Nan could generally understand Xue Lei’s intentions. Luo Nan could not do anything about his body with all its virtues. He could only chuckle in response to Xue Lei. In any case, an image had immediately appeared in his mind when Xue Lei told the half literary half vernacular words of his gym master. The image was that of an old man, of a sage who transcended the mortal realm.

As Xue Lei spoke, a thought he once had suddenly popped up again. "In your situation, learning breathing techniques should be quite useful for you. At the very least, it can adjust the state of your body... Nanster, why don’t you come to our daoguan, our gym. I won’t talk about our gym master because the most skilled of the disciples is none other than I!"

Xue Lei gave a big thumbs up, and he extended it before Luo Nan’s eyes. He even wiggled it a few times.

Luo Nan was not doubtful at all of Xue Lei’s words. The old gym master’s ability was certainly worthy of praise for being able to start a gym, for being able to produce such a remarkable disciple, such a remarkable apprentice in Xue Lei.

Luo Nan was suddenly reminded of the fact that he had never asked Xue Lei about his gym even though they had known each other for so long. He did not know the name of Xue Lei’s daoguan and how he should address the gym master.

"Ah, our daoguan is called Divine Yu. It’s that..."

"Divine Yu? As in the Great Yu who Controls the Waters? The Great Yu who made a system of irrigation canals which relieved flood water into the fields of ancient China and brought prosperity to the Chinese heartland?"

Luo Nan had blurted this without thinking and Xue Lei went, "Aha!". He lifted his hand and gave Luo Nan’s back a smack. The force was so much that snot and saliva almost flew out of Luo Nan. Xue Lei did not notice it though. Instead, he just shouted,

"Nanster, you’re awesome!"

"Huh?"

"Every time I mention the name of my gym to others; they’re all blind and deaf to it. They think it’s some yew woodshop! Man, I just want to knock their teeth in when that happens. But Nanster, you were able to tell its origins in an instant!"

It looked like Xue Lei was sick of hearing about yew woodshops.

Divine Yu, Divine Yew? Actually, it was quite easy to mix them up.

Luo Nan just feigned ignorance and laughed. "The Nine Tripod Cauldrons just came to mind. Yu received the metals of nine governors, casting nine cauldrons, which were all used to offer sacrifices to the gods and supernatural... After Yu the Great had finished taming the floods that once engulfed the land, he divided the land into the Nine Provinces and collected bronze tribute from each one. He used the metal to cast nine tripod cauldrons. With them, animals were boiled alive as ritual sacrifices... It is an early social structure with an overlapping format consisting of the world, society, and the self. It contains some meaning even today."

These words were idle writings in his grandfather’s notebook. He had a very deep impression of them and had said them without thinking. "It’s just a simple format from ancient times. In the end, it’s hard to apply it in today’s world."

Format? And an overlapping one at that? What kind of topic was this?

Xue Lei could only half understand what Luo Nan was saying. He was discovering all the more that this friend had a train of thought that was quite different from that of a normal person. This train of thought had caused Luo Nan to always be targeted or doubted. However, it was ultimately proof that Luo Nan’s unfathomable thoughts were useful. Greatly useful.

That night, Xue Lei stood by Luo Nan’s side. He had seen how others doubted his friend. Then, he saw how his friend stirred up conflict and turned things around. He saw it all from beginning to end. He rode this rollercoaster with Luo Nan and the experience wiped his impression of Luo Nan completely clean again. Yet his congenial feeling toward Luo Nan did not lessen; it continued to increase.

After all, Xue Lei’s gym master also spent the entire day saying stuff he couldn’t fully understand. Luo Nan could probably have a good chat with his gym master because of their temperament. The two should get along quite well if they were to get together!

Xue Lei looked at Luo Nan once more after he had this thought. A gleam shone in his eyes and he put more energy into promoting his gym on the spot. "Our gym master’s last name is Xiu, as in training or cultivation. His name is none other than the name of the gym, Divine Yu or Shenyu. He single-handedly founded this gym and the gym has always had a great reputation. The gym master hasn’t really been promoting her business since he’s helping people. Otherwise, our gym would be long since super popular..."

Xiu Shenyu? The name sounds very classical-martial-arts-esque. It was a very befitting name for a gym master.

Luo Nan’s heart rate increased. It was not just because he was curious about this Gym Master Xiu. There were other aspects he was considering.