Chapter 129: A Great Exchange (Part 2/2)
Translator: Strivon
"What happened?"
Luo Nan had been chasing An Weng with his mental senses and was observing the Logic World all this time. He understood some portions of the changing situation, while other portions were half understood. When the giant cocoon of light appeared, he had a faint understanding that the situation had reached its most crucial node. However, with his limited level of understanding, his thought process was stuck here at an impasse. It was difficult for it to continue.
He could only continue to raise the precision of his senses and observe earnestly. Even though the efficiency of this sensing method was far more wasteful than his recently learned Life Sketches by a ten-to-a-hundred fold, he felt his actions were necessary.
At this time, an indescribable light was revealed from within the projection of the Scales of Truth. One would not be able to tell why there was this light just from perceiving it, but under this light, the black and white plates of the Scales of Truth lost their countenance in an instant.
Black was no longer black. White was no longer white. Some crucial element seemed to be drawn away from them, yet it also seemed to mix together. There was no distinction between them.
It was then that this indescribable light noiselessly established a region within the shadow pillar. Its shape was like the cocoon of light that enveloped the three First Oblatums in the beginning with the Evolution Field. It was just tenfolds larger.
The Scales of Truth resided in the middle of the cocoon of light. Its light intertwined with shadow to form countless lines of various thicknesses. At first, the lines appeared to be like ruffled branches that were growing endlessly longer, some of which twined around the two plates. Thin branches spiraled and pierced the projection of the masses atop the plates. Neither the projection of Human-Faced Arachnid Number 3, the kite shield, nor the Format Pyramid were spared.
A change occurred simultaneously in the three projected figures because of this. Light and shadow warped and the structures dissolved into thin air.
"The holy space. An extraordinary exchange."
The ripples coming from Ouyang Chen's body cascaded upon themselves, canceling the shadow pillar’s resistance. Step by step, Ouyang Chen made his way toward to the cocoon of light. The ends of the ripples made contact with the surroundings of the cocoon of light, undulating up and down. The tempo of Ouyang Chen's ripples was not slow, but when he saw the growth of the cocoon of light and the changes to his ripples, Ouyang Chen was forced to frown.
"Changing from a small exchange using secular objects to a great exchange of the extraordinary realm... An Weng, you really do things in quite a remarkable fashion. However, you're borrowing the power of the Scales of Truth to do this. Did your Archoblatum approve of such a thing?"
No response came from the cocoon of light, but Luo Nan felt his heart beat a little faster for some reason.
Exchange?
He understood a bit more now. The two sides of the scales. The Human-Faced Arachnid versus him and Fairchild. Was there an exchange going on between them?
No, that was wrong.
After all, the two altar frames were still entangled. An Weng, by placing Luo Nan on the Scales of Truth, had bound the two frames to form a close relationship.
Luo Nan could vaguely sense the border of the two sides of the scales. Chaos and order were becoming blurred. There was not a relationship of exchange between the two sides. It was more like a sort of blending where they formed an indescribable existence together. This existence was used as a foundation to allow for endless growth and development.
As for the exchange... It occurred on a more mystical and mysterious plane. He could not precisely perceive it for now.
But as the exchange reached the most critical point, it did not matter if it was the Human-Faced Arachnid, Fairchild, or Luo Nan, they all could not avoid being affected. Majorly affected!
The rooftop of Building A had nearly collapsed into nothingness. In the middle of the ruin of dust and smoke, Fairchild raised both his hands and concentrated energy into his gaze. At first, it seemed that the quicksilver radiance circulating around his body had darkened a bit, but he remained expressionless.
Luo Nan was startled for an instant when he saw this scene. His heart suddenly pulsated faster.
This was bad! If even Fairchild was affected, what could he do? Problems were sure to arise with his main body... The Format Pyramid structure was dissolving atop the Scales of Truth, which was an ominous sign.
"Hiss..."
Luo Nan's attention swung back to his main body and he gasped in shock. However, his gasp was interrupted midway. Ever since An Weng had pulled him on the altar frame that was the Scales of Truth, Luo Nan was unable to struggle free from a binding sensation. Now, this binding sensation was far more intense. His blood and energy was blocked and impeded, so much so that many parts of his limbs grew numb. Luo Nan's ability to control his body was drastically lowered.
In contrast, it was as if the sensations of parts of his inner organs were reversed. These parts used to lack sensory nerves, but now a feeling of pain spread through his entire being. It caused Luo Nan's many organs to twitch and spasm. His entire body even began to shake and he went into a fever.
On the AR display, at least eight graphs appeared with a blood-red color that indicated critical danger. The whispering conversations in the vehicle were instantly wiped clean. All that was left were the repeated beeps of the alarm instruments interwoven into one.
"Visceral dysfunction. Hold him steady..."
Bai Xinyan gave out this order, but it soon became obsolete. This was because a lava-like heat came pouring from Luo Nan's head. It was as if his brain was boiling. It was as if someone had punched him hard. His mind was dazed. His consciousness was blurry. His mental senses lost their precision and the scene he saw with his clairvoyance became fuzzy.
The base that was his mind was being raided!
Luo Nan strove to clear his mind, hoping to restore a clear head. Even if his thoughts were just a pile of mush, he knew that this was An Weng. An Weng had used the Scales of Truth and the enormous cocoon of light he had just erected as a channel.
That old man. He had directly struck Luo Nan's Achilles' heel in an instant.
No! This could not go on!
Luo Nan felt the incorporeal net around his body rapidly tightening. Right now, his body was bound and unmovable and it was cutting off his source of power. It was going to completely seal all changes within his body and soul. If that happened, he would truly be waiting for death.
The incident happened too suddenly. Luo Nan did not have the time to think about anything else. As the incorporeal net was about to close, Luo Nan relied completely on his quick-witted instincts to visualize the Format Pyramid. He ordered the Wraith Sign to pull. Through the sounds of shaking chains, his soul was hoisted from his body and he crossed into the depths of the mental plane in a single step.
The incorporeal net closed, but it was a step too late.
The instant Luo Nan entered the out-of-body state, he could clearly hear cracking sounds like that of branches endlessly snapping. There was also the existence of a substantial resistance. Luckily, he was relying on an external power, the Wraith Sign, for his out-of-body state. His method was pretty rough for breaking directly into the depths of the mental plane. If he was not this rough, he might not have been able to succeed in one go.
Now, Luo Nan's mind suddenly grew clear upon the separation of his body and soul; his mental senses stabilized. The most miraculous thing was the sensation of pain in his main body. Much of it was instantly eliminated.
Yes. An Weng had seized the blessing of the Shield of Truth to do his work. Luo Nan, by forcing himself into the out-of-body state, had shattered the method powered by the interference between the mental and material planes. Luo Nan had shed himself of the shackles and was no longer bound.
However, everything could not be perfect. Although Luo Nan had dodged a disaster, he had lost control over his main body. Before his body could be laid flat, his body fell backward straight into Zhang Yingying's bosom. It was no longer conscious.
The inside of the vehicle was a bunch of bustle and chaos. Looking at the situation, it seemed that Luo Nan was going to die...
Luo Nan was unable to change what would happen to his body next. Though he had destroyed An Weng's plans, Luo Nan had still yet to separate himself from the maelstrom. As long as the clash of altar frames still existed, as long as the Scales of Truth and the Format Pyramid were still entangled, it was impossible for him to truly stay out of it.
Now, Luo Nan's escape and its outcome were directly shown in the projection of the Scales of Truth, within the so-called holy space.
There, the Format Pyramid still existed on the white plate, but it was much fainter than before. More importantly, the trend of it being warped and dissolved was reversing. It was being restored.
This kind of change was not big or small, but it directly disturbed the state of equilibrium where chaos and order were being blended together. Within the cocoon of light, the growth of the branches stopped and some of the branches even instantly withered.
This was nothing more than the rise and the fall.