Harmony

Just as the terrifying lightning rain began, Xu Yuan's expression became dazed and, as if affected by something, left the area and began to work normally, as if nothing happened at all.

As if he had forgotten about Shu Meng. And not only he, but everyone else who was close by, seemed unable to perceive what was happening.

Meanwhile, Shu Meng returned to the state of pure consciousness while his body was constantly destroyed and restored in a never-ending cycle.

"This won't do, just entering a selfless state won't break the situation," he pondered deeply, "But I also proved that an unknown power of thoughts is the most likely culprit for this crisis.

"I need to find a way to keep my memories and consciousness active while stopping this disaster..."

Shu Meng thought hard and was on the verge of despair when an idea hit him.

"Distorting and shaping some thoughts while keeping my true intention... I might do it, but my true memories won't go away at all, so the disaster won't end.

"I need to permanently stop creating this unknown power of thoughts... or...

"Nullify it somehow with another power of thoughts... yes, I can try it..."

He knew many kinds of power of thoughts, but only one was ideal for that, the one that was born from obsessive thoughts.

This kind of power of thought had corrosive and oppressive characteristics and was almost like the common enemy of all the other powers of thought.

"Since I can't change my memories, the unknown power of thought won't go away... this is the only way I can think of."

"And there were many ways to willingly nurture strong obsessions, as long as there is enough time..."

He began to research the best way for him to breed adequate obsession with his situation, the mysterious book gave him access to many kinds of scientific papers and ideas.

The lightning disaster didn't end while he did that, but the world was still unable to be aware of his situation.

He was alone, and his only hope was the mysterious book that always restored his body to its original state after it was destroyed.

As his research deepened as the days and weeks passed by, he began to learn more about human emotions and the mind with the help of scientific papers.

His understanding of the various powers of thought also began to deepen and many unclear points became clear to him.

After months of continuous lightning rain, Shu Meng had yet to feel tired, as if his mind was unable to get tired in that mysterious space.

He developed a method to breed an obsession that would tangle his own desire to manipulate muddled energy. This way, the power of thoughts bred by his obsession would also tangle the unknown power of thoughts.

At least in theory.

He also mixed a few meditation methods into his new creation, so he wouldn't get consumed by his own obsession later on.

Since had nothing else to do, he began right away.

He first began to enter a state of deep meditation and selflessness but maintained a certain degree of reason. He began to try and selectively think about his intention to use muddled energy.

It wasn't as easy as described. Consciousness was never in complete control of humans, so to selectively choose what to think was an extremely difficult thing to do.

Fortunately, Shu Meng believed he had enough free time. In any case, the mysterious book wouldn't let him die. And because he was in a pure consciousness state, his body's impulses wouldn't get in his way.

In the first few weeks, he had no success, he found it extremely difficult to think about only a few things he wished to think about for a long period.

And it didn't get better until almost a year later when he noticed his control over his own mind began to improve greatly.

After two years, he was finally able to only think about what he wished to think while in deep meditation.

He began to spend long periods thinking only about his many theories about controlling muddled energy and sensing it.

In the beginning, he could do it continuously for a few days until intrusive thoughts interrupted, then for a few weeks, and finally... months.

The more he did it, the better he got at dominating his thoughts. Because he was always thinking about controlling muddled energy, the lightning disaster never stopped either.

A huge crater formed where he originally was, but no one in the entire city seemed to see it, they just ignored the lightning and went on with their lives. The thunderous sounds were like silence for them.

The buildings close by had long since collapsed due to the disaster, but the people simply ignored it, as if hypnotized by something.

Time passed quickly, and Shu Meng had long since lost his impatience, he trod carefully in fear of doing something wrong.

As the years passed, he could stay in a state of deep meditation uninterruptedly longer and longer.

His master passed away but he couldn't know it in that state.

Just like the months became years, the years became decades.

His body, despite being constantly restored by the mysterious book, aged as if it lived normally. The book didn't give him an unlimited lifespan, it seemed.

But after so much hard work, Shu Meng finally did it. He bred an obsession strong enough, and the power of thoughts brought by it was enough to nullify the effects of the other unknown power of thoughts.

The lightning began to disperse, and Shu Meng's naked middle-aged body appeared in the center of the crater.

He slowly opened his eyes and began to feel a little uncomfortable. Decades without taking control over his own body made him feel a little out of sorts.

"I failed..." he muttered with a sad face, despite having succeeded in avoiding the catastrophe while keeping all his memories intact.

The reason he said he failed was because he understood he made a critical mistake. While a strong obsession could nullify the unknown power of thought, it also affected him deeply, making him unable to do anything according to his original plan of transforming his body.

He massaged his temples without bothering to get up from the ground, not caring about the discomfort brought by the rocks beneath him.

"How the fuck am I supposed to do it..." he couldn't help but despair.

Although he could live the rest of his life without worrying about lightning, he would never be able to realize his dream... and now obsession.

"Alas... this might be the reason there's no real method for the so-called 'supernatural' in the mysterious book..." he muttered and noticed some people finally noticed the huge destruction caused there.

"It's a damn dead end..."

But...

However...

It's just that...

He didn't want to give up.

He lived for only so long and was already middle-aged, the best period of his life passed without him being able to savor it.

If he gave up, he would die of old age in a few decades or of illness even sooner.

He took a deep breath and had a crazy expression smitten on his face.

"No way... I won't give up after sacrificing so much..."

Lightning began to appear in the clear sky, and soon dark clouds formed.

"Come on, damn thing!" Shu Meng cursed and instantly entered the mysterious book's space as the lightning hit him.

He could control his obsession to a certain degree and weaken it enough for the disaster to fall again, although it would be very difficult to remove the obsession completely.

He didn't give up.

He began to research and study a better way to remove his obsession. He would meditate while his body was constantly destroyed and restored.

But then, in a fateful moment. A fleeting idea hit him hard.

Was he obsessed since the beginning? Why stick only to the power of thoughts? Wasn't it clear enough that it was a dead end?

He felt his mind turning turbulent and he couldn't calm himself down.

"Most original knowledge..." he muttered with tension.

Although it was said that consciousness was the origin of the power of thoughts, it was only half-true. Because consciousness itself wasn't self-existent, it depended on a mysterious force to keep existing.

This mysterious force was not well understood and he found very little material about it in the mysterious book. It was called "most original knowledge."

But it wasn't present only in living beings, it was seemingly everywhere, and was more like a force of nature than an energy.

An unknown urge began to come from deep within his being, and Shu Meng began to breed a different obsession.

It wasn't a strong obsession and was less of an obsession and more of a strong simple wish.

"Control the most original knowledge with the consciousness rather than with the power of thoughts. Use the power of thoughts bred by this to change my way."

Like everything else, this kind of thought would also give birth to a kind of power of thought.

Shu Meng hoped from deep within... that this would be an unknown power of thoughts... only then could he hope for a variable that could change things for the better.

Maybe because he was in a pure consciousness state, he was particularly sensitive to changes in his mind.

He felt something changed.

He began to use the same method of before to strengthen this will and turn it into an obsession. But before he could be successful... he was already successful.

He didn't know when, but his consciousness returned to his body and the disaster stopped. He wasn't doing the same thing from before, nullifying the unknown power of thoughts, but the disaster stopped.

At the same time, Shu Meng began to experience a deep enlightenment. Maybe because of luck, many puzzles began to turn clear and fit with each other in his mind.

Even, he began to uncover things that weren't found in the mysterious book.

Many different theories began to fit together and turn into a single more comprehensive theory. Different understandings merged and became harmonic.

Shu Meng wasn't in the mysterious strange space, but he felt as if his mind was out of his body and traveling the unknown, seeing through the deep darkness.

"The so-called most original knowledge is more of a force but is also a real thing. No one ever understood its true meaning of existence, but I firmly believe in what I understood...

"Not everything that makes sense is true, I know this, but...

"I firmly believe I'm right.

"The most original knowledge is the true origin of all power of thoughts... meaning that consciousness simply resonates with it to derive myriad kinds of power of thoughts.

"Those power of thoughts already existed, but were since the beginning blended together to form the most original knowledge.

"In other words, consciousness is deeply connected to the most original knowledge by nature.

"But ignorance is the layer that separates realities, and the unknown is the sea of darkness between controlling and using.

"Understanding is the first step.

"To return to harmony."

A weak reverse whirlpool of wind began to form around Shu Meng's lying body. The wind wasn't being gathered towards him, but as if being repulsed by him.

Shu Meng's feeling of detachment began to turn stronger as he entered a deeper form of enlightenment as if his mind was being pulled by something.

"To not seek outside what is in the inside is the second step."

Shu Meng closed his eyes and began to sense his body carefully.

He could sense his blood flow and heartbeats so clearly that he felt like his mind was flowing in his veins.

"What is, there's nothing to increment," he muttered and his senses became sharper.

Nothing in his body changed, but he could sense and see another thing. In truth, it was not a thing, and it had always been there.

The integration of everything that was happening in his body, and was happening since his birth, was the "another thing." It wasn't a new energy or anything else, just what had always been there.

It was... meaning.

As he spoke just a little while before, ignorance was the layer that separated realities, and the unknown was the sea of darkness between controlling and using.

Understanding was the first step for him to return to harmony and see through the darkness.

"The third step... is to accept. What can and should, will."

His body trembled and something truly new began to surge from within his essence, it was just like blood but different, as if having life on its own.

It flowed along his blood towards every spot of his body.

The reverse whirlpool of wind outside his body began to change its behavior and the wind surged towards Shu Meng instead.

"The fourth and last step of the initial transformation... is to fill the internal harmony with the greater harmony between heaven and earth.

"No, rather than to fill... it's better to say it's 'to mirror'"

The new energy inside his body began to grow stronger and stronger rapidly, also transforming his body in an unknown way.

His old skin began to crack and fall off like porcelain, revealing tender skin. His hair began to fall off, revealing a bald head with new hair sprouting.

Shu Meng began to return to reality from the state of enlightenment and began to feel a bit unreal about everything.

He never expected to succeed in such a "lucky" way, he even had begun to believe it was impossible before.

But the flowing energy inside him, that could be controlled as he pleased was an obvious proof he succeeded in one way or another.

The so-called supernatural was turned natural.

Or rather, the true nature was unveiled.