Chapter 199

It was late at night.

Translation: "Late night."

Luosen lay in bed, his sleeping wife Selena beside him, and not far away were two side‑by‑side infant cribs with two healthy babies lying in them.

Translation: "Luosen lay in bed, his sleeping wife Selena beside him, and not far away were two side‑by‑side infant cribs with two healthy babies lying in them."

Luosen lay in bed, his sleeping wife Selena beside him, and not far away were two side‑by‑side infant cribs with two healthy babies lying in them.

The night was already deep; Luosen closed his eyes, but his mind remained fully awake.

Translation: "The night was already deep; Luosen closed his eyes, but his mind remained fully awake."

Recently he hasn't been sleeping well, because he has remained linked to the eleventh magical ring.

Translation: "His sleep has been poor lately because he has been constantly linked to the Eleventh Law Ring."

A characteristic of legendary power is that it must be constantly replenished.

Translation: "A feature of legendary power is that it must be constantly replenished."

Because his soul strength is too high, exceeding the maximum pressure the rings can withstand.

Translation: "Because his soul strength is too high, it exceeds the maximum pressure of the Law Ring."

In other words, it surpasses the upper limit of worldly rules.

Translation: "In other words, it surpasses the limit of worldly rules."

This means his soul's disintegration speed greatly increases; if the link to the rings is broken, at most one month later his soul strength will automatically drop back to the extreme of the tenth ring.

Translation: "This means his soul disintegration speed greatly accelerates; if the Law Ring link is broken, at most one month later his soul strength will automatically drop back to the extreme of the Ten Rings."

It's like an airplane in the sky losing engine power and beginning to fall.

Translation: "Like an airplane in the sky losing engine power, it will simply fall down."

Once he falls back to the tenth ring, he loses his lofty perspective and the fine perception and precise control of power.

Translation: "Once he falls back to the Ten Rings, he loses the overarching view and the fine perception and precise control of power."

If there were no opponent, then falling would just be falling.

Translation: "If there were no opponent, falling would just be falling."

But now is a turbulent time, with demons watching nearby, so he cannot afford to fall.

Translation: "But now is a turbulent time, with a demon watching nearby, so he cannot afford to fall."

Therefore he must stay connected.

Translation: "So he must stay linked."

This naturally places considerable pressure on his soul.

Translation: "This naturally puts considerable pressure on his soul."

For an ordinary mage, they could last at most a day before having to retreat to the tenth ring, but Luosen, with Laifu's assistance, has greatly overcome this limitation.

Translation: "An ordinary mage could last at most a day before having to retreat to the Tenth Law Ring, but Luosen, relying on Laifu's assistance, has greatly overcome this."

But he hasn't completely overcome it; the pressure still exists.

Translation: "But he hasn't completely overcome it; the pressure remains."

The main cause is the soul tremor produced by the Burning Soul secret technique.

Translation: "The main cause is the soul tremor produced by the Soul‑Burning Secret Art."

His 'airplane' has autopilot, but the 'engine' noise is especially loud and the 'fuselage' vibrates strongly, as if he were constantly sitting in a 'massage chair'.

Translation: "His 'airplane' does have autopilot, but the 'engine' noise is especially loud and the 'fuselage' vibrates strongly, as if he were constantly sitting in a 'massage chair'."

Sitting in a 'massage chair' for a while might be comfortable, but doing so twenty‑four hours a day naturally ruins sleep.

Translation: "Sitting in a 'massage chair' might feel nice for a while, but sitting there twenty‑four hours a day naturally ruins sleep."

According to Naya, demons can enter the eleventh ring, and if they notice me they might attack.

Translation: "\"According to Naya, demons can enter the Eleventh Law Ring; if they spot me, they might attack. \""

Although Naya taught some ring‑combat techniques, they are desperate measures; it's best to avoid confrontation.

Translation: "\"Although Naya taught some Law Ring combat techniques, they are desperate measures; it's best to avoid meeting. \""

Therefore, for both comfort and concealment, the Burning Soul secret technique must be optimized.

Translation: "Therefore, for both comfort and concealment, the Soul‑Burning Secret Art must be optimized."

During this period Luosen has been working on this, and today he is nearly finished.

Translation: "During this period Luosen has been working on this, and today he is nearly finished."

The vibration‑shielding structure is still imperfect; it needs to be greatly strengthened.

Translation: "\"The vibration‑shielding structure is still imperfect; it needs to be greatly strengthened. \""

A single spiritual‑power combustion chamber is too large and burns too intensely, so I changed it to multiple chambers, carefully positioning them to lower the intensity and let the tremors from each chamber cancel each other out.

Translation: "\"A single spirit‑power combustion chamber is too big and burns too intensely, so I changed it to multiple chambers, carefully designing their relative positions to lower the intensity and let the tremors from each chamber cancel each other out. \""

The same principle applies to the spiritual‑power pump: add several pump chambers to reduce each one's strength while achieving the same total output.

Translation: "\"The spirit‑power pump works on the same principle: add a few more pump chambers, reduce each pump's strength, and use quantity to achieve the total. \""

These are structural adjustments based on existing knowledge, low in difficulty, and having been prepared for a long time, so they can be implemented quickly now.

Translation: "These are structural adjustments based on existing knowledge—low difficulty, long prepared—so the changes proceed quickly now."

As optimization continues, the soul tremor becomes noticeably softer and lighter.

Translation: "With continual optimization, the soul tremor becomes noticeably softer and lighter."

Gradually, it becomes almost imperceptible.

Translation: "Gradually, it becomes almost imperceptible."

Just because Luosen can't feel it doesn't mean demons can't.

Translation: "But Luosen not feeling it doesn't mean the demon can't feel it."

After all, they are native void‑born entities.

Translation: "After all, the opponent is a void‑born creature."

Like a wild beast in the forest, they possess senses far sharper than humans.

Translation: "Like a beast in the forest, it possesses senses far sharper than a human's."

Therefore, Luosen does not rely on his own perception as a standard; instead, he lets Laifu make judgments based on objective data.

Translation: "So Luosen does not rely on his own perception as a standard; instead he lets Laifu judge using objective data."

Objective data shows that it's still not enough.

Translation: "Objective data shows it's still not enough."

So optimization must continue.

Translation: "So he continues optimizing."

In the end, the soul tremor from the Burning Soul secret technique dropped to less than one‑tenth of that caused by the Zeroth‑Ring Illumination Technique, making its effect on the rings negligible.

Translation: "In the end, the soul tremor from the Soul‑Burning Secret Art dropped more than ninety percent compared to that of the Zero Ring Light Technique, making its effect on the Law Ring negligible."

Any movement or disturbance within the rings is greater than what Luosen produces.

Translation: "Any movement in the Law Ring is greater than what Luosen produces."

This should be about right; I can finally get a good night's sleep.

Translation: "\"This should be about enough; I can finally get a good sleep. \""

But he soon developed a second worry.

Translation: "But he soon developed a second worry."

Because the link remains, my magical strength keeps rising; although I control the rate, over time the quantitative change could trigger a qualitative shift.

Translation: "\"Because the link is constant, my magical strength keeps rising; although I control the speed, over time the quantitative change might trigger a qualitative change. \""

What exactly will happen when the legendary ring undergoes a qualitative change? No one knows.

Translation: "What exactly will happen with a qualitative change of the Legendary Law Ring? No one knows."

I just fear that one day my mind might suddenly blow up.

Translation: "Just fearing that one day his brain might suddenly explode."

Once I settle the matter with Lyuwend, I'll go to the Nawart Republic to seek knowledge.

Translation: "\"Once Levinde's affairs are settled, I'll go to the Nawate Republic to seek knowledge. \""

Nawart has many pioneers who love to share, so a trip there will surely bring great gains.

Translation: "The Nawate Republic has many pioneers who love to share; a trip there will surely bring great gains."

As the soul tremor nearly disappears, Luosen's perception of the outside world naturally becomes ever more acute.

Translation: "As the soul tremor nearly disappears, Luosen's perception of external conditions naturally becomes ever more sensitive."

What he perceives most is the continual flow of faith power emanating from the True Name Beacon.

Translation: "What he perceives most is naturally the faith power constantly flowing from the True Name Marker."

Laifu, has the training for the 'God's Ear' ability been completed?

Translation: "\"Laifu, is the training for the God's Ear ability complete? \""

It's already completed; should we activate it?

Translation: "\"Training is complete; should we activate it? \""

Let's activate it.

Translation: "\"Activate it. \""

This ability will consume 60% of processing power; confirm activation?

Translation: "\"This ability will consume 60% of computing power; confirm activation? \""

Confirmed.

Translation: "\"Confirm. \""

Upon activation, Luosen felt a slight pause in his mind, then a huge window appeared, like a gigantic game chat box, with massive amounts of messages continuously scrolling down.

Translation: "When the ability activated, Luosen felt his mind pause slightly, then a huge window appeared—like a super‑massive game chat box—with massive messages scrolling down nonstop."

Oh Mother of Nature~ please have mercy on me and let me win this gamble.

Translation: "\"Mother Nature~ please have mercy on me, let me win this gamble. \""

Oh Mother of Nature~ this year's wheat must surely have a bountiful harvest!

Translation: "\"Mother Nature~ this year's wheat must surely have a bountiful harvest! \""

Oh Mother of Nature~ please let my wife survive this ordeal!

Translation: "\"Mother Nature~ please let my wife survive this ordeal! \""

Oh Mother of Nature

Translation: "\"Mother Nature~\""

They are all kinds of prayers, tens of thousands flashing by each second, far exceeding the brain's processing capacity.

Translation: "They were all kinds of prayers, tens of thousands scrolling past each second, far beyond human brain processing speed."

At first listen, it's just a 'buzz buzz buzz buzz~' noise.

Translation: "At first listen, it's just a 'buzz buzz buzz buzz~' noise."

But after advancing to Legendary, Luosen listens closely and can discern the specific content within the sound.

Translation: "But after advancing to Legendary, Luosen listened closely and could hear the specific content in the sound."

But at the same time, one can hear at most three or four pieces of information.

As it is now, being able to hear everything clearly, big or small, is Laifu's ability.

After looking, Luosen said: 'Laifu, shield the weak connections, leaving only the strongest and most stable 10%. Save computing power.'

'Already shielded, saving 95% of computing power.'

'Chat box' instantly became much clearer, but still tens of thousands of messages flash past each minute.

These messages represent the fervent prayers of fairly strong believers, not only representing their devout faith but also representing the strength of the believers' souls themselves.

Luosen did a quick tally and found that the believers' average soul strength was about one ring, while their average devotion, measured on a scale of 1 to 100, was roughly 60.

But it was still too many.

After thinking, Luosen continued: 'Shield further, leaving only the top 1%.'

'Already shielded, now occupying only 0.5% of computing power.'

'Chat box' became even clearer, with fewer than a thousand messages flashing past each minute.

After another tally, it was found that the believers' average soul strength had reached two rings, and their average devotion scored 80 out of 100.

From the prayer content, it can be seen that at least half of these believers are priests of the Nature Temples in various places.

This group of people must be the core believers of the Nature God Sect.

What use is this? Of course it's useful! Perhaps it can't provide Luosen with much faith power, but this is a real-time information network scattered across the Nature Alliance!

Luosen continued to command: "Laifu, filter out the voices coming from Levinde's believers."

The chat box flashed instantly, and a solitary chat box appeared, flashing over two hundred messages per second on average.

Levinde has a population of 1.1 billion, and now it's past 1 a. m.; after removing 99% of the messages, over two hundred still flash per second, showing that the base of believers is still very large.

Luosen selected the message with the highest strength and carefully observed its faith power.

"Not only is the strength high, it is also very stable."

"Faith power attenuates very slowly with spatial distance, has extremely strong penetration, can penetrate all things like gravity, even across planes, so I should be able to locate the pray-er's soul through faith power."

He thought so, and he did so.

Soon after, he successfully located the pray-er's soul and learned from the prayer content the person's worldly identity.

In the western suburbs of Bai Jin Cheng in Levinde, the head nun Qin of St. Anabrena Monastery, a soul at Four-ring Peak, age 39, has been in the monastery for 22 years, always remained chaste, and her faith is extremely steadfast.

Her prayer was: "Merciful Mother Nature, my heart is going through a storm."

I personally witnessed an extremely brutal massacre in the wild forest; the victims had an exceedingly noble status. He begged me for help before dying, but I, out of fear, dared not lend a hand, and could only watch helplessly as he was killed by thugs.

Mother Nature, I have violated your teachings. I feel extremely ashamed and also utterly hate my cowardice.

Please tell me, how should I redeem the sins in my soul so that I can regain peace of mind?

Luosen listened in astonishment: "It's actually still a murder case!"

After thinking, he, according to his latest understanding of faith power, transmitted a newly developed faith spell along this steadily existing faith thread.

The spell is called "Warm Heart"; it has no great effect, merely making people feel warm inside, consuming an extremely tiny amount of power, even less than one-third of the faith power provided by the other party. As this faith spell was transmitted, the faith thread from the head nun instantly thickened more than double, and at the same time transmitted an amazingly delighted voice.

"Mother Nature, is it you? Have you heard my words and forgiven my sins?"

Luosen clicked his tongue in amazement: "What a partner, faith power can actually increase this much!"

This far exceeded his expectations.

He subconsciously wanted to reply with specific information, but at the last moment he restrained himself.

"Because it's mysterious, there is awe; because there is awe, there is faith!"

"If I speak too clearly, I wouldn't be a god, but a person."

"So, I need to raise my tone, responding only to vague emotions and some command-like thoughts, as well as specific faith spells."

Use vague emotions to hint to the other party; if they don't understand, use command-like thoughts to tell them what to do.

As for reasons and details, there are none; we must let the believers fill them in themselves.

Finally, use specific faith spells to demonstrate one's divine miracles.

Where does the power of faith spells come from? Naturally, from the believers.

Judging by absolute strength, faith spells seem still not strong enough, but because faith power has an ultra-high order level, it has marvelous uses that other low-quality powers cannot match.

For example, it can directly help a person increase their soul strength.

Another example, with one's understanding of human body structure, one can create miraculous healing spells.

Yet another example, it can repair soul trauma, making people feel joy and peace.

"Hmm~ To conserve power and avoid worldly karma, and finally to match Mother Nature's teachings, I will make soothing and healing the core of natural divine arts."

Thinking this, Luosen transmitted another "urging" vague emotion to Head Nun Qin.

Qin was very smart and immediately understood.

"Mother Nature, you haven't forgiven me; are you letting me bravely expose the murderer?"

Luosen immediately transmitted an "affirmative" emotion.

After transmitting, he also felt a suspicion of encouraging someone to go to their death, so he immediately followed with a thought of "patiently wait for the opportunity".

After finishing the transmission, he sent another "Warm Heart".

The head nun instantly burst into tears because of Luosen.

"Mother Nature~ Thank you for your mercy, thank you for your favor, I now know what to do!"

Her faith power actually doubled again, and it lasted a full half hour before gradually fading, yet it never completely disappeared; there always remained a thread of power connected to the true-name dao marker, and it was very stable.

Luosen found it interesting, and after carefully observing other believers, he discovered similar phenomena, but the connection strength was far weaker than that of Head Nun Qin.

He did a quick calculation and was suddenly shocked: "This seems quite promising!"

The number of nature believers is so huge that if he seriously ran the church, he could probably increase the amount of faith power acquired by hundreds or even thousands of times.

The current faith power is very weak; whether or not there is a difference doesn't matter, but if it were increased by thousands of times, it would be completely different.

Even without the soul-burning secret technique, and without needing to constantly connect to the magic ring, it would be enough for him to continuously maintain legendary power.

Moreover, if the Nature Sect truly grows strong, it will be not only an exceptionally excellent intelligence organization but also an outstanding shaper of public opinion.

Consider this: a single sect backed by a true deity, staying out of secular power struggles, that at the right moment descends a divine edict and declares it the Nature God Emperor— that would be destiny! "Oh my god~~ If we really pull this off, I won't even be able to refuse becoming the God Emperor!"

Think further: among the many nuns and female believers there must be plenty of graceful beauties. *cough cough*—this is heretical, stop right there! Luosen increasingly feels this has potential, yet it must be handled with extreme caution to avoid divine authority meddling in the secular world.

After careful contemplation, he arrives at a core principle.

"The secular belongs to mortals, the soul belongs to the divine."

"Modern nations are all busy; any cumbersome rites should be avoided, the Temple will not expand, simplicity is advocated, and a group of devout ascetics will maintain the sect, intervening in the mortal world as little as possible."

"Only when mortals are lost, in pain, or fear‑driven by negative emotions, we warm their spirits, acting as a lubricant for all layers of modern society, avoiding needless internal friction."

"I alone can't accomplish this; Laifu must be trained to develop an ability that specifically responds to believers."

"Let's call that ability 'Nature Divinity.'"

With that in mind, Luosen immediately begins configuring various training parameters, feeds in the massive follower data received by "Ear of the Gods," and then starts training the brand‑new ability.

After completing all that, Luosen refocuses, temporarily shifting his attention away from the Nature God Cult to examine the second ability he had Laifu train.

That ability is called "Graphic Translation."

It translates, in real time, the situations occurring in the real world via the various ripples and fluctuations of the magic ring.

When the ability activates, Luosen's vision gains a window displaying the detailed magic‑ring fluctuations he observes from atop the eleventh ring, looking down.

With his current capability, Luosen can discern fine magic‑ring fluctuations within a 100‑kilometer radius.

Or more precisely, if anyone within 100 km casts a spell of any intensity above zero, he can 'see' it through the ring's ripples.

And unless the magic ring itself is shielded, any mortal shielding formation is ineffective against Luosen.

However, mortal minds are limited; the countless ripples within 100 km are beyond human comprehension.

Yet after training, Laifu can see through them.

Thus, once "Graphic Translation" reaches mastery, Luosen essentially possesses omniscience within 100 km.

It is still far from mastery now; training time is short and the fed data insufficient, but it is already usable.

Inside the window is a bizarre, kaleidoscopic map of magic‑ring ripples.

At a glance Luosen feels dizzy, as if looking into a kaleidoscope; only by focusing on a single point can he vaguely make sense of it.

But in Laifu's view it is entirely different; every important event is clearly marked.

Clear, explicit, every detail accounted for, with no omissions.

Luosen scrolls through it, satisfied: "Keep the backend running, link with 'Heart of the War God,' and continue gathering training data."

The window immediately fades.

At this point, there are still a few hours before dawn, so Luosen closes his eyes to rest.

A silent night.

At dawn the next day, his wife Selena's voice reaches his ears: "Dear, there's some left; have a drink."

Luosen, half‑asleep, opens his mouth and gulps a few sips, then hears Selena's slightly rapid breathing.

He smiles inwardly and, with a Spiritual Whisper, says, "Dear, at this rate the child will arrive again soon."

Selena chuckles, "If it comes, let it come; can the Grand Duke not afford to raise one?"

She now harbors no fear of bearing children; instead she thinks of having several more to make the household livelier.

Luosen, of course, doesn't mind more children, and he gets up and rides off.

Afterward, he whispers, "Dear, you now have Five‑Ring power, Ailiya is also a warrior at the pinnacle of the Five Rings, the Guard Corps warriors are all trustworthy, but you must still remain vigilant."

"I understand, dear. I'll use the magical artifact you gave me properly. You take care of yourself too."

"Mm."

After getting up, Luosen arranges the relevant matters.

The power grab in Levinde is extremely complex, requiring massive intelligence support and extensive preliminary scheming.

Luosen prepares with full effort, and it still takes a full month.

A month later, fed with massive data, Luosen's "Nature Divinity" training reaches a modest success.

The results are striking; his harvested faith power spikes tenfold.

But under his careful control, the 'Mother Nature Responds to Believers' matter has not spread beyond a circle of devout followers, causing no obvious societal impact for now.

A month later, Princess Moli Sheila of Levinde, in Weilan, issues a proclamation to the entire Natural Alliance.

The announcement roughly states: "Levinde's current king Lars does not possess the Sheila bloodline; he is the illegitimate son of the Queen Dowager and Frost Envoy Lafengge!"

"Lars's claim to the throne is illegal; his actions constitute a grave desecration of the Nature God bloodline and he should be taken to the guillotine for sacrilege and usurpation."

"Queen Dowager Kailun La'ermo is guilty of adultery, usurpation, regicide, and sacrilege, and must be sent to the guillotine!"

"Frost Envoy Lafengge is guilty of adultery, treason, regicide, and sacrilege, and must be sent to the gallows!"

When the announcement is released, the Natural Alliance erupts, and Levinde in particular is shocked nationwide.

After the shock, among Levinde's five great marquises, the La'ermo family of the Queen immediately refutes the princess's statements, deeming them lies.

Other royal members also appear to testify, confirming King Sheila's bloodline is unquestioned, and claim Princess Moli is being held by Duke Weilan.

They also condemn Duke Weilan for meddling in Levinde's internal affairs.

For a time, public opinion in Levinde is easily steered, with most people believing the princess is spouting nonsense.

However, the other four marquises in Levinde, along with over two hundred noble families, unusually remain silent.

Amid this chaotic backdrop, Luosen takes the Princess of Levinde, secretly pilots a specially modified one‑time long‑range aircraft, and quietly heads for Levinde.

The next two watch periods will be later today (chapter end).