Chapter 3: First Glimpse of the Three Realms: Technological Cultivation of Spiritual Root Awakening

As Shen Yan climbed onto the water tower platform, his phone suddenly vibrated violently, and the screen exploded into a holographic projection.

【World Module Loading…】

【Current Coordinates: Mortal Realm · Yunjing City】

【Spiritual Energy Concentration: 37% (Critical Value 50%)】

【Detected Celestial Clan Residual Protocol, Demon Clan Encrypted Signal, Demon Realm Interference Wave】

He nearly stumbled and fell, quickly supporting himself with one hand on the rusty iron railing while gripping the phone tightly with the other. This interface was more wild than any front-end he had ever written, with Data Streams cascading down like waterfalls, scrolling and flipping out a pile of terms—”Heavenly Dao Registry,” “Spiritual Veins DNS,” “Unauthorized Access Records of the Three Realms Firewall.”

“Wait, Three Realms?” He stared at that line, his mind buzzing, “So that dilapidated temple that exploded earlier wasn’t some ancient Formation, but… a System Patch that wasn’t applied?”

He instinctively wanted to close the interface. Just as his finger touched the back button, the Terminal suddenly popped up with a new Notice:

【Passive Scanning Initiated】

【Target Locked: Top Floor of Central Building A】

【Mark: Modern Spirit Gathering Formation Node · Running】

【Warning: Host is approaching a blind zone of Three Realms convergence, recommend immediate evacuation】

“Evacuate? I can barely stand steady right now.” He gasped, his stamina bar already red and purple, and his Mental Power nearly depleted. Yet at this moment, the wind above suddenly intensified.

A sword light split the night sky, descending directly onto the rooftop.

A woman with silver-white hair stood on her sword, her moon-white sleeves fluttering fiercely in the wind. She raised her hand and gestured, her long sword silently unsheathing three inches. Cold air spread along the blade, condensing into a frost line in the air, pointing directly at Shen Yan’s throat.

“Hand over the Source Code, and you may avoid death.”

Shen Yan raised both hands above his head, his movements as standard as a suspicious individual stopped by police: “Don’t attack! I’m just a regular Programmer, I really didn’t steal your Celestial Clan Code Library!”

Before he finished speaking, his phone automatically jumped back to the main interface. The wind_wing.py he had just written was running in a Loop in the Background, green characters scrolling line by line, stable like breathing.

The woman’s gaze sharpened.

She stared at that string of Code, her brow slightly moving, her lips barely parting as she whispered a few words: “…Primordial Symbol Sequence?”

Shen Yan was baffled: “What?”

“This structure.” Her sword tip slightly shifted, her gaze still locked on the screen, “It’s exactly the same as the ‘First-generation Compilation Rules’ in the Heavenly Dao Compilation Record.”

“Oh, you mean this.” Shen Yan smiled bitterly, “I just wrote it according to Logic, import Spiritual Energy, def cast(): return Energy Condensation + High-temperature Activation, plus an Anomaly Capture, otherwise runtime Error Reporting could blow someone away.”

The woman remained silent for two seconds, finally withdrawing her sword half an inch: “You can write this kind of syntax, you cannot be mortal.”

“Even if I’m not mortal, I still need to eat.” Shen Yan wiped his face, “Before the car accident, I was still a 996 corporate slave. Now I can inexplicably program spells, I’m confused myself.”

Before he finished speaking, the distant hum of helicopter propellers echoed.

Two black drones rose between the buildings, their infrared searchlights sweeping over the rooftop, red dots quickly locking onto their position. Immediately afterward, three Spiritual Power Fluctuations approached from the southeast direction, moving at speeds unlike humans.

“The patrol team is here.” Shen Yan swallowed hard. “Four more points are approaching, probably reinforcements from your sect?”

The woman shot him a cold glance. “You caused this trouble, solve it yourself.”

“How am I supposed to run with no strength left?” He looked down at his phone—battery at 12%, the Mental Power bar flashing red. “Unless…”

His fingers flew across the screen, creating a new file:

wind_wing.py

First line: from atmosphere import Spiritual_Energy_Density, Airflow_Model

Second line: class Data_Wing(Aircraft):

Third line: def init(self): self.generate_grid_skeleton()

“What are you doing?” the woman frowned.

“Making wings,” he gritted his teeth. “Trust me this once. Either we fall to our deaths, or we fly out of here.”

“Absurd! Wind-riding techniques require centuries of rigorous cultivation—”

“Cultivate my ass!” He slammed the enter key. “This is Technological Cultivation—no rules of honor!”

The Code executed with a roar.

Spiritual Energy in the air converged wildly, twisting and weaving behind them, instantly forming a pair of translucent wings. The grid-like structure glowed with a faint green light, eerily similar to the 3D modeling wireframes he often saw.

The iron plate beneath their feet began to crack, rusted bolts snapping one by one.

“Hold tight!” He grabbed the woman’s wrist and leaped off.

Thirty stories high, the wind cut like knives.

The woman instinctively channeled Sword Qi to protect herself, only to find the Data Wings automatically adjusting the airflow, steadily supporting their gliding trajectory. She glanced down at the sword hilt in her hand—the jade pendant on the tassel was slightly warm, reflecting a flickering string of green characters.

“Your Program… is reading my Spiritual Power Frequency?”

“Just a minor function,” he shouted into the wind. “Otherwise, why do you think I pulled you along? Only loners fly solo—this is a dual-person coroutine!”

She didn’t respond, but her fingers tightened slightly around his wrist. The warmth from her palm sent an unexpected tremor through his heart.

City lights flowed beneath their feet, subway entrances gaping like open mouths rushing toward them.

Shen Yan glanced at his phone:

【Mental Power Remaining: 18%】

【Flight Stability: 73%】

【Warning: Detected unknown Rune array below, suspected activation in progress】

His pupils contracted. “Damn, there’s something under the subway entrance!”

The woman snapped her head up. “What did you say?”

“I said—” Before he could finish, a circle of dark red patterns lit up on the ground below, as if drawn in blood-like Code Comments.

The Data Wings shook violently, a breakpoint appearing in the left wing’s grid, the green light flickering erratically.

“Crap! Path conflict!” He frantically tapped his phone. “Quick, give me three seconds! I need to switch to an exception handling branch—”

The woman raised her hand, releasing Sword Qi in an attempt to stabilize their descent.

But at that moment, all the lights at the subway entrance went out.

In the darkness, a Talisman Paper slowly floated up, its edges charred black as if just snatched from a fire. It spun through the air and attached itself to the broken section of the Data Wing.

Shen Yan’s eyes widened. “Who threw that talisman?!”

The moment the Talisman Paper made contact, the Code Flow mutated.

The previously stable wind_wing.py was injected with an unfamiliar Command, the function stack unfolding layer by layer, automatically generating a new Repair Module.

【New Process Loaded: auto_repair.dll】

【Source: Unknown】

【Permission Level: S-level】

“Who the hell… remotely patched my program?!”

The woman stared at the talisman, her voice turning colder. “This isn’t the Sword Sect’s work.”

“Nor is it mine.” He was fixated on the screen. “The syntax… it’s too wild. It’s like code written using a fried chicken recipe.”

The Data Wings stabilized once more, carrying the two of them as they continued to glide.

The subway station entrance was now within reach, the dim yellow lights flickering back on.

Shen Yan let out a sigh of relief, about to utter “we finally made it alive,” when his phone suddenly vibrated.

The Terminal popped up a new message:

【Anonymous Push Received】

【Filename: sky_bridge_hack.py.bak】

【Content Preview: if host.is_alive(): print(Welcome to the Resistance)】

His fingers froze.

“What’s wrong?” the woman asked.

Before he could answer, a flash of purple caught the corner of his eye from the subway station’s canopy.

A figure stood at the edge, holding a scythe, with fragments of shattered Code drifting from its blade.

When Shen Yan saw the Bronze Mask covering half of that person’s face, his throat tightened.

His phone screen flashed, automatically replying with a message:

【File Received】

【Decompiling…】

At that very moment, the woman suddenly shifted, placing herself protectively in front of him. Her sword tip lifted slightly, a strand of Sword Intent winding out like a silken thread towards the purple figure.

“Don’t move,” she whispered, her hair brushing past his ear, carrying a faint, cool fragrance. “In your current state, you can barely even stand.”

Shen Yan was stunned, his heart skipping a beat.

He looked at her back. That figure, always so aloof and solitary, was now shielding him from a lethal threat. A crack quietly formed somewhere deep within him.

“You… aren’t you afraid I really am the thief who stole the Celestial Clan’s secret texts?” he asked hoarsely.

She glanced back, her gaze like starlight reflected on snow. “If you were a thief, you wouldn’t have grabbed my hand first when we were falling.”

A warmth surged in his chest. He was about to speak when his phone vibrated again.

【Decompilation Complete】

【Core Command Parsed: Locate Holder of ‘Heavenly Dao Key’】

【Additional Information: Car Accident Seven Years Ago, Not an Accident】

Shen Yan shuddered violently.

Seven years ago… the car accident that took his parents’ lives?

So, it was… man-made?

Rage gradually ignited in his eyes, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists.

“What are you thinking?” the woman sensed his change.

“I’m thinking…” he slowly raised his head, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth. “…some people think deleting the Logs can cover their invasion tracks.”

“I’m going to let them know—”

“I’m back.”

In the distance, a clock tower struck midnight twelve times.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned laboratory on the other side of the city, a Terminal sealed in dust for ten years suddenly lit up. A line of text flashed across its Screen:

【’Source Code Inheritance’ Detected】

【Revenge Process, Officially Initiated】

(End of Chapter)