Chapter 118: The Final Evolution of the Automated Script

The moment the blade tip hovered over Yu Xiaotang’s heart, Shen Yan’s wrist trembled violently.

It wasn’t hesitation—his body collapsed before his consciousness could react. He fell backward as if his bones had been pulled out, straight and rigid. The Programming Pen flew from his hand, tracing an arc through the air before crashing into a pile of rubble at the cliff’s edge.

But just before he lost consciousness, three glowing patterns suddenly lit up on the curved blade’s bloodstains—one from the remnants of Ye Shi’er’s blood, one from Yu Xiaotang’s Devil Blood, and the last, a bright crimson from the wound on his own left shoulder.

【Blood Code Protocol·Triple Authentication】

【Target Coordinates: East Sea Cliff】

【Execute】

The wind roared, and the world spun.

By the time they landed again, they were already on a seaside cliff. The salty, pungent sea breeze washed over them, and waves crashed against the rocks, exploding into white foam. Shen Yan lay face down on the grass, his fingers still curled as if holding a pen, the tips hovering half an inch above the ground, as though still tapping a nonexistent Enter Key.

The Terminal Interface floated before his eyes, flashing with a faint red light:

【Protocol Run Complete】

【Host Entering Forced Dormancy Countdown: Sixty Breaths】

Yu Xiaotang slumped three steps away, leaning against a reef, her breathing so shallow that the rise and fall of her chest was almost imperceptible. The Devil Blood patterns on her collarbone were peeling off piece by piece, like snow melting under the spring sun, dissolving silently. But her eyes were unfocused, her lips purple, and she lacked even the strength to lift a hand.

Luo Li crawled over on her knees, ignoring the blood seeping from her scraped skin, and grabbed Yu Xiaotang’s hand. “Wake up! You were just able to speak!”

Yu Xiaotang’s eyelashes fluttered, and she squeezed two words from her throat: “…Still alive?”

“Obviously!” Luo Li’s eyes grew hot. “If you dare die, I’ll turn into a cat demon every night, squat on your grave, and chew Candied Hawthorn to annoy you!”

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly grunted in pain. A fine crack split the Contract pattern on her right arm, and purple-red blood dripped down her Fox Tail, solidifying into a string of faintly glowing Talisman Arrays in the air.

Gritting her teeth, she held on, pulled a crystal shard from her chest, and pressed it hard into the wound.

“Don’t… don’t do anything foolish,” Yu Xiaotang weakly shook her head. “If you use the Demon Clan’s Forbidden Technique now, it will backlash against your soul…”

“I know,” Luo Li sneered. “But if both of you die, who’s left to buy me Candied Hawthorn?”

With that, she clasped her hands together, raised her Fox Tail high, and chanted an ancient incantation:

“With my blood, I sustain your soul. The Blood Pact deepens, our fates intertwined.”

Demon Power surged into the air, transforming into a stream of light that shot straight toward Shen Yan’s lips. A single drop entering his body would permanently transfer half of her Demon Power to him—at the cost of being unable to transform for three years, possibly even regressing to a young fox state.

But just as the blood droplet touched Shen Yan’s skin, a silver light suddenly cleaved down from the sky!

“Clang—!”

Frost Soul Sword Qi cascaded like a waterfall, precisely severing the connection of the Demon Power. Shattered ice scattered everywhere, rustling against the grass blades. Ye Zhao leaped down from the clouds, landing gracefully with her sword tip touching the ground, her moon-white robes fluttering fiercely in the sea breeze.

Without even glancing at Luo Li, she walked directly to Shen Yan’s side, knelt down, and placed her fingers on his wrist.

“Pulse is weak, but still present,” she frowned tightly. “Heartbeat frequency synchronized with Terminal fluctuations. The Source Code Spiritual Root is autonomously protecting its Host.”

Luo Li coughed up a mouthful of blood, her Fox Tail drooping weakly, yet she still looked up with a cold sneer. “Perfect timing, Chief Ye. Are you here to save someone, or to steal someone?”

“I’m here to stop you from being foolish,” Ye Zhao said coldly. “Sacrificing demon blood in exchange for life sounds tragic, but it’s utterly stupid. If he wakes up, the first person he’ll scold is you.”

“But he won’t wake up!” Luo Li’s voice trembled. “In sixty breaths, the System will seal his permissions! Once his mind stops, he’ll become nothing but dead Code!”

“Then wait for Pei Yue.”

“Can we afford to wait? Right now, even his breathing is being maintained by a Program!”

Ye Zhao didn’t reply. Instead, she untied the moon-white cloak from her shoulders and gently draped it over Shen Yan. Her movements were light, as if afraid of disturbing something.

In the distance, waves surged, and the sky began to turn pale blue.

Yu Xiaotang leaned against the rock wall and suddenly murmured, “Actually… I didn’t understand the last line of Code he wrote.”

“Which line?” Ye Zhao asked.

“The last sentence of the Name-Seizing Protocol,” Yu Xiaotang struggled to raise her hand, tracing a line in the air with the tip of her finger. “He wrote: ‘Variable Lock: Belonging Cannot Be Overwritten’… and then added parentheses with four words inside.”

“What words?”

“Family First.”

The air fell silent for a moment.

Luo Li looked down at the cracked Contract pattern on her body and let out a soft laugh. “Hah… So this guy had already written all of us into his Code, huh? So we can’t even be deleted.”

Ye Zhao’s fingertips trembled slightly.

She remembered last night at the inn, when Shen Yan was being eroded by the Gu Worm, the Terminal automatically popped up a defense list—the first priority was “Yu Xiaotang,” the second was “Luo Li,” the third was “Pei Yue,” and she herself was ranked fourth.

But just as she was about to close the Interface, the list suddenly flickered.

The fourth entry changed to “Ye Zhao (Pending Verification),” and then immediately reverted to “Ye Zhao.”

Below it, a line of small text followed: 【Emotional Parameter Completion in Progress, Estimated Remaining Time: Unknown】

At the time, she thought it was a System Bug.

Now, thinking back, perhaps it wasn’t a Bug at all, but rather… a clumsy confession.

“He’s still alive,” Ye Zhao finally spoke, her voice low but firm. “As long as his heart hasn’t stopped beating, we still have a way.”

She raised her hand to recall the Frost Soul Sword, its Sword Qi spreading into a ring that enveloped the four of them.

“I’ll guard for the first two hours. Pei Yue said she’s already cracked the reverse model of the Erosion Source Powder and is on her way.”

Luo Li wanted to say something more but was cut off by a sharp pain. Her entire right arm began to turn transparent, her Demon Power draining away like sand in an hourglass.

“Don’t push yourself,” Ye Zhao glanced at her. “If you keep draining yourself, you won’t even be able to return to human form.”

“And what about you?” Luo Li gasped in response. “Aren’t you afraid he’ll write you into the ‘Cannot Be Deleted’ list too? Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to leave even if you want to in the future?”

Ye Zhao fell silent for a moment, then suddenly reached out and straightened the crooked glasses on Shen Yan’s chest.

“I am afraid,” she said calmly. “But I’m more afraid that when he wakes up, he’ll find none of us waited for him.”

The sea wind howled, tousling her silver hair.

Just then, the Terminal screen on Shen Yan’s chest glowed faintly.

A new line of text slowly appeared on the previously darkened Interface:

【Detected Tripartite Life Resonance】

【Emotional Parameter Entry Completed】

【Automated Script Upgrade Preparation in Progress…】

Ye Zhao’s pupils contracted sharply.

She clearly remembered Shen Yan once saying that his Spell Programs were most vulnerable to “emotional interference.” If his emotions fluctuated too much, the Code would Error Report and crash.

But now, the System not only didn’t crash, but was absorbing these chaotic signals—as if compiling tears, blood, roars, and obsessions into new execution logic.

This was no longer just an automated script.

This was evolution.

Yu Xiaotang stared at the line of text, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “This guy… is about to stir up trouble again, isn’t he?”

Luo Li also smiled, though her face remained pale. “When he wakes up, I’m going to make him write me a ‘life-saving auto-renewal protocol’.”

Ye Zhao did not smile.

She simply rested her sword across her knees, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon.

The first light of dawn broke through the clouds, casting its rays onto Shen Yan’s face.

His eyelids trembled slightly.

The final line of text slowly appeared on the Terminal:

【Warning: The new version will overwrite the old core. Proceed?】

【To confirm, please enter ‘I am willing’】

(End of Chapter)