Chapter 122: The Truth of Xie Wujiu's Poison Powder

Shen Yan’s consciousness felt as if it had been thrown into a recycle bin, leaving only a faint string of light spots flickering before his eyes. He wanted to move, but his body seemed forced into hibernation by the system, even his eyelids were too heavy to lift.

Just as he was about to completely disconnect, a silver light pierced through the air.

“Stop!”

The voice was cool, yet carried an undeniable penetrating force. Immediately afterward, a gentle green energy swept across the entire scene. Those lingering shadows of Ye Shi’er twisted and exploded as if encountering an antivirus program, instantly turning into scattered ashes.

In the crack of the stone tablet at the center of the altar, a jade hairpin was forcefully inserted. The hairpin trembled slightly, with intricate rune patterns emerging on its surface, spreading rapidly across the entire ground like a code flow. The chaotic energy field began to stabilize, and the roar of the data torrent gradually faded away.

Footsteps approached.

A hand rested on Shen Yan’s wrist, the fingertips slightly cool.

“The pulse is disordered… the source code and heartbeat have synchronized!” The voice was urgent. “If we were a step later, his spiritual consciousness would have been reversely consumed.”

Before the words finished, a silver needle accurately pierced the Baihui point on his head.

Severe pain surged through his mind like an electric current. Shen Yan convulsed violently, his eyes abruptly opening.

His vision blurred for several seconds before gradually clearing. A familiar face appeared before him—Pei Yue crouched beside him, sweat beading at her temples, yet her gaze exceptionally sharp.

“Do you know that Xie Wujiu’s poison powder is the true key that initiates the seal within your body?”

Shen Yan opened his mouth, his throat too dry to produce sound. He could only stare intently at her, his mind a complete mess.

Pei Yue didn’t wait for his answer. She had already retrieved a small glass vial from her medicine pouch. The vial emitted an aged glow, like an old object buried in soil for decades. She gently tilted it, and a dried, blackened powder fell onto her palm.

“This is what Xie Wujiu hid in the jade hairpin back then,” she whispered. “I always thought it was poison… until just now, it resonated with the crystal tablet.”

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted.

The terminal interface slowly restarted in his mind, like an old computer struggling to boot up. A line of notice appeared: 【Detected high-risk bioactive substance. Proceed with component analysis?】

He instinctively clicked “Yes.”

The screen scrolled, log files automatically loading:

【Event Number Three｜Timestamp: Twenty Years Ago｜Location: Alley Behind Linjiang Orphanage｜Trigger Conditions: Exogenous Devil Clan gene segment invaded host’s fluid system】

An image flashed—

Rainy night, muddy alley. Young Shen Yan crouched beside a pile of garbage, clutching a discarded circuit board, dismantling it with a stone. Suddenly, a hidden weapon brushed past his fingers, leaving a bloody scratch. That weapon was coated with black powder, dripping with rainwater, mixing into the wound.

The memory buried deep within surfaced for the first time so clearly.

Terminal analysis completed, conclusion popped up:

【Detected high-purity Demon Lord bloodline cleavage protein, possessing the effect of activating reincarnation spiritual root. Judgment: Not poison, but catalyst.】

Shen Yan’s breath caught.

So… it wasn’t an accidental awakening.

But a “initiation program” planted long ago.

His source code spiritual root wasn’t purely coincidental. That car accident that changed his fate was merely the final trigger command. The true beginning had been planted by Xie Wujiu’s own hands twenty years ago.

“So… I was an experiment from the very beginning?” he asked hoarsely.

Pei Yue shook her head: “You are a Variable, not a pawn. They wanted to control you, but you wrote Code they could never have written.”

As soon as her words fell, a raspy laugh echoed from the ruins.

“Hahaha… That sounds so noble!”

Everyone turned.

Xie Wujiu crawled out from the rubble, his chest caved in, half his face a bloody mess, yet the corners of his mouth were still stretched into a grin, revealing pale teeth. He propped himself up with one hand while the other trembled as he formed a seal. Black and red intertwined currents surged around him.

“You think you survived on your own?” he roared. “Without my poison powder as the catalyst, you wouldn’t even have had the qualification to awaken! It was the gene chain inside you that opened the Cycle of Reincarnation for our master!”

Shen Yan abruptly stood up, staggering a step before steadying himself.

“So you’ve been waiting for this day all along? For me to fully awaken?”

“Exactly!” Xie Wujiu laughed maniacally. “Our master has slept for too long… It’s time he woke! I will use your blood to ignite the furnace of the Three Realms and pave his path of return!”

He suddenly pressed his palms together, his soul essence power frantically gathering. Countless tiny black threads materialized in the air, winding toward Shen Yan’s arms—remnants of the gene chain, attempting to forcibly activate.

Shen Yan gritted his teeth. The Terminal immediately issued an alert: 【Warning: External Protocol intrusion detected, attempting to take over the Source Code Core!】

He wanted to counterattack, but his Mental Power was nearly depleted; even summoning basic spells was difficult.

At this critical moment, Pei Yue moved.

Three Silver Needles held between her fingertips, her figure flashed as she darted behind Xie Wujiu. Without any unnecessary movement, the needle tips aimed straight for the central hub of his Consciousness Sea at the center of his brow.

“You’re mistaken,” her voice was soft, yet cold as ice. “He is no one’s Key. He is… the patient I chose myself.”

The Silver Needles pierced through the air.

“Pfft—”

Three needles entered simultaneously, precisely piercing through the central hub of the Consciousness Sea.

Xie Wujiu’s movements abruptly ceased. He looked down at the needle ends protruding from his chest, then raised his head to gaze at Shen Yan, a strangely eerie smile actually appearing on his face.

“Worth it… Finally… I see the new era…”

As his words fell, his body slowly collapsed to the ground, moving no more.

The Altar fell into brief silence.

The wind stopped, ashes slowly settling.

Shen Yan stood in place, his fingers trembling slightly. He looked down at his own palm; the scar left from childhood faintly burned under the moonlight.

So everything had traces to follow.

That rain, that circuit board, that hidden weapon… none were coincidences. He was the designed “Initiate” item, the bridge for the sleeping Demon Lord’s return.

But he also knew he had long since strayed from the path.

He was no child of destiny, nor a tool for revenge. He was the man who secretly added emojis to his Fireball Spell during overtime, the fool whose hair got blown off by Talisman Paper explosions but still bought milk tea for Yu Xiaotang, the idiot who was clearly afraid of death yet always charged into the most dangerous places.

His Code had never been written by anyone else.

Pei Yue walked to his side, gently supporting his swaying body.

“Can you still hold on?”

Shen Yan tugged at the corner of his mouth: “The System just Restarted, Memory is only at five percent, but… it can still run a simple Script.”

Pei Yue couldn’t help but smile briefly, then frowned: “Stop joking. Sit down first.”

She helped him sit leaning against the stone tablet, then sat cross-legged herself to regulate her breathing. The jade hairpin in her hand glowed dimly, clearly having consumed immense energy.

Shen Yan looked up at the night sky as the Terminal Interface refreshed slowly within his field of vision.

A new Notice quietly appeared:

【Log Updated: Awakening Origin Traced to 7,305 Days Ago】

He stared at the string of numbers, his lips moving slightly as if about to speak.

In the distance, the blood patterns on the crystal monument continued to flow slowly, while Yu Xiaotang’s breathing remained faint but steady. Ye Zhao’s sword was thrust into the ground, its hilt stained with dried blood, trembling faintly.

Shen Yan raised his hand, a faint glow of Code Flow shimmering at the tip of his finger.

Instead of closing the Terminal, he opened a hidden folder.

Its filename contained only a single word: Home.

(End of Chapter)