Chapter 221: Source Code Refactoring: The Breakthrough of Obsession

Shen Yan’s phone screen was still flickering, its green light dimming and brightening like a dying fluorescent tube. His fingers pressed hard against the screen, fingertips numb, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and pooling in a small puddle at the edge of the screen.

His head buzzed as if thousands of people were typing on keyboards simultaneously. His ears were filled with the sound of System Alerts, each one more urgent than the last.

【Warning: Illegal Write Permission Detected】

【Core Protocol Lockdown Countdown: 7 seconds】

【6 seconds】

【5 seconds】

He didn’t move, nor did he cry out in pain. He only bit down harder, breaking another layer of skin on the Tip of his Tongue. The taste of blood rushed into his nasal passages, sharpening his mind instead.

The Dark Shadow had fully opened the Rift on its back, black mist churning like a boiling pot. Ye Zhao’s Tranquil Spirit Domain began to crack, fissures appearing in the light barrier. Luo Li’s Demonic Fire had been mostly drained, Yu Xiaotang’s Talisman Array was on the verge of collapse, and Pei Yue’s hands trembled, nearly dropping her Silver Needle.

Time was running out.

Shen Yan closed his eyes, no longer trying to Cut the Connection. Instead, he pushed back, riding the invading Code Flow and charging straight into it.

Like a hacker kicking down the door into an enemy Server.

Instantly, his vision transformed into a Data Torrent, densely woven Runes and Code forming a rapidly scrolling web. He felt as if he had been thrown into a massive Program Labyrinth, surrounded on all sides by Firewalls and traps.

But he wasn’t afraid.

He knew this path.

As a child in the orphanage, the only thing that could calm him was that ancient, clunky computer. No one taught him; he pored over the manual himself and learned binary. Back then, he couldn’t read Chinese characters, so he memorized lines of 0s and 1s.

Later, on the day of the car accident, the first fragment of awakened Source Code had emerged from that Memory.

Now, he retrieved that most primitive piece of Code, combined it with the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao he had seen during the accident, and overlaid it with the frequency of Ye Zhao’s Sword Qi, the Pulse of Pei Yue’s Silver Needles, the Wavelength of Luo Li’s Demonic Fire, and the vibrations of Yu Xiaotang’s Talisman Paper—

The Logic of the four girls’ powers was all crammed into a single Authentication Key.

【Verifying Identity…】

【Matching…】

【Match Successful】

The screen jolted violently.

All garbled text instantly reorganized, and a line of large green characters appeared:

【Authentication Passed】

【Permission Escalated to Highest Level】

【Activate “Reverse Decompilation Divine Skill”? Yes/No】

Shen Yan opened his eyes, his pupils narrowing to slits.

He didn’t choose. Instead, he silently recited in his mind: “Yes.”

The next second, the world changed.

The Dark Shadow was no longer a shadow but a Dynamically Running Program. Its every movement was a Function Call; every lift of its hand was an Instruction Execution. Its body structure transformed into a Three-Dimensional Topology Diagram in Shen Yan’s eyes, layer upon layer of Nesting, airtight and impenetrable.

But there was a Vulnerability.

Just below the Rift on its back, an Uninitialized Pointer was continuously reading a Null Address. Triggering just one Null Reference Exception would jam the entire Main Loop.

Shen Yan immediately generated a Vulnerability Report:

【Target Contains Fatal Defect】

【Recommend Injecting Error Instruction to Force Interrupt Process】

He opened his eyes. His mind felt as if it had been washed by high-voltage electricity, blood trickled from his ears, and his vision blurred, but he remained standing.

The phone screen froze on a structural diagram, clearly marking the location of that Vulnerability.

He had done it.

He had truly achieved a Breakthrough.

Previously, he could only write spell programs, akin to using high-level languages for application development. Now, he could decompile others’ spells, directly view the low-level code, and even modify the execution logic.

This was the “Reverse Decompilation Divine Skill.”

He gasped for breath, his fingers still trembling, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“So it was you who wrote it,” he murmured. “Celestial Clan Outcast… my past life.”

The program bore a familiar signature imprint, sharing the same origin as the Source Code Spiritual Root within him. It wasn’t an enemy—it was a legacy. A legacy that had been tampered with.

No wonder it sought to synchronize with him.

It recognized its master.

But now, it had been transformed into a weapon, used to erase rules and eliminate anomalous variables—like Ye Zhao and the others.

Shen Yan’s eyes turned cold.

He was no longer just a programmer.

He was the System Administrator.

With Root Permission in hand, he called the shots.

He raised his hand and began writing a new instruction. Not an attack, but a lure—an error packet disguised as a normal Data Stream, specifically targeting that uninitialized pointer.

As soon as the Dark Shadow ran it, an anomaly would be triggered, freezing the main process for 0.3 seconds.

That was enough.

0.3 seconds was enough for Ye Zhao’s sword to slash through, Luo Li’s Demonic Fire to explode, Yu Xiaotang’s Talisman Spell to detonate, and Pei Yue’s Silver Needles to seal off the escape route.

He was going to turn this battle into a precise surgical operation.

The phone interface flashed with a blood-red notice:

【Warning: Mental Power below safety threshold】

【Risk of Nervous System Damage: 97%】

【Continue operation?】

Shen Yan didn’t look.

His fingers kept typing, lines of Code scrolling up one after another. Each line felt like it was slicing through his nerves, but he didn’t stop.

He knew that if he fell, everyone would die.

He couldn’t fall.

He was the only Compiler.

The only one who could piece their powers together.

It was he who had written that Minimalist Code, merging five streams of energy into a pillar of light.

It was he who had activated Heart Flame.exe with his blood, saving Ye Zhao.

It was he who had forcibly mounted the Life Frequencies of the four women to resist Space-Time Deletion.

This time, he had to hold on too.

Even if his brain exploded, he had to send out this instruction.

After writing the final line of code, he took a deep breath and prepared to send it.

But just then, the Dark Shadow suddenly stopped.

Not because of a vulnerability, but because it seemed… to have sensed something.

The “Cracked Eye” symbol on its head slowly turned toward him, as if locking onto its target.

Shen Yan’s heart tightened.

Damn.

It had realized he wasn’t the Host Machine but an Intruder.

The next second, the fissure behind the Dark Shadow abruptly contracted, black mist surging inward as the entire program began a Self-Check at incredible speed.

Shen Yan knew that if he waited another second, the Firewall would upgrade, and his instruction would never get through.

He had to send it now.

But the phone interface froze.

【Data Packet Blockage】

【Unable to send】

Shen Yan’s eyes widened, and he slapped the screen with his hand.

Useless.

Growing desperate, he simply raised the phone to his mouth and roared the code like an incantation:

“Invoke Void Index, open Temporary Channel, set Priority to highest, Forced Push!”

The moment his words fell, the phone emitted a “beep.”

【Instruction sent】

【Awaiting execution】

Shen Yan let out a sigh of relief, his legs going weak as he nearly collapsed. Leaning against a broken wall, hands on his knees, he panted like a dog.

But his eyes remained fixed on the Dark Shadow.

As soon as it moved, he would know the outcome.

The Dark Shadow stood in place, suddenly frozen.

Its movements halted for half a second, the Rift on its back twitching slightly, as if the Program had Lagged.

It worked!

The Vulnerability had been triggered!

Shen Yan grinned, blood dripping from his chin onto the ground.

He had done it.

He had truly rewritten the rules.

He was no longer that corporate drone who could only write Fireball Spell Functions.

He was the mad Code Farmer capable of reverse-engineering the Heavenly Dao Program.

The obsessive who could tear open a way out even in the most desperate situations.

He wiped his face and looked up at his teammates.

Ye Zhao’s sword was still glowing, Yu Xiaotang held the last talisman in her hand, Luo Li’s cat ears were perked up, and Pei Yue’s Silver Needle remained poised.

They were all waiting.

Waiting for him to speak.

Shen Yan opened his mouth, his voice so hoarse it barely sounded human:

“Listen up.”

(End of Chapter)