Chapter 119: Ye Zhao's Binary Sword Formation

Data streams still flickered beneath Shen Yan’s eyelids. The sixty-breath countdown felt like an iron chain, tightening around his mind with each passing moment. The Terminal Interface floated in mid-air, its red light pulsing on and off like a breath held halfway.

“Input ‘I am willing’…” The words stuck at the edge of his consciousness, but his fingers lacked even the strength to twitch.

Just then, the tip of the Frost Soul Sword gently flicked. Ye Zhao’s fingertip traced across her palm, and a drop of blood fell onto the Terminal Interface.

【Warning: External Spiritual Power injection detected】

【High-purity Sword Qi detected. Establish temporary connection?】

Without waiting for the system’s response, she pressed her hand against it.

“You two.” Her voice was as cold as the sea wind, not bothering to look back. “Stop lying there. If you want to save him, lend a hand.”

Luo Li gritted her teeth and pushed herself up. The contract mark on her right arm cracked deeper, demon blood dripping from her fingertips. Without even glancing at the blood, she grabbed Ye Zhao’s hand. “Are you insane? His system hates outsiders inserting Code the most. It might just Blue Screen and Restart!”

“But it hasn’t crashed yet.” Ye Zhao stared at the Interface. “It’s feeding on our emotions—tears, Obsessions, unwillingness—all being Compiled into New Instructions. This isn’t a Bug; it’s an evolution Window.”

Yu Xiaotang leaned against the reef, her lips pale, but she managed a faint smile. “So… we’re not saving him now, we’re feeding Patches to the Host Machine?”

“Correct.” Ye Zhao’s eyes sharpened. “He’s the Compiler; we’re the input sources. Anyone else who wastes time gets kicked out of the collaboration Queue.”

As her words fell, the three of them stacked their hands together, pressing down on the Terminal Interface.

Boom—

A torrent of silver-blue Data erupted from Shen Yan’s chest, shooting straight into the sky. His body slowly lifted off the ground, his fingertips beginning to tap at the void on their own. Each tap released a string of flickering Runes, as if someone were frantically outputting Code on an invisible keyboard.

【Sword Array programming mode · Initiate】

【Multiple-source Spiritual Power synchronization input detected】

【Protocol Refactoring in progress…】

Ye Zhao abruptly drew the Frost Soul Sword. The blade hummed, Resonating with the Data flowing from Shen Yan’s fingertips. With a low shout, she pointed the sword skyward, tracing an arc through the air.

In that instant, countless binary characters surged from the blade, transforming into crisscrossing Light Strands that wove into a massive net above the cliff. Each strand pulsed like an electric current, or a heartbeat.

“This is…” Luo Li’s eyes widened.

“Binary Sword Formation.” Ye Zhao’s voice trembled slightly. “He’s treating my Sword Qi as the underlying language, rewriting the defense Logic with Code.”

The light net expanded further, covering the entire cliff. The sea wind whipped their clothes wildly, but the Data Light Strands remained utterly still, as if frozen in Spacetime.

Suspended at the center of the formation, the Terminal Interface over Shen Yan’s chest had completely transformed. No longer a command line with black background and green text, it was now a flowing, three-dimensional structural diagram, layered and Nesting like a galaxy of stars.

【Core Permission unlock progress: 37%】

【Emotional Parameter verification passed】

【Cross-system spell Module access permitted】

“Incredible…” Yu Xiaotang murmured. “He actually Compiled our emotions into an API Interface.”

Luo Li grinned, despite the pain beading sweat on her forehead. “So, was my sacrifice worth it? Should I cry a bit more for an extra Buff?”

“Shut up.” Ye Zhao flicked her wrist, and the light strands of the sword array tightened abruptly. “The System is still loading. Any fluctuation could cause a rollback.”

No sooner had she spoken than Shen Yan’s body suddenly convulsed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

“Oh no!” Yu Xiaotang cried out. “He can’t handle so many parallel processes! His Mental Power is about to crash!”

Sure enough, several cracks appeared on the light web, like fine fissures in shattered glass. Ye Zhao’s expression changed instantly. She redirected her sword’s momentum, compressing her own Spiritual Power into a concentrated beam and forcibly injecting it into the formation eye.

“It’s no use. I can’t hold on for long by myself.” She gritted her teeth. “Someone has to fill the gap!”

Luo Li raised her hand, ready to force out her own Demon Core, but Ye Zhao glared at her. “If you bleed out now, it’ll be a System Crash and restart. No one can save you then!”

“Then what do you suggest?” Luo Li shouted back. “We can’t just let the little Code Farmer hang here like a decorative lamp, can we?”

At this impasse, Yu Xiaotang suddenly raised her hand. Dipping her fingertip in the blood from her own lips, she drew a crooked rune on the ground.

It wasn’t an attack rune or a defensive array, but an extremely simple loop command.

“This is something I drew when I was little… the simplest auto-run rune.” She gasped for breath. “Back then, I couldn’t understand the scriptures, so I just copied what the senior disciples wrote. Ended up copying an infinite loop… made all the lights in the entire library pavilion turn on by themselves in the middle of the night.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the rune suddenly glowed.

A pillar of purplish-red light rose from the ground, precisely connecting to the edge of the sword array. The previously swaying light strands instantly stabilized and even began to absorb the Spiritual Energy from the sea mist in reverse.

“What did you do?” Ye Zhao’s pupils contracted sharply.

“I just… told the System.” Yu Xiaotang smiled faintly, blood seeping from the corner of her eye. “Even if no one inputs ‘I am willing,’ I’ve already been running the ‘Eternal Protection’ program.”

【Detected Devil Clan royal Bloodline Authentication】

【Talisman Dao Protocol compatibility enhanced】

【New subprogram added: Never-ending Protection Loop】

The light web expanded once more, its color changing as well. Silver-blue dominated, with edges tinged purplish-red, like auroras sweeping across the night sky.

Shen Yan’s breathing finally steadied. The Code Flow at his fingertips grew faster and faster, even beginning to automatically generate branching scripts to patch vulnerabilities in the sword array.

“Is he… upgrading autonomously?” Luo Li stared in disbelief.

“No.” Ye Zhao tightened her grip on the sword hilt, her voice almost inaudible. “He heard it.”

Heard every choice they made, every moment of persistence, every stubborn refusal to let go.

This was the true Source Code Spiritual Root—not a cold programming core, but a miracle capable of compiling human hearts into power.

Just then, the ground suddenly trembled.

The simple rune Yu Xiaotang had drawn began to extend on its own. Devilish patterns emerged from beneath her peeling skin, spreading and reorganizing across the rocky ground, ultimately outlining the contours of an ancient teleportation array.

At the center of the array were carved four words: Abyss Gate.

“This isn’t for escaping.” Yu Xiaotang gazed at the array, her eyes distant. “It’s the way back. My mother… was taken from here back then.”

Ye Zhao frowned. “Activating the teleportation array now is too dangerous. Shen Yan hasn’t woken up yet, and the System hasn’t completed its upgrade.”

“But if we don’t leave…” Luo Li looked up at the sky. “Once the Shadow Erosion pursuers catch up, we won’t even have a chance to restart.”

The three fell silent.

The wind grew stronger, causing the data light net to ripple slightly. Shen Yan remained suspended in mid-air, his fingertips tapping incessantly, as if conversing with some unseen presence.

Suddenly, his left hand moved.

Not a twitch, but an extremely slow, deliberate reach toward Ye Zhao.

Ye Zhao froze.

In the next second, her hand was tightly grasped.

Cold, trembling, yet unwavering.

The Terminal Interface displayed its final Notice:

【Main Program will overwrite the old core】

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

Ye Zhao looked down at their intertwined hands, then raised her gaze to the vast web woven from Sword Qi and Code, and suddenly smiled.

She lifted her other hand, using the tip of her sword to carve three words in the air:

I am willing

The light net surged violently, illuminating the entire cliff as if it were daylight. The Teleportation Array glowed brilliantly, Runes flowed, and space began to distort.

But just as the leap was about to complete—

Shen Yan opened his eyes.

(End of Chapter)