Chapter 140: Four Women Join Forces to Break the Palace Barrier

Shen Yan’s fingertips were still tingling, and cracks spread across his phone screen like spiderwebs, yet the navigation coordinates remained bright. Just as he tried to step forward, the ground suddenly trembled violently, as if the entire hall was being lifted from beneath by some colossal object.

“Warning: High-risk Seal detected initiating.” Red text abruptly popped up on the Terminal. “Blood Barrier is forming, external Spiritual Energy blockade progress thirty-seven percent.”

Before the words faded, a crimson light curtain abruptly rose between the four dragon pillars, like molten iron poured into a cocoon, completely enveloping the imperial throne hall. The air became viscous, even breathing felt like swallowing knives. Shen Yan attempted to invoke his Source Code Spiritual Root, but the Interface blacked out for three seconds, then lit up again with a screen full of garbled Code.

“Damn, this thing even has Encryption Protocols?” He gritted his teeth and rewrote the parsing Module, only to find that all spell Interfaces had been tampered with, even the most basic Fireball Spell couldn’t run.

Just then, a clear and sharp sword cry came from outside the hall.

Ye Zhao kicked the hall door flying, frost exploding from the tip of her sword, tearing a narrow fissure in the crimson light curtain. When she rushed in, her shoulders still carried a chill, clearly from forcibly breaking the Formation. As she landed, her knees bent slightly, yet she remained firmly standing.

“Did you get yourself stuck in an Infinite Loop again?” Her face was cold, but her gaze noticeably relaxed a fraction when sweeping over the phone in Shen Yan’s hand.

Following closely was Pei Yue, the bells on her Medicine Pouch ringing incessantly. She didn’t enter through the main door but leaped down from the side corridor, blood dripping from her fingertips, drawing a green thread in the air that precisely wrapped around Shen Yan’s wrist.

“Dark Jade Cold Pulse has been activated.” She whispered, “Don’t push yourself too hard; overheating the System will burn your Consciousness Sea.”

The third figure descended from the roof, Purple Flame blazing across the sky, Luo Li’s nine tails fully extended, the silver bells on her ankle chain playing an ancient melody. When she landed, she didn’t look at anyone, only staring at a certain spot at the top of the Barrier, her cat ears twitching: “The weak point is in the southeast corner, but it shifts every seven breaths.”

Finally, Yu Xiaotang arrived, her voice preceding her: “Brother Shen! Catch!”

A strawberry-flavored Talisman Paper spiraled through the air, smacking onto Shen Yan forehead. A Notice instantly popped up before his eyes: “Guardian-type Resonate Signal detected, establish temporary Energy channel?”

“Establish!” He practically roared.

In the next instant, four forces simultaneously surged into the Terminal—Ye Zhao’s Sword Qi like sharp blades cleaving through the Data chaos; Pei Yue’s Cold Pulse power transformed into coolant, suppressing System overload; Luo Li’s Demon Power ignited the Low-Level Code, forcibly awakening dormant Modules; Yu Xiaotang’s Talisman Patterns acted like Patch packages, layer by layer repairing the tampered Protocols.

Shen Yan felt his head was about to explode, yet his fingers moved faster than his mind, clattering out a string of Commands: “Four-dimensional frequency band binding completed, beginning Refactor of barrier-breaking Program… Loading ‘Sky-Burning Guide’ Formation Logic, injecting Thunder Talisman core Parameters, synchronizing Sword Net scanning frequency—”

The screen refreshed frantically, finally freezing on a crimson Countdown: Barrier-breaking Arrow charging progress 12%

“Not fast enough.” Ye Zhao stared at the Barrier, pupils contracting, “It’s Self-Repairing.”

As soon as the words fell, the crimson light barrier indeed rippled, and the tear that had been ripped open by the Sword Qi moments before began to heal at a visible speed. At the same time, Xie Wujiu sat cross-legged on the remnants of the dragon throne, a grin spreading across his lips as he slowly raised his left hand, a pitch-black Talisman Spell seal materializing in his palm.

“Did you think… unity could rewrite the ending?” he chuckled lowly. “This Barrier was woven from each of your weaknesses.”

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted—sure enough, four anomalous processes suddenly popped up on the Terminal Interface:

【Sword Qi Backlash】

【Cold Pulse Reversal】

【Demon Power Contamination】

【Talisman Spell Rampage】

“Well, well, serving me the whole family combo, huh?” he sneered, urgently isolating the virus-like Code while shouting to the four women, “Listen! From now on, no one tries to tough it out alone. Channel all your power into me—trust me this once!”

Ye Zhao didn’t speak, directly drawing the last fragment of frost essence from her waist, crushing it, and pressing it into her own chest. Blood flowed down the sword hilt into the ground, actually forming a miniature Sword Array beneath Shen Yan’s feet.

Pei Yue bit the tip of her finger, swiftly pricking seven acupoints with Silver Needles. The power of the Dark Jade Cold Pulse transformed into an ice dragon, coiling around the Terminal’s exterior to cool it. Her face instantly turned deathly pale, yet she still found a moment to glare at Shen Yan: “Don’t write any Bugs, or I won’t be able to fix you.”

Luo Li took a deep breath, all nine tails igniting with Purple Flame, within which the phantom of an ancient array emerged. She bit her lip, drawing blood Talisman Spells in the air, each stroke seeming to carve out her own soul. As soon as the three characters for “Sky-Burning Guide” took shape, her entire body swayed, but her tails swiftly wrapped around her waist, holding her upright by sheer force.

Yu Xiaotang simply flung out all the remaining Talisman Paper, piling it into a small mountain. Then she pulled out the last Candied Hawthorn from her embrace, biting through the bamboo skewer in one bite, dipped it in saliva, and drew a crooked circle in the air: “This is the ‘Strongest Protection Talisman’ I wrote as a kid. Even though my teacher said it was wrong… right now, it has to listen to me!”

The Talisman mountain erupted with a deafening blast. Amid the paper ash filling the sky, a lightning Talisman slowly rose, still bearing traces of sugar stains.

The four streams of power converged once more, and the Terminal’s charging progress surged wildly: 48% → 73% → 89%

But just as it was about to break through the critical point, Xie Wujiu suddenly slammed his palm against the ground. A giant eye split open at the center of the Barrier, shooting a beam of bloody light directly at Shen Yan’s brow.

“Spirit Devouring Protocol, Initiate.”

In that instant, countless Memory Fragments flooded in—the rainy night at the orphanage, the blinding headlights during the car accident, the blurred face of his mother… These images that shouldn’t have existed eroded his consciousness like a Virus.

“Am I a Variable?” Shen Yan murmured, his fingers beginning to tremble.

“You are not!” Ye Zhao’s sharp cry pierced through, her Sword Qi rushing straight into his Consciousness Sea, severing the chains of illusion.

“You are the developer,” Pei Yue’s voice trembled, yet she spoke each word deliberately. “You wrote the Code.”

“Don’t forget who helped you repair the Firewall.” Luo Li’s tail flicked, Demon Power crashing into his mind, burning away the last traces of interference.

“Brother Shen!” Yu Xiaotang threw herself forward, clinging to his arm. “Your Program is covered in my doodle signatures!”

The four voices overlapped, like four Keys simultaneously turning in a lock.

Shen Yan’s eyes snapped open, no longer clouded with confusion, only the calm, fierce determination of a Programmer facing a successful Compile.

“The System Notices are annoying, but there’s one line I’ve always remembered.” He raised his phone, and the Interface suddenly expanded into a glowing gate. “Warning: You are attempting to modify Heavenly Dao.exe. Proceed at your own risk.”

He smiled.

“Now, I’m going to delete an illegal Process.”

Within the light gate, a storm gathered, and a massive arrow, its surface flowing with Code patterns, slowly took shape. The arrow was entwined with Sword Qi, frost, Demonic Flame, and runic lightning, every inch of it humming and trembling.

“Boundary-breaking arrow, target locked.”

He released his grip.

The arrow left the string—no sound, no flashy visual effects—like the simplest delete command, piercing straight into the Barrier’s core.

The blood-red eye contracted violently, trying to dodge, only to find the entire space locked down by Code.

In the next instant, the giant arrow pierced through.

The Barrier exploded from within, spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spreading before collapsing with a deafening roar!

A fierce wind swept up shattered talismans and ice fragments, making everyone’s robes flutter wildly. Shen Yan knelt on one knee, his phone’s casing scorched and smoking, but his fingers still clenched it tightly.

Ye Zhao sheathed her sword, standing behind and to his left, her shoulders trembling slightly yet held straight.

Pei Yue leaned against a pillar, panting, her lips pale, a Silver Needle still hovering at the tip of her finger.

Luo Li gently wrapped her tail around Shen Yan’s arm, the light of the Star-Shattering Token gradually dimming but refusing to go out.

Yu Xiaotang slumped on the ground, holding a half-melted Candied Hawthorn in her arms, grinning as she made a “V” sign with her fingers.

Xie Wujiu lay on his back, a corner of his mask shattered, revealing half of a twisted face.

He moved his lips as if trying to say something.

Shen Yan looked up, gazing across the ruins, his voice hoarse yet clear:

“You said fate is a Program written in stone?”

He raised the broken phone in his hand.

“But you forgot—”

“I know how to modify the Source Code.”

(End of Chapter)