Chapter 172: The Fusion of a Healer's Compassion and the Beauty of Programming

Shen Yan knelt on the ground, still holding Luo Li in his arms. Her breathing was almost imperceptible, her body temperature steadily dropping. His fingers trembling, he pulled his phone from an inner pocket. As soon as the screen lit up, a line of red text popped up: 【Vitality synchronization declining, connection strength 97.6%】

He bit his fingertip, drawing a bloody streak in the air, and wrote the code: “Remove Life-Sharing Restriction.” The system issued a popup warning: 【Operation dangerous, may cause sudden host death】.

“Shut up,” he whispered. “This is no time for rules.”

He pressed confirm. His vision plunged into darkness, then instantly cleared. His body felt as if it had been torn apart and stitched back together, but he ignored the pain. Only one thing mattered now—saving her.

Pei Yue crawled over, supporting herself on the ground, her face as pale as paper. She fumbled in her medicine pouch and pulled out a jade slip, which emitted a faint green glow. Ancient characters were carved on its surface. Pressing the jade slip to her forehead, she spoke softly, “I’ll help you compile.”

Before she could finish, she spat a mouthful of blood onto the jade slip. Spiritual Power flowed from her hand into Shen Yan’s back. His head buzzed, and his Spiritual Consciousness finally stabilized a little.

He closed his eyes, his mind filled with memories of that day. Luo Li sat by the fire, her tail curled around a branch, Demonic Fire flickering, marshmallows roasting to a golden brown. She turned her head and smiled at him: “Your code is terrible, but you make decent candy.”

He opened his eyes, his ten fingers frantically tapping in the air as if typing on a keyboard. A new program took shape, named “Revive Demon Core v1.0.” Its core logic was to convert Medicine Valley’s “Lingshu Yin Qi Jue” into functions, dynamically adjust parameters using the Source Code Spiritual Root, and simulate life reversal.

The program initiated, and a progress bar slowly rose on the screen. 10%… 30%… 50%…

At 78%, it suddenly froze.

The terminal popped up a window: 【Anomalous consciousness injection detected! Source: Star-Shattering Token · Memory Fragment Zone】

A voice sounded: “Brother, did you think… it was over?”

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted. Ye Shi’er’s consciousness was hidden within the Data Stream.

Ye Zhao immediately stepped behind him, drawing her sword from its sheath. Sword Qi swept out in a circle, forming a ring-shaped Barrier. She said in a low voice, “Three minutes. I’ll hold the line for you.”

Sword Qi coiled around Shen Yan like a layer of protective shielding. He knew this was to isolate him from external interference and buy him time.

Yu Xiaotang also moved. She tore off a blank Talisman Paper, bit her finger, wrote the three characters for “Tracking Curse,” and stuck it to the edge of the phone. The Talisman Paper ignited with blue flames, the fire pointing toward a specific node within the Data Stream.

“Found it,” Shen Yan sneered.

He opened the decompilation interface in his mind and dismantled the code disguised as a system process. It was indeed Ye Shi’er, hiding in the underlying layers, waiting to detonate just as the program reached its final step.

“You really think you’re the administrator?” Shen Yan said while inputting a purification command.

The progress bar resumed its movement. 80%… 85%… 90%…

Just as it was about to complete, Yu Xiaotang suddenly shuddered violently.

Her eyes rolled back, her mouth twitched, and the next second, her pupils turned completely black. Dark red patterns surfaced on her skin, like red-hot iron wires buried beneath it.

“Don’t trust me…” she struggled to speak, her voice trembling. “Seal me quickly!”

Before she could finish, her hand, now out of her control, slapped toward the phone.

Shen Yan reacted swiftly, thrusting his phone into the ground’s Formation node and shouting, “Initiate emergency isolation!”

Ye Zhao unleashed her Sword Qi, severing Yu Xiaotang’s Spiritual Power connection to the System. Pei Yue flicked her hand, sending thirty-six Silver Needles that pierced the Acupuncture Points in her limbs. As the soul-calming needles entered her body, Yu Xiaotang stiffened and collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But at that moment, her lips slowly curled upward, revealing a smile that did not belong to her.

“Let’s go to hell together,” she said, her voice icy.

A torrent of black Data erupted from her body, rushing straight toward the Program’s core. It was Ye Shi’er’s final consciousness, leveraging the Devil Clan’s Bloodline to counterattack, aiming to completely destroy the “Spiritual Hub Program.”

Shen Yan pressed his hands firmly against the phone, veins bulging on his forehead. The Program was under assault, the progress bar violently shaking, nearly resetting to zero.

He roared angrily, “The Code I wrote isn’t yours to delete!”

He forcibly split off a strand of consciousness and charged into the Terminal’s interior. The two sides collided on the Data level, like two Programmers fighting for editing rights over the same piece of Code.

He summoned the Firewall, adding layers of locks. Ye Shi’er’s Data Stream continuously crashed against it, each time being repelled.

“Do you think you can win?” Ye Shi’er’s voice echoed in his consciousness. “We are one; your Program, I can also modify.”

Shen Yan sneered, “You’re right, we are one. So I know better than anyone what you fear most.”

He abruptly called up an old piece of Code—the first Fireball Spell Script he wrote when he first awakened his Source Code Spiritual Root, riddled with Vulnerabilities, so flawed he himself despised it.

“Remember this?” He pushed the Code into the battlefield. “You always thought it was too terrible, unfit for ‘Heavenly Dao.exe.’ But it saved me three times.”

The Code exploded, triggering a Chain Reaction. Ye Shi’er’s Data Stream began to crack.

“You’re wrong,” Shen Yan gritted his teeth. “I don’t defeat you with perfection. I rely on… someone willing to wait for my Code to run.”

As he spoke, Ye Zhao’s Sword Qi suddenly intensified, Pei Yue’s Silver Needles emitted a faint glow, Luo Li’s Demon Core trembled lightly, and Yu Xiaotang’s fingers twitched.

Four forces, transmitted through the binding Protocol, converged into his Program.

The progress bar abruptly jumped to 99%.

Ye Shi’er emitted a roar, his Data Stream beginning to collapse.

“Why… you could have survived alone…” His voice came intermittently.

“Because I’m not alone,” Shen Yan stared at the Screen. “From start to finish, I never was.”

The final line of Code executed.

【Spiritual Hub Program loading complete, life restoration initiated】

Luo Li’s breathing stabilized, her Demon Core reignited with a faint glow. One of her tails moved slightly.

But Yu Xiaotang still hadn’t awakened. She lay on the ground, eyes pitch-black, a cold smile hanging on her lips, the black stream within her body not yet fully dissipated.

“He’s still here,” Shen Yan wiped his face, his voice hoarse.

Pei Yue lay on the ground, her breath faint: “We must sever his connection to the Devil Blood… otherwise he will continuously Rebirth through the body.”

Ye Zhao gripped her sword handle tightly: “How do we sever it?”

Shen Yan looked at Yu Xiaotang and suddenly remembered something. He pulled out the Log from his phone, finding a record—the day Yu Xiaotang first drew the smiling face talisman, her Candied Hawthorn fell, she cried uncontrollably, but the next moment she smiled again, saying, “Sweet things are always more than bitter ones.”

He lowered his head and typed a new piece of Code into his phone.

It wasn’t an attack, nor purification, but a memory playback program.

He injected the code into the Talisman Paper and placed it on Yu Xiaotang’s chest.

The Talisman Paper emitted a warm glow.

Her brows furrowed slightly, her lips moving softly.

“The candy… melted…” she murmured.

Shen Yan stared into her eyes: “Yes, it melted. But do you remember later I bought you new ones?”

Her eyelashes trembled.

“You don’t like bitterness,” he said. “So you wouldn’t let anyone turn you bitter.”

The Talisman Paper’s light grew stronger, Yu Xiaotang’s body began to shake. Black energy overflowed from her seven apertures, absorbed by the Talisman Paper, burning into ashes.

Her pupils slowly returned to brown.

“Xiaotang!” Shen Yan grabbed her hand.

She opened her eyes, her first words being: “Where’s my Candied Hawthorn?”

Shen Yan almost laughed, almost cried.

“It’s gone,” he said. “Next time I’ll give you two.”

She nodded weakly, raising her hand to touch her face: “Did I… say something frightening just now?”

No one answered.

Because at that moment, her lips curled upward again.

Different. This smile was cold, unfamiliar.

“You can’t cleanse me,” Ye Shi’er’s voice came from her mouth. “As long as Devil Blood remains in her body, I’ll always be here.”

Shen Yan stared at her, his fingers slowly tightening.

Ye Zhao lowered her sword tip, Pei Yue gripped the last Silver Needle, Luo Li’s Demon Core flickered weakly.

Yu Xiaotang sat on the ground, one hand raised, a ball of black flame coalescing at the tip of her finger.

She looked at that flame, softly saying: “So… this is what’s in my Bloodline.”

Then she lifted her head, looking at Shen Yan: “Help me… burn it clean.”

(End of Chapter)