Chapter 174: The Three Realms in Turmoil as the Star-Shattering Token Emerges

Yu Xiaotang’s finger twitched slightly, and Shen Yan’s heart skipped a beat.

Without a second thought, he frantically typed the final line of code on his phone screen. Four streams of Spiritual Power continued to pour into his body, like four scorching rivers rushing into a dried-up riverbed. His body began to heat up, and fine cracks appeared beneath his skin, resembling a spiderweb just before glass shatters.

【System Shutdown Imminent】

【Mental Power Depletion Warning】

【Core Program Collapse Countdown: 3…2…】

“Shut up!” Shen Yan growled, dragging the warning window directly into the trash bin.

He had written bug-ridden, messy code before, and he had even crashed servers. But this time was different—this time, he couldn’t afford to fail.

Ye Zhao’s Sword Intent still shielded him like a silver wall; Pei Yue’s Spiritual Awareness scanned the code inch by inch, identifying the erratic Variables; Luo Li’s Demon Core hummed, stabilizing the frequency of the Source Code Core; and though Yu Xiaotang was unconscious, the Talisman fluctuations lingering at her fingertips automatically completed the final verification step.

The five-person Contract was finally complete.

The Star-Shattering Token slowly rose, Floating in mid-air, its surface covered with countless swirling star patterns. An indescribable pressure spread, causing the entire space to tremble.

Just then, Shen Yan’s Terminal went black for a moment.

The next second, a line of text popped up—

【Detected Unknown Process Access, Permission Level: Same Origin】

“Damn it, now of all times?” Shen Yan frowned. Before he could react, an Image exploded in his mind.

A snowy field.

Two infants lay at the entrance of a dilapidated temple—one was wrapped in a black robe and taken away, while the other was left behind, wailing. In the wind and snow, the father’s face remained blurred.

“Brother… don’t leave me…”

The voice came from all directions, tinged with tears yet also sounding like a cold laugh.

Shen Yan looked up sharply. Ye Shi’er stood not far away, his eyes glowing red beneath his mask. He raised his hand, and from his fingertips flowed a Code Flow identical to Shen Yan’s.

“You think you’re the protagonist?” Ye Shi’er laughed. “We’re both experiments. You were chosen as the Container, and I was stuffed with hatred and Obsession. The funny thing is, we both thought we were defying fate.”

Shen Yan stared at him, suddenly realizing something was off.

This Memory… its frame rate was too stable.

Normal memories would have Lag and noise, but this scene was as smooth as a meticulously rendered CG. He quietly activated the Decompilation tool and entered the Command: “Parse the Low-Level Code of the current scene.”

The progress bar raced to completion.

The result popped up: 【Encryption Master Copy: Parent-Level Instruction Set_Obsolete Version v0.9】

Shen Yan’s lips curled into a smirk.

“So you’re not my brother,” he said coldly. “You’re just my father’s first failed creation—without an independent personality, at best an AI with an emotion simulator.”

Ye Shi’er’s expression changed.

“What did you say?”

“I said—” Shen Yan’s fingers slid rapidly across the screen, “all your memories, emotions, and Obsessions are preset Scripts. You’re not human at all—just a Program that went off track.”

As he finished speaking, he pressed Enter, initiating the 【Personality Traceback Protocol】.

In an instant, Ye Shi’er’s body began to distort, Data Streams gushing from his seven orifices like a hard drive being forcibly Formatted. He roared and lunged forward, his Scythe slicing through the air in a bloody arc, only to be blocked by the Sword Qi barrier Shen Yan had generated in advance.

“You have no right to judge me! I was born for you!”

“Then you should thank me even more.” Shen Yan straightened his posture, not retreating half a step even though his legs trembled. “After all, without me, the ‘Main Process,’ you wouldn’t even have had the chance to Run.”

He wasted no more words, operating with both hands simultaneously—using Ye Zhao’s Sword Intent to seal off Ye Shi’er’s data exits while invoking Pei Yue’s medical Spiritual Awareness for verification, ensuring every deletion Command was precise and error-free.

Luo Li’s Demon Core suddenly trembled, emitting a low hum. Its frequency resonated perfectly with the Source Code Core, doubling the entire Program’s efficiency.

Seizing the opportunity, Shen Yan wrote the final Command:

“//Delete parent Process, Restart world.”

The moment the Enter Key was pressed, the Star-Shattering Token erupted with blinding starlight.

Ye Shi’er’s body began to disintegrate, piece by piece dissolving into specks of light. He looked down at his own hands and suddenly laughed.

“Brother… this time, I’m no longer envious of you.”

The Bronze Mask cracked with a sharp snap, fragments falling to the ground.

The face revealed was identical to Shen Yan’s.

Only, at the corner of the eye, hung a single glistening droplet, like a tear formed from Data.

Starlight swept through the entire space. Shen Yan felt as if his brain had been struck by a heavy hammer, his vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed to his knees. But he gritted his teeth and held on, staring intently at the Star-Shattering Token.

The Command Token slowly rotated, its star patterns weaving into a massive net that gently lifted Ye Zhao, Pei Yue, Luo Li, and Yu Xiaotang. Their bodies were enveloped in light, their breathing gradually steadying.

Shen Yan let out a sigh of relief, his legs giving way as he knelt on one knee.

The phone Screen returned to calm, the black-background, green-text Interface floating quietly before his eyes.

【System Status: Normal】

【Source Code Spiritual Root Synchronization Rate: 100%】

【Three Realms Rules Refactoring in Progress…】

He reached up to wipe his face, finding it covered in cold sweat. Looking down, he saw the fragments of the Bronze Mask left behind by Ye Shi’er lying quietly at his feet, faint blue smoke still curling from the edges.

“You weren’t a failure,” he murmured. “You just… never had the chance to live as yourself.”

Before the words fully faded, the Star-Shattering Token suddenly trembled.

A brand-new stream of information surged into his mind, so fast it felt like his head was splitting open. Countless Images flashed by—the fall of the Celestial Clan Outcast, his mother’s dying entrustment, the twin embryos in the laboratory…

And one final hidden Log:

【Test Subject A (Shen Yan) has successfully activated Heavenly Dao Permission. Test Subject B (Ye Shi’er) consciousness cleared.

Warning: Parent-level entity still Running. Recommend immediately locking its coordinates.】

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted.

Before he could react, his phone automatically displayed a new Notice:

【Detected high-risk Signal source. Location: Abyss Gate underlying database】

【Initiate tracking?】

Just as he was about to tap confirm, a faint sound reached his ears.

Yu Xiaotang was waking up.

She blinked, her lips moving slightly, her voice very soft: “Brother… Candied Hawthorn…”

Shen Yan turned to see her struggling to lift her hand. The Tip of her Finger was stained with a little blood, yet she still managed to form a “V” sign toward him.

He smiled, reaching out to grasp her hand.

“When we get out, I’ll buy you ten.”

Ye Zhao remained unconscious, but her brows had relaxed slightly; Pei Yue’s breathing had become long and steady; Luo Li’s tail gently curled around Shen Yan’s forearm, as if afraid he might vanish.

The Star-Shattering Token’s glow gradually faded, eventually transforming into a slender thread of light that coiled around Shen Yan’s wrist like an invisible bracelet.

He knew this battle was not yet over.

But he was no longer alone.

The phone Interface suddenly flickered, a new message appearing:

【Detected unauthorized access, the other party is attempting to connect to the Star-Shattering Token】

Shen Yan narrowed his eyes, his finger hovering above the Screen.

Who was on the other side, he had already guessed.

He took a deep breath and typed his reply:

“Looking for me?”

“Come on.”

He pressed send.

The next second, the entire space violently shook, the ground cracking open with a fissure, an azure-blue Data Stream surging forth from within, like some ancient System’s access channel.

Shen Yan stood up, placing Yu Xiaotang’s hand into his pocket, gripping his phone tightly with the other hand.

He knew the true confrontation was just beginning.

His figure stood amidst the starlight, his clothes ruffled by the Data Storm, his gaze calm as if he hadn’t just experienced life and death.

In the distance, the first torrent of Data had already surged to his feet.

(End of Chapter)