Chapter 195: Data in the Rift

Shen Yan’s consciousness felt as if it had been dragged up from the depths of the sea. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw bands of light scurrying chaotically throughout the world. These glowing lines twisted and turned in the air, strikingly similar to the error reporting logs that popped up during his debugging sessions in the past—except now they weren’t on a screen, but floating around him.

He moved his arm, realizing he was suspended in midair, with no sense of up or down, nor any gravity. His clothes clung to his body, tingling slightly, as if he had soaked in a hot spring for too long. He tried to mobilize his Spiritual Power, but as soon as his Dantian warmed up, a line of text flashed in his mind: 【Illegal Command, Execution Denied】.

“Damn,” he muttered softly. “Even basic energy gathering won’t run?”

He quickly pulled out his phone. The screen was cracked with several fissures, but it still lit up. The Terminal Interface flickered unevenly, its background a deep purple, with distorted fonts, as if the System had been tampered with by some external force. Squinting, he read the Notice clearly: 【Welcome to: Non-Standard Spacetime Domain】【Current Status: Illegal Intruder】.

“Well, that’s a death sentence right off the bat?” He tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I haven’t even done anything yet.”

He closed his eyes, ignoring the flickering light patterns, and focused his attention inward. The Source Code Spiritual Root was still there, like a miniature Server, steadily pulsing in his chest. He silently recited the Command: “Initialize Terminal, enable offline mode.”

The phone vibrated slightly. On the purple Interface, fragmented Code began scrolling, displaying 【Loading Local Cache…】. Taking advantage of this moment, he mentally constructed a “gravity simulation protocol.” Although it didn’t create a real floor, he finally could distinguish which direction was up and which was down, and his head no longer felt dizzy as if he had drunk three pounds of Erguotou liquor.

Opening his eyes, he raised his hand and lightly tapped the nearest light band. The tip of his finger emitted a faint green glow—Spiritual Energy transformed into a Data Stream. The Signal struck the light band, causing it to abruptly pause, then whip back a string of garbled code in reverse.

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted instantly. He immediately built an analytical model in his mind. This Code wasn’ random; its structure was orderly, like fragments of some high-dimensional language. Scanning line by line, he suddenly spotted several familiar terms: Star-Shattering Token Permission, Cycle of Reincarnation Verification Code, Host Identity: Deleted.

His heart tightened.

This wasn’t ordinary space; it was the Heavenly Dao’s abandoned database in the Background.

He wanted to examine further, but a coughing sound came from beside him. Ye Shi’er leaned against a glowing Data Stream, his face frighteningly pale, with traces of blood at the corner of his mouth. A ball of red light floated in his palm, like a small flame flickering intermittently.

The two exchanged glances, neither speaking.

Shen Yan lowered his head and continued operating his phone. The Terminal suddenly popped up a Warning: 【Illegal Intruder Mark Activated】【Sync Latency: ∞】【Exit Command Encrypted and Locked】.

He tried the “Reverse Decompilation Divine Skill,” and the System directly replied: 【Current Level Permission Insufficient, Requires Authentication of ‘Genesis Key’】.

“Genesis Key?” he sneered. “I’m not an administrator; where would I get a Key?”

He decided not to force his way through and instead turned to observe the flow patterns of the surrounding light bands. After watching for a while, he noticed that roughly every thirty seconds, several main Data Streams would intersect, forming a brief stationary point, as if the System was performing a Self-Check.

“There’s a way.” His eyes lit up. “If we inject a piece of disguised authentication code at this node, we might be able to sneak in and check the permission list.”

He immediately began writing a program in his mind, constructing an “identity forgery script” with the simplest structure, ready to deploy it during the next convergence.

Just as he finished, a silver-blue light pillar suddenly flashed in the distance, its piercing hum making his eardrums ache. It was coming from the direction of the Rift they had entered through, now fluctuating violently, as if someone outside was desperately pounding on the door.

Ye Shi’er abruptly looked up, his expression shifting. Staring at the light, he murmured so softly it was almost inaudible, “She’s been here… these code fragments are remnants of her Memory.”

Shen Yan’s heart skipped a beat.

This guy wasn’t simply trying to resurrect someone—he intended to use the entire database as an Altar to perform a Cross-Dimensional awakening ritual.

Without hesitation, Shen Yan swiped his finger, redirecting the newly written code toward the source of the Rift’s fluctuations and releasing a probing Pulse.

A few seconds later, his phone vibrated.

The Terminal fed back a set of waveform graphs. Frequency analysis revealed that these fluctuations closely matched the “Heart-Meridian Spirit-Sustaining Needle Technique” Pei Yue had once used. What made his heart race even more was the faint, familiar trace of Sword Qi fluctuations mixed within—Ye Zhao’s.

His mind went blank.

They were outside.

They hadn’t given up.

They were working together to stabilize the Rift, trying to pull them back.

This data space wasn’t just the core layer of the Abyss—it was also a hub connecting the past and the present. The fact that the four women’s technique fluctuations could penetrate here meant there was a Karma Interface between reality and this place.

He gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white.

If he could find the underlying Protocol of this Interface, he might be able to establish a reverse communication channel, or even manipulate external events.

But just as he prepared to analyze further, Ye Shi’er moved.

He slowly straightened up, the red glow in his palm growing brighter, as if activated by some force. Raising his hand, he gently directed it toward the silver-blue light pillar, causing the surrounding light bands to twist and converge toward the Rift.

Shen Yan immediately sensed something was wrong.

This guy wasn’t waiting for “her” to awaken—he was actively summoning her!

He quickly pulled up the earlier probe data and discovered that Ye Shi’er’s actions had triggered a hidden Function. A code Segment flashed by, its keywords glaringly displayed: Soul Overwrite Protocol · Activation Phase.

“Are you insane?” Shen Yan snapped his head up. “This thing will Format the entire database! It’ll drag everyone outside in along with it!”

Ye Shi’er didn’t look at him, his voice eerily calm. “Then we’ll all Restart together.”

Gritting his teeth, Shen Yan rapidly tapped on the Virtual Keyboard, trying to intercept the activation code. But as soon as his Program was sent out, it was blocked by a red Firewall, with a Popup Window displaying: 【High-Priority Process Running, Low-Permission Users Please Wait】.

“Higher permissions than me?” Shen Yan sneered. “Don’t forget, our Source Code shares the same origin. You’re not that much stronger.”

He immediately switched tactics, abandoning a direct confrontation. Instead, he broke his Program into countless tiny Data Packets, disguised them as System Logs, and stealthily infiltrated along the flow of Ye Shi’er’s Spiritual Power.

A few minutes later, he successfully embedded a listening Module into the other’s Code Flow.

The Image instantly refreshed.

He saw a sealed memory zone labeled: YH-07 · Crimson-Eyed Saintess. It was filled with fragments, but a video was playing automatically—amid a sea of flames, a woman in a white dress stood at the center of an altar, her hands bound by chains, her lips moving as she spoke something.

Shen Yan amplified the audio analysis, and the terminal finally restored one sentence:

“Don’t restart… I have already chosen death.”

His breath hitched.

So she had refused long ago.

But Ye Shi’er seemed unable to see this. He was still channeling energy, the suction from the Rift growing stronger, the surrounding bands of light beginning to collapse, scattering into fragments.

Shen Yan knew he couldn’t wait any longer.

He concentrated all his remaining Mental Power into his Source Code Spiritual Root and initiated his final move: Variable Override Protocol.

This was his trump card, a technique that exploited private variables of the same source code to impersonate an identity and forcibly seize temporary Administrator Permission.

The program began loading, the Terminal Interface flashing red: 【Warning: This operation may cause consciousness tearing】 【Continue?】

He didn’t select “Yes.”

He pressed Confirm directly.

The next second, his entire body felt as if struck by lightning, his bones cracking. But he ignored the pain. Taking advantage of the System’s brief lag, he upgraded the previously written detection program into a Bidirectional Channel Protocol, targeting the source of the fluctuations mixed with Ye Zhao’s Sword Qi and Pei Yue’s needle techniques.

The Data Packet was sent successfully.

The terminal popped up a new message: 【Attempting connection…】 【Signal response: Received】 【Channel stability: 37%】

Not stable enough, but capable of transmitting data.

He immediately wrote an extremely concise Command, just eight words: Hold on, I’m looking for an exit.

Just as he was about to send it, Ye Shi’er suddenly turned to look at him.

“What did you do?”

Shen Yan didn’t answer, his finger hovering over the send button, staring at the reply Notice about to appear.

The air froze.

In the distance, the Rift’s hum intensified, the silver-blue light pillar swelling abruptly, like an eye about to open.

(End of Chapter)