Chapter 24: Prelude to the End: The Bonding Power of the Four Women

The wind had ceased, but the blood-written code still hung in mid-air, its final character teetering on the brink of collapse.

Shen Yan tasted sweetness in his throat, his ribs feeling as if weighed down by a thousand-pound stone. Each breath carried the metallic tang of rust. He couldn’t fall—the formation’s core had already begun to crack, its blue light pulsing faster and faster, as if the Heavenly Dao itself were convulsing. Ye Shi’er sat amidst the ruins, his mask shattered, his face identical to Shen Yan’s, yet his eyes hollow like a formatted hard drive.

“You’re still awake?” Shen Yan asked, his voice hoarse.

Ye Shi’er didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand, tracing a faint Data Stream through the air with his fingertip. It drifted toward the formation’s core, unexpectedly resonating with Shen Yan’s Source Code Spiritual Root. It wasn’t an attack—it was… a Cache Backup.

“You’re waiting for them too?” Shen Yan grinned, the movement tugging at the split in his lip, blood trickling down his chin.

With trembling hands, he summoned his last ounce of strength and added a final stroke to the incomplete blood mark.

The Terminal Interface suddenly blazed to life, green text flooding the screen:

【System Restarting…】

【Detected four-dimensional emotional anchors approaching】

【Warning: External Permission Request—Source: Bai Guizhen】

“Perfect timing,” Shen Yan gritted his teeth. “I was just short of a testing environment.”

Before the words had fully left his mouth, the ground erupted with a deafening roar. A black-robed figure soared through the air, landing amidst the rubble. Bai Guizhen strode forward, cradling a twisted jade seal in his palm, its surface engraved with four ancient seal-script characters: “Heavenly Dao Proxy.”

“Shen Yan, you’re nothing but a defective product,” he sneered. “The Source Code Spiritual Root rightfully belongs to the orthodox Celestial Clan. And you—even your awakening was a Bug gifted by your younger brother.”

Shen Yan couldn’t be bothered with words. He directly summoned the program interface, preparing to Initiate the Defense Protocol. But his Mental Power was depleted. Halfway through inputting the Command, the system flashed a red warning:

【Insufficient Memory. Recommend closing some Background Processes】

“Close your ass,” he cursed, forcibly injecting his essence blood. The Terminal finally loaded the “Heavenly Dao Link” module.

Just then, a sharp whistling sound tore through the air.

A streak of silver light ripped through the glitch-ridden sky. The Frost Soul Sword descended like a falling meteor, plunging precisely into the Formation Eye. Sword Qi radiated outward, coalescing into a faintly glowing “zero” Rune, steadily catching the program flow on the verge of collapse.

“Executor Number Zero-Zero-One, requesting access to the collaborative system.” Ye Zhao’s voice was cold enough to freeze ice crystals. Before she even touched the ground, her Sword Intent had already blanketed the entire area.

Shen Yan looked up to see her descending from the sky, her ponytail tracing an arc, her moon-white robes fluttering in the wind—like the most stable Main Function in a piece of code.

“Welcome aboard,” he coughed out a bloody laugh. “Permission granted.”

Immediately after, the scent of medicinal herbs filled the air. Pei Yue dashed over the rubble to the southern edge of the formation. Silver Needles flashed from her sleeves—three needles pierced the back of Shen Yan’s neck, then swiftly redirected to stabilize Luo Li’s unconscious Demon Power Loop.

“Don’t push yourself,” her voice was soft but brooked no argument. “We’re here. It’s your turn to rest.”

Shen Yan wanted to crack a joke, but when he opened his mouth, only a turbid breath escaped. Pei Yue frowned, her fingertips pressing against his wrist pulse. Her expression instantly changed. “You used your life force as Cache?”

“Emergency situation, temporary borrowing,” he forced a dry laugh.

The third light came from an exploding Talisman.

Yu Xiaotang tumbled down from mid-air, slapping a goose-yellow Talisman Paper onto the ground with a sharp “smack.” It instantly burst into a web of light, Runes twisting like Vines around the formation’s foundation.

“Source Code Candy Upgrade Edition—Super Protective Shield!” she shouted while pulling a candied hawthorn from her Cosmic Bag and stuffing it into her mouth. “This version has added an anti-tampering encryption layer!”

Talisman light, Sword Qi, medical needles, and Demon Power surged simultaneously toward the formation’s center. Four colors intertwined and spiraled upward—green, white, purple, and yellow—finally coalescing into a transparent light shield that firmly protected Shen Yan at its core.

Bai Guizhen’s face abruptly changed. He raised the False Heavenly Dao Seal, intending to forcibly seize control of the formation’s permissions.

“Trying to steal the home base?” Shen Yan sneered, fingers rapidly tapping in the void. “The combined energy technique of my four girlfriends—do you think you can piggyback on it?”

Bai Guizhen slammed both palms against the light shield, chanting incantations as the jade seal emitted a dark glow. But the next moment, the four forces simultaneously rebounded. He was struck as if by lightning, spewing a mouthful of black blood. His mask exploded instantly, revealing a face covered with twisted meridian patterns.

“Impossible! How can mortal power dare to contend with Heavenly Dao authority!” he roared.

“Who told you this is mortal power?” Shen Yan stared at the Terminal, taking a deep breath. “This is called—the Bond API Interface, understand?”

He closed his eyes and began inputting the final program.

His fingertips grew hot. In his mind, pages of indelible Memory Fragments surfaced: Ye Zhao silently copying the Sword Flight Patch; Pei Yue’s little smiling face hidden on the back of a prescription; Luo Li holding up a Barrier for wandering demons on a rainy night; Yu Xiaotang’s strawberry Talisman Paper stuck on his backpack, reading “Eating this makes you stronger.”

These weren’t Data. They were proof of life.

He typed the final Command into the Terminal:

“Import Heavenly Dao, Initiate Balance Protocol.”

Then, in the verification field, he entered four names: Ye Zhao, Pei Yue, Luo Li, Yu Xiaotang.

The Code Flow soared upward, piercing through the gaps in the blue light, reaching directly into the higher-dimensional space. Millennial cracks began to mend, stars rearranged themselves, and the heavens and earth emitted a low Resonating sound, like an old Server finally completing a System repair.

Bai Guizhen still tried to struggle, but his body was already torn and teetering from the backlash of Spiritual Power. He roared and lunged forward, but was swept by the edge of the light shield, sent flying backward, crashing deep into the ruins, unable to move.

Shen Yan slowly opened his eyes, seeing the four women each guarding a corner of the formation.

Ye Zhao’s sword tip touched the ground, breathing slightly labored but standing straight; Pei Yue knelt halfway, applying needles to Luo Li, sweat beading at her temples; Yu Xiaotang finished chewing the last bite of candied hawthorn, casually tossing the bamboo skewer, laughing carefreely; Luo Li remained unconscious, but her tail unconsciously lightly wrapped around Shen Yan’s wrist, as if confirming the connection status.

He looked down at his phone. The Screen lit up, green text scrolling:

【Balance Protocol execution completed】

【Heavenly Dao crack repair progress: 97%】

【Remaining issue: Spacetime rift not closed, requires continuous Energy supply】

He wanted to write something more, but his arm was too heavy to lift. His left hand barely touched the screen, his right hand slightly raised, as if trying to grasp someone’s hand.

The wind rose again, swirling Code remnants outside the light shield.

From afar, a bell toll seemed to come, long and ancient, as if Transmigrated from many years ago.

Shen Yan blinked, his vision somewhat blurred.

He saw Ye Shi’er stand up, glance at him, then turn and walk into the collapsing space rift, his figure gradually fading.

The Terminal suddenly popped up a new message:

【Detected unknown Signal source connection, allow synchronization?】

Shen Yan stared at that line, lips moving slightly.

The bell toll still rang.

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(End of Chapter)