Chapter 78: Moonlit Night Bound by Blood Pact

The blue light still flowed above the sacred hall. Shen Yan hadn’t yet withdrawn his hand from Luo Li’s palm when the ground suddenly trembled violently.

Seven black iron chains burst forth from the earth, carrying a bone-chilling coldness straight toward Luo Li’s vital points. Ancient incantations echoed in the air, as if some sealing program was forcibly loading.

“A Half-Demon body, how dare it touch the Star Map Ultimate Treasure? Retreat!” The Great Elder’s voice rang like a bell. With a sweep of his sleeve, the formation runes instantly lit up, severing the energy connection between her and the Star Map.

Shen Yan’s pupils contracted. The residual Memory Fragments in his Consciousness Sea were still swirling, his head feeling as if stuffed into an Overclocked Server. But he had no time to recover. Almost instinctively, he pulled up the cached Defense Protocol in the Background to its maximum.

【Calling residual Star Map energy, constructing Data Shield v1.2】

A slight movement of his fingertips, blue-white light interweaving into a net before him, blocking the first wave of impact. Yet this shield couldn’t hold for more than three seconds—the System Notification Tone was nearly tinged with a sob: 【Warning: Mental Power Load has reached critical value. Please immediately terminate high-energy-consuming operations】

“Who gave you the face to say she’s blaspheming?” Shen Yan gasped for breath, stepping forward. His glasses reflected a green glint under the moonlight. “She’s not some unclean Half-Demon. She’s my Co-Covenant Partner.”

As his words fell, he bit his fingertip, blood dripping into the air. Strangely, the blood droplet didn’t fall to the ground. Under the moonlight’s illumination, it slowly floated, condensing into a string of Floating Binary Runes, resembling the auto-completion prompts in a Code Editor.

The elders’ faces abruptly changed. “Outsiders shall not interfere with Demon Clan internal affairs! Quickly retreat, otherwise kill without mercy!”

“Kill?” Shen Yan sneered, his fingers swiftly sliding in the void as if tapping on an invisible keyboard. “The Contract I wrote doesn’t need your approval.”

While inputting the Blood Pact code segment, he glimpsed Luo Li staggering backward, kneeling on one knee. The Star-Shattering Token Imitation on her right ear cracked with a click. As the fragments fell to the ground, they emitted crisp sounds, like some identity authentication being completely revoked.

“Don’t push yourself…” she whispered, her voice trembling. “They won’t acknowledge this pact.”

“Whether they acknowledge it isn’t important.” Shen Yan knelt on one knee, supporting her shoulder, looking down at her pale face. “You said I’m the Patch you waited a thousand years for. Then this time, I’ll repair your System.”

He grabbed her hand, their fingertips touching, blood mingling. The Terminal Interface suddenly popped up a crimson Popup Window:

【High-risk operation! Sign permanent binding Protocol?】

Below were two buttons, one labeled “Confirm,” the other “Cancel.”

Without hesitation, he directly clicked Confirm.

He recited a line of code: “If sincerity holds, then forever protect Luo Li.”

The next instant, their hands clasped together, blood light exploding. A ring-shaped Formation Diagram composed of zeros and ones slowly rose, like a progress bar of successful Source Code compilation, spreading in circles, finally merging into the reflection of the full moon in the night sky.

The Great Elder roared: “Absurd! This is Defying Heaven!”

He raised his hand to draw a talisman, chanting incantations. A golden light Talisman materialized in the air—the Exorcism Command, specialized for exterminating external soul Intruders. That talisman transformed into a sharp sword, directly cleaving toward Shen Yan’s Crown of the Head.

Just as the talisman was about to strike, heaven and earth suddenly darkened.

The originally silver moon suddenly stained with blood, engulfing the entire sacred hall in a crimson glow. Above the dome, the void tore open, and a massive fox shadow soared into the sky. Nine tails cascaded like waterfalls, each adorned with ancient Demon Marks intertwined with flowing characters of modern encoding.

The phantom roared, its soundless shockwave sweeping through the Sacred Ground like a forced New Instruction.

On every elder’s forehead, a mark suddenly appeared—the very core Rune from the Blood Pact Formation Diagram moments before. Their bodies bowed uncontrollably, knees striking the ground with dull thuds.

This was a submission ritual rooted deep within the Bloodline, one none could defy.

The Contract took effect.

Shen Yan’s mind buzzed as if all Threads had crashed simultaneously. He swayed, nearly collapsing. Trying to push himself up from the ground, he found his arms limp as noodles.

“Hey!” Luo Li grabbed his arm, pulling him back to lean against a pillar.

Her ears tinged red, strands of hair brushing his cheek as she whispered, “Next time… don’t be so reckless.”

But her grip didn’t loosen.

Shen Yan grinned, wanting to crack a joke, but a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam. His phone screen flickered, finally displaying a line of text:

【Blood Pact Synchronization Rate: 100%, Binding Successful】

Then it went completely dark.

Leaning against the stone pillar, he gasped for breath, his vision blurry, yet his gaze remained fixed on the silver pendant dangling from her left ear. Though the Star-Shattering Token on her right ear had shattered, the one on the left now glowed faintly warm, as if new power was budding.

In the distance, at the edge of the sacred hall, several young demons peeked out from the shadows. One clutched a stone slab covered in scratches, crudely drawn circles and arrows scrawled across it like a beginner’s pseudo-code.

“Is that… the legendary Blood Pact?” one demon murmured.

“Did they… really become Co-Covenant Partners?”

“But… that human, isn’t he a Programmer? How can he perform such an ancient ritual?”

Whispers drifted over, Shen Yan unable to make out the specifics, only catching fragments like “Code,” “Contract,” and “Nine Tails manifestation.”

With great effort, he raised a hand, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, and rasped, “Tell me… does this operation of ours count as cross-domain integrated development?”

Luo Li glanced at him sideways, her expression complex, before finally snorting. “All you know how to do is spout weird nonsense.”

“What else?” He caught his breath, squinting with a smile. “It’s not like I can compose poetry. I can’t exactly say ‘May we journey to the underworld together,’ can I? Too ominous.”

She didn’t reply, only silently rested her head lightly against his shoulder for a second before quickly pulling away, pretending to adjust her sleeve.

But the faint curve at the corner of her lips was unmistakable.

The moonlight remained blood-red, the Nine Tails phantom yet to fade, while the faint glow of the Contract Formation Diagram flowed slowly across the ground like an endless Loop Program.

Suddenly remembering something, Shen Yan struggled to reach into his pocket and pulled out a palm-sized stone slab—a “Basic Spiritual Energy Guidance Script” he’d casually carved earlier, intended to teach the young demons the basics.

He handed it to Luo Li. “Later, call those kids over. We’ll start by teaching them ‘hello world.’”

She took the slab, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow. “Your Comments are messier than the Runes.”

“The important thing is that it runs,” he waved dismissively. “Besides, which expert writes neat Code from the start?”

Luo Li snorted lightly, about to retort, but suddenly her expression tightened.

A low rumble came from the distant mountains, as if something was awakening from beneath the earth. The crystal pedestal in the center of the temple began to hum, and a new line of text appeared on its surface:

【Western Wasteland Gate, unlocked 10%】

(End of Chapter)