The air outside the spirit field seemed to solidify.
Chen Tong lay collapsed in the mud, his once-prized artifact sword scattered by his feet like a heap of rusted scrap metal. His pride—his Foundation Establishment stage cultivation—had truly collapsed like a crumbling skyscraper under the suppression of this inexplicable "rule-based force," plummeting to the ninth level of Qi Refining. Every cycle of spiritual energy through his meridians now brought with it a agonizing, tearing pain.
"You... what kind of black magic did you use?!" Chen Tong raised his head in terror, looking at Ye Chen as if he were a monster wearing a human skin.
Ye Chen ignored his roar.
In his field of vision, the world was no longer what it once was. He could see a translucent, pale blue frame floating above Chen Tong's head. It was an incredibly complex "Attribute Panel," detailing Chen Tong's current status:
[Target: Chen Tong] [Status: Terror/Spiritual Energy Turbulence/Cultivation Degradation] [Running Process: Foundation Establishment Technique - Green Wood Art (Efficiency: 45%)] [Memory Usage: 82%]
A realization flashed through Ye Chen's mind. So, the spiritual circulation of this world wasn't some mystical "Tao" at all; it was a logic operation with abysmal efficiency. A cultivator absorbing spiritual energy was, in essence, constantly loading programs onto the "server" that was their body. And Chen Tong's technique was clearly poorly written—not only was its memory usage exorbitant, but it was riddled with redundant code.
"Efficiency is too low," Ye Chen muttered to himself.
To those watching, it sounded like an arrogant mockery. Ye Chen waved his hand casually, and the blue light in the air rippled. He selected the logic chain for the 'Green Wood Art' on Chen Tong's panel, tapped his fingertip gently, and selected "Decompile."
In an instant, Chen Tong's pupils constricted. He realized with horror that the mental cultivation method he had practiced for twenty years was being laid out before Ye Chen like a piece of draft paper. All the flaws, every running path, and even the logic behind the old wounds he had sustained during breakthroughs were being laid bare.
"You... are you looking at my technique? No! Stop!" Chen Tong finally realized the source of his fear; it was the despair of being seen through completely and having his trump cards stripped away.
Ye Chen ignored his shouting. He wasn't just looking; he was optimizing.
"Too much redundant logic. Delete." Ye Chen flicked his finger. "The flow path of the True Qi is too convoluted. Redirect." He waved again.
Following Ye Chen's series of operations, the originally chaotic spiritual energy inside Chen Tong began to refine under this "forced optimization." However, this refinement wasn't to make Chen Tong stronger—it was to facilitate Ye Chen's subsequent "data extraction."
"Ahhh—!" Chen Tong let out a shrill scream. He felt his years of accumulated spiritual energy flowing uncontrollably toward Ye Chen like a bursting dam.
No, to be precise, it was being forcibly absorbed by some kind of "system protocol" on Ye Chen's side.
Ye Chen felt a massive surge of spiritual energy flowing through his fingertips into his limbs and meridians. This was the result of Chen Tong's decades of hardship, now turned into fuel for his own upgrade. His original level-three Qi Refining cultivation surged, instantly breaking through to level four and continuing to climb.
The outer disciples around them were dumbfounded. They watched as Chen Tong was pinned by some invisible force, suspended in mid-air, his aura decaying at a terrifying rate, while Ye Chen—the nobody who usually didn't dare to breathe too loudly—felt his own aura soaring wildly.
"Is... is this possession? Or some kind of evil art?" one disciple whispered, his legs trembling; he wanted to run but found his feet rooted to the spot.
Ye Chen didn't care about their thoughts. As his cultivation advanced, his perception of this "code world" became increasingly clear. He discovered that the distribution of spiritual energy in the Azure Cloud Sect was uneven; in the back mountains, there existed a massive "Spiritual Energy Hub." Its code logic was the most complex, serving as the core operating engine for the entire sect.
"So that's it. As long as I control the logic hub, I can control the code distribution for the entire sect," Ye Chen thought to himself, his ambition ignited.
Just then, a majestic voice thundered from the horizon, accompanied by the oppressive pressure of a Golden Core stage cultivator, enveloping the entire spirit field.
"Who dares to cause trouble in the outer sect? To plunder a fellow disciple's cultivation is a capital offense!"
A middle-aged man in the robes of an inner sect elder arrived on a flying sword, his eyes as cold as blades. As soon as he landed, he saw Chen Tong, drained of energy and collapsed like a corpse, and the indifferent Ye Chen.
The elder's gaze swept over Ye Chen, his brow furrowing: "You, a mere handyman, actually possess such means..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, Ye Chen looked up at him.
In Ye Chen's vision, a line of crimson warning text flashed above the Golden Core elder's head: [Target: Inner Sect Elder - Zhao Yi] [Logic Vulnerability: Residual Tribulation Trauma/Spiritual Energy Short-Circuit in the Heart]
Ye Chen showed no fear; instead, a faint smile curled at the corners of his mouth. On the system panel, he could see the very secret injuries hidden within the Golden Core elder's body.
He reached out and slashed the air toward the elder, as if pruning a weed.
"Elder, your 'Residual Tribulation' logic seems to have crashed. Would you like me to... clean it up for you?"
Blue light exploded from Ye Chen's fingertips.
At that moment, the world seemed to hit a pause button. Upon hearing those words, the high-and-mighty Golden Core elder's face changed drastically, his eyes filled with unprecedented terror. He had never imagined that the hidden wounds he had buried for a hundred years would be identified by a mere outer sect handyman.
Ye Chen didn't give him a chance to react. His fingertip descended once more.
[Command Executed: Triggering Hidden Error Logic]
"Hum—!"
The spiritual energy within the elder suddenly rioted. The True Yuan, which should have been docile, became like a runaway horse, rampaging through his meridians. Before he could even summon his magical treasure, he was instantly backlashed by the chaotic energy within him, and a formless, heavy force slammed him into the mud, unable to move.
"This is impossible..." The elder struggled in the mud, spitting blood. The look in his eyes as he stared at Ye Chen had shifted from anger to absolute terror.
Ye Chen stepped over Chen Tong's body and walked toward the suppressed elder. With every step he took, the weeds beneath his feet instantly burst with vitality, as if the rules of the land itself were changing according to his will.
"In this world, no one can lecture me on 'capital offenses'."
Ye Chen stood before the elder, looking down at him. The ghost-blue light at his fingertips flickered like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
"Because I am... the administrator of this world."
He reached out and pressed his hand onto the elder's shoulder.
"Now, let's optimize your cultivation."