Location: The Virtual Negotiation Room (Beta Instance) Time: Noon
Elder Mo stood in a white void.
A moment ago, he had been sitting in his meditation chamber in the Azure Cloud Sect. He had accepted the prompt: [ INITIATE SECURE NEGOTIATION? ].
Now, he was... nowhere.
"Illusion array?" Elder Mo muttered, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword hilt. But there was no sword. He looked down. He was wearing his physical robes, but his body felt light, almost weightless.
"Welcome, User Mo," a voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere.
The white void shifted. The floor turned into polished black marble. Walls of flowing code—blue streams of ancient runes—rose up to form a majestic hall. In the center sat a long table made of obsidian.
At the far end of the table sat a figure.
It was a humanoid shape, but it was composed entirely of shifting shadows and starlight. No face, only two burning blue eyes.
This was Li Yun's Avatar.
On Black Rock Island, Li Yun was sweating, his hand pressed against the Crystal Tower. Sustaining a full-sensory VR simulation for a Core Formation expert was draining his server processing power to the limit.
[ CPU LOAD: 98% ][ COOLING SYSTEM: INACTIVE (Host body temperature rising). ]
"I am the Administrator," Li Yun's voice was modulated, deep and distorted. "You requested an audience."
Elder Mo narrowed his eyes. He released his Core Formation pressure—a wave of spiritual force meant to crush weaker minds.
In the real world, this pressure would have flattened Li Yun. But in this digital room, the pressure was just data.
Li Yun waved his hand. [ COMMAND: NULLIFY INPUT_PRESSURE ].
The wave of force vanished instantly. Elder Mo felt his power hit a wall of absolute nothingness.
"This is my domain, Elder," Li Yun said calmly. "Your cultivation laws do not apply here unless I allow them. Sit."
Elder Mo's heart skipped a beat. To nullify his pressure so easily... was this entity a Nascent Soul Grandmaster? Or perhaps a Spirit Severing Saint?
His arrogance evaporated, replaced by caution. He sat.
"Senior Administrator," Elder Mo said, bowing slightly (a huge concession for him). "I represent the Azure Cloud Sect. Your... 'Network'... has infiltrated our territory. It spreads rumors. It sells contraband. It disrupts the Dao of our disciples."
"Disruption is merely progress entering a stagnant room," Li Yun replied. "But you did not come here to discuss philosophy. You came to discuss control."
"Yes," Elder Mo said bluntly. "We demand the identity of the user 'Lu Chen'. We demand the shutdown of the 'Black Market'. And we demand the right to censor the 'Daily Truth' news app."
Li Yun leaned forward. The starlight in his avatar flared.
"Demand?" Li Yun laughed. "You misunderstand the leverage here, Elder. I do not need the Azure Cloud Sect. Your disciples are already addicted. If I ban your Sect today, your disciples will revolt tomorrow. They will leave your mountain to find a place where they can get signal."
Elder Mo grit his teeth. He knew it was true. He had seen the disciples sneaking glances at their jade pendants during morning assembly.
"However," Li Yun continued, "I am a businessman. Chaos is bad for business. I am willing to offer you a Partnership."
Li Yun waved his hand. A document materialized on the table—a glowing contract.
[ THE ENTERPRISE SOLUTION ]
"I will not ban the Black Market," Li Yun said. "But... I can give the Discipline Hall a 'Backdoor Key'."
Elder Mo looked up. "A key?"
"A tool," Li Yun explained. "It will allow you to see exactly what is being sold. It will allow you to track the flow of money. It will allow you to impose a 'Sect Tax' on all transactions made within your mountain."
Elder Mo's eyes widened. Tax?
"And regarding the news," Li Yun added. "I will not censor the truth. But... I will allow you to purchase 'Sponsored Content'. You can write your own articles. You can push your own narrative to the top of the feed."
Li Yun was offering them the tools of modern propaganda and surveillance.
"You can tax them?" Elder Mo whispered. "And we can write our own news?"
"For a price," Li Yun said. "The subscription fee is 10 High-Grade Spirit Stones per month. And... the Azure Cloud Sect must officially recognize the Spirit Web as a legitimate utility. You must protect our users, not hunt them."
Elder Mo looked at the contract. It was a deal with the devil. But the power it offered... absolute surveillance of his disciples... infinite tax revenue...
"I cannot authorize 10 High-Grade Stones alone," Elder Mo said hoarsely. "I must speak to the Sect Master."
"You have 24 hours," Li Yun said. "Before the price goes up."
Li Yun snapped his fingers.
[ LOGOUT INITIATED. ]
POV CHANGE: Li YunLocation: Black Rock Island — The Tower Base
Li Yun gasped, collapsing onto the cold ground. The connection severed.
[ SYSTEM COOLED DOWN. ][ REMAINING ENERGY: 400 Wisps. ]
"Bluff successful," Li Yun wheezed. He wiped the sweat from his eyes. "If he had attacked the simulation structure instead of trying to intimidate me, the server would have crashed."
He looked at the Crystal Tower. It was glowing steadily.
The meeting bought him time politically. But physically, he was still on a rock in the middle of nowhere.
And the power vacuum he had created by defeating Tu Gang was about to be filled.
CRACK.
A sound echoed from the edge of the crater. Not the sound of wind. The sound of a boot snapping a dry bone.
Li Yun spun around.
Standing on the ridge, silhouetted against the nebula, were a dozen figures. They didn't wear the rags of exiles. They wore leather armor dyed blood-red. They held jagged scimitars.
[ ALERT: HOSTILES DETECTED. ][ FACTION: THE IRON VULTURE BANDITS. ][ THREAT LEVEL: HIGH. ]
The leader, a man with a metal plate bolted to his skull, stepped forward. He looked down at the glowing Crystal Tower, then at Li Yun.
"Tu Gang ran away," the leader grinned, his voice metallic and rasping. "He said a demon took the crater. I see no demon. I see a cripple and a very shiny rock."
He pointed his scimitar at the tower.
"Boys. Kill the cripple. Take the crystal. It looks like it's worth a fortune."
Li Yun stood up slowly. He had no energy left for a massive gravity trap. He had 400 Wisps.
"Tu Gang was smart," Li Yun said, his voice cold. "He ran."
"I am not Tu Gang," the bandit leader spat. "I am Iron Head. Get him!"
Three bandits charged down the slope, screaming.
Li Yun didn't move. He didn't activate Combat Assist. He opened a new menu he had coded during the night.
[ APP: TOWER DEFENSE PROTOCOL (BETA) ][ WEAPON: SPIRITUAL ARTILLERY TURRET (TIER 0) ]
"System," Li Yun commanded. "Auto-target. Fire."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tower
The purple crystal pillar hummed.
The Void Sand embedded in the structure wasn't just for signal range. Void Sand had another property: it could compress space.
Near the top of the tower, a small section of the crystal shifted. It rotated, revealing a hollow barrel no wider than a finger.
Hiss.
It drew ambient Qi from the air (and Li Yun's reserve), compressing it into a bullet the size of a marble.
[ TARGET ACQUIRED: BANDIT A. ][ DISTANCE: 50 METERS. ][ WINDAGE: ADJUSTED. ]
THWIP.
There was no explosion. Just a soft sound of displaced air.
The lead bandit, who was mid-scream, suddenly stopped. His head jerked back.
A hole, cauterized and perfectly circular, appeared in the center of his forehead.
He dropped like a puppet with cut strings.
The other two bandits skidded to a halt, staring at their dead comrade. "What... what was that?"
THWIP. THWIP.
Two more soft sounds. Two more bodies hit the ground.
Iron Head, standing on the ridge, froze. He hadn't even seen an arrow. He hadn't sensed any killing intent. His men just... turned off.
"Sniper!" Iron Head roared, crouching behind a rock. "There's a hidden archer! Find him!"
Li Yun stood in the open, hands clasped behind his back.
[ AMMUNITION COST: 10 WISPS PER SHOT. ][ REMAINING ENERGY: 370 WISPS. ]
"I told you," Li Yun called out. "This is private property."
"Private?" Iron Head snarled. "You're dead! rush him all at once! He can't shoot us all!"
The remaining nine bandits roared. They spread out, zigzagging, charging down the slope from different angles to confuse the "archer."
Li Yun watched the red dots on his radar.
"Targeting multiple bogies," Li Yun said. "System. Switch to Scatter Shot."
The crystal barrel at the top of the tower spun. It didn't fire single shots anymore. It began to vibrate.
[ MODE: RAPID FIRE. ]
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP-THWIP.
A stream of compressed Qi bullets erupted from the tower. It wasn't a sniper anymore; it was a machine gun.
Dirt exploded around the charging bandits. Limbs were shattered. Armor was punched through like paper.
"Retreat!" Iron Head screamed, watching his squad get mowed down by an invisible scythe. "RETREAT!"
But Li Yun checked his energy. [ REMAINING: 200 WISPS. ]
He couldn't let them leave. If they left, they would come back with more men. They would bring siege weapons.
"No witnesses," Li Yun whispered.
He looked at Iron Head.
[ TARGET: LEADER. ][ STATUS: HIDING BEHIND BOULDER. ][ OBSTRUCTION: GRANITE ROCK (THICKNESS: 1 METER). ]
Standard Qi bullets couldn't penetrate a boulder.
"Overcharge," Li Yun ordered. "Load the Railgun round."
[ WARNING: HIGH COST (100 WISPS). ][ WARNING: TOWER DURABILITY RISK. ]
"Do it."
The humming of the tower deepened to a terrifying bass note. The crystal glowed so bright it was painful to look at.
Li Yun pointed his finger at the boulder on the ridge.
"Delete."
BOOM.
A beam of concentrated violet light, no thicker than a pencil but moving at hypersonic speed, shot from the tower.
It hit the boulder. The rock didn't crack; it vaporized. The beam continued through the rock, through Iron Head's chest, and punched a hole into the cliff face behind him.
Silence returned to the crater.
Li Yun stood amidst the smoke.
[ THREAT ELIMINATED. ][ ENERGY: CRITICAL (50 WISPS). ]
He sank to his knees. The tower dimmed.
"That..." Li Yun panted, looking at the destruction. "That was efficient."
But before he could rest, a notification pinged.
[ SYSTEM ALERT: COMBAT DATA RECORDED. ][ NEW ITEM BLUEPRINT UNLOCKED: "HANDHELD SPIRIT BLASTER". ]
Li Yun laughed weakly. "Great. Now I can sell guns."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location: Black Rock Island — The Battlefield Time: Immediately after the Bandit Raid
Smoke curled from the blackened crater where Iron Head had once stood. The smell of ozone and burnt flesh hung heavy in the damp air.
Li Yun sat on a flat rock, his chest heaving. His Server Core was humming at a low frequency, entering "Power Saving Mode" to recover the Wisps he had burned.
"System," Li Yun croaked. "Status report."
[ ENERGY: 55 WISPS (Critical). ][ TOWER INTEGRITY: 98% ][ THREATS: None detected in immediate radius. ][ LOOTABLE ASSETS DETECTED. ]
Li Yun looked down the slope. Twelve bodies lay scattered in the dirt. Bandits. Scum of the Star Seas. But to a man with nothing, even garbage was a resource.
"You there," Li Yun called out into the darkness. "Come out. I know you're watching."
From behind the debris of a collapsed hut, a skinny figure emerged. It was Little Rat (User 004), the exile who had received Li Yun's first anti-Tu Gang propaganda. He was trembling, holding a sharpened piece of scrap metal.
Little Rat looked at the dead bandits, then at the glowing tower, and finally at Li Yun. His eyes weren't filled with the dull despair of an exile anymore. They were filled with terrified awe.
"You... you killed Iron Head," Little Rat whispered. "With light."
"Iron Head was obsolete," Li Yun said, standing up. His legs felt like jelly, but he kept his posture rigid. "He brought knives to a railgun fight."
Li Yun pointed at the bodies.
"Strip them. Weapons, armor, spirit stones, pills. Bring everything to the Tower base."
Little Rat hesitated. "And... and then?"
"And then," Li Yun said, "I will give you a job. Tu Gang is gone. Iron Head is dead. This crater needs a new manager. Do you want to eat meat, Little Rat? Or do you want to scrub pots until you die?"
Little Rat dropped his scrap metal. He fell to his knees and kowtowed, his forehead hitting the dirt with a thud.
"This servant is named Wang! I will do anything! I will strip them naked!"
[ NEW EMPLOYEE HIRED: WANG (LITTLE RAT). ][ LOYALTY: HIGH (Fear/Greed). ]
Li Yun watched Wang scurry down the slope to loot the corpses.
"Human Resources," Li Yun muttered. "Step one complete. Now, I need to arm him."
He looked at the blueprint in his mind: Handheld Spirit Blaster (Tier 0). It was essentially a miniaturized version of the tower's gun. A pistol that shot compressed air/Qi bullets.
Cost to Manufacture: 20 Wisps + 1kg Iron + 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone dust.
Ammo: Draws from the user's Qi or a loaded battery (Spirit Stone).
"If I sell these on the market," Li Yun realized, "I change the power dynamic of the entire world. A mortal with a gun can kill a cultivator. The Sects will go to war to stop me."
He smiled. "Good. War drives traffic."
POV CHANGE: The Azure Cloud Sect — The Grand HallTime: Morning Assembly
The Grand Hall of the Azure Cloud Sect was a masterpiece of architectural intimidation. Twelve massive pillars, carved from white dragon-bone jade, supported a ceiling painted with moving constellations.
At the head of the hall sat the Sect Master, a man whose face was obscured by a constant, swirling mist of spiritual energy. He was a Nascent Soul powerhouse. His mere presence made the air feel heavy, like walking underwater.
Below him stood the Twelve Elders.
Elder Mo stood in the center, sweating.
"You are telling me," the Sect Master's voice resonated without his mouth moving, "that you wish to pay ten High-Grade Spirit Stones a month... to a ghost?"
"Not a ghost, Sect Master," Elder Mo argued, holding up his jade pendant. "An organization. The 'Spirit Web'. They control the information flow of the Outer Court. If we do not partner with them, we lose control of our disciples."
"Ridiculous!"
The shout came from the left. Elder Yan, the Head of Tradition, stepped forward. He wore robes embroidered with ancient, conservative sutras.
"This 'Web' is a demonic trick!" Elder Yan spat. "I confiscated one of these devices from a disciple. It is full of filth! Disrespect towards elders! Auctioning of forbidden pills! And now, Mo wants to fund them? We should be hunting them down and burning every device!"
"Burn them?" Elder Mo shot back. "There are over two thousand active devices in the Outer Court alone! If you burn them, the disciples will riot. They use it for everything—trade, communication, banking!"
"Banking?!" The Sect Master's mist swirled violently. "Explain."
Elder Mo projected a hologram from his pendant (using a feature Li Yun had unlocked for him: Presentation Mode).
A chart appeared in the air.
[ AZURE CLOUD SECT: FINANCIAL LEAKAGE ]
Traditional Market Tax Revenue: Down 40%.
Spirit Web Transaction Volume: 500,000 Spirit Credits (Est. 500 Stones) per day.
The Elders gasped. 500 Stones a day? That was more than the Sect's alchemy division made in a week.
"The money is moving here," Elder Mo pointed to the chart. "Invisible. Untaxed. But... the Admin has offered us a tool. A 'Backdoor'. If we sign the contract, we can tax every transaction automatically. We can reclaim our wealth."
The Sect Master was silent. Greed warred with pride.
"And what if we just kill the Admin?" Elder Yan sneered. "Find the server. Destroy it. Take the wealth."
"We can't find him!" Elder Mo yelled. "The signal originates from everywhere and nowhere! I tried to track it. It led me to a negotiation room in a separate dimension! The Admin is likely a hidden Grandmaster!"
"Or," Elder Yan countered, "The Admin is a fraud. And you, Mo, have been seduced by a toy."
Elder Yan turned to the Sect Master. "Sect Master, I propose we ban the devices. Any disciple caught with one will be expelled. We will crush this 'Web' with fear. Tradition must be upheld."
The Sect Master nodded slowly. "Tradition is the root of our power. If we allow outside influence..."
Elder Mo's face fell. He was losing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Rock Island
Li Yun was sitting by the tower, eating a piece of looted dried fruit.
[ ALERT: AUDIO FEED ACTIVE (SOURCE: ELDER MO'S PENDANT). ]
He was listening to every word in the Grand Hall.
"Elder Yan," Li Yun chewed the fruit thoughtfully. "The Conservative Opposition. There's always one."
If the Sect banned the devices, Li Yun would lose his user base. He could survive, but his growth would be set back by months. He needed the Sect to buy in.
"I need to discredit Elder Yan immediately," Li Yun decided. "Time to weaponize the data."
"System, search database: Keywords 'Elder Yan', 'Scandal', 'Hidden Transactions'."
[ SEARCHING... ][ NO DIRECT MATCHES IN PUBLIC FORUM. ][ ACCESSING DEEP DATA... ][ SCANNING PRIVATE MESSAGES OF ALL USERS... ]
Li Yun's eyes scanned the scrolling code. Elder Yan didn't use the Web. But his grandson did.
[ USER 899 (Yan Bo). ][ RELATION: Grandson of Elder Yan. ][ RECENT CHAT LOGS (ENCRYPTED). ]
"Decrypt," Li Yun ordered.
[ DECRYPTING... ][ CHAT LOG WITH: 'THE BLACK ALCHEMIST' (Rogue Cultivator). ]
Yan Bo: My grandfather needs more 'Yin-Plucking Pills'. The last batch was weak.
Black Alchemist: Those are forbidden, kid. The price is double.
Yan Bo: Just send it. He's getting impatient. He has a new cauldron (slave girl) arriving tonight.
Li Yun's eyes went cold.
"Yin-Plucking Pills." Disgusting. It was a demonic technique used to harvest cultivation from young women, killing them in the process. And the "Traditionalist" Elder was the customer.
"Well," Li Yun whispered. "Tradition just got cancelled."
He opened the 'Daily Truth' App.
[ ACTION: FORCE PUSH NOTIFICATION (PRIORITY: OMEGA). ][ TARGET: ALL DEVICES WITHIN AZURE CLOUD SECT. ][ HEADLINE: "HYPOCRISY IN THE HIGH HALL: ELDER YAN'S DEMONIC ADDICTION EXPOSED." ][ ATTACHMENT: CHAT LOGS & TRANSACTION RECEIPTS. ]
"Send it."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Grand Hall
"I agree with Elder Yan," the Sect Master said, his voice thundering. "We shall issue a ban immediately. The Spirit Web is declared a demonic—"
PING.PING.PING.
The sound was small at first. Then it grew.
Inside the robes of the Elders, hidden in sleeves and pockets, jade pendants began to vibrate. Even the disciples guarding the doors—their pockets buzzed.
Elder Mo looked at his pendant. His face went pale. Then, a slow, vicious smile spread across his lips.
"Sect Master," Elder Mo interrupted. "Before you issue the ban... perhaps you should check the news."
"News?" The Sect Master frowned.
Suddenly, outside the Grand Hall, a roar erupted. It wasn't an attack. It was the sound of thousands of disciples gasping, shouting, and murmuring at once.
The doors burst open. A breathless deacon ran in.
"Sect Master! Bad news! The Outer Court is in uproar! They are saying... they are saying Elder Yan is a Demonic Cultivator!"
Elder Yan froze. "What?! Who dares?!"
Elder Mo projected the hologram again. This time, he displayed the Daily Truth article. The chat logs were blown up to ten feet tall.
"My grandfather needs more Yin-Plucking Pills..."
The silence in the hall was absolute.
Elder Yan's face turned from red to purple, then to ash grey. "This... this is a fabrication! A lie!"
"Is it?" Elder Mo asked smoothly. "The logs contain the spiritual signature of the transaction. We can verify it. Shall we check your grandson's quarters, Elder Yan?"
The Sect Master turned to Elder Yan. The mist around his face darkened to a thunderous black.
"Yin-Plucking," the Sect Master whispered. "We are a Righteous Sect, Yan. If this is true..."
"It's the Web!" Elder Yan screamed, backing away. "The Admin faked it to frame me!"
"Or," Elder Mo countered, "The Web sees all. The Web reveals the rot we couldn't see."
Elder Mo turned to the Sect Master.
"Sect Master. If we ban the Web, the disciples will think we are hiding the truth to protect corrupt Elders. We will lose all legitimacy. But if we partner with the Web... we can say we used it to root out corruption. We become the heroes."
The Sect Master looked at the screaming Elder Yan, then at the projection of the chat logs. He realized the truth instantly: Information was power. And he had almost thrown it away.
"Guards," the Sect Master said coldly. "Seize Elder Yan. Search his residence."
As the guards dragged the kicking and screaming Elder away, the Sect Master turned to Elder Mo.
"Mo."
"Yes, Sect Master?"
"Pay the Admin," the Sect Master commanded. "Sign the contract. Get me that 'Backdoor Key'. I want to know what everyone is doing."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Rock Island
[ NOTIFICATION: CONTRACT SIGNED. ][ PAYMENT RECEIVED: 10 HIGH-GRADE SPIRIT STONES. ][ DEPOSITED TO VIRTUAL VAULT. ]
Li Yun let out a long breath.
"We're legit," he whispered.
10 High-Grade Spirit Stones. That was 100,000 Wisps of energy. Or enough to upgrade the server to Tier 2.
But Li Yun didn't upgrade immediately. He looked at the pile of loot Wang had brought him.
"Wang," Li Yun called out.
Wang ran over, bowing. "Yes, Boss?"
Li Yun handed him a schematic—a drawing on a piece of leather.
"We have money now. We have legitimacy. Now, we need a factory."
"A factory, Boss?"
"Yes," Li Yun said, his eyes glowing with the reflection of the holographic interface. "I want you to recruit every able-bodied exile. We are going to start mass-producing Spirit Terminals. But not just stone tablets."
Li Yun swiped the air, bringing up a new design.
[ PRODUCT: THE SPIRIT SCROLL (V2.0) ]
Features: Flexible screen. Front-facing camera. Biometric lock.
Target Market: The Inner Court Elites.
"And Wang?"
"Yes?"
"Set aside the iron," Li Yun said darkly. "We're also going to start a second production line. Project code-name: 'Peacekeeper'."
He pointed to the Handheld Spirit Blaster blueprint.
"The Sect just bought the software. Now, we're going to sell the hardware to the rebels."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location: Black Rock Island — The Central Crater Time: One Month Later
If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't recognize Black Rock Island.
A month ago, the only sounds were the howling void winds and the coughing of dying exiles. Now, the crater roared.
It was the sound of Industry.
The center of the crater, once a muddy pit, had been paved with smooth, black obsidian slabs. In the middle stood the Crystal Signal Tower, pulsing with a steady, heartbeat-like rhythm. But around it, a city of metal and magic had sprouted like aggressive ivy.
Li Yun stood on the balcony of the newly constructed "Server Keep" (a fortress built around the tower base), looking down at his creation.
Rows of open-air workshops lined the crater walls.
Zone A (Assembly): Hundreds of exiles sat in neat rows, their hands moving in a blur. They weren't carving stone anymore. They were assembling Spirit Scrolls (V2.0).
Zone B (Refining): Massive furnaces, powered by captured Void Fire, smelted scrap metal into high-grade alloy.
Zone C (The Restricted Area): Behind heavy iron gates, guarded by men with cold eyes, was the Peacekeeper Line.
"Output efficiency is up 15%," Wang (formerly Little Rat) reported, standing beside Li Yun.
Wang had changed. He wore a tailored silk suit (imported via the smuggler ship) that looked out of place on the jagged rocks. A gold-plated Spirit Blaster hung in a holster at his hip. He held a tablet, tapping away at a spreadsheet.
"The new 'Rune-Press' machines are working," Wang continued. "We don't need skilled carvers anymore. A mortal can just pull the lever, and the machine stamps the 'Connection Array' onto the jade. We're producing 500 Scrolls a day."
Li Yun nodded, his eyes scanning the glowing blue data overlay that covered the factory floor.
[ FACTORY STATUS: OPERATIONAL ][ DAILY REVENUE: 2,500 SPIRIT STONES (GROSS) ][ ENERGY RESERVES: 50,000 WISPS. ]
"And the Peacekeepers?" Li Yun asked.
Wang lowered his voice. "We have 50 units ready. But Boss... are you sure? If we release these... the Sects will lose their minds. A weapon that lets a mortal kill a cultivator?"
Li Yun turned to look at Wang.
"The Sects have ruled for ten thousand years because they have a monopoly on violence," Li Yun said. "We aren't just selling weapons, Wang. We're selling Democracy."
Li Yun tapped the railing. "Release the first batch. But not to the general market. Target the 'Desperate Demographic'. Find me a merchant caravan that is about to be raided. Find me a village being bullied by a rogue cultivator."
"Seed the market with stories," Li Yun commanded. "I want the world to see what happens when the rabbit bites the wolf."
POV CHANGE: Merchant Lao (The Victim)Location: The Dust Valley — Trade Route to Azure Cloud City
Lao was a fat man, but today he felt very small.
He knelt in the dust, his fine silk robes tearing against the rocks. Behind him, his caravan of spirit-horses burned. His guards—mercenaries he had paid good money for—lay dead or dying.
Standing over him was a young man with a cruel smile. He wore the robes of the Iron Blood Sect, a mid-tier sect known for its brutality.
"Please, Immortal Master!" Lao begged, pressing his forehead to the ground. "Take the cargo! Take the gold! Just spare my life!"
The young cultivator, Disciple Fang, laughed. He kicked Lao in the ribs.
"Your cargo is already mine, pig," Fang sneered. He twirled a glowing red sword in his hand. "But you... you insulted me. You didn't bow fast enough when I landed."
It was a lie. Fang just enjoyed the killing. It was sport.
"Stand up," Fang ordered. "Run. If you can outrun my flying sword, you live."
Lao sobbed. He was a mortal. He couldn't outrun a horse, let alone a flying sword.
As he struggled to his feet, his hand brushed against a heavy, cold object hidden in his sash.
A week ago, a mysterious cloaked man at a roadside inn had sold him this object. "For when words fail," the man had said. "Point and click. It costs 50 stones, but it buys your life."
Lao had thought it was a scam. But he had bought it out of superstition.
Now, as Disciple Fang turned his back to walk to the starting line of his "game," Lao's fingers wrapped around the textured grip of the Peacekeeper Model-1.
It was heavy. Angular. Etched with aggressive, red runes.
[ SYSTEM DETECTED: WEAPON GRIPPED. ][ BIOMETRIC LOCK: UNLOCKED (USER: LAO). ][ AMMO: 3 SHOTS (LOADED). ]
A small hum vibrated in Lao's hand.
Disciple Fang turned around, grinning. "Ready? Three... two..."
Lao pulled the gun out.
Fang paused. He squinted. "What is that? A toy? You want to throw a rock at me?"
Fang didn't activate his defensive aura. Why would he? Lao was a mortal. A mortal couldn't hurt a Qi Condensation Level 5 cultivator. It was a law of physics.
"I..." Lao's hand shook. "I said take the cargo!"
"Die!" Fang got bored. He flicked his wrist. The red flying sword shot forward like a viper.
Lao screamed, squeezed his eyes shut, and pulled the trigger.
THWIP.
The sound was underwhelming. It wasn't a thunderclap. It was a sharp hiss of compressed air.
But the result was absolute.
The Peacekeeper fired a projectile made of Condensed Void Iron, propelled by an explosive array equivalent to a Level 8 Qi strike.
The bullet moved faster than sound. It moved faster than Fang's reaction time.
It hit Fang in the chest.
There was no spark. No deflection. The bullet punched through Fang's defensive robes (silk). It punched through his skin (toughened by Qi). It shattered his sternum and blew a fist-sized hole out of his back.
Fang's flying sword, disconnected from its master's intent, clattered to the ground inches from Lao's feet.
Fang looked down at the hole in his chest. His expression wasn't pain. It was confusion. "I... am... Immortal..."
He collapsed face-first into the dust.
Silence descended on the valley. The fire crackled.
Lao opened his eyes. He checked his body. No holes. He looked at the dead cultivator. The "Immortal" who had terrorized the region for years. Dead. Killed by a fat merchant with a piece of metal.
Lao looked at the gun. The runes were glowing softly, cooling down.
"Heavens..." Lao whispered. Then, a hysterical laugh bubbled up in his throat.
He wasn't a victim anymore.
He took a picture. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled. He pulled out his Spirit Scroll, snapped a photo of the dead cultivator and the gun, and uploaded it to the Public Forum.
[ POST TITLE: It Works. ][ IMAGE ATTACHED. ]
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The Spirit Web
The post went viral in seconds.
User 888:Is that Disciple Fang? The Iron Blood butcher? Dead?
User 771:Look at the wound. No scorch marks. No sword cuts. What killed him?
User (Merchant Lao):The Peacekeeper. Available at the Black Rock Trade Post. 50 Stones. Don't be a victim.
[ COMMENT SECTION EXPLODED ]
User 999 (Rogue Cultivator): Bullshit! A mortal killing a Level 5? Fake!
User 123 (Analyst): Wait... look at the weapon. Those runes... that's a Compression Array. If that's real, the power scaling is broken.
User 666 (Anonymous): WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
POV CHANGE: Li YunLocation: Black Rock Island
Li Yun watched the server metrics spike.
[ SEARCH QUERY: 'PEACEKEEPER' (TRENDING #1) ][ PRE-ORDERS: 5,000 UNITS. ]
"And so it begins," Li Yun said.
He turned to Wang. "Triple the production on Line B. And raise the price. 50 Stones was the introductory offer. The new price is 100."
Wang grinned, showing a gold tooth. "You're evil, Boss."
"I'm a capitalist," Li Yun corrected.
Suddenly, a system alert flashed red, overriding the sales data.
[ ALERT: TIER 2 UPGRADE READY. ][ REQUIREMENTS MET: ]
Wealth: >100,000 Spirit Credits.
User Base: >10,000.
Influence: "World Changing Event" (The First Gun Kill) Detected.
Li Yun took a deep breath. This was it. Tier 1 was the Local Area Network. Tier 2 was the World Wide Web.
"Wang," Li Yun said seriously. "Clear the tower room. I'm going into seclusion. No matter what happens—even if the sky falls—do not disturb me."
Wang nodded, sensing the gravity. "I'll guard the door myself."
Li Yun walked into the central chamber of the Keep. He placed his hand on the Crystal Tower.
"System," Li Yun commanded. "Initiate Tier 2 Upgrade."
[ CONFIRMED. ][ CONSUMING 100,000 WISPS. ][ UNLOCKING FEATURE: "THE APP STORE" (USER GENERATED CONTENT). ][ UNLOCKING FEATURE: "VIRTUAL REALITY DOJO". ][ UNLOCKING FEATURE: "CLOUD CULTIVATION". ]
[ WARNING: UPGRADE DURATION: 24 HOURS. ][ DURING THIS TIME, THE ADMIN WILL BE VULNERABLE. ]
The light swallowed him.
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800 Miles Away
The Iron Blood Sect Master crushed the jade slip in his hand.
"Fang is dead?" he roared. "Killed by a merchant? With a toy?"
The messenger trembled. "Yes, Master. The image is on the Web. They are mocking us."
The Sect Master stood up. His aura was red and thick, smelling of copper. He was a Core Formation Peak expert.
"This 'Black Rock Island'..." he growled. "They sell these toys? They arm the sheep to kill the wolves?"
He drew his heavy blood-saber.
"Mobilize the Warships. All of them."
"We are going to sink that island into the sea."
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Location: Black Rock Island — The "Server Keep" War Room Time: 6 Hours into the Upgrade (T-Minus 18 Hours to Admin Wake-up)
The red alert light on the wall pulsed silently. The hum of the Crystal Tower was deeper, heavier, as if the machine was breathing in its sleep.
Inside the War Room, Wang (formerly Little Rat) paced back and forth, his new leather shoes clicking on the obsidian floor. He looked at the holographic map projected on the central table.
It was a mess of red dots.
[ THREAT DETECTED: AERIAL FLEET INBOUND. ][ ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: 4 HOURS. ][ FORCE COMPOSITION: ]
3 Spirit Warships (Iron Blood Sect).
Approx. 500 Cultivators (levels varying from Qi Condensation 3 to Foundation Establishment 9).
1 Core Formation Expert (Sect Master).
Wang wiped sweat from his forehead. "Five hundred cultivators. And a Core Formation monster."
He looked around the room at his "Generals." They were a motley crew of exiles.
Old Ghost: The scavenger, now "Head of Logistics."
Scar: A former bandit who defected after the railgun incident, now "Head of Security."
Madam Rou: A fallen alchemist with a poison addiction, now "Head of R&D."
"The Admin is offline," Wang said, his voice trembling slightly. "He is in Seclusion. He said 'Do not disturb him even if the sky falls.'"
"The sky is about to fall, Wang," Scar grunted, checking the charge on his Spirit Blaster. "We have 200 exiles with guns. Most of them have never shot anything but a rock. Against a Warship? We're dead."
"We have the Tower," Madam Rou pointed out, her eyes glossy. "The Auto-Turrets."
"The Tower is diverting 90% power to the Admin's upgrade," Wang corrected. "The Railgun is offline. The shield is at 10% capacity. We only have the point-defense turrets."
Wang looked at the map again. He thought about running. He could take a boat, flee into the fog, and disappear. But then he looked at his suit. He looked at the gold watch on his wrist. Before Li Yun, he was a rat eating garbage. Now, he was a CEO.
"We don't run," Wang said, slamming his hand on the table. "This is our city. If they want it, they pay the subscription fee."
He turned to Old Ghost. "How many Exploding Blood Talismans do we have in stock?"
"About fifty," Old Ghost replied. "But they are short-range."
"And the Peacekeepers?"
"We have 300 units fresh off the line," Scar said.
Wang's eyes narrowed. A plan formed in his mind—a plan born of desperation and the ruthless capitalism Li Yun had taught him.
"We can't win a fair fight," Wang said. "So we turn the battlefield into a market."
"Open a channel," Wang commanded. "Not to the Iron Blood Sect. Open a channel to the Mercenary Forum."
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200 Miles from Black Rock Island
The flagship, The Crimson Shark, cut through the void clouds like a knife. It was a massive vessel of dark wood and iron, propelled by screaming souls trapped in its furnace.
On the deck, the Iron Blood Sect Master stood with his arms crossed. The wind whipped his red robes.
"Four hours to target," his lieutenant reported. "Scouts report no defensive fleet. Just a single tower."
"Arrogant," the Sect Master sneered. "They think a toy gun makes them gods. We will burn their factory to the ground and take the technology for ourselves."
Suddenly, a commotion broke out among the disciples on the lower deck. They were all looking at their jade pendants.
"What is it?" The Sect Master demanded.
"Sect Master!" A disciple ran up, holding a scroll. "Look at the Web! A new 'Quest' has just been posted!"
The Sect Master grabbed the scroll.
[ URGENT QUEST: DEFEND BLACK ROCK ISLAND ][ EMPLOYER: ADMIN (Acting CEO Wang). ][ OBJECTIVE: Destroy the Iron Blood Fleet. ][ REWARD POOL: 100,000 SPIRIT STONES. ][ BONUS: Loot Rights. Any weapon/gear dropped by the invaders belongs to the killer. ][ SPECIAL: Free "Peacekeeper" Gun to the first 100 participants. ]
The Sect Master laughed. "Mercenaries? Who would dare attack us? We are the Iron Blood Sect!"
But then he looked over the railing.
In the distance, out of the fog... they appeared.
Not a fleet. A swarm.
Rogue cultivators on flying swords. Scavengers on rusted skiffs. Desperate exiles on stolen rafts. Hundreds of them. Like piranhas sensing blood.
They weren't fighting for honor. They were fighting for the 100,000 Stone Reward.
"Target acquired!" A rogue cultivator screamed, diving from the clouds. "That flagship is worth 50k!"
"Fire!" The Sect Master roared.
Chaos erupted.
The Iron Blood Warships unleashed volleys of fireballs and lightning. The rogue swarm scattered, taking casualties, but they kept coming.
On the ground, Wang stood on the walls of the Server Keep.
"Hold the line!" Wang shouted into a megaphone. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"
The Iron Blood disciples, utilizing their flying swords, bypassed the rogue swarm and dove toward the island. They expected easy prey.
"Die, trash!" A Foundation Establishment disciple yelled, charging a group of exiles.
"NOW!" Wang screamed.
Two hundred exiles rose from the trenches. Two hundred Peacekeepers leveled.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP-THWIP.
The air turned into a wall of lead.
The diving disciples hit the invisible barrier of compressed air bullets. Their protective Qi shields flared and shattered. Bodies fell from the sky like rain.
The Foundation Establishment disciple tried to dodge, but the volume of fire was too high. A bullet caught him in the shoulder, spinning him around. Another hit his leg. A third took off his head.
"Reload!" Scar barked. "Keep the pressure up!"
But the Sect Master was not so easily stopped.
Seeing his disciples falling, he roared in fury. He leaped from the flagship, descending like a meteor.
[ CORE FORMATION ART: BLOOD MOON CRUSH ]
A massive, red spectral hand, the size of a house, formed in the air and slammed down toward the trenches.
"Shields!" Wang yelled.
The tower's passive shield flickered. It absorbed the blow, but the ground shook violently.
[ SHIELD INTEGRITY: 5% ][ WARNING: CRITICAL FAILURE IMMINENT. ]
The Sect Master landed on the beach. His aura was terrifying. The exiles froze, their guns shaking.
"I will skin you all alive!" The Sect Master walked forward, ignoring the bullets that pinged harmlessly off his high-level Qi armor.
He raised his hand to strike the Keep directly. If he hit the tower, the Admin would be interrupted. The upgrade would fail. Li Yun would die.
Wang pulled out his gold-plated Peacekeeper. He aimed. His hands were sweating. It was useless. A Tier 0 gun couldn't scratch a Core Formation expert.
"We need a miracle," Wang whispered.
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The Tower Room
Upgrade Progress 99%
Li Yun floated in the center of the energy vortex. His physical body was reforming. His bones were turning from white to a translucent, crystalline blue.
[ SYSTEM UPGRADE: FINALIZING. ][ TIER 2 SERVER: ONLINE. ][ ADMIN CONSCIOUSNESS: WAKING UP. ]
Li Yun's eyes snapped open.
He didn't see the room. He saw the Data Stream. He saw the red alert. He saw the Sect Master on the beach, raising his hand to destroy the Keep.
"Iron Blood Sect," Li Yun's thought voice echoed in the digital realm. "You are violating the Terms of Service."
He didn't have time to run down the stairs. He didn't need to.
[ NEW FEATURE UNLOCKED: "CLOUD CULTIVATION" (REMOTE ACCESS). ][ ADMIN PRIVILEGE: OVERRIDE REALITY. ]
Li Yun extended his hand inside the vortex.
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The Beach
The Sect Master's hand was inches from blasting the Keep's gates.
Suddenly, the air pressure dropped. The sky turned from violet to a blinding, digital blue.
A voice, amplified by the entire atmosphere, boomed down.
"ERROR 403: ACCESS DENIED."
The Sect Master looked up. "What?"
Above the tower, a massive, holographic eye opened. It stared directly at the Sect Master.
From the eye, a beam of blue data-light shot down. It didn't burn. It didn't explode. It Deleted.
The beam hit the Sect Master.
"My Qi!" The Sect Master screamed. "Where is my Qi going?!"
He wasn't being attacked physically. The Server was draining him. It was treating his Core Formation cultivation as a battery source and forcibly downloading it.
[ DRAINING TARGET... ][ CONVERTING HOSTILE QI TO SERVER ENERGY. ][ RATE: 1000 WISPS/SECOND. ]
The Sect Master fell to his knees. His red aura vanished. His skin withered. He aged fifty years in five seconds.
"You... you are a Devil!" The Sect Master wheezed, trying to crawl away.
Li Yun walked out of the Keep's front gates.
He looked different. He was taller. His skin had a faint, pearlescent sheen. His eyes glowed with a steady blue light. He wore a simple white robe that seemed to be woven from light itself.
[ STATUS: BODY TEMPERING -> QI CONDENSATION LEVEL 1 (PERFECT FOUNDATION). ][ SERVER TIER: 2 (REGIONAL NETWORK). ]
Li Yun walked up to the withered Sect Master. He didn't hold a gun.
"I am not a Devil," Li Yun said softly. "I am the Administrator."
He looked at the battlefield. The fighting had stopped. Everyone—rogues, exiles, and Iron Blood disciples—was watching.
"This conflict is over," Li Yun announced.
He pointed at the Iron Blood warships hovering above.
"Those ships are now property of the Spirit Web. Any Iron Blood disciple who surrenders will be given a job in the factory. Any who resist will be... formatted."
He looked down at the Sect Master.
"As for you... your account is banned permanently."
Li Yun raised his hand. [ EXECUTE: LIGHTNING STRIKE (Downloaded from Database). ]
A single bolt of blue tribulation lightning struck the Sect Master. There was no ash. He simply ceased to exist.
Li Yun turned to Wang, who was staring with his mouth open.
"Good work, CEO Wang," Li Yun said calmly. "Clean this up. And send the reward money to the mercenaries. We have a reputation to maintain."
"Also," Li Yun looked at the captured warships. "Repaint those. Put the Spirit Web logo on the sails. We're starting a delivery service."