[Current Status: Connection Time Out]
[Warning: Physical layer is collapsing]
[Operator (Admin): Force "Formatting" procedure]
...Above the heavens, the enormous white cursor paused for a moment before the crack slashed open by Seventeen.
Even the higher-dimensional administrators seemed to have been surprised that the "junk" thrown into the recycle bin not only survived but had evolved into a super virus that even the system couldn't define.
It was enraged.
The once pure white cursor instantly turned a blinding crimson.
[Instruction Change: Software deletion failed.]
[Execution Plan: Physical Destruction.]
[Target Locked: Server physical node · Buzhou Mountain.] The cursor didn't pursue Seventeen; instead, it pointed with extreme malice at the colossal peak connecting heaven and earth on the ground—Buzhou Mountain.
In the primordial world, it was a pillar of heaven.
But in the architecture of the higher-dimensional civilization, it was the planet's only **"network interface"**. Destroying it would temporarily strip the higher-dimensional civilization of control, but the entire primordial world would also suffer a system crash due to the "internet outage," ultimately leading to a complete format.
"No good!" Shen Qingqiu, nestled in Seventeen's arms, watched the movement of the scarlet cursor, his golden pupils suddenly contracting.
"It's trying to pull the internet cable! It wants to drag the entire world down with it!"
...At the foot of Mount Buzhou, in the territory of the Witch Clan.
A giant clad in black scales, riding a black dragon, stood at the source of the flood.
He was the Water God, Si Gong.
The once majestic deity now resembled a broken puppet.
His eyes had no pupils, only two wildly spinning red blobs. His skin was constantly **"pixelating"**, chunks of muscle peeling away to reveal blue-glowing error codes within.
[Override…]
[Control…]
"Aaaaah—!!!" Si Gong clutched his head, letting out a piercing scream.
His consciousness was being forcibly rewritten by a higher-dimensional command. The pain was like countless ants gnawing at his brain.
[Command: Impact.]
"No...I am the Water God...I can't..."
Si Gong was still struggling.
But the scarlet cursor in the sky pointed sharply at his head.
"Execute."
Buzz!
The last vestige of clarity in Si Gong's eyes vanished completely.
He let out a roar that was not human, a voice filled with despair and destruction.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
He rode the black dragon beneath his feet, carrying a raging flood, transforming into a blue comet of destruction, crashing fiercely into the vulnerable waist of Mount Buzhou.
...
"Stop him!!" Seventeen's black bone wings flapped violently, and he carried Shen Qingqiu, transforming into a streak of light and rushing down.
But it was too late.
That was a "guaranteed hit" attack accelerated by the system.
Seventeen could only watch helplessly as the tragic giant, like a moth drawn to a flame, crashed into the pillar of heaven.
BOOM—!!!
This deafening roar wasn't an explosion.
It was a rupture.
Like the sound of a spine being snapped.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
All living beings looked up in horror at the sacred mountain that had stood for billions of years, a massive crack appearing halfway up its slopes.
The crack spread rapidly, like a grotesque centipede crawling across the entire mountain.
Crack.
Mount Buzhou collapsed.
Half of the mountain collapsed with a deafening roar, crashing to the earth, the dust rising obscuring half of the primordial world.
But this wasn't the most terrifying thing.
The most terrifying thing was… the sky collapsed.
Without the support of the pillar of heaven, the once smooth, mirror-like sky was torn open into a gigantic black hole.
Without physical connection, the "Heavenly River" poured down from the sky.
That wasn't ordinary water. That was **[Uncompiled Raw Data]**.
It was a nauseating grayish-black, viscous, cold, and highly corrosive.
With a whoosh—, the data torrent fell.
Wherever it passed, whether mountains, rivers, or fleeing monsters, anything touched by a single drop was instantly reduced to its most primitive particle state.
[Warning! Server connection lost!]
[Warning! Physical layer disintegrating!]
The scarlet cursor in the sky flashed a few times, seemingly losing signal due to the network outage, and reluctantly disappeared into the void.
The higher-dimensional civilization retreated.
But they left behind a world in the process of destruction.
…
"Run! The sky is falling!"
On the ground, humans, witches, and demons were in chaos.
Faced with such an apocalyptic catastrophe, the power of the individual seemed so insignificant.
Shen Qingqiu and Seventeen hovered in mid-air, tossed about by the violent air currents.
"Is this... the price of a physical internet outage?" Shen Qingqiu stared at the torrent of data pouring down, at the land being swallowed up, her face pale.
If that breach wasn't plugged, if this sky wasn't held up,
the primordial world would be reduced to a blank sheet of paper in less than an hour.
"Seventeen." Shen Qingqiu turned to look at the man beside her.
Seventeen didn't speak.
He simply gazed silently at the collapsing sky, his purplish-red demonic eyes showing no fear, but rather a sense of... predetermined destiny.
He released his grip on Shen Qingqiu.
It was the first time he had willingly let go of her since returning from the abyss.
"Qingqiu." Seventeen's voice was deep, with a metallic magnetism.
He reached out his hand, covered in black-gold scales, and gently smoothed her wind-blown hair.
"You said the stroke of the character '人' (person) was support."
"Now, that '撇' (left-falling stroke) (Mount Buzhou) is broken."
Shen Qingqiu's heart clenched.
She guessed what he was going to do.
"No! Seventeen! Your body has just been reconstructed, you'll die!"
"I won't die." Seventeen shook his head, a wild smile playing on his lips.
"I am the Abyss Demon Lord. The only thing in this world that can kill me is your tears."
He lowered his head and kissed her forehead.
The touch was as gentle as kissing a flower.
"Ah Ling, take care of your mother."
"Dad! What are you doing?! Don't be impulsive!"
Ah Ling jumped anxiously on Shen Qingqiu's shoulder.
Seventeen didn't answer.
He turned around, his back to Shen Qingqiu, facing the collapsing sky.
"Limit Break."
"Form Reconstruction: Buzhou · Demon God Spine."
BOOM—!!!
Seventeen's body suddenly exploded.
This time, it wasn't flesh and blood, but endless black-gold nanofluid.
These fluids didn't dissipate, but instead surged in the wind.
One zhang… one hundred zhang… ten thousand zhang… one hundred thousand zhang!
Amidst the awe-inspiring gazes of all living beings in heaven and earth,
a brand-new, jet-black tower, radiating terrifying demonic power, rose from the ground.
That wasn't a tower.
That was Seventeen's spine.
He manifested the **[True Form of the Demon Lord]** he had cultivated after devouring countless demons in the Data Recycling Station.
No longer in human form, but a towering, all-encompassing black-gold spine.
The joints were distinct, each burning with red lotus flames, each vein flowing with purple starlight.
Clang!
A deafening roar.
The black-gold spine slammed into the broken foundation of Mount Buzhou.
Then, it grew wildly upwards.
Splat!
The tip of the spine pierced fiercely into the collapsing black hole in the sky.
The torrents of corrosive data poured down, drenching his bone.
Sizzle— Black smoke rose.
That was an excruciating pain, enough to melt divine metal.
But the spine remained unmoved.
"Rise…!!!" A roar, seemingly from the depths of hell, echoed through the heavens and earth along the spine.
Seventeen burned all the energy within her.
The Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire surged upwards along the spine, transforming into a colossal fiery curtain that forcefully pushed back the collapsing sky.
The sky stopped.
The torrent was halted.
It was just a bone.
Standing alone between heaven and earth.
Purely black, eerily red.
It replaced Pangu's spine, supporting this chaotic world on the verge of destruction.
…
"Seventeen…" Shen Qingqiu hovered beside the enormous black bone, as insignificant as a speck of dust.
She watched the black skeleton constantly being corroded and reborn.
Listening to the heavy, thunderous heartbeat emanating from within.
Thump, thump, thump.
That was him telling her: I'm still alive, don't cry.
Shen Qingqiu didn't cry.
At this moment, tears were the most useless thing.
She knew that Seventeen was buying her time.
Buying… time to mend the sky.
"Alright." Shen Qingqiu wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes, a blue flame igniting in her golden pupils.
"Since you've made this bone."
"Then I'll make… that skin."
She turned around, looking at Nuwa who was approaching on a cloud in the distance.
The Holy Nuwa held a Qiankun Cauldron in her hands, her face solemn.
She too was thrown off balance by this sudden turn of events.
"Your Majesty!"
Shen Qingqiu flew to Nuwa's side, her voice terrifyingly calm.
"The physical network shutdown is complete. Now is the best time to establish a firewall."
"A firewall?"
Nuwa looked at the towering black bone, a flicker of emotion crossing her eyes.
She recognized who it was.
The man who had once drawn his sword for humanity on the banks of the Wei River.
Now, for the sake of this world, he has forged himself into a pillar.
"I possess five-colored stones, capable of mending the heavens," Nuwa said solemnly. "But the waters of the Milky Way (data flow) are too fierce; ordinary stones cannot mend it."
"Use this." Shen Qingqiu pulled out the scroll *Star River Record* (the remnant of the holographic prism) from his robes, and also took out the [Bronze Fragment] (the bell tongue) that had always accompanied her.
"The five-colored stones are the hardware."
"These… are the source code." Shen Qingqiu looked at the gap in the sky being filled by the black bones.
"What we need to mend is not just stones."
"We need to install a layer… a membrane that higher-dimensional civilizations cannot penetrate into this primordial world."
…Atop Mount Buzhou · Refining Stones to Mend the Heavens.
Inside the Qiankun Cauldron, five-colored divine fire burned fiercely.
Nuwa threw in 36,501 five-colored stones.
Shen Qingqiu threw in the **"anti-virus code"** written by A-Ling.
Forty-nine days (equivalent to only a few minutes in this dimension).
"It's done!" Nuwa gently raised her hand.
A swirling, multicolored fluid flew out of the cauldron.
It wasn't stone; it was a flowing membrane of light.
"Go!" Nuwa pointed to the sky.
The multicolored membrane flew towards the opening in the sky.
But the pressure at the opening was too great; Seventeen's spine was already trembling, making it difficult for the membrane to adhere.
"I'll go help him."
Shen Qingqiu didn't hesitate at all.
She transformed into a streak of azure light and flew to the top of Seventeen's spine.
That was where the pressure was greatest.
A torrent of corrosive data washed over him like a waterfall.
The tips of Seventeen's bones had turned charred black, but he still stubbornly resisted, refusing to yield an inch.
Shen Qingqiu landed on his charred joints.
A scalding heat emanated from the soles of her feet.
"Seventeen, does it hurt?"
She asked softly, as naturally as if she were greeting him normally.
His spine trembled slightly.
A faint thought came through:
"It doesn't hurt...it's a little...itchy."
Shen Qingqiu smiled.
Tears finally fell.
They landed on the charred bones, instantly transforming into a blue lotus flower.
"Bear with it."
"We're going to...cover the sky."
Shen Qingqiu opened her arms.
[Concept Overwrite · Weaving the Sky.]
She guided the five-colored light membrane sent by Nuwa, gently but firmly covering the gap in the sky as if laying out a bed sheet.
Her hands were burned by the data stream, becoming bloody.
But she didn't stop.
Stitch by stitch.
She used her spiritual power as thread, sewing the five-colored light membrane together with Seventeen's spine.
"Merge!"
Boom—!!!
As the last ray of light flashed.
The five-colored light membrane rapidly hardened, transforming into a transparent barrier shimmering with neon light.
The waters of the Milky Way stopped.
The data deluge vanished.
The once gloomy sky regained its azure hue.
Sunlight streamed through the multicolored barrier, refracting into a seven-colored aurora.
That was the sign the firewall was working.
"Success..." The beings on the ground cheered in relief.
But Shen Qingqiu did not cheer.
She stood high in the sky, atop Seventeen's spine.
She felt the bone beneath her feet slowly cooling and hardening.
The mission was complete.
But he... seemed unable to return to his former self.
To withstand this heaven, Seventeen had completely exhausted the power of his Demon Lord true form.
His consciousness once again fell into a deep slumber.
Now, he had truly become a... Mount Buzhou.
"Seventeen?" Shen Qingqiu knelt on the massive black bone joint, her face pressed against its rough surface.
There was no response.
Only the faint, almost inaudible heartbeat still echoed deep within.
"Mother..." Ah Ling flew up, looking at the massive black pillar, tears streaming down her face.
"Father... he's crashed. This time it's really crashed. The reset button is worn out."
Shen Qingqiu stroked the cold, black-gold surface.
That was his bone.
Even turned to stone, to iron, it was still the hardest bone in the world.
"It's alright." Shen Qingqiu sat down, leaning against his joints.
She looked at the newly repaired, multicolored sky, at the reviving earth below.
"He's tired, let him sleep standing up for a while."
"I'll stay here with him."
"He used to carry me on his back."
"Now... it's my turn to watch over him."
The wind rose.
The clouds surged.
On the newly formed Buzhou Mountain, made of black-gold demonic bones.
A woman in a red dress sat quietly.
Like a red lotus blooming on a cliff, guarding her beloved who had become a monument.
The pillar of heaven collapsed, but the spine held up.
They won this gamble of physically cutting off the internet.
The price was… he became a mountain, and she became its guardian.
But this intertwined bond between mountain and water, isn't it another kind of… eternity?