The "re-coding" of the Cloud Fist Clan did not happen through speeches or executions. It happened through a cold, methodical overhaul of the Sect's daily routines. To the disciples, Lu Chen was a god-like figure who had shattered their world. To Arthur, he was simply an administrator cleaning up a cluttered, fragmented hard drive.
Three days after the "System Hijack," the Main Hall had been stripped of its ornate, inefficient decorations. In their place were rows of disciples sitting in "Data-Link" formations. No longer were they allowed to practice the flashy, wasteful movements of the old ways. Now, they practiced [Low_Latency_Breathing].
"Sect Leader—I mean, Lu Chen," Fatty Han whispered, stepping into the hall. He was now wearing a clean, dark-blue robe, looking more like a high-end server technician than a stable hand. "The Inner Disciples are complaining. They say that without the 'Flowing Mist' movements, their Qi feels... boring. They say it lacks the soul of the ancestors."
Lu Chen didn't look up from the jade scroll he was "reading"—actually, he was using AIDA to scan and index the Sect's entire library.
"Soul is just a word people use for inefficient output (Wasted Energy), Han," Lu Chen said, his eyes glowing with a faint green light. "Tell them that if they want 'soul,' they can go join a theater troupe. If they want power (High-Performance), they will follow the new instructions (The Patch). How is the resource distribution?"
"We've centralized the Spirit Stone supply," Han reported, checking a small ledger. "But we've hit a bottleneck (Storage Limit). The stones we took from the vault are 90% depleted. The disciples are processing energy so fast now that the mountain's natural flow can't keep up."
Lu Chen finally looked up. "AIDA, status on the mountain's energy supply."
[ ANALYSIS: THE_MOUNTAIN_IS_A_NATURAL_GENERATOR. ]
[ CURRENT_LOAD: 98%. ]
[ WARNING: ENERGY_DEMAND_EXCEEDS_RECOVERY_RATE. ]
[ NOTE: THERE_IS_A_HIDDEN_PARTITION_BENEATH_THE_SECT_FOUNDATION. ]
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "A hidden partition? You mean a secret room?"
[ NEGATIVE. IT_IS_AN_ENCRYPTED_ENERGY_RESERVE. IT_CONTAINS_A_HIGH-DENSITY_SOURCE_THAT_HAS_BEEN_LOCKED_FOR_THREE_CENTURIES. ]
***
Lu Chen stood up and walked toward the center of the hall, where a massive stone seal was embedded in the floor. This was the "Foundation Stone," the symbolic heart of the Sect. For hundreds of years, it had been treated as a holy relic.
"Everyone out," Lu Chen commanded.
The disciples scrambled to obey. Within seconds, the hall was empty, save for Lu Chen and the shivering former Sect Leader, Zhang, who was now acting as a "Consultant" (Legacy Support).
"Zhang," Lu Chen said, pointing at the seal. "What's under the floor? And don't give me the 'Ancestral Spirit' speech. Give me the technical details."
Zhang paled, his hands shaking. "That is the Forbidden Vault. The Founders placed a seal on it that cannot be broken. It's said to hold the 'Primordial Bug'—a power so unstable it would corrupt the mind of anyone who touches it."
"A 'Primordial Bug'?" Lu Chen smirked. "In my world, we just call that a 'Virus.' And usually, viruses are hiding the most interesting data."
Lu Chen knelt by the seal. To the naked eye, it was just ancient rock. To his Admin vision, it was a [COMPLEX_ENCRYPTION_GATE].
"AIDA, can we bypass the password?"
[ THE_ENCRYPTION_IS_BIOMETRIC. IT_REQUIRES_THE_BLOOD_OF_A_DIRECT_DESCENDANT_OF_THE_FOUNDER. ]
"Well, I don't have that," Lu Chen thought. "But I do have the shards of the Cloud-Piercer sword. That sword was forged by the Founder, right? It should contain the same 'Digital Signature'."
***
Lu Chen pulled out the broken shards of the Wind Dragon blade. He didn't use them to pry the seal open. Instead, he crushed the shards into a fine, glowing dust and sprinkled them over the stone seal.
"AIDA, simulate the Founder's DNA (Code Injection). Use the sword's residue to trick the lock into thinking the Admin has returned."
[ INITIATING_SPOOFING_ATTACK... ]
[ UPLOADING_LEGACY_CREDENTIALS... ]
[ 20%... 50%... 85%... ]
The stone seal began to glow with a deep, blood-red light. A sound like a thousand grinding gears echoed through the mountain. Zhang fell to his knees, praying to ancestors who weren't listening.
[ ACCESS_GRANTED. ]
[ OPENING_FORBIDDEN_DIRECTORY. ]
The floor slid open, revealing a spiral staircase that descended into a darkness so thick it seemed to swallow the light of the torches. Lu Chen didn't hesitate. He stepped into the darkness, his Stage 10 body automatically adjusting to the lack of visibility (Night Vision Mode).
***
At the bottom of the stairs was a room made entirely of obsidian. In the center of the room sat a single, glowing cube of purple crystal. It pulsed like a heartbeat, and every time it did, the mountain's energy (Qi) flickered.
"AIDA, what am I looking at?"
[ WARNING! WARNING! ]
[ DETECTED: COMPRESSED_MALWARE_CORE. ]
[ TYPE: 'SENTIENT_VOID_ENERGY'. ]
[ DANGER: THIS_IS_NOT_A_BATTERY. IT_IS_A_SERVER_FROM_A_PREVIOUS_CIVILIZATION. ]
"A server?" Lu Chen walked closer. As he did, the purple crystal flared. A voice, cold and synthesized, echoed not in the room, but directly in his brain.
...User detected...
...Scanning permissions...
...Warning: Unauthorized Admin detected...
...Initiating 'Security_Sweep'...
Suddenly, the shadows in the room rose up, forming into dark, pixelated shapes that looked like warriors. They weren't made of flesh or Qi; they were made of pure, destructive "Code."
"Arthur," AIDA's voice turned sharp. "These are not cultivators. These are [ANTIVIRUS_PROGRAMS]. Their strikes will not hurt your body; they will delete your memories and your cultivation (Format your Drive)."
"Finally," Lu Chen grinned, his sapphire-emerald eyes flaring to their maximum brightness. "A challenge that isn't just a bunch of guys in robes hitting things. AIDA, engage [COMBAT_KERNEL_MODE]. It's time to perform a manual override."
***
The shadow-warriors moved with a speed that bypassed the laws of physics (Zero Latency). One appeared behind Lu Chen and swung a blade of purple light.
Lu Chen didn't dodge. He reached out and caught the blade with his bare hand. Instead of a "clash" of metal, there was a sound like static electricity.
[ SYSTEM_ATTACK_DETECTED! ]
[ INITIATING_FIREWALL_PROTECTION... ]
"You can't delete me," Lu Chen growled. "I'm the one who does the deleting around here!"
He channeled his Stage 10 energy, but he didn't use it to strike. He used it as a "Probe." He sent his Qi into the shadow-warrior, searching for the "Loop" that kept it animated. Within milliseconds, he found it.
Delete.
The shadow-warrior vanished into a puff of purple smoke. The others paused, their pixelated faces flickering as if they were experiencing a "Logic Error."
"What's the matter?" Lu Chen mocked, stepping toward the purple cube. "Did your 'Anti-Virus' just encounter a 'Fatal Exception'?"
The purple cube pulsed violently. The room began to shake. The voice returned, louder and more distorted.
...High-Level Threat detected...
...Executing 'Plan_B'...
...Releasing 'The_Glitched_One'...
From the back of the obsidian room, a massive sarcophagus slid open. Inside was not a corpse, but a man covered in glowing purple circuits. His eyes were wide open, but they were empty—just static and white noise.
"AIDA," Lu Chen whispered, his heart rate actually increasing for the first time. "Who is that?"
[ ANALYSIS: THAT_IS_THE_FIRST_FOUNDER. ]
[ STATUS: 'ZOMBIE_PROCESS'. ]
[ HE_IS_NOT_ALIVE, BUT_HIS_CODE_IS_STILL_RUNNING_ON_A_LOOP. ]
[ POWER_LEVEL: UNKNOWN. ]
The Founder stepped out of the sarcophagus. He didn't bow. He didn't speak. He simply raised a hand, and the entire mountain's energy (The Sect's Bandwidth) was suddenly sucked into his palm.
"I see," Lu Chen said, cracking his neck. "So the Sect's 'Energy Source' is actually just a dead guy being used as a battery. That's a terrible way to manage a system."
Lu Chen took a combat stance. He knew this wasn't going to be a simple "Patch." This was going to be a [FULL_SYSTEM_REINSTALL].
"AIDA, prepare the 'Defragmenter.' We're going to take this Founder apart, line by line."
***
The fight lasted only seconds in real-time, but for Lu Chen and the Founder, it was an eternity of "Data Exchange." Every strike was a "Packet of Information" meant to overwrite the other.
When the dust settled, Lu Chen was standing over the dissolving body of the Founder. The purple crystal cube was now held in his hand, its glow turning from a hostile red to a compliant green.
[ SYSTEM_HIJACK_COMPLETE. ]
[ YOU_ARE_NOW_THE_ROOT_ADMIN_OF_THE_FORBIDDEN_VAULT. ]
[ NEW_RESOURCE_UNLOCKED: 'THE_VOID_ENGINE'. ]
Lu Chen felt a massive surge of power—not just physical strength, but "Access." He could now see every disciple in the Sect as a dot on a map. He could see their energy levels, their weaknesses, and their "Passwords."
He walked back up the stairs, the purple cube integrated into his own Dantian. As he stepped back into the Main Hall, Zhang and the others looked at him with a new kind of terror.
"The vault..." Zhang stammered. "You survived? You... you conquered the Primordial Bug?"
"The 'Bug' is now a 'Feature,' Zhang," Lu Chen said, his voice sounding like it was being layered with a thousand echoes. "And I just found the 'Password' to the neighboring Sect's territory. It seems they've been 'Leeching' our energy for years."
Lu Chen looked toward the horizon, where the Five Elements Sect lay.
"AIDA, prepare the 'Network.' We're going to go pay our neighbors a visit. They've been running an 'Unlicensed' version of our energy for far too long."