Beneath the ruins of the palace lay an endless abyss.
The golden throne, shattered by Seventeen's punch, now stood as a gaping hole. Through this hole, one could glimpse the true "heart" of the Fog City.
What an ugly yet magnificent creation it was.
Countless thick brass pipes, tangled like a chaotic mess, connected to the central, enormous, pulsating, grayish-white biological brain. Steam hissed between the pipes, and green culture fluid flowed through the pumps.
This was the "God of Steam and Machinery."
A super-biological computer that had clung to life for thousands of years, fueled by the souls of millions of people in the entire city.
"You... destroyed all of this." Archbishop Moriarty stood on the edge of the terrace. He was no longer the elegant schemer he once was.
He tore off his red robe, revealing a mechanical body beneath, long since altered beyond recognition. Several thick cables connected to his spine plunged directly into the control panel behind him.
"Since the throne has crumbled, let this sinful city be sacrificed for the gods!" Moriarty laughed maniacally, yanking down the red lever beside him.
[Command: Orbital Strike]
[Target locked: Imperial Palace Hall]
[Countdown: 3...2...1...] In the sky, the thick smog was suddenly torn apart by a blinding beam of light.
It was an ancient satellite weapon, long dormant in near-Earth orbit, recharged after ten thousand years of slumber to destroy the two "insects."
"Seventeen!" Shen Qingqiu looked up, watching the white light, capable of vaporizing everything, descend from the sky.
"Present." Seventeen didn't turn around.
His already filthy white military uniform fluttered wildly in the wind.
He didn't dodge, but instead spread his arms, his grotesque black-gold right arm instantly expanding, transforming into a massive **"Xingtian Shield"**, flowing with magma patterns.
"Stand in my shadow, Master."
BOOM—!!!
Divine punishment descended.
A beam of light slammed into the black-gold shield.
It was a devastating outpouring of energy.
The ruins beneath Seventeen's feet instantly turned into lava. He let out a muffled groan, his knees slightly bent, but his back ramrod straight.
The intense heat scorched his armor; due to the overload, his skin began to crack, pale golden blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto Shen Qingqiu's skirt.
"Hold on."
Shen Qingqiu watched his trembling back, her heart aching.
But she didn't step forward to help. Because she knew that this was now her battlefield too.
She turned around, facing the "brain" in the abyss.
The lace folding fan in her hand unfolded with a "whoosh," obscuring half her face, revealing only a pair of eyes burning with crazed golden flames.
"It's just a soulless server." Shen Qingqiu sneered, her mental power like a sharp knife, piercing the vast network in reverse along the cable Moriarty had connected.
[System Access: Supreme Administrator.]
[Target: Biological Host "God of Steam".]
[Operation: Logic Tampering.]
"You think you're a god?"
Shen Qingqiu's voice boomed in the mental network, carrying a queenly arrogance.
"You're just a man-eating monster. And now, I'll let you taste the bitterness of being 'devoured'."
In the countless data streams, she found the most crucial **"Friend or Foe Identification Protocol"**.
Originally, Moriarty was the highest-level user.
But under Shen Qingqiu's pen (thought), that line of code was forcibly erased and rewritten into three red words:
[Virus Source].
"No… what are you doing?!" Moriarty suddenly realized his console was malfunctioning.
Not only did it malfunction, but the cables that had once docilely supplied him with energy suddenly transformed into ferocious tentacles, tightly binding his limbs.
In the abyss, the enormous creature's brain shifted its "eyeballs" (countless cameras).
Its gaze upon Moriarty was no longer one of favor, but rather… hunger.
[Killer virus detected: Moriarty.]
[Command: Eliminate. Devour.]
"No! I am your archbishop! I am your representative!!" Moriarty screamed in agony.
But "God" has no emotions.
Countless brass tentacles emerged from the abyss, instantly piercing Moriarty's mechanical body.
Like sucking juice, the tentacles began frantically draining his life force, his computational power, his soul.
"Since you wish to sacrifice yourself for God, then sacrifice yourself completely." Shen Qingqiu gently fanned himself with his folding fan, as if enjoying a magnificent opera.
As Moriarty was devoured, the "Heavenly Punishment" beam of light that had been aimed at Seventeen suddenly lost its guidance and began to sway wildly in the air.
"Seventeen, your chance!" Shen Qingqiu shouted sharply.
Seventeen had been waiting for this moment.
The red light in his eyes surged, the final outburst of Xing Tian's will.
"Open...for me!"
He abruptly withdrew his shield, his black-gold right arm clenched into a fist, and swung it fiercely at the swaying beam of light above his head.
[Xing Tian's Grip - Counterattack]
He actually used the devouring properties of his right arm to seize a portion of the Heavenly Punishment's energy, and then, like throwing a javelin, slammed this terrifying energy into the brain in the abyss!
Boom—!!!
The energy ball accurately struck the core of the "God of Steam."
The enormous creature's brain instantly boiled and vaporized.
"Awooo—!!!" Accompanied by a mournful cry that shattered the glass of the entire city, the monster that had entrenched itself beneath the Fog City for thousands of years finally met its end. A massive explosion erupted from the ground, shattering the entire palace.
Dust, debris, and a rain of green light from the monster's shattered body fell in a flurry.
At that moment, the perpetual fog of the Fog City was finally dispelled by the shockwave.
The long-lost starry sky appeared overhead.
It was all over.
Seventeen knelt on one knee, breathing heavily.
His right arm armor was completely shattered, revealing charred wiring. His white military uniform had turned grayish-black, only the medal still hanging on his chest, gleaming faintly.
"Master..." He looked up at Shen Qingqiu approaching him.
"Mission...complete." Shen Qingqiu walked to him.
Ignoring the filth on the ground, she knelt directly in the ruins and embraced the feverish man.
"You've worked hard, my steward." She kissed away the golden blood at the corner of his mouth, tears falling onto his mask.
"We should go." Shen Qingqiu looked up at the sky.
With the destruction of the "God of Steam," the underlying logic of this world was collapsing.
A massive vortex, composed of countless data streams, appeared in the sky. It was a passage to a higher dimension, a gateway to the next battlefield.
"Where to?" Seventeen leaned against her, his voice growing weaker. This battle had exhausted all his energy.
"To a place…where there's no need for coal, no need for winding up clocks." Shen Qingqiu grasped his hand; that once icy hand was now shockingly hot.
"There are neon lights flying in the sky, carriages without horses, and…a true ocean of data."
[World barrier breach detected.]
[Loading new map…]
[Target: Upper Realm · Cyber-Cultivation World.]
A blue beam of light descended from the vortex in the sky, enveloping the two.
Their bodies began to feel lighter, even becoming translucent.
This was the process of **"Data-Driven Ascension"**.
"Seventeen, hold on tight." Shen Qingqiu gripped his hand tightly.
"Are you scared?" she asked.
Seventeen looked at her, a gentle smile playing on his lips amidst the dissipating light and shadow.
It was the most precious expression he had learned in this world, besides killing.
"I'm not scared."
"As long as I'm by your side."
"Whether it's hell or heaven, it's home."
The light intensified.
The two figures transformed into two streaks of light, soaring into the sky and disappearing into the vast data galaxy.
Below them, the fog city was collapsing.
The souls liberated from the asylum, the monastery, the palace, transformed into countless firefly-like specks of light, following the two streaks of light, flying towards freedom.
That night.
Divine authority collapsed, the fog dissipated.
The legend of the Eastern Countess and her demonic butler became the last fairy tale of this old city.
...
[End-of-volume bonus - also the prologue]
When consciousness coalesced again. The hissing of steam was gone, replaced by a rhythmic, low-pitched electronic pulse.
Shen Qingqiu opened his eyes.
Before him lay a bizarre, neon-lit forest.
Hundreds of stories high skyscrapers pierced the clouds, holographic dragons weaved between them, and massive billboards flashed dazzling Chinese characters:
[Wanxian Alliance Group: Ascension Package, 50% off the first month.]
[Taishang Laojun Biotechnology: Ninth Generation Golden Core Chip, Hot Sale.]
This was… the cyber cultivation world.
"Cough cough…" A cough came from beside him.
Shen Qingqiu turned his head.
He saw Seventeen lying among a pile of cables flashing blue light.
His body had changed.
No longer was he wearing a tuxedo, no longer a mangled, cobbled-together wasteland body.
He now possessed a near-perfect artificial prosthetic body.
His long, silvery-white hair cascaded like a waterfall, his skin possessing a sophisticated, semi-transparent texture, with glimpses of golden data flowing beneath.
His "Xingtian's Grip" had evolved into a more precise, streamlined nano-black-gold arm.
He opened his eyes.
Those eyes were no longer one red and one blue.
But now they were a pair of deep-space-like purple pupils, filled with divinity and indifference.
But the moment he saw Shen Qingqiu, that divinity shattered instantly, transforming into a familiar attachment.
"Qingqiu..." His voice, transmitted through the brain-computer interface, resonated directly in Shen Qingqiu's mind.
Cold, magnetic, with a tingling, electric sensation.
"Welcome to...the new world." Shen Qingqiu stood up, looking at this bizarre, steel jungle, a wildly arrogant smile playing on her lips.
She reached out and pulled Seventeen up.
"Let's go, Seventeen."
"I heard the gods here live in the network."
"Then let's go—and cut off their network."
(Volume 3, Steam Mystery, The Revival of Divinity - End)
[Next Volume Preview: Volume 4, Cyber Cultivation, Data Ascension]
"Fellow Daoist, your system needs updating."
Here, ascension is uploading consciousness, possession is hacking, and magical artifacts are high-level apps.
Shen Qingqiu becomes a top hacker (talisman cultivator), and Seventeen becomes the strongest antivirus software (sword cultivator).
They will unleash a revolution called "Formatting" in this data-driven cultivation world.