The rain had subsided slightly in Pig Cage Alley, but a damp mist still lingered.
Inside Clinic Number Thirteen, a red lantern swayed gently in the wind, casting a long shadow on the greasy floor.
"Ready?" Shen Qingqiu lay on the cold operating table, covered by the black trench coat Seventeen always carried, still warm from his body.
The skin on the back of her neck was slightly flushed. Seventeen was kneeling at the head of the bed, his gloved hands, with their distinct knuckles, holding a thick, military-grade data cable that gleamed with a ghostly blue light, hovering above the connector on the back of her neck.
"This time, we're infiltrating the 'Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's' underlying database, the so-called 'Scripture Pavilion - Dark Web Version.'" Seventeen's voice was low, tinged with barely concealed tension.
"The firewall there is at the 'Nascent Soul level.' Once discovered, your consciousness will be instantly incinerated, turning you into a vegetable."
"That's why I need you." Shen Qingqiu turned her head, looking into his worried purple eyes.
"You are my physical anchor. If I get lost inside, or swept away by the data torrent…"
She reached out and hooked his silver hair that fell beside his ear.
"Just pull me back." Seventeen grasped her hand, pressing it tightly against his cheek. His black-gold mechanical right arm was now as quiet as a watchful rock.
"I will."
"As long as my core is still beating, you will never be lost."
Click.
Seventeen plugged the data cable into the interface at the back of her neck.
[Connecting…]
[Target Address: Deep Web · Hidden Library.]
[Consciousness Uploading…]
…Weightlessness.
Followed by a dazzling, nauseating overload of light and shadow.
When Shen Qingqiu opened her eyes again, the crowded, filthy slum clinic had vanished.
In its place was an inverted sky.
There was no gravity here.
Countless raindrops of data, composed of green code, cascaded down from the abyss beneath her feet towards the sky like a waterfall.
At the end of that data waterfall, a magnificent, eerie, and aesthetically pleasing colossal tower, imbued with Eastern cyberpunk aesthetics, floated in the void.
That was the "Scripture Pavilion."
Unlike the stable structures of the mortal world, it was composed of countless rotating concentric rings. Golden scriptures (encryption algorithms) flowed across each ring, and occasionally, one or two bolts of red lightning (antivirus programs) would explode around the tower.
"Let's change my skin." Shen Qingqiu looked down at herself.
In this virtual world, she was no longer bound by her physical body.
With a thought,
her black leather coat instantly disintegrated, transforming into countless fluttering peach petals.
The petals gathered and reformed.
A fiery red ancient costume appeared on her. The wide sleeves fluttered in the data storm, and a black ribbon tied around her waist, outlining her graceful figure.
In her hand, a sword appeared.
It was no ordinary iron, but a longsword forged from pure **"logic code"**, its blade transparent and gleaming with a deadly cold light.
"Red-Clad Sword Immortal… Long time no see." Shen Qingqiu twirled her sword, her toes lightly touching the air.
Whoosh— She transformed into a red shooting star, against the reverse flow of data rain, heading straight for the suspended tower.
…At the tower's entrance was a massive, tightly closed bronze electronic door.
There was no keyhole, only two enormous, constantly rotating mechanical lion heads.
As soon as Shen Qingqiu approached,
"Roar—!!!" The two lion heads suddenly came to life. Their eyes shot out two red scanning lasers, locking onto Shen Qingqiu.
[Alert: Unauthorized access detected!]
[Identity: Unknown.]
[Defense Mechanism: Activated.]
Boom!
The air before the bronze gate suddenly distorted.
A behemoth, the size of a truck, its body composed of black gibberish and sharp polygons, leaped from the void.
It had three heads, each resembling a skinned, vicious dog, oozing green acid (corrosive virus).
This was the most infamous watchdog of the Myriad Immortals Alliance—the "Soul-Devouring Beast Type III."
"Another dog." Shen Qingqiu gracefully stopped in mid-air, his longsword pointing diagonally at the ground.
"The aesthetics of the Myriad Immortals Alliance haven't changed a bit in thousands of years." The behemoth didn't waste words.
Its middle head opened its blood-red maw, unleashing a black sonic wave (DDoS attack).
Shen Qingqiu advanced instead of retreating.
She took a step in the air, a golden lotus flower blooming beneath her feet to support her.
"Sword Technique - Deciphering."
She swung her longsword.
There was no earth-shattering sword energy.
Only an extremely thin, extremely fast, extremely precise silver thread.
That thread seemed to have a life of its own, instantly slicing into the interior of the black sonic wave.
It wasn't resisting head-on, but deconstructing it.
Sizzle— The seemingly terrifying sonic attack, upon contact with the silver thread, instantly collapsed and disintegrated like a lizard whose bones had been removed, turning into a pile of harmless gibberish that drifted away.
"Awooo?" The Soul-Devouring Beast was stunned. Its logic library didn't have this kind of response.
But Shen Qingqiu didn't give it a chance to think.
Her figure moved like lightning, instantly going against the current.
Her red robes drew a tragic arc in the air as she landed directly on the Soul-Devouring Beast's back.
"Let me see just how awful your core code is." Shen Qingqiu's left hand pressed against the Soul-Devouring Beast's spine, which was composed of gibberish.
[Golden Eyes · Activated.]
*Buzz—* In her vision, the ferocious beast was instantly disassembled into countless lines of green code.
"Circular redundancy…logical deadlock…still using encryption protocols from twenty years ago?"
A mocking smile played on Shen Qingqiu's lips.
"Since you're the gatekeeper, you should act like one."
Her longsword plunged into the Soul-Devouring Beast's nape (control center).
[Command: Force Overwrite.]
[Target: Soul-Devouring Beast -> Husky.]
[Attributes: Obedient, Well-behaved, Destructive (crossed out), Cute.]
"Awooo—!!!" The Soul-Devouring Beast let out a scream, its body beginning to convulse violently.
The black gibberish on its body began to fall off, its sharp polygonal edges becoming rounded.
In just three seconds.
The terrifying three-headed hound was gone.
In its place stood a huge, furry dog with eyes brimming with "intelligence"... a three-headed husky.
It panted, wagged its tail, and looked at the woman in red on its back with a fawning expression.
The ferocity from before was gone, replaced by a strangely adorable look.
"Good boy." Shen Qingqiu patted the middle dog's head.
"Open the door."
"Woof!" The three-headed husky barked excitedly, then turned and began frantically scratching at the bronze door.
As the guard dog, it had the highest clearance.
Click—rumble—
The bronze electronic door, supposedly impenetrable, slowly opened thanks to its own dog's "betrayal."
...Entering the tower, the scene was even more bizarre.
There were no bookshelves, only countless data cubes floating in mid-air. They resembled glowing honeycombs, densely packed together.
Shen Qingqiu rode her three huskies, traversing the data cubes.
She was searching.
Searching for the key to allowing Seventeen's body to evolve again—the [Nano Divine Gold Refining Chart].
"Third layer...Seventh section...Found it." Shen Qingqiu stopped before a cube radiating a dark golden light.
She reached out, wanting to touch the cube.
Just then.
Alarm! Alarm!
Administrator-level intrusion detected!
Calling the highest security protocol: Firewall Guardian!
The surrounding space suddenly froze.
Countless sharp sword energies attacked from all directions.
These weren't ordinary sword energies; they were **"Virus-Killing Flying Swords"**. Each sword was a program specifically designed to eliminate intrusive consciousness.
A phantom dressed in white, carrying a long sword, slowly coalesced in the void.
That was the projection of the Guardian of the Myriad Immortals Alliance—the White Cloud Sword Immortal.
"What kind of demon dares to trespass into the Scripture Pavilion?" The white-robed swordsman's gaze was like lightning, his imposing aura like a mountain.
Shen Qingqiu jumped down from the husky's back.
She looked at the illusory figure, her longsword trembling slightly, emitting a clear, resonant dragon's roar.
In the real world, she had no spiritual root and could not cultivate swordsmanship.
But in the network world, in the realm of data.
She was a god.
"A demon?" Shen Qingqiu smiled. Her red robes fluttered, her long hair moving without wind.
"I am... the master of the source code."
"Sword, come!"
She uttered a soft cry.
This wasn't summoning a sword.
She was summoning data.
The surrounding rain of data suddenly stopped, then converged wildly.
Countless "0s" and "1s" rearranged and combined under her will, transforming into thousands of red lightsabers, hovering behind her.
The scene was magnificent, like a peacock spreading its tail, or like the sunset spreading across the sky.
"Go." Shen Qingqiu flicked her sword finger.
Ten thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously.
A crimson stream of swords, like a roaring, enraged dragon, met head-on with the White Cloud Sword Immortal's anti-virus flying sword.
Boom boom boom—!!!
A violent explosion erupted within the virtual space.
This wasn't a clash of energy, but a contest of computing power.
The White Cloud Sword Immortal's swordplay was exquisite, conforming to the Heavenly Dao (system logic).
But Shen Qingqiu's swordplay… was entirely bugged.
Her sword could curve, teleport, and even self-replicate.
She was utterly unreasonable; she was fighting with a "modifier."
"This… what kind of swordsmanship is this?!" The White Cloud Sword Immortal's phantom was riddled with holes, data streams constantly overflowing.
"This is called… the DDoS Sword Technique." Shen Qingqiu's figure flashed, instantly appearing before the White Cloud Sword Immortal.
Her longsword mercilessly pierced his brow.
[Permission: Delete.] Bang.
The illusory image of the white-robed swordsman shattered instantly, transforming into countless specks of light.
Shen Qingqiu didn't linger.
She reached out and grabbed the dark golden cube, yanking it away forcefully.
[Download complete.]
"Retreat!"
She patted the three trembling huskies beside her.
"Goodbye, doggy."
She transformed into a streak of red light, rushing towards the exit she had come from.
The tower behind her began to collapse, and alarms blared throughout the Deep Web.
...The Real World.
Clinic Thirteen.
On the operating table, Shen Qingqiu suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for breath.
She was drenched in cold sweat, as if she had just been pulled from the water.
"Qingqiu!" Seventeen, who had been watching over her, immediately unplugged the data cable.
He helped her up and held her tightly in his arms.
"How are you? Are you hurt?"
His voice was urgent, his hand pressed against her back, continuously channeling warmth.
Shen Qingqiu leaned against him, taking a while to recover from the dizziness.
She raised her hand, clutching a small, dark golden storage chip tightly in her palm.
It was the trophy she had brought out at the last moment when she materialized the data.
"Got it." Shen Qingqiu smiled weakly, but her eyes shone with an astonishing light.
"Seventeen, with this..."
She pressed the chip against his chest, where his core reactor was located.
"Your body can evolve into a true... indestructible golden body."
Seventeen didn't look at the chip.
He simply used his cold, mechanical hand to gently wipe the cold sweat from her forehead and tidied her disheveled hair.
"I don't care about the golden body."
He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her pale lips.
"I only care... that you're back." The rain was still falling.
Outside the clinic, the neon lights continued to flicker.
In this small room, clutching the chip that could drive the entire Immortal Alliance mad, the two slept in each other's arms.
A fleeting shadow in the deep web, a red-clad figure slaying a wicked dragon.
This was merely the first legend left behind by that hacker queen in this cyber cultivation world.