nyslfriends Chapter 145 Which Half to Throw Away First
Chapter 145 Which Half to Throw Away First
The moment the scroll began to roll, Chen Fan felt as if a piece of his brain had been ripped out.
It's not pain, it's emptiness.
That emptiness was very concrete—he suddenly couldn't remember what he looked like before he transmigrated. The face in the mirror was both familiar and strange, like looking at someone else. He remembered that his name was Chen Fan, that he had fed monkeys fruit for a hundred years under Wuzhi Mountain, and that he remembered the sound when the system was activated, but before that... the faces of his college roommates, his parents' birthdays, and what his first job was, all became blurry shadows.
"Chen Fan." He heard himself call out, the sound echoing in his hollow voice. "Who is Chen Fan?"
Chen Xuance, standing beside him, was in even worse shape. He suddenly knelt down, clutching his head with both hands, his knuckles clenched until they turned white. The muscles beneath his once neat executive officer uniform were now twitching uncontrollably, and his eyes quickly went from clear to blank.
"Instructions...priority..." he uttered through gritted teeth, then paused, as if a program were stuck in a loop. "Target...clear...obstacles..."
He fell silent again before he could finish speaking. This silence was even more profound than before. He seemed to have lost his soul, staring blankly at the stone tablet at the bottom of the pool, his breath catching in his throat.
Chen Fan's own memories were also rapidly fading. But strangely, the core elements such as "Flower Fruit Mountain," "monkeys," and "system confrontation" remained exceptionally clear. It was as if... someone had etched the main storyline into their very bones, and everything else was just disposable decoration.
"I..." Chen Fan opened his mouth, wanting to remind Chen Xuance, but found even his motivation for doing so had become vague. Save him? Why save him? This thought had barely surfaced when it was pushed back by an even stronger thought—the scroll must be completed. This was the only thing that could not be ignored right now.
Their bodies began to glow. Not the energy glow from before, but a more primal, subtle light, as if emanating from their very bones. The gray-gold turbulence ceased its violent flow, instead slowly rotating to form a double helix structure that enveloped them.
The conclusion page suddenly appeared.
It wasn't a projection; it floated directly in the air between the two of them. The interface, with gray background and red text, had every pixel flashing at a high frequency.
【determination】
[Subject A: Chen Fan]
Existing memory anchors: 43%
[71% of basic memories from before the time travel were lost]
[Current task cognitive completeness: 99%]
[Assessment: Capable]
[Subject B: Chen Xuance]
[Existing disciplinary memory anchors: 18%]
[Standard operating procedures for executives are missing: 89%]
[Current task cognitive completeness: 97%]
[Assessment: Capable]
[Feasibility Assessment of Consolidation]
Dual-shell compatibility: A perfect match
[Memory Redundancy: Safe]
[New definition of carrier updated: 'Continuer - Twins']
[The Ninth Experimental Field's Old Shell: Officially Archived]
The voice was electronically synthesized, but this time it carried obvious static, like the hissing sound of an old radio failing to tune. With each word, the light emanating from Chen Fan and Chen Xuance brightened, while their eyes grew even more vacant.
"The sequel writer..." Chen Fan repeated the word, tasting a hint of rust on his tongue. He wanted to laugh, but couldn't. Continuing what? Whose story? This should have been a clear answer, but now it felt like looking through frosted glass.
Chen Xuance suddenly shook violently.
"Discipline..." he murmured, raising his hand to look at his palm as if seeing it for the first time. "What is discipline?"
Then he looked at Chen Fan, his eyes flashing with a sharpness for a moment, but that sharpness was quickly overwhelmed by bewilderment.
"We must..." he paused, as if struggling to assemble the words, "...win."
These were the last words he spoke while fully conscious. After speaking, his head drooped again, light filtering through his blurred outline, his expression gone.
Chen Fan felt a chill. It wasn't fear, but an instinctive alarm triggered by the stripping away of his cognitive understanding. He knew something was happening, but what drove him was no longer "I want" but "I must".
The gray-gold turbulence suddenly accelerated.
The double helix begins to compress and collapse inward.
**Right now.**
It's not anyone's order; it's driven by some higher-level set of rules.
Chen Fan felt himself being pulled apart, not spatially, but existentially. A part of him remained here—his promise to the monkey, his responsibility to Flower Fruit Mountain, his obsession with shattering it all—while another part was being pulled away, drawn to a more abstract plane.
Is it identity? Is it memory? Or is it simply the concept of "I"?
He didn't have time to think it through.
Because at the very moment the double helix is compressed to its limit—
**boom!!!**
It's not just sound; it's a direct impact on the cognitive level.
A beam of pure black light cleaved down from above the valley. Without a trajectory, without warning, it appeared out of thin air and hurtled straight toward the collapsing double helix core.
The observer's final blow.
It was purer and more deadly than ever before. So pure that there were no energy fluctuations whatsoever; it was "non-existence" itself attacking "existence."
Chen Fan's pupils contracted sharply. He saw it clearly—it wasn't a beam of light, but a "delete command." He was all too familiar with the format; it was exactly the same as the forced format he used when unbinding, but on a scale tens of millions of times larger. This was meant to completely erase the "Chen Fan-Chen Xuance" merged result from the records of the Ninth Experimental Field, leaving not even a trace of archiving.
"No--!"
The roar wasn't made by him.
It is in all directions of the valley.
Countless points of light simultaneously appeared on the stone wall, on the remaining stone tablet, and even in the black water at the bottom of the pool.
It's not individual lights, but lights connected in a line.
It's a projection of Flower and Fruit Mountain.
It's not a scene reflected in a mirror-like surface, but a more primal, collective resonance, as if the entire canyon were a screen. Every inch of rock, every drop of water, reflects some shared will.
Sun Wukong had the most points of light. Golden light seeped from the cracks in his stone statue's remains. That wasn't magic power, but something more primal—the resentment and unwillingness accumulated over five hundred years of suppression, and the "twisted logic" left behind by Chen Fan's daily chatter over those hundred years.
The white dragon horse's projection on the left represents the dragon race's locked-up arrogance.
The shadow of the Bull Demon King on the right represents the grandeur of Ping Wanshan.
Even the lesser demons who had been turned against their cause, the rogue cultivators who had been recruited, and even the phantom of Tang Sanzang who had just "surrendered," were all within the specks of light. At this moment, everyone's fragmented memories and obsessive emotions became fuel.
The lines formed by the dots of light intertwined in the air to form a huge, irregular character for "resistance." It wasn't a word, but a pure gesture of resistance.
**boom--!!!**
The second impact.
The black delete command crashed into the word "resist".
There was no explosion.
It means "dissolve".
The black light seemed to have encountered an extremely hot object; its edges began to curl and evaporate. But the character "抗" (resist) was also rapidly dimming, with the light spots extinguishing one after another.
The price is too high. This is a desperate struggle fueled by collective memory and a sense of existence. With each extinguished light, the valley grows quieter. Something is being truly taken away.
Chen Fan watched helplessly as Sun Wukong's light dimmed. It didn't disappear; it retreated into the cracks in the rocks, as if hibernating. The backlash the monkey himself suffered was undoubtedly significant.
"monkey……"
He opened his mouth, but no more sound came out.
And it escalated to the most critical moment.
The double helix had been compressed to less than the size of a fist, and two points of gray light at the core were flashing violently, like two hearts vying for the last bit of space to beat.
The judgment text on the conclusion page began to disappear one by one.
[New carrier definition updated: 'Continuer - Twin'] - flickering, fading.
[The Ninth Experimental Field Old Shell: Officially Archived] - Flickering, fading.
Only the last line remains:
[Completion of merged volume: loading…… 87%…… 92%……]
The numbers are ticking slower and slower.
While the black delete command has been weakened, its core remains stable and is being pushed down again at a slower but unstoppable pace.
98%.
99%.
100%——
**The roll is now complete.**
The light on Chen Fan and Chen Xuance went out at the same time.
Both of them went limp and collapsed to the ground. Chen Fan's mind was completely blank—not blank in the sense of thought, but a void where even the concept of "blank" didn't exist. He didn't know who he was, where he was, or even what "not knowing" meant.
Chen Xuance was slightly better off than him, at least he was breathing, but his eyes were completely empty. All the rules and regulations of an executive officer were gone, leaving only the most primal thought: mission... what is a mission?
The valley was eerily quiet.
All the projections of Flower Fruit Mountain have disappeared. The stones are still stones, the water is still water, but they have lost their vitality.
Only that stone tablet still bears Chen Fan's name.
It was dark and seemed about to collapse.
Then--
**drop.**
A soft sound.
The system interface reappeared in Chen Fan's field of vision.
But it's not the usual Blu-ray interface.
It's a black screen.
Pure black, devoid of any patterns or text. It's like a monitor being unplugged, or like... the world being silenced.
Only in the center, a tiny line of gibberish, resembling the end of some kind of code, was scrolling extremely slowly:
[Carrier...mutation...new...sequel...]
The text was not fully displayed.
The screen went completely black.
It's extremely dark.
Chen Fan sat on the cold stone at the bottom of the pool, unable to move. It wasn't that he couldn't, but that he had forgotten who to send the command to "move".
The last thing he saw was the light on his own name on the stone tablet, which then went out.
The valley was plunged into absolute darkness and silence.
But in this deathly silence—
For the first time, his and Chen Xuance's breathing were completely synchronized.
a bit.
Another one.
It's like the same body breathing.
Above the sky, the third layer of cold light flickered even more rapidly.
#Chapter 397 After the Black Screen
The tranquility of Flower Fruit Mountain lasted only three breaths.
Then the sky fell.
It wasn't an adjective; it truly collapsed. The first layer of the sky was like crumpled paper, twisted and crumpled together, revealing the pitch-black void behind it. The second layer of the sky was even more direct; with a crisp crack, cracks spread outwards from the center, covering the entire sky like a spiderweb.
"Eugenic fluctuations are violent!!" Bai Jingjing's voice boomed from the communication array, "Chen Fan's vital signs... are gone!!"
Chaos reigned on the other end of the communication line. The roar of the Bull Demon King, the exclamation of Pigsy, and Nezha's cold "Activate the emergency plan" were all mixed together, like a pot of boiling porridge.
On the stone bridge, Sun Wukong suddenly stood up.
The golden cudgel trembled in his hand, not from fear, but from anger.
"My brothers are my brothers," he said softly, like the calm before a storm, "who dares to touch them?"
He looked up at the sky.
There is something in the sky.
The cold light of the third layer of the sky was still flashing, but this time it was different. Before it flickered, now it was moving—like countless eyes staring at Flower Fruit Mountain, at the stone bridge, and at the place where Chen Fan had just disappeared from different directions.
"Damn it!" Pigsy rarely swore. "What's going on? Where's Chen Fan? Where did Chen Fan go?"
No one answered.
The true core of Flower Fruit Mountain fluctuated violently, and muffled thunderous sounds emanated from within the mountain, as if the entire mountain was trembling and screaming. The flowers and plants on the ground withered at a visible speed, losing their luster.
Bai Jingjing stared intently at the monitoring array.
In the vital signs section, Chen Fan's name was still there, but it was followed by a word—
[To be determined]
"What does 'pending' mean?" Her voice trembled.
"It means," Nezha said, already holding his fire-tipped spear, "that he might still be here, but for the time being... he can't come back."
"Perhaps," Ao Bing interjected, his voice colder than ice, "completely gone."
Huaguo Mountain was plunged into unprecedented chaos.
Meanwhile, in a place unknown to everyone—
In complete darkness.
Chen Fan still couldn't move.
It wasn't that his body couldn't move, but that his mind couldn't move. His consciousness was like being trapped in a transparent box; he could see outside, but couldn't touch it. His eyes were open, but all he could see was darkness.
The system's sound has completely disappeared.
But strangely, he wasn't afraid.
Because he discovered that although the system screen was black, something had appeared in his consciousness—like a door that was closed before but was now slightly open.
Chen Xuance stood on the other side of the seam.
This isn't the Chen Xuance from before, not the Chen Xuance who negotiated with him, hesitated, and finally nodded. It's an... older version? Or rather, a more complete version?
"You..." Chen Fan wanted to ask who you were.
But he found that he couldn't make a sound.
That "Chen Xuance" made a move.
He raised his hand, palm up, as if holding something.
Then Chen Fan saw—
It was a single page.
There were words written on the paper, but Chen Fan couldn't see them clearly. It wasn't that the writing was blurry; it was that his eyes couldn't focus, as if interfered with by some force.
"The first rule," "Chen Xuance" spoke, his voice ringing directly in Chen Fan's mind, "The system owner must not harm the core of the experimental field."
"The second rule," he paused, as if waiting for something, "is that the core of the experimental field can rewrite the rules."
Chen Fan's pupils dilated.
What is this?
This wasn't in the script!
"Surprising, isn't it?" "Chen Xuance" laughed. "Me too. I thought I was already archived, but I never expected to be pulled out and have my story continued."
"Who exactly are you..." Chen Fan finally managed to speak.
"Me?" Chen Xuance's smile was complicated. "I am your scrapped case, and also your executor."
"The Ninth Experimental Field," his voice suddenly lowered, "was originally built by me."
"!!!"
It felt like a thunderbolt had exploded in Chen Fan's mind.
Was the Ninth Experimental Field built by Chen Xuance?
So the name he saw on that stone tablet earlier... was it his own?
No, it's his name in the modern world?!
"You don't need to know everything," said "Chen Xuance," "You only need to know one thing—"
"A black screen does not mean the system has failed."
"It's a reboot."
"And you," he said, referring to Chen Fan, "are the only one who succeeded in restarting."
"Now," he handed over the page, "you write the second rule."
Chen Fan looked at that page of paper.
The words on the paper began to change, from blurry to clear—
[Second rule supplement: The core owner of the experimental field has the right to designate the next executor, and the executor must fully inherit all the permissions of the previous executor, including but not limited to: modifying rules, restarting the system, and erasing abnormal data]
Chen Fan swallowed.
This means...
"I appoint you," he said, his voice still trembling but firm, "Chen Xuance, the executor of the Ninth Experimental Field."
"Rule number one," he continued, "I reserve."
"The second rule," he said, looking into Chen Xuance's eyes, "is to be enforced by you."
"But the final interpretation rests with me."
Chen Xuance smiled.
He laughed very loudly.
"Okay," he said. "This is the Chen Fan I know."
"Go back to Huaguo Mountain, it's about to explode."
Chen Fan hadn't even had time to react—
Bright eyes.
Flower and Fruit Mountain, Stone Bridge.
Sun Wukong had already raised his golden cudgel. No one knew what he intended to do, but with one strike, the entire mountain might truly be gone.
"Wukong," a voice called from the end of the stone bridge, "put down the staff."
A person stood at the end of the stone bridge.
The man was tall and straight, with his back to everyone on Flower Fruit Mountain. He was dressed in very simple clothes, but his demeanor had changed—if the previous Chen Fan was like a sword with its edge hidden, the current Chen Fan was more like a drawn blade.
"You..." Sun Wukong was stunned.
The golden cudgel was slowly lowered.
The man turned around.
It's Chen Fan.
But it doesn't quite look like it.
Something new appeared in his eyes—a weariness from countless reincarnations, or perhaps a sense of relief at finally seeing through everything. Most strangely, a dark red mark, like a drop of congealed blood, appeared between his brows.
"Great Sage," Chen Fan said calmly, "I'm back."
"There was a slight system malfunction just now," he smiled, "I just... upgraded it a bit."
"Upgrade?" Bai Jingjing rushed out of the communication array, looking him up and down. "Are you...are you alright? Your vital signs were just showing 'pending,' it scared us to death!"
"Being pending is a good thing," Chen Fan said. "It means I'm not dead, but... undergoing some kind of transformation."
"Transform what?" Pigsy asked, leaning closer.
Chen Fan did not answer.
He turned to look at the sky.
The third layer of the sky was still there, but the cold lights no longer moved. They seemed to be suppressed by something, hanging obediently in the sky, without even blinking.
"Haven't you noticed?" Chen Fan said, "Since just now, half of the eyes in the sky have disappeared."
Everyone looked up.
Really.
The dense array of cold light that previously filled the third layer of the canopy has now diminished by more than half, leaving only a few scattered points, like candles that have been extinguished.
"They're afraid," Chen Fan said, "afraid of what I just saw on the black screen."
"What is it?" Nezha asked.
Chen Fan smiled but didn't say anything.
He raised his hand, palm up.
A completely new system interface has appeared—it's much simpler than before, with only two lines of text:
[Rule Number 1: The system owner must not harm the core of the experimental field]
[Rule #2: Core of the Experimental Field, rules can be rewritten]
A line of smaller print appeared below the rules—
[Executor: Chen Fan/Xuan Ce]
"Wait a minute," Ao Bing noticed the problem, "Chen Fan · Xuan Ce? You changed your name?"
"No," Chen Fan said, "this is my new code name."
"The Ninth Experimental Field's Executor," he paused, "Chen Fan, Xuan Ce."
Sun Wukong stared at him for a long time.
"You little rascal," he said, "are you really alright?"
"It's alright," Chen Fan's smile widened. "Great Sage, not only am I alright, I've also discovered some... interesting secrets."
"What secret?"
Chen Fan did not answer immediately.
He looked down at the stone bridge beneath his feet.
The stone bridge was still the same stone bridge, but something had appeared on its surface—a row of small footprints, stretching from one end of the bridge to the other, as if someone had just walked across it.
But everyone on Flower Fruit Mountain knew that just now, only Sun Wukong was standing on that bridge.
"I've walked across this bridge," Chen Fan said, his voice suddenly lowering.
"What??"
"It was during that black screen period," he continued, "that I completed it."
"At the end of the bridge is a tomb."
"Buried in the grave," he took a deep breath, "is the first owner of the Ninth Experimental Field."
My past life.
The entire room fell silent.
This news is shocking. Chen Fan's past life? The founder of the Ninth Experimental Field? The name engraved on that stone tablet...
"Stop talking," Sun Wukong waved his hand, "Let me catch my breath."
"Okay," Chen Fan said, "then I'll talk about something else."
He raised his head and looked east.
A red light was flashing on the eastern horizon.
"There's someone waiting for us over there," he said. "Want to see them?"
"Who?"
"Tathagata"
Two words, like two bombs.
The expressions of everyone from Huaguo Mountain changed.
"Tathagata?" Pigsy jumped up. "Which Tathagata? The Buddha? What's he doing here?!"
"I don't know," Chen Fan's smile faded, "but he certainly wasn't doing it to reminisce."
"The team he led," he paused, "was the entire main force of the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling."
"To fight or not?" Sun Wukong had already raised his golden cudgel.
"We have to fight," Chen Fan said, "but before we fight, I have to do something first."
"What is it?"
Chen Fan extended his hand.
Palms facing upwards.
The page with the rules written on it appeared.
He looked at the paper and remained silent for three seconds.
Then he spoke, his voice not loud, but everyone on Flower Fruit Mountain could hear him clearly—
"The second rule, write it now."
"The Ninth Experimental Field, from this moment on—"
"There is no Buddha."
A muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky.
The red light in the east stopped.
#Chapter 398, Rule 2
The red light in the east stopped.
It's not fading, it's completely stopping.
It felt like someone was choking me.
Huaguo Mountain was deathly silent.
Sun Wukong still held his staff aloft, but his eyes had turned eastward. The ball of red light hung motionless in mid-air, as if nailed down by something.
"What's wrong?" the monkey asked.
Chen Fan did not answer.
He looked at the page in his palm.
The ink was still seeping into the paper, each character seeping out one by one. The words were written very slowly, as if climbing upwards from a very deep place—
"Rule number two: The fate of the characters in the Ninth Experimental Field shall not be unilaterally altered by any external party."
The moment he finished writing, Chen Fan felt a sense of relief in his chest.
It felt like something had been taken off my shoulder.
"What does that mean?" The Bull Demon King leaned closer, staring at the page. "What's the outer layer? And what are the deletions and alterations?"
"The meaning is simple." Chen Fan held the paper up high so everyone could see it. "From now on, we'll make our own decisions."
"If they want to make changes, they have to ask us first."
The Bull Demon King was stunned for a moment.
Then he grinned, revealing two rows of fangs.
"I like hearing that."
"Don't rush, it's not over yet," Chen Fan said.
He turned towards the solidified red light in the east.
"What were you trying to say just now?"
The red light did not respond.
But just then, a sound came from within the red light, sharp and thin, like a piece of metal scraping against glass—
"You dare to block outer access?"
"Who do you think you are?"
Chen Fan smiled.
"Who do I am? Didn't you just see that?"
"I deflected your blade."
The red light flickered violently.
The sound grew higher and sharper—
"That's just one flank in the clearing operation! You think blocking one line will stop the whole thing?"
"There are countless ways to delete and modify! There are countless recycling towers! Can you block one, or even countless others?"
Chen Fan remained silent.
He simply raised the paper in his palm a little higher.
"Where are all those things you mentioned earlier—the deletion tool, the recycling tower, the cleanup portal—now?"
The red light fell silent for a moment.
Then the voice turned into a gritted-teeth tone—
"You think writing a rule will make them disappear?"
"They won't disappear."
They will only—
Before he could finish speaking, the sky in the west suddenly brightened.
It's not just ordinary brightness.
A golden light shot out from the western horizon, flying straight towards Flower Fruit Mountain. The golden light was extremely fast, arriving in the blink of an eye.
Sun Wukong's fiery eyes suddenly widened.
That is—
Golden light exploded in the sky above Flower Fruit Mountain, turning into countless points of light that rained down like raindrops.
Each point of light that lands becomes a person.
There were monks wearing kasayas.
There were heavenly generals clad in armor.
There is a demon king who rides a beast.
There were ghost messengers carrying lanterns.
Characters from all walks of life in the Three Realms densely packed together, surrounding half of Flower Fruit Mountain.
The Bull Demon King's expression changed.
"What...what's going on?"
Chen Fan stared at those people.
Those people were also staring at him.
But strangely, no one made a move.
Everyone stood still, motionless, as if frozen in place by something.
"What happened to them?" Sun Wukong asked.
"Waiting," Chen Fan said.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Wait until that thing deletes and modifies them."
Chen Fan pointed to the red light in the east.
"Before, how they did, thought, and lived was all dictated by that thing. If it wanted them to fight us, they would fight us. If it wanted them to die, they would die."
"But now—"
He held up the page.
"Rule number two is in effect. Their fate cannot be unilaterally altered."
In other words—
"For the first time, they had 'themselves.'"
Sun Wukong was stunned.
He looked at the characters who had been brought by the golden light, at the bewildered expressions on their faces, and at their eyes that were gradually regaining their "human" look.
So...they are now...
"Now they can choose for themselves," Chen Fan said, "to fight us, or not to fight us."
"Help us, or don't help us."
"Live or die."
"It's all up to them to decide."
Sun Wukong fell silent.
In all his years of life, this was the first time he had ever heard such a statement.
choose?
Isn't fate predetermined?
Wasn't this arranged by Buddha?
Wasn't it written in the Book of Life and Death?
When... can I choose for myself?
"You..." the monkey began, its voice hoarse, "Are you serious?"
"Look at them," Chen Fan said, pointing to the nearest heavenly general.
That day he would be wearing silver armor, holding a long spear, but the tip of the spear would be drooping. There was a light in his eyes, as if something was awakening.
"I..." she began, her voice hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time, "Who...am I?"
"You are Jinzha, the third prince under Li Jing and Nezha's third brother," a monk beside him interjected, his voice equally hoarse. "You once helped Manjushri Bodhisattva subdue the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge, and you once accompanied the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King on his conquest of Flower Fruit Mountain..."
"No." Jin Zha shook his head.
"What's wrong?"
"I...I don't remember those things," Jinzha said. "I only remember...I remember..."
He frowned, as if desperately trying to recall something.
"I remember I wanted to go to the East China Sea to watch the sunrise."
"But every time I reach the beach, I turn back."
"I don't know why."
"I just...wanted to go and see."
"Just... take a look."
The monk next to him was stunned.
Sun Wukong was also stunned.
Chen Fan smiled.
"Because your destiny was already written," he said. "The thing that wrote your destiny doesn't need you to see the sunrise. So every time you want to go, it will make you turn back."
"But now—"
He held the page up in front of Jinzha.
"Rule number two. Your fate cannot be unilaterally altered by any external party."
In other words—
"If you want to see the sunrise, you can go see the sunrise."
"No one can stop you."
Jin Zha stared at that page for a long time.
His hands began to tremble.
"Really...is it okay?"
"You can give it a try."
Jin Zha did not move.
He just stood there, looking at the page, at the line of words on it with the ink still wet.
Then--
He turned around.
Head east.
step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
He walked very slowly, as if waiting for something to stop him.
But nothing happened.
He walked until he reached the eastern cliff of Huaguo Mountain, until he could see the East China Sea, until the morning light rose from the sea and illuminated his entire face—
He stopped.
The sea breeze blew, ruffling his silver armor and tousling his hair.
He looked at the red sun, at the golden light shining on the sea, and at the waves surging against the cliffs.
Then he laughed.
I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face.
"I...I saw it," he murmured. "I finally...saw it."
Huaguo Mountain was completely silent.
Everyone was looking at him.
This includes the characters from the Three Realms who were sent by the golden light, including the Bull Demon King and Sun Wukong, as well as Chen Fan himself.
No one speaks.
But at that moment—
The solidified red light in the east suddenly exploded.
It exploded into countless fragments, which scattered in all directions.
A sound emerged from the shards, no longer the sharp scraping of glass, but a deep, angry roar—
"Rule number two... is in effect."
"All editing tools, shut down."
"All recycling towers, shut down."
"All exit points, shut down."
"Outer access permissions are temporarily... disabled."
The voice paused for a moment.
Then it becomes lower and heavier—
"Chen Fan, do you think this is the end of it?"
"You only restricted the 'inner layer' deletion and modification permissions."
"But you can't seal off the 'outside layer'."
"You cannot seal the observer's true form."
Chen Fan's eyes suddenly narrowed.
"The observer's entity?" he asked.
There was no reply.
But at that moment, the third layer of cold light in the sky suddenly became dazzling.
The flashing of the cold light became faster and faster, as if it were transmitting some kind of signal.
Chen Fan looked up.
He saw the outline of the third layer of the sky, which was slowly opening.
It looks like an eye.
A huge, cold, emotionless eye.
It slowly opened its eyes from behind the sky.
"What is that?" Sun Wukong asked, his voice tense.
"That is the observer itself," Chen Fan said.
"What does it want to do?"
Chen Fan did not answer.
But the voice answered for him—
"The second rule prevents single-level deletion and modification."
"But it can't stop group-level recycling."
"Since you won't let the outer layer delete and modify the characters one by one..."
"Then I'll uproot the entire Ninth Experimental Field."
"Leave no one alive."
The moment the sound faded, the third layer of the canopy opened completely.
That enormous eye was fully open.
It looked down upon Huaguo Mountain, over Chen Fan, and over the page of paper with the rules written on it.
As far as the eye could see, the air began to distort, space began to collapse, and even light was swallowed up.
Sun Wukong's fur stood on end.
"It's about to make its move!"
The Bull Demon King's fangs clenched together with a grinding sound.
"Bring it on! I'm not afraid of it!"
Chen Fan did not move.
He just stared at that eye, at the endless darkness pouring out from behind the sky.
Then he spoke, his voice not loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear—
"Rule number two is now in effect."
For the first time, every character in the Three Realms possessed 'themselves.'
"So——"
He folded the page and tucked it into his pocket.
"Let's see how it's recycled."
"Collect them one by one?"
"still--"
He looked up and stared directly into that enormous eye.
"They want to devour us all."
The moment the words left his mouth, the eye moved.
A black beam of light shot out from the eye and hurtled straight toward Flower Fruit Mountain.
That beam of light was dimmer than any other light, deeper than any night, as if it could drag everything it touched into eternal nothingness—
Sun Wukong roared and charged forward with his golden cudgel.
The Bull Demon King roared, holding his iron cudgel horizontally in front of him.
Chen Xuance's fingers moved, and the tip of his brush traced a path in the air.
And Chen Fan—
He stood in front of everyone.
The page in my arms was burning hot.
"Rule number two," he said in a low voice.
"You can't stop group-level recycling?"
"Then—"
He stretched out his hand, palm up, to meet the black beam of light.
"Add one more."
The observer initiated group-level retrieval, and a black beam of light crashed towards Flower Fruit Mountain. At the last moment, Chen Fan prepared to write down the third rule. But what price would be paid for this third rule?
##Chapter 399 Group-Level Recycling
When the black beam of light cleaved through the sky, Chen Fan was standing by the pool.
There was no sound from the beam of light, but the air rippled outwards like an invisible hammer striking everyone's chest.
Sun Wukong roared and held his golden cudgel in front of Chen Fan, the cudgel instantly covered with a layer of charred black.
"The third one—" Chen Fan bit his tongue, and blood splattered onto the page in his palm.
He flicked the pen out of his sleeve, and Chen Xuance's fingers were still drawing lines in the air when the pen tip automatically dipped in blood.
"Rule Three: The Ninth Experimental Field—"
The beam of light pressed down three zhang (approximately 10 meters) above their heads.
"—From this moment on, observer privileges are reduced to zero."
The paper glowed, but only for a moment.
The beam of light passed right through it.
It didn't block it.
"Idiot." A voice came from the beam of light. The tablet was untuned, sounding like a machine reading a script. "Group-level recycling initiated, rule layer invalid."
He paused, then said, "Chen Fan, you can't stop the reporting process."
Chen Fan was forced back three steps, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
He looked down at the paper—the second rule was still glowing, but the edges were beginning to fade.
"The second rule only blocks Tathagata's intervention, but it can't stop the higher-level retrieval orders." He instantly understood.
The observer entity finally got involved, not through unilateral deletion or modification, but by following a formal process: reporting, approval, and retrieval.
"Notification: The outer layer has been marked with 'Group-level Recall Request in Progress'." Chen Xuance's voice rang in his mind, frighteningly calm. "The request has been submitted to the continuation writing group and is expected to be executed within seven chapters."
"Seven chapters?" Chen Fan sneered.
"There are seven narrative nodes," Chen Xuance corrected. "At the current pace, that's roughly equivalent to seven hours in real time."
time is limited.
The beam of light dissipated, and a crack appeared in the sky, revealing the writhing chaos behind it. From the crack, words of light, like slogans, shone through:
[Group-Level Recycling: Ninth Experimental Field]
Application ID: CLOSE-999
[Status: Approved, in progress]
The words were blood red, each one as big as a mountain, hanging above everyone's heads.
Huaguo Mountain was in an uproar.
"Strategist! What is that?" Liu Er's voice trembled.
"Is this divine punishment?" The white dragon horse revealed its true form, its dragon scales bristling.
The Bull Demon King roared, "I've never seen anything like this even when I was fighting the Heavenly Court!"
Only Sun Wukong didn't move.
He slammed his golden cudgel on the ground, staring at the blood-red words, and suddenly grinned: "Little Chen, this is more exciting than the lightning tribulation you caused before."
Chen Fan wiped away the blood but didn't answer.
He was staring at the progress bar below the blood-red text—the cold light displayed: Recovery complete 3%.
Only 3%.
"Rule number two is still in effect," he said loudly. "Recycling takes time. We still have a chance."
"What opportunity?" The bear, carrying two axes, approached.
"Clean up the internal accounts." Chen Fan turned around, his eyes sweeping over everyone. "The second rule seals off Tathagata, so the extraterrestrial forces can't interfere for the time being. But now that the recycling has started, they can make their move within seven chapters at most—before that, we'll chop off all the loose ends within the Three Realms."
The entire room fell silent.
"The tail tent?" Sun Wukong narrowed his eyes. "You mean those cowards in Heaven, and those bald monks on Mount Ling?"
"Not only that." Chen Fan pointed to the east, "The remnants of the Thunder Department, the Twenty-Eight Constellations that did not surrender, the Ten Kings of Hell—and the private soldiers of those Bodhisattvas in the South Sea."
"Strategist, should we wipe them all out in one fell swoop?" Liu Er rubbed his hands together, getting excited.
"No," Chen Fan shook his head, "it's a phased approach. We'll clear out Ling Mountain first, then sweep away the remnants of the Heavenly Court. Seven chapters is enough time for us to take control of the entire Three Realms."
He raised his hand, the second rule on the page in his palm burning hot: "This rule tells us—'The master cannot be replaced.' In other words, whoever seizes the home field's legal authority is the new Heavenly Way. Now we occupy the home field of the Ninth Experimental Field. With Tathagata's downfall, the recovery of extraterrestrial forces still requires procedures—these seven chapters are our legislative window."
"Law?" The Bull Demon King scratched his head. "All I know is how to fight."
"Legislation is about setting rules," Chen Fan laughed. "If we win, we write the rules. If we lose, they write the rules."
He pointed to the blood-red words: "Our opponent now is from beyond the heavens, but they won't arrive until seven chapters later. In those seven chapters, we must completely swallow the Three Realms and write the new rules into the bottom layer of the Ninth Experimental Field—that way, even if the retrieval is activated, we will still have the strength to fight."
"Strategist, you're being too roundabout," Sun Wukong paused with his golden cudgel. "To put it simply, while they're fighting amongst themselves, let's seize all the territory we can and kill all the opposition we can, right?"
Chen Fan nodded: "Yes."
Once the order was given, Flower Fruit Mountain was blown up.
It wasn't a passive act of being bombed; it was an active attack.
Sun Wukong led his 500 strong monkeys straight to the back of Mount Ling—where the Buddha's secret stash of relics, hidden during his seclusion, was located, along with the remnants of the 500 Arhats.
The Bull Demon King and his son, along with Six-Eared Macaque and Bear, comprised a total of two thousand demon soldiers, divided into two groups: the Bull Demon King attacked the remnants of the Heavenly Court's South Gate, while Six-Eared Macaque and Bear wiped out the Underworld's Fengdu.
The White Dragon Horse led the navy to blockade the Meteor Sea in the East China Sea, cutting off the Heavenly Court's retreat route by sea.
Chen Fan himself was stationed in the center of Huaguo Mountain, assisted by Chen Xuance, who had full authority over the command.
The first wave of attacks yielded good news within half an incense stick's time.
On Sun Wukong's side: The remnants of the Arhats put up a stubborn resistance, but Sun Wukong smashed the "Vajra Subduing Demon Circle" with a single blow, and less than fifty of the five hundred people escaped. All the relics in the Kuli were seized, along with three volumes of the "Mahavairocana Tathagata Secret Treasury Sutra"—this thing can refine Buddhist power for one's own use.
"Strategist, how do we use this scripture?" Six Ears asked telepathically.
"Burn it," Chen Fan said. "We need to refine it immediately to improve our combat strength."
The Bull Demon King's side was even more ruthless: the remnants of the Southern Heavenly Gate tried to hold out with the remaining "Immortal Slaughtering Formation," but the Bull Demon King revealed his true form and used a bull horn to overturn the formation's core, shattering the formation, and the Heavenly Gate generals knelt on the ground.
"Should we surrender or not?" the Bull Demon King asked.
"We surrender!" the general wailed. "We didn't want to fight anymore!"
In the underworld: five of the Ten Kings of Hell tried to escape, but were each chopped down by the bear with an axe. King Qin Guang was too slow and was caught by Six-Eared Bear, who struck him in two with a single blow; his soul didn't even have time to escape.
"Change the King of Hell," Chen Fan ordered. "Let Bai Wuchang lead the Delayed Ghosts to take over Fengdu. All old laws are abolished, and three new laws are introduced: First, Huaguo Mountain is the highest source of law; second, demons and ghosts can apply to be reborn into the human race; third, anyone who privately possesses the Heavenly Court's spiritual mountain cultivation techniques will be executed immediately."
When the news reached back, the morale of Huaguo Mountain soared.
Even the ordinary people in the villages at the foot of the mountain are spreading the word: the strategist of Huaguo Mountain is going to abolish the Six Realms and establish a new Heaven.
As battle reports poured in like snowflakes, Chen Fan didn't rest.
With the last glimpse of the second rule, he inscribed the first new law on the stone slab of the main hall: "The sovereignty of the Ninth Experimental Field belongs to the Flower Fruit Mountain Alliance."
Each character carved into the stone slab glows, as if etched into the very depths of the world.
Chen Xuance assisted from the side, gesturing with his finger to calculate the progress: "4% completion rate. But at this speed, it can reach 100% within seven chapters."
"Then let it stop before it reaches 50%," Chen Fan said.
"How do we stop?"
"Legislation." Chen Fan pointed to the stone slab. "The more new rules we establish, and the deeper they go, the more the bottom layer of the experimental field will recognize us as 'masters.' For the recycling to be implemented, it must first pass the test of the experimental field itself."
He looked up at the sky: the bloody words were still there, and the progress bar was at 5%.
But the sky outside the window seemed to darken for a moment.
"Strategist!" Sun Wukong transmitted back, unable to contain his excitement, "The entire storeroom of the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mount Ling has been cleared out! We found... Holy crap, an entire 'Buddhist Kingdom Vessel'! It can instantly create a Buddhist Kingdom!"
"Bring it back," Chen Fan said. "Dismantle it on the spot, and distribute the materials to each legion."
"Also," Sun Wukong lowered his voice, "we captured a 'spirited spy' in the warehouse cellar—a monk who claimed to be a direct disciple of Buddha, with the Dharma name 'Jingchen'."
"Kill him." Chen Fan said without hesitation.
"Huh?" Sun Wukong was taken aback. "Not interrogating?"
"No need," Chen Fan sneered. "With Tathagata gone, those bald monks will either flee or surrender. Daring to leave spies behind means they're planning to coordinate an attack from within when the outer realms are reclaimed. Kill them, use them as a sacrifice."
Sun Wukong responded and gave the order.
Half an incense stick later, the head of the monk Jingchen was placed on the monkey soldier's spear and hung at the south gate of Flower Fruit Mountain.
Ordinary people gathered at the foot of the mountain to watch; some were so frightened they cried, while others secretly kowtowed.
"See that?" Chen Fan stood atop the mountain and transmitted his voice to everyone, "Those who surrender live, those who betray die. Surrendering now is being pragmatic. If you surrender after the recovery is initiated, you'll be the enemy."
After he finished speaking, he turned and went into the hall.
Inside the hall, Chen Xuance was calculating: "It will take three hours to integrate the remnants of the Ling Mountain forces. The remnants of the Heavenly Court are concentrated at the old site of the Lingxiao Palace, with a force of about 10,000, including 3,000 heavenly soldiers and 20 divine generals."
"How long will it take to destroy the old foundation of Lingxiao Palace?"
"If the Bull Demon King and the Six-Eared Macaque are both attacked, it will take two hours."
"Then it will take two hours," Chen Fan said. "After we take it down, we'll burn all the old Heavenly Court laws and put up new ones."
He paused for a moment, then said, “Remember, the first article of the new law—'Huaguo Mountain is the highest source of law'—must be inscribed on all the core nodes of the Three Realms: Heaven, Mount Ling, the Underworld, and the Four Seas.”
"What about the others?" Chen Xuance asked.
Article Two: Demons and humans are treated equally.
"The third point..." Chen Fan paused for a second, "The third point will be determined when the recovery progress reaches 50%."
Chen Xuance nodded, his calculations becoming even more urgent.
Two hours later, the old foundation of Lingxiao Palace collapsed.
Heavenly soldiers and generals knelt on the ground. The Bull Demon King stepped on the stone tablet of the Lingxiao Palace and announced the new law on the spot.
The stone tablet shattered, and the new laws, like golden characters, were projected into the sky, visible throughout the three realms.
At the same moment, all the core nodes of the Underworld, Mount Ling, and the Four Seas were lit up.
Chen Fan felt a tremor in the very depths of the world.
It's like something has been replaced.
His mind prompted: "Experimental Field Underlying Protocol Update: Sovereignty Change - New Entity: Flower Fruit Mountain Alliance. Protocol Weight: 62%."
"Only 62%?" Chen Fan frowned.
"The recovery progress is stuck at 50%, but the legal weight is not enough," Chen Xuance said. "We need more nodes. For example... the Sutra Repository on Mount Ling in the Western Paradise, and the former Imperial Horse Administration of the Heavenly Court."
"Send troops," Chen Fan said. "Go and occupy it now. No need to fight, just show the new laws."
Once the order was given, all the vanguard troops of Huaguo Mountain were mobilized.
There was no fighting.
At Lingshan Leiyin Temple and Tianting Yaochi, the monks and heavenly soldiers left behind were dumbfounded upon seeing the new golden law.
Those who wanted to resist were held back by their own generals: "The strategist has already established a new regime, what's the point of fighting now!"
Thus, the old Leiyin Temple on Lingshan was adorned with the flag of Huaguo Mountain, and the Jade Pool in Heaven was hung with the new laws in gold characters.
Every time a flag was planted, the weight in Chen Fan's brain would jump.
65%, 70%, 75%...
When it reached 78%, the progress suddenly stopped.
"We're stuck," Chen Xuance said. "There are two key points left: one is the 'Western Heaven Spirit Mountain Sutra Repository,' and the other is the 'Former Office of the Heavenly Court's Imperial Horse Stables'—these two places are deeply anchored by old laws, and we need to personally go there to inscribe new laws."
"Who should we send?"
"You have to go in person," Chen Xuance said. "Only the afterglow of your rules can cover the anchor point."
Chen Fan remained silent.
He is now the backbone; leaving Huaguo Mountain would be like opening the door wide open.
However, with a weight of 78%, it is still 22% short of the 50% recycling threshold. If the weight is insufficient, the experimental field's underlying layer may not recognize the new rules, and recycling will still be carried out.
"I'll go to the Sutra Repository," Chen Fan said. "Sun Wukong will go to the Imperial Stables. Each of you will take three thousand elite soldiers and fight and retreat quickly."
The order had barely been given when Sun Wukong slung his staff over his shoulder and headed out: "Little Chen, stop dawdling, I'll finish this quickly!"
Chen Fan led his troops to Lingshan.
On the way, he also took a moment to look at the sky: the blood-red text "Group-level Recycling" was 10% complete, and the progress bar was rising steadily.
However, the experimental field weight was stuck at 78%.
When we arrived at the Lingshan Sutra Repository, all the monks had run away, leaving only a few old monks sweeping the floor.
Chen Fan didn't waste any words and went straight into the pavilion.
The scriptures in the pavilion glowed automatically, and the old laws transformed into golden threads that wrapped around the bookshelves.
The second rule in his palm was still warm when he raised his hand and pressed it against the main beam.
"The Ninth Experimental Field, sovereignty belongs to Huaguo Mountain—this is the third core node of the Ninth Experimental Field, confirmed."
A burst of golden light erupted.
The old monks knelt on the ground, trembling.
Chen Fan's mind prompted: "Weight 80%."
20% short.
At the same moment, Sun Wukong also arrived at the Imperial Stables.
This place used to be the territory of the stable boy, where the old rules are deeply ingrained.
Sun Wukong smashed the "Heavenly Horse-Controlling Talisman" with his staff, then placed his palm on the horse trough: "My territory now belongs to Flower Fruit Mountain!"
The golden light exploded again.
Within the fragments of the Heavenly Court, countless celestial horses neighed, and the old contracts were broken.
In Chen Fan's mind: "Weight 85%."
They were still 15% away from the 50% recycling threshold, but Chen Fan had no intention of reaching 100%.
"That's enough," he said to Chen Xuance. "With a weight of 85%, the experimental field will buy us time. If we want to enforce the recall, we'll have to get past the experimental field itself first—85% weight is enough for it to delay for at least three chapters."
Chen Xuance deduced: "Theoretically, yes. But those from beyond the heavens might just use brute force to overwhelm them."
"Then let them use violence to cover it up," Chen Fan laughed, "and we'll continue to establish new laws."
He got up, preparing to return to Flower Fruit Mountain.
Right now—
Suddenly, the blood-red words in the sky jumped up:
[Group-level recycling: Accelerated progress]
[Reason: Abnormal increase in experimental field weights]
[Expected to be implemented ahead of schedule: within three chapters]
"Three chapters?" Chen Fan's pupils contracted.
"They're getting anxious," Chen Xuance said. "The 85% weighting makes them feel out of control, so they want to force a rollback in advance."
Chen Fan didn't speak, but looked eastward.
On the eastern horizon, a red light flashed once more.
Faster than before.
Just then, a messenger scurried in: "Strategist! The remnants of the Heavenly Court have rioted at the ruins of the Lingxiao Palace! The remnants of the Shattered Zen Sect on Mount Ling have set fire to the Leiyin Temple! The Bodhisattva of the South Sea's private troops are trying to retake the Sutra Repository—it's all in chaos!"
Chen Fan was taken aback.
He then burst into laughter.
"Good! Good chaos!"
He leaped onto the stone platform and roared at all the messengers: "Order: All legions, cease outward expansion. Turn inward to quell the rebellion."
"Huh?" the messenger exclaimed, bewildered. "Shouldn't we take this opportunity to seize them all?"
"Would it be useful to take them all?" Chen Fan retorted. "We'll arrive within the Three Chapters of the Heavenly Realm. Now that the Three Realms are on fire, it's perfect time to clean them up."
His eyes turned cold: "Let Sun Wukong, the Bull Demon King, and Liu Er each lead their respective forces to quell the rebellion in their respective areas. The Heavenly Court is brutal and chaotic; kill the ringleaders, and spare those who surrender. The Buddhist sect on Mount Ling is annihilated; leave no one alive. The private soldiers of the South Sea... surrender if they can, slaughter if they don't."
The order was given, and the war drums of Huaguo Mountain sounded again.
But this time it's not expansion, it's a purge.
Half an hour later, the chaos and violence in the Heavenly Court subsided. The eight generals who led the chaos were gored to death by the Bull Demon King with a single bull horn, and their bodies were hung at the South Heavenly Gate.
Within an hour, the Lingshan Shattered Zen Sect was ravaged by Sun Wukong and his monkey soldiers, who burned down the side hall of the old Leiyin Temple, and the remaining followers knelt down and begged for mercy.
After an hour and a half, the private soldiers from the South China Sea, seeing that the situation was not good, surrendered en masse. Their leader, Bodhisattva, had his leg broken by Six Ears and was taken to Flower Fruit Mountain.
Battle reports came frequently, and blood flowed like rivers at Huaguo Mountain, but Chen Fan remained expressionless.
"Chen Xuance, tally the casualties."
"The monkey soldiers suffered 300 casualties, the bull demons suffered 800 casualties, and the six-eared tribe suffered 500 casualties. The enemy suffered 3,000+ casualties."
"Engrave the list of the dead and wounded on a monument and erect it at the north gate of Huaguo Mountain," Chen Fan said. "Article 4 of the new law states: Anyone who dies for the sovereignty of the Ninth Experimental Field will have their soul enter the Hall of Heroes at Huaguo Mountain, and will be given priority in being selected for reincarnation."
When this rule spread, more of the remaining enemy forces surrendered.
As night fell, within the Three Realms