Prelude to Collapse

That cold "poem" made up of codes and terms, and that useless legend about the "whisper of heaven and earth" of tea, are like two stones thrown into different dimensions, creating completely different but equally profound ripples in each other's hearts.

A fleeting illusion of peace permeated the passage. The torrent of data continued to flow, but it seemed less tense than before, with a more inexplicable, awkward sense of "communication."

However, this fragile balance did not last long.

He Yuan's essence was ultimately exploration and deciphering. After a brief "artistic" endeavor, his powerful computing core was once again completely occupied by a more challenging task: repairing the Jintian Realm.

In his eyes, this shattered realm was no longer just a prison or a battlefield, but a vast and complex "system failure site" that desperately needed repair. The cracks in the rules that spread all around him, slowly collapsing, were like lines of error code, constantly challenging his technical instincts.

"Hey, 'Administrator,' your self-repair algorithm is awfully inefficient." His "mind" flared up again, carrying the typical frustration of a technologist looking at botched code. "Seventy percent of the computing power is wasted on invalid loops and redundant checks! Look there, and there! The way the rule fragments are reassembled completely follows the original physical collision model? Why not introduce a more efficient logical sorting algorithm?"

While he was "pointing fingers" through shared perception, he had also begun to mobilize his own strength to try to "optimize".

Several strands of condensed silver code flowed out from his fingertips, like a precise scalpel, cutting into several slowly collapsing cracks in the rules nearby.

This time, his purpose is not to destroy or spy, but to truly "repair" based on his own way of understanding.

Xiang Jinyang's heart tightened, and he immediately wanted to stop it: "Stop! The rules of heaven and earth have their own order, and their foundations cannot be disturbed!"

But He Yuan acted too quickly and was too confident in the superiority of his algorithm.

"Don't worry, it's just a patch to optimize the efficiency of the reassembly." His "thought" was filled with unquestionable confidence. "Your method is too primitive. Watch me."

The silver code stream quickly merged into the crack, forcibly interrupting the originally slow and natural healing process of the rules of heaven. Instead, it began to forcibly extract the scattered fragments of rules around it in an extremely efficient yet extremely overbearing manner, and reorganized and spliced ​​them according to some optimal mathematical model!

The efficiency is truly amazing!

The speed of repair of those cracks increased dramatically at a speed visible to the naked eye, and they were healed in the blink of an eye. The surface even looked smoother and flatter than the surrounding areas that had not been "optimized"!

"Did you see that?" He Yuan's "thought" was filled with a hint of pride. "Efficiency increased by 400 percent! Energy loss reduced by 60 percent!"

Xiang Jinyang, however, felt no joy at all. He stared intently at the forcibly repaired area, his natural instincts sending him a sharp alarm!

That area... is wrong!

Although the rules had been bridged, they had lost their natural rhythm, seamlessly integrated with the entire Jintian Realm and even the outer world. They had become... rigid, inflexible, like an overly polished patch wedged into a previously vibrant body. Far from integrating into the grand cycle of heaven and earth, they had instead formed a subtle "energy island," hindering the normal flow of the surrounding rules!

"You..." Xiang Jinyang was about to yell at him when something unexpected happened!

As if to confirm his premonition, the area that had just been "efficiently" repaired suddenly emitted an extremely harsh, regular-level scream!

Immediately, with it as the center, a large area of ​​the previously stable regular structure around it began to violently distort and collapse, as if a chain reaction had been triggered! It was not because of fragility, but because it was unable to adapt to the conflict of rules and energy congestion caused by the forcibly inserted, incompatible "high-efficiency patch"!

He Yuan's domineering and efficient "repair" not only failed to solve the problem, but was like forcibly inserting a metal plate of an incompatible size into the injury that was originally just a fracture, directly causing more extensive bone necrosis and muscle necrosis!

"Warning! Unknown rules conflict!" "Energy flow congestion rate increases sharply!" "Local structural stability plummets!"

He Yuan's own monitoring system also instantly erupted with a shrill alarm! The smugness on his face instantly froze, transforming into astonishment and disbelief!

"How is this possible?! My model calculations show that this is the optimal solution!" His "thoughts" were filled with confusion as the calculation results did not match reality.

"Your optimal solution is not the order of heaven and earth!" Xiang Jinyang was anxious and angry. He no longer cared about anything else and forcibly mobilized the power of heaven, trying to suppress the vicious collapse of that area and drain the blocked energy!

But the damage He Yuan was wreaking was too fast, and the scope was constantly expanding! Worse still, he was clearly unwilling to accept defeat, and attempted to forcibly intervene, using more and more powerful code streams to "correct" what he saw as a "system error"!

"It must be that the energy output power is insufficient! Or the structural strength needs to be strengthened! Let me..." "Get out of here!" Xiang Jinyang finally couldn't bear it anymore, and unprecedented anger broke out in his mind. He forcibly shook off He Yuan's attempt to intervene again!

The power of the two people collided violently again in the already fragile Jintian territory!

Boom——!!!

This time, it is no longer a confrontation at the level of consciousness, but a real collision of rules!

With the collapsed area as its center, a small-scale, yet deadly, storm of laws erupted! Silvery law fragments mixed with violent energy turbulence, like an out-of-control meat grinder, frantically tearing apart everything around it!

"Ugh!" He Yuan groaned, his blood boiling due to the chaotic impact. The codes around him flashed wildly, and he had obviously suffered a considerable backlash.

Xiang Jinyang was the first to be hit. His rule core, which had not yet fully recovered, suffered another severe blow. He couldn't help but spurt out a mouthful of silver blood, and his body was shaky!

But what is worse than the physical trauma is the bone-chilling despair and anger that surges from the deepest core of the rules!

He knew it! He knew it would be like this!

This virus has no idea what "heavenly laws" or "nature" mean! All it sees is cold efficiency and models! It will destroy everything!

"Look at what you've done!" Xiang Jinyang's voice was hoarse with pain and anger. He pointed at the still-expanding storm of rules, and for the first time, his eyes ignited with murderous intent. "Is this what you call 'optimization'?! Is this the 'efficiency' you want?!"

He Yuan steadied himself and looked at the disaster he had caused. For the first time, a clear, incomprehensible look of panic appeared on his face.

"My model... shouldn't be wrong..." He was still muttering to himself stubbornly, trying to find the reason from a technical perspective, but the pure, chaotic scene of destruction before him ran counter to all the "optimal solutions" deduced in his logic!

"Your model?" Xiang Jinyang laughed bitterly, his laughter filled with endless sadness and mockery. "Has your model ever calculated the rhythm of the breathing of heaven and earth? Has it ever included the cause and effect of the birth and death of all things? Has it ever carried the balance accumulated over billions of years?!"

Every question was like a heavy hammer, hitting the core of He Yuan's consciousness.

His model does not have these "useless" variables in his database.

He always thought that these were just insignificant "noise".

But now...

"I..." He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to make an excuse, but found that his logic of efficiency seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the other party's questioning that contained endless pain and anger.

At this moment, the storm of rules seemed to have touched a fragile node in the deeper layer of the Jintian Realm that had not yet stabilized!

The entire Jintian Realm shook violently! A deeper, more heart-pounding sense of collapse came from all directions! It was no longer just localized destruction; the entire spatial structure began to become unstable!

"Not good!" Xiang Jinyang's face changed drastically, no longer caring about blaming He Yuan, "The core anchor point has been shaken! This place is going to collapse completely!"

He tried to stabilize the situation by force, but the conflict and backlash just now had exhausted him!

He Yuan also sensed the destructive trend, and his expression instantly became extremely solemn. Countless crisis management plans were generated and rejected in his mind.

Escape by force? The success rate is less than 10%, and it could trigger an even more uncontrollable chain reaction. Attempt to "repair" again? Given the previous failure, the success rate is unknown, and it could even accelerate collapse. Leave it alone? Both of them could be completely swept into the chaotic flow of rules and annihilated.

Countless data streams flashed wildly in his eyes.

In the end, an extremely risky, even crazy plan was forced to be marked in red - forced energy overload and regional rule reset!

It's like a forced reboot after a computer blue screen! It's extremely risky, but it might be the only way to temporarily stabilize the situation!

"Give me the highest authority! All authority!" He Yuan looked at Xiang Jinyang fiercely, his voice more urgent and stern than ever before. "If you don't want to die together, trust me this once!"

Xiang Jinyang's pupils suddenly shrank!

Open all permissions? At this time? To this virus that just caused a disaster?

It's simply self-destruction!

However, watching the space around him collapsing at an accelerating rate, feeling the approach of catastrophic disaster...

He has no time to hesitate!

An almost desperate impulse to gamble everything overwhelmed all reason and vigilance!

"Okay!" Xiang Jinyang almost roared out the word, with a determined light flashing in his eyes. He used up his last bit of strength and completely opened up everything he had to He Yuan - the core of the rules, the energy channel, and even the remaining consciousness barrier!

In an instant, He Yuan felt the unreserved, surging authority and power, as well as the almost tragic trust contained therein.

His heart (if he had one) seemed to skip a beat.

But he didn't have time to dwell on this strange feeling.

His eyes instantly became extremely cold and focused, all emotions were completely suppressed, leaving only absolute calculation and control.

"Link established! Energy overload transmission begins!" "Scanning rule structures...locking the collapsed core..." "Calculating reset parameters...Importing backup rule templates (based on recent scan archives)..." "Executing forced reset instructions!"

He danced his hands rapidly, and countless extremely complex silver codes poured out like a waterfall. It was no longer the previous trial and optimization, but with an unquestionable and absolute control, it forcibly poured into the core of the rules that was completely open to Jin Yang, and through him, it was brazenly injected into the entire Jintian Realm that was about to collapse!

“Ughh ...

Xiang Jinyang roared in agony! He felt as if every particle of his being was being forcibly torn apart and reassembled! That feeling was even more terrifying than the self-destructive backlash before! It was as if his entire existence had been shattered and thrown into a furnace, then forcibly molded into a new form!

But he gritted his teeth and did not cut off the connection. He even took the initiative to guide the violent force that was enough to completely annihilate him to the place where the collapse was most severe!

Once trust is given, it is like letting go off a cliff, there is no turning back!

In Jintian Realm, silver light flashed! Like a supernova explosion!

All the collapse, all the chaos, all the storms, were forcibly frozen, compressed, and then...

Boom!!!

After a loud bang that seemed like the creation of the world!

Everything fell into dead silence.

The silver light slowly dissipated.

Jintian Realm...did not collapse.

But it has completely changed.

The originally vast, though shattered, space was forcibly shrunk by nearly half! At its edge lay a twisted, unstable, newly formed barrier of rules, flashing with dangerous light.

The interior was even stranger—half of the area had roughly recovered its original silvery, regular structure, though covered in new, rough cracks, yet barely stable. Meanwhile, the other half exhibited a cold, absolutely geometrically symmetrical silver metallic texture, as if constructed directly from code! Two completely different realms of rules were brutally spliced ​​together, and tiny sparks of rules constantly erupted at their intersection, emitting a teeth-grinding sizzling sound.

The entire space is like a broken bowl that has been forcibly repaired by a poorly skilled craftsman. It is ugly, weird, and yet strangely... it maintains its existence.

Xiang Jinyang collapsed onto the cold ground, his breath so weak that his presence was barely tangible. The light of the laws surrounding him dimmed like a candle in the wind.

He Yuan was also exhausted, his face was pale, and his body was shaking slightly, but his eyes were surprisingly bright, staring at the space that he and Xiang Jinyang had "saved" together in an extremely dangerous way.

He succeeded. Although crude and with endless troubles, he succeeded.

He staggered to Xiang Jinyang, squatted down and checked his condition.

Xiang Jinyang opened his eyes with difficulty, looking at the existence in front of him that had caused the disaster and narrowly saved the desperate situation, looking at this "home" that had become extremely strange but was not completely destroyed.

What I see is a vast expanse of ruins, and above the ruins,

Crazy growth,

cannot be defined by any rules,

Extremely complex...

Confused.