System Error

The twin lotus flowers, formed from icy code, served as a gentle anchor, temporarily anchoring the indescribable and delicate bond between the two. Suspended within Xiang Jinyang's power of rules, they emitted a constant and pure silver light. They provided no energy gain, yet served as a constant reminder of their clumsy yet sincere feelings.

The atmosphere in Jintian territory has quietly changed.

The tense hostility and suffocating vigilance slowly dissipated like the receding tide, replaced by a somewhat awkward, yet genuine, relaxation. The broken rules remained, the cold code still incompatible with the remaining silver light of the Heavenly Dao, but within this ruin, a small, invisible "safe zone" seemed to have been opened up, just for the two of them.

Xiang Jinyang no longer kept his eyes tightly shut, completely shutting himself off. He began to channel his energy, more proactively repairing his damaged essence. Though his speed remained slow, his focus lost some of the self-destructive despair and gained a quiet tenacity.

And his "breathing"—the rhythm of the Way of Heaven that resonated with the universe—became more steady and clear. No longer a deliberately maintained stability due to repression, but a natural flow from within, gradually restoring vitality.

This undoubtedly provided great convenience for He Yuan's "restoration work".

He was still obsessed with "optimizing" the rules structure of Jintian Realm, but his approach was completely different from the beginning. He no longer tried to forcibly overwrite or rewrite with overbearing and efficient code, but instead became more "patient" and "circular."

He would sit in front of a rule crack for a long time, no longer in a hurry to output code, but first quietly "sense" Xiang Jinyang's rhythm of heaven, like a student listening to the teacher's teachings, and strive to make his own code fluctuations synchronized with it.

Then, he would try to inject energy. His code became increasingly refined and gentle, like the most nimble embroidery needle, carefully weaving between the broken warp and weft, not forcing the stitches, but guiding them to self-repair, or cleverly embedding tiny "patches" to enhance their stability.

The process was still fraught with failure. The conflicting underlying logic of the two diametrically opposed rule systems wasn't easily reconciled. He'd often be seen scratching his head in anger, silently grimacing at the air, scratching his head, afraid to make too much noise, fearing he might disturb Xiang Jinyang, who sat quietly nearby.

And every time at this time, the rhythm of the Heavenly Dao around Xiang Jinyang would become almost imperceptibly more soothing and tolerant, like a silent comfort, or like... a kind of acquiescence and encouragement.

He even began to try, when his condition was a little better, to actively separate an extremely subtle strand of Heavenly Dao thought, lingering around the area that He Yuan was repairing.

That's not guidance, it's more like creating an "atmosphere".

When He Yuan's code tries to integrate into a rule representing "growth", that wisp of thought will emit a faint, vital breath.

When it is necessary to repair the veins related to "flowing water", the mind will become agile and gentle.

This silent cooperation works surprisingly well.

He Yuan was pleasantly surprised to find that, guided by this "atmosphere," the compatibility of his code was greatly improved, and the success rate of his fixes also increased significantly. This made him even more convinced that his "imitation-perception-cooperation" technical approach was correct.

He was like a dry sponge, madly absorbing all the "data" related to Xiang Jinyang and the rules of heaven.

He recorded the subtle differences in the rhythm of Xiang Jinyang's rhythms under different emotional states. (Although Xiang Jinyang remained expressionless most of the time, he seemed to be able to "read" something from those tiny fluctuations.)

He analyzed the stable state of the code lotus in the power of Xiang Jinyang's rules, trying to understand how something like "symbolic meaning" was transformed into actual energy interaction.

He even began to secretly study how to quietly mix some simple "data packets" with "pleasure" or "comfort" meanings (such as a code sequence that simulates the breeze or the warmth of the sun) into the energy flow and transmit them to Xiang Jinyang.

This kind of research has a childish, ingratiating clumsiness, but also a heartwarming earnestness.

However, beneath the calm surface of the water, undercurrents never stop surging.

Deep in He Yuan's core, the question about Xiang Jinyang's abnormally low temperature was always like a sharp thorn, pricking his logical module from time to time.

He tried several indirect inquiries.

"You, the incarnations of Heaven... do you usually need to eat to replenish your energy like mortals?" He asked casually during a break in repairs.

Xiang Jinyang simply glanced at him and replied, "Just absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"Oh." He Yuan seemed to be lost in thought. "What if... the spiritual energy environment changes suddenly, or... the consumption far exceeds the replenishment?"

Xiang Jinyang closed his eyes and stopped answering. But the slight tightening of his lips at that moment had already given He Yuan the answer.

Another time, he tried to be more direct.

"I sense that your core energy level... remains below a safe threshold." He pointed to a parameter on the virtual interface that was flashing a yellow warning. "Is there any way to... permanently raise this baseline? For example, find and fix the energy leakage vulnerability?"

Xiang Jinyang was silent for a long time before he whispered, "The laws of nature are conserved. Where there is gain there is loss. Maintaining the rules is inherently the greatest expense. How can there be any loopholes?"

His tone was calm, yet carried a sense of resignation and desolation.

These answers not only failed to resolve He Yuan's doubts, but made him even more uneasy.

He vaguely felt that Xiang Jinyang's "weakness" and "low temperature" were not simply due to unhealed injuries, but had some more essential and cruel connection with his identity as the "incarnation of heaven" and the responsibility of "maintaining the rules."

An abnormal process called "worry" continues to run in his body, occupying a large amount of computing resources.

He even began to secretly review the massive amount of data about the operation of the heavenly way in this world that he had previously forcibly read (and later occasionally opened to Jin Yang), trying to analyze the sustainability of this energy consumption pattern from a macro perspective.

The result shocked him.

The maintenance of the laws of Heaven is like a vast light source that continuously radiates energy outward. Xiang Jinyang, as its incarnation, is both the light source itself and the hub connecting it to billions of sentient beings. The wishes of sentient beings, the cycle of cause and effect, and even every tiny change in the laws, all pass through him as a hub, consuming its original power.

This is a vicious cycle of only spending and no income, or at least not making enough money to cover expenses!

Unless... unless there is some way to build a powerful and sustainable "energy return" system for him, or... completely change this single consumption pattern.

This discovery plunged He Yuan into deeper anxiety.

When he looked at Xiang Jinyang, the tenderness and joy that had just sprouted were mixed with an indescribable heaviness.

What he wanted was not just the brief warmth on top of the ruins at this moment.

He wanted him to live.

Live well and long.

And this goal seems to be countless times more difficult than repairing Jintian Realm or even understanding the most complex bug of "love".

In these days of interweaving calm and undercurrents, an unexpected "system error" once again broke the apparent balance.

One day, while attempting to repair an extremely complex temporal turbulence, He Yuan introduced an overly aggressive optimization algorithm. His original intention was to increase the "elasticity" of the rules in this area to cope with possible future shocks, but he underestimated the sensitivity and exclusivity of the temporal laws themselves.

The moment the algorithm runs——

Buzz!!!

A strange temporal turbulence suddenly erupted from that node! It wasn't a destructive impact, but it carried a distorted and chaotic quality!

The first to bear the brunt was Xiang Jinyang, who was the closest and deeply bound to the rules of the Jintian Realm!

"Well!"

Xiang Jinyang suddenly clutched his chest, letting out a stifled groan of pain! The regular patterns of light and shadow around him instantly became chaotic, sometimes dim and slow like an old man, sometimes restless like a newborn baby! Even his appearance began to undergo subtle, rapid changes, as if drifting in the long river of time!

"Warning! High-risk time paradox ripples detected!"

"The target's 'Administrator's' condition has deteriorated rapidly! The temporal anchor is unstable!"

He Yuan's monitoring system erupted with a shrill alarm! His face suddenly changed, and he instantly cut off that damn algorithm and tried to rush over to stabilize Xiang Jinyang!

However, the effects of that temporal turbulence were so bizarre that it even interfered with He Yuan's own code! His movements became sluggish, and his thoughts briefly froze and became confused!

"Xiang Jinyang!" He shouted anxiously, his voice becoming distorted and weird due to the interference of rules.

Xiang Jinyang seemed to want to respond, but he couldn't utter a complete word. His face was full of pain and confusion brought about by the confusion of time and space.

At this critical moment when He Yuan was in danger and Xiang Jinyang was about to be completely swallowed by the turbulent flow of time -

A huge and cold force with the meaning of absolute order suddenly burst out from the deepest core of Jinyang's rules!

That is... the self-protection mechanism of the origin of the Way of Heaven!

This force forcibly suppressed the chaotic time rules around him and temporarily stabilized Xiang Jinyang's condition.

But the cost is huge!

Xiang Jinyang's face instantly turned as pale as paper, more frightening than ever before! He suddenly spat out a large mouthful of silver blood, his body falling limply backwards, his aura as weak as a candle in the wind, almost imperceptible!

However, the burst of Heavenly Power, after suppressing the turbulence of time, did not completely subside. Instead, it seemed to be enraged, and with a cold, indiscriminate will of rejection, it fiercely rushed back towards the culprit - He Yuan!

"Bang!"

He Yuan didn't have time to make any effective defense before he was hit hard in the chest by the immense force!

He groaned, and flew backwards like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the regular broken wall in the distance, making a loud noise!

The code light around him instantly dimmed and became chaotic, even showing signs of partial collapse! He coughed up a mouthful of "blood" filled with cold data fragments!

He struggled to raise his head and looked at the lifeless figure lying on the ground in the distance. For the first time, clear, almost desperate fear appeared in his eyes!

Not fear of one's own injuries.

But fear—

He had nearly killed him... again... himself.

Because a lowly, arrogant...

System error.