25: Chapter 25 The Spark of Hope and the Data Battlefield

The abandoned warehouse was filled with a mixed scent of dust and aged machine oil.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged in the center of a simple defensive array drawn with his own blood and the remaining cinnabar. A bronze bell hovered before him, emitting a barely audible low-frequency hum, casting a pale golden light shield around him that flowed with the intent of "Optimization" and the Authority of Order.

He did not attempt to relocate immediately.

Since the opponent could track the subtle fluctuations of the "Void God Spark" pre-ignition and the Composite Spirit Body Containment Field, it meant their detection methods were aimed directly at the origin of his godhood. Simple physical movement was of little significance and might instead expose more of his action patterns.

He needed to stabilize his position first, utilizing this pre-set defensive position with its certain level of preparation to observe, analyze, and then decide on his next step.

He closed his eyes and sank most of his consciousness into his godhood.

The pale golden orb of light at the core of the [God of Ruins] godhood (the Optimization divinity) and the thread of the "Authority of Order" had both become slightly more solid than before; clearly, the successive crises and usage had accelerated their growth.

In the deeper, seemingly chaotic and unclear region of the godhood, that tiny speck of light displaying [Void God Spark Activation Preload: 0.5%] was flickering at an indescribable frequency. With every flicker, it seemed to be absorbing trace amounts of free energy and information within the godhood, while simultaneously releasing faint fluctuations filled with the meaning of inclusion, transformation, and rebirth.

Lin Yuan attempted to touch and understand this "Void God Spark."

The moment his consciousness approached, a stream of mixed information flooded in:

· Void, not the end, but the foundation of transformation.

· Spark, not destruction, but the beginning of definition.

· Gather ruins to build a new order; absorb all contradictions to refine the true one.

· Current status: Insufficient energy, rules undefined, characteristics emerging — [Adaptive Compatibility], [Substrate Reconstruction].

· Preload progress reaching 1% allows for the initial manifestation of [Void God Spark Prototype] and grants basic characteristic application abilities.

The information was not extensive, but the direction was clear.

The core ability of the "Void God Spark" seemed to be reconstruction and definition based on ruins (or chaotic, inefficient states)!

Its "Adaptive Compatibility" might help him better handle the mixed resentful energy within the Composite Spirit Body Containment Field; and "Substrate Reconstruction" sounded like it could even perform some degree of Optimization or modification on the godhood itself?

This was a capability tailor-made for him!

But it required reaching 1% preload progress to be used initially.

He was still 0.5% short.

How to accelerate the preload?

The information prompted "Insufficient energy, rules undefined."

Energy was easy to understand; it was the Power of Faith or other high-quality energy.

Rules undefined... Perhaps it required him to more deeply practice the path of the "God of Ruins" and "Optimization," using his own actions to "define" the rules of this Void God Spark?

Time was tight; that Black-robed Man pursuer could show up at any moment.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes and glanced at the system time: 22 days, 23 hours, 17 minutes.

He had to proceed on two fronts: dealing with the imminent pursuit while finding a way to accelerate the Void God Spark preload.

He first checked the weak connection to the talisman paper on Chairman Liu's side.

The connection still existed but was extremely faint, like a candle in the wind, unable to transmit specific information; he could only vaguely sense that the talisman paper had not been completely destroyed and that Chairman Liu's life force was still relatively stable.

This indicated that the Black-robed Man's main target was him, and his investigation of Chairman Liu was merely incidental.

Next, he logged into the backend of the multinational team's collaboration platform.

The plugin embedded with the misleading layer was running normally, and the collected data (including the processed misleading information) was quietly accumulating.

He quickly browsed some key data streams when, suddenly, an abnormal data packet caught his attention.

This data packet did not come from within the team but was attempting to infiltrate the plugin's data feedback channel from an external proxy server. Its method was covert, bearing a standardized, programmed scanning trace, which was completely different from the cold, sinister energy detection style of the Black-robed Man.

It was the technical team of Lingxiao Capital!

They were indeed attempting to steal or analyze his "Optimization model"!

A sharp light flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes.

This might be an opportunity — an opportunity to turn the tables, drag Lingxiao into this mess, and create more chaos and variables.

He operated quickly, adding another extremely covert "backdoor" to the plugin's data feedback layer.

This backdoor would not affect the plugin's normal functions, but it would intentionally leak a portion of "core technical data" — which had been carefully screened to look highly valuable but actually concealed logical traps and contradictory parameters — to that external scanning address.

At the same time, he embedded some disguised "environmental variable parameters" within this data, pointing to "specific energy frequencies" (such as the residual aura frequency of Mr. Mo's black wooden plaque) and "complex spirit body structural characteristics" (similar to the Composite Spirit Body Containment Field).

If the Lingxiao technical team was "professional" and greedy enough, they would likely attempt to parse and apply this data, thereby unknowingly "calibrating" their detection tools or analysis models to the energy frequency related to Mr. Mo, and perhaps even triggering some curiosity or research into complex spirit body structures.

In this way, if the Black-robed Man subsequently used large-scale energy detection or evil arts tracking, it might cross or interfere with Lingxiao's technical detection.

The two potential enemies might unintentionally cause trouble for each other, buying him time and space.

After setting the data trap, Lin Yuan felt a wave of exhaustion.

The continuous high-intensity mental consumption caused his injuries, which had just slightly recovered, to ache again, and his Power of Faith was down to less than 1 point.

He took the last small bottle of concentrated nutrient agent left by Dr. Li and forced himself to rest for a moment.

But he dared not truly fall asleep; his spiritual sense remained highly vigilant toward the outside world.

Time passed in oppressive silence.

Occasionally, the cry of a stray cat or the faint noise from a distant construction site drifted in from outside the warehouse.

Suddenly, the hovering bronze bell began to vibrate violently without warning!

It no longer emitted a low hum, but a sharp, buzzing sound full of warning!

Almost at the same moment, the early warning talisman runes Lin Yuan had set up at the warehouse entrance and several ventilation ducts went out one after another!

They were not destroyed; rather, their energy had been forcibly drained or neutralized by some power!

It was here!

And it had arrived faster than he anticipated!

Lin Yuan opened his eyes instantly; there was no panic in them, only cold calculation.

He grasped the bronze bell with one hand and held the "mark of conquest" crystal with the other, injecting all the remaining Power of Faith in his body into the defensive array before him. At the same time, the thread of the "Authority of Order" within his godhood was mobilized, ready to strike.

The rusted iron door of the warehouse, without any external force, slowly dissolved inward—not melting, but as if being erased by an eraser, turning into fine black ash that drifted away and vanished.

A figure wearing a black robe, with a gaunt frame and a face shrouded in flowing gray mist, appeared at the doorway.

Two points of eerie green light pierced through the gray mist and landed on Lin Yuan.

"Found you, 'Optimizer.'"

The Black-robed Man's voice was dry and hoarse, carrying a condescending scrutiny, "Hiding in such a dilapidated place is quite fitting for your title of 'God of Ruins.'"

"Unfortunately, ruins are just ruins; they cannot turn into a palace."

Lin Yuan did not respond, only looking at him coldly, his spiritual sense fully perceiving the opponent's aura and energy flow.

"You have what I want on you."

The Black-robed Man took a step forward, and a charred footprint appeared silently on the concrete floor beneath his feet, "Master's 'ten thousand infant banner' plan must not be disrupted, and that 'contract token' is an even more important token."

"Hand over that bit of 'Order' insight in your godhood, the two 'defective products' you took from the workshop, and... that interesting 'Void God Spark' fluctuation deep within your godhood."

"I can let you die quickly, and use your soul to light a lamp; that would be making the best use of everything."

It really was one of Mr. Mo's people!

And he had directly pointed out the "Void God Spark"!

The opponent's ability to perceive the origin of godhood was truly terrifying.

"Mr. Mo only sent a hiding, skulking guy like you?"

Lin Yuan finally spoke, his tone flat, even carrying a hint of mockery, "It seems that the 'ten thousand infant banner' and the 'contract token' are nothing much in his eyes."

"You're courting death!"

The Black-robed Man's eerie green light flared, the gray mist surged violently, and a giant ghost claw condensed from dense gray mist and dark purple evil light appeared out of thin air, accompanied by the shrill sound of wailing souls, and clawed down toward Lin Yuan's head!

Before the ghost claw arrived, a cold, evil aura that froze the soul and eroded the mind had already shrouded the entire warehouse!

Lin Yuan had been prepared; the moment the ghost claw formed, the force of the "Authority of Order" that he had been building up, mixed with the purifying sound waves fully triggered by the bronze bell, transformed into a concentrated pale golden thread. It did not meet the ghost claw head-on but precisely pierced toward a connection node in the ghost claw's energy structure that was the most unstable and slightly sluggish in its flow!

"Order · Cut!"

The pale golden thread swept past like a scalpel.

"Sshhh—!"

The momentum of the ghost claw's descent suddenly stalled!

At the node that had been "cut," the gray mist and evil light were in disarray, emitting a harsh friction sound, and the power of the ghost claw instantly weakened by thirty percent!

But it still slapped down with undiminished momentum!

The defensive array in front of Lin Yuan shone brightly, hard-resisting this blow!

"Boom!"

The pale golden light shield flickered violently, oscillating between bright and dim, and finally barely held on without shattering, but Lin Yuan was also shaken, his blood and qi churning, and he retreated several steps, a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.

The cinnabar runes on the array dimmed significantly.

What strong power!

Just a casual blow had forced him to use his trump card to barely receive it!

And this was while the opponent had not used his full strength!

"Oh? Interesting."

The Black-robed Man seemed somewhat surprised, his eerie green light examining Lin Yuan with great interest, "To actually be able to see through the energy nodes of the 'Resentful Soul Claw'?"

"Is this your power of 'Optimization' and 'Order'?"

"It really has some merit."

"Unfortunately, it's too weak."

He stopped talking nonsense and formed a strange hand seal before his chest.

Gray mist gathered frantically, forming a massive, grayish-purple vortex behind him, composed of countless twisted, agonizing faces!

From within the vortex came even denser, more frantic sounds of weeping, wailing, and cursing!

The temperature in the entire warehouse plummeted, and black frost began to condense on the walls and floor!

"Ten Thousand Grudges Soul Devourer!"

Following a low shout from the Black-robed Man, countless grayish-black chains made of pure resentment and evil energy shot out from the grayish-purple vortex toward Lin Yuan like dancing vipers, covering the sky and earth!

Every chain radiated sickening negative emotions and powerful binding and devouring forces!

This strike was far more powerful than the previous ones! It blocked all space for evasion, clearly intending to kill with one blow or force out all of Lin Yuan's trump cards!

There was nowhere to hide!

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted, and his heart pounded wildly. Resist head-on? Given his current state and defense, he would likely be torn apart and devoured by the chains in an instant!

Escape? The space was locked down!

Only one thing remained... a final desperate struggle!

He did not try to defend or dodge those chains; instead, at this life-and-death moment, he made a move that even the Black-robed Man did not expect—

He violently injected the "mark of conquest" crystal in his hand, along with a wisp of core resonance aura from the Composite Spirit Body Containment Field within his godhood, mixed with all his remaining Power of Faith, his full understanding of "Optimization" and "Authority of Order," and his intense desire to "live," all into the faintly glowing [Void God Spark pre-load point] deep within his soul!

He was actively stimulating and accelerating the pre-loading process of the spark! He was even willing to use his own godhood origin and important assets (containment field resonance) as a catalyst to gamble on whether that 0.5% progress could be forcibly broken through in this desperate situation!

"The path of the God of Ruins begins in insignificance and is achieved through definition! Spark, burn for me—!"

A silent roar exploded deep within his soul!

Under the impact of immense energy and will, the pre-loading progress bar suddenly trembled and jumped!

0.6%... 0.7%... 0.8%...

The grayish-black chains of resentment were already close at hand! The cold aura of death stung his skin painfully!

0.9%... 0.95%...

Time seemed to freeze.

Just at the moment the first chain was about to touch his brow—

The pre-loading progress forcefully broke through 1.0%!

Hum—!

A strange fluctuation—not scorching, but carrying a gentle, inclusive, and firm power of reshaping—suddenly spread out with Lin Yuan as the center!

Deep within his soul, a faint yet incredibly clear pale golden spark was quietly ignited!

[Void God Spark (Prototype) activated!]

[Obtained basic characteristic: Adaptive Compatibility (Primary) — Can initially adapt to and analyze non-hostile, alien energy structures.]

[Obtained basic characteristic: Substrate Reconstruction (Trace) — Can slightly adjust and optimize the underlying architecture of one's own godhood or marked energy structures; stability and effects improve as the spark grows.]

[Warning: Spark newly ignited, extremely weak. Excessive use will lead to the risk of the spark extinguishing and godhood being damaged!]

The moment the spark ignited, Lin Yuan had a flash of inspiration!

He did not try to use the spark to directly confront those powerful chains of resentment (that would undoubtedly be like throwing an egg against a rock); instead, he applied the "Adaptive Compatibility" characteristic, combined with the "Authority of Order" and "Optimization" intent, to the defensive formation in front of him, and... the outermost energy structure of those incoming chains of resentment!

"Compatibility · Analysis! Order · Guidance! Optimization — Deflect!"

The pale golden spark's shimmer merged into the defensive formation. The originally dim vermilion runes were instantly "reconstructed," becoming tougher, more "elastic," and more "adaptive"! At the same time, a strange fluctuation carrying a sense of "understanding" and "acceptance" brushed over the first few chains of resentment that made contact.

The evil energy on the surface of those chains, the moment it touched this fluctuation, actually experienced an extremely brief stagnation and disorder, as if it had "recognized" some kind of homologous but higher-level "Order," and the trajectory and force of the attack shifted imperceptibly!

It was this hair's breadth of difference!

"Bang, bang, bang—!"

Most of the chains of resentment grazed Lin Yuan's body and struck the reconstructed defensive formation fiercely! The formation's light flashed wildly and eventually shattered, but it successfully neutralized most of the chains' power! Although a few chains struck Lin Yuan, under the energy deflection and weakening brought by the "Adaptive Compatibility" characteristic, their power was greatly reduced, leaving only a few shallow, black-smoke-emitting wounds on him, failing to be fatal!

Lin Yuan was knocked flying again, crashing heavily into the wall deep in the warehouse, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His vision darkened, and his whole body ached as if his bones had fallen apart. But he was still alive! And deep within his godhood, that pale golden spark, though weak, was burning tenaciously!

"How is this possible?!" The Black-robed Man uttered a sound of shock and anger for the first time! He looked in disbelief at Lin Yuan, who was only seriously injured but not devoured or torn apart by the resentment. "What... what kind of power is that?! It can actually interfere with 'Ten Thousand Grudges Soul Devourer'?!"

His eerie green light locked onto Lin Yuan, and the gray mist churned violently, clearly preparing to launch a more powerful attack to completely crush this "variable" that had repeatedly exceeded his expectations!

However, at this very moment—

A new turn of events occurred!

In the night sky outside the warehouse, several cold, pale blue scanning beams filled with a sense of precise calculation lit up without warning, piercing through the damaged roof and walls and landing on the Black-robed Man! Immediately after, a standardized, programmed energy detection fluctuation swept across the entire warehouse area like a tide!

"High-concentration unregistered evil energy reaction detected! Complex spirit body structure signal detected! Matches 'Special Threat Model-7B' characteristics! Initiating temporary isolation and analysis protocol!"

A emotionless, electronic-sounding female voice rang out outside the warehouse through some kind of loudspeaker device!

It was the technical emergency response unit of "Lingxiao Capital"! The data traps Lin Yuan had previously set had worked! Those "environmental variables" pointing to Mr. Mo's energy frequency and spirit body characteristics had clearly triggered some kind of high-threat alert mechanism within "Lingxiao," leading them here!

The Black-robed Man turned his head abruptly, his eerie green light piercing through the walls to look outside. "Interferers... annoying flies!" He clearly recognized whose detection style this was, his tone filled with the irritation of being offended.

Lin Yuan took the opportunity to endure the severe pain and, without hesitation, activated the last resort he had long ago preset in a corner of this warehouse—a crude, one-time, short-range directional teleportation formation (arranged using the remaining scraps of talisman paper and materials, extremely unstable, the distance did not exceed 500 meters, and it could only be used once).

Pale white light instantly enveloped his scarred body.

"Trying to run?!" The Black-robed Man shouted sharply, and a more solid grayish-black evil light shot toward the teleportation formation!

But the "Lingxiao" unit's scanning beams and several energy binding rays also shot toward the Black-robed Man at the same time, interfering with his actions!

The evil light and the teleportation light crossed paths!

The next moment, Lin Yuan's figure disappeared from the warehouse.

In his place, only a pool of blood, the remnants of the shattered defensive formation, and the chaotic energy fluctuations that had not yet dissipated in the air remained.

The Black-robed Man dispersed the "Lingxiao" unit's binding rays (the power was not strong for him, but annoying), his face beneath the gray mist so gloomy it was almost dripping water. He glanced at the spot where Lin Yuan had disappeared, and then at the pale blue scanning beams outside that were like maggots on the tarsal bone.

"Optimizer... God of Ruins... and that strange spark..." he muttered to himself, his eerie green light flickering, "You cannot escape. Master's 'interest' in you is growing ever greater..."

His figure slowly faded and disappeared into the gray mist that was gathering again, avoiding the subsequent tracking of the "Lingxiao" unit.

Outside the warehouse, several small, streamlined drones flickering with pale blue rune luster hovered in mid-air, scanning continuously. On the ground, several personnel wearing uniforms with the "Lingxiao" logo and holding precision detection instruments were rapidly approaching.

"Target A (high-energy evil reaction body) has disappeared; energy characteristics have been recorded. Target B (weak order reaction body) escaped using unstable spatial teleportation; direction northwest, distance approximately 400-500 meters; energy traces remain significant. Requesting next instructions." The electronic female voice reported.

"Track Target B; collect all energy residue samples. Analyze its correlation with the 'Optimization Model' and 'Special Threat Model-7B'. Sync the data to the headquarters 'Risk Assessment Department' and 'Technical Analysis Department'." A calm male voice came from the communicator.

"Instruction confirmed."

The pale blue light began to move toward the northwest.

And a few hundred meters away, in the shadow of the ruins of residential houses waiting to be demolished, Lin Yuan, covered in blood and breathing weakly, crawled with difficulty out of a pile of broken bricks and rubble.

He leaned against a broken wall, gasping violently, every breath pulling at the pain throughout his body. But in his eyes, the flames of surviving a disaster, as well as a deeper calmness, were burning.

He glanced at the system interface.

[Void God Spark (Prototype): Burning steadily (weak)]

[faith reserve: 0.011 (endangered)]

[divine breath countdown: 22 days 22 hours 33 minutes]

[Status: Seriously injured (multiple energy erosion wounds, visceral concussion, soul exhaustion)]

[Assets: Composite Spirit Body Containment Field (slightly damaged, status basically stable)]

The spark was ignited, though weak. But he had attracted the attention of "Lingxiao," and Mr. Mo's pursuit would surely be even more relentless.

The road ahead remained dangerous.

But in his hand, he finally had a spark that truly belonged to him, one that could start a prairie fire...

He took out the last talisman paper for concealing his aura, slapped it on himself, and then, gritting his teeth and dragging his injured body, hobbled away into the deeper darkness and ruins.

Behind him, the pale blue scanning beams were gradually approaching.

A new escape had begun.