172: Chapter 172 After this meal, everyone is a "lawless outlaw".

On the plaza of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, a "preaching" event was taking place—the most absurd, unconventional, and yet blood-pumping event in the history of the Cultivation World.

The so-called "Dao" was currently placed in the center of the plaza—it was a giant mountain piled up from orange-red crab shells.

The air was filled not just with the aroma of meat, but with a strange fluctuation that made even the Laws of Heaven and Earth feel confused. It was a signal that the residual rule fragments of a high-dimensional creature, the "404 Divine Beast," were being savagely digested by low-dimensional creatures after being forcibly cracked.

"Don't grab it! I saw this piece of 'crab claw meat' first!"

"Bullshit! My tooth marks are on it! I left that mark with my 'Diamond Indestructible Teeth'!"

"Senior Brother, leave some leeway in life so we can meet again later. You've already eaten three catties; be careful that the Spiritual Qi doesn't burst your Dantian!"

"Junior Brother, you worry too much. This meat... *hiccup*... this meat doesn't take up memory space!"

The Sword Cultivators, who usually prided themselves on being quiet, inactive, and elegant, were now rolling up their sleeves, their mouths glistening with oil. Their Flying Swords, usually used for flight, had all turned into boning knives and dinner forks. Some Disciples skilled in Formation had even set up a "Heat Gathering and Insulation Formation" next to the crab shells on the spot, just to ensure every bite of crab meat in their hands was at the optimal temperature.

At the window on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion, Li Mo held a cup of clear tea, calmly watching everything through the curling tea steam.

In his field of vision, the System panel was refreshing data streams like a waterfall.

【Detected mass rule intake...】 【Parsing intake source: Biological tissue codenamed "404 Divine Beast."】 【Parsing result: This tissue contains high concentrations of "Shielding," "Anti-peeping," "Logical Self-Consistency," and "Error Correction" Laws.】 【Warning: Long-term consumption of this ingredient may lead to benign (or malignant) rule mutations in the receptor.】

"Benign mutation, huh?" Li Mo blew on the tea foam, a playful arc curling at the corner of his mouth. "In a place like the Cultivation World where Karma is strict, 'Shielding' is sometimes more useful than 'Invincibility'."

Just then, a small dispute broke out on the plaza, confirming Li Mo's conjecture.

The protagonists of the dispute were Zhao Liu, a famous "big mouth" of the outer Sect, and a Junior Brother who had just joined the Sect.

Zhao Liu was clutching a crab leg thicker than his own thigh, his face flushed red—clearly, he was high on the food. The Junior Brother pointed at Zhao Liu with a look of grievance: "Senior Brother Zhao, I clearly grabbed this crab leg first using Gravity Art. You intercepted it halfway; that's not following the rules!"

"Rules?" Zhao Liu picked a piece of meat from between his teeth and sneered. "Junior Brother, in the Cultivation World, strength is respected. Besides, which eye saw me snatching it? I was just helping it 'fly' into my mouth."

"You... you're lying!" The Junior Brother was furious. "A Cultivator does not tell lies; aren't you afraid of being plagued by a Heart Demon?"

"Heart Demon?" Zhao Liu laughed out loud. Perhaps because he had eaten too much "Divine Beast meat," his courage was absurdly high. He pointed directly at the sky and roared, "I'll put it this way today! This crab leg is mine! If I, Zhao Liu, have said a single lie or bullied a fellow Disciple, let the heavens strike me with five thunderbolts! Let the Heavenly Dao send down a Heart Demon and cause me to suffer Qi Deviation!"

Once these words were spoken, the surroundings instantly went quiet.

Swearing oaths at random is the biggest taboo in the Cultivation World. The Heavenly Dao is sentient, and Karma is cyclical; especially harsh vows sworn while pointing to the sky often come true.

The originally sunny sky seemed to react to Zhao Liu's provocation and suddenly turned gloomy.

Clouds churned, and a purple thunderbolt faintly brewed. That was the manifestation of "Law of Karma" and the Heavenly Dao's punishment mechanism for lies.

The Junior Brother retreated in fear, terrified of being struck by lightning. Zhao Liu was also stunned; his drunkenness half-vanished, and his face turned pale instantly: "Holy crap, for real?"

However, just as that punitive thunderbolt was about to fall and lock onto Zhao Liu's Aura—

"Beep—"

An extremely abrupt, harsh, and electronically synthesized sound of a censor beep suddenly rang out between heaven and earth.

The sound was not loud, but it was like a command from a higher dimension, directly overriding the sound of thunder.

Immediately after, everyone saw a scene that shattered their worldview.

That purple thunder, which had been aggressive and represented the majesty of the Heavenly Dao, seemed to hit an invisible transparent wall in mid-air. It did not explode, nor did it dissipate, but instead... turned into a huge, grayish-white cube.

On the cube, a few symbols that no one understood, but felt were inexplicably powerful, flickered faintly: 【404 Not Found】.

The next second, the cube shattered, and the thunder vanished.

The sky became clear and sunny again, as if the overcast clouds just now were everyone's hallucination.

Zhao Liu stood in place, unscathed, still clutching that crab leg, his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.

"It... it didn't strike me?"

He touched the top of his head and looked at the sky, a flash of bewilderment in his eyes, which then quickly turned into ecstasy.

"Hahahaha! It didn't strike me! The Heavenly Dao didn't strike me!"

Zhao Liu jumped up excitedly, waving the crab leg and shouting: "Did you see that! Even Heaven thinks I'm right! I, Zhao Liu, am full of righteousness and never lie!"

The surrounding Disciples looked at each other, their expressions changing one by one.

They weren't stupid. That thunderbolt just now had clearly taken form; it was the real precursor to divine punishment. But that strange "beep" sound at the end, and that grayish-white cube that blocked the heavenly thunder, were clearly some kind of power they couldn't understand.

"Could it be..." A sharp-minded Inner Sect Disciple looked at the crab meat in his hand, thoughtful, "Eating this stuff can... shield Heavenly Secrets?"

"Since it can shield Heavenly Secrets, does that mean..." Another Disciple's eyes were frighteningly bright, "When we Cultivate in the future, we don't have to fear Heart Demon tribulations anymore? Because the Heart Demon can't find us at all?"

"It's not just Heart Demons!" Someone excitedly chimed in, "Does that mean we don't have to worry about retribution for swearing at people anymore? Will making vows be as easy as drinking water in the future?"

In an instant, the atmosphere on the plaza changed from a "Food Festival" to a "Carnival."

An Aura known as "Outlaw" began to spread through the Heavenly River Sword Sect.

What do Cultivators fear most? They fear Karma, they fear karmic retribution, and they fear Heart Demons.

But now, this "Full Crab Feast" seemed to have put a thick "firewall" on everyone. They had become "fish that slipped through the net" in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, and "hidden files" in the System.

Li Mo watched this scene from upstairs, helplessly rubbing his forehead.

"System, record this," he said in his mind. "Side effect one: Collective moral bottom line has become flexible. Because the deterrent of 'divine punishment' is lost, these guys might become increasingly uninhibited."

【Recording complete. It is suggested that the Host guide them as soon as possible, otherwise the Heavenly River Sword Sect may transform into a Demonic Sect.】

"No matter," Li Mo calmly took a sip of tea. "As long as I am here, they won't be able to turn the world upside down. Besides, this 'shielding' effect is temporary; it will naturally disappear after digestion. However..."

His gaze shifted to the other side of the plaza.

There, a spiritual power fluctuation more astonishing than the "disappearing thunder" was erupting.

The source of the fluctuation was a Senior Elder of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, Liu Changqing, known as the "Iron Stomach Daoist."

This Elder Liu was responsible for the Sect's logistics and procurement, and his greatest hobby in life was eating. During the feast just now, relying on his profound cultivation, he had snatched the most essential piece of "crab roe" all by himself.

That was the core rule fragment of the "404 Divine Beast," containing extremely high-density space folding and data compression Laws.

At this moment, Liu Changqing sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed, his body exuding a dazzling amber light.

His stomach was undergoing strange changes.

It didn't bulge like an ordinary person who had overeaten; instead... it was collapsing inward.

Yes, collapsing.

At his abdomen, the light began to twist, as if it were no longer a flesh-and-blood body, but a black hole leading to an unknown dimension.

"Ugh..."

Liu Changqing let out a painful yet pleasurable groan.

He opened his eyes abruptly, and his pupils reflected countless overlapping spatial grid patterns.

"So hungry..."

Elder Liu spoke, his voice hoarse, with a metallic reverberation.

"I've clearly eaten a whole piece of crab roe enough to burst a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, why... do I still feel so hungry?"

He subconsciously reached out to the Void Realm beside him.

Several huge crab shell scraps, weighing thousands of catties, were piled there.

Liu Changqing grabbed one and, just like eating potato chips, bit down with a "crunch." The incredibly hard crab shell, which even Flying Swords could barely leave a mark on, was as crisp as thin paper in his mouth.

What was even more terrifying was that after he swallowed that huge crab shell, his stomach remained as flat as ever, without even a hint of rising.

"Space folding?"

In the distance, Sect Master Li Xuanji saw the clue and exclaimed: "Junior Brother Liu, your Dantian... how did it become a Storage Pouch?"

Liu Changqing was stunned for a moment; he felt it too.

He looked inside himself and was horrified to find that his stomach had disappeared. In its place was a gray, boundless void space. The crab shell he had just eaten was floating in a small corner of that space, appearing insignificant.

"Is this... the Divine Ability of 'Great Capacity'?" Liu Changqing said, trembling.

"No."

Above the Scripture Pavilion, Li Mo's voice was precisely transmitted to Liu Changqing's ears via sound transmission.

"This is the 【Recycle Bin】."

Li Mo looked at the parsing data displayed on the System panel: 【Target individual has assimilated the rule fragment "Data Compression." Current status: Bottomless pit. All ingested substances will be automatically compressed and stored, no digestion required, directly converted into pure energy. Side effect: Forever lacking a feeling of fullness.】

"Elder Liu," Li Mo's voice carried a hint of a smile, "Congratulations, from today on, you are the Heavenly River Sword Sect's first 'Humanoid Mobile Warehouse.' When the Sect moves in the future, no need to bring Storage Rings; just open your mouth."

Liu Changqing was dazed for a moment, then looked at the remaining crab shell in his hand again, a green light ten times stronger than before erupting in his eyes.

"That means... no matter how much I eat, I won't burst to death?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"Hahahahaha!" Liu Changqing roared to the sky, his laughter shaking the heavens, "The 'appetite Bottleneck' that has plagued this old man for three hundred years has finally been broken today! Someone come! Bring me all the remaining crab legs! This old man wants to fight for another three thousand rounds!"

Looking at the completely crazed Elder Liu, and the group of Disciples around them who were starting to test each other's bottom lines (such as slapping each other to see if they would be struck by lightning) because of the "Outlaw" buff, Sect Master Li Xuanji felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Is this still the righteous Heavenly River Sword Sect?

Why does it look like a group of starving ghosts and thugs who just ran out of a mental hospital?

He subconsciously looked in the direction of the Scripture Pavilion.

There, that mysterious sweeping Servant (by now, the whole Sect assumed he was a hidden expert) was standing by the window.

The afterglow of the sunset spilled onto Li Mo's face, gilding him with a layer of gold.

Li Xuanji felt a stir in his heart.

All these changes were because of that Senior.

Although the style had become strange, and although the Disciples had become a bit abnormal, but...

Li Xuanji felt his Nascent Soul, which had regained vitality from eating the crab meat and even faintly showed signs of breaking through to Soul Transformation, and then looked at those Disciples who, despite their absurd behavior, were visibly surging in Aura.

"Perhaps, this is the so-called... Great Dao is simple, returning to the basics?" Li Xuanji comforted himself.

He took a deep breath and decided to join the carnival.

"Pass on the order!" Li Xuanji waved his hand, "All Disciples who broke through due to eating crab, immediately go to the door of the Scripture Pavilion to kowtow and express gratitude! Also... Junior Brother Liu, take it easy on the eating, leave some for the Grand Elder!"

...

Night fell.

The plaza of the Heavenly River Sword Sect was lit with bonfires.

The huge "404 Divine Beast" had been dismembered until only a pile of dregs without any spiritual charm remained.

The aroma that had changed the color of heaven and earth finally dissipated, replaced by "drunken crabs" all over the floor—those were the Disciples who had fallen asleep due to excessive intake of Spiritual Qi.

They lay on the ground in a sprawl, some still smacking their lips in their dreams, some still flickering with "mosaic" light from time to time.

The entire Sect fell into a strange tranquility.

Inside the Scripture Pavilion.

Li Mo closed the window, isolating the snoring from outside.

He sat back on the dilapidated rocking chair, toying with a crystal clear crystal the size of a fingernail in his hand.

That was something he extracted from the deepest part of the crab shell—the original brain position of the "404 Divine Beast"—while cleaning up the aftermath.

This was not an ingredient.

This was a pure rule crystal.

【Detected core rule fragment: Authorization Key (Incomplete).】 【Item description: This is the proof of identity for the "404 Divine Beast" as a plane auditor. Although incomplete, it still retains a trace of "Management Authority" from a higher dimension.】 【Do you wish to fuse?】

Li Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.

The carnival of the Disciples just now was only the surface, only scratching the surface.

The real "big meal" was only just being served now.

"That 'beep' sound, although useful, was too noisy," Li Mo muttered to himself. "If I fuse this, would I be able to not just 'shield,' but... 'modify'?"

He remembered the grayish-white cube that had blocked the heavenly thunder earlier.

That was the power of "404."

It was a domineering and unreasonable "Access Denied."

"Fuse."

Li Mo did not hesitate and gently crushed the crystal.

A chill flowed through his fingertips throughout his body, finally gathering in his eyes. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, a faint, almost imperceptible gray halo seemed to have appeared in the depths of his pupils.

There was no earth-shattering vision, nor was there a surge in cultivation.

But when he looked at the book "Heavenly River Sword Sect Rules" on the table, a few strange virtual buttons suddenly appeared in his vision:

【Edit】, 【Delete】, 【Pin】... and a blood-red 【Ban】.

"So that's it."

Li Mo's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a true "Mastermind" style smile.

"After eating this meal, you have only become 'Outlaws'."

"And I..."

He extended his finger and tapped the void where Squeak was sleeping soundly. A dialog box that only Li Mo could see immediately popped up above Squeak's head: 【This user has been muted for 1 minute】.

"Squeak? Squeak Squeak?! (Eh? I can't speak?!)" Squeak woke up in horror, opening its mouth wide but only able to make "Beep beep beep" sounds.

Li Mo nodded with satisfaction.

"And I have become the one who makes the 'Laws'."