171: Sequence 041: Sky Stealer

The true form of the Heavenly Dao manifested, a giant eye suspended indifferently in the void, while chains of Law, like greedy giant pythons, tightly coiled around the Spiritual Qi source of the Lei Yan Divine Dynasty's earth veins, frantically draining the world's Foundation.

The earth groaned, the mountains and rivers lost their color, and Spiritual Qi dissipated like a receding tide.

Mo Yun, having merged with the earth veins, suffered heavy injuries, her Dharma image flickering and illusory; Mo Yu and Ink Snow fought desperately to resist, but it was like ants trying to shake a tree, unable to move those chains of Law by even a fraction.

Despair, like a cold tide, once again engulfed the Lei Yan Divine Dynasty, which had just seen a glimmer of hope due to The Three Daughters' Dao Fusion.

However, deep within the Thunder Abyss, inside the Chaos Thunder Pool, the consciousness of the Immortal in a Bottle, Mo Yuan, was like the most precise furnace, burning and calculating at an unprecedented speed under the pressure of the desperate situation!

Direct resistance was ineffective, so then... steal! Copy!

"Analysis progress: 37%... The structure of the chains of Law is exceptionally complex, containing the four core Heavenly Dao authorities of 'Deprivation', 'Decomposition', 'Trace-back', and 'Purification'..."

"Energy simulation failed... The purity of the Heavenly Dao power is extremely high, and the Chaos Thunder Gang cannot fully simulate it..."

"Warning: The drainage speed of the Spiritual Qi source of the earth veins has accelerated; it is expected to be completely exhausted in two joss sticks of time..."

The artifact spirit's cold and urgent report echoed in Mo Yuan's Sea of Consciousness.

Time! The thing he lacked most was time!

Conventional analysis methods were too slow! He had to take a desperate risk!

A flash of crazy sternness flickered within Mo Yuan's eyes, which were formed by thunder Dao patterns.

"Change of plan: Abandon full analysis, proceed with high-risk forced resonance!"

"Target of guidance: The faint fluctuations emitted by the chains of Law themselves!"

"Resonance bridge: ... [Civilization Fire Seeds] network!"

His will, like the highest command, instantly pierced through space and acted upon the tens of thousands of [Civilization Fire Seeds] within the territory that had already deeply integrated with the consciousness of the Mortals!

These tiny sequences of light orbs were originally meant to enlighten wisdom and accelerate civilization, but at this moment, they were endowed with a mission they never imagined at their inception—to become listening devices and relay stations for stealing the Heavenly Dao authority!

Countless Mortals did not notice that the faint glimmer in their Sea of Consciousness was adjusting its frequency in an extremely subtle way, attempting to create a minute resonance with the faint fluctuations emanating from the chains of Law that pierced the heavens and earth and drained the earth veins!

This was no different from asking ants to listen to and mimic the breathing of a Dragon!

The risk was immense; any overload or resonance failure of a single Fire Seed node could cause damage or even annihilation to the host's Divine Soul!

But this was the only way to "eavesdrop" on the operation of the Heavenly Dao Laws as quickly and directly as possible!

Sizzle, sizzle... Pop!

As expected, Mortals kept clutching their heads and screaming, the light in their eyes dimming; that was the carried Fire Seed overloading and burning out instantly because it could not withstand the impact of the Heavenly Dao fluctuations!

The screams were unremarkable within the wailing territory, yet they represented the passing of individual lives.

Mo Yuan remained expressionless, his consciousness coldly filtering out the noise from those failed nodes, while he exerted all his effort to capture the extremely brief moments of successful resonance that occasionally appeared among the billions of attempts!

Countless fragmented, distorted, yet incredibly real pieces of information regarding the Heavenly Dao Laws were forcibly stolen and transmitted back through these fragile "bridges," pouring into the Chaos Thunder Pool and into the artifact spirit's analytical core!

"Data stream incoming! Starting forced assembly..."

"Stripping away interference noise... Extracting effective Law fragments..."

"Building model... Deducing the logic of authority operation..."

The analysis progress soared at a dangerous and crazy speed!

50%! 65%! 78%!

The Spiritual Qi source of the earth veins had become thin and dim, and the energy flow being drained had significantly weakened.

The earth was riddled with holes, and all things were withering.

Mo Yun's Dharma image was almost transparent, her aura weak to the extreme.

90%! 95%!

"Model construction complete! Starting sequence generation simulation!"

"Core materials: Heavenly Dao authority fragments obtained through forced resonance, Chaos Thunder Pool Origin (carrier for simulating Heavenly Dao power), 'Mimic Bug' universal simulation gene fragments, 'Memory Hive' overclocking computing unit..."

"Cultivation direction: Law theft, authority replication..."

"Naming: [sequence 041: Heaven Thief]!"

In the center of the Chaos Thunder Pool, thunder slurry rotated and compressed frantically; countless stolen Law fragments were forcibly injected, violently merging with the Chaos Origin, mimic genes, and computing units!

This was an extremely unstable and dangerous creation process! It was as if lighting a spark next to a gunpowder barrel!

Finally, at the last moment when the Spiritual Qi source of the earth veins was about to be completely exhausted and Mo Yun's Dao Foundation was about to shatter—

Hum!

In the center of the Thunder Pool, a faint point of shadow, constantly changing shape and emitting an aura that was of the same Origin as the chains of Law but even more chaotic and greedy, suddenly lit up!

It had no fixed form; at times it looked like a wriggling shadow, at times like countless tiny, rotating gears, and at other times it transformed into a miniature, distorted phantom of a chain!

[sequence 041: Heaven Thief]! Forcibly conceived and born!

It was extremely fragile and highly unstable, but the core—the stolen Heavenly Dao authority fragments regarding "Deprivation" and "Decomposition"—were real!

"Go!"

The Immortal in a Bottle did not hesitate and immediately ejected this newborn, dangerous sequence out of the magic bottle!

The shadow transformed by the Heaven Thief instantly pierced through the bottle wall, and like an invisible ghost, it lunged directly at the chains of Law that were draining the earth veins!

It was not attacking, but rather... attaching! Merging!

Like a parasite, it clung tightly to the chains of Law, its physical structure changing frantically, simulating the Law fluctuations of the chains, while its core authority fragments emitted a greedy suction force!

It began to... reverse-extract the power of the chains of Law themselves! And it attempted to copy their authority structure!

This sudden backstabbing by a "peer" caused the chains of Law to tremble violently!

Although the power of the Heaven Thief was insignificant compared to the complete Heavenly Dao chains, this act of "stealing" and "copying" itself severely interfered with the stable operation of the chains!

The energy flow draining the Spiritual Qi source of the earth veins showed obvious fluctuations and decay!

In the sky, the giant eye of the Heavenly Dao seemed to have detected this insignificant yet extremely "disgusting" interference; its cold pupil turned slightly, and a more pure, destructive ray of light condensed within it, seemingly intending to purify this audacious "thief" along with the chains it was attached to!

However, it was this momentary interference and fluctuation that bought Mo Yun a crucial breathing space!

The pressure from the earth veins being drained suddenly lightened!

"Now!" Mo Yun forced herself to summon her last ounce of strength, achieving a union of person and treasure with the Map of Mountains, Rivers, and the State, and let out a cry born from the instinct of the Earth Mother Goddess: "Earth veins... return to the Origin... Merge!"

Boom!

The Spiritual Qi source of the earth veins, which was on the verge of exhaustion, erupted with a final burst of life under her urging, not hesitating to burn her last bit of Dao Foundation. It forcibly severed most of its connection with the interfered chains of Law, and the remaining Spiritual Qi, like a wounded giant beast, suddenly retreated into the deepest parts of the earth, hiding away temporarily!

Although the earth veins were severely damaged, nearly half-crippled, the... Foundation was at least not completely drained!

The giant eye of the Heavenly Dao in the sky went silent for a moment, and the condensed destructive light slowly dissipated; it seemed slightly dissatisfied with failing to completely drain the earth veins, yet it also felt a trace of... curiosity toward the little bug attached to the chains that kept trying to steal its power?

The chains of Law slowly retracted due to losing their primary target, but the "Heaven Thief" sequence, like a maggot on a bone, clung tightly to the chains, "crawling" in reverse all the way toward the giant eye of the Heavenly Dao high in the sky, continuing its crazy and futile stealing and copying!

It might be completely annihilated by the Heavenly Dao in the next second.

But it had successfully completed its mission—to interfere, delay, and steal information!

It had bought time for the Divine Dynasty to survive a little longer, and it had also brought back more first-hand, precious "data" regarding the Heavenly Dao authority for the Immortal in a Bottle!

Mo Yun collapsed from exhaustion, was hurriedly supported by Mo Yu and Ink Snow, and fed a Spirit Pill, but the damage to her Dao Foundation could not be recovered in a day.

The earth was scarred and ravaged, and the Spiritual Qi was thin.

But, they were still alive.

The consciousness of the Immortal in a Bottle withdrew, fully analyzing the data finally transmitted back by the Heaven Thief.

"Heavenly Dao authority resolution increased to 12%..."

"Starting deduction of the 'Pseudo-Heavenly Dao Chains' construction plan..."

"Resource reallocation: Prioritize repairing the earth veins..."

In the desperate situation, they had finally pried open a crack in the Heavenly Dao authority at the cost of countless Mortal lives and severe damage to Mo Yun's Dao Foundation.

Heaven Thief, the name was well-deserved.

And what kind of future would this stolen power bring them?