togophonebook Chapter 143 Original Design Can Also Be Changed
Chapter 143 Original Design Can Also Be Changed
The wind in Huaguo Mountain carries a faint scent of pine.
Chen Fan stood by the rock wall, his palms slightly damp.
The pebbles under his feet crunched under his feet.
"Chen Xuance," Chen Fan began, his voice trembling slightly.
"I've come this far," he added, "and I don't want to hold anyone back."
Chen Xuance's eyes gleamed in the dim light.
He didn't act immediately, but just smiled faintly.
"The original design wasn't perfect," he said, "it just came at a high cost."
Chen Fan frowned.
"What's the price?" he asked in a low voice, leaning slightly forward.
Chen Xuance raised his hand and pointed to the rune array deep in the mountains.
"This double-shell mechanism," he explained, "means that the two shells of the same origin must coexist."
“If changes are to be made,” he continued, “one shell must be completely removed.”
"Erase?" Chen Fan's fists clenched involuntarily.
"Yes," Chen Xuance nodded, "otherwise the structure would collapse."
At this moment, Sun Wukong rushed down from the mountain peak.
With the golden cudgel in hand, fury blazed in his eyes.
"Stop talking nonsense," he roared, "Attack first!"
The golden cudgel slammed into the rock wall, sending fragments of rock flying.
Chen Fan dodged to the side, his steps light and quick.
He quickly pulled out a hidden blood-red talisman foil and tossed it into the air.
The talisman unfurled in the air, transforming into a beam of blood-red light.
The beam of light struck Sun Wukong directly in the chest.
Wukong was hit, his brows furrowed, but he did not retreat.
"Neither of you are going to escape," Chen Xuance shouted sternly. "This is the first version of Flower Fruit Mountain, and the rules are beginning to resonate here."
Instantly, the mountain shook.
The rock strata cracked, and underground energy surged forth.
A shockwave swept across the entire mountain range.
Chen Fan felt the rocks beneath his feet tremble.
The outline of the real-world Flower and Fruit Mountain appeared before his eyes.
That was a city that he had already transformed.
"If we fail here," Wukong said in a low voice, "the Flower Fruit Mountain in the mortal world will collapse."
His voice carried a chilling murderous intent.
Chen Fan took a deep breath, his brows furrowed.
He knew this battle was not just a contest between the two of them.
It is also a test of the entire world structure.
Chen Xuance waved his hand, and a purple ripple spread forward.
The ripples collided with Wukong's golden cudgel, sparking dazzling sparks.
Wukong roared and unleashed a series of whip-like strikes with his golden cudgel.
Fists and kicks clashed, and pebbles flew everywhere.
Chen Fan dodged left and right, his steps as swift as the wind.
Each dodge was accompanied by a slight tremor in the mountain.
The battle has reached a fever pitch.
Wukong's staff swept across the valley like lightning.
Each strike made the rock roar.
Chen Xuance's purple waves drew an arc in the air.
Like a giant serpent coiled up.
He sneered, "As long as you don't understand the rules, you'll be stuck here forever."
Chen Fan seized an opening and rushed toward the core of the rune array.
He slapped the runes with his palm, trying to break the double-shell structure.
The runes instantly emitted a blinding blue light, and the entire mountain shook violently.
"Stop!" Chen Xuance shouted.
He raised his finger and pointed to the starlight above.
The starlight converged into a white beam of light, shining directly onto the mountaintop.
A beam of light pierced through the clouds, illuminating the entire valley.
"This beam of light is the system's backup channel," Chen Xuance explained. "Once the double shell is broken, the beam of light will send the erased shell back to the source."
Chen Fan's heart tightened.
If the light beam is activated, the other end of the dual-shell mechanism will be activated.
That means the very foundation of the entire pilgrimage system will be rewritten.
Just then, Wukong's golden cudgel struck Chen Xuance in the chest again.
Chen Xuance took two steps back, bloodstains spreading across his chest.
"I didn't expect you guys to be so stupid," Wukong mocked, "you don't even have basic defense."
Chen Fan seized the opportunity and forcefully slammed the talisman in his hand towards the base of the pillar of light.
The talisman foil exploded at the entrance of the light pillar, producing a piercing cracking sound.
The beam of light swayed, as if it were about to break.
However, the blue light at the core of the pillar of light became even hotter.
The mountain shook violently, and boulders rolled down.
Chen Fan felt the ground beneath his feet begin to crack.
It was as if a tremendous force was stirring up trouble at the bottom.
"Who designed this double shell?" Chen Fan asked, panting, his eyes sharp.
A rare solemn expression appeared on Chen Xuance's face.
He pointed to the distant stars and whispered, "Not the author's agent."
Rather, it's the "continuation writing group" located further up.
Before the words were finished, the pillar of light on the mountaintop suddenly shrank to a single point.
It felt like being tightly gripped by an invisible hand.
Then, a black crack spread out from the pillar of light.
The rune array rushed straight down to the bottom of the mountain.
Chen Fan saw the crack widen instantly.
It almost tore the entire mountain apart.
"We must stop immediately!" Wukong roared.
"Otherwise, both sides will be swallowed up!"
A cold glint flashed in Chen Xuance's eyes.
He slowly raised his hand, and a dark red energy ball gathered in his palm.
"If we're going to make changes, we have to sacrifice one shell first," he said in a low voice.
"Are you prepared to accept this price?"
Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat.
He knew that the choice before him would determine the course of countless destinies.
The sound of the wind in the valley suddenly became piercing.
Like the howls of countless bloodthirsty wolves.
Chen Fan's attack was already in front of Chen Xuance.
The force of the punch tore through space.
"boom!"
Chen Xuance raised his arm to block, his body retreating several feet, the stone slab beneath his feet shattering.
"Don't you understand?"
Chen Xuance wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled.
The laughter carried a weariness, but also a condescending pity.
"You think you've won by taking down one author's agent?"
Chen Fan did not answer.
He lunged forward, his second punch already landing.
Chen Xuance narrowly avoided the attack by sidestepping, his sleeve torn by the force of the punch.
"Let me tell you."
He retreated rapidly, but his voice came clearly through the smoke and dust.
"Author agents are merely the lowest-level executors."
Chen Fan's third punch missed.
He stopped and stared at Chen Xuance.
"What do you mean?"
Chen Xuance took a few breaths to steady himself.
He pointed to the top of his head.
"Above the author's agents, there is another organization."
"They specifically manage us—the failed experiments."
Chen Fan frowned.
"A failed experiment?"
"good."
Chen Xuance sneered.
"You think there's only one version of Journey to the West? You think there's only this one set of rules for Heaven and Buddhism?"
"Every overturned ending becomes a scrapped case."
"There are too many rejected cases, so someone needs to handle them."
He paused.
"The team that handles scrapped cases is the one that continues writing them."
The wind on Huaguo Mountain has stopped.
The sound of the waterfall seemed to freeze at that moment.
Chen Fan's heart sank.
"You mean...?"
"good."
Chen Xuance nodded.
"The continuation writing team will make the decision—"
"Do these discarded cases even have the right to claim authoritative historical records?"
In the distance, a violent fluctuation came from the direction of the present-day Flower and Fruit Mountain.
The mountain shook, and birds and beasts scattered in fright.
Chen Fan's expression changed slightly.
"It seems you've already sensed it."
Chen Xuance looked in the direction from which the fluctuations came.
"Your Flower Fruit Mountain is starting to become unstable."
"You only hit the door."
He looked at Chen Fan and spoke slowly and deliberately.
"The real enemy has not yet appeared."
Chen Fan clenched his fist.
"Then let them come out."
"Quite the boast."
Chen Xuance shook his head.
"Do you know how many people are in the sequel group? Each of them has managed dozens of failed worlds."
"You can beat an author's agent."
"Can you beat ten? A hundred?"
Chen Fan remained silent.
He simply took a step forward.
At that very moment, another roar came from afar.
A golden ray of light pierced through the clouds.
It's Sun Wukong.
He tore up the old draft of the first version of the Water Curtain Cave.
The manuscript pages were reduced to fragments and scattered all over the ground.
"What?"
Chen Xuance's expression changed drastically.
"Are you crazy?!"
He suddenly looked at Chen Fan.
"That's the control chain of the original monkey troop! You've broken it, and all subsequent versions will—"
"What will happen?"
Chen Fan finally spoke.
The voice was calm.
"Everything will be reshuffled."
Chen Xuance's face turned ashen.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
"I know."
Chen Fan smiled.
"Change always comes at a price."
He looked at Chen Xuance.
"Now, it's your turn to make a choice."
Chen Xuance remained silent.
a long time.
He raised his hand.
A black light appeared in the palm of his hand.
The lamplight flickered, dim and indistinct.
"Take it."
He tossed the lamp to Chen Fan.
Chen Fan caught it.
The black light felt icy cold to the touch, as if I were holding a piece of ancient ice.
"What is this?"
Chen Xuance did not answer.
He just looked at Chen Fan.
"Read it first."
"After you've read it, then you can decide—"
"Should I be killed?"
Chen Fan looked down at the lamp in his hand.
The flickering lamplight illuminated his face.
In the distance, the fluctuations of the present-day Flower and Fruit Mountain became increasingly violent.
Cracks began to appear on the mountain.
The screams of the monkeys rose and fell.
Chen Xuance turned and left.
"The next time we meet, it will be when the sequel writing team comes to find you."
His voice came from afar.
"Take care of yourself."
Chen Fan stood still.
He gripped the black light tightly.
The lamp flames flickered in the wind.
"Continuation Group..."
He repeated the word softly.
Sun Wukong walked over from a distance.
He carried the golden cudgel on his shoulder.
"Brother Fan."
His expression was solemn.
"Huaguo Mountain is about to collapse."
Chen Fan nodded.
"I know."
He raised the lamp in his hand.
"But perhaps it can tell us the answer."
The lamp flame flickered.
As if in response.
A mountain breeze blows.
Roll up the scraps of paper scattered all over the floor.
In the distance, a huge shadow appeared on the horizon.
Cover the sky.
Chen Fan looked up.
Pupil constriction.
Countless figures could be vaguely seen in the shadows.
"Are you here...?"
He gripped the black light tightly.
Chapter 382 The Last Record in the Dark
The black lamp swayed in the center of the rock face. The wick flickered, and the blue light traced delicate arcs.
Chen Fan stood in front of the lamp, his fingers trembling slightly.
A blurry piece of text slowly emerged from the crack in the lampshade.
Recorder: Chen Xuance
The name appeared on the screen, then was crossed out by a dark pattern, leaving only "Chen...Ce".
Chen Fan couldn't help but smile.
"The system can even delete words."
The lights flickered on and off, while the text continued to play.
"The Ninth Experimental Field, codenamed 'Obsidian,' is located in the depths of the Northern Wilderness Abyss."
"I reported this three times, suggesting that we recycle the site with minimal loss to avoid a complete clearing."
The superior's reply: "Clear immediately, awaiting further instructions."
The scene shifts to Chen Xuance standing on the ruins, holding a dark red dagger in his hand.
"Every report I submitted was overridden by instructions from higher levels."
"They disregarded the lives of hundreds and thousands of people, as long as the mission was completed."
Chen Fan frowned.
"So that's why you didn't hesitate to cut down all obstacles?"
The scene shifts to the core device in the experimental field, where red light is continuously emitted.
"If we delay, the unknown 'Black Tide' will spread on its own."
"I chose to end it quickly to prevent a greater disaster."
The lights suddenly dimmed, with only a few lines of text still flashing.
"The original carrier's true name: 'Celestial Trial-01'."
Next, a layer of dark web automatically covered the area, leaving "Sky Curtain...-01".
Chen Fan's lips twitched.
"You still dare to package death as 'defense'?"
A crack appeared in the lamp, and light flowed like blood vessels.
Just then, muffled footsteps came from the cave entrance.
Chen Xuance stepped into the circle of lights, his black robe fluttering in the wind.
His eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty light as he lightly tapped the lamp.
"You saw it."
Chen Fan looked up, his gaze as hard as stone.
"We have already seen it."
Chen Xuance sneered.
"I don't want to explain anymore."
He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a piece of obsidian.
The stone was covered with dense runes and emitted a low hum.
"This is the key to 'Half a Page'."
Chen Fan's hand trembled slightly, but he did not put the lamp down.
"Half a page?"
Chen Xuance stopped talking and simply threw the stone at the wick of the lamp.
The stone struck, the lamp shattered, and the light scattered in all directions.
The black light shattered instantly, and the light curtain sprayed out like blood.
Stone chips fell and landed on the ground, forming a dark red mark.
The surrounding air suddenly froze.
A low, buzzing sound emanated from the mark, like a thousand troops pressing down.
Chen Fan gasped, the remnants of the lamp in his hand still radiating warmth.
He looked up and saw that the obsidian in Chen Xuance's hand had been shattered into several pieces.
"Now, the only way to decide who will sign that half-page is through a fight."
Chen Xuance's voice was like an iron hammer striking a mountain wall.
Suddenly, Wukong's golden cudgel appeared at the edge of the field of vision, its light dazzling.
He frowned, staring at the two of them.
"Brother Fan, don't try anything funny."
Chen Fan took a deep breath and gripped the broken light shard tightly.
"I'm not afraid."
The humming of the stone seal grew more intense, and the surrounding rocks began to tremble.
A dark current surged from the crack, like an invisible hand, trying to overturn them all.
Chen Xuance raised his hand, and a dark red energy wave shot straight towards the mark.
The collision of the waves produced a violent flash of light.
Within the light, a line of text that had been erased appeared, then slowly reappeared:
"Signed by: _______".
The afterglow of the lamplight shone on Chen Fan's face, and the blood-red glow made his eyes even more determined.
He took a step forward and rushed towards the stone seal.
"This time, the decision is in our hands."
The rock wall cracked open, and a black tide surged out, swallowing all light.
**Chapter 383 Who Will Sign That Half Page?**
Chen Fan stepped out of the Water Curtain Cave, kicking the water droplets at his feet into a fine mist. On the stone wall at the cave entrance, ancient runes appeared to have been torn off at one corner, revealing dark red marks. Chen Xuance stood at the cave entrance, his brows furrowed, a jet-black short sword in his hand.
"Today, you can only survive on this half-page," he sneered.
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, and the probe on his chest trembled slightly. The faint light emitted by the probe reflected in his eyes, like a flaming insect.
"I have no say in signing," he said, raising his hand, the light dancing on his fingertips.
Without a word, their figures flashed past each other. Chen Fan stepped forward with his left foot, his right fist aimed straight at Chen Fan's chest. Chen Xuance dodged to the side, his short sword flashing a cold light as it sliced through the air.
In their first exchange, fists clashed with sword blades, producing a piercing metallic sound. Chen Fan's fist, carrying the weight of the rocks, slammed directly into Chen Xuance's chest. Chen Xuance staggered back two steps, his ankle hitting a crevice in the rock, nearly causing him to fall.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you," Chen Xuance hissed, the tip of his sword pressed against Chen Fan's throat.
Chen Fan's fingers gripped the lamp handle tightly. As the light dimmed, the surrounding dark red energy was immediately absorbed. The oppressive feeling of Five Finger Mountain, the scorching heat of the Western Road, and the sound of the wind from Flower Fruit Mountain flashed through his mind. Those memories were like heavy stone slabs, pressing on his chest, yet making him stand even more firmly.
"I don't need your sword," Chen Fan said in a deep voice, his voice echoing through the valley.
He abruptly retreated, slamming his feet against the stone wall, instantly kicking up the curtain of water beneath his feet and forming a wall of water. Chen Xuance's sword blade was washed by the water, and a sliver of blood splattered from the tip.
Chen Xuance raised an eyebrow, and the short sword in his hand instantly transformed into a dark red energy ball, which he hurled towards Chen Fan. The ball traced an arc in mid-air, carrying a suppressed aura.
Chen Fan did not dodge. He held the lamp in his left hand and used his right hand to slash open the energy ball. The light pierced the ball, causing it to explode into fragments that rained down on the stone wall.
Hidden text within the fragments was activated. The text flickered, revealing the names of two people.
"We are deleting each other's history nodes," Chen Fan whispered.
A look of surprise flashed in Chen Xuance's eyes. The original record was being torn apart by the power in the hands of the two.
"What will happen to your system if I disappear?" he asked through gritted teeth.
Chen Fan didn't answer, but simply turned the lights up to their strongest. The light swept across the stone wall, revealing a crack from which dark red dampness seeped.
The crack widened, forming a passage leading to the original stone bridge. The two ran towards the bridge, which was covered with ancient symbols, like bloodstains.
The bridge swayed, and stones kept falling. Chen Fan stepped across, and the stones beneath his feet instantly turned to ashes. Chen Xuance followed closely behind, but tripped over a falling stone.
"The real show is yet to come." Chen Xuance glared, stood up, and the short sword in his hand once again transformed into dark red energy.
Chen Fan raised his hand, and the light suddenly changed, transforming into a golden blade of light that pointed directly at Chen Xuance's chest. The blade of light sliced through, instantly severing the flow of dark red energy in Chen Xuance's hand.
Chen Xuance spat out blood and foam, and panic flashed in his eyes.
"Who has the right to sign that half-page?" he asked hoarsely.
Chen Fan didn't answer, and his fist slammed into Chen Xuance's chest again. The force of the fist, carrying the weight of the mountain rocks, pushed Chen Xuance towards the edge of the bridge.
Chen Xuance lost his footing, tumbled off the bridge, and fell into the abyss. A deafening roar echoed from the abyss as lava spewed from the cracks, engulfing his figure.
After a brief silence, Chen Fan stood at the bridgehead, the light flickering on his chest. Half a page of paper floated on the water, the silvery words still wet.
Just then, a low laugh came from the distant mountains.
"Don't think it's over." The voice echoed through the valley like the striking of a stone bell.
Chen Fan looked up, and the outline of a golden cudgel appeared in his eyes. Wukong walked over from a distance, carrying the golden cudgel on his shoulder.
"Brother Fan." Wukong's voice was low but carried an imperceptible urgency.
"Huaguo Mountain can't hold on much longer." Wukong stared intently at the churning black tide in the distance.
Chen Fan nodded, the light in his hand dim but still flickering.
"But perhaps it can tell us the answer," Chen Fan said.
The lamplight flickered, as if in response. The mountain wind swept up shredded paper, the pages drifting away into the distance.
A massive shadow appeared on the horizon, blotting out the sun. Within the shadow, countless figures could be vaguely seen, like stars collapsing.
Chen Fan looked up, his pupils contracted, and blood vessels flickered in his eyes.
"They're here..." he whispered, gripping the black lamp tightly.
Light and shadow intertwined, and lava churned beneath the bridge.
Who will sign off on this half-page?
The lights suddenly went out, and darkness engulfed the bridge.
Chapter 384 The Proposal is Fully Unsealed
Chen Fan's voice echoed through the deathly silent valley.
"Attention everyone, activate synchronized projection, now!"
There was no reply, only the black light trembling as if burning in his palm. He waited, waiting for the connection from the Flower Fruit Mountain of the mortal world to be established.
Chen Xuance emerged from the shadows of the cave entrance. Something was wrong with him.
He walked with an upright posture, like a wooden stake driven into the ground. The mockery from before was gone from his face, but it was colder than mockery—a coldness that seeped from the cracks in the stone, devoid of human warmth. He raised his right hand, a dark red symbol appearing on his palm, his posture composed, his aura exuding an air of self-assurance.
"You're still making pointless connections," Chen Xuance said, his voice as flat as reciting a rule. "The main plan has already been unsealed."
Chen Fan's heart sank.
The price of Chen Xuance's self-sacrifice was immediately apparent.
Huaguo Mountain is changing.
It's not collapse, it's "reversion".
The waterfall changed from splashing to plunging straight down, crashing into the pool with a monotonous "thump-thump," without making a single splash. The monkeys in the trees suddenly fell silent, as if a pause button had been pressed. The few little monkeys that had been playing just moments before were now frozen on the branches, repeating the same action of tossing a peach pit over and over again.
Chen Fan's legs went weak.
He rushed into the cave behind the waterfall. On the cave wall, the crooked "反" characters he had carved himself were being smoothed out by an invisible force. The characters looked as if they had been erased by an eraser, leaving pale marks, which were then swallowed up by the newly formed rock wall.
He turned around abruptly and saw Chen Xuance standing at the cave entrance, like a living boundary marker.
"See that?" Chen Xuance said. "The first version of Flower Fruit Mountain is returning to a stable recycling mode. All your 'abnormalities' will be reset."
Chen Fan didn't speak; the black light felt hot in his palm.
He rushed out, charged at the nearest monkey repeating the same action, and yelled, "Wake up! Think about yesterday!"
The monkey's eyes darted around, and a glint seemed to flash in them.
But the next moment, it continued to tossing peach pits, mechanically and precisely.
Chen Fan gritted his teeth, poured spiritual energy into the black lamp, and slashed at the void—this was an attack method he had recently devised, directly targeting the "logic loophole."
Dark red ripples spread from the tip of the black lamp and struck the monkey.
"puff."
A soft sound. Like a bubble bursting.
The ripples entered the monkey's body, causing the monkey to pause for only 0.1 seconds before continuing. Not even the peach pit fell out.
Chen Fan was thrown back three steps by the impact, and his throat felt metallic.
He looked up and saw that Chen Xuance's lips seemed to twitch—or perhaps it was his imagination, but his face was completely stiff.
"It's useless," Chen Xuance said. "The logic of the official plan is the top-level rule. The permissions of the discarded plan have been completely overridden. All your 'cracking' is just erroneous data that needs to be corrected in the eyes of the official plan."
The surrounding area, Huaguo Mountain, has completely changed.
The sky was gray, the clouds were lifeless. Birdsong had vanished, the wind had stopped. Even the pond had become a rigid mirror. All living things moved in unison, their rhythms synchronized, like puppets programmed to move in unison. Only the patch of ground beneath Chen Fan's feet retained a trace of chaos—the faint light from the black lamp flickered like the last spark in the gray world.
Did the war drums of the Heavenly Court sound in the distance? No, the drumbeats had become regularized: one, two, three, four, each beat occurring at exactly the same interval, without any variation.
Chen Fan wanted to laugh, but couldn't. He thought of Zhang Gang's words, "A head-on confrontation is a disadvantage," and realized how painful that was.
It's not the pain of swords and blades, it's the pain of having meaning ripped out.
He tried to contact Wukong, but the moment his divine sense reached out, it was pushed away by the rules, like hitting an invisible copper wall. All the memory connections in Flower Fruit Mountain related to the "Ninth Experimental Field" were severed. He was isolated, like an island, in this dying "first version".
As Chen Xuance walked step by step, with each step he took, the rocky ground beneath his feet returned to a degree of "normal"—green grass grew, neat and uniform; small flowers bloomed, with the same number of petals; even the stones were arranged in a perfect geometric array.
"Did you see that?" Chen Xuance stopped three steps away from Chen Fan. "This is what it should look like. Stable, predictable, with no unnecessary entropy increase. Your defection of Sun Wukong, kidnapping of Tang Sanzang, and subversion of plot points... now that the main storyline is fully unsealed, they are all just temporary errors that need to be cleaned up."
Chen Fan stared at him.
"What price did you pay?" he asked.
Chen Xuance's eyes flickered. There was no emotion in them, but a profound weariness, like a riverbed drained of its water. "The price?" he repeated, "I gave up 'certainty'."
He raised his hand, the dark red symbol pulsating slightly. "I can no longer 'trust' anything. Including believing this decision is right. Including believing the authority given by Buddha. Even including believing the 'correct plan' itself is infallible. I can only execute, not judge."
Chen Fan felt a chill run down his spine.
This is more terrifying than a vicious curse. An executor with absolute authority, yet no longer able to "trust" anything. Cold, precise, and flawless.
"So what are you now?" Chen Fan asked hoarsely.
"It's the tentacles of the main proposal."
Chen Xuance raised his hand and pointed it at the sky.
"brush!"
All living things on Flower Fruit Mountain ceased their movements simultaneously. Time itself seemed to freeze. Only Chen Fan could still move, but he could feel the space squeezing him and the rules repelling him.
"Your final authority," Chen Xuance said, "is to remain on-site and observe the 'error correction' process. Then, disappear."
Chen Fan suddenly looked up at the sky.
There, enormous, translucent golden characters began to emerge. These were the main clauses, appearing one by one, covering the sky like divine decrees.
Rule 1: All life behaviors must conform to the original text's trajectory.
Rule 2: All emotional fluctuations must not exceed the baseline threshold.
Rule 3: All abnormal data will trigger a data recycling process.
……
With each rule revealed, Flower Fruit Mountain became a little more "normal." The monkeys' movements became more synchronized, the flowers bloomed more uniformly, and even the tiny spark beneath his feet dimmed slightly.
In midfield, they were completely on the defensive.
Chen Fan tried various methods. He used a black light to strike the nearest rule-shaped character, causing the light to vibrate violently and almost fly out of his hand. He provoked the monkeys working repetitively around him with words; their ears twitched, but none of them turned around. He even deliberately knocked over a stone, which was caught by a faint light before hitting the ground and gently placed back in its original position.
Everything has its order.
He was the only exception.
His exception is being besieged by the ocean of rules.
Despair was like being doused with ice water.
But at this very moment—
"Buzz".
From within the darkness, a final notification tone echoed. It wasn't the system's usual electronic sound, but rather... an ancient, heart-beat-like pulse.
One line of text was etched directly into his mind:
[For a discarded proposal to succeed, it must be transformed into a new and compelling document.]
New text?
Chen Fan was stunned.
What does that mean?
[Hint: The core value of the Ninth Experimental Field lies not in confrontation, but in "continuing the story." Your proof of existence is not that you can still resist, but that you have written a "different story." The main objective is stable feedback. To win, you must demonstrate that continuing to write your version is more valuable than feedback.]
In an instant, Chen Fan felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
He was wrong.
From beginning to end, he thought he was "fighting" the bill, and that he would win as long as he proved "I can survive".
wrong.
The main plan doesn't care whether he lives or dies. The main plan only cares about "recycling efficiency" and "story stability".
What he wanted to prove was not how resilient he, Chen Fan, was, but that the "first 383 chapters" he wrote—this chaotic, emotional, unexpected, "imperfect" yet "vibrant" story—deserved to continue existing!
He doesn't want to be a destroyer.
It is the author.
They are the ones who make this story more worthwhile to "continue writing".
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he looked around sharply.
Look at the crooked marks he carved, erased by the rules.
Look at that stiff little monkey, repeatedly tossing peach pits.
Look at your own despairing face reflected in that lifeless pool.
What is the "new text" he is going to write?
This is not a rejection of the proposed solution.
It transforms the elements deemed "wrong" in the original draft—Sun Wukong's rebelliousness, Tang Sanzang's confusion, the Bull Demon King's familial affection, and even his own time travel and scheming—into the indispensable "living flesh and blood" of the story. It makes the original draft understand: removing these "abnormalities" kills the story. And these "abnormalities" are precisely what prove its vitality.
But this requires a "demonstration".
We need to let "Huaguo Mountain in the present world" see that "everything that happened here is not a mistake, but another possibility."
Chen Fan took a deep breath.
He raised the black light.
It was not an attack.
It's about communication.
He poured all the remaining permissions of the Ninth Experimental Field, along with the newly comprehended "New Text" concept, into the lamp flame.
The lamp flames surged, no longer a faint glow, but a twisted pillar of light that tore through the gray sky.
He growled at the beam of light:
"The real-life Flower and Fruit Mountain! Respond if you hear me! I need you to watch simultaneously—what's happening here isn't bug fixing, it's a new possibility for the story!"
The beam of light trembled, as if struggling against the oppressive rules pressing down from above.
Chen Xuance looked at him, and for the first time, something like "confusion" appeared on his expressionless face. His raised hand hovered in the air, as if he were calculating this new variable.
"You're trying to..." Chen Xuance said, "to use 'narrative value' to fight against 'rule efficiency'?"
"Yes." Chen Fan stared at the beam of light. "I'm not proving that I'm alive. I'm proving that this story is worth living."
Within the beam of light, blurry images began to flicker. This was a sign that the Flower and Fruit Mountain in the mortal world was receiving signals.
But at this very moment—
"boom!"
The entire Flower and Fruit Mountain suddenly sank.
It's not vibration.
It means that all rules trigger "recycling" simultaneously.
The gloomy sky pressed down overhead, and the regular characters hung down like a giant net. Even the "Mars Zone" beneath Chen Fan's feet began to crack.
The system notification tone finally rang out loud:
[WARNING: The complete unlocking of the main plan has triggered the ultimate recycling protocol. Ninth Experimental Field survival countdown: 10 seconds.]
9 ...
Chen Fan's heart pounded wildly, the black light beam swayed violently, and the images appeared intermittently.
8 ...
He saw a familiar face flash through the beam of light—was it Wukong? No, it was many more familiar faces, belonging to the "abnormal beings" of Flower Fruit Mountain in the present world.
7 ...
Chen Xuance's hand finally fell. The dark red symbol transformed into a rope, binding Chen Fan.
6 ...
Chen Fan did not dodge.
He raised the black lamp even higher, pouring all his divine sense into the projection that was connecting:
"Listen! Everyone who can see—look at this mountain! Look at these 'mistakes'! Tell me, do they have any value?!"
5 ...
The rope was already up to his neck.
4 ...
Within the beam of light, the image suddenly became clear for a moment. In the present world of Flower Fruit Mountain, countless eyes were looking over from across the spatial barrier.
There was surprise, there was doubt, there was... resonance?
3 ...
Chen Xuance's rope touched Chen Fan's skin; it was cold and devoid of emotion.
2 ...
Chen Fan closed his eyes.
He no longer thought about "how to win".
He was thinking, "How should I continue writing this story?"
【1】
The countdown has ended.
All movement suddenly ceased.
The rules of the gray sky hung three inches above Chen Fan's head, without falling.
Chen Xuance's rope stopped at Chen Fan's neck, not tightened.
Time, space, rules.
Everything froze.
Only the twisted pillar of light connecting the two worlds still flickers weakly and stubbornly.
Within the beam of light, the final image froze—
In a corner of Flower Fruit Mountain in the present world, an old monkey covered in wounds but with an astonishingly bright eye was staring intently at the light screen, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something but could not utter a sound.
At the other end of the beam of light, Chen Fan opened his eyes.
He saw that on Chen Xuance's face, "confusion" had transformed into something more primal, something that the program couldn't comprehend.
Like... "fear".
The author's fear of the unknown plot development.
Chen Fan's lips curved upwards very slowly.
he knows.
The key to breaking the deadlock lies not in opposing the rules.
To let everyone—especially those who are still writing stories—see that so-called "scrapped drafts" may be the beginning of new chapters.
The beam of light began to flicker erratically.
Will it disconnect in the next instant? Or will it—
Chapter 385 Show him the whole journey
The beam of light dissipated.
The battlefield is recreated.
To be precise, it is the first version of the Huaguo Mountain battlefield that appears simultaneously in the projection of the real Huaguo Mountain.
It was a barren mountain.
No, it's a barren mountain now.
Once upon a time, that place was the most brutal battlefield in Huaguo Mountain.
Chen Fan stood on the broken stone bridge, slowly raising the black lamp in his hand. The lamplight flickered, spreading its light and illuminating the first scene.
The moment Wuzhi Mountain collapsed.
"Did you see that?" Chen Fan's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. "From this step onwards, the so-called destiny has already cracked."
In the scene, beneath the Five Finger Mountain, the monkey that had been imprisoned for five hundred years slowly raises its head. The confusion in its eyes is gone.
Instead, a radiance was released.
Chen Xuance's breath hitched.
This was the very beginning he least wanted to see—Chen Fan turned Sun Wukong against him and personally broke the seal of Five Finger Mountain. From that moment on, the flow of fortune changed.
"Act One: Breaking the Five Finger Mountain Barrier." Chen Fan's voice was calm. "I let him choose for himself. He broke the Five Finger Mountain himself; no one helped him."
Screen switch.
In the Tang Dynasty temple, Tang Sanzang, the pilgrim who once traveled to the West, donned armor and smashed a Buddha statue with a single punch.
"Act Two: Tang Sanzang Rebels Against Buddhism," Chen Fan continued. "The pilgrim you designed is now my comrade-in-arms."
The scene changes again.
In the West Sea Dragon Palace, the white dragon horse soared into the air, revealing its true form; it was no longer anyone's mount.
"Act Three, The White Dragon Does Not Ride a Horse."
The scene changed again.
The Bull Demon King and his family were no longer under the command of the Heavenly Court. Princess Iron Fan raised her banana leaf fan, its flames aimed at the heavenly soldiers.
"Act Four: The Scrapped Case Becomes an Army"
Each time a scene appeared, a roar erupted from the Flower and Fruit Mountain in the real world.
The various forces watching the battle, the hidden immortals and gods, and the common people in the mortal world were all stunned by these scenes.
This is not a battle.
This is a history that has been rewritten.
"See that?" Chen Fan's voice pierced through the screen. "Every single frame of this is outside your original plan. I'm not just jumping around within your rules; I'm tearing up your script and rewriting it."
Chen Xuance's expression turned very ugly.
He couldn't refute it.
Because every scene Chen Fan presented was factual—those discarded cases that he considered "out of control" have now become the most compelling evidence.
"In my main proposal, the main characters don't need to be arranged," Chen Fan continued, his voice growing increasingly steady. "Tang Sanzang doesn't need to be a monk, the White Dragon doesn't need to be a horse, and the Bull Demon King doesn't need to be a dog."
He paused.
"They all just need to be themselves."
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the sky above Huaguo Mountain.
A huge sheet of gold paper slowly floated down from the crack.
Several large characters were written on the paper—
"Main text inherited page".
Upon seeing these words, Chen Xuance's pupils suddenly contracted.
These five words mean that from now on, the true right to inherit the main text no longer belongs to him.
"Got it." Chen Fan released his hand, and the light from the black lamp began to dissipate. "I showed him the whole way."
"Now, it's your turn."
The paper landed in front of Chen Xuance.
But he didn't move.
**Chapter 386 Even a Discarded Case Can Be Inherited (Main Text)**
A biting wind swept across the stone bridge. Chen Fan stood in the dim light of the lamp, holding a yellowed sheet of paper in his hand. It was a "discarded case" that the system had displayed.
Chen Xuance leaned against the stone wall, his brows furrowed. An uneasy light flickered in his eyes, as if he were being forced to face a judgment.
"Chen Fan," he said in a low voice, "if you sign this page, you will bear the consequences."
Chen Fan did not hesitate. His fingertips trembled slightly as he touched the paper.
"I'm not afraid." His voice was calm, yet carried a sharp chill.
The pen tip glided across the paper, the ink spreading rapidly. In the signature section, Chen Fan's name appeared like a bloodstain.
"If I fail, I will never write again," he murmured, his voice like a hammer pounding on his chest.
The ink froze. The paper trembled slightly, like a polyp that had been granted approval.
A look of terror flashed across Chen Xuance's eyes, but it was suppressed by an invisible force.
"This is your qualification." Chen Fan raised the black lamp in his hand, and the light instantly converged into a blade.
The blade flashed towards the protective layer on Chen Xuance's chest. The protective layer was a pale blue light curtain woven from system code.
As the blade cleaved down, the light barrier shattered, and fragments scattered like snowflakes.
Chen Xuance staggered back two steps, his arm trembling. The collapse of his protective layer left him defenseless.
"Finally broken." Chen Fan sneered, his eyes blazing with fury.
Beside him, Sun Wukong gripped his golden cudgel tightly, his brows revealing an unusual gleam.
"This time it's our turn to turn the tables," Wukong roared, his voice echoing through the valley.
Chen Fan turned and rushed towards the stone tablet at the end of the stone bridge. Half of the conclusion page was engraved on the tablet, the text worn away by time.
He gently stroked the words with his fingers, feeling their pulse.
"There's another half here," he whispered, his voice resolute.
Just as he was about to remove the tattered page, a loud noise came from afar.
A massive shadow loomed over the mountaintop once more, and countless figures stirred restlessly in the clouds.
Chen Xuance stood up, cold sweat beading on his forehead, but he still held onto the other half of the paper.
"Don't think I'll back down," he said, his voice trembling but full of anger.
He held up the paper in his hand; the paper shimmered with gold, like a lurking bomb.
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow and looked at the page.
"Is this your bet?" he provocatively asked.
"Yes." Chen Xuance nodded calmly, his gaze sharp as a knife.
Lava churned beneath the stone bridge, and hot air rushed towards us.
Suddenly, a deep crack appeared in the bridge surface, and a black fountain spewed out, swallowing the stones beneath their feet.
Chen Fan and Wukong retreated simultaneously, their toes almost touching the ground.
"Don't let him escape!" Wukong roared, his golden cudgel spinning in his hand, radiating light.
A decisive glint flashed in Chen Fan's eyes. He quickly pulled out a black talisman, which instantly emitted a blinding purple light.
The beam of light shone directly at Chen Xuance.
The runestone collided with the paper, bursting into dazzling sparks.
The pages were torn apart, and half a page of text scattered like rain of blood.
Chen Xuance was thrown off balance by the impact and fell to the end of the bridge, his back hitting a stone pillar.
He swallowed a mouthful of blood and gripped the other page tightly in his hand.
"I have one last one," he said breathlessly, his voice trembling but still full of authority.
The beam of light flickered above the stone bridge, as if it were setting the entire valley ablaze.
Chen Fan stood at the bridgehead, the light from the dark lamp flickering on his fingertips.
"This time, we'll write the ending," he said in a low voice, his tone sharp as a knife.
A sudden clap of thunder tore through the sky, and a golden beam of light descended from the heavens, striking the center of the stone bridge.
Inside the pillar of light, a huge golden key can be vaguely seen, with ancient runes engraved on it.
A look of surprise flashed in Chen Xuance's eyes, but he still gripped the page tightly.
"A key?" Chen Fan froze, feeling a chill in his palm.
At the base of the pillar of light, billowing red mist rose, and within the mist, a gigantic golden-eyed demonic beast could be vaguely seen, slowly raising its head to gaze at them.
The figures of the two were reflected in the monster's pupils.
Chen Fan gripped the black lamp tightly, and the golden cudgel emitted a low hum in Wukong's hand.
"This game isn't over yet," Chen Fan thought to himself, gritting his teeth.
What is the true function of the Golden Key? How will the hidden power behind that golden-eyed monster affect the life-or-death battle between Chen Fan and Chen Xuance?
**Chapter 387 You Have Half a Page, I Have Half a Page**
The stone platform in front of the cliff emitted a cold light. Ancient runes were carved on the surface, and the grooves were just the right size to hold two sheets of paper.
Chen Xuance stood on the left side of the stage, holding a pale yellow sheet of paper in his hand. The edges of the paper trembled slightly, like down being ruffled by the wind.
Chen Fan stood on the right side of the stage, also holding the other half of the page in his hand. Their eyes met in the air, the firelight reflecting a blood-red halo.
"Close the page, and the Heavenly Rules can be changed," Chen Xuance said in a low voice.
"If it closes, one of the shells must disappear." Chen Fan nodded, a cold glint in his eyes.
The two sheets of paper were only inches apart. Suddenly, the runes above the table lit up and emitted a low hum.
"The rules cannot be broken." The voice came from the runes, like the clanging of metal.
Chen Xuance raised his hand, his fingertips tracing the pages.
Chen Fan also extended his index finger, which just touched the other person's fingertip.
When fingertips touch, the pages tremble slightly, and specks of light dance between the two pages.
"I don't want to die!" Chen Fan exclaimed suddenly, his voice urgent.
"Don't even think about cheating." Chen Xuance frowned, his tone sharp.
"We can coexist," Chen Fan interrupted, his fingers gripping the paper tightly as if grasping at the last hope.
"Coexistence will cause the whole to collapse." Chen Xuance sneered, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.
The beam of light on the table accelerated, and the runes began to crack, like blood vessels being cut open.
The cracks spread toward the two of them, and sparks spewed out from the cracks.
"Sign quickly!" Chen Fan shouted, forcefully pressing the paper into the groove.
Not to be outdone, Chen Xuance pushed the paper back.
The two sheets of paper collided in the groove, making a piercing cracking sound.
"You dare to rob me?" Chen Fan gritted his teeth, his fists clenched.
Chen Xuance kicked aside the pebbles beside the stone platform, his steps steady.
"If you dare to rob, don't even think about keeping it." His words were like a knife.
Their fingers intertwined, and the pages slid between their fingers.
Flames surged from the tabletop, casting a pale yet resolute glow on their two faces.
"Only one person can sign." The rune's voice rang out again, carrying a cold, metallic tone.
"Then I'll let you stay." Chen Xuance's fist suddenly struck Chen Fan's wrist.
Chen Fan dodged to the side, the paper in his hand was flung out and rolled on the stone platform.
The paper drew arcs in the air, as light as a feather.
"Don't let it fall!" Chen Xuance shouted, quickly closing in.
Chen Fan lowered his head and gripped the paper tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"I won't let you cut me off with one stroke," he said in a low voice, his voice tinged with the smell of blood.
The two rushed toward the center of the stone platform at the same time, their fingertips colliding at the edge of the groove.
The paper was pressed onto the runes, and the beams of light suddenly converged.
The beam of light pierced through the pages, like a sharp sword cutting through the night.
"Don't let the light devour you!" Chen Fan shouted, gripping the base of the pillar of light with his hand.
"Get out of here!" Chen Xuance roared, slamming his fist into the pillar of light.
The beam of light swayed under the combined forces, scattering fragments everywhere.
The shards of light fell to the ground, turning into tiny stardust.
Chen Fan felt a chill in his palm; the edges of the paper were burned.
"This is the price," he muttered to himself.
Chen Xuance's eyes sharpened, and his brows furrowed.
"I'm not afraid." He raised his hand and pressed the paper back into the groove.
Just then, the hidden door behind the stone platform suddenly opened, emitting a low hum.
A faint gray mist drifted out from the crack in the door, like the shadows of the past.
A figure emerged from the mist, its form ethereal and its face indistinct.
Its fingers stretched out, as if to seize the souls of the two.
"The Observer." Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, a look of alertness flashing in his eyes.
"Your fighting is my entertainment." The figure's voice was deep and resonant, with a metallic quality.
The shadowy hand reached out to both of them simultaneously, its fingertips gleaming with a cold light.
"Don't let it succeed!" Chen Xuance roared, leaning back.
Chen Fan also stepped back and kicked at Shadow's wrist.
The fist landed in mid-air, creating a whooshing sound.
The shadow's wrist had no physical form, and the fist pierced straight through it.
However, the shadow's form instantly shrank, and it retreated.
The beam of light converged again on the groove, forming a circular halo.
An ancient mark appeared at the center of the halo, like a key to a seal.
"This is the final signature," Chen Fan said in a low voice, his gaze fixed on the mark.
"If we touch them at the same time, the seal will crack." Chen Xuance stared intently at the mark, his voice trembling.
The two fingers touched the mark almost simultaneously, and the halo trembled violently.
A piercing cracking sound echoed through the cave, and the stone walls trembled slightly.
The halo shattered, and the mark's light instantly expanded, shooting straight into the sky.
The observer in the black mist let out a sobbing laugh, the sound echoing on the rock face.
"Don't even think about escaping." Its voice was chilling, echoing in everyone's ears.
Just as the light was about to cover the entire area, a dark red crack suddenly appeared at the entrance of the cave, spreading like a bloodstain.
Hot air seeped from the crack, blowing through their hair.
Chen Fan felt a pressure in his chest, and his breathing became rapid.
Chen Xuance clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
"We can only take this step together," Chen Fan said in a low voice, his voice almost hoarse.
"Either we both perish, or we both die." Chen Xuance's eyes were like knives.
The two looked at each other, and time seemed to stand still.
The afterglow of the halo reflected on their cheeks like the reflection of flames.
A sudden roar shattered the silence, and the sound of rocks collapsing exploded in my ears.
The top of the cave began to collapse, and pebbles rained down.
The observer's figure gradually blurred in the collapsing dust, and the sound became shrill.
"Your choices are my harvest." Its laughter echoed through the stone walls, carrying a desperate sound.
Chen Fan and Chen Xuance rushed toward the stone platform at the same time, intending to complete their final signatures before it collapsed.
Their footsteps pounded on the gravel, making a dull thud.
Just as the two were about to grasp the same pen, the afterglow of the halo suddenly dissipated.
The paper flipped in the air and fell to the edge of the crack.
A strong gust of wind whipped up the pages, making them flutter like butterflies.
"Don't let it fall!" Chen Fan suddenly reached out, his fingertips tracing the edge of the paper.
But the paper had already been swallowed by the black mist from the crack and disappeared into the abyss.
The sound of the rocks collapsing grew more violent, and fragments rained down on them.
The observer's figure flashed among the rubble, arms outstretched as if to grab the two.
In the instant of collapse, will Chen Fan and Chen Xuance both grasp the only pen, or will they be swallowed up by the observer's shadow?
**Chapter 388 Want to Get Both? Dream on!**
The observer hovered above the crack, its aura ashen and heavy as a mountain pressing down on one's chest. Its palms opened, its fingertips gathering obsidian spheres of light, poised to devour the three treasures—the main case shell, the discarded case shell, and the conclusion page—in one fell swoop.
"Don't even think about getting the whole thing done at once!" Chen Fan roared, gripping the black lamp tightly with his left hand, making the light instantly blinding.
Chen Xuance stood behind him, his brows furrowed, but he no longer hesitated as before. He raised his hand and pinched a thin silver thread, the temporary support device the system had given him. The silver thread trembled slightly at his fingertips, as if trying to break through the observer's defenses.
"Take down that bastard outside first!" Chen Fan shouted.
Before the words were finished, a scorching roar came from the other side of the cliff. A golden light shot into the sky, and the massive golden cudgel descended from the heavens—it was none other than Sun Wukong.
Wukong's gaze was like a knife, piercing straight into the observer's chest. He threw a punch, and the dust kicked up by the punch instantly turned into a blood-red wave, rushing straight towards the black ball of light.
The observer was forced to withdraw its power, and the obsidian sphere instantly shattered into several fragments. The fragments made a piercing cracking sound as they flew through the air, like breaking glass.
"Now!" Chen Fan seized the opportunity to rush forward, using the beam of the black lamp to cut directly into the core of the case shell. The beam of light carried a low-frequency hum, instantly engraving a golden rune on the case shell. The rune quickly spread, forming a solid protective layer.
At the same time, Chen Xuance tossed out the silver thread, which unfurled into a fine net in the air, precisely capturing the residual energy of the discarded case shell. The case shell trembled within the net, and the previously chaotic energy was redirected, forming a clear path.
"The abandoned plan has been successfully redirected!" Chen Xuance said in a low voice, a rare smile flashing in his eyes.
Before they could continue speaking, Wukong gripped his golden cudgel tightly and charged at the observer once more. The cudgel traced a dazzling arc in the air, slamming down fiercely onto the observer's downward trajectory. The cudgel's head shattered with a deafening roar.
The observer's body was severed, a blood-red gash appearing in its chest from which blood gushed forth. It let out a mournful howl, a sound like the wailing of a thousand lost souls.
"Don't think that just because I've got something on you, I can spill everything!" Its voice echoed through the valley, but it had lost its former majesty.
A small metal disc fell from the crack, its surface engraved with ancient runes and emitting a faint blue light. Chen Fan bent down to pick it up and examined it carefully. The disc was the "Continuation Group Pass," and only by possessing it could one enter the next core layer of the system.
"What can this thing do?" Chen Xuance leaned closer, his brows furrowed.
"It looks like the key to unlocking the 'Gate of Chapters'," Chen Fan replied, his fingers lightly touching the runes, and blue light instantly bloomed at his fingertips.
Wukong glanced at the two of them, raising his eyebrows in an impatient manner: "Stop standing there in a daze, hurry up and use this thing. Otherwise, that old fox will come and cause trouble again later."
A smile crept across Chen Fan's lips: "Want to get both? Dream on!"
The three nodded almost simultaneously and quickly placed the disc into the core chamber of the Black Lamp. The beam of light inside the Black Lamp accelerated instantly, the runes were absorbed, and the atmosphere throughout the mountain suddenly became tense.
Just then, the observer's remaining will condensed into a faint black mist in the air, slowly approaching them.
"Merging is possible, but the price is half of your memories being wiped clean." A cold voice echoed from the black mist, as if it were shouting directly from the ancient abyss.
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow, a cold glint flashing in his eyes: "Memories? I'd like to see what you'll be after losing half your memories."
Wukong roared, raising his golden cudgel once more, ready to smash it down into the center of the black mist. Just as the cudgel was about to touch it, the black mist suddenly trembled violently, as if stopped by some force.
"Wait!" Chen Xuance shouted urgently, quickly retracting the silver thread in his hand. The silver light formed a shield in the air, directly cutting a gap in the black mist.
The blue light from within the light shield rushed towards the black mist, tearing it into countless fragments that flew through the air like dust blown away by the wind.
The observer's remaining will gradually dissipated among the fragments, until only a low, hoarse voice remained: "The price is half of my memory being wiped out..."
After the black mist completely dissipated, the valley returned to a brief silence. The three people's breathing was particularly clear in the stillness.
Chen Fan gripped the continuation writing group's pass tightly in his palm, feeling its pulsating heat. Wukong gently sheathed his golden cudgel, his eyes still sharp.
Chen Xuance looked up at the distant mountain peak, where a path of light led to the unknown.
"We have new resources," Chen Fan said. "Now, it's a matter of who can grab the next 'official proposal' first."
Wukong laughed out loud: "Want to win both? Don't dream about it. Today we've already beaten them so badly they can't even find their way back."
Chen Xuance nodded: "Let's get going quickly, don't give the Observers' conspiracy another chance."
Just as the three were about to leave, the rock wall at the foot of the mountain suddenly cracked open, and a golden pillar of light shot into the sky, with a shimmering ancient rune hanging at the top of the pillar.
The talisman emitted a deep hum, as if beckoning them to come.
Excitement gleamed in Chen Fan's eyes: "It seems this is just the beginning."
Chapter 389 The Price of Merging Scrolls
Inside the beam of light, the air was so hot it turned white.
Chen Fan took a blow to the chest, flying backward, hitting the edge of the light barrier and bouncing back. A sweet taste rose in his throat, blood mixed with a metallic flavor.
"That's it?" Chen Xuance dusted off his sleeves, which weren't even dusty. "You couldn't even withstand three of my moves, and you still want to live?"
Chen Fan knelt on one knee, using the dark lamp to support his body. The lamp was dim, its light seventy percent weaker than before—Chen Xuance had specifically targeted his wrist, where he was holding the lamp, in that last strike. The bone was probably broken, but there was no time to examine it closely.
"Two things," Chen Fan said breathlessly, his voice low and straining against his throat. "First, Wukong has been lured away. Second, the experimental field outside is about to collapse."
Chen Xuance raised an eyebrow: "So?"
"So continuing this way will result in a lose-lose situation." Chen Fan raised his head, looking directly into the other person's eyes. "I have a combined solution. One for each of the two experimental scenarios. The rules will be re-adapted. The cost is that we each lose half of our memories—but at least, both scenarios will survive."
Chen Xuance seemed to have heard an extremely childish joke. He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, his shoulders shaking with laughter. After he finished laughing, his face suddenly turned cold, as if covered with a layer of ice.
"You're fucking insane. What are memories? They're what make us who we are! Lose half of them? Are we still us then? You don't even have the guts to face what you might become, and you still want to beat me?"
He took a step forward, and the beam of light contracted as he moved, increasing the temperature by another three points.
"Let me tell you what 'merging scrolls' really means." Chen Xuance's voice descended, each word like an icicle. "The rules will only choose one. Either you die, or I perish. There is no third way. This is the main text—the unyielding main text!"
He hadn't finished speaking when he started moving.
This time, Chen Fan didn't dodge.
He shoved the black lamp into the ground with a backhand motion, then charged forward instead of retreating, heading straight for Chen Xuance's fist. He wasn't going to take it head-on—Chen Xuance's fist could create ripples on the light barrier; to take it directly would be suicide. He wanted to get close. Only when he was close could the remaining light from the black lamp interfere with Chen Xuance's movements.
Three steps away.
Two steps.
Chen Xuance's fist was already upon him, the force of the blow stinging his cheek. Chen Fan suddenly ducked, the fist grazing his head, the force of the punch sending his hair flying backward. But Chen Fan ignored it and continued charging forward.
step.
He crashed into Chen Xuance's arms, not to attack, but to use his back to firmly block the other's hand holding the control panel—a hand with faint golden, regular patterns flowing within it. At the same time, his other hand, in an almost broken position, twisted against Chen Xuance's wrist holding the "pen."
Chen Xuance reacted extremely quickly, flipping his wrist and drawing a downward stroke with the tip of his pen.
No sound.
But Chen Fan felt as if all sensation in his left arm had been instantly drained. It wasn't pain, it wasn't numbness, it was that feeling of... this thing no longer belonging to him, a detached sensation. Looking down, he saw that his sleeve, from the elbow down, was completely blurred, like the static on an old-fashioned television screen with a poor signal, slowly recovering.
This is a "rule-level erasure".
"See that?" Chen Xuance kicked him in the stomach, sending him staggering backward and crashing into the light barrier. "This is the 'Order of the Text.' Whoever holds the pen defines 'existence.' You?"
He shook his head, his eyes filled with a contempt as thick as ink that couldn't be dissolved.
You don't even have the right to face it.
Chen Fan hunched over, coughing violently, each cough bringing up a bit of bloody froth. The "blurred" area on his arm was slowly shrinking, and sensation was gradually returning, but the fear of being manipulated from within was far greater than the physical pain. The rules... were indeed still in the other party's hands.
"Then let me put it another way." He raised his still-movable right hand, tapped his own heart, and then tapped Chen Xuance's chest. "The two of us are the biggest 'variables' for each other. So we have to deal with us. Now, we'll join forces to force the rules to accept a temporary union. The price is memories. But we can first preserve that 'paper' of the experimental field—as long as the paper is still there, we have a chance to rewrite it."
"Rewrite?" Chen Xuance seemed to have heard a second joke, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "You think I'm like you? You'd sell 'who I am' just to survive? Chen Fan, your vision will always be this limited."
He raised the pen again, its tip tracing a pale golden line in the air, leaving a lingering trace. The beam of light trembled violently with his movement, and from the cracks in the rock above, the sound of more rubble tumbling down echoed.
"Besides, do you think I don't know your 'backup plan'?" Chen Xuance's tone finally revealed a hint of genuine, almost cat-and-mouse-like pleasure. "Blacklight is in my hands now. Your greatest reliance is gone. You think you can provoke me into gambling with you? You can't even climb onto the gambling table."
Chen Fan's eyelids twitched.
The black light…is in his hands? Then what was that I just stuck into the light barrier? An illusion? Or…?
"Strange?" Chen Xuance saw through his confusion and smiled even more brightly. "You lost from the beginning because of this—you believed in 'objects' too much. Lamps, sticks, talismans... if the rules want to take them, they can definitely take them. You thought you had a backup plan, but actually, the moment you decided to stay here and waste time with me, the backup plan was already gone."
He paused, then gently tapped Chen Fan with the tip of his pen.
"Now, there are two paths. One, you 'cancel' your own account, leaving your memories for me to use as supplements. Two, I'll help you 'cancel' yours, but the process might not be very comfortable. Which one do you choose?"
Chen Fan did not answer.
He slowly straightened up, swinging his groggy left arm at his side. Sensation was returning, but his joints felt rusty and wouldn't obey his commands. His gaze swept over the interior of the pillar of light—the traces of the previous battle were still there, the air thick with the lingering ozone smell of "error codes" distorted by the rules. His eyes landed on a certain spot in the light barrier: there was an extremely fine, almost invisible black crack, like a flaw in glass. When Chen Xuance attacked him with all his might, the tip of his pen seemed to have inadvertently brushed against that spot…
An extremely risky idea popped into my head.
"I won't choose that," Chen Fan suddenly said, his voice hoarse but unusually clear. "I choose the third path—to beat you down, and then I'll deal with the rest myself."
Chen Xuance seemed to have heard something absurd. He was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the pillar of light.
"What are you taking—"
He didn't finish his sentence.
Chen Fan made a move.
Instead of rushing towards him, he suddenly turned around, using all his strength to ram himself into the black crack he had noticed earlier, like a cannonball!
"Bang--!"
It wasn't the sound of a physical impact. It was more like a discordant "crack" from a higher dimension. The pillar of light trembled violently, and all the flowing golden patterns became chaotic in that instant! Cracks on the light wall instantly spread and intertwined, forming a huge, spiderweb-like network of fissures. The entire structure of the space began to flicker unstablely.
Chen Xuance's expression changed drastically. The pen in his hand trembled violently, its tip flashing erratically. He tried to stabilize the interface, but the space itself was collapsing, and the rules had nowhere to cling to.
"You fucking want to die—!" he roared, waving his hand as a golden light shot towards Chen Fan's back.
Chen Fan took the hit head-on, feeling as if his spine had been struck by a red-hot iron rod, and his vision went black. But he had achieved his goal of crashing into the crack. The main crack was widened by his impact, and the pillar of light began to collapse inward, like a leaky giant ball. Deeper inside, billowing red mist—the mist where the golden-eyed monster had been—began to pour in from the crack!
Wherever the crimson mist passed, the golden light of the rules quickly dimmed and corroded, revealing a gray, abandoned structural fiber beneath—this pillar of light, this set of rules, was not a monolithic entity after all. Its underlying layer consisted of remnants of something like the "inheritance page of the main plan" and a forcibly applied "text" coating. Chen Fan's collision had shattered this coating, revealing the fragile, even self-destructive, "abandoned plan foundation" beneath.
"What are you doing?!" Chen Xuance was both shocked and furious, attempting to forcibly repair the situation using the rules, but the repair speed couldn't keep up with the collapse speed. The red mist increased, beginning to erode the golden light on his brush.
"I'm telling you," Chen Fan forced himself to turn around, his back against a collapsing wall of light, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, yet he managed an extremely ugly smile, "your so-called 'ironclad main text'... underneath, it's empty too."
The entire space was distorting and shrinking. Chen Xuance's figure swelled and shrank within the red mist, and his roars came in fits and starts:
"You think... we can win like this? The rules are broken... we all have to—"
Before he could finish speaking, a huge, shattered "fragment of rules," accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, crashed down from above, heading straight for Chen Xuance's head! Chen Xuance had no choice but to raise his brush to block it. Amidst the deafening roar, golden light scattered everywhere.
Chen Fan didn't look at him.
His entire attention was focused on his own hands.
That desperate crash wasn't just to destroy the pillar of light. In the instant he was thrown forward, he used the last vestiges of the black light's "analysis" ability to temporarily scatter a part of his "anchor of existence"—a core, initial memory about "why I am here"—like scattering seeds, and prematurely ejecting it into the depths of the main crack. It was something deeper than the "discarded case," a blurry image from the "last moment before time travel": the cold office light, the half-eaten cookie on the keyboard, the unsaved document on the screen…
A jumble of fragmented memories.
If the concatenation scheme can be successfully implemented, these "anchor points from the outside world, not belonging to any experimental field" might serve as a "buffer zone" during the fusion process. However, the cost is that the memory will most likely be permanently lost, or rewritten beyond recognition by the rules.
He gambled.
They gambled on the "purity" of Chen Xuance's refusal to merge, on the fragility of the underlying structure of this pillar of light, and on the fact that the rules, under extreme collapse, would prioritize protecting the "structure" and temporarily not tolerate a "high-risk variable" like him.
Betting that you might become someone else entirely because of it.
A crimson mist hung in the air, obscuring only the blurry figure of Chen Xuance, furiously wielding his brush, and the festering, peeling gold coating on all sides. In the distance, from the direction of Flower Fruit Mountain, a muffled hum, like a giant pendulum about to stop, pierced through layers of obstruction and faintly drifted over.
An inopportune thought flashed through Chen Fan's mind.