128: Chapter 128: Secretly Manipulating Things

In the mist of the Duanlong Abyss, the bones of the first wave of Yao Beasts were still emitting black smoke, and the air was filled with a nauseating, acrid stench.

The defensive line of Hengchuan Peak remained as solid as if cast from steel; there were no cheers, no slackening. The Disciples of the logistics team had not even had time to wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads before they began, in accordance with the SOP rhythm, to recover usable arrows and replenish depleted Talismans. Everything was operating like a precision machine, with every gear perfectly meshed.

Shen Xingzhou stood at the command post, his gaze fixed tightly on the translucent tactical map before him.

On the map, the blue dots representing friendly forces and the red dots representing enemy forces flickered alternately; everything was within the range of the pre-set model. That "Demon Mark fluctuation" which the Central Plains Commissioner was so eagerly anticipating still lay quietly near the baseline, like a dead snake.

"As long as nothing goes wrong, a 12% casualty rate is acceptable," Shen Xingzhou silently recited in his heart.

Just then, a sudden change occurred.

There was no warning, no explosion, and not even any noticeable fluctuation in Spiritual Pressure. But in Shen Xingzhou's field of vision, the energy bar representing the "Left Wing Defensive Array" suddenly turned deathly pale without any warning.

Immediately after, a piercing System alarm exploded in his mind; it was the red high-risk alert that only triggered in extreme situations.

[System Red Alert: Regional Structure Collapse]

Monitoring Object: Sector 7 · Left Wing C-3 Formation Node

Abnormal Status:

Energy conduction interrupted

Formation pattern logic deadlock

Detected: Traces of external tampering (malicious code artificially implanted)

Countdown: Estimated 10 breaths until the defense capability of this area drops to zero.

Shen Xingzhou's pupils contracted sharply. Tampering? During The Grand Exam, under the watchful eyes of everyone and within such a tightly monitored Formation, someone actually dared to meddle with the Formation Node? This wasn't just trying to make him lose; this was trying to feed the left wing of Hengchuan Peak directly to the Yao Beasts!

Before he could even issue an order, the System's cold, rapid simulation results were already thrown directly onto his retina.

[Emergency Casualty Simulation: C-3 Formation Node Failure]

Consequence Deduction:

The left-wing barrier will completely disintegrate within 10 seconds.

Reserve Yao Beast tide (approx. 200 Bone-Rot Wolves + 3 Armored Rhinos) will cut directly into the rear flank.

Casualty Prediction:

Original casualty rate: 12%

Revised casualty rate: Soared to 32% - 40%

Civilian (Simulated NPC) losses: Catastrophic (the defensive line will be split and surrounded)

Watching that originally gentle casualty curve suddenly rush toward the red line like a roller coaster, Shen Xingzhou's breathing stalled instantly.

A 40% casualty rate was a catastrophe. It meant that if he did nothing, Hengchuan Peak would have to carry out dozens of corpses today.

"What's going on with the left-wing Formation? Why did the energy drop?!"

On the battlefield, Senior Sister Xie Handeng was the first to notice the anomaly. She saw that the defensive barrier on the left, which had originally emitted a pale blue halo, now looked like a piece of shattered glass, with large patches of black mottling appearing.

The Yao Beasts keenly smelled the scent of this soft meat; the wolf pack that had been feigning an attack from the front suddenly let out a unified howl, turned their fangs, and charged frantically toward the collapsing gap.

"Hold the line! Squad One and Squad Two, fill the gaps!" Senior Sister Xie Handeng roared, her long sword trembling in her hand as a wave of Sword Qi slashed back the two vicious wolves charging at the very front.

But it was useless. It was a collapse at the level of the Formation Node; it couldn't be blocked just by a few people filling it with their lives. Without the Formation to suppress Spiritual Pressure, ordinary Disciples couldn't last even two seconds under the impact of such dense Yao Beasts.

"I'll go replace the Formation Core!"

A flash of determination crossed Senior Sister Xie Handeng's eyes; that was the unique ruthlessness of a Hengchuan Peak Sword Cultivator. She knew it was a death trap, but she knew even better that if the left wing broke, the entire defensive line would rot away. She stomped her foot, and her entire body transformed into a streak of light, about to rush toward the Formation Node that was about to fail.

"Come back!"

Shen Xingzhou's voice, transmitted via Qi, exploded like a peal of thunder in Senior Sister Xie Handeng's ears, even more startling to the mind than the howls of the Yao Beasts.

Senior Sister Xie Handeng's figure halted, stopping abruptly in mid-air: "Senior Brother! That is the Formation Node! If I don't go, no one can—"

"You are the main combat force; you are the blade of this sword." Shen Xingzhou's voice was terrifyingly calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority. "The blade cannot be used to plug a gun barrel. If you go there, you will die, and even if you die, you might not be able to fix it."

"Then what do we do?!"

"I'll go."

Shen Xingzhou grabbed the spare Formation Plate he had prepared long ago, and leapt down from the high ridge. He didn't use any flashy movement techniques; he simply plummeted heavily and directly toward the center of the collapsing vortex.

"Senior Sister Xie, stabilize the front. No one follow me; that is an order."

His voice drifted away in the wind, carrying a sense of determination that made one want to cry.

At the edge of the distant Duanlong Abyss, Peak Master Luo Qingyi was leaning against a giant rock, playing with a Spirit Fruit in her hand. Feeling that sudden, malicious fluctuation of Spiritual Pressure, her eyes turned cold in an instant, and with a gentle squeeze of her fingertips, the Spirit Fruit turned into powder.

"...Someone is setting a trap." She murmured in a low voice, her gaze piercing through the layers of mist and falling on the figure charging alone toward the Formation Node. "Shen Xingzhou, you fellow, you really take every dirty and tiring job upon yourself."

Shen Xingzhou did not know of Peak Master Luo Qingyi's gaze; in his world now, there remained only the frantically flickering Formation pattern beneath his feet.

It was a stroke that had been secretly altered. An extremely subtle stroke, just like changing "addition" to "subtraction," which had led to a deadlock in the entire Qi circuit. Such a sinister method could only be executed by someone who knew the structure of the Hengchuan Peak Formation extremely well, or by a Central Plains Commissioner with extremely high authority.

He stepped into the center of the Formation Node.

"Boom—!"

The moment his feet landed, the Spiritual Power that should have been flowing in an orderly fashion all around suddenly went berserk. Having lost the suppression of the Formation Node, the resentment from all directions and the killing intent of the Yao Beasts instantly surged in, like countless steel needles piercing into his Meridians.

At the same time, the System's red prompts flashed frantically.

[Plan Execution Status: Seriously Deviated]

Host Action:

Connecting to C-3 Formation Node

Activating "Meat Server" mode (using own Spirit Sea as the Formation hub)

Judgment Result:

Deviated from original plan (SOP-12)

Marked as: "High-Risk Remedial Operation"

System Warning:

Host's current endured Spiritual Pressure: 3000 Pa (exceeds safety threshold by 50%)

It is recommended to activate the Bloodline barrier immediately, otherwise the Meridians will suffer irreversible damage.

Shen Xingzhou ignored the System's warning. Activate the Bloodline barrier? That would be courting death. At this moment, once the Demon Mark was activated, even if only as a defensive measure, it would be interpreted as "loss of control" under that Commissioner's surveillance.

"Close... for me!"

He gritted his teeth and sprayed a mouthful of fresh blood onto the spare Formation Plate in his hand. This was not a spell; this was a sacrifice. Using his own essence blood as a lubricant, he forcibly pried open the deadlocked Qi circuit.

In an instant, a torrential flood of violent Spiritual Power rushed into his body through his legs, rampaging through his Spirit Sea, and was then combed through bit by bit by him, and re-injected into the earth through the Formation Plate.

Excruciating pain.

It felt like countless knives were scraping inside his Meridians.

But he stood firm.

The Formation pattern that had been about to extinguish lit up again beneath his feet. It was not that stable, soft blue light, but a dark red glow accompanied by the scent of blood, flickering on and off.

Behind him, the barrier of the left wing, which had been about to collapse, trembled twice and miraculously solidified again. The Yao Beasts that had charged to the gap slammed headfirst into the barrier, emitting a muffled thud, and were subsequently left dizzy by the rebounding Spiritual Power.

In the side hall, the Central Plains Commissioner, who had been staring at the monitoring curve, froze with his teacup in mid-air.

That originally listless green curve jumped violently for an instant; although it quickly pressed back down, that peak had pierced through the 50% threshold.

[Hidden Monitoring Data Refreshed]

Bloodline Abnormality Value: 40% → 52% (Peak)

Nature of Spiritual Power: Mixed (Extremely high concentration of suppression traces)

"Oh?" The Commissioner put down his teacup, his eyes behind the monocle narrowing into slits. "He actually didn't borrow the power of the Demon Mark? He stubbornly used his own body to resist the backlash of the Formation Node's deadlock?"

He looked at the figure on the battlefield who was nailed firmly to the gap in the left wing like a spike, the smile in his eyes receding slightly, replaced by a much deeper scrutiny.

"This Shen Xingzhou... is ruthless enough to himself."

On the battlefield, Shen Xingzhou felt as if his body were burning. He was not just repairing the Formation; he was using his own Spirit Sea as a server, bearing all the computational load and pressure for that tampered-with Formation.

Sweat mixed with blood dripped down his chin, every drop being evaporated by the high temperature before it hit the ground.

He had originally been the designer of this battle, the person standing on high, devising strategies.

But now, because of someone else's dirty trick, he was forced to jump into the mud himself, becoming this final patch.

"As long as I don't die..." Shen Xingzhou stared fixedly at the Yao Beasts charging toward him, the corners of his mouth curling into a tragic smile. "None of you will be able to take a single step beyond this line."

At the bottom of the System interface, a line of scarlet text appeared in his blurred field of vision, which was the most precise annotation of his current predicament:

"You were originally the designer of this battle,

Now, you have been forced to become the final patch yourself.

You are using the bones of a Mortal to stubbornly jam that broken gear."