190: Chapter 190: A Small Theft from the Back End of the Underworld

The air in the Audit room was as cold as the depths of the Yellow Springs.

Shen Xingzhou's finger hovered over the blood-red "Confirm" key; even the slightest tremor would trigger a chain reaction in the System. He knew clearly that once he pressed this key, he would no longer be just a lowly accountant, but a robber who truly dared to pull teeth from a tiger's mouth.

The permission description on the System interface unfolded like a death warrant.

[Permission Confirmation: Yellow Springs Backend · War Damage – Rating Comparison Table]

Required Permission Components:

Interface A: The Former Auditor (Shen family ancestor) residual permissions —> Verified

Interface B: Host (Shen Xingzhou) survival guarantee (exchanging life for data) —> Pending Signature

Risk Assessment:

This action constitutes cross-dimensional "unauthorized auditing."

Once data leaks, the Heavenly Dao will inevitably carry out physical eradication on the grounds of "stealing heavenly secrets."

Shen Xingzhou looked at that "survival guarantee," a self-deprecating smile curling at the corner of his lips. His life was already dangling by a thread during this "War Debt Liquidation Month"; what difference would one more crime make?

"Wen Xi, are you ready?"

Wen Xi's fingers were already resting on the valve of the spiritual path transmission. Her face was pale, but her eyes were terrifyingly bright: "Ready anytime. As long as you can pull the data in, I can engrave it into every projection stone in all of the Nine Provinces within half a second."

"Good."

Shen Xingzhou did not hesitate any longer, his finger falling heavily.

"Audit!"

Boom—!

The moment the command was issued, Shen Xingzhou felt a tearing, excruciating pain in his mind. It was as if an invisible hand had forcibly ripped open the barrier between reality and the Netherworld, connecting an "optical fiber" leading to the depths of the Yellow Springs through that pitch-black crack.

Countless cold, eerie, blood-scented characters poured into the System Audit room like a bursting black flood.

Those were not ordinary numbers; they were the roars of countless departed souls, the "bad debts" that had been erased one by one.

[Data stream importing...]

Sample 001: Tianyin Pavilion.

Yellow Springs Backend real data: 324 deaths (total annihilation).

Data submitted to the Evaluation Division: 0 deaths (total annihilation of enemy forces).

Sample 002: Liujin Peak.

Yellow Springs Backend real data: 1,200 casualties due to reckless advancement for merit.

Data submitted to the Evaluation Division: 5 minor injuries due to meritorious defense of the sect.

Difference handling: Directly transferred to the "Ownerless Karma Pool."

On the screen, the originally neat official reports collapsed instantly. Replacing them were shocking red markers — "Data Inconsistency." Thousands of red warning bars jumped crazily on the screen, like a blizzard, instantly submerging the Audit room in a glaring red light.

The truth was so naked and bloody.

The moment these data landed, the peace above the Qingheng Sect was completely shattered.

It wasn't that the clouds were thickening; it was that space itself was wailing.

A pressure that seemed to come from ancient times descended without warning. The entire protective formation of Hengchuan Peak emitted a brittle sound of being overwhelmed, instantly covered in cracks.

In the center of the firmament, the rolling thunderclouds were not gathering slowly, but were being torn apart as if by a giant hand.

A giant snake condensed from pure thunder slowly poked its head out from the clouds. Its eyes were two balls of destructive white light, locking onto Hengchuan Peak — or accurately speaking, locking onto this Audit room that was crazily downloading data.

That was no ordinary Lightning Tribulation; it was the enforcement squad used by the Heavenly Dao to eradicate "heretics."

[System Alert: Heavenly Dao Audit-level Lightning Strike]

Locked Target: Hengchuan Peak Audit Room (Data theft source point)

Countdown:

3...

2...

1...

The plasma in the air had become so thick it was suffocating; Shen Xingzhou could even smell his own hair burning. If this Lightning Tribulation fell, let alone the Audit room, the entire Hengchuan Peak would be razed to the ground, and even the data would be completely destroyed.

"The data hasn't finished saving yet..." Wen Xi's voice trembled. Her fingers were so fast they left only afterimages, but her speed could not keep up with the Heavenly Punishment.

Just at this critical moment, a cold light pierced the firmament, one step ahead of the lightning.

"Who dares to touch my accountant!"

A roar like a thunderclap exploded.

Peak Master Luo Qingyi did not draw her sword; or rather, she herself was a drawn sword. She stepped on the Void Realm, and with one step, the space behind her shattered into countless black cracks.

The thunder snake, which had already opened its massive maw and was about to devour everything, actually paused for a split second before the Sword Intent of Peak Master Luo Qingyi's sword strike.

Boom—!!!

Sword Qi and lightning collided fiercely in mid-air.

The terrifying shockwave swept across the surroundings, shaving off an entire layer of the surrounding peaks. Peak Master Luo Qingyi's figure appeared as small as a mustard seed in the lightning, yet she stood as immovable as a rock.

Her black hair danced wildly in the thunderous wind, and the long sword in her hand hummed incessantly. She raised her head; in those eyes, there was no trace of reverence for the Heavenly Dao, only overflowing disdain and sorrow.

"Heavenly Dao, right? I am Peak Master Luo Qingyi."

She sneered at the thunderclouds filling the sky, her voice resounding through the Nine Provinces:

"Hundreds of years ago, for the sake of your bullshit order, I killed until my hands were covered in blood, owing a mountain of Karma debt that I couldn't pay off! This old account hasn't been settled yet!"

"You want to settle accounts with someone? Fine! Come find me first!"

"Settle my old debt first, then come touch my people!"

This sentence, like an indelible Karma chain, instantly entangled that Lightning Tribulation.

The lightning in the sky flickered violently, seemingly falling into some kind of logical chaos. Peak Master Luo Qingyi's resume was too complex; she was a god of war, a killing machine, and also one of the Heavenly Dao's largest creditors. She was both "merit" and "sin." Such an existence, both extremely good and extremely evil, was like a thorn in the Heavenly Dao's ledger—it couldn't be pulled out, and it couldn't be swallowed.

The thunder snake circled and roared in the air, actually daring not to strike for a moment.

It was afraid. It feared that the Karma backlash caused by killing Peak Master Luo Qingyi would cause the Heavenly Dao algorithm to collapse.

"Now!"

Shen Xingzhou watched the Lightning Tribulation being held back by Peak Master Luo Qingyi, the final light erupting in his eyes.

"Save it!!"

"Slap!"

Wen Xi slammed down on the final spiritual path node.

The data stream crazily pouring onto the screen instantly solidified, turning into golden file packages, deeply engraved into the lowest layer of the System, and even synchronized and backed up into the projection stone fragments of every Disciple watching the live broadcast.

[Data acquisition successful]

Save status: Local redundancy backup + Distributed node storage

Acquisition results:

War Damage – Rating deviation samples: 1,247 copies (solid evidence)

Ownerless Karma flow records: Complete

Special marker records: Several (bearing "Old God confirmation signatures," but most have been erased)

As the data settled, the Lightning Tribulation that had been hesitating in the sky let out a roar of unwillingness and finally slowly dissipated, crawling back into the clouds.

It wasn't that it didn't want to kill; it was that the Karma logic did not allow it to destroy the "new witness" before settling the "old account."

Shen Xingzhou slumped to the ground, gasping for air, his clothes already soaked through with cold sweat. He looked at the data on the screen that could no longer be destroyed, a sense of post-disaster relief surging in his heart.

"We won...?" Wen Xi slumped in front of the console, her voice weak.

"Temporarily." Shen Xingzhou propped himself up on the table, his gaze still fixed on the screen.

Although the data transmission had ended, the System's analysis had not stopped. At the very bottom of those vast seas of data, in the deepest part sealed by countless "confidential" Seals, was a string of names repeatedly covered by black lines, almost unrecognizable.

That was a taboo that neither the Heavenly Dao nor the Evaluation Division dared to let anyone touch.

But the System possessed the permissions of the Yellow Springs Backend; it forcibly bypassed those Seals and pieced those incomplete characters together, bit by bit.

Shen Xingzhou leaned closer to the screen, his pupils constricting violently.

Behind that erased name, a few characters vaguely emerged:

[... Taiyuan ... Divine Lord]

That was not the title of just any deity. In the ancient legends of the cultivation world, "Taiyuan" represented the beginning, the creator of order, and also represented... the earliest "capitalist."

The System interface suddenly popped up a dark red box with an unprecedented warning.

[Deep analysis discovered]

Discovered traces of "Old God Group" participation in the rating algorithm.

Correlation analysis:

The underlying algorithm of the Nine Provinces Credit Evaluation Division does not originate from the natural evolution of the Heavenly Dao.

Its core logic (such as "whitewashing war damage," "harvesting low-rank Karma") all carries a strong "Taiyuan-style" flavor.

Inference:

The Heavenly Dao is not ruling the cultivation world.

The Heavenly Dao is just a Puppet System.

The real shareholders are a group of Old Gods who should have fallen long ago, or who are currently hiding behind the scenes devouring the flesh and blood of all living beings.

Shen Xingzhou looked at that name, feeling a chill even more terrifying than the Lightning Tribulation earlier crawling up his spine.

He thought he was fighting against unfair rules.

Little did he know, what he was trying to topple was the creator of this world, those ancient monsters lurking at the source of time, viewing all things as mere grass.

The System's options appeared again; this time there was no countdown, only two signposts leading to the abyss.

[Next Choice]

Continue digging —> Anger the Old Gods, face indescribable Ancient God-level pursuit.

Stop —> Retain current results, but the truth will be sealed forever.

Shen Xingzhou looked at those lines, his hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white.

Peak Master Luo Qingyi was blocking the lightning outside, while he was digging a pit inside.

This pit was getting deeper and deeper; now, it had already reached the gates of Hell.