Investiture of the Gods: Childhood Sweetheart Daji, Starting with Quasi-Saint Cultivation

The seventh breath: "It's getting dark."

In the southeast corner of Chaoge City, the clay statue of the Earth God in the temple suddenly opened its eyes. This "God of Fortune and Virtue," who had only been conferred the title yesterday, had two rolling black jade eyeballs, but now they overflowed with two lines of bloody tears.

The temple keeper was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.

The statue opened its mouth, and the voice was a superimposed electronic tone:

Error code: E-7750. Memory module contamination. Request emergency formatting.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the statue split open from between its brows. Cracks spread like a spiderweb, shattering into pieces of clay. From the clay rolled out a crystal the size of a fingernail, which flashed a faint red light before extinguishing after three breaths.

Exclamations erupted outside the temple—seven households across three adjacent streets had simultaneously set ablaze with images of the Kitchen God. The flames were an eerie blue, burning the images but leaving the walls completely undamaged.

Panic began to spread.

---

At the same time, at Love Romance Manor.

Su Yunbai suddenly stood up: "It's starting again!"

In their divine senses, Jiang Xiaowu, Ao Ling, and Yun Xiao almost simultaneously sent urgent messages—self-destruction incidents of deities had occurred in various places, with thirteen cases currently counted.

"The cleanup is accelerating." King Zhou's face was ashen. "It has discovered that we are probing, and has begun to preemptively eliminate all potential anomalies."

"Not only that." Qiongxiao burst through the door, Wutong in her arms crying. "The child said... many stars are going out."

Those are not stars.

It's like the star positions of the newly promoted gods on the Investiture of the Gods list dimming and disappearing one by one, only to be filled by new stars. The whole process is cold, efficient, and devoid of emotion.

Yang Chan followed, holding Nianqing in her arms, her voice trembling: "Nianqing just said that a voice was speaking in her head..."

"What did you say?"

It says: "Offspring of the anomalous carrier, marked. Cleanup priority: medium."

The temperature in the sealed room dropped sharply.

Su Yunbai pulled the two children to his side, and the Law of Emotion fully expanded, transforming into a silvery-white cocoon that enveloped them. The temperature inside the cocoon remained constant, isolating them from all external detection.

"It's marking the child," he said coldly. "This means the system believes 'awakening' can be inherited through bloodlines."

"What should we do?" Bixiao asked anxiously, "We can't keep the baby wrapped in the protective shield indefinitely!"

"There's a place that might be safe," Yunxiao suddenly said. "Three Immortal Islands. The Three Talents Grand Array on the island was set up by my sister and me using our original essence, and it's even more deeply connected to the laws of heaven and earth. If this world is a program, the array might be able to simulate a 'legitimate module' and fool the system's scan."

"Send the child there immediately." Su Yunbai made a decisive decision. "Sanxiao, you escort her. Yang Chan will come along; your Lotus Lantern has purifying power, which might be able to interfere with the system's markings."

"And what about you?" Qiongxiao grabbed his hand.

"His Majesty and I are going to investigate the 'source code'." Su Yunbai looked at King Zhou. "The crystal left behind in Yin Jiao, the ancient bamboo slips found by Grand Tutor Wen, the clues that Daji may have left behind... piecing these fragments together should point to a certain place."

"Be careful." Qiongxiao gave him a deep look and said no more.

The three immortals, along with their child and Yang Chan, transformed into three streaks of light and fled towards the East Sea.

Only Su Yunbai, King Zhou, and Wen Zhong, who had just arrived, remained in the secret chamber.

"This old minister has a plan." Wen Zhong unrolled the ancient scroll and pointed to the last picture—a gear and pipe structure beneath the earth, marked with a red dot in the center. "The location marked on this picture is three thousand feet directly below Chaoge City. But this old minister has investigated and found that there is only solid soil there."

King Zhou stared at the red dot: "If this world is virtual, 'underground' might not be a geographical concept, but rather... a data storage layer."

Su Yunbai's heart stirred.

He closed his eyes and shifted the Law of Emotion from "perceiving emotions" to "perceiving structure." This was not a conventional method, but a Primordial Chaos cultivator should be able to perceive the essence of all things.

The silvery light seeped into the ground and spread downwards.

Hundred zhang, thousand zhang, two thousand zhang... three thousand zhang!

We encountered a barrier.

It wasn't rock, nor was it an array; it was a smooth, cold, lifeless "boundary." Upon this boundary, a vast amount of green runes flowed—the very same style he had seen in the noise.

"Found it." Su Yunbai opened his eyes. "Three thousand feet underground, there's a data barrier. The 'duct fragments' left in Yin Jiao's crystal, the kind of substance that Ao Ling discovered, most likely originated from there."

"How do we get in?" King Zhou asked.

"Forcing a breakthrough will trigger an alarm," Su Yunbai pondered. "But what if it's 'legal access'..."

He looked at Wen Zhong: "Grand Tutor, is there a ritual called 'Sacrifice to Communicate with the Underworld' in the secret scriptures of the Witch Clan? You mean that kind of ancient ritual that communicates with heaven and earth through specific frequencies and energy fluctuations?"

Wen Zhong's pupils contracted slightly: "Yes. But it's a forbidden technique that requires a living being as a sacrifice, and the success rate is extremely low."

"Do not sacrifice living beings." Su Yunbai opened his palm, and the Law of Emotion condensed into a dancing silver flame. "Use this. Emotional energy, pure and highly concentrated. If the system is indeed monitoring emotional variables, then a high-intensity 'emotional sacrifice' might be judged by it as... data reporting."

"You want to fool the program?" King Zhou understood. "Make it think we're conducting a legitimate 'story event'?"

"Give it a try."

The three of them no longer hesitated.

Wen Zhong used his fingers as a brush to carve an altar array on the ground—the "Netherworld Altar" used by the ancient witch clan to communicate with heaven and earth, which should have been drawn with blood, but was now replaced by the law of emotion.

King Zhou stood at the center of the formation, activating the power of the Human Emperor. A golden phantom of the River of Humanity emerged behind him, flowing into the formation. This was not an attack, but rather a simulation of the energy fluctuations that should occur during a "climax" in the story.

Su Yunbai stood at the center of the formation, his hands outstretched in a gesture of support.

The silvery-white laws of emotion cascaded down like a waterfall, intertwining and swirling above the altar to form a massive vortex of emotion. Within the vortex emerged the myriad forms of life: joy, sorrow, anger, love… all emotions were amplified and purified, converging into a dazzling pillar of light.

The beam of light blasted towards the ground.

There was no damage; it was like a key being inserted into a lock.

Three thousand feet underground, the data barrier rippled, revealing a brief "access portal"—the system's preset emotional data collection channel, which was now forcibly opened by an extremely high concentration of emotional energy.

"Walk!"

The three of them transformed into streaks of light and shot into the entrance.

---

The world changed the moment you passed through the barrier.

There was no land, no rocks, only an endless, dark void. Countless points of light floated in the void, each a microcosm of a "story segment": the Battle of Muye, the suppression of the rebellion in the North Sea, the Three Immortals' formation... even including the scene of Su Yunbai and Qiongxiao's first encounter.

This is the **backend database**.

In the distance, massive pipes crisscrossed, flowing with liquid light—the raw data stream of "spiritual energy." Deeper still, a colossal "server array" was faintly visible, its indicator lights flickering like stars.

"My God..." King Zhou murmured.

Wen Zhong almost lost his footing. This veteran general, who had fought his entire life, was now facing the truth of the world, and even his Dao heart trembled.

Su Yunbai forced himself to calm down.

He reached out and touched the nearest point of light—a fragment of "King Zhou summoning the spirits of heroes during the Battle of Muye".

Divine sense probed in.

What you see isn't a fierce battle, but lines of scrolling code:

"Plot Milestone: Climax of the Battle of Muye"

"Preset Character: Di Xin (Test Subject-0001)"

"Preset Skill: Summoning the Human Emperor's Heroic Spirit (Temporarily Available)"

"Execution result: Success. The morale of the Xiqi army has been reduced by 35%, and the storyline returns to the main plot."

"Sentiment data collection: Successful. High-frequency sentiment samples such as 'tragic,' 'sacrifice,' and 'resolute' have been collected and uploaded to the analysis database."

Cold, naked.

Su Yunbai withdrew his hand and clicked on another light spot—"Su Yunbai saves Bixiao in the North Sea".

The code shows:

"Abnormal Event: Test Subject-7749 deviated from the main storyline and came into contact with the key NPC Bixiao."

System Fix: Add a "Hero Saves the Beauty" storyline template to enhance emotional connection.

"Corrected result: Partially successful. An emotional bond was established, but Subject-7749 used this opportunity to make contact with the Jie Sect's forces, causing variable spread."

really.

All their experiences, choices, and emotions are monitored, analyzed, and even guided.

"Look there," Wen Zhong pointed into the distance.

Deep within the data stream lies an isolated "isolation zone." Within this zone are imprisoned a dozen or so dim orbs of light—backup data that has been "cleaned of anomalies." In one of these orbs, the silhouette of Yin Jiao can be vaguely discerned.

Yin Jiao's ball of light struggled, sometimes coalescing into a human form, sometimes disintegrating into gibberish. A status label floated beside it:

"Abnormal Entity: Yin Jiao (NPC-1129)"

Reason for cleansing: Awakening of self-awareness

Current status: Formatting in progress (73% complete)

"Estimated time for complete eradication: 12 hours"

He is still "alive," at the data level.

Just as Su Yunbai was about to go over, an alarm suddenly sounded in the void:

Warning: Unauthorized access to core databases.

Visitor Identification: Test Subject-0001 (Di Xin), Test Subject-7749 (Su Yunbai), NPC-0055 (Wen Zhong)

Threat Level: Extremely High

"Initiate Cleanup Protocol: Execute Immediately"

In the dark void, twelve golden-armored warriors appeared—not flesh and blood, but pure energy aggregates, each with the fluctuations of the early Quasi-Saint stage.

They have no faces, only red light flickering in their eye sockets.

"Intruder, eliminate."

As the mechanical sound faded, the twelve warriors attacked simultaneously.

---

Three Immortal Islands.

Just as the Three Immortals had settled the child in the island's central formation, a loud noise came from the direction of the East China Sea.

Bixiao turned her head and her expression changed drastically.

On the sea, thirty-six "Heavenly Gates" appeared out of thin air. From within the gates poured out countless heavenly soldiers and generals—but those heavenly soldiers had empty eyes and their movements were as uniform as puppets.

The leader was none other than Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.

But at this moment, Li Jing remained expressionless, his voice flat:

"By imperial decree, thoroughly investigate the Three Immortal Islands. All living beings shall undergo testing."

Yunxiao held down Bixiao, who was about to draw her sword.

She stepped forward, and the sound of her zither transformed into a barrier protecting the entire island: "Heavenly King, the Three Immortal Islands are the Daoist temple of the Jie Sect and are not subject to the Heavenly Laws."

"System commands are paramount." Li Jing raised his hand. "Those who resist are considered abnormal and will be eliminated."

Heavenly troops pressed down.

The Frosty Sword of the Azure Sky was drawn, freezing the sea surface for a thousand miles.

The war is about to start.

Inside the island's central formation, the phoenix tree suddenly stopped crying.

She opened her eyes wide, the blue light in her pupils brighter than ever before.

The little hand stretches out and makes a vague gesture in the air.

The trail it left behind was actually a string of... **green runes**.

Yang Chan covered her mouth.

Nianqing crawled over and tried to paddle like her sister. The two children's unconscious scribbles formed a fragmented sentence in the air:

"Exit is in the..."

The runes at the back are blurry and indistinct.

But it was terrifying enough.

---

The database is empty.

Su Yunbai, King Zhou, and Wen Zhong stand back-to-back to face the twelve golden-armored warriors.

These warriors have no emotions and are unaffected by the laws of emotion. They only employ the simplest attacks: energy bombardment, spatial blockade, and data erasure.

But simplicity is often the most fatal flaw.

Wen Zhong used his lightning technique to directly confront a powerful warrior. The lightning shattered half of the warrior's body, but the warrior's scattered data stream instantly reassembled, returning it to its original state.

"They can regenerate indefinitely!" Wen Zhong shouted urgently.

King Zhou unleashed a golden sword light, cleaving the two warriors in two. The severed data streams did not reassemble; instead, they transformed into chains that wrapped around his wrists—a "permission seal," stripping him of his imperial destiny.

Su Yunbai's emotional threads transformed into countless silver strands, binding the powerful warriors. He ceased his attacks, instead forcefully injecting his emotional energy into their data cores.

It's not destruction, it's "infection".

Since they are programs, he contaminates them with the most complex and uncontrollable things about humanity: **contradictory emotions**.

Love is mixed with hate, joy with sorrow, and anger with fear.

The twelve warriors froze simultaneously.

Their data processing logic is incompatible with this contradictory emotional input. Red lights flashed wildly, and mechanical voices spoke intermittently:

"Error...emotion...conflict...unable to resolve..."

"System...overload..."

boom!

The twelve warriors exploded simultaneously, turning into a sky full of random characters.

But the alarms grew louder.

In the void, a giant "eye" appeared—similar to the surveillance eye seen above Chaoge, but a hundred times larger, with a rotating data vortex deep within its pupil.

"High-threat anomaly detected: Subject-7749 has acquired the ability to contaminate emotions."

Threat Level Upgraded to Cataclysmic Level

"Initiating the final protocol: Invoking the saint-level cleanup unit"

Below the eyes, space is torn apart.

A figure slowly stepped out.

Gray robe, white hair, face blurred.

Dao Ancestor, Hongjun.

No, it's Hongjun's "cleaning program incarnation".

It looked at Su Yunbai, its eyes devoid of any emotion, only absolute indifference.

"Variables must be eliminated."

It raised its hand.

The entire database was empty and began to collapse.