[System Broadcast:
Global Recalibration Protocol Initiated.
Estimated Completion: 13 Days, 23 Hours, 59 Minutes]
The moment Lin Xian re-emerged from Skyreach Vault, the sky was different.
Not darker.
Just… heavier. Like something invisible was pressing down on reality itself.
Across the continent, every cultivator with even a fraction of System integration felt it.
A pulse.
A whisper in the code.
"Rebalancing has begun."
In the Ironcloud Sect, cultivators stared at their status screens, frozen mid-training, as warning prompts began flooding in.
[Skill Tree Error: Authority Conflict Detected]
[Passive Skill "Heaven's Favor" Has Been Revoked]
[Reason: Root User Override Active in Global Node]
In the Crimson Glacier stronghold, the Sword Saint of the North shattered his blade mid-swing.
"Impossible… someone's tampering with the base logic…"
And far in the Cloudspire Empire, the Empress of the Nine Suns stood on her solar dais, staring into a screen no one else could see.
"Systembreaker… Null01… he's real."
Back on the road, Lin Xian moved fast—no longer hiding. His cloak was gone, torn in the fight. His eyes glowed faintly with residual dragonlight.
The Beast beneath his skin stirred.
"What now?" Echo asked, her projection hovering above his shoulder. "You've got the key, but the doors are collapsing."
"Then I open a new one," Lin Xian replied.
He had one goal left: reach the Central Nexus, a relic city buried beneath the Forbidden Wastes.
That's where the System's root code was housed. That's where the original creators—long gone or long erased—once ruled.
And that's where he'd make his final stand.
Suddenly, an alert rang out:
[Incoming Threat Detected – Signature: "Prime System Enforcer: Seraph-X"]
[Level: S-Rank Enforcer | Objective: Nullify Null01]
[ETA: 06:44:12]
Lin Xian stopped.
They'd finally sent a prime.
Not just hunters. Not just algorithms.
A pure combat avatar of the System's will.
"Six hours," he muttered. "Then the real game begins."
But before he could move again, another prompt appeared—this time, completely foreign:
[Override Transmission – Origin Layer Ping]
[User Identified: ???]
[Message: "You're not alone."]
The world around him flickered.
And just for a second… he saw them.
Other systembreakers.
From other worlds. Other timelines.
Flickers of rebels like him, fighting different wars, speaking in different tongues—but all marked with the same identifier.
[Null01]
[Null07]
[Null13]
"This wasn't just your rebellion," Echo whispered.
"It's theirs, too."
Lin Xian stared ahead. The winds shifted.
Time was running out.
But the war had just been declared.