Spirit Wu Offers a Plan, Hacker Competition

The night sky was as white as velvet, and a gentle sea breeze was blowing.

Old Man Bai brought Tang Lingwu to his door, and Zheng Fa simply took the two of them straight to a deserted beach.

The three of them, like ordinary people who had never cultivated themselves, sat on the fine sand.

The road behind was sparsely populated with vehicles.

The sound of waves crashing on the shore deepened the silence between the three.

Zheng Fa felt much more relieved.

If the Modern World is his sanctuary, then the two people in front of him are his best therapists.

Even just talking to them and confiding his troubles to them, he could receive a lot of comfort.

But neither Old Man Bai nor his companion could relax.

The Old Man Bai stared blankly at the distant black coastline, while Tang Lingwu lowered her head, as if silently counting the grains of sand at her feet.

Finally, the Old Man Bai broke the silence. "You mean, there's a deadly danger over there?"

Zheng Fa nodded slowly.

He hadn't intended to tell Old Man Bai and the other man everything.

The reason is simple: the Old Man Bai and the other man are still far from being as strong as the old man, and saying it out loud would only cause them more trouble.

It wasn't just the two of them.

Since the appearance of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, he has only been a spectator, able to observe from the sidelines.

The conflict between the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor and Lu Mo can almost be described as a battle between Golden Immortal.

"The Book of Life and Death, the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation..."

The Old Man Bai's expression also became somewhat numb.

He didn't know how powerful the Golden Immortal was, but these two Law Treasure were already legendary.

Even if it's not an authentic copy, it's still scary.

After a while, Tang Lingwu raised her head and looked at Zheng Fa.

"Um?"

"Will you... die?"

Even Zheng Fa was surprised that Tang Lingwu would be so direct.

Old Man Bai opened his mouth, as if to say something, but upon meeting Tang Lingwu's gaze, the words in his throat inexplicably turned into a long sigh, silent and vanishing with the wind.

Tang Lingwu's figure, sitting on the beach, looked extremely thin.

It seemed that if the sound of the waves were any louder, they would knock her down.

She reached out and grabbed Zheng Fa's arm; her knuckles were clearly defined, and she gripped it tightly.

"Unlikely, after all, I'm so afraid of dying, I would do everything I can to save my life."

Zheng Fa said softly.

"Moreover, I have more cards up my sleeve than others."

"I still have the Fusang Wood, and I can still come to this world..."

"I even have the means to bring the dead back to life."

Zheng Fa offered endless words of comfort.

Tang Lingwu seemed not to hear, and only asked

"You'll be alright?"

Zheng Fa remained silent.

Tang Lingwu stared at his tightly closed lips, waiting for his assurance.

However, Zheng Fa cannot guarantee this.

The expression on Tang Lingwu's face made the Old Man Bai turn his head away, unable to bear looking at her closely.

Seeing that the two remained silent, Zheng Fa didn't know what to say, so he simply started talking about Venerable Tianhe.

Previously, Old Man Bai and his companion only knew that Zheng Fa had a business empire, but they didn't know much about it.

As for Venerable Tianhe's experiences and the ins and outs of the Tianhe Upheaval, they didn't know much about them either.

Zheng Fa began by recounting the Xuanwei structure of the Devil Ancestor Era, then spoke of the rise of Venerable Tianhe, his mysterious demise, the Tianhe Upheaval Venerable Tianhe, the revenge of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, and Lu Mo's contingency plan.

This history is too long and too complicated.

Tang Lingwu and the other woman listened intently, forgetting their earlier panic.

"So, the greatest danger actually lies in Lu Mo enlightenment?"

Zheng Fa pondered for a moment, then added, "The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor... I can't even fathom his thoughts."

This is a real headache.

Lu Mo is certainly a major threat.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was no pushover either.

He naturally sympathized with the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, but this man had experienced too many tragic events and accumulated so much hatred in his heart; it was truly difficult to fathom what he intended to do.

Zheng Fa could understand the idea that he wanted to overthrow the entire Immortal Sect, but for the Nine Mountains Realm, it would be a catastrophe.

Moreover, this person also knew about the Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant.

For Zheng Fa, the Nine Nether were a huge bombshell, one that would explode at the slightest touch.

The Old Man Bai scratched his head and said:

"This is too passive; we can only rely on luck?"

Old Man Bai's words hit the nail on the head, revealing the root of Zheng Fa's unease.

In the battle between the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor and Lu Mo, Zheng Fa can only rely on sheer luck.

To put it bluntly, it's gambling.

Venerable Tianhe had a backup plan.

They were betting he could escape death.

They're betting he can sever the connection between the modern world and the Xuanwei Realm.

Given Zheng Fa's personality, this is not much different from waiting to die...

"From the moment the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor set up the sword formation, I lost control of the situation," Zheng Fa shook his head and said. "The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor possesses the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram and the Book of Life and Death; he is beyond my ability to contend with."

"Lu Mo, needless to say."

Looking back now, I'm so glad I went to the Tianhe Sect, otherwise I wouldn't even have had a chance to strike it rich.

Upon hearing this, the Old Man Bai didn't know what to say.

He was also a cultivator, so he naturally understood that cultivators ultimately had to rely on their strength.

The difference in strength between Zheng Fa, the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, and Lu Mo meant that he could only be a spectator.

Even if all the best minds in the Modern World were combined, there's not much they could do about it.

Sometimes, wisdom is not true strength.

"Control..." Just when Old Man Bai was at a loss, Tang Lingwu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "Could you try to control the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram?"

"Um?"

Tang Lingwu spoke slowly, as if she were organizing the inspiration that had just surfaced in her mind:

"You just said that the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation is somewhat like a maze game, a kind of programming based on the laws of space and physics."

"Um."

"I don't know if the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation is perfect, but if we can crack Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation Talisman Diagram structure, wouldn't that mean we can obtain higher privileges than others?"

Zheng Fa listened, his eyes brightening slightly.

The Old Man Bai seemed to understand as well. "Game cheat device?"

"That's roughly the idea," Tang Lingwu nodded. "Furthermore, Zheng Fa, you possess the Immortal-Trapping Sword, which naturally grants you certain authority."

"It's also a natural flaw in the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation."

Even if the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation is flawless, we can still find ways to exploit it.

Zheng Fa was stunned.

Tang Lingwu's idea, to put it bluntly, was to exploit system vulnerabilities to develop a game cheat.

On the one hand, she was thinking about this problem entirely from a procedural perspective.

On the other hand, she also gave Zheng Fa the possibility of regaining the initiative.

Old Man Bai slapped his thigh. "If Zheng Fa can control the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation, doesn't that mean you also have the strength of Golden Immortal?"

Zheng Fa suddenly stood up from the beach, his heart filled with excitement. "Even without reaching the Golden Immortal level, the four swords of the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation combined are far superior to ordinary True Immortal..."

"So Lu Mo's infiltration of the Underworld was probably also due to his fear of the Immortal Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation..."

"He hasn't yet attained the Golden Immortal. He's definitely stronger than other True Immortal, but the Golden Immortal... that might not be the case."

"If the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor hadn't been restricted by the Book of Life and Death and hadn't controlled the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation, he probably wouldn't be in such a passive position."

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, even the Golden Immortal, is probably questionable, since the Book of Life and Death is not yet complete.

But this doesn't mean the Lu Mo necessarily be very strong.

Ultimately, this person has not truly attained the status of Golden Immortal.

The reason why the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor is now at a disadvantage is that Lu Mo, with the help of Zhitong's sacrifice, targeted the Book of Life and Death, preventing it from exerting its full strength.

The Book of Life and Death goes without saying.

Even the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation seemed beyond the control of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

This is the biggest problem with the Celestial River Method.

That's why Lu Mo much trouble to infiltrate the Underworld.

In the Xuanwei Realm, the combat power of treasures greatly influences a person's strength.

For example, Xie Qingxue, with the Green Duckweed Sword, became the number one person below the Dao Fruit level.

The Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, wielding the Book of Life and Death, dares to claim himself Golden Immortal.

Needless to say, Zheng Fa's Fusang Wood allowed him to quickly rise to the upper echelons of Xuanwei society, where he could chat and laugh with various Dao Fruit.

If we could master the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation...

Only then did Zheng Fa truly grasp the decisive factor that influenced the balance of the battle.

Even if Venerable Tianhe had left nothing behind, he would never have been left to watch the situation change as it is now.

Although it's only a possibility, it's a direction well worth striving for.

For Zheng Fa, this direction was extremely important; it was practically a lifeline.

He grew more and more excited as he thought about it. He walked up to Tang Lingwu, slipped his hands under the girl's armpits, picked her up, and lifted her above his head.

The gentle moonlight blended the two shadows on the beach into one.

There are still people here!

The Old Man Bai snorted.

Zheng Fa put the blushing Tang Lingwu down and chuckled at the Old Man Bai, "If Lingwu's idea comes true, it will truly be a world-saving achievement."

And it's not just one world.

"I understand, but I'm not out with you guys in the middle of the night just to eat dog food."

"Grandpa Bai!" Tang Lingwu said playfully, "Then why don't you go back first, Grandpa?"

The sound was soft, but it greatly shocked the Old Man Bai.

"... What speed does Zheng Fa at? What speed do I travel at? How long will it take me to get back?"

"Perfect timing to practice my flying escape techniques..."

The Old Man Bai remained silent for a long, long time, as if he didn't recognize Tang Lingwu. After a long while, he finally sighed, "Fortunately, there is the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor."

"... Nine Nether Devil Ancestor?"

"I only lost my sweet Lingwu, but he lost so much more."

"Not only is the Tianhe Sect gone, but now it looks like the Book of Life and Death is about to be lost too," Old Man Bai said, counting on his fingers. "Now, the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation will be lost as well."

Thinking about it this way, Zheng Fa felt a little embarrassed.

Actually, if you want to seize the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram, you might actually have to thank Lu Mo?

If Lu Mo hadn't been seizing the Book of Life and Death, thus restraining the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor, the difficulty of gaining control of the Immortal-Slayer Formation Diagram would have been more than ten times greater.

Tang Lingwu thought for a long time, then muttered, "Then I suppose the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor should be used to it by now, right?"

"..."

"You're definitely not my Lingwu!"

"The Federation Hacker Competition?"

"No nationality restrictions, and can be participated online? Just one question?"

"Can players freely form teams and even interact with each other?"

The Immortal Way Federation has been established for several years now.

Although Zheng Fa did not intervene, the entire Modern World order underwent a fundamental change.

The most obvious one is:

There have been almost no more wars, and even small-scale conflicts are rare.

This was also determined by Zheng Fa's personality.

As the saying goes, "What the superiors like, the inferiors will surely follow." Although Zheng Fa rarely expressed his own attitude, it was just like how Team Leader Yang would analyze Zheng Fa's resume over and over again back then.

Think tanks around the world have never stopped analyzing Zheng Fa's case.

His preferences, his beliefs, and even his views on the world situation are not secrets to many people.

Zheng Fa didn't care about any of that; his control over the Modern World made him indifferent to such matters.

Moreover, most of the previous disputes were about the struggle for resources and markets.

Now...

The most valuable resources are spiritual materials and Spirit Vein, which are in the hands of the Confederation Research Institute.

The largest market was the Federation.

Speaking of energy, a single Golden Core is an almost inexhaustible source of energy— Rainbow Mountain's most pressing project right now is to use newly formed spiritual materials and Spirit Vein to create External Core.

In some ways, the rules of the world have completely changed.

If we're talking about the most worthwhile thing to fight for, there's really only one:

The number of places at the Confederation Research Institute.

This bizarre Hacker Competition now has just such a reward!

It's easy to see how attractive this competition is.

Zheng Fa led Tang Lingwu into a conference room, which was packed with people.

Team Leader Yang quickly stepped forward and explained, "I've invited all the experts and scholars in the fields of computer science and Mathematics."

Zheng Fa glanced at it briefly and noticed that everything was reflective and bright, which immediately convinced him of the group's professionalism.

Team Leader Yang added, "The Talisman Diagram you provided, Dean, are far more complex than typical procedures."

"Some of them seem to be new algorithms that have never appeared before, but fortunately, Dean, you have confirmed their functions."

I have to thank Senior Sister Zhang for this.

She worked day and night, analyzing every single Talisman Diagram Zheng Fa had memorized in the sword formation, leaving nothing out.

With this data as a foundation, experts in the Modern World can analyze the underlying program logic.

Zheng Fa nodded to Team Leader Yang and looked at a somewhat familiar face in the conference room—this was a Mathematics scholar from the research institute who also seemed to be quite proficient in computers, and was considered a leader among the group of scholars.

He stood up and explained, "Based solely on the analysis of these Talisman Diagram, we discovered seventy-eight potential vulnerabilities."

"There's only one problem: these Talisman Diagram aren't complete."

"Some vulnerabilities may not be vulnerabilities at all, or they may not be functional."

It's not that these people are incompetent.

However, Zheng Fa did not actually possess the complete battle formation diagram.

Upon analysis, there is naturally a great deal of speculation involved.

Even among these seventy-eight vulnerabilities, it's uncertain whether any will ultimately be usable.

He also held this Hacker Competition for this reason:

It's not that all programmers are hidden talents, but rather that there are indeed many excellent programmers who stay within the industry, and some are even unwilling to show their faces due to their personality and profession, only having some fame in a small circle.

On the other hand, he wasn't looking for a standard answer:

Because the Talisman Diagram is incomplete, Zheng Fa needs to find more loopholes, prepare more possible solutions, and then return to the Tianhe Sect to try them one by one.

The Hacker Competition format was suggested by this group of scholars.

There are many similar competitions in academia and industry, and they are quite effective, yielding more feasible ideas and being more efficient.

Tang Lingwu chimed in, "Actually, if we add the authority of the Immortal-Trapping Sword, it might not be as difficult as we think."

Zheng Fa nodded. "I've thought about it. I don't need to surpass the authority of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor; I just need to have higher authority than everyone else."

He certainly wanted to seize the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation from the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor.

But that seems a bit difficult, since this thing has been in the hands of the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor for an entire era.

Fortunately, the Nine Nether Devil Ancestor was restrained by Lu Mo and could not be distracted, so his control over the sword formation was not as good as before.

That's much easier.

So, if we can really seize the Immortal-Slayer Sword Formation, then Lu Mo worth a banner.