Public Beta, Long Lei's "Firewall"

A week of refinement had transformed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's "Spiritual Net 2.0." It was no longer a fragile spiderweb, but more like a tough, resilient fishing net woven from countless strands of logic.

This time, they were full of confidence.

"Senior Disciple Brother Beibei, we're ready." Huo Yuhao's gaze was calm and resolute.

Beibei looked at them, feeling both anticipation and a trace of guilt in his heart. The last incident had left him shaken. He took a deep breath and nodded solemnly. "Come on. This time, I'll cooperate fully, but if I sense anything wrong, I'll cut it off immediately."

"We understand." Huo Yuhao smiled. "This time, you don't need to 'resist.' You only need to 'exist.'"

The three of them once again sat cross-legged in the back mountain.

"Bus Structure, activate. Port scan... begin!"

Unlike last time, Huo Yuhao did not use Spiritual Power to "knock on the door." He activated the "bus," and a neutral, invisible "Data Channel" spread out between the three of them. Immediately afterward, an equal "Access Request" was sent to Beibei's Sea of Consciousness.

Beibei only felt an exceptionally gentle intent arrive, as though it were asking, "Allow access?"

He tried to relax his mind and silently granted the request.

"Bzzzz—"

Unlike the mountain-shattering, sea-churning impact from before, Beibei's Spiritual Power, vast and majestic as a sea of thunder, seemed to be guided by an invisible "splitter." It transformed into hundreds of millions of tiny Data Streams and flowed steadily into the "Bus Structure."

"It worked!" Wang Dong cheered excitedly within the "net."

"Not yet!" Huo Yuhao immediately warned. "Pressure test begins! Wang Dong, run the 'Load Balancing' program! Senior Tang Ya, please release your Soul Power as a 'Benchmark Data Stream' to interfere!"

Under Huo Yuhao's command, an unprecedented internal offensive-and-defensive battle quietly began on the spiritual level.

Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass Soul Power flowed into the "bus" like a gentle stream. Wang Dong, meanwhile, acted like a skilled network administrator, swiftly tagging, categorizing, and guiding those Data Streams through the unused channels of the "bus," preventing them from clashing with Beibei's "thunder-sea data."

For a time, data surged through the "bus" in orderly torrents.

"It's holding! We can do this!" Wang Dong's confidence soared.

But at that moment, a sudden change erupted!

Beibei was, after all, a descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Deep within his Spiritual Power was imprinted the tyranny and pride of his Martial Soul. When it discovered that it was being guided and diverted by an "unknown program," an instinctive "resistance" was triggered!

Roar!

A soundless dragon roar exploded at the core of the "bus"!

Within Beibei's Spiritual Power, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's Dragon Soul Will awakened! It was no longer passive data flow. Instead, it became a violent giant lightning dragon that rampaged through the "bus"!

"Alert! Alert! Unknown malicious program intrusion! Firewall under attack!"

A piercing alarm automatically generated by the "net" rang out in Wang Dong's mind. The "Load Balancing" program he had constructed was as fragile as paper before this "lightning giant dragon," and it was instantly torn to shreds!

The "Bus Structure" shook violently. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong both groaned, their faces turning deathly pale.

"It's the Martial Soul Will! It's treating our 'net' as an enemy!" Wang Dong shouted in horror.

"It's too late to force a disconnect. That would trigger an even worse backlash!" Huo Yuhao's mind raced, and madness flashed in his eyes. "Since it sees our 'net' as a virus, then we'll... play along to the very end!"

"Wang Dong! Abandon 'Load Balancing' and switch to 'Sandbox Mode'!"

"Sandbox Mode?" Wang Dong froze. This was an emergency plan Huo Yuhao had designed only yesterday, one that had never been tested.

"Execute the order!" Huo Yuhao shouted sharply.

Wang Dong no longer hesitated. He immediately constructed an independent "Virtual Space" within the "net" and forcibly "wrapped" the rampaging "lightning giant dragon" inside it.

The pressure on the "bus" sharply decreased, restoring temporary stability. But inside the "sandbox," the "lightning giant dragon" grew even more enraged, madly battering the walls of the "sandbox."

"It won't hold for long, Yuhao! Its power is too strong!"

"I know!" Huo Yuhao stared fixedly at the giant dragon within the "sandbox." "I'm not trying to trap it. I'm trying to... analyze it!"

Huo Yuhao transformed all his Spiritual Power into countless even finer "probes," pressing them against the inner walls of the "sandbox." Rather than resisting the dragon's attacks head-on, he sensed the force and angle of every impact, as well as the Lightning Law contained within them.

"So that's it... This is the Dragon Soul Will's 'Attack Logic'... Every roar is meant to destroy the stability of the 'structure'... Every charge follows the principle of the 'shortest energy path'..."

Huo Yuhao was like a top-tier programmer analyzing the code of the most advanced virus. Pain and wild joy Intertwined across his face.

"Wang Dong! I found its 'flaw'! Every attack has a 0.1-second 'Energy Window'! During the next impact, use your 'Power of Light' to 'fill' that window!"

"Fill it?"

"That's right! Don't attack it—'fill' it! Use the neutralizing properties of the light attribute to offset its lightning attribute!"

Wang Dong immediately understood. When the "lightning giant dragon" roared and charged again, he precisely caught that fleeting "Energy Window." A gentle ball of golden light shot accurately into the "sandbox" from outside.

"Crackle—"

A soft sound rang out, like boiling oil meeting water. The giant dragon's violent lightning energy was actually neutralized the instant it touched that golden light, and part of it dissipated!

"It worked!" Huo Yuhao was overjoyed.

After the first time came the second, then the third...

Wang Dong's Power of Light became the nemesis of the "lightning giant dragon." Every precise "filling" weakened the dragon's momentum by another fraction.

Finally, after an unknown number of "fillings," the once-unrivaled "lightning giant dragon" let out an unwilling cry. Its enormous body gradually dispersed, turning once more into calm Data Streams that could be guided by the "bus."

"The Bus Structure... has regained stability."

The moment Huo Yuhao finished speaking, he could no longer hold on. He, Wang Dong, and Tang Ya all collapsed limply to the ground.

Beibei suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath. He felt as though he had fought a giant dragon in a dream, leaving him completely exhausted. When he saw the three of them lying there, his heart filled with shock and guilt.

"I... what did I do?"

Huo Yuhao lay on the ground. Though weak, his eyes shone with an unprecedented light. He looked at Beibei and smiled with difficulty.

"Senior Disciple Brother... you did nothing. Our 'net' just now... 'killed' a virus."

He knew that their "Ethernet 2.0" had passed the most rigorous pressure test. It was not only stable—it had also gained the ability to... "immunize" and "analyze."

The road ahead had been completely opened.