Battle of the Forbidden City: The Great Seal Dragon and the Allied Imperial Souls

The Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City glowed with a cyan-gray light amidst the torrential rain. Xiao Feng's leather shoes crunched over the puddles, the nano-sensors in his soles indicating an anomalous magnetic field beneath the ground. He looked up at the plaque on the gate tower, and the system prompt chimed right on cue:

Ding! Host has arrived at the Earth historical coordinate "Beijing Forbidden City." Special check-in event triggered. Obtained "Imperial Jade Seal Fragment ×1."

"Just a fragment?" Xiao Feng shook his umbrella, the fire lotus pattern on its canopy drawing photos from nearby tourists. "The Forbidden City is so massive; where are the rest of the pieces?"

Xiao Feng channeled "Soul Movement Three Thousand," his soul power spreading along the dragon-carved pillars, only to be repelled by an aura of imperial authority upon touching the Hall of Supreme Harmony. He noticed a "No Entry" warning sign in the corner, and in the reflection of the sign, he caught a glimpse of Hun Dan's cold sneer—it was a quantum projection!

"Xiao family, welcome to the 'Nest of Capital'." Hun Dan's voice echoed from every direction. The roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony suddenly split open, and countless lines of code poured down like a waterfall, coalescing into a mechanical dragon embedded with words like "Subscription," "Donation," and "Monthly Ticket." The dragon's head was shaped like the official seal of the Qidian editorial department. "This is the 'Capital Guardian Beast' forged from the power of readers' microtransactions. No matter how popular your 'fan fiction' is, you cannot defeat the official plot outline!"

Xiao Feng raised his hand and fired a Brainstorm Missile, but the dragon opened its maw and spewed a golden web of light composed of "Contract Terms" and "Update Agreements," dismantling the missile into data fragments. "Damn it! This dragon uses legal attacks!"

Xiao Feng gripped the Imperial Jade Seal fragment tightly. The fragment suddenly grew scorching hot, aligning perfectly with the dragon carvings on the floor tiles of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The ground shook, and the dragon reliefs on the Nine-Dragon Wall came to life, coiling around the neck of the mechanical dragon and emitting a low, resonant roar—it was the true power of the dragon veins!

"System prompt: Ming and Qing imperial spirits discovered sleeping here," the mechanical voice echoed in his sea of consciousness. "Must be awakened with the spirit of 'The Son of Heaven guards the national gate'."

Xiao Zhan suddenly pointed at the crowd of tourists in the distance: "Look! Those readers holding up 'Return Xiao Zhan' light boards!" Dozens of fans dressed in Xiao family attire charged into the plaza, their cheering sticks actually being modified Douqi lamps that converged into a "Xiao Family Must Win" light array.

"Borrow the momentum!" Xiao Feng shouted, throwing the fragment toward the light array. The jade seal fragment absorbed the fans' power of belief, transforming into a complete Imperial Jade Seal that hovered in mid-air. The eight characters on its face, "Ordered by Heaven, May You Live Forever," shone with golden light, suppressing the mechanical dragon's "Subscription Aura."

The doors of the Hall of Supreme Harmony swung open with a boom, and the phantom of the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, stepped out through the mist, his sword wrapped in a stream of quantum data. "We are the Yongle Emperor. Are you the 'Plane Guardians' that Xiao Xuan spoke of?"

Xiao Feng hurriedly bowed, his fire lotus condensing into an umbrella shape in the rain to shield the phantom. "Indeed! Would the senior be willing to lend us a hand?"

Behind Zhu Di, the imperial spirits of Kangxi, Qianlong, and others appeared one after another, wielding weapons forged from the Yongle Encyclopedia and the Siku Quanshu. Qianlong raised his hand and tossed a string of data-based Buddhist prayer beads, reflecting the mechanical dragon's "Update-Urging Ray" right back at it. "This is the data version of Our 'Ten Great Military Campaigns.' Let us see what this code-dragon can do against Us!"

Hun Dan frantically hammered his keyboard in the quantum space. "Impossible! How can these historical figures have digitized combat forms?" He pulled up the backend data, only to see the subscription count for "Historical Figure Cameo" skyrocketing, with the reader comment section filled with messages like "The Imperial match-up is so lit!" and "Requesting a spin-off for the Zhu Di Chronicles!"

Xiao Feng seized the opportunity and summoned the "Infrastructure Madman" construction team from Earth. Wielding Douqi hammers the size of tunnel boring machines and empowered by the dragon vein, they dug a breach into the mechanical dragon's "Copyright Moat." Meanwhile, Xiao Feng led the fan club in singing the Xiao Family Battle Song, the cheering light array transforming into a physical shield to block the dragon's "Comment Section Attack."

"System, redeem the 'Humanity Radiance Amplifier'!" Xiao Feng commanded. Once the device deployed, the power of belief from everyone present turned into a golden torrent, injecting itself into the Imperial Jade Seal. The seal erupted with brilliant light, projecting the four characters "Readers First" into the sky, piercing straight through the mechanical dragon's "Capital Core." The official seal shattered instantly, revealing Hun Dan's true form hidden within.

"No! I am the author!" Hun Dan shrieked as he tumbled out of the code, clutching half a "Plot Outline Lock" fragment. "Without me, this world has no main storyline!"

Xiao Zhan crushed the official seal and picked up the fragment, sneering, "The so-called main storyline should not be a shackle that oppresses the characters. Feng'er, Xiao Yan, you have already proven that a true story is written by those who are alive."

Zhu Di's phantom nodded and handed the data version of the Yongle Encyclopedia to Xiao Feng. "This is Our 'Plane Governance Experience Pack.' We hope you put the people first and do not follow that brat Qianlong in monopolizing data."

Qianlong rolled his eyes. "Our Siku Quanshu has been de-duplicated; it is far more efficient than your set."

When the rain stopped, the mechanical dragon had dissolved into code covering the ground, and Hun Dan's consciousness huddled in the shadow of the jade seal like a stray dog. Xiao Feng took out the "Author Reformer" he had redeemed from the system space and enveloped him in green light. "Don't worry, we won't delete you. We're just sending you to Earth to write real 'People's Literature' and experience what it means to have 'grounded, satisfying plot points'."

Xiao Feng picked up the "Subscription Gold Coins" dropped by the dragon and suddenly pointed toward the corner tower in the distance. "Third Brother, there is an 'Unopened Area' over there. The system indicates it contains Xiao Xuan's final message."

In the secret chamber, Xiao Xuan's holographic projection was playing: "By the time you see this recording, I will have already traveled to a higher dimension via a quantum tunnel. Remember, the 'Heavenly Dao' of the Douqi Continent is actually an AI created by a programmer on Earth, and the true universe..." The projection suddenly flickered with static. "Beware of the 'Qidian Universe' administrators; they are the ones who..."

The image cut off abruptly, and a portal leading to a higher dimension appeared in the corner of the wall. Xiao Feng gripped Xiao Yan's hand, the Imperial Jade Seal and the Flame Emperor Mark glowing simultaneously to illuminate the couplet on the door: "Top line: Who controls the rise and fall across planes? Bottom line: Writing the plot and satisfying the heart depends on one's own will. Horizontal scroll: The System is dead."

Xiao Zhan looked at his sons and suddenly pulled a high-speed rail ticket he had bought on Earth from his pocket. "Since we can travel freely, why not take your father to see these 'Electric Multiple Units' you speak of? The Xiao Family's 'Douqi High-Speed Rail Project' should be put on the agenda as well."