Chapter 104: A Nation's Revival Through Misaligned Technology, Part 19

The blueprints for a set of network artifacts and optical computers were priced at 100,000 top-grade spirit stones. Mu Yin sold over 500 sets in total. The cultivation world was vast, home to hundreds of third-tier sects, not to mention the demonic factions ignored by official rankings, to say nothing of the countless smaller sects.

Consequently, Mu Yin’s coffers were overflowing. With subsequent revenue streams like data packages and other services, she no longer had to worry about spirit stones in the cultivation world. It was then that the female lead finally tracked her down.

"Hey! So you’re a transmigrator too! Why did you lie to me?" Shui Yueran finally cornered Mu Yin. Mu Yin had been busy traveling across the cultivation world to install networks for various sects and hadn’t been back to her own sect for years, which was the only reason the female lead hadn't caught her sooner.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mu Yin naturally refused to admit it and feigned ignorance.

"Don't play dumb! You've built the network; do you really think you can hide it now?" Shui Yueran was furious, seeing Mu Yin still pretending.

"Oh, the network? Isn't that something you told me about back then?" Mu Yin looked as if she were confused. "You were the one who said technology was a magical thing that could create a virtual world. You mentioned code, data, and all that. After I joined the sect, I became interested in artifact refinement and grew fascinated by the concept of the network you described. I spent years researching it until I finally succeeded. Isn't it exactly like what you described? I really am a genius." Mu Yin grew increasingly excited, practically putting her hands on her hips in triumph.

"What? You researched this based on what I said back then?" Shui Yueran looked incredulous. She couldn't believe a native could actually create something she herself didn't understand.

"Actually, some of the concepts exist in the cultivation world already; you just have to change your perspective to bring them to fruition. Besides this, I’m planning to research weapons. Things like the 'guns' you mentioned, or cars and airplanes—the cultivation world has better versions of most, but guns seem to be missing." Mu Yin nodded and began spouting technical knowledge regarding artifact refinement. It sounded similar to technology, but Shui Yueran couldn't comprehend a word of it.

Whether it was runes or formations, she was completely lost. In the cultivation world, her experience with arrays and talismans was limited to drawing simple charms and setting basic traps; she had no understanding of the underlying principles that Mu Yin had deeply studied.

Shui Yueran had come to pick a fight, but she ended up dazed and confused by Mu Yin’s professional jargon. By the end, she was doubting herself—was it possible that she had been the one to provide the inspiration, and Mu Yin had simply built upon it?

"Oh, by the way, my first invention was a puppet. I used some of the functions of the 'robots' you mentioned, and it turned out much more capable than standard puppets." Mu Yin brought up her first invention. *Right*, she had forgotten to bring those to market. Now that they could be connected to the network, she just needed to modify the chips.

She began explaining how to upgrade the puppets to be more intelligent and efficient at completing tasks. Shui Yueran felt a headache coming on and, seeing that Mu Yin was completely immersed in the ocean of science, quickly made her excuses and left.

Once she was gone, Mu Yin stopped talking. In truth, modifying the puppets was simple—all she had to do was replace their original chips and control boards with those used in her optical computers. She had just been playing along to deal with the female lead.

Now that the female lead was sufficiently hoodwinked, Mu Yin turned her attention to a lingering concern: the changes in the world's plot. Normally, a plot was a layer forcefully imposed upon the laws of the universe; if one altered it, the layer should be torn away. So why was the plot of this world being modified without the "plot layer" being destroyed?

Mu Yin always felt something was being overlooked. Suddenly, she thought of the man standing by the female lead’s side. That man gave her a feeling of intense revulsion. She didn't sense any specific aura from him, but his presence triggered a soul-deep disgust—the same feeling she had toward those "vermin."

Narrowing her eyes, Mu Yin realized those vermin must have gained the ability to mask their aura, but they couldn't fool her. Due to the unique nature of her abilities, her aversion to them had been etched into her very soul as an instinct.

It seemed she could no longer rely on their unique aura to detect them. Fortunately, she still had this instinct. Clearly, they were the ones changing the plot, or perhaps they were the ones who had made the plot affect the real world in the first place.

That was why they had the power to alter the story. The only reason she had discovered the tampering was that this world's Heavenly Dao was relatively strong; when she reached the Golden Core stage and connected with the Dao, she sensed the distortion. Otherwise, had she assumed the plot was finished and gone about her own business, she might have failed.

She had also gained another piece of information: the original male lead—or rather, the original Child of Destiny—was still in this world. Mu Yin didn't know what his task was, but as a Child of Destiny, he undoubtedly had a mission.

Currently, he was being hunted by the male lead. If a Child of Destiny were killed, cracks would appear in the world's protective barrier, making it easy for those vermin to exploit the opening and seize the power of the origin, or even the origin core itself.

When such individuals appear, the laws of the Heavenly Dao protect them for a time by granting them a sliver of law power to help them fulfill their mission. If they are killed, that power is stolen. The invading vermin could then use that sliver of law power to intrude upon the laws of the Heavenly Dao and wreak havoc.

The world’s Heavenly Dao had revealed this to her. The reasons she had known before were merely surface-level, intended to prevent Children of Destiny from being harmed by their guardians—after all, the temptation of law power was great. As for the "stand-in" missions, they were actually a way for the Heavenly Dao to use the identity of outsiders to temporarily plug those loopholes, as they represented the laws of other worlds and could substitute for that sliver of law power.

Furthermore, those vermin could not use the law power directly because they didn't belong to this world. They had to support a "supporting female lead" to seize control, using her to disrupt the laws of the Heavenly Dao. Because the Heavenly Dao favored the male lead, female lead, and supporting characters during the era of a Child of Destiny, if a supporting character acted recklessly, it was easy to stir up the laws, allowing the vermin to infiltrate.

Mu Yin had previously found it strange how those "counter-attacking" supporting characters managed to succeed, but after receiving the explanation from the Heavenly Dao, she understood.

In this world, before the plot was imposed, the vermin had already begun moving against the original male lead. Later, once the plot was introduced, they changed their strategy to support the female lead in completing it. When they found the plot didn't match the background, they simply modified the plot to make it fit.