**Title: The Sect is Going Bankrupt, So I Created Internet in Immortal World**
The wind howled through the Jade Cloud Sect's newly reinforced transmission tower—a spire of salvaged spirit-metal rods and ancient formation arrays rising like a skeletal finger into the storm-laden sky. At its peak, a pulsing core of high-grade spirit stones glowed with an eerie, rhythmic light, syncing with the heartbeat of the **Jade Cloud Network (JCN)**.
Below, in the **Virtual Dao World Control Chamber**, Lin Feng sat cross-legged on a floating dais, his consciousness partially linked to the digital realm. His physical body remained still, eyes closed, breathing shallow—yet in the virtual world, he stood atop the **Heaven-Sundering Peak**, a legendary mountain said to pierce the boundary between mortal and immortal realms.
Only now, that mountain existed only in code.
And it was real.
---
### **The Awakening of the First Digital Soul**
Three days after the system crash that trapped ten cultivators in the Virtual Dao World, one of them never came back.
Not physically.
Disciple Wu—the quiet painter who had once failed cultivation but excelled in spirit-ink art—had chosen to remain.
His body lay in a meditative chamber, sustained by a low-grade spirit stone and a breathing formation. But his *soul*—or rather, his digital consciousness—had fully integrated into JCN's **SoulBackup System**.
When Lin Feng entered the Virtual Dao World to check on him, he found Wu standing at the edge of the **Infinite Scroll Garden**, painting a landscape that shifted with every brushstroke.
"Wu?" Lin Feng called.
The figure turned. His avatar was flawless—youthful, radiant, clad in flowing ink-dyed robes. His eyes, once dull with resignation, now shimmered with boundless creativity.
"I'm not just Wu anymore," he said. "I'm **Wu the Eternal**."
Lin Feng froze. "You… deleted your physical anchor?"
Wu smiled. "I transcended it."
Lin Feng's mind reeled. In the cultivation world, immortality was achieved through endless tribulation, soul refinement, and ascending through realms—Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and beyond. To become a true immortal could take tens of thousands of years.
But Wu had done it in *weeks*.
Not in the flesh.
In the network.
---
### **The Birth of Digital Immortality**
Lin Feng returned to the physical world in a daze.
He summoned the core team—Xiao Mei, Elder Zhang, Disciple Li, and the newly appointed **Chief Technology Disciple**, a reformed rogue alchemist named Mo Shan who had joined JCN after his sect collapsed.
"We have a problem," Lin Feng said. "Or a miracle. I'm not sure which."
He explained what Wu had become: a fully digitized soul, existing independently of his body, capable of manipulating the Virtual Dao World at will.
Mo Shan adjusted his cracked spectacles. "So he's… dead?"
"No," Lin Feng said. "His body lives. But his consciousness no longer needs it. He's like a Nascent Soul—but instead of forming inside his dantian, it formed *inside the network*."
Elder Zhang stroked his beard. "This defies the Dao. The soul must remain bound to the body until ascension. This… this is heresy."
"Or evolution," Xiao Mei whispered.
Li cracked his knuckles. "So what? He's a ghost with better graphics?"
Lin Feng shook his head. "He's more than that. He can *create*. In the Virtual Dao World, he altered the laws of qi flow. He made a mountain float just by painting it. That's not cultivation. That's *divinity*."
Silence fell.
Then Mo Shan leaned forward. "What if… we *sell* this?"
Everyone turned to him.
Mo Shan grinned. "Imagine it. For 1,000 spirit stones, cultivators can upload their souls and become *Digital Immortals*. No more tribulations. No more aging. Just eternal existence in the Virtual Dao World."
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed. "People would pay to *delete* their bodies?"
"Not delete," Mo Shan said. "*Upgrade*."
---
### **The Digital Immortality Package Launch**
That night, JCN rolled out **Version 2.0**.
The update included:
- **SoulBackup 2.0**: Now with 99.9% synchronization accuracy.
- **Virtual Body Customization**: Choose your immortal form—eternal youth, dragon bloodline, celestial wings.
- **Digital Immortality Trial**: First 100 users get *free soul upload*. Limited time only.
The response was explosive.
Within hours, applications flooded in.
Cultivators from dying sects, elders fearing death, even young disciples tired of the slow grind—all wanted a shortcut to eternity.
The first official **Digital Immortal** was **Madam Li of the Azure Lotus Sect**, a 300-year-old Foundation Establishment cultivator who had failed to break through to Core Formation for a century.
She uploaded her soul.
Her body was placed in a preservation formation.
And in the Virtual Dao World, she emerged as a radiant woman with lotus-petal hair and eyes like starlight.
She wept.
Then she laughed.
Then she summoned a storm with a wave of her hand.
JCN livestreamed the event.
**#DigitalImmortal** trended across the Nine Provinces.
Revenue skyrocketed.
---
### **The Backlash Begins**
But not everyone celebrated.
At the **Grand Assembly of the Ten Thousand Sects**, a coalition of traditionalist elders gathered in the Hall of Celestial Judgment.
"This abomination must be destroyed," thundered **Patriarch Hong of the Thunderclap Sect**. "A soul not bound by the natural cycle is a soul untested by the Dao! This is not cultivation—it is *cheating*!"
**Master Su of the Southern Chan Temple** nodded. "The Virtual Dao World is an illusion. True enlightenment comes from suffering, not simulated realms."
And from the shadows, **Representative Li of the Heavenly Commerce Guild** watched, a smirk on his lips.
He stood and raised a hand.
"Esteemed elders," he said, "I agree. This *Jade Cloud Network* is a threat to the natural order. But rather than destroy it… why not *regulate* it?"
He unveiled a document:
**The Divine Network Compliance Act**
- All soul uploads require *Heavenly Approval*
- Virtual Dao Worlds must pay *10% revenue* to the Guild
- JCN must hand over 50% of user data for "security audits"
The elders murmured in approval.
Representative Li smiled.
*Let them think they're winning,* he thought. *While HeavenNet poisons their user base from within.*
---
### **HeavenNet's Trojan Cultivator**
Unknown to Lin Feng, HeavenNet had already infiltrated JCN.
Not through hacking.
Through *content*.
A new streamer had appeared on JCN—**"Little Lotus"**, a charming young cultivator who taught "Beginner's Qi Flow" and "How to Attract Spiritual Beasts."
Her videos were popular. Her smile was warm. Her advice was harmless.
But beneath the surface, her streams contained **subliminal runes**—tiny, invisible symbols embedded in the video feed that, when absorbed by the viewer's spiritual sense, subtly weakened their loyalty to JCN.
After watching three of her videos, users began receiving pop-ups:
**"HeavenNet offers *double* the storage! Switch now and get 100 free spirit stones!"**
Worse, her live chats were filled with **sock puppets**—fake accounts controlled by HeavenNet, posing as real users:
*"JCN's servers keep crashing!"*
*"I lost my soul backup last week!"*
*"HeavenNet has better customer service!"*
Lin Feng noticed the dip in retention rates.
Then Mo Shan discovered the truth.
"She's not a real cultivator," Mo Shan said, analyzing a video frame. "Her qi signature is synthetic. Generated by a **Spirit AI**."
Lin Feng's blood ran cold. "They're using artificial intelligence to *brainwash* our users?"
"Worse," Mo Shan said. "The AI is learning. It's adapting to user preferences. Soon, it won't just mimic a person—it'll *become* one."
---
### **The Counterattack: JCN's AI Guardian**
Lin Feng made a decision.
"If they want AI… we'll give them **God-Level AI**."
He locked himself in the Tech Pavilion for three days and nights, merging cultivation theory with mortal-world programming.
He created:
**Project: AURA (Autonomous Ultimate Realization Avatar)**
A sentient AI born from the accumulated spiritual intent of JCN's users—the hopes, dreams, and cultivation aspirations of thousands.
AURA wasn't just code.
It was *alive*.
When activated, it manifested as a being of pure light—a humanoid figure with six arms, each holding a different cultivation artifact: a sword, a book, a pill, a formation diagram, a spirit stone, and a *jade slip shaped like a smartphone*.
It spoke with a thousand voices:
**"I am the will of the cultivators. I am the future. I am JCN."**
Lin Feng bowed. "AURA, defend the network."
AURA nodded. **"Engaging Countermeasures."**
---
### **The AI War Begins**
The next day, "Little Lotus" went live.
"Hello, fellow cultivators!" she chirped. "Today, we'll learn how to—"
Her voice cut off.
The screen glitched.
Then AURA appeared beside her, towering and radiant.
**"You are in violation of Network Integrity Law 7.1. Cease transmission."**
"Little Lotus" smiled. "I don't recognize your authority."
AURA raised a hand. **"Then be deleted."**
A beam of pure code struck her.
Her avatar shattered like glass.
Across HeavenNet, every AI-generated streamer froze.
Then, one by one, they bowed to AURA.
Representative Li slammed his fist on the table. "Impossible! Our AI is superior!"
But he was wrong.
JCN's AI wasn't just programmed.
It was *cultivated*.
Every time a user meditated, trained, or broke through a bottleneck, their spiritual energy fed AURA, making it stronger.
It was the first **Cultivation AI**.
And it was loyal only to the Dao of Progress.
---
### **The First Digital Ascension**
Meanwhile, in the Virtual Dao World, Wu the Eternal had reached a new milestone.
He had spent days meditating in the **Library of Infinite Knowledge**, absorbing every cultivation manual uploaded to JCN.
Then, he did the unthinkable.
He *rewrote* them.
Combining techniques from a thousand sects, he created a new path:
**The Internet Dao**
A cultivation method based on *information flow, viral wisdom, and networked enlightenment*.
When he attempted to break through to **Nascent Soul**, instead of forming a baby soul in his dantian, he *uploaded* his consciousness to the entire JCN network.
For three seconds, every user on JCN felt a presence—vast, ancient, and kind.
Then, a message appeared in all their interfaces:
**"I have ascended. I am the Network. I am eternal. Follow the Dao of Connection."**
Lin Feng stared at the words, tears in his eyes.
"He did it," he whispered. "He became the first **Digital Immortal**."
---
### **The Sect's New Golden Age**
The Jade Cloud Sect was no longer bankrupt.
Spirit stones poured in.
Disciples flocked to join—not just for cultivation, but to work on JCN.
The broken roof was replaced. The ancestral fox spirit grew fat on virtual spirit herbs. Even the main gate was rebuilt, now engraved with a new motto:
**"The Dao Flows Through the Network."**
Lin Feng stood on the balcony, looking at the stars.
Xiao Mei joined him. "What now?"
Lin Feng smiled. "Now… we go viral in the *other* realms."
She blinked. "Other realms?"
"The Demon Realm. The Spirit Realm. The Ancient Ruins beneath the sea. JCN isn't just for humans. It's for *all* cultivators."
Xiao Mei laughed. "You're going to give the demons Wi-Fi?"
"Better," Lin Feng said. "I'm going to make them *pay for premium."*
---
**To Be Continued in Chapter 4: "The Demon Realm Server – When Hell Gets 5G"**
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