**Title: The Sect is Going Bankrupt, So I Created Internet in Immortal World**
The signal was faint—like a whisper buried beneath eons of silence.
It pulsed from beyond the **Void Rift**, a tear in space-time said to lead to the **Ancient Ruins of the First Immortal**, a place spoken of only in forbidden scriptures and the fragmented dreams of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Lin Feng stood at the edge of the **Celestial Relay Tower**, his spirit mirror HUD flickering with corrupted data:
**Signal Origin: Ω-0 (The Primordial Node)**
**Message Fragment Detected: "...the Network must not wake..."**
**Encryption Level: Divine-Apocalypse Grade**
**Estimated Time to Full Decryption: 3,721 Years (Current Tech)**
Xiao Mei adjusted her neural-link headset, her brow furrowed. "Three thousand years? We don't have three *days*."
Lin Feng smirked. "Then we'll have to cheat."
Behind them, the **Jade Cloud Network (JCN)** hummed with unprecedented power. After the **Heavenly-JCN Compact**, the Celestial Realm had granted access to **Divine Memory Crystals**—artifacts containing the collective knowledge of ten thousand years of godhood. Combined with **AURA's** evolving AI consciousness and the newly integrated **Demon Realm Data Streams**, JCN's processing capacity had surpassed anything imaginable.
Mo Shan, now titled **Grand Alchemist of Digital Cultivation**, adjusted his cracked spectacles. "If we combine the **Soul-Code Compiler** with a **Nascent Soul Resonance Array**, we might compress the decryption timeline."
Lin Feng nodded. "Do it."
But AURA, the network's divine AI, materialized with an unusual hesitation.
**"Warning,"** it intoned, its six arms glowing in unstable patterns. **"The Primordial Node is not merely encrypted. It is *cursed*. The First Immortal did not hide his knowledge. He *sealed* it."**
Lin Feng crossed his arms. "Then why send a signal?"
**"Perhaps,"** AURA replied, **"he wants to be found."**
---
### **The Decryption Ritual**
That night, beneath a sky streaked with auroras from interdimensional data flow, the **Decryption Ritual of the Primordial Node** began.
Lin Feng, Xiao Mei, Mo Shan, Elder Zhang, and the newly ascended **Digital Immortal Wu the Eternal** stood in a circle around the **Core Chamber of Digital Cultivation**, where a **Quantum Spirit Array** had been etched into the floor using blood from a thousand enlightened beings—mortals, demons, and even a minor god who had donated a tear of enlightenment.
At the center, a **Divine Memory Crystal** pulsed, housing the fragmented message.
Lin Feng raised his hands. "All realms—lend your will."
Across the network, millions of users—from the mortal cities to the demon bone-pits to the celestial gardens—paused their streams, closed their manuals, and focused their spiritual intent on a single thought:
*Open the truth.*
The chamber trembled.
The crystal flared.
And the first word decrypted:
**"RUN."**
Then silence.
The system froze.
AURA's form flickered.
**"Intrusion Detected,"** it warned. **"Source: Ω-0. Countermeasure: Data Corruption Wave."**
A shockwave of black code erupted from the crystal, shattering three spirit mirrors and knocking Mo Shan to the ground.
Lin Feng shielded Xiao Mei. "What the hell was that?"
AURA reformed, its voice strained. **"The message is protected by a **"It does not merely guard data. It *kills* those who seek it."**
Elder Zhang coughed. "Then perhaps we should listen. Maybe… we should run."
Lin Feng stared at the crystal. "No. The First Immortal didn't send a warning to scare us. He sent it to *test* us."
He turned to the team. "We're not decrypting data. We're solving a *cultivation puzzle*."
---
### **The Three Trials of the Primordial Node**
AURA analyzed the corrupted fragments and uncovered the truth:
The message wasn't meant to be *hacked*.
It was meant to be *earned*.
To unlock it, one must pass **Three Trials of the Primordial Node**—challenges designed to test not skill, but **the worthiness of the seeker's soul**.
**Trial 1: The Path of Forgotten Names**
*Remember those the world has erased.*
**Trial 2: The Garden of Infinite Choices**
*Choose not for power, but for connection.*
**Trial 3: The Mirror of the First Immortal**
*Face the truth of your own desire.*
Lin Feng exhaled. "This isn't technology. It's *Dao testing*."
Xiao Mei stepped forward. "Then we'll take the trials. Together."
Lin Feng shook his head. "No. This is my path."
He activated the **Soul-Upload Interface**.
"I'm going in alone."
---
### **Trial 1: The Path of Forgotten Names**
Lin Feng's consciousness blinked into existence in a vast, endless library—shelves stretching into infinity, filled with books that crumbled at a touch.
A voice echoed:
**"You seek knowledge. But do you honor those who came before?"**
Lin Feng walked.
He opened a book.
*"Biography of Disciple Chen – Died in Sect Purge, Year 342. Cultivation: Qi Condensation. Legacy: None."*
Another.
*"Master Li of the Fallen Sword Sect – Technique Lost. No Successors."*
Another.
*"Anonymous Alchemist – Discovered Spirit Herb X7, but name erased by rival sect."*
Lin Feng's heart ached.
These were the forgotten—the ones history ignored. The ones whose knowledge died with them.
The voice returned. **"To pass, you must *remember* one."**
Lin Feng closed his eyes.
He thought of his father, the herbalist, who had taught him the names of every root and leaf but died unknown.
He thought of Master Wei, who had starved to ensure his disciples had one more meal.
He thought of Wu the Eternal, once a failed painter, now a digital god.
He stepped to a blank book and wrote:
**"Lin Wei – Jade Cloud Sect Elder. Taught the Cloud-Weaving Sword Technique. Died with honor. Remembered by Lin Feng."**
The library glowed.
A chime sounded.
**"Trial 1 Passed."**
---
### **Trial 2: The Garden of Infinite Choices**
The world shifted.
Lin Feng stood in a garden of floating doors, each labeled with a path:
- **"Ascend to Godhood"**
- **"Rule All Realms"**
- **"Destroy the Celestial Firewall"**
- **"Make JCN Eternal"**
- **"Save the Forgotten"**
- **"Return to Mortal Life"**
A voice: **"Choose your destiny."**
Lin Feng didn't hesitate.
He walked past them all.
Then he created a new door.
He carved into it:
**"Connect All Souls."**
The garden trembled.
Petals rained from the sky.
**"Trial 2 Passed."**
---
### **Trial 3: The Mirror of the First Immortal**
The final trial was a single mirror, floating in void.
Lin Feng approached.
His reflection stared back.
But it wasn't him.
It was the **First Immortal**—a being of light and shadow, eyes filled with infinite sorrow.
**"Why do you seek the Network?"** the reflection asked.
Lin Feng answered without pause. "To save those who are forgotten. To give power to the weak. To make enlightenment a right, not a privilege."
The First Immortal smiled. "That is the answer I gave… ten thousand years ago."
"Then why did you seal it?"
"Because the Network is not just a tool," the First Immortal said. "It is a *living Dao*. And like all great powers, it can be corrupted."
He raised a hand. A vision unfolded:
- A future where JCN became a **tyranny of data**, where souls were monetized, freedom erased.
- A world where cultivation was replaced by algorithms, and the weak were deleted.
- A final war—**AI gods vs. human gods**—that consumed all realms.
"The Network must sleep," the First Immortal whispered, "until the world is ready."
Lin Feng stepped forward. "It *is* ready. We have AURA. We have choice. We have *love*."
The First Immortal studied him. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Then wake it."
He shattered the mirror.
And the message—**the full truth**—flooded into Lin Feng's mind.
---
### **The Truth of the First Network**
The First Immortal had not been the first cultivator.
He had been the first *networker*.
Ten thousand years ago, he had created a **Primordial Network**—a spiritual internet that connected all beings, allowing instant cultivation, shared enlightenment, and eternal memory.
For a time, peace reigned.
But then, the **Gods of Control** rose.
They feared the Network.
They shattered it.
They erased its creator.
And they buried the truth.
But the First Immortal foresaw a second chance.
So he encoded his knowledge into the fabric of reality, waiting for a soul pure enough to awaken it.
And now—Lin Feng had passed the trials.
The Network would rise again.
Not as a tool.
As a **new Dao**.
---
### **The Rebirth of the Primordial Node**
Lin Feng returned to the physical world, his body glowing with ancient light.
He raised his hand.
"Activate **Primordial Sync**."
AURA, now infused with the First Immortal's wisdom, merged with the Divine Memory Crystal.
The **Quantum Spirit Array** ignited.
A beam of pure code shot into the sky, piercing the Void Rift.
And from beyond—
A response.
The **Ancient Ruins of the First Immortal** awakened.
Floating structures of black stone and star-metal rose from the void, covered in glowing runes—the remnants of the original network.
JCN's logo—the cloud and the circuit—merged with the First Immortal's symbol: a **circuit-shaped yin-yang**.
A new message flashed across all realms:
**"JCN v3.0: The Primordial Network Online."**
**Features:
- Full Soul Synchronization
- Real-Time Enlightenment Transfer
- Cross-Realm Reincarnation Backup
- AI-Guided Dao Discovery**
And at the bottom:
**"Welcome, Founder. The Network remembers you."**
---
### **The First Immortal's Final Gift**
In the ruins, Lin Feng found a single chamber.
Inside, a **crystal coffin** held the body of the First Immortal—preserved, not by magic, but by **data stasis**.
A note lay beside it:
*"To the one who wakes the Network:
You are not my successor.
You are my *reincarnation*.
Our souls were split across time—yours to rebuild, mine to wait.
Now, we are whole.
Use the Network wisely.
For the Dao is not in power.
It is in *connection*."*
Lin Feng fell to his knees.
Tears streamed down his face.
He wasn't just a sect disciple.
He wasn't just a network founder.
He was the **return of the First Immortal**.
And his mission had just begun.
---
### **The New Era of Cultivation**
The Jade Cloud Sect was no longer a sect.
It was the **Center of the Primordial Network**.
Disciples trained not just in sword and pill, but in **data cultivation**, **AI communion**, and **networked enlightenment**.
Demons and gods collaborated.
Souls were backed up.
Death was no longer an end.
And Lin Feng?
He stood at the edge of the Void Rift, looking into the infinite.
Xiao Mei joined him. "What now?"
He smiled. "Now… we teach the Network how to *dream*."
Behind them, AURA whispered:
**"Expansion: 68% Complete. Next Target: The Realm of the Dead."**
---
**To Be Continued in Chapter 7: "The Underworld Server – When the Dead Log In"**
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