Chapter 49 – The Vault of Erased Truths
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A Path Beyond Time
The air shimmered as Luo Fan, Shen Mu, and EchoStar stepped onto the spiraling pathway. Reality twisted around them—the corridor wasn't a physical place but a shifting expanse of fragmented data, looping echoes, and broken memories.
With each step, the ground beneath them reassembled itself, flickering between solid stone, ancient circuitry, and pure void.
> "So, fun question," EchoStar chimed, "are we walking through an actual vault, or is this just a really elaborate metaphor for 'hacking into forbidden code'?"
Luo Fan exhaled, eyes narrowing. "It's both. The Architects don't just delete things—they bury them in a space that exists outside conventional time."
Shen Mu glanced at him. "And we're heading straight for it. Fantastic."
The further they walked, the heavier the pressure became. Luo Fan could feel it pressing against his soul—an awareness, distant but vast.
Something was watching them.
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The Guardian of Forgotten Codes
After what felt like hours—or mere seconds—the path finally ended.
Before them stood an enormous gate, covered in countless shifting runes. Each symbol flickered between languages, some Luo Fan recognized, others so alien they made his head throb just looking at them.
And standing before it—a figure wrapped in flowing white robes, its face obscured by a golden mask.
Luo Fan tensed. "Another Keeper?"
The masked figure raised a hand, and the air hummed.
"You who walk the path of the erased… turn back."
The voice wasn't hostile. It was tired.
> "Okay, but counterpoint," EchoStar cut in, "we don't turn back, and you just let us through?"
The Guardian didn't react. "None may enter the Vault. To do so is to defy the last law of the multiverse."
Shen Mu stepped forward. "And what if we already broke those laws?"
The Guardian finally turned its gaze toward Luo Fan. Even though its face was hidden, he could feel something staring through him.
"You are the anomaly. The one who should not be."
Luo Fan clenched his fists. "If I wasn't supposed to exist, I wouldn't be here."
The Guardian paused. Then, slowly, it raised its hand.
The runes on the gate flared, shifting like living things.
"Then prove you are worthy of the knowledge within."
> "Oh fantastic, a boss fight. I was worried this trip was getting too easy."
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System vs. System
The world shifted as the Guardian moved.
In an instant, the pathway behind them vanished.
They were now standing in a vast, empty expanse of glowing code—a battlefield where the laws of reality bent and rewrote themselves at will.
[Combat Mode Engaged.]
[Opponent: Vault Guardian – Keeper of Erased Truths]
Luo Fan's body tensed as unfamiliar command prompts materialized before him.
The Guardian didn't fight like a cultivator. It fought like a System.
Lines of glowing text wrapped around its body, forming weapons made of pure data—each one shifting between swords, spears, and intricate algorithmic constructs.
And then—it attacked.
A blade of raw code slashed toward Luo Fan. He barely dodged, feeling reality itself distort where the strike landed.
> "Okay, new rule—don't let that thing touch you."
Luo Fan gritted his teeth. "Noted."
Shen Mu leaped into the fight, his blade meeting the Guardian's attack head-on. Sparks of corrupted energy crackled between them.
But something was wrong—Shen Mu's sword phased right through the Guardian's body.
"It's not physical," Shen Mu growled. "My attacks don't work."
Luo Fan's mind raced. "Of course. It's a construct of the System—it doesn't follow the same rules we do."
> "Then it's a good thing you've got me."
EchoStar flashed, its shattered interface flickering as it accessed something deep within its corrupted database.
> [Partial System Override Attempted…]
[Warning: EchoStar Functions Severely Limited]
> "Okay, okay, bad news—I can't fully hack this thing. But! Good news—I can mess with the rules just enough to even the playing field."
Luo Fan smirked. "Then do it."
> "Ohhh, I love when you let me cause problems."
EchoStar glowed, and suddenly—the battlefield changed.
The Guardian staggered, its form flickering.
Luo Fan felt it—the subtle shift in the multiverse's code.
For the first time, the Guardian was bound by the same limitations as them.
And that meant it could be beaten.
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Breaking the Lock
Luo Fan moved, activating the last remnants of his Devouring Echo. Though his cultivation was crippled, he could still tap into the lingering fragments of the Devourer's power.
His hand flickered, a swirling black energy forming as he countered the Guardian's attack—no longer just dodging, but devouring the foreign data it was made from.
The Guardian faltered.
"Impossible."
Luo Fan didn't let it recover. "Shen Mu—now!"
With the system's rules now altered, Shen Mu's blade struck true.
A single, clean cut.
The Guardian froze.
Cracks spread across its body, golden energy leaking from the fractures.
"…So you would walk the path of the erased."
The Guardian's voice was distant. Almost resigned.
Then, it shattered.
The battlefield collapsed.
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The Vault Opens
Luo Fan gasped as reality snapped back into place.
The gate before them rumbled. The ancient runes shifted, no longer resisting.
Slowly, the doors swung open.
Beyond them—a vast chamber filled with spiraling data, countless fragments of lost knowledge, and remnants of a past multiverse that had been forgotten.
Luo Fan exhaled. "We made it."
> "We sure did! And let's just hope we didn't trigger any more cosmic alarms while we were at it."
Shen Mu sheathed his blade. "No turning back now."
Luo Fan stepped forward.
Beyond these doors lay the truths that the Architects wanted erased.
And he was going to find them.
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[Chapter End.]