Chapter 71: Starfire Barrier, Defining New Life

The retreat was completely sealed off by the writhing darkness, a living "information barrier" formed from countless Data Ruins mayflies, exuding an "emptiness" aura that freezes the mind. Behind them, the hum from the vertical deep well had turned into a tangible roar; the massive, chaotic will of the Data Ruins mayfly mother body rose like a surging tsunami, bearing an instinctive hunger to turn all things into "information dust", and surged forward!

Dead end! A true, utterly inescapable dead end!

"Form formation! Pure Fire Guard!" Hui Jin's beard and hair bristled, his roar carrying unprecedented resolve. He and five Pure Fire Cultists instantly stood back‑to‑back, forming a circle; their staves struck the ground, and pure white flames erupted with unprecedented intensity, no longer a gentle halo but a solid wall of flame, shielding Chen Mo and Su Yu at the center! Where the flame's edge met the surging darkness, a dense, teeth‑aching "sizzle" sounded—that was the fierce clash on the lowest‑level rules between the Fire of Definition and Data Ruins assimilation!

However, the mayflies were too numerous, and the mother body's will was too massive. The Pure Fire barrier was eroded and compressed by the darkness at a visible speed; the white flame flickered uncertainly in the darkness, like a candle in a gale. One cultist let out a wail, his staff shattered, the Pure Fire instantly extinguished, his body swallowed by darkness, dense white patterns appearing under his skin, and in the blink of an eye he became a humanoid, bewildered, flickering light point, which then shattered into the most basic information flow, assimilated and absorbed by the darkness!

"Can't hold on much longer!" another cultist, blood spilling from his mouth corner, shouted hoarsely.

Su Yu's True Knowledge Vision was nearly disabled under the pressure of the mother body's massive will; she looked pale, could only clutch Chen Mo's hand tightly, transmitting all her remaining spiritual power to him without reservation.

Chen Mo stood at the center of the Pure Fire Guard, eyes closed, deaf to the hostile environment outside. All his consciousness was immersed in the massive data he had just received from the Qingrang Ecological Station's database, especially the — Definition Firewall Basic Architecture Diagram (Incomplete)!

This is not a blueprint, but a "construction formula" on the rule level! It is the highest wisdom crystallization of the Luo Ya civilization's resistance to rule erosion! It is not a physical wall, but a logical barrier based on "existence definition", targeting specific "rule intrusion".

What is the essence of Data Ruins mayflies? It is a rule phenomenon that assimilates ordered information into chaotic "information dust"!

What is the mother body's core? It is a conglomerate and amplifier of the Data Ruins "assimilation" rules!

To counter them, you cannot clash with brute force, as that would only be devoured by their "assimilation" trait. You must use a higher‑level "Definition" to overlay their "Definition"!

"Hui Jin!" Chen Mo snapped his eyes open, his pupils no longer filled with data streams but with a vortex of chaos and order intertwined like the universe at its birth! "The essence of Pure Fire is 'Definition Order'! Do not resist its assimilation; guide it! Use your fire to build the foundation of 'Definition' for me!"

Hui Jin instantly enlightened! He abandoned passive defense, redirecting all Pure Fire power away from scorching the darkness, and like the most deft brush, under Chen Mo's Rule Perception guidance, he sketched countless intricate ancient white runes in the void around everyone. These runes were no longer flame‑shaped, but pure manifestations of "order" rules!

At the same time, Chen Mo pushed the Primordial Core's power to the limit; his consciousness resonated with the order runes drawn by Hui Jin, and poured the structural knowledge of the Definition Firewall from the Qingrang database into them as if infusing a soul!

"Using this body as a guide, this heart as a proof!" Chen Mo's voice seemed ancient, echoing the weight of rules; he pressed his hands as if lifting an invisible weight.

"Definition: This region—information structure constant! Existence attribute locked! Data Ruins rules… repelled!"

Boom—!!!

It is no longer an energy burst, but a "coverage" and "declaration" on the rule level!

Centered on Chen Mo and the Pure Fire runes, an invisible, formless "wall" that seemed composed of countless fine golden meshes instantly expanded! This wall does not block matter, but acts directly on the rule level!

The surging darkness (the Data Ruins mayfly swarm) slammed into this Definition Firewall, producing no thunderclap, no flash, only the strangest "melting". Those mayflies that attempted to assimilate everything had their core "assimilation" rule forcibly "defined" as invalid the moment they touched the golden mesh. They were like moths hitting a flame—not burned, but their very "meaning" denied, instantly collapsing from ordered mayfly form back into the most primitive, harmless, scattered basic information flow, unable to coalesce any longer!

Where the firewall reached, the darkness faded like a smudge erased by an eraser, disappearing quickly! The passage reappeared, still wrecked, but the despairing "emptiness" feeling was gone!

And the massive chaotic will of the mother body, rising from the deep well, let out a sharp, glass‑shattering scream when it touched the golden mesh! Its intangible impact was completely blocked by the firewall, unable to cross the thunder‑gate even a step! The firewall specifically "defined" its "Data Ruins assimilation" attribute as illegal, stripping it of its greatest weapon!

"Did… did it succeed?!" a surviving Pure Fire cultist muttered incredulously, looking at the dissipating darkness and the solid golden mesh.

Hui Jin also exhaled a sigh of relief, but his face remained grim; maintaining the Pure Fire runes as the firewall's foundation consumed an enormous amount of energy.

However, the mother body did not give up. The hum from the deep well grew more ferocious; the massive will no longer tried to strike directly, but began to wildly twist the surrounding rules! The passage's metal walls started to writhe and dissolve like liquid, debris on the floor floated, reassembled into various twisted, malicious shapes, and even space itself began to develop folds and fractures!

It attempted to bypass the firewall by twisting the rules of the environment itself, to indirectly affect the people inside!

"It wants to tear down the entire Ecological Station!" Su Yu shouted, her True Knowledge Vision seeing the collapse on the rule level.

Chen Mo's gaze hardened. The firewall can block direct rule intrusion, but cannot stop the opponent from destroying the firewall's physical foundation!

"We mustn't let it succeed!" Chen Mo gritted his teeth, merging his consciousness deeply with the firewall. He was no longer merely a passive defense, but began to actively "define" the rules within the firewall's coverage!

"Definition: This area—material structure stable! Spatial coordinates anchored!"

The writhing wall instantly solidified, the suspended debris clattered down, the twisted spatial folds were forcibly smoothed! He alone fought the mother body for control of this space's rules!

It was a silent yet extremely perilous tug‑of‑war! Chen Mo's spiritual power poured out like a floodgate opened, the beating of the Primordial Core in his chest becoming rapid and heavy. Hui Jin and the cultists struggled to maintain the Pure Fire foundation, blood constantly spilling from their mouths. Su Yu, disregarding her own consumption, focused her True Knowledge Vision on the core of the mother body's will, seeking the patterns and weak points of its rule distortion, to provide Chen Mo…

"Three o'clock to the left‑front! Rule‑distortion field node! It's trying to tear space!"

"Below! It's decomposing the foundation's 'load' definition!"

Under Su Yu's precise targeting, Chen Mo's rule definitions acted like the most precise scalpel, repeatedly dismantling the mother body's assaults. He felt as if he were riding a raging beast, any misstep would have him ripped apart.

Finally, after a confrontation that felt like a century, the mother body's roar from the deep well acquired a hint of… fatigue and… confusion? It could not comprehend why this tiny "existence" could so stubbornly define a piece of "order land" it could not assimilate.

Its assault gradually eased, and finally, the massive will, with a reluctant scream, slowly sank into the endless dark deep well, and the surrounding rule distortions fully subsided.

The crisis was temporarily lifted.

The golden‑mesh "Definition Firewall" slowly faded, the Pure Fire runes also dissipated into the air. Hui Jin and the cultists were nearly collapsed, Chen Mo staggered, but Su Yu held him tightly, preventing him from falling. His complexion was as pale as paper, his sea of consciousness empty, yet his eyes shone astonishingly.

They did it! They not only blocked the Data Ruins mayfly mother body, but also, through practice, began to grasp the method of constructing a "Definition Firewall"! This is a key step in countering Data Ruins, and even the Data Ruins power that the "Ark" might wield!

Chen Mo looked at the now‑calm deep well, then glanced at the eternally frozen elder on the console, his heart filled with respect and responsibility.

He gently pushed Su Yu aside, struggled to stand upright, and said to Hui Jin and Su Yu:

"We should go. Take the knowledge and hope back."

"The battle here is over, but the war outside has just begun."

He cast one last glance at the ruins of the Qingrang Ecological Station, his gaze steadfast.

"The Fire of Definition has been ignited, Starfire will blaze across the plains."