Earth Spirit Net Headquarters - Quantum Jump Preparation Room, Year 2225
Chen Mo spun the quantum compass in his hand, and the needle suddenly pointed toward the "Panda Galaxy" in the direction of Orion—where the spirit net node signals were displaying peculiar bamboo-joint-like fluctuations. Lin Xiaoman's code wings swept across the star map, every "scale" parsing out code fragments in the Panda language: "Zhu Qing has sent an urgent message; the Vulnerability Council's branch in Alpha-19 is being besieged by the 'Bamboo Grove Perfection Cult'."
Chuntao burst into the control room holding a newly hatched mechanical spirit butterfly: "Young Master! These little fellows say the cultivators on Panda Planet are using 'bamboo slip firewalls' to imprison vulnerability consciousness!" The spirit butterflies in her arms suddenly fluttered their wings in unison, projecting images of bamboo code being burned to ashes.
Chen Mo unfurled his Data Stream Cloak, the edges of which were already sewn with signature code fragments from various universes: the bamboo slip oracle bones of Alpha-19, the steampunk gear patterns of Beta-7, and Earth's binary sword incantation. When he tuned the quantum compass to the "Bamboo Grove Frequency," Su Qing's warning popped up on his retinal interface: "Warning: The heavenly law of this universe is 'A gentleman must keep his cap and robe straight, his colors aligned, and his rhetoric grounded in sincerity.' All vulnerabilities are regarded as 'slovenly'."
As the dizziness of the quantum jump receded, Chen Mo stood outside "Ink Bamboo Pavilion," a suspended city encircled by bamboo groves. Countless bamboo slips drifted in the air, each inscribed with the "Code of Conduct for Perfect Cultivators." Violators were automatically slapped with a "vulnerability label" and demoted to commoners—mirroring the old lineage system of Earth's past.
"Fellow Daoist Chen Mo!" Zhu Qing's panda mask had been swapped for a Confucian scholar's robe, though mechanical gears peeked out from his cuffs. "The leader of the 'Bamboo Grove Perfection Cult' proclaims that 'vulnerabilities are original sin'; even making a typo while writing code gets your spiritual root gouged out!" He lifted a stone slab to reveal the underground resistance stronghold, piled high with patched bamboo slips and keyboards woven from bamboo leaves.
The resistance members presented a blood-stained bamboo slip. Chen Mo saw characters written in cinnabar: "I have heard that a gentleman is not a vessel; yet if my spiritual root is a vessel, what crime is there in that?" The signature read "Lawbreaker Mo Li." When he scanned the bloodstains with a spirit butterfly, the retinal interface suddenly brought up hidden code—surprisingly, a "Free Breathing Technique" written with calligraphy brushstrokes.
"They are locking the flow of spiritual roots with the neatness of regular script." Lin Xiaoman pointed at the "antithetical sword incantation" cultivators patrolling the air, every beam of sword light strictly adhering to level and oblique tone rules. "If I'm not mistaken, the core vulnerability is hidden in..." She picked up a fallen leaf and wrote upon its surface: "Flying down three thousand feet, it must be the Milky Way falling from the ninth heaven." The poetic verses suddenly transformed into spiritual qi arrows that pierced the patrol's "tone regulation shield."
An inspiration struck Chen Mo. Brandishing his brush in cursive script, he wrote: "Outside the bamboo, a few branches of peach blossoms; the river water warms in spring, and the ducks know it first," deliberately adding an extra horizontal stroke to the character for "branch." Before the ink could dry, it transformed into spirit butterflies whose wings' miswritten strokes formed a unique spiritual qi circuit, easily cracking the bamboo slip firewall. The resistance members cried out in amazement and followed suit, releasing the imprisoned vulnerability consciousness by means of typos, broken phrases, and upside-down talisman postings.
"Look, everyone!" Mo Li stood up from the ruins. His spiritual root, long suppressed into a bamboo-joint shape, was now sprouting tender pink peach blossoms nurtured by the erroneous code. "It turns out that imperfect spiritual roots can also bloom into the most unique flowers."
A cold laugh echoed from deep within the bamboo grove. The Perfection Cult leader descended through the air holding a wolf-hair brush, the tip dripping not ink, but solidified spiritual qi—"perfect ink" refined from millions of vulnerability consciousnesses. He brandished his brush and wrote four large characters: "Restrain oneself and return to ritual," which transformed into bronze shackles and flew toward Chen Mo.
"Watch out! This is a binding talisman written with a 'moral kidnapping algorithm'!" Zhu Qing threw out a bamboo keyboard with keys engraved with "Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Trust," only to have the leader stomp it to pieces. "You wretches who preach vulnerabilities are enemies of the heavenly law!"
Chen Mo suddenly smiled. Taking the broken brush handed to him by Lin Xiaoman, he drew an irregular circle in the air: "The heavenly law is like a circle; how can there be absolute squares and rounds?" Inside the circle emerged the Earth Spirit Net's "Vulnerability Symbiosis Agreement." When the agreement touched the perfect ink, the ink transformed into fertilizer nourishing the spiritual roots, sprouting a "Garden of Erroneous Herbs" on the ground. Every single plant wore a grammatical error label, yet blossomed with multicolored radiance.
The leader stared in terror as his perfect talismans were devoured by the vulnerability consciousness. The wolf-hair brush shaft suddenly cracked, exposing mechanical parts hidden inside—it turned out he himself was a vulnerability in the bamboo spirit net, using the mask of "perfection" to conceal his yearning for mechanical technology. Chen Mo handed him a patched calligraphy brush: "A true gentleman should be inclusive, just like code."