C23: A Glitch in the System

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The conquest of Divine Sun City should have been a straightforward consolidation. With the two late-stage Divine Ascension experts defeated outside the walls and their forces surrendered, Lin Xiao moved his main force into the inner city to claim the central palace district.

But as he stood on the steps of the grand sun temple, preparing to plunder the city’s core formation array, the System suddenly froze.

【Warning: Divine Energy Overload Detected. Eternal Grind System experiencing critical glitch—】

The blue interface flickered violently. Notifications distorted. Lin Xiao felt a sharp pain stab through his mind as if something fundamental had been severed for a split second. Divine Chaos Lightning around his body stuttered and weakened.

At that exact moment, a hidden formation deep beneath the temple activated. A towering figure emerged from a burst of blinding golden light — Supreme Elder Sun Zhuo, the true hidden guardian of the Divine Sun Empire. He was at the peak of Divine Ascension, half a step into Divine Sovereign Realm, and had been in secluded cultivation for centuries. His aura dwarfed everything Lin Xiao had faced so far.

Sun Zhuo’s eyes burned with pure divine fury. “You dare invade my Empire and slaughter my descendants while I slumbered? Your System cheat ends here, outsider.”

The elder didn’t wait. He raised one hand and unleashed True Sun God Dominion — a perfect domain that merged absolute solar purification with overwhelming gravitational pressure. The sky turned into a sea of golden flames that suppressed all other laws. Lin Xiao’s Divine Chaos Lightning flickered and dimmed under the crushing weight.

The System glitch worsened at the worst possible time. Plunder function became unstable. Divine Sovereign Step lagged by a fraction of a second. Lin Xiao barely dodged the first wave of flames and took a direct hit across his left shoulder. Divine fire burned deep into muscle and bone, far more painful than anything he had endured before.

He grunted and countered with a full-powered Chaos Emperor strike. The red, black, and golden lightning dragon roared forward, but Sun Zhuo simply waved his sleeve. The dragon shattered against an invisible solar barrier. The backlash sent Lin Xiao skidding backward across the temple steps, carving deep trenches in the divine stone.

His seven women immediately moved to support him. Princess Yan Zi unleashed phoenix flames, Xuan Yue summoned eclipse darkness, and the others combined their laws. But Sun Zhuo’s domain suppressed them heavily. Murong Xue was blasted back with severe burns. Fairy Luo Qing’s starlight attacks were purified into nothing.

“Stay back!” Lin Xiao ordered, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. The System glitch made coordination harder — shared harem synergy lagged.

Sun Zhuo descended slowly, his voice echoing with divine authority. “Your rapid rise was impressive, but you lack true foundation. A glitch in your borrowed power? How fitting. Today I will erase you and refine your women into eternal sun lamps.”

The elder attacked with relentless pressure. Every move carried centuries of perfected solar laws. Lin Xiao was forced into a desperate defense. He took multiple heavy hits — a palm strike that cracked several ribs, a beam of purifying light that scorched his meridians, and a gravitational pull that nearly crushed his body.

For the first time since his awakening, Lin Xiao was truly pushed to the brink. The System continued glitching, delaying plunder attempts and weakening his domain. Pain flared through his body with every clash. Blood flowed freely from wounds that refused to heal quickly.

He adapted through raw combat instinct and God-tier comprehension. Instead of relying on the unstable System, he focused on the sunfire laws he had already stolen earlier. He began mirroring Sun Zhuo’s techniques, turning the elder’s own power against him in small increments.

The prolonged battle devastated the central palace district. Golden flames and chaotic lightning turned the area into a ruined wasteland. Lin Xiao’s women fought fiercely on the periphery, buying him precious seconds whenever they could.

After nearly five hundred grueling moves, Lin Xiao found a narrow opening. He sacrificed a large portion of his blood essence, ignoring the System warnings flashing in his vision, and unleashed everything he had.

Chaos Emperor Scripture — Desperate Form: Sovereign Annihilation Dragon!

A massive tri-colored lightning dragon, imperfect due to the glitch but fueled by pure willpower, slammed into Sun Zhuo. The elder’s barrier cracked. Lin Xiao pushed through the flames, enduring soul-burning pain, and drove his hand into the elder’s chest.

The System finally stabilized just enough.

【Divine Plunder forcibly activated — Partial Success.】

He stole a significant portion of Sun Zhuo’s solar laws and cultivation essence before the elder broke free with a final desperate explosion.

Sun Zhuo retreated, heavily injured and shocked. “Impossible… even with a glitch you—”

Lin Xiao didn’t let him finish. He pressed the attack with renewed ferocity. The women joined at the critical moment, their combined synergy breaking through the weakened domain. Together they overwhelmed the elder.

In the end, Lin Xiao delivered the finishing blow. He fully plundered Sun Zhuo, absorbing the peak Divine Ascension cultivation and ancient solar techniques.

【Major Breakthrough Achieved. Late Divine Ascension Stage. System Glitch Resolved — Temporary Divine Energy Backlash applied (cultivation speed reduced 30% for 30 days).】

Lin Xiao collapsed to one knee, breathing raggedly. Severe burns, cracked bones, and soul strain covered his body. The glitch’s backlash hit hard, but victory was theirs.

His seven women rushed to his side, supporting him as they began emergency dual cultivation to stabilize his condition. The Divine Sun Empire’s last major resistance had fallen.

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