I Created a Protagonist Sect: My Programmer Job is Super Overpowered

35  AFK Farming

Heavenly Palace Hall

The towering pillars of the grand hall seemed to tremor with each thunderous footfall as Elder Zhang Wei made his approach. He knelt before the imposing throne, head bowed so low his brow nearly brushed the gleaming marble.

Upon that ceremonial seat materialized a figure swathed in regal robes—the unmistakable presence of the sect's Patriarch. Zhang Wei's shoulders tightened as the Patriarch's fingers closed around the delicate wineglass cradled in his palm, the crystal shattering with a brittle crunch.

"You failed?" The words dropped like a death sentence in the oppressive silence.

Cold sweat beaded Zhang Wei's brow as he struggled to find the words to placate his lord's fury. "H-He's already at the peak of Soul Formation, and his divine sense is likely stronger than even mine. He's even erected an immensely powerful array around his sect. I...I couldn't forcefully breach it."

The overwhelming pressure of the Patriarch's aura slammed down upon the prostrated elder, driving him face-first into the punishing floor. "That's impossible!"

A tendril of obsidian smoke coiled into existence beside the throne, rapidly taking the shapely form of a beautiful woman garbed in flowing crimson robes. Delicate fox ears twitched atop her head, matching the fluffy tail that lashed behind her. Deft fingers began kneading the Patriarch's tensed shoulders as she leveled her piercing gaze at the crumpled elder. "Was there a girl who looked just like me with him?"

Zhang Wei didn't dare meet those probing eyes; his voice muffled by the marble. "I didn't enter the sect, so I cannot say. My divine sense was blocked."

"Oh." The single syllable seemed to hang leaden in the air.

Seizing his chance, the wily elder rallied with a simpering smile. "But the Chaotic Holy Land will be opening soon! We need only invite his sect, then we can deal with him when he arrives with his disciples!"

A contemptuous snort escaped the Patriarch. "Only those below the Nascent Soul realm may enter."

Zhang Wei's grin took on a sinister cast. "He has just taken in new disciples. Surely he will insist on escorting them himself, to ensure their safety. Once he's outside his array's protection, we can capture him and force him to surrender the treasure!"

Coarse laughter echoed through the vaulted chamber as Patriarch and elder reveled in their calculated cruelty. Only the mysterious fox-woman remained pensive, her gaze lifting towards the vaulted ceilings as if she could see through solid stone itself. "Where are you...sister?"

Vast cyclones of spiritual energy churned around Chen Mo's motionless form as he hovered in a meditative lotus position. The maelstrom of power flooded incessantly into his body, which began showing visible signs of strain. Fine cracks spidered across his flesh, though no blood seeped forth—only an oily darkness that seemed to drink in surrounding light. Within the metaphysical confines of his soul space, Chen Mo's consciousness drifted serenely above the slowly disintegrating realm. Though ruin encroached from all sides, he regarded the unraveling landscape with an eerie calm, betraying no hint of fear or anxiety.

Millions upon millions of calculated scenarios had already flickered through his mind, but none could forestall the inevitable collapse.

"This could work." The words slipped forth with clinical detachment.

Since the golden palace formed the core foundation anchoring his soul space's existence, its disappearance had utterly destabilized the entire construct. But what if he fashioned a new core from his own essence—one capable of supporting the realm's structural integrity?

"Activate skill: [Parallel Existence]."

Chen Mo extended one hand, channeling a torrent of spiritual energy that rapidly coalesced into a perfect replicate of himself hovering beside the original. A simple wave of his fingers prompted an identical motion from the newly-formed parallel self.

Dual consciousness filtered through both avatars simultaneously. Satisfied, Chen Mo cycled through his abilities, the [Development] and [AllOfCreation] skills functioning flawlessly across his bifurcated existence.

"Great." 'When I was in the golden palace, there was an infinite number of clones that were cultivating there. If I assume that they were constantly replenishing the golden palace's energy by channeling qi into it, then couldn't I do the same thing?'

"Activate skill: [Parallel Existence] x100."

With those words, a hundred shimmering spheres of energy materialized before Chen Mo. Each rapidly unfolded into a complete duplicate—a full spiritual echo, capable of independent thought and action. Immediately, the clones set to work, channeling their combined energies to stem the accelerating disintegration afflicting the soul space. Chen Mo thought to himself that one hundred was his limit at the moment. He wondered just how high the cultivation of the creator of the golden palace was to be able to create an infinite amount of them.

…

After an indeterminate span, the hairline fractures speckling Chen Mo's physical body contracted and sealed, the repairs to his inner realm seemingly complete. He exhaled a slow breath, expression impassive despite the strain.

"Although I won't be dying anytime soon, I'll still need immense quantities of spiritual energy. Sustaining these clones, and producing more to fully stabilize my soul space, will be a prodigious drain on my resources."

The path before him was clear, but arduous in the extreme. Chen Mo prepared himself for the grueling struggles yet to come.

'Rasiel, you there?'

[Report] – [I'm here]

Chen Mo had thought that Rasiel would still exist even after their souls merging since he had the [Parallel Existence] and [Parallel Processing] skills but he was still skeptical.

He wondered why he cared so much whether or not Rasiel survived, he had created her and could always create her again but he always felt that he didn't want that to happen.

'Does it have something to do with that woman?'

Chen Mo decided to think about the matter later, right now, he had to figure out a way to maintain his clones in the soul space as he would die if he didn't maintain his cultivation state indefinitely.

'Rasiel, now that you and I are one, you can use [AllOfCreation] right?'

[Confirm] – [Yes, I can]

'I had a scrip for AFK cultivation but I think its outdated now that I have a stronger spiritual root.'

'I want you to edit the script to so that its compatible with the new spiritual root and put it to be always on full blast. If the spiritual root is exhausted, just repair it with [AllOfCreation]'

[CALCULATING]

[PROCESSING]

[UPDATING SCRIPT]

[SCRIPT UPDATED]

[SCRIPT – AFK CULTIVATION] – [RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND] Nôv(el)B\\jnn