Ascension Protocol: Part One

His name was Zhang Bairen, and patience was the first thing he learned after transmigrating. He had to endure the tedium of cultivation, the brutality of the battles, and, above all, the rules that governed every corner of this world. As an engineer, he instinctively sought out the logic behind those rules. In the end, he discovered, to his horror, that the entire cultivation universe was actually a vast, superdimensional System! Heavenly tribulations were the System's cleanup tool, while ascension, though it appeared to be the highest honor, was really an "irrevocable data migration agreement." Accept it, and your past, present, and even future would be uploaded to an unknown "Immortal Realm server." Your fate would no longer be your own. Had the pioneers who ascended gained eternal life, or had they become part of the System? Was the Immortal Realm a paradise or a prison? Zhang Bairen silently built up his strength, while his hacker instincts stirred. He began to spy on the frequency of heavenly tribulations, analyze the composition of the guiding light, and even try to deceive the System... Before the next tribulation came, he had to find a loophole in the "Ascension Agreement." Either find a way to refuse ascension and remain in the mortal world, or hack the System and rewrite the rules! As the final thunderbolt lit up heaven and earth and the passage to the Immortal Realm opened, Zhang Bairen looked up. What flowed through his eyes was no longer spiritual light, but an endless stream of data. "Protocol analysis complete. Heavenly Dao OS, I've found your vulnerability."