380: A mark of shame, a fight to the death.

Lin Fan's fingertip gently traced the cold Shackle of the Soul mark on Li Hanyue's forehead.

On her smooth skin, a dark golden mark, like a miniature shackle, was so dazzling.

Shackle of the Soul.

A bone-chilling cold, accompanied by a rule of absolute 'subordination,' emanated from his fingertip, making him feel as if he had been electrocuted. He quickly retracted his hand.

He had saved her life.

Yet, he had allowed her to bear the mark of a slave.

The anger that had just subsided, mixed with endless pity and guilt for Li Hanyue, once again condensed into a volcano on the verge of eruption in his chest.

He held the unconscious woman in his arms and slowly raised his head.

His crimson eyes coldly stared at the description of the new skill on the System panel.

[Karma Tampering (V1.0): Passive. When you suffer a fatal attack, you can consume all existence value to logically graft a portion of the 'Karma' of this attack.]

Grafting Karma... a thought wildly grew in Lin Fan's mind.

Since this mark was the 'effect' planted by that Elder.

Could he tamper with the 'cause' of this 'effect,' moving it from Li Hanyue to something else? A stone, a speck of dust, or... He stretched out his hand, and a phantom existence value, under his control, carefully tried to envelop the dark golden mark, attempting to peel it off Li Hanyue's Divine Soul.

However, his power had just touched the edge of the mark.

Buzz!

The shackle mark suddenly erupted with brilliant dark golden light, and a rule power far more Advanced and overbearing than Lin Fan's forcefully rebounded.

Lin Fan grunted, feeling as if his Divine Soul had been struck hard by a ten-thousand-pound hammer, and his entire body uncontrollably staggered backward a step.

Li Hanyue in his arms also let out a painful whimper due to the impact.

[Warning: High-dimensional Karma mark [Shackle of the Soul] detected.]

[Warning: This mark is deeply bound to the target's Soul Origin. Any conventional stripping method will cause the target's Soul Origin to collapse synchronously.]

[Judgment: Host authority insufficient, unable to erase.]

A series of warnings from the System poured down like a basin of ice water.

Unable to erase.

These four words brought a sense of humiliation and powerlessness a thousand, ten thousand times more intense than the previous 'cannot revive'.

"Lin Fan..."

Zhao Linger and Fatty Zhang carefully gathered around. They also saw the ominous mark on Li Hanyue's forehead.

Just then.

An anomaly suddenly occurred!

The dark golden light of the [Shackle of the Soul] on Li Hanyue's forehead not only did not dim but became even more brilliant, emitting an evil fluctuation.

"Hmm..."

The unconscious Li Hanyue's delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed, her body began to tremble uncontrollably, and an expression of extreme pain appeared on her pale face.

It was as if an invisible hand was fiercely clenching deep within her Soul.

Lin Fan's heart also tightened.

"What's wrong with her?!"

The next second, a familiar, terrifying will capable of freezing the Soul descended once again.

But this time, it did not envelop the entire hall; instead, it transformed into a precise, malicious 'gaze,' firmly locked onto Lin Fan and Li Hanyue in his arms.

That Elder's will had returned.

"Ant, do you think you won?"

A cold and enraged thought directly exploded in Lin Fan's Sea of Consciousness.

"You took back her life, so I will grant her eternal servitude."

As this thought fell, the mark on Li Hanyue's forehead shone even brighter, her body suddenly arched, and the intense pain made her emit a suppressed wail from her unconscious state.

Faint, almost invisible black cracks appeared on her smooth skin, only to be instantly repaired by her own life force.

Destruction and Rebirth formed an incredibly cruel cycle on this fragile body.

Each cycle brought her endless pain.

"Stop!"

Lin Fan's eyes were completely red as he roared at the Void Realm.

"Every time you see her, you will remember that she is my dog."

The Elder's will, with cruel satisfaction, continued to torment Lin Fan's nerves.

"Every time she suffers from this mark, that pain stems from your foolish provocation."

"Do you like this gift?"

The temperature inside the Command Hall suddenly dropped to freezing.

Fatty Zhang and the others were pressed to the ground by this terrifying will, finding it difficult to even breathe, only able to watch everything in horror.

Lin Fan held the trembling Li Hanyue, but his body stood ramrod straight.

He no longer let out impotent roars.

He just lowered his head, looking at the painful face of the woman in his arms.

That face, always as cold as frost, was now filled with struggle, and cold sweat soaked her temples.

His heart felt as if it were being repeatedly cut by a rusty, blunt knife, slash by slash.

Regret.

Rage.

Killing intent.

All emotions, at this moment, completely faded, settled, and finally transformed into an absolute will colder and more deathly silent than the Chaos Void.

He slowly raised his head.

There was no superfluous emotion on his clear face.

Only a pure madness that sought to drag the entire Universe into an eternal winter.

His gaze pierced through the dome of the Command Hall and fiercely collided with that will from beyond infinite dimensions.

"Enjoy this gift, logic virus."

The Elder's will seemed extremely satisfied with Lin Fan's current reaction; it was the pleasure of a powerful being toying with a weaker one, appreciating their despair and anger.

"Soon, I will personally descend to thoroughly 'purify' this filthy era that has been contaminated by you 'anomalies'."

"And she..."

The Elder's will paused slightly, and the pain inflicted on Li Hanyue suddenly increased tenfold.

"Ah!"

Li Hanyue could no longer suppress it, letting out a desperate cry of pain, her body convulsing violently.

"Will be the first to turn to dust before me, as a witness to your sins."

The cold pronouncement echoed in Lin Fan's Sea of Consciousness.

Lin Fan held the woman in his arms, who was almost curled into a ball, and gently wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with his sleeve.

His movements were so gentle, forming an incredibly strange contrast with the monstrous killing intent emanating from him at this moment.

Then, he spoke.

No hysteria.

No frantic shouting.

His voice was terrifyingly calm, every word like a piece of ice salvaged from the Nine Nether, smashing against the long river of rules.

"I, Lin Fan, hereby swear."

"In this life, if I do not kill you, I will end myself between heaven and earth."

He spoke each word distinctly, carving his Dao Heart Blood Oath into that lofty will.

"Until death do us part."

That will belonging to the Elder visibly paused for a moment.

It seemed to be amused by the presumptuous madness of this ant.

A moment later, the terrifying will slowly receded, leaving only a contemptuous final announcement, like a god speaking to an insect.

"I'll be waiting."

The will disappeared.

But the pain inflicted on Li Hanyue did not diminish in the slightest.

The [Shackle of the Soul], like a programmed curse, still flickered with cruel and regular dark golden light on her forehead.

The woman in his arms continued to sink into endless pain.

Lin Fan looked down at her.

On that deathly still face, for the first time, a drop of hot liquid, not belonging to Li Hanyue, streamed down.

It was his blood.

Blood oozing from the corner of his eye, which had cracked again due to the extreme condensation of his will.