140: Chapter 140 Fist Hears Thunder, I'll Hit Two People with One Hammer

The moment Lei Ya spread his arms, the bloody premonition before Chen Fan's eyes suddenly exploded.

[Left 45°, Leap]

He could not hear the screech of the thunder chains tearing through the air, but he could see those purple bolts drawing scorching white trajectories in his vision.

His deaf world was like being covered with frosted glass, but the system's prompts were clearer than any sound—he gritted his teeth until his molars nearly shattered. The muscles in his right leg tightened like iron ropes on the stone platform. The surging power of the Heart Returning Blast erupted from his Yongquan acupoint, and his entire body shot out diagonally like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

At that same moment, the critical hit system in his chest gave a violent shudder.

A translucent fist shadow peeled away from his sternum. The instant the spiritual body took form, it stirred up a gust of wind that whipped his messy bangs wildly.

That was his other 'self,' identical in outline to his main body, even the old calluses worn from hauling bricks on his knuckles were clearly visible. Only his eyes glowed with starlight-like faint light—this was the first time he had truly used his spiritual body to fight.

"Go behind him," Chen Fan roared internally.

The spiritual body seemed to read his thoughts, transforming into a phantom and circling toward Lei Ya's back.

His main body deliberately twisted his posture in mid-air, pretending he was going to meet the thunder chains head-on—this was a tactic he devised on the spot: use himself as bait to let the spiritual body catch the opponent off guard.

Lei Ya's pupils contracted for the first time.

This human, whom he regarded as an ant, could actually execute tactical coordination in a silent world?

The giant net woven by the nine interlocking thunder chains shifted slightly, grazing Chen Fan's left shoulder before blasting toward the rock wall below.

The deafening roar was just a blurry image of light and shadow in Chen Fan's deaf world, but the flying shards of rock struck his back painfully—he knew the move had worked.

"Chen Fan!"

Sound? No, it was vibration.

The moment he landed, Chen Fan knelt on one knee, pressing his palm heavily onto the cracked rock.

The tremor coming from outside the valley drilled in through the earth veins, jumping like a string of code within his palm lines.

He squinted—it was Black Crow!

That guy was using a stone slab to knock out a frequency only they understood.

The system's premonition popped up in time: "Lei Ya... sound source is... left chest thunder core... destroy it and the form disperses!"

"Flash Skin!" Chen Fan suddenly turned his head.

The man covered in electric light was staggering toward him, the last piece of electrified skin crackling in his palm.

Flash Skin's skin had already faded to ashen white, but he still gritted his teeth and lunged over, pressing that piece of skin onto Chen Fan's back: "Light up... one last time..."

The instant the current surged into his spine, Chen Fan's world suddenly lit up as bright as day.

He saw, within Lei Ya's massive body, a pulsing purple lightning in the left chest area, like a heart wrapped in lightning—that was the thunder core!

"Be careful!"

The soul with the broken horn had appeared beside him at some unknown time.

This man with thunder horns on his head was now filled with sorrow: "I also wanted to save people back then... but this hammer demands a price! You lost your hearing, next will be your sight, then your heart! It will gnaw away your senses bit by bit until you become the system's puppet!"

Chen Fan tightened his grip on the hammer of the thunder god.

The coolness from the hammer crawled up his arm and into his heart, but he laughed instead.

He remembered himself squatting in a corner eating cold steamed buns when his wages were withheld at the construction site; he remembered himself trembling in the toilet the first time the system selected him for a dungeon, yet gritting his teeth and saying, "I can do it"; he remembered the temperature of the blue flame pulsing in his palm when Su Shuang fell into his embrace—the system couldn't take these things away.

"My heart hasn't belonged to the system for a long time," he whispered to the soul with the broken horn, then tossed the hammer of the thunder god into the air.

The translucent spiritual body steadily caught the hammer. As it turned, it stirred up a gust of wind that made even the hem of Lei Ya's robe flutter loudly.

Chen Fan took a deep breath.

He could feel the thunder chains locking onto him again. Purple electricity crackled on the surface of his skin, like countless fine needles piercing his flesh.

He didn't dodge; instead, he opened his arms to meet the attack—this was his second coordination with the spiritual body: the main body attracts all attacks while the spiritual body takes the opportunity to strike directly at the thunder core!

Three purple bolts struck down simultaneously.

Chen Fan's skin instantly turned scorched black, and his hair was burned into curls, but his eyes shone frighteningly bright.

He stared at the spiritual body's position, watching the phantom abruptly stop beside Lei Ya, turn, and swing the hammer—

[Skill Critical Hit × 6.2]

The moment the system prompt exploded before his eyes, Lei Ya's body began to disintegrate.

Purple lightning burst out from his body like shattered stars. His massive frame turned into countless streaks of electric light, but before completely dissipating, his lips moved.

Chen Fan stared at the silent mouth shape and 'read' it word by word: "...Anything you can't protect... will disappear..."

The world fell silent again.

Chen Fan knelt on the ground, leaning on the hammer of the thunder god, with blood vessels slowly seeping out from beneath his scorched skin.

The system prompt floated before his eyes: [Spiritual Body Critical Hit Formed, can sustain combat for 15 seconds, cooldown 3 minutes; Price: Random sensory deprivation, current status—Hearing Loss]

He looked up at Su Shuang on the stone platform.

Her eyelashes were trembling lightly, and her pale fingertips were tracing a symbol on the stone surface—that was the symbol Silent-Faced Child had carved on the wall of the Teahouse back then: "Kindling = Container."

Chen Fan's pupils constricted. Before he could think further, the critical hit system suddenly vibrated violently: [High-Dimensional Resonance Detected, Spiritual Body can momentarily perceive residual soul fluctuations]

He closed his eyes.

The translucent spiritual body separated from his body, hovering in front of him.

This time, the spiritual body's 'ears' seemed to hear something—it was an extremely faint call, like a feather landing on the tip of his heart: "...Fan..."

Chen Fan suddenly opened his eyes.

The spiritual body slowly floated back into his chest, gently pulsating like a heartbeat.

He looked down at the hammer of the thunder god in his palm, then at Su Shuang, who was gradually waking up on the stone platform.

The wind from the abyss swept past his ears carrying thunder residue. He couldn't hear it, but he could feel it—something was regrowing inside his body.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, resting the hammer of the thunder god across his knees.

The critical hit spiritual body hovered before his chest, each pulse carrying a faint blue halo, as if echoing the pulsing blue flame kindling on the distant stone platform.