153: Chapter 153 The life lamp burned out, but the hammer still stood.

As the Scavenger leader’s soul-locking chain slashed through the air, a buzzing system notification suddenly rang in Chen Fan’s ears.

The sound was like a mechanical voice slowed down tenfold, every syllable carrying a crackling electric current: [Chain Throw · Impact in 1.3 seconds].

He could even “see” the barbs on the tip of the chain—each barb was engraved with twisted soul script, seeping out a pale green corrosive fluid, a poison specifically targeting spirits.

“Dodge?” A low chuckle escaped Chen Fan’s throat, sweat dripping from his chin onto Su Shuang’s head.

Her body temperature was recovering, and the fox clan totem on the back of her neck shimmered faintly, like a maple leaf soaked in moonlight.

He recalled the slight tug when the life lamp was ignited—so light, yet stronger than any soul-locking chain.

The silver-armored Scavenger had no expression beneath his mask, but Chen Fan “tasted” it.

It was the cold hardness unique to system creations, like crushing a piece of frozen metal, yet deep within, there was a trace of almost imperceptible trembling.

Fear?

As the thought surfaced, the handle of the hammer of the thunder god suddenly grew hot, burning his palm red.

Without a second thought, he inverted the hammer and fiercely jammed the tip into the shadow he had cast on the ground.

“Ding—Environment Perception Critical Hit × 220% triggered.”

This time, the system notification was no longer a mechanical sound but a roar integrated into all his senses.

Chen Fan’s fingertips touched the chain’s vibration frequency, like feeling a taut lyre string; the Scavenger leader’s breathing exploded in his ears, every exhale carrying the ‘reclamation’ incantation; he even tasted rust on his tongue—the blood of the chain’s creator, blood fused into the metal during forging.

“It’s here.” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his spirit body drilled down the hammer handle into the shadow.

The ground cracked in a spiderweb pattern, and a dark purple vein light flow surged from the fissures, wrapping around the middle section of the chain.

Chen Fan wrenched his body around and swept the hammer handle out.

“Clang—!”

The sound of metal colliding painfully vibrated their eardrums.

The chain shattered into pieces three inches from Chen Fan’s throat, the splashing silver light cutting his cheek, but it didn't even touch Su Shuang’s hair.

Spiderweb cracks appeared on the Scavenger leader’s mask; clearly, he hadn't expected the attack to be dismantled so cleanly.

“The rest of you, come at once.” Chen Fan wiped the blood from his face, his voice carrying a wild edge.

He could feel the life lamp burning, like a fire stuffed into the crown of his head, scorching his five senses until they began to dissipate—his left ear suddenly went deaf, and when his right hand touched Su Shuang’s back, he felt only numbness.

But at the moment of near collapse, the critical hit system exploded in his sea of consciousness: [Sensory Resonance Ultimate Paradox Activated—Five Senses Impaired, Spirit Body Omniscient].

Darkness receded before his eyes.

The current Chen Fan could “see” the outlines of the Scavengers’ spirit bodies, like eight balls of ghostly blue Fox Fire wrapped in silver armor; he could “hear” the sound of their joints turning, the trajectory of every blade slash manifesting within their spirits, clearer than seeing with his eyes; he could even “smell” the machine oil seeping from the gaps in their armor, mixed with the burnt odor unique to system energy.

“Good timing.” He grinned, swinging the hammer of the thunder god in a semicircle.

The instant eight blade slashes descended simultaneously, the hammer edge precisely struck the joint between the elbow of the leftmost Scavenger—the thinnest part of the silver armor, the red weak point manifested in the spirit body.

“Chain Critical Hit × 7!”

Amidst the roar, the breastplate of the leading Scavenger leader burst open.

Chen Fan’s pupils contracted—beneath the armor was not flesh and blood, but countless residual lightning veins, each shimmering with a blue flame similar to his life lamp.

Was that... the spirit bodies of players swallowed by the system?

“Chen Fan!”

Su Shuang’s voice was like a fine needle, piercing his anger.

Chen Fan looked down, meeting a pair of eyes shimmering with Fox Fire.

Her nine tails ignited without wind, the ghostly blue flames flowing through their clasped fingers into his heart, and the light of the life lamp suddenly surged three inches higher.

“My blood... can sustain your fire...” Su Shuang’s tail tip brushed his earlobe, carrying the warmth unique to demonic power, “But don’t die... I beg you.”

Chen Fan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he suddenly burst out laughing.

He could feel a strand of soft warmth in his life lamp, like hot soup scented with jasmine floating in the Frost Moon Teahouse. “This old man’s hammer hasn't struck the heart of the Shadow Pavilion yet, how could I dare die?” He lifted Su Shuang up slightly, gripped the hammer of the thunder god with his other hand, and his spirit body surged into the hammer like a tide.

“Skill Critical Hit × Infinite?”

The trailing sound of the system notification was drowned out by the roar.

Chen Fan smashed the hammer fiercely toward the core pillar of the reclamation station.

The blue-purple spirit torrent, wrapped in Fox Fire, was like a red-hot knife plunged into rotten flesh.

The soul script on the core pillar’s surface flashed wildly, finally cracking with a “ka” sound in a spiderweb pattern, and the entire pillar collapsed with a bang.

The Soul Lamp Star River above began to collapse, countless points of light falling like meteors, striking the silver-armored Scavengers and exploding into blinding white light.

“Little Ying... Mother didn't choose wrong this time...”

Mysterious Lady’s whisper drifted over mixed with blood foam.

Chen Fan turned his head and saw her kneeling at the exit, the light of her Star Fire Lamp completely extinguished.

Her hand pressed against the earth vein, blood talismans seeping into the rock, every line glowing with resolute red.

“Go!” She looked up sharply, her eyes possessing a brightness Chen Fan had never seen before, “The passage support beam is about to blow!”

Amidst the roar, the rock above the exit began to peel away.

Chen Fan sprinted away carrying Su Shuang on his back, able to hear the crisp sound of fragments striking the Scavengers' silver armor behind him.

Black Crow’s vibration suddenly exploded near his ear, the three short, one long frequency striking his bones like a knock: [Chain Severed, Shadow Pavilion East Wing Exposed].

The moment he took the last step out of the passage, Chen Fan felt a heat on the back of his neck—a piece of debris grazed past his scalp, smashing a scorched black pit into the wall.

He stumbled and knelt on the ground, Su Shuang’s weight pressing painfully on his shoulders, but the person in his arms was gently patting his back, as if coaxing a child.

“Can you still walk?” Su Shuang’s voice, wrapped in the warmth of Fox Fire, brushed past his earlobe.

Chen Fan pushed off the ground to rise but suddenly paused.

The hammer of the thunder god was standing by his feet, its handle deeply embedded in the dirt, the head slightly raised, as if guarding the front for him.

In the night mist, the outline of the Shadow Pavilion’s East Wing slowly emerged, brightly lit, resembling the open mouth of a giant beast.

He looked down at the person in his arms; Su Shuang’s fox tail was lightly brushing his hand.

The light of the life lamp, though weak, was still flickering, like a star refusing to be extinguished.

Chen Fan grinned, sweat mixing with blood droplets dripping onto the ground: “As long as the hammer is standing, this old man can walk.”

In the distance, the lights of the Shadow Pavilion suddenly flickered twice, as if a certain response.