162: Chapter 162 Smashing Reincarnation with a Hammer: Smashing the Monument, Not Fate

Guixu’s raised stone hand paused mid-air.

On the cliff face of the rift valley, the Silent Speaker suddenly let out a muffled roar.

His tongue, pierced by the Star Iron nail, writhed in the blood foam. The crisp sound of the stone shackles breaking mingled with the clattering sound of dislocated bones as his entire body slammed towards the empty stele beside him—the instant his forehead struck the stele's surface, blood splattered onto the inscription 'Seventh Fire, Not Extinguished,' coating the characters with a red border.

"...Let...him...go..."

The whisper was as thin as a wisp of smoke, yet it violently shook Guixu’s Stardust Eye.

This was the first time the Tombstone Guardian had spoken in nine thousand years.

Web-like cracks split his stone nape. The gaze he fixed on the Silent Speaker surged with shock and sorrow—he had personally used Star Iron to pierce that man's tongue back then, precisely to keep the truth eternally silent. Now, that blood-stained tongue tip was prying open nine millennia of shackles.

A light 'crack' suddenly sounded from the corner.

An Zhun’s kneeling figure swayed slightly. The unlit torch in his hand trembled on its own.

Dust from the extinguished wick showered down, revealing the dark blue patterns within, as if stirred by an unseen wind, even though there was no wind in the rift valley.

Su Shuang in Chen Fan's arms suddenly tightened her fingertips, her nails nearly digging into his palm.

He lowered his head and met her eyes, which were glistening with moisture.

Her lips moved almost imperceptibly, her breath carrying her warmth into his ear: "...Fire...burning against the current...can break...the chains..."

Burning against the current?

Chen Fan’s pupils constricted sharply.

The torrent of memories from the previous six Critical Hitters was still surging in his mind—the scenes where they tried to fight the seal with light were suddenly connected: they were counteracted by the inherent goodwill in the memories, becoming new trapped souls beneath the steles.

And the Seventh Fire...

"So it wasn't about connecting seven points, it was about burning those seven points!" A low laugh escaped his throat, sweat dripping from his chin onto Su Shuang's hair.

Her body heat seeped through his clothes, like the lingering warmth of the ginger tea in the Newbie Village, scorching his heart with pain.

He heavily slammed the hammer of the thunder god onto the ground, shaking the rock surface until web-like cracks appeared.

He ripped off the jade pendant at his waist and pressed it against his chest. The star sigil glowed red beneath his skin, and blood seeped through his fingers into the jade pattern—this was the token Su Shuang had nurtured with Fox Fire for three months, and it now served as the fuse.

"System!" he roared at the empty air, "I don't want random critical hits, I want to smash this damn stele!"

The tactical map unfolded across his retina. In the three-second rehearsal, he saw the trajectory of his hammer swing, saw the dark blue cluster of light pulsating at the core of the empty stele, saw the critical hit judgment bar climb frantically—[Ultimate Critical Hit Judgment · 1.0 second remaining, Empty Stele Core].

"Go to hell with your seal!"

Chen Fan bit his tongue until it broke, the fishy sweetness spreading the moment he poured the last remnant of fire from his life lamp into the hammer's body.

His muscles bulged, veins covered his arms. The wind generated by the hammer of the thunder god tore through the air. The instant it slammed toward the empty stele, he heard the system prompt explode inside his mind:

[Chain Critical Hit × Infinite?]

The roar was louder than thunder.

The empty stele first showed web-like cracks, then shattered into thousands of light fragments like an detonated star core.

The six stone steles trembled almost simultaneously. The inscriptions on their surfaces began to peel off, transforming into a torrent of golden memories soaring into the sky—a youth in coarse work clothes, a woman in a qipao holding Fox Fire, an old soldier carving 'Resistance,' a little girl clutching a piece of bread... All the sealed memories intertwined above the stars, piecing together an incomplete Star Map.

The critical hit system shook wildly.

Chen Fan heard countless hoarse whispers ringing in his ears, like millions of people speaking at once, yet clear enough to distinguish every single voice: "Break out," "Burn it," "Don't let the light be hidden again"... System prompt boxes exploded one after another: [Whispers of the Exiled · Summonable] [Tactical Map · Three-Second Rehearsal Activated] [You... are becoming the rule itself].

Guixu’s stone body was disintegrating.

He knelt on the ground, a hole split open in his chest, and a dark blue star core floated out, covered in countless tiny light patterns, like a galaxy shrunk into dust.

"Take it... see... what they are..." His voice grew fainter. The moment his stone cheek peeled away, a human face was revealed—gentle-eyed, like the old carpenter Chen Fan had met at the construction site, "Nine hundred years ago, I was also a player, thinking the seal could bring peace..."

The instant the star core merged into Chen Fan's chest, agonizing pain swept through his entire body.

He 'saw' it—a golden light net enveloping countless planets. On every planet floated pale blue light clusters; those were souls.

At the end of the light net was a gigantic throat, systematically swallowing these souls in batches. The dense eyes on the throat wall suddenly turned toward him, whispering in thousands of languages: "Atlantis... is the Soul Devouring Throat."

"Nonsense alien civilization!" Chen Fan clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palm, "It's all a monster built from the accumulated vengeful souls that were swallowed!"

Where the seven steles shattered, a new line of inscription emerged: "Seventh Fire, Fully Burned."

When Guixu’s last stone fragment dissipated, his voice still echoed in Chen Fan's ear: "Burn... longer than us..."

Chen Fan hoisted Su Shuang onto his back.

The hammer of the thunder god suddenly trembled, the patterns on its handle shining blindingly, as if responding to some summons.

He looked up towards the tear in the sky at the edge of the cosmos. Heavenly light leaked through the crack, making his eyes sting.

"I’m not just smashing the steles," he chuckled darkly at the rent sky, his voice laced with blood foam, "I’m smashing that man-eating mouth too."

Before the words faded, the screech of metal tearing through the air came from the distance.

Outside the Star Dome Palace, the Third Seat of the Red Robes held the command flag high above his head.

His pupils reflected the golden light exploding inside the palace. A manic laugh escaped his throat: "Found it! The Seventh Fire is inside! Get it for me—"

The void suddenly cracked with web-like lines.

Chen Fan tightened his hold on Su Shuang.

He could hear the footsteps gradually approaching outside the palace, smell the scent of blood spreading in the air—that was the System's elite 'Final Protocol' unit.

But he didn't look back.

He gazed at Su Shuang, whose eyes were closed in his arms, watching the blood droplets clinging to her eyelashes, remembering how she always said, "The tea at the Teahouse should be drunk warm."

"Wait until I smash that damn throat," he lowered his head and kissed the top of her head, "I'll take you back to the Frost Moon Teahouse to drink ginger tea with double brown sugar."

The rift valley shook even more violently.

Outside the palace, the command flag fell heavily.