46: Chapter 46 The Crown Hasn't Cooled Down Yet, I'll Burn the Rules First

Scorched black threads, like ghostly spider webs, tightly wrapped every inch of ground in the courtyard; these were the remnants of the Soul Catcher burned by the power of the Rules.

Those once arrogant Scavengers were now dissolving into mottled blue data streams, silently dissipating into the night wind, leaving behind not even a trace of blood, as if they had never existed.

Chen Fan tucked the token engraved with the character 'Secret' into his embrace. The icy touch slightly calmed his turbulent thoughts.

However, the copper coin in his palm was astonishingly hot. The low humming sound was no longer a simple vibration, but traveled through his palm, along his meridians, climbing upward until it achieved a bizarre resonance with his heartbeat.

Waves of red light traveled along his arms, and wherever they passed, the fatigue and pain left by the battle receded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the surging power within him, and turned to look at the doorway.

Su Shuang was leaning weakly against the doorframe. Her fluffy fox ears trembled slightly, and her amber pupils reflected the residual flames in the courtyard, her expression as complex as an ancient, thousand-year-old pool.

"They won't give up," she said softly, her voice carrying a slight tremor of surviving a catastrophe, but more so, a solemnity born from grasping the truth. "What you just did... that wasn't a fight."

She paused, seemingly searching for the right words: "You were rewriting the Rules. In a way... that the System could not comprehend, nor prevent."

Meanwhile, atop an abandoned high-rise a hundred meters away, a dark figure merged with the night like a statue.

Shadow Crow’s fingertips tapped rapidly on the portable terminal on his wrist, generating lines of faintly glowing secret text: "Urgent Report. Operation 'Teahouse' Liquidation failed. Scavenger Third Squad members data annihilated. Target 'Chen Fan' confirmed to possess 'Kindling Resonance Body,' preliminarily judged to have A-rank Rule Disruption capability, able to cause System judgment delays within a local area. Recommendation... immediately activate the early activation procedure for the Starlight Tower, elevating his threat level to 'World-Ending.'"

After sending the message, he looked one last time toward the Teahouse through his high-magnification tactical eyepiece.

In that exact instant, he clearly saw the ancient copper coin flash violently in Chen Fan's palm. The fallen leaves and dust swept up by the wind in the courtyard actually froze in mid-air for a full three seconds!

System judgment delay! A full three seconds!

In the absolute chronology of the System, these three seconds were equivalent to the paradox of a universe being born and destroyed!

Shadow Crow abruptly closed his eyes, his fingertips trembling slightly from fear.

A single thought, like a chill rising from the abyss, instantly froze his mind—that was not a player, nor some hidden NPC.

That was a System loophole walking the world... a living BUG with self-will!

In the inner room of the Teahouse, Chen Fan helped Su Shuang sit down, then carefully placed the scorching hot copper coin onto the fragment of the Mysterious Candle Kasaya lying on the table.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

As if two long-lost magnets, upon contact, they erupted in blinding red light.

The ancient patterns on the copper coin and the blood-colored threads on the Kasaya fragment writhed, intertwined, and spread like living things, finally connecting automatically.

The light projected a constantly changing three-dimensional phantom above the tabletop; a fragmented map slowly took shape.

The outline of a majestic snow mountain, and atop its peak, a colossal tower built from countless pale bone spurs pierced the sky.

At the tower's summit, a crimson flame pulsed like a heart—this was the location of the altar.

Every detail of the map was lifelike; one could even feel the biting cold emanating from the snow mountain.

Just as Chen Fan was about to lean closer to examine it, the copper coin suddenly shook violently. A cold, hollow voice, seemingly from eternal nothingness, devoid of gender or emotion, exploded directly in the depths of his and Su Shuang's souls:

"Starlight Tower... records your name..."

"And inscribes... her death date."

The moment the voice faded, Su Shuang’s pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpricks!

Excruciating pain!

Heart-wrenching agony instantly seized her heart!

Everything before her vanished, replaced by an incomparably clear illusion: she saw herself, or rather, another self, wearing a white sacrificial robe, her limbs bound by invisible chains, kneeling powerlessly in the center of that crimson altar.

A blade composed of light pierced through her chest. She felt no pain, only watched helplessly as her heart was ripped open alive.

Blood gushed out like a spring, flowing down the altar's patterns, watering the foundation of the entire bone-spur tower, dyeing the pale white bone spurs with an eerie shade of blood.

"Ah!" Su Shuang let out a short cry of grief. A cluster of faint blue Fox Fire instinctively ignited at her fingertips, projecting the terrifying illusion into the air, only to dissipate immediately due to exhaustion.

"Who dares touch her?!"

Chen Fan witnessed the illusion and felt the fear and pain in the depths of Su Shuang's soul.

Rage, like ignited gasoline, exploded in his chest with a roar!

He slammed a fist fiercely onto the corner of the nearby table!

"Crack!" The corner of the hard rosewood table shattered in response, wood chips flying everywhere.

However, that wasn't the end.

As his anger fully erupted, the copper coin connected to the Kasaya fragment in his embrace flared with intense red light, and an invisible force field instantly expanded with him at the center!

[critical hit system · Environmental Resonance] Triggered!

In that instant, every object containing metal inside the room resonated violently!

The broken vambrace on his wrist, the broken blade in the corner of the wall, the fragments of the teacups, and even the minute metal shavings embedded in the cracks of the floor tiles all vibrated and suspended against the law of gravity under the pull of this force, like an absolute monarch commanding everything within his domain!

The intensity of this power far exceeded the threshold the System could tolerate.

A cold, mechanical electronic voice echoed throughout the entire Teahouse:

[Warning!

Illegal high-dimensional energy field detected!

Reality stability anchor is being disrupted!

Initiating... Level One Purification Protocol!]

Before the voice finished, the roof of the Teahouse was ripped open by an invisible force with a grating tearing sound, creating a massive gap!

Immediately following this, a pure white, dazzling beam of light, half a meter in diameter, descended from the sky, carrying the destructive aura of purifying all things, shooting straight toward the source of the energy—the copper coin on the table!

The speed of this beam was extreme, giving no time for any reaction!

At the critical moment, Su Shuang, who was originally weak and exhausted, lunged forward almost instinctively, regardless of everything.

She bit her tongue, spitting out a mouthful of vital blood. Her fingertips, stained with crimson fox blood, rapidly sketched a complex and bizarre rune in the air!

"Heart Bewitchment · Chain Break!"

[Charm Burst × 2]!

This supreme charm power from the Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline, amplified by the red light of the copper coin, actually reached an incredible level!

It did not charm life; instead, it directly charmed—the Rule itself!

The trajectory of the pure white purification beam suddenly skewed when it was less than a meter from the copper coin, as if forcibly twisted by an invisible giant hand. It grazed past Chen Fan's body, shot back upward, and fiercely slammed into the ripped-open roof!

BOOM—!!!

With a tremendous crash, the entire Teahouse shook violently, and a much more shocking massive hole was blasted in the roof, sending broken stones and tiles falling like rain.

As the dust slowly settled, Chen Fan knelt on one knee, tightly holding Su Shuang, who had gone limp with exhaustion, in his arms.

Her face was as pale as paper, and a trace of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, yet she still managed to force a relieved smile toward him.

He looked down. The scorching hot copper coin on the table had already embedded itself deeply into the fragment of the Mysterious Candle Kasaya; the two had merged perfectly, inseparable now.

The red patterns seemed like living blood vessels, slowly throbbing upon it in sync with his heartbeat.

Chen Fan raised his head, his gaze piercing through the blasted-open roof toward the distant northern horizon, where snow and wind seemed to be brewing.

His voice was not loud, but carried a chill capable of freezing all things.

"They want to use that tower to kill you? Fine then—"

He paused, his voice terrifyingly calm, every word like an oath carved into steel:

"Then I will go to the Northern Territory and smash that tower, brick by brick, into dust."

The moment his vow fell, thousands of miles away, beneath the snow-covered frozen earth of the Northern Territory, deep within the foundation of the Starlight Tower, the core Kindling, as if sensing something, synchronized its frequency with the copper coin in his embrace and pulsed violently, stirring up an invisible ripple of energy.

This place was not suitable for lingering.

The System's counterattack would definitely not be the last; next time, it might be an inescapable net.

Chen Fan did not hesitate for a moment. He tore off a strip of his robe, carefully wiping the blood from the corner of Su Shuang's mouth, and then steadily hoisted her body, cold from exhaustion, onto his broad back.

Her gentle breath brushed against his neck, carrying a warmth that brought peace of mind.

He did not look back, only cast one last glance at the blasted-open roof. The night sky there was deep, like the pupil of a giant beast, coldly watching these two minuscule ants.

The fusion body of the copper coin and the Kasaya in his arms emitted a constant warmth, like a never-extinguishing guiding lamp, directing the road toward the northern snows, and also guiding the destined path toward judgment and destruction.