72: Chapter 72 A fire burned your books of fate.

A pillar of cyan-gold flame, like a divine sword tearing through the firmament, violently erupted from the depths of the earth's core, piercing the dome of the life furnace Hall and rushing toward the ninth heaven with endless roars and fury.

The light was so scorching that the entire floating island was instantly dyed with a layer of gilded color, making even the rolling lead clouds in the sky clearly defined.

"Boom—Rumble—!"

The earth moaned, and the giant bronze cauldron trembled violently. The ancient inscriptions carved on the cauldron's surface seemed to come alive, flowing and flickering in the firelight.

Every inscription represented a member of the Qingqiu Fox Clan locked onto a book of fate. At this moment, they were emitting a joyful yet mournful resonance.

Chen Fan's fists remained tightly clenched, the firelight outlining his profile with sharp angles.

He could clearly feel an unimaginably vast power surging madly into the heart of the furnace through his connection with the giant cauldron.

This power came half from Su Shuang's pure Qingqiu bloodline, and the other half from the unyielding soul of the previous furnace keeper contained within his copper coin!

The dual bloodlines ignited, like pouring a ladle of fierce water into a pot of boiling oil, instantly detonating the entire life furnace system.

"It's done..." Su Shuang leaned into Chen Fan's solid embrace, her voice as faint as a candle in the wind, but her beautiful eyes reflected the soaring flames, shining astonishingly bright.

Her body was rapidly growing cold, her vitality being frantically drawn away as the furnace fire rose, yet a smile of relief hung on her lips. "Jade Spirit... we did it..."

Chen Fan held her tighter, feeling her body tremble slightly, both from weakness and excitement.

He lowered his head, pressing his cheek against her icy forehead, his voice hoarse but exceptionally firm: "It's not over yet. This is just the beginning."

In his mind, the crimson characters of [Critical Hit Foresight] flashed more frantically than ever before, the frequency almost merging into a continuous curtain of blood-colored light.

This was no longer a simple crisis warning; it was a harbinger of a devastating blow about to descend, emanating from the will of the entire world!

At the same time, at the top of the Starlight Tower, far away on the other side of the horizon.

Ye Zhu stood with his hands behind his back, coldly watching the cyan-gold pillar of fire that pierced heaven and earth in the distance. His handsome face was covered in frost.

Behind him, suspended in the void, were tens of thousands of heavy bronze books of fate. They were originally quiet and lightless, each in its proper place.

But the moment the pillar of fire shot up, an unforeseen change occurred!

"Sizzle... Zzzt..."

A book of fate on the outermost perimeter, bearing the crest of a certain branch of the Qingqiu Fox Clan on its cover, suddenly ignited with a wisp of ghostly blue flame without any warning.

The flame was not scorching, but it carried a strange aura that could burn the soul.

Immediately following, like an unstoppable plague, the second book, the third book, the hundredth book...

In the blink of an eye, in the entire hall, all the books of fate belonging to the Qingqiu bloodline—whether main branch or collateral, whether strong or young—their covers were all engulfed by the same ghostly blue fire!

Tens of thousands of flames swayed in the air, illuminating Ye Zhu's face, twisted in horror, intermittently.

"No... Impossible!" he roared in disbelief, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins. "Burning the books remotely? How dare they! How could they possibly do this!"

The book of fate was the foundation of the system, the personification of rules.

To alter a single character required a huge price, let alone to burn it!

This was equivalent to a mortal trying to burn the laws of the Heavenly Dao with their bare hands!

"Dual bloodlines burning together... So that's it, so that's it!" Ye Zhu suddenly realized, the last trace of color draining from his face, leaving only maniacal ferocity. "They aren't restarting the life furnace; they are forcefully building a 'Soul-Burning Bridge' using the entire Qingqiu's destiny and the soul of two pure-bloods! What they are burning is not fire, but life!"

His eyes bloodshot, he roared at the empty hall: "Issue my order! All Calamity Appointers mobilize! No need to wait seven days, no need to split into three routes! Everyone, immediately, right now! Gather at the Eastern Valley Cliff! Initiate the final procedure for the 'Calamity Thunder,' set the power to maximum! I don't care about the cost, I don't care how many innocents will be affected. Today, I must make them scatter their souls, along with that damned life furnace, and completely erase them from this world!"

His voice echoed within the tower, carrying endless killing intent and a trace of fear that even he himself hadn't noticed.

The system's cold prompt sounded by his ear: "Warning: Forcibly initiating the final procedure will lead to regional law disorder and permanent destruction of energy balance. Confirm?"

"Confirm!" Ye Zhu roared without hesitation, word by word, "Kill them—now!"

Inside the life furnace Hall.

Chen Fan suddenly looked up. The sense of crisis originating from [Critical Hit Foresight] rose to its peak in an instant, making his soul tremble.

He seemed to see a giant net woven from lightning and laws rapidly taking shape in the high heavens, its target the very ground beneath their feet!

"They are about to make a move, and it will be a lightning strike," Chen Fan's voice became extremely solemn.

He knew that madman Ye Zhu would never give them a chance to breathe.

"Cough, cough..." Su Shuang coughed violently, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of her mouth.

Her consciousness was beginning to blur; she was only holding on by sheer willpower. "I... I can't hold on much longer. Chen Fan, promise me... burn them... you must..."

"Shut up," Chen Fan interrupted her, his tone leaving no room for argument.

He carefully laid Su Shuang down, letting her rest against him, then tore off a corner of his robe and gently wiped the blood from her lips.

"I said, your old man hasn't finished landing his critical hits yet. Want to sleep? Wait until I land this last punch, and then I'll sleep with you."

His gaze swept over the still blazing giant cauldron.

Resist head-on?

Impossible.

This sense of crisis surpassed any he had encountered before. This was not just a crushing defeat in terms of power, but annihilation at the level of rules.

"Calamity Thunder," just hearing the name, one knew it was the system's ultimate means to execute those who defied fate.

Staying here meant waiting for death.

However, the fire of the life furnace had to continue burning to completely incinerate those books of fate.

If he left, the flame, without a host, would quickly extinguish.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Just then, Chen Fan felt a strange pulse from the ground beneath his feet.

It wasn't the shaking of an earthquake, but a heavy breath, as if a colossal beast at the earth's core was awakening.

That pillar of cyan-gold flame was not merely an energy release; it was more like a massive drill that had broken through the barrier between the life furnace and the most primal, violent energy source deep within the earth's core!

"Boom!"

A huge sound came, not from the sky, but from beneath his feet!

The indestructible bronze floor began to crack inch by inch, centered around the giant cauldron.

Bottomless fissures spread out like a spiderweb. Erupting from the cracks was no longer the cyan-gold flame, but a deeper, hotter crimson light!

Rolling heat waves rushed towards him, the air scorched and distorted, making a "hissing" sound.

The temperature in the entire life furnace Hall was rising at a terrifying speed.

In Chen Fan's mind, the blood-red alarm from [Critical Hit Foresight] and this violent energy from the earth's core eerily resonated.

A wild and bold plan instantly formed in his heart.

If the heavens were to descend with tribulation lightning, then he would fight back with the wrath of the earth!

If the system sought to erase him with laws, then he would use the most primal, chaotic power of nature to tear open its net of laws!

"Su Shuang, hold tight!"

Chen Fan let out a low shout, no longer hesitating.

He bent down and carefully placed the semi-comatose Su Shuang onto his back, securing her tightly with a strip of cloth.

The girl's soft body pressed against his broad back, her faint breath brushing against his neck.

"We are going somewhere... where this fire can burn even brighter."

Chen Fan's gaze fell beyond the massive breach the pillar of fire had blasted in the hall.

Through the distorted air, he seemed to see distant mountains collapsing and the earth tearing apart.

He took a deep breath, the scorching air rushing into his lungs, bringing a sharp sting, but also igniting the fighting spirit throughout his body.

Carrying Su Shuang, he walked step by step, steadily and firmly, toward the collapsing earth.

The bronze floor beneath his feet had already turned into red-hot iron, emitting a "sizzle" and puffing out wisps of green smoke with every step.

Ahead lay an unknown perilous place being swallowed by the earth's core lava.

Behind him was the life furnace fire, destined to burn everything.

And above his head was the world-ending lightning punishment about to descend.

Yet, Chen Fan's lips slowly curved into a proud arc.

His voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly amidst the roaring heaven and earth.

"Ye Zhu, you want to play? I'll play a big game with you."

"Heavenly fire, Earthly fire, let's see whose fire burns the longest!"

As his voice fell, carrying the girl who bore the fate of Qingqiu on his back, he resolutely stepped out of the ruins of the life furnace Hall.

Ahead, the crimson light stretched his figure long and far—a path leading to the abyss, and perhaps, to rebirth.