93: Chapter 93 Lao Tzu's Fist: A Cure for What's Predestined

Chen Fan's knuckles were almost embedded in the fabric of Su Shuang's back.

Her body temperature was visibly draining away, and the fox tattoo behind her ear faded to ashen white, like ink washed out by a downpour.

He heard fragmented syllables escape her lips, like ashes scattered by the wind, yet strangely distinct—'As long as the name exists, it shall not perish; as long as the fire burns, it shall not be extinguished...'

The moment these words struck his sea of consciousness, a burning pain erupted from the rock wall.

Chen Fan turned his head and saw the residual bloodstains from the Molten Heart Eye peeling away from the stone crevices. A crimson pattern, red as if it were about to bleed, drew an arc in the air, stabbing into his right fist with a 'hiss'.

The critical hit system's notification exploded, jarring his eardrums: [Acquired 'Fate Breaking Mark': Can ignore fate seal-type skills, lasts 10 minutes (Cooldown: 2 hours)]

He looked down. Su Shuang's eyelashes cast a pale blue shadow beneath her eyes. Her lips moved, still repeating that ancient curse.

Chen Fan’s Adam's apple bobbed. His thumb gently brushed against the corner of her icy lips: 'Everything you said, I have remembered it all.'

He crouched down and gently placed Su Shuang on the green rock beside the tower.

When his fingertips touched the back of her neck, he could feel a faint network of veins beneath the skin, as thin as spider silk.

Chen Fan closed his eyes. Frost energy surged from his palm, condensing into a translucent ice cocoon around her.

Ice crystals climbed along her hairline, sealing that ashen white fox tattoo within. He could see a faint blue light circulating inside the ice cocoon—it was the last strand of her vital pulse he was protecting with his Frost Marrow.

'Luo Yan?' he called out softly.

'Their books of fate are powered by 'forgetfulness',' the youth's voice echoed in his sea of consciousness, carrying the distinct clarity of a Star Speaker. 'The more you remember, the more brittle it becomes.'

Chen Fan's knuckles pressed against the ice cocoon, and white mist immediately condensed on the surface.

He closed his eyes. Little Ma's cries suddenly crashed into his mind—it was the stormy night in the Newbie Village, the youth clinging to his broken-legged comrade, crawling through the mud, his voice thick with tears: 'Brother Fan, it hurts...' Qing Jin's fire monument appeared before his eyes, the wrinkles on the old man's face as he smiled while tossing sweet potatoes into the fire, sparks splashing onto his hand, 'Little Fan, if the fire remembers a person, that person will never perish.' Lin Qi's silence, the hunter always wiping his blade in the corner, finally shoving the knife into his hand, the thick calluses on his palm stinging Chen Fan’s own. Yan Li smiled at him, holding a torch, the fierce flames reddening the corners of her eyes: 'We agreed, we'd burn through this damn system together...'

With every name recalled, the crimson pattern on his right fist brightened.

When he mentioned 'Luo Yan,' both hands suddenly erupted in dual-colored flames—his left fist was Su Shuang's frost-white, and his right fist was Yan Li's crimson-gold. The two flames intertwined at his wrist, scorching the air into distorted ripples.

The critical hit system's notification turned scorching hot: [Emotional Anchor Achieved: 'Heart Fire' State, can lock onto the same attribute critical hit three consecutive times]

Chen Fan opened his eyes, two clusters of flame dancing in his pupils.

He turned around. The three blood talismans were still rotating before the tower door, their red light stinging the eyes.

'Frost Devour,' he murmured.

As the first punch shot out, the frost-white fierce flame wrapped around the fist's edge and slammed into the nearest blood talisman.

The system notification exploded: [Critical Hit Triggered (2.3x)], an ice shell instantly formed on the blood talisman's surface, cracks spreading across the crimson like a spiderweb.

Chen Fan advanced instead of retreating. The second punch smashed into the same spot immediately. The blood light beneath the ice shell was noticeably dimmer—[Second Critical Hit (2.7x)], the ice layer spread to the talisman's edge, emitting a fine cracking sound.

For the third punch, he almost roared 'Frost Devour' as he swung.

The frost energy from the triple critical hit superposition transformed into an ice spike, piercing the blood talisman's core with a 'crack'.

When the last shard of light dissipated, the three blood talismans had crumbled into dust, like red sand scattered by the wind.

'Brother Fan! Watch your feet!' Luo Yan's warning came suddenly.

Chen Fan snapped his gaze upward. Countless translucent chains, glowing with a faint green light, had emerged from the ground, coiling towards his ankles.

He tried to jump away but found the chains were faster than him—these Fate Locks drilled directly up from the earth's veins, carrying a sense of predestined entanglement.

At the critical moment, a beam of light suddenly floated up from the tower's shadow.

It was the Tombstone Guardian's last residual light. His outline was fainter than before, like mist about to dissipate at any moment, but he still raised his hand and sent out a star trail.

The silver-white starlight transformed into a shield, striking the Fate Locks with a 'ding,' and the chains instantly shattered into points of light.

Chen Fan stared at that residual light, his throat tightening.

The Tombstone Guardian smiled at him, his knuckles twitching as if to clap his shoulder, but ultimately dissolving into a string of stardust that vanished in the wind.

'Thanks,' Chen Fan murmured to the empty air.

He turned and kicked the tower door. The rotten wooden door shattered with a 'boom.' The critical hit system's notification sounded with the sharp friction of metal: [Entering Life Recording Division Domain, all fate-type skill effects increased by 300%]

The interior of the tower was more spacious than expected.

On the high platform in the very center stood a massive bronze monument. Spread before the monument was a yellowed book of fate, the vermilion brush suspended above the words 'Chen Fan · Soul Extinguished,' dripping blood from its tip.

The person holding the brush wore a bronze mask. Hearing the movement, he slowly turned his head, his voice like rusted gears: 'Mortal, fate is set. Why struggle?'

Chen Fan's fist edge condensed in his palm.

He first silently recited 'Flame Burst.' The crimson-gold fierce flame wrapped around his punch and blasted towards the high platform—[Critical Hit Triggered (3.1x)]. The flame storm whipped the book of fate, making the pages rustle loudly, and the vermilion brush was blown askew.

Before The Fate Official could react, he instantly switched to 'Frost Devour,' and the second punch struck out with ice spikes—[Second Critical Hit (3.4x)]. Cold air condensed into an ice explosion above the book of fate, freezing half a page.

'The fate you set...' Chen Fan stepped onto the splintered wood, each step making the ground tremble. 'I will shatter it with one punch.'

He pressed his right fist onto the edge of the high platform. The Fate Breaking Mark emitted a blinding red light.

The critical hit system's roar nearly tore his sea of consciousness apart: [Fate Breaking Skill · Fame Echo Blast — With the name remembered, shatter the book of destiny]

In the next instant, both fists struck out together.

The frost energy from the ninth critical hit superposition, wrapped in Flame Burst, smashed onto the book of fate like two red-hot sledgehammers.

Ice and fire intertwined on the paper surface. The edges of the book of fate began to curl, giving off scorched black smoke.

The Fate Official's mask cracked with a 'kacha,' creating a fissure. Chen Fan stared at the crack, and blood suddenly roared in his ears—the face beneath the mask shared about seventy percent of his features.

'This is impossible...' Chen Fan's voice trembled.

The book of fate suddenly vibrated violently, and the crisp sound of tearing paper came from within the scorched smoke.

Chen Fan looked up and saw the bricks and stones of the tower roof beginning to fall. Sparks drilled out from the cracks, resembling the flickering light within Qing Jin's fire monument.

He heard Su Shuang's voice drifting in the wind: 'When a name is written into the fire, the fire gains a soul...'

And on the high platform, The Fate Official's mask cracked open another fissure, revealing eyes that held the same flame-scorched blood vessels as his own.