146: Chapter 146 With the hammer in hand, I am thunder.

Chen Fan's spiritual body buzzed within his Sea of Consciousness. Su Shuang's fingertips were lightly tapping his nape with a rhythm of three long and two short taps, striking his nerves.

The wind from the ravine swept damp, earthy smells into his collar, yet he felt no cold—in a world where all senses were stripped away, only the blue light from his spiritual body scan, Su Shuang's body heat, and the scorched black skin torn from the Flash Skin corpse under his feet served as real anchors.

"The thunder travels seven paths; only three can be trod," Su Shuang's spiritual transmission was lighter than a mosquito's hum, yet it etched clearly into his mind.

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed. His thumb unconsciously rubbed the wrist of Su Shuang behind him—her pulse was beating three times faster than usual, like a drum pounding against his chest.

He took a deep breath and pressed the hammer of the thunder god deeper into his spiritual body. The ball of light and shadow condensed by the critical hit system hummed as it floated above his head, the blue-purple electric glow carving a half-arc in the darkness.

At the first clap of thunder, his spiritual body shuddered first.

It wasn't auditory; it was a resonance generated between his spiritual body and the electric current in the air.

Chen Fan's pupils contracted slightly in the darkness. The conductive skin under his feet suddenly tingled—a precursor to the current brushing past.

He counted his heartbeats. At the third beat, he suddenly stepped forward, his left foot landing precisely on a web-like ground fissure. With a faint 'zzzt' sound, the current shot down through the skin on his feet into the crack, exploding into fine electric sparks near his feet like a snake whose tail had been poked.

"Good!" Su Shuang's fingertips tapped his nape twice, an unspoken signal of approval.

Chen Fan dared not smile. The spiritual body scan showed that gravel was falling from the rock pillar ten steps away—if that last bolt of thunder had been off by half an inch, they would have been smashed into meat paste by now.

"The second bolt... wait three beats," Su Shuang's transmission carried a breathy sound. Chen Fan could feel the sweat beading on her forehead pressed against his back.

He suppressed his heartbeat. The originally steady 'thump-thud, thump-thud' suddenly slowed by half a beat, as if stepping into sticky mud.

At the seventh breath, he reached his right foot forward. Just as the conductive skin on his sole touched the ground, a blinding purple light exploded above his head.

That bolt of thunder split down, grazing his left shoulder. With a boom, it pulverized the rock pillar behind them, two people high, into dust. A rain of debris poured down, and Chen Fan instinctively arched his back, shielding Su Shuang with his body against two impacts.

"Fanzi... does it hurt?" Su Shuang's spiritual transmission suddenly carried a tremor.

Chen Fan's throat tightened. In the dark, he pulled her closer against his back, his palm touching the cold sweat on her nape. His voice was hoarse like sandpaper: "It doesn't hurt." In reality, his left shoulder was burning fiercely, and the spiritual body scan showed his skin was already scorched black, but what was this little pain? As long as she could still transmit messages, as long as they could still move forward—

"Shadow Pavilion... the main axis of the Thunder Vein... is due north... destroy it and the system's power cuts off!"

Black Crow's vibrating transmission struck Chen Fan's Sea of Consciousness like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, sending ripples spreading.

His steps paused. His spiritual body instantly carved the words 'main axis of the Thunder Vein' into the deepest part of his memory—this was the critical element Su Shuang had mentioned, the one that could only be blown up once, their bargaining chip for survival.

"Third bolt of thunder... quick!" Su Shuang's fingertips suddenly tapped rapidly, and Chen Fan's spiritual body tensed along with them.

He leaped up almost instinctively. The conductive skin on his feet scraped the edge of the fissure, and the current surged up his calf, sparking a string of small fires on his leg.

That bolt of thunder struck exactly where he had been standing. The ground exploded, leaving a pit three feet in diameter. The smell of scorched earth mixed with ozone drilled straight into his nostrils.

Chen Fan staggered slightly upon landing. Su Shuang let out a muffled groan, and he quickly supported the bend of her leg: "Endure it, we're almost at the middle of the Wasteland."

Before his words faded, the ground began to shake violently.

In Chen Fan's spiritual body scan, nine gray shadows drilled out from underground. Electric arcs crackled at their joints like a viper's tongue flicking out. "Thunder Puppet Formation!" He recalled the defensive measures of the Shadow Pavilion that Su Shuang had mentioned earlier. His spiritual body tensed instantly—the scan three zhang away suddenly blurred, as if covered by a layer of mist.

"The back of the Thunder Corpse's neck... the blue light node." The remnant soul of Thunder Child suddenly flashed in his Sea of Consciousness. A series of fragmented images exploded before Chen Fan's eyes: a scorched black nape, a faint blue light, like ghost fire in the dark night.

He gritted his teeth and poured the last half-wisp of the kindling blue flame into the conductive skin under his feet. The current in the fissure suddenly surged backward, propelling his body three feet away.

Just as the first Thunder Corpse lunged forward, Chen Fan's spiritual body had already circled behind it.

The phantom image of the hammer of the thunder god smashed down with a blue-purple arc. The system notification sound exploded almost against his eardrum: [Equipment Critical Hit × 5.8!] That blue light node instantly shattered. The Thunder Corpse's movement jerked to a halt, and electric arcs crackled and fell off its joints.

The second Thunder Corpse moved two breaths faster than predicted.

Just as Chen Fan was about to sidestep, the conductive skin under his feet suddenly grew hot—not painful, but an itching sensation of electricity scrambling beneath his skin.

His pupils constricted sharply. He instantly understood: the Thunder Corpses were electrified, and the residual conductive marks could sense their movements!

He closed his eyes and used his heartbeat as the rhythm: one 'thump' meant the Thunder Corpse was raising its arm, one 'thud' meant it was stepping forward. Three beats for one movement; his body reacted before his brain could.

The hammer of the critical hit spiritual body smashed down almost grazing his ear.

When the second Thunder Corpse's nape node burst open, cold sweat was already seeping from Chen Fan's forehead.

The third, the fourth... He moved like a puppet pulled by strings, his heartbeat, the electricity, and the vibration of his spiritual body twisting into one rope in his mind. Every step was terrifyingly precise.

When the node of the ninth Thunder Corpse shattered, Chen Fan fell to his knees with a 'thud'.

His spiritual body trembled violently in his Sea of Consciousness. The system notification sounded like a clap of thunder: [Continuous Conductive Resonance, Infinite Multiplier Protocol · Preload 50%!]

"Fan... the Thunder Vein... is beneath your feet," Su Shuang's spiritual transmission was so weak it seemed about to dissipate, yet Chen Fan felt a fire erupt 'whoosh' in his chest.

He clenched the hammer of the thunder god and channeled the last trace of the kindling blue flame down through the conductive skin under his feet into the fissure—the power of the Heart Returning Blast rushed backward along the current lines. The lightning across the entire wasteland suddenly flared with blinding intensity, as if someone had poked a hole in the sky.

On the distant tower top of the Shadow Pavilion, the Third Seat of the Red Robes suddenly stood up, his Xuan Tie chair scraping a harsh sound across the floor.

He stared at the dazzling light coming from the direction of the Wasteland, the surging purple lightning reflected in his pupils. His voice trembled: "He... is drawing the thunder to backlash the system?!"

Chen Fan's spiritual body suddenly vibrated violently.

He pushed up from his knees to stand, the conductive skin on his feet already scorched beyond recognition. But in the spiritual body scan, web-like lines were splitting across the ground, and something deep underground was moving—like a dormant giant python slowly raising its head.

"Shuanger," he murmured, touching Su Shuang's face behind him. Her eyelashes trembled lightly in his palm, "We found it."

The sound of the ground cracking came from beneath his feet, growing louder, growing closer.

Chen Fan took a deep breath and raised the hammer of the thunder god above his head. The spiritual body's blue light carved a sword-like gleam in the darkness.

He could feel the massive flow of thunder deep underground approaching, and the hammer in his hand was yearning for the moment it would collide with it.