147: Chapter 147 My hammer won't smash thunder, it'll smash the sky.

Chen Fan knelt on one knee at the edge of the ruptured lightning vein, with Su Shuang on his back like a thin layer of snow about to be swept away by the wind.

In his Spiritual Body scan, the coiled stream of lightning underground was churning like a living thing, with cyan and purple arcs darting between the rock layers; every pulse painfully struck his eardrums.

"Fan... the lightning vein... has a heartbeat... just like yours." Su Shuang's spiritual transmission was laced with a delicate tremor as her fingertips lightly touched the back of his neck, where the skin still bore the scorch marks from the Heart Returning Blast.

A heartbeat?

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed. He suddenly recalled the vibration in his chest that resonated with the lightning when he used the Heart Returning Blast to rush against the vein earlier—it wasn't a coincidence, it was resonance!

His pupils contracted to slits in the darkness. The frequency of the Heart Returning Blast was originally trained to follow his heartbeat, and now it matched the pulse of the subterranean lightning stream perfectly!

"So you were waiting for me." He chuckled lowly, and the hammer of the thunder god in his palm suddenly grew hot. Blue-purple arcs climbed up the handle and onto his arm. "Then let me show you what my heartbeat feels like."

A muffled thunderous roar came from underground. Chen Fan pushed the last spark of blue flame along the conductive cracks beneath his feet into the fissure.

The lightning in the cracks immediately came alive, surging upward like millions of silver snakes along his blood vessels, exploding into a field of starlight in his Sea of Consciousness.

The system notification sound exploded in tandem: [Heart Returning Blast Frequency Stacking Successful, Current Synchronization Rate 92%]

"The lightning vein... is the system's nerve bundle... destroying it will cause the Shadow Pavilion to lose control for three minutes!"

Black Crow's vibrating message suddenly pierced his eardrums, and Chen Fan's spiritual body jolted.

Only then did he remember the figure hidden in the thunderclouds—that guy always clung to the lightning vein like a tattered rag; he must have seen through this long ago.

"Three minutes? That's enough." Chen Fan gritted his teeth and stood up, the conductive skin cracking from his feet, revealing the cyan muscles beneath.

He used his heartbeat as the rhythm, pressing the blue light from his spiritual body into the hammer handle with every three beats.

On the first beat, the rock layers emitted a faint sound; on the second beat, arcs of electricity half a foot high shot out from the fissure; by the seventh beat, the underground lightning stream suddenly recoiled, like a giant python whose vital spot had been grasped, wildly thrashing against the rock layers.

"Crack—"

A sound like tearing silk came from above.

Chen Fan looked up. Nine purple lightning chains, as thick as water buckets, were piercing through the dark clouds. Dense runes on the chains flashed with cold light, their target being the ruptured opening of the lightning vein beneath his feet!

"System activating Ultimate Thunder Lock!" Su Shuang's spiritual body suddenly tightened. "It's trying to seal the opening!"

In Chen Fan's spiritual body scan, black mist was seeping from the runes on the chains—this was the concretization of the system's will.

Just as he was about to swing his hammer, a translucent figure suddenly shot out from beneath the thunder locks—it was Thunder Child!

The child's remnant soul was so faint it was almost invisible, but his eyes were astonishingly bright: "Last look... the chains... fear the Silent Thunder..."

Before the words faded, Thunder Child's remnant soul shattered into stardust, the last speck of light falling onto Chen Fan's brow before dissipating.

Silent Thunder!

Chen Fan suddenly remembered the rusty bronze bell and the mad but lightning-stilling remnant soul within it.

Without a second thought, his spiritual body 'whooshed' out of his body, clutching the hammer of the thunder god and charging toward the bell platform half a mile away.

The bronze bell remained in place, the lightning marks on its surface several shades deeper than the day before.

Chen Fan raised his hammer, the blue light of his spiritual body condensing into a dazzling point at the hammer's tip: "Silent Thunder Monk! Lend me your lightning soul for a moment!"

The instant the hammer fell, the system notification sound nearly ruptured his eardrums: [Skill Critical Hit × 7.2!]

There was no bell sound.

A cyan-gray lightning soul shot out from the bell's body. It was a disheveled old monk, still wearing half a string of broken prayer beads around his neck.

He grinned at Chen Fan, his figure transforming into a streak of light that lunged straight toward the thunder locks in the sky.

The foremost purple lightning chain suddenly stiffened, its runes cracking and exploding into sparks.

The second, third... all nine chains were thrown into disarray by this lightning soul. The clasps, which should have tightened, were twisted into a tangled mess.

Chen Fan seized the opportunity to rush back to the rupture, the blue light on the hammer of the thunder god now so dense it was almost substantial.

He took a deep breath and drove the hammer fiercely into the fissure—

"Explode!"

A mountain-collapsing roar erupted from underground.

The fire seed blue flame and the Heart Returning Blast detonated at the core of the lightning vein. Chen Fan's spiritual body was thrown against the rock wall by the shockwave, black blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

The system notification sounds buzzed like a frenzied swarm of bees: [Chain Critical Hit × 5! Lightning Vein Rupture Degree 100%! Infinite Multiplier Protocol · Preload 60%!]

"Fan..." Su Shuang's spiritual body floated up from his back, her fingertip gently wiping the blood from his lips. "You won."

Chen Fan collapsed onto the ground, watching the purple-black lightning magma surging out of the fissure beneath his feet—this was the 'blood' leaking after the system's nerve bundle was torn apart.

A muffled groan came from the top of the distant Shadow Pavilion tower. He didn't need to look to know that the Third Seat of the Red Robes was likely spitting up half a liter of blood right now—that guy always loved to pose as profound while sitting on his Black Iron Chair; now he knew pain.

"Won?" Chen Fan wiped the blood from his mouth and looked up at the sky illuminated by the lightning.

He couldn't see the clouds, nor the stars, but he could feel the 'System' that had weighed down on him for too long was cracking apart above his head.

He gripped the hammer of the thunder god, a low laugh rumbling in his throat: "My hammer doesn't smash thunder, it smashes heaven."

The Critical Strike Spiritual Body trembled lightly in his chest, as if in agreement.

Just then, Chen Fan suddenly felt a warmth around his ankle.

He looked down. A crimson stream of fire had seeped out of the rock crevice, crawling up his calf like a living creature.

The fire wasn't hot; rather, it carried a pain that burned the soul—

It was coming from the direction of the Heart-Burning Altar.

Chen Fan narrowed his eyes and carefully protected Su Shuang's spiritual body back in his embrace.

He knew the next tough battle would be heading straight for the heart of the Shadow Pavilion.