32: Chapter 32 On the Road to Severed Souls, the Bell Rings for Her

Clang—!

That was not the clash of metal, but rather the unbearable groan and tearing sound made by two high-speed colliding mountains!

Sparks rained down like a waterfall, illuminating the entire gloomy ancestral hall in that instant.

The 'Soul-Severing Guillotine,' whose spectral blade was said to be capable of severing souls, actually emitted an unprecedented, piercing whine under the force of Chen Fan's punch. The blade visibly bent by a degree discernible to the naked eye, forcibly knocked aside by an incomprehensibly violent power!

Cold, Saltless's hands gripping the handle of the guillotine trembled violently at the tiger's mouth. An unstoppable recoil force surged wildly through the handle into her meridians, causing her body, which was as frozen as ten thousand years of ice, to stagger back half a step involuntarily.

Just half a step, yet it felt like it had shattered all her dignity as a Demon Suppression Envoy!

Beneath her eternally unchanging iron mask, she let out a suppressed groan for the first time.

She could feel the blood and qi churning inside her body. This wasn't injury, but sheer terror emanating from the depths of her soul!

A mortal body, flesh and blood fist, striking head-on against the Soul-Severing Guillotine?

This was impossible!

Under the Soul-Severing Guillotine, countless lost souls and mountains of demonic bones had accumulated. No living being had ever been able to withstand its edge with mere flesh and blood, let alone knock it aside!

And at this moment, Chen Fan's condition was equally grim.

His right fist was a bloody mess, and the intense pain of broken finger bones surged like a tide, almost swallowing his consciousness.

However, mixed within that searing pain was a completely different sensation—a cold yet tenacious will, like the gentlest clear spring, rapidly repairing his spirit and offsetting the heart-piercing agony.

[Synergy State: Power Resonance Triggered! Recoil Damage Transferred to Demon Suppression Stake Chains!]

The system's notification exploded in his mind. Chen Fan suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing through the swirling dust, meeting Su Shuang's eyes on the high platform, as she slightly raised her head due to the shaking of the chains.

He saw the pain in her eyes, and beneath that pain, a faint but unextinguishable spark ignited for his sake.

It was her! It was her will protecting me!

This realization instantly transformed the ferocity and madness in Chen Fan's chest into a towering battle intent.

He was not fighting alone!

"You..." Cold, Saltless finally stabilized herself. Her voice no longer held the previous indifference and superiority, but was filled with suspicion and killing intent. "What kind of monster are you?"

She could not comprehend what was happening before her.

The power surging from this man was half his own masculine blood and qi, and the other half carried a dense demonic aura—cold, ethereal, yet full of vitality.

The two completely different powers did not conflict; instead, they merged perfectly in a bizarre manner, erupting with a terrifying effect where one plus one was far greater than two.

"Monster?" Chen Fan grinned, blood streaming from his shattered fist and sizzling as it dripped onto the ground. Yet, he laughed with utter arrogance, "Soon, you will meet the real monster!"

Before his words even faded, he did not retreat to heal but instead stepped forward!

This single step seemed to land directly on the heart of the entire ancestral hall.

Centered on where his foot landed, the hard bluestone ground cracked inch by inch like a spiderweb, and a violent shockwave exploded outward in a ring, making the wooden doors of the surrounding corpse rooms bang loudly. The iron chains hanging overhead swayed frantically, emitting a harsh, clattering noise.

In the shadows above the beams, the blood-red pupils of Red Eye suddenly contracted. She clamped her hand tightly over her mouth to prevent an outcry.

"She's gone mad... He's truly gone mad..." she muttered to herself. "He's actually absorbing the dispersed demonic power from Su Shuang, and using his own blood and qi to nurture her soul... Is this 'Symbiosis'? No, this is more domineering than 'Symbiosis'; this is forcibly enforcing 'Shared Fate'!'"

She saw clearly that with every beat of Chen Fan's heart, the runes on the Demon Suppression Stake connected to Su Shuang would dim slightly.

He was using his own life force to impact and pollute the formation specifically designed to suppress the demonic race!

"Blaspheming the formation is punishable by death!" Cold, Saltless's rage was finally ignited completely.

She no longer viewed Chen Fan as a mere mortal with some brute strength, but as an entity in league with the demon fox, perhaps even a greater threat than the demon fox.

She violently plunged the Soul-Severing Guillotine into the ground before her, rapidly forming hand seals with both hands, chanting in a voice that became sharp and ancient: "In my name, I command the Yin Souls of the Eight Directions—Blood-Feeding Grand Array—Suppress!"

As her final word escaped her lips, the entire ancestral hall suddenly darkened!

In the surrounding corpse rooms, which had merely served as background elements, green ghost fires ignited out of thin air. Waves of bone-chilling, icy wind howled out from the cracks in the doors, converging into visible black currents of air that frantically surged toward the formation diagram on the ground.

The diagram, drawn with Su Shuang's blood, instantly erupted with an eerie red light after being nourished by the power of the Yin Souls.

It seemed as if countless invisible hands reached up from underground, tightly gripping Chen Fan's legs. A pressure as heavy as a mountain squeezed in from all directions, intending to crush him into dust.

[Warning! High-Intensity Formation Suppression Detected! Synergy State Interfered With!]

[Resisting... Resistance Failed... Critical Hit Multiplier Adjusted Down...]

Chen Fan felt his entire body sink, as if trapped in an abyss of mud, and even breathing became incredibly difficult.

The connection between him and Su Shuang also became tenuous under this powerful suppression.

"It's useless!" Cold, Saltless's voice was like the chilling ice of the Nine Hells. "This is the 'Yin Soul Blood-Feeding Array' inherited by the Demon Suppression Division for a hundred years. Once activated, it cannot be stopped unless the sacrifice's blood runs dry! Since you have merged bloodlines with the demon fox, the formation has deemed you the second sacrifice. Now, join her and become nourishment for the Feng Shui of this place!'"

Saying this, she drew the Soul-Severing Guillotine again and raised it high.

This time, the guillotine was not just imbued with spectral light; it was entwined with black lightning snakes condensed from the power of the Yin Souls!

"Soul Severance—Spirit Annihilation!"

With this strike, she poured forth all her strength. She intended not only to cleave Chen Fan's physical body but also to completely sever the bizarre connection between him and Su Shuang, annihilating both their souls!

Before the guillotine even struck, the terrifying pressure that tore at the soul already made Chen Fan's vision go black.

He could feel Su Shuang's consciousness rapidly dissipating; the flame of her life was like a candle flickering in the wind.

No! I cannot let her die!

This thought exploded like a thunderclap in his nearly collapsing consciousness!

"Aaaahhh—!"

Chen Fan let out a roar that sounded inhuman, his eyes instantly turning blood-red.

He abandoned all defense, abandoned all resistance, and channeled all the blood and qi boiling inside him due to the critical hit system, along with the trace of demonic power from Su Shuang he had just merged with, without reservation and frantically, inversely into his legs!

[Detection: Host voluntarily abandoned defense, initiating extreme power condensation!]

[Warning! This action will cause permanent damage to meridians!]

[Synergy State forcibly activated! Su Shuang's remaining will responds!]

[Critical Hit Multiplier recalibrating... Recalibration successful!

Final Synergy Critical Hit Multiplier locked: x2.0!]

The moment the system notification reached its peak, Su Shuang's drooping head trembled violently. A clear, crisp fox howl, carrying endless resolve and sorrow, erupted from the depths of her soul. It crossed the spatial barrier and accurately poured into Chen Fan's body!

The ground beneath Chen Fan's feet could no longer withstand this power and spectacularly collapsed into a deep pit!

And his entire being, utilizing this incomparable recoil force, ignored the crushing weight of the formation. Like a cannonball flying backward toward the sky, he advanced instead of retreating, rushing headlong toward the Soul-Severing Guillotine cleaving down upon him!

He was not trying to escape, nor was he trying to defend!

He intended to shatter her pride and smash her god under Cold, Saltless's most confident and powerful strike!

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

The pupils of Red Eye in the shadows constricted to pinpricks.

Old Bronze, hunched in the corner, watched the flame of his green lantern flicker wildly, nearly extinguishing.

For the first time, the iron mask of Cold, Saltless reflected a face that was ferocious and insane.

As the Soul-Severing Guillotine skewed, and Cold, Saltless lost her balance due to exerting excessive force, Chen Fan had already tensed every muscle in his body using the ground-collapsing recoil force.

The power, fused from violent blood and qi and ethereal demonic energy, had accumulated within him to an unprecedented peak. His entire body was like a God-Slaying Bow drawn to its absolute limit, all will and power condensed into this single point. The next instant would be earth-shattering!