47: Chapter 47 There is a tower in the North, named Death

The blizzards of the Northern Frontier were like poisoned blades, scraping against Chen Fan's face, leaving fine, bloody marks.

He carried Su Shuang on his back, each step sinking deeply, as if trying to crush the millennia-old frozen earth beneath his feet.

The copper coin in his embrace was scorching hot like a branding iron, burning his chest even through the thick layers of clothing.

He walked another ten li.

"Dong!"

A dull sound, like the heartbeat of an ancient behemoth, echoed from the depths of the earth.

The ice field beneath Chen Fan shuddered violently. The solid ice and frozen soil cracked in a spiderweb pattern centered on him. In the deep fissures, streaks of crimson ancient runes flashed and vanished. The patterns were actually of the same origin as the crimson markings on the copper coin in his embrace!

This was the "Kindling Resonance," which stirred the power deep within the earth once every ten li.

"Cough, cough..." Su Shuang on his back coughed weakly twice, a sinister flush rising on her face, which was as pale as paper.

Leaning against Chen Fan's broad back, she managed to lift a single finger. On her fingertip, a faint cluster of Fox Fire flickered unsteadily, as if it might extinguish at any moment.

Her voice was as light as snow melting in the wind: "Chen Fan, the Starlight Tower... is a triple deadly trap."

Chen Fan did not stop walking, asking in a deep voice, "Tell me."

"The first layer: the tower gate recognizes the soul. It only opens for the 'Sacrificial Bloodline.' Without this bloodline, you won't step a single half-step inside, no matter how many methods you exhaust."

"The second layer: there are no soldiers, no demons, and no monsters inside. What it aims to kill is your 'past self.' Every floor is a barrier of inner demons. Failures will have their souls utterly destroyed, never to be reborn."

Saying this, Su Shuang's voice trembled with a hint of despair: "The third layer... is also the cruelest one. Those who reach the summit must sacrifice the person they sheltered and loved on this journey, using their soul to ignite the final staircase leading to the top, only then can they obtain the 'pass' to leave."

The wind and snow seemed to intensify, blowing so hard one couldn't open their eyes.

But Chen Fan's steps suddenly stopped at this moment.

He did not turn back, but his voice was as hard and cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, carrying an unquestionable arrogance: "Then I insist on entering alive, coming out alive, and taking her with me."

The moment his words fell, the rampant gale and blizzard raging between heaven and earth strangely froze instantly!

A hundred meters ahead, a towering ice cliff let out a grating "kaka" sound and split open to both sides, revealing a deep passage.

At the end of the passage, a massive tower built entirely from ghastly white bones pierced the sky!

The Starlight Tower!

On either side of the tower gate stood twelve lifelike statues of fox demons in neat rows. Their postures varied, but without exception, each had a black long spear piercing their chest, their faces frozen in eternal, silent agony.

Su Shuang's breathing hitched abruptly, and her dim eyes instantly filled with blood: "Those are... those are the twelve elders of my Qingqiu Fox Clan!" Her fingertips trembled violently from extreme anger and grief, "They... they were sacrificed long ago!"

Just then, on a black altar before the Starlight Tower gate, a cold, gloomy shadow slowly stood up.

Shadow Crow!

He held several remnants of bones belonging to a Scavenger and casually tossed them into the brazier burning with eerie green flames in front of him, murmuring obscure incantations.

As he chanted, a huge and complex array totem on the ground beneath the altar instantly lit up. Countless illusory chains of blood-red light snaked within the formation, emanating an ominous aura.

"Chains of Fate..." Shadow Crow looked at the magic array and let out a satisfied, low laugh.

Once a player stepped into the tower, their fate would be forcibly bound to the altar by this formation. Once the condition for reaching the summit was met, the sacrificial ritual would automatically trigger, irreversible!

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the thin air, accurately locking onto Chen Fan and Su Shuang in the distance. A cruel arc curved on his lips: "Chen Fan, you arrived just in time. This tower will not only take your life, but it will also make you... send her off with your own hands!"

Chen Fan ignored Shadow Crow's clamor and stepped forward step by step, carrying Su Shuang.

As he drew closer to the Starlight Tower, the red light from the copper coin in his embrace surged, the heat almost burning through his chest!

Buzz—!

Countless runes flowed across the white-bone tower gate of the Starlight Tower, seemingly sensing a threat.

However, the red light from the copper coin on Chen Fan's chest burned even brighter, forcibly suppressing the light of the tower gate runes, causing them to dim momentarily!

A cold system notification sounded in Chen Fan's mind:

[Warning! Illegal Bloodline Resonance detected! Authority conflict!]

[Rule adjudication in progress...]

[Adjudication complete! Your authority is temporarily elevated to 'Tower Guardian' level!]

The next second, the heavy tower gate constructed from countless white bones emitted a "gachi gachi" sound and slowly opened a crack.

But it opened not for Chen Fan—but for Su Shuang on his back!

A blinding chain of golden light shot out from the crack in the tower gate like a venomous snake leaving its hole, its target aimed directly at Su Shuang's heart!

This was the authentication for the 'Sacrificial Bloodline.' Once locked, Su Shuang would be forcibly dragged into the tower to become the first link in the sacrificial ritual!

"Not good!" Su Shuang cried out.

Shadow Crow laughed loudly from afar: "Hahahaha! It's useless, Chen Fan! This is the rule! This is fate!"

"Rule?" Chen Fan suddenly pulled out the scorching copper coin from his embrace. Instead of dodging, he fiercely slapped it against his own chest!

"My critical hits explode fate itself!"

He roared furiously, his talent [Rule Critical Hit] was triggered!

[Ding!

Detected player 'Chen Fan' actively sacrificing 'Kindling' (Pseudo)... System misjudged!]

[Rule Critical Hit successfully triggered! Sacrificial target forcibly deflected!]

The chain of golden light that was about to pierce Su Shuang's heart suddenly paused when it was less than an inch from her back, as if grasped by an invisible giant hand. It actually bent ninety degrees in mid-air and swept back fiercely toward the tower gate itself!

Rumble—!

With a deafening roar, the golden chain collided head-on with the white-bone tower gate!

The indestructible tower gate, struck by this backlash containing the power of rules, actually cracked open with a huge gap!

Countless bone fragments flew everywhere, and dust filled the air!

Amidst the chaos, a faint, intermittent will, seemingly from the distant past, echoed directly in Chen Fan's mind from deep within the tower:

"...Outsider... Don't believe... the light at the top... That is... the Soul Furnace..."

Soul Furnace?!

Chen Fan's heart tightened. Without time to think further, he hugged Su Shuang tightly on his back and took a step inside, seizing the moment when the tower gate was broken and the rules were in chaos!

"No—!"

Behind him came Shadow Crow's furious roar of exasperation.

He frantically slapped the altar, urging the formation: "Activate the chains! Bind the target prematurely for me! Even if he's inside the tower, I must chain his life to the altar!"

However, Chen Fan could no longer hear him.

Passing through the shattered tower gate, the scene before him was not the bloody or magnificent sight he had imagined.

This was the first floor of the Starlight Tower.

Vast, silent, and empty.

The entire space was astonishingly large; the floor and walls were made of a strange, ash-white material, smooth as a mirror.

And right in the absolute center of this empty space stood an enormous mirror.

The mirror surface was clear, distinctly reflecting Chen Fan's figure.

He carried Su Shuang on his back, his expression vigilant, exactly like him in reality.

No... that's not right!

Chen Fan's pupils suddenly contracted into a dangerous pinprick!

In the mirror, the 'Chen Fan' wore a cold and unfamiliar smile on his lips.

In his hand, a sharp short blade had appeared at some point—it was the weapon Chen Fan himself used most often.

And the tip of that blade was mercilessly and slowly stabbing toward the heart of Su Shuang on his back!

The Su Shuang in the mirror was completely unaware, still leaning weakly against 'him.'

A bone-chilling coldness shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, a thousand times colder than the blizzards of the Northern Frontier!

Chen Fan subconsciously tightened his arms, feeling the warm body and faint breath of Su Shuang on his back. Looking at the reflection of himself committing murder in the mirror, an unprecedented sense of absurdity and rage surged in his heart.

He slowly turned his body. No matter which direction he walked, the giant mirror remained perfectly positioned directly in front of him, following him like a shadow.

The 'him' in the mirror also turned accordingly, the angle of the sharp blade in his hand remaining unchanged, aimed precisely at Su Shuang's vital spot.

The Tower Spirit said this place killed the 'past self.'

But this one in the mirror... was clearly the current self!

Chen Fan's breathing became heavy, cold sweat seeping from his temples.

He stared intently at the man in the mirror who was identical to him yet utterly strange, and whispered word by word, his voice hoarse as if rubbed by sandpaper.

"This tower... wants me to kill myself with my own hands?"

In the silent tower floor, no one answered.

Only the mirror, like a silent, giant eye, watched him coldly.

The surrounding air seemed to solidify into substance, cold and sharp. Every breath felt like inhaling countless invisible shards of glass, slicing through his lungs.

This first floor was far more bizarre and lethal than he had imagined.