84: Chapter 84 I don't worship gods, I only respect the living.

The roar of the earth fire gradually faded in Chen Fan's ears. He looked at the suspended earth core flame marrow, its crimson halo dyeing the surrounding walls as if soaked in blood.

Those semi-transparent shadows still floated among the rock crevices, their fingertips vaguely grasping for the flame marrow, emitting fragmented murmurs from their throats, like pieces of paper scattered by the wind—they were the last lingering obsessions of the New Players sealed away.

"If anyone can break the cycle... ask for me... Does it hurt?"

Stone Throat's voice suddenly echoed from the depths of the earth vein, carrying the grating sound of rubbing minerals, causing the hairs on the back of Chen Fan's neck to stand on end.

He recalled the look of relief on Crimson Nightmare's face before he turned to ash, and remembered the boy whose eye corners still held undried ash when he said, "See the Teahouse in the spring for me."

At this moment, that single question, "Does it hurt?" pierced his heart like a fine needle—it turned out that the fire that had burned for three hundred years never consumed hatred; it only wanted to ask if being crushed by the System, devoured by the rules, and used as fuel truly hurt or not?

"Damn it." Chen Fan cursed under his breath and raised his hand to grab the flame marrow.

The scorching energy surged into his meridians through his palm, but unexpectedly, it was wrapped in a thread of coolness, like the iced mung bean soup a fellow worker gave him on a scorching summer day at the construction site.

When the System notification exploded across his retina, he almost laughed out loud: [Fusion with earth core flame marrow complete. Unlocked 'Bloodline Resonance Prediction': Can designate critical hit additional attributes (Cooldown: 30 minutes)].

It turned out the feeling of 'commanding' a critical hit before wasn't an illusion; now he could precisely control the attributes added by a critical hit, just as he could calculate the exact stress point of every brick when moving them.

"A'Shuang." He looked down at Su Shuang in his arms.

Her Fox Fire had diminished to the size of a bean, a faint blue light flickering in his palm, like a candle that could be extinguished by the wind at any moment.

Chen Fan placed his fingertip against her heart and separated a thread of flame marrow energy.

Su Shuang's eyelashes trembled, fluttering like a butterfly about to take flight. When she opened her eyes again, the red mole at the corner of her eye was blurred by tears. "He didn't cry out in pain, even at the end..."

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed.

He recalled Crimson Nightmare kneeling by the earth fire, his flame robe shed into fragments, revealing a chest as white as stiff cotton wadding in the snow—that was the pallor left after the System had drained all his heat.

"So from now on," he tightened his embrace, pulling Su Shuang closer, "if anyone uses 'sacrifice' as an excuse again, I'll punch them awake first."

Before his words could fade, a man wearing a gray cloth short jacket walked out of the shadows.

He had a scorched scar on his right cheek, running from his brow bone to his jaw, but his left eye was astonishingly bright, like steel quenched in fire: "Brother Chen." He handed over a palm-sized fire stele, its surface covered in densely packed names. "This is the names of all the rebels over the past three hundred years.

I cannot leave, but please—take the kindling out."

The moment Chen Fan took the fire stele, his fingertip brushed against the residual warmth in the carved lines.

Was it blood?

Was it fire?

It was the traces carved during countless late nights, traces that refused to be erased by the System. "Blue Ash?" He suddenly remembered the old subordinate Crimson Nightmare had mentioned. "You..."

"Go!" Blue Ash roared, drawing the fire starter from his waist in return.

His gray cloth jacket instantly erupted in fierce flames, and his entire body transformed into a human torch.

The fire stele burned in his palm, but it wasn't ash; it was a cluster of faint blue flames, licking the names on the stele like living things.

Chen Fan retreated two steps, watching Blue Ash's figure fade in the fire, until only his laughter, wrapped in flames, remained: "See the Teahouse in the spring for me..."

The earth vein suddenly shook violently, and Chen Fan stumbled against the rock wall.

The Molten Heart Eye above his head opened for the third time, golden light pouring down like a waterfall, casting an image in the void—it was a city composed of bronze behemoth towers, countless life books emitting a faint green glow flying between the towers, each book filled with names.

On the central high platform, The Fate Official wearing a bronze mask dipped his brush in cinnabar and heavily struck a certain name.

Chen Fan squinted, clearly seeing the name was "Wang Iron Pillar," the Henan co-worker he met at the construction site last month who said he was saving money to buy a piano for his daughter.

The scene flashed and changed to two life books displayed side-by-side.

Chen Fan's name was on the left, Su Shuang's on the right, with "Star Speaker Resonance Body, Priority Elimination" written next to them in scarlet cinnabar.

"So you're even afraid of names." Chen Fan clenched the flame marrow, his knuckles turning white.

The System's whisper sounded at the right moment; this time it wasn't a mechanical voice, but sounded like someone laughing right next to his ear: [They delete history, you preserve the kindling—that is the true critical hit].

"Hold tight." He picked up Su Shuang onto his back and ran toward the depths of the passage.

The rocks above began to fall rustlingly, and he could hear the roar of rock layers fracturing behind him.

Now every step had to be precisely calculated: Su Shuang's breathing was three long and one short, corresponding to the rhythm of her Fox Demon bloodline; the falling rocks were located two meters above and to the left, requiring Frost Devour to freeze them; a jet of earth fire was about to erupt from the rock crevice on the right, requiring Flame Burst to blast it open in advance.

"Strength in the waist, power in the shoulder." He silently recited the mantra taught by the old master at the construction site, condensing frost energy in his right fist and striking the exact stress point of the falling rock.

Ice crystals climbed along the rock's grain, freezing the half-man-high stone block into an ice sculpture, which shattered into dust with a 'crack'.

His left fist, wrapped in Flame Burst, blasted towards the rock crevice on the right. The moment the earth fire erupted, he rolled on the ground with Su Shuang, avoiding the scorching air wave.

The daylight at the end of the passage grew brighter and brighter.

Chen Fan counted his steps: ten steps left, nine, eight... He raised the flame marrow above his head and roared, "[Flame Burst: Heaven Split]!"

The instant the crimson light exploded, the wind of the snowfield rushed into the passage along with snowflakes.

Chen Fan squinted and looked up, seeing the blazing sun piercing through the clouds, casting their two shadows long on the ground.

He erected Blue Ash's fire stele next to the entrance of the earth fire. The faint blue flame was exceptionally conspicuous in the snow, like a star refusing to be extinguished.

"Where to next?" Su Shuang leaned on his shoulder, her breathing finally stabilizing somewhat.

Her Fox Fire lit up again, this time a warm golden color, like a lantern in the Teahouse.

Chen Fan looked at the Starlight Tower faintly visible in the distance, a row of white teeth showing as his lips curled: "Go find the Star Speaker hidden in the layers of the life books—my critical hit specializes in curing 'being forgotten'."

The wind of the snowfield swirled the ashes, and the flame on the kindling stele flickered.

Deep underground, the Molten Heart Eye quietly opened a sliver, blood-red light reflecting on the rock wall, slowly revealing three words: [Luo Yan · Awake].