94: Chapter 94 My fire needs to be suppressed by water.

The bronze monument cracked amidst a roar. Chen Fan stared at the face beneath The Fate Official's mask, a face that resembled his own by seventy percent. The roar of blood in his ears nearly drowned out the system's alarm.

The eyes, whose outer corners were similarly flushed red, held no emotion, only a kind of mechanical emptiness, like a mirror reflecting himself—until flames wrapped around the charred fragments of the book of fate and rushed toward him, instantly turning that face into ash.

"Cough!" Chen Fan staggered back, his back hitting the tower wall where the plaster was peeling.

The critical hit system vibrated violently deep within his sea of consciousness. The metallic grinding alert sound made his temples throb: [Warning: Nine consecutive critical hits have triggered an energy overload. Remaining safe critical hit count: 2 times. The third critical hit will cause spontaneous combustion, survival probability assessment < 3%]

He looked down. The broken fate紋 on his knuckles was still scorching hot, like a red-hot iron branding his skin.

Luo Yan's whisper suddenly sounded in his mind, carrying the faint, crisp sound of shattering stardust: "Fire comes from the earth's core; it must go toward the ocean's heart. The ice cocoon in your arms cannot withstand the heat of the earth core flame marrow. If you delay for another half an hour, Su Shuang's meridians will be roasted into charcoal."

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed twice.

He spun around abruptly and rushed toward the side of the tower, where the cocoon he had frozen with ice spellcraft before leaving was located—Su Shuang lay inside, her face pale as frost, tiny ice crystals adhering to the corners of her lips. Her fingertips still held the posture of writing a Star Language spell, not letting go even in unconsciousness.

"Silly woman," Chen Fan squatted down, placing his palm over the ice cocoon.

White mist immediately condensed on the ice surface. He could feel her pulse through the ice layer on her wrist, beating like a dying butterfly.

He gritted his teeth and tore off a piece of his blood-stained clothes. He wrapped the flame marrow he had retrieved from the Blue Ash Fire Tablet three layers thick and tucked it close to his chest.

The heat of the flame marrow burned his heart through the fabric, like a fire ready to explode at any moment.

"There is a cold dew spring eye beneath the Labyrinthine Bell in the underwater palace," Luo Yan's voice suddenly became clearer. "But that area is occupied by the Deep Sea Cult and the remnants of the Flame Prison Court. The Tide Mother wants the bell, and you want the cold dew; you each get what you need—but you cannot make a move now."

"Cannot make a move?" Chen Fan pulled up the strap of the ice cocoon, settling Su Shuang securely on his back.

The coldness of the ice cocoon seeped through his clothes into his back, creating an ice-fire pincer attack with the flame marrow at his heart, which surprisingly made his mind clearer. "The third critical hit causes spontaneous combustion, is that it?"

"Yes," Luo Yan paused for half a second. "So you must let the fire be suppressed as it burns."

Chen Fan looked toward the horizon outside the tower.

In the twilight, the sea surface reflected a lead-gray light. In the distance, the rift valley looked like a ferocious wound leading straight to the seabed.

He took a deep breath, carrying the ice cocoon, and stepped into the rift valley.

With every step he took, the system vibrated lightly on his wrist, like a ticking countdown clock—the next critical hit would be the third one.

The end of the rift valley was a sunken water palace.

On the giant door entwined with coral, the characters for 'Guixu' were blurred by seawater erosion. The Iron Gill guarding the gate was confronting two remnants of the Flame Prison Court.

The metal gill-plates of the modified player opened and closed like blades, emitting a gurgling, threatening sound from his throat. His left hand made a gesture for 'gouging out an eye,' but his right hand was quietly reaching for the trident at his waist.

Chen Fan crouched down against the rock wall.

He could see the scorched flame patterns imprinted on the breastplates of the two Flame Prison Court members—they were the survivors whose lair he had cleared out in the Golden Dungeon a while ago.

The Iron Gill suddenly turned its head. Its turbid eyeballs swept over Chen Fan's hiding spot. Its metal gill-plates paused, then it raised a hand and made the gesture for 'three,' pointing toward the underwater bell tower.

"The cold dew can be obtained beyond the triple water curtain," Luo Yan's voice sounded at the appropriate moment.

Chen Fan understood immediately.

He used the seaweed stirred up by the undertow for cover and sneaked in through the coral gaps on the water palace dome.

The interior of the palace was like a crystal labyrinth. Vortices were hidden in the slowly flowing seawater, hitting his calves like invisible hands pulling him.

The system suddenly vibrated: [Detecting high concentration of water element, activating 'Energy Discharge Preparation': If overload occurs, the accumulated flame energy can be vented into the cold pool]

His eyes lit up.

He deliberately paused when passing a remnant of a volcano.

The first punch, [Flame Burst], was unleashed. Scarlet-gold flames wrapped around gravel and smashed toward the stone pillar on the right—[Critical Hit Triggered (2.3x)], the pillar broke instantly, and the resulting splash from the gravel caused the coral overhead to tremble violently.

The second punch, [Frost Devour], followed up. Ice cones wrapped in cold air stabbed into the rock wall on the left—[Second Critical Hit (2.7x)], freezing seawater bloomed into blue-white ice flowers on the rock wall.

He held the third punch accumulated in his palm, watching the system's red light shift from light red to blood-red.

Just as the prompt [Overload Reached, Next Critical Hit Will Cause Spontaneous Combustion] sounded, he suddenly retracted his power and leaped like an arrow loosed from a bow into the cold pool in the side hall.

"Boom!"

The steam from the clash of water and fire exploded with a roar, causing the entire water palace to tremble violently.

Chen Fan opened his eyes at the bottom of the pool. He saw the flame energy surging beneath his skin being gradually devoured by the water element of the cold pool, like a fire doused with water—crackling, but no longer surging upward.

He wiped the water from his face. When he surfaced, the steam had already broken through the triple water curtain, revealing the bronze Labyrinthine Bell suspended in the center.

In the spring eye beneath the bell, azure cold dew was gushing out.

"When the Labyrinthine Bell rings, the Eye of Deep Slumber awakens," the Iron Gill appeared beside the bell at some unknown time. Water dripped from its metal gill-plates, and its gesturing speed was twice as fast as before. "The Tide Mother wants the bell, and you want the Dew—now, how do you plan to trade with me?"

Chen Fan wiped the water droplets from his face and sneered, "I'll trade my life for it." He stared at the cold dew in the spring eye and suddenly noticed a silver glint in the water's reflection.

When he looked up, the system's alarm tore through his sea of consciousness again: [Detecting high-level water-attribute sealing technique—Tidal Barrier Activated]

He looked in the direction indicated by the system prompt.

The water curtain had silently closed again. At the very top of the bell tower stood a silver-haired figure.

Silver hair like seaweed drifted in the current. A slight sway of a fish tail stirred up fragmented light, and the Tide Sound Bell in its hand was slowly shaking, emitting a clear, resonant hum.

Chen Fan's pupils contracted slightly.

He could feel that the figure's gaze was piercing through the water curtain, landing precisely on the ice cocoon in his arms.