Chapter 1010: Starfall City

Several silver-white talismans flew from the ship, sinking into the filthy seawater, emitting a soft purifying light that began to dispel the impurity in the dread ao's blood.

At the same time, a cultivator controlling a puppet carefully collected fragments of the dread ao's shattered bone armor and some relatively 'clean' tissue samples.

Han Wuxian lay motionless in the shadow of a reef like a true corpse, the icy seawater striking his mangled wound, bringing piercing pain, yet he dared not even frown.

He could clearly hear the cultivators' conversation on the ship, sense their vigorous aura (mostly late Foundation Establishment to early Golden Core), and feel the ship's own precise star-energy fluctuations.

Time seemed to freeze. Each second felt as long as a century. The Rising Bright Sect cultivators' cleanup and sampling proceeded in an orderly manner.

Han Wuxian's mind, however, sank entirely into his body; like the most precise artisan, he guided that faint platinum light, carefully repairing the most lethal meridian rupture points and nourishing the verge-of-shattering golden core shell. That strand of life essence from the dread ao, like a top-tier life-prolonging elixir, though scant, had astonishing effect, clinging to his last breath and slowly repairing him.

Finally, about half an hour later.

"Sample collection complete, sea region preliminarily purified! Return to port! Send the situation and samples back to the sect at once!" the leader ordered.

Three Rising Bright Sect patrol ships turned their bows, engines emitting a low rumble, cutting through the waves, and swiftly vanished at the end of the emerald-green horizon.

Only when the ship's outline completely disappeared and its engine sound was drowned by the waves did Han Wuxian's nerves, stretched to the limit, finally snap loose.

"Pfft!" Another large mouthful of congealed blood mixed with organ fragments spurted out, staining the reef beneath him red. The violent relaxation instead triggered a worse injury; excruciating pain like a tide engulfed him again, and his vision darkened in waves.

But he knew he was temporarily safe.

He struggled, using every scrap of strength he had just regained, and took several top-grade healing pills from his storage ring—imperial secret medicine granted by the Baocheng Emperor, and others he had obtained adventuring in a secret realm.

Without worrying about possible medicinal conflict, he shoved them all into his mouth. The pills melted on contact, turning into several streams of scorching warmth that rushed into his depleted meridians, merging with the platinum light deep in his golden core and the dread ao's life essence, and began to repair his broken body more fiercely.

"The Rising Bright Sect… indeed they have come…" Han Wuxian lay on the cold reef, gazing at the leaden sky, his eyes icy and solemn. This encounter gave him the most direct understanding of that colossal power.

The organization is strict, its actions efficient, extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations, and… unusually attentive to 'purifying power' and 'star power'!

This undoubtedly confirms the Baocheng Emperor's intelligence—the Star Sea Map is very likely in the Rising Bright Sect!

But this also means his upcoming actions will be harder and more dangerous! With this severely wounded body, if discovered, there is absolutely no chance of survival!

"I must… recover as soon as possible…" Han Wuxian closed his eyes, fully guiding the medicinal power, platinum light, and life essence, racing against time to outrun death.

The shattered golden core slowly healed, its cracks filled with newly born platinum light, even faintly revealing a hint of more convergent, deeper starlight. The wounds on his arms began to scab, and the caved-in chest, supported by strong vitality, gradually returned to place. Though still far from full recovery, the mortal danger was being dispelled bit by bit.

The icy sea breeze, carrying a salty fishy smell and a faint whiff of sulfur, brushed Han Wuxian's slightly pale face. He stood on a reef washed black and glossy by the waves, gazing afar at the gradually clarifying massive outline on the distant horizon.

This is a peculiar city built upon several huge, seemingly sky‑fallen black meteorite islands.

The islands themselves are rugged and steep, like the spine of a giant beast; their black rock glints with a metallic, cold hardness under the overcast sky. The city clings to the mountains, layered upon layered, with various styles of architecture twining like vines through the meteorite islands' crevices and cliffs, filled with roughness, wildness, and a sense of chaos forcibly bound.

The towering walls are not brick or stone but the islands' naturally steep cliffs, slightly carved, covered with overlapping old and new defensive runes and energy cannon muzzles. Several huge towers, glittering with starlight, stand on the highest peaks, their beams piercing the thin mist to guide ships entering and leaving the harbor.

Here lies the edge of the Dongxing Sea Region, near the Boundless Sea, nominally under the jurisdiction of the Rising Bright Sect but in fact a notorious chaotic city where dragons and snakes mingle, lawless—Starfall City. It is also Han Wuxian's first stop for healing his wounds, gathering information, and seeking a way into the core area of the Rising Bright Sect.

After days of nonstop, all‑out healing on the isolated reef, relying on the top‑grade pills granted by the Baocheng Emperor, his own potent light‑dao origin purification and repair ability, and that strand of pure life essence from the abyssal dread ao, Han Wuxian finally managed to temporarily suppress his most lethal injuries.

The shattered golden‑core shell was barely held together by newly born platinum light woven with star patterns; the cracks remained clearly visible, but the light at its core had stabilized considerably, no longer like a guttering candle in the wind. The wounds on his arms had scabbed and fallen off, leaving tender new flesh and crisscrossing scars, his strength restored to about sixty‑seventy percent.

The caved‑in chest had largely returned to place, and the fractured ribs, driven by immense vitality, had begun to heal; although exertion still caused a faint ache, it no longer hindered movement.

The greatest hidden danger lies within. Though the meridians are reconnected, they are like a patched‑up old pipe; when circulating spiritual power they still transmit sluggishness and faint pain. The loss of soul‑spirit is hard to make up in a short time, and the starlight in his sea of consciousness has also dimmed considerably.

At present his strength barely maintains the level of early Golden Core; he cannot endure prolonged combat, nor can he again unleash an over‑limit killing move like 'Light Punishment‑Star Fall'.

But time waits for no one. The Rising Bright Sect's people have already appeared in the Boundless Sea, and news of the 'mysterious purifying power that slew the dread ao' is likely already spreading. He must act quickly!

He gathered all his aura, fully internalizing the faint halo of purification and star quality on his surface, then changed into a common dark‑blue water‑resistant outfit suited for movement in the Dongxing Sea Region, applied some simple disguise to conceal his striking appearance and the unique light‑dao sharpness in his brows, making himself look like a dust‑weary adventurer with a bit of cultivation.