Chapter 1013: Star Scar Guard

"Watch out for the Star Scar Guard."

Lao Haigou's words came from afar; before Han Wuxian left, he glanced back.

The damp, cold air of the anchorage still lingered at his nostrils, and Lao Haigou's warning, "Don't trust anyone, especially beautiful women," pierced Han Wuxian's heart like an ice spear.

The Rising Light Sect's Star Scar Guard has already cast a wide net; the "scent" marked on his body has become a death talisman. Time is tight, and he must quickly infiltrate the area near the Rising Light Sect headquarters to find more clues about the "precious treasure" and "traces of special power," which are likely linked to the star map entrusted by the Green Lotus Fairy and perhaps to Yan Xirou's situation.

He avoided the crowded main road and chose a relatively secluded boardwalk carved along a massive coral reef wall. This is a shortcut to the upper core area; the light is dimmer, with only phosphorescent moss embedded in the rock emitting a faint green glow, while below lies the city's bottom water, bottomless and roiling with dark currents. The air was thick with the salty stench of rotting seaweed and the damp chill of seepage from the rocks.

Just as he reached the middle of the boardwalk, at a natural cove where the rock wall recessed inward, a sudden anomaly erupted!

There was no omen, no murderous aura leaking, as if space itself had abruptly solidified!

A vast, abyss‑like, bone‑chilling terror pressure, like an invisible ten‑thousand‑foot ice mountain, crashed down from above without warning! The pressure, bearing the weight of falling stars and a will to crush everything, instantly locked onto Han Wuxian!

Puff!

Han Wuxian was struck as if by a heavy hammer; his already unhealed internal wounds were jolted, his throat turned sweet, and a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out. His body lurched forward uncontrollably, his knee slamming heavily onto the slick, icy boardwalk stone! A searing pain shot through his kneecap, as if it were about to shatter.

A Golden Core Cultivator confronting the chasm between himself and a Nascent Soul powerhouse displayed the gap vividly at this moment! The mere pressure added frost to his grievously wounded body, nearly stripping him of any power to resist!

"Hmph, little bug, you're at least alert." A cold, emotionless voice, like two slabs of ice grinding, sounded above Han Wuxian's head.

Han Wuxian struggled to lift his head, his pupils snapping shut.

Above the boardwalk, at the tip of the protruding massive coral reef, a figure stood silently, its arrival unknown. The person wore a dark silver robe embroidered with intricate star‑trail patterns in ultra‑fine silver thread, shimmering faintly in the dim light with a cold luster. He appeared roughly middle‑aged, his features unremarkable, but his eyes were as deep as a black hole that Devours all light—cold, indifferent, gazing down at Han Wuxian as if he were an insignificant ant.

Nascent Soul Cultivator! Moreover, an exceptionally skilled Nascent Soul cultivator at concealment and spatial confinement!

Han Wuxian's heart sank to the bottom of a valley. The opponent had clearly locked onto him long ago; choosing to strike here meant exploiting the seclusion and the natural barrier of deep water below, making it hard for distant patrols to notice any disturbance.

"Surrender the 'light' on your body." The silver‑robed Nascent Soul's voice was flat, yet carried an unquestionable command, "Or die."

Before the words finished, he hadn't even moved a finger, yet the terrifying pressure enveloping Han Wuxian suddenly intensified! The air moaned under the strain, and the stone boardwalk beneath his feet emitted faint cracking sounds! Han Wuxian felt every bone in his body wail, his organs clenched by an invisible giant hand, his breathing became extremely difficult, and darkness flickered before his eyes as if he would be crushed into a puddle of flesh any moment.

At the brink of life and death, a terrifying blood‑light erupted in Han Wuxian's eyes! His worry for Yan Xirou, his devotion to his mission, and the stubborn ferocity in his bones all ignited at that moment into a flame of survival that would burn everything.

Ha!

A beast‑like growl rumbled from his throat, and all the lingering spiritual energy inside surged at a frenzied speed, disregarding the excruciating tearing of his meridians! He did not employ the Golden Sun Burning Heaven Force, as that light would be too conspicuous, essentially exposing his identity! He poured all his power, together with the retaliatory force of the injury just suppressed, into his legs and lower back!

Bang!

The rock beneath him exploded with a bang! He was thrust backward like a spring at its limit, bursting through the gap in the Nascent Soul pressure at a speed beyond his own limits! His target: beyond the boardwalk, into the bottomless, dark, raging currents below!

It was a life‑or‑death gamble! The conditions of the water below were unknown—dark currents, pressure, lurking sea beasts—any could be fatal! Yet staying put guaranteed death!

"A dying struggle." A faint hint of surprise flickered in the silver‑robed Nascent Soul's eyes before turning into deeper cold. He hadn't expected this gravely wounded Golden Core "bug" to unleash such power under his pressure.

He still made no major move, merely pointing a finger casually toward the direction Han Wuxian was flung, as if at random.

Buzz!

A strand of silver starlight, honed to perfection and as fine as a hair, shot out silently! The light moved faster than the eye could track, as if piercing space itself, instantly catching up with Han Wuxian's soaring form, aiming straight for his dantian Qi Sea! It was meant to cripple his cultivation, cutting off any chance of resistance or escape!

The shadow of death had never been so clear!

During the backward flight, Han Wuxian's hair stood on end, his spiritual sense shrieked wildly! He had no time to think and could not dodge this strike that surpassed his realm's comprehension! It was pure combat instinct, forged by countless life‑or‑death battles, that drove his reaction!

He forced his body to twist mid‑air, crossing his arms—originally held before his chest—to meet the lethal silver beam! Simultaneously, the faint power in his dantian, a mark from the Green Lotus Fairy's star map, was recklessly drawn out a bit, not for attack but to form a barely visible, star‑trail‑tinged micro‑light shield on his arms!

Snort!

The silver light pierced the weak star‑micro‑light barrier without hindrance, then, like a red‑hot steel needle into rotten wood, easily pierced the arm bones of Han Wuxian's crossed defense!

Crack! Crack!

The crisp sound of bone cracking made his teeth ache!

"Ugh—ah!" Han Wuxian let out a maximally suppressed wail; his arms instantly went numb, and excruciating pain flooded him like a tide!

The terrifying power within that silver light not only pierced his arm bones but raged along his arm meridians, like countless cold steel needles stabbing and slicing him from within! He felt his arms, together with the shoulder meridians, tearing inch by inch!

A spray of fresh blood mixed with shredded organ fragments erupted!

Yet it was precisely that desperate block with his arms and the body's accelerated fall from the silver blast that narrowly spared his dantian's vital spot!

After the lethal silver light passed through his arms, its force waned, and it skimmed his side waist, leaving a deep, bone‑visible, charred wound of flesh!

The agony nearly knocked him out, but he bit his tongue hard, forcing a sliver of clarity to remain! Using the momentum of the silver impact and his fall, he plunged like a kite with its line cut, diving headfirst into the icy, bone‑chilling, pitch‑black sea below!