Chapter 1014: Escape

Splash!

Water splashed up, and his figure was instantly devoured by the dark abyss.

The silver‑robed Nascent Soul Cultivator stood at the edge of the pier, watching the bubbling, then quickly calming, black water below, his brows faintly furrowing. His single finger, imbued with Starry Silence Power, could easily pierce a Golden Core Cultivator's protective aura and body.

He hadn't expected the opponent, even at that moment, to sacrifice both arms, forcibly divert the attack, and preserve the dantian. The faint starry power that surfaced at the final instant only bred more doubts in his mind.

"The breath of light mixed with starry power… interesting," he murmured. His cold gaze swept the dim water below, and his powerful divine thought, like invisible tentacles, instantly probed the water, spreading in all directions.

However, the waters beneath Starfall City were extremely complex, filled with chaotic spiritual fields, the scent of sea beasts, waste interference, and countless years of accumulated tangled energy. After Han Wuxian plunged into the water, he not only suppressed all his aura but also, using the surge of the current and the intricate terrain below—massive sunken ship wreckage, jagged reefs, dense kelp forests—moved like an injured fish, desperately diving toward deeper, more chaotic regions.

The icy salty water stung his wound, bringing a piercing pain and bone‑chilling cold; his arms hung uselessly at his sides. Each stroke relied on his waist and legs, each movement tugged at his whole body's injuries, causing his vision to blacken intermittently, sustained only by a stubborn will.

The silver‑robed Nascent Soul Cultivator's divine thought swept the water several times, like a massive searchlight, but Han Wuxian disguised himself as a drifting reef stone, sealing the last trace of his Light Dao aura deep within his body, leaving only a faint, near‑death life pulse mingled with the chaotic auras of countless bottom‑dwelling creatures. Coupled with the natural shielding of the complex environment, he truly managed to temporarily evade the terrifying divine‑thought scan of the Nascent Soul Cultivator!

After a few breaths, the silver‑robed Nascent Soul Cultivator withdrew his divine thought. He crossed his arms and stood at the pier's edge, his dark‑silver robe flowing with a cold sheen under the dim light.

"Severely wounded, near death, both arms useless, sinking into the 'Zanggu Sea Rift'… life hope dim," he coldly assessed. That water area was a notorious hazard of Starfall City, with treacherous currents, lurking beasts; not to mention a grievously injured Golden Core Cultivator, even a Nascent Soul Cultivator entering the core zone might not emerge unscathed.

His mission this time was to covertly eliminate the target bearing the strange "light" aura; since the target had already fallen into death, there was no need to waste more time.

His figure flickered, merging with the night, vanishing silently from the pier.

Cold, darkness, excruciating pain, suffocation… like countless venomous snakes coiling around Han Wuxian, dragging him toward the abyss of death.

He didn't know how deep he had descended, only feeling the water pressure increase, his eardrums buzzing. The wound at his waist burned painfully in the salty water, his arms were completely numb, and only the searing pain from the fractures, deep to the bone, constantly reminded him of the harsh reality.

"Can't… die…" Yan Xirou's resolute departing silhouette, the solemn gaze of the Lotus Fairy when entrusting the Star Map, flickered alternately in his near‑dissolving consciousness, like a faint candle in the darkness, sustaining the last thread of his survival instinct.

He clenched his teeth, using the last ounce of strength in his body, driving his legs to kick, laboriously approaching a shadowed corner formed by a massive sunken ship wreck. Here the current was relatively calm, and the huge hull framework temporarily blocked any possible detection from above.

He leaned against the cold, rust‑corroded deck, his body trembling violently from blood loss and cold. With great difficulty, using the fingers that could still move a little, he fumbled out several healing and spirit‑restoring pills from his satchel, shoving them into his mouth haphazardly, barely chewing before gulping them down with the salty seawater.

The medicine's effect unfolded, bringing a faint warm current that barely kept his dwindling life flame aloft.

He leaned against the ship's shadow, gasping heavily; each breath carried the scent of blood and a tearing pain. His consciousness, under the assault of excruciating pain, cold, and the medicine, flickered between clarity and haze.

In the darkness, he seemed to see those cold, black‑hole‑like eyes once more.

Nascent Soul Cultivator... Star Scar Guard... Ascendant Bright Sect...

This ambush made him fully recognize the cruelty of reality. Still severely wounded and weakened, even his struggle seemed futile before the Nascent Soul powerhouse; the opponent clearly targeted his Light Dao aura, acting ruthlessly and decisively, leaving no room.

"Old sea dog... beautiful woman..." the warning of that gaunt old man flashed in his mind, clouds of doubt gathering. Was this ambush linked to that warning? Or merely because he exposed himself?

The excruciating pain in his arms made cold sweat bead, nearly causing him to faint. He tried to summon a trace of spirit energy to probe the injuries, and his heart sank sharply. His arm bones suffered pulverizing fractures, and several major meridians were completely torn and shattered by that terrifying silver light! The severity far surpassed the secret realm battle against the venomous lizard dragon!

This almost meant that his arms would remain completely useless until he found a top‑grade spirit pill or a great being's cure!

His combat power, ten out of ten, reduced to seven or eight!

Despair, like icy seawater, drowned him again.

Yet amid this ultimate despair and pain, an even colder, more relentless flame ignited fiercely deep within his heart!

"Ascendant Bright Sect..." Han Wuxian's blood‑stained mouth corner, in the icy seawater, slowly twisted into an almost snarling curve.

In the depths of those eyes, dulled by pain and blood loss, burned a bone‑deep hatred and an almost mad resolve!

"This grudge... shall not go unavenged... I swear I will not become a man!"

He closed his eyes, forcing himself into the deepest turtle‑breath state, like a part of the sunken wreck, silently licking his wound in the cold, dark abyss, accumulating strength.

But what puzzled Han Wuxian was why, having just arrived in the Dongxing Sea Region, he was already being targeted.

Moreover, they dispatched such a formidable Nascent Soul Cultivator to snipe him; what had he done to provoke them?

"Surely it's still because of the Star Map the Lotus Fairy wants? It seems my power has something to do with that Star Map..."

Or perhaps... they cannot let me approach that Star Map, lest it cause some damage?

It appears the Star Map is of great significance, and even I, a mere Golden Core, am valued so highly; perhaps the Star Map is indeed a powerful treasure within the Ascendant Bright Sect.

With that thought, Han Wuxian conceived a plan.