Chapter 1016

And that unique "Light Dao Stellar Power" they had been painstakingly tracking was faintly leaking from his chest, intermittent, as if it would vanish completely the next second.

"Both arms destroyed, meridians severed, dantian possibly cracked……injury extremely severe! These are traces left by the 'Silence Extinction Starlight'!" The squad captain's eyes flashed with realization, evidently recognizing the silver-robed Nascent Soul's method: "It seems Lord Ying has struck; the target narrowly avoided death but is utterly crippled."

"Captain, how should we handle this? Kill him on the spot, or…?" another Star Trace Guard asked.

"No!" the squad captain shook his head decisively, eyes gleaming: "Although Lord Ying judged his vitality slim, since he isn't dead yet and still retains this power… the superiors have ordered strictly to find any 'special power traces' related to the great treasure! This person possesses such pure and bizarre Light Dao Stellar Power, unprecedented! Bring him back! We must bring him back! Hand him over to the Lords of the Observatory Hall for personal examination! This could be a crucial clue!"

He waved his hand: "Be careful! Use the 'Spirit-Sealing Lock' to bind his residual spiritual energy pathways, then secure him with the 'Abyssal Cold Iron Chains'! Don't let him die, and don't let that bit of power dissipate completely! This thing… this person, is of utmost importance!"

"Yes!" several Star Trace Guards stepped forward, acting swiftly and cautiously. First they wrapped specially made black metal chains, covered in seal runes, around Han Wuxian's neck, waist, and intact legs; the chains instantly tightened, the runes lit up, completely sealing the residual, already feeble flow of spiritual energy within him.

Then, using even thicker dark-blue chains that emitted a piercing cold, they bound him tight like a zongzi, leaving only his head exposed.

The icy chains clung to his skin; the power of the Spirit-Sealing Lock made even that simulated "light" within him feel heavily suppressed, growing fainter and more erratic. Intense pain spread throughout his body, yet in his heart welled up an almost manic elation and icy resolve!

The plan……succeeded at the first step!

He lay like a true corpse, at the mercy of the Star Trace Guards. When he was thoroughly bound and hoisted onto a guard's shoulder like a sack of goods, beneath Han Wuxian's tightly shut eyelids, deep in his eyes, a flicker of dark light flashed.

He sensed the direction the Star Trace Guards were moving—not upward back to the city, but deeper into the core regions of Starfall City.

There, likely lay the direction of the Ascendant Bright Sect's headquarters, and also……the most likely location where the Star Sea Chart is kept!

"Ascendant Bright Sect……" Han Wuxian silently sneered in his heart, "You want to study the 'light' on me? Fine……then bring me along! Bring me to see just what that Star Sea Chart, which makes you so anxious and worth any sacrifice to guard, actually looks like!"

Icy, heavy chains imbued with piercing cold clung tightly to his body; the runes on another lock, like bone‑eating maggots, incessantly eroded and suppressed the feeble remnant of power flowing within him.

Every jolt brought tearing agony to his bones throughout his body, especially at the broken arms.

Han Wuxian kept his eyes shut, maintaining the pretense of near‑death, like a dying prey caught by a hunter, being carried on the guard's shoulder through the cold, dim, oppressive waters at great speed.

His sole remaining thread of divine sense, like the most sensitive antenna, cautiously probed the surroundings. The direction of the water flow, shifts in pressure, and the faint mental ripples emanating from the Star Trace Guards' silent communication all constructed a vague map in his mind.

They did not head back up to Starfall City's residential district, but continued descending into the city's deeper reaches, where spiritual energy was more visibly stagnant and ancient, infiltrating the core area.

Water pressure mounted, light nearly vanished, leaving only the faint cold glow from the Star Trace Guards' equipment to illuminate a small area ahead. Massive metal structures, resembling the skeletons of prehistoric beasts, loomed faintly in the darkness, their surfaces coated with thick glowing moss and unknown underwater vines.

The water flow became extraordinarily complex, undercurrents surging with strong suction or push; had the Star Trace Guards not been extremely familiar with this place, ordinary cultivators would have long been lost or buried within.

After an unknown span of time, the vista ahead suddenly opened up.

Not the water surface, but a vast, water‑free realm sealed off by an invisible force field!

The force field resembled an upturned giant bowl, enveloping a building complex so vast it was breath‑taking. Its architecture starkly differed from the marine style of Starfall City's upper levels; entirely constructed from black stone that glittered like stardust fragments, its edges sharp, lines cold and hard, exuding an ancient, solemn, even slightly barbaric oppressive atmosphere.

Massive stone pillars upheld a lofty dome; above the dome was not sky, but a formation projection of flowing deep starlight, as if a miniature universe were enclosed within. Here there was no sunlight, only the eternal stream of starlight and the faint cold glow emanating from the architecture itself, illuminating this space that had lain silent for untold ages.

The ancient stellar power emanating from this place produced an extremely faint yet genuine resonance with the star‑chart imprint left by the Immortal Qinghe within his body! It was as if a slumbering beast whispered.

The leading Star Trace Guard squad captain produced a peculiarly shaped dark‑silver token, flicking it toward the invisible force field ahead. Complex stellar runes on the token lit up, sending ripples across the point of contact with the field. A "door" just wide enough for a few to pass through opened silently. A gust of stellar aura—far purer and older than that of the external waters, yet also icier and more lethal—washed over them.

Passing through the field barrier, they set foot on solid ground.

The air was dry and icy, tinged with a metallic‑dust smell. Within the vast space reigned utter silence, save for the synchronized footsteps of the Star Trace Guards echoing clearly and oppressively in the emptiness.

Han Wuxian was set down, leaning against a cold massive pillar.

He "weakly" opened a slit of his eyes, his blurred vision sweeping over. The hall's interior space was astonishingly vast; at its center stood a huge circular platform composed of countless intricate runes, and in the middle of the platform seemed to be some device, shrouded by a thick energy light curtain, obscuring its true form.

Around him rose towering stone walls, etched with immense, incomprehensible star charts and profound symbols, exuding an ancient, mysterious aura. Some cultivators clad in deep‑blue robes embroidered with intricate stellar‑orbit patterns busied themselves in the distance—either deducing before the grand star chart or manipulating crystal‑laden complex devices.

Their auras were mostly restrained yet powerful, at least late Golden Core, with several obscure, deep‑seated breaths faintly exuding the pressure of Nascent Soul.