Chapter 1029

The lakeside is within arm's reach! The calm lake water shimmered with a faint blue glow under the moonlight. But Han Wuxian's sense of alarm rose to its peak! He clearly felt that deep in the lake's center, a terrifying, ferocious aura brimming with endless greed was awakening! Like a primordial beast roused by the scent of blood!

It was the Azure Water Mystic Armor Crocodile Turtle! It was drawn again by the battle fluctuations here and the pure stellar aura emanating from Han Wuxian and Yun Li!

Roar!!!

A roar more violent and famished than before erupted like thunder from flat ground, blasting from the lake's center! The calm lake surface instantly churned into towering waves! A massive, breath‑taking dark‑green carapace loomed faintly in the spray, its dark‑gold giant eyes like two icy blood moons, instantly locking onto Han Wuxian sprinting along the shore and Yun Li on his back!

Behind them, Nascent Soul cultivators pursued; ahead lay the primordial beast!

No way up to heaven, no door down to earth!

"Jump into the lake!" Han Wuxian hoarsely shouted at Yun Li on his back! This was the sole, and also final, path to life! Betting that the stellar undulations deep in the lake's center would disrupt the pursuit, betting that the beast underwater might instead be wary of their stellar marks!

Yun Li hesitated not at all, her arms tightly encircling Han Wuxian!

Han Wuxian kicked off hard, carrying Yun Li, like a moth rushing into flame, he leapt toward the icy lake water surging with huge waves and exuding the beast's stench!

Plunk!

Water sprayed everywhere! Their figures were instantly swallowed by the deep lake!

The icy, bone‑piercing lake water instantly enveloped his whole body! Tremendous pressure surged from all directions! Han Wuxian endured the suffocating discomfort, relying on the turtle‑breath technique, he held his breath tight, legs kicking desperately as he dove toward the lake's depths where the stellar undulations came from! Yun Li also circulated her cultivation method, pressing close to him.

"Chase! They can't get away!" Two Star‑Trace Guards rushed to the lakeside, seeing the churning water and the terrifying turtle shadow in the lake's center, their faces grim. The guard holding the compass looked down; the starlight representing the Star Hub fragment on the dial had indeed become extremely faint and chaotic, severely disrupted by the powerful stellar field at the lake's heart!

"Get in the water! That beast might not dare to move against our Ascending Bright Sect people!" Another Star‑Trace Guard's eyes turned icy; without hesitation he plunged into the lake! The other followed close behind!

Under the icy lake, light quickly dimmed. Han Wuxian, guided by the resonance of his star‑chart imprint, like the sole beacon in darkness, desperately dove. Not far behind, two powerful auras belonging to Nascent Soul cultivators clung like bone‑eating maggots, relentlessly pursuing! Once in the water, their speed increased, like two silver arrow‑fish!

Even more terrifying lay ahead!

Boom—rumble!

Waves surged violently! A massive, sky‑obscuring black shadow, emanating an aura that would destroy everything, came charging at them! It was none other than the Azure Water Mystic Armor Crocodile Turtle, thoroughly enraged! Its dark‑gold eyes brimmed with ferocity and greed, opening a maw like an abyss, seeking to Devour the two alluring little bugs together with the lake water!

Ahead, the beast Devours; behind, Nascent Soul cultivators pursue to kill!

The desperation underwater surpassed that on shore!

Han Wuxian's heart nearly leapt from his chest; a flicker of madness crossed his eyes. He violently poured all remaining Golden Yang Scorching Heaven Force within him, together with the resonance power of the Azure Lotus Fairy's star‑chart imprint, into his legs without reserve!

Go!

His legs burst with blinding golden light, like an ignited rocket underwater, propelling the two at inconceivable speed, barely scraping the edge of the crocodile turtle's fang‑filled maw as they shot toward the deeper, darker abyss of the lake's center!

The crocodile turtle snapped at empty air; the violent surge hurled Han Wuxian and Yun Li tumbling outward! It grew even more enraged, its massive head and claws thrashing wildly in the water, whipping up terrifying turbulence!

The two Star‑Trace Guards who had followed into the water were also thrown off balance by the sudden beast attack and violent current! They had to divert energy to resist the crocodile turtle's assault and the surge, and their speed instantly dropped.

"Damn beast! Get lost!" a Star‑Trace Guard roared, swinging his hand to launch a condensed bolt of starlight that slammed into the crocodile turtle's eyes!

That strike utterly kicked a hornet's nest!

The Azure Water Mystic Armor Crocodile Turtle was enraged! It abandoned chasing Han Wuxian and Yun Li, its massive body suddenly turning, its dark‑gold eyes locking firmly onto the two "little bugs" daring to attack it! A more terrifying, more ferocious primordial aura burst forth!

Roar!!!

The silent roar beneath the water transformed into a terrifying energy shockwave!

A melee between Nascent Soul cultivators and the primordial beast underwater erupted instantly!

Chaos! Violent currents! Blinding energy light!

Han Wuxian seized this once‑in‑a‑thousand‑years chaos, gritting his teeth against the searing pain of his viscera battered by the current, carrying Yun Li like an injured fish, he desperately dove toward the lake's center where the stellar undulations grew ever clearer and stronger!

Light grew dimmer, pressure greater. All around was dead silence, save for the icy feel of water sliding past his body and the distant muffled thuds of energy collisions.

Finally!

At a depth nearing his limit, Han Wuxian saw!

At the lake's deepest point, it was not silt but a vast, level expanse constructed of some unknown black stellar stone… an ancient platform!

At the platform's center stood a severely damaged, tall altar made of the same material! Its summit bore no deity statue, but hovered a palm‑sized fragment that emitted incomparably brilliant, pure stellar light… an irregular shard!

That light was soft yet vast, as if containing the secret of stellar birth! It illuminated the icy waters around the platform, forming a hazy luminous domain. It was precisely the undulations it emitted that interfered with the pursuit and also attracted the crocodile turtle to linger here long term!

"Star Hub… fragment?!" Yun Li on Han Wuxian's back cried out in disbelief, her voice trembling with excitement, "How… how could it be here?!"

And the Azure Lotus Fairy's star‑chart imprint on Han Wuxian's chest, upon contacting the fragment's light, resonated to an unprecedented peak! A warm, familiar aura faintly emanated from the shard, echoing in harmony with the imprint!

At the same time, an indescribable pulling force emanated from the altar's fragment, as if summoning them to draw near!

Han Wuxian's eyes flashed with sharp light!

He hesitated no longer, carrying Yun Li, he strove to swim toward the center of the stellar altar!