Chapter 1030

The icy lake water pressed his whole body like a heavy lead block, while the muffled roar of the current and the distant energy explosions from the battle between a Nascent Soul Cultivator and a primeval beast rang in his ears.

Han Wuxian, carrying Yun Li, struggled like a fish fighting in a stormy sea, exerting all his strength to swim toward the lone source of light—the Star Axis altar at the lake's center.

At the altar's apex, a palm‑sized fragment of the Star Axis that radiated pure, dazzling starlight shone like a lighthouse in the night, emitting an irresistible pull. The nearer they came, the stronger the resonance of the Blue Lotus Fairy's star‑map seal on Han Wuxian's chest became, and a warm, familiar aura wrapped around him, temporarily offsetting some of the deep‑water pressure and cold.

Yun Li, even more excited, trembled slightly, staring fixedly at the fragment, her eyes filled with incredulous excitement and an almost pilgrim‑like glow.

At last, the two clumsily landed on the cold black star‑stone platform. Freed from the lake, the crushing water pressure vanished, yet the intense suffocation and bone‑deep chill still persisted.

Han Wuxian gently set Yun Li down and collapsed onto the icy stone, panting violently. He looked down at his arms; the fissures in his bones, sealed earlier by purple vine sap during the deep‑water crawl and the desperate escape, now oozed pale‑golden blood droplets that quickly solidified in the cold.

Yun Li's condition was slightly better; the medicinal potency of the Star‑Radiance Moon‑Dew fruit continued to mend her wounds, and most of the Corrupt Star plague on her shoulder had been cleared, though she remained pale from severe blood loss and massive spirit‑energy consumption.

She struggled to sit up, her gaze never leaving the fragment atop the altar, her voice trembling with overwhelming excitement:

"It really is it… the fragment of the Star Axis core! Legend says… it's the cornerstone for building the Star Dome Bridge! It somehow fell here… No wonder… the continent's stellar power is so dense and ancient…"

"Star Dome Bridge? Cornerstone?" Han Wuxian gasped, the name sounding far from trivial.

"It's… " Yun Li began to explain, but her complexion changed sharply. "Bad! They're coming!"

Boom!

A deep, muffled crash and a beast's pained roar echoed from the distant lake, followed by two ragged yet still aura‑radiant dark‑silver figures that burst through the water like shattered arrows, crashing onto the platform's edge!

They were the two early‑stage Nascent Soul Star Scar Sentinels! Their robes were torn, their auras a bit chaotic, clearly paying the price of their clash with the Azure Water Mystic Armor Crocodile Turtle, yet their murderous intent and greed burned even hotter!

"Star Axis fragment! Ha! No shoe can tread where it's hidden!" the Star Scar Sentinel clutching a compass shouted ecstatically, his compass's starlight needle frantically jumping to point at the fragment! He completely ignored Han Wuxian and Yun Li, as if the fragment were already in his grasp.

The other Star Scar Sentinel fixed a cold gaze on Han Wuxian and Yun Li, a cruel smile curling his lips: "Two more eyesores to clean up!" He gathered a highly compressed, destruction‑pulsing silver star‑light sphere in his hand!

"Block them! We must not let them defile the Star Axis fragment!" Yun Li's eyes flared with resolve; disregarding her injuries, she forced the remaining stellar power within her body, rapidly forming seals on her chest!

Azure star‑light runes coalesced before her, attempting to construct a barrier.

Han Wuxian's eyes turned ice‑cold to the extreme. His arms were still gravely wounded, spirit energy depleted, and facing two damaged yet still Nascent Soul foes meant a fight would only end in death! He scanned the softly pulling Star Axis fragment atop the altar, then glanced at the ancient, seemingly altar‑connected broken runes along the platform's edge.

An extremely bold, even reckless, thought flashed through his mind!

"Yun Li! Don't block them! Attack the broken rune node at the altar's edge!" Han Wuxian roared hoarsely, while he himself mustered his remaining strength and lunged toward a similarly cracked, energy‑transmission‑like depression on the opposite side of the altar! He was not attacking, but pouring every ounce of his lingering power into it.

The remnants of Golden Sun Blaze, the spirit energy gathered from the Turtle Breath Technique, even the faint star‑glow deep within his newly formed arm bones.

Like a gambler staking everything, he poured it into that hollow node!

"You're courting death!" the Star Scar Sentinel wielding the star‑light sphere shouted, assuming Han Wuxian intended to destroy the altar; he hurled the destructive sphere, which became a silver beam that ripped through space, blasting straight at Han Wuxian! The other Sentinel, without hesitation, lunged at Yun Li, his five fingers like hooks, bearing icy stellar rays, reaching for her vital points!

Though Yun Li did not understand, she trusted Han Wuxian's decisive action in the dire moment. She instantly altered her hand seal, shaping the gathered azure star‑light runes into a fierce beam that precisely struck the broken rune node Han Wuxian had indicated on the altar's edge!

Boom! Boom!

Two massive booms erupted almost simultaneously!

The Star Scar Sentinel's destructive star‑light sphere slammed into the altar area where Han Wuxian stood! The raging energy exploded instantly, scattering shards of stone mixed with star‑light crystals! Han Wuxian's silhouette was engulfed by dazzling silver light!

Meanwhile, Yun Li's azure star‑light precisely hit the broken rune node!

Buzz!!!

The ancient stellar altar, struck by the twin forces, seemed to awaken like a giant roused from slumber, emitting a groan of overload! The runes that had lain dormant for countless millennia flared up! The light was chaotic and ferocious, no longer pure azure or silver‑white, but an extremely unstable, supernova‑like blinding white blaze!

At the altar's apex, the hovering Star Axis fragment quivered violently, unleashing unprecedented brilliance! A chaotic, violent spatial wave, as if intent on tearing everything apart, erupted from the fragment as its center!

"Bad! Spatial turbulence! Retreat!" the Star Scar Sentinel holding the compass shouted, his face turning pale as he screamed in terror! He sensed a lethal threat!

But it was too late!

Boom—boom—boom—!!!

The entire lake‑center platform seemed seized and twisted by an invisible giant hand!

Space, like a shattered mirror, instantly filled with countless black fissures! The raging spatial turbulence surged like billions of invisible blades from the cracks, frantically slicing everything within its range!

Those two Star Scar Sentinels were the first to be hit! They terrifiedly raised protective spirit‑light shields, trying to fend off the turbulence, but before a force capable of ripping a Nascent Soul Cultivator's body apart, they were as fragile as paper!

"No!" A mournful scream abruptly ceased! Their protective spirit‑lights shattered instantly, their bodies engulfed, torn, and disintegrated by the raging spatial turbulence, turning into two clouds of blood mist; even their Nascent Souls could not escape, vanishing in an instant!

And Han Wuxian and Yun Li, standing at the edge of the explosion's core, were likewise struck by the world‑shattering spatial storm!

At the moment the destructive star‑light sphere detonated, Han Wuxian felt his entire body hammered by countless hammers, the sound of bones cracking clear, especially his already fragile arms, the excruciating pain darkening his vision.

Immediately after, the violent spatial turbulence, like a cold steel blade, ripped through his protective spirit‑light and tattered clothing, leaving countless deep, bone‑visible wounds! Blood spouted like a fountain! He felt himself being torn apart completely!

"It's over…" The desperate thought rose.

Buzz!

The star‑map seal of the Blue Lotus Fairy on his chest, together with the tiny Star Axis fragment on Yun Li's body, when they came into contact with this chaotic yet same‑origin spatial fluctuation, simultaneously erupted with an unprecedented, fiercely protective radiance!

The two lights instantly intertwined and merged, forming a relatively stable, deep‑blue cocoon swirling with mysterious stellar trajectories, just enough to envelop the two.

Boom!

The spatial storm erupted fully! The entire lake‑center platform, amid blinding white light and deafening booms, was shredded, disintegrated, and finally devoured completely by the raging spatial turbulence!