Chapter 1037: The Gate of Return to the Ruins Opens

Finally, they arrived before the ruins of the tallest palace. The palace had long collapsed more than half, leaving only a few broken giant pillars, covered in sword and axe marks, supporting part of the dome. The broken stone walls were covered with indistinct ancient murals and inscriptions, recording a long-lost history.

At the very center of the palace stood an altar constructed from some kind of black crystal, relatively intact; Han Wuxian and Yun Li both halted, their pupils constricting!

Upon the altar, instead of an enshrined deity, floated……another Star Pivot Fragment!

This fragment is slightly larger than the one on Yun Li's body, its shape also somewhat different; its whole body is a deep azure, as if a galaxy flows within, emitting a gentle yet vast fluctuation of stellar power. It resonates strongly with the fragment on Yun Li's body.

What shocked them even more was that, beneath this azure fragment, on the altar's base, was inscribed a maxim written in ancient stellar script:

"Stellar blood weeps, the Gate of Return to the Ruins opens. Only when the twin keys unite can one reach the far shore."

Beside the maxim was also an extremely crude yet directly to-the-point star chart! The chart marked several key stellar coordinates; one point, astonishingly, coincided exactly with the direction indicated by the Qinghe Xianzi star-chart imprint in Han Wuxian's mind—the dark vortex deep within the shattered star ruins.

"Stellar blood weeps……the Gate of Return to the Ruins……the twin keys unite……only then can one reach the far shore……" Yun Li chanted the maxim in a low voice, light never before seen blazing in her eyes, "I understand! The Star Pivot Fragments are the keys! Only when the two fragments unite can we open the gate to that 'Return to the Ruins'! Qinghe senior……she must be on the far shore!"

Han Wuxian's heart also pounded! At last! At last he had found a clear clue! Qinghe Xianzi is trapped in a place called 'Return to the Ruins', and the two Star Pivot Fragments are the keys to open the gate there!

Without hesitation, he placed the tiny fragment on Yun Li's body and the newly obtained azure fragment, according to the position shown on the altar's star chart, carefully into the specific recess at the top of the altar.

Hum——!!!

At the instant the two fragments were put in place! The altar burst forth with unprecedented brilliant light! Two stellar light pillars of differing attributes yet same origin shot up into the sky, intertwining and merging above the altar, ultimately forming a deep……starlight gate that seemed to connect to the edge of the universe!

Within the gate was not a physical scene, but a strange passage rotating with countless stellar trajectories and flowing with temporal-spatial power! An ancient, vast undulation bearing a summoning meaning faintly transmitted from the depths of the passage!

"The Gate of Return to the Ruins……has opened!" Yun Li's voice trembled with excitement.

Han Wuxian gazed at the deep starlight gate, his eyes burning with resolute flame. Yan Xirou, Qinghe Xianzi……all the clues and concerns seemed to point to the other side of the gate!

He took a deep breath, turned his head to look at Yun Li, and said: "Are you ready?"

Yun Li nodded heavily, her gaze equally firm: "Let's go!"

The two no longer hesitated, stood shoulder to shoulder, and stepped into the rotating starlight gate!

Their figures were instantly swallowed by the brilliant starlight.

After the two entered, the gate's light gradually faded, finally vanishing, leaving only that ancient altar and the two Star Pivot Fragments hovering silently, as if nothing had happened.

However, at the moment the gate disappeared, the two characters 'blood-weeping' in the maxim on the altar—'Stellar blood weeps, the Gate of Return to the Ruins opens'—as if soaked by an invisible force, quietly took on an extremely dim yet heart‑shaking……ominous blood‑red hue.

Starlight flowed, spacetime twisted.

Han Wuxian and Yun Li seemed to be in a tunnel constructed purely of starlight, their bodies enveloped by a gentle yet irresistible force, speeding forward. Countless stellar phantoms flashed past their sides, like a river of flowing light; here time and space lost their fixed meaning.

No one knew how long had passed—it seemed but an instant, yet also as if they had endured ages.

The starlight surrounding them shuddered violently, as if piercing an invisible membrane. Before them the view suddenly opened; the blinding light made them instinctively narrow their eyes.

When they adapted to the light and made out the scene before them, even Han Wuxian, whose mind had been tempered by Nirvana, could not help but be profoundly shaken!

They hovered in an endless void. Beneath their feet was not ground, but……a shattered cosmic graveyard flowing with stellar blood!

Countless massive stellar fragments, like mountains split open by a divine giant axe, drifted silently in the dead, dark void. The fragments were covered with huge cracks; deep within the cracks was not rock, but a dark‑red substance like congealed blood, faintly glowing with starlight, slowly flowing and writhing, as if the stars' veins had not yet died. Some fragments still bore the ruins of grand structures, like the skeletons of giant beasts, silently recounting past glory and tragic destruction.

Here there was no sound, no wind, only absolute dead silence and a sorrow and despair that had settled over myriad ages, seeping deep into the marrow. The thin, chaotic stellar energy, like an icy tide, washed over their bodies, bringing an unsettling invasive feeling.

And at the farthest edge of their vision, deep within this shattered star ruins, a sight firmly gripped their hearts!

An unimaginably huge……dark vortex, seemingly capable of devouring an entire star field!

It was like a wound in the universe, slowly rotating; its center was pure darkness so absolute that not even light could escape! At the vortex's edge, countless stellar fragments were torn and stretched by an invisible force, sucked in like noodles, finally vanishing into the endless black. The space around the vortex took on a strange distorted state, emitting a terrifying attraction and aura of destruction that made souls tremble.

At the very center of this black vortex that seemed able to devour everything, a weak yet supremely pure point of gold light shone, like the sole lighthouse in endless night, stubbornly flickering!

That gold light was warm and pure, bearing a will of purification and protection, exuding a familiar aura that made Han Wuxian's soul tremble—Qinghe Xianzi!

"Master!" Han Wuxian cried out in a hoarse whisper, the star‑chart imprint on his chest erupting with unprecedented strong resonance and stabbing pain! He could clearly sense that the will contained in that point of gold light was precisely Qinghe Xianzi! She was trapped at the vortex's center, using her last strength to resist that terrifying devouring force!

"Is that……the Eye of Return to the Ruins?!" Yun Li's face turned ashen, her voice trembling with fear. The Star Pivot Fragments had brought them here, but before this apocalyptic sight, how could they approach? How could they save anyone?

Just then!

Hum!

Han Wuxian's right fist, where dark‑gold stellar‑sheathed bone covered it, suddenly felt a fierce burning sensation with no warning, as if something were about to burst forth from deep within the bone!