Chapter 1047: Strangulation

Dead silence, like a cold tide, again flooded this metal plain.

Only Han Wuxian's heavy, bellows‑like breathing and the low hum of the Myriad Bones Giant Sword's flickering blood pattern, like a heartbeat, reverberated. The air was thick with the burnt‑metal stench of high‑temperature melting and rapid cooling, the sour odor of forcibly purified resentment, and an overwhelming, unbreakable scent of blood—his own.

He leaned on the sword, his body trembling. Each breath tugged at the torn wounds across his body, the pain like countless tiny Poison Insects gnawing his marrow. His arms burned with tearing pain and an icy, heavy chill deep in the bone, as if the dark‑golden ink‑colored arm bones might shatter at any moment, being devoured entirely by the Myriad Bones Giant Sword along with flesh.

The pale‑gold blood still flowed like a stream, winding down the dark‑red veins along the cracked arm bone, dripping onto the cold mercury ground with a light "sizzle", leaving a small patch of dark‑gold mottled stain, which was then drawn by the sword's invisible force field, slowly seeping into the contact point between hilt and ground.

The Myriad Bones Giant Sword seemed a greedy abyss, not only drawing his blood but continuously absorbing the lingering energy of this metal plain, the energy scattered by the shattered resentful spirits. The blood pattern on the blade flowed like a living thing, the dark‑gold ink blade's sheen deepened, the ancient, settled killing resolve and unyielding will became more condensed, more… unruly.

Han Wuxian could clearly feel that the weapon had not truly submitted. It was only temporarily "awakened" by his blood‑as‑bait, life‑as‑fuel battle intent, like a primeval beast forced into shackles, ready to bite back. The cold, heavy force surged left and right within him, trying to tear his meridians, freeze his will, and drag his soul into that eternal killing abyss.

"Cough…" Another mouthful of pale‑gold reverse blood mixed with organ fragments surged up his throat, forced down, leaving a sting of golden‑red at the corner of his mouth. In the sea of consciousness, countless resentful spirits' shrieks had faded, but the Myriad Bones Giant Sword's lingering fragments of shattered battlefields and desperate roars formed a killing impact like a cold tide, crashing wave after wave against his wavering mental barrier. Had it not been for his post‑Nirvana iron‑will, had it not been for the dark‑red veins at the arm cracks forming a subtle, painful link with the sword's blood pattern, sharing part of the impact, his soul would already have been torn to pieces.

He struggled to lift his head, crimson eyes scanning the surroundings. The gray‑black metallic resentment receded like an ebbing tide into the deeper lead‑gray mist of the plain, leaving only wreckage: twisted broken metal limbs, massive trenches carved by the sword's raging wind, and deep pits of charred ash left by the utterly erased resentful spirits. This area temporarily became a vacuum zone.

Yet this dead silence brought no sense of safety.

He could feel, deeper within the lead‑gray thick mist, more cold, greedy, endlessly resentful thoughts watching. The emergence of the Myriad Bones Giant Sword and its recent cataclysmic burst, like a boulder thrown onto the dead‑silence lake, its reverberations attracting the attention of deeper, more terrifying existences in this metal plain. Those retreating resentful spirits had not vanished; they merely lay in wait, like hyenas awaiting exhausted prey.

"Can't… fall here…" Han Wuxian gritted his teeth, his gums nearly bleeding. Each heartbeat drummed like a war drum, shaking the wounds with fierce pain, yet also brought a faint coolness resonating from Star Core fragments, like fireflies in darkness, barely keeping his collapsing spiritual platform clear.

He tried to shift his footing; the heavy Myriad Bones Giant Sword seemed fused with the mercury ground beneath. Even a slight move sent searing, bone‑piercing pain through his arms; the newly formed dark‑gold ink bone emitted a tooth‑aching "creak", the dark‑red vein at the crack flashed rapidly, as if about to snap the next second.

Forcing a power far beyond his limits exacted a heavy price. The Golden Sun Burning Heaven Force was nearly exhausted, the primal source of the Azure Sky Jade Sword Arm consumed massive energy in its metamorphosis and neared collapse, his body riddled with countless wounds. He now resembled a cracked crystal bottle forced to bear mountain weight; any extra pressure could shatter him completely.

At that moment, a mutation suddenly arose!

The Myriad Bones Giant Sword he leaned on shuddered violently! No longer the previous low hum, but a sharp, short sound, as if bearing endless anger and unwillingness.!

"Clang!"

The sword's wail was not loud, yet it contained a soul‑piercing sharp will, instantly tearing the brief dead silence!

"Hum!"

A cold, overwhelming killing will, far stronger and more domineering than any before, erupted from the Myriad Bones Giant Sword like an out‑of‑control torrent, slamming into Han Wuxian's arms!

"Ugh!" Han Wuxian, caught off guard, let out a muffled painful groan. The dark‑gold ink arm bones flashed with blinding blood light, the crack widened visibly, pale‑gold blood erupted like a fountain! That will—cold, heavy, bearing ancient solitude and a madness that destroys all—instantaneously overwhelmed his tenuous defense, charging straight into the sea of consciousness!

The scene before him blurred and twisted! No longer the cold metal plain, but a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood! Countless broken weapon fragments piled like mountains, the sky a burning lead cloud, the earth flowing with molten metal rivers, countless twisted metal beasts and giants clad in shattered armor roared and clashed in blood and fire! Each image bore despair, anger and unwillingness enough to tear souls! This was the final battlefield the Myriad Bones Giant Sword experienced before its silence; it was its memory, it was its curse!

"Submission… or… destruction…" A grand, cold, non‑human, non‑beast thought detonated directly in Han Wuxian's near‑broken sea of consciousness! It was the lingering spirit‑weapon will of the Myriad Bones Giant Sword! Awakened by his blood and battle intent, it refused to be driven by a tiny, grievously wounded human! It would turn the tables! Either completely devour his soul, occupy this body that can bear part of its power, or drag this ant‑like insect who dared to desecrate it into annihilation!

The sea of consciousness, like a glacier thrown into a furnace, rapidly melted and boiled under the raging killing will shock; the barrier formed by Nirvana will groaned under the strain, the faint glimmer of Star Core fragments was compressed to the limit, like a candle flame in wind!

Desperation! A predicament more terrifying than facing a flood of resentful spirits!

This is a direct strangulation from the soul layer!