Chapter 1056

That distant, desolate horn blast, as if crossing ages of time, carried an indescribable weight and solemnity, echoing deep in every soul. The seawater seemed to turn viscous and sluggish under its sound, even the violent energy ripples subsiding, leaving only a suffocating stillness.

Zhao Wujian's killing intent and greed on his face were instantly replaced by a deep dread; he even subconsciously stepped back half a pace, the azure light gathered in his palm dimming slightly. He stared fixedly at the twisted, deeper darkness in the trench depths illuminated by earth-fire, his voice trembling faintly: "Damn… it's the 'Abyssal Roar'! That thing… could it actually exist?!"

The cultivators of the Ascendant Light Sect behind him turned ashen; that soul‑deep pressure made them barely able to breathe, as if an invisible giant hand choked their throats, even their Nascent Souls trembling.

Han Wuxian and Xiao Ran were likewise shaken by the horn. Han Wuxian's fractured consciousness, like a candle in the wind, was almost crushed by that ancient, solemn aura—yet just as his mind was about to sink, the Star Pivot fragment in his sea of consciousness that kept him clear burst forth with an unprecedented, almost blinding light!

A strange resonance!

No longer the gentle resonance with the Azure Vermilion Fruit's life aura, but rather… as if blood‑linked, sharing the same root and origin, a call and pull! The Star Pivot fragment's light flickered wildly, transmitting not a clear flow but a scorching heat, urgent and sorrowful. It seemed to strain to answer the abyss's horn, trying to pierce this heavy water and darkness to make contact with the sound's source.

"Wuu!!!"

The second horn blast suddenly rang out, higher and more urgent than the first! This time, the sound held not only solemnity and desolation but also the fury of something awakened—like a slumbering beast disturbed, it roared a heart‑shaking bellow.

Boom—boom—boom!!!

The whole trench shuddered violently! No longer mere aftershocks of energy impact, but the earth itself roaring! The seabed's hard strata cracked like fragile eggshells; countless massive rock pillars, baked by earth‑fire for untold eons, collapsed, crashing onto the bottom and kicking up sky‑covering sand torrents! Dark‑red earth‑fire light surged from the gaping fissures, bathing the trench in a hellish glow.

"Fall back! Get out of here!" Zhao Wujian could no longer spare a thought for Han Wuxian and Xiao Ran; his face held only fear as he bellowed at his subordinates, his body turning into a azure‑blue water‑light streak that shot wildly toward the trench entrance. Celestial Material divine weapons, Azure Vermilion Fruit—nothing mattered before the threat of death! He knew full well what the horn's echo signified: an ancient taboo even the Ascendant Light Sect Sect Master dare not speak of.

The Ascendant Light Sect cultivators were even more terrified, scrambling after Zhao Wujian like bereaved dogs, wishing their parents had given them two fewer legs.

Yet Han Wuxian and Xiao Ran fell into an even greater peril!

They were already gravely wounded and near death, deep in the trench, closer to the horn's source! The violent shaking and collapsing pillars were a catastrophe for them.

"Watch out!" Xiao Ran summoned his last breath of True Essence, ignoring the cold poison, and hurled his dark‑yellow iron sword. The blade turned into a dim star‑light, barely deflecting a massive stone pillar that was about to crush Han Wuxian.

Boom! The pillar grazed Han Wuxian's body as it fell, the violent impact hurling him together with the Myriad Bones Giant Sword planted in the ground.

Pfft! Han Wuxian spat blood mixed with organ fragments, his consciousness clouding; he felt the world spin, icy seawater and scorching magma swirling around him. All he could do was, by instinct, clutch desperately the hilt of the Myriad Bones Giant Sword that felt like part of his own body.

Xiao Ran was likewise caught in a current mixed with gravel and magma; his chest seared, the cold poison ran rampant, a frigid azure aura spread instantly over his body, nearly freezing him senseless. He barely managed to draw a thread of Star Pivot resonance power to shield his heart, but could no longer steer himself, drifting with the flow.

Just as the two were about to be utterly swallowed by the collapsing strata and erupting earth‑fire,

Roar!!!!

A voice‑less, soul‑rending roar erupted from the deepest abyss of the trench! It did not travel through water but struck the soul directly, brimming with endless fury, Chaos, and the madness awakened after long imprisonment.

Accompanying that soul‑roar, an unimaginable colossus, amidst the gushing earth‑fire light, slowly revealed a portion of its outline!

It was… a hand!

It was an arm formed of countless huge, rugged rocks coated in bluish‑black moss and heavy sediment; just the forearm and palm alone were vast enough to fill half the trench. Five fingers, like sky‑holding pillars, slowly opened and closed, each motion making the seabed shudder violently and the strata crack further. The palm was etched with canyon‑like grooves, through which dark‑red lava, reeking of sulfur, flowed.

The giant hand slammed down onto the collapsing seabed!

Boom!!!!

An indescribable terrifying power burst forth instantly! Centered on the giant palm, a massive shockwave spanning several li exploded outward! The seawater was instantly evacuated, compressed, then blasted outward at supersonic speed in all directions.

A true apocalyptic tsunami!

Zhao Wujian and the Ascendant Light Sect cultivators, fleeing fastest, had nearly reached the trench mouth, yet the destructive shockwave still caught up! Their protective spirit‑light shattered like paper; several early‑stage Nascent Soul cultivators didn't even get a scream out before being pulverized into blood mist by the violent water pressure and impact! Zhao Wujian and another mid‑stage Nascent Soul cultivator also sprayed blood, like torn sacks struck by a hammer, screaming as they were hurled away, fate unknown.

Meanwhile, Han Wuxian and Xiao Ran, positioned on the edge of the impact's core, bore the brunt!

Han Wuxian felt an irresistible force, enough to rend stars, slam into his back! He heard the rapid crack of his bones shattering, his consciousness instantly swallowed by endless darkness! The hand gripping the Myriad Bones Giant Sword, in pain, reflexively loosened; his whole body, like a severed kite, was caught in the devastating torrent and slammed hard into a massive, bottom‑less fissure in the trench's edge that had split from the quake—within the fissure churned an even more turbulent dark earth‑fire current.