Chapter 1061: then translation of chapter title

The icy seawater remained turbid, suspended with countless rock fragments and lingering energy dust. The collapsed strata buried most of the battle traces, and only in a few massive fissures did the dim red glow of earth fire seep through, steaming white vapor.

A huge reef half‑buried in silt suddenly shifted. Debris fell, revealing a curled figure beneath.

"Cough… cough cough…" Xiao Ran coughed violently, each cough spitting blood foam laced with pale blue ice crystals. Their face was ashen as a corpse, lips dark violet, and the tiny wound on the chest was surrounded by terrifying pale‑blue cold that had spread through the entire upper body, even frosting the eyelashes and hair tips.

The chilling toxin of the Xuan Yin Piercing Bone Needle went completely out of control!

They struggled to prop themselves up and looked around. All that met the eye was devastation's ruin. Han Wuxian was nowhere to be seen, the members of the Shengming Sect had vanished, and only the bottomless, earth‑fire‑red massive fissure silently recounted the previous horror.

"Brother Han…" a flash of sorrow and helplessness passed through Xiao Ran's eyes.

Under that world‑shattering impact, falling into such a place left the chance of survival… almost nil.

What they owed Han Wuxian could probably never be repaid.

At that moment

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three silent, ghostly silhouettes, like ink melting into the sea, slipped unnoticed into the water surrounding Xiao Ran, forming a triangular formation that encircled them. They wore simple, black tight‑fits embroidered with dim star patterns, their faces covered by silver masks that revealed only the eyes, and their aura was ethereal and icy, like submerged reef—no trace leaked out, yet Xiao Ran instantly felt a lethal chill!

The leader, whose masked eyes were like two cold stars, first fixed his gaze on the inconspicuous gray cloth pouch at Xiao Ran's waist, then swept over the dull yellow iron sword in their hand, and finally settled on the pale blue cold aura around the chest and the ashen face. A hoarse, low, emotionless voice, like cold metal scraping, entered Xiao Ran's Sea of Consciousness:

"Star Axis sensing… target confirmed. Infected with 'Nine Nether Dark Qi', life hanging by a thread. Hand over the Star‑Guide Compass fragment, and you may live."

Xiao Ran's pupils contracted sharply!

Star Axis fragment? These people… came for it? And they recognized at a glance the chilling toxin of the Xuan Yin Piercing Bone Needle on them! Who are they? A hidden force of the Shengming Sect? Or… other beings coveting the Star Axis?

They clenched the cold iron sword tighter; under the toxin's erosion, their fingers grew stiff and numb.

Facing these three enigmatic beings, the gravely wounded and near‑dead Xiao Ran had not even a sliver of chance to resist. Hand over the fragment?

That was the only clue to finding the old friend and uncovering the truth!

Refuse? Death would come instantly!

The icy seawater, like the rope of fate, tightened inch by inch.

Hand over the fragment? Xiao Ran's rigid fingers instinctively brushed the unremarkable gray cloth pouch at the waist. Inside lay the spiritual pillar that had sustained them through the struggles of this cannibalistic cultivation world!

The Star Axis fragments obtained in the aberrant zone had rescued them from peril many times, and resonated wondrously with the fragment in Han Wuxian's Sea of Consciousness… it was far more than a mere treasure!

"Cough… don't you dare!" Xiao Ran forced all their strength, spitting out two hoarse words from a throat nearly frozen solid, accompanied by blood foam and ice shards.

They tried to raise the dull yellow iron sword, but the blade that once shone with starlight now felt as heavy as a mountain; the icy hilt almost stuck to their numb palm, the blade dim and lifeless, unable to gather even a trace of star power. The chilling toxin had not only frozen their body but had almost sealed their True Essence and consciousness!

"Mingwan." The lead Star Axis Guard's cold eyes showed no surprise, only a detached indifference to dealing with trouble. He didn't even move a finger.

The Star Axis Guard on the left moved. Without light, without sound, the figure dissolved like melting ink, vanishing instantly! In the next instant, a hand wrapped in a pitch‑black, light‑absorbing leather glove appeared silently before Xiao Ran's chest, aiming straight at the gray cloth pouch! The speed surpassed Xiao Ran's wounded perception limit!

The shadow of death descended in an instant!

However, just as that black hand was about to touch the pouch

Buzz!!!

A silver radiance a hundred‑fold, a thousand‑fold stronger than before burst out of the pouch at Xiao Ran's waist without warning! The light wasn't blinding, but it carried a pure, soul‑piercing clarity and vastness, instantly dispersing the seawater within several meters, forming a brief, vacuum‑like silver sphere!

"Ugh!" the Star Axis Guard who struck was as if hit by an invisible massive hammer, a muffled groan, his body violently shaken; the black material enveloping his arm emitted a sizzling corrosive sound under the silver light, and he was flung hard outward, crashing into distant reef, a streak of dark red blood seeming to seep from beneath the mask!

The other two Star Axis Guards, including the leader, showed a fierce fluctuation in their cold eyes for the first time! It was shock, disbelief!

"Impossible! The fragment's resonance… how can it be so strong?!" the lead Star Axis Guard shouted, his previously emotionless voice finally tinged with doubt.

Xiao Ran themselves were also stunned by the sudden anomaly! They felt the Star Axis fragment in the waist pouch become scorching hot, a massive, pure energy imbued with endless star‑sky vastness surging out uncontrollably!

This power… was actively countering the invading 'Nine Nether Dark Qi' within them!

Heh heh heh!

The pale blue ice crystals spreading across the chest, under the silver starlight, seemed to meet their nemesis, emitting a fierce melting sound! The bone‑deep chill was forcefully driven away by a warm, boundless power, bringing a tearing pain yet also a long‑missed hint of warmth! They could even sense the frozen meridians and True Essence showing a slight loosening!

It is the Star Axis fragment!

When their life was under the most direct threat, the fragment, stimulated by the hostile Star Axis Guard's special inducement, erupted with unprecedented power!

"Mission update! Target's internal fragment undergoing deep transformation! Priority upgraded to 'Capture'! No matter the cost, bring back the living specimen!" the lead Star Axis Guard's voice suddenly became urgent and sharp, tinged with a frenzy of discovering a rare treasure!

The cold indifference in his eyes was replaced by a greedy, scorching heat.

"Capture?!" alarm bells rang in Xiao Ran's mind! The opponent not only wanted the fragment, now they wanted the person themselves!

The other two Star Axis Guards sprang into action! This time they held back nothing! One formed hand seals with both hands, and countless fine black chains, shimmering with dim star light, materialized from nothing, coiling around Xiao Ran like poisonous snakes, each link etched with sealing runes!

The other formed empty palms, gathering a swirling black vortex that constantly twisted, seeming to devour light, emitting a terrifying suction, targeting both the gray cloth pouch at Xiao Ran's waist and Xiao Ran themselves!

The flung Star Axis Guard struggled to stand, eyes filled with spite, and also joined the assault!

Three waves of terrifying spiritual pressure of late Nascent Soul pressed down on Xiao Ran like three deep‑sea mountains!

The brief chill that the Star Axis fragment had driven away instantly rebounded, even fiercer! The newly sparked warmth was instantly frozen again, the Sea of Consciousness pierced by ice spikes, excruciating pain blackening their vision, and the meridians that had just loosened were now completely sealed by ice!

The silver light from the Star Axis fragment, under the combined suppression of the three masters, began to flicker and contract violently, like a candle in wind, ready to extinguish at any moment!

"Pfft!" Xiao Ran spat out another large mouthful of blood tinged with pale blue ice crystals and specks of silver light.

This time, they clearly felt life force being ripped away by the chest's toxin and the external terrifying spiritual pressure in a dual, frantic extraction! Consciousness sank into a bottomless icy abyss, rapidly blurring.