Chapter 1070: Pursuit Arrives

Han Wuxian's corner‑smile, the lingering joy after the catastrophe, froze instantly! A bone‑piercing chill, mixed with towering fury, slammed hard onto his weakened heart as his strength drained!

Star Core Guard! They actually chased us here, even locked onto the Earth Vein Core Space!

That cold, greedy thought, like a maggot in the ankle bone, bearing a space‑rending pressure, hammered both of their hearts. Above, the rock strata emitted a heart‑pounding cracking sound; the dim starlight power, like highly corrosive venom, raged, devouring the natural barrier of the Earth Vein Core Space! Space tremors grew more violent, fine rocks fluttered down, and the distant surging Earth Vein currents turned turbulent and raging under this alien terrifying pressure.

"Damned it!" Han Wuxian growled, his crimson‑gold eyes instantly ignited with rage. He forced down the surging blood and his nearly collapsing body, struggling to stand. New power painfully coalesced in his depleted meridians, the surface cracks again oozed golden light from this forced urging. He stared hard at the rock ceiling above, constantly struck by dim starlight, its glow flickering, like a beast driven to the brink.

In the pool, the newly reborn Xiao Ran, whose star‑river ice‑abyss pupils suddenly contracted! That cold, greedy thought, like the most poisonous curse, instantly yanked him back from the massive rebirth shock into brutal reality!

Star Core Guard!

Those cold plunderers who forced him into a corner, coveted the fragments, and treated him as research material!

A storm of ice born from the deepest soul, blended with towering hatred and destructive impulse, erupted without warning inside his just‑stabilized body!

Buzz!!!

Dark silver starlight and dim blue cold light surged wildly over his body! No longer the previous uncontrolled clash, but a… fully ignited, mutually hostile fusion burst! The dark gold Primordial Essence Pool beneath him froze instantly, then cracked inch by inch under the erupting energy! A terrifying aura far purer and more condensed than the earlier energy storm, bearing the will of destroying stars and freezing all, rose like a slumbering primeval beast opening its eyes, suddenly filling the entire Earth Vein Core Space!

That aura made the dim starlight striking the Space Barrier above pause!

Xiao Ran sprang up from the Primordial Essence Pool! His newly born body stood tall as a spear, silver‑white star‑sand hair moved without wind, threads of icy blue chill curled around him. He lifted his head slightly; those deep star‑river ice‑abyss eyes pierced the trembling space and heavy rock layers, as if directly locking onto the three dim figures beyond the barrier!

No roar, no shout.

Only an ice‑cold to the extreme, indifferent killing intent that made the heart tremble! Like primordial ice beneath which destructive magma churns!

"They… have come." Xiao Ran's voice sounded, no longer the previous hoarse rasp, but bearing a strange, metallic‑clash‑like icy texture, each word laden with bone‑piercing chill and the weight of the stars.

That icy voice, like icy water poured over his head, instantly cooled the anger‑fueled blood surge in Han Wuxian. He saw in Xiao Ran's eyes a soul‑freezing killing intent, and felt the destructive newborn power within him, fully ignited by the Star Core Guard's aura! That power was so strong it startled him, yet… extremely dangerous!

Xiao Ran had just reshaped himself; the melding of will and power was far from finished, so such an eruption had unpredictable consequences!

"Calm!" Han Wuxian forced his body, his voice hoarse yet bearing undeniable authority, "Your power has just fused; you cannot brute‑force! Their breach of the Space Barrier needs time, this is our chance! Move!"

He thrust his finger toward deeper within the Earth Vein Core Space, toward the crimson‑gold barrier that supports heaven and earth! There the core source of Earth Vein power lies, an energy field raging and chaotic, perhaps able to disrupt the Star Core Guard's tracking!

Boom—!!!

Before the words finished, the rock ceiling above finally gave way under a perfectly condensed dark starlight strike, blasting a huge hole! The ice‑cold starlight order aura and predatory pressure, like a breached dam, poured down instantly! Three figures clad in starlight armor, their aura deeper, colder than before, descended slowly from the opening like death‑bringers!

The leader's dim gaze immediately locked onto Xiao Ran standing at the pool's edge! When he saw Xiao Ran's current form and sensed the terrifying aura emitted by the new body—blending star, Earth Vein, and mutated cold toxin—his pupils' cold greed turned into extreme shock and… frenzy!

"This… cannot be!" he roared, his voice twisted with excitement, "The fragment self‑destructed… the corpse is dying… how could it… reshape?! This body… this power… perfect! A 'variant' more perfect than the fragment itself! Must obtain it! At any cost!"

Greed utterly crushed reason! In the leader Star Core Guard's eyes there was no longer any hesitation toward Han Wuxian, only a mad desire to possess Xiao Ran's "newborn variant body".

He slammed both hands together, forming a far larger, dark star net that emitted sealing and will‑splitting energy, like a heaven‑and‑earth net, instantly covering Xiao Ran! He bellowed, "Full suppression! Capture the target! Kill the other!"

The other two Star Core Guards did not hesitate; one hurled a jet‑black jade box etched with starlight runes, locking onto Xiao Ran; the other gathered two dark starlight spears in both hands, their tips whistling as they tore space, directly striking the waning aura of Han Wuxian! In perfect coordination, lethal moves poured out!

"Seeking death!" Xiao Ran's star‑river ice‑abyss eyes suddenly boiled! Facing the dark star net overhead, he showed no intention to dodge!

He raised the hand that had just been flowing with dark silver starlight and dim blue chill, and with a sudden void grasp, struck at the descending star net!

Crack!!

An invisible, terrifying force field mixing ultimate ice and stellar pressure erupted around his palm! The seemingly indestructible dark star net, upon touching this field, cracked like fragile ice, emitting a sharp shattering sound, freezing and disintegrating inch by inch! Even the leader Star Core Guard let out a muted grunt, his body trembling, clearly hit by backlash!

At the same time, the two starlight spears aimed at Han Wuxian were instantly frozen mid‑air by a suddenly appearing, swirling dark blue ice wall glittering with starlight!

"What?!" The three Star Core Guards simultaneously turned pale with horror! This newborn body's command of stellar power and use of mutated cold toxin had reached such an inconceivable level?!

"Move!" Han Wuxian seized the split‑second gap, summoned his last strength, and lunged at Xiao Ran! He did not intend to fling Xiao Ran away, but to pour his remaining Earth Vein source power, unreservedly, into the "Earth Remains" greatsword in his hand!

"Earth Remains! Clear the way!" Han Wuxian drove the greatsword deep into the dark gold earth beneath his feet!

Buzz!!

The "Earth Remains" greatsword emitted an unprecedented wail! Its blade's light dimmed to the extreme, as if about to shatter, yet a resolute will surged skyward! A condensed, solid dark gold crimson sword aura, bearing Han Wuxian's final blood and Earth Vein will, was not aimed at the enemy but tore through the rushing Earth Vein riverbed, pointing straight at the crimson‑gold barrier!

Where the sword aura passed, the raging Earth Vein current was forced apart, revealing a brief passage! At the passage's end, the space near the crimson‑gold barrier quivered wildly from the chaotic energy, even showing fine, water‑like spatial folds!

This was the path Han Wuxian forged at the cost of himself and the "Earth Remains", a lifeline to the unknown peril! It was also the only lifeline!

Xiao Ran instantly grasped Han Wuxian's intent. The cold killing intent in his eyes did not fade, but added a hint of resolve. He no longer lingered in battle; his form became a flash of dark silver and dim blue interwoven light, appearing beside Han Wuxian in an instant, grabbing his almost‑exhausted arm.

"Move!" Xiao Ran's icy voice carried undeniable force; he cast one last glance at the three dim figures above, momentarily stunned by shock, and in those star‑river ice‑abyss pupils etched an immortal, unending hatred mark!

Boom! Boom!

Just as the two surged into the passage opened by the dark gold crimson sword aura, the Star Core Guard's attack fell again! Furious dark starlight hammered the spot where they had just stood, erasing the earth's Primordial Essence Pool completely! Yet the passage entrance had already been swallowed by the converging Earth Vein currents and chaotic spatial folds!