Chapter 1071

"Chase! Spare no expense! That 'Aberrant Body'… must be obtained!" the lead Star Pivot Guard bellowed, his eyes filled only with mad greed. He frantically formed seals with both hands as a more complex and profound star compass phantom appeared before him, its needle trembling violently as it tried to lock onto the aura that had vanished within the chaotic space folds.

"Target has entered the edge of the Earth Vein Labyrinth! Spatial coordinates are chaotic; forced tracking carries extreme risk!" a Star Pivot Guard quickly analyzed the compass feedback.

"Chase!" the leader's eyes turned vicious, "Activate the Star Calamity Compass's source! Lock onto that body's unique energy signature! Even if we have to overturn this earth vein, we must dig him out!"

Three dark silhouettes, mad with the willingness to destroy everything, turned into streams of light and plunged deep into the earth vein source flow ahead, which had become even more violent and chaotic, its space folds densely packed, due to Han Wuxian's single sword strike, directly pursuing the source of chaos within the Crimson Gold Barrier.

At this moment, within the perilous passage formed by the violent earth vein source flow and chaotic space folds, resembling a labyrinth.

Xiao Ran grabbed Han Wuxian's arm, dark silver starlight and deep blue chill forming a protective shield that barely withstood the surrounding energy turbulence and space cuts capable of shredding refined steel. Han Wuxian's breath was feeble, sustained solely by Xiao Ran's strength.

"Direction… chaos…" Xiao Ran's icy voice carried a hint of solemnity. His perception here was heavily disrupted.

Han Wuxian strained to open his heavy eyelids, gazing at the distorted light and violent energy ahead, then glanced at the nearby body emanating a terrifying aura yet protecting him—his newly formed vessel. His blood‑stained lips twitched with difficulty; summoning his last strength, he pointed toward the direction where space fluctuations were most violent, like countless mirrors shattering, his voice weak but unusually clear:

"That direction… space… most chaotic… jump in… only then… is there… a way to survive…"

As his words fell, his consciousness plunged into darkness, his body going limp, supported only by Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran lowered his head to glance at the unconscious Han Wuxian, then lifted his gaze to the point resembling the eye of a space storm, a shattered node. In his pupils, deep as a star abyss, there was not the slightest hesitation.

He exerted strength with his arms, hoisting Han Wuxian onto his back and firmly protecting him with his newborn power. Dark silver and deep blue light swirled around him to the utmost, as if he had donned armor woven from starlight and ice.

The next instant, he hesitated no longer; bearing the unconscious Han Wuxian, he turned into a decisive stream of light and recklessly charged into the violent space turbulence capable of utterly tearing apart all existence and reducing it to chaos.

A flash of light, and the two figures were instantly swallowed by countless shards of spatial light, vanishing without a trace. All that remained behind were the three streaks of gloomy starlight, brimming with mad killing intent and greed, like bone‑eating maggots, pursuing without hesitation and plunging headfirst into that chaotic death vortex.

Consciousness sank into boundless cold and darkness.

Han Wuxian felt like a stubborn stone cast into the cosmic abyss, endlessly falling with no bottom. Only a soul‑rending pain and the weakness of utterly exhausted power remained, like bone‑eating maggots reminding him he had not yet been completely annihilated.

Who knows how long had passed—perhaps merely an instant within eternity.

An extremely faint yet startlingly clear icy sensation, like tiny ice needles, pierced the wall of his sinking consciousness.

Not the cold Xiao Ran possessed, fused with starlight and chill poison, but… pure, vacuum‑filled, cosmic deep cold!

Next came an immense, suffocating sensation of weightlessness!

His body felt as if an invisible giant hand were tearing and flinging it about!

"Ugh…!" a painful groan burst uncontrollably from his parched throat. His heavy eyelids felt as if filled with lead, yet he forced them open a slit, drawing on a near‑beastial survival instinct.

His vision blurred, the world spinning.

First to come into view was what seemed like rock crushed and crumpled by immense force, then carelessly discarded—but no, it was a fragment of a massive, jagged, dark‑red celestial body! They hung like silent tombstones, adrift in the endless dark backdrop speckled with icy starlight.

This is… the starry sky?!

The massive impact jolted Han Wuxian's remaining consciousness awake halfway! He tried to summon his power to steady his stance, but a piercing pain like myriad needles stabbed his meridians, leaving him utterly drained—he couldn't wring out even a trace of earth-pulse source power!

The Divine Gold Bone was riddled with tiny cracks, and every attempt to gather power brought deeper agony. Worse, he realized he was being swept along by a tremendous inertia, hurtling at high speed toward a mountain‑sized chunk of dark‑red celestial debris!

"Damn it!" alarm bells rang in Han Wuxian's mind! In his current state, slamming into it would surely mean being blown to smithereens!

At that moment, a dim scarlet‑gold gleam caught his peripheral vision not far away—another object flung out like him: his Earthshell Heavy Sword! Its blade was spider‑webbed with cracks, its spiritual light nearly extinguished, like a dying comrade.

No time to think! Han Wuxian gritted his teeth, summoned the last shred of his strength, and lunged his arm forward, grasping at empty air toward the Earthshell!

It wasn't a manipulation of mana, but a pure summons stemming from his Divine Gold Bone and soul‑brand…

Hum!

The near‑silent Earthshell Heavy Sword's last faint scarlet‑gold glint at the hilt flickered weakly, as if answering its master's call. The blade stubbornly tilted a slight angle and flew toward Han Wuxian, but its speed was far too slow to match his falling momentum!

"Faster!" Han Wuxian roared inwardly, his eyes locked on the looming dark‑red celestial chunk radiating an aura of death. The icy vacuum sliced his exposed skin like countless tiny blades; his clothes had already turned to ash in the earlier energy storm, and a suffocating pressure began to spread. He could even make out the jagged edges on the fragment's surface and the scars torn from impact!

Just as he was about to collide with the fragment—

Whoosh!

The Earthshell Heavy Sword finally flew into his outstretched hand with a final wail, just in time!

It felt ice‑cold and heavy in his grip, almost devoid of its former spirituality—but it was enough!

"Hah!" Han Wuxian poured every ounce of his strength into thrusting the shattered Earthshell straight into the oncoming massive rock wall!

Screech!!

The earsplitting, teeth‑grating screech of metal grinding against stone echoed silently in the vacuum! The scarlet‑gold blade scraped wildly against the dark‑red stone, spawning blinding sparks that were instantly swallowed by the void. The tremendous impact traveled up the sword into Han Wuxian's arm, shoulder, and whole body, as if he were being repeatedly hammered by a giant mallet! He clenched his jaws, his mouth instantly filling with the taste of blood, while the muscles and bones in his arm groaned under the strain!

His downward momentum was forcibly checked, yet the tremendous inertia still pushed him, sliding him down the steep rock face! The blade carved a terrifying gouge several feet deep into the hard stone, sparks flying everywhere!

He slid an unknown distance, until Han Wuxian felt his arms about to snap completely and his consciousness fading once more—then his downward momentum finally ran out.

He was flung like a ragdoll by the immense inertia, slamming into a relatively recessed platform on the rock wall.

"Pfft!" A large mouthful of golden blood mixed with organ fragments sprayed onto the cold stone and instantly congealed. Agony like a tsunami surged through his body, his vision darkening in waves. The palm gripping the Earthshell had its tiger's mouth completely torn open, blood pouring freely. He lay limp on the icy rock, each breath a burning torment, his lungs wheezing like a broken bellows.

The suffocating sensation of the vacuum grew stronger, his body exposed to the deep cold of space and deadly radiation, and even his newly formed Divine Gold Bone throbbed with sharp pains.