Chapter 1099

Inside his body, the rampant corrupt evil thoughts had been temporarily suppressed and refined for the most part; although stubborn traces still lurked deep in his meridians, like bone‑deep maggots hard to eradicate, they could no longer sway his will. The remaining earth‑vein essence and stellar spiritual power, under the governance of the Star Derivation Canon, initially merged, forming a new golden star‑origin that bore the weight of the earth and the vastness of the stars; although its total amount had diminished through consumption and tempering, its quality underwent a qualitative leap!

More importantly, his body had undergone tempering by stellar fire and evil corruption, as if reforged anew; his bones, muscles, and flesh now held toughness and strength far beyond before, and a warm jade light shimmered beneath his skin—the sign of accomplished body‑refining!

He struggled to sit up, his gaze once again falling on the jade‑white skeleton and the star jade slip before it; this time, his eyes were filled with gratitude and awe. Had it not been for the last trace of the senior's protective will guiding his remains, he would have long been devoured by the evil thoughts, beyond redemption.

He painstakingly moved his body to the skeleton and performed a cultivator's great salute with utmost respect.

"Senior, thanks for saving my life and imparting the Dao; I, Han Wuxian, the junior, will never forget."

His gaze fell on the star‑blue jade slip; he drew a deep breath, extended his hand—slightly trembling yet unusually steady—and lightly touched the slip.

Buzz!

The jade slip felt cool and warm to the touch; at the instant of contact, its light burst forth—countless fine stellar runes came alive, flowing out of the slip and instantly entering Han Wuxian's brow.

A vast flood of information instantly surged into his sea of consciousness!

Star Derivation True Explanation·Fragment!

Circulating Heaven Stars Body Forging Technique!

Star Formation Initial Glimpse!

There were also many fragmented yet profoundly mysterious star charts, plus scattered insights on the Star Dao and the void.

This jade slip actually contained the core transmission of that ancient cultivator's great ability concerning the Star Dao; though incomplete, the truths and methods it held were unfathomably deeper and more mysterious than the basic chapter of the Star Derivation Canon that Han Wuxian had previously obtained.

"Star Derivation Sect… remnant disciple… Xuan Xingzi…" a fragment of thought carrying endless vicissitudes and regret flashed through the information torrent, seemingly the senior's final name and identity.

Han Wuxian closed his eyes to digest the sudden, vast inheritance, his heart surging—Star Derivation Sect? A sect name he had never heard. Xuan Xingzi… the senior's daoist name?

However, the shock from this inheritance had not yet subsided; the suppressed corrupt evil thoughts within his body, upon sensing the Star Derivation True Explanation's purer, vaster star‑dao aura, suddenly surged like a cornered beast facing a lethal threat—an extremely faint yet ice‑cold bone‑piercing evil‑thought link, like an invisible thread, seemed to pierce the cave's isolation and transmit to a distant unknown place.

Han Wuxian flung his eyes open, stellar light bursting in his gaze, filled with icy killing intent.

"Hmph! Lingering shade! Want to send word?" he snorted coldly; the Circulating Heaven Stars Body Forging Technique's method operated instinctively, jade light flowing over his surface, an invisible stellar force field instantly spreading out, forcibly suppressing and isolating that restless evil thought and the attempt to extend the evil‑thought link deep within his body.

He rose to his feet, still weak but spine straight; his gaze swept over the jade‑white skeleton and the fragmented star charts on the ground, finally settling on the cave's deep darkness that led who‑knows‑where.

"Senior Xuan Xingzi… your Dao, I have inherited. Your unfulfilled aspiration…" he picked up the warm, moist star jade slip, clutching it tightly in his palm, feeling its vast stellar power and weighty responsibility.

"Then I… will continue onward!"

His figure, bearing wounds and a newborn‑like strength, plus a star jade slip carrying an ancient inheritance, strode resolutely into the cave's deep unknown darkness; behind him, the jade‑white skeleton, in the faint heavenly light, seemed to reveal a barely perceptible sense of release.

In the cave's depths, the darkness clung like a tangible substance; Han Wuxian condensed a trace of starlight at his fingertips, barely lighting the way ahead—the stone walls were wet and icy, underfoot he occasionally stepped on scattered bone fragments, emitting a grating crunch, and the deeper he went, the stronger the ancient aura that had settled over myriad ages became, as if each step led toward a forgotten forbidden place.

Suddenly, a faint light appeared ahead; Han Wuxian held his breath, focused, and slowed his steps—turning past a protruding rock wall, the sight before him made his pupils contract sharply—

A half‑collapsed ancient stone hall stood at the cave's end; before it, the plaza held seven broken star‑stone pillars arranged in the Big Dipper pattern, their shafts covered in dim star markings—most shocking were the battle scars covering the ground, walls, and even the ceiling: sword‑tens‑of‑zhang long, pits blasted by some immense force, and vast expanses of dried, blackened blood. Though the lingering aura in those traces had weathered ten thousand years, it still made Han Wuxian's skin prickle and his soul tremble.

"Is this... a battlefield remnant?" his throat bobbed as his gaze fell on the slanted plaque hanging above the main hall's door—only a third of the board remained, yet the ancient seal character "star" drawn with stellar power still emitted a faint glow.

Just as he was about to take a step, the stellar jade slip in his bosom suddenly heated up fiercely! A beam of starlight shot out uncontrollably, sinking into the depths of the main hall. Immediately, the whole ruin seemed to awaken; the broken stellar stone pillars, the star patterns on the walls, even the dried bloodstains on the ground, began to glow faintly. Countless starlight particles gathered from all directions, condensing before Han Wuxian into a blurry phantom.

It was an old man clad in a star-robe, his features indistinct, yet his eyes were as deep as the starry sky. The phantom spoke, its voice like the murmur of a hundred million stars.

Successor... if you bear our sect's jade slip here... you should know that thirty thousand years ago... the Nine Abyssal Calamity began...

As the phantom spoke, the surrounding scene shifted abruptly! Before Han Wuxian unfolded a heart‑shaking vision: in the vast starry sky, a splendid stellar palace floated above the clouds, myriad cultivators riding starlight back and forth. Suddenly, the heavens split open a ferocious breach, countless filthy tentacles surged forth, wherever they passed the stars dimmed and all beings suffered. The star‑robed elder led the masses in forming arrays to resist, starlight and dark tide clashed fiercely between heaven and earth...

The Lord of the Nine Abyssal covets our realm's stellar core... we opposed it with the Zhou Tian Star Dipper Grand Array... alas, victory slipped away..." The phantom's voice grew ever weaker, "The Fallen Star Abyss was the main battlefield of that time... deep in the Earth Vein... it is sealed..."

The vision suddenly shattered! The phantom trembled violently, as if interfered with by some force. It pointed sharply toward the depths of the hall: 'Hurry! Take... the stellar core fragments... absolutely must not let the Nine Abyssal... detect...'

Before his words faded, the entire cavern suddenly shuddered violently! Rubble rained down from the ceiling, and in the distance came a hair‑raising 'crack' sound, as if some ancient seal were breaking. What was worse, the repressed evil thought within Han Wuxian's body suddenly went berserk, resonating with something outside!