Chapter 1111: Heart of the Stars

A surge of stellar power, far purer and vaster than meteorite essence, as if originating from the cosmic source, erupted violently from the bronze fragment! This force ignored Han Wuxian's shattered defenses, like a bursting flood, instantly rushing into his sea of consciousness and slamming hard against the star core fragment and the Heart of the Stars fragment!

Hum!

The star core fragment and Heart of the Stars fragment suddenly burst forth with unprecedented light! Three forces sharing the same origin yet separated for countless tens of thousands of years collided and merged in Han Wuxian's sea of consciousness with a tremendous boom! Like three dormant stars suddenly igniting, they attracted and resonated with each other!

A series of fragmented, blurry yet incredibly shocking images surged into Han Wuxian's consciousness like a flood:

A massive star blazing with destructive flames, trailing a long tail, tore through the sky and crashed violently into this primitive wilderness forest! The earth split, the forest turned to scorched earth, and the shockwave swept across ten thousand li!

In the depths of the charred impact crater, a figure drenched in blood and clad in tattered star robes struggled to crawl out. He clutched a cyan‑gold star key fragment in his hand and cradled a head‑sized Heart of the Stars radiating warm starlight in his arms. Gazing toward his ruined homeland, his eyes filled with endless sorrow and resolve.

The star‑robed cultivator, wielding immense power, forcibly fused the fallen star core fragment with the Heart of the Stars core he carried, turning it into a meteorite altar to suppress the disordered ley lines of this place and dispel the deadly death‑air brought by the meteor shower. He placed the star key fragment atop it, drew upon the celestial stellar power to form a protective barrier. He taught the surviving primitives to draw star charts, leaving behind a vow of protection…

In the final image, the star‑robed cultivator's life‑fire flickered like a candle in the wind. He sat cross‑legged before the nascent altar, his body turning into specks of starlight that slowly merged into the meteorite core. Only the star key fragment remained suspended, emitting a steady glow, as if waiting for something…

"Pfft!" Han Wuxian spat out a mouthful of blood! His body shook violently, his vision darkened! The forced influx of massive memories and the violent resonance of the three supreme treasure cores deep in his sea of consciousness, like detonating a star within his soul! His already wounded primordial spirit infant instantly cracked all over, pain like billions of steel needles piercing him!

Even more terrifying, at the instant the three supreme treasure cores resonated violently in his sea of consciousness, a foul, death‑laden aura emanating from the depths of the altar's meteorite core—suppressed for tens of thousands of years by the star core power—awoke like a shark smelling blood!

"Jie!"

A harsh, venomous, greed‑filled inhuman shriek exploded directly in the souls of Han Wuxian and Chief Yanshan! The whole stone hall trembled violently! The originally warm meteorite core on the altar suddenly had countless twisting, writhing dark‑purple lines appear on its surface! The gentle starlight was rapidly eroded by the polluted purple light!

The beast bones and spiritual herbs offered before the meteorite core instantly turned to ash! The edges of the huge star‑chart carving on the stone wall began to spread fine, spider‑web‑like black cracks! A cold, sticky death‑air reeking of sulfur and decay—the Nine Nether death‑qi—dripped like ink into clear water, quickly polluting the pure stellar power within the stone hall!

"Roar!" Chief Yanshan, as if struck hard, clutched his head and let out a painful howl, dark‑red blood seeping from his seven orifices! His eyes filled with incredulous shock and fear as he stared fixedly at the polluted meteorite core! The tribe's generations‑old sacred object… had been contaminated?!

"Suppress!" Han Wuxian's eyes nearly burst as he endured the excruciating pain of his sea of consciousness tearing apart! He suddenly understood! The Star Derivation Sect elder from thirty thousand years ago, though he had used star‑core power to suppress the death‑air brought by the meteor shower, the meteor shower itself likely carried Nine Nether contamination! This pollution, like a bone‑deep maggot, had lain dormant in the deepest part of the meteorite core, sealed by pure stellar power. Now the violent resonance of the three supreme treasure cores in his sea of consciousness produced a power fluctuation like a key, inadvertently shaking the seal and awakening this slumbering demon!

Without hesitation, he poured all his remaining power into his sea of consciousness! The star core fragment and Heart of the Stars fragment burst with their final light, desperately protecting his on‑the‑verge‑of‑breaking primordial spirit! At the same time, he stretched out his trembling hand and grabbed the quivering bronze fragment on the altar!

I must get it! It is the key to stabilizing the stellar power here, and also the key to leaving!

Just as his fingertips touched the fragment—

Boom—

The stone hall's roof exploded open with a huge hole! A massive tentacle formed of condensed foul death‑air, covered in suckers, tore through the stone like a poisonous snake from hell, exuding a terrifying aura that extinguished life, and came crashing down on Han Wuxian and the altar! Wherever it passed, the stone walls corroded and collapsed, and even space groaned under the strain!

The awakened Nine Nether foulness could actually take shape and attack!

Life and death in an instant! Han Wuxian's eyes burst with resolute starlight! He no longer suppressed the resonance of the three supreme treasure cores in his sea of consciousness; instead, using his wounded primordial spirit as a guide, he forcibly activated them!

"Star Derivation·Burn Soul!"

Hum!

A point of star‑heart fire, refined to the extreme, suddenly ignited between his eyebrows! This was not spiritual power, but star fire kindled by burning the essence of life and soul! The fire instantly spread over his body, dyeing his shattered star armor a blazing gold‑red! A terrifying power far beyond his current wounded state, exuding an aura that would burn away all pollution, exploded!

"Give me… seal!"

His palm ablaze with star fire slammed onto the bronze fragment on the altar, ignoring the coiling death‑air tentacle!

Boom!!

An indescribably brilliant starburst exploded at the center of the stone hall! The cyan‑gold star key fragment's light surged like an awakening blazing sun! A shockwave formed purely from the stellar origin, centered on the altar, expanded outward in a ring!

Hiss—

The death‑air tentacle, upon meeting its nemesis, was instantly dissolved by more than half of the starburst shockwave; the remainder let out a shrill shriek and, like an electric shock, recoiled back into the polluted meteorite core's depths!

The black cracks spreading on the stone wall were forcibly halted; the purple polluted light was temporarily pushed back! The whole stone hall shook violently in the starburst, and rubble rained down like rain!

"Ugh!" Han Wuxian groaned in pain; the backlash from burning the star fire instantly drained his last strength! The cracks in his primordial spirit infant widened, nearly shattering completely! His vision fell into total darkness, his body limp like a broken puppet as he collapsed backward!

One second before his consciousness plunged into total darkness, he vaguely saw:

He clutched the scorching bronze fragment tightly in his hand.

Chief Yanshan roared as he lunged at the meteorite core, now temporarily repelled and dimmed, trying to block the dark‑purple lines that were stirring again with his body!

Outside the hole in the stone hall's roof, the tribespeople's frightened cries and angry battle cries intertwined…

Darkness completely swallowed everything. The stone hall wailed, the sacred object moaned, and the wilderness guardians struggled desperately in the shadow of pollution. The child of the stars, who brought both hope and disaster, had collapsed before the altar, his fate unknown. The ancient star chart pointing to the star gate grew ever more blurred under the corrosion of pollution and the impact of the starburst.

The stone hall wails, the holy objects wail, the guardians of the barbaric wilderness struggle desperately in the shadow of corruption. And the star child who brings hope and disaster has fallen before the altar, his fate unknown. The ancient star chart pointing to the star gate is growing ever more blurred under the erosion of corruption and the shock of the stellar explosion.