Chapter 1126: Core Land

That tiny star-crystal fragment, carrying his last shred of strength and resolve, shot like an arrow released from its bow, slicing through the damp air, hurtling toward the far side of the platform, away from the corridor and the edge of the lantern's light, into the murky water!

Plop!

The fragment landed precisely in the water, sending up a small splash!

At the instant the fragment entered the water

Splash!!!!!

The steadily bubbling water surface suddenly exploded as if a red-hot iron had been thrown into it! A huge, vague, terrifying shape made entirely of murky wastewater and viscous shadow, beyond naming, shot at unimaginable speed from the light-dark boundary that Han Wuxian had been staring at, instantly lunging toward where the fragment had fallen into the water!

Its speed left only a distorted afterimage! A even more violent, greedy aura, almost enough to devour the entire water area, erupted explosively! The murky water surface boiled and churned, forming a massive whirlpool!

Now!

At the very moment the fragment left his hand and the underwater existence was drawn to it, Han Wuxian had already braced himself! He didn't even look at the result; his body, like a spring compressed to its limit, he kicked hard off the wet Stone Tablet behind him!

Plop!

He clutched the bronze lantern and, without hesitation, plunged into the icy, dark water behind him that led deeper into the palace!

Bone-chilling cold enveloped him again as the murky wastewater flooded his nose and mouth. He gritted his teeth against the sting of water and the tearing pain of his wounds, using the momentum of his lunge to thrash his left arm, striking out into the unknown darkness deeper in the corridor. The faint blue-gray glow of the lantern in his arms penetrated only weakly through the murky water, illuminating just a small area around him, revealing floating debris and the outlines of collapsed stone blocks.

Behind him came a deep, heart‑stopping roar, like an angry hiss from the abyss! Obviously, the terrifying presence realized it had lunged at empty water—its prey had escaped! Immediately after, a more violent surge of water sounded; the thing was giving chase! Its speed exceeded Han Wuxian's by many times!

The shadow of death clung to him like a bone‑deep maggot!

Han Wuxian strained every muscle to swim, his lungs burning; each stroke drained the faint strength he had just recovered. The blue‑gray light swayed slightly with his vigorous movements, protecting him yet also making him like a lamp in the darkness.

The underwater palace corridor ahead grew even deeper, littered with more collapsed boulders, like a maze. He had no time to choose a path, so he swam toward the direction that looked relatively open. A massive broken beam, carved with strange beast heads, lay slanted ahead, blocking the way. He was just about to go around it

Suddenly!

The bronze lantern clutched tightly in his arms suddenly began to vibrate violently!

Hum!

A low, vast humming, as if crossing endless ages, emanated from within the lantern! The blue‑gray stone at the center of the lamp plate, whose light had been a steady, soft blue‑gray, suddenly turned blazing! Its hue faintly bore a trace of something extraordinarily ancient and extraordinarily noble… a purple tinge!

This sudden change startled Han Wuxian; he instinctively lowered his gaze.

He saw that the lantern's blue‑gray glow, now tinged with a faint purple, was no longer spreading evenly; instead, as if pulled by some strong attraction, it condensed into a tight beam that shot straight toward a point not far ahead of him

At the base of that massive beast‑head‑carved beam slanted into the water bottom lay a patch, thickly coated with silt and waterweeds, that was utterly unremarkable!

Where the light fell, the silt and waterweeds seemed to be brushed aside by an invisible force, revealing on the Stone Tablet below an extremely intricate circular mark composed of countless tiny runes! The mark's style was archaic and vigorous, bearing an indescribable dignity; its core pattern faintly echoed some of the ancient carvings on the lantern itself!

"What… is this?!" Han Wuxian's heart jolted! This lantern was actually guiding him on its own?! What was it sensing?

Just as he stood there, doubtful and uncertain

Boom—!

The violent water behind him had already closed in! That icy, resentful will, like a solid icicle, slammed fiercely into his back! He could even "feel" a huge maw formed of polluted water, bristling with fangs, suddenly yawn open behind him, engulfing him in all‑devouring darkness!

A hair's breadth from disaster! Life and death hung by a thread!

No time to think! No time to hesitate! Was the mark the lantern pointed to a trap… or the gate of life?

Han Wuxian's eyes blazed with final madness! He chose to trust the lantern that had saved his life!

"Open——!!!" he roared silently in his mind, pouring all his will, all his thirst for life, into the lantern in his arms!

Hum——!!!

The bronze lantern seemed to answer his resolve! The precious purple tinge within its blue‑gray light suddenly surged! The beam aimed at the circular mark became more solid and blazing!

Click!

A clear, crisp sound, like a latch releasing, rang out clearly underwater!

The silt‑covered circular mark suddenly burst forth with a richer, more brilliant blue‑purple light, the same source as the lantern's glow! The light instantly formed a complex, rotating halo! At its center, a strong yet gentle suction exploded outward, precisely enveloping Han Wuxian and the lantern in his arms, right at hand!

At the one‑ten‑ten‑thousandth of a moment before the terrifying maw of polluted water behind him snapped shut, ready to swallow him whole

Whoosh!

Han Wuxian's figure, together with the bronze lantern emitting blue‑purple light, was instantly sucked into the rotating vortex of light and vanished!

The huge maw of polluted water slammed shut on empty air, bursting with a dull thunder and towering waves! The ancient lurking presence unleashed a earth‑shaking howl, filled with endless rage and loss, that made the entire submerged palace ruins rumble!

And Han Wuxian felt only a dazzling flash of blue‑purple light before his eyes, as if his body had passed through a layer of viscous, warm liquid; weightlessness struck him instantly, and then

Plop!

He fell again onto solid ground! But this time, there was no icy, bone‑chilling wastewater, no suffocating stench!

He crashed hard onto the cold, dry Stone Tablet, thickly coated with dust. The bronze lantern clutched tightly in his arms quickly dimmed, its glow returning to a soft blue‑gray, but the stone at the center of the lamp plate had noticeably darkened a shade, its volume seeming to have shrunk by a hair's breadth visible to the eye.

Violent coughing made him curl up, spitting blood flecked with starlight from his mouth. He painfully lifted his head and looked around.

No water! No foul odor!

This was a completely sealed, towering‑domed vast stone chamber! The chamber was a perfect circle; its walls, floor, and dome were built from black stone that emitted a warm, jade‑like sheen, its walls covered in countless intricate, profound ancient runes that gave off a faint starlight! The interior was filled with a pure, gentle heavenly‑earth qi brimming with vitality—far richer than any blessed cavern he had ever seen!

At the chamber's center stood a circular platform made of the same black jade stone. Rising from its middle was…… a shattered, ancient‑looking solemn lamp stand, carved from that same black jade!

The lamp stand's style was exactly like the bronze lantern he clutched in his arms—only magnified many times over, and entirely carved from that strange black jade!

The lamp stand was empty above, leaving only a recess whose shape…… fit the bronze lantern in his arms perfectly, seamlessly!

The stone chamber was dead silent, save for his ragged, labored breaths echoing. The feeble exhaustion of having survived intertwined with the immense impact this mysterious stone chamber brought.

He…… seemed to have stumbled, by sheer chance, into a place sharing the bronze lantern's origin, guarded by a mighty formation…… the core land?