Chapter 1129: Star Torch's Legacy

After the rites, his gaze turned to other parts of the stone chamber. This place is far more than just the power of reconstruction. That resonant sword cry that stabilizes heaven and earth, that ultimate sword intent etched into the ceiling, and the 'Return to the Void' mentioned in the fractured thoughts of the Star Torch Commander... the clues must be here!

His gaze, like the most precise probe, carefully scanned every inch of the walls, floor, and ceiling covered in star patterns. The stellar sword body granted him unparalleled perception of stellar power. Soon, he detected an anomaly.

Within the flowing star-pattern core on the ceiling, beneath that intangible, immaterial imprint radiating supreme sword intent, there is a small area of star patterns that seems…… to have been severed? It is not physical damage, but a 'disruption' of the energy circuit, as if forcibly severed by some mighty power, leaving a patch of dim, discordant void.

Han Wuxian's heart stirred; he attempted to mobilize a newly born thread of stellar sword intent within his body, carefully probing toward that fractured area.

Just as his sword intent touched that dim void

Clang!

The supreme sword intent imprint at the core of the ceiling seemed to be triggered, emitting a clear, resonant sword cry once more! But this time, it was no longer the solemn authority of stabilizing heaven and earth; instead, it carried a sense of guidance.

With the sword cry, the sword intent imprint suddenly blazed bright! A thread of sword intent, condensed to the extreme, perceptible only to Han Wuxian, shot out from the imprint and precisely landed in the star-chart fragment brimming with inner radiance on his back.

Hum!

The star-chart fragment shuddered violently! The dormant thread of fragmented thought imprint belonging to the Star Torch Commander deep within the fragment seemed to be awakened and guided by this supreme sword intent! Countless blurred images and information fragments surged into Han Wuxian's sea of consciousness once more, but this time, they were not chaotic; instead, that sword-intent thread forcibly sorted and spliced them.

Burning stellar rivers... collapsed stellar roads... countless cultivators in star-pattern armor perished in the foul, dark tide... the majestic back of the Star Torch Commander plunged the fractured stellar torch into the boiling, dark‑purple core...

The final image froze!

No longer a vague expectation, but an exceptionally clear star‑orbit chart traced from countless shattered starlight!

This star‑orbit chart is incomplete, bearing clear signs of rupture, and the point of rupture corresponds exactly to the dim void area on the chamber's ceiling! Yet at the end of this fragmented chart, a coordinate formed by several specific stars, radiating an aura of eternal solitude, is clearly marked!

An ancient, weathered thought, seeming to carry endless solemnity and obsession, accompanied by the coordinate, was directly imprinted deep within Han Wuxian's soul:

「Return to the Void… Boundary Marker…」

「Stellar Fire… Unextinguished…」

「Return to the Void Boundary Marker! 」 Han Wuxian's mind and spirit shuddered violently! Is this the 'Return to the Void' mentioned in the fractured thoughts of the Star Torch Commander? Is this the key to opposing that foul core?

This fragmented star‑orbit chart points to the coordinates of the 「Return to the Void Boundary Marker」! And the fractured star patterns on the chamber's ceiling are likely part of the 「Stellar Road」 leading there! It has been destroyed!

Just as he was stunned by this crucial clue

Boom!!!

The entire stone chamber shuddered violently! As if struck by a fierce blow from an invisible giant hand from outside! The soft stellar radiance flowing along the stone walls instantly turned chaotic, emitting a piercing hum!

Immediately followed, a second shock! Third shock!

Crack! Crack!

The ceiling of the stone chamber, the black jade etched with star patterns, actually cracked open several fine fissures in the violent shaking! Although the chamber's own defensive formation flared up instantly, stabilizing the structure, but at the fissures, traces of extremely weak yet intimately familiar icy cold foul Nine Nether death qi, like sensing a bloody venomous snake, began to seep in silently!

At the same time, an intent brimming with endless resentment, greed, and violent fury, like an icy tide, pierced the thick stone walls and powerful formation, fiercely assaulting Han Wuxian's mind and spirit! It is it! It is the ancient entity lurking in that body of water! It actually pursued us all the way here! And it is forcibly attacking the stone chamber!

What made Han Wuxian's complexion change even more was, as this fierce external impact and the seepage of death qi progressed, the black jade lamp stand at the chamber's center, whose protective halo it emitted, began to fluctuate violently! In the recess of the lamp tray, the bluish‑gray stone at the center of the bronze lamp, which had maintained a delicate balance, saw its light rapidly dim at a visible speed! Its volume also seemed to be shrinking ever faster!

The chamber's defenses and the lamp's upkeep are being rapidly depleted by the forces pressing from within and without!

This place cannot be lingered in!

Han Wuxian's eyes burst forth with a sharp sword gleam! Danger descended again, but this time he was no longer a helpless prey!

He made his decision in an instant:

Remember the coordinates! The stellar‑orbit coordinates of the 「Return to the Void Boundary Marker」 are the mission he must fulfill and the core key to opposing the foulness!

Leave! Must leave before the chamber's defenses are breached! Otherwise, once entangled with that unknown ancient entity, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Seek an exit! The chamber is sealed, an exit must exist, and it is likely related to the fractured stellar road!

His gaze once again turned to the dim, fractured star‑pattern area on the ceiling. The perception of his stellar sword body heightened to the extreme, combined with the newly acquired stellar sword intent, he keenly perceived that at the edge of that fractured area there were several extremely fine, residual spatial fluctuation traces! They resembled the 'thread ends' left after a stellar road's rupture, pointing toward a specific direction!

The exit, there!

「Go! 」 Han Wuxian hesitated no longer. He gave one last glance at the bronze lamp on the stand, whose light was rapidly dimming, and a hint of complexity flashed in his eyes. He could not take it with him; he could only leave it here to continue fulfilling its duty of guardianship.

He drew a deep breath, his stellar nebula dantian within spun rapidly, stellar sword intent circulated throughout his body! His form flickered, becoming a pale silver streak of light, hard for the naked eye to catch, bearing a sharp sword gleam, shot toward the point on the edge of the ceiling's fractured star‑pattern area where the spatial fluctuation traces were strongest!

Just as his body was about to touch the ceiling jade, he condensed his fingers into a sword, gathering his entire body's stellar sword intent, and fiercely slashed at that spatial fluctuation point!

Rip!

A fine yet incredibly sharp spatial rift was forcibly torn open by the power imbued with supreme sword intent! Beyond the rift, it was not chaotic void turbulence, but a twisted passage shrouded in darkness, filled with the remnants of broken stellar orbits!

Han Wuxian hesitated not, his figure instantly plunging into the rift!

The instant after his figure vanished

Boom!!!

The chamber's ceiling was blasted open a huge hole by a terrifying force! Viscous, icy black water brimming with endless resentment, mixed with foul death qi, poured down like a breached flood! A massive, indefinable shape formed of filthy water and shadow, exuding an aura of utter destruction, surged into this holy chamber of stellar light!

It let out an ear‑splitting roar brimming with greed and violent fury, the huge shadow instantly engulfed the central black jade lamp stand! On the stand, the bluish‑gray stone at the center of the bronze lamp had already faded to the weakness of a firefly, its volume shrunk to near invisibility, and, shrouded by the foul colossus, it resembled a candle in the wind, liable to be snuffed out at any moment!

The star patterns inside the chamber flickered wildly, the protective formation operated at full force, clashing fiercely with the invading foul power! The whole space trembled and groaned under the violent energy collision!

And Han Wuxian was already making his way through the dark passage formed of broken stellar orbits, fraught with danger. Behind him rose the rumbling of the chamber's collapse and the furious roars of the foul entity, ahead lay the unknown coordinates of the Return to the Void Boundary Marker and an even more perilous journey.

The stellar sword body had just taken form, bearing the legacy of the stellar torch.