Chapter 1133: Disintegration

In the Sea of Knowledge, that speck of azure‑blue star flame stubbornly burning amid the encircling filthy dead Qi is like the first ray of dawn that pierces eternal darkness! It is faint, yet it bears a guardian will that is ancient and unyielding! Its aura, sharing origin with bronze lanterns and stone‑chamber sword intent, is even purer, even… fundamental!

Roar!!!

The sharp howl of the filthy will filled the air with an incredible terror! The dark‑purple dead Qi that had been wildly coiling around and corroding the Star Map Fragment, as if it had met the nemesis of nemeses, twisted and recoiled violently! Though not instantly incinerated, its rate and intensity of corrosion were suddenly weakened severalfold! The painful hum of the fragment's core eased a bit, and the dim light seemed to stabilize slightly.

Effective! This azure‑blue star flame truly can suppress the Boundary Monument's filth!

Han Wuxian's mind, on the brink of collapse, was pierced mercilessly by this dawn! An indescribable surge of ecstatic joy and resolve instantly scattered the despair! Hope! This is the true seed of hope!

"Help me!" Han Wuxian's lingering consciousness hesitated no longer, like a drowning person clutching the last floating log, frantically communicating and calling to that speck of azure‑blue star flame in the fragment's core!

He no longer tried to clash with the filth using his own star‑sword intent; instead, he turned all his spirit and all the newly born star‑sword intent into the purest "fuel" and "fuse", and, disregarding everything, poured them into that faint azure‑blue star flame!

Hum…

The azure‑blue star flame seemed to sense the support of the same‑origin power and its master's desperate will, and surged suddenly! Though still faint, its burning posture became more upright and resilient! A cyan halo rippled outward, and wherever it passed, the dark‑purple filthy dead Qi emitted a "sizzle" of annihilation, as if scorched by invisible flame, recoiling even more fiercely! Cracks in the fragment's core region, illuminated by the cyan flame, showed a faint… sign of reconciliation!

"Effective! Continue!" Han Wuxian's spirit surged, ignoring the violent depletion of his dantian star‑cloud and the tearing sensation deep in his soul, and crazily squeezed out his own power, turning it into fuel injected into the azure‑blue star flame!

However, the euphoria lasted only a few breaths.

A cold, cruel fact poured over Han Wuxian's heart like icy water!

As the azure‑blue star flame burned and suppressed the filthy dead Qi, the Star Map Fragment itself… was accelerating its disintegration!

The newly formed blood‑red crack on the fragment's surface spread at a naked‑eye speed… like fissures on a dried earth, rapidly expanding across the entire fragment! Though the fragment's light appeared "brighter" as the filth receded, that light shone with an abnormal, reflected‑flame intensity! The core's hum shifted from painful anger to a… tragic tone!

Han Wuxian instantly understood!

This azure‑blue star flame is the most core, most fundamental point of protective true fire in the Star Map Fragment! It is the Star Torch Master's seal's final remnant! Igniting it to combat the filth is equivalent to burning the fragment's own "life" and "existence" source! Each suppression of filth, each burst of light, accelerates the fragment's own collapse!

The price! It is a sacrifice of destroying hope itself to gain a brief respite!

His action now is no different from drinking poison to quench thirst!

"No…" a massive wave of sorrow and helplessness seized Han Wuxian. The hope fire that had just ignited was about to be snuffed out by his own hand?

At the instant his spirit trembled violently and his power output lagged a fraction,

Roar!!!

The filthy will deep within the Boundary Monument seemed to have also sensed the Star Map Fragment's "strong outside, weak inside" state! The terrifying howl instantly turned into an even more ferocious, greed‑filled roar! The filthy dead Qi, suppressed by the azure‑blue star flame, seemed to receive a powerful infusion of its source and struck back fiercely!

The dark‑purple dead Qi, like boiling poison, raged even more wildly against the domain of the azure‑blue star flame! The star flame's light was sharply compressed! The blood‑red cracks on the fragment's surface emitted a strained "crack" sound, instantly spreading several more fissures! The entire fragment quivered violently, as if it would explode completely in the next second!

"Puff!" Han Wuxian spewed another massive mouthful of blood, his soul seeming torn! The forced‑maintained azure‑blue star flame's consumption surged, and the power of his star‑cloud dantian poured out like a burst dam, instantly emptying! The crystallized corrosion on his left arm accelerated its spread as his spirit faltered, a searing pain drilling into his heart!

What's more deadly is the outside!

The few dark‑purple skeletal pursuers that had been temporarily flung aside, guided by the filthy will and locked onto the now conspicuous Star Map Fragment like a burning torch, had already broken through the chaotic turbulence barrier and reappeared near the "Broken Sword" star‑skeleton fragment where Han Wuxian was hiding! Purple flames blazed in their eye sockets, and the filthy weapons in their hands reconvened into destructive dark‑purple light, locking onto Han Wuxian on the fragment's backside from afar!

Desperation! A truly ten‑death, no‑survival situation!

Pursuers at the front, the source collapsing behind! The azure‑blue star flame is the only support, yet also the poison that speeds destruction!

Escape? The Star Map Fragment is on the brink of collapse, power depleted, speed sharply reduced—there's simply no way out!

Fight? Burning the fragment's source might heavily wound or even destroy a skeletal pursuer, but the price is the fragment's total annihilation, leaving himself drained and torn apart by the remaining pursuers!

Surrender and await death? Absolutely impossible!

In the flash of lightning, Han Wuxian's chaotic thoughts were pushed to the limit! A wildly extreme, yet possibly the only chance, idea struck his mind like lightning!

Return-to-void Boundary Monument!

That filthy source is also the destination the Star Torch Master's seal points to! If the azure‑blue star flame can suppress the filth, then does the Boundary Monument itself also harbor a… core not fully polluted? The true power of the "Return-to-void Boundary Monument" that the Star Torch Master fights to protect—could it be hidden beneath the filth?

The Star Map Fragment is disintegrating! Rather than let it be completely polluted and burned out here, it is better… to gamble everything, charge toward the Boundary Monument! Use this last burning star fire to try to ignite the possibly unpolluted core of the Boundary Monument!

If successful, perhaps it can trigger the Boundary Monument's power and reverse the heavens!

If it fails, it's merely an early death, turning into stardust in the charge!

"The starfire shall not extinguish… even if it burns this body… it must… spread!" The final maxim in the Star Torch Master's seal, like the last war drum, thundered through Han Wuxian's near‑shattered soul!

No time to weigh pros and cons! No retreat available!

"Aaaah!!!" Han Wuxian let out a blood‑curdling roar! His eyes erupted with unprecedented, dazzling starlight mingling despair and madness!

He no longer suppresses! No longer holds back!

He will take all remaining power—the ultimate source of his dantian star‑cloud, the vitality contained in his star‑sword body, even the final potential brought by his burning soul

All, without reservation, wildly inject into that speck of azure‑blue star flame at the core of the Star Map Fragment!

Boom!!!