Chapter 1135: Sword Trace

The azure light, like a lighthouse in darkness, instantly dispelled the absolute void and deathly silence enveloping Han Wuxian! He felt his frozen consciousness, burning life, and star map fragments on the verge of shattering, all gently wrapped and drawn by this same-source light!

Even more shocking to his mind and spirit, as this azure light flared, the star map fragment on his back—burning to its limit, covered in blood-red cracks, about to shatter completely—suddenly emitted an unprecedented humming, filled with the emotions of liberation and homecoming!

The final point of azure star flame at the fragment's core, like a weary bird returning to its nest, broke free of his control, turning into a fine yet incredibly condensed stream of light that actively shot toward the sword trace on the stone tablet!

Hum!

When the azure star flame of the star map fragment merged into the sword trace in an instant!

The entire shattered gray stone tablet suddenly burst forth with earth-shaking light! No longer azure, but a kind of……light like the dawn of chaos, all things returning to the void……a gray-white light!

This light was not blinding, yet it carried an indescribable grandeur and antiquity! It instantly filled the dark space where Han Wuxian was! Wherever the light reached, the heavy aura of void and deathly silence, like melting ice and snow, was replaced by a more vast, inclusive aura—seemingly able to bear all cycles of birth and death……the aura of the Returning Void origin!

At the same time, a vast, pure power, imbued with the implications of extinction and rebirth, like finding an outlet for release, surged from the sword trace on the stone tablet, following the "bridge" left by the final star flame of the star map fragment, and thunderously poured into Han Wuxian's body, on the brink of collapse!

This power differed from the stellar might that reforged him in the stone chamber, and also differed from his newly born star sword intent! It was older, more primal, carrying a kind of……the ultimate Dao rhythm where the end of all things is also the beginning!

Returning to Void Power!

A concept naturally imprinted itself deep in Han Wuxian's soul!

The moment this power surged in, Han Wuxian felt his body and soul as if cast into the universe's furnace! Excruciating pain! A terror a million times greater than any previous reforging or burning! This power was not repair, but rather a……fundamental rewriting and reconstruction!

His exhausted nebula dantian, under this power's scouring, was instantly smoothed out and obliterated!

His newly formed star sword body, the star patterns beneath his skin breaking inch by inch, dissolving!

His remaining meridians, bones, and flesh……all disintegrated in the gray-white light, returning to the most primal particles!

This feeling was like true……death! Returning to the void!

Yet, in the midst of this total "annihilation" process, the sword trace on the broken stone tablet, emitting its azure light, remained like a sturdy anchor, firmly locking onto Han Wuxian's last indestructible true spirit! While the gray-white Returning to Void power was completely sending him to the void, it also used that azure sword trace as a core, taking his final true spirit as a guide, beginning a……reformation based on the Returning Void origin……

The old stellar Dao foundation was completely shattered, returned to the void!

The new……Returning Void Sword Body, forged together from the Returning Void origin and star sword intent, was taking shape point by point in the gray-white light, emerging from absolute nothingness……

This was a more painful, more perilous process! A moment's carelessness would cause the true spirit to be completely assimilated by the Returning to Void power, falling into eternal extinction!

Outside, the Returning Void Realm Stele.

After a brief moment of bewilderment, the several dark-purple skeletal pursuers let out even more furious howls! They sensed the Returning Void origin vibrations emanating from inside the stele, triggering their instinctive fear! They madly lunged at the surface of the stele where Han Wuxian had vanished, brandishing corrupt weapons, gathering apocalyptic dark-purple energy, and relentlessly bombarded the cold, smooth black stele body!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The tremendous roar shook the void! Corrupt tendrils on the stele's surface danced wildly, dark-purple light flared, resisting the internal aberration and external assault! The entire massive obelisk trembled violently!

Inside the stele, that absolute dark space.

At the center of the gray-white light, under the guardianship of the sword trace on the broken stone tablet.

A vague humanoid outline formed from the Returning Void origin was slowly coalescing in pain.

At the outline's heart, a speck of azure sword intent burned stubbornly, like an undying star spark.

Han Wuxian's consciousness drifted between total annihilation and painful rebirth, leaving only the most primal thought:

"Returning Void… Sword Body… Complete!"

Returning Void Heart, Extinction Rebirth

The moment the burning azure meteor pierced the corrupt net, it was not an impact but a sinking into absolute void.

Cold. Deathly silence. Boundless darkness devoured all perception, even his own burning star flame seeming frozen, obliterated. Han Wuxian's consciousness seemed suspended at the universe's ice point, feeling neither body nor the passage of time, only that heavy, soul‑suffocating void aura bearing the extinction and end of all realms, flooding over him like a tide. Is this the core of the Returning Void Realm Stele? Is the "Returning Void Heart" pointed to by the Star Torch's main imprint? A pure land of finality?

Just as his remaining consciousness was about to be assimilated and frozen by this absolute void, falling utterly into eternal extinction,

Clang!

A clear, lofty sword cry tore apart the ancient deathly silence!

Han Wuxian recognized this sword cry! It was the supreme star sword intent that had stabilized stellar power in the stone chamber and guided his reforging! But now, this sword cry pierced through the ages of dust, carrying a homesick sorrow and resolute determination to protect, and exploded thunderously in this absolute void!

Where the sword cry reached, the absolute darkness was pierced by a beam of light.

The source of the light was neither star nor lamp, but a shattered stone tablet floating in the void.

The stele stood over a person tall, its whole body a warm, inwardly gathered chaos gray, its edges ragged and ferocious, as if torn violently from some greater existence. Its surface bore no characters or patterns, only a deep, straight sword trace running through its body. The form of that sword trace matched the sword‑intent phantom etched on the stone chamber's ceiling exactly!

At this moment, the sword trace that had lain silent for untold ages was emitting a soft yet tenacious azure light. The hue of this light shared the same origin and quality as the azure star flame at the core of Han Wuxian's star map fragment, now burned out.

The light, like a lighthouse in the darkness, instantly dispelled the void and deathly silence shrouding Han Wuxian. His frozen consciousness, exhausted vitality, and star map fragments on the verge of total shattering were all gently wrapped and drawn by this same‑source light.

Even more shocking to his mind and spirit, the star map fragment on his back—covered in blood‑red cracks, already burning to its limit—upon sensing the sword trace's light, burst out a final hum filled with liberation and ecstasy! The last remaining point of azure star flame at the fragment's core, flickering on the verge of dying, like having found its ultimate home, broke free of Han Wuxian's control, turned into a fine yet extremely condensed stream of light, and actively flew toward the azure sword trace on the stone tablet!

Hum!

When the final star flame of the star map fragment merged into the sword trace in that instant!