Chapter 1138: Another World

Chaos‑filled space tore like billions of dull knives scraping the soul; Han Wuxian shut his eyes tight, the Return Void Sword began to circulate on its own, gray‑white Silence Extinction energy forming a thin barrier on his body, struggling to fend off the violent turbulence generated when the All Realms passage collapsed. No one could tell how long had passed—seemed like an instant, yet like a millennium—the suffocating distortion suddenly vanished.

Bang!

A heavy thud arrived, accompanied by the sound of brittle twigs and dead leaves snapping. The scent of soil and rotting plants pierced his nostrils, bringing a long‑missed, faint breath of "life".

Han Wuxian snapped his eyes open.

It was no longer a dead‑silent void, no longer a collapsing boundary marker. Before his eyes stretched a dense, sky‑blocking primeval forest. Thick vines coiled around towering ancient trees like giant serpents, knotted roots lay exposed on the ground, and thick moss covered rocks and rotten wood. Light filtered through layers of foliage, casting mottled, broken shadows on the ground. The air was humid and oppressive, suffused with the stench of decaying vegetation and earth; the spiritual energy… was so thin it was almost nonexistent.

"The mundane world?" Han Wuxian's thoughts flickered. The Return Void Sword's perception instantly spread. The forest was teeming with life, but only with ordinary birds and beasts, its internal energy negligible. The concentration of spiritual energy in the heavens and earth was a hundred times thinner than the fringe zones of the cultivation world he had once dwelled in, barely enough to sustain a cultivator's breath.

He struggled to sit up, a wave of intense weakness sweeping his body in an instant. The Return Void Sword had expended enormous energy when the passage collapsed; the "Sword Origin" condensed from the core of Return Void in his dantian was dim and riddled with fine cracks, each attempt to draw power causing a needle‑like sting.

The spot on his left arm that had been corrupted and crystallized by filth had been forcibly reverted to flesh during the Return Void reconstruction, yet the newly formed skin bore an odd gray‑white hue and still throbbed faintly. More troublesome, he could clearly sense that the natural laws of this world subtly repelled the primordial power from Return Void within him… as if he were an intruder bound by invisible shackles.

"The injuries are severe, my strength is less than a tenth, and the world's laws further suppress me…" Han Wuxian furrowed his brows. The situation was worse than he had expected. He tried to communicate with his vest.

The star map fragment had long since been consumed by the core of Return Void, leaving only a faint, almost imperceptible trace of the Star Torch Lord's imprint. Likewise, the pale grayish‑blue light mark on his brow— the final signal from the Star Torch Lord— lay dormant, allowing him only a vague sense that a bronze lantern existed somewhere in this realm, its exact location as elusive as a flower seen through fog.

At that moment

"Rustle… rustle…"

A deliberately softened yet still tense footfall, accompanied by the faint rustling of foliage being brushed aside, came from the dense woods ahead to the side.

Han Wuxian's gaze hardened, instantly drawing in all his aura; the Silence Extinction aura from the Return Void Sword instinctively merged him with the surroundings, like a lifeless gray stone. He tilted his head slightly and peered through a gap in the vines.

Two figures approached cautiously. They wore coarse hemp short jackets, tied leggings, their skin dark and rough, clearly seasoned hunters. One wielded a sharpened fire‑axe, the other a simple hunting bow with an arrow nocked, scanning the surroundings warily. Both wore expressions of startled doubt, their gazes finally landing on the shallow pit Han Wuxian had fallen into and the tattered garment on his body, reduced to a strip of cloth by the spatial turbulence.

"Dage… is this… a person?" the young archer's voice trembled as he saw Han Wuxian's distinctly abnormal gray‑white skin, deep eyes, and the criss‑crossing, still fierce scars across his body— remnants of the Return Void reconstruction— and instinctively felt fear.

"Don't panic!" the older hunter forced calm, gripping his fire‑axe tighter, his Adam's apple bobbing, "His clothing… doesn't look like a mountain dweller… more like… someone who fell from the sky?" He glanced up at the sky hidden by leaves, then at the impact marks left by Han Wuxian, his surprise deepening. He noted that despite Han Wuxian's weakness, his gaze was clear and sharp, unlike a beast, and showed no innocence.

Han Wuxian stared at them in silence, making no move and saying nothing. He quickly assessed. Two ordinary humans posed no threat. Yet, newly arrived in this realm, his power depleted, identity unknown, a sudden contact could be blessing or disaster?

Seeing Han Wuxian show no hostility, the older hunter gathered a bit of courage, stepped forward, and in a thick‑accented local dialect asked, "Hey! Who are you? Where do you come from? How did you end up falling here?"

Han Wuxian remained silent. He didn't understand the dialect, but he caught the caution in the speaker's tone and a barely perceptible hint of pity.

At that moment, distant, muffled voices and dog barks drifted in, as if more people were searching toward this spot.

The older hunter's complexion shifted slightly, as if recalling something; his gaze wavered, then he whispered to the young hunter, "A Mu, quick! Hide him in that rock crevice over there! Cover him with vines! Don't let the scum of Black Wind Stronghold see him!"

"Black Wind Stronghold?" the young hunter A Mu clearly trembled at the name, but seeing Dage's resolute gaze, he sprang into action. Together they half‑dragged the weak, unresisting Han Wuxian into a natural rock crevice hidden by dense vines nearby. The older hunter quickly piled some dead twigs and leaves over Han Wuxian.

"Don't make a sound! No matter what you hear, stay hidden!" the older hunter urged hastily, giving Han Wuxian a complex look, then grabbed A Mu and hurried away, heading toward the source of the voices, deliberately creating some noise.

Han Wuxian lay in the cold rock crevice, listening to the growing clamor outside and the hunters' deliberately amplified chatter.

"Chief! Over here! We've spotted wild boar tracks here!" called the older hunter.

"Hmph! Slow down! Search carefully! Don't let that 'Demon Star' get away!" a coarse, arrogant voice shouted, thick with the scent of blood and a ripple of spiritual energy! Though faint, Han Wuxian keenly sensed it— a cultivator! Moreover, one who had practiced some vile technique, shrouded in murderous aura!

"Yes, yes, yes! Chief, don't worry, we know this forest well…" the hunters replied meekly.

Footsteps and dog barks lingered nearby, searching for a while, seemingly finding nothing abnormal, before muttering and gradually moving away.

Only when the outside fell completely silent did the two hunters carefully lift Han Wuxian out of the crevice.

"Thank you." Han Wuxian said in a slightly awkward tone, trying to mimic the simple words he had just heard. The Return Void Sword granted him a powerful learning ability; though he didn't understand the language, copying pronunciation was easy.

The older hunter, seeing him speak, relaxed and waved his hand. "No need to thank us. Those were the evil cultivator thugs of Black Wind Stronghold— they slaughter people like flies and capture souls for refinement. If they saw you like this, you'd have no chance of survival." He paused, looking at Han Wuxian's gray‑white complexion and scars, then hesitated, "You… aren't from our Heavenly Barrier Realm, are you? Fell from the sky?"

Han Wuxian silently nodded.

A flicker of understanding and deeper curiosity crossed the hunter's eyes, but he asked no more, saying, "This place isn't safe to stay long. I'm the village chief of Stone Forest Village, surname Zhao. Come back with us to the village first, heal your wounds before anything else." He gestured for A Mu to help support him.

Han Wuxian did not refuse. He needed to learn about this world and required a temporary foothold to regain his strength. Stone Forest Village might be his only option for now.

Supported by Chief Zhao and A Mu, Han Wuxian staggered through the dense forest. Though his Return Void Sword was weak, each step caused the thick moss and leaf litter beneath his feet to sink silently, losing a trace of vitality and leaving an extremely faint, barely perceptible gray‑white footprint. He strained to contain the Silence Extinction power so as not to disturb the mortal aiding him.

After walking for about an hour and a half, the view suddenly cleared.

A small village built against the hillside appeared before him. Dozens of stone houses were arranged irregularly, their roofs thickly thatched. Around the village, sharpened wooden stakes and stone blocks formed a crude low wall; beyond the wall a shallow ditch had been dug, clearly to guard against beasts—or something more terrifying. At the village entrance stood several villagers also clad in coarse hemp garments and holding simple weapons; upon seeing Chief Zhao and A Mu return with a stranger, they showed startled, wary expressions.