Chapter 1145: Risk

The scene shifts, revealing a black palace built into a sheer cliff. Its architecture is grotesque, as if constructed from the bones of a giant beast. In the central hall, a vague, terror‑aura‑emitting figure holds an object—a broken bronze lantern consisting only of a base and partial frame! The lantern is heavily damaged and dim, yet its shape clearly shares the same origin as the mark on Han Wuxian's forehead and the fragment he carries.

The Tian Sha Sect Sect Master seems to be attempting to infuse that broken lantern with a certain blood‑bane power, trying to refine and control it, but the lantern shows no response, even a faint repulsion.

The final piece of information concerns the Lock Star Token itself. It is not only a credential for Tian Sha Sect disciples, but also a special artifact. With this token one can carve a temporary safe passage through the poisonous miasma of the outer zones of Burial Star Ridge, avoiding direct erosion by the miasma. At the same time, the token can faintly sense the special fluctuations emitted by the Star Fragment, useful for locating and patrolling. The higher the token's grade, the deeper the accessible area and the clearer the sensing. The one in Han Wuxian's hand belongs to a Foundation‑establishment leader, so its authority is considerable.

The data stream abruptly stops.

Han Wuxian snaps his eyes open, a sharp glint flashing in his pupils!

"Just as I thought!" The Tian Sha Sect is indeed scheming with that fallen star! They use evil formations to pollute and siphon the star's essence, trying to make it their own! And the other crucial component of that bronze lantern—the lantern body itself—has somehow ended up in the hands of the Tian Sha Sect Sect Master!

"We must retrieve the lantern quickly and stop them from contaminating the star's core!" Han Wuxian's resolve hardens. That Star Fragment is likely a remnant of the Star Torch's main power; if fully polluted, the consequences would be unimaginable. The intact bronze lantern might be the key to purifying the fragment and countering the corruption.

He picks up the Lock Star Token again, sensing carefully. With it, he might evade the outer poisonous miasma and most patrolling disciples, slipping silently into the deeper parts of the Tian Sha Sect's sphere of influence, perhaps… even approaching that black palace?

But the prerequisite is that he must regain more power. At minimum he must temporarily stabilize the cracks in the Returning to Void Sword Core and barely tap the power of the Silence Extinction Sword Body; otherwise infiltration would be a death sentence.

His gaze sweeps the cavern's depths. Though the spiritual energy here is thin and chaotic, there seems to be an extremely subtle, faint fluctuation sharing the same origin as the Star Fragment, emanating from the deep earth?

A thought stirs within him; he walks to the cavern's deepest point, pressing his palm against the cold rock wall. The Returning to Void Power slowly permeates his perception.

A moment later, surprise flickers in his eyes. Deep beneath the cavern lies an extremely fine, almost exhausted branch of a ley line! The aura of this ley line appears to have been influenced by the distant Star Fragment, acquiring a trace of extremely faint stellar property, yet also mingling with the poisonous miasma bane of Burial Star Ridge, forming a bizarre, raging, and dangerous energy flow.

To ordinary cultivators this energy is lethal; inhaling even a trace can cause demonic deviation. But for Han Wuxian…

"Returning to Void Sword Body can absorb myriad Qi and transform Silence Extinction…" a thought surfaces. The Returning to Void Power inherently possesses the traits of devouring, transmuting, and annihilating all energy. This raging energy, mixed with stellar afterglow, ley line bane, and poisonous miasma, is dangerous, yet perhaps he can forcibly devour it, using Silence Extinction Power to grind away its violent impurities, transmuting it into the most primal void energy to mend the Sword Core? Though the process is perilous and inefficient, it may be the only way now to quickly regain some strength!

The risk is enormous, but it's worth a try!

He no longer hesitates, sitting cross‑legged at the spot where the ley line's aura is strongest in his perception. His hands form a simple Qi‑guiding seal, not to absorb but to… devour!

Within his dantian, the crack‑riddled Returning to Void Sword Core slowly rotates counter‑clockwise, emitting a faint gray‑white vortex. A powerful suction radiates from his pores!

Buzz…

The ground trembles slightly. Threads of extremely fine, murky dark‑purple, yet speckled with tiny star‑dust glints, raging energy are tugged, painstakingly drawn up from the earth, passing through the rock layers and threading into Han Wuxian's body!

"Puff!" At the instant the energy enters his body, Han Wuxian convulses violently, his complexion flashing purple‑gold! Excruciating pain! Far beyond imagined agony! The energy rips through his meridians like a red‑hot file, the stellar afterglow, ley line bane, and the corrosive, frenzied clash of poisonous miasma battering each other! Even the Returning to Void Sword Body trembles slightly, its surface sprouting finer cracks!

He lets out a muffled hum, blood again spilling from his mouth corner, yet he bites his teeth shut and drives the Returning to Void Sword Core into a frantic spin!

The gray‑white Silence Extinction Power acts like a millstone, crushing and grinding the surging raging energy! It annihilates its bane, purifies its toxicity, strips its stellar property, ultimately turning it into the most primal, pure void energy, which is then carefully guided into the cracks of the Sword Core for filling and repair.

It is an exceedingly painful, exceedingly slow process. Each devoural is like dancing on a knife's tip; a moment's slip leads to energy runaway and the Sword Core's total shattering.

Time drifts slowly amid the extreme agony. Outside the cavern, day and night alternate, the passage of time indeterminate.

Han Wuxian's body is soaked with sweat and forced‑out foul blood, his complexion as pale as paper, yet his gaze grows brighter. The cracks on the Returning to Void Sword Core, after a huge price, have finally been barely patched by the thin void energy, filling the tiniest few lines and improving overall stability by a sliver. Though true healing remains far off, at least a bit more power is now at his disposal.

More importantly, by devouring and refining this mixed energy, his command of the Returning to Void Power seems a shade more subtle, and his adaptability to the chaotic environment here has also increased slightly.

He slowly ceases his cultivation, exhaling a long, blood‑scented, foul breath.

It's time to set out.

He rises, dons a dark‑red outfit he retrieved from the deceased Tian Sha Sect leader's storage bag, subtly adjusts his posture, and hangs the Lock Star Token at his waist. Though the Mirror Technique Divine Skill is unavailable, the Returning to Void Sword Body's fine control over muscles and bones lets him mimic about seventy‑to‑eighty percent of the Tian Sha Sect disciple's distinctive, bane‑laden, cold aura.

He exits the cavern, checks his bearings. The Lock Star Token emits a faint guide toward the depths of Burial Star Ridge, the direction of that black palace. The forehead lantern mark's sensing also points to the same spot.

He inhales a lungful of the unsettling air of Burial Star Ridge, his figure turning into a faint red shadow, moving like a genuine Tian Sha Sect patrol disciple along the relatively thin poisonous miasma path indicated by the Lock Star Token, stealthily heading toward the Dragon Pool Tiger Cave.

However, he does not notice that shortly after his departure, the hidden bone glider high above in the clouds subtly adjusts its course.

Inside the glider, a water mirror floats before the black‑robed cultivator, clearly reflecting Han Wuxian's disguised figure and heading.

"Indeed heading toward Star Fallen Valley… even disguised as a Tian Sha Sect member? Interesting." The black‑robed cultivator lets out a low, cold laugh, "Looks like we don't need to guide you. The mantis catches the cicada, the oriole waits behind… just let those Tian Sha Sect fools test your mettle first."

The bone glider accelerates silently, forever hanging far above Han Wuxian's rear in the lofty sky, like a tumor attached to bone.