Chapter 1179: Nine‑Star Alignment

He jerked his head up, and a terrifying brilliance erupted from his eyes, even making the recently composed Tian Shuzi feel a sudden palpitations.

"Han, comrade, what's wrong?" Tian Shuzi asked hurriedly, sensing something amiss from Han Wuxian's sudden change of expression.

Han Wuxian did not answer immediately, but rapidly digested the information peeled from the last fragment of the star‑remnant core of the source star. The data was chaotic and vague, yet pointed to a chilling possibility!

"True Person!" Han Wuxian's voice was urgent and grave, "Eternal Darkness's goal is far more than merely opening one or two 'Star‑Fall Eyes'! They are plotting an ultimate sacrifice that will affect the entire Tianyuan Realm!"

"What?!" Tian Shuzi, Yun Chen and the others all turned pale at his words.

"The Nine‑Star Alignment is a celestial event that occurs once every ten thousand years; at that moment the tidal force of the stars will reach its peak, and the world's boundaries will become at their weakest," Han Wuxian spoke at breakneck speed, "They intend to use this window, setting at least nine 'Star‑Fall Eye'‑like boundary wounds as nodes, to lay a terrifying grand array that will shroud the entire Tianyuan Realm! The core of that array likely requires an ancient 'altar' to drive it!"

He looked at the bottomless Mystic Ice Abyss: "The wreckage beneath this abyss mentions 'Return to the Void' and 'Gate Opening'… I suspect their ultimate aim is to forcibly open a gate to a place called 'Return to the Void'! Opening that gate demands unimaginable colossal energy, so what they may sacrifice is… the very life‑force of the Tianyuan Realm and the primal source of the stars!"

Dead Silence!

A bone‑piercing cold, surpassing the ten‑thousand‑year ancient ice, instantly swept everyone's mind and spirit!

Sacrifice a realm! Open the Gate of Return to the Void!

What a madness, what an inhuman plan! Eternal Darkness is nothing but a bunch of complete lunatics!

Tian Shuzi's face turned ashen, his body swayed slightly, and Yun Chen hurriedly steadied him. He had lived countless years, weathered countless storms, yet had never heard such a horrifying conspiracy! This has completely exceeded the scope of sect disputes; it threatens to drag an entire world to its grave!

"We must stop them! We must stop them!" an Elder whispered hoarsely, his voice full of fear.

"Nine nodes… besides Star‑Gazing Cliff and this Mystic Ice Abyss, where are the other seven?" Yun Chen forced himself to stay calm and asked urgently.

"I don't know." Han Wuxian shook his head, his expression grim, "The information is incomplete. But Eternal Darkness has plotted since antiquity; the other seven nodes must also be sites of ancient war scars, or places where stellar power is unusually dense and space is weak."

He looked at Tian Shuzi: "True Person, immediately broadcast this to the world! Share all known ancient battlefield relics, weak spatial points, and major stellar vein node information with every sect for joint investigation! We have no time!"

Tian Shuzi was startled, snapped out of shock, his eyes flashing with deadly resolve: "Right! Broadcast to the world! Unite all forces! I will, in the name of the Headmaster of the Star Axis Hall, activate the highest‑level 'Stellar Warning Decree' and spread this message to every corner of the Tianyuan Realm!"

He instantly produced an ancient jade talisman etched with star patterns and crushed it without hesitation!

Buzz!

An invisible wave, imbued with supreme authority and urgent information, using the secret transmission of the Star Axis Hall, instantly crossed endless mountains and rivers, reaching the major top‑tier sects of the Tianyuan Realm!

Almost simultaneously, Zhongzhou, Nanhuang, Donghai, Ximo… each ancient holy site, old sect, demon court, and demon hall deep within rang the ancient warning star bell automatically, waves of shock, doubt, then awe and solemn powerful consciousness rose skyward, converging and confirming in the void…

The Tianyuan Realm, this ship that had been calm for far too long, was finally blown apart by this earth‑shattering news!

…

At the very moment Tian Shuzi issued the warning decree.

In the distant Western Desert, deep within the ruins of an ancient kingdom swallowed by endless quicksand.

At the summit of an ancient pyramid, entirely forged of obsidian‑like material and stylistically unlike any of the present age, a figure clad in a dark‑gold‑bordered gray robe, whose aura was deeper than that of the Mystic Ice Abyss envoy, gazed up at the faintly visible stars in the firmament.

Beneath his feet, intricate altar patterns glowed faintly, drawing a desolate, death‑laden power from the depths of the desert.

Suddenly, he sensed something in his heart, tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something.

A moment later, he let out a contemptuous cold laugh.

"Warning decree? Alliance? Huh… just a dying struggle."

He slowly raised his hand, palm upward, a strand of ultra‑pure yet grim, ending‑tinged gray aura spiraled.

"The nine stars are about to align, the altars are all in place, the Source Point has been captured… the Gate of Return to the Void will inevitably open, and this realm will return to eternal tranquility."

"Send the order onward," his voice cold and merciless, echoed into the void, "the plan is ahead of schedule. Activate all 'Star Nails', accelerate the extraction of the source. Anyone who blocks us… shall all become nourishment for the Return to the Void."

"Yes!" several reverent and fervent replies rang from the void.

…

North Region, outside the Ten‑Thousand‑Year Ancient Ice Abyss.

After issuing the warning decree, Tian Shuzi let out a slight sigh of relief, but his brows remained tightly knit: "The decree has been sent, but it will take time for the various forces to react and coordinate. We must find the next node as soon as possible!"

Han Wuxian nodded, his gaze again fixed on the massive stellar wreck deep within the ice abyss: "Perhaps… it can give us more clues. The earlier information was too fragmented."

He moved, charging again toward the ice abyss. Tian Shuzi and the others followed closely behind.

The deeper they went, the more intense the dead‑silence desolation became; even though the wreck's will had been erased, its body still emitted an unsettling force. The abyss walls were cloaked in thick, demonic‑tainted black ice.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the abyss.

Before them lay an immense, shattered stellar wreck, its material neither metal nor stone, a dim black‑gray that seemed to absorb all light. Its surface was scarred with impacts and tears, recounting the horrors of the ancient war.

And at the very core of the wreck, they witnessed a sight that struck them to the core.

Several massive, black spikes forged from an unknown metal and etched with Eternal Darkness runes were driven deep into the core of the stellar wreck! These "Star Nails" continuously siphon the remaining primordial energy from the wreck, channeling it through subterranean veins toward an unknown destination!

"They're stealing the wreck's primal source!" Tian Shuzi exclaimed, a mix of shock and anger.

Han Wuxian's gaze was icy, and his finger pointed like a sword; several gray‑white sword rays flashed, cleaving those Star Nails at their roots. The severed ends spewed out dense Silence Extinction energy, which Han Wuxian unceremoniously directed for the Core of the Source Star to devour and absorb completely.

As the Star Nails were destroyed, the extraction ceased, and at the core a faint, pure primordial starlight seeped out slowly, like a reflected glow.

Han Wuxian placed his palm on that speck of primordial starlight, closed his eyes and sensed.

More fragmentary information flooded his mind, still incomplete but much clearer than before.

He saw nine points of star‑light glowing with a grayish hue scattered across the Tianyuan Realm; two were especially bright—Star‑Gazing Cliff and the Mystic Ice Abyss. The other seven were dimmer and their locations vague.

He also glimpsed a colossal, oddly ancient‑styled altar phantom, its center seemingly… sealing something? The sealed object gave him an extremely familiar yet terribly dangerous feeling…

Finally, a clearer star map showed nine specific stars slowly moving, about to align in a straight line! Time… seemed more urgent than anticipated!

Han Wuxian snapped his eyes open, his expression unusually grave.

"How is it?" Tian Shuzi asked anxiously.

"Time is running out." Han Wuxian said gravely, "I saw part of the nodes' general direction, but cannot pinpoint precisely. Moreover… the most crucial core altar, I cannot determine its location, but it seems… sealing some key object."