Chapter 1239

Star Derivation Venerable: "Therefore, we cannot simply descend and get involved in the Dao struggle vortex, nor can we completely stay out of it. Observing quietly and gathering information is the best strategy. At the very least, we must clarify Yan Buji's true purpose, as well as what kind of path Han Wuxian's 'Return to the Ruins' actually is."

Blood Slaughter Patriarch said impatiently: "All this talk, just watch! Enough, enough, you old fogies are just too calculative! I, the Patriarch, can't be bothered to haggle with you; I'll send someone west to take a look. If that kid looks pleasing, sending him a few bottles of 'Xuè Shā Dān' to liven things up is fine! Haha!" As soon as his words fell, his Blood Sea Illusory Image violently fluctuated, then dissipated, withdrawing from the Spirit Rhinoceros Realm.

Wonderful Sound Fairy sighed softly: "Blood Slaughter Fellow Daoist, you're still this impatient. Never mind, I will pay attention to the South Sea's movements; lately the Return to the Ruins Eye seems to have some disturbance, possibly related to this." The zither's sound and light halo faded with it.

The Xuanyuan Patriarch's Dragon Aura Illusory Image nodded slightly: "I will have the Imperial Ultimate Sect closely monitor the movements of all factions, especially those ancient ruins that Yan Buji might exploit." The Dragon Aura swirled and then vanished without a trace.

Only the illusory images of the Heavenly Secrets Old Man and the Star Derivation Venerable remained.

The Heavenly Secrets Old Man gave a wry smile: "Star Derivation Fellow Daoist, it seems we can't stay out of this after all. A storm is coming."

The Star Derivation Venerable's Star River Void Shadow remained calm: "Heaven and earth are the furnace, creation the work; yin and yang are the charcoal, all things the copper. These two are merely two fresh lumps of charcoal thrown into the furnace. Observing quietly is also participation. Farewell." The Star River flowed and finally returned to nothing.

The Spirit Rhinoceros Realm completely dissipated, as if it had never existed.

But the thought exchanges of several Mahayana cultivators clearly outlined their complex attitude toward this Western Extremes Dao Conflict: curiosity, wariness, concern, and even a hint of utilitarian intent. They were like chessplayers standing on the clouds, watching the two fierce colliding pieces on the board below, both worried that the pieces might leap off the board and harm themselves, yet hoping to glimpse higher profundities of the Dao from this collision.

Inside the Extinction Stone Coffin, Yan Buji's mouth curled into an icy-cold arc. Before him, a three-dimensional star chart formed from countless dark runes was slowly rotating; the chart's core was precisely the Myriad Souls Mountain Range where Han Wuxian resided, and countless minute, nearly imperceptible causal threads extended from various points of the chart, spreading like a spiderweb toward that point of light.

"Little fish, it's time to take the bait."

His thoughts were calm and waveless, carrying an absolute indifference that viewed all things as pawns. Rather than meet Han Wuxian's counterattack and purification head-on, he set up a more sinister, more concealed scheme. This scheme did not rely on overwhelming force to crush, but was based on precise calculations of Han Wuxian's character, Dao Heart, and even everyone around him, as well as the utmost exploitation of heavenly and earthly laws.

Cater to his preferences, mixing truth and falsehood.

Through individuals indirectly affected by Dao Corrosion, as well as some low-level demonic cultivators he covertly controlled, he began to spread several carefully crafted "rumors" in the Western Extremes:

The ancient runes exposed on the Far North Ice Plains are not a seal, but a clue leading to the "Return to the Ruins Ancestral Land," containing the most primal true intent of the Return to the Ruins Dao, which could aid one in comprehending the ultimate profundities of Return to the Ruins.

The disturbance in the South Sea's Return to the Ruins Eye is due to an innate spiritual treasure called the "Silence Extinction Heart" about to emerge; this treasure can balance life and death, command Silence Extinction, and holds supreme allure for cultivators of the Terminating Dao.

Through some "chance" channels, Wang Tie "accidentally" obtained a fragmentary ancient pill recipe, which recorded a pill called the "Dao Insight Pill" that requires "Eternal Silence Ice Soul" and "Return to the Ruins Spirit Flame" as cores to refine; it has remarkable effects in healing Dao injuries and consolidating the origin. It is said that "Eternal Silence Ice Soul" is produced only in the core of the Far North seal, while "Return to the Ruins Spirit Flame" may appear alongside the "Silence Extinction Heart."

These pieces of information, nine parts true and one false, mix genuine intel that Yan Buji derived from heavenly and earthly laws and ancient ruins with his deliberately twisted and amplified bait. They perfectly match Han Wuxian's current needs—boosting strength, healing injuries, probing the origin of Return to the Ruins. More importantly, these information sources are independent of each other, appearing unrelated; even if Han Wuxian grows wary and checks them one by one, it is hard to discover the single hidden hand manipulating them behind the scenes.

Yan Buji knows well that rumors alone may not lure Han Wuxian into danger himself. Thus, he began a more exquisite operation.

Leveraging his deep understanding of the Far North Seal's nodes, he simulated a wisp of weak aura that shares the origin of Han Wuxian's Return to the Ruins path but is far older and more desolate, quietly attaching it to a core member of the Heavenly Craft Sect's exploration team. When that member returned to the Heavenly Craft Sect and presented their research findings to the higher-ups, this aura was captured by the sect's enshrined Dao-Inspecting Ancient Mirror, which is extremely sensitive to energy, instantly causing an uproar! The Heavenly Craft Sect's leadership unanimously concluded that beneath the Far North Seal must lie the supreme secret related to Return to the Ruins.

Almost simultaneously, he guided a pure strand of Silence Extinction force into an energy tide erupting from the South Sea's Return to the Ruins Eye, causing its external manifestation to form a phenomenon resembling the emergence of an innate spiritual treasure, the "Myriad Laws Silence Extinction"! This phenomenon instantly attracted the gazes of countless cultivators, even causing reclusive old monsters to glance askance.

Pressure was instantly placed on Han Wuxian's side.

If he does not go to the Far North, the Heavenly Craft Sect or other large forces driven by greed will likely break the seal by force; regardless of success or failure, the secrets possibly related to the origin of Return to the Ruins will slip through his fingers, possibly even falling into enemy hands. If he does not go to the South Sea, should the "Silence Extinction Heart" that appears able to balance and command Silence Extinction fall into others' hands—especially those of forces he is at odds with—the consequences would be unthinkable.

To ensure Han Wuxian would go alone, Yan Buji also employed darker means.

Through the Dao Corrosion network, he extremely covertly influenced the stability of several spirit veins at the border of the Flowing Cloud Alliance and Xun Wind Valley, creating a few minor-to-moderate "Spirit Burst" incidents, and cleverly left traces resembling the techniques of certain hostile forces. This forced Xiao Ran, Qing Lin, and others to hold down their sect, manage the chaos, stabilize morale, and unable to easily depart.

At the same time, by leveraging his earlier "gift" of the Hundred Herbs Valley pill recipe, he made Wang Tie's refinement of the "Dao Insight Pill" enter a critical stage, requiring him personally to coordinate and authenticate various rare auxiliary medicinals, making it impossible for him to disengage in the short term.

All these "accidents" and "entanglements" occurred at just the right moment, seeming as naturally arranged as fate, with no trace of human manipulation. Under Yan Buji's vast Dao Calculation deduction, every factor around Han Wuxian that could possibly lend aid was temporarily and reasonably "frozen."

Final trap: Welcome to…… the "Eternal Silence Corridor".

Yan Buji's true killing move lies neither in the Far North nor in the South Sea.

He exploited an unknown characteristic of that ancient seal—it is a two-way coordinate. When an outside party attempts to forcefully open or probe from one end, resonance is triggered at the opposite end, briefly forming an unstable one-way passage. The passage's exit had long been silently altered and fixed by Yan Buji, using the unique environment of the Extinction Stone Coffin and Forgotten Sand, to a place he had meticulously prepared: the Eternal Silence Corridor.