Chapter 1244

At the instant when the pitch‑black torrent, imbued with the terror of the ultimate end of all spirits, was about to completely Devour Han Wuxian, his suddenly opened eyes reflected the instant solidification of the microcosm of birth‑and‑death cycles! The tip of the Sword of Returning to Void he held aloft did not point at the torrent itself, but seemed to target an unseen fulcrum that upholds this demonic realm and bears Yan Buji's Dao Heart.

My heart is the void, encompassing all ends. Yet the void is not the terminus; Silence Extinction breeds new life.

Yan Buji, you only see the "death" stirred by desire, not the "stillness" that follows desire's Silence.

Your Dao, taken to the extreme, is… void!

Han Wuxian's voice was no longer high‑pitched, but carried a calm that pierced the essence, more penetrating than any roar! The Sword of Returning to Void in his hand did not flare with brilliance; instead it grew more restrained and archaic, its blade seeming to become a tiny cosmic singularity endlessly cycling through birth and death.

The world‑shattering black torrent, the moment it touched the tip of that strange sword, was neither absorbed nor detonated; rather, as if confronting a nemesis, the "desire" and "fear" it contained—forcedly twisted and magnified—began to self‑destruct and subside!

It was like a boiling oil pot plunged into crystal ice, or a frenzied nightmare infused with wakefulness. The torrent remained massive, but its destructive "will" vanished at speed, reverting to the purest—and most "neutral"—Silence Extinction energy! This energy no longer obeyed Yan Buji, but seemed to have found a home, gently encircling the Sword of Returning to Void, slowly drawn toward and absorbed by the tip's "cosmic singularity".

"No! This can't be!!" Yan Buji roared, his heart tearing, feeling his control over the demonic realm slipping away! The Silence Extinction force driven by his desire‑will was now betraying him! "My path of desire, which commands all cravings, how could… how could it be pacified?!"

"Because you are wrong," Han Wuxian said, stepping forward with a steady gait, each footfall as if landing on a node of the cosmos' rhythm. "Desire is not a tool for control or amplification. Extreme desire drives frantic possession, and the end of that frenzy is the loss of everything… emptiness. The 'I desire' you chase ultimately leads to an absolute void where even the 'self' cannot exist."

The sword tip quivered faintly, and the massive Silence Extinction energy that had been pacified and absorbed began, under his will, to flow backward—not as an attack, but like a gentle tide, washing over Yan Buji himself, cleansing the Dao Heart that was tightly bound to the Extinction Stone Coffin!

"True Silence Extinction is not destruction, but purification, a return, the eternal peace after agitation subsides," Han Wuxian said, his words like Dao aphorisms, riding the reverse Silence Extinction tide that struck Yan Buji's Dao Heart. "Your Dao is full of agitation and plunder, never truly understanding the true meaning of 'Silence Extinction'. Today, I will use this twisted Silence Extinction power you forged to help you… return to original purity!"

"No! I don't believe it! All desires, Devouring heaven and earth!" Yan Buji went completely mad, burning his own source without restraint, even siphoning the most fundamental energy of the Extinction Stone Coffin in a last gamble! An even darker, more violent power burst from him, seeking to re‑pollute and Devour the reverse 'purification' tide!

However, this time his predatory power, when it met the Silence Extinction tide that Han Wuxian's will had 'sorted', seemed to encounter a mirror! The raging desire and deathly stillness he unleashed not only failed to pollute the other side, but were reflected back with crystal clarity, exposing the twisted, greedy, self‑destructive tendencies naked before his own eyes!

"Do you see, Yan Buji?" Han Wuxian's voice rang like a dusk drum and morning bell, striking deep into his soul, "This is your Dao. It never truly controls any external thing; it only keeps… Devouring you yourself."

Under the mirror's reflection, Yan Buji's Dao Heart quaked violently; he saw the undeniable crack in his Dao core and the bottomless void behind his endless desire! He had always believed he was mastering desire, yet he did not know he had long been Devoured by desire, becoming its slave, marching toward a solitary destruction!

"I… I…" Yan Buji's madness in his eyes gradually gave way to a vast bewilderment and fear. The collapse of his belief was more lethal than any attack.

Seizing the moment his Dao Heart wavered, Han Wuxian's eyes burst with brilliance, and the Sword of Returning to Void finally moved!

It was not a stab, not a slash, but a gentle forward push.

The sword tip silently touched Yan Buji's brow, landing on his violently fluctuating, nearly collapsing Dao core.

No destructive force erupted. Beneath that point, the demonic aura boiling around Yan Buji seemed frozen, then began to fade and dissipate at a visible speed. The Extinction Stone Coffin beneath his feet emitted an overburdened wail, cracks spreading, and finally with a 'bang' it turned to dust.

Yan Buji's form became transparent; he looked down at his hands gradually fading, his face awash with complex, unspeakable emotions—shock, resentment, anger—but in the end it turned into a faint sense of release, and… a hint of enlightenment.

"Returning to Void… Reincarnation… Silence Extinction… New Life…" he whispered, finally casting a deep glance at Han Wuxian, as if to carve the one who had utterly defeated and enlightened him into the depths of his soul.

"So… what I've been pursuing… all along… was wrong…"

Before his words ended, his form had already become specks of dust shimmering with faint light, like the last fireflies in the night sky, slowly rising, and finally fully merging into the Forgotten Sand he had regarded as his nest, returning to the most primal cycle between heaven and earth.

: none.

The demonic realm that had cloaked the Forgotten Sand for ten thousand years disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed. The scorching sunlight fell unhindered, coating the dead, silent desert with a dazzling golden sheen.

Han Wuxian stood alone atop the sea of sand, the Sword of Returning to Void in his hand quietly fading. His face was as pale as paper, his breath faint, his body swaying as if about to collapse; this battle had nearly exhausted him completely. Yet he stood, his spine still straight.

He stared at the place where Yan Buji had dissipated, silent for a long while.

: none.

However, just as his mind and spirit were most relaxed, preparing to regulate his breath and recover, at that moment

In the sky, without warning, a brilliant golden light made purely of law runes, exuding an unfeeling judgment will, ripped the heavens as if the Eye of Heaven suddenly opened, instantly locking onto him!

A vast, cold, emotionless voice, like billions of thunder exploding in his sea of consciousness, boomed:

"Rebel of the Dao, Han Wuxian, who manipulates reincarnation, alters the end, disrupts the order of heaven and earth… by law, judgment!"

Zhong Tian Zhi Yu, the thoughts of several Great Vehicle cultivators instantly tightened to the utmost!

The Elder of Heavenly Mechanisms was shocked into silence: "Heavenly Dao Envoy?! They were actually roused!"

Star‑Yen Sovereign's tone was unprecedentedly solemn: "Han Xiaoyou's 'Returning to Void Reincarnation' has touched the authority of heaven and earth… this is intolerable to the Dao!"

Blood‑Cursed Ancestor shouted angrily: "Damn! Just killed a wolf, and now a fiercer pack arrives!"

The thoughts of Melody Fairy and Xuanyuan Ancestor were also filled with shock and worry.

Han Wuxian looked up, gazing at the golden light that embodied absolute suppression, as if representing the will of the entire heavens and earth, feeling the terrifying pressure far beyond Yan Buji's, his mouth involuntarily...

: none.

His Dao—what kind of Existence has it touched?