Chapter 1246: A Moment of Respite

In the next instant, Han Wuxian, who had gathered everything, like a moth to flame, brazenly crashed into the dazzling, icy core of the law's golden light!

There was no earth‑shattering explosion, only a deeper, violently trembling vibration seemingly from the world's origin, spreading silently outward from the Forgotten Sand!

The golden light flickered wildly, and the appearing and vanishing rune Order Chains showed signs of disorder for the first time!

Han Wuxian's figure was completely engulfed by the erupting backlash of Order, his aura instantly dwindling to the extreme, like a dying candle in the wind, helplessly falling from midair.

The projection of the Blood Sha Ancestor instinctively reached out to catch him.

But the Heavenly Dao Envoy moved faster. The vague figure stepped forward in a single stride, arriving above the falling Han Wuxian; a cold hand of regulation reached out, ready to seal and seize him completely.

At that hair‑trigger moment,

A mutation reborn!

Within the law's golden light, briefly disturbed by Han Wuxian's impact, a single, extremely faint gray radiance—different from the Order's golden light—sprouted tenaciously like a seed! Within that glow, faintly, lay the implication of "Termination" and a trace of… a "Reincarnation" aura, repelled by the Order's golden light yet undeniably real!

Han Wuxian's seemingly suicidal strike actually left a trivial yet genuinely existent… "scratch" upon the absolute Order!

The Heavenly Dao Envoy's outstretched hand of regulation suddenly halted. The vague figure showed a clear stasis for the first time. Its cold, merciless gaze, for the first time truly bearing an ineffable scrutiny, fell upon the falling, nearly lifeless Han Wuxian and the tenaciously flickering gray radiance.

The situation, at that moment, fell into a bizarre stalemate.

The Blood Sha Ancestor widened his eyes and held his breath.

In the distant Zhong Tian Zhi Yu, the thoughts of several Great Ascendant cultivators solidified completely.

That speck of gray radiance, stubbornly seeping from the disturbed law's golden light—though as weak as firefly light—pierced the Heavenly Dao Envoy's cognition core built from pure regulation. Its vague figure lingered midair, the outstretched hand of regulation hovering a mere inch above Han Wuxian; in its cold golden eyes, for the first time, the odd light containing both "Termination" and "Reincarnation" was reflected.

"Order… has… noise…" The Heavenly Dao Envoy's unflinching voice now carried a faint, almost imperceptible sluggishness. To it, upholding an absolute, pure cosmic Order is the sole principle. Han Wuxian's near‑death strike not only rattled the Order Chains but also left a trace of "anomaly" it could not instantly comprehend or classify. This "anomaly" is not a mighty force but a contradiction in the form of existence, like a gray ink droplet—neither black nor white—falling onto a pristine white canvas.

The Blood Sha Ancestor's projection widened its eyes, watching the stalled hand of regulation and the Heavenly Dao Envoy's rare hesitation; its rugged face filled with disbelief, then burst into rapturous laughter: "Hahaha! What a show! Even Old Bangzi can finally act dumb! Kid, you're awesome!"

He immediately seized the once‑in‑a‑millennium chance; the Blood Sha Rainbow Bridge surged with even greater momentum, daring not to strike the Heavenly Dao Envoy directly, but firmly shielding the falling Han Wuxian below, while his divine thought raced wildly toward the other few in Zhong Tian Zhi Yu:

"Tian Ji! Xing Yan! Miao Yin! Xuan Yuan! You bastards are just watching the spectacle! If not now, when will we press? Do we really wait for this iron lump to snuff out the future's hope?!"

The thoughts of the Great Ascendants rippled violently due to this sudden turn.

Elder Tian Ji's Bagua illusion spun sharply, his tone unusually urgent and tinged with hope: "The Heavenly Dao Envoy… hesitated because of that strand of 'different‑path' light! This is an unprecedented variable! Perhaps… Han's path is not wholly condemned by the Heavenly Dao?"

Lord Xing Yan's Star River Void Shadow flashed with starlight, his deductive power driven to the limit: "That gray radiance… is a strange fusion of 'Return to the Void' and 'Reincarnation' forged under Order's pressure? Its very existence seems to pose a kind of… 'interrogation' to absolute Order? The rules of the Heavenly Dao Palace may not be invulnerable!"

Fairy Miao Yin's melodic aura suddenly became clear and soaring: "Blood Sha comrade is right! This is a golden chance! If Han's path truly holds a sliver of hope, we must not watch the Heavenly Dao Palace strangle it! I am willing to use 'Wonderful Method Heavenly Sound' to negotiate, presenting the pros and cons!"

Ancestor Xuan Yuan's dragon‑qi illusion paused briefly, then unleashed a vast Imperial Dao Dragon Might: "Good! This youth truly serves the masses greatly, his way is not purely destructive. The Heavenly Dao Palace must also consider the wishes of all beings! I, in the name of the Imperial Supreme Sect, concur!"

In an instant, four mighty Great Ascendant wills, embodying Zhong Tian Zhi Yu's pinnacle power, though their true forms did not descend, rose like four sky‑supporting pillars across the endless void, thunderously bestowing their might upon the Blood Sha Ancestor's projection! It was not an attack but a convergence of force, a display of resolve!

Elder Tian Ji's deductive mist shrouded all directions, obscuring Tian Ji, causing the Heavenly Dao Envoy's judgment light to operate with slight delay.

Lord Xing Yan's Star River power formed an invisible barrier, reinforcing the Blood Sha Ancestor's protection.

Fairy Miao Yin's clear, soaring melody resonated directly on the level of law, bearing soothing and admonishing intent, attempting to quell the cold Order's fury.

Ancestor Xuan Yuan's Imperial Dao Dragon Might, like the collective prayers of all beings, bore heavy karmic and sentient force, pressing heavily upon the Heavenly Dao Envoy!

The Five Great Ascendants jointly exert pressure! Even the Heavenly Dao Envoy, representing the Dao, cannot fully ignore it at this moment!

The golden law light surrounding the Heavenly Dao Envoy surged violently, and the vague figure quivered slightly. Its cold gaze swept over the battle‑ready Blood Sha Ancestor, over the four distant mighty wills, and finally rested again on the barely‑living Han Wuxian, whose fall was barely supported by the Blood Sha Ancestor, as well as the stubbornly flickering gray radiance.

"Rebel… anomaly… sentient will… interference…" The emotionless voice crackled intermittently, as if internal calculations and weighing were underway. Absolute Order demanded immediate removal of this "noise," yet the interference of the five Great Ascendants, Han Wuxian's demon‑slaying merit, and the uncertainty brought by that "different‑path" light formed complex variables.

Time seemed to freeze once more.

Finally, after the suffocating silence, the Heavenly Dao Envoy's outstretched hand of regulation slowly withdrew. The surrounding law's golden light was no longer as dazzlingly harsh, yet it still coldly enveloped the area.

"Rebel Han Wuxian, his path touched a taboo, disrupting Order, and should be erased." The Heavenly Dao Envoy's voice regained its absolute coldness, but the wording changed: "However, considering his merit in eliminating the demon lord, he is granted a brief moment of respite."