Chapter 1248: Scouring

He began trying to mobilize that sealed, vague insight about "reincarnation." Although he could not directly use it, the existence of that insight itself was like a seed deeply buried; perhaps in the darkness it could provide him with some different "perspective."

Days passed one by one. Han Wuxian lived in seclusion, as if truly crushed by the Heavenly Dao, sinking into silence. Outside scrutiny gradually lost patience, most drifted away, leaving only a few persisting.

That day, Han Wuxian was in his cave dwelling attempting to slowly wear down a piece of hard black iron using the most basic Return to Void Power. The process was dull and arduous, efficiency extremely low, far inferior to his peak when a single thought could reduce it to nothing. Yet in the midst of this grinding work, he suddenly felt something.

Although the sealed notion of "reincarnation" could not be mobilized, its existence gave him an extra layer of extremely obscure understanding of "termination" itself. He "saw" that when the black iron was annihilated, it did not completely vanish into "nothing"; its most fundamental particles seemed, in a way he could not yet comprehend but that the seal permitted, to return to heaven and earth, becoming one of the "foundations" for constructing other existence.

"'Termination... is not pure 'nothing,' but a transformation of form, a return to the origin.' An extremely faint thought rose in his mind. This differed from his previous forcible promotion of 'Return to Void Reincarnation'; it was more like a passive observation of an inherent 'cycle' of heaven and earth, seemingly... not triggering the Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal?"

The golden seal on his brow warmed slightly, as if assessing the "danger" of this thought, but ultimately it did not trigger a backlash.

Han Wuxian's eyes flashed with a hint of realization.

Perhaps this century of imprisonment was not entirely bad. It forced him to set aside the arrogance of power, return to the origin, and from the most basic angle reexamine his Dao, and the "end" and "beginning" of this world.

The road ahead remained difficult, dangers lurking everywhere. Yet at this moment, a spark of hope reignited in Han Wuxian's heart.

He gazed outward from the cave, his sight seeming to pierce the cliffs, seeing the malice still lurking there, as well as a more distant future.

A century of shackles is a prison, yet also... a whetstone.

He slowly closed his eyes and continued the tedious "wearing down." This time, his state of mind was already different.

Time quietly slipped away in the barren cultivation; in the blink of an eye three years had passed. Inside the cave, Han Wuxian still maintained his cross-legged sitting posture, his aura restrained to the extreme. Were it not for the faint golden Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal on his brow still exuding a vague pressure, he would be hardly different from a stone.

Over these three years he was like the most patient artisan, taking himself as the blank and the Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal as the ruler, carefully carving out the path limited by the seal. He no longer pursued grandeur of power or instantaneous annihilation, but instead immersed his mind completely in understanding the most basic meaning of "Return to Void," and observing the latent connection between the sealed notion of "reincarnation," himself, and heaven and earth.

His "cultivation" seemed almost laughable to outsiders: all day he used an imperceptible Return to Void Power to repeatedly "scour" a piece of common iron, observing the minute changes in its particles during the slowest annihilation; or he would trace a thread of Silence Extinction to sense the life and death of a stubborn moss in the cave, savoring the natural metabolism contained therein.

The process was extremely dull, progress minuscule. His cultivation realm remained stuck around the Transformation Spirit stage, able to use less than one percent of his former Return to Void Power. Yet Han Wuxian's mind grew ever calmer; deep in his chaotic eyes, occasional flashes of clear insight into the essence would appear.

"'Absolute 'nothing' does not exist; the so-called 'termination' is merely a link in a higher-level 'cycle.' He stared at the piece of common iron in his hand, and in the instant before its total annihilation, using the sealed 'reincarnation' perspective he faintly 'saw' an extremely weak current returning to the origin of heaven and earth. This was not his active imposition of 'reincarnation,' but the inevitable destination carried by the laws of heaven and earth after all things perish. The Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal showed no reaction, for this lay within the bounds permitted by 'order.'"

"'Perhaps... I need not 'create' reincarnation, only 'understand' and 'follow' this inherent cycle of heaven and earth? Let my Return to Void merge into this greater cycle, rather than forcibly overriding or altering it.' A completely new line of thought gradually became clear in his mind. This was not compromise, but another form of 'harmony.'"

Meanwhile, outside, storms stirred in the shadows.

Han Wuxian's silence did not make all observers give up; instead, under the instigation of some ulterior motives, a rumor began circulating in certain small circles: 'Lord of Return to Void Han Wuxian, his Dao Foundation destroyed, he is essentially a cripple, possessing dragon-slaying skill but lacking the strength to truss a chicken. His entire Return to Void mystery, rather than rotting away with him, would be better... taken by the virtuous.'

This rumor spread like poisonous vines, quietly taking hold. Some forces that had once feared Han Wuxian's strength, or been intimidated by the Five Great Mahayana attitudes, could no longer restrain themselves. Especially several secret sects and loose cultivator old monsters famed for plundering others' Dao fruits and researching forbidden arts had already regarded the Myriad Soul Mountain Range as a potential 'treasure trove.'

That night, the darkness grew deep.

Three black shadows, ghost‑like, silently pierced the outer guarding array set up by the Blood Fiend Old Ancestor and approached Han Wuxian's cave dwelling. Their aura was yin‑cold and turbid, clearly not of the orthodox path; each was around Mid Void Refining, and together they could easily overwhelm the present Transformation Spirit Han Wuxian.

"'Are you sure? The Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal cannot be feigned; this person is indeed no longer a threat,' the leading shadow transmitted, his voice hoarse."

"'Rest easy; I have observed him for a long time, his aura is weak, he has not left the cave for three years—he must be clinging to life! Once we capture him, using a soul‑search method, what worry is there of not obtaining the Return to Void secret?' another said greedily."

"'Act quickly, lest the night bring many dreams!'"

The three reached consensus, a murderous glint flashed in their eyes, and they struck together! A gray net sealing space, a green light corroding divine souls, and a black light straight for the dantian formed a pin shape covering the cave entrance! They intended a single strike to subdue the enemy, giving Han Wuxian no chance to react.

Inside the cave, Han Wuxian, who had kept his eyes closed, had already sensed them as they pierced the outer formation. He slowly opened his eyes; his gaze held neither joy nor sorrow, not even a ripple.

Facing this deadly assault, he did not try to mobilize the severely limited Return to Void Power to resist head‑on, nor did he panic. He merely raised his right hand; at the fingertip of his index finger a wisp of gray qi, so faint it was almost invisible, curled around.