Chapter 1259: Like a Dream

Han Wuxian's broken body slowly fell into that Void area of absolute silence that he had personally guided into existence. Here it seemed to become a unique safe zone within Chaos Canyon, where external law storms, upon reaching the edge of this area, behaved as if meeting an invisible barrier, naturally bypassing and calming.

Han Wuxian did not fall onto the hard crystal ground, but was supported by a gentle yet irresistible Void force, hovering in mid‑air. The horrific wounds on his body no longer bled, yet the deep bone‑visible cracks remained shocking, showing how fierce the prior backlash had been. The Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal on his forehead intertwined with the newly formed cold brand, emitting a flickering light, as if still undergoing some internal weighing and adjustment.

Han Wuxian completely lost consciousness, sinking into a deep sleep almost reaching Silence Extinction. His life force was at its weakest, like a dying candle in the wind, seemingly ready to extinguish at any moment and merge into the Void he created.

Yet, in the deepest part of Han Wuxian's dormant Sea of Awareness, change was quietly occurring.

The Heart Mirror that had condensed ten years of his cognition did not dim from its master's slumber; instead it rotated autonomously and slowly. On its surface, the collapse of the stellar core, the guidance of the Silence Extinction torrent, the annihilation of bizarre lifeforms, and the eventual formation of absolute Void replayed repeatedly.

Each replay, the Heart Mirror stripped out a deeper layer of the true law, turning it into the purest insight flow, like a trickling stream, silently nourishing and repairing Han Wuxian's nearly dried‑up, shattered Great Dao foundation.

The Source Star Core, which had originated from his crossing and long hidden in the origin of his soul, at this moment finally ceased its silence. It emitted a warm, hazy radiance—not powerful, yet containing a tenacious Existence trait that transcended this realm's laws. Like the most meticulous craftsman, it used that radiance as a needle and the law insight refined by the Heart Mirror as thread, stitching Han Wuxian's spirit and the cracks in the Great Dao piece by piece.

This process was so slow it seemed almost stagnant, yet it was steady and continuous.

In his slumber, Han Wuxian's awareness was not completely blank. He seemed to have experienced a long and strange dream.

In the dream, he was no longer humanoid but became the faint chaotic returning‑to‑Void Qi, drifting in the boundless cosmic void. He witnessed a star's birth, felt the vigorous vitality and desire when its core fusion ignited (the desire of Existence); he accompanied its long stable period, experiencing the magnificence and loneliness of Existence itself; finally, he personally observed its fuel exhaustion, gravitational collapse, core becoming a white dwarf, a neutron star, and possibly ultimately a black hole, comprehending the cold, merciless yet grandly inevitable termination.

He was no longer a spectator but a participant, part of this birth‑and‑death cycle. His Return to Void intention, on this macro scale, was hammered and purified repeatedly. He understood that true Return to Void was not a will of destruction but a part of the natural great force that drives form transformation and energy return in the cosmic cycle. The demise of individual life, the Silence Extinction of stars, even the universe's heat death, all lie within this great cycle.

"The end of the individual nourishes the life of the cycle…"

"Return to Void… is a bridge, a passage, a… cleaner…"

Insight washed over Han Wuxian's sleeping spirit like a tide.

Outside, currents swirled violently due to the cataclysm in Starfall Valley.

The terrifying wave generated when the stellar core collapsed that day, though guided, still could not be fully concealed, was like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake; its ripples had already reached beyond Starfall Valley, even drawing the attention of some Existence in the distant Zhong Tian Zhi Yu.

Inside the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, the elder before the Eight Trigrams compass spun wildly, finally pointing west, and with a snap it cracked open a fissure. The elder stroked his beard and sighed deeply, his eyes complex: "Starfall anomaly, Silence Extinction rebirth… that youngster's aura has vanished together with the dead‑silence core of that desolate land… has it been annihilated, or …"

In the Star‑Expanding Palace, before the Star‑Expanding Master, the star‑river projection showing the region of Starfall Valley, whose originally chaotic light points had become much dimmer and orderly, caused a flash of surprise and understanding in his deep eyes: "It really triggered the Star Core Silence… still alive? No, it's in a peculiar liminal state. It seems he has found the path… though the cost is huge."

Blood‑cursed Patriarch, far more blunt, felt the Silence Extinction aftershock coming from the west, his heart fluttering, and grinned: "Hey! Making such a ruckus, that youngster definitely isn't dead through! Impressive!"

Fairy of Melodic Sound and Patriarch Xuanyuan also sensed something, each with different thoughts, but both remained silent, continuing to watch.

Deep within the Heavenly Dao Palace, the cold will of order also seemed to record this exception. The intertwined brand on Han Wuxian's forehead was the observation mark it left.

Time passed within Starfall Valley.

One year, two years, three years…

Han Wuxian still hovered in that Void, as if forgotten by time. The cracks on his body, nourished by the Source Star Core's radiance, had quietly healed most of the way, leaving only faint, porcelain‑like fissures that added a touch of antiquity and mystery. His aura remained weak, yet no longer like a candle about to extinguish, but like a seed buried deep underground, nurturing an indescribable vitality within.

The Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal on his forehead and the cold brand had their light stabilize, forming a strange balance. The seal's suppression still existed, but it no longer seemed so absolutely rigid, gaining a faint "elasticity," as if acknowledging his limited guided Return to Void permission under certain conditions. The cold brand acted like a recorder and alarm, constantly monitoring whether he crossed any bounds.

On this day, in the ninth year of his slumber.

Han Wuxian's long eyelashes, long dormant, twitched slightly.

The absolute Void area surrounding him, which he had created, began to emit an extremely subtle fluctuation, entirely different from the prior dead silence.

This fluctuation was not an agitation of energy, but a… resurgence of Existence, a sign that "nothing" is beginning to nurture "something."

Han Wuxian slowly opened his eyes.

Those chaotic eyes were no longer the deep or sharp gaze of before, but became immensely tranquil, as tranquil as the universe itself that has endured eons of stellar silence. Deep within the pupils, it seemed as if stardust was being born and dying, Return to Void cycled, and reincarnation flickered.

He lowered his head, glanced at his healed body, sensed the peculiar mark on his forehead, and looked around the Void land he had created.

There was no ecstasy, no excitement, only a calm after having traversed life and death and seen through illusion.

He raised his hand, and a wisp of grayish Qi naturally curled from his fingertip. The Qi remained weak, far from his prime, yet its nature had undergone a monumental change. It was no longer merely destruction, but now carried an implication of inclusion, guidance, and transformation.

"Nine years of slumber... like a dream."

He murmured to himself, his voice hoarse from disuse yet unusually steady.

"Return to Void... so that's how it is."

He knew the path ahead of him.

The Heavenly Dao Forbidden Seal remained, the shackles not removed.

But he was no longer the prisoner once confined in a cage.

He is Han Wuxian.

He is the Return to Void Dao Master reborn amid stellar Silence Extinction.

He is, with his own Dao, the one who sees off the stars... the "Funeral Director".