Chapter 1279: Endless Sea Eye

Leaving Wanji Mountain, Han Wuxian did not immediately rush at full speed toward the Endless Sea Eye. The hair‑thin fissure on his Dao Foundation, like a sword hanging over his head, constantly reminded him of his perilous condition. Forcing his pace and further agitating the Dao Foundation tremor would have unthinkable consequences.

He chose a more secure approach, a measured stroll that better fits his present cultivation, proceeding amid Silence Extinction.

He no longer deliberately restrains his breath, allowing the chaotic gray "Wanji Source Qi" to flow naturally. He walks across a desolate ancient battlefield, feeling the murderous silence that settles in the soil and among the fallen soldiers after the clashing of steel and iron; he pauses at the edge of the life‑forbidden zone, perceiving the absolute barrenness where all things cease to exist and the laws become rigid; he even delves into the Deep Earth Vein, sensing the faint intent of the stellar core slowly cooling and tending toward eternity.

Where he passes, destruction does not follow; instead a strange "smoothing" effect occurs. The restless resentments, chaotic residual forces, and unstable Law Fragments, upon contacting his "Wanji Source Qi", seem to find their final destination, becoming calm and orderly, gradually merging into the greater cycles of heaven and earth. He is like a wandering "Return‑to‑Silence One", guiding the misplaced "Chaotic Silence" along the way to where it ought to belong.

This process is also his continual attempt to harmonize the different Silence Extinction origins within his body and to solidify the "Wanji Foundation". He carefully guides the Star‑Fallen power, the Silent power, and that strand of Xu Jie origin, trying to let them, under the bearing of the "background board" Dao Rhythm, find a more harmonious resonant frequency rather than merely coexist. The hair‑thin fissure, under such gentle nurturing, has not expanded, yet it heals extremely slowly, like an irreducible flaw on the finest porcelain.

He understands that this is only a stopgap. The true solution still lies in the Endless Sea Eye.

Months later, an endless expanse of blue, exuding a heart‑pounding aura, appeared on the horizon. This is the Endless Sea, whose breadth far exceeds the continent, and whose depths conceal countless ancient secrets and terrifying beings. The Endless Sea Eye is the most mysterious and dangerous forbidden zone of this sea, rumored to be an entrance to the world's dark side and even the fissures between other universes, as well as the ultimate destination of all currents and energies of the Endless Sea, burying an Ancient God unwilling to slumber.

The closer he gets to the Endless Sea, the more Han Wuxian feels a "Silence" wholly different from that of the interior lands. This Silence is not dead silence but a deep, flowing "Living Silence" that contains boundless power and ancient will. Beneath the water, countless eyes seem to slumber, their breaths turning into currents, their dreams influencing the heavens.

He gathered all outward Qi, like a swimming fish, slipping silently into the deep sea. Light vanished rapidly, pressure surged, and ordinary cultivators would find every step impossible. Yet for Han Wuxian, the crushing pressure and darkness of the deep sea gave an inexplicable sense of familiarity, subtly resonating with certain traits of his "Wanji Source Qi".

Guided by the faint Silence Extinction intent that emanates from the Ancient God's unwilling slumber, he kept descending. Along the way he saw the ruins of sunken ancient cities, massive sea‑beast skeletons as large as mountains, and even some oddly shaped divine and demonic remnants frozen in ten‑thousand‑year black ice. They all exuded a strong dead‑silence aura, yet differed from the "reluctance" Han Wuxian seeks.

Unaware of how deep he had descended, the surrounding water had become as viscous as slurry, its color turning into an all‑consuming gloom. Here even the divine consciousness is heavily suppressed, able to extend only a very short distance. Had Han Wuxian not possessed an extraordinary sensitivity to Silence Extinction power, he would have already lost his way.

Finally, amid the extreme darkness ahead, a speck of "light" appeared.

It was not light in the usual sense, but a massive, slowly rotating vortex. The vortex stretched boundlessly, as if linking to another dimension, its core an absolute darkness that seemed to devour even Han Wuxian's gaze. Along its rim flowed an aurora‑like, yet icy dead‑silence energy, the "Silence Extinction Radiance", formed from the purest innate Water Essence mixed with the Law Fragments and soul fragments scattered when the Ancient God fell.

A tremendous suction emanated from the vortex, pulling everything around—water, light, energy, even… Law Fragments! This is the Endless Sea Eye! A self‑operating, all‑consuming ultimate return‑to‑ruin place!

Han Wuxian clearly felt that ancient will of "reluctant slumber" emanating from the deepest part of this Sea Eye, from the core of absolute darkness!

This will is older than the star‑lament of the Star‑Fallen Valley and deeper than the devouring desire of the Xu Jie hunters. It carries an obsession that time's long river cannot erode over billions of years, a massive fury born of forced eternal sleep yet unwilling, merging with the Sea Eye's devouring power to form a unique, terrifying Silence Extinction field that seems to drag the entire world into its burial.

Simply by approaching, Han Wuxian felt his "Wanji Source Qi" begin to stir uncontrollably, and the hair‑thin fissure throbbed faintly. The different Silence Extinction origins within his body seemed drawn by this "Ancient God's Silence", making the balance precariously unstable again.

He forced his mind to steady, hovering at the edge of the Sea Eye, gazing at the rotating dark core.

Here, there is no specific enemy, no target to attack. What he must face is a desolate realm formed by the very heavens and earth themselves, and the Ancient God's Silence of several fallen deities whose "reluctance" has merged with this desolation over countless epochs!

How to obtain the power within? How to use it to perfect his own Dao Foundation?

Forcefully breaching the core? That would be like casting oneself into a net, likely being torn apart and assimilated by the Sea Eye's devouring power and the Ancient God's resentment in an instant.

Absorbing the dispersed power from the periphery? Though those scattered "Silence Extinction Radiance" also contain the Ancient God's Silence Extinction intent, they are too mottled and chaotic; taking them in would not only be useless but could aggravate conflicts in his Dao Foundation and accelerate its collapse.

Han Wuxian fell into an unprecedented dilemma. In the Star‑Fallen Valley he can still communicate through Dao‑comprehension and forcibly draw power. In Wanji Mountain he can still supplement with the same‑origin force. Yet facing the Endless Sea Eye, all his previous experience seems rendered useless.

He tried, cautiously separating a strand of "Wanji Source Qi", reaching toward a drifting wisp of "Silence Extinction Radiance" at the Sea Eye's edge.

At the instant the two forces met

Boom!

Han Wuxian's mind convulsed! A massive, chaotic torrent of fragmented memories and overwhelming ancient primordial resentment, steeped in primeval flood‑age aura, surged along that strand of source Qi and slammed into his Sea of Consciousness! He seemed to see a sky‑supporting giant fall, gods that plucked stars and moons collapse, the wild scene of the universe's opening… countless shattered images, chaotic roars, and the pervasive unwillingness and anger, nearly shattering his will!

He immediately severed that strand of source Qi, his face turning pale, his spirit stinging repeatedly. Even a mere fringe of power was that terrifying!

He sat cross‑legged in the void, facing the slowly rotating massive Sea Eye, sinking into prolonged contemplation.

Time here seemed to have lost its meaning.

He recalled his own Dao: "Return‑to‑Ruins", "Wanji Foundation", "background board"… these concepts circulated in his mind. He compared the material collapse of the Star‑Fallen Valley, the law's silence of Wanji Mountain, the devouring void of Xu Jie, and the Sea Eye before him… where devouring and unwillingness coexist.

"All Silence Extinction, regardless of form, should ultimately return to 'stillness'."

"Stars collapse, ultimately turning to dust, returning to stillness."

"When laws fall silent and all sounds cease, that is stillness."

"The Xu Jie devours, and what it ultimately gains should be the dead‑silence 'stillness'."

"And this Ancient God's unwillingness… stems from its inability to fully return to 'stillness', its obsession disturbing the final peace…"

A thought, like lightning flashing through darkness, illuminated Han Wuxian's mind.

Perhaps… he has taken the wrong path?