Chapter 999

Decision made, Han Wuxian no longer hesitated. He was like an arrow released from a bow, following the direction Yan Xirou might have left, while also keenly catching any traces the Profound Gate pursuers might have left. His speed was extremely fast, his figure shuttling through the mountains and forests, the strong wind he kicked up startling flocks of birds.

The pursuit continued for several days, penetrating an ancient mountain range where human traces were rare and Poison Miasma permeated. The space here seemed somewhat abnormal, spiritual qi sometimes chaotic, sometimes stagnant. One evening, Han Wuxian, while tracking a faint aura that seemed to be residual from a Profound Gate tracking sigil, felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly soften, and the surrounding scenery twisted and deformed like rippling water!

"A spatial trap?!" Han Wuxian's heart rang with alarm bells; instinctively he circulated his full-body spiritual qi shield, but that suction force was irresistible, light and shadow before his eyes rapidly swirled, his body as if being sucked into a massive vortex, the dizzying weightlessness instantly Devour him.

No one knew how long had passed, seeming like only a moment yet also like a thousand years had elapsed; Han Wuxian heavily fell onto the icy hard ground. He let out a muffled groan, enduring the dizziness and pain from the impact, quickly flipped up and sprang to his feet, warily scanning his surroundings.

What met his eyes was no longer the familiar lush mountains and forests. This was a vast, dead Silence and desolate space. Above his head hung a grayish, seemingly solidified chaotic firmament, without sun, moon, or stars, only a dim light of unknown source barely illuminating. Beneath his feet lay cracked, dark‑red hard rock stretching to the horizon.

The air reeked of thick sulfur and an indescribable, rotting aura as if aged for myriad ages. Massive, oddly shaped black stone pillars, like the ribs of a giant beast, jutted unevenly toward the gray sky, forming a bizarre and oppressive stone forest.

"An ancient secret realm..." Han Wuxian's heart sank. Such places often accompany unpredictable danger and lost opportunities long gone. He gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist; the cold touch let him steady himself a bit. The urgent task was to find an exit; he could not afford to linger here long.

He cautiously moved between the massive black stone pillars, each step as light as possible, his spiritual sense spreading out like mercury poured on the ground, perceiving everything around. Silence was the main theme here; only his own heartbeat and footsteps rang unusually clear in the emptiness, which instead added to the eeriness.

Suddenly!

An extremely yin‑cold and ferocious aura erupted without warning from the shadow of a huge black stone pillar to his left; that aura was like substantive ice water, instantly permeating Han Wuxian's bone marrow and making him shudder violently.

"Roar!!!"

A deafening roar tore through the secret realm's Silence! Accompanying the roar, a huge black shadow reeked of foul wind, lunging at him with lightning speed.

Han Wuxian's pupils contracted sharply; at the critical moment, his bodily instinct overrode thought. He shifted his foot sharply, executing the exquisite footwork "Crane Treading Flowing Cloud Steps", his body swerving right like a wind‑blown fluff.

"Screech!"

The piercing screech of claws ripping the air sounded almost at his ear. The hard‑as‑stone dark‑red rock where he had stood was gouged three deep claw marks, each about a chi long, wisping black smoke.

Han Wuxian steadied his stance and finally made out the attacker's true form.

It was a monster resembling a giant lizard, yet far more ferocious a myriad times over! Its length reached three zhang, covered in heavy scales dark as metal but with edges flashing a lurid green luster. On its huge, ugly head sat three pairs of scarlet compound eyes, gleaming with cruel, blood‑thirsty light.

Its massive, fang‑filled maw dripped a strongly corrosive dark‑green saliva that hissed on the stone, raising a pungent white vapor. Most terrifying were the two pairs of twisted, bone‑spur‑covered, tattered flesh wings on its back; though they seemed unable to let it truly fly, they could flap up a stinking gale strong enough to raise sand and stones.

A tail bristling with barbs, like a siege hammer, swung uneasily behind it, each thump on the ground issuing a deep, muffled boom.

"A bone‑corroding poison lizard dragon?!" Han Wuxian sucked in a breath of cold air, recognizing this creature recorded only in ancient fragmented scrolls. This beast possesses boundless strength, its scales are solid, and it also carries deadly poison, making it an extremely difficult monster to contend with!

The poison lizard dragon missed its strike; its three pairs of compound eyes locked onto Han Wuxian, it let out an even more ferocious roar, its sturdy hind legs pushing off the ground, its huge body again turning into a foul‑wind black shadow that lunged forward! Its speed was astonishing, the wind pressure almost suffocating Han Wuxian; the opened maw exhaled a stench that hit his face, the fangs flashing dark‑green poisonous light, clearly intending to Devour him whole.

"Can't clash head‑on!" Han Wuxian's thoughts raced. He deeply knew his strength could not match this ancient monster in direct combat.

"Azure Jade Sword Art – Splitting Light Shadow!" Han Wuxian gave a low shout; his longsword flashed from its sheath, bursting with brilliant azure light. He did not choose to block that terrifying charge, but pushed his footwork to the extreme, his form instantly splitting into several indistinguishable true and false phantoms at the critical moment, ghost‑like dodging the poison lizard dragon's frontal assault.

The poison lizard dragon slammed headfirst into a massive black stone pillar behind Han Wuxian with a deafening boom, sending shards flying; the pillar, which would take several people to encircle, was shaken violently and cracked like a spiderweb.

Seizing the opportunity, Han Wuxian's true body appeared at the poison lizard dragon's rear‑side. His eyes sharp as an eagle's, he spotted the relatively weak junction of the scales on the dragon's neck.

"Shatter Armor!" Sword light condensed into a needle, imbued with the intent to rend all, he stabbed fiercely at that weak point!

"Ding—"

A piercing clang of metal rang out! Sparks flew everywhere.

Han Wuxian felt a tremendous rebound force travel from the sword tip, numbing his tiger's mouth and nearly making him lose grip on the sword; what seemed a weak joint, the scale armor's defense far exceeded his imagination—the sword tip only pierced about a cun before being lodged by tough muscle and bone, unable to advance further; dark‑green poisonous blood seeped from the wound, emitting a nauseating sweet‑stench.

"Roar!!!" The stabbing pain in its neck utterly enraged the poison lizard dragon. It violently whipped its barbed massive tail, like a terrifying steel whip, emitting a tearing screech as it swept sideways toward Han Wuxian's flank with the force to clear thousands of troops; its breadth and speed were such that they nearly sealed off all his dodging space.

Han Wuxian's pupils contracted sharply; the shadow of death instantly enveloped him. Without hesitation he abandoned drawing his sword, planted his feet and shot backward like an arrow released from a bow, while pouring all his spiritual qi frenziedly into his arms, crossing them before his chest to condense a heavy azure spiritual qi shield.

"Boom!!"

"Crack!"

The massive tail slammed hard onto the spiritual qi shield; the shield held for only an instant before shattering like fragile glass, and the remaining terrifying force slammed full‑force onto Han Wuxian's crossed arms.

"Pfft!"

Han Wuxian felt as if struck by a heavy hammer; his whole body was flung violently away, spitting out a mouthful of bright red blood, his arms pierced with excruciating pain as if his bones were about to shatter. His body, out of control, slammed into a distant stone pillar and then crashed hard to the ground, his internal organs feeling displaced.