At the end of the star-studded path, body and mind are tempered.

The entrance to the ancient passage was blocked by a huge boulder, its runes dim, seemingly abandoned for tens of thousands of years. But Nightmare's fingertips flowed with the Power of Rules, lightly touching the runes. The originally dead runes flickered faintly, emitting a weak spatial fluctuation.

“As expected, there’s still residual energy.” Nightmare pressed his fingers together like a blade, condensing the Power of Rules, and slowly traced the path of the runes. The hard boulder, almost fused with the star core, silently opened up an entrance just wide enough for one person, as if cut by a hot knife through butter.

A more desolate and ancient, yet relatively stable, aura surged out from within the passage.

The interior of the passage was not artificially carved as imagined; instead, it resembled a naturally formed rock tunnel, but its walls were smooth, clearly polished by magic. The passage wound downwards, seemingly bottomless. On both sides of the stone walls, at regular intervals, were embedded Star Stones that had long since exhausted their energy, presumably once used for illumination.

Nightmare, with his exceptional skill and daring, stepped into it without hesitation. His Divine Sense carefully probed ahead, and the Power of rule fragments perceived every minute change in space.

The passage was extremely long and descended continuously, seemingly leading to the deepest part of this massive star core. The deeper he went, the purer and denser the Power of the Stars became, even gradually carrying a peculiar pressure that acted upon his Physical Body and Divine Soul.

【Detecting environmental change: Star Pressure gradient increasing… Current pressure Rank: Middle Nascent Soul Stage…】

【Warning: Pressure ahead continues to strengthen… Suggest enabling protection…】

The System prompt sounded.

Nightmare’s eyes, however, lit up slightly. “Star Pressure? Perfect for tempering my Physical Body and Divine Soul!”

Not only did he not activate his defenses, but he actively retracted some of his protective Demonic Essence, only using the Origin power of his Myriad Poison True Demonic Body and rule fragments to guard his core, allowing the increasingly strong Star Pressure to act upon him.

Crack… his bones emitted faint sounds, muscle fibers tensed and trembled under the pressure, and his Divine Soul felt as if it was clutched by an invisible large hand. This pressure was all-pervasive, testing him thoroughly from Physical Body to Soul.

Nightmare’s steps were steady, his speed undiminished. Instead, he regarded this pressure as a whetstone, silently circulating the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture, guiding the pure Power of the Stars into his body, tempering every inch of his flesh and blood, every bit of his Divine Thought.

The deeper he went, the stronger the pressure!

Late Nascent Soul Stage… Early Spirit Transformation Stage… Mid-stage Dao Replenishing… When the pressure reached the Mid-stage Dao Replenishing level, Nightmare’s dark golden Texture spontaneously appeared on his body surface, the Star Body Protection characteristic was stimulated to its extreme, and even tiny blood beads began to seep from the pores all over his body, yet his eyes remained bright, even carrying a hint of excitement.

This pure oppressive force, originating from the Star Origin, had unexpected benefits for solidifying his Mid-stage Dao Replenishing Realm, and tempering his rule fragments and star source core.

Finally, at the end of the passage, the pressure reached its peak, comparable to the full Spiritual Pressure of a Late-Stage Transformation Spirit Cultivator!

There was no path ahead, only a jade wall as smooth as a mirror, emitting a soft starlight. Inscribed on the jade wall were countless intricate Star Dao patterns, forming a profound and mysterious design that exuded a heart-palpitating Law fluctuation. All the Star Pressure seemed to originate from this jade wall.

And in front of the jade wall, three skeletons sat in a meditative posture.

The skeletons were crystalline like jade, faintly glowing with golden light, somewhat similar to the Star Dust Mortal remains Nightmare had seen in the ancient Cultivator’s dwelling. Clearly, they were highly accomplished individuals in life. But they all maintained a posture of gazing up at the jade wall, as if comprehending something, until they passed away.

The finger of one of the skeletons was still pointing at a line of ancient characters below the jade wall.

Nightmare’s gaze swept over that line of ancient characters, written in ancient Star Script:

“The Star Road is broken, the Path of the Heart is unpredictable. Temper the body and refine the heart, then the true self will be revealed. Latercomers, be wary.”

Between the lines, there was a sense of desolation and warning.

“Body Tempering and Heart Refinement?” Nightmare looked at the starlight jade wall, his Divine Sense slowly approaching.

The moment his Divine Sense touched the jade wall!

Boom!

The scene before him suddenly changed!

He found himself no longer in the passage, but suspended in a boundless starry sky! All around were slowly rotating massive nebulae and brilliant star rivers, magnificent beyond compare.

However, the next second, those brilliant stars suddenly erupted with endless light, and terrifyingly extreme Star Pressure crushed down from all directions, as if the weight of the entire Universe was pressing down on him!

At the same time, countless fragments of Star Laws surged into his Sea of Consciousness like a torrent, an information overload vast enough to instantly burst the Divine Soul of an Early Spirit Transformation Stage Cultivator!

This was not merely a test of the Physical Body, but an ultimate trial of the Divine Soul, the Dao Heart, and the ability to comprehend Laws!

An illusion! Yet incredibly real!

Nightmare let out a muffled groan, countless tiny wounds instantly crack open on his body surface, bleeding profusely! His Divine Soul also felt as if it was being violently pricked by billions of needles, excruciatingly painful!

But his eyes suddenly burst forth with brilliant divine light!

“What a ‘Body Tempering and Heart Refinement’! What a ‘Star Palace Trial’!”

Instead of being alarmed, he was delighted. He immediately guarded his mind, and the rule fragments frantically circulated in his Sea of Consciousness, like the most efficient processor, rapidly sorting, analyzing, and absorbing the surging torrent of Law information! At the same time, his Myriad Poison True Demonic Body was pushed to its limit, madly absorbing the vast yet deadly Power of the Stars within the illusion, tempering his own body!

Pain! Extreme pain!

But in this extreme pain, his Physical Body was visibly becoming tougher, his comprehension of Star Laws was soaring at an unprecedented rate, and the Fusion degree of his rule fragments was slowly but steadily increasing! His Divine Soul was even more like refined steel hammered a thousand times, becoming increasingly solid and resilient!

Time seemed to lose its meaning in this trial.

After an unknown period, the terrifying Star torrent and pressure gradually weakened, and the starry sky illusion before him began to blur.

Nightmare was covered in blood, looking utterly miserable, but his aura became even more profound and vast, and his eyes shone terrifyingly bright!

When the illusion completely vanished, and he returned to the end of the passage, standing before the starlight jade wall, his injuries were healing at an astonishing speed, and his aura was even stronger and more refined than before!

【Physical Body strength increased by 15%... Divine Soul strength increased by 18%... rule fragment Fusion degree increased to 8.7%... star source core refinement degree increased to 22%...】

【Successfully analyzed and absorbed 17 types of basic Star Law Fragments... Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture related Divine Abilities automatically optimized...】

The System's prompt confirmed his immense gains.

This jade wall was practically a supreme tempering treasure tailor-made for him!

He looked at the three skeletons, a hint of understanding in his eyes. These three Seniors likely also attempted tempering here, but ultimately failed to withstand the terrifying impact of the Law information, or their Physical Bodies collapsed, or their Divine Souls were annihilated, leading to their demise.

“The Path of the Heart is unpredictable, then the true self will be revealed…” Nightmare murmured the line of characters, his gaze once again falling upon the jade wall.

He vaguely felt that this jade wall was probably not just for trials. Something else seemed to be hidden within it.

He slowly extended his palm and pressed it against the cold jade wall. The Power of rule fragments and the power of the star source core slowly infused simultaneously.

The jade wall lit up again, but this time it no longer triggered a trial. The Star Dao patterns on its surface seemed to come alive, beginning to flow and combine, eventually forming a small vortex in the center of the jade wall.

Within the vortex, a point of incredibly brilliant starlight slowly rose, hovering before Nightmare.

It was an item.