Amidst the treacherous abyss and the perilous sea, a lone boat hangs by a thread.

The starlight of the Law Sea completely dissipated, and Nightmare returned to that remote island in the Endless Sea. The Immortal Cave remained cold and desolate. Su Wanqing's aura had already faded, leaving only that warm shell talisman in his palm, reminding him of Star Pivot's "invitation," which seemed gentle but was actually overbearing.

The cold, deathly fluctuation recorded in the rule fragment, coming from a rift deep in the Sea of Light, was as clear as a coordinate. He had to go to the Demon Abyss Sea.

Without a moment's hesitation, Nightmare activated the rule fragment, locked onto that vague direction, and merged his body into the Void Realm once more, performing an ultra-long-distance leap.

This journey was far longer and more arduous than any before.

The closer he got to the direction sensed by the rule fragment, the more eerie the surrounding environment became. The sky was no longer azure but a suffocating, grey-black color, as if stained by countless impurities. The seawater also became viscous and dark, emitting an indescribable, fishy stench of decay.

Faint, greyish-white mist began to permeate the Void Realm. This mist not only greatly weakened the range of Divine Sense but also contained a strange power that could slowly erode mana and wear down the spirit. An ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator here would likely see their mana exhausted and their spirit collapse within a short time.

Occasionally, he could see huge, strangely shaped shadows swimming in the deep sea, emitting terrifyingly violent auras, their strength likely no less than the Soul Transformation stage, or even stronger.

The rule fragment constantly sent warnings, reminding him of the danger here. Nightmare's Annihilation Domain circulated slightly, annihilating all the strange mist and malice trying to erode him, but his speed involuntarily slowed down. The spatial structure here was exceptionally stable and chaotic, increasing the risk and consumption of long-distance spatial leaps.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, the grey mist ahead became thicker, almost solid. On the sea surface, huge, slowly rotating black whirlpools began to appear. The centers of these whirlpools were bottomless, emitting a suction force that devoured everything, and even light could not escape.

The rule fragment's sensing reached its peak; the source of that cold, deathly fluctuation was right in the deepest part of this grey mist and whirlpools!

This place was the periphery of the Demon Abyss Sea!

Nightmare stopped, hovering in the thick fog, carefully sensing the front with the rule fragment. The danger here far exceeded expectations; the mist and whirlpools targeted not only the Physical Body and mana but also the Divine Soul and will. Blindly rushing in was by no means a wise move.

Just as he was pondering how to enter, the rule fragment suddenly captured a faint spatial fluctuation from the front-side, as well as... a trace of an extremely weak life aura?

He moved his body, silently sneaking toward that direction.

Passing through a thick wall of fog, the scene before him made him pause slightly.

In a relatively calm, eerie sea area surrounded by whirlpools, a lone boat was actually floating!

The boat was primitive in style, made entirely of some kind of pitch-black wood. The hull was covered in severely worn defensive Formations, emitting an extremely weak spiritual light, barely resisting the erosion of the surrounding grey mist. On the boat sat an old man in ragged grey robes, looking withered, as if he would run out of life at any moment.

The old man seemed to have noticed Nightmare's arrival as well. He struggled to lift his head, revealing a face full of wrinkles and grey spots, with dull, cloudy eyes. His aura was weak to the extreme, only about the Early Nascent Soul Stage, and filled with Death Qi. Clearly, he had been here for too long and had reached his limit.

Seeing Nightmare, a flash of surprise crossed the old man's cloudy eyes, which then turned into a desperate calmness. He spoke hoarsely, his voice sounding like a broken bellows: "Is... is it another one coming to die... Young man, take an old man's advice... turn back... the Demon Abyss... is not a place you can intrude into..."

Nightmare's gaze swept over the old man and the small boat. The rule fragment instantly analyzed that the wood of this small boat was extraordinary, seemingly a special material capable of resisting the erosion of the filth here, but it was currently on the verge of exhausting its spiritual nature. The old man could survive here solely because of this boat, but he was already at the end of his rope.

"Is this the Demon Abyss Sea?" Nightmare asked indifferently.

The old man nodded with difficulty, coughed a few times, and spat out some dirty blood mixed with black Qi: "Cough, cough... Yes... the periphery of the Demon Abyss... the Sea of Death Mist... further in... is the true... entrance to the Demon Abyss... where Star Pivot's 'Demon Suppressing Hall' guards... cough, cough... but... but no one can cross this Sea of Death Mist... unless... there is a 'Crossing Tribulation Boat'..."

A Crossing Tribulation Boat? Nightmare glanced at the small boat beneath the old man that was about to shatter.

"What are you doing here?" Nightmare asked again.

A flash of reminiscence and pain crossed the old man's eyes: "Waiting for death... or... waiting for a miracle... I... was originally an Elder of the 'Spirit Medicine Sect'... over a hundred years ago... my only grandson was polluted by the strange power of the Demon Abyss... his Divine Soul eroded... only the 'Demon Abyss Flower' could temporarily delay it... I exhausted the Sect's savings... to trade for this broken Crossing Tribulation Boat to break in... but... but I could never find the way back... my grandson... is likely long since..."

Speaking of this, the old man was already streaming with tears, his aura even more withered, and the spiritual light of the boat beneath him flickered more rapidly, on the verge of completely shattering.

Nightmare was silent for a moment. The rule fragment could sense that the old man was not lying; the sorrow and despair in his Divine Soul could not be faked.

He raised his hand, and a strand of pure, life-giving Power of Annihilation flowed into the old man's body, temporarily stabilizing his collapsing vitality, while also probing the erosive power of the so-called "Death Mist."

It was an extremely sinister, highly corrosive, and polluting power, of the same Origin as the "Old Day Filth" felt in the Law Sea, but much thinner. The Power of Annihilation had a good restraining effect on it, but to resist it for a long time, the consumption would not be small.

The old man felt the vitality pouring into his body and immediately perked up, looking at Nightmare in disbelief: "You... you..."

"Where is the Demon Suppressing Hall? Where is the Demon Abyss Flower?" Nightmare asked directly.

The old man seemed to see a glimmer of hope and hurriedly pointed in a direction in the deepest part of the thick fog: "The Demon Suppressing Hall... is in that direction... at the end of the Sea of Death Mist... the Demon Abyss Flower... only grows near the entrance of the Demon Abyss... in the spatial rifts... extremely dangerous... there are... terrifying 'Abyss Demons' guarding it..."

He tremblingly took out a broken bone shard from his bosom, on which a simple sea map was engraved with blood, marking several points: "This is... what I have explored over these years... a relatively safe route... perhaps... it will be useful to you..."

Nightmare took the bone shard, and the rule fragment scanned it; the information was correct. He glanced at the old man's expectant yet desperate eyes, then looked at the nearly shattered Crossing Tribulation Boat.

After a moment of contemplation, he pointed like a knife, the Power of Annihilation condensed, and slashed down at a huge black reef floating nearby. The reef was silently cut into a large piece, and the power of the rule fragment surged, quickly shaping it into the form of a simple yet sturdy small boat, and engraved several defensive Formations containing the Dao patterns of Annihilation on it.

Although rough, with the characteristics of the Materials here and the power of the Annihilation Formations, it was enough to resist the erosion of the Death Mist, far superior to the old man's nearly broken Crossing Tribulation Boat.

"Take this boat, follow this direction, and you can leave." Nightmare pushed the newly made boat toward the old man and pointed out a relatively safe direction for him to leave.

The old man stared dumbfounded at the new boat that emitted a faint grey-black halo and quietly annihilated all the Death Mist that approached. He was so excited that he trembled all over, struggled to crawl onto the new boat, and was about to kowtow to Nightmare: "Thank you... thank you, Senior, for the gift of rebirth! I... I..."

"Go." Nightmare interrupted him indifferently, turned around, locked onto the direction of the Demon Suppressing Hall pointed out by the old man with the rule fragment, expanded his Annihilation Domain slightly, forcibly pushed aside the dense Death Mist, and stepped into it, his figure quickly disappearing into the depths of the grey fog.

The old man watched the direction where he disappeared, excited for a long time, and finally bowed deeply to that direction before driving the new boat, sailing toward the direction Nightmare pointed out, arduously yet full of hope.

And Nightmare had already gone deep into the Sea of Death Mist.

The deeper he went, the thicker and more viscous the Death Mist became, and the erosive power became stronger. It even began to condense into various distorted, painful, and screaming phantom faces, constantly impacting Nightmare's Annihilation Domain and spirit. In the Void Realm, there were even more dangerous spatial rifts and deadly traps hidden, and the rule fragment constantly sent warnings, forcing him to be careful to avoid them.

Occasionally, he was attacked by huge submarine Yao Beasts that had been polluted by the Death Mist and became violent, but they were all killed by Nightmare with a casual strike of Annihilation Finger Force, their corpses quickly assimilated and dissolved by the Death Mist.

According to the bone shard sea map provided by the old man and the precise perception of the rule fragment, he avoided several extremely dangerous areas and continued to advance into the depths.

Finally, after passing through an eerie sea area like a ghost domain, floating with countless pale skeletons, the Death Mist in front suddenly became thin.

A huge, magnificent palace made entirely of pitch-black metal, like an eternal giant, stood at the end of his vision!

The palace style was ancient and ferocious, with the surface covered in battle marks from swords and axes and long-dried, strangely colored bloodstains. Countless thick chains engraved with complex Formations extended from the palace and submerged into the huge sea abyss below, which was bottomless and emitted an extremely cold and deathly aura!

That was the entrance to the Demon Abyss!

And that palace was the Demon Suppressing Hall of Star Pivot!

The rule fragment could clearly feel that from the bottomless sea abyss below, the extremely disgusting, cold, and deathly "Old Day Filth" aura was continuously emitting! It was thousands of times thicker than what was sensed in the Law Sea! It was as if beneath that sea abyss, it connected to a terrifying world filled with endless malice and decay!

The Demon Suppressing Hall was like a huge plug, firmly suppressing that entrance. Around the palace, powerful Formation halos circulated, and there were even stronger auras looming, all of which were the Star Pivot experts guarding this place.

And on the steep rock wall below the side of the Demon Suppressing Hall, near the entrance of the sea abyss, faintly visible were some tiny flowers flickering with strange purple-black light, swaying and growing in the thick filthy aura—that was the Demon Abyss Flower!

The rule fragment's perception was raised to the extreme, carefully scanning the layout of the Demon Suppressing Hall, the Formation nodes, the distribution of guards, and... the location where Su Wanqing might be.

Soon, his rule fragment shuddered slightly, locking onto a side hall behind the Demon Suppressing Hall. That place was covered by an extremely powerful purification Formation. At the center of the Formation, a pure, peaceful, yet weak aura was struggling against the violent filthy aura surrounding it.

Pure World Lotus Heart! It was Su Wanqing!

She was indeed here! And she seemed to be using her Physique power to assist in suppressing the Demon Abyss!

A cold light flashed in Nightmare's eyes, and he was about to take action.

Suddenly—

Rumble!!!

The bottomless Demon Abyss below suddenly shook violently! It was as if some behemoth was crazily crashing against the Seal beneath the abyss!

An even more terrifying, more violent evil will, filled with endless desire for destruction, rushed into the sky from the bottom of the abyss like a substance!

The Demon Suppressing Hall shone brightly, and all the Formations were instantly activated to the extreme! A piercing alarm sounded throughout this deathly silent sea area!

"Not good! The Abyss Demons are rioting!"

"Reinforce the Seal! Hurry!"

"Holder of the Pure World Lotus Heart! Fully activate the Pure World power!"

The Demon Suppressing Hall was instantly in chaos. Several powerful figures flew in panic toward various Formation nodes, outputting mana with all their might. Several others rushed toward the side hall where Su Wanqing was, obviously wanting to make her increase output and stabilize the Seal!

However, the evil will erupting from the bottom of the abyss was too terrifying. The Formation light shield of the Demon Suppressing Hall shook violently, countless runes flickered, and there were signs of collapse! Several huge chains creaked and were pulled straight, as if they would break the next moment!

"Not enough! The power of the Pure World Lotus Heart is not enough!"

"Hurry! Inject spiritual power into her, force out her Origin!"

"No! Her body is almost at its limit!"

Anxious arguments came from the side hall.

Nightmare's rule fragment clearly sensed that Su Wanqing's aura was rapidly becoming weak! They actually wanted to overdraw her life Origin to forcefully suppress it!

"Seeking death!"

Nightmare's anger was instantly ignited! He no longer cared about hiding his tracks!

The rule fragment was triggered, and the Annihilation Dao Bell roared!

He stepped out, his figure like a meteor tearing through the gloom, ignoring the violently vibrating evil will and chaotic energy turbulence, and rushed directly toward the side hall behind the Demon Suppressing Hall!

The Annihilation Domain around his body expanded to the fullest, annihilating all the Formation halos and Star Pivot guards trying to stop him!

"Who is breaking into the Hall?!"

"Stop him!"

Exclamations and attacks arose, but in the face of the absolute Power of Annihilation, it was all in vain!

Nightmare was like a destructive Demon God descending into the world, invincible, and instantly rushed to the outside of the side hall!

He threw a punch!

Crack!

The powerful purification Formation, along with the gate of the side hall, shattered like paper!

The scene inside the hall came into view—

Su Wanqing's face was as pale as paper, blood spilling from the corners of her mouth, sitting cross-legged in the center of a complex Formation, emitting a faint pure white light, clearly reaching her limit. And around her, three Void Refining Stage Star Pivot Elders were ferociously trying to forcefully pour their own mana into her body, forcing her to burn her Origin!

"You all, deserve to die!"

Nightmare's voice was as cold as the wind from the Nine Netherworld, containing monstrous murderous intent!

The Annihilation Domain instantly enveloped the entire side hall!