Chapter 177 Star Remains Ancient Mine, Silent Crystal Marrow

After settling Su Wanqing, who was still in a deep sleep recovering, and setting up numerous Restrictions, Nightmare took out the Star Token he had obtained from Immortal Master Xuan Ji.

His Divine Sense sank into it, and a vast stream of information surged. The enormous maps, Secret Realm intelligence, and power distribution charts accumulated by Star Pivot over countless years unfolded like a scroll. Nightmare efficiently filtered information related to "Nirvana" and "Ancient Ruins."

Soon, three locations were marked, and Nightmare received varying degrees of sensation from them.

The first was the "Burial Star Mountain Range" located in the far west of Zhongzhou. Legend has it that ancient stars fell there, forming special Ore veins that might contain the Power of Annihilation. However, this place was already occupied by a large Sect, the Starfall Pavilion, and was heavily guarded.

The second was the ruins of an ancient Sect, the "Nirvana Demonic Sect," deep within a dead sand sea at the border of the Northern Region and Western Wasteland, which might hold a Legacy. However, intelligence indicated that the space there was extremely unstable, filled with spatial cracks, and exceptionally dangerous.

The third location gave Nightmare the strongest sensation—the "Ancient Star Remains Mine," located deeper in the Endless Sea, near the edge of the world. It was said to be the ruins of a specialized Artifact Refining race from ancient times that mined special star Ores. It was later abandoned for unknown reasons, and "Nirvana Crystal Marrow" might be brewing deep within the mine shafts.

Nirvana Crystal Marrow! This was a top-grade Material that only existed in theory, formed by extremely concentrated Power of Annihilation condensed over countless years in a special environment. It offered unimaginable benefits to those who Cultivated Nirvana!

Nightmare hardly hesitated before choosing the third location—the Ancient Star Remains Mine.

Locking onto the general direction provided by the Star Token, Nightmare once again tore through space and embarked on his journey.

This Void Realm Transmigration felt exceptionally long and oppressive. The closer he got to the edge of the world, the more chaotic space became. He often saw gigantic, shattered star remnants floating in the Void Realm, emitting a desolate aura. Occasionally, he even encountered strange floating islands composed entirely of rock and metal, devoid of any signs of life.

Following the guidance of the Star Token and Nightmare's continuous adjustments, after several days, an unimaginably huge, dark red star remnant, riddled with holes like a honeycomb, appeared at the edge of his vision.

This was the entrance to the Ancient Star Remains Mine—an ancient star that had long since died and been hollowed out.

Nightmare could clearly feel the pure yet violent Power of the Stars emanating from the depths of those countless mine shafts, as well as… faint traces of an enticing, even deeper Nirvana fluctuation!

Nightmare restrained his aura, activated his full perception, and cautiously chose the largest mine shaft entrance, flying inside.

The interior of the mine shaft was far more vast and complex than it appeared from the outside, extending in all directions like a labyrinth. The cave walls were made of a dark red Ore containing faint stellar energy, and many places still bore traces of ancient mining and battles. The air was filled with the smell of metal and dust, terrifyingly silent.

Guided by Nightmare, he quickly traversed the intricate mine shafts. Along the way, he saw the remnants of huge, rusted and decayed mining equipment, as well as the skeletons of miners in ancient clothing, long since turned to white bone. Many corpses were in a posture of struggling to escape, as if the mining disaster had been extremely sudden and terrifying.

The deeper he went, the clearer the Nirvana fluctuation became, but at the same time, an inexplicable sense of danger began to emerge.

Nightmare continuously received warnings that some powerful, hostile energy entity seemed to exist deep within the mine shaft.

Suddenly, around a corner of the passage ahead, a strange hissing sound, like metal friction, echoed.

Nightmare instantly locked onto the target—it was an energy lifeform composed entirely of pure stellar energy and a certain kind of resentment! Its form was unstable, like a flowing, starlight-flickering shadow, emitting energy fluctuations equivalent to Late-Stage Soul Transformation!

Star Fiend Specters! And in large numbers!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Dozens of Star Fiend Specters discovered Nightmare, the intruder, and immediately let out sharp screeches, transforming into streaks of light. They carried resentment that corroded the Divine Soul and scorching Power of the Stars, overwhelming him in a deluge!

Nightmare's eyes remained unchanged; he simply raised his hand, and his Nirvana Field expanded slightly.

All the Star Fiend Specters that rushed into the range of the field were like moths flying into a flame. The starlight and resentment on their bodies instantly dimmed and dissipated, eventually transforming into the purest stellar energy particles, which Nightmare quietly absorbed.

These energy entities posed no threat to Nightmare now; on the contrary, they were good nourishment.

He continued forward, constantly devouring the Star Fiend Specters that appeared along the way. Both Nightmare and his nirvana dao seed emitted joyful fluctuations.

Finally, after passing through several Fork in the road filled with traps and broken Restrictions, he arrived at a huge underground cavity.

In the center of the cavity was a small, ink-black pool, like black jade. The water in the pool was not liquid, but highly condensed, almost solid, Power of Annihilation! And at the bottom of the pool, several fist-sized, crystal-clear black crystals, within which the birth and death of the Universe seemed to flow, were vaguely visible!

Nirvana Crystal Marrow! And more than one piece!

Nightmare felt an unprecedented craving!

However, Nightmare's footsteps stopped. Nightmare received a strong warning; the danger did not come from the pool itself, but from… beside the pool.

There, a behemoth was coiled!

Its appearance was like a scorpion magnified a thousand times, made entirely of some kind of dark metal and star crystals! It was over a hundred zhang long, gleaming with a cold metallic luster. Its tail was held high, and its tip was not a stinger, but a constantly rotating black vortex emitting terrifying suction! The energy fluctuations it emitted had clearly reached Late stage Lianxu, even close to the Peak!

This "Star Core Giant Scorpion" was clearly the guardian beast of this place, or rather, a powerful existence that had evolved by absorbing the Power of Annihilation and stellar energy from this place! Its compound eyes gleamed with cold red light, staring intently at the intruding Nightmare, emitting a threatening low hum.

Nightmare's analysis showed that this giant scorpion's defense was terrifyingly strong, and the black hole vortex at the tip of its tail could devour and tear apart everything, making it extremely difficult to deal with.

Fighting head-on might lead to victory, but it would inevitably consume a lot of energy and potentially destroy the fragile Nirvana Crystal Marrow.

Nightmare's gaze swept over the giant scorpion and the crystal marrow pool, and Nightmare rapidly calculated.

Suddenly, with a thought, he did not attack directly. Instead, he slowly released Nightmare's evolved Dao Rhyme of Annihilation, which carried a trace of Origin aura, and at the same time, simulated a Nirvana fluctuation that was of the same Origin as the crystal marrow pool but even purer.

The Star Core Giant Scorpion, which had been hostile and on the verge of attacking, suddenly froze. A hint of human-like confusion appeared in its cold compound eyes. From Nightmare, it sensed a "Nirvana" aura that was more Advanced and more of an Origin than the pool water, as if it had encountered the king among its own kind.

It growled warily, the black hole vortex on its tail slowing its rotation, seemingly hesitant.

Seeing this, Nightmare understood. Nightmare's simulation was indeed effective. He maintained this state, slowly, step by step, approaching the crystal marrow pool.

The Star Core Giant Scorpion nervously pawed at its metallic segmented legs, emitting a harsh scraping sound, but it did not immediately attack, only staring intently at him.

Nightmare ignored its threat and walked straight to the edge of the pool. The pure Power of Annihilation felt as comfortable as a hot spring to him. He extended his hand, Nightmare's power enveloping his palm, and slowly reached into the pool, easily retrieving the three Nirvana Crystal Marrows.

The crystal marrow was cold to the touch, incredibly heavy, and the Power of Annihilation Origin it contained made Nightmare tremble slightly.

Throughout the entire process, the Star Core Giant Scorpion merely watched, finally letting out an unwilling low growl and slowly retreating a few steps, seemingly acquiescing to his taking them. For it, this crystal marrow was key to its evolution, but the more Origin aura on Nightmare made it instinctively feel fear and a hint of closeness.

Nightmare put away the crystal marrow, glanced at the giant scorpion, and Nightmare moved slightly, condensing the excess, pure stellar energy absorbed along the way into a ball and throwing it to the scorpion.

The giant scorpion was startled, instinctively swallowing the energy ball. The red light in its compound eyes seemed to soften slightly, and it let out a low growl at Nightmare before slowly sinking to the bottom of the pool, no longer showing itself.

Nightmare no longer lingered and turned to leave this cavity.

The harvest far exceeded expectations, and it was not advisable to stay here long.

However, just as he was about to return the way he came and leave the mine shaft, Nightmare suddenly detected an extremely faint yet unusually familiar fluctuation from deep within an extremely hidden side passage, buried by giant rocks!

That fluctuation... was actually of the same Origin as the source of his old injury on his left shoulder, as well as the Nine Nether Sword Tip and the Ancient Battlefield fragment! But it was much weaker, as if only stained with a trace of its aura!

Nightmare's pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he punched open the giant rock blocking his way, Nightmare protecting his body, and rushed into that side passage.

The side passage extended extremely deep downwards, ending in a small, crude mining room. This seemed to be a private resting place for an ancient miner, with only a stone bed and a stone table.

On the stone table lay a notebook made of some kind of animal skin, long since decayed beyond recognition.

And that familiar fluctuation was emanating precisely from this notebook!

Nightmare carefully picked up the notebook. It instantly fell apart, with only a few pages still legible.

The writing on it was ancient and distorted, and Nightmare quickly deciphered and interpreted it.

Fragmented information flowed into his mind:

"...Imperial Calendar...739th Cycle...deep in the mine shaft...dug up...something that shouldn't have been dug up..."

"...black...blood...devouring everything...curse..."

"...they all went mad...turned into monsters..."

"...I must record this...warn future generations...'nihility calamity'...do not touch..."

"...escape...must escape..."

The notebook ended abruptly here, the last few pages stained by a black, dried liquid emitting faint Nirvana and curse auras.

Nightmare analyzed the composition of the black liquid. Although extremely faint, its essence was completely of the same Origin as all the sources of Power of Annihilation he had encountered before!

nihility calamity? Empire?

This Ancient Star Remains Mine, was it also related to it? Did that ancient Artifact Refining race perish because they dug up this thing?

Nightmare furiously deduced, trying to connect these fragmented pieces of information with previous clues.

Nine Nether Sword Tip, Ancient Battlefield fragment, the black blood in the Ancient Star Remains Mine... they all seemed to point to the same terrifying existence, or the same source—the "nihility calamity"?

Just as Nightmare was deep in thought, Nightmare suddenly sent out the highest level of warning!

It wasn't from inside the mine shaft, but from... the external starry sky!

An indescribably vast, unfathomably powerful, cold and indifferent will, like an invisible giant net, suddenly swept across this Star Domain, sweeping over the Ancient Star Remains Mine!

Before this will, Nightmare felt as tiny as a speck of dust! Even Nightmare instantly retracted all its light, becoming dim and lusterless, conveying extreme fear and warning! As if once discovered by that will, complete and absolute destruction would ensue!

That will seemed to merely sweep past casually, not lingering, and soon receded like a tide, disappearing into the endless deep space.

After a long while, Nightmare slowly resumed operation, still with a lingering fear.

Nightmare broke out in a cold sweat. What was that? Was it the "old ones" mentioned by Star Pivot? Or... some other even more terrifying existence?

This world was far more dangerous and complex than he had imagined.

He dared not stay there any longer. He carefully put away the few tattered animal skin pages of the notebook, Nightmare operating at full power, and rushed out of the Ancient Star Remains Mine at the fastest speed, tearing through space multiple times, fleeing far from this Star Domain.

It wasn't until he returned to the relatively "safe" area of the Endless Sea that he finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Looking back at the desolate starry sky, Nightmare's gaze became incredibly deep.

nihility calamity, old ones, Deep Space Demons, Imperial Dynasty plans, Star Pivot, Great Tribulation... everything seemed to be subtly connected.

Strength! He needed stronger strength!

Within Nightmare, the three Nirvana Crystal Marrows emitted an alluring glow.

It was time to go into seclusion again.

This time, he would not emerge until he had Broken through to Late stage Lianxu!

With a flash, he sped towards his island Immortal Cave.

A storm was brewing, accelerating in the unknown depths. And he had to possess the power to tear through that storm.