Core Collapse, the Secret of Order

His fingertip made light contact with the rotating order crystal core, which was radiating terrifying energy and blinding white light.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no clash of energy torrents.

All that existed was an extreme 'silence,' as if at the end of the Universe.

The power of 'Return to Nothingness' condensed at Nightmare's fingertip—containing all his strength, rule fragment computing power, and the true essence of the Great Dao of Annihilation—instantly invaded the seemingly flawless and indestructible internal structure of the order crystal like the smallest yet most lethal virus.

This power was not a brute-force destruction, but rather a catalyst that guided its internal energy toward its ultimate 'destination'—complete annihilation and nothingness.

Hum...

The Scavenger's massive body shuddered violently!

The rotating crystal core in its chest flickered wildly, its blinding white light flashing on and off like a faulty light bulb!

On the surface of the core, centered on the point of contact with Nightmare's fingertip, countless fine, spiderweb-like grey-black cracks spread rapidly at an astonishing speed!

'Error! Error! Core energy out of control! Order structure disintegrating...' The cold metallic voice carried urgency and static for the first time; it was no longer an emotionless announcement, but a final wail before a system crash.

It tried to raise its arms to forcibly fire the half-condensed order erasure beam, but the moment its arms were lifted, they fell powerlessly, and the energy patterns on its surface rapidly dimmed.

The muzzle emitting 'Law Neutralization' fluctuations also abruptly stopped.

Crack... Crackle...

The teeth-grinding sound of shattering grew denser and louder!

The cracked crystal core's rotation speed plummeted, and finally, it came to a complete stop!

The next moment—

Pfft!

Like a punctured water bag filled with light, the huge order crystal core collapsed inward violently. All the white light was instantly sucked into an extreme black dot, and then that black dot completely annihilated and vanished!

The core... shattered!

Deprived of its energy source, the Scavenger's massive silver body instantly lost all its luster, turning a lifeless dark grey.

It remained frozen in the corridor in its final attack posture, like a huge, soulless metal statue.

The glowing silver slabs around it also rapidly dimmed, and the pervasive order force field receded like a tide.

The entire corridor returned to its initial silence, with only the twisted and deformed slabs affected by the previous battle bearing witness to the thrilling clash of Laws that had just occurred.

Nightmare slowly withdrew his finger, his face slightly pale. His rule fragment energy was almost exhausted, and his nirvana dao seed also appeared somewhat withered.

That 'Annihilation Return to Nothingness' move had drained most of his strength and was an extreme strain on his mind and rule fragment computing power.

But, it was worth it!

He had succeeded! With the power of a Late Stage Hedao, he had forcibly destroyed a Peak Hedao construct capable of rule erasure! This was undoubtedly the best test of his current strength.

'Senior Brother!' Su Wanqing hurriedly flew forward to support the exhausted Nightmare, her beautiful eyes filled with worry and lingering fear.

'It's fine, just a large expenditure.' Nightmare waved his hand, took out a handful of Chaos crystals and the remaining World Tree leaf powder, and stuffed them into his mouth like candy. His rule fragment began to greedily absorb energy to recover quickly.

His gaze fell upon the motionless, power-deprived remains of the Scavenger, and then further into the corridor, which was still shrouded in silver mist.

This Scavenger's core was actually a highly compressed crystal of order Laws? This thing was an excellent Material for refining top-tier Magic Treasures and comprehending order Laws! Although the core was shattered, the remains themselves were also an extraordinary treasure!

Moreover, this place was so strange, and there must be even greater secrets hidden deep within. The fact that the Star Spirit Race authority fluctuation could cause a logic conflict in the Scavenger earlier proved that this place was absolutely related to the Star Spirit Race!

His rule fragment recovered a bit of energy and immediately began scanning the Scavenger's remains, attempting to delve into its internal structure to find possible data storage units or log records.

At the same time, he also turned his attention to the depths of the corridor. Having dealt with the watchdog, it was time to see what exactly was hidden in the master's house.

However, just as the rule fragment's scanning wave was about to penetrate deep into the Scavenger's remains and probe toward the mist in the depths of the corridor—

A sudden change occurred!

Inside the Scavenger's dim chest (where the core had originally been), a faint but exceptionally pure blue light suddenly lit up! That light was not energy, but more like a... rune being activated?

Meanwhile, the silver mist in the depths of the corridor, which had been still, began to churn violently, as if something had been disturbed!

An old voice, completely different from the previous cold metallic one and carrying a hint of age and weariness, suddenly rang out in the minds of Nightmare and Su Wanqing:

'Outsider... you... have destroyed the 'Guardian'...'

'On you... there is 'her' aura... and also... traces of the 'Primal'...'

'Come in... come to the 'Core Chamber'...'

'Some things... it is time... for them to have an ending...'

As this old voice rang out, the churning silver mist in front slowly parted to the sides, revealing a straight passage leading into the unknown depths.

Nightmare's eyes narrowed.

'Her' aura? Did it refer to the Star Spirit Race Princess Lia? Or the world tree seedling?

Traces of the 'Primal'? Did it refer to the primal cube?

The owner of this old voice seemed to know a lot of inside information!

He looked at the suddenly appeared passage, his rule fragment rapidly calculating the risks. The other party did not seem to have malicious intent, but in such a mysterious place, one must never let their guard down.

After a moment of contemplation, Nightmare said to Su Wanqing, 'Follow me closely and be ready to react at any time.'

Since he had come, there was no reason to retreat. He wanted to see what kind of secrets were hidden in the depths of this place of order, and who exactly the owner of this old voice was.

The two adjusted their states, kept their rule fragment alert, and stepped step by step into the passage parted by the mist, walking toward the core area of this place of order.