The core of creation, the moment of decision

The scarlet "eye" at the center of the silver-white creation was like the pupil of a waking Vicious Beast, exuding a cold, killing intent that made the Soul tremble.

A terrifying energy, far exceeding the Peak of Hedao and even faintly touching the Mahayana Domain, was crazily condensing and compressing within it!

Under the pressure of this energy, the surrounding space let out an unbearable wail, and fine black cracks spread out like a spider web!

This was no longer an attack at the level of a turret, but the true planet-destroying method of this "Void Realm Harvester" itself!

Its energy level was so high that even Nightmare, who had just exhausted himself by unleashing "Dimension Return to Void," felt a fatal threat!

"Senior Brother!" Su Wanqing exclaimed, the destructive power contained within that scarlet pupil making her feel instinctive fear.

Nightmare's eyes were sharp as knives, and the rule fragment was frantically calculating countermeasures at an unprecedented speed.

At the same time, the energy stored within the rule fragment space and the treasures previously obtained, such as Chaos crystals and void lotus seeds, were instantly mobilized, transforming into a pure torrent of energy to replenish his consumption.

Take it head-on? The risk was immense! Even if he could withstand it, he would inevitably be severely injured, and the rule fragment energy might be completely exhausted!

Dodge? The surrounding space was in Chaos from the aftermath of the previous attack. Short-distance teleportation was still feasible, but long-distance travel carried unknown risks, and the opponent's attack clearly possessed super-strong locking capabilities!

Interfere with its energy condensation? The rule fragment attempted to simulate various frequencies of interference waves, but the defense Rank of the opponent's energy core was extremely high, yielding little result!

In a flash of lightning, the rule fragment combined the creation structure just scanned with the records of similar high-level creations in the primal cube database, deducing an extremely risky, but perhaps only, chance of survival!

[Emergency Plan: The energy core of this creation is located within a diamond-shaped structure one-third below and behind its 'eye'. Its energy transmission channel has a periodic fluctuation gap of 0.0001 seconds when fully charging.]

[Recommendation: Abandon defense and evasion, use all power to unleash an ultra-micro 'Nirvana Shuttle', utilize the fluctuation gap in its energy channel to forcibly break through to the vicinity of its energy core, and destroy it from the inside!]

[Success Rate: 37.2%. Risk: Extremely high! If the timing is slightly off, or the core defense exceeds estimation, you will face its full-force strike directly, with a greater than 90% probability of body and Soul being destroyed!]

A 37.2% success rate! A greater than 90% risk of falling!

This was a choice that staked everything!

Nightmare's gaze swept instantly over the pale-faced Su Wanqing beside him, then looked at the scarlet pupil that was about to spew a destructive beam of light.

There was no time to hesitate!

"rule fragment! Lock onto the energy channel fluctuation gap! nirvana dao seed! Burn the Origin!"

"Wan Qing! Enter the rule fragment space!"

He let out a low roar, and the light of the rule fragment instantly took Su Wanqing into the safe area opened up inside it.

At the same time, a roar like stars shattering came from within his body, and the nirvana dao seed began to burn violently in an unprecedented way, even at the cost of consuming his Origin!

All his power, all his insights, all his determination, were concentrated on the rule fragment!

His entire body transformed into an extreme, grayish-black thin line that seemed not to exist in the present world.

He was no longer traversing space, but in a nearly "conceptual" way, following the only fleeting "path" calculated by the rule fragment, he shot towards the scarlet pupil against that earth-shattering torrent of energy!

Time was infinitely stretched at this moment!

Nightmare could "see" the scarlet energy condensed to the extreme, exuding a sense of finality, and could "feel" the emotionless, absolute killing intent coming from the cold creation core!

0.0001 seconds! It was now!

At the instant when the energy transmission channel produced an extremely tiny "bulge" due to periodic fluctuation, the grayish-black line that Nightmare had transformed into, like the most precise scalpel, "slid" in along the edge of that "bulge," narrowly penetrating the thick energy barrier and outer armor, and appeared inside the creation!

This was a world made entirely of cold silver-white metal and flowing deep blue energy conduits!

The structure was dazzlingly complex, filled with a sense of non-living, absolute order.

And in the center of the world, a huge, constantly rotating, complex structure composed of countless diamond-shaped crystals was emitting a deafening energy hum—it was precisely its energy core!

[Target locked! Energy core! Execute destruction program!]

Nightmare did not pause for even a second.

The rule fragment triggered the nirvana dao seed that was burning its Origin, transforming it into a final Annihilation Finger Force that condensed all his power and will, fiercely pointing towards the most central and fragile energy node of the rotating core!

However, just as the finger force was about to touch the core—

Hum!

A more cold, more vast, terrifying will that seemed to come from outside the Universe and transcend everything, like a sleeping emperor awakened by an ant, suddenly descended from the depths of that energy core!

This will was not aimed at Nightmare, but rather more like an automatic counterattack after an underlying protocol had been violated!

An invisible rule impact, containing the meaning of "negation of existence," spread out suddenly from the core like cosmic background radiation!

In front of this rule impact, Nightmare's Annihilation Finger Force was like glass hitting an iron plate, instantly shattering inch by inch!

Even more terrifyingly, that impact ignored all defenses and acted directly upon his rule fragment and Soul Origin!

"Pfft—!"

Nightmare was struck as if by lightning, blood spraying out wildly.

The light of the rule fragment instantly dimmed to the extreme, and fine cracks even appeared on its surface!

A tearing pain came from his Soul, and his consciousness was almost on the verge of dissipating!

This was not a confrontation of power levels at all; this was... a crushing at the rule level!

It was the creator's... erasure of an ant that had intruded into its forbidden zone!

"Is it... going to fail..."

Endless darkness surged like a tide, swallowing his consciousness.

The alarm sound coming from the rule fragment became increasingly distant...

No! He absolutely could not die here!

Wan Qing was still in the rule fragment space!

He still had too many mysteries unsolved!

He still had to step onto the Peak of the Dao!

An unyielding will, originating from the deepest part of his Soul, suddenly burned like a lighthouse in a storm!

"rule fragment! primal cube! Burn... for me!"

He let out a silent roar!

At the core of the rule fragment, the primal cube, which had always existed quietly, seemed to sense the Host's will on the verge of desperation and that rule impact from a "higher dimension," and for the first time... it actively vibrated!

A faint, yet strange fluctuation carrying a certain meaning of "all laws returning to the Origin" and "defining the beginning" emanated from the primal cube and merged into the rule fragment that was about to shatter!

At the same time, inside the rule fragment space, that void lotus seed being catalyzed seemed to also be stimulated by the terrifying rule impact outside and the primal cube's fluctuation, suddenly erupting with intense silver light, and a pure and ancient spatial Origin power fed back out!

Three forces—Nightmare's unyielding will, the primal cube's primordial fluctuation, and the void lotus seed's spatial Origin—under the forced integration of the rule fragment, completed an incredible Fusion in this desperate situation!

A brand new force, no longer purely grayish-black but mixed with subtle silver light and Chaos colors, exuding the contradictory aura of "returning to silence" and "the beginning," was instantly reborn at Nightmare's fingertip.

In a way that surpassed current understanding, it ignored that "negation of existence" rule impact and fiercely struck that node on the energy core!

Crack—!

A crisp sound, as if the cornerstone of the Universe were shattering, rang out in that cold mechanical world.

The crazily rotating energy core suddenly stalled!

The deep blue light flowing on its surface instantly became chaotic and dissipated!

The scarlet "eye" in the center suddenly went out as if the power had been cut off!

The massive silver-white creation shook violently as a whole, its external armor plates cracked one after another, and energy pipes exploded in succession!

Succeeded?!

Before his consciousness sank completely into darkness, Nightmare only had time to see the collapsing core and the last blurry message from the rule fragment:

[Target energy core... structure disintegrating... creation entering... self-destruct program...]

[Detected... unknown coordinate beacon... activating... teleporting...]