Bears and wolves are pressing in; a desperate struggle for survival.

The footsteps outside the cave were as heavy as a war drum, causing the cave to tremble slightly with every landing. That tyrannical panting sounded like a bellows being pumped, carrying a nauseating stench that poured in through the cracks of the boulder, making one's scalp tingle. A massive shadow completely obscured the remaining daylight at the cave entrance; inside, only the flickering campfire remained, casting fear onto the rock walls.

The Iron Claw Rock Bear had arrived!

It did not seem in a hurry to attack; instead, it brought its massive head close to the boulder blocking the entrance, sniffing heavily. Its hot, damp breath sprayed onto the rock, forming white mist. It was confirming the location of its prey and assessing the strength of the obstructive rock.

Nightmare leaned his back against the rock wall, driving his rule fragment to its limit, ignoring the tearing, searing pain from his Divine Soul, and combined the weak analytical data of the massive lifeform from the primal cube with his own remaining perception.

"Energy convergence point... three inches below the skull connection... diagonally behind the left eye... there is a natural gap for energy flow..." The rule fragment was frantically deducing that slim possibility. The primal cube did not provide a specific weak point, but rather a basic judgment based on energy structure; there was only one real chance!

Medicine Old Man gripped his wooden staff tightly, his knuckles turning white, his entire body's muscles tense like a tiger ready to pounce, staring fixedly at the cave entrance. He trusted Nightmare, but facing such a hegemon of the mountain forest, that bit of trust was like a candle in a gale, liable to be extinguished at any moment.

"Roar!"

The Iron Claw Rock Bear seemed to have lost its patience and let out an impatient, low roar. It raised a front claw; that claw was not flesh and blood, but covered in a layer of dark, iron-like rock armor, its edges glinting with a metallic, cold light.

Boom! The Rock Bear slammed a claw onto the boulder blocking the entrance!

As if struck by a battering ram, the entire boulder shook violently, its surface instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and large amounts of debris fell with a rustling sound! The glowing moss on the cave ceiling was even shaken to a dimmer state.

Medicine Old Man's face paled; what terrifying power!

Nightmare's gaze, however, grew even colder, his rule fragment capturing the energy flow pattern at the moment of the Rock Bear's attack. The primal cube's analysis was being corrected and perfected!

Boom! Boom! Two more consecutive claws! The boulder groaned under the unbearable weight; its central part had already begun to collapse, revealing the Rock Bear's scarlet eyes, filled with tyranny and greed, outside!

Now!

"Old man!" Nightmare shouted in a low voice.

Medicine Old Man understood perfectly. At the moment the boulder was about to completely shatter, he suddenly let out a long whistle containing a peculiar rhythm, simultaneously pushing a gentle yet tenacious Qi within his body to the limit. The tip of his wooden staff even lit up with an imperceptible emerald glow, pointing directly at the Rock Bear's exposed left eye!

This was Medicine Old Man's trump card, a crude technique similar to "Startling Spirit" that had long been lost in this realm. Combined with the natural vitality he had cultivated over many years of gathering herbs, it had miraculous effects on beasts with low intelligence!

Sure enough, the Iron Claw Rock Bear's attention was drawn by this sudden provocation and the emerald glow that made it slightly uncomfortable. Its left eye blinked instinctively, and its striking motion experienced an extremely brief stagnation!

This stagnation lasted less than a tenth of a breath! But for Nightmare, it was enough!

Just as the boulder exploded with a roar, debris splattered everywhere, and the moment the Rock Bear's massive head and upper body poked into the cave—Nightmare moved!

He did not retreat; instead, like a moth to a flame, he forcibly extracted the last remaining wisp of pure life energy from the world tree seedling within his rule fragment space and fused it with the last trace of Nirvana Internal Qi in his body! This was not nourishment, but combustion! Using life as fuel to trade for a momentary burst!

An abnormal flush instantly appeared on the surface of his body, capillaries ruptured, and beads of blood seeped out, but he ignored it all!

A black longsword appeared in his hand once again, but this time, in addition to the grey-black aura of Nirvana, the blade was entwined with a faint, emerald vitality, and a trace of silvery light originating from the void lotus seed that stabilized space!

Three elements merged into one, using the rule fragment as a guide and the Primordial Theory as a base, he slashed out the most brilliant and determined sword strike of his life!

He did not attack the eyes, nor did he attack the mouth—those were too obvious, and the Rock Bear would surely have defenses against them.

His target was the natural gap for energy flow, three inches below the skull connection and diagonally behind the left eye, which the primal cube had analyzed! An internal weak point, almost impossible to detect from the outside, protected by the sturdy skull!

The sword light was no longer a straight line or an arc, but in a way that transcended the common understanding of the current world, it seemed to pierce through the subtle folds of space, carrying a faint, distorted trajectory, avoiding the Rock Bear's rock-like front claw that instinctively protected its face, and precisely pierced toward that ethereal "point"!

This sword strike contained almost no powerful physical force, yet it condensed Nightmare's understanding of rules, his insight into energy, and his entire will to live!

Ssh—a sound, so slight it could almost be ignored, as if piercing through some tough membrane, rang out.

The sword tip touched that "point"! Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The Iron Claw Rock Bear, which was about to let out a violent roar and tear the two "bugs" inside the cave to shreds, suddenly stiffened! Its scarlet, tyrannical eyes instantly widened, and a flash of extreme confusion, pain, and... disbelief flickered deep within its pupils!

It felt a cold, dead, yet strangely vital force, ignoring its proud rock armor and strong muscles, directly pierce through its skull defense and invade the core gathering place of its life Origin!

That was not physical destruction, but a more essential... erosion and annihilation at the level of rules!

"Ugh..." A suppressed whimper, filled with extreme pain and fear, was squeezed from deep within the Rock Bear's throat. Its upper body, which had poked into the cave, began to twitch violently, its terrifying power leaking out uncontrollably, causing debris to fly as it struck the cave walls.

But it could no longer take another step forward.

After delivering the sword strike, Nightmare felt as if all his strength had been drained. His vision went black, and he fell straight backward. Blood continuously overflowed from his mouth and nose, his aura instantly withered to the extreme, and the light of the rule fragment almost completely extinguished.

Medicine Old Man was quick-witted and agile; he grabbed Nightmare, looking in horror at the mountain-like behemoth outside the cave, which was now slowly collapsing in pain and fear.

Boom! The Iron Claw Rock Bear's upper body finally fell powerlessly, stuck in the shattered cave entrance, blocking more than half of that huge hole, leaving only a few gaps.

Inside and outside the cave, a strange silence fell. Only the limbs of the Rock Bear, not yet completely dead, twitched occasionally, along with Nightmare's extremely weak breathing.

Medicine Old Man looked at the unconscious Nightmare in his arms, whose injuries were several times worse than before, and then at the hegemon-level corpse at the cave entrance, a stormy sea raging in his heart.

He... what on earth did he do?! That sword strike... what exactly was it?! To be able to... kill an Iron Claw Rock Bear?! When did such a terrifying figure appear in the Land of Absolute Spirit?!