Lava Dragon, Foundation Tempering Battle

Those eyes were as large as lanterns, crimson like lava, with pure cruelty and a desire for destruction burning within the vertical pupils!

Merely by making eye contact, Nightmare felt a scorching, ferocious aura pressing down on him like a physical force, causing the surrounding air to become thick and scorching hot!

Rumble!

The earth trembled slightly, and the mist deep in the valley was dispersed by a tyrannical force, revealing the full appearance of that terrifying existence—it was a giant creature over ten zhang in length!

It resembled a giant lizard, but its entire body was covered in thick, dark red rock armor, with lava-like red light faintly flowing through the gaps in the armor.

Its thick limbs were like stone pillars, and its sharp claws left scorched black marks with every step on the ground.

A tail covered in bone spurs swung like a steel whip, easily shattering the surrounding rocks!

"Lava Dragon!" Nightmare instantly recalled the information Medicine Old Man had described about the overlord-level Vicious Beast guarding the Earth Core Fire Lotus!

He did not expect that one would actually inhabit this outer valley near the Back Mountain Forbidden Land!

Judging by its size and might, it was far more powerful than what Medicine Old Man had described; its strength was likely comparable to a Cultivator at the Late Golden Core Stage or even the Early Nascent Soul Stage!

This was definitely not an existence he could confront head-on right now!

The Lava Dragon clearly viewed Nightmare as prey that had trespassed into its territory, or rather... a bug that had disturbed its slumber!

It let out a roar as low as muffled thunder, opened its massive mouth to reveal a throat flowing like magma, and a scorching wave of air rushed toward him first!

Run!

Nightmare made an instant decision!

Without the slightest hesitation, he retreated rapidly, pushed his speed to the limit, and rushed toward the outside of the valley!

However, the Lava Dragon's speed far exceeded his imagination!

Its massive body appeared clumsy, but it was actually incredibly agile; it exerted force with its limbs, causing the ground to explode, and its massive body chased after him like a cannonball leaving the barrel, moving so fast it left an afterimage!

At the same time, its giant mouth suddenly inhaled—

A powerful suction force was created out of thin air, like an invisible vortex, pulling at Nightmare's body and causing his speed to suddenly slow down!

Not only that, but the red light in the gaps of the Lava Dragon's back armor suddenly intensified!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Dozens of fist-sized lava balls, burning with dark red flames, shot out like a meteor shower, covering all of Nightmare's possible retreat routes!

Each lava ball contained terrifying high temperatures and explosive power; wherever they passed, the air distorted, and plants instantly turned to ashes!

There was nowhere to hide!

Nightmare was extremely calm, and his Chaos Dao Foundation operated frantically at an unprecedented speed!

The primal cube's combat deduction module instantly analyzed the trajectories of the lava balls filling the sky!

He stopped retreating, instead abruptly halting his movement, drawing upon the spatial charm of the void lotus seed, and rapidly moving his hands in front of him to outline a constantly twisting and flickering Chaos force field!

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—!

The dense lava balls slammed into the Chaos force field, erupting with deafening roars!

Flames and shockwaves raged, blasting scorched black craters into the surrounding ground!

Nightmare was at the center of the explosion, his body shaking violently, a wisp of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and waves of dizziness washing over him.

Although the Chaos force field was profound and could deflect and decompose most attacks, the Lava Dragon's attack power was too immense and violent, and some of the force still penetrated through, injuring his internal organs!

But he had successfully blocked this wave of fatal, covering attacks!

Furthermore, at the moment the Chaos force field collided with the lava balls, he caught the fleeting gap in the energy flow during the Lava Dragon's attack!

Now is the time!

A fierce look flashed in Nightmare's eyes, and regardless of the consumption, he forcibly integrated the wisp of pure wind-element Origin power he had just refined from the Wolf King into his Chaos Dao Foundation, pouring it into his legs!

Swish!

His speed soared instantly, turning into an afterimage that almost merged with space; he no longer retreated in a straight line, but instead, using a strange arc containing the essence of spatial transformation, he narrowly brushed past the edge of the Lava Dragon's giant claw as it struck down again, rushing out of the valley!

The Lava Dragon's claw struck empty air, smashing a deep pit into the ground, with magma splashing everywhere.

It roared angrily and turned its massive body, wanting to pursue, but it seemed to have reservations about the area outside the valley; in the end, it only stared fixedly at the direction in which Nightmare had disappeared with those lava-like giant eyes, letting out an unwilling roar that made the entire mountain forest tremble.

Nightmare sped all the way until he was far from that valley and confirmed that the Lava Dragon was not chasing him; only then did he stop abruptly, holding onto an ancient tree, breathing heavily, his face pale as paper.

That brief encounter just now had been fraught with danger!

If not for the profound nature of his Chaos Dao Foundation, which had strong resistance and decomposition capabilities against energy attacks, combined with his use of the spatial charm and wind-element Origin to boost his speed at the critical moment, he probably would have really perished there.

"My strength... is still too weak!" A strong sense of urgency welled up in Nightmare.

If a single Vicious Beast guarding the periphery was this difficult to deal with, what kind of scene would it be deep in the Back Mountain Forbidden Land?

And that mastermind hiding behind the scenes...

He looked inward; the Chaos vortex had shrunk by a circle due to the explosion just now, and its light was somewhat dim, but it was still stubbornly rotating, absorbing the meager energy from the surroundings to replenish itself.

The stinging sensation was also slowly subsiding.

Although he was in a sorry state, this encounter was not without its gains.

First, he confirmed that precious resources (ghost moss) did indeed exist on the periphery of the Back Mountain Forbidden Land, but they were accompanied by huge risks.

Second, the brief clash with the Lava Dragon gave him a deeper understanding of the combat methods of the Chaos Dao Foundation, especially in its application for defense and evasion.

Finally, at the moment of the collision between the Chaos force field and the lava balls, he captured a sample of extremely pure and violent "Earth Fire Origin Power," which was of great reference significance for his understanding of the energy composition of this world and for perfecting the "fire" attribute aspect of his Chaos Dao Foundation.

He moved slightly and took out the few stalks of "ghost moss" he had casually picked from the edge of the valley, storing them in his space.

Although he failed to obtain the Earth Core Fire Lotus, this trip could still be considered to have had small gains.

After regulating his breathing for a moment and suppressing his churning blood, Nightmare locked onto his next target—according to Medicine Old Man's map and ancient records, another extreme yin location that might grow "yin marrow grass."

Although there was no overlord like the Lava Dragon there, it was said that "soul-eroding mist" and "corpse puppets" often appeared, which was eerie and unpredictable.

He did not return to the village but instead snuck directly toward that direction.

Time waits for no one, and he must increase his strength as much as possible before a greater crisis erupts.

The night was deep, the mountain forest was silent, and only the black-robed figure, like a ghost, wove through danger, heading toward the next challenge.