Earth veins erupt, chaos extinguished.

The tremors beneath his feet grew increasingly violent, as if a Dragon were tossing and turning, while scorching air currents and chaotic energy turbulence erupted from the widening fissures!

The pitch-black fog transformed into countless twisted faces of vengeful spirits, emitting silent shrieks that frantically assaulted Nightmare's Sea of Consciousness barrier!

This was not merely a physical attack, but a repulsion of Laws that struck directly at the Origin of his Divine Soul!

It was the instinctive counterattack of this land, which had been under a Seal for countless years, against a non-Oathkeeper intruding into its core Domain!

Nightmare shuddered violently; even with the protection of his Chaos Dao Foundation, facing this massive force that felt as if the entire world were pressing down on him, he felt as though his Divine Soul had been struck by a heavy hammer, and the newly healed cracks on the surface of his Sea of Consciousness showed signs of reopening!

His internal Qi and blood churned, and it felt as if his internal organs were being displaced!

"I cannot take this head-on!" Nightmare instantly made his judgment.

This power originated from the combination of the earth veins and the ancient Seal; it was vast and endless, far beyond what he could currently contend with directly.

He gritted his teeth against the intense pain and frantically operated the primal cube, analyzing the source of the energy and its trajectory.

At the same time, his Chaos Dao Foundation was stimulated to its limit, the basin-sized chaos qi flow rotating at an unprecedented speed, no longer merely defending and devouring, but beginning to simulate and evolve!

He gritted his teeth and channeled that sliver of the Law of "Existence Continuation" obtained from Medicine Old Man's ancient fragment, mixing it with the vast vitality of the world tree seedling to outline a blurry protective halo around his body that carried the aura of an Oathkeeper!

Although this halo was weak, it resonated faintly with the remnant protective Dao Rhyme of this land, causing the violent repulsive force to falter slightly!

Immediately after, he held his breath and channeled the Dao Rhyme of Annihilation, and instead of attacking outwards, he retracted it inwards, suppressing all his aura, vitality, and even his sense of existence to the lowest point, as if transforming into an ancient, stubborn stone, merging with the earth to evade the lock-on targeting "intruders"!

At the same time, the spatial charm of the void lotus seed was stimulated to its limit, making his figure become incredibly blurry within a small space, as if he existed simultaneously in several overlapping spatial layers, thereby dodging the pervasive mental shocks and physical tremors!

Three methods used simultaneously! Simulating the Oathkeeper aura to avoid being locked on, internalizing annihilation to lower his presence, and spatial distortion to dodge attacks!

Rumble—!

Violent energy washed over him, completely leveling the surrounding ruins and plowing deep gullies into the ground.

The pitch-black vengeful spirit fog struck the blurry protective halo and spatial ripples around him, emitting a sizzling sound, but it failed to break through instantly!

Like a tiny boat in a raging storm, Nightmare drifted with the waves, his figure flashing and shifting at high speed within a tiny radius, narrowly avoiding the core of the energy eruptions every single time.

He endured immense pressure, frantically calculating the best evasion routes, while his Chaos Dao Foundation constantly consumed energy during its high-speed operation, yet also continuously absorbed scattered energy from the aftermath of the impacts to replenish itself.

This process was extremely dangerous, a tremendous test for his body, dao foundation, and Divine Soul.

The slightest carelessness would result in death and the dissipation of his Dao.

He did not know how much time had passed; perhaps it was only a few breaths, or perhaps a long quarter of an hour.

The uprising of the earth veins and the mental shocks finally began to weaken, slowly receding like the tide.

The surroundings were in ruins; the original debris had disappeared, leaving only a huge crater.

The pitch-black fog also became thin again, returning to its previous grayish-white color.

Nightmare's figure tumbled out from a distorted spatial ripple, falling to one knee.

His face was as pale as paper, and his Sea of Consciousness sent waves of exhausting, stinging pain; the light of his Chaos Dao Foundation had dimmed significantly, and its volume had shrunk by a circle.

That brief confrontation had consumed most of his strength.

But he had survived after all!

He closed his eyes and looked inward. Although the consumption was huge, his Chaos Dao Foundation seemed to have become more refined under the extreme pressure, and his application of several Law powers had become more proficient.

In particular, the preliminary application of the "Existence Continuation" Law allowed him to see more possibilities for the future of his Chaos Dao Foundation.

He took out several energy cores obtained from exotic beasts and quickly channeled his Chaos Dao Foundation, rapidly absorbing the energy within them to replenish himself.

At the same time, his gaze sharpened as he looked toward the direction from which the uprising had originated—the earth vein energy that had surged out did not seem to have erupted randomly, but rather along some specific... path?

Combining the analytical data from the primal cube with the energy flow he had just perceived, a hidden energy channel leading deep underground gradually took shape in his mind!

"This uprising is not an indiscriminate attack; it is more like a part of the Seal system. While repelling outsiders, it is also venting some kind of accumulated energy... or rather, is it trying to repair itself?" A thought arose in Nightmare's mind.

He swept his gaze across the area that had been leveled to the ground.

Suddenly, in the center of the crater, a faint, soft light that was completely out of place with the surrounding atmosphere of destruction caught his attention.

He cautiously approached.

He saw that embedded in the scorched earth was a white stone, about the size of a fist, completely round, and with a texture as warm and smooth as jade.

The surface of the stone naturally possessed countless fine, golden meridians-like patterns, which were emitting a weak yet unwavering protective Dao Rhyme, originating from the same source as Medicine Old Man's fragment, but more complete and pure!

"Is this... one of the array base nodes left behind by the ancient Oathkeepers?" Nightmare's heart stirred, and he understood instantly.

The earlier uprising had destroyed the ruins on the surface, but it had exposed this array base node buried deep underground.

Although this node was damaged, it was still stubbornly performing its duty, emitting the power of protection.

He carefully wrapped his palm with chaos qi flow and picked up the white stone.

The stone felt warm and smooth in his hand, and that pure protective Dao Rhyme made his entire Divine Soul feel a sense of peace.

"Perhaps... the key to repairing or even reinforcing the Seal lies in finding and activating these remaining array base nodes?" A flash of inspiration struck Nightmare's mind.

He looked at the node stone in his hand, then looked toward the direction of that hidden earth vein energy channel.

Within a crisis, there is often an opportunity.

This accidentally obtained array base node, as well as that energy channel, might just be the key clues for him to penetrate into the core of the Forbidden Ground and deal with this crisis!