Storm disappears, Dao Seed warning

Relying on the meteorite jade pendant's keen perception of the Power of the Stars, Nightmare's journey through the Core Zone of the remnant world became much smoother.

He avoided several areas with chaotic energy, suspected to have spatial traps, and also steered far clear of the nests of several ancient creatures that exuded auras that made him wary.

The deeper he went, the more peculiar the environment became.

The floating land fragments were even larger; one could even see the outlines of relatively well-preserved palace ruins on them. Although they had long been eroded beyond recognition by time and the aftermath of battle, one could still vaguely imagine their former grandeur.

The Power of the Stars permeating the air was so dense it was almost liquefied; ordinary Cultivators Cultivating here would likely increase their speed by more than tenfold.

But accompanying this was a heavy, solemn, and desolate aura of an ancient battlefield, as if the echoes of countless unyielding shouts and the clashing of weapons were branded into every inch of space.

Nightmare's dao seed was like a fish in water, its speed in autonomously absorbing the Power of the Stars becoming faster and faster. The silver light at its core had stabilized, occupying about one-third of the area, and its Awakening progress was steadily approaching 30%.

His Starfall Demonic Flame rose accordingly, with both its power and his control over it improving.

After traveling for several consecutive days, according to the guidance of the jade pendant, he felt that he was not far from the general direction of the star remnant core.

However, the vague sense of that "forbidden power" that the dao seed had previously warned about remained like a thorn in his back. It hadn't disappeared; instead, as he went deeper, it seemed... a little clearer? It was as if that forbidden land and his path to the star remnant core existed in some kind of spatial intersection or connection.

On this day, after passing through a canyon composed of giant crystal clusters that were magnificent yet hid murderous intent (the crystals could refract and distort Divine Sense and energy), the scene ahead suddenly opened up.

It was an immensely vast sunken plain. In the center of the plain was not the main body of the star remnant core as expected, but a... city? Or rather, the ruins of a city.

The massive city walls, made of unknown material, had long since collapsed for the most part. Inside the city were dense, ancient, and strangely styled building ruins. Many buildings were not even situated on the ground but floated in mid-air, connected by broken energy conduits or stone bridges, now all in a state of disrepair.

The entire city ruins were shrouded in a faint, never-dissipating gray mist—silent, empty, as if silently recounting its former glory and ultimate destruction.

And at the very center of the city ruins, which was also the lowest point of this plain, was a bottomless, giant abyss entrance over a thousand zhang in diameter! The edge of the abyss was irregularly jagged, as if it had been forcibly torn apart and devoured by some terrifying power.

Thick, inseparable Death Qi, Evil Qi, and a cold, annihilating forbidden power rose continuously from the abyss like substantive black smoke columns, mixing with the gray mist above the city, causing the light in that area to be completely distorted and dimmed.

Nightmare stopped atop a broken tower on the edge of the ruins, gazing at the massive abyss entrance.

The guidance from the meteorite jade pendant at his waist clearly pointed to the depths of the city ruins; it seemed the clue or entrance to the star remnant core was inside these ruins.

However, the dao seed's continuous and increasingly intense warning clearly pointed its source to — that abyss!

"Bone Burial Abyss..." A name naturally surfaced in Nightmare's mind, as if it came from the fragments of star knowledge absorbed by the dao seed, or as if it came from the resonance of the aura emitted by the abyss itself.

The clues to the star remnant core and the entrance to the forbidden land were actually adjacent? Or rather, was this ancient city ruin the common gateway to both?

Nightmare's gaze was heavy.

He looked inward at his dao seed again, carefully distinguishing.

The dao seed's desire for the star remnant core was pure and fervent; it was the attraction of similar forces.

And the warning regarding the Bone Burial Abyss was much more complex, mixed with danger and repulsion, yet deep down there was indeed an extremely subtle attraction, as if there was something there that could complete the dao seed or cause it to undergo a deeper transformation.

"Fortune is sought in danger." Nightmare did not hesitate for too long.

Coming here was originally to seize Opportunities and enhance his strength to resist his destiny.

Now that the clues to two major Opportunities were intertwined, there was no reason to back down.

He drifted down and stepped into the silent ancient city ruins.

The streets were wide, the paving stones long shattered, and some strange moss emitting faint phosphorescence grew in the crevices.

The architectural style on both sides was rugged and grand, mostly built with huge stones, carved with stars, runes, and some incomprehensible murals of battle scenes.

In many places, one could still see the traces left by intense battles—deep sword marks, explosion craters, and bloodstains that had dried for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, yet remained glaringly dark red.

The air was filled with a mixture of dust, decay, and a faint scent of star dust.

Silence was the main theme here; even the sound of the wind seemed to have been absorbed by that gray mist.

Nightmare's Divine Sense was highly focused as he carefully moved forward.

The meteorite jade pendant grew slightly warm, guiding him toward the center of the city, which was the direction of the Bone Burial Abyss.

At the same time, he was also vigilant against potential dangers—whether it was residual Formations and Restrictions, or exotic creatures that fed on Death Qi and Evil Qi.

After moving forward for about half an hour, he hadn't encountered any living things along the way besides the ruins, but the vigilance in Nightmare's heart kept rising.

Because the surrounding Death Qi and that forbidden, icy sensation were becoming increasingly intense.

Scattered bones began to appear on the ground. These bones were not human; they were large, shimmering with a faint metallic or jade luster, clearly belonging to powerful races during their lifetimes.

The closer he got to the center, the more bones there were, eventually piling up into small hills that emitted a heart-palpitating pressure.

Finally, he passed through the last group of collapsed palaces and arrived at the edge of the Bone Burial Abyss.

Standing at the edge of the abyss, which was jagged like a wound in the earth, and looking down, there was only endless darkness and rolling, thick black Death Qi.

As far as his eyes could see, the inner walls of the abyss were covered with layers upon layers of dense bones! There were human shapes, beast shapes, and indescribably huge bones, all piled together, almost filling every space within his line of sight.

These bones had existed for who knows how many years; most were already as hard as fossils, their surfaces also wreathed in faint starlight, indicating that in life, they were all more or less related to the Power of the Stars.

Was this the final burial ground for the warriors under the Lord of the Stars? Or was it the tomb of all the experts who fell here during the ancient great war?

Just as Nightmare was observing, a sudden change occurred!

A pile of bones on the edge of the Bone Burial Abyss suddenly moved!

Immediately after, with a loud clattering sound, the bones separated to both sides, and a complete humanoid skeleton, entirely white as jade yet shimmering with a cold metallic light, slowly "stood" up from within.

This skeleton was three zhang tall, with two clusters of cold, ghostly blue soulfire burning in its eye sockets, holding a massive bone saber polished from an unknown beast bone, its edge shimmering with a cold glint.

There was not a trace of vitality in its body, only Death Qi and Evil Qi concentrated to the extreme, and a loyal will that had endured through eternity without extinguishing.

The skeleton "turned its head," its ghostly blue soulfire "looking" at the uninvited guest, Nightmare. A terrifying pressure comparable to the Early Spirit Transformation Stage, mixed with cold murderous intent, swept over like a tide!

It slightly raised the bone saber in its hand, pointing at Nightmare. Although no sound was emitted, a clear wave of will directly crashed into Nightmare's mind:

"Halt! The Bone Burial Abyss is a restricted area; only the successor of the Lord of the Stars' will may enter! Trespassers... die!"

Ancient Bone Spirit Guardian!

Nightmare's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly understood that this was likely a guard left behind by the Lord of the Stars to protect this burial ground, or rather, to protect certain things that might exist beneath the abyss.

Its Early Spirit Transformation Stage strength, here in the Core Zone of the remnant world, on the opponent's home turf, was absolutely a fatal threat.

Fight head-on? With his current strength, the chances of winning were slim.

Nightmare took a deep breath; he did not retreat, nor did he immediately attack.

He mobilized his Divine Soul, triggering the complex and profound star mark branded deep within his dao seed when he received the inheritance of the star remnant's will.

He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing up. That star mark appeared in his palm, emitting pure and ancient star radiance, faintly echoing with the faint starlight on the surrounding bones and the glow of the meteorite jade pendant.

"I, guided by the will of the star remnant, have come to explore the Legacy and truth of the Lord of the Stars." Nightmare's voice was calm and forceful as he looked directly into the Bone Spirit Guardian's ghostly blue soulfire. "This mark can serve as proof."

The Bone Spirit Guardian's action of raising the bone saber paused slightly, its ghostly blue soulfire flickering violently as it "stared" fixedly at the star mark in Nightmare's palm.

After several breaths, the cold murderous intent slightly receded, but the pressure remained.

"The mark... is indeed my Lord's aura..." The Bone Spirit Guardian's will wave came through, carrying scrutiny and doubt, "However, the inheritance is not based on the mark alone... it requires verification... whether your will is the same as my Lord's... whether you are qualified... to bear the weight of my Lord's Legacy..."

Verification? Nightmare's eyes flashed. It seemed that wanting to enter this Bone Burial Abyss, or to obtain deeper secrets, would not be easy.

"How do I verify?" he asked in a deep voice.

The Bone Spirit Guardian did not answer, but slowly raised its other bony hand. In its palm, a point of starlight, extremely faint yet containing an unimaginably high-level will, slowly emerged.

"Endure my Lord's... residual will's interrogation... answer... why do you... wish to defy the Heavenly Dao... and seize destiny..."

As it spoke, that faint point of starlight suddenly expanded, transforming into a vast ocean of will, filled with endless majesty and sorrow, sweeping toward Nightmare's Divine Soul!