Bone key repositioning

Leaving the ruins of the second gate area, Nightmare did not immediately flee far. He found a relatively stable floating rock mountain, opened a temporary Immortal Cave, set up Restrictions, and began to consolidate his Soul Transformation Stage cultivation, thoroughly tallying his gains from this trip.

Elder Mo Sha's storage ring contained astonishing wealth; High-Grade Spirit Stones piled up like mountains, various rare Materials, Medicinal Pills, and Jade Slips of Cultivation Techniques were dazzling, and there were even several powerful Demonic Path Magic Treasures. But for the current Nightmare, these were merely icing on the cake.

What was truly valuable was an intelligence Jade Slip recording the distribution of some of The Fisherman organization's strongholds in the Gui Xu Sea Eye, personnel assignments, and recent missions, as well as a black token engraved with the words "Sky Patrol." This seemed to be Elder Mo Sha's identity token, which might be useful in the future.

He put away the useful items and categorized the rest.

Subsequently, he focused on comprehending the gains from this Breakthrough. The Azure Nether Life and Death Dao, upon entering Soul Transformation, truly revealed its profundity. The cycle of life and death, Nirvana and Rebirth, contained endless Profound Truths of Law. He needed time to slowly digest them.

The cloud key and blood key were nurtured within his body, and their connection to him became even closer. With the resonance of the dual keys, his perception of the mysterious "third gate" and the "bone key" became clearer—they were in the Lost Village, in a stable state.

It was time to go back and conclude everything.

A few days later, Nightmare's condition returned to its Peak, even stronger and more composed than when he had just broken through. He no longer delayed, identified the direction, and his figure merged into the Void Realm, speeding towards the Lost Village.

After Soul Transformation, traversing the Void Realm was no longer difficult. Coupled with the subtle influence of the dual keys on space, his speed was astonishingly fast. He only used a fraction of the time it took to arrive, crossing the vast periphery of the Gui Xu Sea Eye, and once again reached the hidden mountain valley surrounded by mountains.

The Lost Village remained quiet, as if the passage of time had slowed down there.

When Nightmare's figure appeared at the village entrance, it immediately attracted the attention of the villagers. When they felt the unfathomable Soul Transformation Qi emanating from Nightmare, infused with the Laws of heaven and earth, they all showed awe and bowed in salute.

Azure Glass's figure quietly appeared. Looking at Nightmare, whose Qi was profound, a hint of complexity flickered in her pale purple eyes, and she softly said, "You've returned... and succeeded."

Nightmare nodded: "I lived up to the trust; the blood key has been obtained." He flipped his palm, and the blood key's imprint emerged, radiating powerful Qi and Blood.

Azure Glass felt the same Origin yet overbearing Qi, and nodded slightly: "Witch Grandfather is waiting for you."

He arrived at Witch Grandfather's simple stone house once more.

Witch Grandfather was still hunched over, sitting on a meditation cushion, but when Nightmare entered, he slowly raised his head, and his gaze beneath the hood seemed much brighter than before.

"Good... very good..." Witch Grandfather's voice carried a hint of relief, "The Soul Transformation realm, with both keys returned... faster than this old man anticipated."

He extended his withered hand, and the white jade-like "bone key" slowly appeared, emitting a soft and ancient glow.

"The third key is here." Witch Grandfather pushed the bone key towards Nightmare, "The three gate keys are complete. Whether the final stage of the Reverse Scale Plan can be activated depends on you."

Nightmare solemnly accepted the bone key. The bone key felt warm to the touch, resonating strongly with the Azure Qi and Blood within him, even causing the cloud key and blood key to vibrate in unison.

The three keys were like brothers separated for eons, finally reunited.

Ding! Obtained the third gate key—'bone key'! Three keys gathered!

Ding! The final stage of the Reverse Scale Plan is unlocked! Three-gate resonance channel activated!

Ding! Permission granted: Can activate the power of the three gates (weak), can locate and teleport to any observation post or the location of a gate.

A vast stream of information flooded his mind—it was the complete information about the final stage of the "Reverse Scale Plan," as well as the method to control the three gates!

At the same time, the three key imprints in his palm lit up simultaneously, transforming into white, red, and jade-colored streams of light, detaching from his hand, slowly rotating and intertwining before him, finally condensing into an incredibly complex, Three-Colored Rune containing endless spatial Profound Truths, which then imprinted back onto his palm.

From then on, the three keys were one, moving as he wished.

"Thank you, Senior." Nightmare bowed deeply to Witch Grandfather. Without the protection and guidance of the Lost Village, he would never have reached this point.

Witch Grandfather waved his hand, his voice carrying a hint of fatigue, yet also a sense of relief: "Go... go to the first gate... complete the final step... the hope of the Cang Clan... perhaps it rests on you..."

Nightmare nodded heavily and turned to walk out of the stone house.

Azure Glass waited outside, softly saying, "I'll take you to the entrance of the first gate."

This time, it was no longer the Forbidden Ground cave behind the village, but beneath the seemingly ordinary yet incredibly ancient Bronze Ancient Tree at the very center of the village.

Azure Glass formed a hand seal, sending streaks of spiritual light into the Bronze Ancient Tree. The ancient tree trembled, and a star-light flowing Portal, just wide enough for one person to pass through, appeared on its trunk.

Behind the gate was no longer a cave, but a vast Void Realm channel, seemingly composed of stars! At the end of the channel, the silhouette of a majestic, complete, and eternally ancient giant stone gate was faintly visible!

That was the true, complete first gate!

"I can only take you this far." Azure Glass stepped aside.

Nightmare did not hesitate, stepping into the light gate.

Passing through the starlight channel, he truly stood before the first gate.

This stone gate was a thousand zhang high, entirely presenting a warm, jade-white color. Its material was neither stone nor jade, and it was covered with countless patterns of stars revolving and the Universe's creation and destruction, vast, profound, and majestic. Unlike the damaged second gate and the functional third gate, the first gate was relatively well-preserved, though its surface also bore many scars, and the gate was tightly shut, as if waiting for something.

Nightmare could feel that behind the gate connected an unimaginably vast world—that might be the ultimate "Calamity Evasion Land" of the "Reverse Scale Plan"!

He took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and the Three-Colored Rune in his palm suddenly lit up!

The powers of the cloud key, blood key, and bone key were simultaneously activated, transforming into three beams of light—white, red, and jade—which poured into a huge groove in the center of the first gate!

Buzz—!!!

The entire first gate violently shook! Like a giant beast that had slumbered for countless eons, suddenly awakening!

The star patterns on the gate lit up one by one, slowly beginning to revolve! The scenes of the Universe's creation and destruction became vivid! An indescribable, vast power, transcending Soul Transformation, and even higher levels, emanated from the stone gate!

Rumble rumble rumble—

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, that immensely heavy first gate, sealed for eons, was slowly opening to both sides!

From the crack in the gate, what overflowed was not Spiritual Qi, but a purer, more Origin-like, as if from the very beginning of all things, Chaos Qi! Just taking a breath, Nightmare felt his cultivation Bottleneck loosen!

Success! The three gate keys were in place, and the first gate was opening!

The Reverse Scale Plan, finally, in his hands, reappeared in the world!

However, just as the gate opened halfway, and the Chaos Qi permeated out—

A sudden change occurred!

The stable starlight channel behind Nightmare suddenly twisted violently, then abruptly collapsed!

In its place was a Black Vortex, forcibly tearing through space, emitting a cold and evil Qi!

From within the vortex, several terrifying figures slowly emerged!

The leader was a figure wearing a dark golden fisherman's coir raincoat and a bamboo hat, with an unclear face. His Qi was incredibly strong, far surpassing Soul Transformation, clearly a Void Refining Stage old monster! He held a pitch-black fishing rod, and on the rod, terrifying energy fluctuations from forcibly tearing the spatial channel still lingered!

Beside him were two Late-Stage Transformation Spirit Cultivators, also with unfathomable Qi, dressed in "Sky Patrol" attire!

And the last to emerge was a figure that made Nightmare's pupils constrict—Azure Glass!

At this moment, Azure Glass's eyes were no longer calm and indifferent, but filled with coldness and a strange fanaticism. She held an Ancient Mirror that constantly flickered with dark red light. The mirror's light was resonating with an extremely faint mark on Nightmare's body!

It was that dark red stream of light that had attached itself to him when the ghost ship exploded! It turned out to be a tracking mark! And Azure Glass had known all along! It might even have been her secretly guiding him!

"Hehehe... Finally... finally, this moment has arrived..." The Void Refining Stage "Fisherman" leader let out a hoarse laugh, his gaze greedily fixed on the opening first gate and the Chaos Qi overflowing from behind it, "The Cang Clan's Reverse Scale... the Calamity Evasion Land... ultimately, it has made a wedding dress for my Sky Patrol Alliance!"

Another Late-Stage Transformation Spirit Cultivator also sneered, "That good-for-nothing Mo Sha's death was somewhat valuable, at least it forced you to return quickly to open the three gates. Azure Glass, you've rendered a great service this time!"

Azure Glass was expressionless, merely bowing slightly: "Serving the Alliance Master is my duty as a subordinate."

Betrayal!

So, from the very beginning, this was a trap! The protection of the Lost Village, Witch Grandfather's guidance, and even those crises... all had the shadow of The Fisherman (Sky Patrol Alliance) behind them! They had already infiltrated, constantly pushing from the shadows, waiting for this very moment when the three gates would open!

Nightmare's heart instantly sank to the bottom.

Facing a Void Refining Stage Cultivator, two Late-Stage Transformation Spirit Cultivators, and an unfathomable Azure Glass holding a wondrous treasure... and behind him, the first gate was not yet fully open... a true death trap!