Chaos preys, demonic flames clear the field.

Deep within the Chaotic Star Sea, a massive star fragment floated quietly.

Nightmare sat cross-legged in the center of the fragment, holding the crystal core he had just snatched from the depths of the Secret Realm. The surface of the crystal core was swirling with turbid and violent energy, with wisps of Chaos Qi constantly overflowing, interweaving with the surrounding broken Power of the Stars.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exerted force with his palm—

"Crack."

The crystal core shattered at the sound, and the majestic Chaos Qi surged into his body like a bursting dam!

"Ugh..."

Nightmare let out a muffled groan, and the Star Demon Flame around his body "boomed" and surged. The dark purple flames and the gray-black chaos qi flow crazily intertwined and Fusion. The star dao fruit within his body vibrated violently, greedily devouring this primal and powerful force.

His aura began to climb steadily.

*The first wave is here.*

In less than an hour, two streams of light sped over from afar and landed on the edge of the fragment.

They were two Loose Cultivators at the Golden Core Stage, one fat and one thin, their eyes flashing with undisguised greed.

"Big brother, what a strong energy fluctuation! There must be a rare treasure!" the thin one said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

The fat one narrowed his eyes and sized up Nightmare, who was sitting in the center—his aura was restrained, he was alone, and although he was surrounded by Demonic Flame, he didn't look that terrifying.

"Fellow Daoist," the fat one raised his voice, his tone threatening, "finders keepers. Share half of this treasure with us brothers, and we'll let this matter slide. Otherwise..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Nightmare opened his eyes.

There was no emotion in those eyes, only a cold indifference. He didn't even stand up; he just raised his right hand and made a stroke in the air—

Chi! Chi!

Two dark purple blades condensed from pure Star Demon Flame appeared out of thin air, instantly crossing tens of zhang and precisely sweeping across the necks of the two Loose Cultivators.

The fat one's grimace was still frozen on his face, and the thin one's excitement had yet to fade.

Two heads soared into the sky, and fresh blood gushed out.

Nightmare waved his hand, and the Storage Pouch on the two headless corpses flew into his hand. A sweep of his Divine Sense—inside there were only a dozen inferior chaotic crystal cores, a few bottles of ordinary healing Medicinal Pill, quite shabby.

He didn't even bother to change his expression, casually put away the Storage Pouch, and continued to close his eyes to absorb the remaining power of the crystal core.

*The second wave, in half a day.*

This time, there were four stronger auras quietly closing in from four directions.

Four Loose Cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage, working in tacit cooperation, silently set up a trapping Formation on the periphery of the fragment.

"This child's Devilish Qi is ominous; he must be a demon of the Demonic Path. Kill him to seize the treasure, and act on behalf of heaven!" the gray-clothed old man leading them transmitted his voice, but his eyes were full of greed.

The Formation started quietly, and chains extended from the Void Realm, wrapping towards Nightmare.

At that very moment, Nightmare opened his eyes again.

The corners of his mouth seemed to twitch very slightly, as if it were a cold sneer, or perhaps disdain.

No dodging, no defense.

He formed a seal with both hands, and the chaos qi flow that had not yet been fully absorbed around him was suddenly detonated by him!

Boom—!!!

The violent chaotic turbulence exploded, instantly destroying the incomplete trapping Formation. The four Nascent Soul Loose Cultivators were shaken, their blood and Qi surged, and their Formation was in Chaos.

"Not good! Retreat!" The gray-clothed old man's expression changed in horror.

Retreat?

Too late.

Nightmare's figure disappeared from where he stood like a ghost, and the next moment he appeared between the two Loose Cultivators. He reached out with both hands, and two miniature, rotating dark vortexes appeared in his palms—

"Star Devouring Dao."

As the low voice fell, the two Loose Cultivators let out miserable screams. The dao seed they had painstakingly cultivated for hundreds of years was forcibly extracted from their Dantian and swallowed in one gulp by the dark vortex!

The remaining two were terrified, their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and turned to flee.

Nightmare didn't even look at the two corpses that were rapidly withering; his left hand grabbed into the air—

The Demonic Flame surged, condensing into two dark purple long ropes covered in barbs. Like poisonous snakes, they darted out, instantly catching up to the two fleeing people and tightly wrapping around their ankles!

"No—!!"

Amidst the screams, Nightmare pulled hard.

The two were dragged back forcefully and slammed heavily onto the star fragment. Before they could beg for mercy, the Demonic Flame ropes tightened suddenly and exploded!

Flesh and blood flew, and their Divine Soul were destroyed.

Nightmare searched the four people's Storage Pouch, the harvest was slightly better, with a few more Magic Treasure and Chaos Materials. But his brows frowned slightly.

"Two waves in a row... I'm afraid there is a temporary camp where Loose Cultivators gather nearby."

He stood up, the Demonic Flame around him slowly converging, but his eyes became colder and colder.

"Troublesome."

He didn't like trouble.

So, the best way is to clear it out before the trouble comes to his door.

*The third wave, he took the initiative to find it.*

Following the faint aura left by those few Loose Cultivators, Nightmare found a temporarily built camp on a relatively stable floating island a hundred miles away.

Seven Loose Cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation was at the Late Nascent Soul Stage, and the weakest was at the Peak Golden Core Stage. They seemed to have just finished an exploration and were resting and distributing their gains in the camp.

Nightmare did not hide his aura.

He just walked out of the Chaos mist step by step, towards the camp.

"Who is it?!"

The Loose Cultivators in the camp were instantly alert and grabbed their Magic Treasure one after another.

When they saw that there was only one person coming, and that he was surrounded by ominous Demonic Flame, they were stunned for a moment, then showed vicious expressions.

"Demon cultivator? You dare to come here alone, looking for death!"

"Kill him! Seize his Storage Pouch!"

All seven attacked at the same time, the light of Magic Treasure shining, and Daoist Magic whistling towards him.

Nightmare stopped.

He raised his eyes and swept over these seven greedy and ferocious faces.

Then, he raised his right hand, palm facing up, and lifted it gently.

"Star Flame, Prairie Fire."

The low whisper fell.

With him as the center, the dark purple Star Demon Flame erupted like a volcano that had been dormant for ten thousand years, turning into a monstrous sea of fire that swept over everything, instantly swallowing the entire camp!

"Ah—!!"

"What kind of fire is this?! It can't be extinguished! Ah!!"

"Senior, spare my life! Spare... Ah!!!"

Screams, wails, begging for mercy, curses... all sounds quickly dissipated in the Demonic Flame.

Ten breaths.

Only ten breaths.

The sea of fire receded. Where the camp had been, only scorched marks remained, along with seven unrecognizable corpses that had been burned to a shriveled state.

Nightmare walked past, waving his hand to collect all the Storage Pouch and the Magic Treasure Materials that had not been burned. The harvest was abundant, especially the Chaos-attributed Materials, which were very beneficial to his subsequent efforts to Cultivate the Star Demon Flame.

He stood in place, looked at the scorched earth, and then looked up towards the deeper parts of the Chaotic Star Sea—there, he could vaguely feel a grand and ancient summoning, coming from the Star Core Palace.

No hesitation.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

A spark fell into the scorched earth.

"Boom—"

The remaining Demonic Flame ignited again, burning all traces of the camp, along with the seven corpses, into nothingness, not even leaving any ashes behind.

After doing all this, Nightmare turned around, turned into a dark purple stream of light, and headed towards the Star Core Palace without hesitation.

The Chaotic Star Sea remained dead silent.

Only the lingering, heart-palpitating aura of the Demonic Flame silently told of the clean and swift massacre that had taken place here.