Stealth in the Immortal Realm, Outpost Cleanup

The Immortal-Fall Wasteland was vast and boundless, with gray desolation and deathly silence as its eternal theme. Nightmare was like a wisp of a ghost blending into this background, silently moving through jagged rocks and dried-up gullies following the map guidance obtained from the patrol team leader. He avoided several known "danger zones" and energy anomaly points marked on the map, his route winding but accurately pointing toward the northwestern boundary—the Immortal-Fall Pass.

Immortal-Fall Pass was not a traditional pass or city, but a naturally formed, energy-turbulent narrow corridor between the desolate edges of the Immortal Realm and the relatively "normal" Immortal Realm Inland. The space here was relatively fragile, with wind energy capable of dissolving Immortal Essence blowing year-round. It was the preferred path for stowaways, fugitives, and certain shady transactions; thus, it was closely monitored by the forces of the immortal realm heavenly dao, who had established regulatory outposts.

Nightmare's goal was not to force his way through, but to clear it out. According to the map's notes, the Immortal-Fall Pass was guarded year-round by a power called the "Immortal-Fall Pavilion." On the surface, the Immortal-Fall Pavilion was a semi-official organization that handled border affairs and collected tolls, but in reality, it was one of the peripheral eyes and ears of the Sky-Patrol Bureau of the immortal realm heavenly dao, responsible for monitoring everyone passing through the Immortal-Fall Pass, especially screening for "Reverse Dao Practitioners" or "heretics" who might have slipped in. Within its outpost, an "Immortal-Fall Warning Formation" was set up, leading directly to the Sky-Patrol Bureau.

"If you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place." Nightmare thought coldly, "Since I have to pass through, I must first gouge out these eyes."

A few days later, an even more desolate area appeared ahead, where light gray wind energy permeated the heavens and earth. The wind energy was like invisible sandpaper, rubbing against his protective spiritual light and making a soft "shushing" sound. In the distance, the outlines of several black fortresses built against natural stone peaks that looked like giant pillars reaching the sky were faintly visible; that was the Immortal-Fall Pavilion outpost.

Nightmare stopped in a wind-eroded cave a hundred miles from the outpost. He condensed his Divine Sense into a thread and cautiously extended it forward to investigate.

The outpost was not large, but it was heavily guarded. Three black fortresses were distributed in a triangular Formation, supporting each other. The surfaces of the fortresses were covered with runes to resist wind energy and reinforce defense, with the faint light of a Formation flowing through them. In the center of the outpost stood a taller stone tower, its tip embedded with a massive gray crystal that constantly emitted invisible ripples—that was the core eye of the "Immortal-Fall Warning Formation."

As his Divine Sense swept through, the distribution of personnel within the fortresses also became clear: three Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators with deep, steady auras were each stationed in one of the three main fortresses. Twenty Peak Spirit Transformation Cultivators were either patrolling or guarding the Formation nodes. Everyone carried a distinct aura of the immortal realm heavenly dao, originating from the same source as the Sky-Patrol Bureau's patrol team.

"Three Late Stages, twenty Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators, plus the warning Formation and fortress defenses..." Nightmare assessed, "A direct assault isn't difficult, but the challenge lies in destroying the warning Formation instantly to prevent them from sending out a message. Once a warning is issued, the main force of the Sky-Patrol Bureau could very likely arrive through a teleportation Formation in a very short time. That would be troublesome."

What he needed was a lightning-fast surprise attack, a perfect clearance under an information blackout.

"Dao-Reversing Traverse, combined with the control over space from the two anti-dao keys..." Nightmare had a plan. The lingyuan reverse key gave him absolute control over "Yin" and "chaotic" energies, including this turbulent spatial wind energy. The mortal realm reverse key allowed him an extraordinary perception of "earth veins" and "stability," enabling him to accurately locate spatial weak points.

He closed his eyes, communicating his mind with the marks of the two anti-dao keys. Simultaneously, his Divine Sense, like the most precise tentacles, carefully perceived the flow trajectories of the ubiquitous light gray wind energy within a hundred-mile radius, as well as the subtle disturbances the wind energy caused to space.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, his gaze locking onto a spot behind the side of the stone tower in the center of the outpost, where the spatial structure was slightly "thin" due to years of erosion by the wind energy. That spot was less than ten zhang from the core eye of the warning Formation and happened to be a brief blind spot where the lines of sight from the three fortresses crossed.

"That's the place."

Nightmare no longer hesitated. The dark red Reversal Dao Demonic Star Flame around him was restrained to the extreme, forming only a thin film on the surface of his skin. He took a step forward, and his figure did not disappear directly but became blurred and transparent, as if merging into the surrounding whistling wind energy.

The power of the lingyuan reverse key activated! The wind energy around his body no longer eroded him but instead actively surrounded and enveloped him, becoming his best camouflage and propulsion. He was like a fish swimming upstream, "sliding" toward that locked spatial weak point along the gaps in the wind energy's flow.

His speed was extremely fast, yet silent and weightless, causing no abnormal energy fluctuations.

The hundred-mile distance was covered in an instant.

Just as his figure touched that spatial weak point—

"Dao-Reversing Traverse: Fixed-Point Infiltration!"

Weng!

A nearly imperceptible spatial hum. The space at that weak point rippled like water, and Nightmare's figure appeared out of thin air in the shadows behind the side of the stone tower! The entire process had not even triggered the warning Formation's detection of energy and spatial fluctuations!

The moment he appeared, Nightmare's gaze locked onto the gray crystal at the top of the stone tower ten zhang away. Without any pause, he raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together. A point of extreme dark red condensed at his fingertip—not an exploding flame, but a dark red ray condensed to the point of being almost physical, carrying an absolute intent of "Law-breaking" and "erosion": Dao-Reversing Demonic Star Erosion!

Chiii—!

The dark red ray shot out silently, its speed surpassing the reaction of Divine Sense! It accurately hit the energy conduction rune node connecting the gray crystal to the tower body!

There was no violent explosion. The gray crystal shook violently, the light flowing on its surface instantly becoming chaotic and dim. Its precise internal warning Formation structure was crudely invaded, scrambled, and destroyed by the anti-dao power! The auxiliary runes carved on the tower body also flickered and went out one after another!

The core eye of the warning Formation was destroyed! From activation to failure, it took less than a single breath, so naturally, there was no time to send out any alarm.

However, at the moment the Formation base was destroyed, the abnormal interruption of the energy supply still alerted the Cultivators in the outpost!

"Hmm? Abnormal fluctuations in the warning Formation!"

"Something's happening over by the tower!"

"Enemy attack?!"

In the three fortresses, the three Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators opened their eyes almost simultaneously, their Divine Sense instantly sweeping toward the stone tower! The twenty Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators also woke up one after another, rushing out of the fortresses or their guarding positions!

Their reactions were by no means slow. But by the time their Divine Sense captured the black-robed figure in the shadow of the stone tower, Nightmare's second wave of attack had already arrived.

"Since you're all awake..." Nightmare stood in the shadows and slowly raised his head, his eyes cold, "then let's go on the road together."

He no longer hid his aura, nor did he deliberately control his power.

Boom—!!!

The dark red Reversal Dao Demonic Star Flame erupted from within him like a volcano that had been suppressed for ten thousand years! This time, it was no longer a condensed ray or blade, but the purest and most violent sea of flames!

The Demonic Star Flame spread frantically in all directions in a spherical shape with Nightmare as the center! Wherever the flames passed, the light gray wind energy was instantly ignited and assimilated, turning into dark red fuel! The sturdy black fortress walls were like wax, beginning to melt and collapse! The ground was scorched, leaving behind vitrified marks!

"Dao-Reversing Demonic Flame! It's a Reverse Dao Practitioner!"

"Block him! Activate the fortress defenses!"

"Quickly send the signal... Argh!"

The three Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators were shocked and furious. While expanding their protective Immortal Light, they tried to activate the backup transmission Formations or defensive Restrictions reserved within the fortresses.

However, in the face of absolute power and speed, everything was in vain.

Nightmare's figure flickered in and out of the sea of fire like a demon god controlling flames. He didn't even bother to specifically attack any one person; he simply pushed the power of the Reversal Dao Demonic Star Flame to its limit, letting the sea of fire indiscriminately swallow and incinerate everything!

The dark red flames contained the characteristics of the Law of reversal, possessing a terrifying destructive power against Immortal Essence, Formations, and physical matter. The protective spiritual light of the Peak Spirit Transformation Cultivators could not last even a breath in the flames before shattering, and then the person was swallowed by the flames, turning into ashes before they could even scream.

The three Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators were stronger and could barely hold on in the sea of fire, but their protective Immortal Light was also dimming at a visible rate. The ubiquitous anti-dao erosion power made the circulation of Immortal Essence within their bodies sluggish and difficult.

"Form a Formation! Three Talents Position!" one Late Stage Cultivator hissed and roared, trying to rendezvous with the other two to set up a joint defense.

"Too late."

Nightmare's cold voice sounded in his ear. At some point, Nightmare had appeared by his side like a ghost, his hand covered in Demonic Star Flame lightly pressing against his protective Immortal Light.

Crack...

The protective Immortal Light shattered at the touch. The palm pressed against his chest.

The dark red Demonic Star Flame surged into his body, instantly sweeping through his entire being. The Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivator's eyes widened as his body rapidly carbonized and disintegrated in the flames, his Divine Soul completely extinguished.

The other two Late Stage Cultivators were terrified. No longer caring about forming a Formation, they turned and tried to flee.

But with the sea of fire being boundless, where could they run?

Nightmare's figure flashed repeatedly, and each appearance was accompanied by the fall of a Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivator. There was no intense confrontation, no flashy exchange of immortal arts—only a one-sided, crushing harvest.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The sea of fire slowly retracted and went out.

In the area where the three black fortresses originally stood, only three pools of cooling, slightly dark red vitrified substance remained, along with the central stone tower that had completely lost its luster and was covered in cracks. All buildings, Formations, Cultivators... every existence had been incinerated, leaving not even a speck of ash, clean as if there had only ever been the desolate wind energy here.

Nightmare hovered above the ruins, his Divine Sense carefully sweeping over every inch of the land. After confirming there were no signs of life or undestroyed transmission devices, he slowly landed.

He came to the position where the fortress's core warehouse should have been (judging by the structure). His dark red Demonic Star Flame transformed into several hands, reaching beneath the not-yet-solidified vitrified ground, rummaging around.

Soon, several storage spaces buried deep and protected by special Restrictions (already damaged in the Demonic Star Flame) were forcibly dug out. Nightmare broke through the remains of the Restrictions, and inside were indeed piled with things: crates of High Grade and even Top Grade Immortal Spirit Stones, various Ores and medicinal herbs emitting thick Immortal Qi, some Immortal Artifact blanks or finished products of decent grade, and many Jade Slips recording the customs and Cultivation Techniques of the Immortal Realm (though useless to him).

"A good harvest." Nightmare swept away all useful resources, putting them into his own storage space. Especially those Immortal Spirit Stones and Materials containing pure Immortal Qi, which could be used to assist in Cultivation or quickly replenish consumption when necessary.

Finally, he flicked out another wisp of Demonic Star Flame. The spark fell into the ruins and spread quickly, incinerating the vitrified remains and the stone tower ruins as well, performing a final "purification" and trace removal. Soon, only a slightly darker, smoother depression remained on the spot, gradually becoming difficult to distinguish from the surrounding ground eroded by wind energy.

Having done all this, Nightmare found a set of standard gray robes and an identity token of an Immortal-Fall Pavilion Cultivator from the captured supplies. He changed into the robes, slightly adjusted his bones, muscles, and aura, mimicking the appearance of an ordinary Soul Transformation Stage Immortal-Fall Pavilion Cultivator, even making his gaze indifferent and mediocre.

"The Immortal-Fall Pavilion outpost was 'accidentally' destroyed by an unknown wind energy storm. A low-level deacon who luckily escaped with his life follows a passing merchant group back to the inland to 'report'..." Nightmare quickly wove an identity script in his mind.

He identified the direction and flew toward a small Immortal Realm market town marked on the map, not far from the Immortal-Fall Pass. Small merchant groups traveling between the edge and the inland usually stopped there.

Half a day later, Nightmare "successfully" blended into a merchant group about to set off for the inland "Flowing Cloud Immortal City." Seeing that he was wearing the Immortal-Fall Pavilion uniform, had a low cultivation level, and looked terrified (faked), and hearing him say that the Immortal-Fall Pavilion had been attacked by a rare wind energy storm with heavy losses and that he was the only lucky survivor who urgently needed to return to the inland to report to a subordinate agency of the Sky-Patrol Bureau, the merchant group manager did not question him much. He just treated him as an unlucky fellow and allowed him to travel with the group, occasionally doing some odd jobs to cover the travel expenses.

Nightmare kept a low profile at the end of the merchant group, restraining all his aura like a real, shaken low-level Cultivator.

The flying boat slowly took off, leaving the desolate and deathly silent edge of the Immortal-Fall Wasteland, flying toward the Immortal Realm Inland where the Immortal Qi became increasingly dense and the mountains and rivers gradually became beautiful.

The scenery outside the window was changing, but Nightmare's eyes remained calm and rippleless.

The first step of infiltration: complete.

Next, he would see how far this "hitchhike" could take him.