The outer perimeter of the Celestial Dome has been breached.

A dark red streak of light tore through the clouds, moving so fast that it dragged a long afterimage across the sky and emitted a piercing sonic boom.

Nightmare no longer hid, nor did he detour. The incident at Liuyun Canyon must have spread, and the immortal realm heavenly dao's pursuit of him would only become stricter and wider in scope. Disguise? Stealth? Now that the enemy was alerted and possessed some kind of detection method capable of sensing "incoordination," those tactics were no longer meaningful.

Then he would force his way through!

The Xianqiong Mountain Range was in the northwest direction. He could clearly feel that as the distance closed, the resonance between the two dao reversal key imprints in his body grew stronger, and the guidance of the star dao fruit became increasingly clear and urgent.

He didn't know how long he had been flying, but the desolate scenery below was gradually replaced by dense Spiritual Qi and beautiful landscapes. The mountains grew taller, the Spiritual Qi grew denser, and the outlines of some sizable immortal Sects and cities even began to appear. But Nightmare ignored them all; he had only one goal.

Finally, on the horizon ahead, the outline of a giant mountain range, towering beyond imagination, slowly emerged.

That mountain range stretched for countless thousands of miles, its main Peak piercing straight into the clouds as if supporting the firmament. Above the mountain range, it was year-round shrouded in seven-colored rays of light and dense immortal mist, sacred and majestic. Yet, within this sacredness, a terrifying Aura that made one's heart palpitate—as if it could suppress everything—faintly seeped out. That was the Reverse Path pressure emitted by the Xianqiong Forbidden Land itself, a unique force field formed by the intertwining and mixing of the immortal realm heavenly dao's order power.

The Xianqiong Mountain Range! He had arrived!

Nightmare's eyes narrowed, his speed slowed slightly, and his Divine Sense spread out like a tide toward the outskirts of the mountain range ahead.

As expected. In a relatively flat foothill area a few hundred miles from the main body of the mountain range, silver camps—temporarily built yet emitting powerful energy fluctuations—had sprung up. The camps were connected by light curtains, forming a strict arc-shaped defense line that perfectly blocked the few main paths leading to the depths of the mountains.

Above the camps, one could vaguely see the figures of Cultivators patrolling, and there were quite a few of them. At the core of the defense line, there were four exceptionally powerful Auras rising and falling, like four mountains guarding the four directions. This was the first defense line set up by the immortal realm heavenly dao on the periphery of the Xianqiong Forbidden Land!

"Four Late Stage, twenty Early Stage... and a Formation." Nightmare instantly grasped the opponent's configuration, which basically matched the intelligence obtained from the Jade Slip. That light curtain shrouding the camps should be the so-called "Xianqiong Suppression of Rebellion Formation."

Almost at the same time his Divine Sense swept over, the defense line immediately reacted!

"Enemy attack! Northwest direction, high-speed approaching target! Abnormal energy fluctuation, suspected Reverse Dao Practitioner!" Piercing alarm sounds rang through every camp in the defense line via some kind of sound transmission Formation.

"All units on alert! Activate the Xianqiong Suppression of Rebellion Formation! Target locked!"

"Prepare the Suppression of Rebellion Light Spears!"

Hum, hum, hum—

The huge silver light curtain shrouding the camps instantly shone brightly, and countless profound runes lit up and flowed across the light curtain. Immediately following, on the surface of the light curtain, silver light spears dozens of zhang long, composed entirely of pure Immortal Punishment power, condensed. The spear tips pointed directly at the direction Nightmare was flying from, emitting a terrifying Aura capable of piercing everything and suppressing rebellion!

"Fire!"

At the command.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish—!!!"

Hundreds and thousands of silver light spears shot out like a rainstorm! Tearing through the air and emitting piercing shrieks, they completely covered the large airspace in front of Nightmare! Each light spear contained powerful immortal realm heavenly dao Law power, having an extra damage bonus against "Reverse Path" and "heretics," with power far exceeding the full-strength blow of an ordinary Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivator!

Facing this volley of light spears sufficient to raze an immortal city to the ground in an instant, there was not a trace of fear on Nightmare's face; instead, a cold mockery flashed across it.

"Suppression of Rebellion? With just this?"

He did not dodge or avoid, and he didn't even slow down! The dark red Demonic Flame around his body surged violently, forming a cone-shaped, high-speed rotating flame shield in front of him!

"Boom, boom, boom, boom—!!!"

The dense silver light spears slammed fiercely into the dark red flame shield!

The violent explosion expected did not occur. Those Immortal Punishment light spears with astonishing might, the moment they touched the Dao Reversal Demonic Star Flame, were like snow meeting a red-hot iron, making "hissing" sounds as they quickly melted and disintegrated! The Heavenly Dao Law power contained within the light spears was roughly torn apart, neutralized, and devoured by that "denying order" and "reversing all Laws" will within the Nidao Demonic Flame!

Braving the sky-filling rain of light spears, Nightmare's speed did not decrease but increased, like a retrograde dark red meteor, slamming fiercely into that huge silver light curtain!

"He wants to force his way through the Formation?!" Inside the defense line, a Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivator in command exclaimed in shock.

"Stop him! Don't let him get close to the Formation base!" another Cultivator roared.

However, how could their reaction be faster than Nightmare's determination?

"Reverse Path Shuttle—World Breaker!"

At the moment he was about to hit the light curtain, Nightmare's figure blurred strangely, as if merging into spatial ripples. The next second, he actually passed directly through that thick layer of silver light curtain and appeared inside the defense line, above the largest camp!

The Xianqiong Suppression of Rebellion Formation had extremely strong external defenses, but internally... especially to Nightmare, who had mastered profound spatial Laws and carried two dao reversal keys, it was not unbreakable!

"He's inside!"

"Attack! Quick, attack!"

The Cultivators inside the camp were instantly in chaos, and the light of various immortal arts and Magic Treasures bombarded the Nightmare in the air.

Nightmare couldn't be bothered to pay attention to these small fry. His Divine Sense, like the most precise scanner, instantly locked onto a spot below this camp where energy convergence was most concentrated and where it was most tightly connected to the entire Formation light curtain—a Formation base!

"Found you."

His figure flashed, appearing like a teleportation in front of a stone house where the Formation base was located. The stone house was protected by a Formation, and there were two Peak Spirit Transformation Cultivators guarding the door.

"Those who block me die."

Nightmare didn't even make a move, just coldly spat out four words. The terrifying Peak Late Tribulation Crossing stage Aura mixed with Reverse Path killing intent crashed down like a tangible mountain!

"Thump!" "Thump!"

The two Spirit Transformation Cultivators couldn't even let out a scream; they were directly pressed to their knees, bleeding from their seven orifices, their Divine Souls suffering heavy damage before they fainted.

Nightmare kicked open the door of the stone house. Inside the room, a complex Formation composed of countless silver crystals and runes was running, and embedded in the core was a basin-sized Formation Plate that constantly emitted silver light.

"Shatter."

A punch. A simple punch, covered in dark red Demonic Flame, smashed into the core of the Formation Plate.

"Crack... Boom!"

The Formation Plate, along with the surrounding crystals and runes, instantly exploded! The violent Nidao Demonic Flame eroded in reverse along the energy veins of the Formation, completely destroying this Formation base!

At the same time, the huge silver light curtain outside suddenly dimmed by one-third, its light flickering violently, and its stability dropped significantly!

"Not good! The Geng-character Formation base has been destroyed!" exclamations came from other camps.

Nightmare did not stop at all, his figure disappearing again.

The next instant, he appeared at another camp several miles away, just as precisely finding the location of the Formation base. Guarding here was one Early Tribulation Crossing Stage Cultivator and several Spirit Transformation Cultivators, attempting to form a Formation to resist.

"Get lost."

Nightmare waved his hand casually, and the dark red Demonic Flame turned into a wave of fire that swept past. The Early Tribulation Crossing Stage Cultivator, along with the Formation and his subordinates, were instantly engulfed by the flames.

The second Formation base, shattered!

The silver light curtain fluctuated violently again, its light dimming by another large chunk, already appearing precarious, with obvious loopholes and weak points appearing.

"Bastard! Stop him!" The four Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators stationed in various directions could finally no longer sit still. Three of them shot toward Nightmare from different directions; before they even arrived, powerful immortal art attacks had already bombarded him from a distance! Immortal swords crossed the air, precious seals descended, and Divine Ability radiance dazzled!

The last person desperately tried to stabilize the remaining Formation bases to maintain the Formation from collapsing completely.

Facing the furious siege of three Late Stage Cultivators of the same rank, Nightmare finally stopped his steps of destroying the Formation bases. He turned in the air, looking at the three figures charging with menacing momentum, his eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"Good, this saves me from having to find you one by one."

He gripped the air with his right hand, and the dark red Demonic Flame condensed and stretched in his palm, turning into a pitch-black war blade with a ferocious design, burning with raging Demonic Flame—the Nidao Demonic Blade!

"Kill!"

Without any nonsense, the war blade was raised, and he slashed down at the Cultivator who was the first to rush close, wielding a golden immortal sword!

The blade light was pitch-black, as if it could sever even light itself; it arrived after but struck first, precisely hacking onto the tip of the golden immortal sword!

"Clang—!!!"

A deafening boom! The golden immortal sword let out a wail, its sword light dissipated, and it was actually knocked flying back by this slash! The Cultivator's face turned pale, his qi and blood churned, and a look of horror appeared in his eyes.

Nightmare did not spare him after gaining the upper hand, sweeping the war blade, forcing back another Cultivator who had unleashed a precious seal to smash at him, while his left fist, like a cannon, condensed with dark red Demonic Flame, violently bombarded the third Cultivator who was casting a Divine Ability and summoning sky-filling ice shards!

"Demonic Star Sky-Shattering Fist!"

The fist struck, ice shards shattered! The Divine Ability was broken! The Cultivator groaned and staggered backward.

Fighting one against three, in an instant of engagement, Nightmare had actually firmly gained the upper hand! The suppression of the Dao Reversal Demonic Star Flame against the immortal realm heavenly dao Cultivation Technique, as well as his own Foundation and combat awareness which were solidly terrifying, were displayed to the fullest!

"This person cannot be fought head-on! Form the Three Talents Battle Formation!" the Cultivator whose immortal sword was knocked away shouted sternly.

The three quickly gathered, their Auras connecting, attempting to form a Battle Formation to join forces against the enemy.

"Battle Formation?" A cruel arc curled at the corner of Nightmare's mouth, "In the face of absolute power, what use is a Formation?"

He no longer held back, and the two dao reversal key imprints in his body lit up slightly at the same time! The annihilation power of the lingyuan reverse key and the heavy suppression power of the mortal realm reverse key merged into the Demonic Flame!

"Reverse Path Ultimate Kill—Prison Fire Burning the Heavens!"

He gripped the Nidao Demonic Blade with both hands and thrust it violently toward the center of the three's Formation!

"Rumble—!!!"

Centered on the point where the Demonic Blade was inserted, the dark red, near-black Demonic Flame instantly spread out like an erupting volcano, or like a blooming lotus of death! Wherever the flames passed, space twisted and wailed, and all things returned to nothingness!

The just-formed Battle Formation light curtain couldn't even hold for a single breath under this destructive flame impact and directly shattered! The three Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators were like fallen leaves in a gale, violently blown away by the terrifying flames and shockwaves, their protective immortal light shattering inch by inch, spitting blood, and suffering heavy injuries!

"It's over."

Nightmare's figure appeared like a ghost behind the most heavily injured Cultivator, and the Demonic Blade gently swiped.

The head flew up, the Divine Soul destroyed.

Following that, the second person, then the third.

The three Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivators, in the face of Nightmare's full-burst Reverse Path killing move, were unable to put up any decent resistance and fell one after another.

The last Cultivator who tried to stabilize the Formation witnessed his companions' miserable deaths, was so terrified that he experienced Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and turned to run.

"Can you run away?"

Nightmare threw a punch through the air; the dark red fist imprint crossed space and precisely struck his back.

"Pfft!" The last Late Tribulation Crossing stage Cultivator fell.

With the main commanders all dead and more than half of the Formation bases destroyed, the remaining twenty Early Tribulation Crossing Stage Cultivators and a small number of Spirit Transformation small fry were already scared out of their wits, had no more Battle Intent, and fled in all directions.

Nightmare couldn't be bothered to chase these small shrimp. He raised his hand and summoned the storage equipment and a few decent Magic Treasures of the four Late Stage Cultivators, then looked at the Xianqiong Suppression of Rebellion Formation that was almost completely extinguished, with only a few lingering rays of light left.

The first defense line, breached.

His figure flashed, passing over the ruins of the camps below, which were in a mess and covered with casualties, and continued to speed toward the depths of the Xianqiong Mountain Range, in the direction of the Forbidden Ground entrance that emitted the strongest Reverse Path resonance and Heavenly Dao majesty.

However, not long after he left.

Deeper in the Xianqiong Mountain Range, several terrifying Auras, more than ten times stronger than the previous four Late Stage Cultivators, suddenly erupted like awakened primordial beasts! Following that, more powerful Auras rose one after another, surging like a tide toward the direction where the outer defense line was breached!

The main force sent by the immortal realm heavenly dao core had finally been alarmed! And, they had come even faster than expected!

Nightmare didn't even look back, driving his speed to the limit.

"Just in time..." A cold and excited light flashed in his eyes, "This saves me from having to worry about these flies outside after I go in."

The true challenge was about to begin at the entrance of the Forbidden Ground.