Forbidden Land Entrance, Ancient Immortal Guardian

Deep in the Xianqiong Forbidden Land mountain range, the scene had changed drastically.

It was no longer the peaceful, serene place surrounded by Immortal Qi as it was on the outskirts. The further one went, the steeper and more rugged the mountains became, with jagged rocks resembling countless ferocious beasts crouching. The Spiritual Qi permeating the air was still terrifyingly dense, but it was mixed with an ancient, barbaric, and... chaotic aura. This was the Reverse Dao Power emitted by the Xianqiong Forbidden Land itself, a unique force field formed by its collision and entanglement with the layers of order Seals laid down by the immortal realm heavenly dao.

Pressure was everywhere. Space felt like solidified glue, making flight exceptionally difficult. Ordinary Cultivators here probably wouldn't even be able to levitate.

Nightmare's entire body was burning with dark red Demonic Flame, his Reverse Dao Power operating at full capacity to forcibly push aside that invisible pressure. Like a sharp blade cleaving through waves, he charged toward the direction of his strongest sensing.

He could feel that far behind him, those few terrifying auras that had just risen, like primeval beasts, were approaching at an astonishing speed. The main force of the immortal realm heavenly dao had arrived! He had to enter the Forbidden Ground before that!

Ahead, between two ten-thousand-foot cliffs that looked as if they had been split by a Heavenly God's giant axe, a narrow and deep canyon entrance came into view.

That was the entrance to the Xianqiong Forbidden Land!

The entrance was not empty. Before the canyon was a relatively open, ancient stone platform. In the center of the stone platform, a colossal beast was crouching.

The creature looked like a Qilin, but was more than ten times larger than an ordinary Qilin! Its entire body was covered in crystalline, golden glass-like scales, and every scale was naturally engraved with profound immortal Dao runes. It had crystalline jade horns on its head, long golden whiskers hanging from its jaw, and limbs like pillars supporting the sky. Just by crouching there, it emitted a suffocating primeval pressure, and its aura had clearly reached the Peak of the Late Tribulation Crossing stage!

Ancient Immortal Beast—the Xianqiong Qilin! The natural guardian of the Forbidden Ground entrance, it had been eroded by the Reverse Path aura of the Forbidden Ground for eons, and its strength was peerlessly tyrannical.

On the other side of the stone platform, near the canyon entrance, three figures of Cultivators wearing brilliant golden armor, with auras as fierce and domineering as the scorching sun, had just landed. The style of their armor was completely different from the previous patrols and frontline guards; it was more ornate and majestic, with patterns of sun, moon, stars, and Heavenly Dao Laws engraved on the pauldrons. Their aura strength was such that every one of them was at the Peak of the Late Tribulation Crossing stage! They were more than a notch stronger than the four Late Stage experts at the previous defense line!

The vanguard force sent by the Heavenly Dao core of the Immortal Realm! And to come with three Peak experts at once!

Nightmare's figure, like a dark red meteorite, slammed heavily onto the ancient stone platform, less than a hundred zhang away from the Xianqiong Qilin, standing far apart from the three golden-armored Peak Cultivators.

The three parties formed a standoff in an instant!

The Xianqiong Qilin opened its giant eyes, which resembled two small golden suns. It looked at Nightmare with indifference, majesty, and not a trace of emotion. A low, thunder-like rumble came from its throat, full of warning and hostility.

The three golden-armored Peak Cultivators also turned their heads simultaneously, their gazes piercing Nightmare like tangible sharp swords. The leader, with an ancient face and eyes as sharp as an eagle's, scanned Nightmare up and down. His voice, like metal rubbing against metal, carried unquestionable majesty:

"Reverse Path remnant, Nightmare? It really is you! To dare to break through the defense lines and charge to the entrance of the Forbidden Ground, you truly do not know how to live! This place shall be your burial ground!"

Another Cultivator sneered: "A mere Reverse Path from the Lower Realm, having luckily obtained a few Opportunities, dares to despise the might of the immortal realm heavenly dao? Today, the three 'Sun, Moon, and Star' envoys of the Patrolling Heaven Agency are here, and we will surely capture you, extract your Soul, and refine your spirit to serve as a warning to others!"

The third person looked at the Xianqiong Qilin and said loudly: "Sacred Beast of Xianqiong! This villain is a great enemy of the Heavenly Dao, the chief culprit of the Reverse Path! Please, Sacred Beast, join us in attacking and suppressing this villain! The Heavenly Dao will surely bestow generous rewards!"

They were actually trying to persuade the Xianqiong Qilin to join forces!

Nightmare scanned the three of them expressionlessly, then glanced at the restless golden giant beast, his heart devoid of any ripples. Joining forces? So what?

"Too much nonsense."

He spat out four words, breaking the brief silence. In the next instant, his figure suddenly vanished from where he stood!

He didn't rush toward the three golden-armored Cultivators, nor did he rush toward the Xianqiong Qilin, but... he rushed straight toward the canyon entrance! His goal was never to fight, but to enter the Forbidden Ground and seize the dao reversal key!

"Want to go in? In your dreams!" The leader, the "Sun" envoy, reacted extremely quickly and roared, his hands suddenly forming Seals!

"Xianqiong Chain — Bind!"

"Hum!"

The Void Realm trembled, and three golden chains, entirely condensed from pure Heavenly Dao Origin, as thick as arms, and engraved with dense "Seal," "Suppress," and "Punish" immortal characters, appeared out of thin air in front of Nightmare. Like three golden giant pythons, they intertwined and instantly sealed off the path to the canyon entrance! The chains exuded a supreme majesty to suppress all rebellion and Seal space; they were the "Xianqiong Divine Chain" specifically designed to restrain Reverse Dao Power!

Almost simultaneously, the Xianqiong Qilin was also enraged! In front of the entrance it guarded, someone actually dared to ignore it and force their way through? This was a trampling of its dignity!

"Roar—!!!"

A heaven-shaking roar resounded through the canyon! The Xianqiong Qilin opened its giant mouth, and a thick, scorching torrent purely composed of golden immortal fire, like a celestial river flowing backward, carrying the terrifying power to incinerate mountains and boil seas and purify all things, erupted toward Nightmare's back! This immortal fire contained the chaotic and pure immortal power unique to the Forbidden Ground, and its power far exceeded ordinary immortal fire!

With the Xianqiong Divine Chain blocking the road in front, and the Qilin's immortal fire burning from behind!

Nightmare was instantly caught in a pincer attack!

However, his speed did not slow down at all, and instead, a trace of cold excitement flashed in his eyes.

"Well come!"

He gave a low shout, and the dark red Demonic Flame around his body suddenly erupted with unprecedented brilliance! The color of the flames instantly deepened, and within the dark red, dots of pitch-black Reverse Path runes flowed, as if countless stars were being born and dying within them!

"Reverse Path Ultimate Kill — Star Ring Body Protection!"

"Boom!"

A solid, ring-shaped shield composed of countless rotating dark red star phantoms instantly opened with Nightmare at its center!

"Chi chi chi—!!!"

The golden Xianqiong Divine Chains wrapped fiercely around the dark red star ring, emitting harsh friction and corrosive sounds! The "Seal" and "Suppress" immortal characters on the chains flickered violently, attempting to break through and disintegrate the star ring. But within the star ring, the Reverse Path Law flowed, clashing violently with the power of the Heavenly Dao order, and it actually withstood the binding of the three divine chains!

At the same time, the heaven-incinerating and sea-boiling golden immortal fire torrent also slammed into the back of the star ring!

"Rumble—!!!"

Flames exploded, golden light and dark red intertwined! The terrifying shockwave cracked the ancient stone platform! The purification power contained in the immortal fire madly impacted the star ring, but it was also firmly blocked by the will of the Reverse Path that defied all Laws, unable to penetrate even a fraction!

Nightmare withstood the pincer attack, his speed only slightly lagging, and he still firmly charged toward the canyon entrance! The dark red star ring rotated rapidly around him, constantly wearing down and repelling the binding force of the chains and the burning force of the immortal fire!

"What?!" "Actually blocked it?!" The three golden-armored envoys were shocked! The Xianqiong Divine Chain they cast together, plus the full-strength blow of the Xianqiong Qilin, were actually forcibly withstood by the opponent? This Reverse Dao Practitioner's strength was far beyond their estimation!

"Can't let him in! Attack with full force!" The Sun envoy roared, his internal Immortal Qi burning wildly, injecting into the divine chains. The chains glowed with golden light, wrapping even tighter!

The other two, the "Moon" envoy and "Star" envoy, also roared simultaneously, each sacrificing their life-bound Immortal Artifact—a bright crescent moon, a brilliant star, carrying the majestic Heavenly Dao pressure, smashing down toward Nightmare!

Seeing that its blow had not been effective, the Xianqiong Qilin was even more furious. Its four hooves stamped heavily on the stone platform, its huge body actually standing up flexibly, lifting its front claws that could shatter mountains, covered in solid golden immortal fire, and slamming them down toward Nightmare's star ring shield!

A true deadly siege!

Facing this terrifying combined attack that would make any Peak Tribulation Crossing Cultivator regret, fierce light exploded in Nightmare's eyes!

"Those who block me... die!"

He no longer held back! The two dao reversal key marks in his body trembled wildly, and unprecedented power surged out! The ultimate annihilation of the lingyuan reverse key, the absolute suppression of the mortal realm reverse key, and the Dao Reversal Demonic Star Flame completely fused!

"Break for me!"

With a roar, Nightmare's hands suddenly split to the sides!

"Crack!!!"

The three Xianqiong Divine Chains tightly wrapped around the star ring were actually forcibly snapped by his incomparably savage power combined with the erosion of the Reverse Path Law! Fragments of golden light splashed everywhere!

The backlash from the breaking of the divine chains made the three golden-armored envoys groan simultaneously, their auras slightly disordered.

And Nightmare had already used this force to move like lightning, not retreating but advancing, instantly escaping the main coverage area of the immortal fire and divine chains, and instead appearing... under the giant claw that the Xianqiong Qilin had slammed down!

"Court death!" Fierce light appeared in the Qilin's eyes, and its giant claw accelerated its descent!

"The one who will die is you!"

Nightmare did not dodge or evade, his right fist clenched tight, veins bulging on his arm, dark red, near-black Demonic Flame and the phantoms of the two dao reversal keys entwined on it, and his entire arm seemed to have turned into a source of destruction!

"Reverse Path — Star-Shattering God-Slaughtering Fist!"

One punch, blasted upward! Facing the Qilin's giant claw head-on!

"Dong—!!!"

A dull sound like two divine mountains colliding! A visible shockwave exploded in a ring, lifting and shattering the ancient stone slabs on the surface of the stone platform layer by layer!

"Awoo—!!!"

The Xianqiong Qilin let out a painful and furious roar! Its giant claw, covered in golden immortal fire and indestructible, had its surface immortal fire blasted away the moment it touched that dark fist! Immediately after, the fist landed squarely on its palm!

"Crack!"

A teeth-aching Bone Crack was clearly heard! The Qilin's thick claw bone was actually shattered inch by inch by this punch! Golden beast blood spilled like a rainstorm!

The fist force did not end, and the terrifying Reverse Dao destructive power surged into the Qilin's body along the broken bones, rushing straight toward the core crystal emitting brilliant golden light in its head!

"No...!" Fear finally appeared in the Qilin's eyes, wanting to withdraw and retreat to mobilize power to protect its core.

But, it was too late.

Nightmare's fist force, along with the Reverse Dao Power that had invaded its body, acted like maggots on a bone, instantly detonating!

"Bang!!!"

The Xianqiong Qilin's huge head exploded from the inside! The golden core crystal was eroded and shattered by the Reverse Dao Power! The headless huge beast body stood stiff for a moment, then collapsed with a loud thud, causing the stone platform to tremble violently, its vitality quickly dissipating.

Ancient Immortal Beast, Xianqiong Qilin, fallen!

All of this happened too quickly. From Nightmare breaking free from the divine chains to turning around and killing the Qilin with one punch, it was no more than the blink of an eye!

The three golden-armored envoys were furious and shocked to the point of their eyes splitting! They didn't expect Nightmare to be so fierce and brave, not playing by the rules, but instead using thunderous means to solve the most troublesome Immortal Beast first!

"Wicked beast! Die!"

The Sun envoy, Moon envoy, and Star envoy were completely red-eyed, and they didn't care about any Formation or combined attack anymore. The three of them turned into three golden streams of light, rushing crazily toward Nightmare who had just retracted his fist from three different directions! The crescent moon and star Immortal Artifacts shone with boundless light, smashing down first!

Nightmare turned around slowly, looking at the three people rushing over. There was no fatigue on his face after the fight, only cold indifference. Killing the Qilin was not a huge consumption for him.

"Three Talents Immortal Reverse Formation? Useless."

He saw through the three-talents combined Formation that the opponent was hiding in their seemingly furious attack. But, in the face of absolute power and speed, Formations? A joke!

His figure blurred again.

It wasn't teleportation, but his speed had reached the limit, leaving behind an almost real afterimage!

The real Nightmare had already appeared like a ghost beside the "Moon envoy"! The Moon envoy was fully urging the crescent moon Immortal Artifact to attack the afterimage, caught off guard!

"The first."

A cold voice rang in his ear, and the Moon envoy turned his head in horror, only to see a point of cold dark red light, condensed to the extreme, rapidly enlarging before his eyes—Dao Reversal Demonic Star Pierce!

"Puff!"

The cold light accurately pierced through the weak point of his protective golden armor, sank into the space between his eyebrows, and went straight through to his Purple Mansion! The Reverse Dao Power exploded instantly, annihilating his Divine Soul along with his Nascent Soul!

Moon envoy, fallen!

"Second brother!!" The Sun envoy and Star envoy let out grief-stricken roars, their attacks becoming even more frantic!

Nightmare's figure flashed again, avoiding the star Immortal Artifact smashed by the Star envoy, and appeared behind the "Star envoy".

"The second."

The palm covered in Demonic Flame, like piercing through tofu, easily pierced through the Star envoy's back heart, grabbed the beating heart, and crushed it fiercely!

The Star envoy's body stiffened, and the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.

"The third."

Nightmare didn't even turn his head, backhanding a finger, and a condensed dark red finger wind broke through the air. Amidst the Sun envoy's roar full of endless grief and despair, it arrived first despite being launched later, pointing at the spine of the life-bound immortal sword that the Sun envoy had raised in his haste!

"Clang!"

The immortal sword shook violently, its light dimming! The residual force of the finger wind did not dissipate, penetrating the sword light defense and pointing at the Sun envoy's chest.

Dark red Demonic Flame exploded a blood hole in his chest, and Reverse Dao Power flooded in madly.

The Sun envoy's movements suddenly stiffened. He looked down at the blood hole in his chest, then looked at the corpses of his two brothers not far away, his face showing misery and disbelief. Finally, his life force was severed, and he fell from the sky.

The three Peak Late Tribulation Crossing stage special envoys of the Patrolling Heaven Agency, within less than three breaths after the fall of the Xianqiong Qilin, were killed by Nightmare one by one with lightning speed!

Nightmare didn't even look at the corpses all over the ground and the huge Qilin carcass. He raised his hand and grabbed into the air, forcibly looting and devouring the residual Heavenly Dao Origin and blood essence energy within the three envoys and the Qilin, turning them into several pure energy crystals and putting them away.

He strode toward the deep canyon entrance.

At the entrance stood a primitive stone gate, a hundred zhang high, made entirely of unknown gray-white stone. The stone gate was tightly closed, its surface engraved with dense runes emitting the dual auras of ancient Reverse Path and Heavenly Dao Seal.

Nightmare reached out and pressed on the cold stone gate. Inside his body, the marks of the mortal realm reverse key and the lingyuan reverse key lit up simultaneously, resonating with the Reverse Path aura on the stone gate.

"Open."

He whispered, his arms exerting force.

"Rumble..."

The heavy stone gate made a long and ancient friction sound, slowly opening inward to a crack that could only accommodate one person. Inside the door was deeper darkness and richer Reverse Path aura, and... the clear call of the third dao reversal key!

Nightmare did not hesitate and slipped into the door.

Just as he entered.

"Boom!!!"

Far behind him, those few terrifying auras like primeval beasts finally arrived! The majestic Heavenly Dao pressure pressed down like the sky tilting, and several Divine Senses, strong enough to make the Soul tremble, instantly locked onto the stone gate that had just closed, leaving only a crack!

"The Reverse Dao Practitioner has entered the Forbidden Ground!"

"Quick! Blast open the stone gate!"

"Must not let him get the immortal firmament path-reversal key!"

Roars and terrifying energy fluctuations gathered outside the stone gate!

However, just as those attacks were about to land on the stone gate.

"Hum—!"

The ancient runes on the stone gate suddenly erupted with dazzling light, and a massive and chaotic force field originating from the Origin of the Forbidden Ground spread out, blocking and dissipating all the external attacks!

Immediately, the opened crack closed rapidly.

"Boom!"

The stone gate closed completely, isolating the inside and outside. No matter how the main force of the Heavenly Dao outside bombarded it, the stone gate did not move, only those ancient runes flickering faintly.

Outside the Forbidden Ground, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the Heavenly Dao was furious.

Inside the Forbidden Ground, it was dark and quiet, with only one black-robed figure walking step by step toward the core, following the call in his perception.

The real battle had only just begun.