Secrets of the Magic Altar

Nightmare stood before the dilapidated stone stele, his gaze fixed on the four ancient characters “Sealing Demon Altar” and the ominous-looking cave entrance behind it.

The Sky Patrol Alliance's handiwork! No doubt about it!

That sealing aura, a mixture of ancient, orthodox, yet with a hint of fanatical coldness, perfectly matched Nightmare's deep-seated memories of this colossal organization. Furthermore, the broken black stone pillars shared the same Origin in terms of material and inscription style as the sealing pillars suppressing the Ghost Ship in the Sea of Returning Ruins!

“So that’s how it is…” Nightmare's mind suddenly cleared.

No wonder the Spiritual Qi in the Black Mountain Range was so turbid and unbearable, yet certain areas contained unusually dense miasma and chilling energy. This was not a naturally formed place where Spiritual Veins had dried up at all, but because something extremely evil was sealed underground!

Over the years, the power of the Seal might have been weakening, or some unforeseen change might have occurred, causing the evil aura of the sealed entity to permeate and pollute the earth's Spiritual Qi, transforming into the pervasive poisonous miasma throughout the mountains! This also gave rise to those mutated, highly venomous Yao Beasts and Spiritual Plants.

This entire Black Mountain Range was, in fact, a giant natural prison and source of pollution!

“Those who enter without permission… die…” Nightmare murmured the warning on the stone stele, his eyes flickering.

The entity sealed by the Sky Patrol Alliance was extremely dangerous for the current Nightmare, but it could also be… an immense opportunity!

Nightmare had been chased by The Fisherman and the Sky Patrol Alliance like a stray dog, his Dao foundation damaged, and his cultivation plummeted. How could he not harbor hatred? If he could understand or even master some power related to their sealed entity, it might become a bargaining chip for future revenge.

Moreover, both the Myriad Poison Demonic Body and The Azure Nether Life and Death Dao were extraordinary cultivation methods, possessing extremely strong tolerance and conversion abilities for negative energies such as poison, death, malevolence, and resentment. The evil aura seeping from this cave might even be a great tonic for Nightmare!

The risks were immense, but the potential rewards were beyond imagination.

Nightmare did not act immediately. Nightmare carefully explored the bottom of the sinkhole.

Nightmare discovered that the nine broken black stone pillars were not completely ineffective; there was still a faint energy connection between them, forming a remnant containment array that barely sealed off most of the cave entrance's aura. The stone stele served as the array's core and warning marker for the entire Seal.

Beneath the base of the stone stele, some long-decayed bones were scattered, appearing to be human, alongside several rusted Magical Artifact fragments. Clearly, over the long years, many curious or greedy Cultivators had found this place, attempted to break in, but ultimately triggered the residual Restrictions or were obliterated by the power leaking from within the cave.

“Hmph, fools.” Nightmare snorted coldly. Dealing with the Sky Patrol Alliance's Seal by brute force was courting death.

Nightmare sat down cross-legged before the stone stele, not rushing to approach the cave entrance. Instead, he cautiously extended a wisp of Divine Sense, simultaneously circulating the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture, attempting to absorb a trace of the pure evil Qi that was escaping from the crack in the cave entrance.

As that trace of evil Qi entered his body, Nightmare's entire being violently trembled!

It was icy! Deathly silent! Filled with endless malice and madness! As if it could freeze the Divine Soul and pollute the true spirit!

But immediately after, the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture rapidly circulated on its own. Although the Demonic Nascent Soul was weak, it still emitted a supreme Demonic Path Origin aura, forcibly suppressing that trace of evil Qi, stripping away its mad intent, and finally transforming it into a pure and icy special Demonic Essence, which then merged into his Meridians.

It was effective! Moreover, the quality of the Demonic Essence converted was extremely high, far surpassing that obtained by absorbing external miasma!

Nightmare's eyes shone brightly. The sealed demonic entity possessed an extremely high power level; even the slightest leakage was greatly beneficial for Nightmare's recovery!

But Nightmare also became more vigilant. If just a trace of its leakage had such power, how terrifying must its true form be? The Sky Patrol Alliance sealing it here was by no means an overreaction.

Nightmare temporarily suppressed the urge to explore further, deciding to use the vicinity of this cave entrance as a temporary cultivation spot. Cultivating here with the pure evil Qi would be much faster than outside!

Nightmare set up several more concealed warning and protective Restrictions around the periphery, then found a recessed rock wall at the bottom of the sinkhole and began his secluded cultivation.

Days passed.

With the abundant evil Qi from this place and the previously acquired Yao Beast cores and Spiritual Plants, Nightmare's cultivation recovery speed greatly accelerated. His Physical Body became increasingly resilient, his parched Meridians were further nourished, and the Demonic Essence he could wield steadily advanced towards the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

During this period, Nightmare had several times attempted to use his Divine Sense to probe deeper into the cave entrance, but he was blocked by a powerful residual Restriction and an impenetrably dense evil will, completely unable to discern the specific situation inside the cave. Nightmare only vaguely felt that the cave was extremely deep, winding downwards, as if leading directly to the netherworld.

Nightmare also became more certain that although the residual containment array at the cave entrance was broken, its core was undamaged and still operating with difficulty. With Nightmare's current strength, it was impossible to forcibly break through it.

Just as Nightmare was immersed in cultivation and recovery, several sword lights streaked across the sky from the direction of Black Mountain City, landing on the outer perimeter of the mountain range.

There were three people in total. Leading them was a young man in brocade robes with an arrogant expression, whose cultivation was at the Peak Qi Refining Stage. Behind him followed two steady-looking, sharp-eyed middle-aged Cultivators, both surprisingly at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage.

“Young Master Wang, this is the Black Mountain Range. The miasma here is pervasive, and Yao Beasts run rampant. Do you really wish to enter personally?” a Foundation Establishment attendant respectfully asked.

Young Master Wang impatiently waved his hand: “Nonsense! That good-for-nothing Steward Liu, losing so much Face in a broken village, and then talking about a sickly ghost who can kill with a single breath, it’s simply absurd! It must be an excuse because Steward Liu was incompetent! That old physician in Zhang Family Village refused to sell the land, so I, your Young Master, will personally come and see what kind of desolate place this is, that produces commoners who dare to defy my Wang family’s Face!”

Another attendant frowned, saying, “Young Master, although Steward Liu’s cultivation isn’t high, he wouldn’t fabricate something out of thin air. There might be something else going on. Moreover, the Patriarch instructed us that there seems to be unusual activity deep within the mountain range recently, and we should try not to go too deep.”

“What unusual activity could there be? Just some Low Grade Yao Beasts stirring.” Young Master Wang said dismissively, “With you two here, are you afraid you can’t protect me, your Young Master? Besides, this time I brought the ‘Miasma-Dispelling Pearl’ and ‘Golden Light Mirror’ bestowed by my father; even if we encounter a second-tier Yao Beast, we can handle it!”

Young Master Wang paused, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes: “And I heard that deep within this Black Mountain, Spiritual Plants of considerable age occasionally appear. Perhaps with good luck, I, your Young Master, might find one, and then offering it to the Old Ancestor would be a great merit, wouldn’t it?”

The two attendants exchanged glances. Seeing that they couldn't dissuade him, they reluctantly agreed: “Since that is the case, Young Master, please make sure to stay close to us and do not venture into danger lightly.”

The three of them conjured their Magical Artifacts and cautiously entered the Black Mountain Range.

The three searched the periphery for a while but found no abnormalities in Zhang Family Village, assuming Steward Liu had exaggerated. Afterwards, at Young Master Wang's insistence, the three gradually ventured deeper into the mountain range.

With the Miasma-Dispelling Pearl, ordinary poisonous miasma couldn't harm the three of them. Along the way, they encountered a few first-tier Yao Beasts, which were easily dealt with by the two Foundation Establishment attendants.

However, as they went deeper, the expressions of the two Foundation Establishment attendants gradually became solemn.

“The miasma here… seems somewhat unusual; the Miasma-Dispelling Pearl’s effect is weakening!”

“Also, that tusked wild boar just now was clearly only at the Peak First-tier, yet it was unusually violent, and its demonic power also carried a strange corrosiveness…”

Young Master Wang also noticed something was wrong. The surrounding atmosphere became increasingly oppressive and deathly silent, the light dim, and even the chirping of birds and insects had almost disappeared.

“Should we… go back?” Young Master Wang finally felt a hint of fear.

Just then, a swift, lightning-fast black shadow suddenly flashed through the dense miasma ahead, accompanied by a heart-pounding stench!

“Be careful!” one attendant shouted, fiercely pulling Young Master Wang behind him, while simultaneously conjuring a shield Magical Artifact!

Boom!

A sharp claw slammed heavily onto the shield, emitting a deafening roar! The Early Foundation Establishment Stage attendant was actually shaken so much that his Qi and blood churned, forcing him to retreat repeatedly!

The miasma dispersed, revealing a massive demon wolf with blood-red eyes and fur standing on end like steel needles! The demonic power fluctuations it emitted had clearly reached the Middle Second-tier!

“It’s a Mad Fiend Wolf! How could such a Yao Beast appear in the middle section of the mountain range?!” another attendant exclaimed in shock, his Face pale.

The Mad Fiend Wolf roared and pounced again, moving incredibly fast!

The two Foundation Establishment attendants quickly conjured their Flying Sword Magical Artifacts to attack it, but their attacks only left shallow white marks on the Mad Fiend Wolf’s body, unable to cause effective damage! The Mad Fiend Wolf’s attacks, however, were incredibly violent, forcing the two into a frantic struggle.

Young Master Wang had long since turned pale with fright and hastily conjured a small golden mirror—it was precisely the Low Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Golden Light Mirror.

A golden light shot out, striking the Mad Fiend Wolf, finally making it howl in pain and momentarily pause its movements.

“It worked!” Young Master Wang was overjoyed.

But Young Master Wang’s attack also thoroughly enraged the Mad Fiend Wolf. Its blood-red eyes instantly locked onto Young Master Wang, ignoring the attacks of the two attendants, and transformed into a black wind, rushing straight towards Young Master Wang!

“Young Master, run!” one attendant’s eyes were bloodshot. He bravely blocked in front, but was swatted away by the Mad Fiend Wolf’s claw, spitting out fresh blood.

Young Master Wang was scared out of his wits and turned to flee, forgetting about the Miasma-Dispelling Pearl and the Golden Light Mirror, only wanting to get away from this terrifying Yao Beast.

Young Master Wang, in his panicked flight, unexpectedly ran towards the sinkhole!

The other attendant wanted to rescue him but was desperately entangled by the Mad Fiend Wolf, barely able to protect himself.

Young Master Wang ran wildly, feeling the stench behind him getting closer and closer. He could even smell the foul drool. In despair, Young Master Wang’s foot slipped, and he cried out as he fell downwards!

Thud!

Young Master Wang fell heavily to the bottom of the sinkhole, the intense pain almost making him faint. Fortunately, the thick layer of decaying leaves and mud at the bottom saved his life.

Young Master Wang struggled to lift his head and happened to see the swirling colorful poisonous miasma, and the faintly visible dilapidated stone stele and eerie cave entrance in the center of the miasma.

At the same time, the Mad Fiend Wolf that had pursued him landed on the edge of the sinkhole. It seemed extremely wary of the dense poisonous miasma and the heart-palpitating evil aura at the bottom of the pit, roaring anxiously but not daring to rush down immediately.

Young Master Wang had just let out a sigh of relief when suddenly, a cold voice sounded very close behind him, with a hint of surprise and impatience:

“Hmm? Someone actually found this place?”

All the hairs on Young Master Wang’s body stood on end, and he sharply turned his head.

He saw a young man in tattered gray clothes, with a pale Face but deep, dark eyes, who had appeared not far behind Young Master Wang at some unknown point. He was quietly looking at Young Master Wang. The young man seemed to be enveloped in a thin vortex, and the surrounding colorful poisonous miasma actively avoided him, unable to get close.

It was Nightmare, who had been in secluded cultivation here!

Nightmare had been startled by the fighting outside and the Mad Fiend Wolf’s roars. He had just come out to investigate when he saw this uninvited guest falling from the sky.

Young Master Wang was first stunned when he saw Nightmare. Discovering that the other party’s aura didn’t seem very strong (Nightmare had deliberately restrained it), he immediately regained some of his arrogant demeanor, struggled to get up, and shouted in a outwardly fierce but inwardly timid manner: “Who are you? Why are you here? This… what is this place? Quickly tell me, your Young Master! Otherwise…”

Young Master Wang’s words abruptly stopped.

Because Nightmare’s gaze had already passed over Young Master Wang and landed on the anxious Mad Fiend Wolf at the edge of the sinkhole, then he said indifferently:

“Too noisy.”

The next moment, Nightmare raised his hand and casually flicked his finger.

A subtle, almost invisible grey-black Finger Wind shot through the air, instantly traversing dozens of feet and precisely entering the forehead of the Middle Second-tier Mad Fiend Wolf.

The Mad Fiend Wolf’s roar instantly froze, its blood-red eyes became dull, and then its massive body swayed and crashed to the ground, completely lifeless! In the center of its brow, there was only a tiny red dot, with hardly any blood flowing out.

The Mad Fiend Wolf’s Divine Soul had been annihilated instantly by the Soul Shattering Finger!

The arrogant expression on Young Master Wang’s Face completely froze, his eyes wide open as if he had seen a ghost, and his entire body trembled like a sieve, his pants instantly wet.

Kill… kill with a single breath… Steward Liu said… it was actually true?!

Nightmare slowly turned his head, his cold gaze falling back on the terrified Young Master Wang, a slight frown on his Face:

“Now, tell me.”

“Who are you? Why have you come here?”

Nightmare’s voice was flat, yet it carried a chill that made one’s Soul tremble.