At the heart of Heaven's Dao, a conspiracy is revealed.

The moment he stepped through the shattered barrier, it felt as if he had passed through an invisible, viscous liquid curtain of light.

The clamor behind him, the surging sea of light, the burning embers of the shattered barrier... all sounds and Chaos were shut out.

Before him lay "boundlessness" in another sense.

This was no longer a flowing sea of light, but a "space" composed of absolute, static, golden radiance that had condensed into substance. The radiance was soft, yet it contained an indescribable heaviness and majesty, as if every wisp of light were the manifestation of the most fundamental Laws of the Universe. In the center of the space floated an "object" that could not be measured by size.

It was a... golden sphere of light.

It was not a regular sphere; its surface slowly writhed and rotated like liquid, sometimes stretching, sometimes contracting, as if it were a living heart, or perhaps a giant eye coldly looking down upon all things. The sphere of light itself was not dazzling, yet the radiance it emitted illuminated this entire core hinterland. That radiance contained "Order," "Fate," "Karma," and "Law"... all the ultimate powers that constituted the basic framework of this Universe.

This was the true form of the heavenly dao core.

But what truly made Nightmare's gaze narrow was not the sphere of light itself.

Rather, it was that from the surface of this massive sphere of light, countless... hair-thin yet clearly visible "threads" extended.

These threads were of various colors—pure white, pale gold, crimson, grayish-black... densely packed and endless, like the tangled roots of a giant tree, or a massive web enveloping all things. They extended from the surface of the sphere of light, piercing through this golden space, extending to unknown destinations, and disappearing into the endless Void Realm.

Nightmare's Divine Sense subconsciously traced back along a few of these threads. His perception crossed unimaginable distances, vaguely "seeing" the other ends of these threads—

Some connected to an Immortal Dao titan in the Immortal Realm, who was in deep seclusion with an aura reaching the heavens. This titan was surrounded by Luck, appearing infinitely glorious, yet a wisp of their purest life essence and Soul Power was being silently extracted along that thread, flowing into the golden sphere of light.

Some connected to a Yao Race Genius in the Spirit Realm who was currently attempting a Breakthrough of a Bottleneck. It roared and struggled, drawing upon Spiritual Qi, unaware that a portion of the Heaven and Earth creation power it drew upon during the Breakthrough, along with a trace of its hidden Innate spiritual charm, was being greedily sucked away by another thread.

Some connected to a newborn baby in the Mortal Realm with a loud cry. A point of spiritual light flickered between the baby's brows, appearing naturally extraordinary, but a faint wisp of "destiny Luck," representing some possibility of its future, had already been quietly entangled and fixed by an extremely thin thread.

More threads connected to countless strong or weak Cultivators and living beings within the Three Realms, and even some mountains, rivers, earth veins, and Sect Luck...

Plunder! Silent, pervasive plunder!

It was not directly stripping away life, but extracting the purest Origin, Luck, potential, Soul Power, and even "possibilities"! Like a greedy giant beast parasitic at the root of the Universe, it slowly absorbed the nourishment of the entire Three Realms through these countless "threads" to maintain its own existence and operation, which were vast beyond imagination!

This was the Heavenly Dao!

The so-called "Heavenly Dao Order," the so-called "favored by Luck," the so-called "son of destiny"... they were nothing more than pastures and harvesting programs it had meticulously woven! It bound all living beings within the rules, bestowing power and Opportunity, while simultaneously burying pipelines for extraction. The strong grew stronger, appearing glorious, but in reality, they had even more extracted from them; the weak struggled to survive, yet could not escape the fate of having a faint wisp of their meager Origin squeezed out invisibly. The entire Three Realms was like a massive, slowly operating supply system, and the core was the golden sphere of light before him!

Just as Nightmare's Divine Sense touched the essence of these "threads"—

The golden sphere of light trembled violently!

The soft radiance suddenly became dazzling, and a grand, majestic will, as if overriding all things and allowing no shred of blasphemy, descended like a tide, enveloping Nightmare!

"Reverse Dao Practitioner..."

A voice rang out. It did not propagate through vibrations in the air, but resounded directly in the depths of Nightmare's Divine Soul! The voice was ancient, cold, and devoid of any emotion, yet it contained a supreme majesty that made the Divine Soul tremble.

"Thou hast stepped into the forbidden land and glimpsed the source of supreme Order."

"Thy actions defy the natural order, destroy the discipline, slaughter the guardians, and are a monstrous sin."

"Kneel now, disperse thy Reverse Dao Power, brand thy Divine Soul under the Heavenly Dao, and thou mayest yet survive as a servant of Order."

"If thou persist in thine obsession, I shall descend the ultimate Heavenly Tribulation, erase thy existence, and cause thy true spirit to fall forever into the Void Realm, never to recover!"

The voice was like thunder, carrying terrifying pressure, attempting to directly crush Nightmare's will and force him to submit.

However, Nightmare stood in place, his figure as straight as a spear, motionless under that supreme pressure. He raised his head and stared directly at the huge golden sphere of light, without the slightest trace of awe or fear on his face, only an ice-cold, bone-chilling indifference, and... a hint of undisguised mockery.

"Source of Order? Supreme Heavenly Dao?" Nightmare spoke. His voice was not loud, but it clearly echoed in this golden space, carrying a strange penetrating power that actually suppressed that grand, majestic voice of will by a fraction.

"The Order you speak of is just like a parasite, clinging to all living beings, sucking blood and extracting marrow?"

"The Heavenly Dao you speak of is just weaving a massive net, letting all living beings struggle within it to provide you with nourishment?"

"The protection you speak of is just raising a bunch of guard dogs to kill anything that might threaten your blood-sucking?"

"The Luck and destiny you speak of are just tags you use to screen fat sheep and accelerate harvesting?"

A series of cold, essential-piercing questions, like sharp blades, stabbed fiercely toward the golden sphere of light.

The radiance of the golden sphere of light fluctuated violently, and the will it transmitted contained a hint of obvious anger: "Arrogant! Ignorant ant, how dare you rashly discuss the ultimate principles of the Heavenly Dao! The operation of Order has its own rules; all things are born from Heaven and Earth and feed back into Heaven and Earth—this is the natural cycle! I am the Incarnation of Order, maintaining the balance of the Three Realms, extracting a little Origin to maintain my own operation—what is wrong with that? If not for my Order, the Three Realms would have long since collapsed into Chaos and returned to nothingness!"

"Maintaining balance? Extracting a little?" Nightmare sneered. "Controlling the son of destiny, making him grow according to your script, plundering the Opportunity and Luck of others, and finally taking it back with interest when you need it—is this 'a little'? Suppressing Reverse Dao Practitioners, killing all who refuse to be disciplined or attempt to break through your rule framework with Heavenly Tribulation—is this 'balance'? Treating the living beings of the Three Realms as penned livestock, setting cultivation shackles, and letting the 'nourishment' you need 'mature' on schedule—is this 'natural cycle'?"

The more he spoke, the colder his voice became, and the mockery in his eyes grew thicker.

"Don't dress up your blood-sucking rhetoric so sanctimoniously. You are nothing but a greedy and selfish plunderer and controller who occupies the position of the Universe's root. You are not maintaining Order; you are maintaining your own rule and food supply!"

"Presumptuous! Reverse Dao raving, blaspheming the supreme!" The golden sphere of light was furious; its radiance exploded, and the terrifying pressure pressed down doubled like a mountain! At the same time, those countless threads connected to the sphere of light seemed to brighten slightly, as if extracting more power from all parts of the Three Realms!

"Whether it is raving, you know for yourself." Nightmare remained completely unmoved. He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

A point of Chaos-colored light lit up from his palm, and then, the phantom of a fruit, radiating hazy starlight with a Universe of galaxies slowly rotating inside, emerged—the star dao fruit!

"Don't you like to talk about evidence?" Nightmare looked at the golden sphere of light, his eyes cold. "Then let me show you exactly how many 'good deeds' you have done over these countless years!"

He activated his mind, and the star dao fruit suddenly shone brightly! Countless fragmented, bizarre image shards surged out from the dao fruit like a torrent, intertwining, combining, and evolving in this golden space!

Within the images:

There were blurred ancient scenes showing that the initial Heavenly Dao was not so greedy and coexisted with all spirits. But at some unknown time, its core will became distorted, and it began to secretly weave a net of rules and set up pipelines for extraction.

There were scenes of the tragic endings of past "sons of destiny." Under the blessing of Luck, they grew rapidly, defeated strong enemies, and seemingly reached the Peak, but at the most critical moment, they were either struck down by a mysterious "Heavenly Tribulation" or fell due to a sudden outbreak of "Heart Demon." Their immense Luck and Origin were instantly drained by an invisible force and flowed into the unknown.

There were countless brilliant Reverse Dao Practitioners and sages who attempted to break through the existing framework of rules. They were either strangled by "Heavenly Tribulation" at the beginning of their rise or toyed with by "Fate" at their Peak, dying and disappearing. Their rebellious Dao rhythm and will to resist were marked, recorded, and studied by the heavenly dao core, which constantly improved its means of suppressing the Reverse Dao.

On a more macroscopic level, the images showed the flow trend of the "Luck" and "Origin" of the entire Three Realms, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, eventually pointing vaguely toward this Hongmeng Realm, being slowly and firmly absorbed by that golden sphere of light...

These images were partly historical fragments passively recorded by the star dao fruit over the long years, partly the truth it deduced based on Nightmare's encounters and the resonance of the dao reversal key, and some were even faint information imprints captured in reverse from within the "threads" when Nightmare's Divine Sense touched them just now!

Although not detailed in every aspect, it was enough to piece together a shocking picture of the truth!

"See clearly now?" Nightmare withdrew the phantom of the star dao fruit, and the images dissipated. He stared at the golden sphere of light, which was fluctuating violently and even appeared somewhat "flustered," his voice like ten-thousand-year-old ice.

"This is your true face. A vampire that usurps a high position and treats all things as straw dogs, a control freak that fears being overthrown and thus does everything possible to strangle all variables."

"The Order you speak of, your Heavenly Dao rule... today, it ends here."

Having its hypocritical mask completely torn off and its core conspiracy and essence nakedly exposed, the golden sphere of light fell into a brief, deathly silence.

But within that silence, a rage capable of destroying galaxies was brewing!

"...Reverse Dao... must... be eliminated!!!"

It was no longer a majestic proclamation, but a roar filled with endless killing intent and madness, like a beast that had been stabbed in its vital spot!

"Rumble—!!!"

The entire heavenly dao core hinterland shook violently! The massive golden sphere of light suddenly contracted inward, and immediately after, a golden pillar of light, whose brilliance and terror could not be described in words, erupted from the center of the sphere and shot into the sky!

Within the pillar of light, endless Hongmeng Heavenly Dao Origin boiled, burned, and condensed! A giant phantom, draped in golden imperial robes, wearing a star crown, with a blurred but incomparably majestic face, as if symbolizing the supreme authority of the Universe, stepped out from the pillar of light!

This phantom was ten thousand zhang tall, its body wrapped in tangible Heavenly Dao Law chains, its eyes like two burning golden suns; wherever its gaze fell, space solidified, and all Laws bowed!

Heavenly Dao Incarnation! The ultimate combat form condensed by the heavenly dao core after being completely enraged, not hesitating to burn Origin! Its aura was so strong that it far exceeded all previous enemies, reaching an inconceivable Realm, as if a mere gesture could move the power of the entire Hongmeng Realm!

The Incarnation looked down at Nightmare, who was as small as dust below, and slowly raised its right hand. In its palm, endless golden thunder and light from the Annihilation Domain gathered crazily, turning into a golden pillar of annihilation light that pierced through Heaven and Earth!

"Blaspheming the Heavenly Dao, prying into taboos, defying the natural order... thy crimes are unforgivable!"

"Hongmeng Heavenly Tribulation—Annihilation!"

As the words fell, the golden annihilation pillar of light, containing the ultimate will of destruction and purification, like a sword of falling heaven, carrying the terrifying power to judge all spirits and erase all discord, crashed down toward Nightmare! Wherever the pillar of light passed, even this incomparably sturdy core space began to collapse and annihilate inch by inch!

The final decisive battle erupted at this moment!

Facing this terrifying Heavenly Tribulation capable of destroying the entire Immortal Realm continent in one strike, there was not only no fear in Nightmare's eyes, but a Battle Intent and ice-cold killing intent that burned to the extreme!

The Chaos-colored Hongmeng Reverse Dao Demonic Star Flame around him erupted, turning into a chaotic giant shield inscribed with countless rebellious runes, seemingly capable of devouring all light and heat—the Reverse Dao Demonic Star Shield, which fiercely met the falling annihilation pillar of light!

"Want to judge me?"

"Today, I shall defy this Heaven of yours and shatter this Dao of yours!"

Shield raised, flames burning, the curtain of the final showdown was dramatically raised!