Black Rock Boundary, Outpost Clearance

Following the guidance of the stolen star chart, Nightmare flew for about half a day along the edge of the Grandmist, which was filled with turbulence and debris.

Ahead, the chaotic Void Realm gradually became "solid." The outline of a massive landmass, far wider than the Meteorite Belt and shimmering with the color of dark rocks, appeared at the edge of his perception.

Outside the landmass, it was shrouded in a thin but tough energy barrier, like a gray eggshell.

At a certain point in the barrier, there was an obvious "gap." The energy there was relatively stable, and a simple outpost built from some kind of black rock was constructed there. On the gate tower, a few Grandmist common characters were crookedly carved—Black Rock Outpost.

"This is it, one of the entrances to the Black Rock Elementary Universe Domain."

Nightmare slowed down and restrained most of the aura around him, but that "Reverse Path" quality originating from his core, even when tried to be hidden, still caused the sensitive barrier to ripple imperceptibly when he approached.

On the battlements of the outpost, ten Cultivators wearing uniform dark gray armor were standing or sitting. Their auras were similar to that group of marauders from before, all at the Elementary Hongmeng Lord Realm, but they lacked the ferocity of desperate outlaws and possessed more of the arrogance of those who bully others by flaunting their powerful connections.

The leader was a gaunt man with sallow skin and two thin, rat-like whiskers. He was sitting with his legs crossed, idly playing with a few inferior quality origin crystals in his hand.

As soon as Nightmare revealed his figure a hundred feet in front of the outpost, the rat-whiskered captain raised his eyelids, and his lazy Divine Thought swept over, carrying undisguised scrutiny and pickiness.

"Stop!" a guard shouted, jumping down from the battlements to block the path. He pointed his halberd at Nightmare, "Who goes there? State your background and verify your identity! It is the rule of the Black Rock Domain that all newcomers must pay an 'Entry Origin Tax'!"

Nightmare stopped, looked at him calmly, and said nothing.

The rat-whiskered captain then stood up slowly, paced to the edge of the outpost, and looked down at Nightmare, especially lingering for a moment on Nightmare's simple clothing that clearly did not belong to any known major Grandmist power, and curled his lips: "A fresh face. Which backwater corner did you sneak up from?"

He didn't wait for Nightmare's answer at all, or rather, he didn't care about the answer, and extended three fingers on his own: "The Black Rock Domain, under the rule of the Domain Lord, has its own Laws. Newcomers must pay three hundred standard units of 'Grandmist origin crystal' to obtain a temporary passage mark."

He paused, a flash of shrewd greed appearing in his rat-like eyes, "Looking at you, you don't look like someone who can come up with three hundred crystals. How about this..."

Several guards beside him understood and surrounded him with malicious intent, vaguely blocking Nightmare's retreat.

The rat-whiskered captain rubbed his fingers, his gaze scanning Nightmare like a hook: "Release that... hmm, somewhat special Origin aura on your body, and let this captain 'inspect' it. If it's a rare item, it might be able to pay off the tax, and even... hehe, I might be able to get you a job at the Domain Lords Mansion."

Although the words sounded nice, the predatory intent in his eyes was no different from the bandit leader in the Meteorite Belt.

The so-called inspection was nothing more than wanting to detain or even forcibly seize Nightmare's Dao Reversal Origin. This outpost, nominally for collecting taxes, was actually for extortion, specifically picking on soft targets.

Nightmare finally raised his eyes and looked at the rat-whiskered captain. The corners of his mouth seemed to twitch very slightly, as if smiling, but it was coldly devoid of temperature: "Are you finished?"

The rat-whiskered captain was stunned, not expecting this reaction from the other party. Usually, outsiders would either panic and beg for mercy, or swallow their anger and pay the wealth; how could there be one so calm?

"Kid, what kind of attitude is that?!" a hot-tempered guard nearby shouted angrily, "The captain is giving you a chance! Don't be ungrateful..."

The word "grateful" hadn't even left his mouth before Nightmare moved.

There was no warning, no nonsense. A deep black, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, erupted from Nightmare's fingertips and instantly sliced through the air.

The voice of the guard who was still clamoring stopped abruptly, and a very thin black line appeared on his neck.

He widened his eyes, seemingly wanting to look down, but in the next moment, his entire head and body, like paper thrown into a raging fire, began from the black line and were swallowed by black Demonic Flame that ignited out of thin air. He didn't even manage to scream before turning into a wisp of blue smoke, his Divine Soul utterly destroyed.

The pitiful amount of Origin within his body was like a stream returning to the sea; as it was swept up by the Demonic Flame, it submerged into Nightmare's body—better than nothing.

Silence. A deathly silence. The guards on and off the battlements were all stunned, staring in disbelief at the spot where their companion had instantly vanished.

The greed and arrogance on the rat-whiskered captain's face instantly froze, transforming into extreme horror: "You... you dare to kill my Black Rock Domain guard?! You're rebelling! Form the Formation! Quickly form the 'Black Rock Domain Suppression Formation'! Take down this madman!"

The remaining nine guards woke up as if from a dream, shocked and angry, shouting as they urged the Origin within their bodies and took their positions according to specific directions.

Nine streams of gray-black Origin power surged from their bodies, connecting with each other, and instantly condensed into a thick, mountain-like phantom Formation light curtain above the outpost. Carrying a heavy sense of oppression, it covered Nightmare's head!

This Formation was enough to trap and kill an ordinary Peak Elementary Hongmeng Lord Realm Cultivator!

"Suppress!" the nine shouted in unison, and the light curtain crashed down, sealing the surrounding space.

Nightmare stood in place, not even raising his eyelids. Just at the moment when the "Black Rock Domain Suppression Formation" light curtain was about to close—

"Hum!" With Nightmare as the center, a more gloomy and more profound Domain suddenly opened! Dao Reversal Ultimate Kill Domain!

Within the Domain, the Laws of chaotic rebellion and destruction manifested. As soon as the so-called "Black Rock Domain Suppression Formation" light curtain touched the edge of the Domain, it was like ice and snow meeting a branding iron, emitting a harsh "hissing" sound, and was rapidly eroded and dissolved!

"What?! This is impossible!" The rat-whiskered captain was scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Nightmare indifferently raised his hand and pressed it forward into the void. "Boom—!"

Within the Domain, the Hongmeng Reverse Dao Demonic Star Flame erupted violently like an ignited volcano! The black flame giant wave swept out with unstoppable force, instantly crushing the crumbling Formation light curtain and drowning the nine guards forming the Formation along with the entire outpost building!

"Ah—!" "Captain, save..." The screams were swallowed by the crackling sound of the fire burning.

The black Demonic Flame mercilessly licked everything, whether it was rock, armor, or flesh and Divine Soul. In just two breaths, the flames dissipated.

In place, only a little flying ash remained, along with scorched black marks on the ground. The Black Rock Outpost, along with the ten guards inside, had completely disappeared.

Even the communication or warning devices that might have been on them were reduced to nothingness under the absolute destruction of the Demonic Flame.

Nightmare didn't even look at the ruins, raised his hand to grab from the air, and the Storage Pouch and identity token left behind by the rat-whiskered captain fell into his hand. He probed slightly and then put them away casually. There wasn't much useful information, but it was better than nothing.

His figure flickered, turning into a faint black line barely visible to the naked eye, and he shot directly into the Black Rock Universe Domain from the gap in the barrier where the outpost had originally been.

Just at the moment he entered the Domain, and his aura slightly merged with the Domain's Origin—

A massive, majestic Divine Thought with obvious scrutiny, like an invisible wave, instantly swept over from the deepest part of the Domain! The intensity of this Divine Thought far exceeded an Elementary Dominator, carrying a heavy feeling of being vaguely connected to the entire Black Rock Domain.

Domain Lord-level investigation!

Nightmare's eyes narrowed slightly, without the slightest hesitation. The Dao Reversal Origin within his body oscillated at a strange frequency, instantly smoothing out and concealing all of his own aura, including that trace of "foreign" fluctuation he had picked up just upon entering the Domain.

He was like a drop of water merging into the sea, a stone sinking into a quagmire, and at the moment that the massive Divine Thought swept over, he "disappeared" perfectly.

That Divine Thought swept over the nearby area several times, seemingly carrying a trace of doubt, but ultimately did not find any abnormalities and slowly retreated.

Nightmare hid in the darkness of the Void Realm, and only after the Divine Thought completely disappeared did he reveal his figure again. He looked towards the depths of the Domain, where the energy was more concentrated, and the outlines of cities were vaguely visible.

"Middle Hongmeng Lord Realm... interesting." Nightmare whispered, stopped staying, and according to the guidance of the star chart, silently sneaked towards the direction of the so-called "Blackstone Black Market."

The outpost was destroyed, and the guards were all wiped out. But until Nightmare's figure completely disappeared under the gray sky of the Domain, this entrance area remained silent, as if that short and cruel slaughter had never happened.