Taking the initiative and striking directly at the domain.

The news of the elite encirclement army from the Black Rock Domain Lords Mansion being completely wiped out at the Abandoned Mine was like throwing a boulder into calm, dead water; the undercurrents it triggered spread far faster than Nightmare had imagined.

While Stone Firm and the other four were cleaning the battlefield and recovering resources, they had already pried more intelligence from the mouths of a few Blackrock Guards who were critically injured and on the verge of death, having been deliberately left with a breath of life—the Domain Lords Mansion was not a monolithic block; aside from the diehards absolutely loyal to Yan Kui, there were many Cultivators who only submitted out of fear of his might or to obtain resources to Cultivate.

The annihilation of the encirclement army, especially the fall of the two Peak Protectors, Iron Rock and Firm Rock, had caused turbulent undercurrents and restlessness within the Black Stone Main City.

Inside the tower, the Aura around Nightmare had completely stabilized, leaving only a hair's breadth from that threshold.

He opened his eyes, and a wisp of condensed, dark golden Demonic Flame danced silently at his fingertips, having integrated the wind's swiftness of Black Wind Protector, the golden iron sharpness of Iron Rock, the heavy solidity of Firm Rock, and the mixed yet considerable amount of Origin from the twenty Blackrock Guards.

His power was no longer comparable to when he had first entered the Grandmist.

"My Lord." Stone Firm stood respectfully outside the tower and reported, "The battlefield has been cleared. We have seized seventeen sets of complete Blackrock Guards standard armor, fifteen long spears, twenty-three Storage Pouches, and a total of about three hundred standard units of various origin crystals."

"Additionally... from the captives, we learned that the defenses within the Black Stone Main City are currently empty, the elite forces are all lost, many Cultivators are watching from the sidelines, and some are even preparing to flee."

Nightmare walked out of the tower, his gaze sweeping over the spoils of war piled on the open ground, as well as his five subordinates, who, despite their injuries, had eyes that were becoming increasingly sharp, and whose Auras had slightly improved due to participating in the battle and obtaining a small amount of resources.

"Flee?" A cold arc pulled at the corners of Nightmare's mouth. "Where could they possibly flee to?"

He looked up, gazing toward the direction of the center of the Black Rock Domain where the energy was densest; that was where the Black Stone Main City was located, and also the core of the Domain Lords Mansion.

"Yan Kui must be both shocked and furious right now, perhaps still gathering his last remaining forces, or perhaps seeking reinforcements from that so-called 'Purple Lightning Domain'?" Nightmare's voice was calm, yet carried a chill that pierced the heart. "The thing he should least have done was give me time to digest, give me time to... come knocking on his door."

He looked at Stone Firm and the other four: "How is your recovery?"

"We are willing to die for you, My Lord!" the five roared in unison, their eyes burning with Battle Intent and a hint of fanaticism.

Following such a master, while dangerous, also presented immense opportunity! As mine slaves who had once been trampled into the mud, had they ever imagined that one day they would be able to participate in a battle to overthrow the Domain Lord's rule?

"Die?" Nightmare said indifferently, "I want you to live and watch how I crush the last layer of the Domain Lords Mansion's fig leaf. Take all the spoils of war; arm yourselves with what is useful, and store what is not. Target—Black Stone Main City, Domain Lords Mansion."

"Yes!"

There was no rest whatsoever, nor any so-called "long-term planning." Dealing the most fatal blow when the enemy was at their most panicked and chaotic had always been Nightmare's principle of action.

The group left the Abandoned Mine, with Nightmare taking the lead and Stone Firm and the other four following closely behind, turning into several streaks of light that tore through the gray sky, heading straight for the Black Stone Main City!

The Black Stone Main City was less a city and more a massive fortress complex built relying on the core mountain range. The towering black city walls were constructed from giant stones containing Origin, with rugged defensive Formations inscribed on the surface.

This place was originally the most prosperous and heavily guarded area in the Black Rock Domain, but at this moment, the guards patrolling the walls were noticeably sparse, and each of them looked panicked, whispering to one another.

When the six of them appeared in the sky outside the Main City without any concealment, a piercing alarm sounded in a rush!

"Enemy attack! It's the people from the mine!" "They're here! Quickly activate the Formation!" "The Domain Lord has ordered! Defend the city walls to the death!"

On the city walls, the nearly one hundred guards who had been somewhat scattered managed to pull themselves together, and under the shouts of a few minor leaders, they quickly ran to their respective positions.

Their Cultivation was mostly at the early Dominator Realm, but compared to the Blackrock Guards who had been wiped out earlier, they were a cut below in terms of equipment, Aura, and coordination, looking more like ordinary city defense troops.

Hum—! The runes on the city walls lit up one after another, the gray-black light connecting into a sheet and rapidly interweaving in the air, forming a huge Formation light shield that covered the entire outer perimeter of the Main City—the Black Rock Heaven Net Formation!

The light shield was thick and solid, with phantoms of mountains floating on its surface, emitting a powerful defensive and suppressive force.

"Release arrows! Attack!" Following the order, the guards on the wall activated their Origin, condensing countless gray-black rock arrows that shot toward the six of them in the sky like a rainstorm!

The arrows pierced the air, emitting a wailing whistle, with enough power to pierce the defense of an ordinary early Dominator.

Stone Firm and the other four changed expressions slightly, subconsciously looking toward Nightmare.

Nightmare's eyes remained without fluctuation; he didn't even look at the sky full of arrows or the Formation light shield below, only spitting out two words to Stone Firm and the others: "Follow me."

As his voice fell, his figure suddenly accelerated, and without dodging or avoiding, he crashed straight toward the thickest part of the Black Rock Heaven Net Formation, which was also the front city wall where the core of the Formation was located!

"Is he crazy?! He dares to force his way through the Heaven Net Formation?!" the guard leader on the wall shouted in horror.

Just as Nightmare was about to crash into the Formation light shield— "Dao Reversal Ultimate Kill Domain!" Hum!

The deep, dark Domain expanded once again, but its range was extremely compressed, only covering a ten-zhang radius around Nightmare, condensed to the point of being almost tangible! The edge of the Domain collided with the gray-black Formation light shield with a boom!

"Sss—crackle crackle crackle—!!!" There was no earth-shattering explosion, only the teeth-aching sound of erosion and melting!

That seemingly incomparably sturdy "Black Rock Heaven Net Formation" light shield, which was enough to withstand several attacks from a Middle Sovereign, was, the moment it touched the Dao Reversal Ultimate Kill Domain, like snow meeting a red-hot iron, easily "melted" into a huge gap!

Wherever the Domain reached, the Formation runes dimmed and shattered, and the Origin power that composed the Formation was reversed and disintegrated!

Nightmare's figure, like a red-hot knife cutting into butter, passed through the Formation light shield without any resistance! As soon as the rock arrows shooting from the sky entered the range of the Domain, they deviated from their course or were shredded by an invisible force, unable to touch him in the slightest.

"How is this possible?!" The guards on the wall were all dumbfounded; their strongest defense, which they relied upon, was actually so vulnerable?

Nightmare passed through the light shield and reached above the city wall. He looked down, overlooking the terrified guards below, his eyes devoid of any pity.

"Hongmeng Reverse Dao Demonic Star Flame—Disperse." He waved his hand gently.

In an instant, with him as the center, the boundless black Demonic Flame erupted like a blooming black lotus, sweeping toward the entire section of the city wall and the area behind it! The flames were silent, yet carried the dead silence and destruction that would burn everything to nothingness.

"Ah—!" "Run!" "Help—!" Screams rang out instantly, and were instantly extinguished.

Where the Demonic Flame passed, the guards on the wall, the battlements, the defensive machinery, and even the section of the wall inscribed with runes, all turned into charred black at a speed visible to the naked eye, then disintegrated into the finest ash!

Nearly a hundred guards, unable to even organize a decent resistance, had their Divine Souls scattered within the Demonic Flame.

The entire "Black Rock Heaven Net Formation," because its core node was broken and the guards hosting the Formation were instantly killed, collapsed with a boom, and the light shield covering the Main City flickered a few times before dissipating completely.

Nightmare, like a demon god descending upon the world, stepped on the ash flying all over the sky and slowly landed on the ground inside the Main City. Stone Firm and the other four followed him through the gap and landed behind Nightmare, their throats feeling a bit dry as they looked at the charred city wall ruins before them, which seemed to have been baptized by a natural disaster. This was absolute power suppression!

Inside the Main City, the streets were empty, and the doors and windows of the buildings on both sides were tightly closed; clearly, the residents and ordinary Cultivators had long been alarmed and had gone into hiding. In the distance, the iconic black obsidian fortress of the Domain Lords Mansion was already in sight.

Nightmare took a step and walked toward the Domain Lords Mansion, his footsteps echoing on the deathly silent street.

After walking just two streets and arriving before the magnificent black gates of the Domain Lords Mansion, two powerful Auras rushed out from inside the gate, blocking the path ahead.

These were two old men wearing battle armor with dark golden trim, their Cultivation surprisingly at the Peak of the early Dominator Realm, their Auras heavy and condensed, their gazes sharp; they were clearly the last experts left behind by the Domain Lords Mansion, perhaps Yan Kui's personal bodyguards or Elders.

"Those who trespass into the Domain Lords Mansion, die!" The old man on the left had his hair and beard standing on end, and he held a heavy Black Rock battle axe in his hand.

"Killing my comrades and destroying my city walls, today I will surely make you pay with blood!" The old man on the right held a short halberd in each hand, his Evil Qi awe-inspiring.

The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, had their Auras connected, faintly sealing off all of Nightmare's forward routes; they were actually proficient in joint attack techniques.

Nightmare stopped, glanced at them, and said only three words: "Move aside, or die."

"Arrogant!" The two old men roared and attacked simultaneously! The battle axe cleaved out a gray light capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, while the dual halberds stabbed out with a tricky and ruthless cold light; one hard and one soft, their coordination was tacit, instantly sealing off all of Nightmare's vital points!

This time, Nightmare did not even expand his Domain.

He simply raised his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and tapped gently toward the two of them.

"Swish! Swish!" Two streaks of dark golden Demonic Flame rays, condensed to the extreme and as thin as a hair, arrived after being launched but struck first, hitting the blade of the battle axe and the tips of the dual halberds with extreme precision.

Ding! Ding! Two slight but crisp clashing sounds.

The next moment, something that made the two old men Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering happened—their battle axe and dual halberds, into which they had poured all their Origin and which were capable of splitting mountains and breaking Peaks, the moment they touched that thin line of fire, surprisingly began to be dyed with a layer of dead, dark golden color from the contact point, and then, like weathered sand sculptures, crumbled and disintegrated inch by inch!

Not only that, but that eerie dark golden color was also rapidly spreading along the weapons toward their arms!

"Not good!" The two were terrified and wanted to retreat, wanting to discard their weapons. But Nightmare's speed was faster.

His figure disappeared from where he was like a ghost, and when he reappeared, he was already standing between the two old men.

Both hands came out at once, fingers forming claws, pressing lightly on top of the two men's heads.

"Devour." A simple word.

The two Peak Dominator old men couldn't even manage a scream, their bodies convulsing violently, the light in their eyes rapidly dimming, and their pure Origin, like a river flowing backward, frantically poured into Nightmare's palms.

In just two or three breaths, the two turned into two withered corpses, and were then casually shaken into dust by Nightmare.

Nightmare shook his hand, as if he had just brushed off some dust. He looked up, gazing toward the wide-open Domain Lords Mansion gates, which no longer had any guards, and the deep, wide corridor behind the gates that led directly to the core hall.

He could clearly feel that at the end of the corridor, a massive Aura, like a sleeping volcano, was slowly rising and awakening, carrying monstrous fury and cold killing intent, firmly locking onto him.

Nightmare's mouth turned up slightly, revealing a cold smile that truly carried interest. "Finally, something decent."

He no longer paid attention to Stone Firm and the other four who were standing solemnly and surging with emotion behind him, and alone, he stepped into the gates of the Domain Lords Mansion, walking toward that final target without haste.

The battle for the change of ownership of the Black Stone Main City had officially entered its climax. And the sky of the Black Rock Domain, from this moment on, was destined to change color.