Desolate Star Sector, Intelligence Acquisition

The God-Felling Node was quietly brought under control, like a pebble dropped into a calm lake, causing ripples to spread silently.

Nightmare did not linger at the node for too long; after leaving behind five Nidao Guards skilled in Formations and disguise, he piloted the ni dao vessel toward the grey zone on the edge of the Middle Universe Domain known as the "Desolate Star Sector."

The sector was true to its name.

Sailing through it, the view was filled with grey tones.

Shattered planetary remains, twisted asteroid belts, abandoned stars emitting dim light, and vast stretches of void dust that seemed to have been drained of all vitality.

Although the Grandmist Spiritual Qi here was still denser than in the Elementary Universe Domain, it appeared exceptionally impure, violent, and even carried a hint of decay and rot.

The spatial structure also seemed more unstable, with occasional tiny spatial rifts flickering like centipedes before vanishing.

This was a corner forgotten by the prosperous core regions of the Middle Universe Domain, synonymous with a lack of resources and collapsed order, and a hotbed for space pirates, fugitives, and various unsavory forces.

Likewise, it was an area where hegemonic forces like the Tianyan Alliance had relatively weak surveillance—though, of course, only relatively.

The ni dao vessel moved silently like a shark cruising through a sea of grey sand.

Inside the ship, Nightmare closed his eyes, his powerful Divine Sense spreading out cautiously in all directions like mercury spilling onto the ground, using the warship as the center.

The spatial suppression in the Middle Universe Domain was stronger, so his Divine Sense range was compressed significantly, but its precision and penetration had improved due to the environment.

"Sir, three million miles ahead, we have detected weak, regular energy fluctuations, suspected to be man-made structures, with simple warning Formations on the perimeter," the Nidao Guard adjutant responsible for detection reported in a low voice, magnifying a blinking red dot on the star chart.

Nightmare opened his eyes and looked at the star chart.

The red dot was located within a natural "harbor" formed by the surrounding of three shattered planets, and its position was quite hidden.

"Approach stealthily, scan the structure," Nightmare ordered.

The dark golden luster on the surface of the ni dao vessel dimmed slightly, the hull seemingly blending into the grey void in the background, and it slowed down, sliding silently toward the target area.

Advanced detection Formations operated silently, and soon, a clearer three-dimensional structural diagram appeared on the main control screen.

It was an interstellar fortress with a rough exterior, resembling the lair of a steel beast.

The surface of the fortress was covered in thick cosmic dust and layers of rock used for camouflage, but the precise energy circuits and defensive runes inside could not deceive the deep scan of the ni dao vessel.

The fortress was not large, only about one-tenth the size of the God-Felling Node, but it was compact in structure, and its firepower configuration (several medium-sized energy cannons) was sufficient to deal with ordinary pirates or wandering forces.

Floating around the perimeter of the fortress were several Magical Artifacts disguised as meteorites, emitting obscure detection fluctuations.

"Energy characteristic analysis shows it is of the same Origin as the God-Felling Node guards, confirmed to belong to the Tianyan Alliance," the adjutant confirmed after quickly comparing the data.

"Internal life signs... five in the Early Stage of Middle-level Sovereign Realm, twenty at the Peak of Elementary Sovereign Realm. No large energy furnace reaction, judged to be... an outpost or intelligence station."

A monitoring outpost or intelligence relay station in a peripheral zone.

Nightmare's gaze turned cold.

The Tianyan Alliance's reach was indeed long.

Such a stronghold set up on the edge of a chaotic star sector was like the tip of a spiderweb—seemingly inconspicuous, yet capable of providing the most basic perception and intelligence for a vast power network.

"The internal communication node of the fortress has been locked; there is a weak but stable outgoing information stream, periodically exchanging data with a distant coordinate," another Nidao Guard added.

This nail had to be pulled out, and it had to be done quickly and cleanly, without allowing it to send an alarm.

Nightmare stood up: "You all stay on alert on the perimeter and blockade all possible escape routes."

"If anyone escapes the fortress, kill them without mercy."

"Yes!" the Nidao Guards inside the ship replied in unison, quickly dispersing to their respective combat posts.

The ni dao vessel also quietly hovered outside the range of the fortress's warning Formations, like a lurking hunter.

Nightmare's figure flickered, and he appeared outside the hull.

He did not launch a direct assault but stood in the void, waving his hands in front of him and spitting out a few obscure syllables.

"Reverse Path—Spatial Leap."

Hum!

The space in front of him rippled like water, sending out circles of dark golden ripples.

The next moment, Nightmare's figure, like ink dropped into water, disappeared silently from the spot.

Inside the fortress, in the core control room.

Five Cultivators wearing the grey robes of the Tianyan Alliance, with auras hovering between the Middle and Elementary Sovereign Realm, were boredly staring at several light screens in front of them displaying the fuzzy energy distribution map of the star sector.

This was the 37th edge observation station of the Desolate Star Sector, and their task was boring and long—monitoring energy anomalies in the star sector, recording the signals of occasional strange warships, and periodically sending the summarized boring data back to the superior branch.

"Old Liu, how long do you think we have to stay in this godforsaken place? I'm almost dying of boredom," a tall, thin Cultivator yawned and complained.

"Stop talking nonsense and just stay here honestly. I heard that the Alliance is preparing for a major exploration of the 'Ancient Ruins Secret Realm' recently. After this mission rotation, maybe we can be transferred to the periphery to help out; that's better than being here," the middle-aged Cultivator called Old Liu said without raising his head, wiping a detection crystal.

The other three were also listless, and some were even leaning against the wall dozing off.

Their cultivation level belonged to the bottom tier within the Alliance, and being sent to such a peripheral station was already semi-exile, so how could they have any spirit?

Just as the tall, thin Cultivator was about to complain a few more times—

The space in the center of the control room twisted without warning!

As if a pebble had been dropped into a calm lake, a circle of dark golden ripples spread out of thin air!

"Who is it?!" Old Liu was the first to be alert, looking up sharply and shouting, while reaching out to press the alarm button on the console.

However, his movements froze in mid-air.

A palm burning with dark golden, yet silent flames protruded from the twisted spatial ripples and gently pressed onto the core area of the console.

Hiss—!

A formless force carrying an aura of absolute Chaos and destruction instantly invaded the console!

The precise rune circuits, energy nodes, communication modules... in front of this force, they were like fragile sandcastles, instantly disintegrating and collapsing!

Blinding electric sparks burst out, several light screens extinguished simultaneously, and the entire fortress's energy supply and control System were completely paralyzed by this one press!

Even that continuous outgoing data stream ceased abruptly!

"Enemy attack—!!" The tall, thin Cultivator finally reacted, letting out a shrill scream while driving his Origin, and a grey palm wind slapped toward the figure that had suddenly appeared, shrouded in a faint dark golden light!

The other three dozing Cultivators also woke up, shocked and angry, and attacked one after another!

Some offered Flying Swords, others condensed energy bombs, and for a moment, energy surged in the narrow control room!

From the appearance of the Spatial Leap to the destruction of the console, Nightmare's movements were fluid, faster than imaginable.

Facing the attacks from all sides, he did not even look back.

He just moved his mind slightly.

Hum!

With him as the center, the Dao Reversal Ultimate Kill Domain—Chaos State, unfolded silently!

This time, the range of the Domain was precisely controlled, covering only the entire control room and several main passages connected to it.

Within the Domain, the dark golden Chaos Demonic Flame seemed to have life, flowing and jumping on its own.

The tall, thin Cultivator's palm wind, the shooting Flying Swords, the whistling energy bombs... all attacks, the moment they entered the Domain, were like mud cows entering the sea, easily swallowed and annihilated by the omnipresent Chaos Demonic Flame, failing to even stir up a ripple!

"Domain?! Middle Sovereign? No... this flame..." Old Liu's pupils shrank, his eyes filled with extreme fear.

He recognized the attributes of this flame; it had similarities to a certain forbidden power recorded in the Alliance, but it was more domineering, more... chaotic!

He wanted to escape, wanted to warn, but his body was like being filled with lead under the suppression of the Domain, and even turning his eyes became difficult.

He could only watch helplessly as the figure shrouded in the dark golden halo slowly turned around.

Nightmare's gaze swept calmly over the five pale-faced Tianyan Alliance Cultivators in the control room.

No nonsense, no interrogation.

He raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and gripped them toward the five people in the void.

"Extinguish."

Five clusters of dark golden Chaos Demonic Flame ignited on the five people out of thin air!

The flames did not start from the outside in, but erupted directly from the core of their Origin!

"Ah—!" Short and shrill screams sounded almost simultaneously, and then extinguished instantly.

The five Early Stage Middle-level Sovereign Realm Cultivators, under the burning of the Chaos Demonic Flame, melted and vaporized like five lit candles, and their Divine Souls also turned into nothingness.

Only five scorched grey robes and a few Storage Rings were left on the spot.

The whole process took less than three breaths.

The control room returned to deathly silence, with only the unpleasant smell of scorched circuit boards.

Nightmare put away the rings and moved, leaving the control room.

The twenty Peak Elementary Sovereign Realm guards in other areas of the fortress only then became aware of the abnormal movement and energy fluctuations in the control room, rushing out from rest rooms, armories, and other places.

What greeted them was the silently spreading death.

Nightmare was like a god of death walking in his own Domain, and wherever he passed, the dark golden Demonic Flame followed like a shadow.

Whether they formed a defensive Formation or tried to scatter and escape, it was futile in the face of this absolute gap in strength and speed.

One figure after another turned into green smoke in the Demonic Flame, and one Magical Artifact after another dimmed and fell.

In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick.

Inside the entire interstellar fortress, there was not a single living person left.

All Tianyan Alliance Cultivators were wiped out, their Divine Souls destroyed.

Various monitoring and recording equipment inside the fortress had long been scrapped when the console was destroyed.

Nightmare did not rush to leave; his Divine Sense carefully swept through every corner of the fortress, and finally, in the deepest part of the fortress, in a secret chamber reinforced with special alloys and set with several layers of Divine Sense isolation Restrictions, he found his target.

There were not many physical objects in the secret chamber, only a small, altar-like silver platform, on which several silver crystals that kept flashing with a faint light were suspended—information storage crystal cores.

Beside them were several thick star charts made of some kind of animal skin, and several Jade Slips recording complex data.

Nightmare waved his hand to break the Restriction and took the crystal cores, star charts, and Jade Slips into his hand.

His Divine Sense sank into them.

Information poured in like a torrent.

First was the star chart, which was countless times more detailed than the Elementary Universe Domain star chart obtained from the Purple Lightning Domain, clearly outlining a large area of the Middle Universe Domain with the "Tianyan Star Domain" as the core.

It marked the rough scope of the three major hegemonic forces: Tianyan Alliance, Void Temple, and Myriad Laws Sect.

The Tianyan Alliance had the largest sphere of influence, controlling numerous resource Star Domains and key passages, and its headquarters was located on the "Tianyan Main Star."

Next was a detailed description of the cultivation System.

The Dominator Realm was not the end in the Middle Universe Domain; above it were the more profound "Dao Master Realm" and the "Celestial Venerable Realm," which only existed in legends and could control the Origin of a Universe.

The gap between each major Realm was more terrifying than the gap between small Realms within the Dominator Realm.

The information even mentioned that the leader of the Tianyan Alliance was a powerful "High-level Grandmist Lord Realm" powerhouse who was launching an assault on the "Dao Master Realm."

Furthermore, there was detailed intelligence on the organizational structure of the Tianyan Alliance, the distribution of forces in peripheral areas, the locations of monitoring strongholds in the Desolate Star Sector and several similar chaotic areas... and so on.

Sure enough, it contained periodic inspection records regarding the "God-Felling Node," as well as an evaluation of the Desolate Star Sector being regarded as "low risk but requiring basic monitoring."

Finally, there were some scattered information fragments about known Secret Realms, dangerous places, and resource production areas throughout the Middle Universe Domain.

Priceless!

This intelligence was exactly what Nightmare needed most right now.

They were like a clear puzzle, presenting the basic outline of the Middle Universe Domain before him.

After digesting the information, a cold light flashed in Nightmare's eyes.

The Tianyan Alliance was indeed a behemoth.

But no matter how huge the beast, it had its nerve endings.

What he needed to do now was to pinch these endings off one by one, while taking advantage of the Chaos in this Desolate Star Sector to quietly grow stronger.

He put away all the materials and waved his hand.

The dark golden Chaos Demonic Flame surged out, instantly sweeping through the entire interstellar fortress.

Starting from the inside, this eye planted by the Tianyan Alliance in the Desolate Star Sector quickly melted and disintegrated in the Demonic Flame, finally turning into a huge fireball that burned quietly in the void and then slowly annihilated, leaving not much remains.

Nightmare's figure appeared beside the ni dao vessel.

"Intelligence has been obtained, the stronghold has been cleared. Return to the God-Felling Node," he ordered briefly.

The ni dao vessel turned around and sailed back the way it came silently.

It was hidden when it came, and so it was on its return.

Inside the bridge, Nightmare closed his eyes again, rapidly integrating the newly acquired intelligence in his mind and planning the next step.

Purge all the tentacles of the Tianyan Alliance in the Desolate Star Sector, establish a stable hidden stronghold, and at the same time... perhaps he could meet the true "local tyrant" of this star sector.

The ni dao vessel disappeared into the deep background of the Desolate Star Sector like a grey ghost.

And a silent and deadly storm of cleaning up against the peripheral forces of the Tianyan Alliance was about to be quietly set off in this forgotten Star Domain.