Reconstituted Demon Core

A question flashed through Nightmare's mind.

The System? Ever since his Rebirth via Possession, the "Mandate of Heaven Great Villain System" that issued missions and granted rewards seemed to have fallen completely silent after he had been severely injured and fled into the Black Mountain Range.

There were no missions issued, no crisis alerts, and even the most basic attribute panel seemed to have vanished. If not for the existence of the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture and the Xiangliu Poison he had previously received, Nightmare would have almost thought the so-called System was just a hallucination.

"Is it a lack of energy? Or is it because my dao foundation is damaged, weakening my connection with it? Or perhaps... something went wrong with the System itself?" Thoughts raced through Nightmare's mind, but the current situation was critical and left no room for detailed investigation.

Without the System's assistance, he could only rely on himself!

Nightmare suppressed his distracting thoughts and poured all his focus into frantic Cultivation. The evil Qi at the bottom of the sinkhole seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, forming a visible grey-black vortex that poured madly into Nightmare's body.

He operated the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture to its limit. His Meridians throbbed with swelling pain, yet they were also being rapidly widened and reinforced. Inside his Dantian, the withered phantom of his Demonic Essence Nascent Soul held its hands in a meditative pose, its small mouth open, swallowing the refined Demonic Essence like a whale drinking water. Its form and features began to become solid and clear at a visible speed.

The barrier of the Peak Late Foundation Establishment Stage was tottering under the impact of such immense energy.

But Nightmare's goal went far beyond that!

He wanted to seize this opportunity to make one final push, re-condense his Demonic Core, and return to the Golden Core path!

However, the Golden Core Stage was not merely an accumulation of energy. It required one's own dao foundation as the root and the Divine Soul as the guide to compress liquid Essence energy to the extreme, condensing it into a solid Golden Core containing one's own Dao Law!

Nightmare's dao foundation was damaged and his Nascent Soul was withered; forcing a Core Formation now carried immense risk! If the compression of Essence energy failed, it would inevitably cause a terrifying energy backlash. At best, his cultivation would be completely crippled; at worst, he would explode and die!

Furthermore, there were the pervasive whispers of the Demonic Heart, constantly trying to erode his Divine Soul and interfere with his mental state.

"A mere incomplete Demonic Heart wants to block my Dao path?" A flash of madness and paranoia crossed Nightmare's eyes. As a Demonic Venerable in his past life, how resilient was his Dao Heart? How could he be disturbed by external factors?

"Demonic Core, condense!"

Nightmare let out a low roar in his heart. He no longer suppressed the surging Demonic Essence within his body, but instead used his powerful Divine Thought to forcefully control it, compressing it madly toward the center of his Dantian!

Boom!

A muffled thunder seemed to resound within Nightmare's body! The immense Demonic Essence resisted violently, impacting his Meridians and bringing agonizing, tearing pain! His Dantian felt as if it were about to explode!

Nightmare's face instantly turned blood-red, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his body trembled slightly, yet his eyes remained fierce as he continued to compress it regardless of the consequences!

At the same time, the whispers of the Demonic Heart suddenly became sharp, filled with temptation and intimidation:

"Give up... why endure such pain..."

"Embrace me... I can give you greater power..."

"Destroy... destroy everything..."

All sorts of illusions sprouted in Nightmare's Sea of Consciousness, attempting to shake his will.

"Get lost!" Nightmare's Divine Soul let out an angry shout. His Demonic Venerable will was like an indestructible rock, crushing all distracting illusions into nothingness!

Compress! Compress again!

In the center of his Dantian, at the center of that vast sea of Demonic Essence, an extremely tiny point began to appear, emitting a terrifying suction force and madly devouring the surrounding Demonic Essence!

This point became brighter and more solid!

Gradually, a "phantom core shadow" that was pitch-black all over, with countless fine Demonic patterns faintly flowing on its surface, began to slowly take shape!

But just at this moment, a sudden change occurred!

The Seal at the cave entrance seemed to undergo violent fluctuations again, likely because of Nightmare's frantic extraction of evil Qi and the continuous impact from the Demonic Heart inside!

Hum—!

A terrifying evil Qi, ten times more immense and a hundred times more refined than before, mixed with a clearer and more violent Demonic Heart will, erupted from the crack like a bursting flood, instantly engulfing Nightmare!

"Argh—!"

Caught off guard, Nightmare felt a wave of indescribable cold and deathly energy rush into his body, almost completely freezing and crushing his Meridians and will! The will of the Demonic Heart was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely onto his Divine Soul!

The newly condensed phantom core shadow vibrated violently and was instantly covered in cracks, looking as if it were about to collapse!

All his efforts were about to go to waste! He might even be doomed forever!

Just at this critical moment!

Within Nightmare's body, the long-dormant "Xiangliu Poison" seemed to have been provoked, and it suddenly erupted on its own!

A more ancient, purer toxic Origin power, representing ultimate death and annihilation, surged from the depths of Nightmare's Demonic Essence Nascent Soul and fiercely met the invading terrifying evil Qi!

Two equally evil yet vastly different types of terrifying power used Nightmare's body as a battlefield and violently collided!

Nightmare couldn't help but spit out a large mouthful of black blood. A layer of black frost instantly condensed on the surface of his body, only to be quickly eroded by a grey, dead Qi. His whole person seemed to be rapidly rotating between life and death, the pain indescribable!

But it was precisely this sudden collision that gave Nightmare a chance to catch his breath!

"Now is the time!"

Enduring the dual agony of his Divine Soul and Physical Body, Nightmare's eyes flashed with a hint of crazy ferocity. He forcibly guided these two terrifying energies that were madly opposing and annihilating each other within him, wielding them like two hammers of destruction, and smashed them fiercely toward the phantom Demonic Core that was about to shatter!

Break and then establish! No destruction, no construction!

Boom!!!

A loud noise, like the creation of the world, resounded within Nightmare's Dantian!

Under the frantic squeezing and impact of these two extreme forces, the phantom Demonic Core, covered in cracks, not only did not shatter completely, but was instead forcibly and brutally forged and condensed!

The cracks on its surface instantly disappeared, its volume shrank drastically, its color became even deeper and pitch-black, and the Demonic patterns on it seemed to come alive, moving frantically and emitting a heart-palpitating aura of devouring and destruction!

He did not know how much time had passed.

The violent energy within Nightmare's body gradually subsided.

The Xiangliu Poison slowly retreated back into the depths of his Nascent Soul, and the external evil Qi was also refined and absorbed.

In the center of his Dantian, a "Golden Core" the size of a dragon's eye, round and flawless, pitch-black all over, and covered in dense Demonic patterns, was floating quietly, rotating slowly.

With every rotation, it inhaled and exhaled a massive amount of Demonic Essence, emitting a terrifying pressure dozens of times stronger than in the Foundation Establishment Stage!

Demonic Core, formed!

Nightmare opened his eyes abruptly, the pitch-black Demonic light in his eyes appearing substantial, piercing through the thick poisonous miasma in front of him!

A powerful sense of strength once again filled his whole body!

Although he was still far from his Peak in his past life, returning to the Golden Core Stage meant something completely different! Many secret techniques and Divine Abilities he couldn't use before now had the Foundation to be unleashed!

Nightmare slowly raised his hand. A wisp of pure black Demonic Flame jumped and burned at his fingertip, and the surrounding poisonous miasma seemed to have encountered a monarch, retreating one after another.

"Early Golden Core Stage... Finally, I have a bit of self-preservation power." Feeling the surging power within his body, Nightmare revealed a cold smile on his pale face.

However, before he could carefully experience the mysteries of the Golden Core Stage, his expression changed slightly.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Several incomparably powerful Divine Senses, like searchlights, swept over from the distance without any concealment, instantly locking onto the location of the sinkhole!

Among these Divine Senses, the weakest one had reached the Early Golden Core Stage, while the two strongest were clearly at the Late Golden Core Stage!

One of the Late Golden Core Stage Divine Senses was cold and murderous, carrying the unique, majestic yet indifferent aura of the Righteous Path from the Sky Patrol Alliance!

The other one was filled with an evil, bloody, and nauseating sense of weirdness!

"The person inside! Get out!" A cold voice resounded like a thunderclap above the sinkhole, containing an unquestionable tone of command.

Nightmare's heart sank abruptly.

The worst-case scenario had happened.

The people from the City Lord's Mansion had not returned for a long time, and it had indeed attracted true experts! And it wasn't just one party that had come!

The special envoy of the Sky Patrol Alliance, and... that expert full of evil aura, was likely the so-called "Holy Cult" messenger behind the mysterious people in Wang Teng's memories!

Two Late Golden Core Stage experts!

Nightmare's eyes instantly became incomparably cold, the Devilish Qi around his body became restrained, and he entered an extreme combat state.

He had been discovered; the only option was to fight!

But just as Nightmare was preparing to launch a surprise attack and fight for a glimmer of survival—

【Ding! Detected that the Host's strength has recovered to the Golden Core Stage, meeting the minimum energy standard. The "Mandate of Heaven Great Villain System" is restarting...】

【Restart successful!】

【Warning! Warning! Detected ultra-high intensity energy reactions *2 locking onto the Host! Danger level: Extremely High!】

【Issuing emergency survival mission: Snatching Food from the Tiger's Mouth!】

【Mission Objective: Successfully escape from the lockdown of two Late Golden Core Stage experts, and seize the core item of the "Seal Demonic Altar" (Demonic Heart Essence/Seal Stone Pillar Fragments/Altar Inscriptions, etc., are all acceptable).】

【Mission Reward: Based on the value of the seized item and completion rate, rewards include but are not limited to: Divine Ability Comprehension Card *1, Special Physique Enhancement Opportunity *1, Top-grade Demonic Essence Pill *10, and some Villain Points.】

【Failure Penalty: System energy will be exhausted again and fall into silence; the Host will have to fend for himself.】

The long-lost, cold, and mechanical System prompt finally resounded in the depths of Nightmare's mind.