First exploration of the Dao Palace, slaying the guardian beast

The Desolate Star Sector was now completely submissive, transformed into a solid rear base. Nightmare did not indulge in the temporary tranquility. His gaze had long been cast toward the blurry region deep within the star chart, marked in Elder Zijun's memory as the "Dao Source Star Sea," and the ancient ruins hidden within—the "Primordial Dao Palace."

A place deemed worthy of exploration by existences like the leader of the Tianyan Alliance was certainly no ordinary matter. It might contain an Opportunity that surpassed the High Sovereign Realm, or a secret treasure capable of shaking the structure of the Middle Universe Domain. In any case, it was worth a visit.

After three more days of seclusion to consolidate his Realm, Nightmare summoned his core team again.

"I am going to the 'Dao Source Star Sea' to investigate the 'Primordial Dao Palace'." Nightmare got straight to the point. A relatively hidden route was already marked on the star chart. "This trip might take a long time, and we may encounter strong enemies. The three of you will continue to manage the fortress, with Blood Fang assisting. The principle remains the same: hold the line, purge, and develop."

Stone Firm, Iron Edge, and Sand Shadow were already accustomed to Nightmare's style of doing things. Although they had concerns, they had absolute confidence in their master's strength. They replied in unison: "Yes! We shall not fail your trust!"

"For this trip, I will only take ten elites." Nightmare pointed out ten Nidao Guards who had performed most prominently during the previous raid on Tianyan Star and the counter-kill in the star-shattering turbulence, and whose cultivation was closest to the threshold of the Middle Sovereign. "Travel light, return quickly."

"Master, do you need me to accompany you?" Blood Fang couldn't help but speak up, looking at Nightmare with eager eyes. He was now both afraid of and respectful toward Nightmare, and he wanted to earn more merit to solidify his position.

"You stay behind, assist Stone Firm and the others, and keep a close eye on the Star Domain, especially the movements of the Tianyan Alliance." Nightmare glanced at him. "If there are any mistakes, you know the consequences."

Blood Fang shivered and hurriedly bowed: "Subordinate understands! I will definitely do my best!"

Without further delay, that very day, a small, fast ship—specially modified and reinforced for stealth and speed, named the "Falcon Shadow"—carrying Nightmare and the ten carefully selected Nidao Guards, quietly departed from Nidao Fortress and plunged into the vast Void Realm.

The route was long, traversing several known and unknown Star Domains, avoiding the main shipping lanes where the Tianyan Alliance might have deployed defenses. Although they occasionally encountered sporadic Universe wanderers or small merchant fleets along the way, the Falcon Shadow's excellent stealth performance made it like an invisible ghost, remaining undetected.

About half a month later, the scene in the Void Realm ahead began to change drastically.

The originally relatively "calm" Universe background was replaced by a boundless, magnificently colored, almost eerie, and constantly rolling nebula. This nebula was not made of ordinary dust and gas clouds; it was mixed with an incredibly dense amount of Grandmist Origin Spiritual Qi, and was also filled with violent Spatial Turbulence, twisted time folds, and countless flickering, strange light spots that seemed to contain ancient Dao rhymes. When sight and Divine Sense were cast into it, they were like clay oxen entering the sea, quickly swallowed and interfered with.

This was the "Dao Source Nebula," the outer barrier where the Primordial Dao Palace was located, and also a natural forbidden zone and testing ground. Within the nebula, crises lurked everywhere, but Opportunities were also abundant. It was a place of exploration that many powerhouses in the Middle Universe Domain both loved and hated.

According to the clues in Elder Zijun's memory and the fragmented intelligence subsequently collected by Sand Shadow, the entrance to the Primordial Dao Palace was hidden in the Core Zone of this nebula, near a strange spatial node known as the "Dao Source Vortex Eye."

The Falcon Shadow hovered at the edge of the nebula, and everyone inside the ship could clearly feel the heart-palpitating energy fluctuations and Law disturbances coming from ahead.

"Master, the energy interference inside the nebula is extremely strong. Conventional detection methods are almost ineffective, and the ship's defensive pressure will increase dramatically. Should we look for other paths or prepare special protection?" the Nidao Guard responsible for piloting asked solemnly.

Nightmare stood in front of the porthole, looking at the rolling, magnificent "Star Sea," with dark gold vortices slowly rotating in his eyes. He could feel that the ancient and pure Grandmist Origin contained in this nebula resonated subtly with the Reverse Dao Power in his body, vaguely giving him a sense of "craving."

"No need." Nightmare withdrew his gaze. "Put away the Falcon Shadow; we will go in directly."

"Yes!"

Everyone did not hesitate and quickly left the ship. Nightmare waved his hand to store the Falcon Shadow into a specially made Magic Treasure. The eleven people hovered outside the nebula. A thin layer of Chaos Demonic Flame, flowing with dark golden starlight, rose around Nightmare, wrapping him. The ten Nidao Guards also each activated their Origin to protect their bodies, forming a simple defensive formation.

"Follow me closely, do not fall behind." After saying this, Nightmare moved, taking the lead to rush into that magnificent and dangerous nebula.

Upon entering the nebula, the feeling was completely different. The surroundings were no longer empty Void Realm, but rather like being in a viscous, colorful ocean of energy. The violent Spiritual Qi turbulence was like an invisible blade, constantly cutting at their Protective Aura, making hissing sounds. Divine Sense was compressed to a range of only one hundred zhang; further away, it was a blur of twisted light and shadow, and their sense of direction became chaotic.

Moreover, from time to time, some "Law fragments" or "energy traps" containing strange Dao rhymes would appear out of thin air. If one was not careful and touched them, at best, their Origin would vibrate; at worst, they could be swept into spatial rifts or time turbulence.

Nightmare led the way in front. His perception far exceeded those of the same rank, and the sensitivity of his Dao Reversal Origin to energy was astonishing. He could always avoid the most dangerous energy vortices in advance, guiding everyone to shuttle through relatively stable "gaps." Occasionally, when encountering unavoidable energy impacts or Law fragments, a roll of his Chaos Demonic Flame could forcibly swallow and decompose them, turning them into his own use.

The ten Nidao Guards followed closely, their awe for their master deepening. In such a forbidden zone, their master still walked as if he were strolling in a garden.

After traveling in the nebula for more than a day, the energy concentration around them became increasingly astonishing, and the turbulence became more violent. Just as everyone's nerves were tense, a low, long, roar that seemed to come from the ancient primordial era suddenly came from the depths of the rolling nebula ahead!

The roar did not travel through the air, but directly vibrated the Divine Soul and Origin! A heavy, ancient, and barbaric Aura, accompanied by the roar, rolled in!

"Alert!" Nightmare's eyes narrowed, and he stopped.

Suddenly, the nebula in front parted to the sides, revealing a relatively empty spherical area with a diameter of about a thousand miles. In the center of the area, a huge, pitch-black rock platform, covered in mysterious natural patterns, was suspended. And on the platform, a behemoth was creeping!

The giant beast resembled a mysterious turtle, its back shell as broad as a small landmass, naturally imprinted with patterns like stars and rivers, shining with a thick Grandmist luster. Its head was like a dragon or a sea turtle, its eyes like two small suns burning with pale blue flames, its gaze intimidating as they opened and closed. Its four legs were like pillars of heaven, firmly grasping the platform, and its whole body radiated a terrifying Aura as heavy as the earth and as vast as the starry sky, which had actually reached the Early Stage of the High Sovereign Realm!

"Grandmist Mysterious Turtle... Ancient Guardian Beast." Nightmare recognized the Origin of this giant beast at a glance. There were vague records in Elder Zijun's memory that there were indeed powerful exotic beasts guarding the entrance to the Primordial Dao Palace, but he did not expect that its strength would be so formidable, actually reaching the High Sovereign Realm!

Obviously, this turtle was the "gatekeeper" of the Dao Palace entrance, or rather, the first level of testing and screening.

"Intruders... stop..." The Mysterious Turtle emitted a low and obscure Divine Thought wave, full of warning, "This is the important place of the Dao Palace... those without affinity... are not allowed to enter... retreat... or turn into stardust..."

As it spoke, its huge body slowly stood up. With just one movement, it caused the surrounding nebula energy to churn. The thick Grandmist Origin condensed into an extremely solid blue-black light shield on its body surface, exuding an indestructible Concept. At the same time, its giant mouth slightly opened, and a pale blue "Mysterious Turtle Cold Flame," which seemed to be able to freeze the Soul and burn everything, condensed in its mouth, aimed at Nightmare and his group.

The ten Nidao Guards turned pale. The Aura of a Vicious Beast at the High Sovereign Realm made their Divine Souls tremble, almost causing them to kneel.

Nightmare, however, did not change his expression; instead, a hint of interest flashed in his eyes. A Guardian Beast at the High Sovereign Realm? Perfect, he could use it to test his newly broken-through methods and also verify whether this Primordial Dao Palace lived up to its name.

"Beast, those who block my path, die." Nightmare's voice was flat, but it carried undeniable murderous intent.

"Arrogant!" The Mysterious Turtle seemed to be angered. It had guarded the entrance to the Dao Palace for countless years and had seen many powerhouses, but very few dared to despise it like this.

It did not say another word, its giant maw snapping open, and that mass of long-brewing, pale cyan "Mystic Turtle Cold Flame" erupted like a bursting galaxy!

The flames were not scorching but instead contained extreme frigidity and corrosion; wherever they passed, even the violent nebular energy was instantly frozen and disintegrated, forming a pale white path of destruction that surged straight toward Nightmare!

Facing an attack capable of severely wounding or even killing an ordinary High Sovereign in the Early Stage, Nightmare did not dodge or evade, but instead took a step forward.

"Dao Reversal Ultimate Kill Domain — Chaos Star Ruins!"

Hum!

With Nightmare at the center, a dark gold Domain, more condensed and profound than before, with the faint imagery of miniature stars birthing and dying within, suddenly expanded!

Within the Domain, the Chaos Demonic Flame was no longer merely burning; it transformed into countless tiny, rotating dark gold nebular vortexes, each one containing terrifying power of devouring and chaotic reversal!

The pale cyan torrent of Mystic Turtle Cold Flame crashed fiercely into the dark gold Domain!

The intense collision that was expected did not occur.

That seemingly terrifying cold flame, once it entered the Domain's range, was crazily torn, divided, and devoured by the countless dark gold nebular vortexes!

The extreme cold and corrosion Laws contained within the cold flame were rapidly disintegrated and assimilated in the face of the Chaos Demonic Flame’s even more overbearing and fundamental "Reverse All Laws" characteristic!

After barely a breath of stalemate, the massive torrent of cold flame was like being gnawed upon by an invisible giant beast, rapidly "thinning out" until it completely vanished deep within the Domain, actually causing the Domain's radiance to grow even brighter!

"What?!" In the eyes of the Grandmist Mystic Turtle, which were burning with pale flames, a look of anthropomorphic shock appeared for the first time.

Its innate Divine Ability had actually been devoured so easily?!

"I wonder if your turtle shell is hard enough."

When Nightmare's icy voice rang out, his figure had already vanished.

It was not high-speed movement, but rather as if he had merged into his own Domain, achieving a type of teleportation that bordered on the "Dao".

The next instant, he appeared directly above the Grandmist Mystic Turtle's massive head, less than a hundred zhang away!

At such close range, the oppressive feeling brought by the Mystic Turtle's mountain-like head was even more terrifying.

The Mystic Turtle reacted extremely quickly, letting out a roar as its head slammed upward, while the star patterns on its back shell shone brilliantly, countless condensed starlight chains generating out of thin air, winding toward Nightmare like spirit snakes in an attempt to bind and suppress him to death.

"Star Fall!"

Nightmare let out a low shout, his right fist clenched tight, the Chaos Demonic Flame highly compressed, a dark gold singularity at the tip of his fist shining to the extreme, as if it were the core of a supernova about to explode, and he smashed it fiercely toward the Mystic Turtle's colliding head!

Fist and skull collided violently!

Boom!!! A dull, massive sound, as if two worlds had collided, exploded outward!

A terrifying shockwave erupted in a ring, clearing away a large swath of the surrounding roiling nebula!

The dark cyan rock platform below emitted a cracking sound of being unable to bear the burden!

The Mystic Turtle let out a painful hiss; its head, capable of smashing stars, had actually been knocked backward by this single punch!

At the connection point between its head and back shell, there even came the faint sound of a Bone Crack!

What shocked it even more was that the strange flame and chaotic reversal power on the fist had actually penetrated its body's thick light shield, directly burning and eroding its flesh and Divine Soul!

Those starlight chains that had wound around him, upon contacting the Domain around Nightmare, also seemed to meet their nemesis, rapidly dimming and disintegrating.

"Impossible! What is this power of yours?! It can actually restrain Grandmist Origin?!"

The Mystic Turtle's Divine Thought was filled with incredulous terror.

It was an ancient exotic species, naturally close to the Grandmist Dao, its Origin incomparably thick, its defense considered invincible among its peers, yet today it had its defense broken by force by a Human Race Cultivator, and was even restrained by the attributes of his power?

"Why ask so many questions, you dying thing."

Nightmare did not let up while in the dominant position, his figure flashing again to appear at the side of the Mystic Turtle's relatively fragile neck.

His hands held the void, the Chaos Demonic Flame gathering crazily, instantly condensing into a giant dark gold Demonic Flame blade, a hundred zhang long, with edges flowing with destructive starlight!

"Armor Break!"

The giant blade was held high, carrying a heaven-splitting, earth-shattering Aura of determination, and slashed fiercely toward the gap where the Mystic Turtle's neck connected to its back shell!

That was precisely the point where its defense was relatively weak!

The Mystic Turtle was terrified out of its wits, frantically retracting its head, while simultaneously activating all the star patterns on its back shell, condensing an incredibly thick starlight shield to block its neck.

Sshhh!!! The giant Demonic Flame blade slashed against the starlight shield, emitting an ear-piercing sound of cutting and annihilation!

The shield only held for an instant before being brutally cleaved open by the giant blade!

The blade's momentum slowed slightly, but it still hacked fiercely into the Mystic Turtle's neck!

"Roar!!!" The scream, filled with extreme misery, shook the nebula!

Dark cyan blood, scorching like magma, sprayed out, only to be instantly evaporated by the Demonic Flames!

This strike, though it did not sever the Mystic Turtle's head, had severely wounded its vital point, cutting off most of its connection to life and the operation of its Origin!

The Mystic Turtle's eyes were filled with pain, fear, and despair; it wanted to escape, to retract into its indestructible back shell, but with its neck wounded, its movements became incomparably sluggish.

How could Nightmare give it a chance?

His figure flickered, appearing in front of the Mystic Turtle's giant maw, which was wide open in pain; on his right palm, the Chaos Demonic Flame condensed into a dark gold spike condensed to the extreme, aimed at the depths of its mouth, at the core that was vaguely visible, pulsing, and emitting a vast Aura of life and Origin—the location of the Mystic Turtle's Inner Core!

"Extinguish!"

The dark gold spike shot out like lightning, following the giant maw, ignoring all obstacles, and pierced with absolute precision into the Mystic Turtle's Inner Core!

Pfft! A soft sound like a bubble bursting.

The Mystic Turtle's massive body stiffened suddenly, and the pale cyan flames burning in its eyes, like a candle in the wind, rapidly extinguished.

That vast Aura of life and the Origin fluctuations of the High Sovereign Realm receded like a tide.

Its head hung down powerlessly, slamming heavily onto the dark cyan platform with a dull thud.

The star patterns on its back shell rapidly dimmed, and the thick Grandmist Origin around its body began to dissipate uncontrollably.

Nightmare grasped with his palm in the void, a suction force forcibly restraining the Mystic Turtle's pure Origin, which had begun to scatter, while his Divine Sense probed deep into its collapsing body.

Very soon, a palm-sized token, warm and smooth as jade throughout, presenting a Chaos color, with ancient palace patterns naturally engraved on its surface, was pulled out by his power from the Mystic Turtle's core and landed in his palm.

Primordial Dao Palace Admission Token!

The token felt slightly heavy in his hand, its texture strange, and it faintly resonated with his own Reverse Path Origin.

It contained a special spatial beacon and authority mark, which could resist some of the Restrictions within the Dao Palace and was also the key to opening the true entrance.

Nightmare put away the token, simultaneously exerting his full power to activate "Star Devouring Dao" to devour and refine as much of the Mystic Turtle's dissipating High Sovereign Origin as possible.

This guardian beast's Origin was extremely pure and thick, greatly beneficial for stabilizing his Realm, which he had just entered as a High Sovereign.

The ten Nidao Guards, who had been watching from afar and were already shocked beyond measure, only now slightly regained their senses, their gazes toward Nightmare as if looking up at a deity.

A terrifying Vicious Beast of the High Sovereign Realm had actually been killed by Lord so cleanly and efficiently!

When the last bit of the Mystic Turtle's Origin was devoured, its massive body also completely turned to ash, merging into the surrounding nebula, leaving only that huge dark cyan platform floating alone.

Nightmare stood upon the platform, holding the admission token, and could clearly perceive that the token was resonating strongly with a certain point deep within the nebula ahead.

He looked up, his gaze seemingly piercing through layers of nebula.

"The entrance is right there."

And through the token's subtle sensing, he also vaguely perceived that on the other side of that resonance point, inside that so-called "Primordial Dao Palace", it seemed... there were already the Auras of some "guests".

Among them, there was no lack of the Aura that was familiar and disgusting to him—the Origin fluctuations of the Tianyan Alliance.

"It seems this trip to the Dao Palace will not be lonely."

Nightmare's mouth curved into an icy arc.

"Let's go."

He did not linger, following the token's guidance, and flew toward the depths of the nebula, toward the entrance of the ancient ruins enveloped by layers of Restrictions and mist.

The ten Nidao Guards suppressed the agitation in their hearts and followed closely behind.

A new adventure and slaughter were about to unfold in this ancient Dao Palace that had been silent for countless years.