The Taoist palace withdrew, and the remaining forces were wiped out.

Thirty breaths.

The System's cold countdown echoed in his mind, intertwining with the roaring from all directions that sounded as if the Foundation of the world was shattering.

Nightmare opened his eyes, his Chaos-colored pupils reflecting the apocalyptic scene of this Core Zone: the Eye of Guixu, which devoured everything, was twisting and expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye, its edges tearing open countless pitch-black Void Realm cracks, like the gaping maw of a dying beast.

The "void" barriers above, below, and all around were covered in spiderweb-like cracks, with brilliant yet lethal turbulent energy gushing crazily from the fissures.

The entire Primordial Dao Palace Secret Realm was emitting a wail of being unable to bear the burden.

"Go."

Without any hesitation, Nightmare's figure transformed into a streak of Chaos-colored light, rushing back in the direction he came from. Behind him, several black shadows—the loyal Nidao Guards, like ghosts merging into the shadows, followed closely.

They had just rushed out of the core range of the Eye of Guixu when a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering boom came from behind! It was the sound of the spatial structure completely collapsing.

A glance back revealed that the eerie void, along with the vortex at its center, was like a ball of paper crumpled by an invisible giant hand, instantly collapsing into an extreme black dot, and then—Boom!!!

The black dot exploded, and an indescribable destructive shockwave, mixed with shattered spatial fragments and a torrent of chaotic Law, swept in all directions at a speed surpassing light! Wherever it passed, everything tangible or intangible was ground into the most primitive Chaos energy.

Nightmare could even feel the terrifying tearing force coming from behind, enough to rip apart the Physical Body of a Dao Master Realm Cultivator.

"Faster!" he shouted in a low voice, his newly attained Dao Master Realm Mid-stage cultivation erupting without reservation. The Hongmeng Chaos Reverse Dao Demonic Star Flame formed a streamlined trail of flame behind him, propelling him forward at even greater speed. The Nidao Guards also used their own methods to keep up closely.

They were like antelopes fleeing through collapsing mountains, with the "tide of collapse" constantly spreading and devouring everything behind them.

The scene along the way was shocking. The originally stable ancient spatial structure was now like shattered colored glaze, peeling off and annihilating in large swathes. Some of the floating star fragments were swallowed by spatial cracks, while others were ground into powder by the turbulent energy. Occasionally, one could see the figures of some Cultivators who hadn't managed to escape the third or fourth levels, drowned in the torrent of collapse amidst desperate screams, instantly turning into nothingness.

Death became the cheapest backdrop here.

Nightmare's eyes were indifferent, his mind without the slightest fluctuation, only driving his speed to the limit. On the back of his hand, the mark from the Reverse Path Stele shone slightly, seemingly producing a faint resonance with some remaining veins of the Dao Palace, guiding him along a relatively stable "path" leading to the exit.

The collapse was accelerating.

When they swept past the fault space at the junction of the former third and fourth levels (this place had long been affected by the earlier collapse, turning into a dead zone where energy raged), Nightmare keenly sensed that on a relatively "intact" broken continent ahead to the side, dozens of panicked figures were gathered.

Those people were dressed differently; there were remnants of the Tianyan Alliance, as well as survivors from forces like the Thunder Fire Domain and Ice Seal Domain encountered earlier, with cultivation generally at the Middle-level Sovereign Realm and below. They had clearly been terrified by the collapse and were running around like headless flies, trying to find a way out.

When Nightmare's party swept past, wrapped in an astonishing Aura and the light of the Chaos Demonic Flame, those panicked gazes turned towards them in unison.

Greed instantly overcame fear.

"It's that Reverse Dao Practitioner! He just came out of the Core Zone!"

"The Legacy! He must have obtained the complete Legacy!"

"And those Nidao Guards... they must have great treasures on them!"

"Stop him! Grab the Legacy and the treasures, and perhaps we can find a way to survive!"

Despair often breeds the maddest stupidity. Dozens of Cultivators, their eyes burning with final greed and madness, actually temporarily forgot the collapse behind them, roaring as they rushed towards Nightmare! The light of various Divine Abilities and Magic Treasures lit up chaotically, merging into a messy yet not-to-be-underestimated torrent, attempting to drown Nightmare.

"Ants."

Nightmare didn't even slow down, just coldly spat out two words.

He couldn't even be bothered to lift a hand, his mind slightly moved, and the Hongmeng Chaos Reverse Dao Demonic Star Flame surrounding him, which seemed to be just for acceleration, suddenly expanded outward!

Whoosh!!!

The pitch-black flames instantly transformed into a sea of destruction that devoured light and heat, centering on Nightmare and rolling back towards the dozens of people rushing over!

There was no intense collision, no brilliant explosion.

Where the sea of Demonic Flame passed, the protective divine light of those Middle-level Sovereign Realm Cultivators melted silently like ice and snow under the scorching sun; the Magic Treasures they unleashed lost all spirituality the moment they touched the edge of the flames, wailing as they turned into molten iron; their Physical Bodies didn't even have time to let out a proper scream before they were directly vaporized under the terrifying high temperature and Reverse Path erosion of the Chaos Demonic Flame, leaving not even a trace of ash.

As for their Divine Souls? They were completely annihilated the instant the Demonic Flame swept past.

It took no more than a breath.

Dozens of Cultivators, each harboring greed, along with the edge of the broken continent they were on, were completely wiped from the world, leaving only a void that was scorched slightly distorted and retained the Aura of destruction.

Nightmare's figure had passed through this newly formed "blank zone" without any pause, as if he had just casually brushed a speck of dust off his clothes.

"Ahead, Dao Palace Nebula." A calm report came from the Nidao Guards. That was the only stable exit between the Dao Palace Secret Realm and the outside Universe, a special area formed by broken stars and spatial vortexes.

Sure enough, in the dark void ahead, the hazy outline of a "nebula" composed of countless tiny points of light gradually became clear. The nebula rotated slowly, and at its center was a relatively calm "vortex eye," which was the exit.

But at this moment, the area near that "vortex eye" was not calm.

Ten figures with powerful Auras stood like reefs on the edge of the nebula, all wearing Tianyan Alliance battle robes, their eyes sharp, and their cultivation was surprisingly all at the High Sovereign Realm! They were clearly troops sent to meet the Vice Alliance Leader and others, or to blockade the exit.

They also saw Nightmare speeding over, as well as the collapsing scene behind him that was constantly approaching and devouring everything.

"It's that Reverse Dao Practitioner! Where is the Vice Alliance Leader and the others?" The leading Peak High Sovereign Realm Cultivator's expression changed.

"Only he came out... could it be..."

"Stop him! Ask clearly!"

The ten people instantly made a decision, their Auras erupting as they formed a simple battle formation, their sharp killing intent locking onto Nightmare.

Nightmare's eyes did not change in the slightest, his speed increasing instead of decreasing.

Just as the distance between the two sides closed to a thousand zhang, and the light of the ten-person battle formation flared, on the verge of launching a thunderous strike—

Nightmare's figure disappeared from where he was.

It was not teleportation, but that his speed was too fast, so fast that he left a clear afterimage in the opponent's Divine Sense lock, while his true body had already broken through the spatial restriction.

The next instant, like a ghost, he appeared directly in the center of the ten-person battle formation!

The ten High Sovereign Realm Cultivators didn't even have time to react at all.

Nightmare just stood quietly in their midst, and then, Chaos-colored Demonic Flame silently exploded from beneath his feet.

Like a silent, black sun.

There was no heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound, only the faint "whoosh" sound of flames licking the void.

The Demonic Flame, centered on Nightmare, instantly swept across a radius of a hundred zhang.

The flames dissipated.

In their place, there was nothing. The ten High Sovereign Realm Cultivators, along with the battle formation they had formed, completely evaporated.

Nightmare didn't even look back at this final "obstacle."

He took a step forward and plunged straight into the rotating "vortex eye" in the center of the nebula.

The Nidao Guards followed closely behind.

A bizarre feeling of spatial travel came, accompanied by the fresh Aura of starry sky energy from the outside, belonging to the normal Universe.

Behind them, the nebula exit connecting to the collapsing Dao Palace vibrated violently a few times the moment they all exited, then, like a candle in the wind, its light rapidly dimmed and contracted, finally with a "poof" sound, completely annihilating into the cosmic background radiation.

The Primordial Dao Palace Secret Realm, along with all the living beings and secrets that had not yet escaped, was thus completely sealed and submerged, returning to eternal Chaos and nothingness.

Nightmare hovered in the cold Universe void, looked back at the position of the exit that had already disappeared, his eyes calm and waveless.

"Return to Nidao Fortress."

He turned, the Chaos Demonic Flame condensing under his feet, transforming into a streak of light, speeding towards the depths of the Middle Universe Domain, to that fortress planet that belonged to him.

Behind him was the silent starry sky that had buried countless ambitions and corpses.

Ahead was the force waiting to be consolidated, and the... final reckoning that was bound to come.