First exploration of the secret realm, battle for the blood pool

Three days later, the Blood Mist Mountain Range.

This mountain range was shrouded in blood-colored mist year-round. The mist contained a bizarre corrosive power; if ordinary Celestial Venerable Realm Cultivators stayed here too long, their Origin would be slowly corroded. Deep within the mountain range, terrifying beast roars could be heard from time to time.

Nightmare brought twenty elites of the Nidao Vanguard Army and stopped at the entrance of a valley.

On both sides of the valley were steep, blood-colored rock walls engraved with ancient Formations. The valley entrance was filled with blood mist ten times denser than outside, so thick one could not see their own fingers.

“This is the place.” Nightmare looked at the Jade Slip in his hand; the location marked on it matched the valley before him perfectly.

The entrance to the Grandmist Blood Pool.

“My Lord, there are Formation fluctuations at the valley entrance,” a Vanguard Army Cultivator skilled in Formations said in a low voice. “It is the Divine Court’s defensive array, capable of blocking at least a full-power attack from a Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm expert.”

Nightmare nodded and walked forward.

Just as he approached the valley entrance, dozens of red lights suddenly lit up in the blood mist. Ten Cultivators wearing the silver armor of the Zhennan Branch appeared from the mist, blocking the entrance.

The leader was a one-eyed man whose aura reached the Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm. He looked at Nightmare coldly: “This is a Forbidden Ground of the Divine Court; trespassers...”

Before he could finish, Nightmare raised his hand.

A black streak of fire shot from his fingertip, instantly piercing the one-eyed man’s glabella.

The one-eyed man widened his eyes, seemingly wanting to say something, but the black flame had already spread from the wound over his entire body. In less than a breath, the entire person was burned to ashes.

“Enemy attack!” The remaining nine guards were shocked and simultaneously activated the Formation.

The blood-colored mist at the valley entrance instantly condensed, turning into nine giant blood-colored pythons that pounced toward Nightmare with hissing roars. Each giant python carried the pressure of an Early Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm expert; with all nine emerging together, it was enough to trap and kill a Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm expert.

But Nightmare only opened his right hand.

With his palm facing up and fingers slightly curled.

The Hongmeng Chaos Nirvana Anti-Dao Demon Star Flame surged from his palm, turning into nine black fire chains that precisely wrapped around the necks of the nine blood pythons.

Hiss—

The blood pythons emitted painful hisses, struggling crazily. But the black fire chains tightened, the flames frantically corroding the bodies of the blood pythons. In just three breaths, all nine blood pythons were burned into nothingness.

Under the backlash of the Formation, all nine guards vomited blood simultaneously.

“Run!” someone shouted.

But it was too late.

Nightmare’s figure flashed through the valley entrance like a ghost; with every pause, a guard fell. The black flames erupted within their bodies, burning them to extinction before even their Divine Souls could escape.

Ten breaths.

Ten Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm guards, completely wiped out.

Nightmare stepped over the ashes covering the ground and walked into the valley.

The scene inside the valley suddenly opened up.

The blood mist was gone, replaced by a vast underground space. In the center of the space was a blood-colored pool with a diameter of one hundred zhang—the pool water was as viscous as blood, emitting an extremely dense aura of the Grandmist blood-type Origin.

This was the Grandmist Blood Pool.

Blood-colored bubbles constantly rose to the surface of the pool, and each bubble that burst released a wisp of pure blood-type Origin. Suspended in the center of the pool was a fist-sized blood-colored crystal core; inside the crystal core, it seemed as if blood was flowing, emitting a heart-stopping fluctuation.

Blood-type Grandmist crystal core.

At the edge of the Blood Pool, five Cultivators were sitting cross-legged. They wore the Elder robes of the Zhennan Branch, and their auras were all at the Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm; they were currently closing their eyes to absorb the Origin in the pool.

Hearing footsteps, the five opened their eyes simultaneously.

The moment they saw Nightmare, their expressions all changed.

“It’s you?!” the long-bearded old man at the lead exclaimed, “Elder Jin Ming died at your hands?!”

Clearly, they had already received the news.

Nightmare did not answer and walked straight toward the crystal core in the center of the Blood Pool.

“Stop him!” the long-bearded old man shouted, “The crystal core is the core resource of the branch; it must not fall into the hands of an outsider!”

The five rose at the same time, turning into five blood shadows that pounced on Nightmare. They had been cultivating in the Blood Pool for a long time, so their control over the blood-type Origin far exceeded those of the same rank; now, attacking with full force, the five blood-colored streamers were like five rivers of blood, sealing off all of Nightmare’s retreat paths.

Nightmare finally stopped.

He turned his head to look at the five pouncing toward him.

A trace of impatience flashed in his eyes.

“Scram.”

He spat out one word.

The black flames around his body erupted violently, turning into five giant flaming Dragons that met the five blood rivers.

Chi, chi, chi—

The blood rivers collided with the flaming Dragons, emitting a harsh corrosive sound. But this time, the blood rivers did not gain the upper hand. On the contrary, the black flames were frantically devouring the Origin within the blood rivers; the flaming Dragons burned brighter and brighter, while the blood rivers rapidly dimmed.

“This flame can devour blood-type Origin?!” the long-bearded old man was terrified.

“Only now realizing?” Nightmare said coldly, waving his hand.

The five flaming Dragons exploded violently, turning into a sky full of black fire rain that completely enveloped the five.

“No—!”

Screams rose one after another.

The five Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm Elders were as fragile as paper dolls in the black fire rain. Their protective blood light was easily burned through by the flames, and their Physical Bodies rapidly dissolved in the flames.

Ten breaths.

The fire rain ceased.

Only five piles of ashes remained on the ground.

Nightmare did not even look, continuing to walk toward the center of the Blood Pool. He stepped on the viscous blood water, walking step by step toward the suspended crystal core.

The closer he got, the stronger the fluctuations emitted by the crystal core became.

The moment he reached out and grasped the crystal core—

Boom!

A massive amount of blood-type Origin surged into his body like a broken dam. The energy within the crystal core was pure to the extreme, almost not needing refinement, and directly merged into his Meridians, Dantian, and Sea of Consciousness.

Nightmare did not hesitate and jumped directly into the Blood Pool.

Sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the pool, the crystal core floated above his head.

He began to absorb.

Not absorbing bit by bit, but devouring crazily.

The entire Blood Pool began to rotate at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a huge blood-colored vortex. At the center of the vortex, Nightmare’s body was like a bottomless pit, frantically devouring all the blood-type Origin in the pool.

Time passed second by second.

The water level of the Blood Pool was dropping.

From a diameter of one hundred zhang, it shrank to eighty zhang, sixty zhang, forty zhang...

When the Blood Pool shrank to only ten zhang, a clear cracking sound came from within Nightmare’s body.

Crack.

It was as if some kind of barrier had been broken.

His aura began to skyrocket wildly.

Late Stage Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm... Peak Hunyuan Celestial Venerable Realm... Half-step Hongmeng Celestial Venerable Realm...

Then, in one go, he broke through that chasm.

Hongmeng Celestial Venerable Realm!

But it was not over yet.

More than half of the energy in the crystal core remained, and the remaining Origin in the Blood Pool was still massive. Nightmare continued to absorb, and his cultivation continued to climb.

Early Stage Hongmeng Celestial Venerable Realm stabilized... Peak Early Stage...

Middle Stage!

When the last drop of Blood Pool water was sucked dry, and the crystal core also dissipated into powder, Nightmare opened his eyes.

Two substantive black flames shot out from his eyes, burning two bottomless holes into the rock wall in front.

He stood up slowly.

The aura around him was completely different.

If he had been a violent flame before, now he was a bottomless black hole—all energy that approached would be silently devoured and annihilated.

Hongmeng Chaos Void Anti-Dao Demon Star Flame.

This was the new name of the evolved Demonic Flame. The color of the flames also changed from pure black to black with gray; the gray part seemed to be able to devour light, and looking at it for too long would make even one’s Divine Soul feel dizzy.

“Middle Stage Hongmeng Celestial Venerable Realm...” Nightmare clenched his fist, feeling the surging power within his body, “And this flame... can already restrain the Origin of a Late Stage Hongmeng Celestial Venerable Realm expert.”

He looked outside the valley.

Next, it was time to go to the Zhennan Branch.