Chapter 416 Crystal Core Absorption, Supreme Breakthrough

Nightmare sat cross-legged in the center of the meteorite, his hands held out to support the primordial supreme crystal core.

The crystal core hovered three inches above his palms, rotating slowly. With every rotation, it released a stream of pure golden energy that flowed into his body like silken threads.

At first, it was very slow.

Nightmare needed to guide this energy to fuse and assimilate with his own Dao Reversal Origin. This was a delicate process—the crystal core's energy was too overbearing; if he forcibly devoured it, it would instead damage his Meridians and Foundation.

He closed his eyes and looked inward with his Divine Sense.

He could see the golden energy flowing like a stream into his Meridians, meeting the black-gray Dao Reversal Origin circulating within. The two did not fuse immediately, but instead acted like two incompatible rivers, running parallel, testing, and touching each other within the Meridians.

Every touch caused a slight stinging pain in his Meridians.

"System," Nightmare thought silently, "assist with energy Fusion."

"Command received," the cold System voice sounded. "Activating 'Origin Harmonization' mode, consuming 1,000 Villain Points."

An invisible ripple spread out from within Nightmare's body.

This was the intervention of the System's power—it did not directly interfere with the energy itself, but instead created a 'buffer zone' between the two types of energy. The contact between the golden energy and the Dao Reversal Origin became gentle, and they began to slowly and steadily permeate and fuse into one another.

The fused energy was no longer pure gold, nor was it pure black-gray, but rather... a dark gold.

The dark gold energy flowed through his Meridians, and everywhere it passed, the walls of the Meridians were strengthened and widened. His Meridians, which were already as tough as divine iron, now glinted with a metallic luster, and the faint sounds of dragon roars and tiger howls emanated from within.

One day passed.

The crystal core had shrunk by a tenth.

Nightmare's aura steadily climbed from the Early Stage of the Cosmic Supreme Realm to the Peak of the Early Stage.

A Bottleneck began to manifest.

Every minor sub-Realm within the Cosmic Supreme Realm was like being separated by a mountain. Moving from the Early Stage to the Middle Stage was not just an accumulation of energy, but also a deep shaping of one's Internal Universe and a further comprehension of the Laws.

Nightmare could feel that his embryonic Internal Universe was longing to 'expand'.

But expansion required an opportunity.

He continued to absorb.

Another day passed.

The crystal core had shrunk to half its original size.

The dark gold energy now filled the Meridians of his entire body and even began to permeate his bones, flesh, and internal organs. Nightmare's body began to undergo visible changes—faint dark gold patterns surfaced on his skin, each pattern containing terrifying energy fluctuations.

His aura was already infinitely close to the Middle Stage.

But he was just one final step away.

"Not enough..." Nightmare opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing through them.

Simple energy accumulation had reached its limit.

He needed... pressure.

He needed a cataclysmic change sufficient to 'crush' the embryonic Internal Universe and then allow it to 'reshape'.

He made a risky decision.

"System, deactivate the energy buffer."

"Warning: Directly absorbing unharmonized crystal core energy has a 70% probability of causing Meridian collapse and Internal Universe disintegration. Do you wish to proceed?"

"Proceed."

"Executing command."

The moment the System's power was withdrawn—

BOOM!!!

The remaining half of the crystal core's energy, like a bursting galaxy, surged madly into Nightmare's body!

It wasn't a stream; it was a tsunami!

The golden energy torrent instantly shattered the balance just established in his Meridians, violently clashing, colliding, and exploding with the Dao Reversal Origin!

Nightmare's body shook violently, and the dark gold patterns on his skin began to twist and crack. Blood seeped from the fissures, but he did not stop; instead, he increased the intensity of the absorption.

"Suppress!"

He growled, sinking his entire mind into the embryonic Internal Universe.

It was a thousand-foot-wide chaotic space, with the phantom images of three dao reversal keys floating in the center, surrounded by slowly burning black-gray Annihilation flames.

At this moment, the golden energy torrent crashed into this space.

The chaotic space began to vibrate violently, and its edges began to collapse and shatter. The three dao reversal key phantoms flickered wildly, attempting to stabilize the space, but under the impact of the energy torrent, they too began to develop cracks.

Collapse.

Total collapse.

But Nightmare felt no fear; instead, he laughed wildly.

"Break away!"

He guided the collapsing energy and began to reshape it.

Not to restore it to its original state, but to... break the original framework and build a larger, more stable structure.

The shattered spatial fragments, carried by the energy torrent, recombined. This time, they weren't simply pieced together but were constructed into a more complex three-dimensional structure with the three dao reversal keys as the core.

Like a crude thatched hut being torn down and replaced with a stone fortress using the same Materials.

The diameter of the Internal Universe expanded from a thousand feet to three thousand feet.

The space was more stable, and the Laws were clearer.

And the three dao reversal key phantoms, during the reshaping process, fused even deeper with the Internal Universe—they were no longer 'external objects' but had become the 'pillars' of this Internal Universe.

The third day.

The crystal core completely disappeared.

The energy torrent within Nightmare's body also slowly subsided.

He opened his eyes.

In his eyes, galaxies rotated, flames burned, and lightning surged.

Cosmic Supreme Realm, Middle Stage.

He had succeeded.

But the changes did not stop there.

He raised his right hand, palm upward.

With a single thought.

A cluster of flames ignited in his palm.

At first, it was black-gray—Grandmist Chaos Void Annihilation Dao Reversal Demonic Star Flame.

But the color of the flame began to change.

Within the black-gray, a trace of... transparent patterns gradually emerged.

The patterns were very faint, almost invisible. But they truly existed, slowly rotating within the flame, forming a closed-loop 'circle'.

Reincarnation.

That was the power of Reincarnation.

"Grandmist Chaos Void Annihilation... Reincarnation Dao Reversal Demonic Star Flame." Nightmare softly spoke the new name of the flame.

He could feel that this evolved flame had gained a brand-new characteristic—

Reincarnation Erosion.

It wasn't just simple burning or destruction; it could drag an enemy's Origin into a miniature 'Reincarnation,' constantly weakening, corroding, and eventually completely annihilating it. This erosion was something even the Origin of someone in the Late Stage of the Cosmic Supreme Realm would find difficult to resist.

"System," Nightmare asked in his heart, "what are the specific effects of the Reincarnation characteristic?"

"Analyzing... Analysis complete. New characteristic 'Reincarnation Erosion': Inflicts continuous Origin weakening on the enemy. The weakening effect stacks over time, up to a maximum of 90%. For a target in the Late Stage of the Cosmic Supreme Realm, the initial weakening rate is 30%, increasing over time."

A 30% initial weakening that could stack over time?

A sharp light flashed in Nightmare's eyes.

This meant that even when facing a Late Stage Cosmic Supreme Realm powerhouse like the Heavenly Emperor of the Divine Court, he now had the capital to contend with him head-on.

He stood up.

The wounds on his body had long since healed, and the dark gold patterns had receded beneath his skin, but his entire aura had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

If he was previously a sharp sword out of its sheath, with its edge fully exposed.

Then now, he was a bottomless ancient pool—calm on the surface, but with surging undercurrents within.

"Master!" The ten elites sensed his emergence and quickly gathered around.

The moment they saw Nightmare, everyone's heart skipped a beat.

That unfathomable feeling... Master really had broken through!

"Congratulations to Master for breaking through to the Middle Stage of the Cosmic Supreme Realm!" the ten shouted in unison.

Nightmare nodded, his gaze sweeping over them.

They hadn't wasted these three days either—pure Origin was everywhere in the core layer. Although they didn't dare to absorb as madly as Nightmare, they had still gained a lot. Among the ten, three had broken through from the Late Stage of the Hongmeng Heavenly Venerate Realm to the Peak, and the other seven had also made significant progress.

"It's time to leave." Nightmare looked into the depths of the starry sky. "There's nothing left for us here."

"Yes!"

The eleven transformed into streaks of light, flying toward the exit of the core layer.

On the way, Nightmare could feel the new power within him cheering and leaping with joy.

Cosmic Supreme Realm, Middle Stage.

Reincarnation Demonic Flame.

Heavenly Emperor of the Divine Court... "Wait until I get out," a cold Battle Intent flashed in his eyes, "it will be your turn to have a headache."