Black Demon

That cry of a bird seemed to come from the Primordial Great Desolation, carrying supreme majesty and the sharpness to tear the sky, instantly overpowering all the noise in the Demon Domain!

Wind-Rending Condor!

Its mere name was enough to strike fear into the hearts of countless Yao Beasts in the Southern Wasteland Demon Domain! This was a true apex predator standing at the top of the food chain, possessing an incredibly pure ancient Heavenly Condor Bloodline. An adult Wind-Rending Condor had a minimum strength of Early Nascent Soul Stage, or even higher!

With a flap of its wings, it could conjure destructive storms that tore space apart! With a single tear of its sharp claws, it could easily capture and kill Flood Dragons!

Nightmare never expected that his pursuit with the Green-Winged Bat King would actually disturb such an existence!

High in the sky, the massive dark shadow merely glided slowly, casting a suffocating shade. It seemed not to regard the ant-like struggle below. But the terrifying pressure it inadvertently emitted was like a tangible collapse of the heavens, crushing down fiercely upon Nightmare's Divine Soul!

Thump!

Nightmare could no longer maintain his Escape Light. As if struck by an invisible giant hammer, he suddenly plummeted from mid-air, crashing heavily into the dense jungle below. He snapped countless branches before finally hitting the ground.

"Pfft—!" Another mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, mixed even with fragments of internal organs.

The wound on his arm was torn open again during the fall, bleeding profusely. More serious was the situation inside his body: the Green-Winged Bat King's Power of Wind Evil Qi was still wreaking havoc, and now, shaken by the Wind-Rending Condor's pressure, his injuries instantly worsened severalfold! His demonic gold core's light dimmed to the extreme, like a flickering candle in the wind, liable to shatter and cause his Realm to drop at any moment!

As for the Green-Winged Bat King, it had long been scared Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, fleeing without a trace.

Nightmare lay limp on the thick layer of decaying leaves, gasping violently. Every breath pulled at his whole body with intense pain. He struggled to raise his head and, through the gaps in the branches and leaves, saw the sky-obscuring black shadow slowly vanish at the edge of the sky. Only then did the terrifying pressure gradually dissipate.

The relief of surviving the disaster had not yet risen before it was drowned by a deeper sense of crisis.

This place was not suitable for staying long! The commotion just now was too great. Although the Wind-Rending Condor had left, it would surely attract other powerful Yao Beasts or opportunists! In his current state, any random Third-Tier Yao Beast would be fatal enough!

He must leave immediately! He needed to find an absolutely safe place to heal his injuries!

Nightmare struggled to climb up, but found it incredibly difficult even to move a single finger. His injuries were too severe, his Demonic Essence was almost depleted, and his Divine Soul was overly consumed due to forcefully using the demonic vine and resisting the pressure.

He gritted his teeth and tried to communicate with the System, but found that the System seemed to have entered a low-power dormant state due to the previous upgrade and energy consumption, and its response was faint.

Was he going to fall here?

No! Absolutely not!

A trace of frantic survival instinct flashed in Nightmare's eyes. He fiercely activated the last shred of power from the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture, even beginning to burn his already scarce life Origin!

Excruciating pain surged like a tide, but it also temporarily restored a trace of mobility to his body.

He staggered to his feet, identified a direction, and struggled forward, stepping unevenly toward an area opposite to where the Wind-Rending Condor had departed, and where the terrain was more complex and rugged.

Every step felt like treading on knife points. The rampaging Power of Wind Evil Qi inside his body was like countless small knives scraping his Meridians. Blood continuously seeped from the wound on his arm and the corner of his mouth, leaving a sporadic trail of blood behind him.

But he dared not stop, nor dared to treat his wounds. He could only desperately squeeze out his last bit of strength, moving toward the depths of the jungle.

He did not know how long he walked before the sky gradually darkened. Night in the Demon Domain was even more perilous.

Nightmare's consciousness began to blur, and his vision became shaky. He was relying entirely on an indomitable will to sustain himself.

Finally, beneath a steep cliff face ahead, he discovered a narrow, half-person-high stone crevice concealed by vines. The crevice was dark and deep inside, seemingly leading into the mountain belly. It emitted a cold, damp aura, but there were no signs of powerful Yao Beasts.

This is the place!

Nightmare used his last ounce of strength to push aside the vines and laboriously squeezed inside.

The stone crevice was initially extremely narrow, barely allowing a person through, but after walking a few dozen steps, the view suddenly opened up to reveal a small, natural stone chamber. The interior was dry, the air circulated, and there seemed to be another vent, making it an excellent hiding place.

Thump!

The moment he entered the stone chamber, Nightmare's tightly strung nerves finally relaxed. Unable to hold on any longer, his vision went black, and he completely passed out... After an unknown amount of time, Nightmare slowly woke up from his deep coma.

Excruciating pain! Pain everywhere!

This was his first sensation upon regaining consciousness. His body felt as if it had been completely crushed and reformed, his Meridians were like they had been scorched by fire and then stuffed with broken glass. His demonic gold core remained dim and covered in cracks, barely holding itself together. His Divine Soul also sent waves of needle-like stinging pain.

His injuries were even more severe than he had imagined.

He struggled to open his eyes and found himself still lying on the cold stone floor. It was pitch black all around, with only faint light filtering in from the entrance of the crevice.

He was still alive.

Nightmare let out a long, extremely slow breath and tried to circulate the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture.

The Cultivation Technique ran with extreme difficulty and slowness, like a rusted gear. Every circulation brought heart-wrenching pain, and he could only refine a negligible trace of energy, which was better than nothing.

At this speed, he couldn't possibly recover without three to five months.

He tried to communicate with the System.

[System... Insufficient energy... Maintaining basic operation...]

[Host status: Dying... Suggestion... Immediate... Treatment...]

The System's response was intermittent and extremely weak.

Nightmare's heart sank. The System was unreliable too.

He managed to retrieve the last few healing Medicinal Pills and Demonic Essence Pills from the System Space and put them into his mouth. The Medicinal Pills dissolved, and the medicinal power flowed like a trickle, nourishing his dry and torn Meridians, bringing a faint warmth. But for his severe injuries, it was like trying to put out a blazing carriage with a cup of water.

He must find a way to recover his strength quickly! Deep in this Demon Domain, without strength, he might become Yao Beast excrement the next second!

His gaze involuntarily turned toward the System Space again.

The wind soul demon fruit he had just obtained, which still emitted a faint fragrance, and the dormant, Mysterious Black Stone that gave off an ominous aura.

The Yao Fruit could strengthen the Divine Soul and purify the Divine Sense. Perhaps it would have a miraculous effect on healing his Divine Soul injuries? But would the wind-element energy contained within it conflict with the rampaging Power of Wind Evil Qi in his body and worsen his injuries?

And that black stone... it was extremely dangerous, but the high-dimensional Origin power contained within it was undoubtedly the most efficient "tonic." If he could refine even a trace, it might quickly stabilize his injuries and even his cultivation... The risk was huge, but the potential reward was also beyond imagination.

Just as Nightmare was struggling to weigh the options, hesitating whether to risk attempting to refine the black stone's energy again—

[Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuation detected approaching! Source: Deep within the stone chamber!]

[Fluctuation analysis: Yin Evil Qi, deathly stillness, carrying faint Divine Soul resentment... Non-life form...]

Although the System's warning sound was weak, it carried a trace of urgency!

Nightmare was startled, forcing himself to prop up his body despite the intense pain, and vigilantly looked toward the darkness deep inside the stone chamber!

Severely injured as he was, he had actually failed to thoroughly investigate the depths of this stone chamber earlier!

Clank... Clank... A faint, yet grating sound of friction came from the depths of the darkness.

It was as if something was dragging heavy steps, slowly walking out... Nightmare's pupils contracted, and his Divine Sense struggled to probe forward.

He saw a tall, rigid, human-shaped silhouette, entirely metallic and dark in color, walking step by step out of the deepest shadows of the stone chamber!

It seemed to be forged from some strange black metal, and a dull grinding sound came from its rotating joints. Its surface was covered in crude yet ferocious armor plates, and in its hand, it dragged a rusty Black Giant Axe that still emitted a potent Evil Qi!

In its eye sockets, there were no eyes, only two slowly flickering, cold Eerily Blue Soul Fires!

A cold, deathly still aura, comparable to the Early Golden Core Stage stage, emanated from it!

"A black fiend puppet?!" Nightmare instantly recognized this thing!

This was an ancient War Puppet, usually used to guard Immortal Caves or tombs, powered by the earth fiend yin meridian. It was tireless, fearless of death, possessed extremely strong physical defense, and had high resistance to most Spells and Divine Abilities!

No wonder this stone chamber was so "clean" and free of Yao Beasts—it turned out this thing was sleeping deep inside! It was probably the vitality from his blood when he entered, or the faint energy released when he took the Medicinal Pills just now, that had activated it!

Truly escaping the wolf's den only to enter the tiger's lair!

Nightmare's expression was utterly grim. Normally, he could destroy an Early Golden Core Stage Puppet with a flip of his hand. But now... he could barely stand up!

Clank... Clank... The black fiend puppet had fully emerged from the shadows. The Eerily Blue Soul Fire locked onto the only living creature in the stone chamber—Nightmare! The giant axe it dragged slowly lifted, and a cold black light shimmered on the blade.

The next moment, it moved!