Suppress by flipping one's hand

Leaving the Black Wind Market City area, the true Nether Ghost Domain finally revealed its ferocious face.

The gray-black fog was so thick it could not be dissipated, and Divine Sense was severely suppressed here.

With Nightmare's current Perfected Golden Core Divine Soul strength, he could only explore a range of a hundred zhang.

The ground was pitch-black permafrost, and twisted, withered strange trees could occasionally be seen, their branches stretching toward the gray sky like ghost claws.

The air was filled with the scent of decay and deathly silence, and the dense Yin Qi was mixed with negative energy formed by various resentments and remnant souls, constantly trying to erode the mind of any living creature.

Ordinary Cultivators here must constantly circulate their magic power to protect their bodies, keeping their minds tense, which consumed a great deal.

But for Nightmare, this was simply a perfect Holy Land to Cultivate.

Under the operation of the Myriad Poison Demonic Scripture, the majestic Yin Qi and resentment energy flowed in like rivers into the sea, being continuously refined into pure Myriad Poison Demonic Essence.

It not only replenished his consumption but was even slowly and firmly improving his cultivation, advancing toward the Peak of the Perfected Golden Core, laying a profound Foundation for his future condensation of the Nascent Soul.

The Wind-Devouring Demonic Vine was even more active, trembling slightly in his sleeve, continuously absorbing the extreme Yin Qi that was highly beneficial to plant-type demon spirits.

He moved extremely fast, his figure like a ghost, weaving through the rugged and desolate terrain, avoiding areas with obvious energy chaos and wandering low-level evil spirits, heading straight for Ghost Cry Gorge.

The closer he got to Ghost Cry Gorge, the more traces of Cultivators he encountered.

Sometimes he could see craters and scorch marks left by intense spell battles, and sometimes he could glimpse figures fleeing rapidly; the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense.

After traveling for about half a day, a burst of intense Spiritual Qi fluctuations and sounds of fighting came from a valley ahead, mixed with angry shouts and screams.

Nightmare's gaze flickered; he restrained his aura and quietly approached.

Inside the valley, two parties were engaged in fierce combat.

One side consisted of three people, dressed in uniform, with a nether flame totem embroidered on their cuffs; they were clearly Disciples of the Xuanming Sect.

The leader was a young man with an arrogant expression, whose cultivation had reached the Late Golden Core Stage.

He held a nether banner, and with every wave, countless fierce ghosts howled and lunged out.

The other two were Middle Golden Core.

Their opponents were five Loose Cultivators, the highest cultivation among them being only Middle Golden Core, while the rest were Early Golden Core Stage.

At this moment, everyone was injured, being forced into retreat by the three Xuanming Sect members, facing imminent danger.

Two corpses of Loose Cultivators already lay on the ground, their essence, energy, and souls having been sucked dry by the nether banner, becoming nutrients to nourish the Magical Artifact.

"Ignorant! Is this 'three yin grass' something you Loose Cultivators deserve to possess? Hand it over obediently, and you might be left with an intact corpse!"

The Xuanming Sect youth sneered, activating the nether banner, and another ferocious ghost claw reached out, grabbing toward the Middle Golden Core old man among the Loose Cultivators.

The old man looked desperate, struggling to activate a tortoise shell shield, but its light was already extremely dim.

Just then, an indifferent voice suddenly rang out: "So noisy."

The voice was not loud, but it clearly overpowered the roaring of the spell battle and the sound of ghost cries in the field.

Both sides in the battle were startled, abruptly separating, and looked toward the source of the sound.

At the entrance of the valley, an unknown middle-aged Cultivator with a sallow complexion and a cold aura had appeared, standing with his hands behind his back, watching them expressionlessly, as if watching a farce that had nothing to do with him.

The Xuanming Sect youth scanned with his Divine Sense and discovered that the opponent was only an Early Golden Core Stage Cultivator (Nightmare was still habitually suppressing his apparent cultivation), so he immediately felt relieved and shouted sharply: "The Xuanming Sect is conducting business here; bystanders, get lost! Otherwise, I will kill you all and refine you into my nether banner!"

The few Loose Cultivators seemed to have grabbed a straw for survival.

Although the newcomer's cultivation did not look high, they still shouted urgently: "Fellow Daoist, save us! The Xuanming Sect is overbearing, wanting to forcibly seize our Spiritual Plant and kill us to silence us!"

Nightmare didn't even look at the Loose Cultivators, his gaze falling on the Xuanming Sect youth, especially the gloomy nether banner in his hand, and he nodded slightly: "Not a bad banner, I want it."

"What?!"

The Xuanming Sect youth was stunned, then laughed in extreme anger, "Hahaha! Where did this lunatic come from? A mere Early Golden Core Stage, daring to covet this Young Sect Master's spiritual banner? Go to Hell!"

He felt insulted, ignored the Loose Cultivators, and violently waved the nether banner.

Immediately, black mist rolled, condensing into a terrifying ghost head the size of a house.

With a gaping maw and a shriek that devoured Divine Souls, it lunged toward Nightmare!

The power far exceeded when dealing with the Loose Cultivators!

This strike was enough to easily kill an ordinary Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator!

The few Loose Cultivators were scared out of their wits, retreating repeatedly.

However, facing this fierce and peerless strike, Nightmare just slowly extended a finger.

At the tip of his finger, a touch of extreme darkness condensed, as if it could swallow all light.

"Myriad Poison Soul-Devouring Finger!"

*Whoosh!*

A subtle black finger wind shot out, silent and soundless, its speed exceeding the limit of Divine Sense capture!

That seemingly fierce and peerless giant ghost head, the moment it was hit by the finger wind, was like a bubble being pricked, instantly solidified, and then began to rapidly collapse and annihilate from the inside!

Along with it, the nether banner in the hand of the Xuanming Sect youth behind it also shook violently, its spiritual light instantly dimming, and a tiny crack even appeared on the surface!

"Pfft!"

His life-bound Magical Artifact damaged, the Xuanming Sect youth immediately spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with horror and disbelief, "Impossible! You... you hid your cultivation?!"

The other two Xuanming Sect Disciples were also shocked, hurriedly protecting the youth in front of them.

Nightmare maintained his calm demeanor and said indifferently: "Only realized now? Too late."

He took a step forward, his figure disappearing from the spot as if teleporting.

The next moment, he had already appeared in front of the two Middle Golden Core Xuanming Sect Disciples.

Both were terrified, wanting to sacrifice their Magical Artifacts, but they saw Nightmare casually slap out with his left and right hands.

*Bang! Bang!*

Two muffled sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

The protective Spiritual Qi on the two Xuanming Sect Disciples shattered like paper, their chests instantly caved in, their eyes widened, and their Golden Cores along with their Divine Souls were directly shattered by this palm!

Their corpses slumped and flew backward, and before they even hit the ground, they were overtaken by two wisps of demonic fire and burned to ashes.

Light and casual, instantly killing two Middle Golden Core!

The Xuanming Sect youth was scared out of his wits; he now had no doubts that the person in front of him was definitely a Perfected Golden Core, perhaps even a half-step Nascent Soul old monster in disguise!

He turned to run, wanting to burn his essence blood to escape.

But how would Nightmare give him a chance?

A pitch-black giant hand condensed from pure Demonic Essence appeared out of thin air, grabbing him firmly in its palm like catching a chicken.

No matter how he struggled, the Demonic Essence in his body was completely suppressed, unable to move.

"Senior... Senior spare my life! This Junior was blind and did not recognize Mount Tai! This nether banner is dedicated to Senior, only begging Senior to spare my life! My grandfather is an inner Sect Elder of the Xuanming Sect..."

The youth begged for mercy in extreme terror.

"Noisy."

Nightmare hooked his finger, and the damaged nether banner and the Storage Pouch at the youth's waist flew into his hand.

Then the demonic hand squeezed violently.

*Crack!*

A tooth-aching sound of bones breaking rang out.

The begging for mercy stopped abruptly.

A Late Golden Core Stage Prodigy from a major Sect was thus destroyed in body and soul, not even qualified to be refined into the banner (Nightmare felt his cultivation had too many Impurities).

Demonic fire swept past, leaving no traces.

From Nightmare's appearance to the annihilation of the three Xuanming Sect members, it was only a few short breaths of time.

The few surviving Loose Cultivators in the back were already dumbfounded, their whole bodies cold, as if petrified.

They looked at Nightmare as if looking at a demon god who had walked out of Hell, so terrified they didn't even dare to breathe.

Only then did Nightmare turn around, his gaze sweeping over them, and finally falling on the "three yin grass" that had been fought over.

This plant was also of some slight use to him.

The Middle Golden Core old man shuddered, immediately reacting, crawling over almost using his hands and feet, carefully picking the three yin grass, holding it with both hands, and respectfully raising it to Nightmare: "Many... many thanks to Senior for saving our lives! This... this plant should belong to Senior!"

Nightmare accepted it without hesitation and said indifferently: "Get lost."

"Yes, yes, yes! This Junior will get lost right now! Will get lost right now!"

The few people acted as if they had received amnesty, scrambling away, fleeing the valley without even looking back, fearing that if they were a step late, the other party would change his mind.

In an instant, only Nightmare remained in the valley, along with the lingering, faint smell of blood and the aura of demonic fire that had not yet dissipated.

He looked at the nether banner in his hand, scanned it with his Divine Sense, and forcibly erased its original owner's mark.

"The quality is acceptable. With slight refinement and feeding it some living souls, the power should be quite good."

Casually putting away the banner and the Storage Pouch, Nightmare's gaze turned toward the deeper direction of Ghost Cry Gorge.

The Yin Qi there was even denser, and more chaotic and powerful energy fluctuations were coming from there.

"It seems the battle for the Immortal Cave has already intensified."

"Just right, my cultivation still needs more resources to consolidate."

His figure flickered, turning into a faint ghost shadow, continuing to sneak toward the center of the storm.

The absolute crushing of cultivation allowed him to have the capital to do whatever he wanted in this chaotic land.

The roles of prey and hunter are always determined by strength.

And at this moment, he was the top-tier hunter.