"Eternal World, here I come!!"
The moment Nightmare charged into the Nightmare Gate, he let out an excited shout.
Although the Nightmare World was like a fish in water for Nightmare, what he truly desired was to enter the Eternal World. That was the real stage of heaven and earth, where infinite possibilities and advancement opportunities awaited him.
For that, he could abandon everything else.
Let alone merely targeting Yi Tianxing—if he took action and failed, the opportunity to escape might vanish in an instant. That would be a loss too great to bear. No matter what, he dared not gamble on such a slim chance. The only thing that mattered now was to escape this place, to leap out of this realm.
Everything else was secondary.
Swish!!
Everything went smoothly—no accidents. His body passed directly through the gate and entered a passageway. Nightmare could clearly sense that this was a world different from the Nightmare World. It was truly the outside world.
What Nightmare didn't see, however, was that the pitch-black Nightmare Gate behind him suddenly turned a silvery-white and then vanished without a trace.
"No matter how cunning you are, you've still fallen into my hands. Nightmare... This is a unique entity from the Nightmare World. If I can imprison one, perhaps I can delve deeper into the secrets of that world."
That Nightmare was unquestionably a peak Nascent Soul stage powerhouse. If it came to a fight, despite his eerie abilities, Yi Tianxing had his own means of restraint. He might have been able to suppress him outright—but instead, he opted to lure the enemy into a trap. By taking advantage of Nightmare's desperation to leave the Nightmare World, he replaced the Nightmare Gate with a spatial portal at the last moment.
Pretending to be overwhelmed by Nightmare's world of fear, he lured him in at the critical moment. In truth, his divine soul was protected by the Heavenly Emperor Tower of Hongmeng, making his spiritual will one of his strongest attributes. Attacking his mind was practically suicidal.
Sure enough, Nightmare took the bait and rushed into the spatial gate.
But in reality, he had been transported into the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower.
Without a doubt, he was now a turtle in a jar.
"Yi Tianxie will likely be very interested in this Nightmare. Especially his life-bound treasure, which is full of eerie mysteries."
With a faint smile, Yi Tianxing turned and stepped through the Nightmare Gate, leaving the Nightmare World behind.
That realm was too bizarre—just now, a Nightmare had appeared. If he lingered, even more terrifying entities might emerge. And if that happened, not even he could guarantee his survival.
Just as Yi Tianxing left, a colossal eye appeared in the void—coldly surveying the surroundings for a long while before vanishing.
The pressure emanating from that eye was enough to suppress the four directions, as if it could crush everything.
"Ha ha! I've finally escaped! I've broken free from the Nightmare World! That world might be nice, but only the true world—the Eternal World—is the rightful paradise for my kind. This air, this spiritual energy, it's truly different from the Nightmare World!"
Nightmare had passed through the spatial gate, arriving in what he thought was a brand new world. Scanning his surroundings, he quickly noticed that things felt different—definitely not the Nightmare World. Naturally, he believed he had escaped.
But then—
"Something's not right. There are no sun, moon, or stars. No signs of life. What kind of place is this? Isn't the Eternal World supposed to be vast and boundless?"
After his initial excitement, Nightmare began carefully examining his environment.
And immediately, he noticed the problems.
This world... wasn't as large as he had imagined. No sun, no moon, no stars—though there was light and darkness. Yet he couldn't feel any life force at all. It was like a barren land—no humans, no other species.
BOOM!!
Suddenly, a bell sounded in the void.
A pitch-black ancient bell hung overhead, ringing with thunderous force. Waves of invisible sound smashed down toward Nightmare.
Wherever the sound passed, Nightmare's body was shattered on the spot. Though it reformed a moment later, his form was visibly more ghostly and weak.
"Damn it! That bell again! You despicable human! You dared to scheme against me. I won't let you go!"
Nightmare's eyes were filled with rage upon seeing the Soul-Shattering Bell.
How could he not realize he had been tricked? This wasn't the Eternal World—it was a prison! A world only several thousand miles wide, clearly designed to trap him. And he had fallen for it—humiliated beyond compare.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
But the only response was more bell chimes from the void, continuously dispersing his body. Though he wasn't completely destroyed, he was stuck in a state of constant weakness, with no hope of escape.
He had already discovered that the barriers of this world were unbreakable. This was nothing less than a massive cage.
"There's no way out unless you can destroy the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower. And that is impossible," Yi Tianxing thought to himself, aware of Nightmare's current situation inside the tower's inner space.
Yi Tianxing had already returned—appearing now inside the imperial palace.
As for Xun Yu and the others, they had been sent into the Battle Soul Realm.
"A living Nightmare... Leave him to me. I can feel it—this Nightmare will help me grow even stronger."
Just then, Yi Tianxing's shadow stood up and solidified into a figure—Yi Tianxie, his shadow clone.
"I brought him out just for you. Nightmares are born from dreams and are inherently strange, but your Ten Thousand Evils Dao Body counters them perfectly. To you, he's nothing."
Yi Tianxing replied calmly.
Yi Tianxie grinned, "Let me enter the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower. Once he's suppressed by the life-bound treasure, I'll deal with him."
With that, Yi Tianxie dove into Yi Tianxing's body and entered the tower.
Inside the tower, Nightmare grimaced as he stared at the Soul-Shattering Bell in the void, knowing full well he was powerless.
Suddenly, a flash of light—and a familiar figure appeared before him.
"It's you! You vile human!"
Nightmare's eyes turned blood-red upon seeing Yi Tianxie. He would never forget that face.
"Come now. Let me uncover the secrets of the Nightmare race."
Yi Tianxie chuckled.
A dark and shadowy divine diagram unfurled before him, suspended between illusion and reality, filled with endless evil, desire, and sin.
Evil Emperor Ten Thousand Swords Diagram (邪皇万剑图)
Yi Tianxie's life-bound treasure and manifestation of his Dao chart. Absorbs desire, evil, and negative energy to strengthen itself. Contains an internal shadow world called the Evil Emperor Sword Domain.
This treasure was born from the divine chart within Yi Tianxie's body—perfectly integrated with his core Dao. It could grow by absorbing evil energies from the world and had limitless potential. The inner world was vast and its barriers solid.
The moment the diagram unfolded, darkness engulfed the surroundings—and Nightmare was drawn into the Evil Emperor Ten Thousand Swords Diagram.
In a flash, the diagram returned to Yi Tianxie's body.
This divine chart was fused with his very life—it was his Dao and his destiny, a perfect unity. Aside from this, Yi Tianxie had another life-bound treasure, one he had never revealed, that could also be used to achieve the Dao.
Soon after, Yi Tianxing entered the Battle Soul Realm to resettle the soldiers. Those who wished to enlist remained in the military realm to start training and receive inheritances.
As for Xun Yu, Zhao Yun, and others, they opted to roam the Great Yi territory, to personally understand the state of the human race. Yi Tianxing offered no objections, letting them move freely.
"They're already in the bowl—how could they possibly escape?"Yi Tianxing was filled with absolute confidence.
At the same time, Zhou Yu entered Xuanhuang City and was officially appointed as commander of the Blue Legion. He was also tasked with forming the navy. All newly constructed Blue Sky Warships would be prioritized for his legion.
Without delay, Zhou Yu selected a group of elite soldiers and began training. With the military camp capable of simulating all types of terrain, including oceans, naval drills were carried out with remarkable efficiency.
Yi Tianxing only needed to observe once or twice before he was completely assured of Zhou Yu's command.
The Imperial Exam also continued.
This time, the number of candidates who passed the initial round surged into the millions. Given the empire's 3+ billion population, that was quite reasonable.
The formal exam would be held in March. After the preliminary results, many candidates began to focus on intensive study and preparation.
On this day, Yi Tianxing sat quietly in his chamber.
His mind immersed itself within his inner world, where crystals of Dao attainment gleamed with profound brilliance.
There were precisely five hundred of them.
"It's time to break through. Five hundred years of Dao cultivation—let the Three Calamities descend. I want to see how terrifying they really are."
Taking a deep breath, Yi Tianxing's heart filled with firm resolve.