"At first glance, that thing looked like it was just at the Yang God Realm. I figured one smack with my iron staff would turn it into mush."
"Who knew it was just playing dumb!"
Yuan Gang still looked shaken as he spoke.
"The moment we fought, its aura began rising—first to the True Spirit Realm, then to the Dao Platform Realm. Its tentacles are insanely tough. My iron staff couldn't even dent them. None of my divine powers worked either!"
What terrified him most was that the more he fought it, the stronger it got. Attacks that failed to break its defense were absorbed into its body—becoming its fuel.
If you couldn't kill it fast…
It would kill you instead.
And what they'd severed just now?
Merely one of its countless tentacles.
"Wordless Heavenly Tome, what is this creature?"
Yi Tianxing took a deep breath and asked directly.
"Master," replied Xiao Mi, "this is one of the most terrifying species in the Nightmare World: the Nightmare Lords (梦魇领主)."
"They are born as rulers—blessed by the will of the world itself."
Each one possessed a terrifying innate ability:
the power to freely enter dream worlds, devour them, and treat them as food.
Every dream they consumed became a part of their inner realm—a Nightmare Dominion (梦魇领地) formed inside their body.
This was the true origin of the Nightmare Lords' title.
"The larger their internal realm becomes," Xiao Mi continued, "the stronger they grow."
"It's said that the most powerful Nightmare Lords have internal worlds rivaling Great Thousand Worlds in size."
"At that point, they can rival Primordial/Saints and even stand against Dao Sovereigns."
"Every Nightmare Lord possesses unique powers. They rule over an inner world and wield seemingly infinite war potential. They are terrifying."
"If encountered… the best choice is to flee immediately."
"Killing one is nearly impossible—as difficult as reaching the heavens."
There was no mistaking Xiao Mi's tone—it held deep reverence and fear.
The Nightmare Lords were truly favored children of the world, blessed with monstrous talents and frightening resilience.
Their true strength couldn't be judged from appearances.
As long as their internal dream world wasn't destroyed, they were virtually immortal.
"My heavens... that thing was a Nightmare Lord?"
Yuan Gang was stunned.
"We're in trouble…"
"Nightmare Lords hold grudges—deeply," Xiao Mi warned.
"Once provoked, they'll never stop. This will be a battle to the death. They're relentless, brutal, and terrifying."
That was why even the strongest feared them.
They were like the ultimate berserkers of the universe—no matter who their opponent was, they would charge forward, never backing down, even in death.
SWOOSH!!
Suddenly, the space around them began to ripple.Distortions spread outward as if some overwhelming power was forcing its way through.
"Not good! The Nightmare Lord is breaching space. He's trying to open a rift and come here!"
Yi Tianxing's face turned grim.
This space had been personally constructed by him, and under his control. Normally, no external force could break in.
But now—it was breaking.
CRACK!!
A giant tentacle pierced the void, emerging from the rippling air.
Then a second.
The two tentacles pulled the space apart, tearing open a massive spatial rift.
More and more tentacles poured through.
In the blink of an eye, they were everywhere, stretching across the skies.
Each was covered in demonic eyes, radiating a variety of energies:
Blood-red eyes
Sapphire-blue eyes
Golden eyes
Each variation hinted at a different power.
Enormous.
The rift expanded rapidly, stretching over ten thousand meters in radius.
And then—the true form emerged.
A colossal creature stepped forth, resembling a giant octopus, though its number of limbs went far beyond that.
It had thousands—tens of thousands of tentacles, writhing in the air like a living sea.
Just looking at it sent chills through the soul.
The dense forest of eyes triggered a visceral horror—an overwhelming, almost primal fear.
"DIE!!"
The Nightmare Lord didn't waste time with words.
Upon spotting its target, it launched an immediate kill strike.
One tentacle transformed into a massive war spear, thrusting directly at Yi Tianxing and Yuan Gang.
As it flew, all the eyes along its length opened—they were blue, releasing waves of freezing light.
The world froze.Time itself seemed to stop.
"MOVE! DAMMIT, MOVE!"
Yuan Gang roared in his mind.
But no matter how much power he called upon, his body wouldn't budge—not even an inch.
It was a terrifying, absolute lockdown.
"So strong."
Yi Tianxing's expression was cold and solemn.
But unlike Yuan Gang, he remained unfrozen.
With a thought, a majestic divine diagram unfurled behind him—a celestial map of mountains, rivers, sun, and moon, all flowing and shifting like a world unto itself.
ROOOAARRR!!
With dragon roars echoing, divine dragons erupted from the map:
The Yellow Dragon
The Golden Dragon
The Flame Dragon
The Ice Dragon
Each one exuded a terrifying aura that tore through the heavens, wielding power no less than that of a Dao Platform cultivator.
Their presence flooded the world with pure law, filled with imperial might.
In a flash, the Golden Dragon lashed its tail—
BOOM!!
The war spear-tentacle exploded on contact, blasted into a cloud of blood mist.
Unmatched dominance.
"A Nightmare Lord, huh? I've been meaning to see just how strong the darlings of the Nightmare World truly are."
Battle-lust surged through Yi Tianxing's chest.
Since he was about to leave the Nightmare World anyway, this was the perfect chance to go all out.
Even if the fight turned the world upside down—it didn't matter anymore.
At that moment, the Nightmare Tree—Yi Tianxing's body in this world—also stirred.
No longer slow and steady, it now went wild.
Its roots spread like madness, channeling a raging torrent of nightmare power directly into the Hongmeng Heavenly Emperor Tower.
What was once a gentle stream was now a tsunami, growing thousands—millions—of times more efficient.
RUMBLE!!
Nearby strange trees withered instantly, crumbling to powder.
The once fertile land dried up, turning to sand, then to dust.
Even the dust dissolved.
All of it—every scrap of energy—was devoured.
But none of this affected the battle.
The dozen divine dragons attacked with full fury—each wielding Dao Platform strength.
Their powers struck the Nightmare Lord in an unrelenting storm of divine techniques.
Yet, the Nightmare Lord's defense was near absurd:
Over 70% of divine attacks vanished on contact.
The rest barely scratched him—and what wounds appeared, healed instantly.
Worse, every injury made him angrier, and his attacks grew even more violent.
His tentacles moved like illusions—untrackable, shapeshifting freely between blades, spears, and whips.
They smashed the divine dragons apart in midair.
The dragons exploded in retaliation, hoping to wound him…
…but the tentacles sprouted tiny mouths, devouring the chaotic energy.
Then came the final strike—
Thousands of tentacles swept toward Yi Tianxing himself.
The sky turned dark. The void vanished beneath their numbers.
And the Nightmare Lord's aura surged again.
From Dao Platform… toward Dao Proving.
"Truly a child of heaven. Growing stronger as he fights—he's utterly unreasonable."
Yi Tianxing's brow furrowed.
This wasn't a fair fight.
The Nightmare Lord was a walking cheat code, evolving in real time.
Defeating one in the Nightmare World… might be utterly impossible.