Chapter 00250: Nightmare Demon
# Nightmare Demon
Chapter 250
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 250: Nightmare Demon
"Wait, Alliance Leader Huo, what do you mean by the freezing of Lingwei Immortal Domain?" Lan Xiaobu asked, puzzled.
Huo Lan sighed and explained, "Seven years ago, the temperature at the edge of Lingwei Immortal Domain suddenly dropped. At first, everyone thought it was just another secret realm appearing, so no one paid much attention. But later, when some people ventured in, they realized it wasn't just a secret realm. Those with lower cultivation levels were instantly turned to nothingness by the extreme cold. Elder Gu, Alliance Leader Sha, and I, along with a few other Immortal Kings, went to investigate. We found that areas beyond the reach of our divine senses seemed to be gradually vanishing..."
Elder Gu Feihe added, "Yes, when the cold reached a certain level, that area completely disappeared. Then the cold continued to spread inward, and after some time, the areas it invaded also vanished..."
Lan Xiaobu's expression darkened.
Did this mean that, over time, the entire Lingwei Immortal Domain would freeze and disappear?
"Can the vanished areas still be detected with divine sense? Have they turned into void space?" Lan Xiaobu asked again.
Huo Lan shook his head, "As soon as you extend your divine sense, it gets completely obliterated. You can imagine that if anyone were to go there, they wouldn't survive. The person who has been destroying sects and cities in Lingwei Immortal Domain appeared after the freezing began. I suspect there's a connection between the two."
"Alliance Leader Huo, you mentioned earlier that the Immortal Venerable isn't a human Immortal Venerable. What did you mean by that?" Lan Xiaobu asked, feeling a growing concern for Gu Dao.
At this moment, he had no idea where Gu Dao had fled.
Although Gu Dao was nominally his beast companion, they hadn't actually formed a master-servant contract.
So, he had no way of knowing Gu Dao's current whereabouts.
Huo Lan's expression turned grave, "I suspect it's a Nightmare Cultivator, or Nightmare Demon, from the Dark Abyss."
Hearing the term "Nightmare Demon," everyone except Lan Xiaobu paled.
Lan Xiaobu frowned, "What is a Nightmare Cultivator? Why are they called Nightmare Demons?"
Elder Gu Feihe sighed, "Nightmare Demons are cultivators formed from emotions—fear, excitement, hatred, anger, torment... any intense emotion can give rise to a Nightmare Cultivator. They usually appear in ancient battlefields, the Dark Abyss, or other unknown places where life has perished. The lingering emotions are tainted by the surrounding Dao rhythms, eventually forming self-cultivating entities known as Nightmare Demons."Initially, Nightmare Demons have no physical form, existing only as something akin to a cultivator's primordial spirit.
They absorb essence, blood, souls, and even emotions and wishes to cultivate and strengthen themselves, gradually forming a physical body.
These cultivators have no mercy, only a desire for slaughter and self-improvement, which is why they're called demons.
In truth, only after reaching the seventh level can they be considered true Nightmare Cultivators.
The Great Desolate Universe once had such a Nightmare Cultivator, but it was eventually suppressed by a Sage."Lan Xiaobu fell silent. He now realized the dangers of the incomplete Five Realms Immortal World. Nightmare Demons had emerged, and what was even more concerning was the freezing. If this continued, Lingwei Immortal Domain would eventually vanish. At that moment, Hou Xuancheng's wrist flickered with light. He immediately stood up and said,"That possible Nightmare Cultivator is chasing Gu Dao into the frozen zone."Gu Dao was a divine beast, a Ya Zi, and Lan Xiaobu's beast companion. Everyone present, being Immortal Kings, knew this. Lan Xiaobu also stood up quickly,"Let's go.
We need to check the frozen zone now."They boarded Lan Xiaobu's high-grade flying immortal artifact, which he pushed to its limits. In just ten days, they arrived at the outskirts of the frozen zone. Lan Xiaobu grew even more worried. If a high-grade flying immortal artifact could reach the frozen zone in ten days, it was clear that the freezing of Lingwei Immortal Domain would first affect the Great Desolate Sect and Mu Bei Great Immortal City. A Great Perfected Immortal approached and bowed to Huo Lan,"Alliance Leader, our formation's level is too low.
It won't be able to hold back the invading cold for much longer.
Earlier, our monitoring formation saw that Immortal Venerable chasing a wolf demon deep into the frozen zone."Huo Lan nodded and turned to Lan Xiaobu,"Sect Master Lan, what do you think?"Lan Xiaobu's divine sense had already scanned the defensive formation. It was a fourth-grade immortal formation. Despite being a fourth-grade formation, it couldn't hold back the cold. Even now, standing hundreds of miles away from the formation, they could clearly feel the chill. Before Lan Xiaobu could respond, his divine sense caught a swarm of shadowy figures rushing toward them."It really is Nightmare Demons..."Several Immortal Kings' expressions changed as their divine senses also detected countless shadows charging in their direction. Everyone's faces turned pale. If so many Nightmare Demons flooded into Lingwei Immortal Domain, the outcome would be nothing short of annihilation. Huo Lan muttered,"I thought there was only one powerful Nightmare Cultivator, but here there are thousands, tens of thousands...
In that place, we didn't even dare to extend our divine senses, yet the Nightmare Demons can exist there..."He didn't finish his sentence. Thousands? Tens of thousands? No, it was far more than that. Behind the initial wave was a dark, endless mass that even divine sense couldn't fully grasp. Lan Xiaobu immediately said,"Gather all the cultivators of Lingwei Immortal Domain and the cultivator armies to hold off these Nightmare Demons.
All fourth-grade and above immortal formation masters, follow me to set up defensive formations..."After hastily giving these orders, Lan Xiaobu rushed forward. He knew that trying to save Gu Dao now was a pipe dream. Even if he were a seventh-level Immortal King, he wouldn't be able to rescue Gu Dao from such a horde of Nightmare Demons. Lan Xiaobu began throwing down formation flags, working at breakneck speed to set up a sixth-grade defensive formation to replace the fourth-grade one. At this point, both Huo Lan and Hou Xuancheng knew what needed to be done. They issued orders to summon all cultivators in Lingwei Immortal Domain while simultaneously attacking the swarming Nightmare Demons. They could only hope that the Immortal Venerable-level Nightmare Cultivator was too preoccupied to come after them. Otherwise, Lan Xiaobu, they, and the entire Lingwei Immortal Domain would be doomed. ... In a short time, the entire Lingwei Immortal Domain became aware of the extreme danger they were in. Endless Nightmare Demons were pouring in from the frozen zone. If they couldn't hold them back, death was inevitable. Some selfish cultivators fled into the Endless Swamp, hoping to escape Lingwei Immortal Domain and enter another immortal domain. Though they knew the swamp was a death trap, it was still better than being devoured by countless Nightmare Demons. Others fled into the Five Elements Sea. But most cultivators headed to the frozen zone of Lingwei Immortal Domain, ready to resist the Nightmare Demons. ... Lan Xiaobu had already completed the first sixth-grade defensive formation, but he was still frantically refining formation flags. Using a second-grade immortal flame, he was crafting sixth-grade formation flags to set up killing and trapping formations. Seven or eight fourth-grade immortal formation masters arrived at Lan Xiaobu's side to assist, but when they saw his formation flags, they realized there was little they could do to help. Lan Xiaobu carved out several jade slips and handed them to the formation masters, then took out the formation flags and said,"Just place the flags according to the instructions in the jade slips.
I'll handle the rest."Though the fourth-grade formation masters' assistance was limited, their presence still sped up the process. In just over two months, the killing formation was complete. Watching groups of Nightmare Demons being annihilated by the formation, the Immortal Kings finally breathed a sigh of relief. Huo Lan was the first to approach Lan Xiaobu,"Sect Master Lan, without you, Lingwei Immortal Domain would have been in grave danger."Lan Xiaobu shook his head,"No, Lingwei Immortal Domain is still in danger.
Have you noticed that at first, the Nightmare Demons mindlessly charged into the killing formation, and we slaughtered them by the thousands.
But now, fewer are rushing in, and more are gathering in the distance.
Not only that, they're absorbing the immortal spiritual energy of Lingwei Immortal Domain.
What's even more terrifying is that if these Nightmare Demons advance to the seventh level, or if that eighth-level Nightmare Cultivator who was chasing Gu Dao shows up, my sixth-grade formation won't be of much use."The Immortal Kings exchanged uneasy glances. Due to the limitations of Lingwei Immortal Domain's natural laws, the strongest cultivators here were only Immortal Kings. If an eighth-level Nightmare Cultivator appeared, a sixth-grade formation would indeed be a joke."Sect Master Lan, do you have any solutions?" Hou Xuancheng asked with a sigh.
They all knew Lan Xiaobu's words were true.
As a late-stage Immortal King, Hou Xuancheng had no chance of advancing to Immortal Venerable unless he left Lingwei Immortal Domain.
Moreover, in the future, Lingwei Immortal Domain might not even have seventh-grade immortal herbs.
The initial batch of seventh-grade herbs appeared because the Five Realms Immortal World had just merged, and the infusion of chaotic energy allowed for herbs that exceeded the domain's natural laws.
But as time passed and those herbs were consumed, it would be nearly impossible for new seventh-grade herbs to appear.
At this moment, not only Hou Xuancheng but the other Immortal Kings also looked to Lan Xiaobu.
Though Lan Xiaobu's cultivation was the weakest here, his status was no less than anyone else's.
As a sixth-grade immortal formation master, he commanded respect.
Moreover, in terms of overall strength, the Great Desolate Sect was the top power in Lingwei Immortal Domain.
As the sect master, no one dared to underestimate him.
The others looked to Lan Xiaobu not just because he was the sect master of the Great Desolate Sect, but also because they hoped he could come up with a solution.
After all, so far, Lan Xiaobu had contributed the most.
Without his sixth-grade killing, trapping, and defensive formations, the area would have been overrun by Nightmare Demons long before the cultivator armies and countless rogue cultivators could arrive.
There was another reason: since Lan Xiaobu's rise, the Great Desolate Sect had faced countless crises, yet it still stood strong.
As for the Great Profound Cultivator Alliance, which had once threatened the Great Desolate Sect, where were they now?
(End of Chapter)