Chapter 412: Nightmare

"Hahaha... So what if your malicious aura is strong? In the end, you're nothing but the weakest Gold..."

"Reverse Realm Life Severing," an indifferent voice interrupted Shangguan Chen's maniacal laughter.

A miraculous scene unfolded. It was as if time had flowed backward for Su Mu; the malicious aura that had been extinguished reignited, soaring toward the heavens!

Shangguan Chen froze, his expression changing drastically. "That's impossible! How could..."

Light of Purification!

He summoned the Light of Purification once more and blasted it toward Su Mu. However, history repeated itself. The malicious aura extinguished by the light flared back to life.

"Just what kind of ability is this?! How could the Giant Demon path possess such a power!" Shangguan Chen shrieked, losing his composure.

Su Mu smiled faintly. "Who told you my Gold Law was only the Giant Demon?"

Boom!!

Another terrifying aura erupted, completely distinct from the Giant Demon.

This aura was bizarre and ethereal, seemingly hovering between reality and illusion, making it impossible to tell if it truly existed.

After Su Mu advanced to a Gold Giant Demon, his newly acquired tyrannical physique naturally allowed him to easily obtain his next Dream Law.

The Heaven-Deceiving Bagua had long reached complete perfection with the rising fame of Sanctuary Night Raven.

The name of his Gold Dream Law was also rather interesting. It was unexpected yet entirely reasonable—Nightmare!

The Nightmare World, Nightmare Creatures—everything was connected to nightmares, and now his Law was named Nightmare as well.

He had some guesses regarding this name. It was obvious that the Gold Laws were all named after races, such as the Shadow Demon and Giant Demon.

Although he had yet to encounter the Giant Demon race, he had seen a Shadow Demon. Bubai belonged to the Shadow Demon race.

This meant that Nightmare was also a race. However, they were unlike those Nightmare Creatures. Instead, Nightmare felt more like a collective term for a race caught between reality and illusion.

And the Reverse Realm Life Severing he had just used was the core ability of the Nightmare.

It reversed the world's conventional judgment of life, death, reality, and illusion, subsequently rewriting reality.

It was an ability that turned life into death, death into life, and interchanged the real and the illusory.

Su Mu had just utilized Reverse Realm Life Severing to turn the damage caused by the Light of Purification into an illusion, reverting his 'dead' malicious aura back to a 'living' state.

However, utilizing Reverse Realm Life Severing consumed a tremendous amount of energy. Currently unable to enter a dream to replenish his mental power, he could not use it endlessly.

"This is the power you obtained from the Land of Origin!" Shangguan Chen suddenly recalled, a look of extreme greed flashing in his eyes.

Right at that moment, a massive flurry of footsteps approached from the distance. The enormous commotion had clearly alarmed the Imperial Palace guards, and countless armored soldiers surged forward like a tide.

Their faces paled at the sight of the battlefield, especially when they saw King Chi bound to the side.

"Protect Her Majesty!"

They raised their Mithril guns and continuously fired at Shangguan Chen. No one attacked Su Mu.

Among the three of them, Shangguan Mingyue was King Chi, and Su Mu was a marquis of the Empire. Only Shangguan Chen, wearing the face of the Primal Pope, was a stranger. It was obvious who the intruder was.

Shangguan Chen looked furious. "Scram!"

The wings on his back fiercely flapped. Endless holy light shot out like billions of sharp arrows, slaughtering countless soldiers and instantly forming rivers of blood.

He then ignored the surviving guards. In his eyes, Su Mu was the only one capable of posing a genuine threat.

But he suddenly realized that Su Mu had vanished.

The space behind Shangguan Chen abruptly distorted, and Su Mu emerged from within. The Demonic Sword: Void Devourer, wrapped in a heaven-piercing malicious aura, slashed toward Shangguan Chen's neck.

Clang!

Void Devourer was blocked by a raised wing of holy light. Countless tiny sparks burst forth from the collision.

It seemed the strike was blocked, but this was merely Su Mu's feint. His true attack was... the Divine Touch!

A translucent tentacle slithered out from Su Mu's sleeve like a venomous snake, instantly piercing Shangguan Chen's body. The tentacle seemed entirely incorporeal, completely ignoring his Saint Grade physique to strike directly at his soul.

"Ah!!" Shangguan Chen let out a bloodcurdling scream. Even he could hardly endure the sensation of his soul being struck.

Yet at that exact moment, he forcefully endured the agony of his soul being pierced and grabbed the Divine Touch in a death grip.

"Got you!" Shangguan Chen's face twisted into a vicious grimace. Several thick chains of holy light surged from his body, wrapping around Su Mu.

In an instant, Su Mu was bound.

"Supreme Heaven is mine!!"

Shangguan Chen snatched at Supreme Heaven in Su Mu's hand with lightning speed, only to... grab thin air.

"What?!"

He swiped again in disbelief, but it was like a monkey trying to scoop the moon's reflection from the water. He couldn't touch a physical object at all.

Su Mu smiled faintly and stepped out of the indestructible holy light chains like a phantom.

"That's impossible!" Shangguan Chen's eyes split with rage. "Your ability to enter another dimension was clearly sealed..."

He stared at Su Mu's illusory figure and suddenly froze.

"You turned yourself into an illusion?!"

He was a Saint Grade expert after all. Even heavily injured, his sharp insight remained. He saw through Su Mu's trick at a glance.

Indeed, Su Mu had utilized Reverse Realm Life Severing to turn himself into an illusion.

"I don't believe you can maintain this illusory state forever! Holy Word Judgment!"

Shangguan Chen chanted an ancient and mysterious incantation. In a flash, light bloomed behind him. Blistering holy flames surged forth, spreading outward like a raging flood.

Within the radiance of those holy flames, a massive, majestic phantom gradually materialized. It was the figure of a Primal Angel, exuding an endless divine aura. Its wings blotted out the sun, and every single feather shimmered with a holy light.

With the appearance of the Primal Angel phantom, golden holy words poured from its mouth. They manifested as tangible golden runes, spiraling and dancing in the air before crashing toward Su Mu like meteors.

Every single holy word carried an unimaginable divine power. They constantly pierced through Su Mu's body like stones thrown into water, endlessly rippling his illusory form.

Shangguan Chen fixed a death stare on Su Mu, waiting for the moment he revealed a flaw so he could secure victory in one fell swoop!

Enveloped by the sky full of holy words, Su Mu suddenly let out a light chuckle. He gazed at Shangguan Chen and said unhurriedly, "From the start of the battle until now, it seems you've locked eyes with me no less than ten times, right? Has anyone ever told you not to stare into the eyes of an illusion master?"

The next moment, a voice as indifferent as a god's rang from Su Mu's mouth.

"Sink into the Eternal Dream Prison!"

Before Shangguan Chen's horrified gaze, the world changed.