143: magician

Three figures, like ink blending into water, drifted silently dozens of miles outside the perimeter of the Secret Realm entrance.

Gao De maintained his Half-Jiaoren form; the Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist not only concealed their figures and auras but also slightly distorted the surrounding light and water ripples, making it so that even in relatively clear waters, they appeared as if separated by several layers of shimmering frosted glass, difficult to clearly perceive.

They did not remain in one fixed spot but drifted quietly with the currents, always maintaining a distance from the Secret Realm entrance that allowed them to observe the overall situation while remaining ready for a rapid response.

"My Lord, over here." Green Edge's snake tongue flickered ever so slightly, pointing toward an underwater reef area.

Scattered there were a few low-tier Magical Artifacts with dim spiritual light or even damage, along with some sporadic fragments of Magical Artifacts, evidently left behind after a short, low-intensity struggle; perhaps a conflict between Loose Cultivators, or perhaps collateral damage from the turbulence at the entrance.

Gao De swept his Divine Sense across the area; most of it was useless. But his gaze fell upon a jade Talisman half-buried in the silt; he made a grasping motion with his claw, and the jade Talisman was in his hand.

He probed it with his Divine Sense; inside was a rough observation recorded by a small team of Loose Cultivators regarding the distribution of surrounding forces before the Secret Realm opened. The content was trivial, but combined with the intelligence from Qianjiao Cliff, it might corroborate information and add details.

"Keep it and hand it to Turtle Three Thousand for filing." Gao De tossed it casually to Iron Pincer. Such information might seem scattered, but accumulated, it might piece together some overlooked clues.

In another lush, grassy depression, Iron Pincer's giant pincers clamped onto the skeleton of a Yao Beast that had been almost completely gnawed clean, pulling it from the mud. Beside it lay a few blood-stained fragments of robes bearing the emblem of some small Family.

"It seems someone dealt with their 'tails' here; the methods are quite crude," Iron Pincer said in a muffled voice.

Gao De glanced at it; it had no value, so he signaled to leave. This crude method of destroying evidence did not seem like the work of the secretive Heavenly Demon Cult.

About half an hour later, Green Edge suddenly sent a voice transmission: "There is movement, to the southeast, underwater. The speed is slow, and the aura is chaotic."

Gao De's mind tightened, and the three of them quietly approached like shadows at the bottom of the water.

They saw a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator, dressed in the attire of a certain aristocratic Family of the Wu State, clutching his blood-dripping right arm. Pale-faced, he was clinging to the rock wall of an underwater canyon, struggling to swim upward.

He had no companions with him; his robe was damaged, and his protective spiritual light was dim. Evidently, he had encountered misfortune and barely escaped; at this moment, he only wanted to get away from this trouble spot as quickly as possible and find a place to heal his wounds.

His expression was vigilant, glancing back from time to time, while his hand tightly gripped a Talisman with faint lightning light; he clearly still held a trump card for a desperate struggle.

"Wait first." Gao De's heart stirred, and he stopped the restlessness of the two Yao.

A solitary, injured Foundation Establishment Cultivator from an aristocratic Family was the perfect bait. Although the opponent was on guard, his injuries were not light, and his condition was worrying.

"Green Edge, go to the side to ambush and prepare to create a water vortex. Iron Pincer, block the retreat route above, but do not make too much noise." Gao De quickly ordered, "Let's see if we can catch the 'big fish' that is following."

At the same time, the Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist was controlled by his mind, spreading slowly toward the area where the Cultivator was located as if it had a life of its own. It did not shroud him directly but first created a natural illusion of "water mist thickening and vision worsening."

The net had been quietly spread, waiting for the prey to enter the trap.

The Cultivator did not seem to immediately notice the subtle changes in the water flow and mist; he only masked his figure more nervously and accelerated his forward movement.

However, not long after he moved, the water flow behind him was suddenly torn apart, and a figure of extreme speed, carrying a sharp sound of breaking water, pursued him rapidly!

The Cultivator's already taut nerves nearly snapped; he turned abruptly, aiming the Talisman in his hand behind him, and shouted sharply: "Who? Come out!"

Before the words fell, the water flow behind him swirled violently without warning, turning into an invisible water prison that covered him from above! The Cultivator was caught off guard, his body swaying violently. The Spell masking his aura shattered instantly, and his hand clutching the Talisman involuntarily deviated.

"Not good!" His heart was filled with horror; knowing he had been targeted, he did not hesitate to activate the Talisman.

However, the light above suddenly dimmed, and a huge shadow covered in thick grey scales descended with suffocating water pressure, completely blocking his route of escape upward! At the same time, a pale purple mist that made one's Divine Sense dizzy had quietly surrounded him without him knowing!

His last vision was of cold grey scales flashing by in the mist, and a ferocious claw shadow, fast to the extreme, wreathed in fine, ghastly green electric arcs...

A moment later, this body of water returned to a deathly "calm."

The pale purple mist quietly dissipated, as if it had never appeared.

Beside the canyon rock wall underwater, only a few wisps of blood that were quickly washed away by the water flow remained, along with some more broken fragments of robes. Even the unactivated Talisman had disappeared without a trace.

Gao De's figure re-condensed in the distance, his fingertips playing with a newly Acquired Storage Ring — originating from that Wu State aristocratic Family Cultivator — and that decent-looking Talisman.

Green Edge and Iron Pincer stood solemnly to the side, and in the water current between them, a figure covered in grey scales, still struggling incessantly, was firmly imprisoned.

Gao De swept his Divine Sense roughly over the Storage Ring; the Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and Materials inside had limited value to him.

However, a Jade Slip recording information about the interactions between several Wu State forces before the Secret Realm opened, as well as some fragmented intelligence from the Cultivator's memory regarding the Family's operation in this Secret Realm, had some reference value.

"A Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator; his knowledge is limited after all." Gao De put away the Jade Slip and tossed the Talisman to Iron Pincer. "Keep it for self-defense. Clean up the traces, find a quiet place, and properly 'entertain' our guest from the Heavenly Demon Cult."

The captured grey figure had strength only at the Second Tier Late-stage; perhaps more than enough to hunt down a wounded Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator, but under the joint sneak attack of three well-prepared Yao Kings whose strength far surpassed his, he was captured without any ability to resist.

Gao De carefully examined this living captive.

Although the opponent was covered in dense, rough grey scales, he generally maintained a basic humanoid outline.

Probing deeply into his body with his Divine Sense, Gao De became increasingly convinced that this was not a pure-blooded Yao Race. Although his Qi and blood seemed vigorous, they were exceptionally mixed and chaotic; it was more like a bizarre product of a forced union between a Human Race member and some kind of shape-shifting Yao Race, or perhaps created by forcibly infusing Yao blood through Acquired secret methods.

"Heavenly Demon Cult... they really have some wicked methods." Gao De thought to himself.

Being able to transform a Human Race member into this kind of half-Yao form and endow them with Demonic Power and Bloodline characteristics—such secret methods were definitely not the work of the Righteous Path.

This living captive might be able to divulge some intelligence about that mysterious evil cult.

However, Gao De did not hold much hope for this; he would just have to try and see.