164: Breakthrough to the late stage of the third tier

Deep within the spirit cave of Qianjiao Cliff, an unprecedented and violent change was taking place.

Gao De coiled beside the jade table, the aura around his body churning incessantly like the raging waves of a stormy sea.

Having successively devoured three high-order Yao Beasts carrying dragon blood—the Ink-Armored Dragon Turtle, the Turtle-Backed Alligator Dragon, and the Cloud-Patterned Water Boa—along with numerous Tier 2 dragon-kin creatures hunted by his subordinate Demon Soldiers, their pure Bloodlines and soul essences had accumulated within him, finally reaching a crucial critical point at this very moment!

"Roar—!"

A long, irrepressible dragon roar erupted from Gao De's throat; it was no longer the hiss of a flood dragon, but a True Dragon roar carrying ancient majesty!

Inside the spirit cave, Purple Lightning danced wildly, and water vapor gathered frantically, actually forming a rolling thundercloud vortex at the top of the cave!

Within his body, the Purple Lightning Flood Dragon Bloodline, refined from the Purple Heaven Dragon Transformation Art and the System, began to boil like molten lava.

His Bloodline concentration began to climb crazily from 27%... 28%... 29%... Finally, amidst the sound of shackles from ancient times shattering—a sound only he could hear—it hit 30%!

A qualitative change occurred right here!

"Hum—!"

The purple scales all over Gao De's body suddenly stood on end. Every single scale was trembling violently and glowing, and the mysterious electric patterns on their surfaces seemed to come alive, flowing and restructuring rapidly.

The edges of his old, relatively fine scales began to curl and peel off, revealing new, wider, thicker, harder dragon scales underneath, with a deeper color approaching dark purple!

The shedding process was accompanied by an indescribable itching and stinging sensation, but what followed was a surging, brand-new sense of power.

His body stretched and elongated unconsciously amidst the lightning and water vapor. His flood dragon appearance became increasingly distinct. Where his head was rugged, two slightly raised bumps became hard and clear, already showing the rudimentary form of future dragon horns.

The toe bones of his four sharp claws crackled, with a faint tendency to extend toward a fifth toe.

A purer, more majestic dragon might, mixed with the wildness of Purple Lightning and the destructive aura of thunder, uncontrollably permeated the surroundings, causing the Yao Beasts guarding outside the spirit cave, like Turtle Three Thousand and Green Edge, to be shaken to their core, nearly kneeling down.

Meanwhile, deep within his Bloodline, a new section of Legacy memory unlocked with a boom, transforming into a torrent that surged into Gao De's Sea of Consciousness!

Purple Heaven Dragon Transformation Art: Third Order Chapter completed!

Divine Ability awakened: Violet Extreme Thunder Strike!

Innate Secret Technique: Dragon Blood Burning Essence!

Violet Extreme Thunder Strike: A top-tier offensive Divine Ability awakened after the Bloodline's qualitative change.

It condenses one's own purest Purple Lightning Thunder Aura and a trace of True Dragon might, transforming it into a "Violet Extreme Thunder Spear" or "Thunder Strike Beam" that is extremely Yang, extremely rigid, extremely fast, and extremely fierce.

This lightning contains a trace of the true intent of Heavenly Punishment. Its penetrating power and explosive force are terrifyingly extreme. It has a powerful destructive effect on evil spirits, vengeful ghosts, and most Protective Auras, making it a killing technique specifically designed for breaking through defenses and beheading enemies. However, it consumes a massive amount of energy and should not be used lightly.

Dragon Blood Burning Essence: Burns one's own pure dragon blood to significantly boost all capabilities in a short time, including strength, speed, Demonic Power intensity, and Divine Ability power.

The degree of boost and duration vary depending on the amount of dragon blood burned. This is a life-risking or decisive technique. Although its power is infinite, one will fall into a weakened state afterward, and the lost Essence Blood requires a long period of nourishment to recover.

"Violet Extreme Thunder Strike... Dragon Blood Burning Essence..." Gao De digested the information on his newly acquired Divine Ability and secret technique, his heart stirring with grand ambition.

These two, one an extremely sharp "spear" and the other an instantaneous explosive "furnace," are the perfect complement to his existing Prison Suppressing Thunder Domain and Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist System! His combat power will undergo a qualitative leap because of this!

The sudden change in his Bloodline and the Awakening of his Divine Ability acted as a catalyst, also triggering his cultivation Bottleneck, which had already reached the Peak of Third Order Mid-Stage.

"Since the Opportunity has arrived, then let's break through together!"

Gao De no longer suppressed it, fully operating the newly completed Third Order Late Stage chapter of the Purple Heaven Dragon Transformation Art.

The spirit vein in the cave erupted with unprecedentedly pure Spiritual Qi, and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and thundercloud water vapor gathered within the spirit cave were frantically devoured by him.

The flood dragon pearl within his body spun violently, entangled with Purple Lightning, continuously solidifying and growing stronger.

The process was much smoother than expected.

The newly born Bloodline provided an incomparably solid Foundation, and the vast energy accumulated from previous devouring was now entirely converted into a boosting force.

In less than half a day, a faint sound, as if an eggshell were cracking, emanated from within Gao De's body.

Third Order Late Stage, achieved naturally!

The surging Demonic Power swept through his entire body like a tidal wave, scouring every inch of his muscles, bones, and scales, making them tougher and more capable of bearing that new, violent power.

His Divine Sense range exploded, and his ability to sense and control Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, especially thunder and water Qi, improved by several levels.

When his aura gradually stabilized, Gao De examined himself.

His body size was a circle larger than before, and his streamlined physique was full of the beauty of power.

New dark purple dragon scales covered his whole body, with faint golden patterns on the edges. Their hardness far exceeded the old scales, and his resistance to lightning and water techniques also increased significantly.

The bumps of his dragon horns on his forehead were now half a foot high, faintly showing signs of branching.

Although his five claws were not yet fully formed, the fourth claw was already stable, and the future of the fifth claw was clearly visible.

"As I am now, even without relying on battle formations or sneak attacks, I should have the advantage in a head-on fight against a Third Order Late Stage Yao Beast. If I use 'Violet Extreme Thunder Strike' or 'Dragon Blood Burning Essence,' I can even threaten a Tier 3 Peak for a short time!" Gao De felt the surging power within him, his confidence greatly increased.

But soon, after his cultivation was completely stabilized, his gaze fell upon the large pile of old scales that had just fallen off, as well as the precious Materials collected from previous hunts—the hardest core of the Ink-Armored Dragon Turtle's back shell, the spine of the Turtle-Backed Alligator Dragon covered in counter-shock bone spikes, the complete Chi Dragon tendons and eyeballs of the Cloud-Patterned Water Boa that contained illusion abilities, the stocked Geng Metal Thunder Evil Stones, the Millennium Cold Marrow Iron, and so on.

"The scales have shed, the cultivation has broken through, and the Divine Ability has been obtained... It is time to refine my life-bound demonic artifact again!" Purple light burned in Gao De's eyes.

He opened his mouth and spewed out the demonic fire that he had nurtured for many years—at this moment, it was mixed with wisps of Purple Lightning, its power even greater than before.

The first thing he put in was the core of his old "purple scale earth-shaking armor" and a large amount of shed old scales.

Under the calcination of the lightning fire, the old armor melted and fused with the essence of the new scales, becoming even denser.

He took out the back shell core of the Ink-Armored Dragon Turtle and the counter-shock spine of the Turtle-Backed Alligator Dragon, extracted the Dao patterns essence contained within them, and carefully cast them into the armor embryo using the Artifact Refining secret method recorded in the Purple Heaven Dragon Transformation Art.

At the same time, he forced out several drops of his heart Essence Blood, mixed it with a trace of the Origin thunder intent of the newly awakened "Violet Extreme Thunder Strike," and carved out brand-new defensive and counter-attack runes.

After seven whole days of non-stop refining, the prototype of a brand-new battle armor was finally born!

The armor was a deep, dark purple. The surface had tortoise shell patterns and dragon scale patterns crisscrossing, with faint golden counter-shock thunder patterns. It was as heavy as a mountain, yet closely connected to Gao De's Bloodline, linked in thought.

"The 'purple scale earth-shaking armor' has successfully upgraded again!" Gao De felt quite joyful in his heart.

This armor's defensive power far exceeded the old one, and it also possessed the ability of passive counter-shock thunder aura; the stronger the enemy's attack, the more violent the counter-shock Purple Lightning Thunder Aura would be.