165: Slay the evil dragon

The re-forging of the armor was complete; next up was the "thunder fang formation-breaking halberd".

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Gao De cast the old halberd into the thunder fire, fusing it with the sharpest claws and fangs of the Turtle-Backed Alligator Dragon, the entirety of the Geng Metal Thunder Evil Qi Stone's essence, and the essence extracted from the Cloud-Patterned Water Boa Chi Dragon tendon.

He likewise used his Essence Blood and the Origin of the 【Violet Extreme Thunder Strike】 Divine Ability to carve runes for armor-piercing, sharpness, and speed.

Seven more days passed, and a brand new, ferocious halberd emerged!

The halberd shaft was dark purple, while the blade and teeth were dark gold. The lightning light was restrained, yet that Aura of indestructible, all-destroying sharpness caused the surrounding air to warp slightly.

When swung, there was a faint sound of a dragon roaring and thunder howling. Its quality had undergone a qualitative leap compared to before; although its rank was still a Third Order Magic Treasure, the Divine Might contained within the war halberd was no longer what it once was.

The re-forging of his two life-bound Yao weapons was a success. Relying on top-tier Materials and Bloodline refinement, their power was sufficient to rival a Third Order Peak-Grade Magic Treasure, and in Gao De's hands, they could perform even beyond their limits.

With this, Gao De's seclusion for Breakthrough and Artifact Refining was finally complete.

He slowly stood up, stretching his humanoid body—which was convenient for Artifact Refining—and felt the surging Third Order Late Stage Demonic Power within him, the 30% dragon blood that had undergone a qualitative change, and the newly awakened 【Violet Extreme Thunder Strike】 and 【Dragon Blood Burning Essence】.

He gently stroked the brand-new heavy armor on his body and gripped the halberd in his palm, which contained latent Evil Qi.

"My strength is no longer what it used to be." Gao De's gaze pierced through the spirit cave, looking out toward the ever-changing Yunmeng Marsh. "Sunken Abyss Sea Eye... Heavenly Demon Cult, Thunder Tiger Demon King, Green Water Profound Snake... Now, this King is qualified to make a move on this larger chessboard."

"Turtle Three Thousand, pass down the order: lift the highest alert throughout the territory and resume normal patrols, but keep the intelligence network highly active.

Collect all intelligence regarding the latest anomalies at the Sunken Abyss Sea Eye and the recent movements of various forces, especially the specific movements of the Heavenly Demon Cult and Thunder Tiger Demon King after the Silver-Scaled Gyarados King incident. At the same time, secretly keep an eye out within the Yunmeng Marsh for information on locations suitable for this King's future Transformation Tribulation."

"Green Edge, Iron Pincer, reorganize the troops and conduct adaptation drills using the new battle Formations in coordination with the new Divine Ability I have acquired.

Our hunting operations will continue. The targets are adjusted to: Dragon-Blooded Creatures at the Third Order Middle Stage or above, or those possessing special talents whose Bloodline Divine Abilities might have supplementary value to this King! Prioritize targets that are alone or whose habitats are shown by intelligence to be relatively secluded."

"Understood!" A resolute and powerful response came from outside the spirit cave.

...

Half a month later, on the southwestern outskirts of Yunmeng Marsh, Black Water Abyss.

This place was not an illusory land like the Thousand Illusions, but a bottomless, massive underwater abyss with ink-black water.

The undercurrents in the abyss were bone-chillingly cold, the water pressure was immense, and it was inhabited by various Great Desolation Remnant Species with fierce temperaments adapted to the darkness. Ordinary Cultivators and the Yao Race would not easily venture deep into this place, even to hunt for treasure.

According to Turtle Three Thousand's intelligence network, a "Profound Shadow Flood Dragon" was suspected to be hiding here.

This beast was not a True Dragon, but a certain kind of deep-water giant python that had mutated after being infected by Dragon Qi. It possessed the talents of "Shadow Travel" and "Extreme Cold Breath," its movements were mysterious, and its strength was estimated to be between the Third Order Middle Stage and Late Stage. Its "shadow" attribute might have reference value for Gao De's concealment and ambush capabilities.

At this moment, in an area of the middle layer of the Black Water Abyss covered with huge black stalagmites.

Gao De hovered alone in the shadow of a stalagmite, his 【Hidden Scale Concealing Scenery】 Divine Ability operating at full power, perfectly merging with the absolute darkness and cold water currents around him, his presence nearly nonexistent.

Green Edge and Iron Pincer led an elite squad, setting up hidden encirclement and interference Formations several miles away, relying on the complex terrain, and waited quietly for the signal.

Gao De was like the most patient hunter of the abyss, his Divine Sense like the subtlest ripples, blending into the darkness, sensing every anomaly in the water current and every fluctuation of the shadows.

He had been lurking here for three whole days.

Finally, on the fourth day, a massive shadow slowly swimming in the water ahead caught Gao De's attention.

The shadow was not a solid entity, yet it seemed to possess life, winding its way between the stalagmites. Wherever it passed, even the already weak light was further swallowed, the temperature plummeted, and a faint trail of ice was left behind.

"Found you..." A faint flash of Purple Lightning appeared in Gao De's dragon eyes, then immediately receded.

He did not act immediately, but instead, like a part of the shadows, quietly followed. This Profound Shadow Flood Dragon was exceptionally cautious, constantly changing its route, sometimes weaving through solid stalagmites, and sometimes merging into pure shadows to vanish for a moment.

Gao De patiently waited for the best opportunity.

Just as the Flood Dragon emerged from the shadows once again, preparing to devour a passing large hagfish, the moment its form slightly solidified—

"Now!"

Gao De did not move his body, but his Divine Ability was already unleashed!

The 【Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist】 was not spread out, but precisely enveloped the area of several zhang around the evil dragon. Within the mist contained his powerful mental interference and a slight disturbance to the shadows.

At the same time, the embryonic power of the 【Prison Suppressing Thunder Domain】 pressed down silently. Although not fully deployed, the effect of freezing space and suppressing the Divine Soul caused the evil dragon's movements to exhibit an extremely brief, almost imperceptible hesitation!

For a hunter of Gao De's level, this was enough!

He moved!

There was no dazzling lightning light, no earth-shattering momentum, only an ultimate "purple line" streaking through the darkness—it was precisely the newly awakened Divine Ability, 【Violet Extreme Thunder Strike】!

This lightning light was condensed to the extreme, and its speed surpassed the scope of ordinary Divine Sense capture. Carrying the true intent of Heavenly Punishment to sever illusions and exterminate evil, it shot with absolute precision into the midsection of the Profound Shadow evil dragon's newly solidified body, at a core node where shadow energy circulated!

"Hiss-roar—!"

The evil dragon let out a painful and furious screech, its body twisting violently. Where it had been struck by the Violet Extreme Thunder Strike in its midsection, the shadows dissipated, revealing the flesh covered in dark scales beneath. A charred hole was starkly visible, and wisps of Purple Lightning were still leaping and causing destruction at the wound!

It wanted to escape into the shadows immediately, but discovered that its connection to the shadows had been interfered with by a strange power, becoming extremely obstructed!

Gao De's figure only then appeared like a ghost above the evil dragon's head. The thunder fang formation-breaking halberd in his hand transformed into a purple-gold thunderbolt that tore through the darkness, striking directly at the relatively fragile connection between its head and neck!

Before the blade arrived, that Aura of all-destroying sharpness had already made the Yao dragon's scales bristle!

In its terror, the evil flood dragon opened its mouth and spat out a gray-black "Extreme Cold Dragon Breath." Wherever it passed, even the water currents were frozen into black ice crystals, attempting to block the halberd blade and counterattack.

Gao De did not dodge or evade. The purple scale earth-shaking armor on his body flashed with a dark purple light, and a thick layer of Purple Lightning Aura barrier appeared.

"Crack!" The Extreme Cold Dragon Breath collided with the Aura barrier; most of its power was neutralized, and the small portion of cold energy that penetrated annihilated itself against the rebounding thunder aura.

Gao De's figure only swayed slightly, but the downward hacking momentum of his war halberd did not diminish in the slightest!

"Puchi!"

The war halberd hacked fiercely into the evil flood dragon's neck. Although hindered by tough scales and formidable Yao bones, failing to decapitate it, it still carved out a huge wound deep enough to see the bone, and dark blue dragon blood sprayed out wildly!

The Purple Lightning Thunder Aura contained on the halberd crazily invaded its body, destroying its vitality.

The evil flood dragon suffered heavy injuries, and its ferocity exploded completely. Its massive body rolled and thrashed crazily, and its shadow power erupted recklessly, attempting to drag Gao De into the turbulent shadow currents to perish together.

"Hmph!" Gao De snorted coldly. With a slight shift of his thoughts, the 【Dragon Blood Burning Essence】 secret art quietly operated—this secret art, which he had just begun to master, had astonishing power, instantly increasing his strength and speed by about 30%!

In an instant, his Aura rose again!

His figure was like lightning, weaving freely through the gaps in the evil dragon's violent attacks. The war halberd in his hand transformed into a storm of destruction, and every strike landed precisely on the evil flood dragon's wounds or power nodes.

The Violet Extreme Thunder Strike occasionally fired, always capable of causing considerable piercing damage.

Having lost its greatest advantage of Shadow Travel, and with its attack rhythm completely suppressed by Gao De, the Profound Shadow Flood Dragon, fierce as it was, only lasted less than a hundred breaths of time before, with a desperate screech, it was pierced through the skull by Gao De's halberd and nailed to the massive black cliff at the bottom of the water.

He devoured its Divine Soul essence and that unique, mutated dragon blood power that fused shadows and cold. This time, the Bloodline concentration did not increase much, about 2%, but the traits of "Shadow Affinity" and "Extreme Cold Resistance" quietly merged into Gao De's Foundation, making his 【Hidden Scale Concealing Scenery】 more effective in absolute darkness and enhancing his resistance to ice-cold attributes.

"A nice supplement." Gao De nodded with satisfaction.

This type of targeted hunting might not yield gains as obvious as purely increasing Bloodline concentration, but it could comprehensively solidify his Foundation and make up for his shortcomings.

He sent out a signal, and Green Edge and Iron Pincer quickly brought people to handle the battlefield.

Watching their Lord cleanly and decisively finish off this troublesome abyss Yao Beast, the awe in the eyes of the other Yao became even deeper.