217: World of Runes

The secret discussion between Dragon King Ao Guang and the Black-Robed Person ultimately placed a "Pending Observation" mark on Gao De's fate, but the undercurrents surging deep within the Dragon Palace did not cease because of this.

On the contrary, the strange earth vein tremor during the birthday banquet was like a stone cast into a deep pool, with the ripples spreading to even more hidden corners.

Several days later, at Bibo Garden.

Gao De concluded another round of meditation on the [abyssal suppression dragon talisman] and was concentrating on adjusting his breath, attempting to capture the root of the faint, unusual fluctuation from before.

Suddenly, the few alert Restrictions he had placed on the outermost layer sent back subtle feedback of being touched and interfered with, almost simultaneously!

It was not the normal coming and going of guests or servants, but a Formation blockade with a clear purpose!

Gao De was instantly alert, with Purple Lightning flashing briefly in his eyes.

He did not release his Divine Sense to alert the enemy, but quietly raised his perception to the limit, while simultaneously connecting his thoughts to the purple scale earth-shaking armor and the thunder fang formation-breaking halberd.

He saw that on the periphery of Bibo Garden, the originally clear and gentle water had, at some unknown point, been stained with an extremely faint, almost imperceptible greyish hue.

This layer of grey was like a living thing, slowly spreading and permeating along the garden walls, the ground, and even space itself.

The exquisite carvings on the garden walls and the water-repelling runes that originally emitted a faint glow were rapidly dimming, as if being eroded and isolated by an invisible force.

The Spiritual Qi flowing in the air also became sluggish and heavy, and an invisible sense of a "barrier" was rapidly taking shape.

"A Sealing Formation! And a highly sophisticated composite Formation with concealment and spatial isolation properties!" Gao De's heart sank.

This was definitely not a normal security measure of the Dragon Palace, and it certainly wasn't an accidental trigger.

The target was clear; it was aimed directly at him!

The person who acted was extremely familiar with the Dragon Palace's Formation system, and to be able to set up such a Formation so quickly without alerting too many outsiders, their status and position were definitely not ordinary!

Had the Dragon King changed his mind? Or was it another faction in the Dragon Palace? Was it because he had pried into something, or simply because the Essence Blood of a "wild" Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon like him had become "sustenance" in the eyes of some people?

There was no time to think; the Formation was complete!

The grey "barrier" closed completely, isolating the entire Bibo Garden from the outside world; sound, light, Spiritual Qi, and even Divine Sense connections between inside and outside were brutally severed.

The interior of the garden instantly fell into a strange, deathly silence and darkness, with only his own aura and that of his Demon Soldiers still flowing.

"My Lord!" Iron Profound and the other Demon Soldiers also sensed the anomaly, quickly gathering around Gao De, forming a defensive array, their eyes filled with shock and rage.

Gao De raised his hand to stop any noise they might make.

With a cold expression, his Divine Sense acted like feelers, cautiously probing toward that layer of grey barrier, attempting to find a weak point or the core of the drive.

However, this Formation was exceptionally sturdy and strange; his Divine Sense probe was like a clay ox entering the sea, with the only feedback being Chaos and a strong repulsive force, even carrying a faint, chilling sensation that threatened to backlash against his Divine Soul.

Force his way out? The commotion would be too great, and he might not be able to break through instantly. Once trapped, if the Formation setter mobilized more power or stronger individuals to arrive, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He had to find another way out!

In a flash of inspiration, Gao De thought of the [abyssal suppression dragon talisman]!

This talisman not only possessed the power of suppression and Seal, but in his deeper meditation, he had vaguely sensed that it seemed to be connected to an extremely special "internal Domain" independent of the outside world, or rather—the Talisman World!

A strange space constructed with suppression and imprisonment as its core Law.

He had only sensed it before and had never tried to enter, nor did he know if he could use it to escape the external Seal.

At this life-and-death moment, he couldn't afford to hesitate!

Gao De's thoughts raced as he sank his entire focus into his Dantian, communicating with that dark dragon talisman.

He poured his pure Dragon Yuan into it without reservation, while simultaneously using his Divine Sense to outline the blurry rune mark he had just comprehended, which was related to triggering the internal space.

"Abyssal suppression becomes a prison, the talisman contains the universe... Open!"

Hum—!

The prison character dragon talisman in his Dantian suddenly shone brightly, and a desolate, ancient, and strange fluctuation that seemed to suppress everything spread out with Gao De at its center!

This fluctuation clashed violently with the grey Sealing Formation outside, causing the entire Bibo Garden to tremble.

The moment the conflict reached its peak, Gao De felt as if he had been seized by an invisible, immense force, and the surrounding scene instantly twisted, blurred, and faded!

The shocked faces of Iron Profound and the other Demon Soldiers, the grey Formation barrier, the exquisite scenery of the garden... everything was rapidly receding and compressing, finally turning into a chaotic darkness.

The next moment, a sensation of weightlessness arrived, followed immediately by the solid feeling of his feet hitting the ground.

Gao De opened his eyes abruptly and found himself in a completely unfamiliar space.

There was no water here, no light; all around him was endless, deep darkness that seemed eternal.

Beneath his feet was cold, hard, black ground covered in strange, twisted patterns, with a faint, dark golden light occasionally flowing through the lines, like the veins of a sleeping Dragon.

The air was filled with extreme "stillness" and "heaviness," as if the concepts of time and space were weakened and suppressed here.

He could feel that this space was extremely stable and completely independent of the outside world, sharing an Origin connection with the [abyssal suppression dragon talisman] in his hand.

"It worked... Is this the Talisman World?" Gao De's heart settled slightly, and he immediately attempted to sense the outside world.

Sure enough, the suffocating feeling of being trapped by the Formation had disappeared, replaced by a strange sense of "isolation," as if he were in another dimension, maintaining an extremely faint, almost imperceptible connection with the outside world through the only "portal"—the dragon talisman.

He could not clearly perceive the specific situation outside, but he could be certain that he was temporarily safe.

As for Iron Profound and the others, they were in another space, like insects in amber, completely frozen; this was the effect of the suppression power within the Talisman, and with their low cultivation, without Gao De's influence, they had completely lost their sense of the outside world.

Out of a need for secrecy, Gao De did not release them; at least with his supervision in the short term, there would be no life-threatening issues.

With no worries behind him, Gao De began to calculate a way to escape.

He sat cross-legged, adjusting his breath to recover from the consumption of forcibly activating the dragon talisman, while carefully sensing and consolidating his connection with this Talisman World, attempting to gain more control, or at least find a way to understand the specific situation outside.

...

Outside Bibo Garden, the grey Sealing Formation was already operating steadily, wrapping the garden tightly, like a huge, silent grey cocoon.

Several figures quietly appeared in the shadows not far from the garden.

The leader was none other than the cold-aura official of the "Astrological Bureau" who had once stood by the Dragon King's side, followed by several Dragon Palace Secret Guards who were also dressed in dark clothing, with blurred faces and auras all at the Fourth-Rank Early Stage.

"My Lord, the Formation is complete, the 'Abyssal Spirit-Locking Formation' has been fully activated, isolating the inside from the outside, imprisoning Spiritual Power, and blocking Divine Sense. The target should be trapped inside and unable to escape." A Secret Guard reported in a low voice.

The cold official nodded slightly, a trace of satisfaction and cruelty flashing in his eyes: "Follow the plan, infiltrate, and capture. Remember, I want him alive; Your Majesty wants a complete 'Great Medicine'."

"Understood!"

The figures of the Secret Guards flickered, as if melting into the grey, and silently "passed through" the seemingly tight Formation barrier—they were the ones who had set up the Formation, so naturally, they had left a back door.

However, when they entered Bibo Garden, what they saw was a deathly, empty silence.

The courtyard was tidy, the items in the rooms were placed as usual, and there was even unfinished Spiritual Tea that was still warm, but there was not a single person to be seen!

Gao De, along with his ten elite Demon Soldiers, seemed to have evaporated into thin air!

The Secret Guards were stunned and quickly scattered to search, their Divine Sense scanning every corner like a comb, and they even used secret treasures to detect life auras and spatial fluctuations, but the result was still nothing!

"How is this possible?!"

"The Formation is tight; there is absolutely no possibility of escape!"

"Where are they?!"

The news was immediately reported back. The cold official's expression instantly became extremely ugly; he personally entered the garden to investigate, but also found nothing.

Gao De's aura had been clearly present after entering Bibo Garden and had not moved until the moment before the Formation was activated, and then... it had completely disappeared, with no traces of leaving, no residual fluctuations of spatial jumping, as if he had been forcibly erased from this world!

"Useless!" The cold official was furious, slamming his palm down and turning the jade table beside him into powder.

The task entrusted by the Dragon King had suffered such a blunder under his carefully laid plans!

A living Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon, along with ten Demon Soldiers, evaporated into thin air inside a completely sealed Formation? This was simply inconceivable!

He dared not delay and immediately reported to the Dragon King using a secret technique.

...

Deep in the Crystal Palace, in a secret chamber filled with star charts.

Dragon King Ao Guang listened to the cold official's trembling report, his face showing no joy or anger, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop to freezing point instantly, and the air solidified.

"Disappeared? Inside the 'Abyssal Spirit-Locking Formation'?" The Dragon King's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Investigate, investigate thoroughly for Me! Inside and outside Bibo Garden, everyone who has had contact with him recently, any clue that might be related to this matter! Dragon Palace Formation records, spatial fluctuation monitoring, the movements of all suspicious persons!"

"Yes! Your Majesty!" The cold official was sweating like rain.

"And," the Dragon King paused, a trace of impatience and decisiveness flashing in his eyes, "the 'holy fetus' has been restless more frequently lately, and its demand for Essence Blood has become more urgent. Since that wild Flood Dragon is temporarily missing... the plan cannot stop."

He turned and looked at a massive jade board on the wall of the secret chamber, which listed the names, cultivation levels, Bloodline characteristics, and even recent whereabouts of numerous Dragon princes and princesses. His gaze moved slowly across several of the names.

"Twenty-seventh son Ao Yu, Tier 3 Peak, wood-water dual attribute, gentle Bloodline, was punished and sent to 'Cold Abyss to reflect' for 'improper words' the day before yesterday... Let it be him. And twenty-first daughter Ao Xue, Tier 3 Late Stage, ice-attribute mutated Bloodline, has always been 'weak and sickly', it is time for her to contribute to her 'brother's' great cause."

His tone was flat, as if he were deciding on tonight's dinner, rather than the fate of his own children.

"Convey My secret order, and command the 'Blood Guard' to handle it. Be clean about it; still handle it as a 'sudden illness' or 'deviation in cultivation'. After the Essence Blood is extracted, follow the old rules and send them to the Life-Transformation Pool."

The cold official's heart trembled, and he hurriedly lowered his head: "As you command!"

The Dragon King waved his hand, dismissing him.

The secret chamber returned to silence, with only the light points on the star charts flickering.

Ao Guang walked to the window and looked out at the deep, dark water of the palace city, his eyes devoid of any warmth, holding only an extreme desire for power and a hint of irritation at having his plans disrupted by an accident.

"Purple Lightning... no matter what means you used to escape, in this Qianjiang River Basin, no one can truly escape My control. Once I handle the 'source eye' matter and have time... your Essence Blood will eventually be Mine."

Meanwhile, Gao De, hiding in the Talisman World of the [abyssal suppression dragon talisman], which was endlessly dark and absolutely silent, was still unaware of the turmoil caused by his "disappearance" and the Dragon King's even more ruthless decision.

He was seizing every minute and every second, attempting to find a means of self-preservation and counterattack in this strange "prison," while silently calculating the time to leave.