222: Blood Sea Ups and Downs

Gao De controlled the speck of dust transformed from the prison dragon talisman's main body. After months of arduous movement, he finally crossed the invisible boundary at the edge of the Blood Pool and truly entered the range of the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Upon entering, the scene in his perception changed drastically!

The Blood Pool, which appeared to be only a hundred feet across from the outside, seemed to be a world of its own inside, vast and boundless!

The thick, dark red plasma here had turned into towering waves of blood, rolling incessantly and without end, like a true sea of blood!

The fishy sweetness and sinister Dragon might permeating the air were a hundred times more intense, and a strange energy—heavy as mercury and possessing strong corrosive and assimilative power—filled the space.

Gao De's wisp of Divine Sense attached to the speck of dust felt bursts of intense stinging and dizziness despite being protected by the power of the prison dragon talisman, as if it could be assimilated and swallowed by this sea of blood at any moment.

He hurriedly withdrew his Divine Sense, maintaining only the most basic perception. Like a small boat in a raging storm, he drifted with the waves while trying his best to hide his presence.

The sea of blood was not empty.

Countless Dragon Clan corpses thrown into the pool, or Dragon sons and daughters who were not yet completely dead, were rising and falling in the blood waves.

Those with lower cultivation had their flesh and blood melt at a speed visible to the naked eye. Their bones made a 'sizzling' sound as they were rapidly decomposed and absorbed by the sea of blood, turning into the purest dragon blood Origin and merging into the boundless dark red.

Only a few stronger individuals could barely maintain their forms in the blood waves, but they were also constantly losing Essence Blood and vitality. They let out silent wails as their dragon scales dimmed and their dragon horns crumbled.

Gao De 'saw' some of the hardest parts remaining from Fourth-Order Dragon Clan members—such as natal reverse scales, the tips of dragon horns, and a few special bones—drifting in the blood waves. Although their light was dim, they were not immediately dissolved, tenaciously resisting the erosion of the sea of blood.

Clearly, these things contained the most refined power and Dao rhyme from when they were alive, making them extraordinary.

To his surprise, near some Dragon Clan corpses that hadn't fully dissolved, or within certain 'vortexes' at the bottom of the sea of blood where the energy was relatively calm, he actually 'glimpsed' several items of various shapes flickering with faint treasure light!

There were damaged jade pendants and rings that hadn't lost their spiritual light, ancient-styled Storage Pouches or Cosmos Sacks, and even one or two damaged small cauldrons and short halberds. They floated in the sea of blood, yet they hadn't been completely corroded!

To be able to remain in such a terrifying sea of blood, even if only as fragments, they were definitely no ordinary items!

“Storage Magic Treasures! And treasures that can resist the erosion of the sea of blood!” Gao De's heart shook.

Before these Dragon sons and daughters were thrown into the pool, there was a high probability that their storage equipment and personal treasures hadn't been thoroughly looted. Now, they had become 'lost treasures' within this sea of blood!

A thought rose uncontrollably: if he could collect these treasures... especially those storage Magic Treasures, they likely contained the lifelong collections of these Dragons! Even if most were damaged by the sea of blood's erosion, as long as one or two were intact or had surviving parts, their value would be immeasurable! Furthermore, those treasure fragments that could resist corrosion might allow him to research methods to counter the power of this sea of blood, or even utilize it!

Treasures moved his heart, but the risk was equally immense.

Controlling the speck of dust to move in the violent sea of blood was already difficult; having to precisely locate, contact, and collect items would drastically increase the risk of consumption and exposure.

Moreover, the energy near those items was often even more chaotic, and there might even be lingering resentment from the original owners before they died.

“Wealth is found in danger... but I must be cautious and not lose the big picture for small gains.” Gao De forced himself to calm down.

His primary goal was still to investigate the primal fetus core, find the 'primer,' and clues about the blood sacrifice Great Array to prepare for the final seizure of the holy fetus.

Collecting treasures could only be done in passing and must be at the safest moment.

He controlled the speck of dust, no longer drifting with the waves, but began to consciously 'swim' slowly toward the core direction of the sea of blood's energy flow—the general location of the primal fetus embryo phantom.

At the same time, he set aside a portion of his mind to look out for 'lost treasures' along the way that might be relatively easy to grab. He wouldn't actively search for them, but he wouldn't let them go if he encountered them.

The space inside the sea of blood seemed more distorted and folded than perceived from the outside.

He clearly felt the primal fetus embryo was not far ahead, but even after the speck of dust traveled for a long time, the distance didn't seem to shorten much. Instead, the surrounding blood waves became increasingly violent, with energy turbulence tearing at everything.

Gao De had to be even more careful, pushing the concealment and stabilization characteristics of the prison dragon talisman to the limit. The speck of dust became almost completely transparent, merging with the blood waves.

On the way, he passed through a relatively calm 'blood puddle' where many Dragon Clan remains that hadn't fully dissolved were piled up.

The corpse of an Early Stage Fourth-Order Green Flood Dragon lay half-submerged at the bottom of the puddle. A broken dragon horn with a green jade luster was stuck beside its head. Although covered in cracks, it still emitted a faint spiritual light, tenaciously resisting the sea of blood's erosion.

Beside the dragon horn, a dull but intact black ring was half-buried.

“A Fourth-Order dragon horn! And a storage ring!” Gao De's heart stirred. This Green Flood Dragon corpse was relatively complete, and the energy fluctuations were somewhat stable. With the surrounding blood waves being slightly slower, this might be a good opportunity to strike.

He controlled the speck of dust to float silently toward the black ring.

The closer he got, the more he could feel the ring itself emitting an extremely faint fluctuation; it was this very fluctuation that allowed it to be preserved in the sea of blood until now.

Just as the speck of dust was about to touch the ring, a sudden change occurred!

The Green Flood Dragon's half-open dragon eyes, which had long since lost their luster, suddenly lit up with two faint points of blood light filled with resentment and unwillingness!

A lingering obsession of the Divine Soul mixed with the last bits of Dragon might suddenly erupted. It wasn't an attack, but more like an instinctive final struggle before death!

“Buzz—!”

“Not good!” Gao De was greatly alarmed. He immediately stopped all actions and pushed the power of the prison dragon talisman to its limit to suppress the speck of dust's fluctuations to the minimum, while simultaneously simulating a trajectory of being naturally washed away by the blood waves.

Fortunately, the eruption of this Green Flood Dragon's remnant Soul was extremely brief. In an instant, it completely dissipated, returning to dead silence.

The energy ripples it caused weren't large either, and they were quickly covered by the churning blood waves.

Gao De was instantly broken into a cold sweat.

This sea of blood was indeed full of danger everywhere!

These Dragons had significant cultivation when they were alive. After death, the combination of their remnant Soul's obsession and the sea of blood's sinister power could produce all sorts of unexpected changes.

Collecting treasures was by no means an easy task.

He temporarily gave up on that ring and dragon horn, continuing toward the core area.

This time he was even more careful, only observing and marking the 'lost treasures' he encountered along the way. Unless he was absolutely certain, he would not easily make a move.

As he went deeper, the energy concentration and corrosiveness of the sea of blood climbed further.

The pressure on the speck of dust grew greater and greater, and Gao De had to continuously inject Dragon Qi to maintain its stability.

Along the way, he saw even more tragic scenes: Dragons struggling in the sea of blood until they completely dissolved, leaving behind only a silent sigh; powerful Fourth-Order dragon horns or reverse scales finally crumbling into powder under the impact of the blood waves; and a few treasures whose spiritual light completely extinguished as they were swallowed by the sea of blood.

But at the same time, he also discovered some patterns.

The energy of the sea of blood was not uniformly distributed; there existed some relatively stable 'energy veins' and violent 'turbulence zones.'

The primal fetus embryo seemed to be located at the core where all energy veins converged. There, the blood light was at its most intense, and the pressure was strongest.

At some intersections of energy veins or the edges of 'turbulence zones,' brief 'calm belts' would sometimes form, where 'lost treasures' were more likely to settle.

He also noticed that the closer he got to the core area, the higher the proportion of Fourth-Order corpses among the not-yet-fully-dissolved Dragon Clan remains, and the quality of the lingering treasures seemed better.

He even 'saw' an area from afar where several fragments of dragon scales the size of millstones, shimmering with a dark golden luster and edges sharp as knives, were drifting in the blood waves, along with half a broken horn that was entirely scarlet and still emitted a scorching aura even in the sea of blood!

Judging by the pressure, they were at least Middle Stage or even Late Stage Fourth-Order when alive. He didn't know which prince or guest had been thrown down here!

“Good stuff!” Gao De's heart grew hot, but he also became more vigilant.

The energy in that area was extremely violent; even getting close was difficult, let alone collecting anything.

Besides, who could guarantee there weren't even more terrifying remnant Souls or Restrictions there?

Just as he was weighing his options, the speck of dust was swept into a relatively wide 'energy vein' by a powerful blood wave.

Although the blood waves in this vein were surging, the flow was stable and pointed directly toward the core.

Gao De simply went with the flow to save strength, while focusing more intently on sensing what was ahead.

After an unknown amount of time, the blood light ahead suddenly became more than ten times more intense!

A massive, indescribable surge of life force mixed with a Dragon might that made even Gao De's Bloodline tremble throbbed rhythmically like a heart, shaking the entire sea of blood space!

He had arrived!

Gao De's spirits rose, and he quickly controlled the speck of dust to slow down, cautiously approaching the source of that blood light.

In the very center of the boundless sea of blood, an enormous dark golden vortex was slowly rotating.

The center of the vortex was not a void, but a crystal-clear, curled-up dragon-shaped embryo!

This embryo's body was covered in delicate and beautiful scale phantoms of interwoven dark gold and blood color. Two horns grew from its head, and five claws were faintly visible beneath its belly. Its eyes were tightly shut, yet it emitted a majesty that made one dare not look directly at it... and an indescribable pressure!

Every heartbeat-like throb of the embryo caused the entire sea of blood to vibrate. Infinite dragon blood essence flowed from all directions into the vortex to nourish it.

At the center of the embryo's forehead was embedded a fist-sized, crystal-clear purple gemstone that looked as if a galaxy were flowing inside it!

The gemstone emitted a pure and noble Dragon Clan aura that was out of place with the embryo's own majesty, yet the two were strangely fused together.

“Is that the 'primer'? Or... something else?” Gao De focused his senses.

He could feel that the purple gemstone seemed to be the energy hub and Soul core of the entire 'holy fetus,' and it was also the key to its connection with the outside world!

Around the embryo, the blood waves formed twelve massive, chain-like blood-colored waterspouts that connected to different directions deep within the sea of blood, seemingly corresponding to certain Formation nodes.

Gao De guessed that this was likely the manifestation of the 'Wanling Guiyuan Great Array' inside the sea of blood, used to converge and transmit the blood sacrifice energy.

He carefully observed the embryo, the purple gemstone, and the surrounding blood waterspouts, trying to find the patterns of their operation, the weak points in the energy, and any potential hidden moves by Shadow Erosion.

At the same time, he also set aside some attention to look for any valuable 'lost treasures' in the nearby sea of blood.

After all, anything that could remain near the core area must be extraordinary.

Sure enough, at the base of a blood waterspout about a hundred feet from the embryo vortex, many miscellaneous items had piled up because the energy was relatively stable.

Gao De saw an almost perfectly intact storage bracelet set with a sapphire, the broken tip of an ancient silver-glowing spear, and several reverse scale fragments that clearly came from different Dragons but all emitted powerful auras.

“These... I might have a chance!” Gao De calculated in his heart.

Approaching the core carried immense risk, but the rewards were also high.

Moreover, if he could collect that storage bracelet or spear tip, he might obtain more information about the Dragon Palace and the Dragon King!

He took a deep breath and began to control the dragon talisman. Like a true grain of dust, he used the rise and fall of the blood waves to slowly drift toward that pile of 'lost treasures.'

This time, he was prepared for any sudden situation.

The power of the prison dragon talisman circulated slowly, ready to erupt at any moment.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

And he, this 'oriole,' not only intended to take the 'cicada' but also didn't plan to let go of the 'dew' along the way!

Deep in the sea of blood, the undercurrents were swifter and killing intent lurked everywhere, yet treasure light also faintly appeared.