224: The time is coming

The dust transformed from the dragon talisman continued its silent hunting in the dark red sea of blood.

Gao De's consciousness was like the most precise instrument, maintaining the dust's concealment and stability on one hand, while methodically executing his established plan on the other.

After collecting that half of a silver light spear tip and several fragments of fourth-tier reverse scales, he did not rush. Instead, like an experienced miner, he cautiously navigated between the violent energy turbulence and the relatively calm "vortex" regions, searching for his next target.

Although the brief fluctuation caused by the yimu azure dragon pearl had subsided, it made him even more vigilant.

This sea of blood was exceptionally sensitive to "foreign objects," especially those containing pure positive energy.

He locked his target on those treasures whose Materials were tough enough to have been soaked in the sea of blood for a long time without being completely eroded.

For example, some tough Yao Beast bones, several bone fragments emitting an ancient aura and carved with blurred runes, and... a nearly complete bronze short dagger-axe whose spiritual light had completely faded.

The process of collecting these items was even more careful than before.

Gao De no longer tried to use his Divine Sense to probe the details of the treasures. Instead, he directly used the spatial power of the prison dragon talisman to collect them, planning to check them slowly later when he had time.

The dust transformed from the prison dragon talisman's Origin itself possessed extremely strong spatial affinity and suppression characteristics. When its power was fully concentrated on the act of "collecting," it could form an extremely tiny but stable temporary spatial bubble to instantly "swallow" the target object and then transfer it directly through the connection with the Talisman World.

This process consumed a significant amount of Dragon Essence, and after each operation, the dust needed to "drift" in the blood waves for a moment to calm the minute spatial ripples and energy fluctuations.

However, nothing that remained until now was anything but a masterpiece.

Those few remaining Yao Beast bones were at least the toughest parts of fourth-tier Yao Beasts; the material was extremely hard, making them excellent Materials for refining armor Magic Treasures.

The ancient bone fragments carved with runes were suspected to be carriers of some Dragon Clan Legacy or secret technique. Although incomplete, perhaps some precious Legacy could be obtained from them.

As for that bronze short dagger-axe, although it was completely silent, its forging craftsmanship was simple and grand. A kind of "law-breaking" Dao rhyme vaguely remained on the body of the axe, somewhat like the forging style of the Immortal Qin Dynasty.

If it could be refined again, it might become a specialized weapon for breaking through Protective Aura and Formations.

Of course, there were also times of failure. Besides the remaining treasures in the sea of blood, there were also some rejected dross crystals. These were things condensed from the residual filth in the dragon blood after the essence had been absorbed. Under the crushing and erosion of the sea of blood, they became increasingly compressed, turning into filthy poisonous blood water mines hidden within the sea of blood.

When Gao De tried to collect an apparently ordinary dark red Ore, the Ore suddenly exploded, turning into a mass of viscous blood-colored jelly that tried to reverse-swallow the dragon talisman!

Fortunately, Gao De reacted quickly, immediately cutting off that part of the Dragon Essence connection and controlling the dust to rapidly move away.

The blood-colored jelly rolled in the blood waves for a moment before finally re-condensing and sinking to the seabed. Apparently, these crystals condensed from filth would re-condense under the pressure of the sea of blood even after exploding.

This accident gave Gao De a deeper understanding of the dangers of the sea of blood.

This was not only a furnace for Dragon Clan flesh and blood, but it could also breed some dangers.

As the collected treasures increased, a small pile of "spoils of war" had already floated up in a corner of the dark space within the Talisman World.

Gao De was in no hurry to refine or study them; he simply categorized and placed them to be dealt with later when he had time. For now, he was still focused on finding a way to escape alive.

Now, his main focus was still on observing the embryo core, the purple crystal stone, and the surrounding energy network.

With continuous observation, he gradually figured out some patterns.

The pulsation of the embryo was not constant; it was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, seemingly related to the input rhythm of the sea of blood's energy.

When new Dragon Clan corpses or Essence Blood were thrown into the sea of blood, the embryo's pulsation would accelerate, its absorption efficiency would increase, and it would rapidly devour the newly added nourishment.

And when there was no nourishment to devour, it was relatively calm, and the pulsation would slow down, as if it were digesting and growing.

The purple crystal stone embedded in the embryo's brow seemed to be the "regulator" and "amplifier" of the entire energy cycle.

Gao De noticed that whenever the embryo's pulsation accelerated, the light of the purple crystal stone would also become brighter, the speed of the star-river-like flow inside would increase, further purifying and transforming the gathered dragon blood essence before delivering it to the embryo.

At the same time, it also seemed like an "antenna," vaguely maintaining an extremely subtle connection with the outside world.

The twelve blood-colored tornadoes connecting various parts of the sea of blood constituted a massive energy transmission network.

They not only gathered the essence from all over the sea of blood around the embryo but also seemed to feed back some kind of fluctuation emitted by the embryo into the depths of the sea of blood, maintaining the operation and balance of the entire Dragon Transformation Pool.

Gao De suspected that this was likely the operation of the Wanling Guiyuan Great Array within the sea of blood.

He also discovered that at the junction of the blood-colored tornadoes and the embryo vortex, the energy was at its most violent, but occasionally some brief, extremely minute "spatial folds" would form, like a breeze blowing against a layer of transparent gauze curtains; clearly, there was another layer of protection near the embryo.

If someone really sneaked in and tried to get close, they would be caught off guard and sliced to pieces by these spatial rifts. Even a Great Cultivator in the Late Stage of Nascent Soul could not shatter this spatial barrier without alerting the outside world.

Obviously, if someone were to attack this barrier with all their might, the Dragon Palace guards and the Qinjiang Dragon King would arrive the next second to completely crush the intruder.

However, after considering the characteristics of the dragon talisman, Gao De had another idea: these places might become a Breakthrough point for his actions at a critical moment.

Time passed quietly in silent observation and the cautious treasure-hunting journey.

Gao De's adaptation to the environment of the sea of blood was improving, and his control over the prison dragon talisman was becoming more proficient.

He even began to try, while ensuring concealment, to suck a tiny bit of the sea of blood's water into the dragon talisman. Unfortunately, the dragon blood essence in the blood water had already been completely absorbed by the embryo, and Gao De did not gain even a slight increase in Bloodline Power from it.

During this time, he passed by the Dragon Girl Ao Xue, whom he had marked, several more times.

She still sank in a corner of the sea of blood like a stubborn stone, her life fluctuations almost non-existent, but that layer of prison dragon talisman membrane seemed to have worked; the dark gold patterns on the blood-colored dragon horn on her brow were clearly moving faster, and the loss of vitality had slowed down significantly.

The mark Gao De left was like a tiny glimmer of light in the darkness, quietly lurking in the depths of her Sea of Consciousness.

On this day, a sudden and unusual violent tremor came from the sea of blood space!

It did not come from the embryo itself, but rather it felt as if the entire Dragon Transformation Pool's external "barrier" had been violently struck by some powerful force!

The sea of blood churned more violently than ever before, the twelve blood-colored tornadoes shook intensely, and even the embryo's pulsation showed a moment of disorder!

Something happened outside! And it was definitely no small matter!

Gao De's heart tightened, and he immediately heightened the perception of the dust to the limit while concealing himself even more carefully.

Vaguely, he seemed to "hear" from outside the sea of blood space the extremely blurred but pressure-filled dragon roars and rages, as well as the booms of exploding Spells!

Immediately after, in the direction of the Dragon Transformation Pool's "entrance," the blood light flashed violently; it seemed that several powerful auras were trying to break in, but they were in fierce conflict with the Restrictions guarding this place!

"Enemy attack? Or internal strife?" Gao De's thoughts raced.

Was it that the three Dragon Princes had discovered something and led the masses to resist? Or were the confined guests finally unable to hold back and started to act? Or was it... that the Dragon King had begun to forcibly "harvest" some powerful targets to accelerate the "blood sacrifice"?

The chaos lasted for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before the external booming and impacts gradually subsided.

The sea of blood space regained its stability, but the aftermath of the upheaval and the sense of tension permeating the air lingered for a long time.

Then, Gao De "saw" dark red plasma pouring in like a waterfall at the "entrance" of the sea of blood!

This time, what was "thrown" into the pool were no longer scattered dragon sons and daughters, but... a large number of massive, powerful Dragon Clan corpses!

Among them were even several corpses of Flood Dragons and Chi Dragons that maintained their complete dragon forms, with broken scales but still emitting the pressure of the Late Stage of the fourth-tier!

What made his pupils shrink even more was that among these corpses, he saw familiar faces—several Dragon Palace generals and guests with auras at the Early Stage of the fourth-tier whom he had seen at the birthday banquet!

They were obviously killed in the conflict just now and then thrown directly into the Dragon Transformation Pool!

"Blood sacrifice... has it begun? Or has it been moved forward?" Gao De's heart pounded.

With such a large-scale and high-quality "nourishment" thrown in at once, the embryo's pulsation instantly became wild!

The dark gold vortex expanded rapidly, the blood waves surged to the sky, and that purple crystal stone erupted with a blinding light; the entire sea of blood space seemed to be cheering and trembling!

The light flowing within the purple crystal stone at the embryo's brow reached a critical point, and a clearer, more greedy intent emanated from it. It was no longer a blurred fluctuation but a desire with a clear direction—it was calling for more blood, stronger Souls, and purer Dragon Clan Origins!

Especially... the Bloodline Power contained within those several fourth-tier Dragon Clan corpses!

Gao De knew that the true critical moment might arrive early!

The Dragon King's plan to nurture the "holy fetus" had been accelerated because of this external incident!

He controlled the dust, no longer lingering to search for scattered treasures, but instead moving toward the core area of the embryo vortex at the fastest speed!

He wanted to observe the changes in the purple crystal stone more closely, observe the embryo's reaction after the injection of a large amount of "nutrients," and look for an opportunity to snatch food from the tiger's mouth!

At the same time, he diverted a thread of his mind and reconnected with the mark in the Dragon Girl Ao Xue's Sea of Consciousness.

In the chaos, if there was a chance, he would take her into the dragon talisman. Since he had encountered her, it wouldn't hurt to save her if the opportunity arose.

In the depths of the sea of blood, the undercurrents surged to the extreme.

The greedy neighing of the embryo intertwined with the vague echoes of the slaughter from outside.

A long-brewing feast and conspiracy seemed to be pushed to a climax by the sudden turn of events.