47: Escape

The eerie blue soul fire in the dark golden skull's eye sockets suddenly flared up. A terrifying will, a mixture of ancient dragon pressure and the aura of deathly silence, crushed down toward Gao De like an invisible tide!

Gao De felt his Divine Soul shake violently, as if it were about to be torn apart and frozen by this will! The [Breath Concealment] effect around him could barely be maintained under this pure pressure originating from a higher life form!

"I can't face this head-on!" Gao De's internal alarm bells rang wildly. This remains' original self was definitely an existence far beyond his imagination. Even if only a skull and a remnant soul remained, its essence was absolutely not something he could confront directly now!

Without hesitation, he bit the tip of his tongue hard. The sharp pain stimulated his mind. At the same time, he fully circulated his Dragon Transformation Merit and Dragon Fish Bloodline, pushing that trace of [Subtle Ripple Thunder Light] to its limit. Fine blue electric arcs instantly covered his body, crackling. The supreme Yang and unyielding thunderous aura barely managed to dispel some of the coldness and pressure on his Divine Soul.

The unicorn horn atop his head shone brightly as his [Unicorn Law-Breaking] talent was pushed to the limit. It wasn't for attacking, but to form a weak but resilient "law-breaking" barrier in front of him, attempting to interfere with and weaken the impact of that invisible will.

After doing all this, Gao De didn't dare to stay for a single moment, let alone touch the energy pool that was right within reach.

He forcibly twisted his body and activated the [Heaven Roaming Evasion] secret technique regardless of the cost. He turned into a distorted black line trailing electric light, retreating at his fastest speed ever!

At the very moment his figure moved—

Buzz!!!

The skull of the Mythical Dragon Son remains let out another dull, loud boom. This time, it wasn't a Divine Soul attack, but a manifestation of physical energy!

The liquid energy pool in front of it suddenly boiled. An eerie blue water arrow, condensed to the extreme and emitting a destructive aura, instantly formed. Silent yet fast as a bolt of lightning, it shot toward the center of Gao De's back!

Wherever the water arrow passed, even the lake water was frozen and annihilated, creating a vacuum tunnel!

Gao De was scared out of his wits, sensing a fatal threat! If this arrow hit him, even with dragon scales protecting his body, he would definitely be killed or crippled!

In the moment of crisis, he forcibly twisted his body and slammed his dragon claw—covered in [Subtle Ripple Thunder Light] and condensed with his entire body's Demonic Power—against that eerie blue water arrow!

Boom!!!

A violent explosion occurred at the bottom of the water! The wild energy shockwave spread in all directions, blowing away all nearby silt and wreckage!

Gao De felt an irresistible force strike him. His dragon claw throbbed with pain, and his scales shattered. His entire body felt as if it had been hit by a high-speed mountain. He spat out blood and flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into a grove of collapsed ancient trees behind him, breaking countless withered branches.

He struggled to steady himself but felt his internal organs shifted. His Demonic Power was scattered, and his right claw had temporarily lost all sensation.

As for the Mythical Dragon Son remains, after launching this strike, the soul fire in its eye sockets seemed to dim slightly. However, it still "watched" Gao De's direction, its massive lower jaw opening and closing slightly as if gathering strength for the next attack.

At the same time, the eerie blue light patterns throughout the depression lit up. More Spiritual Qi vortexes began to form, sealing off all of Gao De's possible escape routes!

On the other side, the team of Cultivators who were struggling against the Mud-Armored Giant Lizard Yao Beasts were also stunned by this sudden terrifying explosion and pressure.

The leading Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator turned pale and looked in horror at the massive, looming skull in the center of the depression. He cried out, "A... a third-rank remnant spirit?! Retreat, quickly!"

They no longer cared about tangling with the Yao Beasts and sacrificed their life-saving Talismans or Magical Artifacts one after another. Risking injury, they fled in panic toward the outskirts of the depression.

Those Mud-Armored Giant Frog Yao Beasts also seemed extremely terrified of the Mythical Dragon Son remains. They growled and didn't dare approach the core area, turning instead to hunt down the fleeing Cultivators.

For a moment, the entire depression battlefield became even more chaotic.

Gao De endured the intense pain and dizziness, knowing he had to leave immediately!

The Mythical Dragon Son remains had clearly locked onto him as its primary target. He definitely wouldn't be able to take the next strike!

His gaze swept around rapidly and discovered that due to the Cultivators' flight and the Yao Beasts' pursuit, a brief energy gap had appeared in the eerie blue light patterns on one side of the depression because the energy had been drawn away!

Right there!

Ignoring his injuries, Gao De squeezed out his last bit of Demonic Power and activated [Heaven Roaming Evasion] again. He even went so far as to burn a trace of his Essence Blood. His speed soared again, turning him into a blood-colored bolt of lightning that charged straight for that gap!

Gudong!!!

Behind him, that heart-palpitating, strange sound came again, carrying a hint of provoked anger!

Gao De felt a cold killing intent instantly lock onto him, but he didn't look back, putting all his strength into his escape!

Puff!

He passed through that turbulent energy gap by the narrowest of margins, feeling as if he were passing through a layer of thick gel. A tearing pain spread throughout his body.

Once he rushed out of the core area covered by the eerie blue light patterns, that terrifying pressure on his Divine Soul diminished significantly.

But he didn't dare to stop for a second. Relying on [Breath Concealment] and his remaining speed, he fled frantically away from the depression like a startled bird. He didn't even have time to identify a specific direction, only seeking to get as far as possible from those terrifying remains!

It wasn't until he had fled nearly a hundred miles and could no longer feel that suffocating pressure and strange sound that Gao De dared to slow down slightly. He found a hidden crevice between rocks at the bottom of the water and crawled inside.

He slumped in the rock crevice, panting heavily. Every part of his body was in pain, his right claw was nearly ruined, his Demonic Power was exhausted, and he had even damaged his Origin Qi.

This exploration could be described as the most dangerous one since his Transmigration. He had almost lost his life there.

"At least fourth-rank when alive... maybe even a fifth-rank Mythical Dragon Son bloodline remnant..." Gao De thought with lingering fear.

If the edge of the Yunmeng Great Marsh was already this dangerous, how terrifying must its depths be?

He checked his injuries. They were quite heavy, but hadn't damaged his foundation. It was mainly an over-exhaustion of Demonic Power and the shattered bones of his right claw.

The dragon pearl fossil rotated slowly within his Dantian, releasing gentle energy that began to spontaneously nourish his damaged Meridians and Physical Body.

"Although it was dangerous, it wasn't without gains." After calming down, Gao De began to review his actions.

First, he confirmed that there were indeed ruins or remnants related to the ancient Dragon Clan on the edge of the Yunmeng Great Marsh. This provided a direction for his future explorations.

Second, he had personally experienced the power characteristics of a high-level Dragon Clan descendant, even if it was just remains—especially that strange Divine Soul attack method. This was valuable experience for him.

Finally, at the moment of his final escape, he had forcibly grabbed something with his injured dragon claw—not from the energy pool, but a piece of eerie blue light stone block that had been blown out by the explosion from the edge of the pool.

This stone seemed to be some kind of material used to construct the base of those eerie blue light patterns. It felt cold to the touch and contained pure water-attribute energy and a very faint Divine Soul power of the same origin as the Mythical Dragon Son.

"This thing... maybe it can be used to refine a Magical Artifact to resist Divine Soul attacks, or to assist in cultivating the Dragon Transformation Merit?" Gao De looked at the eerie blue light stone block in his claw, which was only about the size of a fist but incredibly heavy, feeling slightly comforted. This could be considered a trophy won at the risk of his life.

He stopped overthinking, swallowed a few stored Water Spirit Pearls, and began to fully operate his merit to heal his injuries.

The priority was to recover his condition.

This area was still not safe.

As for the Mythical Dragon Son remains and the energy pool it guarded... Gao De etched them deep into his heart.

That wasn't something he could covet now. Perhaps only after he condensed a Demonic Core and officially underwent Dragon Transformation would he be qualified to investigate again.

His first exploration of the Yunmeng Great Marsh's edge ended with heavy injuries and a heart full of awe.

Gao De once again realized deeply that on this path to dragon transformation, both caution and strength were indispensable.

He slowly closed his eyes in the rock crevice, guiding the energy of the dragon pearl fossil as he began the long healing process.

The winds of the outside world had nothing to do with him for the time being.