53: Venting anger

Just as Gao De had broken through to the Late Second Stage and was fully consolidating his cultivation, a vast, sea-like, violent, and cruel terror pressure suddenly enveloped the entire Eight Hundred Li Dongting Lake like a physical dark cloud!

It was that Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon! It had already returned to Dongting Lake.

Following that, through the scattered news popping up on the tianji mirror—which was quickly drowned out by panic—and the final fragments sent by a secret contact Formation that Turtle Three Thousand had risked starting, Gao De learned a heart-stopping piece of news—

With the force of a thunderbolt, that Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon had, within a single day, dragged out the few Third Stage turtle grandsons left behind by Demon King Fushui from their various secret hiding spots!

There were no interrogations, no negotiations, only the most cruel and direct slaughter!

The dragon's roars were mixed with the desperate wails of the turtle clan before death. Blood dyed large areas of the lake red, and the remaining forces of the Demon King were uprooted and completely vanished!

Clearly, this flood dragon had ultimately failed to recover the flood dragon pearl. With its belly full of fury and frustration having nowhere to vent, it poured it all onto the direct descendants most closely related to Demon King Fushui to vent its anger!

This act was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard into the hearts of all living beings in Dongting Lake!

The might of the Fourth Stage was terrifyingly formidable!

Before its absolute power, any schemes, calculations, or Family influences appeared so laughable and fragile.

The entire Dongting Lake region fell into an unprecedented dead silence and panic.

Lin Family Fort's Formations were fully activated, the Green Wave Sect Cultivators tightly shut their mountain gates, and all markets instantly became deserted. Whether they were local Cultivators and Yao Race or foreign merchant caravans, everyone was as quiet as cicadas in winter, fearing that a single mistake would draw the gaze of that terrifying existence and lead them to follow in the footsteps of those turtle grandsons.

Although Gao De's Water Mansion was hidden very deeply and protected by Formations, before that Fourth-Rank Divine Sense that swept wantonly across the entire lake area, he still felt a chill as if standing naked in the freezing snow, even if it only swept past casually!

“I absolutely must not attract its attention!” Gao De instantly made the most correct judgment.

He immediately issued a Divine Sense command with the strongest attitude, echoing throughout the Water Mansion: “As of today, the Water Mansion is sealed; all members are forbidden from going out!

The concealment Formations are to be fully activated, and all aura fluctuations suppressed! This order remains in effect indefinitely. Without my explicit instruction, no one is permitted to step a single foot out of the Water Mansion! Those who disobey will have both their body and soul extinguished!”

His voice carried an unquestionable authority and a hint of unprecedented gravity.

All Demon Soldiers, including Turtle Three Thousand and that Second-Stage Green Shell Shrimp Soldier, felt the severity of the situation. They all solemnly obeyed, suppressing all restlessness and going into complete dormancy.

Gao De himself pushed his Breath Concealment talent to the extreme. He not only withdrew his aura but even made his thought fluctuations and blood flow as slow and weak as possible, as if transforming into a lifeless stone in the depths of the Water Mansion.

He stopped all cultivation that might generate large energy fluctuations, especially the tempering of Subtle Ripple Thunder Light and the push for a Breakthrough in Realm, turning instead to the most basic, silent polishing.

He coiled at the core of the Spiritual Vein, like an old monk in meditation.

Over and over, he circulated the most basic cycles of the Dragon Transformation Merit. He did not seek a Breakthrough, only to polish his newly promoted Late Second Stage cultivation to a state of flawless harmony, refining every bit of Demonic Power to be incomparably pure.

He carefully experienced the various subtle changes brought by his 90% Bloodline, repeatedly pondering his insights into the newly awakened Dragon Might Domain, Mirage Phantom, and Cloud Soaring and Mist Riding, removing the dross and keeping the essence, striving for microscopic control.

He guided the energy of the dragon pearl fossil like the finest craftsman, slowly nourishing his Physical Body and Meridians, repairing any minute hidden injuries that might have been left from previous cultivation.

He even began to refer to ancient methods in his Legacy memories, using Divine Sense as a brush and Demonic Power as ink to slowly but firmly carve some simple yet profound reinforcement and concealment runes on the rock walls of the Water Mansion's core area, further enhancing the mansion's hidden nature and defensive power.

Outside, the world was precarious.

The terrifying shadow of the Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon loomed over Dongting Lake. It did not seem to leave immediately but instead patrolled the lake, its massive Divine Sense sweeping through the waters like a comb over and over, searching for any clues that might be related to Demon King Fushui or the dragon pearl.

Every time the Divine Sense swept past, it made the living beings in the Water Mansion tremble with fear.

Gao De's heart was as still as water, unmoved.

He knew well that before such an existence, any hope for luck was a path to death.

Only through complete dormancy and extreme concealment was there a sliver of a chance for life.

He viewed this crisis as a tempering of his Heart-Nature and a sedimentation of his power.

The path to dragon transformation required not only brave progress but also the wisdom to judge the situation and endure humiliation while carrying a heavy burden.

Time slowly flowed by in this state of extreme oppression and silence.

One year, two years... Gao De was like a piece of fine jade cast into a deep pool, accepting the polishing of time and pressure at the bottom of the silent, waveless water, waiting for the day he would break through the surface and shine brilliantly.

And he did not know that because of the arrival and rampaging of the Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon, deeper changes were occurring in the outside world. A new order was quietly gestating amidst the fear... Time flowed silently in the extreme quiet of the Water Mansion, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

These three years had been incredibly long and oppressive for the living beings of the Dongting Lake region.

The terrifying pressure of that Late Fourth Stage flood dragon was like a haze that never dispersed, shrouding every corner.

It seemed to have treated Dongting Lake as a temporary nest; that massive and violent Divine Sense could often be felt sweeping across the waters, searching for possible clues or simply venting its anger and anxiety.

Before such an existence, the Green Wave Sect and the Lin Family completely retracted all their claws, closing their mountains and doors. Disciples were strictly forbidden from going out for fear of inviting a disaster of total annihilation.

Those foreign merchant caravans suffered even heavier losses. Many flying boats attempting to quietly withdraw were caught in the aura casually emitted by the flood dragon, resulting in the destruction of ships and the death of people. The survivors could only desperately hold their ground in the markets, relying on Formations to barely survive.

The order of the entire Dongting Lake had nearly collapsed, and the Law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, was displayed to its fullest.

However, beneath this extreme oppression and chaos, Gao De's Water Mansion was like a stubborn stone buried deep underground, having withstood the polishing of time and fear.

Over these three years, Gao De had been single-minded, putting all his energy into the most basic polishing.

His cultivation had long since been tempered to the state of Great Perfection of the Late Second Stage in silence. His Demonic Power was as condensed as mercury, circulating with flawless harmony, with not even a hint of instability remaining.

He was only one opportunity away from attempting to condense a flood dragon pearl and charging toward the Third Stage.

His 90% Dragon Fish Bloodline had been repeatedly combed and purified by him. Although the concentration had not increased, his control over it had reached an unprecedented level of precision.

The Dragon Might was restrained and not released, but once unleashed, it would possess an even greater power to deter the mind.

The range of the Dragon Might Domain had not expanded, but its suppression was more concentrated and powerful, and his control over the water spiritual Qi within the Domain was as natural as moving his own arm.

The technique of Mirage Phantom could now instantly create three phantoms that possessed thirty percent of his aura and could maintain themselves for ten breaths without dispersing, making them excellent for deceiving enemies or escaping.

Although he hadn't deliberately cultivated the Subtle Ripple Thunder Light, under the nourishment of pure Demonic Power and Bloodline, its power had also increased, its color tending toward deep purple and carrying a hint of destructive aura.

More importantly, he had a deeper understanding of the newly awakened Cloud Soaring and Mist Riding technique. Although restricted by the Water Mansion environment and unable to perform it freely, he had already deduced it countless times in his mind, just waiting for the right moment.

Under the nourishment of these three years, the dragon pearl fossil in his Dantian had become increasingly lustrous. Its connection with him was so close it was almost indistinguishable, continuously and stably providing the Dragon Clan's Origin power.

He even relied on Legacy memories and his own insights to perform several fine-tuning optimizations on the Water Mansion's concealment and defense Formations, making them blend even more into the surrounding environment. Unless the Fourth-Rank Flood Dragon deliberately conducted a targeted and careful investigation, it was almost impossible to be discovered.