63: Eliminate dangerous areas
Gao De once again infiltrated the dim underwater stone forest. This time, his objective was clear: to find a foolproof location for his Dragon Transformation Heavenly Tribulation, not to hunt.
He hovered a hundred zhang away from the rock walls covered in moss and sediment, pushing his Breath Concealment talent to the limit. His Divine Sense, like an invisible, fine mesh, scanned every body of water and the outline of every strange rock with patience and precision far exceeding his usual efforts.
The water appeared calm on the surface, but Gao De's Divine Sense quickly captured an anomaly.
The water circulation patterns in the stone forest area were quite peculiar; hidden between certain specific passages and rock crevices were several undercurrents with unpredictable directions.
These undercurrents were not naturally formed, and their strength was sufficient to sweep away any Yao Beast below the second rank.
More importantly, they seemed to resonate with the faint, ancient Restriction energy inside the rock walls.
Gao De realized that once the violent energy of the Heavenly Tribulation struck this place, it would very likely trigger a chain reaction, leading to a drastic change in water pressure throughout the region, or even forming deadly swirling turbulence. For him, who needed a stable environment for Undergoing Tribulation, this was a massive hidden danger.
When his Divine Sense penetrated a thick layer of silt, he made an even more astonishing discovery—several giant biological skeletons half-buried within. They had long since fossilized, their forms strange, with extremely faint traces of Dragon Clan Restriction energy remaining on their bones.
The arrangement of these skeletons vaguely formed an incomplete warning circle.
Gao De cautiously separated a trace of imperceptible Demonic Power, simulating the aura of an intruder, and slowly approached.
In an instant, deep within the empty eye sockets of one of the skeletons, two faint red ghostly lights suddenly ignited. A cold intent, carrying a clear sense of expulsion, swept over him. Although it was fleeting, it was enough to prove that these ancient "sentinels" were still performing their duties.
If triggered in large numbers during the Heavenly Tribulation, the consequences would be unimaginable.
What made Gao De feel the most palpitations was the anomaly he sensed when focusing his Divine Sense on the rock layers near the entrance of the Dragon Palace Secret Passage—a type of extremely subtle but definitely existing feeling of spatial distortion.
The spatial structure there seemed "fragile" compared to other places, filled with fine "wrinkles" and "cracks" that were difficult to perceive under normal circumstances.
This might be caused by the decay of the Restriction over the long passage of time, or it could be a characteristic left behind when the Dragon Palace was first built.
Under the world-destroying energy impact of the Heavenly Tribulation, these unstable spatial nodes were highly likely to be torn apart, triggering small-scale spatial collapse or unpredictable spatial turbulence—a disaster even more terrifying than lightning.
Bearing the invisible pressure, Gao De cautiously moved forward a few dozen zhang, almost reaching the edge of where the rock wall's Restriction energy could influence.
He clearly felt that although the ancient Restriction had decayed, its core still contained a proud, exclusionary Dragon Clan will.
It seemed to only acknowledge "pure" and "authorized" Dragon Clan auras.
Despite possessing a 99% Dragon Fish Bloodline, Gao De still felt a subtle "scrutiny" and "pickiness" at this moment.
When he tried to probe a weakly restricted node he had previously discovered with his Divine Sense, an obscure yet firm repulsive force accompanied by a warning came through, explicitly admonishing him: "No entry without permission."
Gao De understood that the consequence of a forceful impact would likely not be breaking the Restriction, but rather inviting a crazed counterattack from the residual power of the entire Restriction system.
In some extremely hidden cracks at the bottom of the rock wall, Gao De discovered some dark blue crystalline substances.
These crystals emitted pure yet abnormally cold Spiritual Qi, mixed with a hint of uncomfortable, decaying, and deathly aura inside.
He judged that these were "filthy crystals" formed by the combination of the Restriction energy slowly dissipating and the yin-natured substances in the environment.
This type of crystal had a slow erosive effect on living things. If his body was injured during Undergoing Tribulation and he accidentally allowed this aura to invade, it would greatly affect his recovery and might even contaminate the Bloodline he had cultivated so bitterly.
Throughout the entire investigation process, Gao De's intuition, honed through countless life-and-death battles, captured a vague but prickling feeling of being watched multiple times.
This feeling did not originate from any specific creature, but rather from the entire gloomy stone forest environment itself, or perhaps, from the cold gaze cast upon him by some unknown existence hiding in deeper, darker caves or crevices.
He could not determine what it was; it could be a strange creature living in the special environment of this place, or it could be an evil spirit attracted by the aura of the Dragon Palace. However, this omnipresent sense of uncertainty made him realize that this place was definitely not a benevolent location.
Gao De slowly retreated until he had completely exited the stone forest range, only then feeling a slight sense of relief.
His internal assessment of this Dragon Palace Secret Passage entrance as a location for Undergoing Tribulation had been significantly downgraded.
Its advantages lay in the fact that the Spiritual Qi was indeed abundant and contained Dragon Qi, the environment was relatively enclosed, and the ancient Restriction might be able to disperse part of the Heavenly Tribulation's aftermath.
However, the shortcomings and dangers were more prominent and fatal: the hidden undercurrents and pressure fields in the environment were extremely susceptible to interference, potentially triggering hydraulic disasters; the residual fossilized skeleton sentinels could be triggered at a critical moment, bringing unnecessary interference; the fragile spatial nodes could easily trigger extremely dangerous spatial anomalies under the Heavenly Tribulation; the Restriction itself was exclusionary and might reject non-"pure" Bloodlines, leading to a backlash; the existing energy pollution could erode an injured body; and there was that potential unknown threat, which could easily take advantage of his weakness during the post-Tribulation period.
"This place... is truly a dangerous location." Gao De concluded.
Perhaps after his strength was sufficiently powerful in the future, he could attempt to suppress or avoid these risks and use it as a springboard to explore the mysteries of the Dragon Palace. But as a location for Dragon Transformation Undergoing Tribulation, there were too many variables and the risks were too high; it was definitely not the first choice.
He firmly committed these dangerous details to memory and completely abandoned the plan to use this as his primary location for Undergoing Tribulation.
This meticulous exploration made him realize even more deeply that the path of Dragon Transformation was filled with murderous intent at every step, and any slight negligence could lead to irredeemable consequences.
He had to return to the Water Mansion he had managed for many years, raise his defenses to the limit, and make all-around preparations to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation in his own lair.
After giving up on the dangerous location of the Dragon Palace Secret Passage entrance, Gao De felt a sense of clarity in his heart and became even more determined to use the Deep Pool Water Mansion he had managed for many years as his Foundation to welcome the Dragon Transformation Heavenly Tribulation.
He poured all his focus into this final preparation work, striving to forge this body of water into a fortress capable of resisting the power of lightning, ensuring that nothing went wrong.