70: Treasure Hall

Gao De held that cold bronze-cast "prison" character dragon talisman and quickly exited the main hall, which was filled with a decaying and ominous aura.

Returning to the square where the three passages intersected, he was in no hurry to explore the other two paths. Instead, he first found a relatively hidden corner, set up a few simple warning Restrictions, and began to meditate and recover.

The confrontation with that black fire and black shadow just now, though not long, was extremely dangerous and had been especially taxing on his mental state.

He needed to recover to his peak state as soon as possible to deal with the unknown that might exist behind the "conceal" character gate.

Several hours later, Gao De slowly opened his flood dragon eyes, which contained a hidden sharp light, and his aura had already returned to stability.

He stood up and turned his gaze toward the arched gateway in the middle, engraved with the "conceal" character.

With his experience from the "prison" character gate, he was even more cautious. He did not push the door directly but first used his Divine Sense to carefully scan the gateway and its surroundings. After confirming there were no obvious attack Restrictions, he then tried to inject a trace of Demonic Power into the "prison" character dragon talisman in his hand.

The dragon talisman trembled slightly, emitting a faint glow.

Gao De felt a subtle connection form between the dragon talisman and that "conceal" character gate.

He moved forward with the talisman, and the heavy stone door actually slid open silently on its own, revealing the deep passage behind it.

No killing intent appeared within the door; instead, a surge of even purer ancient Spiritual Qi carrying the unique scent of books and spiritual Materials rushed out.

Gao De felt a slight joy in his heart and carefully stepped inside.

The passage behind the "conceal" character gate was cleaner than the one by the "prison" character gate. On the stone walls on both sides, one could occasionally see embedded night-luminescent pearl bases that had long lost their luster, as well as some empty niches for storing items.

Not long after moving forward, his vision suddenly opened up, and several connected stone rooms appeared.

The first stone room was the largest, resembling a Collection Pavilion.

Rows of shelves made from some kind of Deep-Sea Sunken Wood stood tall. Unfortunately, most of the shelves were already empty, with only a few fragments of Jade Slips and Bone Books remaining in a few places; at a finger's touch, they turned into flying ash.

The endless passage of time had long since erased the information they once carried.

Gao De searched carefully and only found a single Jade Slip in a corner made of a special material, seemingly crafted from the scales of some dragon beast. It recorded an auxiliary Divine Ability called the Water Origin Breath Concealment Technique. Its rank was not high, but it was ingenious and could serve as a supplement to his Breath Concealment talent.

He put it away, as it was better than nothing.

The second stone room was like a Pill Room.

In the center was a huge stone Pill Furnace, its body covered in dust and completely devoid of spirituality.

On the surrounding jade shelves, countless jars and pots should have been placed, but now most were overturned and shattered, leaving only some dim-colored residue whose medicinal properties had long since drained away.

Gao De rummaged through it for a while and finally discovered three deep blue, longan-sized Medicinal Pills with natural cloud patterns on their surfaces inside a well-sealed Cold Jade Box.

The pills were cold to the touch and still emitted pure water-system Spiritual Qi and a very faint dragon breath.

"dragon nurturing pills?" Gao De identified them based on their aura and residual label marks, and his heart stirred.

These pills are of great benefit to Cultivators with Dragon Clan Bloodline, as they can purify the Bloodline and consolidate the Foundation, making them perfect for him to stabilize his Third-Order Early Stage Realm right now.

Though he did not know how much medicinal effect remained after ages, it was still an unexpected joy.

The third stone room was smaller in scale and seemed to be an Armory.

It was also a mess inside; most of the weapon racks had collapsed and decayed, leaving only some rusted remains of blades and swords that had lost all spirituality.

Clearly, any valuable Magical Artifacts had either been taken away or had collapsed on their own over the long passage of time.

Just as Gao De felt slightly disappointed and was ready to leave, his gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous pile of debris in the corner that seemed to be discarded Materials.

At the bottom of that pile of debris, he sensed a faint but exceptionally resilient spiritual fluctuation.

He waved his hand to brush away the rusted metal and gravel on the surface, revealing a piece of Ore about the size of a millstone that was dark gold all over and covered with natural lightning patterns.

"Is this... geng metal thunder stone?" A flash of surprise and joy crossed Gao De's eyes.

This stone contains the essence of geng metal and the power of heavenly thunder, making it a top-grade material for refining lightning-attribute Flying Swords or Magic Treasures!

Its texture was extremely stable, which was why it could retain a trace of spirituality under the erosion of time.

To him, a Purple Lightning Flood Dragon, this item's value far exceeded those standard Magical Artifacts that had already become scrap metal!

If he found a skilled Artifact Refiner in the future, using this as the main material, he would surely be able to refine a powerful Magic Treasure that suited him.

After carefully putting away the Water Origin Breath Concealment Technique scale Jade Slip, the three dragon nurturing pills, and the geng metal thunder stone, Gao De was satisfied.

Although the harvest from this "conceal" character gate was not as mountain-like as expected for Cultivation Techniques and scriptures, these two physical items, especially the geng metal thunder stone, were truly much-needed items.

He took one last look at this silent treasure land and turned to leave.

Now, only the "soldier" character gate remained unexplored.

Holding the "prison" character dragon talisman, he also easily opened the "soldier" character stone door.

Behind the door was a downward staircase, and small stone rooms began to appear on both sides of the passage like soldiers' barracks; inside, there was nothing but the remains of stone beds and cabinets.

Continuing deeper, a huge underground Drill Ground appeared ahead.

The Drill Ground floor was paved with blue-black giant stones that were extremely hard, and some broken weapon racks and training targets stood at the edges.

At the end of the Drill Ground was an even taller hall, with a huge metal plaque hanging on the lintel, upon which four ancient characters were carved in a flamboyant style—"Guard Martial Treasury"!

The treasury gates were tightly closed, with Restriction light flowing over them, several times stronger than any he had encountered before, emitting a stern aura.

Gao De tried to touch it with the "prison" character dragon talisman; the door vibrated slightly but did not open immediately, only the Restriction light on the surface flickered, seemingly verifying something.

His brow furrowed slightly, and he was just about to increase his Demonic Power input or find another way when suddenly—

"Buzz!"

The "prison" character dragon talisman in his hand began to vibrate violently without warning, emitting a rapid buzzing sound!

At the same time, a strong fluctuation with a sense of warning and rejection came from the dragon talisman, pointing to the path he had come from!

Gao De's heart tightened, and he instantly put away the thought of trying to open the treasury, his Divine Sense spreading backward like a tide.

He saw that in the direction of the "soldier" character gate entrance, a faint Black Mist had spread over the square at some unknown time, originating from the same source as the one in the "prison" character main hall but even thicker and more active!

Inside the mist, countless distorted and painful faces faintly emerged, emitting silent shrieks; it was exactly the aggregate of those eerie black shadows!

They seemed to have been disturbed by Gao De's continuous opening of doors, especially his attempt to open the "Guard Martial Treasury," and had spread from deeper within the "prison" character gate or from some hidden cracks, beginning to erode this ruin space!

"Not good!" Gao De's expression changed. He had already experienced how troublesome these black shadows were; a single one was already difficult, and with such a scale of black shadow mist, the consequences would be unimaginable once surrounded!

Moreover, who could guarantee that the terrifying black fire would not follow?

The Guard Martial Treasury was right before his eyes, and it likely stored the most elite equipment of this Dragon Palace barracks, but now was clearly not the time for exploration.

"Biting off more than one can chew is unwise; today's harvest is enough, I must not stay long!"

Gao De made a prompt decision and unhesitatingly gave up the idea of opening the treasury.

His figure swayed, and the Lightning Evasion Technique instantly activated, turning him into a purple electric light. He no longer took the original path but instead crashed directly toward the seemingly solid rock wall on one side of the Drill Ground!

At the moment of contact with the rock wall, he fully activated the "prison" character dragon talisman; the talisman flashed with light, and the rock wall actually rippled like water, letting him pass through!

This was the authority granted by the dragon talisman to pass through Restrictions in some areas of this place.

Behind him, the thick Black Mist surged after him like a living thing, but it was blocked by the re-stabilized rock wall Restriction, only able to emit unwilling roars.

Gao De did not dare to stay. Relying on the guidance of the dragon talisman and his keen perception of space, he shuttled through the complex passages several times and finally found another relatively hidden exit, bursting out of an inconspicuous underwater crack and returning to the familiar and vast waters of Dongting Lake.

Looking back, the entrance to the Dragon Palace Secret Passage was still hidden deep in the dark stone forest, as if nothing had happened.

But Gao De knew that his adventure this time had not only resulted in a successful Dragon Transformation but had also brought important resources and clues concerning his future path out of these ancient ruins.

"The Guard Martial Treasury... and that spreading black shadow... this matter is not yet over." Gao De took a deep look in that direction, firmly remembering this place.

When his strength is greater in the future and his preparations are more sufficient, he would surely explore this place again to uncover all the secrets of that treasury and the black shadows.

Now, it was time to return to the Water Mansion, digest the gains from this trip, thoroughly consolidate his Third-Order Realm, successfully Cultivate the Water Origin Breath Concealment Technique, and plan well for that geng metal thunder stone.

The flood dragon entered the water, traveling a thousand miles in an instant as it sped toward the direction of the Deep Pool Water Mansion.