87: Exploring the Dragon Palace's Secret Treasury

The cultivation acceleration effect brought by the Lesser Turtle Breath Form Mimicry Art was immediate, and Gao De clearly felt his cultivation level growing steadily.

However, improving strength was not limited to just one's Realm; powerful Magic Treasures were also an indispensable part.

Since he could now perform delicate operations in a form closer to a "human body," his plan to refine a natal demon artifact could no longer remain merely in the preparation stage.

He took stock of his accumulations and examined the gathered Materials: primarily the scales, claws, and teeth that had naturally shed or worn down from his own body.

The quantity of these Materials was still limited, but with them as the core, supplemented by other spiritual Materials, it was enough to begin refining the embryo.

In particular, the recently obtained "earth vein milk marrow," which contained pure earth spirit and vitality, could be used for the preliminary tempering of these Materials, enhancing their spirituality and toughness, and laying a foundation for the subsequent Fusion of main Materials like the "geng metal thunder stone."

"Refining a natal demon artifact is not the work of a single day; it requires slow nurturing and sacrificial refining with one's own demonic fire.

Although the Materials are currently incomplete, refining the embryo first and integrating new Materials at any time later is precisely the brilliance of the Thunder Flood Dragon Body Transformation Art," Gao De calculated in his heart. "However, before officially starting the furnace for Artifact Refining, two problems must be solved: first, ensuring no interference during the refining period, meaning the Water Mansion must be absolutely secure; second, gathering as many and as high-quality auxiliary Materials as possible to improve the quality of the embryo."

The key to solving both problems seemed to point to the same place—that not-yet-fully-explored Dragon Palace Secret Passage, especially that "Guard Martial Treasury" protected by a powerful Restriction!

Within the martial treasury, there were likely standard-issue Magical Artifacts and spiritual Materials left behind by the Dragon Palace barracks, or even tools for repairing Magic Treasures.

If he could gain something from there, whether it was directly obtaining suitable defensive Magic Treasures for temporary use or finding rare spiritual Materials to enhance the quality of his natal demon artifact embryo, it would greatly accelerate his pace.

"The earth veins have preliminarily stabilized, and the Water Mansion's defenses have also restored their foundation. With Turtle Three Thousand and the others holding the fort, there should be no major issues in the short term. Now is the perfect opportunity to explore the martial treasury," Gao De made up his mind. "Before officially entering seclusion to refine my natal demon artifact, I must go to the Dragon Palace Secret Passage once more, with the goal set straight for the 'Guard Martial Treasury'!"

He checked the Water Mansion's Formations again, especially the protection of the core area, and repeatedly instructed Turtle Three Thousand and Crab Eighteen to remain highly vigilant during his absence, and if anything changed, to prioritize holding their ground and waiting for reinforcements.

After making proper preparations, Gao De circulated the Lesser Turtle Breath Form Mimicry Art and transformed into that Half-Jiaoren form covered in blue-black scales with dragon horns on his head.

This form not only allowed for faster cultivation but also made movement more agile in complex environments, making it especially suitable for places like the Dragon Palace where passages were intricate and sometimes required delicate operations.

He quietly left the Water Mansion and headed once more toward the entrance of the Dragon Palace Secret Passage beneath that dark stone forest.

Familiar with the way, he used the "prison" character dragon talisman to open the entrance. Gao De quickly passed through the familiar passages, avoided those known Restrictions whose power had greatly diminished, and went straight to that underground drill ground and the tall "Guard Martial Treasury" palace building at the end of the drill ground.

The gates of the martial treasury were still tightly shut, with the brilliance of Restrictions flowing upon them, emitting a killing intent and repulsive aura even more powerful than the surrounding areas.

Gao De took a deep breath and took out that crucial "prison" character dragon talisman.

He could feel a faint connection between the dragon talisman and the martial treasury gates, but it was far from enough to open them directly.

He attempted to inject pure Purple Lightning Demonic Power into the dragon talisman. The talisman immediately emitted a hazy clear light, resonating with the Restrictions on the gates.

The gates vibrated slightly, and the runes on the surface rippled like water, but they remained incredibly firm with no sign of opening.

"It seems that just the dragon talisman and Demonic Power aren't enough; it seems some kind of 'key' or a specific technique is still missing..." Gao De frowned, carefully observing the runes flowing on the gates.

These runes were ancient and complex, sharing the same origin as the Restrictions he had broken before, but they were much deeper and more profound.

He recalled how his last attempt to open them had drawn out the spreading of that eerie black fire and black shadows.

"I can't act recklessly like last time," Gao De pondered for a moment and decided to try a different approach.

He did not forcefully strike the Restriction but instead attached his Divine Sense to the clear light of the dragon talisman. Like tentacles, he cautiously probed toward the gate's Restriction, trying to understand its operational patterns and find its core nodes or authentication mechanism.

This was an extremely mentally exhausting process. The Dragon Palace Restrictions were vast and profound; even after being worn down by time, their residual mysteries far exceeded his current understanding.

Time passed bit by bit, and fine beads of sweat even seeped from Gao De's forehead.

Just as he felt his Divine Sense was heavily consumed and was preparing to temporarily give up and find another way, his Divine Sense accidentally touched an inconspicuous, seemingly decorative dragon-shaped groove in the very center of the gates.

The moment contact was made, the flood dragon pearl within his Dantian and the dragon pearl fossil fused with it both vibrated gently at the same time!

A trace of Dragon Qi, imperceptible but incredibly pure and carrying a hint of primordial aura, spontaneously escaped from his body and was injected into that dragon-shaped groove through the connection of his Divine Sense!

Buzz—!

The entire Guard Martial Treasury gates shook violently!

The runes flowing upon them instantly lit up with unprecedented light. The tight Restriction melted away like snow, splitting a gap from the center, and then slowly slid open to both sides, revealing the deep space behind!

"So that's how it is! It requires pure Dragon Qi as a primer, coordinated with this 'prison' character dragon talisman, to be opened!" Gao De realized in his heart, and at the same time, he became more certain that his connection with this Dragon Palace was anything but shallow.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and cautiously stepped into the martial treasury.

The internal space of the martial treasury was enormous, with rows of metal frames standing tall. Although most were already empty and covered in thick dust, there were still some things placed sporadically on a few frames.

His gaze quickly swept across:

On the left shelf were several sets of standard-issue blue-black scale armor. Their spiritual light was dim, but the material was extraordinary. They seemed to be for the use of ordinary demon generals like Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals, with grades ranging roughly between second-rank High Grade and third-rank Low Grade;

On the right were some broken or damaged weapons: long halberds, fish forks, water-parting spikes, and so on. Most had lost their spirituality and become scrap metal;

And at the deepest part of the martial treasury, on a lone stone platform, three items were placed, relatively well-preserved:

A palm-sized, entirely deep-blue small shield with turtle shell patterns on its surface, emitting spiritual energy fluctuations of the third-rank Low Grade;

A black long spear about twelve feet long, with a tip like a cold star and dragon patterns winding around the shaft. Its aura was sharp, and it was actually third-rank Medium Grade;

And a purple-gold metal box, made of unknown material, with a smooth surface, no seams, and no detectable internal aura. His gaze quickly swept across the main area of the martial treasury: several sets of standard blue-black scale armor on the left shelf... some broken or damaged weapons on the right... and at the deepest part of the martial treasury, three relatively well-preserved items placed on a lone stone platform: the deep-blue small shield, the black long spear, and the purple-gold box.

Just as he was about to step forward to collect these three items, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a more regular crack on the innermost wall of the martial treasury, which was quite different from the patterns of the surrounding stone walls.

If not for his vision becoming sharper after advancing to the third rank and his Divine Sense being exceptionally careful during exploration, it would have been very easy to overlook.

Gao De's heart stirred. He temporarily suppressed the urge to collect the treasures and walked over to that wall.

Upon careful observation, this was indeed a hidden stone door. The door leaf and the wall were almost perfectly seamless. Abstract runes related to Artifact Refining and fire control were carved on the door; though dim, a settled-down residual heat could still be felt.

He tried to push it, but the stone door didn't budge.

He once again summoned the "prison" character dragon talisman and channeled a trace of Dragon Qi into it. The clear light of the dragon talisman shone on the stone door, and the runes on the door lit up with faint light one after another. Then, with a low "click," the stone door slowly slid inward.

A wave of Spiritual Qi, mixed with a faint scent of sulfur yet exceptionally pure and hot, rushed toward him.

Behind the door was an earth fire room about a hundred feet in size, with quite complete facilities!

In the center of the room was a square Artifact Refining platform built from some kind of dark-red fire-resistant stone. In the center of the platform was a basin-sized hole, connected to the fire vein deep underground. Although the earth fire was currently in a dormant state, a faint heat could still be felt coming from below the hole.

Around the refining platform, several auxiliary Formation bases were embedded, which could be used to secure Materials and adjust the heat. Although the runes on some bases were worn, the main structure was intact.

In the corner, several stone jars and jade boxes of extraordinary material and varying sizes were placed.

Gao De went forward to check. Inside two of the stone jars, some dark-red sand-like spiritual Materials and silver-white metal powder were actually still sealed. Their spiritual energy was not lost; they seemed to be common basic auxiliary Materials for Artifact Refining—"Fire-Washing Sand" and "Star Steel Powder."

Inside another jade box were several low-to-Medium Grade Spirit Stones of different colors and containing different attributes of spiritual energy. Their grade wasn't high, but they were more than enough to serve as the basic energy to activate the earth fire room.

What surprised Gao De the most was that on a stone rack next to the refining platform, several tools were also placed: a black forging hammer made of neither metal nor stone and carved with cooling runes, a set of Myriad Year Cold Iron Pincers of various sizes, and a Jade-Condensing Pen that seemed to be used for drawing artifact patterns.

These tools all emitted a faint spiritual light. Their grade was not low, around the third rank, and they were professional, complete, and well-preserved!

"Truly, the heavens are helping me!" A burst of uncontrollable joy welled up in Gao De's heart.

The discovery of this earth fire room was even more significant than the three treasures outside!

He had been worried about refining his natal demon artifact in the Water Mansion, having to worry about the unstable earth veins affecting the fire power and guarding against interference from external enemies.

This earth fire room relied on the Dragon Palace Ruins and possessed extremely strong concealment and defensiveness. The earth fire was stable and pure, the tools were complete, and there were even ready-made auxiliary Materials and spare Spirit Stones!

It was simply an excellent Artifact Refining location tailor-made for him!

He suppressed the urge to start refining immediately and first swept away all the useful things in the earth fire room: the Fire-Washing Sand, Star Steel Powder, spare Spirit Stones, and the entire set of refining tools were all carefully put away.

Only then did he walk out of the earth fire room and look at the treasures on the stone platform outside.

Gao De's heart stirred, and he first put away that deep-blue small shield and the black long spear.

The quality of these two Magic Treasures was good, and they could perfectly compensate for his current predicament of lacking offensive and defensive Magic Treasures, serving as a transition before his natal demon artifact was completed.

Finally, his gaze fell on that mysterious purple-gold box.

He tried to probe it with his Divine Sense, but it was completely blocked; he tried to open it with force, but it didn't budge.

"It seems a special method is needed to open it." Gao De carefully put it away, planning to take it back to the Water Mansion for further study.

After confirming there were no other valuable items in the martial treasury, Gao De did not dare to linger and quickly exited.

After he left, the brilliance of the Restrictions on the gates lit up again, and they slowly closed.

This trip to the Dragon Palace had yielded gains far exceeding expectations! Not only did he obtain two practical transitional Magic Treasures and a mysterious box, but he had also found a safe, professional, and fully equipped treasure land for Artifact Refining!

Gao De's heart was surging. On the way back to the Water Mansion, he had already begun to conceive how to use this earth fire room to start refining the embryos of the purple scale earth-shaking armor and the thunder fang formation-breaking halberd.