99: Baxia Remains

While Gao De was focused on organizing his cultivation and adjusting his state to prepare for exploration,

a piece of news spreading from the Heavenly Secret Realm added new variables to this turbulent land.

The giant trade flying boat of the Nine Dragons Chamber of Commerce from Yizhou Province, which was an exploration merchant fleet heading to Yangzhou, had completed its circuit of the Yangzhou region and was now on its return journey.

It was expected to pass through the border region of the three kingdoms of Wu, Yue, and Chu in about a year, and planned to make a brief stop at the neutral and prosperous "Sanchuan Workshop" located between the three kingdoms to hold a grand trade fair.

Although the Nine Dragons Chamber of Commerce had only visited twice, the treasures they left behind undoubtedly influenced the situation of the three kingdoms. In particular, the appearance of the Heavenly Secret Mirror had a significant impact on the Cultivators of the three kingdoms.

Their trade flying boats carried rare treasures from distant provinces, and every appearance caused a huge sensation.

Although this was only part of the exploration merchant fleet returning—the main fleet was said to be heading to the East Sea Cultivation World for exploration—it still attracted countless eyes.

Some vague information released in advance mentioned the goods carried by the chamber itself and a list of items that some accompanying Cultivators intended to sell.

As Gao De browsed through it, he found one item that caught his attention—a carapace said to be left behind by a fourth-tier Yao Beast with the Baxia Bloodline, along with a broken ancient stele closely connected to it.

This carapace was a useful item for Gao De.

The thin aura of Dragon Clan Bloodline contained within it could provide some assistance for his cultivation of the Purple Heaven Dragon Transformation Art and further purification of his own flood dragon bloodline, perhaps saving some tedious effort.

However, it was not indispensable, let alone a supreme treasure that he had to fight for at all costs.

After all, he possessed the dragon pearl fossil and the complete dragon transformation Legacy, and his path forward was clear; this carapace was more like a good supplement.

"Interesting," Gao De pondered for a moment. "The Nine Dragons Chamber of Commerce's auction is of high caliber; it's an opportunity to broaden my horizons and perhaps find some useful items."

Now that he had been promoted to a third-tier Yao King and occupied a strategic water and land hub, with several industries under his command, he finally had the qualifications to participate in transactions of this level. He was no longer the weak Yao Cultivator who could only watch from below.

However, participating in the bidding, especially competing with Golden Core Cultivators from all sides and potentially other Yao Kings, required sufficient preparation.

Spirit Stones were the hard currency, and some unused treasures could also be used for bartering.

He summoned Turtle Three Thousand and ordered: "The Nine Dragons Chamber of Commerce flying boat will arrive at Sanchuan Workshop in a year, and there will be an auction then. We might participate. During the coming period, try to accumulate the profits from the workshop and the mineral veins, except for necessary expenses. In addition, take stock of the treasury to see what items we don't need but might catch the chamber's eye, and organize them in advance."

"Your subordinate understands," Turtle Three Thousand took the order. "The arrival of the chamber will certainly be a grand event. We should indeed make some preparations. Even if it's not for that baxia carapace, we can still witness the event and perhaps exchange for some resources that will help my Lord's cultivation or improve our strength."

Gao De nodded; Turtle Three Thousand's thoughts coincided with his own.

This auction was more about an opportunity to integrate into a wider circle and obtain information and resources.

As for that baxia carapace, it would be good if he could get it at a suitable price, but if the competition was too fierce, there was no harm in giving it up.

He left the preparation matters to Turtle Three Thousand to coordinate, while he continued to focus his energy on his own cultivation and the exploration plan for the Dragon Palace Secret Passage.

The improvement of strength was always the first priority; external resources were only supplementary.

However, the news of the Nine Dragons Chamber of Commerce's upcoming arrival was like a stone thrown into a pond, its ripples gradually spreading.

It was foreseeable that when the massive flying boat truly arrived, Sanchuan Workshop and the entire border area of the three kingdoms would be filled with surging winds and clouds, attracting the attention and forces from all sides.

Gao De also needed to plan ahead on how to strive for the greatest benefit for himself in this grand event while avoiding potential risks... Deep within the Deep Pool Water Mansion, the entrance to the Dragon Palace Secret Passage opened silently once again.

Gao De transformed into his Half-Jiaoren form, his aura restrained, with only a sharp light flashing in his jiao pupils, showing his currently refined cultivation.

Holding the "prison" character dragon talisman, he dived into the deep passage with practiced ease.

From his previous exploration, he had obtained several good pieces of armor and weapons from the "Guard Martial Treasury," including that small faint-blue shield and the black spear. Although they were not his core needs, they enhanced the strength of his subordinates.

This time, his goal was clearer—to find clues that could directly improve his Bloodline cultivation or relate to the core Legacy of the Dragon Palace.

The passage was still dim, with only the ancient runes on the walls occasionally flowing with faint light.

Relying on the guidance of the dragon talisman and his increasingly exquisite perception of the power of the water element, he avoided the remaining Restrictions and went deep into a fork in the road that he had not chosen before.

This passage was different from the killing path leading to the martial treasury; it seemed more profound and silent, and the air was filled with an ancient and decaying aura, as if it led to a more central and potentially more dangerous area of the Dragon Palace.

After traveling several miles, the front suddenly opened up, and a huge underground space appeared.

In the center of the space was not the expected palace or treasure room, but a dried-up lake bed covered with cracks.

In the center of the lake bed stood several broken stone pillars carved with coiled dragon patterns, and surrounded by the stone pillars was an ancient altar that had long since stopped operating, its runes dim.

The altar was built of some kind of pitch-black stone and was covered with dust and moss.

Gao De approached, and his Divine Thought carefully swept over it. He could feel the extraordinary material of the altar itself and the extremely weak spatial fluctuations remaining on it.

"A teleportation formation? Or something used for some kind of sacrificial ritual?" Gao De guessed in his heart.

He tried to inject Demonic Power into the altar, but the altar did not react. He tried to touch it with the "prison" character dragon talisman; the dragon talisman heated up slightly, but it did not produce a strong resonance with the altar.

Clearly, this altar was either severely damaged or required a specific method or token to activate.

He did not give up and searched carefully around the altar and those broken stone pillars.

When he moved a piece of rubble half-buried in the dust, his fingertips touched a cold, hard object.

Digging away the dust, he found it was a palm-sized, irregularly edged dark brown scale.

This scale was heavy in hand and extremely hard in texture. Vague and profound patterns were naturally formed on it, faintly emitting a desolate, heavy, and slightly sorrowful Dragon Clan aura.

This aura was completely different from his own Purple Lightning Flood Dragon Bloodline; it was more ancient and more profound.

"What kind of dragon species' scale is this?" Gao De scrutinized it carefully, feeling that the fragments of intent remaining in the scale were extremely weak and almost impossible to capture, but that sense of sorrow would not go away.

He carefully put the scale away; this might be an important clue.

Leaving the dried lake bed, he continued to explore this underground space.

At the edge, he found several ruins of collapsed side halls, from which he found some scattered Jade Slip fragments engraved with ancient Dragon Clan characters, as well as several Magical Artifacts that had lost all Spiritual Qi and were already decayed.

Through a preliminary interpretation of those relatively complete Jade Slip fragments, Gao De pieced together some fragmentary information: this place seemed to be a location in the Dragon Palace used for "observing stars and measuring luck" or communicating with specific stars.

The Jade Slips mentioned words like "Abyssal Prison," "Suppressing Seal," and "Star Power Circulation," which seemed to be related to some great enemy or secret suppressed by the Dragon Palace, but the specific information was missing due to the broken Jade Slips.

"Abyssal Prison... Suppressing Seal..." Gao De thought of the "prison" character dragon talisman; the two seemed to be related.

Could it be that something terrible was still suppressed beneath this Dragon Palace? This gave him a new assessment of the danger of the Dragon Palace Secret Passage.

"It seems the secrets of this Dragon Palace are even more profound than imagined." Gao De stood in the ruins, his gaze sweeping over this desolate land.

He carefully put away the collected Jade Slip fragments and that dragon scale, deciding to leave first and go back to properly study these clues.