162: Thousand Illusions Mist
"Retreat!" Gao De ordered decisively, his voice incredibly calm. "Distance yourselves from the Cold Crystal Pool immediately and withdraw toward the southeast. Maintain the highest Rank of concealment."
"Master?" Green Edge was somewhat puzzled; this was clearly a perfect opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
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"The Heavenly Demon Cult has been planning this for a long time; they must have a trump card. Silver Shuttle is in a deathbed struggle; if he detonates his Demon Core, everything within dozens of miles could turn into a wasteland.
The goal of our trip has been achieved—clearing the periphery and gathering intelligence. Greed beyond measure will only lead to being devoured!" Gao De weighed the gains and risks in his heart. "Retreat."
"Yes!" Although Green Edge and Iron Pincer were reluctant, they obeyed Gao De's orders absolutely. They immediately commanded the team, maintaining the concealment Formation like a receding shadow, silently and extremely rapidly moving away from the Cold Crystal Pool area.
Just as they had retreated about a hundred miles, another change occurred back in the direction of the Cold Crystal Pool!
That sky-piercing silver light suddenly contracted inward, then exploded into a terrifying shockwave mixed with silver fragments and a black-red blood mist, sweeping in all directions like an underwater nuclear explosion!
Wherever it passed, hidden reefs crumbled, humans and demons were annihilated, and even the water flow was temporarily displaced, forming a brief vacuum zone!
Even from a hundred miles away, Gao De and the others could feel the violent tremors and the frantic changes in water pressure coming from behind them!
Following that, a long, non-human hiss filled with eerie satisfaction rang out. That cold, sinister devouring aura suddenly surged, overpowering the originally violent Dragon pressure, but it soon receded like a tide, quickly being restrained and disappearing.
The intense energy fluctuations in the direction of the Cold Crystal Pool also rapidly subsided, leaving only a heart-palpitating dead silence and a spreading, even thicker scent of blood and evil Qi.
"Is it... over?" Iron Pincer glanced back, lingering fear in his heart.
If they had remained nearby during that final explosion, even with the protection of the Formation, they likely would have suffered heavy casualties.
"The Heavenly Demon Cult... has barely managed to succeed," Gao De said in a deep, certain tone.
The Silver-Scaled Gyarados King's aura had completely vanished, and that sinister aura had quickly moved away after its sudden drop, clearly a sign of retreating after devouring or collecting the spoils. "Such fast movement, such ruthless and decisive style."
He couldn't help but feel a deeper level of wariness toward the Heavenly Demon Cult.
This organization acted secretively, used cruel methods, and was highly efficient; it was definitely one of the biggest unstable factors in Yunmeng Marsh's future.
The reason the last operation failed was also because Gao De, acting as the oriole in the shadows, had disrupted their plans and brought additional variables—it wasn't a failure of their combat prowess.
"Master, where are we going now?" Green Edge asked.
Gao De thought for a moment, the Purple Lightning in his eyes refocusing into a sharp light: "The matter at the Cold Crystal Pool is finished. The Heavenly Demon Cult has retreated with the treasure, and the forces under the Thunder Tiger Demon King may pursue them or withdraw warily. For a period of time, the attention of the western Yunmeng Marsh will be drawn to this matter, and new conflicts may even break out."
"This is precisely our opportunity." He looked toward the southeast, the direction of Thousand Illusions.
"Send word to Turtle Three Thousand to analyze the latest intelligence we've gathered on the Heavenly Demon Cult, the Thunder Tiger Demon King, and other forces. Predict their possible movement paths and conflict zones. We, as planned, will head to Thousand Illusions to hunt the Cloud-Patterned Water Boa!"
"That place is located in the southwest and has a unique environment; it is currently not the focus of any faction. While they are distracted by the aftermath of the Cold Crystal Pool, we can focus on dealing with that fellow who excels at concealment. If we succeed, although the Chi Dragon Bloodline is thin, it may provide a unique boost to my Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist and concealment Divine Ability."
"Yes!" The spirits of the demons rose. Although they missed the big excitement at the Cold Crystal Pool, their Master's judgment had never been wrong.
Shifting targets and continuing to hunt efficiently in a relatively 'unpopular' area was the steady path to improvement.
The team turned again, moving like a dark arrow released from a bow, cutting through the deep waters and quietly advancing toward Thousand Illusions in the southwest.
Gao De looked back at the waters near the Cold Crystal Pool where the oppressive aura still lingered, his dragon eyes deep.
"Silver Shuttle's blood will one day merge into my body in another way," he thought to himself. Then, without lingering, he activated his light escape and caught up with the team.
The hunting grounds of Yunmeng Marsh are ever-changing; as one side finishes its performance, another takes the stage.
Gao De and his Qianjiao Cliff were like the most cunning fish, always able to avoid the most turbulent undercurrents and swim toward the most nutrient-rich areas suitable for their growth.
The hunt never stops. Bloodline evolution often lies within the next pounce... Thousand Illusions truly lives up to its name.
Before even entering its core area, the surrounding waters had already become turbid and ambiguous.
It wasn't caused by silt, but by a light gray mist between water vapor and miasma that drifted through the water in strands. It not only greatly obstructed vision but could also interfere with Divine Sense probes, making perception blurry and unreliable.
The waters were interspersed with large areas of bubbling, rotten swampland; the complexity of the terrain far exceeded that of the Dark Corridor.
The undercurrents here became silent and treacherous, sometimes swirling the mist into vortexes, and sometimes pushing lethal poisonous swamp bubbles noiselessly toward unsuspecting intruders.
"All members activate the miasma-avoidance function of your Water-Walking Pendants and take a Miasma-Clearing Pill," Gao De ordered.
The team was already well-prepared. A more solid layer of pale blue halo enveloped every Demon Soldier, dispelling the gray mist that tried to cling and corrode.
As the Medicinal Pill entered their stomachs, a cool sensation protected their internal organs, resisting the invisible miasma poison.
"Master, according to Prime Minister Turtle's latest analysis, combined with several relatively fresh traces of shed skin we found along the way," Green Edge's voice came through Divine Sense, slightly distorted by the mist but clear in content.
"The core activity area of the Cloud-Patterned Water Boa is likely in a place deep within the mist marsh known by the local aquatic tribes as 'Coiled Snake Marsh'.
That place is where several damp and cold earth veins converge. The water mist is thickest there, swamp traps are everywhere, and a natural illusory magnetic field is formed, making it extremely easy to lose one's way."
"Coiled Snake Marsh..." The Purple Lightning in Gao De's dragon eyes flickered slightly, piercing through layers of gray mist as he looked deep into the marshland.
"It certainly lives up to its name. Green Edge, Iron Pincer, based on the 'Hidden Snake Shadow Formation', switch to the 'Mist-Hidden Path-Finding Formation'. Reduce aggression and maximize concealment, anti-interference, and direction identification. We aren't here for a frontal assault; we're here to play 'hide and seek'."
The team's Formation changed again. The originally somewhat sharp 'snake shape' became more ethereal and loose, as if they were truly going to merge into this boundless mist.
Following the Formation's guidance, the Demon Soldiers mainly used their Demonic Power to maintain their own concealment, resist environmental interference, and share limited, relatively clear perceptual information through the Formation's link.
As they went deeper, the mist became heavier, and their five senses were suppressed to the limit. The range of their Divine Sense probes was less than one-tenth of its usual distance.
The depth of the water beneath them was uncertain; sometimes they stepped on a solid riverbed, and sometimes they sank into silt with extremely strong suction. The constant sound of swamp bubbles bursting and the rustling of poisonous insects adapted to the environment added a bit more gloom.
Gao De pushed Hidden Scale Concealing Scenery to its limit, not just to hide himself, but using himself as the core to raise the Formation's concealment effect to another level.
At the same time, he quietly released the Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist. Instead of spreading it over a large area, he controlled it finely, making it blend seamlessly with the surrounding natural gray mist. Not only did it not appear abrupt, but it could also slightly guide and distort the flow of nearby mist, creating a more 'natural' illusion and silently detecting subtle abnormalities within the mist.
"Stop." Gao De suddenly raised his hand, and the entire team froze instantly. Even the water flow seemed to slow its fluctuations due to the subtle control of the Formation.
In the thick fog ahead, at the edge of an open stretch of water that looked ordinary and was floating with many rotting aquatic plants, a piece of deadwood was half-submerged and half-floating.
But Gao De keenly perceived that the flow of water mist around that piece of deadwood had an extremely unnatural sense of 'stagnation', as if an invisible, viscous film covered it, making it out of place with the active mist around it.
Moreover, within the faint fishy scent permeating the air, there was a nearly indiscernible, cold and ethereal Chi Dragon majesty—it was precisely the lingering aura of the Cloud-Patterned Water Boa!