176: Peach Blossom Spring

As Gao De's figure, like an invisible swimming fish, quietly passed through the canyon entrance that seemed to swallow all light and moved against the drifting petals for about half a cup of tea's time, the waters ahead suddenly opened up, becoming exceptionally calm and clear.

However, just as he thought he was about to discover something, an unusually steep, nearly vertical black rock wall blocked his path.

The current did not pass through here; instead, it seeped underground through a crack on one side of the rock wall, forming an underground river. Those peach blossom petals were falling from directly above the rock wall.

Without hesitation, Gao De's figure rose lightly, pressing against the slippery rock wall covered in dark moss, ascending like a purple shadow.

The rock wall was extremely high, reaching a thousand Ren. The higher he went, the more intense and fragrant the scent of peach blossoms became, even overpowering the faint fishy smell remaining from the waters below.

Finally, when he silently flipped onto the top of the rock wall and stood upon a giant boulder smoothed by wind and rain, he looked ahead—

Even with Gao De's state of mind after hundreds of years of cultivation and weathering many storms, a rare, almost frozen look of astonishment involuntarily flashed through his dragon eyes.

As far as his vision could reach, there was no longer any trace of the turbidity, gloom, and danger common to the Great Marsh.

Ahead lay a massive mountain valley basin surrounded by peaks.

Within the basin, spreading out from the cliff beneath his feet to the limits of his sight, were wild peach trees in full bloom with pink flowers, covering the mountains and plains in undulating layers!

It wasn't ten or a hundred, nor was it a thousand or ten thousand; it was a sea of peach forests that simply couldn't be counted, looking as if they had grown wildly here since the Primordial Era!

Thick, gnarled old trees occupied the mountainsides, their branches like dragons; beautiful, upright young trees dotted the river valley, their blossoms like a tapestry.

Shades of pink covered every inch of land, drowning the mountain streams and filling the valleys, spreading all the way to the foot of the mist-shrouded mountains in the distance.

As the mountain wind blew, countless blossoms fell in a riot of color. Billions of petals left their branches, but instead of falling immediately to the ground, they were caught by a strange buoyancy. They intertwined with the naturally rising water vapor in the valley and the faint pink glow emitted by the peach trees themselves, forming a vast, ethereal, dreamlike ocean of pink mist.

This "Peach Blossom Mist Sea" flowed and surged slowly, dyeing the sky above the valley with a warm, hazy, and blurred pink hue; the true sun, moon, and stars had long since vanished.

The entire peach forest was terrifyingly quiet.

There was no birdsong, no animal roars, and not even the rustling sound of wind passing through leaves that a normal mountain forest should have—those falling petals seemed to absorb all sound.

There was only that omnipresent peach blossom fragrance, so cloyingly sweet it seemed to seep into one's very marrow and Divine Soul, silently permeating every inch of the air along with the pink mist.

Gao De's Divine Sense cautiously probed forward.

As expected, the air above this boundless peach forest was shrouded in a "miasma" that was thicker than the one over the waters outside the canyon, yet its nature was far more bizarre.

This miasma was not a deathly grayish-green; instead, it appeared as a pale pink, sharing the same origin as the peach blossom mist sea. It wasn't a lethal poison, but it contained a powerful yet subtle aphrodisiac and bewildering force.

As soon as Gao De's Divine Sense made contact, he felt a slight tingling and dizziness. Erotic phantoms seemed to flash before his eyes, and certain extremely subtle biological instincts and restlessness in his heart were faintly stirred.

"Enchantment Miasma... and such a massive scale of natural Enchantment Miasma, perfectly integrated with this strange peach forest!" Gao De's heart tightened. He immediately withdrew his Divine Sense and simultaneously circulated the Purple Heaven Dragon Transformation Art. Purple Lightning Thunder Aura flowed through his Meridians, and a sense of clarity and majesty inherent to his Dragon Clan Bloodline rose, quickly dispersing and suppressing the invading illusory power.

He focused his gaze to observe.

This ancient peach forest blooming in such an unnaturally concentrated manner across the mountains, this pink miasma shrouding heaven and earth to bewitch the soul, this eerie silence where only the fragrance of flowers drifted... everything pointed to the fact that this place was definitely not a simple natural Formation.

"Is it a naturally formed singular spiritual land? Or... the herb garden, illusionary Formation, or even the Immortal Cave left behind by some ancient powerhouse?" Gao De's gaze was sharp as he scanned the sea of flowers and the misty barrier.

With his experience, he could naturally see that these peach trees were no ordinary species. They were extremely ancient and seemed to be distributed and growing according to some subtle pattern, vaguely forming a massive natural Formation that drew upon the earth's ley lines and water vapor to create this special peach blossom miasma.

This Formation lacked offensive aggression, but it perfectly hid and protected this place. If one hadn't followed the peach blossom stream, it would be extremely difficult to discover this paradise above the canyon.

The pink miasma not only blocked the sun but also severely interfered with vision and perception.

Even with Gao De's vision, he could only see through a few hundred feet; any further was just a hazy pink mist sea and endless flower shadows. His Divine Sense was compressed to the point where it could barely sustain itself beyond dozens of feet around him.

"An Enchantment Miasma of this scale is a dead end for those with weak wills or insufficient cultivation. But if one can resist it, this place might hide spiritual items associated with it, or... other secrets." Gao De weighed the risks and rewards.

He possessed dragon blood and a firm will, and he also had thunder techniques to break evil and steady the soul, giving him strong resistance against this Enchantment Miasma. However, entering this unknown sea of flowers still held too many variables.

After a moment of contemplation, he decided to conduct a limited exploration.

Purple Lightning flickered slightly at his fingertips. Several simple "Illusion-Breaking Thunder Talismans" refined from his own scales were activated, turning into several imperceptible purple glows that sank into the pink miasma ahead, carving out a few briefly clear paths while also serving as sensory beacons.

Then, his figure flickered, becoming like a pale purple phantom blending into the pink background, cautiously heading into the depths of the peach forest along an ancient, faintly discernible path covered in fallen blossoms.

The purple scale earth-shaking armor hummed slightly, emitting stable vibrations to clear the mind and steady the soul. Hidden Scale Concealing Scenery was operating at full power, while Heaven-Confusing Illusionary Mist attempted extremely fine contact and analysis with the surrounding peach blossom miasma, searching for its weak points or patterns.

Every step he took felt like entering a pink dreamscape that had been silent for ten thousand years.

Beneath his feet was a "carpet" made of thick, soft petals; all around him were peach blossoms blooming and falling in silence.

The sweet fragrance grew more intense. Even with his Cultivation Technique and heavy armor protecting him, traces of warmth and a hazy feeling still tried to entwine him like the finest vines.

Gao De's heart was like an ancient well, and the Purple Lightning in his eyes was like a lamp, illuminating the confusing barrier ahead.

He was very curious about what this grand, quiet, and dangerous Peach Blossom Spring, hidden deep within the Yunmeng Great Marsh among the forgotten mountains, was ultimately guarding and whom it was waiting for.