33: Fishing in troubled waters

Gao De stopped at a cluster of underwater reefs far from the main battlefield.

The jagged black reefs were like the fangs of a giant beast, providing an excellent natural cover.

He issued commands through his Divine Sense, and ten elite Demon Soldiers immediately scattered silently, using the reef structure to form a small variation of the Mysterious Water Entanglement Formation; they were primarily responsible for sentry duty and support while minimizing their Demonic Qi as much as possible.

Gao De himself seemed to blend into the shadows of the reefs as he pushed his Breath Concealment talent to its limit, not only hiding his presence but also making the water fluctuations around him nearly non-existent.

His cold vertical pupils peered through the murky water, filled with chaotic energy, toward the core battlefield in the distance that resembled a boiling cauldron.

There, the grayish-black miasma was torn to shreds by violent energy, and massive black shadows could be vaguely seen churning within, accompanied by deafening eagle cries and a deep, guttural roar.

The light of Spells erupted from time to time like geysers, illuminating large areas of water in alternating brightness and darkness; the intense energy aftershocks were like underwater mines, causing the water to flow chaotically and inducing palpitations even from a distance.

"As expected, it's a battle at the Third Tier level..." Gao De felt a chill in his heart.

The pressure exuded by the churning black shadow far exceeded his own Second Tier Mid-stage; it was undoubtedly the Poison Flood Dragon.

And the one capable of fighting it so fiercely must be at least a Golden Core level Human Cultivator or someone from the Yao Race.

This was absolutely not a level he could interfere with now; approaching recklessly, the mere aftershocks of the battle would be enough to severely injure him.

His goal was clear: to scavenge and to observe.

Like the most patient crocodile, he lurked at the edge of the battlefield.

His Divine Sense spread outward like invisible tentacles, carefully avoiding the energy turbulence of the core battlefield and focusing on scanning the relatively "calm" buffer zones.

Soon, he discovered that he wasn't the only "onlooker."

In some of the outer waters, the silhouettes of many from the Yao Race were scattered about.

There were massive Iron-backed Crocodiles with hideous carapaces, Hundred-legged Water Anacondas lurking in the silt with only their cold compound eyes exposed, and schools of greedy-eyed Serrated Piranhas... most of these were First Order and Second Order wild Yao Beasts, drawn by the disturbances here and the potentially dissipating Dragon Qi, yet fearing the terror of the core battlefield, they only dared to prowl the periphery, maintaining a cautious distance from one another.

Gao De even vaguely sensed several obscure auras with characteristics of Human Cultivators hiding in more distant, concealed corners, clearly harboring intentions similar to his own—to let the snipe and the clam fight and then reap the benefits.

"Only in muddy waters can one catch fish," Gao De sneered inwardly. He carefully adjusted his position, blending into the edge of a group of wild monsters also observing, led by several Second Order Green-scaled Water Pythons.

He suppressed most of his dragon might, revealing only the Demonic Qi appropriate for a Second Order Demon Beast, making him particularly inconspicuous in this chaotic scene.

He was observing the fighting style of Third Tier existences. The Poison Flood Dragon's innate Divine Ability to stir up undercurrents and summon poisonous miasma, its unstoppable Physical Body strength; the Golden Core Cultivator's exquisite control of Spells, fierce sword light, or the power of Magic Treasures... these were all valuable experiences.

Observing how they used their power and how they looked for openings would be of immeasurable benefit to his future cultivation and combat.

He noticed that the Poison Flood Dragon seemed exceptionally violent, its attacks carrying a sense of reckless madness, while the eagle cries were full of sharpness and penetration; both sides had clearly been driven to genuine fury.

Gao De sensed the faint, cold Dragon Qi in the air that made the dragon blood in his body throb slightly.

This Dragon Qi was extremely faint, scattered by the violent energy of the battle, but with his 81% Dragon Fish Bloodline, he could still barely catch a hint of its source—it didn't come directly from the Poison Flood Dragon, but from deeper within the Black Water Stream, below the battlefield.

"It seems this Poison Flood Dragon has also discovered something, or rather, what did it see?" Gao De speculated, while also keeping an eye out for "fish that escaped the net" at the edge of the battlefield.

Intense battles couldn't happen without losses; whether it was the Poison Flood Dragon's fallen scales, splattered blood, or the unknown opponent's potentially damaged Magical Artifact fragments, dissipated pure energy orbs, or even the corpses of unlucky Yao Beasts killed by the aftershocks... anything thrown to the periphery by the shockwaves could be a good harvest.

Time passed slowly in the oppressive wait. The roaring of the core battlefield was sometimes intense and sometimes subdued, but it never ceased.

Suddenly, an exceptionally violent energy collision erupted at the core!

Boom—!!!

A visible circular shockwave, carrying murky sand, shredded water plants, and some unknown debris, rapidly spread in all directions.

Gao De's spirits lifted, and his gaze, sharp as lightning, quickly scanned the debris swept along by the shockwave.

Most of it was just useless rock and silt, but not far to his front-left, an object about the size of a washbasin, shimmering with a dark metallic luster and bearing a trace of scorch marks on its edges, was tumbling along with the undercurrent!

Although the energy fluctuations emitted by that thing were damaged, they far exceeded those of ordinary Magical Artifacts; it was highly likely a treasure fragment!

Almost at the same time, figures moved from two other nearby locations!

A long-lurking Iron-backed Crocodile lunged out, opening its bloody maw to snap at the fragment; on the other side, a blurred figure also increased its speed, reaching out to grab the target.

"Good opportunity!"

Gao De did not hesitate in the slightest.

Circulating the Dragon Transformation Merit, Demonic Power instantly flooded into his newly grown webbed feet; combined with the Water Escape technique, his figure shot out like an arrow from a bow, his speed actually a notch faster than the Iron-backed Crocodile and the blurred figure!

He didn't go for the most conspicuous treasure fragment but instead precisely judged the trajectories of the water currents and those figures.

At the moment of approach, the unicorn horn on his head lit up with an almost imperceptible glimmer, the weak effect of Unicorn Law-Breaking interfering with the water spirit energy around the blurred figure, causing its body to stall slightly.

At the same time, his powerful tail swung violently, creating an undercurrent that struck the side of the charging Iron-backed Crocodile just right, causing its direction to veer slightly.

In that split second of interference and obstruction, Gao De's target was not the treasure fragment itself!

His claws were like lightning, sweeping beneath the fragment to precisely scoop up an inconspicuous clump of "black silt" that followed, emitting pure water spirit and a cold aura—it seemed to be Spiritual Mud from nearby that had been blown away, long permeated by the Dragon Clan's aura, which might be of great benefit to his cultivation of the Dragon Transformation Merit and the purification of his Bloodline!

After succeeding, he didn't stay for a moment, not even glancing at the Iron-backed Crocodile and the blurred figure that had collided because of his interference and begun attacking each other over the Magic Treasure fragment; using his forward momentum, he suddenly dove down and activated Water Escape again, vanishing from that chaotic area in a few flashes and re-entering the deeper darkness and the shadows of the reefs, the whole process clean and efficient, occurring in just an instant.

Returning to a relatively safe hiding spot, Gao De looked at the clump of black Spiritual Mud in his claws that emitted an enticing aura, a flicker of satisfaction passing through his cold vertical pupils.

"The first harvest," he thought to himself, then carefully put it away.

His gaze turned once more toward the core battlefield, which was still roaring, and the wild monsters and lurkers on the periphery who were becoming increasingly restless due to the recent commotion.

The storm continued, and his journey of "scavenging" had only just begun.

He adjusted his breathing and, like the most patient hunter, continued to lie in wait, waiting for the next opportunity to arrive.