Chapter 233: Section 21: Huge Profit!
The knight youth, Zong Ge, Cang Xu, and others arrived at the small boat dock.
The floor of the small boat dock was lifted, Bai Ya and Sanda were left on top, while the others dove into the water.
The daylight made the sea water sweep away the gloomy and eerie atmosphere of the night. Although it was obscured by the boat dock, the sunlight reflected on the long coastline, penetrating to the seabed.
At first, the knight youth felt a chill as he entered the water. But soon, he adapted and even found the water bright and warm.
Due to the refraction of light, the starfish, shells, seaweed, rocks, and valleys at the bottom of the sea were tinged with a rainbow hue, incomparably beautiful.
The youth and Zong Ge could swim, but Lan Zao had the best water nature. Originally a fisherman by trade, he now swam in the sea, agile as a fish.
But no matter how good his water nature was, it could not compare to Cang Xu.
That was because Cang Xu’s body had been altered using the secret methods of the undead.
While the others occasionally let out bubbles of air, needing to surface for breath after some time, Cang Xu did not. He didn’t even need to breathe.
The living conditions on Mysterious Monster Island were exceptionally harsh, and many people had died. That the elderly Cang Xu had survived was largely due to his altered body.
The water wasn’t deep, and soon everyone had reached the seabed.
Above their heads was the dilapidated small boat dock. Because the dock provided shade, this particular area of the seabed was noticeably darker than the surrounding areas.
Cang Xu pointed not far ahead, signaling the valve entrance to the underground chamber.
But the knight youth, Zong Ge, and the others couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, just a stretch of sea sand.
The group was well-positioned, surrounding the valve.
Cang Xu took out an Unsealing Scroll from his bosom.
The knight youth had exhausted his capital, fully exchanging for three such scrolls. These scrolls were expensive, nearly depleting the youth’s savings.
After Cang Xu provided the information, the youth reflected deeply before deciding to gamble.
Why not gamble?
They were not on Mysterious Monster Island, there were no Pearl Bubbles to protect them, and their situation was not dangerous. Even if they lost the bet, their lives were not at risk.
As for the loss of capital, it could be earned back!
However, as soon as Cang Xu unfolded the Unsealing Scroll and began to infuse it with magic power, even the knight youth, who was usually calm, felt his heart rate slightly accelerate.
Zong Ge and Lan Zao were both visibly tense.
The Array carved on the Unsealing Scroll lit up with a gray-white light, which then quickly expanded and floated out from the scroll.
The scroll, originally dense with writing and bearing the Array of a circle intersecting with a pentagram in the middle, now turned blank.
Cang Xu carefully controlled the ball of gray-white light, slowly bringing it closer to where the valve was.
Soon, the ordinary sea sand started to radiate a purplish-black halo.
The closer the gray-white ball of light got, the more pronounced the purplish-black halo became, ultimately forming a swirling mass of light and shadow that enveloped the valve entrance.
The gray-white finally made contact with the purplish-black.
The purplish-black shadows dissipated like snow in the sunlight, visibly melting away at a rapid pace.
Of course, the gray-white light was also being consumed.
After a dozen breaths, the gray-white light had vanished, and the purplish-black shadow had lost quite a bit, with a black smoke rising from the shadow, rapidly replenishing it.
“This isn’t good, the defense magic array can still replenish itself,” everyone thought to themselves as they saw this scene, their hearts sinking slightly.
Lan Zao didn’t continue to watch; he was the first to surface for air.
Although his water nature was formidable, the youth and Zong Ge were stronger, their superior physical constitution allowing them to hold their breath for a longer period.
When Lan Zao returned to the seabed, Cang Xu had already unfolded the second Unsealing Scroll.
The gray-white light form reappeared, not giving the defense magic array more time to replenish, and descended once again.
This time, the descent was noticeably more resolute and forceful.
The Unsealing Scroll, worthy of the Silver Level, justified its lofty price with its potency; the purplish-black shadow completely vanished.
However, another layer of dark-golden halo surfaced.
Clearly, this was another defense magic array.
But the gray-white light had shrunk considerably, fading away completely after whittling down the dark-gold halo to the extreme.
Cang Xu unfolded the third Unsealing Scroll.
Lan Zao felt breathless again.
This wasn’t because the time for holding his breath had come, but rather due to tension.
He knew that the knight youth had nearly exhausted his capital, having exchanged for three Unsealing Scrolls. In just a moment’s time, they were down to the last one. And how many layers of defense magic arrays there were guarding this underwater chamber, nobody knew.
The third Unsealing Scroll was used up.
The grey and white globes of light had nearly disappeared, yet the golden halo persisted until the last moment. Although the halo was faint, it stayed stubbornly.
“We failed!” The knight youth, Lan Zao, and Zong Ge felt a slight sinking in their hearts.
However, Cang Xu remained calm.
His face showed a pensive expression.
Just as he unfolded the third scroll, he had almost convinced himself that the defense magic array on this level would definitely be worn down. But unexpectedly, it held on until the end.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“The Unsealing Scroll should be able to dissipate most arrays unless…”
A bolt of lightning seemed to flash through Cang Xu’s mind.
“Unless the person had added other measures to the array that the Unsealing Scroll couldn’t counteract!”
So, what could those measures be?
Undead Magic was the first thing that came to Cang Xu’s mind.
Undead Magic hadn’t been founded for long, so it seemed mysterious, inscrutable, and difficult to counter.
Cang Xu then proceeded to activate Undead Magic, testing the defense magic array.
He failed.
But soon, he began a new attempt.
As a Mage of Undead Magic at the Black Iron Level, Cang Xu was not skilled in arrays. So, his attempts were just that—tries, without any real confidence in his heart.
Just as he was beginning to despair, he released a ghost that easily penetrated the magic array and directly entered the underground chamber!
“Indeed, my previous guess was correct!”
Cang Xu’s spirits were greatly lifted, and he hurriedly commanded the ghost to start dismantling the array.
Suddenly, the ghost managed to destroy the array from inside quite smoothly.
“We’ve succeeded!”
“Well done, Cang Xu!”
These words of praise were only temporarily held in the hearts of others.
Cang Xu gestured for Zong Ge to open the valve.
With the array obstruction gone, Zong Ge surfaced for a breath of air and then dived down again.
He brushed away the sand, revealing a bronze valve.
There was no handle on the valve.
As Zong Ge was at a loss, Cang Xu took out a spade.
No one was surprised; they all knew that the old scholar had sewn a Spatial Bag onto himself.
Zong Ge inserted the spade into the gap of the valve and, using both hands and feet, began to pry the valve open slowly with all his might.
Inside the valve, the array was still operational, isolating the water and preventing backflow.
After Cang Xu indicated it was safe, Zong Ge was the first to enter the underground chamber, followed by everyone else, one by one.
The underground chamber was well lit, the light coming from the walls.
A type of paint that could emit a soft glow coated the surface of the walls. The combined glow stayed constant, illuminating the chamber at all times.
This light was gentle and not harsh on the eyes.
The walls of the chamber seemed to be made of bronze as well, with no right angles between them but rather a rounded design. This design was likely meant to maximize the interior space.
As the group first entered, the surrounding walls enclosed them like a well. The walls had colorful dots of light that would appear and disappear intermittently.
If they were enemies, these dots would shoot out spell rays to slaughter the intruders. But, because the ghost had damaged it from the inside, this final defense mechanism was not activated.
After drifting down for a while, they arrived at a relatively large room.
The room had round walls too, with a ring-shaped table in the center, which was made up of four tables put together. Various instruments were placed on the table, including a huge Magic Book as tall as half a person, a set of flasks and crucibles for alchemy, a Crystal Ball, and a white skull.
Bookshelves leaned against the walls. The shelves linked together, blocking the walls and forming an inner wall of shelves.
The shelves were densely packed with books.
Zong Ge glanced around and saw some of the titles: History of Magic, Theories of Magic, Common Transformation Potion Making (Volumes I, II, III), Hell Dictionary, Dragonese Magic Encyclopedia, Undead Diary, Nine-Year Magic Exam Mock Test Papers, Holy Enlightenment Teachings Analysis, The Legend of Mei Lan…
The Half-Beast relaxed at this sight.
He knew they had won the bet.
Just these Magic Books alone were a windfall!