Water Mansion

Chen Mobai saw the turtle shell, and the healed wound on his right hand seemed to ache faintly again.

This was how it had happened.

Half a month ago, he had just broken through to Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer. His superstitious mother had been so happy that, hoping he would get good results in the College Entrance Exam, she had taken him back to their old home deep in the mountains, to a temple said to be very efficacious, to offer the first stick of First Incense.

Then, for no one knew what godforsaken reason, while he was offering incense, someone shoved him from behind. He stumbled, and to steady himself, he reached out and grabbed a turtle shell enshrined before the deity statue.

As a result, that turtle shell had been smoked by incense and fire for who knew how many years and was none too clean. Chen Mobai's right hand was also cut open by the sharp plates of the shell. The wound became infected on the spot, leaving him so weak he could barely stand, and he had no choice but to lie in the hospital for half a month.

Because this thing had put her precious son in the hospital, his mother naturally refused to let it go. She had a good long argument with the presiding cultivator of that temple back home, hoping to get back the 188 Merit Points spent on the First Incense.

But the old cultivator was no easy opponent either—or perhaps the temple was simply too poor. No matter what Chen Mobai's mother said, he refused to refund it, and only compensated them with two Evil-Repelling Talismans.

When chess met its match, yet the fault was ultimately on his side, the old cultivator finally yielded a step.

He let the indignant Mrs. Chen take the turtle shell away, saying she would burn it to drive off her son's bad luck.

As it turned out, the turtle shell had still not been burned.

Lighting fires was forbidden in the city. All abandoned and unusable resources had to be recycled, processed by special methods, and then buried by Earth Masters into the Earth Vein Spirit Pivot to maintain the circulation that generated spirit energy on Earth Origin Star.

Only company organizations within the city that had been approved for alchemy and artifact-refining licenses were allowed to light fires.

Chen Mobai rolled his eyes and got up, preparing to throw the turtle shell into the trash can, hoping that tomorrow the Earth Master would bury this unlucky thing.

But just as his hand touched the turtle shell, a flash of silver light flickered past.

Caught completely off guard, Chen Mobai's entire body was enveloped by the silver light, and then he vanished from the room.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Chen Mobai's consciousness returned to his body, and he slowly crawled up.

He looked around and found that he was no longer in his own room, but inside a mysterious Cave Mansion.

He had no idea where this Cave Mansion was, but Chen Mobai was certain of one thing.

He was underwater right now.

He raised his head and saw a vast expanse of blue.

Around the entire Cave Mansion was a thin, semi-elliptical spherical light barrier. Fish and crabs in the water struck the barrier from every direction, and as if they had bumped into rubber, they were bounced away.

Chen Mobai waited for nearly ten minutes, but no senior expert appeared. Slowly, he turned around to investigate.

After a careful look, he discovered this was a small Cave Mansion at the bottom of the water.

The place where he stood now should be the front hall of the Cave Mansion. In each of the four corners was a base, and on each base was planted a formation flag. Together with the main formation flag base at the center of the Cave Mansion behind him, they formed a simple Water-Avoidance Array.

Fortunately, Chen Mobai had usually paid decent attention in array formation class. He identified this Grade 2 Middle Rank array formation and found that aside from gathering spirit energy, avoiding water, concealment, and protection, it had no other lethal functions.

Following what he had learned at school, he carefully probed this array formation. Only after about an hour, when he had confirmed there was no mistake, did he finally let out a breath.

After confirming this Cave Mansion was not filled with killing intent at every step, Chen Mobai waited another half hour before he began moving around.

This Cave Mansion was indeed very small. Aside from this front hall, which could be taken in at a glance, there were only three Side Halls behind it.

The middle Side Hall should be the Cultivation Room. He did not know if anyone was inside. Chen Mobai took a "Wood Armor Talisman" from his pocket and pinched it in his palm. This was the Talisman he used to preserve his life.

Grade 1 Middle Rank. Once activated, it was enough to block an attack from a Qi Cultivation Level 6 cultivator.

With the Talisman in hand, he felt a slight sense of security.

Chen Mobai took out another coin, placed it on the ground, and gently rolled it toward the Side Hall's main door.

Zzt! The coin had only just rolled up to the door when a flash of dark-blue lightning flickered, vaporizing the corundum-like coin into a cloud of spirit mist.

Seeing this scene, Chen Mobai's heart ached terribly.

This one-yuan coin was worth the equivalent of one Merit Point.

It was made by crushing dried-up Spirit Stones and blending them with other jade Minerals and metals before casting. One point of Spirit Energy Value had been infused into it to draw a talisman for anti-counterfeiting purposes. It was the basic monetary unit of Earth Origin Star.

Chen Mobai only got five yuan a week for pocket money. After working bitterly to earn a little handicraft money from cutting Talisman Paper, he had only managed to save eighty Merit Points in private funds.

Now that one coin had disappeared in an instant, he hesitated.

After waiting a while, the middle Side Hall whose restriction had been triggered still showed no movement, and Chen Mobai could not hold back again. He searched all over his body, but only coins could be used for testing, so he could only endure the pain and roll coins again toward the two Side Halls on the left and right.

Zzt! Splash! Two completely different sound effects and light-and-shadow displays made Chen Mobai's eyes widen involuntarily.

The restriction on the door of the left Side Hall was the same as the one on the middle Side Hall. Both triggered dark-blue lightning that directly vaporized the coin.

But the restriction on the door of the right Side Hall was completely different. Instead, it manifested a deep-blue water ripple, like ripples on a pond, and pushed the coin back.

Chen Mobai turned his body sideways, moving out of the path of the coin as it rolled back.

Only after the coin rumbled to a stop did he take out another coin and strike it accurately, confirming that no residual restrictive power remained on this coin before putting it away.

He leaned close to the door of the right Side Hall and carefully tested it several times. Only after finally confirming that the restriction on this door was not harmful did he begin trying to crack it.

But Chen Mobai had no Talismans for breaking restrictions, and the cultivation method he practiced was only the Five Elements Inner Art taught by the school, used to build a foundation.

"If I'd known, I would have snapped up that 'Water Sword Talisman' I'd taken a liking to for so long."

After trying for a long time, he still failed to break the Water Wave Restriction applied to the door, and Chen Mobai could not help feeling somewhat regretful. In the shopping cart of the trading market on the Immortal Sect Network, there were many items he wanted to buy.

Among them was a Water Sword Talisman worth 30 Merit Points, a Grade 1 Middle Rank Talisman, just right for his use at Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

He sensed the strength of the Water Wave Restriction on the Side Hall door and felt that it was about the same as the "Wood Armor Talisman" in his hand. If he slapped a "Water Sword Talisman" onto it, it should more or less be able to crack it.

His mind whirled, and Chen Mobai thought through all the knowledge he had, but he truly had no solution.

He could only return to the hall of this Water Mansion, sit down on the Central Formation Flag Base where he had woken up, and begin meditating to recover the spiritual power he had consumed while testing the Water Wave Restriction just now.

"Huh?"

As soon as he meditated, he was so shocked he jumped up. He took out the phone in his pocket and opened the Software that tested spirit energy concentration.

Spirit Energy Value: 60

"This place is actually a Grade 2 Middle Rank Spirit Vein."

Chen Mobai grew even more alarmed and fearful. This Water Mansion was either the Branch Courtyard of some wealthy family or the Cave Mansion of a cultivator of higher rank than him. If they saw a stranger like him appearing here, they definitely would not show him any kind face.

"How did I come here?... Right, that turtle shell..."

Chen Mobai thought of the crucial point. But he searched every part of the Water Mansion's front hall where he could move around, even turning over those few pots of flowers and plants, yet he still could not find that turtle shell.

"It's over. How am I supposed to explain this to Mom and Dad!"

After waiting another hour and glancing at the time, feeling that his parents were about to get off work and come home, Chen Mobai could only take the last path.

Call 110.

He hoped the Immortal Sect's Law Enforcement Cultivators could locate his phone and rescue him from this Water Mansion.

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