Cave Mansion

Worry gnawing at their hearts, Liang Zhaohuang and his companion could not help quickening their pace, heading deeper into the Dark River.

The farther they went, the more Five-Colored Koi they encountered along the way. Neither of them felt the earlier joy of seeing Spirit Fish anymore; they merely stirred up waves with spells and drove the Five-Colored Koi away.

Before long, the two reached the end of the Dark River. Facing them was a sealed-off Cave Wall.

However, with the information from the Wood Lotus, both of them knew this was not a real wall, but a Seal formed by the Cave Mansion's formation and Restrictions.

Seeing that this Seal still existed, both of them could not help letting out a breath of relief. At the very least, it proved the Cave Mansion was still there, giving them some hope.

But very soon, the two discovered something was wrong. At the bottom of the Cave Wall formed by this Seal was a narrow gap, no longer than a palm and extremely thin.

Liang Zhaohuang immediately circulated the Five Elements Dharma Eye and carefully observed the Cave Wall before him. Sure enough, he saw Five Elements spiritual power within it woven together like a net, circulating and interlinking into Restrictions.

But at the bottom of these Restrictions, a Crack had appeared. It was like a split in a net—fine and small, yet it had already damaged and affected the Restrictions as a whole.

This Crack should not have appeared too long ago. Otherwise, it would have expanded long since and destroyed the entire Restriction.

"We came just in time. If we had been a few years later, once this Crack expanded, the Cave Mansion's protective Restrictions would have shattered outright. When the Cave Mansion was exposed, there'd be nothing left for us."

Liang Zhaohuang spoke with some relief.

As for how the Crack in the Restriction had appeared, there were far too many possibilities.

Movements of the earth's crust, the impact of the river, an accidental attack, the scouring of time—there were too many possible causes.

Liang Zhaohuang could not determine it either. What he needed to do now was unlock the doorway Restriction, enter the Cave Mansion, and see what was still left inside.

It was obvious that the Five-Colored Koi in the Dark River had all swum out from the Cave Mansion through that Crack in the Restriction.

There were surely even more Five-Colored Koi inside the Cave Mansion, perhaps even fish demons.

Under such circumstances, Liang Zhaohuang truly found it hard to hold much confidence in how many useful things could still be preserved inside the Cave Mansion.

Liang Zhaohuang reached out and stroked the Cave Wall before him, putting on the appearance of carefully sensing the flow of spiritual power within it. In truth, Five-Colored Buddha Light flickered in his eyes, and he had already seen the trajectory and direction of the Five Elements spiritual power circulating within the Restriction with perfect clarity.

The reason he did this was merely to disguise things a little in front of the clan leader.

Very soon, Liang Zhaohuang found some clues. He discovered that this Cave Wall Restriction was rather similar to the Seals within the Wood Lotus that he had previously studied. It could be said they came from the same lineage, differing only in certain details.

This undoubtedly saved him a great deal of time.

Moreover, the Crack at the bottom of the Restriction had caused no small amount of damage to the Restriction's integrity and function.

That made it even more convenient for him to break this Restriction.

After the two of them changed to their third Water Repelling Talisman, Liang Zhaohuang began attempting to open the Cave Wall Restriction.

First, as a test, he sent a thread of magic power into the Cave Wall Restriction, letting it follow the circulation of the Five Elements spiritual power within the Restriction, so as to verify his observations and deductions about the Restriction inside the Cave Wall.

A few small mistakes inevitably occurred along the way, but fortunately, he corrected them in time.

Especially at the Crack at the bottom of the Restriction—because of the Crack's existence, the flow of Five Elements spiritual power in that area had suffered breaks and disorder. It was even more troublesome than the other parts of the Restriction and more prone to error.

However, under Liang Zhaohuang's careful observation and meticulous probing, he finally grasped the changes within.

Afterward, starting from this Crack, he easily opened a breach in the Cave Wall Restriction.

The breach was three inches long and one inch wide. Liang Zhaohuang temporarily stopped his work.

At the side, the clan leader Liang Xuelin took out a talisman and activated it. The talisman transformed into a paper crane, which flew through the breach and entered the Cave Mansion behind the Cave Wall.

Because of the appearance of the Five-Colored Koi, as well as the Crack in the Cave Wall Restriction, the two of them could be certain that some change must have occurred within the Cave Mansion behind the Cave Wall.

To guard against accidents, they naturally had to investigate first before deciding whether to open the Restriction and enter the Cave Mansion.

Clan leader Liang Xuelin formed hand seals, and a Water Mirror took shape before the two of them. What appeared within it was precisely the scene of the Cave Mansion as seen by the paper crane.

From what was shown in the Water Mirror, the Cave Mansion behind the Cave Wall was a pool of water. This was clearly different from the situation inside the Cave Mansion recorded in the Wood Lotus.

"As expected, something changed."

Liang Zhaohuang and his companion both showed helpless looks. According to the information recorded in the Wood Lotus, this Cave Mansion had likely existed for more than two thousand years.

After such a long time, any kind of change could have happened. In fact, for this Cave Mansion to still exist even now was already quite difficult; it was enough to show that the original owner of this Cave Mansion must have possessed rather impressive cultivation and methods.

The pool inside the Cave Mansion was overgrown with Withered Lotus. At the center, encircled by the Withered Lotus, stood a Stone Platform, and atop it sat a human figure cross-legged.

At first sight of the figure, Liang Zhaohuang and his companion were both startled. But immediately afterward, through the paper crane's careful observation, they confirmed it was a Skeleton.

It was presumably the original master of this Cave Mansion.

Through the paper crane, they could see a Storage Bag placed in front of the Skeleton. This left the two rather excited. Everything they wanted should be inside that Storage Bag.

Hope was right before their eyes.

Liang Zhaohuang was even so excited that he wanted to break through the Cave Wall Restriction directly, enter the Cave Mansion, and retrieve the Storage Bag.

However, clan leader Liang Xuelin stopped him. After all, he had cultivated for sixty or seventy years and had struggled to maintain the development of an entire family. Clan leader Liang Xuelin was somewhat steadier.

He controlled the paper crane, making it fly back and forth above the pool inside the Cave Mansion, circling among the pool full of Withered Lotus as it investigated the movements within the water.

Through the paper crane, they could see that the pool was deathly still, like a stretch of dead water. The Five-Colored Koi they had expected did not appear.

This made them somewhat doubt their previous judgment.

"Could it be that these Five-Colored Koi in the Dark River didn't run out from the Cave Mansion?"

Just then, a sudden shock erupted.

In the pool within the Cave Mansion, a vast spray of water suddenly exploded upward. An enormous figure burst out, smashing through a broad swath of Withered Lotus, its huge mouth opening wide as it swallowed the paper crane whole.

The Water Mirror before the two of them was also caught in the backlash in that instant and shattered outright.

"Did you get a clear look?" the clan chief, Liang Xuelin, asked.

Liang Zhaohuang nodded and said, "It was a Five-Colored Koi, a massive Five-Colored Koi."

"Not bad!" Clan Chief Liang Xuelin nodded, making further judgments. "It's a First-Order Monster Beast. It hasn't broken through to second order. We can take it down."

Liang Zhaohuang nodded without objection. Since there was only a First-Order Monster Beast inside the Cave Mansion, still within the range the two of them could control, there was naturally no reason for them to give up on the inheritance within the Cave Mansion.

After making a little preparation against that First-Order Monster Beast koi, Liang Zhaohuang swiftly tore open the crack in the Restriction on the Cave Wall, opening a gap large enough for the two of them to enter and exit.

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