What a Vicious Water Mansion

"Where's the dragon you promised?"

"What happened to the Crystal Palace? It's a cave!"

"Where is the rare and precious riverbed iron?"

The King of Huainan obtained a rare feather that could ignite flames, while the King of Jiangdu searched extensively but found nothing.

This made him extremely agitated, and he grabbed the gilded halberd with goose wings that he had found and stabbed around wildly.

King Jiangdu possessed Divine Ability powers, and his immense physical strength made him exceptional. His weapon, the Goose-Winged Gilded Halberd, weighed a staggering 180 jin (approximately 90 kg). A mere glancing blow from this weapon could cause serious injury, making it something that most powerful cultivators would avoid.

At this moment, he was sweeping and poking around in the Huai River water palace, and even the King of Huainan kept his distance, going outside to study the two stone fish.

"These two stone fish may seem unremarkable, but they actually hold a secret. They have taken advantage of a sacred and wondrous location to form their own array, thus avoiding the erosion of the river and the accumulation of silt, almost exactly like a secret place..."

Zhang Xuezhou was right. Apart from that extremely well-hidden demonic feather, there were only two stone fish in this place.

Of course, there were also rather crude water channels and pools in the water palace.

Overall, there's not much to explore here.

Not to mention water palaces that have existed for hundreds or thousands of years, even ordinary houses would be empty after a few decades, with many objects aging and decaying, making it difficult to find anything of value.

The King of Huainan was mentally prepared before his arrival, but he did not expect the water palace to be so shabby.

If one had to pinpoint the value of this waterside mansion, the King of Huainan thought the two stone fish at the entrance might hold some secret.

He pointed at the stone fish and discussed it with the others. When he accidentally touched the stone ball on the stone fish, there was a cracking sound and the stone ball fell off immediately.

A gurgling sound came from the fish's belly. The King of Huainan looked down and saw golden and precious lights shimmering in the stone fish's mouth.

"This is actually the treasure trove of the Water Palace!" the King of Huainan exclaimed in surprise. "There are quite a few gold nuggets and pearls inside!"

"Your Majesty is truly a blessed man!"

"Your Majesty, there are some in the mouths of the stone fish over here too!"

"Didn't that Dongfang Shuo even touch the stone fish?"

"How could someone like him possibly find treasure? He didn't even look up at that demonic feather!"

"Even if you lift it up, you have to be able to reach it!"

"So, where did that feather he used to burrow go?"

Following the example set by the King of King of Huainan, the other stone fish was also successfully opened, revealing the gold and silver treasures hidden inside its belly.

Although thousands of years have passed, and even though the stone fish has become gray and worn, the gold and silver jewelry has not faded in the slightest and still shines with the brilliance of wealth.

Gold nuggets have a fixed value, but the price of pearls varies depending on factors such as color and size.

The King of Huainan estimated that if he found a suitable opportunity to exchange them, exchanging these pearls for Wanliang taels of gold would not be a problem.

Of course, the King of Huainan was not short of money. Compared to exchanging them for gold and half-ounce coins, these high-quality pearls would be more valuable as gifts.

"King of Jiangdu, you've come all this way, it's not easy. I'll take what's hidden in this fish, you take what's hidden in that fish!"

The King of Jiangdu, who was randomly poking around in the water in the King of Huainan's palace, shouted.

"I... I found it myself, so I'll take it. You found it, so you can take it!"

The King of Jiangdu stubbornly insisted that he had not accepted the money and treasure offered by the King of Huainan, but he still came over to check on the situation.

"They're not as wealthy as the rumors suggest!"

He muttered a disgruntled complaint.

"Their era is different from ours; this amount of money would have been considered very wealthy in their time," said the King of Huainan.

"Since this money is so valuable to them, why didn't they take it with them when they left?" King Jiangdu asked, puzzled.

"Perhaps they left in a hurry and didn't have time to pack up," the King of Huainan mused.

"Come on, this stone cave has been cleaned spotless. I don't believe they wouldn't have taken away their gold and silver treasures!"

"That makes some sense!"

The King of Huainan nodded, not bothering to try and persuade the unreasonable King of Jiangdu.

He ordered his men to retrieve the valuables, then turned his gaze to other areas.

As someone who gathers great fortune, the King of Huainan's luck wouldn't be too bad under normal circumstances. Wherever he goes, not only can he grab spiritual herbs with his hand, but he can also kick out treasures with his foot. He is indeed more likely to discover unexpected wealth than ordinary people.

"Big mountains, small mountains, you..."

Just as the King of Huainan was about to order those skilled in earthwork, such as Dashan and Xiaoshan, to conduct a destructive investigation, a cracking sound came from the stone fish, and a wave of cold, damp air rushed towards him.

"Oops!"

With the help of the torch held up by Li Shang, the King of Huainan discovered that the waterway they had entered earlier had turned black at some point.

The water palace was now completely sealed off, forming a seamless whole.

The King of Huainan reached out and poked it, only to feel a hard, unyielding sensation; the spot he touched was as hard as a stone.

"This stone fish is a magical formation, left behind specifically to deter unauthorized intruders!"

Perhaps it was because the treasure inside the stone fish was retrieved, or perhaps the two water-repelling beads provided by the King of Huainan were not very effective, or perhaps for some other reason, the protective array of this water palace was activated again.

"Quickly open this!"

The formation is initially activated, and this is also when it is at its weakest, making it the best time to break through by brute force.

The King of Huainan gave an order, and Mao, a first-class guest minister who had followed him, reached out and took the long-handled axe hanging on his back, which immediately fell into his hand.

He roared, his Qi and Blood and qi surging, and a red glow appeared on his long-handled axe.

"Hey!"

As he exhaled and spoke, he raised his long-handled axe high and chopped it forcefully toward the passage through which he had entered the water palace.

A crimson glow appeared, and a loud noise immediately came from the black stone wall.

A long slit nearly a meter high was cleaved out, and when Mao was stirred by the long-handled axe, the long slit turned into a hole.

Countless pebbles, fine sand, and murky water rushed into our faces.

Mao, who was standing in front, was caught off guard and was directly pushed away by the waves.

"Protect the King!"

Tian You only had time to call out once before her mouth could no longer make a sound.

In just a short time, the water palace had been completely filled with water.

The gushing water made it difficult for people to crawl out of the hole.

When the water palace shook as if the earth were shaking, everyone was shocked. Even the King of Huainan, who remained calm in the water, could not keep his emotions in check.

He lifted his leg and stomped forward, his body bathed in a deep red light, before forcefully plunging into the hole in the water.

To the King of Huainan, crawling out of the hole was not as difficult as he had imagined.

He forcefully pushed his Qi and Blood and blood into the air, and felt the sand and debris piled up above his head being swept away, with a thickness of no more than half a meter.

As he gained momentum from his feet, the sunlight streamed in his face, and the King of Huainan soared upwards out of the water.

When he looked back down, he saw that the deep pool he had dug had turned into a whirlpool that was constantly pumping water, with waves surging downwards. The piled-up sand and gravel embankment was teetering on the verge of collapse, with sand and gravel constantly falling down.

If those who explored the underwater palace weren't all experts, it would have been quite difficult for everyone to escape; they would have been buried within this underwater palace if they had only delayed for a moment.

"What a vicious water mansion! Luckily, I'm one of the lucky ones!"

Seeing the numerous guest ministers and the King of Jiangdu and others rushing out from behind, the King of Huainan couldn't help but secretly sigh at their successful escape.

When his gaze swept over Dong Zhongshu and the others in the distance, he felt that these people had been lucky enough to resist the temptation and not follow them into the treasure hunt. Otherwise, given Dong Zhongshu's civil official status and Zhang Xuezhou, it would have been difficult for them to escape once they got trapped inside.