Chapter 500 - 472: Underwater Ruins

Chapter 500: Chapter 472: Underwater Ruins

After the ferry docked, Li Yuan was about to leave the pier when a voice called out from behind him.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

Li Yuan turned around.

A middle-aged man was striding over from the other side of the pier. He wore a deep cyan magic robe, the corners embroidered with exceedingly fine silver Array Patterns. He had a scholarly face, a short beard, and a restrained aura. He was at the Mid-stage Golden Core realm.

"Just now, I was passing by the pier and happened to witness you take action on the ferry, Fellow Daoist."

The middle-aged man walked up to him and cupped his fists in a salute.

"Your Water Magic is incredibly pure, and your control is simply breathtaking. I am Mo Baichuan, a Golden Core Elder of the Coral Palace. I also hold the position of an Honored Guest Elder in the Outer Seas Loose Cultivator Alliance."

Li Yuan nodded slightly, then asked.

"As an elder from an established power, how can you also be an Honored Guest Elder for a loose cultivator organization?"

Mo Baichuan smiled.

"You may not know this, Fellow Daoist, but although the Loose Cultivator Alliance is made up of loose cultivators, it’s a power in its own right. To maintain good relations with the other major powers, they often invite us to serve as Honored Guest Elders. We don’t have to do anything and get a monthly stipend for free."

After speaking, Mo Baichuan got straight to the point. "I am an Array Master. I recently took on a job to investigate the array structure of some undersea ruins. I had originally arranged to go with a peer, but they had to cancel at the last minute."

He sized up Li Yuan. "When you acted just now, Fellow Daoist, your Spiritual Power’s precision and range control were both outstanding. Perhaps you could serve as support."

"Alright," Li Yuan replied succinctly.

Mo Baichuan’s eyes lit up. "As for compensation, I have an ancient Water Magic manual in my possession. It’s of a high grade and can serve as your reward."

Mo Baichuan then took out the magic jade slip. Li Yuan glanced at it; there was no entry.

"I don’t need magic," Li Yuan shook his head. "If you have information regarding arrays, we can talk."

Mo Baichuan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "So you’re in the same field, Fellow Daoist. I have a few rubbings of undersea arrays from the Coral Palace’s secret collection. They contain the practical array-laying experience accumulated by generations of the Coral Palace’s Array Masters."

"This sort of thing is both precious and common, depending on how you look at it. But as an Honored Guest Elder, I have the authority to dispose of the copies in my possession as I see fit."

"Deal."

「That night」

The two of them boarded a medium-sized Spirit Boat that Mo Baichuan owned, left the affiliated island, and headed into the depths of the outer sea.

As he piloted the boat, Mo Baichuan explained the situation.

The ruins were located beneath a Reef Group about a hundred li southwest of the Kunpeng’s periphery. According to him, they were discovered by chance by a Sea Patrol Disciple from the Coral Palace while hunting a Tier Three Sea Demon. The entrance was hidden at the bottom of a trench in the deepest part of the Reef Group, and the outer area was filled with naturally formed water pressure traps and chaotic spatial rifts.

"The Coral Palace sent two groups down. The first was trapped by the water pressure traps in the outer area, and we lost three Foundation Establishment disciples. The second group was led by an Early-stage Golden Core Elder. They barely managed to push through to the entrance of the ruins, but the Restriction at the entrance is extremely strange. A brute-force attempt to break it could cause the entire ruin to collapse." Mo Baichuan shook his head as he said this. "That’s why we need an Array Master, to use finesse to crack it."

After traveling swiftly across the sea’s surface for an hour, the Spirit Boat began to descend.

As the depth increased, the surrounding seawater grew cold and pitch-black. The Spirit Boat’s Defensive Array emitted a faint hum, withstanding the ever-increasing water pressure.

Upon descending to a depth of about sixty zhang, Li Yuan’s perception was the first to detect an anomaly ahead.

At the bottom of the Reef Group, the flow of the seawater was unnaturally distorted. Several undercurrents, like invisible nooses, formed high-speed, rotating whirlpools of water pressure in specific locations. Any object that drew near would be instantly swept in and crushed by the extreme pressure.

Water pressure traps.

Mo Baichuan steered the Spirit Boat to a stop outside the traps, his gaze turning grave.

Li Yuan stood at the prow of the boat and closed his eyes.

Array Web Overview automatically activated.

Those seemingly chaotic water pressure traps and spatial rifts were swiftly stripped down, analyzed, and reconstructed within his perception. The paths of all the undercurrents, the centers of the whirlpools, and the pressure nodes all formed a clear three-dimensional network in his mind.

’This wasn’t formed naturally.’

In the rock formations at the bottom of the Reef Group, there were remnants of extremely ancient Array Patterns. These Array Patterns utilized the natural contours of the undersea Earth Veins to weave the water pressure and spatial rifts into a complete defensive system.

"Follow me." Li Yuan opened his eyes, leaped from the prow, and stepped directly into the seawater.

The Intent of Water Control made the seawater automatically part around him. He followed the safe path marked by his Array Web Overview, weaving between the whirlpools and rifts. Every step landed in a blind spot of the array network, his movements as nimble as threading a needle.

Mo Baichuan followed closely behind, the astonishment in his eyes growing deeper.

He was a Mid-stage Golden Core Array Master, and his understanding of the Array Dao was by no means shallow. Yet, he had studied these water pressure traps for days and had only grasped their general patterns. But this Late-stage Golden Core Loose Cultivator before him had seen through the underlying logic of the entire defensive system with a single glance.

A short while later, the two of them passed through the area of water pressure traps and arrived at the entrance to the ruins.

The entrance was a stone gate about two zhang high, its lintel covered in dense, ancient runes. On either side of the stone gate was an embedded, fist-sized Array Hub Stone. Their surfaces flickered with an unstable Spiritual Light, indicating the Restriction was still active.

Li Yuan placed his hand on the stone gate, his Spiritual Power seeping into it along the Array Patterns.

The completion ability of his Array Web Overview activated. The logical circuits of the Array Patterns, which were incomplete due to age, were rapidly filled in and made whole within Li Yuan’s perception. The core structure of the Restriction emerged. It wasn’t complex, just nested layer upon layer, with each part interlocked. Forcibly breaking it would indeed cause a chain reaction.