Chapter 123 Underwater Palace

As the deck splintered under my feet, Zhao Zhuang shouted hoarsely, "We're here! We've reached the shore!"

"Jump!" I rushed towards the bow, grabbed the ghost cauldron, and plunged into the water with it.

The ghost cauldron sank only slightly before being pulled by some unseen force, dragging the sorcerer behind it towards the mountain wall.

I was right!

I had believed that there should be nine ghost cauldrons. Eight of them were taken out of the underground palace, leaving one still somewhere inside. This last ghost cauldron, the one that couldn't be taken, must be the main cauldron.

It's common knowledge in the arts that complete sets of magical artifacts can resonate with each other. The main cauldron remaining would inevitably draw the eight ghost cauldrons back to their original positions.

We jumped into the water not at Wang Li's suicide spot, but near it. I hadn't dared to enter from the waterhole, fearing the currents would carry me elsewhere.

As it turned out, my hunch was right. After Wang Li jumped, she must have been carried by the current to where I was now, before finding her way into the waterhole by chance. Or perhaps, she was originally from the underwater palace.

To enter the palace, I needed something to guide me. Wang Li couldn't help, so the only way to navigate the underwater currents was to tie the ghost cauldron to myself and follow it.

As I struggled to keep up with the ghost cauldron, the underwater currents became increasingly treacherous.

The force of the water felt like dozens of experts striking at me from all directions with their palms. Invisible undercurrents formed an indiscernible underwater web, every step a potential death trap.

As the ghost cauldron dragged us through the deadly underwater passage, my chest began to tighten. I knew that if my stamina failed and I couldn't keep up, I would surely die. Even knowing the dangers ahead, I had to try.

Moments later, I saw a ghost cauldron flash past me, its rope pulling not a sorcerer, but a severed hand.

Someone had been torn apart by the undercurrents for failing to keep up!

I didn't have time to identify the dead. I reached out, grabbed the severed arm, and sped forward, pulled by the two ghost cauldrons.

In the blink of an eye, I saw the two ghost cauldrons heading straight for an underwater rock wall.

Before the sound of metal against stone could fade, the two ghost cauldrons had embedded themselves in the wall. The other eight cauldrons followed, crashing one after another into the rock, pulling the four surviving sorcerers, including myself, to the rocks.

Suddenly, I opened my eyes underwater—I didn't see the last ghost cauldron! Could I have been wrong?

Just as despair began to set in, I saw a dragon-shaped shadow slowly emerge from the rock opposite me.

It was clearly just a shadow, but it felt like a black dragon was breaking through the rock and charging into the water, and we were blocking its path.

If I didn't move, the approaching black dragon would surely strike me first, leaving me no escape.

As Old Liu struggled to push me aside, I held him back, shielding him. I stared at the shadow in the water, standing my ground.

The next moment, the rock wall in front of me shattered from the inside out, as if struck by a massive force. A dragon's head, nearly three meters wide, burst through the rock, charging towards me.

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding onto Old Liu, who was trying to save me, and braced myself for the impact of the black dragon.

The agonizing pain of being torn apart never came. A freezing gust of wind and a surge of water washed over me, followed by an irresistible suction.

The water around me was suddenly pulled towards the wall, and I was dragged forward involuntarily. I couldn't tell how far I had been carried before the current slowed, and I began to float towards the surface.

When I broke the surface, the first thing I saw was a staircase leading into the distance.

The underwater palace!

Was this the underwater palace I had been searching for?

The three other sorcerers surfaced beside me: Old Liu, Zhao Zhuang, and Ding Zhong.

We were the only ones who had made it to the underwater palace.

I gestured for them to be careful and cautiously climbed ashore. After walking a short distance up the steps, I saw a giant cauldron, half a person tall, with a ferocious ghost face painted on it.

This was the last ghost cauldron.

I searched around the cauldron and found eight empty sockets.

Someone must have taken the eight ghost cauldrons from here. Only when all nine cauldrons were gathered could the palace be opened.

Zhao Zhuang, who was behind me, asked in a low voice, "Mr. Li, should I go back and look for the other eight cauldrons?"

I narrowed my eyes, studying the cauldron for a long time before drawing my blade and tapping it a few times. "This isn't the real main cauldron. The sound is wrong. The main cauldron should be drawing the eight cauldrons towards it, but they haven't returned."