Reborn as a Hatrack in the Mystical Land-Chapter 680 - 137: Peril in the Water Dungeon

On the fifth day of being detained in the Water Dungeon, Yue Jinghua spent most of her time meditating and studying the Devil Shell, aside from casual chats with Long Rui.

Although Long Rui was young, being the treasure of the National Guardian General Residence, her experiences were remarkable, and her cultivation in Dark Skill was even more impressively solid.

Yue Jinghua took the opportunity to seek advice about Dark Skill, and with Long Rui’s pointers, she felt much more enlightened.

Outside the Water Dungeon, Yue Minzhi’s disputes with Long Jiuzun were completely unbeknownst to her.

During these days, Long Jiuzun led the Southern Expedition Army out to sea several times. With his profound cultivation, he faced Mid-High-level Dark Beasts of Inner Sea and Central Sea zones like a reaper through rice, mercilessly slaughtering them into a frenzy. In a short time, Sea Beasts from the Inner and Central Sea zones either fled or perished.

Each morning, the number of Sea Beast corpses drifting from the sea surface was beyond counting.

The Southern Expedition Army under Long Jiuzun was arrogant and boastful, shouting that they would take the greatest credit in this Southern Campaign.

On the contrary, Yue Minzhi strictly ordered his Dragon Riders to be extremely cautious and stay alert day and night.

His Dragon Riders, having no feats to claim, were full of complaints. However, they could do nothing as Zhan Tian had given strict orders before departure to follow Yue Minzhi’s commands.

Their Sub-Asian Dragons were utterly suppressed by the Dragon Power of the Five-Colored Jiao Dragons, refusing to move no matter how they were urged.

Days swiftly passed, and Yue Jinghua and the others spent another three days in the Water Dungeon. On the seventh day, as she woke up from meditation just before dawn, her eyes shone brilliantly.

To her surprise, the light emanated from the Devil Shell.

She had observed the Devil Shell the night before and forgot to put it away, accidentally dropping it into the water. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The long-dead shell of the Devil Shell, lying in the murky waters of the Water Dungeon, emitted a dazzling shine.

On the body of the Devil Shell, an unusual pattern began to emerge.

Discovering the pattern, Yue Jinghua had a flash of Spiritual Light: it was a Holy Rune, very similar to the one thousand plus Holy Runes on the Moon Goddess Tower.

Could it be that this Holy Rune transformed what was only a Mid-level Dark Beast, the Devil Shell, into the Killing Demon Shell capable of hunting Sub-Asian Dragons?

But why would a Holy Rune suddenly appear on this Devil Shell?

Or could it be that the recent unprovoked rampages of the Sea Beasts were caused by these Holy Runes?

Lost in thought, Yue Jinghua was baffled. To unravel the mystery of the Holy Rune on the Devil Shell, the best approach would be to revisit Fan Di Sea, to see if the Sea Beasts there also bore the same Holy Rune?

"It seems that’s the only way. After two more days, once I’m out of the Water Dungeon, I’ll make a trip to the outer seas to gather information on the Sea Beasts," Yue Jinghua contemplated, when suddenly, she heard Long Rui exclaim from her cell.

"The water in the Water Dungeon is rising." Yue Jinghua had been so engrossed in the Devil Shell that she hadn’t noticed the water level in the dungeon steadily rising.

It had risen from knee-high to the waist, and the water was still rising.

"Could it be the tide?" During her time patrolling Moon Beach, Yue Jinghua had learned a bit about the local tidal patterns, and the current timing of the tide was off.

"Jinghua, how’s your side? My cell is already half flooded. We must get out, or we’ll drown in here," Long Rui, not proficient in water, was fine when the water was shallow, but now that it reached her waist, she began to panic.

In the Water Dungeon, unable to summon the Lake King Dragon, Long Rui’s face paled as she tried to break out of the Water Dungeon.

No matter how she tried to cut through it with her Dark Power, the Water Dungeon’s Dark Array dissolved all of her efforts.

She attempted to shout for help, but her voice could hardly travel any distance.

If the two of them were stuck in such a situation, it was unlikely it was any better for the others.

"Long Rui, don’t panic and recklessly use your Dark Power. This is not a normal high tide; something must have happened outside. The Water Dungeon is in a remote location and even if we shout, no one outside can hear us. No one can rescue us from outside; we have to save ourselves," Yue Jinghua frowned, thinking of Qian Luo who was imprisoned in a further cell. She should be able to break the Water Dungeon’s Dark Array, but how long it would take was uncertain.

After pondering for a moment, she took out a gill bead hidden on her person and placed it in her mouth.

As soon as the gill bead entered her mouth, Yue Jinghua felt a coolness throughout her body, as if she were soaking in water.

Below her neck, two gills immediately slit open and with a splash, she dived into the water.

At this point, the water in the dungeon had risen from waist-level to above the shoulders.

Long Rui only heard the sound of water splashing from the next cell, and when she called for Yue Jinghua again, there was no response.

All alone, her panic intensified, accidentally swallowing several mouthfuls of water, her pretty face turned deathly pale.

Realizing that water constantly rushed in from below, Yue Jinghua concluded that there must be an entrance somewhere in the Water Dungeon. If she could find it, perhaps she could stealthily escape out through it.

With the gill bead in her mouth, she submerged underwater; like a fish, her vision became clear, and breathing was easy.

As she had expected, at the bottom of the dungeon, there was an entrance big enough for one person to pass through—the seawater was pouring in from there.

After entering the sea entrance, she quickly swam upwards and, after half a teacup’s time, finally surfaced.

As soon as she emerged from the water, she spat out the gill bead and took a deep breath.

Having spent seven or eight days in the darkness of the Water Dungeon, upon surfacing, Yue Jinghua couldn’t resist looking up at the sky.

At that moment, the sky was filled with rolling dark clouds like an ink tide, and the winds over the sea roared like lions and tigers, whipping up the sea water into dozens of meters high waves.

"The weather has changed. Huh? Someone is going out to sea at this time?" Yue Jinghua noticed that there were several sea and airships using the wind to advance rapidly.

Looking above the ships, the flags they flew were those of the Southern Expedition Army; could it be that Long Jiuzun was reckless enough to go to sea in this kind of weather?

"This is bad, the others in the Water Dungeon," Yue Jinghua recalled the situation of the others in the Dungeon and couldn’t care less about Long Jiuzun’s fate; she quickly found a flat cliff and climbed up the rocks, soon returning to the periphery of the Water Dungeon.

It was just at this moment, she saw a figure hastening over; it was her older brother Yue Minzhi.

Early this morning, Yue Minzhi and Long Jiuzun had received news from the Sea Defense Army about a significant astronomical tide coinciding with a great storm at sea.

Long Jiuzun wanted to take advantage of the storm’s winds to sail to the outer sea and seize the opportunity to eliminate all the sea beasts in one fell swoop.

After failing to stop them, Yue Minzhi could only watch as the Southern Expedition Army set out to sea.

At the harbor, Yue Minzhi realized that the location of the Water Dungeon was precisely beneath the storm’s path and could be submerged by the sea. Concerned for his sister’s safety, he secretly rushed over while keeping it from Captain Ya Lei and the others.