"Oh no, Brother Lu is gone!" Man Gu panicked upon seeing Lu Yang and the Dragon Ball together on the flying boat.

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes, not worried about Lu Yang's safety in the slightest.

With the Eldest Senior Sister he could summon and an Immortal protecting his body, it would be a real shock if Lu Yang were to run into trouble.

The Long Clan did not know the full story; with Lu Yang and the Dragon Ball both vanishing, this was not an issue they could resolve.

"Report to the Palace Master immediately, let the Palace Master decide!"

…

At the Seek Dao Sect, on Sky Gate Mountain, in the meeting hall.

Yun Zhi was holding a routine meeting to discuss recent matters that needed attention, with eight Elders in attendance and the Vast Sea Daoist Lord auditing.

Midway through the meeting, Gan Tian barged into the hall and delivered a letter just sent over from the East Sea into Yun Zhi's hands.

Yun Zhi opened the envelope, scanned it with her Spiritual Sense, and her expression revealed a hint of strangeness.

"Martial Nephew Yun, has something urgent happened?" the Grand Elder asked. It must be urgent for Gan Tian to interrupt the meeting.

Yun Zhi did not explain but used her magic skill to project the contents of the envelope into the center of the hall for all to see.

The eight Elders also showed strange expressions on their faces.

"Lu Yang stole the Dragon Ball and wants our Seek Dao Sect to send someone to the Dragon Palace to discuss how to handle this affair?"

"What kind of comprehension do you have? From the description in the letter, it's clear that the Dragon Ball has stolen away Martial Nephew Lu Yang!"

In fact, even the Dragon Palace did not know how to describe the incident and had to keep it vague.

Considering that Lu Yang has Yun Zhi's support, it could not be ruled out that he had some special means to snatch the Dragon Ball away from a group of dragons at the Body Integration Realm.

The crowd was not unfamiliar with Lu Yang; although he often used the truth to deceive others, recklessly exercised the Acting Sect Master's authority to challenge above his level, measured salt for cooking by the second, fooled the demonic sect by forming the Ancient Heavenly Court, and frequently practiced strange magic skills... Lu Yang had never been known for sly theft or robbery.

So it must have been the Dragon Ball that took Lu Yang.

"What kind of background does this Dragon Ball have that it even abducts people?"

"What should we do, who will go?" The eight Elders looked at each other, except for Uncle Ba, they all had a poor reputation in the East Sea; it wouldn't do for them to go to the East Sea to find Lu Yang and end up trapping themselves.

"Lu Yang is the hope of the Seek Dao Sect, we can't ignore this, I will go!" The Grand Elder stood up to take the lead, and the other seven Elders responded, all quite agitated.

A crisp, youthful voice chimed in, "Alright, stop fighting over it, I'll go."

The eight Elders looked over, it was the Vast Sea Daoist Lord who had been listening silently all this while.

"I once said that if Lu Yang were in trouble, I would save him once. As a Daoist Lord, I cannot break my word; it's time to fulfill my promise."

Seeing the Ancient Ancestor willing to handle this matter, the eight Elders were reassured.

With the Ancient Ancestor taking action, Lu Yang would surely be safe.

Yun Zhi, seeing the Vast Sea Daoist Lord's full confidence, found it inappropriate to interject and so let the Vast Sea Daoist Lord take charge.

"Then, we will trouble the Ancient Ancestor."

The Vast Sea Daoist Lord laughed heartily, "A mere trifle!"

…

"Where is this?" Lu Yang looked around in bewilderment, seeing mountains and rivers, lush green grass as far as the eye could see, like a paradise on earth. Just moments before, he had been clinging tightly to the Dragon Ball, wind streaming into his mouth, how did he suddenly end up here?

Fairy Eternity emerged from Lu Yang's body, clicking her tongue in amazement, "This place is inside the pearl's inner space."

"I do not remember this pearl having this structure, was it refined after my death?"

"Designed quite cautiously, if it were not for the dragon motif bracelet opening this space, I would not have noticed that there is a Cave Heaven here."

The pearl was originally refined from an entire star, and adding an internal space on this basis was effortless.

"The dragon motif bracelet is the key to enter the pearl's space, strange, it never had this function before."

"Moreover, if the space is not opened via the dragon motif bracelet, the pearl's space will be transmitted to a random location."

Lu Yang, stroking his chin in thought, the dragon motif bracelet, Dragon Ball, peeling off the Dragon Ball's shell—to reach this space, these three conditions needed to be met.

Especially if the space is not opened with the dragon motif bracelet, it will be transmitted to a random location, unreachable by anyone, almost as if it were guarding against someone.

"Look over there!" Fairy Eternity, excited, pointed in a direction, and Lu Yang followed where she pointed, discovering a boundless and vast lake, with mist rising from the water, like an Immortal Realm, and faintly in the center of the lake, there was a small pavilion.

"It's Xiao Ling!" Without further explanation, Fairy Eternity hurriedly pulled Lu Yang's hand and rushed in that direction.

Lu Yang felt as though he had teleported, arriving at the small pavilion in less time than it takes to blink.

Lu Yang saw the inside of the small pavilion clearly and unconsciously held his breath.

In the center of the small pavilion lay a stunningly beautiful woman in black, her collar and sleeves edged with exquisite cloud-patterned brocade, like an ink lotus blooming in the night, both solemn and mysterious. Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall along the edge of the bed, shining faintly, highlighting her skin white as snow, delicate and smooth.

The pair of warm, jade-like dragon horns above the woman's head revealed her race.

Was this fairy the other wife of Qilin Immortal, Dragon Clan Ancestor Ao Ling?

Suddenly, Lu Yang noticed something was off and was stunned.

Even though there was a significant difference in cultivation level between him and Ao Ling, he could still sense that Ao Ling's soul was shattered, riddled with holes, to the point of no return.

This was as dead as one could be.

Recalling the process deduced at the site of the battle among immortals, could it be that after Qilin Immortal escorted Elder Ao Ling away, they encountered another attack, resulting in Elder Ao Ling's death and disappearance?

"Fairy, this..."

Fairy Eternity also saw this scene and, rare as it was, became infuriated, her brows furrowed like sharp swords, her aura causing the entire space to become unstable.

"Who is responsible for this treachery!"

"If not for Xiao Ling casting the Playing Dead Technique, she would be already dead!"

"Fairy, is Elder Ao Ling still alive?" Lu Yang asked incredulously. In such a state, could she still be revived?

"Of course, during the Playing Dead Technique, no matter what damage is encountered, it is all considered within the scope of 'playing dead'."

"Since it's 'playing dead,' then naturally she is still alive."

Fairy Eternity extended her slender fingers, which concentrated a glittering fairy energy, as if stars had descended to the mortal world, dazzling to behold.

In an instant, an invisible ripple spread from her fingertips, enshrouding the shattered soul of Ao Ling, who had already died.

The soul, broken into millions of pieces, gathered and connected, restoring Ao Ling's original form.

Life and death, destruction and rebirth, the ways of nature were undeniably demonstrated at this moment, containing truths far beyond Lu Yang's current understanding.

Ao Ling slowly opened her eyes, life returning to them.

She turned her head to look at the expectant Fairy Eternity, her voice trembling, tears first moistening the corners of her eyes, then silently sliding down her cheeks, leaving behind clear trails like pearls falling from a string onto her lapels.

"You are Immortal Sister, have they finally resurrected you?"