It Must Be Them!

"Things capable of blocking divine sense are nothing more than fabrics and boxes, which are far too common in the Sea Market. This is the Dragon Palace Sea Market—nowhere in the entire East Sea is more prosperous than this place. It's completely normal to wrap items in cloth or boxes during transactions." Another elder shook his head. "No matter, this has already narrowed the scope. Whatever cloth or box holds the dragon pearl won't be too large, and it must be of exceptionally high grade—impervious even to the divine sense of the Body Integration stage." "Fabrics and boxes of that grade are very rare. The dragons we sent to search are all at the Soul Formation stage or above. A box even they cannot see through has a very high probability of being our target." The theft of the dragon pearl was a matter of grave importance, and the elders mobilized every force at their disposal to search for it. "Should we narrow the suspects down to the Body Integration stage?" "No. The culprit is undoubtedly at the Body Integration stage, but culprits have subordinates. To evade us, the thief might have handed the dragon pearl to a subordinate." "Of course, all Body Integration cultivators currently in the Sea Market must be investigated, regardless of their reputation!" One elder slammed the table in fury. "The last time the dragon pearl was stolen, it was that Old Scoundrel Buyu's doing! Who the devil is the petty thief this time?!" "Enough. What's the point of talking about this now? The top priority is to find the dragon pearl as soon as possible, or else we can just wait to face the Palace Master's wrath." ... "Where do you think we should look for the Ancestral Dragon Grass?" Meng Jingzhou fretted. They were completely in the dark about the Sea Market and had no leads whatsoever. "We'll just look slowly, treat it like taking a stroll around the Sea Market," Lu Yang said, keeping a very relaxed mindset. "By the way, Junior Brother Li, have you ever been to the Dragon Palace's Sea Market?" "Never." "Fair enough." The four of them wandered aimlessly through the Sea Market. There were still three days left, so there was no rush. "Huh, dragons have temples too?" Lu Yang passed a temple with incense smoke billowing thick and high; members of both the Sea Race and the Human Race had come to offer incense. "What kind of temple is this?" Curious, Lu Yang walked inside, only to find no divine statues—just a single spirit tablet inscribed with four words: "Great Venerable Yinglong." Li Haoran said, "Senior Brother Lu doesn't know? This is the temple of Great Venerable Yinglong; it's very famous among the Sea Race. "Legend has it that Great Venerable Yinglong was the supreme powerhouse of the Ancient Dragon Clan. He commanded the weather, causing wind, rain, thunder, and lightning to change according to his mood. There are even rumors that Great Venerable Yinglong was a true dragon more powerful than the Dragon Clan Ancient Ancestor." Lu Yang thought to himself, *I've heard of a Yinglong before. His name was Immortal Ying Tian, and he practiced the Dragon Transformation Art, allowing him to transform into a true dragon, which was why he was called Yinglong.* That had been something the Immortal Fairy mentioned in passing when explaining the Dragon Transformation Art. Barring any surprises, Immortal Ying Tian and Great Venerable Yinglong were almost certainly the same person. Considering that his head was stuffed with Immortal Ying Tian's dark history, and that he would have to undergo a lightning tribulation once he reached the Soul Formation stage, Lu Yang felt a twinge of guilt and decided he ought to offer a stick of incense to Immortal Ying Tian. Lu Yang lit an incense stick and bowed respectfully, imitating the crowd around him. "Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor. If you're looking for vengeance, Venerable One, please go find the Immortal Fairy. "And while you're at it, lend a hand in finding Ao Ling and the Ancestral Dragon Grass." Seeing Lu Yang offering incense, Meng Jingzhou and the other two assumed he was simply experiencing East Sea culture, so they each lit a stick of incense and paid their respects to Great Venerable Yinglong as well. Unfortunately, Great Venerable Yinglong did not manifest any miracles. A day passed, and after searching countless places, they still hadn't found the Ancestral Dragon Grass. "Strange, why do I feel like someone's tailing us?" Lu Yang frowned. He kept sensing divine sense sweeping back and forth over the wooden box in his pack, but whenever he focused his senses to check, there was nothing. Either it was his imagination, or the other party's stealth skills were terrifyingly high. "Could the Dragon Clan have noticed our actions? That shouldn't be..." Lu Yang muttered, utterly baffled. They hadn't even found the Ancestral Dragon Grass yet—how had they already been targeted? In the shadows, two dragons were startled. "Did he spot us?" "Impossible. He's only at the mid Nascent Soul stage. We're at the peak of Soul Formation and specialize in divine sense. How could he possibly detect us?" "Do you think the four of them have anything to do with the loss of the supreme treasure?" After two days of searching, the Dragon Clan had secretly narrowed down several suspects. Lu Yang's group of four was on that list because carrying a wooden box made their movements suspicious. "Hey, did you hear what he just said? He said, 'Could the Dragon Clan have noticed our actions?' It has to be them!" "Don't get agitated. It might be a coincidence. Let's observe a little longer." The calmer dragon held his companion back. ... The next day. "Eldest Brother, bad news! The Dragon Clan has started searching the grotto-heavens!" The third brother hurried into the grotto-heaven. Every day, they sent one person outside to scout the situation and see how the Dragon Clan's search was progressing. Today, it had been the third brother's turn to venture out. "Don't panic. Tell us the details." "The Dragon Clan has started searching the grotto-heavens one by one! Regardless of cultivation level, regardless of race—not a single one was spared!" The eldest brother frowned. "Did they go in and search the ones in secluded cultivation too?" He had intended to use secluded cultivation to dodge the search. "It's no use! Anyone who went into secluded cultivation within the last three days had the dragons barging right in. The Dragon Clan only skips you if you've been in secluded cultivation for more than three days." Entries and exits to the grotto-heavens were all recorded. Being in seclusion for more than three days proved that one had never left the grotto-heaven, making it impossible to have stolen the dragon pearl.