Lu Yang and his three companions also breathed a sigh of relief. Once the whole sequence of events was cleared up, everything became much easier to handle. The four of them were upright, innocent orthodox cultivators; they couldn't just take a tour around the Dragon Palace only to end up branded as thieves.
That would tarnish the Dao Seeking Sect's reputation.
Of course, even without Xiao Xinghai as a witness, Lu Yang would have been able to figure out the whole story and clear their names.
Because the Immortal Fairy had been giggling the entire time.
She had definitely witnessed everything that happened, yet kept her mouth shut all along!
In his spiritual space, the Immortal Fairy—in mermaid form—was clutching her stomach and roaring with laughter. She laughed so hard she lacked the strength even to swim in the sea, rolling back and forth on her water bed as her laughter echoed throughout the spiritual space, completely ignoring Lu Yang and his darkened face.
Lu Yang only resented that he wasn't an immortal himself, unable to teach a lesson to this Immortal Fairy who loved watching the drama unfold and never thought there was too much chaos!
"By the way, Fairy, have you ever seen this dragon pearl before?" Lu Yang had just heard Li Haoran mention that the dragon pearl was an ancient relic; as a fellow relic of antiquity, the Immortal Fairy might recognize it.
"What dragon pearl? Isn't that just the marble Immortal Kirin and Immortal Ying Tian used to squat on the ground flicking back and forth? Shouldn't there be a whole set of them?"
"Huh?"
The Immortal Fairy was bewildered by Lu Yang's puzzled expression. "Haven't you heard that story? That shouldn't be. Aren't there always folk motifs of a qilin playing with a pearl, or a true dragon playing with a pearl, and people calling them auspicious omens?
"Calling it an auspicious omen isn't wrong, I suppose. Every time this fairy treated them to a meal, they'd play a round before eating, and they even kept it right on the table while we ate.
"Oh, right, this thing also has a detoxifying effect, though I've no idea what that's used for."
Lu Yang understood. This thing was likely a magic treasure capable of neutralizing poisons. Every time they had a meal, Immortal Kirin and Immortal Ying Tian used the excuse of playing with marbles to openly bring out the dragon pearl.
Though, judging from the Immortal Fairy's description, the dragon pearl hadn't done much good at detoxifying anything.
"Still, with this glass marble being so big, didn't Immortal Kirin and the other guy find it exhausting to play with?" Lu Yang gestured with his hands. This dragon pearl was the size of an adult palm—how could anyone flick that like a marble?
"Oh, that's not its original form. The outer layer is just a protective shell. This fairy will let you see what the marble really looks like."
Just as Lu Yang was about to stop her, a string of obscure words in the ancient tongue rang out. Countless tiny cracks splintered across the dragon pearl that had been resting quietly in the coffin.
*Crack, crack...*
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the dragon pearl cracked open to reveal the marble's true form: a dusty-gray bead about the size of a medicinal pill.
"Look, that's what it looks like! It was refined from an entire star—exceptionally durable."
The dragons blanched in terror. Wasn't this dragon pearl supposed to be indestructible? How could it just crack open for no rhyme or reason?!
Lu Yang lowered his head with a guilty conscience.
Suddenly, the identity jade pendant at Lu Yang's waist grew scorching hot, resonating with the dusty-gray bead.
The dusty-gray bead floated out of the coffin. Before Lu Yang could react, an enormous suction force gripped him, pulling him tightly against the bead.
Lu Yang abruptly realized: it was the dragon-pattern bracelet inside his identity jade pendant producing some unknown resonance with this bead!
"Holy crap..."
Under everyone's flabbergasted gazes, with a whoosh, the bead carried Lu Yang straight into the sky and vanished without a trace.
Its speed was so astonishing that it left everyone far behind in the dust; not a single person present could catch up.
Ao Ye blinked his colossal dragon eyes twice. "Did Lu Yang snatch the dragon pearl... or did the dragon pearl snatch Lu Yang?"
Ao Li had no idea how to handle this either. Hesitating, he said, "Should we contact someone from the Dao Seeking Sect?"
Ao Ran looked up at the sky toward the direction where Lu Yang and the bead had fled, letting out a faint sigh in his heart.
*Old Ba, I really can't cover for him on this one.*
Chapter 858