"My Dragon Pearl!"
Patches of flesh-colored scales rose across Ao Ding's pale face. The thoughts in his mind spilled outward, turning wild and chaotic!
Yet no matter how he urged and summoned it, his Dragon Pearl gave no response, as though it had sunk into the sea like a stone!
"How is this possible? The Dragon Pearl is bound to my Nature and Life. Ever since I entered the Dao, I've nurtured it with my heart's blood and Magic Power, refining it for over two hundred years. It's the equal of a cultivator's Life-Bound Treasure! How could I lose all sense of it? Surely it hasn't entered another realm and gone Beyond the Mundane?"
That Dragon Pearl held the essence of his Dao Attainment and carried so much of his power. Losing it so suddenly dealt a grievous blow to his vitality!
In his panic, Ao Ding swept his gaze downward, toward the pitch-black Abyss exposed on the riverbed.
The Dragon Lady did the same.
She, too, had lost the Red Fire Dragon-Scale Sword bound to her Nature and Life. Though she had not lost the ability to fight back on the spot, the damage was considerable. Now her gaze darted between Chen Cuo, the riverbed, and the Great River Water Lord, searching for a clue.
Noticing this, Chen Cuo narrowed his eyes and looked down into the dark abyss as well.
When his Azure Lotus Incarnation had gathered just now, he had sensed something. He had realized the Abyss concealed a secret.
Looking again, he saw it clearly.
"So this is what lies beneath the Great River. The Water Manor was built here to hold down the river's middle reaches. Above it rolled the mighty current, but below it lay an Abyss. It must connect to a place Beyond