The scent of burning sandalwood inside the parlor of the Star-River Merchant Alliance was thick and warm, a stark contrast to the freezing downpour that battered the limestone streets of Lotus Lake County. Within the quiet halls of the white jade pavilion, the heavy sound of the storm was reduced to a distant, muffled hum. Fang Lin stood before the polished mahogany counter of the Information Division, his dark cotton robes damp at the shoulders, his expression completely calm.
Across the counter, a middle-aged clerk in spotless grey silk sleeves bowed with refined politeness. There was no disdain in the man's eyes despite Fang Lin's plain outer appearance. The Star-River Merchant Alliance valued reputation and trust above all things, and their personnel were trained to treat every customer with professional courtesy, regardless of whether they held a Bronze Card or a Purple Card.
"Welcome to the Star-River Merchant Alliance," the clerk said, his voice low and smooth. "How may we assist you today, guest?"
"I need regional intelligence regarding the recent movements of the Black Water Alliance," Fang Lin said, keeping his voice quiet and steady. "Specifically, any high-level reinforcements dispatched toward Lotus Lake County within the last twelve hours."
The clerk tapped a green jade slate on the counter, sending a brief pulse of spiritual energy through the Alliance's local record arrays. "Localized regional movement. The fee for this intelligence slip is fifty mid-grade spirit stones. Please provide your Jade Card."
Fang Lin reached into his sleeve, retrieving his bronze card. It was a standard, soul-bound Bronze Card. He placed it upon the circular brass appraisal formation on the counter. A soft silver glow flared from the card as the arrays validated his unique soul imprint. In accordance with Alliance rules, the transaction immediately generated three distinct, secure logs: a Soul Record within the card, a Transaction Record on the ledger, and an Alliance Record deep within the vault's core. These records, protected by spatial formations, were permanent and unalterable.
A soft, pleasant chime echoed from the counter as fifty mid-grade spirit stones were debited from his balance, and the clerk returned the card.
"Your transaction has been recorded," the clerk said. He reached into a drawer beneath the counter and pulled out a small, dark-blue jade slip. "This contains the verified movements of the Black Water Alliance as of one hour ago. May your path remain stable."
Fang Lin took the jade slip and pressed it briefly against his forehead, letting a thin thread of his soul sense slide into the crystal.
As the details of the message resolved in his mind, his thoughts drifted back to the early morning hours in the Willow Alley courtyard, specifically to the question the Dark Flame Spirit had asked him inside his spiritual sea.
"Why didn't you just kill that investigator when he stepped into the room?" the companion spirit had grumbled, her voice carrying a child's natural impatience for direct violence. "You could have shattered his meridians before his bird could even shriek a second time."
"Because killing Investigator Zhou inside the yard would have alerted the patrol guards at the gate within ten breaths," Fang Lin had replied silently, his mind cold and analytical. "An immediate lockdown of the county's defensive arrays would have trapped us within the city walls before I knew the full strength of the Black Water Alliance. My newly parallel meridians, though stable, still require careful management as I need to perfect it further. Most importantly, a clash of Core Force in Willow Alley would have turned the entire neighborhood to ash. Auntie Mei, Uncle Zhang, and the orphans would have died as collateral damage before they could even scream. By letting Zhou walk away and report, I bought a window of time. I forced the enemy to gather their strength and come to me, allowing me to choose the battlefield."
The information within the jade slip confirmed his calculations.
According to the Alliance's scouts, Alliance Master Heishui had departed the swamp headquarters, leaving his flagship behind to maximize speed. He was flying directly toward Lotus Lake City, accompanied by exactly five elite Core Formation guards. Their estimated arrival was less than three hours away.
Five Core Formation experts, plus Heishui himself—a peak Core Formation master whose corruptive dark-water cultivation made him a formidable opponent in the region. When they arrived, Heishui would undoubtedly expand his peak Core Force aura to search the county. Even with the Peak-Solid Soul State, Fang Lin knew he could not hide the mortals if Heishui decided to scan every house in Willow Alley. The void shroud would protect him, but the mortals and three youngsters had no spiritual protection. If Heishui detected a sudden absence of life or a suspicious blank spot, he would strike first and ask questions later.
Fang Lin withdrew his soul sense from the jade slip and looked back at the clerk.
"I need to purchase sanctuary," Fang Lin said, his tone flat. "Temporary shelter for five individuals within the white jade pavilion's insulated chambers. Three cultivators and three mortals."
Fang Lin had to purchase shelter if he wanted to protect Xiao Chuan, Hu Zi, Er Ya, Uncle Zhang, Aunt Mei and her nephew.
The clerk's expression did not waver. The Star-River Merchant Alliance was strictly neutral, but they were merchants first. They routinely rented out secure cultivation rooms and high-security storage vaults to customers seeking refuge from external conflicts, provided the customers could pay the fee and respected the pavilion's boundaries.
"The white jade pavilion offers insulated guest rooms protected by ancient spatial formations," the clerk replied professionally. "These chambers completely block all external spiritual scans, divine senses, and aura sweeps. However, our protection is strictly confined to the interior of this building. We do not intervene in any conflicts outside our doors. The fee for renting a high-security chamber for 36 hours is one hundred mid-grade spirit stones."
"Agreed," Fang Lin said. He placed his Bronze Card back onto the appraisal formation.
Another silver flare erupted, and the chime sounded once more. A total of one hundred mid-grade spirit stones was debited from his card, leaving his reserves slightly lighter, but securing a safe haven for the people who had protected him during his recovery.
"Chamber seven in the East Vault wing has been prepared for you," the clerk said, handing over a small white jade token. "You may access it immediately. The contract is active."
Fang Lin nodded, took the token, and walked out of the pavilion.
Back in Willow Alley, the rain was falling harder, turning the dirt path into slick mud. Fang Lin moved swiftly, entering the small courtyard where Xiao Chuan was waiting. He quickly explained the situation to the boy.
"The Black Water Alliance is sending their main force, including Alliance Master Heishui," Fang Lin said, his voice calm. "We cannot stay here. If Heishui sweeps the alley, his scan will destroy this yard. I have purchased a sanctuary chamber at the Star-River Merchant Alliance pavilion. You must take Auntie Mei, Uncle Zhang, Hu Zi, and Er Ya there immediately."
Meanwhile, Old Man Jiang was nowhere to be found.
Xiao Chuan looked startled, his eyes wide. "But how do we leave without the patrol guards noticing?"
"We do not leave as a group," Fang Lin instructed. "The patrols might be looking for a cultivator carrying a sick boy. They are not monitoring ordinary mortals going about their daily business. Auntie Mei will carry her empty basket, pretending to buy charcoal at the southern market. Uncle Zhang will walk out with his iron hammer, claiming he needs to return tools to the smithy. Hu Zi and Er Ya will go to the pharmacy for cough medicine. You will follow them at a distance, faking the cough of a sick mortal boy. Once you reach the white jade pavilion, present this token to the clerk. The Alliance arrays will protect you."
Xiao Chuan clenched his fists, but he nodded firmly. He understood that this was the only way to keep them safe. Within half an hour, the plan was put into motion. The mortals, unaware of the impending danger but trusting Fang Lin's quiet warnings, left Willow Alley one by one. The patrol guards at the corner of the street barely glanced at the old blacksmith or the trembling woman, dismissively ignoring them as mere mortals. Xiao Chuan followed, his Qi suppressed to the absolute minimum, slipping past the lookouts without drawing a single glance.
Once he confirmed that all five of them had entered the grand double doors of the white jade pavilion, Fang Lin let out a silent breath. The neighbors were safe behind the ancient spatial formations of the Merchant Alliance. Now, he was free to act.
Fang Lin turned away from the city center, heading south. He moved like a ghost through the grey rain, his boots leaving no marks in the wet clay, his body completely enveloped in his Peak-Solid Soul State shroud. He bypassed the city walls by climbing over the eastern battlements where the guards were shivering under their straw cloaks, and within half an hour, he reached the southern hills.
The wind on the ridges was howling, bending the pine trees. Ahead of him lay the dark, yawning mouth of the Silent Under-basins.
The under-basins were a massive network of underground limestone cavities, flooded caverns, and deep pits. The air inside was freezing and damp, smelling of ancient stone and deep water. It was the perfect place to contain a high-level battle as the environment suited him perfectly.
Fang Lin stood at the entrance of the cavern. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and deliberately released his suppression.
A fresh, incredibly pure thread of Frost Qi erupted from his hand, freezing the wet limestone at the mouth of the cave. The ice crystallized in an instant, glowing with a faint, cold blue light in the darkness. To any spiritual perception, this pure energy would shine like a beacon in the storm.
Having set the bait, Fang Lin turned and stepped into the dark maw of the cavern, his figure swallowed by the blackness.
---
Three hours later, the sky above the southern pier of Lotus Lake County turned the color of bruised iron.
Six dark streaks of wind tore through the low-hanging clouds, descending with a deafening roar that parted the falling rain. They landed heavily on the stone slips, cracking the wet pine timbers of the pier.
Investigator Zhou was already waiting, bowing so low that his forehead almost touched his knees. "Alliance Master. You have arrived."
Heishui stepped forward, his heavy boots splashing in the deep puddles. He was a burly, scarred cultivator whose dark robes seemed to absorb the mist around him. Behind his back rested his black crescent blade, a massive weapon forged of corruptive black iron and etched with dark green runes that hummed with a heavy, wet Qi.
The pressure that rolled off Heishui was immense. It was Peak Core Force—dense, heavy, and suffocating. The lake water around the slips became sluggish under his aura, the small waves flattening as if pressed down by a massive hand.
"Where are they?" Heishui demanded, his voice like grinding stones.
"They are located in Willow Alley, faking the shell of mortal copyists," Zhou reported quickly. "But their disguise is absolute. I could not detect them with my own sense."
Heishui sneered. He closed his eyes and unleashed his divine sense, expanding his peak Core Force in a massive, crushing wave that swept across the nearby city districts. The spiritual searchlight brushed over the clay walls and tiled roofs, searching for any void in the life signature of the town.
However, his scan found nothing. Willow Alley was quiet, inhabited only by a few shivering mortals. The copyist's courtyard was completely empty. The insulating spatial barriers of the Star-River Merchant Alliance pavilion, located several blocks away, completely deflected his probe, registering only as a neutral, solid block of stone that he dared not force his way into.
Heishui's eyes snapped open, his scarred face twisting with irritation. "They are not there. The nest is empty."
"Alliance Master!" Zhou suddenly called out, holding up his silver tracking compass. The needle, which had been dead for hours, was now spinning wildly. It suddenly locked in place, pointing directly toward the jagged ridges of the southern hills. "The compass has locked onto the target's Frost Qi! The trail is fresh and incredibly pure... it is leading directly into the Silent Under-basins!"
Heishui turned his head, his small, dark eyes focusing on the misty hills. He expanded his spiritual sense toward the ridge, and within moments, his mind brushed against the cold, refined trace of Frost Qi that Fang Lin had left at the cave mouth.
The absolute purity of the freezing energy was shocking. Even at a distance of several miles, the residual cold sent a tiny shiver through Heishui's dark-water spiritual lake. Greed flared in his chest, hot and demanding. An inheritance of such high-purity frost was a priceless treasure. If he could seize it, his bottleneck to the Spirit Manifestation Realm would be swept away.
"They don't realize they cannot hide from a true master's scan," Heishui laughed, a cruel, rumbling sound. "They fled into the Silent Under-basins, hoping the deep limestone cavities would block my divine sense and allow them to escape through the subterranean channels. They have run into their own grave."
He reached behind his back, his thick fingers grasping the hilt of his black crescent blade. The weapon hummed, its green runes flaring with corruptive light.
"We move immediately," Heishui commanded. "Let none escape."
"Yes, Master!" the five elite guards and Zhou shouted in unison.
The six cultivators surged forward, turning into streaks of dark water Qi as they crossed the wet fields, heading directly toward the southern hills. Within minutes, they arrived at the mouth of the Silent Under-basins.
The cave mouth was freezing, covered in a thin sheet of blue ice that crackled under their boots.
"Enter," Heishui sneered, drawing his black crescent blade. "Keep your formations tight. Do not let the frost cultivator surprise you."
The five elite guards led the way, their weapons drawn, their grey battle robes rustling as they stepped into the pitch-black maw of the cavern. Zhou followed closely behind, his segmented iron whip held ready, his eyes scanning the damp stone walls. Heishui brought up the rear, his peak Core Force aura lighting up the wet limestone with a dull green glow.
The air inside the Under-basins was dead silent, save for the slow drip of water from the stalactites. The temperature dropped rapidly with every step they took, the breath of the cultivators turning into thick white mist.
"Watch the flanks," the lead guard whispered, his sword raised.
Suddenly, the silent stone wall to their left did not just move—it shattered.
There was no warning. No ripple of Qi, no sound of rushing wind, and no light. Out of the absolute darkness, a freezing, needle-like spike of pure Frost Qi erupted with the speed of lightning. It did not target Heishui or Zhou, but instead drove straight through the throat of the third guard in the formation.
The guard did not even have time to scream. The freezing spike pierced his throat, and in a fraction of a second, the frost expanded outward. His blood, his meridians, and his very soul were frozen solid, turning him into a pale statue of ice.
"Enemy attack!" Zhou roared, his segmented iron whip cracking as he lashed out at the dark wall.
Heishui's black crescent blade swept forward in a massive arc, a wave of corruptive green water Core Force crashing against the stone, shattering the frozen remains of the dead guard into a thousand glittering shards.
But the space where the attack had originated was already empty.
A low, freezing wind echoed through the winding channels of the under-basins, carrying a faint whisper of frost that seemed to mock them. Fang Lin had already vanished back into the deep, icy maze, using the freezing environment to mask his presence and slip away.
"Bastard!" Heishui roared, his eyes red with rage as his crescent blade hummed. "Track him down! I want his head!"
The remaining four elite guards and Zhou braced themselves, their hearts cold with a sudden, creeping dread as they stared into the freezing, pitch-black depths of the Silent Under-basins.
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