At three in the morning, I crouched on the wall of an abandoned factory outside the Baizhen Pavilion outpost, the red dots on my system panel blinking nonstop, marking the Foundation Establishment–stage spiritual energy fluctuations pulsing from within the compound.

The Foundation Establishment Early-stage guard at Baizhen Pavilion patrolled the courtyard every hour on the dot, his footsteps as heavy as a brown bear's.

"Rookie, you sure you want to pull this off?" The old man's voice buzzed in my head. "A seasoned Foundation Establishment cultivator is nothing like the Qi Refinement small fry. With that Eighth Layer Qi Refinement body of yours, if this goes south, you'll be nothing but a 'Ethan Lu–brand' roujiamo."

I touched the Sea-Sea-Sea-Suppressing Jade Pendant tucked inside my jacket. The cool sensation steadied my heartbeat.

Three days ago, after I discovered this outpost, I'd deliberately left three conspicuous trails of spiritual energy nearby: once by using Wave Slash to cleave open a trash can at the alley entrance, once by shattering the factory's exterior window glass while channeling my qi, and finally, I'd flat-out slapped a note written in spiritual energy onto the outpost's iron gate — "Cowardly turtles of Baizhen Pavilion, come out and fight if you've got the guts."

The finest hunters often appear in the guise of prey. Old Man Zhang said that after a few too many drinks, slapping the table so hard his cane nearly shattered the chess board: "Back in the day, when the Demon Demon Suppression Bureau went after sea demons, they'd just draw a little blood and wait for the sharks to swim up on their own."

"System," I murmured, fingertips tracing the edge of the meteoric iron chopping board. The dark-gold runes flickered to life as spiritual energy flowed through them. "Do I have the materials for the upgraded version of the Phantom Track Formation — the Dragon-Binding Formation?"

"Ding! Detected: five mid-grade spirit stones and three branches of red coral required for the Dragon-Binding Formation — all present."

"Deploying the formation will consume 30% of Eighth Layer Qi Refinement spiritual energy and must be completed within a Foundation Establishment–stage spiritual sense blind spot. Risk index: four stars."

Risk index? I grinned. The rougher the seas, the pricier the catch.

Watching the Foundation Establishment–stage aura inside the wall draw close to the iron gate once more, I deliberately let a sliver of my qi leak out — like a drop of blood scattered into the ocean. Just as expected, that aura jerked to a halt, then transformed into a dark silhouette that slammed the iron gate open with a crash. The oppressive might of the Foundation Establishment stage crashed down like a tidal wave: "Which death-wishing idiot's been lurking around here?!"

I'd been ready. I pushed the Breath-Concealing Art to its absolute limit, pressing myself flat against the shadow at the top of the wall, still as a weathered brick.

The system elder suddenly hissed in warning: "There! Southwest corner — another spiritual energy signature, Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement. That's the small fry who bolted through the corridor the other day!"

I swept my peripheral vision to the corner, and sure enough, a black-clad man was crouched in the shadows, clutching a black scale — the standard-issue malevolent artifact from Baizhen Pavilion. I sneered inwardly, but outwardly let a flicker of panic show. My spiritual energy "accidentally" leaked, putting on the act of someone whose blood and qi were surging from the pressure. A trickle of "blood" seeped from the corner of my mouth — actually the blood paste I'd mixed from Blood-Nurturing Pills, a trick Elder Kai taught me.

"Foundation Establishment Senior!" I feigned terror and flipped off the wall, stumbling deliberately as I landed. "Baizhen Pavilion truly lives up to its reputation — this junior was merely passing through..."

"Passing through?" The Foundation Establishment cultivator sneered, stepping forward, his shoe grinding shards of glass into the pavement. "When you were slapping notes on the gate and talking trash, you didn't say you were just passing through." The fish-scale tattoo on his cuff pulsed with a dim glow — he'd clearly decided to kill.

Right then, the system pinged a new mission:

"Ding — Emergency Mission Triggered: Hook a Foundation Fish

Mission Description: Use the Dragon-Binding Formation to capture a Baizhen Pavilion Foundation Establishment–stage cultivator alive, and obtain evidence of Baizhen Pavilion's collusion with White Tiger Hall.

Mission Tool: Soul Search Technique

Mission Rewards: Soul Search Technique, 200 mid-grade spirit stones, 50 Body-Forging Pills."

"Body-Forging Pills?" My eyes lit up. The more of those you ate, the tougher your body got — ideally, you could pop them like candy. No time to hesitate. I shoved my hand into my canvas bag, looking for all the world like I was reaching for a weapon, but actually pressing the formation-activation trigger the system had pre-set.

"Dragon-Binding Formation — activate!"

I slammed five mid-grade spirit stones into the five-pointed positions on the ground. The red coral serving as the formation's eye flared to life, and in an instant, a pale crimson mist billowed upward. The Foundation Establishment cultivator's face changed drastically. He reached to crush his message talisman, only to find his spiritual energy locked dead by the formation. Complex runes bloomed beneath his feet like countless red threads winding tight around his ankles. The black-clad small fry tried to bolt, but ran head-first into an invisible wall of light and bounced back, coughing blood.

"Damn it — we've been set up!" the Foundation Establishment cultivator roared, hammering against the formation. The light wall hummed and rattled under his assault. I seized the moment to sit cross-legged, outwardly appearing to maintain the formation, but inwardly cycling the Tide Saint Body Art — drawing in the compressed spiritual energy being funneled through the Dragon-Binding Formation. The array itself was a miniature spirit-gathering formation.

"Rookie, hurry it up!" The system elder's voice was tight with urgency. "This crummy formation won't hold more than three minutes — use the Soul Search Technique now!"

I drew a deep breath, focused my mental energy on my brow, and let the incantation for the Soul Search Technique unfold in my mind. It was the first time I had ever used a spiritual-type technique. It felt like a sledgehammer had struck my skull. Through the blinding pain, a thread of my intent sharpened into a needle and drove straight into the Foundation Establishment cultivator's soul sea.

End of Chapter 40: Fishing for a Foundation Fish