The scenery beyond the high-speed rail window flows like liquid oil paint, shifting gradually from familiar city blocks and buildings to a sweeping stretch of coastline. I huddle in the corner of the second-class carriage, cap brim pulled low, deliberately employing the Breath-Concealing Art to compress my mid-ninth-layer Qi Refinement spiritual energy until it resembles nothing more than the ordinary qi fluctuations of a middle-aged man.

The system elder hums an off-key fishing song in my mind, thoroughly bored. The bronze ring on my ring finger pulses with a faint chill of warning — a sign that we are entering the sphere of influence of Baizhen Pavilion.

"Rookie, watch that 'couple' in the front row by the window. The man has fish-scale tattoos on the back of his hand, and the woman's bag contains Fishy-Scale Powder test strips." The system elder's voice sharpens without warning.

I pretend to glance down at my phone, scanning the front row from the corner of my eye. Sure enough, when the young man casually pushes up his sleeve, faint blue-green scale markings become visible on the back of his hand. The woman beside him feigns interest in the passing scenery while her fingers probe inside her bag for something. Baizhen Pavilion's informants have penetrated even the high-speed rail — it seems the business with Scarlet has put them fully on alert.

I draw a slow breath and channel spiritual energy into the soles of my shoes. Using the excuse of getting up to visit the restroom, I leave a faint trail of moisture along the aisle — enough to briefly disrupt spiritual energy tracking. By the time I return to my seat, the man and woman are already frowning at each other, seemingly having lost my scent entirely.

Seven hours of travel pass under constant vigilance. As the train pulls into Donghai Station, damp salt air surges through the carriage doors, laced with a thick, fishy reek — not the natural breath of the ocean, but the distinctive malevolent spiritual energy unique to Baizhen Pavilion. The electronic screens at the exit flicker with advertisements, yet in the corners, several figures dressed in black loiter with studied casualness. To my eyes, they might as well have the words "Baizhen Pavilion" pasted across their foreheads.

"The 'Old Fishing Harbour' Elder Kai mentioned is in the west of the city — I'll need to skirt the main roads." I sling my canvas bag diagonally across my chest; inside, the meteoric iron chopping block and the Wave-Breaker Blade tremble faintly, as though possessed of their own life.

The moment I step through the exit, a cold thread of spiritual energy locks onto me. I jerk sideways, feigning to be jostled by the crowd, and slip into the convenience store beside the gate. Through the glass door, I watch two black-clad figures tracing my spiritual signature, the compass needles in their hands spinning wildly, pointing straight at the store.

"Trouble — a Foundation-Establishment-stage spiritual sense sweep." There is a trace of gravity in the little old man's voice.

I steel myself. No more concealment. My mid-ninth-layer Qi Refinement energy erupts outward all at once, shattering the glass display case at the store's entrance. In the instant the black-clad figures are startled, I burst out the door and streak toward the alley like a fleeting shadow. Behind me comes a furious shout: "Stop right there!"

Donghai City's alleyways are a labyrinth, their damp walls carpeted in moss. Drawing on the Tide Saint Body Art's sensitivity to water vapour, I weave through the tangled lanes. Baizhen Pavilion's men pursue without relent — their spiritual energy clings to my trail like maggots to bone, refusing to let go.

Just as I am on the verge of being surrounded, a weathered voice calls from the alley mouth ahead: "Junior, follow me!"

I look up. Elder Kai stands in the shadows — bamboo rain hat on his head, a blue crossover jacket on his back, a dragon-headed cane in his hand. On the wall behind him, runes traced by that cane emit a faint cyan glow.

"Elder Kai!" Stunned and relieved in equal measure, I rush toward him at once.

Elder Kai wastes no words. He brings his cane down hard upon the ground, and in an instant a curtain of water rises at the alley mouth, blocking the pursuing figures outside. He hauls me around into an even narrower lane. His steps appear unhurried, yet at every critical moment he finds the precise gap in Baizhen Pavilion's surveillance.

"Baizhen Pavilion has committed their full strength this time," Elder Kai says between breaths, pulling me into an abandoned fish stall. "Every harbour and station in Donghai City is netted by them, and the Xuanmen Administration simply turns a blind eye."

I lean against the rank, fishy-smelling wall, watching sweat bead at Elder Kai's temple, guilt rising within me. "I've brought this trouble to your door, Elder Kai."

"Don't say foolish things." He waves a hand and draws a gourd flask from inside his jacket, taking a long swig. "Old Zhang told me everything about you. You want to fuse the blade and the chopping block?"

I nod and draw the meteoric iron chopping block and the Wave-Breaker Blade from my bag. "This chopping block is a fragment of a sword-type magical treasure. I want to try using the Wave-Breaker Blade as the sword blank and fusing them together inside your Spirit-Eye Qi-Gathering Formation."

Elder Kai takes the chopping block. His roughened fingers pass over the dark-gold inscriptions, and his gaze turns suddenly keen. "There seems to be a sword intent sealed inside this — unfathomably deep. But your notion is far too audacious. Fusing magical treasures is nine deaths and one life, and moreover, this chopping block—"

He pauses, his eyes settling on the sword-shaped markings barely visible along the chopping block's edge. "Have you ever considered that this may not be a complete magical treasure at all — but a fragment?"

End of Chapter 46: The Old Fishing Harbour