A faint glow bloomed in their palms, rising like mist, swirling toward their swords. The sea around them remained deathly quiet, but the air above shifted.
A thin ring of light formed at their feet.
It expanded.
Swords of pure qi shot upward from the ring’s edge – one after another, rising like pillars around them.
Each sword shimmered translucent, shaped from qi alone, and hundreds of them pierced the air like a heavenly cage.
The formation expanded outward, stretching kilometers across the surface of the Pale Lotus Foggy Sea.
“Floating Sword Isolation Field.” they spoke in unison.
The swords around the boundary pulsed. An invisible pressure swept across the area, giving the feeling that space itself had been severed from everything beyond.
Nothing could leave now.
And nothing could enter… unless allowed.
This was a high-level isolation formation, known only to Sect Master and the Pillars of the Drifting Sword Sect.
Normally, it required at least three Pillars to activate.
But if one of them was the sect master, two would suffice.
It wasn’t made for battle.
It was meant to trap.
To contain something powerful… or dangerous.
’All good now, Brother Qingshui. You can begin,’ Elder Tang Sheng transmitted with a nod.
Elder Bai Qingshui nodded back.
In one smooth motion, he spun his sword – and it flipped.
Attached at the back end was a rod segment, now rotating into place.
He reached into his sleeve and retrieved a crystal.
Rough, jagged, and pulsing with a deep, dark light.
He tossed it upward.
The black crystal rose, hovered briefly. With a snap of Bai Qingshui’s wrist, the rod twitched.
The hook danced in the air and snatched the crystal mid-fall.
To anyone else, it might’ve looked like an ordinary dark gem.
But every top cultivator present felt it the moment it left his hand.
That was a core of an Abyssal Demonic Beast!
A creature so dangerous, it could slaughter a sect master if provoked.
And Elder Bai Qingshui… was using it as bait.
Soft light-blue qi began to coat his rod.
The line shimmered into existence – spinning out in curves.
A second glow formed at the hook.
It burst outward – a massive spirit-shaped version of the same hook, dozens of meters wide.
Aura poured from it, taking the form of a hunting beast, jaws parted in hunger.
Elder Bai Qingshui launched the glowing line toward the sea.
It flew with silent precision, a streak of glowing blue light threading across the air.
No whistle. No sound.
The spirit-hook reached the Pale Lotus Foggy Sea.
And entered it without a splash!
No ripples.
No tremble from the lotus pads.
Not even a shimmer on the water’s surface.
It was as if the sea had accepted the hook without resistance.
The line sank smoothly, vanishing beneath the fog-covered water.
A can of Cola appeared in Elder Bai Qingshui’s left hand.
Followed by a can of Lime Fizz.
He held both with ease, even while gripping his long fishing-rod weapon in his right.
He leaned back slightly in mid-air.
And—crack! crack!
He popped the tabs open.
Using his teeth.
The hissing fizz filled the air as he brought the Cola to his lips and downed it in three gulps.
Then the Lime Fizz.
Both cans drained in seconds.
He exhaled through his nose, then blinked.
Then blinked again.
His eyes widened a fraction.
’This…’
A wave of power rose inside him – clean, sharp, refined.
He had expected the drinks to help. He’d even asked Elder Tang Sheng and Sect Master Jiang Xianwei about the effects of the two.
But feeling it himself?
Completely different.
The Cola was bold and grounding.
The Lime Fizz was light and lightning-quick.
His limbs felt springy. His senses sharpened. His spiritual sea stirred with vigor.
Sect Master Jiang Xianwei, who had been quietly observing from the side, noticed the slightest shift.
The minuscule rise of the corner of Bai Qingshui’s lips.
Just barely there.
But it was a smile!
Beneath the surface of the Pale Lotus Foggy Sea, the line continued to descend.
Down, down, deeper still.
Darkness thickened like ink.
Pressure mounted.
The line, faintly glowing with pale blue qi, did not fall straight – it slithered.
Wove.
Curved like a silent serpent hunting prey.
Yet every twitch, every movement, was controlled by Bai Qingshui’s steady hands.
This level of precision would’ve been impossible before.
But now, it felt natural.
He narrowed his eyes.
Almost time.
He could feel it – the subtle shift in the water, the ripple in presence.
He remembered that aura.
Even in a sea filled with countless spirit and demonic beasts, this one…
He would never forget.
It had slaughtered his wife and daughter nearly ten decades ago.
He had searched for years.
Trained.
Waited.
And now –
Thwip!
The rod bent.
Hard.
Something had latched on.
But this wasn’t a random beast.
This wasn’t luck.
This was deliberate.
He had baited, adjusted, and targeted this moment with precision. Both hands now gripped the rod.
A soft tremor ran through the shaft.
He twisted his waist.
Tugged upward.
The sea pulsed.
Fwooooooosh!
A shape burst forth from the water –
Massive.
Twice the size of a blue whale, its body twisted into a living nightmare. Its scales shimmered in dark crimson, the color of dried blood etched over pale white bone.
Rows of jagged, mismatched teeth jutted out of its elongated jaw – each one the size of a sword.
Its spine protruded above the surface, armored with bone-like ridges that glowed faintly red, as if pulsing with hate.
Its eyes –
They were pitch-black, but rimmed with a dim glow. And in its presence, the surrounding sea felt heavier.
Even the air trembled.
Crimson Bone Barracuda.
One of the infamous horrors of the Pale Lotus Foggy Sea.
A beast so savage, it could devour a Heavenly King Realm cultivator whole.
The same one that had torn his family apart.
Now?
Now it was thrashing on the end of his line.
And Elder Bai Qingshui’s eyes… sharpened to blades.
His voice was calm.
But beneath that calm was a storm that had been waiting hundred years to be unleashed.
“Finally.” he whispered.
“I’ve caught you.”