Found!!!

"Tonight, we move out. We'll feel our way to the nearest stronghold and give that old ghost a surprise first—make him lose a few nights of sleep. Tomorrow morning, we'll submit an application for a patrol of the western outskirts." Xu Jin's tone was crisp.

Wang Lei had clearly prepared in advance. He immediately pulled a neatly folded sheet from the mission ledger, densely marked with the locations, distances, and historical Yin Qi records of five sites.

His fingertip tapped the topmost location. "I ranked them by priority based on the archives beforehand. The Yin Qi here started rising slowly half a year ago. Nine times out of ten, it's one of the Yin cultivators' strongholds. It's suitable for us to strike first and test the waters."

Xu Jin glanced over the annotations. The handwriting was neat, the information detailed; even notes on past extermination operations had been clearly marked.

He raised a brow and said without ceremony, "Fine. We'll squeeze this soft persimmon first."

The two did not linger. They first circled back to the mission hall for the final settlement.

The duty deacon had been sorting through urgent documents with his head lowered. Seeing them return, he hurriedly rose and took their bronze plaques for verification.

The moment the special first-grade markings on the bronze plaque came into view, the deacon's respect deepened. When he looked up at Xu Jin, there was undisguised envy in his eyes. "So it's Lord Xu. Word of your special first-grade supplementary assessment has already spread throughout the Bureau."

His fingers flew over the account ledger as he calculated. "By Bureau regulations, capturing demons or Yin cultivators alive earns additional rewards besides the usual contribution points. It can even directly offset mission requirements for the full-member assessment. Most newcomers in the Containment Faction take this route, and they can become full members much faster. If the two of you can leave someone alive next time, the benefits will be considerable."

"Oh? So that's how it works." Xu Jin answered casually, but did not take it to heart.

No matter how valuable a live captive was for research, what did that have to do with him? The Compendium of Divine Powers only recognized kills. Keeping captives alive would be more loss than gain for him.

After checking the seals, the deacon returned the bronze plaques. "This mission has been raised to Grade B. You have received a total of one hundred and twenty contribution points, all of which have been credited to your accounts. The urgent documents have been sent to the Hundred-Household Office. If there are any further orders, someone will notify you both."

Once the settlement was complete, the two stopped by the supply office to collect field-operation provisions.

Sure enough, just as the rumors said, the Containment Faction's supply quota far exceeded that of the Extermination Faction.

An Extermination Faction apprentice could only receive two bottles of wound medicine and a stack of basic yellow talismans per field mission, while the Containment Faction could also apply for practical items such as Spirit-Concentration Potions and Purifying Pills.

Wang Lei did not stand on ceremony either. Relying on his status as one of the top talents of his cohort, he additionally claimed three bottles of Spirit-Concentration Potion and a stack of Evil-Repelling Talismans, stuffing them all into his pack.

"There's no reason not to take this little perk from the Containment Faction." Wang Lei tightened his pack and smiled brightly, with none of the forbearance he had shown before Zhao Qing.

Xu Jin glanced at him, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "You should've been like this long ago."

At the second watch of the night, the side gate of the Demon Suppression Bureau's western entrance creaked open.

Two blue-maned horses galloped into the night, their hooves crushing the silence along the official road as they raced southwest.

As they traveled, Wang Lei laid out everything he knew about the western outskirts. "This area used to be an ancient battlefield from the previous dynasty. Later, several plagues broke out here as well. Abandoned mass graves and charity morgues are everywhere. The Yin Qi in the earth veins is heavy and stagnant, making this a disaster zone long occupied by Yin cultivators."

"Over the past thirty years, the Demon Suppression Bureau has organized seven major extermination campaigns. But Yin cultivators are too elusive. Their strongholds move after every strike, so each time we could only destroy a few small outer nests. We've never managed to pull them out by the roots."

"Over the last half year, fluctuations of Yin Baleful Intent have suddenly become frequent. The archives record more than a dozen cases of villagers vanishing. I reckon they've been secretly brewing some major move, using the same method as the one at the mass grave."

Mounted on horseback, Xu Jin listened and questioned him. "Which routes did the previous extermination operations take? Did the earth veins run westward or southward?"

Wang Lei answered each question, yet grew more and more astonished.

Every question Xu Jin asked struck at a key point. The direction of the earth veins determined where Yin Qi gathered, while the routes used in past exterminations could be used to deduce the blind spots where Yin cultivators hid.

Even veterans of the Containment Faction who specialized in archival analysis might not have grasped those points so precisely from the outset.

"Brother Xu, you seem more familiar with the tricks behind how Yin cultivators choose their locations than even the researchers in our Bureau?" Wang Lei could not help asking.

"I've read too many histories and tales of the strange." Xu Jin brushed it off, his gaze fixed on the dark mountain silhouettes in the distance. "Any Yin cultivator refining Baleful Intent will choose a place with its back to the sun and face to the shade, sheltered from the wind and rich in gathered Qi. Charity morgues and mass graves are only the surface. The true core must lie along the flow of Yin Qi through the earth veins."

Wang Lei was thoroughly convinced.

Originally, he had thought that by forming a cross-faction team, he could use his logistical skills to compensate for Xu Jin's shortcomings. But after talking all the way here, he realized that when it came to grasping the habits of demons and evil beings, this partner of his was probably more accurate than most veteran members of the Containment Faction.

Going on field missions with someone like this was not an adventure at all. It was clearly clinging to a powerful thigh and picking up contribution points.

Meanwhile, in the western outskirts, at an abandoned charity morgue.

The ruined wooden gates stood half-open. More than a dozen thin coffins lay scattered haphazardly across the courtyard. As the night wind passed through, it made a mournful whistling sound, as though someone were weeping.

Beneath the courtyard wall stood two spectral soldier sentries condensed from wandering souls, rigid and motionless, ghostly green flames flickering in their hollow sockets.

Suddenly, two black shadows vaulted over the wall and entered the courtyard.

The man in front held a long saber. The instant the blade swung out, pale white astral Qi surged from it. The saber light swept across, and before the two spectral soldiers could make a sound, they were shredded by the astral Qi until they vanished like smoke.

"Brother Yan, the formation eye is behind the main hall." The woman following him held three yellow talismans between her fingers. The talisman papers fluttered without wind, glowing faintly with cinnabar light. "It follows the same pattern as the Baleful Qi-Gathering Soul-Nurturing Formation in the archives. They're definitely Wang Defa's people."

The two were Yan Tao and Lin Yue, official demon exterminators of the Demon Suppression Bureau. They had tracked this Yin cultivator stronghold for three days.

After breaking the outer sentry formation, they marched straight up and kicked open the main hall's doors.

Inside, two Yin cultivator disciples were crouched on the ground, smearing black paste over a baleful corpse. Hearing the commotion, they abruptly looked up, their expressions changing drastically.

"People from the Demon Suppression Bureau?!"

"You only realized now? Too late." Yan Tao held his long saber horizontally, astral Qi extending several feet along its blade. "You privately refined wandering souls, cultivated baleful corpses, and abducted nearby villagers to refine medicine. Every crime carries the death penalty. Surrender, and you may still keep an intact corpse."

"In your dreams!"

The two Yin cultivator disciples rose at the same time, flinging two long whips of black Baleful Intent from their sleeves. Their tips carried a fetid wind as they lashed straight at the pair's faces.

The hall instantly erupted into battle.

Yan Tao's long saber followed a fierce, overpowering style. Every slash tore through the air with a howl, and when his astral Qi struck the black Baleful Intent, white smoke hissed up.

Lin Yue moved along the side, her talismans striking precisely at the baleful corpse's joints. The cinnabar Yang fire scorched the black Baleful Intent until it hissed and crackled. Within three to five exchanges, the two Yin cultivators had been forced back step by step.

"We can't hold on! Activate the formation eye!" one of the Yin cultivators roared through gritted teeth.

The other suddenly bit through his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of black blood onto the formation markings beneath his feet.

In an instant, the Baleful Qi Gathering Array throughout the entire charity morgue began to operate. Dense black Baleful Intent surged in from every direction, turning into a blinding cloud of smoke and dust within the hall. A foul stench rushed into their faces.

"Trying to run?" Yan Tao slashed through the smoke, only to see two figures already taking advantage of the black Baleful Intent's cover to smash through the rear window and flee frantically toward the official road.

"Chase them! We can't let them go back and warn the others!"

Yan Tao barked low, and he and Lin Yue both gathered their Qi and pursued without letting up.

The black smoke and dust drifted with the wind all the way toward the official road at the foot of the mountain.

At that very moment, Xu Jin and Wang Lei had just arrived on horseback at the foot of the western outskirts mountain.

A flash of black light passed through Xu Jin's eyes, illuminating the two figures within the smoke with perfect clarity.

That Yin Baleful Intent came from the same source as the Baleful Qi Gathering Array at the mass grave!

Found them!!!

Excitement instantly raced through his veins. Xu Jin flicked his tongue, and the lead pellet rolled into his palm. The inch-long small sword swelled against the wind.

Crimson-gold sword Qi exploded with a boom, like a tiny sun abruptly rising and instantly tearing apart the night.