Fishing for a Flood Dragon

Soto Lake.

The lake stretched wide, its waters emerald green. The far shore was nowhere in sight.

A small island lay at its center, shrouded in mist year-round. From a distance, it looked like a cloud floating on the water.

Lin Yuan stood by the lake. Ma Hongjun trailed behind him, panting hard.

"You've walked for a day and a night. Aren't you going to rest?"

"We're here." Lin Yuan crouched and dipped a hand into the lake to test its temperature. Suddenly, he frowned.

The system chimed:

[Ding! Artificial Soul Power array detected. Attribute: water. Source: Spirit Hall. Assessment: Someone's raising fish.]

Lin Yuan stood and stared at the lake for three seconds.

Ma Hongjun came closer. "What's wrong?"

"Someone set up an array in the lake."

"What kind of array?"

"I don't know, but it's connected to Spirit Hall."

Ma Hongjun's expression changed. "Spirit Hall? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Lin Yuan pulled out his fishing rod and cast his line. "Let's catch one and ask."

"Ask who?"

"The fish."

Less than three minutes after the hook entered the water, the float plunged.

Lin Yuan lifted the rod. It bent into a full moon under a steady, heavy pull from below—strong, but in no hurry.

An emerald-green turtle the size of a millstone surfaced.

Dense Soul Power patterns covered its shell, glimmering faintly as though alive. The turtle fixed its eyes on Lin Yuan and slowly spoke.

"Are you an angler?"

Ma Hongjun fell flat on his backside. "The turtle talked!"

Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Don't embarrass yourself."

The Azure Water Turtle watched Lin Yuan. "There's an array on the island. Something's being raised inside it. Don't go."

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but the array was set up two months ago." The Azure Water Turtle paddled its limbs slowly. "Seven people set it up, all wearing Spirit Hall clothes. Their leader was a woman with white hair."

Lin Yuan and the system reached the same conclusion: Spirit Hall, a white-haired woman—at least an elder of Soul Douluo rank.

"Why tell me?"

The Azure Water Turtle slowly sank beneath the water. "Because you were fishing, not killing. This lake hasn't seen an angler in a long time."

[Catch-and-release bargain completed. The Azure Water Turtle voluntarily provided intelligence. Soul Power +1 level. Current Soul Power: level 29. New Soul Skill unlocked: Turtle-Breathing Technique (passive concealment).]

Lin Yuan reeled in his line and looked toward the island.

Footsteps sounded behind him. Xiao Ruoxue had arrived with a sword on her back, dusty from the road, her face weary after three days of travel.

Xiao Ruoxue said, "You're two days later than I expected."

"I stopped to catch a few fish."

Xiao Ruoxue looked toward the island. "What's out there?"

"Spirit Hall set up an array to raise something."

Xiao Ruoxue put a hand on her sword hilt. "Let's take a look."

Ma Hongjun caught Lin Yuan's sleeve. "Just the two of you? What if something goes wrong?"

Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Wait on shore. If a fish bites, lift the rod."

"I don't know how to fish!"

"Then learn."

Lin Yuan and Xiao Ruoxue rowed to the island.

Wild grass grew everywhere. Not a bird or beast was in sight, and the only sound was the wind.

A clearing lay at the island's center. A massive Soul Power array was etched into the ground, its dark-red patterns looking as though Soul Power had burned them straight into the earth. Inside the array stood a pool of ink-black water.

Xiao Ruoxue leaned in. "What is this?"

Lin Yuan crouched and lowered his fishhook into the pool.

The instant the hook touched the water, a black shape shot up from the bottom and bit down. The pull was so fierce that Lin Yuan nearly went into the pool after it.

Xiao Ruoxue grabbed the back of his collar. "What is that?"

Lin Yuan gripped the rod tight and made out the creature below: a three-foot black snake. Its scales gleamed dark red, and two bumps on its head looked like horns that had yet to grow in.

The system chimed:

[Ding! Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast: Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake (juvenile). Status: sealed by Spirit Hall. Assessment: Spirit Hall is raising a dragon.]

Lin Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.

Xiao Ruoxue saw it too. "A Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake? Spirit Hall is raising a Soul Beast?"

"Not a Soul Beast." Lin Yuan reeled in the rod. The hook slipped from the snake's mouth, and it sank to the bottom of the pool. "A Soul Ring."

Xiao Ruoxue's expression changed. "They're making Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings in batches?"

"Yes. If they succeed, they'll shatter the balance of the entire Soul Master World."

Xiao Ruoxue was silent for a moment. "Come on. Let's go back and get help."

"Not yet." Lin Yuan crouched again and cast his line back into the pool. "Let me have a chat with it first."

"About what?"

"Whether it wants to come with me."

The hook entered the water again. The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake hesitated for a few seconds, then bit. This time, Lin Yuan didn't pull hard. He only gave the line a gentle tug, as if greeting it.

The system chimed:

[Ding! The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake (juvenile) is assessing the host. Assessment: It smelled the aura of a hundred-thousand-year aberrant beast on you.]

Lin Yuan thought of the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, the hundred-thousand-year snake from the Yellow Springs River. Word that it had accepted him as a friend had evidently spread through Soul Beast circles.

The snake slowly surfaced, raising its head above the edge of the pool. Its slit pupils fixed on Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan crouched to meet its gaze. "How long have you been trapped here?"

The snake lightly slapped the water with its tail.

"What are the Spirit Hall people using you for?"

The snake slapped the water again.

"They're draining your Soul Power?" Lin Yuan turned to Xiao Ruoxue. "They're drawing Soul Power from this snake and condensing it into Soul Rings."

Xiao Ruoxue tightened her grip on her sword hilt. "Animals."

The snake looked at Xiao Ruoxue, then turned back to Lin Yuan.

[The Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake is willing to enter a catch-and-release bargain. Condition: The host must promise to destroy Spirit Hall's array here and take it away.]

Lin Yuan thought for a moment. "All right, I promise. But help me with something first."

The snake tilted its head.

"How do I break this array?"

The snake pointed its tail toward the bottom of the pool. The array patterns converged at a core node there, exactly where it had been locked down.

Lin Yuan stood and said to Xiao Ruoxue, "The Array Core is at the bottom of the pool. Give me your sword."

Xiao Ruoxue handed it over. "What are you going to do?"

"Angler's rule: if you catch a fish, you'd better know how to tear up its fishing spot." Lin Yuan aimed the sword tip at the Array Core, wound his fishing line around the hilt, and drove it down.

The array patterns shattered, scattering dark-red light. The black water began to clear. The snake shot up from the bottom, circled once in the air, and landed beside Lin Yuan's feet.

The system chimed:

[Ding! Spirit Hall Soul-Nurturing Array destroyed. Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake (juvenile) released. Soul Power +3 levels. Current Soul Power: level 32. Special item obtained: Flood Dragon Snake Reverse Scale (one).]

[Flood Dragon Snake Reverse Scale: Can summon the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake to assist in battle once. Cooldown: thirty days.]

The snake coiled around Lin Yuan's arm three times, then left a dark-red scale mark on his wrist.

Then it slipped into the lake and vanished.

Xiao Ruoxue looked at his wrist. "It accepted you?"

"Yeah."

"How did you manage that?"

Lin Yuan handed her sword back. "I told it Spirit Hall was killing it by draining its Soul Power, while I'd be making a trade with it. It listened and agreed."

Xiao Ruoxue fell silent for two seconds. "You can even talk a snake around?"

"I didn't talk it around." Lin Yuan headed for the shore. "It made its own choice. Anglers never force fish to bite."

The two rowed back to shore. Ma Hongjun was crouched on the ground with his fishing rod propped up. The float hadn't budged.

Ma Hongjun relaxed when he saw them. "How did it go?"

"The island's taken care of." Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Did you catch anything?"

Ma Hongjun looked down at his empty fish keeper. "No."

"Then there's no fish for dinner."

Ma Hongjun's face fell.

The system chimed again:

[Ding! Soto Lake dungeon completed.]

[New mission released: Track down Spirit Hall Soul-Nurturing Arrays. One location discovered; at least five more remain across the continent. Mission rewards: For each array destroyed, Soul Power +5 levels, Illustrated Compendium progress +10%.]

Lin Yuan looked across the lake and murmured, "Five more."

Xiao Ruoxue came over. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Lin Yuan put away his fishing rod. "Where to next?"

Xiao Ruoxue took out a map, spread it open, and pointed to a red circle. "The Heaven Dou Moat. There's a thousand-year Soul Beast there. I've searched for six months without finding its exact location, but I know it's there."

"Then let's go."

Ma Hongjun edged closer. "Can I eat a meal first?"

Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Can you grill fish?"

"No."

"Then stay hungry."

Ma Hongjun: "..."

The three left Soto Lake and headed toward Heaven Dou City.

On the island, the shattered array patterns went completely dark. The pool had turned clear again. Only a dark-red bead remained at its bottom: the Array Core Spirit Hall had left behind.

A long while later, a small boat pulled up to the island.

A white-haired woman stepped off. She looked at the shattered array and empty pool without expression.

She crouched, picked up the dark-red Array Core, and crushed it.

The Spirit Hall Soul Master who had followed her lowered his head. "Elder, the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake escaped."

The white-haired woman stood. "Then it escaped. We'll catch another."

"And the person who destroyed the array..."

"Find them." The white-haired woman turned toward the boat. "Anyone who can tamper with a Spirit Hall array and fish away that snake is no ordinary person."

"Yes."

The boat left the island, and the lake grew still again.

But deep underwater, the Black-Scaled Flood Dragon Snake swam slowly along the lakebed. The two horns on its head had grown a little longer.