As a dignified max-level Celestial Master, who am I supposed to explain this to?

Han Xuan is dead.

To be precise, he was struck dead by thirty-six bolts of heavenly lightning.

His last thought before he died was: I should have known better than to act so arrogantly.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary Taoist priest with mediocre talent. It took him twenty years to barely get to the basics of the Golden Light Mantra.

But he was ambitious and insisted on challenging a thousand-year-old zombie king, a feat beyond his level.

As a result, the thousand-year-old corpse king was not defeated, but instead attracted a heavenly tribulation. Thirty-six bolts of purple lightning struck down, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

Damn! I wish I could start over! I'd prefer a max-level character!!!

Han Xuan's consciousness plunged into boundless darkness, as if sinking into the deep sea.

After an unknown amount of time, suddenly a beam of light cleaved through the darkness!

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother, wake up!"

A slightly immature voice exploded in my ear, accompanied by violent shaking.

Han Xuan opened his eyes groggily and saw a round face, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a faded Taoist robe, looking at him anxiously.

"Senior Brother Han Xuan! You're finally awake! If you hadn't woken up, Master would have forced you to drink the talisman water!"

Han Xuan was stunned.

He recognized the face.

Isn't this his junior brother Zhao Xiaofan?

But Zhao Xiaofan clearly already... when he was thirty-five years old.

He sat up abruptly and looked down.

A pair of young hands, with distinct knuckles and fair skin, without the crisscrossing scars that would follow.

Looking up again, one sees an ancient Taoist room with blue bricks and gray tiles, the air filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and a portrait of Zhang Tianshi hanging on the wall, with the Three Pure Ones Bell and a peach wood sword placed below the portrait.

Longhu Mountain. Celestial Master's Mansion.

His childhood.

"I... I've been reborn?"

Han Xuan muttered to himself, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper was rubbing against wood.

Zhao Xiaofan was startled:

"Senior brother, did you get struck by lightning yesterday and go crazy?"

"Master said you were cultivating too hastily, suffered a qi deviation, and were unconscious for a whole day and night. Don't scare me with all this talk of rebirth!!"

What about yesterday's thunder?

A flood of memories suddenly rushed into Han Xuan's mind...

Han Xuan, eighteen years old, is the senior disciple of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain. Gifted with extraordinary talent, he entered the sect at sixteen and within two years mastered the Golden Light Mantra to the third level, earning him the praise of the old Celestial Master:

"A once-in-a-century genius."

Yesterday, he was practicing the Five Thunder Orthodox Method at the Thunder Pool on the back mountain when he was accidentally struck by a heavenly thunderbolt and fainted on the spot.

The original "Han Xuan" had actually died from that moment on.

The one who has come back to life now is the Celestial Master who has been reborn from thirty-five years in the future.

Han Xuan, who, despite his mediocre talent, spent his entire life honing all the Daoist arts to their ultimate level.

In his previous life, Han Xuan had mediocre talent, but he excelled in one word: "tenacity".

What others can learn in three years, he took thirty years to learn.

Over the course of thirty-five years, he thoroughly studied all the Taoist scriptures of Longhu Mountain, including the Golden Light Mantra, the Five Thunder Orthodox Method, the Heavenly Talisman, the Qimen Dunjia, and the formations and alchemy cauldrons...

I can't be considered an expert in any one subject, but I know each one by heart.

A giant in theory, but in practice...

He's not exactly short, just a bit unlucky.

In the end, he was so unlucky that he was struck dead by lightning.

And now...

He looked down at his hands, feeling the surging spiritual energy within his young body.

Han Xuan, at the age of eighteen, was so talented that he would rank among the top three in the nearly one hundred-year history of Longhu Mountain.

Its meridians are as wide as rivers, its dantian as deep as the ocean, and its spiritual energy surges endlessly within its body, making it seem as if it were born to be a vessel for cultivating the Tao.

The foundation laid in a past life, the talent bestowed in this life.

Han Xuan slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles making a crisp "crackling" sound.

His lips slowly curled up, higher and higher, until finally revealing a hideous grin.

Zhao Xiaofan was so startled by that smile that he took three steps back.

"Senior brother? Are you really alright?"

"Xiao Fan".

Han Xuan turned his head, looking intently at him, and said calmly:

"I'm asking you, what level of the Golden Light Mantra am I at now?"

"The third level, Senior Brother, have you forgotten?"

"What about the Five Thunder Orthodox Method?"

"You're just a beginner. You suffered a qi deviation yesterday while practicing the Five Thunder Orthodox Technique..."

"A talisman?"

"I haven't even started learning yet..."

"A formation?"

"Senior brother, you've never even touched a formation before!"

Han Xuan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

He practiced the Golden Light Mantra for twenty years in his previous life before reaching the fifth level, but now he's starting from the third level.

He spent half his life studying the Five Thunder Orthodox Method before he finally grasped its essence.

Although it's only at the beginner level, this body has an absurdly high affinity for lightning.

Talismans, formations, physical techniques, spells...

He possesses maxed-out experience and theoretical knowledge from his previous life in every aspect; he simply needs to utilize this genius body to unleash them once again.

This is not a rebirth.

It's like God gave him a cheat code.

A max-level character was reborn in the newbie village.

Han Xuan rolled out of bed and pushed open the wooden door of the Daoist chamber.

Outside the door, the morning light of Longhu Mountain rushed in.

The distant mountain peaks are faintly visible in the clouds and mist, with the seventy-two peaks winding like a dragon's spine. The Luxi River meanders through the foot of the mountains, its surface shimmering with a golden light.

A mountain breeze caressed my face, carrying the scents of pine needles and incense. The Taoist temple stood in layers, with flying eaves and bracket sets, its bells ringing out in the distance.

The main hall of the Celestial Master's Mansion is located halfway up the mountain. Blue stone steps lead up from the foot of the mountain, with ancient cypress trees on both sides, their branches twisted like dragon claws.

In the square in front of the temple, dozens of young Taoist priests were practicing their morning exercises. The golden morning light shone on them, and their movements were powerful and vigorous.

This is the real Longhu Mountain.

This is the true Celestial Master's Mansion.

In his previous life, he spent thirty-five years on this mountain, transforming from an unknown Taoist priest into a white-haired old Taoist priest.

Until the moment of his death, he never truly stood on the summit of this mountain.

But this time!!

Han Xuan stood on the threshold, facing the rising sun, and slowly opened his arms.

"Longhu Mountain, I'm back."

His voice wasn't loud, but it inexplicably carried a chilling pressure that made people's scalps tingle.

Zhao Xiaofan, standing behind him, felt that his senior brother's back suddenly became incredibly tall, like a long-dormant volcano about to erupt.

"Senior Brother!"

A hurried footstep came from below the steps, and a tall, thin young Taoist priest rushed up, his face pale and his forehead covered in sweat.

"Senior Brother, something's happened! A group of zombies has arrived outside the mountain gate, and the leader looks like a hairy zombie! The junior brothers guarding the mountain are about to be overwhelmed!"

Zhao Xiaofan's expression changed drastically:

"A hairy zombie?! Isn't that at least at the bronze-armored zombie level? Our fellow disciples on patrol are only at the second level of the Golden Light Mantra, how can they possibly stop it?!"

The tall, thin Taoist priest was so anxious that he stamped his feet.

"That's why I came to find you, Senior Brother! Master and the elders aren't on the mountain, and right now, you're the one with the highest cultivation level in the entire Celestial Master's Mansion!"

Han Xuan remained silent.

Hairy stiff.

The zombie hierarchy, from lowest to highest, is as follows:

Purple zombie, white zombie, green zombie, hairy zombie, flying zombie, demon, zombie king.

The Mao Jiang is considered to be of the fourth rank. Its body is covered with stiff black hair, making it impervious to swords and spears. It possesses immense strength and agility, and even three to five ordinary Taoist priests combined cannot defeat it.

Based on the original strength of this body.

The Golden Light Mantra has three levels, and the Five Thunder Orthodox Method is the entry point.

Against a hairy zombie, the odds are about 50/50, and the outcome is unpredictable.

But the Han Xuan of today is not the Han Xuan of the past.

Although his Golden Light Mantra in his previous life only had five layers.

But those were five layers honed over twenty years of arduous training, as solid as a stone polished inch by inch with sandpaper.

His understanding of the Golden Light Mantra, his application of true energy, and his grasp of the rhythm of battle are far beyond what an eighteen-year-old boy can compare to.

not to mention……

He also knows many things that the "original Han Xuan" didn't know.

"Let's go." Han Xuan said only one word and started walking down the mountain.

Zhao Xiaofan and the tall, thin Taoist priest quickly followed.

Zhao Xiaofan asked as he ran:

"Senior brother, should we bring a peach wood sword? And also talismans, cinnabar, ink..."

"Need not."

"Huh? Then... then at least bring a Five Thunder Talisman, right?"

"Need not."

Han Xuan didn't turn his head, his steps were neither fast nor slow, but each step seemed to have been measured, so steady that it made people uneasy.

Zhao Xiaofan opened his mouth, but swallowed the words that were about to come out.

For some reason, his senior brother gave him a very strange feeling today.

It was still that young face, still that faded Taoist robe, but the aura he exuded was completely different.

My former senior brother was like a sword drawn from its sheath, sharp and unstoppable.

The current senior brother is like a sword that has been sheathed, its edge no longer visible.

But it makes one feel...

Anyone who lets him draw his sword will surely die a terrible death.