A top star in the Chinese entertainment industry, but also a Taoist priest.

Chen Shouyi thought about the money in his card. He had more than 400,000 yuan when he left for Hengdian, and he received more than 200,000 yuan for performing rituals in Hengdian.

Fang Xu's donations totaled one million yuan, and later Huace's signing fee of two million yuan arrived in Shanghai, plus Zhuo Yun's film remuneration of five hundred thousand yuan.

After taxes, there's still a little over three million yuan left in the account, which is enough for the initial preparations for the Taoist temple.

The budget for Xiu Guan was estimated by his brother Shou Zhuo beforehand. The initial preparation of materials and labor would cost about two million, with additional costs added in stages.

This amount of money is definitely not enough to last until completion, but it's more than enough for the initial startup.

"You go ahead and look for it. If it's not enough, your master can go out and earn more."

"Okay." Shouzhuo nodded, picked up the soy milk and took a sip, then caught a glimpse of someone standing by the yard.

"Benefactor Ruonan!" Shouzhuo put down his cup, stood up, and waved to her. "Over here, over here. You've gotten up just in time; breakfast is still warm."

Zhang Ruonan walked quickly to the stone table, slightly out of breath, and greeted the two of them somewhat awkwardly:

"Master Dao, Shouzhuo, good morning. I'm sorry I overslept—"

Chen Shouyi glanced at her, picked up a cup of untouched soy milk, and pushed it towards her:

"Sit down and eat. The temple isn't like a company; there aren't as many rules. Shouzhuo and I usually get up around this time, so please make yourself at home and don't feel constrained."

"Yes, yes, yes," Shouzhuo quickly moved the plastic bag containing the fried dough sticks closer to her.

"I bought this on my way down the mountain this morning. See if it suits your taste. If you don't like it, I'll get something else tomorrow. The breakfast stalls down the mountain have a pretty good selection."

Zhang Ruonan looked at the pile of food on the table: soy milk, fried dough sticks, shumai, and sesame balls. It was clearly not enough for two people to finish.

"This is already a very generous meal, thank you Shouzhuo."

"You're welcome, you're welcome!" Shouzhu grinned and sat back down to continue eating his portion.

Zhang Ruonan took a bite of the fried dough stick and slowly relaxed.

The mornings in the mountains are much quieter than in the city, with only the rustling of pine branches in the wind and the occasional bird call.

She recalled the conversation she had vaguely overheard when she came over, hesitated for a moment, and then asked:

"Master, were you referring to renovations?"

"It's not entirely about renovations." Chen Shouyi took a sip of soy milk.

"The backyard where we live was renovated last year, but the main hall, side halls, and mountain gate in front need repair after so many years."

"Yes," Shouzhuo chimed in from the side, "Since we're going to start construction anyway, doing it all at once will save us trouble. Luckily, my brother works in construction, so we can save a lot on materials and construction costs."

Zhang Ruonan slowly chewed on the fried dough stick, her gaze involuntarily drifting past the moon gate towards the main hall.

She only glanced at it last night, but now that it's light, she sees that the Zifu Temple is indeed very large.

The upturned eaves of the main hall stood silently in the morning light, showing the marks of time, but its grandeur remained.

The area she could see was much larger than that of a typical small temple.

How much would it cost to renovate this whole?

Zhang Ruonan quickly did some mental calculations. She didn't know much about the construction industry, but she knew it based on common sense.

With such a large workload, the cost of materials and processing fees is definitely not a small amount.

A typical renovation of a small apartment costs over 100,000 yuan, so a renovation of this kind of ancient building would surely cost at least a million yuan.

Zhang Ruonan put down her chopsticks and couldn't help but ask, "Master, how much does this cost?"

Chen Shouyi smiled and said, "No matter how much, we have to get it eventually."

Shouzhuo nodded in agreement: "Yes, anyway, Master has wanted to cultivate for a long time."

Previously, it was delayed because of insufficient funds, but now we can finally move forward. My brother said he'll bring people over to inspect the site in a couple of days, and then we can calculate the exact amount needed.

Zhang Ruonan looked at Chen Shouyi again; the Taoist priest's wealth was much greater than she had imagined.

After breakfast, Shouzhuo cleared away the dishes, and Chen Shouyi turned to Zhang Ruonan:

"Ruonan, there's not much food left in the refrigerator at the temple. Didn't you say you could cook?"

Zhang Ruonan nodded quickly: "Yes, I will."

"Then you can go down the mountain with Shouzhuo to do some shopping later, and buy the kitchen supplies you need."

Chen Shou paused for a moment, "Before, it was just Shouzhuo and me in the temple, and neither of us were good at cooking."

Shouzhuo muttered quietly to himself, "Master, I can still cook noodles."

"You call that cooking noodles? They're either mushy or undercooked," Chen Shouyi bluntly criticized.

Seeing Shou Zhuo's aggrieved expression, Zhang Ruonan couldn't help but laugh and nodded.

"Okay, I'll go buy it."

Chen Shouyi hummed in agreement and handed the garbage bag to Shouzhuo: "Take Ruonan to the farmers' market at the foot of the mountain and buy more."

"Yes, Master." Shouzhuo took the trash bag and then looked at Zhang Ruonan.

"Ruonan, please tell me what dishes you're cooking on the way down so I'll have a better idea when I go. Also, tell me what dishes you like to eat so we can buy more later."

After the two left, Chen Shouyi watched them walk away before getting up and heading towards the backyard.

The backyard was much quieter than the front yard, with several old locust trees providing a large area of ​​shade.

Since breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, he has not yet seriously tested his combat abilities.

Chen Shouyi stood in the center of the courtyard, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing for a moment, and the spiritual energy in his dantian slowly began to circulate.

He formed a sword shape with his fingers, and a faint golden light condensed at his fingertips as he slowly drew a talisman in front of him.

The Wen Shi School's thunder magic emphasizes using the Lesser Yang Ancestral Qi as a guide to communicate with the ultimate Yang Qi between heaven and earth. Although the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is scarce in the Dharma-ending Age, and the power of thunder magic is greatly reduced, it is still the perfect tool to test one's cultivation level.

"Rise." Chen Shouyi gave a soft shout, pointing lightly at a large stone by the courtyard wall.

A thin bolt of lightning, as thin as a hair, shot out from the fingertip and struck the stone surface three zhang away with precision. A charred mark appeared on the stone, and several pieces of stone fell down.

Chen Shouyi stepped forward and took a look. The scorch marks penetrated three-tenths of an inch into the stone, which was not bad. It was much stronger than the early stage of Qi Refining. At least the part that discharges electricity no longer needs to contact the target, and the casting distance has also been extended a lot.

Still not satisfied, his gaze swept over an old locust tree in the courtyard, half of which was withered. Lightning once again condensed at his fingertips, and he was about to flick it out to test the power of the living wood.

Just then, a faint buzzing sound came from above.

Chen Shouyi looked up and saw a small silver dot of light moving slowly in the far distance of the sky. Judging from its direction and altitude, it looked like a commercial airliner. He silently dispersed the lightning at his fingertips.

Forget it, with technology so advanced these days, there are plenty of things flying in the sky. He doesn't want any satellite to capture images of abnormal electrical discharges in his backyard.

He had no intention of revealing his extraordinary abilities to the authorities until he was able to withstand a nuclear bomb.

Chen Shouyi turned around, took a shovel from the corner of the wall, shoveled the rubble from the explosion under the tree roots, and then pulled up some weeds to cover the scorch marks.

Back in the front yard, Chen Shouyi was about to go to the main hall to offer incense to the ancestral master when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and saw that it was a WeChat message from Sun Yi.

"Master, are you at the temple? I'll be there in about an hour; I said I'd come to fulfill my vow last time."

Just as Chen Shouyi finished reading this message, his phone vibrated again; this time it was Bai Mengyan.

"Master Daoist! Are you back yet? I came to look for you this afternoon! Are you there? Are you there?"

Chen Shouyi looked at the two WeChat messages that were right next to each other on the screen and couldn't help but smile.

One is almost here, and the other will arrive this afternoon. The Zifu Temple is much more lively than usual today.

He sat down on the stone bench and replied to Bai Mengyan first: "I'm back. I was here this afternoon."

Then, switching to another dialog box, she replied to Sun Yi: "Yes."