Extraterrestrial demons invaded; I laid the groundwork eight years in advance.

Shen Bai leaned back in his chair. The data from Xiao Cheng on the system panel had been compiled, and the information on the ancient cultivators was listed one by one—

There are approximately two thousand confirmed practitioners of ancient practices nationwide, scattered across Wudang, Shaolin, Qingcheng, Kongtong, Longhushan, Maoshan, as well as some reclusive families and esoteric Buddhist temples.

These lineages barely maintained a spark of extraordinary power in the Dharma-ending Age with their incomplete cultivation methods. After the spiritual energy revived, they became the first to benefit.

However, the quality of their cultivation techniques is too low—they can only cultivate to the first level at most, and their cultivation efficiency is less than half that of the reserve cultivation techniques.

Even with exceptional talent, and after a month of spiritual energy recovery, most people can only reach the fifth or sixth level of the Apprentice realm. Only those veteran cultivators who have practiced for decades can barely break through to the next level through years of accumulation. There are no more than twenty such people in the entire country.

But these people are ultimately beyond our control.

Shen Bai rubbed his temples. Even disregarding the detection range of the Eye of the Rhinoceros, there's a time lag between the opening of each rift and the arrival of the Dawn Squad within the country. It's perfectly normal for one or two monsters to escape or be killed by others during this gap.

He understood Li Xiuming's motives and could see the survival logic of Wang Tiezhu and Qian Hong. However, the flow of unpurified demonic materials into the black market would spread demonic energy and affect innocent civilians.

According to the information provided by the system, the demon itself fell into corruption due to being tainted by the demonic energy of extraterrestrial demons, and its body naturally contains this corrosive energy.

The demonic energy of untreated monster corpses will slowly spread into the surrounding environment, and ordinary creatures that come into contact with them for a long time risk becoming corrupted and demonized.

This is why Dawnbreaker and the Extraordinary Administration have always emphasized that monster corpses must be uniformly collected, sealed, stored, and centrally purified.

  

Unauthorized hunters lack systematic training and equipment, and are destined to die if they encounter high-level monsters.

After eight years of planning, he couldn't plug all the loopholes; he could only compress things as much as possible within his capabilities.

"Xiao Cheng, compile a black market transaction report and send it to Chen Zhengping. The Extraordinary Administration Bureau has direct jurisdiction over it, and they need to know."

"receive."

"Also, connect with Liu Feng."

The call connected, and Liu Feng's voice was respectful and steady: "Sir."

"Do you know about the black market?"

"I just saw the briefing sent by Xiao Cheng."

"Send people to investigate, but don't alert them. Focus on two questions: First, are the bodies only from these three people? Second, is there an organization pulling the strings behind this? Xiao Cheng will cooperate with you."

"Understood. I'll arrange for Chen Fan to go. He's meticulous and suitable for this kind of mission."

"be safe."

"receive."

Communication was cut off.

Shen Bai stood up and walked to the window. He suddenly spoke, "Xiao Cheng, why didn't you notice before?"

"Master, the core algorithm of the Eye of the Spirit prioritizes signals from living beings and spatial rifts. The energy of dead monsters decays extremely quickly, and the regular scanning mode will treat them as non-threatening targets."

"A comprehensive, carpet-style screening would consume over 70% of the computing power, causing delays in crack monitoring and compromising detection accuracy within the scanning range. This time, it was only discovered through the periodic random screening by the 'Eye of the Rhinoceros'."

Shen Bai nodded slightly.

He looked back at the panel. The coordinates of the three trading points were flashing orange-red. One of them was only one kilometer away from the nearest residential area.

"Li Xiuming's Taoist temple is in Jinghu District of Hecheng, surrounded by four villages with a population of over three thousand. His transaction took place in an abandoned air-raid shelter behind the temple," Xiao Cheng added.

Shen Bai closed his eyes. Several possibilities flashed through his mind.

If Li Xiuming accidentally leaks demonic energy during the transaction, and nearby villagers come into contact with it, they will suffer from mental confusion at best, and severe cases of corruption and demonization at worst. At that point, Dawn will not only have to deal with the rift, but also the internal infection.

These people pose no immediate threat, but if left unchecked, problems will inevitably arise. The spread of demonic energy, the suffering of civilians, and the proliferation of the black market are all consequences he does not wish to see.

According to the latest spiritual energy concentration prediction, the spiritual energy concentration is expected to cross the second-tier threshold at 2:00 AM four days from now, after which the rifts will open on a large scale.

Regarding the black market, we can only gather clues for now; the real operation will have to wait until after this battle. Until then, Dawn cannot afford to divert too much attention.

He opened his eyes. "After the invasion is over, give me the complete list of this entire profit chain—leave no one behind."

"Understood, Master."

Shen Bai stood by the window. The display panel in front of him had switched back to the global monitoring of the Eye of the Spirit. The rift data scrolled smoothly, like unopened letters of challenge.

A raven flew down from the bookshelf and landed on his shoulder, making a low cooing sound. Shen Bai glanced at it and gently stroked its feathers.

Outside the window, the night wind rustled through the bamboo forest.

— Four days until the invasion.

Four o'clock in the morning, in the Minhang District of Shanghai, in an abandoned warehouse.

Chen Fan and two team members crouched on the rooftop opposite the warehouse, observing from above.

The energy scan map transmitted by the Eye of the Spirit showed a distinct orange-red area inside the warehouse—that was the energy imprint left by the monster's corpse.

"No signal of personnel activity." Chen Fan glanced at the Apostle panel. "Let's go in and take a look."

He put away the Apostle Panel and jumped off the roof.

The three men scaled the wall and approached the warehouse. The iron gate was ajar; Chen Fan pushed it open, his hand resting on the sword at his waist.

The warehouse was empty, with signs of heavy objects being dragged on the floor, and a dark stain on the central cement floor.

Chen Fan squatted down and rubbed his fingertips against the dark stain on the ground.

It's completely dry, and the edges are blackened.

He brought his fingertip to his nose and smelled it for a moment. Monster blood, no doubt about it.

He stood up and glanced around. In the corner lay several rolls of discarded conveyor belts, showing signs of having been dismantled, as if they had been temporarily used as flooring to prevent bloodstains from seeping into the cement.

"Someone has disposed of a body here before. The method was very skilled; it shouldn't be the first time," he said. "The drag marks on the ground start from the entrance and end here, then disappear—it was loaded onto a truck and taken away. The truck was parked at the entrance and didn't come in, saving the trouble of turning around."

One of the team members walked to a corner of the warehouse and picked up a small piece of dark gray debris: "Captain, a fragment of scale armor."

Chen Fan took it and glanced at it; the cut surface was smooth and even. "It should be a weapon made of demonic materials, or cut by a cultivator of level one or higher."

He put the fragments into an evidence bag and then carefully examined the inside of the warehouse. The traces had been cleaned up very well: no fingerprints, no footprints, no physical evidence that could directly point to his identity.

"Take a photo, record the coordinates. Let's go."

The three left the warehouse. Chen Fan reported to Liu Feng in his mind: "Minhang District is confirmed to be the transaction point. There were bloodstains and fragments of scale armor at the scene. The other party cleaned up very well and didn't leave any identification information, so they don't seem to be a novice. Xiao Cheng's list is usable; we can just keep an eye on them."

Liu Feng replied: "First, figure out their activity patterns, and don't alert them. Then close in after the infiltration is over."

"Understood. I'll check the other two places as soon as possible."

Communication is interrupted.

Chen Fan turned his gaze to the distance. The night outside the window had not yet faded, and the eastern horizon was tinged with a very faint gray-white, like ink diluted by water.