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

Inside the Hidden Cloud Temple, Li Xiuming put away his phone and walked behind the statue of the Three Pure Ones.

He crouched down and reached under the altar, groping around for a while. He pulled out a loose brick, behind which was a hidden compartment about the size of a shoebox, inside which lay a box.

The box is made of ebony, with intricate patterns carved on its surface. They are so old that they are no longer clearly visible, resembling either cloud patterns or some kind of talisman.

Li Xiuming carefully took out the box and opened the lid. Inside were three thin booklets, a short copper coin sword, and several old talismans.

He took out three booklets, the covers of which were written in neat small regular script, namely—

Jade Pivot Qi Refining Technique

The Secret Records of Nine Heavens Talismans

"Five Thunder Dharma"

The booklet's surface was brownish and felt more like some kind of tanned leather than paper. Many parts were incomplete, but fortunately, the contents at the beginning were still intact.

Even the master couldn't say exactly when these three booklets were published.

He had flipped through it when he was a child; the words were like celestial script, making him sleepy. Now, looking at it again, he could vaguely sense something flowing between the lines, as if something that had been dormant for a long time was slowly awakening.

He took a deep breath and sat back down on the cushion.

Before the spiritual energy was restored, the breathing exercises and body-strengthening techniques he practiced every day only made him stronger and more energetic, and had no other use.

Standing in the stance until your legs tremble, practicing boxing until you're out of breath, the talismans you draw and post out are still just a few pieces of yellow paper.

When Master was alive, he said, "The magic is real, but Heaven and Earth do not lend it." At that time, he did not understand what "Heaven and Earth do not lend it" meant. Later, he vaguely understood that it was probably because there was too little spiritual energy in the world, and the magic had no basis.

But after the spiritual energy was restored, everything changed.

More than two weeks ago, he went to the back mountain to collect herbs as usual. The back mountain was actually just a few hills less than a hundred meters high. There weren't many herbs, but with a steady stream of income, he could always gather a bundle by going every few days.

He knew those mountains very well; he could walk them with his eyes closed. But he never expected to run into a monster in the bushes on a gentle slope.

The creature was as big as a tiger, something he had never seen before. It was completely black, with rough scales, its four paws on the ground, and sticky saliva dripping from its mouth.

The monster saw him, let out a low growl from its throat, and pounced on him.

At that time, Li Xiuming only had a wood-chopping knife and half a bundle of herbs in his hand. His first thought was to run.

But the thing was very fast, and within a few seconds it pounced on him from behind.

Li Xiuming had practiced boxing with his master since childhood, making him much more agile than the average person. He rolled to the side, and the thing grazed past his shoulder, bringing with it a gust of foul wind.

  

As he rolled over, he swung his machete, the blade striking the creature's hind leg as if it were hard wood, the impact sending a shiver down his spine.

The monster, in pain, turned around, roared, and pounced again.

Li Xiuming dodged to the side, then used all his strength to slash horizontally across its neck. The scales shattered, but the wound was not deep.

His heart sank. This monster was tougher than he had imagined.

Black blood seeped from the creature's neck, and it was utterly enraged. It turned and swung its claws, and Li Xiuming raised his knife to block, his hand trembling from the impact, almost dropping the woodcutter's knife.

Before he could even regain his footing, the thing pounced again, its sharp claws sweeping across his shoulder, leaving three bloody gashes that made him gasp in pain.

He staggered back two steps, unable to break free or outrun his opponent. He was likely going to die here today. Unfortunately, I'm only nineteen, and I haven't...

Before he could finish his thought, the monster pounced on him again.

This time, Li Xiuming was unable to dodge and was knocked to the ground. The thing opened its mouth and bit his throat.

He gripped its jaws tightly with both hands, his fingernails digging into the gaps in its scales. The monster's teeth were getting closer and closer to his neck, and its foul breath sprayed onto his face. He could almost see the slime hanging between the two rows of serrated teeth.

Just then, he felt a sudden burning sensation in his chest.

A warm yellow light emanated from his clothes, carrying an invisible force that sent the monster flying.

The monster tumbled in the air and crashed to the ground with a dull thud. It staggered noticeably as it got up.

Li Xiuming lowered his head and pulled open his collar, revealing a talisman folded into a triangle that was still faintly glowing.

It was a gift from his master when he was a child. The master said, "This is an old talisman passed down from the ancestral master. You must wear it close to your body." He wore it around his neck for more than ten years, always thinking it was just an ordinary talisman.

But there's no time to think about it right now.

The monster struggled to its feet, moving much slower than before. The wound on the side of its neck had been reopened by the shockwave from the amulet.

Li Xiuming gritted his teeth, got up, picked up the woodcutter's knife, and before the monster could fully regain its footing, he circled around to its side, aimed the tip of the knife at the wound, and stabbed it in with all his might.

The blade pierced the soft flesh, and black blood gushed out along the blade. The monster let out a hoarse wail, its body twisted violently a few times, its claws haphazardly digging two deep gashes into the ground, before it swayed and collapsed to the ground.

Li Xiuming loosened the hilt of his sword, fell backward, and lay on his back on the ground, panting heavily.

The leaves overhead rustled in the wind, and sunlight streamed through the gaps, making his eyes sting.

He raised his arm to wipe his eyes, sat up, looked at the monster's corpse, and wondered what to do with it.

He struggled to drag the monster to the other side of the hillside, found a secluded hollow, and buried it there. After filling the hollow with soil and weighing it down with several stones, he finally went down the mountain and home.

For the next few days, he kept thinking about what that thing was.

Until one day, while browsing his phone, he saw an official announcement about the revival of spiritual energy and the invasion of monsters. He also saw a post on another forum where someone was offering high prices to buy monster corpses.

The photo accompanying the post looks very similar to the thing he buried.

He hesitated for two days, but still went up the mountain and dug it out. He contacted the number in the post, and the other party sent someone that same day in a van without license plates. The person glanced at the goods and immediately transferred 100,000 yuan to him.

One hundred thousand yuan.

He held the money, stunned for a long time.

Li Xiuming snapped out of his reverie, stopped thinking about those things, and turned his gaze back to the three ancient books in front of him.

Since learning of the resurgence of spiritual energy, he began cultivating according to the contents of the "Jade Pivot Qi Refining Technique." The method, which previously only strengthened the body, now had miraculous effects, and after half a month, he had already seen considerable progress.

According to the book, he should now have reached the stage of refining essence into qi, with his qi and blood abundant and his essence gradually condensing.

Strangely, however, he could never get the hang of "The Secret Record of Nine Heavens Talismans" and "The Orthodox Method of Five Thunder".

He didn't think much of it, only that the time wasn't right.

Over the years, he has been guarding the Taoist temple alone, and he has long since learned not to be at odds with himself.

It was rare that there wasn't much to do today. In the account book left by his master, there were four words written: "moderation in work and rest." He had remembered them since he was a child. Before cultivating, one should rest first.

He took out his phone and opened the app whose icon was a musical note.

Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen of a girl dancing gracefully to music.

Li Xiuming murmured "Amitabha Buddha" while his hands kept moving—he pulled out two bamboo sticks from the divination tube on the offering table, placed one horizontally to block the upper center of the phone screen, and the other horizontally to block the lower center.

"Yes, this female lay Buddhist dances quite well." He nodded. "Her dance moves are very energetic, compassionate, compassionate."

Inside the spacious Sanqing Hall, incense smoke wafted through the air, and cheerful background music from a short video played on a mobile phone.

"Hehehe—"

A burst of inexplicable laughter echoed through the hall and then dissipated into the incense smoke.

Outside the hall, sunlight shone brightly on the blue brick ground of the courtyard. Several hens were pawing at the base of the wall, while Little Flower lay in the pigpen, flapped her ears twice, turned over, and continued sleeping.

Unbeknownst to Li Xiuming, his figure had already been noticed by certain people.