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

As Li Xiuming ran down the hillside and crossed the blockade, the shockwave from the explosion had just passed through the crack, and the battlefield was shrouded in smoke and mist rising from the rain.

He looked up and saw the churning mist and smoke slowly dissipating.

An injured mantis monster charged straight at a member of Dawn, who was crouching on the ground, clearly unable to fight any longer.

As he ran, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a talisman that could immobilize someone.

He had tried this talisman many times before, but it hadn't been very effective. He wondered if infusing it with spiritual power after his breakthrough would make it work.

He held the talisman between his fingers, circulated his internal energy, and channeled the little spiritual power from his dantian into the talisman. A pale yellow light seeped from the cinnabar patterns; it was very weak, but the talisman did indeed glow.

He did not hesitate any longer.

As he flung the talisman at the monster, he chanted an incantation:

"By the decree of the Three Pure Ones, evil spirits shall be subdued! The matter is settled!"

As the talisman flew out, the yellow light on its surface drew a thin line in the air.

The talisman struck the Blade-Footed Mantis's chest, and the instant it touched the mantis, the yellow light suddenly spread into a thin film of light, enveloping the mantis's body.

The scythe-like limbs of the Blade-Footed Mantis stopped less than three feet above Sun Chen's head, like a specimen sealed in amber.

Fang Yan arrived from behind and saw the Blade-Footed Mantis frozen in place, gripping its blades with both hands and pushing the Blood Burning Technique to its limit.

A blade sliced ​​into the already torn neck wound of the Blade-Footed Mantis, cutting down along the gap, wedging the blade into the inside of the neck armor, and then pressing the entire arm down, the blade passing through.

The Blade-Footed Mantis's body froze in place, its triangular head rolling off, black blood gushing from the severed wound, soaking the muddy ground at Fang Yan's feet.

Sun Chen knelt on one knee on the ground, his chest heaving violently.

He stared at the corpse of the Bladefoot Mantis for two seconds, making sure it wouldn't move anymore, then slowly turned his head to look in the direction from which the incantation was coming.

A young man in a gray Taoist robe stood thirty meters away. He looked to be under twenty years old, his hand still in the motion of flicking out a talisman, his chest heaving violently.

Li Xiuming strode over, first glancing at the corpse of the Blade-Footed Mantis, then at Sun Chen: "Are you alright?"

Sun Chen sat down on the ground, his throat moved, and he swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva: "I'm alright, I won't die. Thanks, I owe you my life."

Li Xiuming was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hands: "No need, no need, I... I'm just trying it out."

Sun Chen didn't reply. He reached for his waist, took out a recovery potion, and drank it. As the liquid flowed down his throat, a warm sensation spread from his stomach, and his injuries slowly began to heal.

Fang Yan took a few breaths and walked over, looking at Li Xiuming.

"Who are you?"

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"It's the Hidden Cloud Temple on the mountain," Li Xiuming said, pointing to the mountain. "I live over there."

"The villagers around here were all evacuated yesterday, why didn't you leave?" Fang Yan then asked.

Li Xiuming scratched his head. "I usually live on the mountain. I'm all alone in the Taoist temple, so no one notified me."

Fang Yan glanced at his Taoist robe and didn't ask any further questions.

He stood up and scanned his surroundings—the battlefield was not over yet, monsters were still pouring out of the rifts, and gunfire continued intermittently from the outer perimeter.

He turned to look at Sun Chen: "Can you still fight?"

"Yes." Sun Chen stood up, leaning on his knife. "I've recovered quite a bit."

Fang Yan nodded: "Take care of yourself." Then he turned and walked towards the rift.

Sun Chen looked at Li Xiuming. "I was just wondering how a second-tier demonic creature could appear in this desolate wilderness where no one cultivates." His eyes held a slightly strange look. "Now I understand."

Li Xiuming was stunned for a moment. "What?"

Just as Sun Chen was about to explain, a strange movement suddenly came from the other side of the rift.

A dark red light surged from the depths of the crevice, even more intense than before. A dark shadow burst forth from the crevice, creating a gust of wind as it landed.

A first-tier demonic hound happened to collide with its landing point, was swept by the edge of its wing, and was sent flying like a tattered sack, crashing into the mud more than ten meters away, where it didn't get up for a long time.

The dark figure stopped moving and stood in front of the crevice. It was five meters tall with a wingspan of more than ten meters. Its head was sharp, and its dark golden eyes shone like two burning stones in the red light. Its body was covered with short, dark gray fur, as fine as iron sand.

Data popped up on Sun Chen's panel:

Name: Sky-Splittering Demon Bat

[Realm Level: Second Tier, Sixth Level]

【Characteristics: Flight, Extreme Speed, Incredibly Powerful Claw Strike, Demonic Breath】

[Weaknesses: Eyes, pterygoid joint, abdomen]

Sun Chen stared at the information on the panel without speaking. But his hand gripped the battle sword tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Li Xiuming also saw the Sky-Splitting Demon Bat. Although he didn't have a panel, he could sense that the aura emanating from that creature was far stronger than that of the mantis from before.

Sun Chen didn't look at Li Xiuming again, and said in a low voice, "Be careful." Then he walked towards the rift.

Fang Yan had already rushed to the side of the Sky-Splitting Demon Bat. Just as he raised his knife, the Sky-Splitting Demon Bat suddenly retracted its wings, turned half a circle, and its claws collided head-on with Fang Yan's knife.

The battle sword was struck by tremendous force and broke completely at the crack. Fang Yan was thrown away by that force and his back slammed heavily into the ridge of a distant field, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The Sky-Splitting Demon Bat looked at the injured and fallen Fang Yan, but did not choose to pursue him.

Its dark golden eyes swept around, locking onto Meng Xing, who was locked in combat with a demon not far away. With a flap of its wings, it streaked across the night sky, its claws reaching down to grab him.

Just as the Sky-Splittering Bat swooped down, a long spear pierced the air from the direction of the blockade, striking the bat squarely in the wing membrane. The spear tip struck like a steel plate, leaving only a white mark, but the impact caused it to veer off course.

Meng Xing reacted quickly, forced the demon in front of him back with a single strike, and ran to the side.

The Sky-Splitting Demon Bat folded its wings and circled, its dark golden eyes locking onto the direction from which the spear was flying.

Li Yang stood before the blockade line, his spear flying back into his hand under the pull of his mental energy. He saw the Sky-Splitting Demon Bats eyeing him, knowing he couldn't escape, so he turned and ran to the side of the battlefield, away from the blockade line.

The Sky-Splitting Demon Bat didn't give him a chance to create distance; with a flap of its wings, it was already in front of Li Yang in the blink of an eye.

Li Yang only had time to hold the gun horizontally in front of him—the claw strike had already come crashing down, and the gun broke in two.

He was sent flying by the force and crashed into the mud. His left arm hung down at an abnormal angle, and his vision went black.

The Sky-Splitter Bat's second dive followed immediately.

Li Xiuming arrived from afar, took out a golden talisman from his robes, chanted an incantation, and tossed the talisman towards Li Yang. The talisman adhered to Li Yang's body, condensing into a layer of pale golden light.

The Sky-Splitting Demon Bat's claws struck the light membrane with a muffled thud. The light membrane trembled slightly but did not shatter.

The Sky-Splitting Demon Bat hovered in mid-air, its dark golden eyes scanning the light membrane as if searching for a flaw.

A muffled thud came from the direction of the blockade line.

A rocket, trailing a plume of flame, struck the Sky-Splitter Bat's wing, exploding in a burst of fire.

The Sky-Splittering Bat burst out of the smoke and dust, letting out a piercing cry. A patch of its wing membrane was blackened by smoke; it swayed, then regained its balance.

Its dark golden eyes were fixed on Li Yang. It seemed that pain had enraged it, and its throat bulged slightly as a dark red light gathered deep inside its mouth.

The next instant, a dark red demonic breath spewed out from his mouth and crashed into the light membrane in front of Li Yang.

The light film trembled violently, cracks spread from the center outwards, and then it shattered.

The fragments slowly transformed into golden light and dissipated in the night breeze.