The wedding was livestreamed by the sister, revealing his identity as a Taoist priest.

The capital city, the headquarters of Tian Shu.

Thirty-six giant circular screens lit up red simultaneously, and a piercing alarm sounded throughout every corridor.

"Report! Jiangcheng Branch has sent an S-level emergency request for assistance!"

The communications soldier's voice was almost shouted.

"Captain Chen Feng's unit has encountered an unknown A+ level anomaly; the target is the Cloud Top Villa in West City!"

The duty commander sitting in front of the control panel suddenly stood up.

"A+ level! The Jiangcheng branch only has one B-level combatant, how are they going to stop them?"

"We can't stop them!"

The communications soldier's voice trembled.

"Captain Chen Feng is seriously injured. Requesting immediate support from headquarters!"

The commander pressed the communication button.

Where are the nearest mobile forces?

"Central China Regional Garrison Team, 40 minutes flight from Jiangcheng! Team Leader Qin Yuan, A-Level Ability User!"

"not enough!"

The commander gritted his teeth.

"The A+ level is bizarre; a single A level cannot suppress it!"

"Then let's adjust another one!"

He glanced at the troop deployment map, his finger emphasizing a particular mark.

"Jingji Special Operations Team, Zhao Yue, A-level physical combat ability, will arrive in as little as 27 minutes!"

"With two A-rank units present simultaneously, coupled with the heavy psionic cannon, they should at least be able to hold them off!"

"But!"

The communications soldier hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Twenty-seven minutes... is that enough time? That thing's moving speed..."

The commander did not answer.

He stared intently at the red dot on the screen.

"Move everyone out! Tell Qin Yuan and Zhao Yue!"

"Even if it means death, we must arrive before that thing massacres the city!"

……

At the same time.

Another office without a door number.

Behind the rosewood desk sat a man in a Zhongshan suit.

Zhou Ce!

Tian Shu Headquarters, Deputy Director.

On the computer screen in front of me, two documents are open side by side.

On the left is the investigation report on the golden light pillar incident in the southwestern mountainous area ten days ago.

The source of that beam of light was an enormous magical artifact that had been extracted from deep underground.

On the right is a profile of a person.

Chen Shidu

Gender: Male.

Age: Approximately 24 to 26 years old.

Place of origin: A province in Southwest China.

Social status: Unemployed, no business registration, no social security records, no bank statements.

Network traces: None.

Related information: Recently engaged to Shen Nianqing, the daughter of the Shen Group.

The remarks column contains only one line of text, which is the investigator's handwritten annotation.

[A member of the Zhengyi sect of Taoism. The other party used extremely careful wording, stating, "This person's identity should not be revealed to outsiders; we hope you will understand."]

Zhou Ce stared at the line of text, tapping his knuckles on the table.

Taoist sect.

The Zhengyi School.

It allowed the Zhengyi sect to use the phrase "not suitable for outside transmission".

His identity is definitely not simple.

He pulled up the photos that were recently trending on social media.

Taiyi Star Letter.

Seven-Star Dharma Lamp.

The Xuan Tian Demon-Slaying Stele.

Any one of them, taken individually, is a national-level important instrument.

He brought it as a betrothal gift.

Like giving away cabbages.

Zhou Ce slowly leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses.

"Chen Shidu..."

"Who exactly are you?"

……

Jiangcheng, West City Cloud Top Villa District.

2:17 a.m.

The streetlights in the villa area began to flicker.

First, the three lamps on the outermost ring, then the second row, and then the third row.

Like dominoes, they went out one after another.

Guest rooms on the second floor of the Shen family villa.

Chen Xiaoyu was not sleeping soundly.

I turned over and vaguely felt cold.

Suddenly she heard a voice.

"Buzz!"

The vibration was extremely low, like the entire building was shaking.

She sat up abruptly.

"Oh my god, an earthquake?"

At the same time, a second vibration came from the direction of the living room downstairs.

The entire villa was shaking.

Chen Xiaoyu suddenly threw off the covers, stepped barefoot onto the floor, and rushed towards the door.

The moment she opened the door, the emergency lights in the hallway were already on.

Lin Ke rushed out in her pajamas, her hair a mess, her face deathly pale.

"Xiaoyu! What's that noise? Is it an earthquake?"

"Come on, hurry up and get down!"

Chen Xiaoyu grabbed Lin Keke's wrist and ran towards the stairs.

Uncle Liu was already standing at the top of the stairs.

"Uncle Liu! What happened!"

"The young lady told me to call everyone to the living room."

"quick!"

Inside the living room.

The Seven Star Dharma Lamp floats three inches above the rosewood coffee table.

Seven beams of light spun wildly at the top of the Dharma lamp.

At the very center of the Xuan Tian Demon-Subduing Stele, all 108 golden restrictions lit up!

Shen Chongshan was helped out of the bedroom. The old man's face was ashen, but he didn't panic.

Zhou Shuhua followed behind, her hands clutching Buddhist prayer beads, her lips moving as she chanted something.

Shen Zhengting was already in the living room.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring intently into the darkness outside.

Lin Ruolan held Shen Nianqing's hand and stood in the center of the living room.

Shen Nianqing was wearing a white nightgown, her back straight, her eyes calm.

But the strength with which she gripped her mother's fingers betrayed her unease.

Shen Yingxue huddled on the sofa in the corner, curled up in a ball, her lips trembling.

"What exactly happened?!"

Shen Zhengting's voice was filled with suppressed anger and fear.

"Why are the lamp and the monument like this!"

Chen Xiaoyu stood on the last step of the stairs, her eyes fixed on the view outside the window.

At the end of the villa garden, beyond the wall, there was an even thicker patch of black in the darkness.

It was a tangible, churning, writhing blackness.

"Look! What...what is that...?"

"boom!"

The wrought iron gate was torn apart from the outside by a brute force.

Black mist poured in from the gap.

Thick black fog filled the entire lane at an extremely fast speed.

At the very front of the black mist, a three-meter-tall humanoid silhouette was faintly visible.

Crimson eyes shone through the mist.

Chen Xiaoyu froze.

Then, a scream came from her throat.

"A ghost! It's a ghost!!"

Her voice cracked, her knees buckled, and she knelt down on the steps.

"How...how can such a thing exist in this world!"

Lin Keke had collapsed to the ground, her hands covering her mouth, her whole body trembling violently.

The Seven Star Lamp suddenly erupted!

Seven beams of light shot out of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the same time, forming a light curtain on the front of the villa!

At the same instant, all 108 restrictions on the Xuan Tian Demon-Slaying Stele exploded with golden light.

An immense and righteous energy surged forth from the monument, transforming into a visible golden wave of energy.

The golden shockwave met the black mist.

"hiss!"

The black mist churned violently, contracted, and retreated three steps.

The eerie figure paused in the black mist.

It lowered its head, its scarlet eyes fixed on the seven-colored light screen and golden shockwave in front of it.

It let out a silent roar.

Then they charged straight up.

The jet-black claws were raised high and slammed down on the seven-colored light screen!

"boom!"

The entire villa shook violently.

The chandelier is broken.

The vase slid off the cabinet. The decorative paintings on the wall crashed to the floor.

Cracks appeared in the seven-colored light curtain!

Chen Xiaoyu clung tightly to the stair railing, her eyes wide open as if they were about to burst.

The light curtain is shattering!

Those two treasures are putting up a desperate fight!

But they have no owner! No one drives them! No one controls them!

They are simply releasing righteous energy on instinct!

"boom!"

The second claw strikes down.

The cracks on the light screen doubled in size.

The golden shockwave was pushed back two meters.

"boom!!"

The third claw.

The seven-colored light curtain shattered.

The golden lightning patterns on the Xuan Tian Demon-Subduing Stele flickered erratically, and the buzzing sound became intermittent.

The eerie movement shattered the last layer of golden energy.

A three-meter-tall black humanoid figure stepped into the Shen family's living room.

The breaths of everyone instantly turned into white mist.

Frost began to form on the living room floor from its feet, covering the entire hall within three seconds.

His scarlet eyes swept over everyone in the living room.

In the end, it was locked onto Shen Nianqing.

"hiss!"

Suddenly, it lunged at Shen Nianqing.

"Nianqing!"

Lin Ruolan screamed in agony.

"Don't hurt the young lady!"

Uncle Liu's roar.

Shen Nianqing did not back down.

At that speed, humans simply cannot react.

She instinctively raised her right hand to shield herself.

Everyone's pupils shrank to their limit at that moment.

That's too late.

No one could save her.

However, at this very moment...

On Shen Nianqing's left wrist.

The old, faded red rope suddenly lit up.