After the internet was disconnected, I connected to the magic world.

The martial arts training ground on the back mountain of Qingyun Sect.

The fist whistled, exploding with a pale white shockwave.

Zhao Hao leaped five or six meters into the air, and in mid-air, he threw a punch. His condensed internal force traveled more than ten meters from his body and slammed hard into the stone wall opposite him.

"Bang!"

After a muffled thud, a shallow crater appeared in the hard bluestone wall, and gravel fell down in a flurry.

After landing, the boy clapped his hands, looking smug: "How about that? Post-natal mastery!"

"With internal energy projected over ten meters and a leap of five or six meters in a single bound, wouldn't that make him a grandmaster in martial arts novels?"

The old Taoist priest Xuanqing flicked his whisk, and several strands of internal energy, as thin as hair, floated out along the whisk.

The arrow struck three fallen leaves three steps away with pinpoint accuracy, shattering them instantly; the force was perfectly controlled.

"Don't be arrogant. I'm only in the late stage of acquired cultivation; I'm still far from being innate."

Although his words were simple, there was a hint of satisfaction in the old Taoist's eyes.

In reality, he practiced breathing exercises his whole life, but it only improved his health; he couldn't even feel the qi.

He's only been in Kyushu for a short time, yet he's already broken through to the late stage of the Acquired Realm, able to control his internal energy at will—something he never dared to dream of before.

Shi Mingyuan stood beside the stone table and gently pressed down with one palm.

The stone table remained motionless, but several fine cracks silently appeared in the blue bricks beneath it.

The three of them broke through to the late stage of the Acquired Realm, making them the undisputed top tier among this group of players.

Zhang Lei and Zhou Ming stood under the corridor, looking at the three people on the training ground with envy in their eyes.

"We're still a long way off." Zhang Lei flexed his wrists.

"I'm only at the mid-stage of the acquired realm. My internal energy can only travel four or five meters away from my body, and my lightness skill can only jump two meters high. Compared to them, I'm a level below."

Zhou Ming pushed up his glasses and nodded, saying, "That's normal. The three of them are naturally good. The old Taoist and the monk have practiced breathing exercises for decades, so their energy and blood are abundant."

Although Zhao Hao is young, he has a high level of concentration, which makes him cultivate faster.

For two ordinary people like us, reaching the mid-stage of the day after tomorrow within half a month is already considered fast.

The five people were chatting when they heard hurried footsteps in the distance.

Master Qingyun strode over, his face grave, his usual composure nowhere to be seen.

"The five elders have been in trouble."

Xuanqing put away his whisk, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Sect Leader, what's the matter that you're in such a panic?"

"There's a village called Li Family Village at the foot of the mountain. It was attacked by a monster last night," Master Qingyun said in a deep voice.

"It killed three oxen and injured two villagers."

The village chief went up the mountain before dawn to ask for help, saying that the beast had bluish-gray fur and was incredibly fast; ordinary hunters couldn't stop it at all.

"A demonic beast?"

The five of them were all stunned.

They had been in Kyushu for almost twenty days, traversing the mountains and forests surrounding the Qingyun Sect. They had seen wild rabbits and pheasants, as well as wild wolves and wild boars, but had never heard of any demonic beasts.

"How could demonic beasts suddenly appear?" Zhao Hao asked curiously. "Sect Leader, were there demonic beasts here before?"

Master Qingyun sighed and stroked his beard, saying, "It's recorded in ancient books."

In ancient times, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was abundant, and many monsters and spirits roamed the mountains and marshes. They possessed immense strength and could breathe strange fire and wind blades, making them no match for ordinary martial artists.

Later, as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth declined, demonic beasts gradually disappeared, and the sects treated them merely as legends.

He paused, looked at the five people, and spoke with a certainty in his tone:

"In my opinion, it is most likely that an extraordinary person has descended into the world, causing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to revive, and these dormant ancient species have come back to life."

The spiritual energy has been restored.

The four words made the five people exchange glances, and they all saw ripples in each other's eyes.

The world is indeed changing.

"Perfect timing, let's go down the mountain and take a look." Zhao Hao rubbed his hands together, looking excited.

"I've been practicing kung fu for so long, but I've never had a proper fight. This is a good opportunity to test my skills."

Xuanqing nodded: "Since we've run into this, we can't just ignore it."

The villagers down the mountain are just ordinary people; they can't stop the monsters. It would be good for us to go and find out what's going on."

The five of them hit it off immediately, went back to the house to get weapons and medicine, and then turned around and headed down the mountain.

Master Qingyun watched their retreating figures, stroking his beard and nodding slightly.

Although the extraordinary individuals have different personalities, they are not cold-blooded. With them around, the area around the Qingyun Sect can be relatively peaceful.

Half an hour later, the five of them had reached the edge of the dense forest at the foot of the mountain.

They hadn't gone far into the woods when the bushes suddenly rustled, and three bluish-gray shadows darted out, forming a triangle around them.

They were three wolves, each a size larger than an ordinary wild wolf. Their fur shimmered with a faint bluish light, their claws and teeth were snow-white and sharp, their beastly eyes gleamed with a cold light, and their bodies were surrounded by faint fluctuations of spiritual energy.

Almost simultaneously, notifications popped up on the panels of all five players:

[Azure Wind Wolf, Early Stage 1 Monster]

[Description: Swift in speed, its claws and teeth are imbued with sharp spiritual energy, equivalent to a human early-stage martial artist.]

"It really is a demonic beast!" Zhao Hao's eyes lit up. "Early stage of the first tier, perfect for me to practice on!"

Before the words were even finished, the lead Green Wind Wolf pounced, its mouth wide open, sending a stench of blood rushing towards them.

Zhao Hao neither dodged nor evaded, but clenched his right fist, his fist blade enveloped in pale white internal energy, and blasted it out head-on.

"Bang!"

The fist and the wolf collided. The Green Wind Wolf let out a mournful howl, as if it had been hit by a truck. It flew three or four meters away, crashed to the ground, twitched a couple of times, and then lay still.

One punch kills.

In the late-stage of the acquired realm, it's an absolute crushing defeat against the early-stage.

The remaining two Azure Wind Wolves hesitated for a moment, then pounced on Zhang Lei and Zhou Ming from the left and right sides.

With a slight movement of his feet and a gentle flick of his sleeve, Shi Mingyuan unleashed two streams of condensed internal energy, striking the two wolves precisely in the waist.

With two sharp cracks, the two wolves howled as they fell to the ground, their spines broken.

In just three seconds, all three first-tier demonic beasts were killed.

It was at this moment that Song Xian emerged from the nearby woods.

He carried a medicine basket on his back and wore a gray cloth short jacket, typical of a handyman disciple of the Qingfeng Sect. He had originally accepted a task to collect herbs in the mountains, but came over to check after hearing the commotion.

At a glance, he saw the wolf carcass on the ground, and five richly dressed people standing in the middle.

The guest elder robes were only worn by the first batch of extraordinary elders in the Qingyun Sect.

Song Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stepped forward, cupping his hands in a respectful manner:

"Are you seniors also here to investigate the demonic beast? I am Song Xian, a menial disciple of the Qingfeng Sect."

Zhao Hao glanced at him, saw that he was a new handyman, waved his hand, and casually said:

"Yes, the monster has been dealt with. You should go back to the village and stay there. The mountains are not safe; they are not a place for you."

His tone carried the casualness of a senior player, completely disregarding an ordinary menial player.

Song Xian smiled bitterly to himself.

He knew that as an ordinary player, he had no chance of connecting with these pioneers.

He looked around, took half a step forward, lowered his voice, and spoke very quickly:

"Gentlemen, I'm not an ordinary player. I'm from the Special Affairs Division of the Ministry of State Security, a real public official. I'd like to have a chat with you, no ill intentions intended."

Upon hearing this, the five people immediately stopped in their tracks.

Xuan Qing turned around, her sharp gaze landing on him with a scrutinizing tone:

"Official personnel? Where are their credentials?"

Song Xian shrugged and said helplessly, "This is Kyushu, and I can't produce any real-world identification."

But think about it, what benefit would it bring me, a lowly laborer, to make up such a lie?

The above was simply an attempt to reach out to those who have already gone before, to understand the situation, and to see if there are any possibilities for cooperation.

Zhou Ming pushed up his glasses, leaned close to Xuan Qing, and whispered:

"It's only a matter of time before the authorities come knocking. It's good to bring him along to get a feel for him. He's only at the Inner Breath Realm; he can't cause any trouble."

Xuan Qing pondered for two seconds, then nodded and looked at Song Xian:

"Alright, you can come with us. Stay close when we go into the mountains, because if a fight breaks out, we might not be able to take care of you."

Song Xian breathed a sigh of relief, quickly thanked them, and followed behind the group.

He subtly scanned the faces of the five people, memorizing each person's appearance and features.

Profiling, screening, and winning over.

This was the core objective of his engagement.