I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

The capital city, the headquarters command center of Bureau 749.

Two o'clock in the morning.

At this hour when most people are already asleep, the command center is brightly lit, alarms are blaring, and telephones are ringing incessantly.

On the large screen, the map symbolizing the nationwide paranormal surveillance was flashing a chilling red light.

"Chief! Urgent call from the Northwest Branch! A 'Tai Sui' (a rare fungus) has been unearthed at a construction site in Lanzhou, causing mass hallucinations among the workers, and conventional sedatives are ineffective!"

"Chief! Southwest Branch reports! A zombie attack has occurred on the outskirts of Chengdu. All three of the Special Operations Team's peach wood swords have broken. Requesting backup!"

"Over in the Northeast..."

Lu Zhiming, the deputy director, stood in front of the huge command screen, holding a cup of strong tea that had gone cold, his brows furrowed into a deep frown. His eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating that he had been working through the night for several consecutive nights.

Since Kunlun appeared six months ago, the process of spiritual energy revival has been accelerated. What were once occasional folk tales are now erupting across the country in an explosive manner.

Although the 749th Division has expanded its recruitment and upgraded its equipment, it still seems to be struggling to cope with the endless stream of bizarre events.

"Chief, things aren't going to hold out in Xi'an."

A communications officer, pale-faced, took off his headset and reported to his superior, "The Third Special Operations Team is trapped in an unfinished building in the northern suburbs. That 'thing'... isn't afraid of black dog blood, nor is it afraid of stun guns. The captain said that if they don't receive heavy firepower support, they'll have to request indiscriminate bombing."

Indiscriminate bombing?

On the outskirts of the city?

Lu Zhiming's hand trembled slightly, splashing tea onto the back of his hand. Once heavy weapons were used, this matter would be impossible to conceal, and public panic would spread like a plague.

"Don't blow it up!"

Lu Zhiming slammed his hand on the table. "Contact the nearby armed police force and send two more helicopters! Also, ask Master Zhang from Longhu Mountain..."

"Master Zhang was injured last week while dealing with a vengeful ghost and is still in the ICU," the correspondent whispered.

Lu Zhiming slumped into his chair in despair.

despair.

A profound sense of powerlessness enveloped the entire command center. The power of mortals, in the face of true mystery, is ultimately too fragile.

Just then, the communications officer suddenly froze. He stared at the alarm point in Xi'an on the screen, which had been a dark red, and it had suddenly turned an eerie...green?

"The...Chief?"

"What's wrong now?"

"The alert in Xi'an... has been lifted."

"What?" Lu Zhiming looked up abruptly. "The third squad broke through?"

"No...no." The communications officer swallowed hard and pulled up a clip of footage from the body camera that had just been transmitted from the scene. "It was...a passerby who happened to be passing by and took care of it."

"A passerby?!"

Lu Zhiming's eyes widened. What kind of random passerby could casually deal with a D-level evil spirit that even the special operations team couldn't handle?

……

Five minutes ago, in the northern suburbs of Xi'an, at an unfinished construction site.

A chilling wind blew, accompanied by the wailing of ghosts and wolves.

This unfinished building has been abandoned for three years because the developer absconded. It is said that an ancient tomb lies beneath the foundation, and recently, due to the resurgence of spiritual energy, the yin energy within has been unable to be suppressed.

"Da da da—"

Several agents from Bureau 749, dressed in black combat uniforms, were hiding behind concrete pillars, firing wildly with their specially made stun guns and rifles loaded with cinnabar bullets.

But when those bullets hit the dark figure floating in mid-air, it was like throwing mud into the sea; they only stirred up wisps of black mist but couldn't cause any real damage.

The dark figure let out a piercing shriek and lunged at the wounded and fallen captain.

"team leader!"

The team members screamed in despair.

Just as the ghostly claw was about to touch the captain's throat...

"Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows their power!"

A clear, loud shout suddenly came from above.

Immediately afterwards, a dazzling flash of fire fell like a meteorite, slamming hard into the dark figure.

"boom--"

It was a burning talisman, containing extremely powerful and yang spiritual energy. The dark figure didn't even have time to scream before it was instantly blasted into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated into the air.

The special operations team members were all dumbfounded.

They looked up blankly and saw a young man wearing a blue Taoist robe and carrying a backpack squatting on the crossbeam on the third floor.

The young man, with half a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) dangling from his mouth and his phone in his hand, took a picture of the dissipating plume of black smoke below.

"Is this what they call a 'Yellow-level Demon'?"

The young man—Zhang Kai, who had accepted the mission in the car earlier—muttered with a hint of disappointment, "His foundation isn't even stable. I thought I could practice a few more moves."

He leaped lightly from the third floor, his movements as graceful as a feather, and landed steadily in front of the stunned special operations captain.

"You are..." The captain clutched his bleeding arm, his face filled with shock.

"Kunlun University, Zhang Kai."

Zhang Kai politely cupped his hands in greeting, then took out his phone, opened the specially designed app, and scanned the residual yin energy fluctuations in the air.

"Excuse me, officer. I need to collect the spiritual wave frequency left after the evil spirit dissipated as proof of mission completion, otherwise I won't be able to exchange it for contribution points when I return to the sect."

A streak of light flashed across the phone screen, displaying the message: "[Spirit Wave Collection Completed, Yellow-Rank Mission Archived]".

Zhang Kai breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the group of agents who were still in a daze: "Gentlemen, the foul air in this place has dissipated. I'll have to trouble you with the remaining cleanup. I sensed a lingering, gloomy aura coming from the direction of the clock tower; I need to go check it out."

After saying that, Zhang Kai didn't wait for their response, took out a talisman and slapped it on his leg.

"Whoosh—"

The figure flashed and disappeared into the night, leaving behind only dumbfounded agents and the faint smell of roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) in the air.

……

The capital city, the command center.

Lu Zhiming stared intently at the image on the big screen.

Not just Xi'an.

Within just half an hour, the map, which was originally entirely red, began to show large patches of green.

"Report! In Lanzhou...it's resolved! A passing Taoist priest shattered the spirit of the Tai Sui with a single punch and is negotiating with the local police, saying that the thing is an ingredient for alchemy and he wants to take it away..."

"Report! The situation in Rongcheng has been resolved as well! Someone saw a sword light descend from the sky, instantly decapitating those zombies..."

"Report! Guangzhou..."

The communicator's voice went from initial fear to numbness, and finally even carried a hint of unbelievable excitement.

"Chief, it's a student from Kunlun! A student from that university has come down the mountain!"

Lu Zhiming took a deep breath, and his tense nerves suddenly relaxed. He leaned back in his chair as if his bones had been removed.

He watched the rapidly moving green dots on the screen as if he were watching a savior army descending from the sky.

"Principal Gu..."

Lu Zhiming shook his head with a wry smile, picked up the cup of cold tea, and drank it all in one gulp. "Are you trying to provoke me?"

"No, you're telling me that times have changed."

In the past, dealing with paranormal events was a state secret and a difficult task that required paying a heavy price.

But now, in the eyes of these cultivators, this is a... trial?

"Chief, what do we do next?" the deputy asked. "These students didn't report their actions, and their methods were rather... brutal."

"Report your hunting routes? Do you expect a group of tigers to report their hunting routes to rabbits?"

Lu Zhiming slammed his teacup on the table, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Didn't you see? This is a great gift from Kunlun! It's also a real-world training exercise for these students!"

"Pass on my orders!"

Lu Zhiming stood up, reverting to his usual decisive and efficient manner:

"Notify all branch offices to fully cooperate with the Kunlun student operation!"

"They're in charge of 'exorcising the demons,' we're in charge of 'cleaning up the mess'!"

"Also, compile all the unsolved and unresolved cases from various regions that we are unable to handle, and inform the Kunlun students operating in the corresponding areas!"

"Since they need experience, let them fight to their hearts' content!"

That night was a night of mixed emotions for the agents of Bureau 749.

On the one hand, they finally didn't have to risk their lives to fill that bottomless pit;

On the other hand, looking at those young people who could fly and disappear into the sky and regarded demons as nothing, they felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.

Can ordinary police officers control this group of "immortal cultivators"?