Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

Under the vast sky, after ten days of hiding, beneath the starry sky, the wind swept the twilight across the village entrance, and two groups of people faced each other from afar, separated by that familiar large blue stone.

Ning Che's gaze fell on the smooth surface of the bluestone, a sense of bewilderment passing through his mind. Just yesterday, he had been sitting here alone in meditation, refining the moonlight, but today he had to feign compliance with the mountain guardian. If he made a mistake, he might endanger the entire village.

In the shadow of the backlit bluestone, stood the three mountain guardians. The man with the pointed beak at the head of the group had his hand on the sword at his waist, while the fat woman and the tall man stood on either side of him. The three men were tense, seemingly arrogant, but they were far away, stopping seven or eight steps in front of them.

At this distance, Ning Che could no longer see their eyes clearly, but he could still read the undisguised tension on the fat woman's face.

On the other side of the bluestone, the four people from Shizhu Village stood side by side. In the very center was Shigu, with Shiying and Shiyong standing on either side, and Ning Che beside Shiyong. Chengcai had also arrived, standing about two steps behind Shigu, following him with small, quick steps, like a young bride about to be married.

The arrogance that had been previously suppressed seemed to have been completely restored. Seeing the group approach, the pointed-mouthed man raised his chin even higher, adopting the haughty tone of a government official, and drawled, "Since you're here, tell us. What exactly is the agreement for your cooperation with us?"

Shi Gu remained calm and spoke frankly: "If you return all the misappropriated Rejuvenation Talismans, we will find you a complete demon bone, or a finished magic artifact made from a demon bone."

Before the words were even finished, the fat woman exploded in a shrill voice, her triangular eyes widening in disbelief: "Impossible! That's a seventh-grade Rejuvenation Talisman, worth tens of thousands per talisman. And with the impending doom, even with real gold and silver, you might not be able to find one in the entire city. You think you can just replace it like that?"

Ning Che immediately sneered, "Is the value of a demon bone lower? A complete demon bone magic artifact is worth at least two or three hundred thousand coins on the market. You've made a clean profit on this deal, what more could you want?"

The sharp-mouthed man waved his hand, directly rejecting the offer: "No, change the terms. The Rejuvenation Talismans are distributed by the Witch God Tower in fixed quantities, and every single one is recorded clearly in the ledgers. Where would we get any extras? Besides, the calamity will arrive in seven days. At this critical juncture, who would be willing to take out their life-saving talismans to sell?"

Shi Gu lowered his eyes, and after a long while, he sighed heavily, looking as if he had been forced into a corner and had no choice but to back down. He slowly said, "Fine. Since that's the case, we'll concede again. You don't need to do anything else; just help our Stone Pillar Village defend against the beast tide and protect the village. This is your duty as mountain guardians, so it's not asking too much of you, is it?"

The man with the pointed beak thought for a moment and said, "Then you have to give me a guarantee."

"Why don't you give us a guarantee?" Shi Ying retorted.

The man with the pointed mouth was momentarily speechless. He was already wary of this shaman from the Shi family, not to mention that Ning Che was an anomaly. He didn't really want to fight, feeling that his chances of winning were slim, and there was a real risk of being killed.

But not getting anything in return was as painful as death for him. He stubbornly insisted, "Since you've mentioned magical artifacts, you must have some, right? Leave them with us as collateral, and we'll do our best to protect your village."

"Don't even think about it!" Shi Ying immediately rebuked, "Without this, my speed in casting spells will be greatly reduced. How can I fight against the beast tide? Unless, of course, you are willing to stand at the front when the time comes."

The man with the pointed beak rolled his eyes, clearly wanting to say more. Seeing this, Shi Gu immediately added, "If you refuse, then there's no point in discussing this further; let's just start fighting right here."

The fat woman was about to lash out again when the sharp-tongued man glared at her, saying, "That's settled then. But whatever spoils we get up ahead, they're all ours!"

"Alright," Shi Gu agreed readily, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger. "But let me make this clear from the start: according to the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty, it is your duty to defend the land and protect against demons. Desertion in the face of battle is punishable by death. Neither the Witch God Tower nor the Mountain Guardians will tolerate such a thing."

The man with the pointed beak sensed something was amiss when Shi Gu readily agreed. He frowned, but there was no time to back out now, so he had to steel himself and say, "Nonsense! We are officials of the imperial court; how can we desert our posts? This matter is settled!"

Shi Ying had already brought the ritual implement—a drumstick covered in densely packed, colorful patterns. The man with the pointed beak took the drumstick, snorted coldly, and led the tall man and the fat woman back.

Shi Gu watched their retreating figures until they were completely out of sight, then sighed heavily and turned to Ning Che: "Xing boy, do you think your plan will work?"

"I wouldn't dare say it's perfect," Ning Che said calmly. "If it doesn't work, I'll take matters into my own hands."

Upon hearing this, Shi Yong immediately clenched his fists: "How could I let a junior like you do this..."

Ishigani interrupted, "Alright, let's take it one step at a time. I'm going back now."

After speaking, the old man staggered towards the mansion, and Cheng Cai trotted after him to help him up. Then, the three said their goodbyes; Shi Yong and Shi Ying went their separate ways, while Ning Che, having gone in circles, returned to this place.

He looked up and saw that the moon was already full.

The moon in this world also has its phases, but unfortunately, this full moon doesn't seem to help with refining moonlight.

After several days of experimentation, Ning Che discovered a somewhat counterintuitive fact: regardless of the moon phase or the intensity of the moonlight, it had little impact on refining moon essence. On the contrary, if the moonlight was partially obscured by clouds, the efficiency of refining moon essence would decrease significantly.

When I reach a high level of cultivation and become a "Talented Person," I will definitely fly to the clouds to cultivate!

Ning Che, whose moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, secretly made a resolution.

The next few days were uneventful. Ning Che repeated the routine of going home, eating porridge, sleeping, waking up to practice archery under the tutelage of an old hunter named Fugui, then studying the "Soldier's Fist" manual until dark, when he would go out to bask in the moonlight.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. In the last two days, in order to master the fist before the calamity, he neglected his training twice, practicing under the moonlight, and finally, on this morning, he entered the gate of the art.

The boxing style consists of eight forms, each with corresponding stance training and breathing techniques. After seven days of practice, I've indeed made some progress. I can feel how the stance trains my muscles, and how my breathing regulates their power generation, allowing me to deliver the punch in the state most in line with the requirements of the boxing style.

Simply put, it allows Ning Che to execute each punch perfectly, even to the point of exceeding his normal limits. Moreover, once the punches are executed consecutively, their power increases exponentially. Only now has Ning Che been able to execute all eight moves completely.

Body metamorphosis...

He seemed to be deep in thought, and then stopped his stance.

Just then, the light suddenly dimmed.

All the cultivators in the world, including Ning Che, seemed to sense something and looked up.

In the east, the once bright and clear blue sky suddenly sprouted millions of blackish-green patches, as if it had gone moldy. These patches rapidly enlarged, engulfing the entire sphere of light in just a few seconds before disappearing from his sight.

The calamity of decay has befallen us.