I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

[Linjiang City, Temporary Military Command Center (formerly the Municipal Party Committee Guesthouse)]

[Time: 09:00 AM]

The rain outside the window was pouring down harder and harder, as if the Milky Way had overflowed, shrouding the entire city of Linjiang in a gray-white curtain of rain. The floodwaters on the streets were already above ankle level, and the drainage system was operating at full capacity.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was extremely tense. The ashtrays were overflowing with cigarette butts, and the air was thick with anxiety and a sense of oppression.

On one side of the long table sat several key leaders of Linjiang City, each sitting upright with uneasy expressions.

On the other side were the core members of Bureau 749, and Academician Yang Dingbang, who hadn't slept all night and whose eyes were bloodshot.

"Smack."

Zhao Jianguo slammed a sealed brown paper bag heavily onto the table.

The paper bag was sealed with a dark red wax seal with the words "Top Secret-001·S-level" printed on it.

"Didn't everyone sign a confidentiality agreement?"

Zhao Jianguo's gaze swept across the room like a hawk's, his voice hoarse and deep, "If even a single word of what follows is leaked, it will be considered treason. This is not just to scare you, but to prevent the complete collapse of social order."

Everyone present involuntarily straightened their backs and began to breathe cautiously.

Zhao Jianguo tore open the seal, put on white gloves, and pulled out the yellowed documents inside.

"Have you thought that the Locked Dragon Well in Linjiang was an isolated case? But in fact, as early as half a month ago, in the uninhabited area of ​​Kunlun Mountain, we had already come into contact with the 'truth' of the world."

He first took out a worn-out notebook with a white, worn-out cover.

"This is the patrol log of Chen Guozhong, a forest ranger who has been guarding the mountains for forty years on the western slope of Kunlun Mountain. Old Chen is a veteran member of the Communist Party, a materialist, and has never lied in his life."

Zhao Jianguo turned to the last page of the diary and projected it onto the large screen. On it were hasty, trembling, yet powerfully written characters in fountain pen:

"October 24th, 3:15 PM." "I saw the mountain god appear on the west slope." "My dog, Heizi, fourteen years old, was paralyzed this morning, but this afternoon he was running, jumping, and chasing rabbits." "I also saw a large snow leopard, it didn't hurt anyone, it was bowing in that direction... its eyes looked like it was on a pilgrimage." "The air in these mountains has changed. My thirty-year-old rheumatism didn't hurt tonight." "This world is probably about to change."

The meeting room erupted in uproar.

"Rejuvenation?" A leader stared intently at the line of text on the document, his voice trembling. "This...this is a medical miracle?"

"If that's all there is to it, we can explain it as biological variation."

Zhao Jianguo coldly interrupted him.

He stopped arguing, reached into the file folder, pulled out the second document, and pushed it to the center of the table.

The cover was thick and marked "Top Secret." In the lower right corner was a dark red security seal, like dried blood.

"Don't treat it as a 'miracle'." Zhao Jianguo's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a block of iron hitting water. "Look at this."

He turned to the first page.

It was a standard internal field record, with entries, times, calculated data, action routes... The cold, hard text was arranged neatly like knives.

On the last page of the material, there was a piece of paper tucked inside.

The paper was thin, with wrinkled edges, as if it had been hastily torn from a notebook—a blurry yet suffocating outline was sketched on it with pencil lines.

It's not a photo.

It is a sketch.

"This is our special forces captain, Zhao Feng," Zhao Jianguo pointed to the sketch, his knuckles turning white, "He drew it from his last memory during the evacuation."

All eyes fell on it—

The sketch depicts a stone platform atop Kunlun Mountain. In the center sits a human-shaped, desiccated corpse, its back straight, its outline as stiff as a stone sculpture. Its posture is eerie yet solemn, as if it has been sitting there…waiting for far too long.

Zhao Jianguo spoke each word as if delivering a verdict:

"Carbon-14 dating indicates that this body is over 2,200 years old."

Someone in the conference room gasped.

"Judging from the clothing," Zhao Jianguo flipped through the records, his voice flat, "a right-fastening cross-collar, a wide robe with long sleeves—a standard robe of a Qin Dynasty alchemist."

He paused for a moment, his tone growing colder:

"He has maintained the 'five hearts facing the sky' sitting posture for two thousand years in an extremely cold place at an altitude of five thousand meters."

"The body did not decay."

"Their appearance is similar to that of a living person."

The leader who had just been talking about a "medical miracle" now moved his lips but couldn't utter a single word.

But that's not the worst part.

Zhao Jianguo pulled out another page and pushed it in front of everyone.

It was a written record of the scene, accompanied by a rubbing-style line drawing—rough and messy, yet chilling to the bone.

There are two lines of text on the stone wall.

It wasn't carved.

It was dug out with fingers—by force.

The strokes are jagged and uneven, like torn flesh. Each mark conveys an extreme pain and madness, as if the writer is using their life to fight against some irresistible command.

Every word is stained with blood, a truly shocking sight:

[The connection between heaven and earth has been severed, and all spiritual energy has been cut off.]

I will guard this gate and not enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Zhao Jianguo's fingertips hovered over the last four words, his voice sharp as a knife:

"This is not my last words."

"This is a declaration."

"Severing the connection between heaven and earth..." Upon seeing these four words, Academician Yang Dingbang's body trembled violently, and he almost collapsed into his chair. "Emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between humans and gods... So, this isn't mythology? This is history?!"

Zhao Jianguo took a deep breath, his gaze becoming incredibly profound:

"Two thousand years ago, this nameless sorcerer, suffering from 'the severing of spiritual energy,' chose to seal himself atop Kunlun Mountain, refusing reincarnation until his death." "Two thousand years later, the old forest ranger's dog has become young again, and the snow leopard kneels before the void." "Combined with last night's eruption at the 'Dragon-Locking Well' in Linjiang..."

Zhao Jianguo turned around and wrote two words heavily on the blackboard:

[Recovery]

"There is only one conclusion." "That severed era, that 'divine inspiration' that drove the Qin Dynasty alchemists to despair... has returned."

"The world is waking up."

Academician Yang Dingbang picked up the conversation, pushed up his thick glasses, and spoke with a mixture of fear and fervor for the unknown:

"From a physics perspective, the Earth's energy levels are shifting. High-energy particles known as 'spirit energy' are refilling our space. It's like... a sea that has receded for thousands of years is now rising again."

"Is a rising tide a good thing?" A city leader wiped the cold sweat from his brow and asked cautiously, "Does it mean the air quality will be better?"

"This is good for the fish in the sea."

Zhao Jianguo sneered, his eyes icy. "But for the ants living on the beach, it's a catastrophe."

"The things in the Dragon Locking Well are just the 'deep-sea monsters' swept up by the first wave. According to our model, as the concentration of spiritual energy increases, those things that are sleeping in famous mountains and rivers, in myths and legends, and even those 'demons' sealed in folk tales will awaken one by one."

The entire place was deathly silent, except for the rumbling thunder outside the window.

"Then... what should we do?" someone asked in a trembling voice. "Use a nuclear bomb? If it's a living thing, surely we can kill it?"

"madness."

Zhao Jianguo rebuked, "Let's not even talk about the consequences of using nuclear weapons in densely populated areas. In this entirely new field, our technological weapons are like poking a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a fire poker—you might hurt it, but you're finished too."

He took a deep breath, his gaze becoming profound.

What we need to do is find our 'kind'.

"similar?"

"Since mythology has been revived, then the 'humans' in mythology should still exist."

Zhao Jianguo tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table. "I don't believe that China's five thousand years of tradition is all a lie. Those Taoist grottoes, Buddhist temples, and reclusive masters in the folk... surely someone knows how to deal with these things."

"Pass down the order."

Zhao Jianguo suddenly stood up and issued the highest order.

"First, block the backwater bay of Linjiang, and no one is allowed to approach it. Claim to the public that it is a geological collapse caused by heavy rain."

"Second, launch the 'Torch Relay' plan. Have local security bureaus cooperate to search nationwide for all extraordinary individuals with 'real skills.' Even a blind fortune teller who's exceptionally accurate—find him completely!"

"third……"

He looked out the window at the rolling dark clouds, which were heading towards Huishui Bay.

"Prepare heavy weapons. If something really climbs up tonight, and we can't find a 'master' to help us..."

"Then we'll have to sacrifice lives. We must stop at nothing to prevent it from reaching the city!"

……

[The Gu family's old house, basement]

This place was originally used by the Gu family to store old things, but now Gu Qing has transformed it into his "behind-the-scenes prop room".

[System Prompt:]

The official world-building model for "Spiritual Awakening" has been initially established.

The distortion of reality has deepened further.

[Received a large amount of credibility feedback (values ​​have been folded).]

Gu Qing listened to the system's announcement and nodded in satisfaction.

"Director Zhao is a smart man; this saved me a lot of groundwork. The official 'imagination' is often more convincing than my own explanation."

At this moment, he was standing in front of a huge desk.

On the altar, there were no real magical artifacts, but rather a high-end ancient-style Hanfu (pure white, "In This Mountain" style) that Gu Qing had just bought from a local express delivery service, a one-to-one replica, and a rusty iron sword that he had found at the antique market.

"Although I have the 'Thunder Spirit Body', my current appearance is too modern."

Gu Qing glanced at his hoodie and casual pants. "If I'm going to appear as a 'Sword Immortal,' this outfit won't do. Prestige is the primary driving force."

"System, activate the [Creation] function."

Gu Qing's hand stroked the Hanfu, which, although made of good material, was still just an ordinary item.

"Consumes Faith Points".

"Enchantment: [Flowing Clouds - Impervious to Water and Fire]".

Effects: It gives clothes the properties of self-cleaning and dust-free, and creates a constant, subtle airflow effect at the corners of the garment, making it look ethereal and graceful at all times, and keeping it dry even in heavy rain.

Then, he placed his hand on the rusty iron sword.

"Consumes Faith Points".

"Refining: [Ordinary Iron - Illusion] -> [Purple Lightning and Green Frost]."

Effect: It was still an iron sword, but Gu Qing forcibly infused it with his lightning spiritual power, washing away the rust and coating its surface with a layer of flowing plasma. In the eyes of mortals, it was a divine weapon that could cut through iron like mud and was wrapped in lightning.

Finally, and most importantly.

Gu Qing looked at the "paper doll" standing in the corner.

At this moment, the paper figure is still a black-clad person without facial features. Although it has gained intelligence, it lacks "humanity".

"System, redeem [Painted Skin (High-Tier)]."

"Loading template: [Sword Immortal Li Changgeng]".

[Settings are as follows:]

Appearance: Around twenty-five years old, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, cold as ice. His face should bear a resemblance to Gu Qing, but more so to a world-weary and indifferent air.

Character Profile: A Qi cultivator from Kunlun Mountain, who has been in seclusion for sixty years and has now emerged into the world. He is aloof, taciturn, and sparing with words.

Strength: It can bear 30% of the original body's lightning spirit power and has independent combat instincts.

Following Gu Qing's will, a large amount of faith power transformed into light spots and surged into the paper figure's body.

sizzle...

The light dissipated.

A living, breathing "ancient person" stood before Gu Qing.

He was dressed in a snow-white robe, his black hair casually tied up with a hairpin that looked like a withered branch but actually contained the aura of lightning-struck wood, and he carried a long sword that flowed with purple lightning on his back. His skin had realistic texture and temperature, and his eyes revealed a sharp sword intent that made people afraid to look directly at him.

If Gu Qing hadn't been able to sense that slight mental connection, he himself would probably have thought that this was a time traveler.

"Who are you?" Gu Qing asked tentatively.

The man in white slowly raised his head, his voice clear and cold, like jade striking stone, devoid of any warmth or harshness.

"This humble Taoist priest is Li Changgeng."

"Slay demons and eliminate evil spirits."

"very good."

Gu Qing snapped his fingers. "Very stylish. Especially that aloofness that makes you seem like 'the whole world owes me money,' it perfectly matches people's fantasies about a master."

He walked up to "Li Changgeng" and straightened his collar.

"The stage tonight is at Huishui Bay."

"The officials have already set up cameras, and that so-called 'dragon' is about to lose its temper. It's your stepping stone."

"Go."

Gu Qing's eyes sparkled with the anticipation a director would have when watching the Best Actor take the stage.

"Let the world see what it means to have a sword that can chill nineteen provinces."

……

[10:00 PM that night, Linjiang Huishui Bay]

The rain poured down and the wind howled.

On the dark river, waves had already surged three meters high, crashing against the flood control embankment on the shore with a deafening roar.

The powerful searchlights of Bureau 749 illuminated the river surface as bright as day. On the bank, hundreds of heavily armed special police officers and soldiers stood ready, and the heavy machine guns of several armored vehicles were locked on the huge whirlpool in the middle of the river.

Everyone's nerves were on edge.

"Director Zhao! The instrument reading has broken 10,000!"

"It's coming out!!" the researcher in charge of monitoring screamed, his voice distorted with fear.

Boom!

A deafening roar.

The river water burst open, like a volcanic eruption.

A huge black shadow, more than ten meters long, carrying foul-smelling silt and aquatic plants, burst out of the water with a suffocating and terrifying pressure!

That wasn't a dragon, but a gigantic python that had mutated to the extreme, with fleshy "horns" growing from its head, its scales gleaming with a cold, metallic light under the searchlight. It opened its blood-red maw and let out a roar that could shatter glass towards the shore.

"Fire!!!"

Gunfire instantly tore through the night sky.

The dense barrage of bullets struck the monster's scales, sending up a series of sparks, but they couldn't penetrate them at all!

"Damn it! Its defense is too high!"

"RPG! Use the rocket launcher!"

However, amidst the dense net of fire and the monster's roar...

Suddenly, someone pointed to the sky in terror, their voice trembling:

"Look! What...what's that?!"

In the instant lightning ripped through the night sky.

Everyone saw a figure dressed in pure white amidst the rolling dark clouds and raging waves.

He stood on a reed that drifted with the current (actually a piece of driftwood specially made by Gu Qing), carried a long sword on his back, and walked upstream against the current as if walking on flat ground amidst the raging waves.

He ignored the hail of bullets, the terrifying monster, and the hundreds of dumbfounded modern soldiers on the shore.

He simply raised his hand and grasped the hilt of the sword behind his back.

"Noisy."

A clear, cold whisper, strangely drowning out the thunder, clearly penetrated into everyone's ears.