Chapter 12: Chapter 11: The Approach of Calamity

The night passed quickly, and Zhang Chen woke up feeling refreshed.

The previous night, he hadn’t had the chance to check the books inside his storage pouch, but there was still time for that.

Once he finished his job, he could move to the city, where the dangers surrounding him would be significantly lessened. After all, they weren’t living here by choice.

"Who knows, maybe Shen Jie could..." he said, before abruptly stopping, realizing what he was about to say. With a dry cough, he pulled himself together and returned his focus to what he was doing.

He splashed some water on his face and got ready to make breakfast.

Almost an hour later, he headed to Shen Jie’s house. When he arrived, he saw her already waiting at the door.

After a brief greeting, the two of them prepared to depart. However, before they could set off, an old man appeared, calling out to him.

“Boy Chen, wait a moment, I need to talk to you,” the old man said as he approached, his expression full of confidence.

Turning around, Zhang Chen recognized who was coming. With cupped hands, he replied, “Mr. Ye, is there something you need?”

“Hoho, it’s nothing serious. I heard you became a cultivator, and you must be just as lost as my grandson was back then. Knowing how hard things are around here, he agreed to offer you some advice,” the old man said with a proud look, as if he was certain Zhang Chen would gratefully accept the help.

Zhang Chen looked at the old man, but couldn’t read his thoughts.

However, he did remember Ye Jia. Sometimes, when he came by with Shen Jie, the old man would greet him and even offer a few pieces of advice.

Observing the pride in the man’s voice as he spoke of his grandson, Zhang Chen realized there was a mixture of boasting and kindness in his words.

Still smiling, he replied, “I thank Mister Jia for the offer, but I wouldn’t want to take up your grandson’s precious time. If you’ll excuse me.” Without waiting for a reply, he made a farewell gesture with cupped hands and walked away.

Ye Jia stood there, a sour expression spreading across his face.

“Hmph, what’s there to be so proud of? It’s not like he’s the only one to become a cultivator. He’ll learn soon enough that the world of cultivators isn’t all sunshine and flowers,” the old man muttered, snorting as he turned and walked away.

As they walked, Shen Jie glanced at Zhang Chen’s satisfied expression. With a faint smile, she asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to accept advice from Elder Ye’s grandson? He could help you find a few shortcuts in this world.”

“Hmm? That won’t be necessary. Besides, I’d owe him a favor, and what I already owe you is more than enough,” Zhang Chen replied, looking ahead as the sunlight illuminated his face.

“Really? Either way, you should go to the city. Nothing beats seeing the world with your own eyes.”

“Shen Jie... have you already...” He hesitated, then finished, “I think I should do that.”

Shen Jie had suggested he go to the city and walked ahead. Hearing her words made Zhang Chen feel slightly off.

She always seemed to know too much. He even thought about asking her about it, but at the last moment, he changed the question to something else. Maybe it was a secret of hers, and for now, he thought it best not to pry.

The days passed without any major events, and in the blink of an eye, ten days had gone by.

Zhang Chen had received his second payment of the month, and before heading to the city, he decided to check the pile of books inside his storage pouch.

Many of the books contained exactly what he needed at that moment—knowledge. However, not all of them were deep; most simply provided the basics so he wouldn’t be completely lost.

He picked one as an example—the one that discussed what he liked to call “talent,” though in this world, it was known as a spiritual root.

The human body, by nature, was insignificant before the heavens. Since ancient times, there had been human warriors, the most powerful beings, until the birth of the first blessed one—a person with a spiritual root that allowed them to manipulate spiritual energy.

Spiritual roots were directly tied to the elements. For instance, someone with a fire spiritual root would find it easier to manipulate fire than water.

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Although it wasn’t impossible to use other elements, doing so was strongly discouraged.

Spiritual roots covered all elements, from the five classical ones to more complex types, such as space, darkness, light, wind, and thunder.

Besides elemental affinity, the most important factor was the quality of the root.

A simple example: within a fifty-meter radius, the ability to absorb spiritual energy depended greatly on the cultivator’s spiritual root.

The cultivator’s awareness and mastery of their technique also played a key role. There were even things said about the body and heavenly wills, but that was still far beyond Zhang Chen’s current level.

Spiritual roots were categorized by quality: low, medium, high, earth-grade, and heaven-grade.

The book also provided simplified explanations about the various cultivator arts, such as Alchemy, Weapon Forging, Talisman Crafting, Formation, and even spiritual plant cultivation. This last one particularly caught Zhang Chen’s interest.

Of course, there were many other lesser-known arts as well.

In addition to the books, there were also several tubes in the storage pouch that Zhang Chen couldn’t identify. After all, he was still getting through the contents of the book [Understanding the World of Cultivators].

However, there was one thing Zhang Chen had been focusing on over the past few days. Inside the pouch, there was a book about spells, which caught his attention almost immediately.

The book didn’t teach how to cast them, though—it only mentioned that spells were one of the many ways to manipulate spiritual energy.

Still, it described a few basic spells, known as the first ones any casual cultivator should master.

These spells were: Wind Step, Fire Control, Energy Shield, Earth Spike, Golden Finger, and Impurity-Free Body.

These six spells covered several essential areas for survival.

Back home, Zhang Chen stored everything away and returned to bed. He sat cross-legged and began refining the spiritual energy from the rice.

Unfortunately, the amount was so small that even after ten days, it seemed like he hadn’t made much progress at all.

Everything that had appeared to him some time ago had vanished—the panel never showed up again, and even when he shouted its name, nothing changed.

The star, which once caused such a stir, now seemed as distant as it was unreachable. He didn’t even know what to think to summon it, and shouting "star" didn’t help much.

With a heavy sigh, he lay down, staring at the ceiling, the room dark. Moonlight shone through the hole in the roof.

“Tomorrow… tomorrow will be a better day, I’m sure of it,” he murmured, deep thoughts reflected in his eyes.

All the houses had been shrouded in darkness for hours, and Zhang Chen’s home was no exception.

He was just beginning to drift into a light sleep when, suddenly, a thunderous sound echoed in the distance.

BOOM! BOOM!

Moments later, desperate screams for help tore through the night’s stillness. With a jolt, Zhang Chen ran to the kitchen and grabbed the machete—the only weapon he owned.

“Monsters! Monsters are invading, help!”

“Someone, please! Call the supervisors! No, don’t come here, help me!”

The screams came from every direction—some voices close, others far away.

Zhang Chen’s heart pounded wildly, his breath became erratic, and his mind was flooded with chaotic thoughts.

His hand, clutching the machete, began to tremble. His body grew more and more paralyzed as agonized screams reached his ears.

Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a house collapsing nearby—but there were no other sounds from that direction, as if everyone there had already perished.

“Zhang Chen! You’re a cultivator! Why aren’t you out here helping us? Argh!!”

The voice, filled with anguish and fury, seemed to belong to someone he knew. But before he could react, its owner was attacked by something.

That made Zhang Chen realize the monster was far closer than he had thought.

His breathing became even more ragged, and he swore he could hear the heavy, deep breathing of the creature.

“No, I can’t just stay here! Who am I? The youngest billionaire! How can I hide in a house? Besides... I need to check on Jie’er. That’s right—I have to go!” he muttered to himself, trying to summon his courage. Forcing himself to steady his breath, he felt a little calmer.

Just as he made up his mind, a roar echoed through the night—clearly not human, and it sounded like it had been injured.

Zhang Chen moved closer to the door, trying to hear what had happened. But as soon as he did...

Knock! Knock!

...

A few minutes before the chaos erupted, Shen Jie had said goodbye to Zhang Chen and returned home.

There, she fetched a quality basin, filled it with water, and began to warm it. A few minutes later, she came out of the third room with her hair slightly damp.

Preparing dinner, she put rice on the fire and began peeling some vegetables.

After finishing her meal, Shen Jie was about to head to her room when she suddenly felt something strange—something in her core urging her to leave the house.

She paused for a moment, thought about it, then turned around and stepped outside. With some effort, she climbed onto the roof. Sitting there, she looked around, feeling like this was exactly where she needed to be.

“What’s going on…?” she murmured, furrowing her brow. The streets were empty, and from her elevated position, she could see the road she walked down every day.

She sat cross-legged and stared at the moon. At that moment, it felt as if she were waiting for something. The moon seemed to grow larger in her eyes.

No one knew how much time passed, but at some point, Shen Jie sensed something in her mind and turned her gaze southward—something had drawn her attention.

Her gaze pierced through the distance and landed on two figures running while carrying a sack that squirmed wildly.

The figures ran awkwardly, as if fleeing for their lives.

As soon as they reached the edge of the houses, they threw the sack down and ran in the opposite direction, drawing closer and closer to Shen Jie’s home.

Since her house was close to the road, Shen Jie had an unobstructed view. With no alleys to block her line of sight, she immediately felt a bad premonition about that sack.

Just as she had the thought, several four-legged figures emerged from the forest.

They crossed the stream, carefully avoiding the fields—as if they sensed danger there.

As the creatures approached the houses, Shen Jie finally recognized what they were. Her eyes widened in shock.

“Night Wolves… How is this possible? Those two!!”

Her mind quickly connected the dots, and the direction the two figures had fled—heading west—only confirmed her suspicions.

She looked at the moon once more. The hesitation in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by determination.

“There’s no other choice!”