Early morning,

At 6:45, as the world was gradually waking up, the bright sunlight filtering down from the clouds, passing through the forests and the fields, seeping into dreams. It should have been an ordinary day.

At least until this moment.

Then, in the next moment, the sunlight remained, but unexpectedly, a large semitransparent shiny sphere appeared in the sky, looking more like a projection or a mirage.

But in reality, it was more clear than any mirage or projection.

A strange new world suddenly came into being.

Within a short period, whether in cities or the countryside, atop mountains or in the sea, even on the other hemisphere immersed in darkness, everyone could see this spectacle unaffected.

The appearance of this bright sphere contradicted all known rationality.

"Click, click!"

"Beep, beep!"

The streets were in chaos, with spectators eagerly snapping photos, taking selfies, and posting on various platforms. Within a minute, the event became trending.

It gradually turned into a nationwide frenzy.

Air of happiness was everywhere.

Those who were at this moment lazily sleeping, or those still in bed, whether awake or not, regardless of their position, as long as they were in contact with bed, instantaneously entered a bizarre yet smooth dream.''

In the dream, there was darkness, but it didn't induce fear. Instead, an aged voice slowly echoed, like a background sound.

"Alien demons are invading, Dao fire is withering. Within the three thousand worlds, the human race suffers a calamity.

"You are the last descendants of the human race in the three thousand worlds; alien demons will invade here in three hundred years and destroy everything."

"You can choose to do something, or you can choose to do nothing."

Accompanied by this old voice, suddenly a ghost-like light appeared in the pitch-dark background, followed by a second and third.

Soon, the light rapidly expanded, surprisingly enveloping three steles.

The style of the steles was intricate, peculiar, distinct, and they seemed to have words carved on them.

However, as the light grew brighter, many who originally believed they were just dreaming were horrified to discover, holy moly, when did so many people start appearing in my dream?

People screamed intermittently, some shouted about not panicking and how they controlled their dreams and everything was fake. They needed to wake up quickly. Oh shoot, I'm experiencing sleep paralysis...

Not panicking would have been bizarre.

Wei Cheng was also freaking out at this moment. It was not that he was cowardly, but rather because he was worried that he might be dead. As a thirty-year-old single salaryman who finally got a weekend off, he accidentally stayed up all night gaming.

A man's life is finite, seize the day to have fun. He had just gotten into bed and was about to fall asleep when this eerie event happened; his first reaction was that he had entered the bridge to the netherworld.

Especially when he wanted to move but couldn't, he felt completely defeated.

However, this state only lasted for a few seconds, because the light erupting from the three steles suddenly increased several folds, almost like the rising sun, silencing everyone including Wei Cheng in an instant. The light seemed to infuse a calming effect, making everyone feel warm and comfortable. It felt so pleasant that they could not help but want to sleep again. Everyone felt as if they were being reborn.

Unfortunately, the light only lasted three seconds before it returned to normal, revealing the main body of the three steles.

At this time, the elderly voice echoed again.

"These are three power-transfering steles etched with the martial arts mental methods. If you want to do something for the inevitable alien demon invasion in three hundred years, gaze upon these power-transfering steles for a moment and choose one. If you only want to seize the day to have fun or if you don't believe in this, then you can wake up now."

It is unknown if anyone believed it or not, but Wei Cheng certainly did not. However, he didn't want to quit either, thinking that if it really was a dream, waking up too early would be a waste, right?

Joining the crowd, who's afraid?

Like Wei Cheng, there were naturally many people with the same thinking, even though they were all half-hearted at the moment.

Now, as Wei Cheng concentrated his gaze on the first stele, the next moment, a lot of texts and images appeared on the originally blank stele. However, these texts and images were strange, they looked like tadpoles, continuously wiggling around.

But what was more surprising was, just like that, Wei Cheng could understand them.

At the very top were a few words probably meant for identification — "Alien demons invading, Dao fire withering. Three thousand worlds, human race in calamity. Etched inheritance, left for fate."

Then, it stated—

"Method of the Moving Mountain: Warrior Realm"

"[Practicing the Method of the Moving Mountain generates Moving Mountain Inner Strength. This inner strength is dominating and robust, manifesting within the entire body, it helps to fortify the defense of flesh, bones, tendons, and membranes. The downside is a lack of agility.]"

"[Compatible External Skills: Golden Bell Shield (80% Compatible), Iron Cloth Shirt (70% Compatible), Iron Head Skill (60% Compatible)]"

"[Friendly reminder: The Immortal Law is vast and profound, the Dao Fire mysterious, the law is not easily transmitted, this elderly man has done his best to accommodate your understanding.]"

——

"Eh?"

Wei Cheng suddenly found himself very amused.

He then lays his eyes on the second stele, and quickly reads its contents.

"[Method of the Agile Swallow: Warrior Realm]"

"[Practicing this mental method can generate the Spirit Swallow Inner Strength. This inner strength is extraordinarily agile, highly adept at borrowing forces to attack. Manifesting throughout the body, it can make the body as light as a swallow and evasive like lightning. The downside is a lack of power.]"

"[Compatible External Skills: Cloud Ladder Ascension (80% Compatible), Water Levitation (70% Compatible), Upper Flight (60% Compatible)]"

——

Upon finishing the second stele, Wei Cheng could already guess what the third stele was likely to be. It appears that I am genuinely dreaming; isn't this endless fighting, he thought.

I bet the third stele is the Healing Method.

"[Purple Cloud Method: Warrior Realm]"

"[Practising this mental method can generate the Purple Mist Inner Strength. This inner strength is protracted and long-lasting, suitable for both motion and stillness, gradually amassing to suddenly give off a strong impact. Manifesting throughout the body, it enhances visual and auditory senses, synchronizes hands and feet actions, stabilizes breath, inflicting heavy damage. The downside is the slow cultivation speed.]"

"[Compatible External Skills: Wandering Dragon Palm Method (80% Compatible), Eight Directions Sword Method (70% Compatible), Cape Stick Method (60% Compatible)]"

——

"It's not the Healing Method after all."

Wei Cheng was slightly taken aback, but it didn't matter. He had to choose amongst these three methods, categorized as defensive, agile, and offensive. How should he choose?

After a moment of thought, he decided to forgo the slow cultivation speed of the Purple Cloud Method and chose the first method on the stele - The Method of the Moving Mountain.

As for the Method of the Agile Swallow, sorry, as someone who had been overweight since childhood, he basically disregarded it.

As Wei Cheng made his decision, he still had a glimmer of hope that this was all a dream. But the moment his choice was made, the words and diagrams on the stele suddenly drilled into his brain. An overwhelming amount of information started pouring in. There was even a warm sensation that spontaneously formed, circulating around his body three times, and finally settling in the area below his navel. It was extraordinarily mysterious.

Wei Cheng had yet to fully absorb this sensation when, without any warning, he woke up. But instead of waking up on his bed, he found himself in a cave illuminated with dim light.

Looking at the rock walls and carvings around him, it seemed more like a mineshaft.

Startled for a few seconds, Wei Cheng suddenly pinched his thigh hard. The pain made him shiver and he was almost moved to tears. Yet, the stream of warmth in his lower abdomen circulated through his body fracturing his body mass by a tenth.

"Damn it!"

Wei Cheng shouted internally. So this was real. This is his Moving Mountain Inner Strength?

But what should he do next?

Was there a status panel?

A system application?

Where was the veteran warrior?

After all the confusion, Wei Cheng quickly calmed down. The truth was irrelevant at the moment. Adaptation was key.

"Three steles, three mental methods, whatever method I choose will determine my beginning."

"My chosen Method of the Moving Mountain can reduce damage and leans towards defense. While the stele recommends external skills, it does not provide them directly on the stele. So, these external skills, are they something I need to find myself, or do they drop from defeated enemies?"

While thinking, he closed his eyes and listened attentively to his surroundings. The area was very quiet. He could even hear his heartbeat.

This place looked like the end of a mineshaft, approximately three to five square meters in size, with some strange moss emitting a dim light. The air was rather fresh, so survival didn't seem to be a problem.

In terms of weapons, Wei Cheng's gaze fell on a corner of the mineshaft, where he found a set of coarse clothes, a pair of cloth shoes, a backpack containing a water bag, and two hard as rock vegetable patties. Besides that, there was a pickax.

Great. It looks like he was starting out as a miner.

(Author's request: Please support this novel as it's a new book by a new author. Your support motivates me to keep writing. Thank you so much!)