In the Cang Xuan Realm, the Changsheng Temple lay in ruins. The once majestic Taoist temple no longer had incense burning, its structure decaying. The floor was cracked, with weeds growing in every crevice. It looked more like a slum than a temple.
In a desolate courtyard within the temple, Mike sat in a room, lost in thought. He never imagined things would turn out this way.
Mike wasn't originally from the Cang Xuan Realm; he came from a place called Earth. He had been an orphan since childhood, taken in by an old Taoist priest and raised in this very temple. The old Taoist had taught him fortune-telling, feng shui, talisman-making, and exorcism, as well as Taoist mental cultivation techniques. However, to Mike, all of this seemed like tricks to make money. How could there be such things as demons and spirits in the world?
Even the Taoist mental cultivation techniques—the old Taoist had practiced for his whole life without ever producing a single strand of spiritual energy. It