The Spirit Net Era: Seeking the Dao in the City

On the surface, Shenhai City in 2077 is a world of flying cars weaving between skyscrapers, holographic ads filling the streets, and AI assistants in ordinary homes. Beneath it lies the Hidden Net Realm, built around the underground spiritual veins of Shenhai City. Cultivators use their spiritual sense to connect to the Spirit Net and communicate, while ancient sects disguise themselves as tech companies and private academies. Ordinary people know of cultivation only through urban legends.

Industrial pollution has left spiritual energy scattered in fragments. The spiritual veins beneath the Lujiazui financial district are suppressed by reinforced concrete, leaving little energy behind. The Tranquil Heart Academy deep in Sheshan, actually a branch of the Qingyun Sect, and the deep-sea aquaculture base on Chongming Island, actually the entrance to the Bishui Sect's hidden realm, are rich in spiritual energy. The abandoned section of Metro Line 11 and the underground chambers beneath century-old buildings on the Bund are undeveloped wild spiritual-vein sites.