Shanghai, 2066. Neon lights shimmer among towering skyscrapers. Quantum technology coexists with sinister resentful spirits: half the city is a bustling metropolis, the other half overrun by ghosts.
Gu Chen is the last reclusive disciple of the Celestial Masters’ Mansion on Mount Longhu. After twenty-five years of arduous cultivation, he has mastered Taoist arts, medicine, alchemy, talisman-making, crafting magical artifacts, and combat. He is also an expert hacker, marksman, and driver. His master’s dying words send him into the mortal world, where everything has changed beyond recognition.
In this new age, mech-enhanced Taoist robes, plasma copper-coin swords, electromagnetic talismans, and spiritual-energy detectors are standard equipment. The traditional Taoist sects have been reorganized into the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs, while Gu Chen, dressed in an old Taoist robe, stands out as an independent paranormal contractor.
On the dark web, deals in sorcery, curses, and witchcraft run rampant. Forces from East and West stir beneath the surface, while onmyoji, wizards, holy knights, and espers carve out their own domains. Vampires, werewolves, artificial spirits, and ancient vengeful ghosts emerge one after another. Behind the technology companies lies an even more shocking conspiracy to create evil spirits.
After entering the world, Gu Chen uses his extraordinary skills to slay demons and exorcise evil. In a city rife with deceit, he makes brothers who will stand with him through life and death, faces scorn from sects, and encounters the love destined for him. As he breaks through one deadlock after another and grows stronger, he gradually discovers that every strange case he has faced is closely connected to his master’s death, the decline of the Taoist sects, and a secret pact sealed away for many years.
