What if I don't want to ascend to immortality?

Chapter 10 A Greatly Increased Opponent

“Even if it’s targeting you, I’m confident I can stop it halfway.” Stepping out of the building, Han Jie looked at a vacant lot in the distance that seemed suitable for a battlefield and said with some dissatisfaction, “You didn’t need to come here at all, you only caused others to worry.”

Meng Qingtong held his arm, lifted her foot to hook the heel of her shoe that she hadn't had time to pull up, and said with a smile, "I don't doubt your abilities, but... I just boasted to you that I would handle anything that requires me to get involved. We can't just eat our fill in less than half a day, can we? Besides, I'm really good at fighting. With my help, the food won't get cold."

Han Jie glanced at her, a half-smile on his face, and said, "That thing arrived so suddenly, is there enough time to use a spirit array? Using talismans is like burning money. This time there's no client, who are you planning to ask for reimbursement?"

"Am I that stingy?" She widened her eyes, looking very unconvinced. "Exorcising demons and protecting everyone's safety, what's wrong with spending a little money? I chose the talisman and the array, so I was prepared for this."

Then, she grinned slyly and whispered, "But we'd better stay within the surveillance area and not lead them to any remote places. That way, when I submit a report, the Ling'an Bureau can reimburse the expenses—including the ones we did in the mountains before."

Han Jie chuckled to himself, thinking that this was probably her real reason for following him all this way. After all, judging from her demeanor, she wasn't planning on getting any reimbursement from Sister Lin, and might not have even collected much of the commission fee.

After retrieving the concept of surveillance from his mind and sorting through the related information, he felt somewhat worried, but secretly rejoiced that Meng Qingtong had followed him in time.

This world has fully adapted to the scarcity of spiritual energy, and the research on spiritual arts has almost taken meticulous planning to the extreme. The spiritual power growth and divine sense talent of spiritual arts masters are mostly insufficient to support more than two systems, so it is inevitable to specialize in one or one main and one auxiliary system among the six major systems.

Moreover, a more advanced and efficient spiritual arts system has completely replaced the former sect secret manuals. The nine major cauldron districts teach according to aptitude and follow a step-by-step approach, and there are no longer any barriers other than individual talent.

Therefore, an old monster like Han Jie, who possesses the special secret technique Heart Sword Appearance and has enough spiritual power and divine sense to fully utilize the six elements of spiritual arts, would undoubtedly be as conspicuous as a firefly in the dark once he appears in public.

What he hates most is trouble.

His mastery of all six systems in theoretical knowledge makes it relatively easy to explain, so there shouldn't be any major problems. As for keeping his identity secret, the key lies in choosing which system to use.

Spirit talismans and spirit arrays were the primary and secondary items that Meng Qingtong chose, but he wasn't very interested in them.

The two systems, Spirit Envoy and Spirit Body, involve cultivating spiritual pets with the former and tempering oneself with the latter. These are quite different from his previous methods and are not suitable.

Spiritual magic is the closest to his previous spiritual magic system, and he is most familiar with its rules. However, in this world, due to the difficulty, it requires a higher level of talent, and because of the group effect of geniuses gathering together, most spiritual magic specialists do not choose to study a secondary system.

Spiritual artifacts are created by imbuing external objects with spiritual energy, allowing them to become connected with the soul over time—similar to the cultivation methods used by cultivators in his previous life to nurture their natal weapons. The aesthetic trends of this era are relatively consistent; among spiritual artifact cultivators in the Nine Cauldrons Region, over 80% are swordsmen. In crucial moments, this would be a perfect excuse for him to conceal his inner sword form.

As for the three forbidden systems outside the six major systems—the spirit gu that manipulates poisonous insects, the spirit consciousness that distorts people's hearts, and the spirit ghost that torments souls—any law-abiding spirit mage would not touch them, let alone an old-fashioned man with secrets like him.

After a brief consideration, Han Jie realized that the anomalies within his sea of ​​consciousness were a form of passive restriction, while the demands of the external environment were a form of active restriction. Combining the two, he was indeed somewhat constrained.

Fortunately, the two-headed flying leopard whose real name was Jingbei was not some formidable demon in his memory. He estimated that even if he could only use a C-grade spiritual technique to eliminate that guy, he wouldn't be forced to use his Heart Sword Form.

But if you're going to use it, you have to make sure it leaves no opening for others to find.

While he was pondering this, Meng Qingtong had already quickly reported the situation. The entire Ling'an system reacted extremely quickly; the evacuation information was not only pushed to all nearby residents, but the anti-magic alarm in the area had also been sounded loudly.

The piercing sirens maintained a pattern of three long sirens followed by one short one. Residents in all the nearby buildings stopped what they were doing and orderly evacuated into the underground protective facilities through the emergency exits inside the buildings.

After quickly reviewing the minor regulations, known as the Residents' Safety Evacuation Ordinance, in his mind, Han Jie suddenly realized something.

Is the two-headed flying leopard really that strong?

Based on his memory of the strength, wouldn't it be enough to use the lowest level of two long and one short yellow warning, requiring nearby residents to find nearby buildings for shelter and not to go out or approach the combat area before the warning ends?
Wait a minute... He then realized that he had overlooked something because he was used to being alone.

Meng Qingtong's strength was insignificant in his eyes, but in this generally weak world, she was indeed worthy of being called an unparalleled genius girl. Without unleashing his Heart Sword Form, it was uncertain whether he would be as efficient as her in dealing with demons.

Therefore, Meng Qingtong is not an easy opponent to deal with...

"Qing Tong," he asked, frowning, "just how strong is the Jingbei?"

"How can I explain this..." Meng Qingtong put her backpack down at her feet, hurriedly setting up a quick-acting spirit array as an emergency measure, while pondering her answer. "Anyway, this one is quite troublesome. It appeared as soon as I accepted Sister Lin's commission, and I've tried several times but haven't been able to completely eliminate it. However, I've estimated that it should be relatively weak among its kind. The list of demons in the Complete Book of Demons is arranged simply and crudely according to the level of harm. The kinslayer is written on page thirteen, and the ones more harmful than it are only the dozens on the first twelve pages. However, the degree of harm is not entirely equal to strength."

She clapped her hands, sensing the powerful aura rushing straight towards her without any concealment. Looking in the direction where the enemy was about to appear, she took out a few talismans and said softly, "After obtaining its true name, I can roughly guess why this one is relatively weak."

The distance had narrowed to the point where Han Jie could perceive it directly with his divine sense. He asked, puzzled, "But even this one is far stronger than any I remember. Demons shouldn't have any methods of cultivation or improvement, so why... has it progressed so much?"

Meng Qingtong took two steps forward, her back to him, and said, "Coincidentally, the reason why this one is relatively weak can just explain why the Jingbei is stronger than in your era. After the fight, I'll give you a proper analysis."

Han Jie frowned and said, "Don't make any promises before the war starts."

She turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Wow, did you already have the idea that you can't just plant flags anywhere back in your day? That's pretty advanced."

Then, she smiled brightly, "Don't worry, I'm terrified of dying. If I couldn't handle someone, I would have called for help long ago. This jackal's strength is just the right opportunity for me to prove that I'm really good at fighting."

Han Jie shook his head and was about to follow when she waved her hand forcefully and said very seriously, "You can only go if I really can't. If you want to protect your secret, you can't just make a move in public like this. The sword you pulled out earlier is incredibly powerful; you can't fool me with a lame excuse like being a top student in the Spirit Weapon Department."

Before Han Jie could say anything more, the jackal flying straight towards him had already come into view.

With two heads, a scorpion tail, and a pair of fully extended fleshy wings, the demonic shadow rapidly grew larger in sight as it glided and swooped down. Compared to its appearance in memory, it was almost unchanged, but in this world where spiritual energy was scarce, its body, formed from spiritual power, was much more robust and enormous.

Even under the suppression of the Nine Demon-Suppressing Cauldrons, it is still like this. If the Nine Cauldrons were gone, wouldn't the demons in this world cause chaos?

Before he could ponder the strangeness of the situation, Han Jie suddenly realized that the jackal's target was not Meng Qingtong, who had attracted it.

Or perhaps, after flying to this place, it suddenly sensed something and made a subtle turn, its new destination becoming the residential area they had just left.

Meng Qingtong reacted extremely quickly, patting her lower abdomen without any hesitation, temporarily unlocking several layers of the self-sealing spirit array.

With a flap of its wings, the leopard made a difficult stop in mid-air, its two huge heads slowly turning around, its empty, lifeless eyes locking onto Meng Qingtong's body.

Unexpectedly, it seemed to be having a difficult decision, so it hovered in the air, flapping its wings and remaining motionless.

Meng Qingtong gritted her teeth and unlocked a few more layers of the spirit array.

“If you keep releasing your aura like that, all the demons within a hundred miles will be stirred.” Han Jie raised his hand, forming a hand seal. Meng Qingtong pressed his hand down. “I know what I’m doing. Look, it’s coming!”

Its massive body circled in the air before swooping down on them again.

Four ferocious leopard eyes suddenly widened, and a transparent sphere rapidly expanded from the body of the leopard, like ripples in space, instantly spreading to hundreds of meters away.

"Spiritual Pressure Realm..." Han Jie was even more surprised. This semi-sealed space, which could greatly weaken the effectiveness of spiritual attacks within its range, was something the previous two-headed flying leopard could never have used.

Given the opponent's physical strength and attack methods, their raw power increased significantly during the duration of the spiritual pressure barrier's effect.

Therefore, he is ready to make a move.

For him, keeping secrets was merely a convenient way to reduce trouble, but it wouldn't make him sit idly by and watch others live or die in danger.

Meng Qingtong had already rushed out.

Her slender body was tense and contorted, then released astonishing power, like a released bowstring, shooting people head-on at the charging monster.

Even cultivators of the spiritual system wouldn't want to confront such a monster head-on, right?

Not wanting to wait until rescue was too late to act, Han Jie's right hand, which was hanging down, swayed slightly, and bright red petals fell from his chest, swirling and condensing into a sharp short sword only one foot and seven inches long.

The sword's blade was a brilliant red, as if it were burning, and the hilt was adorned with a small, bright red lotus, which, as it swayed, resembled petals of fire fluttering in the air.

This is his Heart Sword—Crimson Wrath. With this sword, he will no longer be affected by any seals or weakening effects, and his speed will be much faster than usual.

Unexpectedly, Meng Qingtong was also quite fast.

Moreover, she never intended to fight the monster in the first place.

"Iron walls and impenetrable defenses! Flowing light, shifting forms, open!"

The talisman flashed and disappeared.

The fierce beast, which had already pounced, crashed headfirst into the ground, sending shards of concrete flying. Without any spiritual energy protection, a body that took the full force of this attack would likely be torn to pieces on the spot.

This was clearly a combo technique that Meng Qingtong had long since mastered. As soon as she swapped positions with the talisman left in place, she looked up and shouted, "Rise!"

Han Jie's eyes widened slightly as he finally saw with his own eyes the spirit array that had broken through the rocks of his cave.

The Flowing Light Talisman moved the Teleportation Talisman and the Iron Wall Formation to Meng Qingtong's location, and then soared into the sky from under the monstrous beast.

She subtly adjusted the transparent protective barrier to make it thin and sharp. Although the hastily drawn spirit array couldn't unleash its full power due to the urgency of the situation, defensive spirit spells are unaffected by the spiritual pressure barrier. Clearly, this girl was already confident before the battle even began.

The massive shield of spiritual energy slashed fiercely into the side of the monstrous beast's chest and abdomen!

The two-headed flying leopard let out a deep roar, and rolled as it was propelled into the air, dissipating most of the impact. However, one of its wings was still broken in the middle by the impact, drooping limply and unable to move.

Although the demon's perception of pain was limited, this attack thoroughly enraged it. Its two leopard heads rose, its gaping maws unleashing a piercing roar, and its seemingly weak forepaws lashed out, sending a storm of bricks and stones hurtling towards it.

Unfortunately, the copper wall and iron barrier formation is designed to defend against physical attacks. The huge light shield swayed slightly and easily blocked the attack.

At this moment, Meng Qingtong had already run swiftly to the side of the broken-winged wolf, the talisman between her fingers radiating light, clearly on the verge of activation.

"Roar!" The jackal twisted its body and pounced, its claws suddenly extending several inches, the sound of the wind it created was no less than the howl it made.

Han Jie felt somewhat relieved. Although this demon was slightly stronger, it was still the same as before, not much better than a real wild beast. With Meng Qingtong's intelligence, even if she couldn't win for the time being, she wouldn't suffer any major losses.

As expected, Meng Qingtong leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the monster's claws, and pressed the talisman against the monster's shoulder and the base of its wing.

A burst of spiritual light shot up and flew up, wrapping around the beast's body like a bolt of lightning, instantly forming several bonds around its body.

It is a dragon-locking talisman.

The first move was a divine talisman that shifted the opponent's form, followed by a large talisman that forcibly controlled the injured side. She played to her strengths and avoided her weaknesses in the spiritual pressure realm with ease, and her combat experience was so rich that she didn't seem like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl at all.

She still had two spirit talismans left in her hand, and not far away was a simple small formation called the Earth Fire Formation.

If the plan goes smoothly, she can injure the jackal to the point that it can no longer continue fighting after at most two rounds.

She had limited resources with her this mission, so repelling the enemy was a more realistic goal than annihilation.

If they fail to kill it, the reimbursement process at the Department of Emergency Management will likely involve a lot of wrangling.

The fierce beast struggled and rolled within the Dragon-Locking Talisman, causing the road surface to crack and scattering gravel.

She took a deep breath, slightly bent her knees, and, like a lithe female leopard, prepared to strike.

But at that moment, the massive body of the jackal suddenly stiffened and stopped all movement.

Meng Qingtong's dynamic vision is exceptionally good, and she only saw a thin line of red light flash by.

Before she knew it, Han Jie was standing beside her, saying softly with a hint of displeasure, "Let's go back, the food's getting cold."

Along with his gentle words came the two ferocious leopard heads of the leopard...

(End of this chapter)