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

Chapter 15: I Just Couldn't Reject It
The transformation between reality and illusion and the creation of the soul space are the foundation of the secret technique of Heart Sword Form.

Han Jie's soul could hold nine Heart Swords, so naturally it could hold more. He didn't usually keep them, simply because he felt it was unnecessary and didn't want to bother managing them.

But for a cultivator like Meng Qingtong who mainly relies on spirit talismans in combat, the difference between rummaging through a backpack and exhaling directly from the body with a thought is like heaven and earth.

The barrier and side effects of this spell are easy to resolve. Han Jie can forcibly help her cross the barrier, which is to say, he can directly open a hole in her soul without her having to dig it herself. The side effects are the excruciating pain in her soul from the forced opening, the discomfort when inserting and removing the spell afterward, and the increasing mental burden as the more it is stored.

Therefore, after learning that Meng Qingtong was willing to "train" every night to the point of gritting her teeth and rolling on the ground just to quickly improve her spiritual power, Han Jie had already decided that she was a chosen one to cultivate the Heart Sword Form.

She refused.

No matter, Han Jie knew that the allure of this preliminary method was even greater for her.

He knew that Meng Qingtong didn't truly believe in a clean break. This girl simply preferred others to owe her.

People who aren't like that probably wouldn't take "making the world a better place" as their motivation to move forward.

So, it's not hard to guess her next reaction when faced with something she really wants.

Her thick, dark eyebrows were almost knotted together, and her bright eyes were filled with distress. She took out her phone and switched to a channel where she wouldn't be overheard, and honestly said, "Okay, I admit I really want this. I've always envied those storage space items when I read novels. Even if I could only store a few spirit talismans in it, it would be a huge help to me. Sigh, as expected of a thousand-year-old senior, you give me such a terrifyingly generous gift. How am I supposed to repay you... Is there anything else you particularly want?"

"I want you to promise me that you will learn my Heart Sword Technique in the future, when conditions permit. There's no need for formal apprenticeship; I don't care about those complicated formalities. I just don't want our sect's unique skills to have no way to continue in this world."

Meng Qingtong rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, isn't this like throwing away a huge piece of spirit gold and then telling me that if I want it, I have to pay for another piece of spirit marrow? I never eat a free lunch; I only dare to ask for things with a price tag."

"It's just returning the favor," Han Jie smiled slightly. "Since we met, haven't you always treated me like this? I haven't done anything, and you've arranged everything for me one after another."

"All I wanted was for you to agree to cooperate with me. I got what I wanted, a fair trade. Actually, I even made a profit. Any other boss would be more generous than me with this amount of money. You can't find a better helper than me even with a lantern."

"Why not consider this part of the collaboration?"

Meng Qingtong's expression became even more troubled. "Then... I'll have a hard time feeling at ease if I split the profits with you 90/10 from now on. There are some things you can't buy. If you don't keep your method a secret, the line of people coming to you every day to open the hole could stretch from the Second Hospital gate to Sixth Street. The money you make could easily make you the richest person in the city."

"No. That really hurts."

She curled her lip. "Can it hurt more than childbirth?"

Han Jie replied seriously, "The pain of the soul far surpasses that of the body. Don't you understand this, given how much you train every day?"

She scratched her cheek a little embarrassedly, "I don't know, I've never had a boyfriend, how would I know how painful childbirth is? I just used it as an example because everyone says it's the most painful."

“It really hurts. People here can’t learn ways to make it less painful. So, it’s not as precious as you think. Because it was forcibly opened by external force, the subsequent maintenance and expansion will require a lot of effort. I only brought it up because I thought you could do it.”

Knowing that he rarely spoke at such length, Meng Qingtong considered it seriously for a while and asked, "I don't want to owe you a favor first. I prefer to do things first and get paid later. How about this, I'll come back to you to exchange it when I think of something that's worth your secret technique."

"I want to eat home-cooked meals."

"Eh?"

Han Jie silently recalled the few memories he had before he was six years old, and Lin Sisi's busy figure in the kitchen yesterday. His thoughts were filled with melancholy. "I already have a place to live, and the place has a kitchen. I just need someone to cook for me."

"No... are the senior figures in your spiritual cultivation world really this domestic?" Meng Qingtong stammered. "I only cook occasionally because I'm short of money. I don't know how to cook anything fancy. Do you expect me to eat stir-fried noodles and sausages with you?"

Han Jie looked at her with a smile, "Qing Tong, you are very intelligent. This little thing shouldn't be too difficult for you."

"It's the information age, learning isn't the problem... no, no, the problem is I don't want to learn. Cooking seriously takes a lot of time, where am I supposed to find that time for you? How about some other form of compensation?"

He shook his head. “I can help you switch to another method of cultivation. Although it is less efficient and the transformation is slower, as long as you are clear-headed and keep your mind relaxed, it will continue to be effective, saving you the time of sitting meditation or contemplation.”

"Wait, just a minute, it seems like you're trying to give me more and more things." Meng Qingtong interrupted him, rubbing her temples and looking down. "No, no need for you to change them for me, I... I'll find the time myself. But I'm always out and about, I can't possibly cook for you every single meal, can I?"

Han Jie knew the deal was close to being finalized, and replied with a smile via telepathy, "No problem, I can do it in my spare time."

She hesitated for a while, looking conflicted, before bargaining again, saying, "Well, this time I'll consider it a loan from you. I'll use cooking to pay the interest first. Later, when I think of something more valuable, I'll do it for you to repay the principal. Otherwise... if I only take this little job as payment, even if I had the skills of a five-star chef, I'd have to be your cook for seventy or eighty years. Wouldn't that be like selling myself to you?"

"Okay." Overjoyed, Han Jie didn't bother to think about the reason for his inexplicable happiness. He leaned back in his soft chair and agreed to the deal.

"When do we start?" Meng Qingtong immediately turned her face to him, her eyes almost sparkling. "Anyway, we don't have anything to do before we get off the bus. We have almost an hour to spare, so let's just get started?"

"He really is an impatient person." He couldn't help but chuckle and shook his head. "No, forcibly opening the soul space requires extreme concentration. Besides, you'll experience abnormal pain, so how can it be done in the car?"

Meng Qingtong suddenly interrupted the telepathic communication, picked up her phone and started swiping the screen, seemingly searching for something.

Han Jie was quite curious and glanced at the screen from afar, only to find that she was actually checking out of the room.

"What, did you find a cheaper place to stay?" Based on his understanding, this was the most likely reason.

Meng Qingtong shook her head, "I'm not staying at a budget hotel anymore. I'm looking for a guesthouse. Spirit masters can get discounts at guesthouses, they're only a little more expensive than hotels. It's just that nobody will reimburse me..."

"B&B?"

“It’s just a regular family’s vacant house, available for short-term rental. I’m looking for one with a kitchen,” she said earnestly and attentively. “I’ll start paying interest today. Tell me about your tastes, do you like sweet or salty? Do you prefer strong or mild flavors? What are your dietary restrictions? What don’t you like to eat?”

"I don't know either," Han Jie said helplessly. "I've never thought about things like taste before."

Meng Qingtong glanced at him, her eyes flickering slightly, then smiled brightly, "Okay, then I'll take care of it."

Han Jie wasn't concerned about the commission from Suiyin. He knew Meng Qingtong was actually investigating Lin Sisi's matter, and that taking on the commission to reimburse travel expenses and make a small profit on the side was just a way to make money. However, Meng Qingtong still seriously discussed it with him. She felt that with Han Jie's help, the encyclopedia entries could obviously grow rapidly, and it would be best to add one entry with each commission.

"Then what kind of evil spirit do you think might be behind this situation?"

Han Jie listened with his eyes closed as she finished reporting the situation in her sweet and pleasant voice. After patiently thinking about the last question for several seconds, he shook his head and said, "It seems more like a mental illness."

According to the description in the commission, the problem was with the daughter of the family of four. Starting about three or four months ago, she gradually became less lively and cheerful than before, and her diary entries became more and more negative. Recently, it got so bad that her family suspected she had depression and took her to the hospital for a checkup.

After undergoing multiple examinations and several treatments by psychologists without improvement, the daughter began to have frequent nightmares, and her mental state visibly deteriorated rapidly. Helpless, the father, Liu Song, had no choice but to apply for a spiritualist's commission, hoping for the best.

“I also suspect it’s a mental illness.” Meng Qingtong rested her chin on her hand and said softly, “Look at this family’s situation. Liu Song is often away from home because of his business, and his wife is a full-time housewife. They had their second child, a boy, who is just over seven months old. Under these circumstances, it’s very normal for the older sister’s daughter to feel neglected and disliked, which can lead to further distress and depression.”

“But…” she hesitated, “even if she really does have depression, we can’t rule out the possibility of demonic influence. Can’t you really think of any demon that could do something similar?”

You can't figure it out by thinking about it, but Han Jie, with his strong spiritual sense and mental capacity, can use a search engine in his mind to find the answer.

“Don’t you have an electronic version of the Complete Book of Demons?” he prompted. “Take a look at the Little Magic Carpet section.”

Meng Qingtong looked at it for a while, then looked at him suspiciously: "This is a new species of demon discovered during the Great Prosperity period. How did you come up with this idea?"

Han Jie smiled and said, "The entire book is already in my mind. Little Magic Carpet, page 118, item 4. It is an anthropomorphic type, a negative influence type, cannot be humanized, but can be communicated with by telepathy. It will continuously inflict negative emotions on the selected target and absorb energy from it. After reaching a certain level, it may transform into a more difficult-to-deal-with Big Magic Carpet."

She nodded and exclaimed, "I thought my memory was already very good. It turns out there are always mountains beyond mountains and skies beyond skies."

Han Jie continued, "The Little Magic Carpet is only at the level of 118 pages. If it becomes the Big Magic Carpet, it will become the top-ranking demon on the 10th page, 5th item. According to the order in which you compiled the complete work, the first ten pages should all contain extremely powerful demons, right?"

Meng Qingtong's expression gradually became serious as she looked at the precautions under the "Little Magic Carpet" entry, remaining silent for a long time.

Han Jie had never seen such a demon before and couldn't help but be curious. Seeing her serious expression, he couldn't help but reassure her, "It's alright. Even if it really becomes the Great Demon Carpet, we can handle it. I'll subdue it, and you can find out its true name."

Meng Qingtong hesitated for a moment, then said very seriously, "Han Jie, can we make a promise?"

"what?"

"Our cooperation is based on my hope that you can help me solve some problems that I can't solve myself, not all of them. If all the problems are automatically handed over to you just because you're strong, what do I have to give to have a clear conscience? So I think that as long as it doesn't harm others, and as long as it doesn't put me in a life-or-death situation, then you should let me handle it. You're a max-level boss, and I'm just a newbie who needs a lot of experience points. You can't keep stealing my kills, can you?"

Sensing the underlying emotion in her feignedly lighthearted and playful tone, Han Jie frowned and asked, "What are you worried about?"

“I’m worried… because I have someone to rely on, I’ll quickly become weak. I’m also worried that I’ll become someone I don’t like.” She said frankly, “When I saw the entry for the Big Magic Carpet, my first reaction was that it wouldn’t be a big problem for you to solve it. So, if I find the Little Magic Carpet in the future, can I wait for it to transform before making a move and earn two real names at once? This kind of thinking is obviously wrong.”

"What's wrong?"

"First, I should seriously consider how I would deal with an opponent like the Big Magic Carpet if I were in that situation. If we encounter one in the future, I will deal with it according to my plan. Second, we cannot let the Little Magic Carpet go unchecked just to collect one more real name. The sooner we resolve this issue, the sooner the victims will be free."

Han Jie closed his eyes and asked, "So, what kind of agreement do you want to make with me?"

"It's simple. I have no requests, so please don't help me." Meng Qingtong thought for a moment, then quickly added, "Of course, if I'm about to die and can't call for help, you should still lend a hand if you can."

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you afraid of change, or are you afraid of owing me too much?"

"I'm afraid that if I learn a secret technique, I'll have to learn to cook and become a housewife. If I get more, I won't have to do anything else and will just become your full-time nanny."

“Okay, I agree.” He said calmly. “It seems you and I are the same kind of people.”

Meng Qingtong smiled happily, "Don't you like owing favors?"

"They're all stubborn idiots."

She smirked, put on a stern face, picked up her phone and started flipping through recipes, muttering, "Just you wait, I'll put in three times the salt today, it'll make you sick of the salt."

"What about your other purpose? Do you have any clue?" Han Jie changed the subject and asked.

Meng Qingtong nodded and sent him a picture using a chat application called "Jinghong" with a self-destructing message function—a photo she had secretly taken of Lin Sisi and her boyfriend.

"Ok?"

She leaned closer and pointed to the building in the picture on Han Jie's phone screen. "Look, I've checked. The background of the photo is the Dongli University of Finance and Economics branch. That school is used to divert students admitted in the second batch from the main campus. Sister Lin and her boyfriend should have been students there."

"Didn't she say she got into a university in Dongding City?"

"The main campus is indeed located in the city center. The branch campus was built later, and judging by the timeline, they were probably among the first batch of students transferred here. The school is located in Xinhe District of Suiyin City, and it's easy to find."

"So, which side should we deal with first?"

Meng Qingtong made up her mind without hesitation, "Of course we'll go to the Liu family first. Little Rabbit's condition is stable, and Sister Lin's side shouldn't have any problems for the time being, so we can investigate slowly. If this person in the Liu family really has encountered the Little Magic Carpet, who knows when she might undergo a super evolution, so we definitely have to deal with her as soon as possible."

Then, she turned her head and said, "Yes, the guesthouse is booked. Put everything else aside and get out of the car to open the tunnel for me first."

To keep it a secret, she had to speak in evasive terms.

As a result, the young couple sitting opposite them clearly misunderstood something, blushing as they huddled together and whispered to each other.

Meng Qingtong was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening. She immediately lowered her head, covered her face, and muttered, "It's not what you think it means, okay..."

(End of this chapter)