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

Chapter 17 Opening the Soul and Opening the Spirit

Opening the spiritual aperture is just a warm-up before the main event. Han Jie uses this opportunity to familiarize himself with the operation so that he can complete it as soon as possible when he opens the soul space, so that Meng Qingtong doesn't have to suffer for too long.

The pain caused by damage to the soul is far greater than that caused by physical injury.

Moreover, physical pain can be avoided by falling into a coma as a self-preservation mechanism, but pain of the soul is unavoidable and can only be endured.

If Han Jie hadn't known that Meng Qingtong actually relied on overworking herself every night to have enough resistance to this kind of pain, he wouldn't have dared to use it.

Even so, seeing Meng Qingtong's current state, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

This girl is just too...stubborn.

After opening both spiritual apertures, apart from constantly groaning, she couldn't make any big movements. Even when the pain caused her muscles to spasm and her legs to twitch, she was still trying to joke in her mind.

In just about twenty minutes, the sofa cover beneath her was soaked with sweat. Her long, disheveled hair framed a pale face that trembled slightly with each breath. The fighting mouthguards were clearly not working as well as she had hoped. A thin line of blood was visible on the corner of her lip, indicating a cut somewhere.

"Ok?"

She still chose to communicate through telepathy and didn't remove her braces. She knew that speaking with her mouth at this moment would definitely not produce a normal sound.

"Stabilize your new spiritual aperture and take a break. It will hurt more and last longer, so be prepared." Han Jie had seen many life-or-death situations, and his pity wouldn't stop him, but his tone was ultimately gentler.

"I'm all better." She raised her head slightly, brushed her soaked black hair aside, pulled over a cushion, and rested her head on it. Her hands were still trembling slightly from gripping the cushion so tightly when she was in pain, but she still stubbornly repeated on the radio, "I'm all better, I can continue, no problem."

"Don't try to tough it out. There's no limit to the pain in your soul, and I can't judge how long you can endure it or when you'll stop. It all depends on your stance."

She cast a clear smile at me with her bright eyes, “If you don’t push yourself, how will you know where your limits are? If you don’t know what your limits are, how can you break through them? Isn’t cultivation a process of constantly breaking through your own limits? No matter how strong the pain in your soul is, you won’t kill me. I’m afraid of death, and if I’m afraid of death, I can’t be afraid of pain.”

Han Jie gazed at her for a moment, thinking, "She's sweating so much from the pain, yet she hasn't shed a single tear. Are women of this era really this strong?"

When the connection is established through telepathy, even if the thought is not intended to be transmitted, the other party will still sense it. Moreover, Meng Qingtong's sensitivity to him is almost to the point of mind-reading.

She blinked and teased, "What, are you disappointed that I didn't cry? Then I'll start to suspect that you deliberately made me feel pain just to see me cry."

Han Jie stared at her without answering.

As if trying to distract herself, she continued rambling, "If I had known you would stare at me like this, I would have dressed differently. Now I have braces in my mouth that look like a mortise and tenon. I should have changed to a bamboo tube; then I could pretend to be an anime heroine and it would be more pleasing to the eye."

Knowing that she had diverse interests and lived a very fulfilling life, Han Jie didn't engage with her incomprehensible ramblings. He simply waited quietly until he estimated that she had recovered enough before placing his fingers above her navel and gently pressing down.

If opening a spiritual aperture is like digging a hole in a patch of soft mud with the perfect location, shape, and depth, then creating a soul space is about as difficult as digging a fully furnished villa in that same patch of mud, while ensuring that the load-bearing structure is neither too strong nor too weak. If it's too strong, the homeowner won't be able to expand it later; if it's too weak, it will collapse in a few days.

So he had to reduce the distractions, saying, "Next, it will hurt more than before, but I hope you can endure it."

"Because you're afraid of getting distracted?"

"Ah."

Meng Qingtong's mental fluctuations seemed somewhat pleasant, "Oh dear, I'm in so much pain, am I distracting you?"

Han Jie glared at her and said directly, "If I get distracted, you'll suffer more."

She shook her head, raised her eyebrows, and even bit down hard on her braces, but Shennian's reply was still relatively honest: "I know, I promise I'll endure it as much as I can."

Han Jie took a few deep breaths, lowered his eyes, quietly activated a calming talisman and stuck it in his bosom, then began to work.

"Ugh!" Meng Qingtong's back and waist tensed up suddenly. She dared not cross her hands anymore and instead gripped the sofa cover tightly on both sides. With a tearing sound, two holes were immediately ripped open.

She mobilized all her spiritual power and managed to suppress the instinctive reaction to the pain, enduring the throbbing veins on her forehead.

In an instant, sweat poured out like water, soaking his pajamas, which became wrinkled and clinging to his body, even appearing somewhat translucent.

This time, Meng Qingtong's mind finally calmed down.

Presumably, she was too exhausted to mutter anything more.

More than half an hour later, Han Jie slightly raised his hand, wiped the sweat with his forearm, and let out a breath.

Meng Qingtong's body suddenly relaxed, slumped down, and she raised her head and frowned. Only now did she show an expression of unbearable pain on her face, and even her divine sense communication weakened a bit. "Is it... is it alright?"

Han Jie sighed, "I really wanted to say it was all done. Unfortunately, it's just a framework."

"Then...can we...slow down a bit?"

He glanced at the wall clock, hesitated for a moment, and said, "It can't be more than five minutes."

"Haa..." Meng Qingtong hurriedly took off her braces, panting heavily as she rolled off the sofa, stumbled into the kitchen, picked up the kettle, and started gulping down water.

Then, she picked up a kitchen knife and began hacking at the old wooden cutting board, her eyes bloodshot and her teeth clenched, as if she had an irreconcilable hatred for that cutting board.

After swiftly hacking away dozens of times, she pulled out a tissue to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, bent over at the sink to rinse her mouth, quickly walked back, lay down on the sofa, picked up her braces, put them in her mouth, bit down, and closed her eyes.

She said nothing.

It's as if they're afraid that if they open their mouths, they'll waver.

Sweat still clung to the shallow grooves between his abs; placing a fingertip there felt like touching a patch of solidified honey—moist and supple.

People always unconsciously judge others by their own standards, and Han Jie is no exception.

Therefore, he admits that he is actually a little regretful at this moment.

He only thought Meng Qingtong was a promising talent, and since they were going to work together for a long time, he felt she was a good partner and should help her advance further. However, he forgot that in a world with scarce spiritual energy, everyone's soul was naturally weaker. Even if Meng Qingtong was one of the best, she could not compare to the carefully selected inner disciples of the Three Star Hanging Moon Mountain.

This means that the pain she has to endure far exceeds Han Jie's previous estimates.

Now that things have come to this, giving up halfway would only mean all his previous efforts were wasted. He could only calm his mind, continue to circulate his spiritual power, and begin the next step.

Forty minutes later, Meng Qingtong took her second break.

She didn't have the strength to drink water. Her voice trembled as she asked Han Jie to bring her a glass, spilling quite a bit on herself in the process. She had torn seventeen or eighteen strips from the sofa cover, and torn five holes in the inner cushions. When she met Han Jie's gaze, it was somewhat unfocused and vacant.

But she was even more patient than when she opened her spiritual aperture, enduring so as not to distract Han Jie.

By this time, Han Jie's pity had turned into admiration.

He thought that even if he were the same person he was back then, filled with hatred, he wouldn't have been able to do this.

He shook his head, banishing the memories he didn't want to touch, changed to a calming talisman, and began the third stage of the operation.

More than an hour later, Han Jie withdrew his hand and said softly, "Do you still remember the incantation from before?"

Meng Qingtong nodded almost imperceptibly; apart from that, every joint in her slender body seemed to have completely gone limp.

Han Jie stared at her slightly trembling abdomen until he was sure she hadn't lost consciousness and that her spiritual energy was circulating correctly, nourishing that space that shouldn't belong to this world. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and go to the bathroom to take a shower.

With water heaters and showerheads available, there's no need to waste time using spiritual energy. As Han Jie held the soap to his nose and inhaled its aroma, he couldn't help but wonder if the abundant spiritual energy of the original world had become a hindrance to human development.

If there were a world where spiritual power was completely absent, what kind of life would the people there lead?
Knowing that Meng Qingtong didn't like being seen in a disheveled state, he lingered in the bathroom for a while. Only after hearing someone get up from the sofa did he casually wipe the remaining water off his clothes, get dressed, and go out.

"How does it feel? Is there anything you don't understand about the formula?"

Meng Qingtong sat limply on the sofa, holding one of her most abundant teleportation talismans between two fingers.

She looked up, a weak smile appearing on her pale face. Then, she slowly lowered her wrist, gathering the talisman in front of her.

A soft light flashed, and the talisman vanished.

Han Jie raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You can already tidy up?"

Meng Qingtong's smile grew even more smug. With a flick of her finger, the talisman reappeared, and she swung it around proudly.

"You've got it down pretty quickly." He couldn't help but feel a bit gratified, and he rarely experienced the joy his master felt when he received a satisfactory disciple. "You should still remember that you can't bite off more than you can chew. The most urgent thing is to stabilize your space as soon as possible and become familiar with the storage and retrieval methods. In the early stages, if you can hold ten parts, store seven parts. Don't overfill it."

"I understand." Her voice was slightly hoarse, quite different from usual. With her wet, long hair cascading down her sides and her rosy cheeks gradually regaining their color, she possessed a subtle charm.

Seeing that she was doing alright, Han Jie chose a bedroom, lay down, took out his phone, and struck a pose that felt very "integrated into the times," before settling into a resting state.

Meng Qingtong stayed in the living room, patiently putting the talisman in and taking it out again and again, carefully experiencing each tremor of her soul, the suffocating bitterness, and the strange burden that arose with each deposit.

Soon, she had mastered it completely and even devised a few cool and fancy storage moves for herself, thinking that if it didn't need to be kept secret, it would be unbeatable for magic tricks.

She practiced on the sofa until the sweat on her body was almost dry, and finally mustered up some strength to get up and walk towards the bathroom while holding onto the wall.

She glanced at Han Jie, who was comfortably looking at his phone on the bed, opened her mouth as if to ask something, but hesitated for a moment and didn't speak. Instead, she dragged her leg, which she couldn't lift, to take a shower.

Every muscle ached as if it were about to break; Meng Qingtong took a full hour to shower.

Soothed by the hot water, she finally regained some of the strength that had been drained by the excruciating pain.

She tossed her pajamas into the washing machine and changed into the last outfit she had brought. It was a summer outfit for going out—a slightly formal short-sleeved shirt and pleated skirt—very cool, so she turned the air conditioning up two degrees as soon as she came out.

"What do you want to eat tonight? I'll have someone bring the ingredients over." She tied her wet hair into a braid and let it hang behind her to dry. She went to Han Jie's door, leaned against the frame, and asked very professionally.

Han Jie has already given what he was supposed to, so she should be proactive enough in paying interest.

Han Jie said lazily, "Let's rest. Let's eat out before we go to the Liu family's house."

“You underestimated me again,” Meng Qingtong raised her hand and slapped the door frame twice. “Look, I’m got some energy now. I can even flip the wok without any problem.”

Han Jie glanced at her and smiled, "Then make something simple. Don't delay your appointment with Liu Song."

"Oh. By the way, you... don't you have anything to say to me?"

Upon hearing this, Han Jie finally looked away from his phone and onto her calm expression.

"I've already told you everything I needed to tell you."

“I know.” Meng Qingtong remained standing at the door, neither leaving nor coming in. “I’ve memorized every single one of these points. I know how much this has helped me, and I’ll never forget it. I won’t include this in the cooperation agreement; it’s something I owe you extra. So, is there nothing else?”

Han Jie sighed, put his phone aside, and said with a hint of helplessness, holding up a proverb he had just learned, "We only really met yesterday, but why do I feel like you can read my mind?"

She curled her lip in disdain. "Have you ever seen such a beautiful worm as me? Besides, your thoughts are much easier to guess than those of our weird, menopausal childcare teacher from back then. Look, now that you've completely dug open the hole in my soul, aren't you going to tell me, the person directly involved, what you're looking for and what you're looking for inside?"

Can I say I don't know what you're talking about?

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

Han Jie laughed, "Knowing so much won't do you any good."

Meng Qingtong stared at him stubbornly, "Whether it's beneficial or not, I'll have to judge for myself."

“Alright.” He conceded a step, saying, “I did take this opportunity to investigate the situation in your soul. I did discover some things, but they have nothing to do with you. If I’m not mistaken, they were directed at me. I just can’t figure out what that old friend is trying to do.”

Meng Qingtong looked puzzled. "You mean, the thing in my soul that causes me to attract evil spirits is likely something someone set up to target you?"

"Do you remember the Demon Emperor I mentioned to you?"

"I remember. The progenitor of all demons, immortal and indestructible. If I ever get its true name, I'll definitely write it on the first page of the encyclopedia, as if I'm helping you hang it on the city gate." She frowned, realizing something. "What's wrong? Is it related to it?"

"I can only feel a faint connection." Han Jie looked at her lower abdomen and said softly, "But what was buried inside is definitely its. No one else is qualified to use it."

"what?"

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "The Ten Thousand Demons Summoning Technique."

(End of this chapter)