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

Chapter 5 Han Jie
From Han Sanwang to Han Henhen, and now to the young man starting all over again, he has experienced true highs and lows. But because of the special nature of the Heart Sword Technique, his temperament has not changed much.

After the long passage of time washed away and covered up most of the hatred and resentment, some of its essential qualities finally found a chance to emerge.

So even if he were a complete stranger, he couldn't possibly ignore a beautiful young woman jumping off a cliff right in front of him.

At that moment, he was in a state of utter confusion and had no time to think. He gathered his strength, bent his knees, and with a sudden burst of energy, jumped down right behind the girl.

He reshaped his body according to his own will, so he was naturally no pushover; even without using spiritual power, his abilities were top-notch. He charged forward, closing the gap to his target by only two steps.
Still not at ease, he had already formed a hand seal as he leaped out, and as soon as he landed, he relied on his years of accumulated experience to directly shout out and unleash his spiritual technique: "Wind and Thunder Wings!"

However, to his surprise, two things happened in that short instant.

He had been able to use the Wind and Thunder Wings with ease, but he failed to execute them. Just as the spiritual energy was about to gather, his head began to throb with pain.

The girl he originally thought he could only rescue in time with the Wind and Thunder Wings turned out not to have committed suicide by jumping off the cliff.

She performed a graceful somersault in the air and landed steadily on the branch of a towering old tree diagonally below, looking at the unfamiliar boy who jumped down behind her with a surprised expression.

Fortunately, the ground below isn't actually that high.

He immediately crossed his arms to protect his head and face, using his spiritual energy to shield himself, preparing to take the hard fall.

"Golden light shield, activate!"

With the girl's clear shout, a defensive magic array suddenly activated on the open ground below the cliff.

A giant, translucent, inverted bowl radiating golden light rose from the outer edge of the formation, its curved top catching the falling boy.

The golden light shield provides dual protection through physical spiritual energy, and it doesn't rely on hardness, which is perfect for cushioning his fall.

He bounced off the ground and could have easily regained his footing, but then he decided to go with the flow and rolled off rather awkwardly, landing directly in the tangled weeds.

He raised his gaze and naturally looked at the girl who was curiously looking at him from the tree branch.

Meng Qingtong looked even more neat and tidy today. Her black hair was tied up in a bun at the back of her head, adorned with an antique-style wooden hairpin with a small bead hanging from the end, faintly radiating spiritual energy. Her full set of tight-fitting sportswear was convenient for movement and could also protect against mosquito bites, but it looked a bit stuffy.

Her backpack was placed under the tree, indicating that everything had been arranged in advance.

The golden light shield offers excellent dual protection and lasts a long time. Judging from the small items piled inside, it's probably intended to lure and capture some evil spirits roaming the area.

He knew he had completely misjudged the situation, causing the other side to launch an attack prematurely, rendering all his preparations futile. Feeling guilty, he sighed, "I'm sorry, young lady, it was my rashness."

Meng Qingtong waved her hand, turned her head to look into the distance, and after confirming that the target had not approached, she grabbed a tree branch with one hand, lowered herself down, and jumped down.

Judging from her light and skillful landing, it's clear that climbing and touching low places is as easy for her as eating and drinking.

"I don't recall receiving any love letters from strangers recently," she said, walking over and smiling as she looked down. "How could anyone misunderstand and think I'm going to jump off a cliff and commit suicide with me?"

The boy propped himself up in a half-sitting position, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I thought I could save you."

Meng Qingtong squatted down in front of him, cupped her cheeks in her hands, and said happily, "If I had known that jumping off a mountain would summon a handsome young man in ancient style to save me, I would have jumped off three or five times a day!"

She stared at his face without any attempt to hide it, "What great luck, I got an SSR on my first try."

He didn't understand what it meant, nor did he have time to search for the answer in his mind's eye. The close proximity between the two made him very uncomfortable.

It wasn't some outdated, rigid mindset about separating men and women; rather, as the distance between them grew, that subtle attraction became clearer, as if constantly reminding him of something. Before figuring out the details, he naturally needed to be on guard.

"Oh, you look even better with a serious face..." Meng Qingtong was in a great mood. She let herself swoon for a few seconds before leaning back, sitting on the soft grass with her knees drawn up to her chest. She raised her chin and said, "Even if you meant well but ended up with a bad result, it was still a good intention. Thank you for your failed attempt to save my life. My name is Meng Qingtong, Qing as in fragrance and Tong as in contact lenses. What about you? What's your name?"

He uttered a single word instinctively, then paused.

Since he was about to start a completely new life, he should discard the name he had chosen to remember him. But he didn't really want his original village name, Han Sanwang, anymore.

"Your surname is Han?" Meng Qingtong blinked. "Are you from Hanmeng Village over there? If so, maybe our families' ancestors knew each other."

He shook his head, and for some reason, he recalled that failed attempt to ascend to immortality, during which he had heard a name called "Brother Jie." After a moment of last-minute mental cramming, he confirmed that the name wasn't out of place in this world, and then said calmly, "Han Jie, that's the Han, but not from that village."

Meng Qingtong narrowed her large eyes slightly and said softly, "Oh... I don't think you're from around here. I guess you're from somewhere very, very far away."

Han Jie was taken aback, vaguely sensing something, and forced a smile, "Is there something wrong with my outfit...?"

Meng Qingtong looked at the crown and ribbon binding his hair, then at the scholar's casual clothes he was wearing, and suppressed a laugh as she said, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that it's quite recognizable. People dressed like this on the street are either cosplayers who just came out of an exhibition hall and forgot to change their clothes, or models advertising some ancient-style game, or... they've accidentally traveled from one or two thousand years ago."

Han Jie frowned and hurriedly sorted through the information he had previously gleaned from his mind. Then his face turned pale as he realized that the clothes he had chosen, which he thought would blend in smoothly with the local people, were at least a hundred thousand miles away from the normal casual wear he had expected.

“I’m not some kind of idiot,” he said, rubbing his forehead, trying to explain. “I just… um… had a whim, and anyway, there’s not much of a person around here.”

As he answered, he mobilized his divine sense, frantically fusing relevant knowledge into his memory.

Earlier in the cave, I had already discerned that there were no truly powerful beings in this world with its sparse spiritual energy. The only things worth paying attention to were the nine Demon-Suppressing Cauldrons scattered in all directions, and the demons that were more diverse and complex than those in other worlds.

However, he just realized that his strength was also greatly limited, so he naturally dared not act rashly and decided to keep his identity a secret for the time being.

However, when faced with Meng Qingtong's bright eyes that seemed to see through everything, he always felt insecure.

"Well, Han Jie, you were confident you could save me, which means you're pretty good. How did you end up like this?"

"In a moment of panic, I made a mistake in the spell." He calmed down and answered casually, now having the time to observe the surrounding situation. Meng Qingtong gave a soft "oh," and asked seemingly casually, "But the Wind and Thunder Wings are a top-tier, first-class spiritual technique. You even know that?"

Han Jie said without changing his expression, "You misheard."

"Misheard?"

Having found a barely acceptable excuse, he smiled and said, "My skills are not proficient. I have traveled to other regions. What I was about to use was a spiritual technique from that spiritual system—Flying."

"Flying?" Meng Qingtong was stunned for a moment, then turned her face and covered her mouth, "Pfft..."

She was trying so hard to suppress her laughter that her face turned a little red. She cleared her throat and then put on a serious face, saying, "Okay, okay, you pass. Flying it is. Actually, it would be great if you really understood the Wind and Thunder Wings. Right now, all the major regions are in dire need of people with knowledge of spiritual arts. As long as you master it, even if you don't have enough spiritual power to use it, you can still get a highly paid research position. I have a senior sister who went to work at the Spirit Aviation Research Institute after graduation. She said that one day she would implement the Wind and Thunder Wings on airplanes."

Han Jie asked, puzzled, "What's the point?"

Meng Qingtong stopped smiling and said, "Of course it's meaningful. Using spiritual arts to deal with evil spirits is to prevent the world from getting worse, while using them to improve technology is to make the world better. If you want to get to know any capable hermit masters, now is the perfect opportunity for them to come out of seclusion and benefit humanity."

He looked away and said somewhat stiffly, "I don't know any experts like that."

Meng Qingtong stood up, brushed the dirt and grass off her clothes, and extended her hand to him. "It's okay. I will definitely become an extraordinary person in the future, and it's the same for you to know me now."

Han Jie didn't pull her up, but instead sat cross-legged and asked curiously, "Miss Meng, what brings you to this place? If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

With that lingering, strange connection remaining, it was difficult for him to completely sever his ties with this girl. Since that was the case, he figured he might as well take advantage of this encounter, and feeling apologetic, offer his assistance while observing the situation.

Previously, he had always pursued demons and wasn't very good at dealing with people. He saw that this girl was very shrewd and knew how to handle people, and secretly harbored the idea of ​​learning a thing or two from her.

Meng Qingtong turned her head to look in the direction she had been looking in earlier, as if confirming something. "One of my requests was to recover something that had been lost. It took a lot of effort to determine that the thief was in the vicinity, so I set up a simple trap to catch him alive. Unexpectedly, before I even caught the thief, I ran into a handsome guy."

"What level of demon?"

Her dark eyes rolled over and fixed on Han Jie. "Did I say it was a demon?"

Han Jie said calmly, "The golden light shield can't trap ordinary people. If it's something a spiritual cultivator stole, then the bait you left there is just a joke."

In the very center of the golden light barrier lay a pile of cheap trinkets, bought from who-knows-where, adorned with sparkling rhinestones. Such clumsy bait, if not used against demons, probably wouldn't even fool a crow.

"The Golden Light Shield is at least a low-level spirit array, and you seem quite familiar with it despite your young age."

He glanced sideways at Meng Qingtong, whose intention to elicit information was almost no longer concealed, and smiled, "What, you look about my age, but you can use this so skillfully, can't you?"

"I'm widely recognized as the most talented student in the history of the Second Academy, even the most renowned teacher agrees." Meng Qingtong smiled and raised her head, showing off a little. "And you? Are you also... some kind of extraordinary genius?"

Concealing one's talents is acceptable, but hiding one's sharpness is unnecessary and not in Han Jie's nature. He said calmly, "I guarantee that no matter what kind of genius there is in this world, I am more of a genius than him."

Meng Qingtong's eyes lit up, like two sparkling little stars. "Then do you know where demons come from?"

Han Jie was taken aback. Of course, he had thought about this question. However, he couldn't find an answer, so he eventually stopped thinking about it.

He pondered for a moment, even flipping through the answers in his mind to cheat, and slowly said, "There's no definitive answer to this question yet. Some say it's a contradiction between Yin and Yang, with Yang energy creating humans and Yin energy creating demons. Others say it's a byproduct of spiritual energy, with the pure energy dissipating from the souls of all things becoming spiritual energy, while the turbid energy becomes demons."

Meng Qingtong shook her head. "Those statements are all wrong."

Han Jie's heart skipped a beat. "You know the answer?"

A hint of disappointment flashed across her face, but she quickly cheered up and said with a smile, "I have a direction and I'm confident that I can get results. The problem is... no one is helping me, so progress will be very slow."

Han Jie frowned and said, "Miss Meng, I only ruined your arrangements because of a misunderstanding, and it was out of good intentions. It's only natural that I would do something to make amends, but this matter... doesn't seem like a problem that can be solved in a short time."

Meng Qingtong said very seriously, "If we can't solve it in a short time, we can cooperate for a long time. Look, we get along quite well. You were willing to jump off a cliff for me right away, so you must be a good person. When we benefit, I'll take a small loss, and we'll split the profits 30/70."

"You get three, I get seven?"

"What are you thinking? You can't even use Flying properly. Giving you three is already a lot, okay?" She smiled with her elbows crossed, clearly indicating that she saw through his feigned weakness and was trying to force him to reveal his true feelings.

Han Jie laughed instead, "Then you can find someone else. I think Miss Meng is sharp-tongued and adept at social interaction, so why worry about not finding a suitable candidate?"

“Geniuses aren’t easy to find. Of all the spiritual cultivators in the Second Academy, besides me, only Teacher Liu can be considered a true genius. But Teacher Liu is too busy; she doesn’t have time to help me. After thinking it over, I realized that you, who fell from the sky, are the most suitable. Weaknesses don’t matter; you just need theoretical knowledge. As for the practical stuff, I’ll handle it.” She said, rolling up her sleeves and patting her arm. “Don’t worry, I guarantee I’ll be the most capable fighter among all the beautiful young women you’ve ever seen.”

“And…” she trailed off, staring at Han Jie as she took two steps back, and said softly, “I know you need my help too, right? This kind of mutually beneficial cooperation is obviously more reliable.”

Han Jie said calmly, "Oh? What do I need your help with?"

Meng Qingtong stared at him, remained silent for more than ten seconds, then smiled brightly and said quickly, "Senior, it's been more than 1,800 years. You probably don't recognize this world anymore, right? If you want to hide your origins, this won't work. You'll have to change your clothes to something real, otherwise you won't pass security. You'll also have to change your hairstyle. There are probably a lot of common sense things you don't know, right? If you want to keep a secret, how about I help you?"

Before Han Jie could speak, she added, "Stop arguing with me about how I knew. The spiritual essence from the cave on you hasn't even dissipated yet."

Han Jie frowned, pondered for a moment, and after considering it carefully, asked solemnly, "Why are you willing to help me?"

“It’s a mutually beneficial collaboration,” Meng Qingtong corrected with a smile, then leaned closer, bending down and gazing at his face with a smile. “Besides… what I like most are handsome young men in ancient style.”

　After being reminded by someone, I realized that the 5 PM posting time was indeed inconvenient. From now on, I'll change it to 3:20 PM, which at least includes 520 in it XD.

　　Thank you to all the friends who have supported me recently and those who have patiently offered guidance. *bows*

　　
　
(End of this chapter)