From Han Sanwang to Hanhen, and then to the youth who had now begun everything anew, he had experienced true rises and falls. But because of the unique nature of the spiritual art known as the Heart-Sword Aspect, his temperament had not changed much.
After the baleful energy of hatred had been washed away and buried for the most part by the long passage of time, certain things that belonged to his true nature finally found a chance to surface.
So when a young girl in the prime of her youth leaped off a cliff before his eyes, even if they were complete strangers, there was no way he could simply stand by and do nothing.
At this moment, his mind was in chaos, and he had no time to think it through. Gathering his strength, he bent his knees and charged forward, following closely behind the girl as he jumped down after her.
He had reshaped his body according to his own wishes, so naturally it would not be some useless shell. Even without using spiritual power, its quality was first-rate. With that rush, he was almost only two steps behind his target.
Still uneasy, he had already formed a hand seal the moment he leaped out. As soon as he began to fall, he relied on the practiced experience accumulated over many years and directly called out the name of a spiritual spell: “Wind-Thunder Wings!”
However, in that brief instant, two things happened that were beyond his expectations.
The Wind-Thunder Wings that he had once been able to use as easily as breathing had actually failed to activate. The moment spiritual energy was about to gather, a splitting pain tore through his head.
And the girl, whom he had thought he would need the Wind-Thunder Wings to rescue in time, had not jumped off the cliff to kill herself at all.
She made a graceful flip in midair and landed steadily on the branch of a towering old tree slanting down below. Looking at the unfamiliar youth who had jumped after her, her face was full of surprise.
Fortunately, the distance below was not actually too great.
He immediately crossed both arms to shield his head and face, spiritual power protecting his body, preparing to endure this hard fall.
“Golden Light Barrier, rise!”
Along with the girl’s crisp shout, a defensive formation on the open ground beneath the cliff was suddenly activated.
A huge, semi-transparent inverted bowl radiating golden light rose from the outer edge of the formation, its arched top just happening to catch the falling youth.
The Golden Light Barrier offered both physical and spiritual protection, and it did not rely purely on hardness. It was just right for cushioning his fall.
He hit it and bounced once. He could have easily steadied himself, but after a second thought, he decided to go with the momentum. Thus, in quite a sorry state, he rolled off to the side and fell directly into a patch of wild grass.
He lifted his gaze and naturally looked toward the girl on the branch, who was watching him with curiosity.
Meng Qingtong’s appearance today was even more brisk and capable. Her black hair was coiled into a bun behind her head, with a simple, archaic wooden hairpin inserted through it. A small bead hung from the end of the pin, faintly emanating ripples of spiritual power. Her full set of tight sportswear made movement convenient and could also prevent mosquito bites, though it looked a little stuffy and hot.
Her backpack was set beneath the tree. It seemed she had already finished making arrangements early on.
The Golden Light Barrier had excellent dual defenses and lasted for quite a long time. Judging by the small items piled inside, she was most likely planning to use them to lure in and capture some evil demon wandering nearby.
He knew he had completely misunderstood the situation, causing her to activate the formation ahead of time and rendering all her arrangements useless. Feeling apologetic, he sighed and said, “I am sorry, miss. I was too reckless.”
Meng Qingtong waved her hand, then turned her head to look into the distance. After confirming that her target had not yet approached, she grabbed the branch with one hand, lowered herself, and jumped down.
Judging from her light and practiced landing, one could tell that climbing up and down like this was probably as simple to her as eating and drinking.
“I don’t remember receiving any love letters from strangers recently.” She walked over, lowered her head, and said with a smiling expression, “How did someone manage to misunderstand that I was jumping off a cliff, and even follow me down to die for love?”
The youth propped himself up into a half-sitting position and said somewhat awkwardly, “I thought I could save you.”
Meng Qingtong crouched in front of him, cupping her cheeks in both hands, and said cheerfully, “If I’d known jumping off a mountain would spawn an ancient-style pretty boy to come heroically save the beauty, wouldn’t I have to jump three or five times every day?”
She openly stared at his face and sized it up. “What luck. Drew an SSR on the first try.”
He did not understand what that meant, nor did he have the time to search his sea of consciousness for the answer. The distance between the two of them was far too close, making him very uncomfortable.
It was not some pedantic concern about propriety between men and women. Rather, as the distance between them shortened, that subtle sense of pull became even clearer, as if constantly reminding him of something. Before he had figured out the truth, he naturally had to be on guard.
“Ah, you look even better when you put on a stern face…” Meng Qingtong was in excellent spirits. After allowing herself to indulge in infatuation for a few seconds, she leaned back, hugged her knees, and sat down on the soft grass. Lifting her chin, she said, “A good intention that turned into a bad deed is still a good intention. Thank you for your attempted life-saving grace. My name is Meng Qingtong—Qing as in qingxiang, fragrance, and Tong as in meitong, colored contacts. What about you? What’s your name?”
“Han…” He instinctively uttered one syllable, then paused.
Since he was going to begin an entirely new life, the name he had taken for the sake of remembrance should also be discarded. But he did not particularly want the original village name Han Sanwang either.
“Your surname is Han?” Meng Qingtong blinked. “Are you from Hanmeng Village over there? If you are, maybe our families’ ancestors even knew each other.”
He shook his head. For some reason, his mind recalled that failed ascension attempt, when he had once heard someone address him as “Jie-ge.” After hurriedly searching his sea of consciousness for a moment, he confirmed that the name would not seem out of place in this world, then said calmly, “Han Jie. It is that Han, but I am not from that village.”
Meng Qingtong narrowed her large eyes slightly and said softly, “Oh… Your clothes don’t look local either. I’d guess you came from a very, very faraway place.”
Han Jie was startled, vaguely sensing something. Forcing a smile, he said, “This way of dressing… is there something wrong with it?”
Meng Qingtong looked at the crown and sash binding his hair, then at the scholar’s casual robe he wore, and held back a laugh as she said, “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just very recognizable. Someone walking down the street dressed like that is either a coser who just came out of an exhibition hall and forgot to change clothes, or a model helping advertise some ancient-style game, or else… someone who accidentally transmigrated here from one or two thousand years ago.”
Han Jie frowned and hurriedly sorted through the information he had previously explored in his sea of consciousness. Then his face turned greenish, and only now did he realize that the clothing he had chosen after much deliberation, thinking it would allow him to blend smoothly into this mortal world, differed from the normal casual dress he had expected by at least a hundred and eight thousand li.
“I am not some coser,” he said, holding his forehead and forcing an explanation. “I merely… hm… dressed as the mood struck me. In any case, there are not many people around here.”
As he answered, he mobilized his divine sense and frantically integrated the relevant knowledge into his memories.
Earlier in the cave, he had already heard that this world with thin spiritual energy did not have any true experts. The only things worth paying attention to were the nine Demon-Suppressing Cauldrons scattered in all directions, and the evil demons here, which were more varied and complicated than those of other worlds.
But just now, he had discovered that his own strength was also greatly restricted. Naturally, he did not dare act rashly, and thus had the intention to keep his identity secret for the time being.
Only, facing Meng Qingtong’s bright eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything, he kept feeling that he lacked confidence.
“Then, Han Jie, if you were confident you could save me just now, that means your strength shouldn’t be bad. So why did you end up falling like that?”
“In a moment of urgency, the wrong incantation flashed through my divine sense.” He calmed down and answered casually, already having the leisure to observe the situation nearby.
Meng Qingtong gave a soft oh, then asked as if very casually, “But Wind-Thunder Wings is a top-tier spiritual spell of upper Grade A. You even know that?”
Han Jie’s expression did not change. “You heard wrong.”
“Heard wrong?”
Having already found an excuse that could barely get him through this, he smiled and said, “My studies were lacking, and I once traveled to other major regions. What I intended to use just now was a spiritual spell from their system of spiritual arts—Flying.”
“Flying?” Meng Qingtong froze for a moment, then turned her face away and covered her mouth. “Pfft…”
She held back her laughter until her face was slightly red. Only after clearing her throat did she return to a serious expression and say, “Fine, fine, you pass. Flying it is. Actually, if you really understood Wind-Thunder Wings, that would be great. Right now, every major region is desperately short of talent in spiritual arts knowledge. As long as you grasp it, even if your spiritual power isn’t enough to use it, you could still get an extremely well-paid research position. One of my senior sisters is like that. After graduating, she went to work at the Spiritual Aviation Research Institute. She said sooner or later she’ll implement Wind-Thunder Wings onto airplanes.”
Han Jie asked in puzzlement, “What meaning would that have?”
Meng Qingtong put away her smile and said, “Of course it has meaning. Using spiritual arts to deal with evil demons is to keep the world from becoming worse, and using them to improve technology is to make the world better. If you know any capable reclusive experts, now is the perfect chance for them to come out and benefit humanity.”
He shifted his gaze away and said somewhat stiffly, “I do not know any experts like that.”
Meng Qingtong stood up, patted the dirt and grass leaves off her body, and stretched a hand out to him. “It’s fine. I’ll definitely become an amazing expert in the future. Knowing me now is the same thing.”
Han Jie did not take her hand to stand. Instead, he shifted into a cross-legged seated posture and asked curiously, “Miss Meng, you have gone to so much trouble here. For what purpose? If there is anything I can help with, feel free to ask.”
With that thread of strange attachment between them, it would be difficult for him to completely sever cause and effect with this girl. Since that was the case, he might as well use this acquaintance, along with his sense of apology, to lend her a hand for now and take the opportunity to observe.
Before this, he had always pursued evil demons and was not very skilled at dealing with people. Seeing that this girl was smooth and adept in all directions, he also secretly harbored the thought of learning a thing or two from her.
Meng Qingtong turned her head to look in the direction she had glanced at earlier, seeming to confirm something. “I have a commission. I need to recover something that was lost. It took a lot of effort before I determined that the petty thief was nearby, so I set up a simple trap and waited to capture it alive. I didn’t expect that before catching the thief, I’d run into a handsome guy first.”
“What level of evil demon is it?”
Her dark, bright eyes turned over and fixed on Han Jie. “Did I say it was an evil demon?”
Han Jie said calmly, “The Golden Light Barrier cannot trap ordinary people. If it was a spiritual cultivator who stole the thing, wouldn’t the bait you placed over there simply make them laugh?”
At the center of the Golden Light Barrier was a pile of cheap accessories bought from who knew where, studded with rhinestones that sparkled brightly. Such crude bait, if not used against an evil demon, probably could not even fool a crow.
“The Golden Light Barrier is at least a lower Grade-A spiritual formation. You look so young, yet you’re quite familiar with it.”
He glanced sideways at Meng Qingtong, whose intention to sound him out was almost no longer concealed, and smiled. “What of it? You look about the same age as me, and are you not able to use it with ease?”
“I’m the publicly acknowledged most talented student since the Second Academy was founded, and even the publicly acknowledged most talented teacher agrees with that assessment.” Meng Qingtong smiled and lifted her head, showing off a little. “What about you? Are you also… some extraordinary genius?”
It was feasible to hide one’s clumsiness, but there was no need to hide one’s edge. That was not Han Jie’s nature either. He said calmly, “I guarantee that no matter what sort of genius exists in this world, I am a little more talented than them.”
Meng Qingtong’s eyes lit up like two shining little stars. “Then do you know where evil demons come from?”
Han Jie was stunned. Of course it was not as if he had never thought about this question. It was only that the answer had been difficult to find, and later, he had stopped keeping it in mind.
After thinking briefly, and even flipping through the answers in his sea of consciousness from this side to cheat a little, he slowly said, “There is still no conclusion on that question at present, correct? Some say it is the reversal of yin and yang: yang energy becomes humans, yin energy gives birth to demons. Others say they are a byproduct of spiritual energy: the clear qi scattered from the souls of all living things becomes spiritual energy, while the turbid qi becomes evil demons.”
Meng Qingtong shook her head. “None of those explanations are right.”
Han Jie’s heart chilled. “You know the answer?”
A trace of loneliness flashed across her face, but she immediately brightened again and said with a smile, “I have a direction, and I’m confident there will be 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 with good intentions. It is only natural for me to help you do something to make up for it. But this matter, just from hearing about it… does not seem like a problem that can be solved in a short time.”
Meng Qingtong said very seriously, “If it can’t be solved in a short time, then we can cooperate over the long term. Look, we’ve been getting along quite well as we talk. You were willing to jump off a cliff for me right from the start, so you must be a good person. When the time comes and there are profits, I’ll suffer a little loss and we’ll split it three-seven.”
“You three, me seven?”
“What are you thinking? You can’t even use Flying properly. Giving you three is already plenty, okay?” She crossed her arms and smiled, clearly putting on an attitude that said she had seen through his plan to pretend to be weak and intended to force him to clarify things.
Han Jie instead laughed. “Then find someone else. From what I see, Miss Meng, your words are sharp and you are adept at social dealings. Are you afraid you cannot find a suitable person?”
“Where are geniuses that easy to find? Among all the spiritual cultivators at the Second Academy, aside from me, only Teacher Liu can be considered a true genius. But Teacher Liu is too busy. How would she have time to help me? After thinking it over, only you, who fell from the sky, are the most suitable. It’s fine if you’re a bit weak. As long as you have theoretical knowledge, that’s enough. For things that require going into action, I’ll do them.” As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve, raised her arm, and patted it. “Don’t worry. I guarantee I’m the best fighter among all the beautiful young girls you’ve ever seen.”
“And…” She drew out the final syllable, staring at Han Jie as she stepped back two paces, then said softly, “I know you also need my help, don’t you? This kind of mutually beneficial cooperation is obviously more reliable.”
Han Jie said without any change in expression, “Oh? What do I need your help with?”
Meng Qingtong gazed at him. After more than ten seconds of silence, she smiled brightly and spoke at a rapid pace. “Old senior, it’s been more than eighteen hundred years. This world has changed beyond recognition for you, hasn’t it? If you want to hide your origins, you can’t keep going like this. Your clothes need to be changed into physical ones, or you won’t pass security checks. Your hairstyle has to be changed too. There are probably many common-sense things you don’t know, right? You want to keep your secret, so how about I help you?”
Before Han Jie could speak, she added, “Don’t argue and ask how I know. The smell of spiritual marrow from that mountain cave still hasn’t faded from you.”
Han Jie frowned, thought for a moment, weighed things over, then asked solemnly, “Why are you willing to help me?”
“It’s mutually beneficial cooperation.” Meng Qingtong corrected him with a smile. Then she leaned closer again, bent down, and gazed at his face with a beaming smile. “Besides… what I like most are ancient-style pretty boys.”
After being reminded, I realized that a five o’clock release time really isn’t very friendly. From now on, it’ll be changed to 15:20, which at least has 520 in it too XD.
Thank you to the friends who have recently come to support me and to those who have patiently offered advice. Bowing.