The End of the Immortal Path

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit froze.

’Her confusion grew. She just couldn’t understand how such an arrogant person was able to break her Heart Lock.’

However, the only answer she received was a merciless fist, followed by a fierce knee to the stomach.

「A moment later.」

The mysterious symbols on the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit vanished, and she once again took the form of a young girl.

She cowered on the ground, hands clasped over her head. "I surrender, I surrender."

Jiang Man frowned. "That’s it?"

"This isn’t enough?" the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit asked, looking at Jiang Man in terror. "Then what should I do?"

"Hasn’t anyone contacted you?" Jiang Man asked.

’This Ling Hua Immortal Spirit was completely different from what he’d imagined.’

’First of all, she had summoned her subordinates instead of trying to hide in his Heart Spirit or seeking out other Messengers.’

’Furthermore, she hadn’t established contact with the other two parties.’

’From his observations, he knew those people had indeed left behind secret ways to communicate.’

’After all this time, she should have made contact by now.’

’Then, she was supposed to fall into a trap.’

’But none of that had happened. The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit had surrendered far too quickly.’

’The many strategies he’d discussed with Old Huang were completely useless.’

"Contact me?" The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit nodded. "Yes, someone contacted me. They said if I cooperated with her, I could escape your seal. But I didn’t answer."

"Why not?" Jiang Man asked.

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit said scornfully, "What’s between us is, more or less, an internal dispute. If I agreed to her offer, that would be like letting a wolf into the house. Things would definitely not go well for me later on."

Jiang Man was stunned.

He had not expected this outcome.

After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Man said, "Agree to her offer. Then, walk into the trap she’s prepared."

"You want to find her?" The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit immediately shook her head. "No way. I can sense that she’s powerful, and she’s backed by a powerful Immortal Spirit. If I jump in, I won’t be able to get out."

"It’s fine. I have a way to handle it," Jiang Man said.

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit immediately shook her head. "I’m not going."

Jiang Man clenched his fist.

Seeing this, the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit shrank back in fear, but her tone remained defiant. "Just kill me. The worst that can happen is I go back to sleep for a while. They’re so powerful that my fate would be even worse if I went with them. I’d be in a state where I couldn’t live, but I also couldn’t die. They have a veteran Immortal Spirit who would surely take complete control of me. I’d rather die and stay penned up in this area by you."

Jiang Man fell silent.

’This outcome was completely unexpected.’

’He’d been focused on where she would try to escape from and how many escape routes she had.’

’No one had considered that the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit wouldn’t try to escape at all, but would just cower here instead.’

’No wonder anyone felt they could just come and push her around.’

"You’ll regret not escaping from here," Jiang Man said kindly.

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit scoffed. "Impossible. I won’t regret it."

Jiang Man fell silent, not saying anything more.

’His plan was in shambles.’

Just then, the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit spoke again. "Are you going to kill me or not? If not, then you’d better be careful. Someone has already discovered the temple’s location, and they’re about to arrive."

Jiang Man looked at her and asked, "The ones who contacted you?"

"No, other lurkers. They’re probably here to capture me," the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit said.

Jiang Man nodded. ’So, it’s the third party.’

’That’s fine. At least someone’s walking into the trap. This whole thing won’t be a complete waste of time.’

’His original plan was to defeat everyone, to stop them from snooping around and to make Ling Hua understand that no one was coming to save her.’

’A dual deterrent.’

’Who could have known the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit would be like this?’

"Then do you know why they want to capture you?" Jiang Man asked.

"It’s something you will never come into contact with," the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit said arrogantly.

"Tell me about it," Jiang Man said.

"The Immortal Dao Coordinate. Ever heard of it?" the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit said confidently. "Only I can properly sense the location of the Immortal Dao Coordinate. That’s why people were targeting me the moment I awoke.

"I don’t even have to think about it to know the Immortal Dao Coordinate must have manifested in the world again.

"Are you going to ask what the Immortal Dao Coordinate is?"

Jiang Man shook his head. "I wasn’t going to ask."

The Ling Hua Immortal Spirit chuckled. "What a flimsy excuse. You’re just saying that to save face, aren’t you? It’s not like I look down on you, really. After all, people who know about the Immortal Dao Coordinate are few and far between. You have a chance."

Jiang Man considered explaining, but then decided against it.

’First, I should deal with the people who are about to arrive.’

He then returned to the main part of the ruined temple.

He looked out at the fog.

He could indeed sense a churning within it.

’They must be quite powerful.’

Then, he strode outside.

—

「Meanwhile.」

Tantai Xue looked completely baffled. "What’s going on?"

"Did she receive the message?" the Spiritual Tablet asked.

Tantai Xue nodded. "Yes. Not only did she receive it, she even read it. But she never responded. On top of that, I can sense that she is imprisoned, bound, and even severely wounded.

"But she just won’t reply. I’ve tried all sorts of methods. As long as her Heart Spirit exists, she should be able to respond and then take the escape route I prepared for her to get out of that Messenger’s control.

"But there’s been absolutely no response from her.

"This isn’t logical. The Immortal Spirit World isn’t supposed to be like this.

"They always escape their bonds first and choose the path that offers hope."

The Spiritual Tablet was silent for a long time before it said, "The unexpected is sometimes just that—unexpected. It happens in ways that defy our understanding, but regardless, it has happened.

"Still, we need to figure out what’s going on."

Tantai Xue sighed. "After making contact with the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit, I’ve realized these people are indeed a ragtag bunch, but that just makes them harder to understand.

"So, I’ve locked onto three individuals lurking in the background. They’re heading in one direction now, which should be the Ling Hua Immortal Spirit’s location. I’ll go in and follow them to see if I can find out anything else."

After that, Tantai Xue entered the endless fog.

She still appeared within the dilapidated great hall.