The End of the Immortal Path

She explained it in great detail, breaking down profound concepts into simple terms.

Jiang Man watched her, becoming completely captivated as he listened.

Ji Meng seemed to notice and looked over at him. "Are you able to follow, Young Master Jiang?"

Jiang Man instantly snapped out of it and nodded. "I understand, but it would be even better if you could go a little slower."

Ji Meng nodded.

She then resumed her explanation.

Jiang Man was a quick study. He mastered the basic applications after a single demonstration and even began to draw his own conclusions.

Ji Meng was somewhat surprised.

Still, she continued her explanation.

The material slowly grew more profound.

It was like turning the mundane into the miraculous.

This time, Jiang Man hit a wall.

He felt as though Ji Meng had only said a few words, yet they seemed to contain a world of information.

Instantly, he closed his eyes.

Within his Heart Spirit, countless Array Patterns began to materialize, completely encircling him.

Chaotic and without order, the patterns confused Jiang Man.

’Arrays are inherently fixed; they can only exist within a framework.’

’Their application depends on whether that framework can be innovated upon.’

Then, with a single thought, Jiang Man wove the countless Array Patterns into a book. The book’s contents were the Mountain and River Illusion Array.

The book was very thin, containing the entirety of the Array he had deployed.

But it was too crude.

Simple and ordinary.

Then, the Array Patterns surfaced once more. The book instantly doubled in thickness, and the Array’s stability doubled along with it.

But it still wasn’t enough.

He made several more adjustments.

The book became ten times thicker than it was originally.

The Array’s foundation, operational speed, applicability, and effectiveness were all drastically improved.

But it was also complex, and the required time, energy, and materials multiplied in kind.

It had no practical value in a real battle.

After that, Jiang Man began to contemplate and pare it down.

For example, where crossing a river once required building a bridge, he now simply shrank the river so he could cross it in a single step.

If a smaller river meant insufficient Spiritual Qi circulation, he could just convert its original width into depth. That way, the simplified crossing would be unaffected.

As the book flickered in and out of existence,

the book that was ten times its original thickness shrank to nine times, then seven, five, and three.

Finally, it returned to its original thickness.

It had the same thickness and the same framework, but its contents were completely different.

By now, Jiang Man felt his Heart Spirit was utterly depleted, yet he was exceptionally excited.

It was the joy of having his understanding of Arrays ascend to a new level.

The next moment, he focused his Heart Spirit on his Dantian.

He inspected the patterns on the box’s final layer.

He had originally expected it would take him three days to unlock, but now...

With just a casual pulse of his will...

Within six breaths, the box made a soft CLICK.

It popped open.

At that moment, Jiang Man felt his Spirit was pushed to the absolute limit of exhaustion.

He had no choice but to withdraw from his meditative state.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The sky had turned dark at some point. He was alone at the table; Miss Ji Meng was nowhere to be seen.

Fortunately, there was food on the table.

He was starving, and though ordinary food wouldn’t do much to restore him...

...it would at least help a little.

But as soon as the pastry entered his mouth, Jiang Man was surprised.

A stream of Spiritual Qi from within it began to nourish his Heart Spirit.

His exhaustion was swept away in an instant.

Jiang Man looked at the pastry, his hand trembling.

"What’s wrong?" A sudden voice made Jiang Man jump.

He saw Ji Meng walking over, a book in one hand while the other held her Hair Tail Bell still. "Is it not to your liking?"

Seeing Jiang Man staring at the bell in her hand with a puzzled expression, Ji Meng kindly explained, "I wanted to sneak up on Young Master Jiang and give you a little scare. It looks like I succeeded."

’You certainly did,’ Jiang Man thought with a sigh. He then held up the pastry and said, "There’s something special about this pastry. I’m afraid Miss Ji Meng is going to ask me for money I can’t afford to pay."

’This pastry actually contains Spiritual Qi, which means it must be incredibly expensive.’

’I just helped myself. If she charges me for it, I’ll eat myself into bankruptcy.’

Ji Meng let out a chuckle, her smile as radiant as a blossoming flower. "Since when did Young Master Jiang become so thin-skinned? You could just refuse to pay and run away."

"At worst, we’ll just go cry injustice to Young Master Ji and have him pay."

Hearing this, Jiang Man breathed a sigh of relief. "Would that really work?"

Ji Meng sat down, smiling. "Of course not. Young Master Ji would just tell us to get the money from you."

’This version of Miss Ji Meng definitely has a mischievous streak,’ Jiang Man thought.

"I heard he recently obtained a Sword Intent and is currently back at the clan claiming his merits. He also sent word telling me to get ready. Once you enter the Inner Sect, he’s going to get me into an Inner Sect courtyard to cultivate alongside Young Master Jiang," Ji Meng said, picking up the same type of pastry Jiang Man was eating.

Jiang Man was surprised. Not just because Mr. Ji had successfully obtained the Sword Intent, but also because Ji Meng would actually be in the same courtyard as him.

’This...’

’Wouldn’t that be dangerous for everyone else?’

"Has the courtyard been decided on already?" Jiang Man asked.

"Almost. I heard the top-ranked members of your group plan to apply for a courtyard and then invite you to join," Ji Meng said.

Jiang Man nodded. ’In that case, I’ll definitely agree. While being with familiar people might not help me obtain more Spiritual Source, it would be much more convenient in many ways.’

"Young Master Jiang, your Talent for Arrays is very high," Ji Meng suddenly stated.

Jiang Man nodded. "I think so, too."

Ji Meng looked at Jiang Man and smiled. "In that case, there’s something I’d like to ask for your help with, Young Master Jiang."

Jiang Man was curious. "What is it?"

"Aren’t you the Evil God’s Spokesman, Young Master Jiang?" Ji Meng asked.

Jiang Man nodded.

"I’d like you to help me find an Evil God who is extremely skilled in Arrays," Ji Meng said.

Jiang Man was slightly surprised. ’An Evil God who’s extremely skilled in Arrays?’

’I can ask Old Huang when I get back.’

"Then what will Miss Ji Meng’s payment be?" Jiang Man asked, looking at her.

Hearing this, Ji Meng’s eyes narrowed into a smile. "What would you like, Young Master Jiang?"

Jiang Man replied with a straight face, "Just one touch."

Ji Meng was taken aback, even putting down her pastry. "Are you being that direct?"

Jiang Man froze for a second, realizing his words were ambiguous. He quickly explained, "I meant your arm, or shoulder, or something like that."

Ji Meng was silent for a moment before replying, "Fine. But... are you like this with everyone, Young Master Jiang?"