Each major cultivation sect has its own sphere of influence. Sometimes, they appoint obedient monsters, or those who have rendered meritorious service to the sect, as mountain kings or river lords. The local lesser demons are then governed by them, which at least brings some order.

This black eagle merely helped deliver a person, flying for just over twenty days in total, and now Elder Baker was about to help it advance a whole realm and even appoint it as a demon king—truly a great bargain.

But George Baker hadn’t finished speaking, and continued to the black eagle: “Alternatively, I can teach you a cultivation method, but from this day forward, you must serve Charles Smith as your master. Whether he asks you to guard the cave, fend off powerful enemies, or even cook you into soup and eat your flesh, you must not disobey. Choose one of the two, and answer quickly.”

At first glance, the second option seemed far inferior to the first, but this black eagle was rather clever. It thought to itself: I’ve cultivated for hundreds of years, and my progress has slowed more and more, until in the last decade it’s come to a complete halt. Even if Elder Baker is willing to forcibly raise my realm, what then? If I can’t improve any further, in the end I’ll just return to dust. Becoming a demon king on some mountain and living freely for a few more centuries will still end the same way.

The second option, however, offered a cultivation method. For a spirit beast like the black eagle, who had cultivated in the wild with no sect, no master, the greatest hardship in cultivation was the lack of guidance, having to fumble along on its own. To obtain a top-tier cultivation method was a dream come true. With Elder Baker’s stature, any reward would surely be the best of the best. From then on, it could follow the instructions step by step, which was the true path to immortality.

As for becoming a servant, the black eagle felt no shame—in fact, it thought this young master would surely become an important figure in the Lishan Sect, with boundless prospects. Serving as his house demon would be far more prestigious and rewarding than being a demon king appointed by the Lishan Sword Sect.

What’s more, when they encountered enemies on the road, James Smith had risked his life to cover the black eagle’s escape, and the eagle felt grateful to the youth. Without further hesitation, it bowed respectfully to Elder Baker with two low cries, indicating it chose the second option.

George Baker raised his hand and tossed out a jade pendant inscribed with the cultivation method. The great eagle gently caught it in its beak, but did not fly away, instead turning its gaze to James Smith.

Earlier, the process by which the The Elder subdued Liuliang with a token had been seen clearly by the eagle from the sky. Now it was waiting for James Smith to take out the token, so it could complete the act of recognizing its master.

But James Smith did not take out the token. He looked up at the black eagle and said, “That token is for dealing with the fickle-hearted. You, Black Brother, are not among them. Since you have already agreed to The Elder, I trust you.”

At these words, the black eagle was quite moved. George Baker simply smiled, saying nothing more, but there was a new look in his eyes as he gazed at James Smith.

George Baker appeared relaxed, stretching lazily and laughing, “We owe each other nothing. I owe nothing to this world, and the world owes nothing to me. Very good, I feel completely at ease.”

He would die at dawn, and before death, he had to settle one last matter… and it turned out to be such a trivial thing.

After waving the eagle away, George Baker still did not mention cultivation, but instead asked James Smith, “Is there anything else you don’t understand? Ask away.”

By now, James Smith could more or less see that George Baker was so calm because he had already made thorough arrangements. The means and foresight of an immortal were not something a mortal youth needed to worry about, so James Smith did not press further, but instead picked something he was curious about and asked, “There are two things. First, I don’t understand why my benefactor told my grandfather to make sure I never stop sharpening my blade; second, that city just now was very strange.”

“The matter of sharpening the blade can wait; there’s no need to ask about it now. As for that phantom city… In the past ten years, I’ve been in seclusion, cultivating intensively. Perhaps because my end is near, my mind has not been at peace. I didn’t notice anything while cultivating, but after coming out of seclusion, I found a city had appeared around me.”

At first, James Smith didn’t quite understand what George Baker meant, but after a few more explanations, he understood, and all traces of sleep vanished from his face, leaving only shock in his eyes!

George Baker was talking about the phantom city… Every person in that city was someone George Baker had met before, originally just shadows in his mind. But because George could not focus during cultivation, his vital energy leaked out, and without his realizing it, these mental projections gathered his energy and materialized outside his body.

They were not real people, but wisps of vital energy condensed by a great cultivator. Because their flesh and blood were all formed from essence, they looked and felt no different from real people.

To put it bluntly, those people were simply “thought up” by Elder Baker!

As for the various scenes in the city, they were “thought up” by those people, but their magical power was far inferior. Thus, in what James Smith saw and felt, the city was an illusion, but the people were real.

The people in the phantom city originated from a single thought of George Baker, and had no true intelligence. The things they did and the words they spoke were just fleeting memories of George Baker, which is why most of them could only say one sentence.

But this was not absolute. If someone had left a particularly deep impression on George Baker, the shadow in his mind would be more vivid, and the entity projected in the phantom city would “live more complexly”—for example, that red-robed child who closely resembled George Baker as a boy…