Evil Spirit and Jade Buddha

Qin Sang's lips couldn't help but curl upwards as he woke from his cultivation, unable to conceal his joy.

He raised his arm and looked at it, then squeezed it. It seemed no different from before, and he couldn't tell what benefits this breakthrough had brought him.

He channeled some of his Qi to his finger. After a moment, a faint, hazy blue aura appeared on his fingertip.

Is this what Bai Jianglan called externalizing True Qi?

Qin Sang was curious. He tried to gather the aura into the shape of a sword but found he couldn't. Unwilling to give up, he suddenly stabbed his finger towards the bamboo table beside him. With a 'bang', not only did he fail to pierce the table, but his fingertip throbbed with a piercing pain.

"Right," Qin Sang suddenly slapped his forehead. "I almost forgot about the Yanluo Banner!"

Qin Sang quickly fumbled with his clothes, untied the cloth wrapped around his chest, and took out the items within. He set aside the other items and took the Yanluo Banner in his hand.

This small banner exuded an eerie aura, and it was the black-clothed man's weapon. Qin Sang had been afraid to defy the Netherworld Scripture before. For a year, he had endured it, not daring to mess around.

Now that Qin Sang had broken through to the second level, according to the cultivation technique, he could control the Yanluo Banner.

Qin Sang held the banner and looked at it back and forth. Thinking of the dried corpse, he felt a little hesitant.

The evil spirits on the banner seemed lifelike, as if they would pounce out at any moment. Even if it was a cultivator's weapon, it might still be a demonic or evil artifact.

But he had even cultivated the techniques of a Demon Lord. Would it be too late to worry about such things now?

Qin Sang gritted his teeth and made up his mind, gripping the Yanluo Banner with both hands.

He followed the steps written in the book, circulated his cultivation technique, channeled the Qi within his body into his meridians, guided it to gather in his palm, and finally channeled it into the Yanluo Banner.

Qin Sang stared intently at the Yanluo Banner, feeling very nervous.

The blue, misty aura enveloped the Yanluo Banner. The pitch-black Yanluo Banner suddenly flashed, and the evil spirits on the banner seemed to move. Qin Sang thought he was hallucinating.

The next moment, the misty aura surged and was instantly swallowed by the Yanluo Banner.

Immediately after, an incredibly powerful suction force emanated from within the Yanluo Banner, and the remaining Qi in Qin Sang's dantian surged outwards like crazy.

Qin Sang was greatly alarmed. He tried to pull the Qi back but found it completely futile. In his panic, he shook his hand violently, but the Yanluo Banner was stuck to his palm as if glued.

Helplessly watching the hard-earned Qi he had cultivated being drained by the Yanluo Banner, Qin Sang felt like crying.

Just then, another anomaly occurred.

The Yanluo Banner moved as if by itself, the flag fluttering. The evil spirits on the banner were facing Qin Sang, and they actually blinked, grinning sinisterly, and pounced out from the banner.

Qin Sang had never seen such a terrifying sight. He cried out in terror, with nowhere to hide, and watched as the terrifying evil spirit lunged at his face.

Qin Sang felt as if he had been hit by a tremendous force, his mind went blank, and then he woke up, finding he still had consciousness.

"Where is this? Where did that evil spirit go?"

Qin Sang's eyes widened. The surroundings were an endless darkness; he couldn't see anything.

Where is this place?

Was I killed by the evil spirit? Is this the underworld?

Qin Sang was extremely confused. He looked down and was startled to find that his body had shrunk to the size of his palm. His entire body was transparent, emitting a faint blue light, with a layer of slightly yellowish light outside, making him look like a ball of light from the outside.

How did I become like this? Is this my soul?

Where did the evil spirit go?

Qin Sang's eyes widened. He looked down at his transparent legs and feet, wanting to take a step, but he suddenly flew out a long distance.

Just then, he suddenly heard a terrifying roar from the depths of the darkness. Looking up, he saw a dark figure flying out of the darkness—it was that evil spirit!

The evil spirit was much larger than Qin Sang. Its blood-red eyes were fixed on Qin Sang, filled with greed. Its speed was astonishing, and it pounced at him menacingly.

Just by comparing their sizes, Qin Sang felt incredibly weak. Seeing the evil spirit chasing him, he was terrified and fled like a headless fly.

However, his speed was far too slow compared to the evil spirit, and he was easily caught.

'Whoosh!'

The evil spirit moved like the wind, blocking Qin Sang in the blink of an eye. It grinned, its cavernous mouth opening, about to swallow Qin Sang.

Qin Sang's face was filled with despair.

Unexpectedly, just as Qin Sang was about to be devoured by the evil spirit, the yellow light around his soul suddenly emitted infinite brilliance. Within the dense golden-yellow Buddhist light, a Buddha statue appeared.

The Buddha statue had a broken arm, sat in the lotus position, its gaze lowered, and its Buddhist light shone everywhere. The weak Qin Sang was within the Buddha statue's body.

"Amitabha!"

A grand Buddhist mantra resonated in Qin Sang's mind, like a great bell or a thunderous drum. Qin Sang's mouth fell open in shock.

The Buddha statue remained motionless, but the evil spirit's face was filled with terror, as if it had seen its natural enemy. It turned and fled, its arrogant demeanor completely gone.

This... isn't this the Jade Buddha from my past life?

Qin Sang ignored the fleeing evil spirit and stared at the broken arm of the Buddha statue, his heart churning with immense emotion. He had worn the Jade Buddha for thirty years in his past life, and it was the last thing he saw before dying. How could he possibly forget it?

The Jade Buddha was a family heirloom from his mother's side. It was already incomplete, with one arm broken, in the exact same position as the Buddha statue.

Qin Sang had thought he was a lonely soul who had drifted to this world, but he never expected the Jade Buddha to have followed him in this form and even saved his life.

"Mom... Dad..."

Qin Sang cupped his face with both hands and finally broke down in tears, though his soul couldn't shed tears.

After venting, Qin Sang quickly calmed down and considered his situation, but the boundless darkness in all directions made him feel a bit lost.

"The Jade Buddha saved me. I might not be dead yet. Could this be inside my body? How can I get out? The evil spirit is still outside; will it still want to eat me?"

Unexpectedly, as soon as Qin Sang had the thought of moving, his vision blurred, and then it changed drastically, with the familiar room appearing before him.

Qin Sang's heart tightened. He found he was still clutching the Yanluo Banner and quickly threw it far away. His gaze shifted, sweeping across a dark shadow in the corner of the room, which was the evil spirit.

The evil spirit was curled up in the corner, looking at Qin Sang timidly, its face filled with intense fear, trembling.

Qin Sang's body was a bit stiff, but seeing the evil spirit like this, the fear in his heart lessened considerably.

"It's afraid of the Jade Buddha."

"The Jade Buddha is inside me, integrated with my soul, so it's also afraid of me."

"Can I command it, or control it?"

As Qin Sang pondered these thoughts and was about to speak, a 'bang bang' knock suddenly sounded from outside the door, followed by Old Wu's inquiring voice.

His previous outburst might have woken Old Wu.

With so many secrets, he absolutely couldn't open the door.

"I..."

Qin Sang quickly changed his thoughts. Just as he was about to explain, he caught sight of the evil spirit suddenly lunging into the bamboo wall and cursed inwardly.