Soul Pill

"Thump!"

After a muffled sound from outside, there was dead silence.

Qin Sang hastily covered the things on the bed with his quilt and rushed out. He saw Old Wu slumped at the foot of the wall, motionless.

A black mist surged from Old Wu's body, and then an evil spirit emerged from within him, biting at Old Wu's soul. Upon seeing Qin Sang, it immediately spat out Old Wu's soul and hid in the corner.

Qin Sang froze on the spot, somewhat at a loss.

Old Wu's soul stood motionless, ethereal like a wisp of gray-white smoke. His face was expressionless, his eyes devoid of any spirit, staring straight ahead. The scene was rather eerie.

It seems different from my soul. Old Wu's soul is as tall as his living self. Could it be because I'm cultivating the Netherworld Scripture?

Qin Sang cursed himself for still having the mind to think about such things. He quickly crouched down and placed his finger in front of Old Wu's nose. He felt no breath, and his heartbeat had also stopped.

He was dead.

Qin Sang looked up, his expression complex, and softly called out, "Old Wu, do you still recognize me?"

Old Wu's eyes turned to Qin Sang. After a pause, he replied in a voice devoid of any inflection, "I do."

Qin Sang was taken aback. He had asked casually and never expected Old Wu's soul to answer him. Wasn't Old Wu mute? His soul could speak.

Looking closely now, Old Wu's soul appeared much younger than when he was alive, and his hunched back was straight.

Qin Sang secretly guessed, Perhaps being mute, old, and hunched were merely physical manifestations, caused by illness and life's hardships. The soul wouldn't be affected?

After all, Old Wu was only forty. It was normal for his soul to appear young.

In his past life, a forty-year-old could still be considered a youth.

Being stared at by Old Wu's soul, with an evil spirit lurking nearby, made Qin Sang's hair stand on end. More than that, he felt guilt. Although he didn't have much of a relationship with Old Wu, they had lived under the same roof for half a year, and Old Wu had died because of his recklessness.

"Old Wu, every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt has its owner. That thing killed you. Look clearly. If you prosper in the underworld and want revenge, remember to find it."

Qin Sang pointed at the evil spirit in the corner, earnestly advising. Then he felt he was deceiving himself. "Old Wu, do you have any unfulfilled wishes? Oh, right, family... are any of your family members still alive? Your two sons, is there any chance they survived?"

Old Wu replied in a flat tone, "I have no family."

Qin Sang was troubled, unsure of what else to say. Being stared at by Old Wu made him uncomfortable. He wanted to persuade Old Wu to let go, to reincarnate quickly since he was already dead. What was the point of standing there motionlessly?

From the bottom of his heart, Qin Sang felt that death might not be a bad thing for Old Wu. Reuniting with his family in the afterlife would be better than living like a walking corpse.

But he also felt it was too shameless and couldn't bring himself to say it.

The room fell into a deathly silence. After a while, Old Wu's soul flickered a few times, melting into a wisp of soul mist and drifting towards the evil spirit.

The evil spirit glanced at Qin Sang, cautiously raised its head, and inhaled, drawing all the soul mist into its mouth before shrinking back.

Qin Sang didn't know how to stop it. He glared at the evil spirit, watching helplessly as it devoured Old Wu. He realized this thing was definitely a menace.

If he couldn't make the evil spirit obey his commands and let it act recklessly, countless innocent people would be harmed in the future. What if it wasn't an enemy, but a loved one or a friend?

Qin Sang could only feel fortunate that it wasn't the old Daoist or Mingyue who had knocked on the door earlier.

His goal in seeking immortality was not to become a murderer. If he couldn't control the evil spirit, he would rather lock the Yanluo Banner away.

Qin Sang stood up, took a step, then stopped. He turned to look at Old Wu's corpse, lost in thought. Old Wu had died in front of his door, and the aftermath needed to be cleaned up thoroughly, otherwise, it would cause trouble.

While Old Wu's body wasn't stiff yet, Qin Sang picked him up, kicked open his room door, laid him flat on the bed, and covered him with the quilt.

Old Wu's soul had been directly snatched away, and there were no external injuries. Even the coroner from the authorities wouldn't be able to find anything.

After tidying up all the minor details, Qin Sang retreated from the room, closed the door, and leaned against the wall, letting out a sigh of relief. His mood remained heavy.

Glancing at the evil spirit, Qin Sang strode back into his room, picked up the Yanluo Banner from the ground, and recalled the contents of the scripture, but he didn't know how to recall the evil spirit.

After pondering with a frown for a moment, Qin Sang resorted to his previous method, channeling the wisp of restored energy in his body into the Yanluo Banner.

The chapter on the "Yanluo Banner" contained instructions on how to control it.

This time, no evil spirit lunged at him. Qin Sang silently recited the scripture. When he finished, the Yanluo Banner moved on its own. A deep, faint light suddenly appeared on the black flagpole, with the words "Yanluo Banner" shining particularly brightly. These lights gradually converged towards Qin Sang's palm and finally merged into his body.

Immediately after, a large amount of text suddenly surged into Qin Sang's mind.

Qin Sang was secretly surprised. After reading through this text, he discovered it not only contained explanations about the Yanluo Banner and the evil spirit within it but also a ritual incantation for refining the Yanluo Banner.

It turned out that the Yanluo Banner was not the divine weapon Qin Sang had speculated it to be, but rather an artifact to aid in cultivating the Netherworld Scripture.

However, the evil spirit housed within the Yanluo Banner was called Yanwang. Although its abilities were somewhat weak, after being refined by the ritual incantation, it could be commanded to fight enemies. Therefore, the Yanluo Banner could barely be considered a weapon for combat.

But the Yanluo Banner's greatest use was to assist in cultivating the Netherworld Scripture.

Even with the help of the medicinal bath, Qin Sang had spent more than half a year just cultivating the first level of the Netherworld Scripture. It was imaginable that reaching higher levels in the future would be even more difficult, and it was unknown how many years it would take to cultivate to the highest sixth level.

With the help of the Yanluo Banner, it was different.

After the Yanwang within the banner devoured human souls or Yin energy, it would gestate a Soul Pill. Cultivators would take the Soul Pill and hold it in their palm while cultivating, borrowing its power to greatly increase their cultivation speed.

Of course, the Yanluo Banner was not without its hidden dangers. The text warned cultivators not to be too greedy and to practice with the Yanluo Banner with utmost caution to prevent Yanwang from devouring its master.

Reading this, Qin Sang felt a chill of fear.

This Yanluo Banner was the relic of the man in black. The man in black was powerful enough to suppress Yanwang. But Qin Sang had only cultivated to the second level of the Netherworld Scripture. It was no wonder Yanwang within the banner had retaliated.

If it weren't for the Jade Buddha's protection, he might have already drunk the Meng Po soup.

This incident also served as a warning to Qin Sang: there were too many strange and dangerous things in this world, and he had to be extremely careful in everything he did from now on.

Thinking of the Jade Buddha, Qin Sang fell into thought.

If Yanwang feared the Jade Buddha, did that mean he wouldn't have to worry about repercussions?

But the terrifying scene of the evil spirits lunging at him flashed in his mind, and Qin Sang decided he still needed to be cautious. After all, he had no idea how strong the Jade Buddha truly was, or if it could continuously suppress Yanwang.

After memorizing the incantation, Qin Sang began the process of refining the Yanluo Banner.

When the refinement was complete, Qin Sang felt a peculiar sensation, as if the Yanluo Banner had become connected to his bloodline, a part of his own body.