<em>Thud!</em>


    A muffled sound echoed outside, followed by an eerie silence.


    Qin Sang hurriedly covered the items on the bed with a nket and rushed out the door, only to find Old Wu copsed at the base of the wall, motionless.


    A dark aura swirled around Old Wu’s body, and then an evil spirit emerged from within him, clutching Old Wu''s soul in its mouth. Upon seeing Qin Sang, the spirit immediately spat out Old Wu''s soul and retreated to a corner.


    Qin Sang froze in ce, momentarily at a loss.


    Old Wu''s soul stood there, unmoving. It appeared as a faint, grayish-white mist, with a nk expression and lifeless eyes, staring straight ahead—a scene that sent chills down Qin Sang''s spine.


    <em>Unlike my soul, Old Wu’s soul seemed just as tall as he was. Could it be because I cultivated the Netherworld Scripture?</em>


    Qin Sang scolded himself for letting his mind wander at such a critical moment. He quickly squatted down, cing his fingers under Old Wu''s nose, but he couldn''t feel any breath. A check on the heartbeat confirmed it had stopped.


    He was dead.Qin Sang lifted his head, aplex expression on his face, and called out softly, "Old Wu, do you still recognize me?"


    Old Wu’s eyes shifted to Qin Sang, pausing briefly before he replied in a monotone voice, "I recognize you."


    Qin Sang was taken aback. He had only asked casually and hadn’t expected Old Wu''s soul to respond. <em>Isn''t Old Wu mute? Yet, his soul can speak.</em>


    On closer inspection, Old Wu’s soul appeared much younger than he had been in life, no longer hunched.


    Qin Sang spected that the mute, aged, and hunched appearance might have been physical traits caused by illness and the hardships of life, which didn’t affect the soul.


    After all, Old Wu was only forty years old. It was normal for his soul to look younger.


    In Qin Sang''s previous life, a forty-year-old could still be considered young.


    As Old Wu’s soul stared at him, and with an evil spirit crouching nearby, Qin Sang felt uneasy, but more than that, he was filled with guilt. Even though he had no deep ties with Old Wu, they had lived under the same roof for six months. Yet, Old Wu had died because of his recklessness.


    "Old Wu, every wrong has its source. The one who caused your death is that thing. Remember that clearly. If you ever be powerful in the underworld ande back for revenge, make sure to go after it."


    Qin Sang pointed at the evil spirit in the corner, earnestly advising him, though he felt it was a poor attempt to deceive himself. "Old Wu, do you have any unfinished wishes? What about your family…? Is there anyone still alive? What about your two sons? Do they have any chance of surviving?"


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


    Qin Sang was at a loss, unsure of what else to say. Being stared at by Old Wu made him ufortable. He wanted to console Old Wu, to urge him to move on now that he was dead, to reincarnate instead of just standing there.


    Qin Sang genuinely believed that for Old Wu, death might not be such a bad thing. Reuniting with his family in the afterlife was better than living as a walking corpse.


    But he found the idea too callous and couldn’t bring himself to say it.


    The room fell into a deathly silence. After a while, Old Wu’s soul began to waver, dissolving into a wisp of soul mist that drifted toward the evil spirit.


    The evil spirit nced at Qin Sang, cautiously raised its head to inhale the mist, then quickly retreated.


    Qin Sang didn’t know how to stop it. He could only stare at the evil spirit as it devoured Old Wu, realizing that this creature was undoubtedly a menace.


    If he couldn’tmand the evil spirit to obey him, allowing it to run amok would inevitably result in the deaths of countless innocents. If it harmed an enemy, that might be eptable, but what if it was a family member or a friend?


    Qin Sang could only feel relieved that the one who knocked earlier wasn’t the old Daoist or Ming Yue.


    His goal in seeking immortality was to achieve eternal life, not to be a murderer. If he couldn’t control the evil spirit, he would rather lock away the Yan Luo Banner.


    Qin Sang stood up, took a step forward, then stopped. He turned back to look at Old Wu’s body, deep in thought. Old Wu had died right outside his door. He needed to handle this carefully, or there would be trouble.


    Taking advantage of the fact that Old Wu''s body had not yet stiffened, Qin Sang lifted him, kicked open his room door, andid him t on the bed, covering him with a nket.


    Old Wu had his soul directly extracted, leaving no external wounds, so even the coroner wouldn’t be able to find anything suspicious.


    After tidying up every detail, Qin Sang backed out of the room, closed the door, and leaned against the wall, letting out a heavy sigh, his heart still weighed down.


    ncing at the evil spirit, Qin Sang strode back into the room, picked up the Yan Luo Banner from the floor, and tried to recall the content of the scriptures, but he had no idea how to retrieve the evil spirit back into the banner.


    Frowning in thought for a moment, Qin Sang had no choice but to use the same method as before, channeling a newly recovered strand of qi into the Yan Luo Banner.


    The <em>Yan Luo Banner</em> chapter detailed how to wield the banner.


    This time, there was no evil spirit lunging at him. Qin Sang recited the scripture silently, and as he finished, the Yan Luo Banner began to move on its own, the ck gpole suddenly glowing with a deep, eerie light. The characters for "Yan Luo Banner" shone especially bright, and these lights gradually converged toward Qin Sang’s hand before finally merging into his body.


    Immediately after, a flood of words appeared in Qin Sang’s mind.


    Qin Sang was secretly amazed. After reading through the text, he discovered not only exnations about the Yan Luo Banner and the evil spirit within it but also an incantation for refining the banner.


    It turned out that the Yan Luo Banner wasn’t the immortal''s weapon Qin Sang had initially thought but rather an auxiliary tool for cultivating the <em>Netherworld Scripture.</em>


    However, the evil spirit housed within the Yan Luo Banner, known as the King Yan, was somewhat weak. Still, after being refined with the incantation, it could be used to fight enemies, so the Yan Luo Banner could barely function as a weapon.


    Nevertheless, the primary use of the Yan Luo Banner was to assist in cultivating the <em>Netherworld Scripture.</em>


    Even to reach the first stage of the <em>Netherworld Scripture</em>, with the aid of herbal baths, Qin Sang had still spent more than half a year. It was evident that reaching higher stages would be even more challenging, possibly taking many years to attain the sixth and highest stage.


    With the help of the Yan Luo Banner, things would be different.


    When the King Yan within the banner devoured human souls or malevolent yin qi, it would produce a Soul Pill. The cultivator could hold this Soul Pill in their palm during cultivation, and by harnessing its power, they could significantly elerate their progress.


    Of course, the Yan Luo Banner wasn’t without its risks. The text warned cultivators not to be too greedy and to use the banner cautiously to avoid being devoured by King Yan.


    Reading this, Qin Sang felt a wave of fear.


    The Yan Luo Banner was a relic from the ck-d man, whose formidable strength had kept King Yan in check. But Qin Sang had only reached the second stage of the <em>Netherworld Scripture</em>, so it was no wonder King Yan had tried to retaliate.


    If it hadn’t been for the protection of the Jade Buddha, he might have already been dead.


    This incident served as a stark warning to Qin Sang. There were too many strange things in this world, and he would have to be careful in all matters from now on.


    Thinking of the Jade Buddha, Qin Sang grew contemtive.


    <em>If King Yan fears the Jade Buddha, does that mean I don''t need to worry about retaliation?</em>


    But recalling the terrifying moment when the evil spirit lunged at him, Qin Sang decided it was best to remain cautious. After all, he didn’t know how strong the Jade Buddha truly was or whether it could always suppress King Yan.


    Having memorized the incantation, Qin Sang began refining the Yan Luo Banner.


    When the refinement wasplete, Qin Sang felt a strange sensation as if the Yan Luo Banner had be connected to his bloodline, bing a part of his very being.