"What… happened?"
He opened his eyes and tried to move his eyeballs—only to realize that "his" eyeballs could move. Then he tilted his head and abruptly noticed that his consciousness actually had… a head.
Lowering his gaze, he found that his consciousness had merged with the "stone statue," and the statue's limbs had become his own!
A consciousness wasn't supposed to have a physical form—yet now it did. It was far too bizarre.
He sensed that this "stone statue" was a kind of spirit—something like energy yet not energy, like a soul yet not a soul. Strange and ancient, impossible to describe clearly.
"Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure… Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure… Could the stone statue actually be my spirit embryo? My consciousness entered it, awakening the spirit embryo? Is that what the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure refers to?"
The spirit embryo blinked, and in that instant Qin Mu understood many things.
There were seven divine treasures hidden within the human body. The Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure was the first. But this treasure was sealed—ordinary people could not open it, and therefore could not awaken their spirit embryo.
Spirit bodies, however, had naturally open divine treasures. All they needed was the corresponding spirit blood to guide their consciousness into the spirit embryo and awaken it.
The spirit embryo—this thing that housed the consciousness—was precisely that.
So the divine treasure… was not a gift from the gods, but something deliberately sealed by them?
Just as this thought formed, vitality surged from the outside, flowing into the sea of light. Threads of energy streamed toward the small spirit embryo, which inhaled and exhaled them through its tiny nostrils, feeling comfortable.
With each breath the spirit embryo took, Qin Mu's vitality became more refined.
Not only that—he discovered the spirit embryo was absorbing golden light from the sea of light. Golden specks mingled with the vitality that flowed in and out of his body. He had no idea what effect this would have.
He tried to make the spirit embryo stand, but the small infant body couldn't stand or even move.
"How do I move the spirit embryo? …I'll have to wait until I get back and ask the village chief and Granny."
As he thought this, his consciousness snapped back to his physical body, and he opened his eyes.
A violent coughing echoed in the temple—the monster wasn't dead. It was sprawled before the golden Buddha, coughing blood, spraying mouthful after mouthful onto the floor. Qin Mu thought for a moment, then walked into the temple.
The monster saw him enter and didn't know whether to be terrified or overjoyed. It struggled to rise.
Qin Mu approached while chanting,"Qike duo samoye, banre banre samoye, qike duo banre samoye!"
"Wretch! How dare you!"
The monster felt its hair stand on end. The golden Buddha behind it trembled again, radiating golden light. Chains rattled violently, yanking the monster back to its knees.
"Om, ma, ni, pad, me, hum!"
Buddhist chants thundered. The monster was refined by the Buddha's power until it spat blood and sagged weakly.
Qin Mu stopped chanting the demonic mantra. The golden Buddha only let out one more sacred syllable before falling silent. The monster gasped heavily. Just as it tried to rise again, Qin Mu let out a few more syllables of the demonic chant.
Terrified, the monster ducked behind the Buddha's statue. But Qin Mu only uttered one or two syllables and didn't continue.
"You're a demon…" the monster whispered hoarsely, peering fearfully from behind the statue at Qin Mu stepping into the great hall. "You are the demon! The great devil!"
Qin Mu ignored it and walked toward the statue. After hesitating a moment, he decided to follow the blind man's advice. He bowed solemnly.
"Since childhood, I have suffered from kidney deficiency and weak vitality, with premature loss of essence…"
The monster froze, its eyes bulging. Even while coughing blood, it wheezed with laughter."Youngster, you're telling a Buddha statue you're weak and impotent? The Buddha isn't going to fix your yang energy!"
Qin Mu glared. "Qike duo samoye—"
The Buddha shook. "Wretch!"
The monster nearly fainted and cried for mercy. "Stop chanting! Mercy!"
Qin Mu stopped, but the golden Buddha still uttered one last mantra, causing the monster to vomit even more blood.
Qin Mu searched the hall but found nothing good. However, the mountain of white bones behind the Buddha shocked him. Clearly countless people had died in this ruined temple, victims of the monster.
He shook his head."Bones stacked behind the Buddha… even the Buddha has become your accomplice, helping you hide your crimes and lure more victims. If I let the Buddha kill you, it would count as its merit. I won't let that happen.Monster, what treasures do you have in this temple?"
The monster trembled."I—I have no treasures! That damned bald monk suppressed me here and took everything!"
"Qike do—"
"Don't chant!!"The monster forced a smile. "These years I've been trapped here, besides satisfying my occasional appetite… I've collected a few good items. Let me give them to you."
It crawled toward the top of the main hall, poking a hidden panel. Something clicked, and an entire stash of weapons, armor, and even several women's undergarments—clearly from wealthy families—spilled to the ground.
"That's all," it said meekly.
Qin Mu frowned, disappointed."Only these? No elixirs or medicines?"
"If I had elixirs, I ate them," the monster said proudly. "I've been locked here too long. I wanted to eat everything. Elixirs taste even better than people.But don't underestimate these weapons! These are spirit weapons born from the Six Directions Divine Treasure, naturally nourished by one's vitality. Their power is tremendous!"
Qin Mu picked up a goose-winged blade. It was heavier than his butcher's knife, though larger in appearance.
He tapped the butcher's knife lightly against the spirit weapon.
Clang—The spirit weapon snapped cleanly in half.
The monster stared in shock, speechless.
Qin Mu sighed in disappointment and tossed the broken blade aside.
"That chopping-board-looking knife of yours—who forged it?!"
The monster shrieked,"Spirit weapons nurtured by experts at the Six Directions Realm snap on contact, yet that chopping-board knife is unharmed—there's no way it's ordinary!"
Qin Mu stroked the butcher's knife. It was cool—so cold it seeped into his bones. It was forged by the mute blacksmith in the village, a well-known craftsman in the area.
"That's no ordinary iron!" the monster said, frothing at the mouth. "Feel the chill? If there's cold energy, it's cold-iron gold-crystal!"
Qin Mu nodded in surprise. "There really is a cold aura."
The monster wailed,"Forging a chopping-board knife from cold-iron gold-crystal? With craftsmanship that refined? Utter waste! Sacrilege!"
Qin Mu glared, slung his butcher's knife onto his back, and gathered all weapons and valuables, carrying them out of the temple and piling them at the entrance.
The monster roared,"You already have such a divine weapon—why take my things?!"
"Granny said that anything you steal with your own abilities, you must take all of it."
Qin Mu grinned. "These things were all taken with my own ability, so of course I'm taking everything."
The monster was furious but too afraid to resist, watching helplessly as Qin Mu emptied its years of collection.
"Do you have a sack or something?" Qin Mu suddenly asked, head poking back through the doorway.
"No!!"
"Oh." Qin Mu withdrew casually.
The monster slowly crawled out of the hall—only to see Qin Mu outside chopping bamboo. Soon he had made a bamboo raft, loaded all the treasure onto it, and began poling upstream.
"What kind of rotten kid is this?! Even dares to rob me!"
The monster finally exploded, screaming,"Has the world gone lawless?! You even asked me for a sack to help carry off the loot! I'm so furious I could die!!"