From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Jiang Liu and Jin Ge turned to the side, causing Manali to roll between them and fall heavily to the ground. Her pants and skin were torn, and she wailed in pain as she lay on the ground.

But she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand up, asking Jiang Liu, "Why didn't you catch me?"

"You said it yourself, I'm an outsider, I can't interfere."

Jiang Liu said with a straight face and a smile, "You don't think I'll be moved to return the ladybug to you just because you said a few grand words, do you? Please, this isn't a cartoon. Besides, I'm a much stricter person."

"whispering sound!"

Manali was furious.

Meanwhile, the Black Butterfly, who shared the same perspective as the Cardinal, sensed the intense negative emotions emanating from Manali. It muttered incantations, and a black butterfly appeared out of thin air, landing on Manali's head.

In an instant, the blackened butterfly transformed into a stream of Qi, entering her body through her Baihui acupoint, passing through her three dantian, three gates, and three orifices, forming a cycle that covered Manali with a layer of black Qi mist. It gradually evolved into a set of clothing exactly the same as the battle suit she had formed after cooperating with the ladybug, except that it was black.

"This aesthetic... I still can't say I'm impressed."

Looking at the all-white superhero costume with white spots and a flat, disc-shaped back, Jiang Liu's eyelids twitched, and he muttered, "But I respect it."

At that moment, a phantom butterfly mask appeared on the upper half of Manali's face, and the voice of the Black Demon Butterfly rang in her mind: "Manali, I grant you the power to defeat that brat, in exchange for the power of Ladybug, Black Cat, and the other twelve elves."

"No! You can't control me!" Manali clutched her head and cursed viciously, "Get out of my head!"

"You obtained the power of the spirits to help others, didn't you? Power is neither good nor evil, and you can use my power to do good deeds."

The Black Butterfly saw through Manali's heart and gently guided her, leading her to the darkness deep within her. "If you help me reclaim my elven power, I can give you that part of my power forever, so you can help others to your heart's content!"

"And didn't you feel the pain when you were thrown away by the Cardinal just now? If you don't accept my power, you'll only get hurt!"

Injuried?

Manali recalled the pain from the injuries on both sides, the feeling that her bones were broken, her internal organs were shaking, her head was buzzing, her skin was cracking... and so on. This gradually relaxed her will, and her body was gradually invaded by the power of the Black Butterfly.

"That's right, Manali, only by accepting my power can you help others!" The Black Demon Butterfly's voice echoed in Manali's mind.

"Aren't you going to make a move?" Jin Ge asked, somewhat puzzled.

Jiang Liu simply waited for Manali to be completely corrupted by the power of the Blackened Butterfly and complete her transformation, then calmly flicked a finger of Qi backward.

Snapped!

Just once.

The cardinal who launched a sneak attack from behind was instantly knocked away, and the black energy within his body was also blasted out at that moment.

"cough!"

The archbishop regained consciousness and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

But Jiang Liu spared his life...

"Give me back my elf!"

At this moment, a layer of black Qi flames burst forth from Manali's body, burning fiercely and almost shooting straight into the sky, completely unleashing the potential within her body.

She took a step forward, causing the ground to tremble. She moved so fast that in the blink of an eye, she was in front of Jiang Liu and threw a punch.

Jiang Liu neither dodged nor blocked, letting the fist smash towards his nose.

boom--

The fist stopped three inches from his nose, and a surge of energy erupted out, like a howling wind, rolling backward along Jiang Liu's face, causing the cardinal to tumble several times.

Manali, corrupted by evil, unleashed all of her body's potential. In terms of skill alone, she was comparable to a superhuman who had cultivated for thirty or forty years, making her quite formidable.

Why didn't you move aside?

Manali questioned.

"Then why don't you just attack directly?"

Jiang Liu countered with a question.

Manali's eyes trembled instantly. Then, clutching her black clothes, she used the feeling of Qi flowing through her body when she cooperated with the ladybug to actively control the rhythm of Qi circulation. Gritting her teeth, she roared, "Get out of my body!"

"No! This is impossible! You—"

Before the Black Demon Butterfly could finish speaking, Manali forcefully pulled the layer of black energy off her body.

There are two reasons why she was able to pull out the corrupted energy.

Firstly, during her collaboration with the ladybug, Manali's body had already developed a sense of Qi and remembered the flow of Qi within her body after the "transformation".

After being corrupted, her three gates and nine orifices were temporarily opened. Relying on her past senses, she forcibly opened the three gates and nine orifices completely with the Qi in her body, and officially stepped into the door of cultivation.

This is the foundation upon which she fights against external forces.

Secondly, the Black Butterfly needs to rely on the negative emotions of the Twelve Servant to possess others. Once the possessed person's will is strong enough, they can resist.

thump!

As the black power dissipated, Manali, having exhausted all her Qi, knelt on the ground and said weakly, "This is my... all-out effort."

"What a girl with such a strong will!" Jin Ge exclaimed in admiration. "She will definitely become a powerful alchemist in the future!"

"I'd say it's barely acceptable."

Just as Manali was about to collapse, Jiang Liuzun lowered himself, supporting the back of her neck with one hand and pressing his other hand on her brow, injecting a stream of innate Qi.

In an instant, Manali's injuries were completely healed.

What's wrong with me?

The first thing Manali saw when she opened her eyes was a pair of gentle eyes. They seemed ordinary, but they seemed to have a divine light in them, as if they reflected billions of stars and gathered into a galaxy, which dazzled her.

"What a nice view!"

She couldn't help but murmur until she saw the person's full face. Her cheeks flushed, and she quickly straightened up, freeing the back of her neck from Jiang Liu's grasp. She jumped up, touched her body up and down, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Did you heal me? Thank you!"

"Here you go, your reward!"

With a flick of his wrist, Jiang Liu precisely set a crystal the size of a grain of rice into Manali's earring.

In an instant, a red light flashed, and Manali completed her transformation, donning a red bodysuit made of Qi and covered with black spots. She carried a disc-shaped shell on her back, resembling a ladybug that had come to life.

Feeling the power within her, Manali was delighted, but her expression remained quite calm: "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Also—I still can't compliment your taste, but since you were born in France and grew up in Paris, I respect that."

Manali: "..."

# Chapter 782 Returning the Property to its Rightful Owner

"Now, come with us to see the real culprit who stole the painting."

After saying that, Jiang Liu walked towards Notre Dame Cathedral.

The cardinal in red robes had disappeared.

Manali didn't understand why, but she still followed along.

When the three entered Notre Dame Cathedral and arrived at the back door, they saw the Cardinal holding the ancient scroll and rushing toward the back door.

Upon seeing Jiang Liu, Jin Ge, and the Miracle Army warriors, the cardinal was startled. He then clutched the painting in his hands tightly and thanked them calmly, saying, "Thank you for restoring my sanity from the darkness. May the Holy Mother bless you, Amen!"

"Bishop, what are you holding in your hand?"

Manali has already mastered the Ren and Du meridians, her control over ladybug power has become even more refined, and she can now sense her own kind—

The cardinal in red robes already possessed extraordinary power!

If he hadn't taken the initiative, he would never have been able to be corrupted by the Black Butterfly—the Black Butterfly must have been involved in the theft of the painting, but the mastermind must have been this Cardinal of Notre Dame!

"It's nothing, it's just... just a picture..."

The cardinal abruptly stopped mid-sentence, chanted an incantation, and unleashed a dazzling light that blinded Jin Ge and Manali, while he himself quickly ran towards the open back door.

But Jiang Liu grabbed the other man's neck with one precise hand and swiftly replaced the painting in his hand.

After Manali and Jingo regained their sight, he flicked his hand and threw the cardinal against the wall.

Boom!

A painting of the Virgin Mary was hanging on the wall. It fell due to the tremor and hit the cardinal hard on the head, causing him to lose consciousness.

Manali immediately stepped forward, bound the cardinal, and snatched the painting from his hands. Upon unfolding it, she saw a towering pagoda depicting the heavens and the earth, with the void, wind wheel, water wheel, golden wheel, hell, nine mountains and eight seas, four continents, the sun palace, the moon palace, the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm.

It is a replica of the Map of the Three Realms and Nine Lands!

Using his mental scan, Jiang Liu already knew the content of the ancient Chinese painting to be exhibited at Notre Dame Cathedral, and just now, he replaced the genuine painting by the Venerable Master Xuanzang with the replica he had obtained from a feng shui master.

A past version of myself was a close friend of Xuanzang, and the present version of myself inherited the staff of the nine-ringed staff forged by Xuanzang and was also taught the Heart Sutra by him.

Both logically and emotionally, the legacy of the great Master Xuanzang should be inherited by Jiang Liu.

No problem!

“Although I don’t understand painting, this painting does give people a mysterious and unpredictable feeling… What do you think it contains?” Manali asked Jiang Liu.

"It contains a philosophy of cultivation. If you don't understand Chinese culture, you won't understand it. Do you need me to explain it to you?" Jiang Liu asked with a smile.

"If possible—"

Manali was curious.

"The pagoda in the picture has twenty-four stories, which correspond one by one to the twenty vertebrae of the human body. It emphasizes a kind of 'positive' power, which is used to build the pillar that opens up the human body and the world. It can also be used to cultivate a sixteen-foot golden body, which is invulnerable to all laws."

Jiang Liu explained, “But it requires drawing on the power of faith, which is the pure spiritual power of others’ worship. So it’s actually quite difficult for members without religious affiliation to cultivate. As for heroes and stars like you, the power of people’s worship for you is mixed with too many other elements, such as envy and admiration. It’s not pure, and you yourself are unlikely to collect it.”

"Ok."

Manali hung the map of the Three Realms and Nine Earths in the place where the Virgin Mary was originally, and tied the cardinal to the side. "In this way, everyone will find out that the one who really stole the painting is actually the cardinal himself!"

"That's not necessarily true. You underestimate the power of religion."

Jiang Liu chuckled, "Telling white as black and black as white is a piece of cake for them."

Manali's face twitched as she recalled the pain of being thrown to the ground by the cardinal, realizing that those who cultivate themselves need to cross certain boundaries.

That is, when necessary, it is necessary to end someone else's life.

But does she really want to do that?

"It seems you already have an idea, but you're having trouble making a decision."