He took out the items he had kept close to his heart one by one.
Thirteen Spirit Stones, eight rankless Spirit Talismans, five first-rank lower-grade Spirit Talismans, and a storage bag.
Lu Yan reached out and picked up the storage bag and a Spirit Stone, attempting to open the storage bag using the method circulating in the Bamboo Forest Marketplace.
A bit of weak spiritual power was guided into the storage bag, and Lu Yan suddenly felt the gold-stitched bag in his hand loosen, allowing him to easily open the tightened opening.
Lu Yan hurriedly poured out all the contents of the storage bag in one go, and when a large heap of items appeared before him, he had only one thought.
Over a hundred Spirit Stones piled into a small hill, along with neatly drawn dozens of first-rank lower-grade Spirit Talismans, and even five first-rank mid-grade and one first-rank top-grade talismans.
The value of just these things exceeded three hundred Spirit Stones.
In addition, Lu Yan found a palm-length jade small sword, two books, and a bottle of Elixir in the storage bag.
Just by glancing at the jade small sword, Lu Yan could confirm that it was a genuine Magical Flying Sword, although whether it was lower-grade or mid-grade was yet unknown.
But being able to be called a Flying Sword Magical Artifact, its price far exceeded other Magical Artifacts, costing at least nearly a hundred Spirit Stones even if it was lower grade.
There were no inscriptions on the Elixir bottle, and since Lu Yan had never encountered a Spirit Pill, he naturally couldn’t discern the origin of the Elixir.
But none of these were the main points; what truly delighted Lu Yan were the two books in the storage bag.
The books were titled "Red Lotus Karma Fire Scripture" and "Secret Record of Demonic Magical Artifacts."
After a brief perusal, the "Secret Record of Demonic Magical Artifacts" was a refining method for creating Soul Banners, White Bone Bells, and Profound Yin Coffins, with clear records on refining arrays and materials.
Such demonic magical artifacts usually required the sacrifice of numerous living beings to refine, making Lu Yan frown at the content, despite having no moral scruples.
This "Secret Record of Demonic Magical Artifacts" was likely from the demonic cultivator behind Shopkeeper Chu.
As for the other book, "Red Lotus Karma Fire Scripture," it was the cultivation technique Lu Yan needed most at present!
Even the grade of this cultivation technique wasn’t low; it was a high-grade demonic cultivation technique that turned Karmic Force into Red Lotus Karma Fire, renowned for its unparalleled offensive power, far surpassing the commonplace "Chang Chun Skill."
The only pity was that the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Scripture" only contained parts up to the Qi Cultivation Stage, with no subsequent Chapters.
Yet to Lu Yan, the issue of being demonic or only having the Qi Cultivation Stage was inconsequential, as the most important thing was that this cultivation technique could help him step into the cultivation world’s threshold.
Even if it was just the first level of Qi Cultivation, it was an entirely different world.
Most of the items in the storage bag required advancement to the Qi Cultivation Stage to condense magical power before they could be used.
Suppressing the urge to immediately start cultivating the technique here, Lu Yan stuffed most of the things back into the storage bag, leaving only the rankless Spirit Talismans for protection and a few Spirit Stones.
"These things definitely didn’t come from legitimate sources!"
After packing everything away, Lu Yan made such an assessment.
As the assistant at the Spirit Talisman Workshop, Lu Yan was solely responsible for daily sorting, selling, and bookkeeping, making him quite familiar with the financial state of Shopkeeper Chu.
Don’t be deceived by the Spirit Talisman Workshop’s presence in the Bamboo Forest Marketplace; its actual income was low, mainly because Shopkeeper Chu, the Talisman Maker, was subpar.
Shopkeeper Chu’s success rate for crafting first-rank lower-grade Spirit Talismans was less than ten percent, while the talisman paper and Spirit Ore Cinnabar needed for crafting required Spirit Stones to purchase, offering only one Spirit Stone profit for every ten first-rank lower-grade Spirit Talismans sold.
Moreover, the marketplace shop required a monthly tribute of Spirit Stones, and after deducting store operation costs and daily cultivation needs, only a dozen or so Spirit Stones remained by month’s end.
Amassing the contents of the storage bag, let alone purchasing a Flying Sword Magical Artifact, was utterly unrealistic.
And were the Flying Sword Magical Artifact actually purchased by Shopkeeper Chu, he could have carried it in a storage bag with him instead of hiding it in the basement.
Considering this, Lu Yan boldly speculated that the items in the storage bag were likely obtained through Shopkeeper Chu’s murder of others.
The murdered cultivators had influential backgrounds, causing Shopkeeper Chu to hesitate in openly revealing these items, forcing him to hide them in the basement.
Had Shopkeeper Chu carried them, they would have disappeared with the update, leaving Lu Yan no chance to seize them.
After organizing the storage bag, Lu Yan’s gaze fell on the cold floor.
Not far away, the soul banner forcibly brought into the urban version by Lu Yan rested quietly.
Freed from the blood-soaked sacrificial array and removed from the Xianxia version, Lu Yan sensed that the threat emanating from the Soul Banner seemed significantly diminished.
The unruly resentful spirits appeared unsuited to the external environment, with most slipping into slumber.
Approaching the Soul Banner, Lu Yan crouched down to meticulously examine the demonic magical artifact before him.
The Soul Banner was entirely black, with its pole seemingly carved from some black jade, exuding a chilling aura.
Its face was embroidered with black-gold threads depicting wrathful souls devouring spirits, and faint sounds of wrathful spirits wailing might be heard, resembling a Forest of Hell.
Touching the Soul Banner, Lu Yan felt a slight chill under the dormant resentful spirits, noticing nothing else out of the ordinary.
"After all, it’s merely an incomplete lower-grade Magical Artifact, even a famed Soul Banner is the same; its greatest strength lies in its growth potential."
The Demonic Soul Banner was renowned not only for its formidable offensive capability among same-grade treasures but also for its capacity to grow through battle.
Mass slaughter of living creatures fueled the Soul Banner, nourishing hundreds of yin souls to create a Hundred Souls Banner, a renowned top-grade demonic magical artifact that, once refined, could sweep through the Foundation Establishment.
Nurturing a thousand Yin Soldiers under a Ghost General’s command would create a Thousand Souls Banner, on par with a Golden Core Treasure, capable of turning a city into a ghostly realm.
If ten thousand Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals were nurtured under the Netherworld Ghost King’s command, it would become the legendary Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Legend has it that the Nine Nether Demon Sect’s attempt to refine a Ten Thousand Souls Banner caused divine retribution to annihilate everything.
Lu Yan certainly did not aspire for a Thousand Souls Banner or Ten Thousand Souls Banner, considering it sufficient to claim and employ this lower-grade magical artifact, the Soul Banner, for himself.
The Soul Banner could command resentful spirits, holding more value than most spells in an urban version devoid of the extraordinary.
Exploring the underground factory’s environment, Lu Yan found some clean clothes, changed from his coarse ancient-style garments, and tore open a rankless Spirit Talisman.
Spirit Fire Talisman!
A trace of Spirit Fire dropped onto Shopkeeper Chu’s corpse, swiftly spreading, consuming the corpse nearly instantaneously.
This spiritually infused fire was extremely hot, impervious to normal water dousing, capable of eradication all traces of Lu Yan in the underground factory.
After completing all these actions, Lu Yan left the underground factory.