As he stepped into the array of the Cyan Valley Marketplace, the gathered mist concealed his figure, allowing Lu Yan to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The Spirit Marrow Ore, due to its special Spiritual Qi, would contaminate the surrounding items. Last night, Lu Yan had stored it separately in a storage bag, becoming the core of his plan this time.
This piece of Spirit Marrow Ore was valuable enough that ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t dare to covet it rashly, and it was simply not something a mere Qi Cultivation cultivator could present. Even true disciples obtaining resources of this level would have to pay a tremendous cost, providing some authenticity to this deception.
In the urban version, the photo obtained from a fan of Ji Xingyao also served as evidence of Lu Yan’s connection with Ji Xingyao.
The combination of various factors helped Lu Yan solidify his relationship with Ji Xingyao.
This plan was concocted by Lu Yan in a rush, but the only real issue lay in whether Ji Xingyao could deter Xie Yun.
Lu Yan was actually unaware of what had transpired with Ji Xingyao. He knew nothing about the internal conflicts of the Cyan Simurgh Sect, sect disciples, or the true successor position. He deduced even Ji Xingyao’s fall from grace from her urban persona as a fallen internet celebrity.
This made Lu Yan unsure of how much deterrent power Ji Xingyao’s title as a true disciple still held, or whether the claim that Ji Xingyao’s path would be severed could make Xie Yun, the inner sect disciple, hesitate.
Thus, for Lu Yan, this was a gamble!
If Lu Yan won, Xie Yun would live!
If Lu Yan lost, Xie Yun would die!
Indeed, the entire plan from beginning to end decided the fate of Xie Yun. Regardless of the outcome, Lu Yan had enough confidence to survive.
If he couldn’t deceive Xie Yun, it would inevitably lead to the exposure of Lu Yan possessing the Hundred Souls Banner, leaving only one path: to kill and silence.
What he truly feared was the potential negative impact after killing.
Fortunately, at the last moment, Ji Xingyao, the true disciple of the Cyan Simurgh Sect, finally revealed some residual power.
Although she was already a fallen internet celebrity, the reputation still existed, enough to make Xie Yun hesitate.
The only thing that made Lu Yan feel somewhat uneasy was that after taking out that photo, he always felt Xie Yun’s final look at him seemed a bit strange.
"Did he sense something?"
The thought flashed through his mind but he didn’t delve deeper, his gaze sweeping over the streets of the Cyan Valley Marketplace.
Since Xie Yun and others targeted the Cyan Valley Marketplace, they had obviously made arrangements long ago. All the shops on the streets were closed, and the usual Qi Cultivation peak level managers of the marketplace were nowhere to be seen, leaving only a group of cultivators at the gate of the marketplace, looking at each other in confusion.
Upon seeing Lu Yan entering the marketplace, some cultivators immediately stepped forward to ask.
"Daoist friend, what exactly happened outside?"
Lu Yan ignored them completely, striding away from the spot heading toward the Cave Mansion District of the Cyan Valley Marketplace.
In fact, Lu Yan’s best choice would have been to turn away from the Cyan Valley Marketplace, directly fleeing the jurisdiction of the Cyan Simurgh Sect.
However, the identity Lu Yan displayed in front of Xie Yun was related to Ji Xingyao. A mere mid-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator with such a precious Spirit Marrow Ore, if he fled right after the inspection, even if Xie Yun were a fool, he would realize something was amiss.
Lu Yan’s only choice now was to enter the Cyan Valley Marketplace and wait for the inspection to end before sneaking away.
"I hope nothing changes in the meantime."
Lu Yan sighed softly, navigating familiar paths back to his cave mansion.
Sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat, Lu Yan began to contemplate the day’s events.
He suddenly realized that the crisis posed by individual cultivators was ultimately limited, and what was truly irresistible was the pressure from a larger force.
In the Xianxia version, the eradication of the Hundred Souls Banner was a trend that even the demonic sects wouldn’t dare openly use, let alone him being just a loose cultivator.
The Hundred Souls Banner certainly gave him the confidence to surpass boundaries and kill Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it also brought hidden dangers on another level.
As long as he held the Hundred Souls Banner, these righteous sects could come looking for him at any time.
This time, it was an early-stage Foundation Establishment inner sect disciple from the Cyan Simurgh Sect, whom Lu Yan could still manage to intimidate with Ji Xingyao’s name.
But what if next time it is a true disciple? Or even a Golden Core master from a righteous path, then what?
Lu Yan fell into deep thought, and after a moment, he murmured quietly:
"The power of the Hundred Souls Banner, after all, has its limits!
If I could refine a Thousand Souls Banner or a Ten Thousand Souls Banner, or even slaughter all the zombies in the apocalypse version, refining all the zombie wandering souls into the Soul Banner, how could I fear the oppression of mere righteous sects?"
Lu Yan pondered that the real issue lay in his insufficient strength. As for abandoning the Hundred Souls Banner, that would be akin to giving up eating for fear of choking.
In the Xianxia version, the wealth he gained was the reward for his arduous three months of battling zombies in the apocalypse version.
"However, the next time I draw the apocalyptic version is uncertain, and refining a Ten Thousand Souls Banner to cleanse the entire apocalypse isn’t something that one or two trips to that world can accomplish.
Before I attain enough power to openly use the Soul Banner, I should find a way to conceal it a bit, to prevent incidents like today’s from happening again."
Lu Yan organized his thoughts, realizing that avoiding situations like today could be divided into two methods.
The first is to obtain some treasure that can evade divine sense detection, hiding the storage bag with the Soul Banner within it to dodge possible inspections.
However, this only treats the symptoms but not the cause. Even if he evades the inspection, there’s always a risk of exposure.
The second method is to refer to how Golden Core masters refine their lifebound magical treasures, allowing one to store the treasure within, nurturing it.
If Lu Yan could internalize the Hundred Souls Banner, he wouldn’t need to deliberately hide it.
The only problem is that the Hundred Souls Banner isn’t Lu Yan’s lifebound magical treasure, and its quality is only at the top-grade magical artifact level, so storing it within is just a hypothesis.
Unless he obtains the relevant refining techniques, Lu Yan has no means to proceed.
"It’s truly a troublesome matter."
Unable to come up with any solutions after a long while, Lu Yan decided to temporarily set aside the idea and not force it.
Outside the Cyan Valley Marketplace, inspections were still ongoing. Lu Yan couldn’t flee at this juncture and could only take out the gains from last night from his close-fitting storage bag.
After killing Cheng Yu from the Red Lotus Demon Sect, Lu Yan was delighted by the Spirit Marrow Ore and busy handling the scene, only roughly checking the items in the storage bag, not having time to carefully examine the two scriptures inside.
The scriptures that could be placed alongside the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Scripture" must have their uniques.
With a flip of his right hand, two scriptures fell into Lu Yan’s hand.
On the uppermost scripture, four big characters were written.
"Array Profound Mystery"!