You, Are You Worthy of Entering the Soul Banner?

Cheng Yu looked at Lu Yan with great surprise.

Lu Yan's question was likely related to the matter at the Bamboo Forest Market.

This immediately reminded him of the incident at the Bamboo Forest Market, where the owner of the Spirit Talisman shop had hired a large number of ordinary people as assistants, luring them into cultivating techniques to refine Soul Banners.

"Could the Hundred Soul Banner in his hand be the one lost in the Bamboo Forest Market?"

"But how did he refine the Soul Banner into a Hundred Soul Banner in such a short time? Is refining beast souls not a baseless claim?"

Cheng Yu's pupils suddenly contracted. Lu Yan's words instantly made him think of many things.

However, facing Lu Yan's threat, Cheng Yu still forced himself to suppress the doubts in his heart and spoke truthfully:

"I'm not very clear about the specifics of the Bamboo Forest Market incident. I only vaguely heard that a Demonic Sect Cultivator was secretly refining a Soul Banner in the Market Street, but a strange fire burned the Demonic Path Cultivator to death, and the Soul Banner also disappeared without a trace.

A Peak Qi Refining cultivator named Li Zhaoheng, who was in the upper levels of the Bamboo Forest Market, used the excuse of worrying about attracting the Azure Parasol Sect's scrutiny to forcibly cover up the matter.

Originally, the matter was supposed to end there, but who knew that Gongyang Xuanming suddenly died in the Bamboo Forest Market."

"Gongyang Xuanming was the son of a Golden Core Elder of the Demon Refining Sect. He himself had a cultivation base at the early Foundation Establishment stage and had been secretly lurking in the Bamboo Forest Market for several years.

But Gongyang Xuanming, whose identity was perfectly hidden, suddenly died. Along with him, a late Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Demon Refining Sect and more than a dozen Qi Refining outer disciples also died.

The deaths of so many cultivators immediately attracted the Azure Parasol Sect's scrutiny. After some investigation, they discovered Gongyang Xuanming's true identity and the truth about the Soul Banner refining in the Bamboo Forest Market."

"The Azure Parasol Sect Elder was furious and purged all the high-level personnel of the Bamboo Forest Market. The Direct Disciple who was originally in charge of the Bamboo Forest Market was also punished and removed from the position of guarding the Bamboo Forest Market."

Lu Yan nodded slightly upon hearing this. The events in the Xianxia version were not much different from the Urban Version.

In the Urban Version, it was Li Zhaoheng who was in charge of the underground factory fire case. At Gongyang Xuanming's behest, he suppressed the underground factory below the fire.

Later, Lu Yan killed Li Zhaoheng and Gongyang Xuanming, which led to scrutiny from the high-level officials of Luo City and unearthed many things, but they were not openly revealed.

The only difference was that in the Xianxia version, a Direct Disciple of the Azure Parasol Sect was implicated, which was undoubtedly the Jade Polishing Fairy, Ji Xingyao.

"Since Ji Xingyao was affected in the Xianxia version, and even removed from her position as Market Street guard, even if it doesn't fully correspond in the Urban Version, there should still be some feedback."

"In the Urban Version, she's just a struggling internet celebrity. How could she be involved in the strange death case of a Myanmar dignitary? And how would she be affected?"

After much thought, Lu Yan could only think of her concert.

The murder happened just a few hundred meters from the concert venue. Even if the matter didn't spread among the public, those wealthy business owners would likely know something about it.

Even if Ji Xingyao had nothing to do with the murder case, as long as she was slightly connected, those business owners would definitely not be willing to invite her to hold a concert again.

"The struggling internet celebrity is probably going to become even more struggling."

Lu Yan felt a little amazed in his heart. He had formed a good relationship with Ji Xingyao back then, hoping to use her influence to settle down.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he could easily suppress even a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator, while Ji Xingyao, this Direct Disciple, became increasingly down and out, even losing her position as the Bamboo Forest Market guard.

Under her name, there should only be the Azure Valley Market left, this last rogue cultivator Market Street. It was truly unprecedented for a dignified Direct Disciple to end up like this.

"Perhaps... the identity of an internet celebrity reflects that Ji Xingyao's identity is beyond her control, far less glamorous than her surface appearance as a Direct Disciple?"

Seeing Lu Yan lost in thought, Cheng Yu became even more convinced of his guess.

"Do you have anything else to ask?"

Lu Yan raised his head, looked at Cheng Yu, and nodded:

"I am very satisfied with your answer."

As he spoke, Lu Yan lightly waved the Soul Banner, and Blood Beard, whose body had melted significantly, walked closer from among the ghosts.

"In return, I will let him eat faster, so you suffer as little pain as possible."

Cheng Yu's face instantly changed, and he said in panic:

"You want this Peak Qi Refining Main Soul to eat me?"

"Among the three Main Souls in your Hundred Soul Banner, two are only at Peak Qi Refining. I am a dignified Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator of the Red Lotus Demonic Sect, and you don't want to refine me into a Main Soul?"

Lu Yan looked at Cheng Yu with a strange expression.

"Why would I refine you into a Main Soul?

You clearly aren't a stable fellow. Even if you became a Main Soul, you'd definitely be thinking of causing trouble and betraying your master. I won't fall for your trick."

Cheng Yu's soul turned green. The reason he answered Lu Yan's questions so readily was that he wanted to cooperate with Lu Yan and then safely enter the Hundred Soul Banner to prolong his life.

Any Demonic Path Cultivator holding a Soul Banner would not easily miss the opportunity to refine a Main Soul. Only by repeatedly winning battles and refining the souls of strong enemies could the upper limit of the Soul Banner be increased.

Throughout history, all the great Demonic Path figures who refined Soul Banners relied on the numerous powerful Main Souls within the Soul Banner to display their might, not the large number of Vengeful Souls and Fierce Ghosts.

When the cultivation level was low, the difference in realm between Vengeful Souls, Fierce Ghosts, and enemies was not large. Hundreds of Vengeful Souls and Fierce Ghosts could easily overwhelm a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator with sheer numbers.

But if one reached the Golden Core or even Nascent Soul realm, no matter how many Qi Refining Stage ghosts there were, they would be difficult to form a force. At that point, there were only two choices.

One was to cultivate these low-level ghosts to the Foundation Establishment stage. If thousands of Foundation Establishment ghosts appeared, even a Golden Core True Person would have to retreat.

But the resources required to cultivate thousands of Foundation Establishment ghosts were terrifying. If one refined souls by slaughtering mortals, it would require at least millions, or even tens of millions, of mortal souls.

Even the most heinous great demon would not dare to slaughter so many mortals, so almost no one chose this path.

The other path was to rely on sufficiently strong Main Souls. The large number of Vengeful Souls and Fierce Ghosts were more for assisting the Main Souls in forming a Ghost Domain, or for slaughtering low-level cultivators.

Powerful Main Souls were not inferior to cultivators of the same rank, and once unleashed, they were enough to crush strong enemies.

Because of this, Demonic Path Cultivators holding Soul Banners would not waste the souls of strong enemies after defeating them, but would refine them into Main Souls.

And those defeated cultivators were also willing to accept this choice. Becoming a Main Soul at least offered a chance to resist, instead of dying on the spot.

But Cheng Yu never expected that there would be someone like Lu Yan who didn't play by the rules, allowing a precious Foundation Establishment soul to be casually devoured by a Qi Refining Stage ghost.

In his panic, he shouted:

"I have the inheritance methods of the Red Lotus Demonic Sect! I also have treasures from the Demonic Sect and clues to ancient ruins!

Let me become a Main Soul of the Hundred Soul Banner, providing you with information and being at your disposal!"

The high and mighty Sect Great Cultivator instantly became so humble, even actively requesting to enter the Soul Banner. This made Lu Yan couldn't help but show a smile and asked softly:

"You? You think you're worthy of entering the Soul Banner?"

He had too many secrets. An intelligent Main Soul with the potential to rebel was an extremely unstable factor for him. He would not allow such a creature to exist.

Blood Beard tore apart Cheng Yu's soul with large bites, completely devouring it amidst his mournful wails.