What Are You Risking Your Life For With a Few Hundred Spirit Stones?

From the start, honestly letting the Azure Parasol Sect disciples inspect his Storage Bag was never within Lu Yan's consideration.

Other cultivators might at most carry some Demonic Path Magical Artifacts, or cultivate some Demonic Path Secret Techniques, and at most have a Refined Corpse in their Storage Bag.

Strictly speaking, these people would fail the inspection, but their connection to the Demonic Path wasn't significant.

However, once the contents of Lu Yan's Storage Bag were exposed, it wouldn't just be a matter of being a Demonic Path Cultivator; it would be about a rising Demonic Star, an Innate Demonic Seed!

Lu Yan knew very well that once the contents of his Storage Bag were exposed, Xie Yun would definitely attack him.

Rather than being passively beaten, it was better to kill everyone present and seal off the information just before the inspection.

In front of eight hundred Fierce Ghosts, cultivators below Foundation Establishment had no room to resist. The only one Lu Yan was wary of was Xie Yun.

Both Xie Yun and Cheng Yu were in the early stage of Foundation Establishment and were disciples from major sects. Xie Yun's methods wouldn't be perfectly countered by Lu Yan like Cheng Yu's were, and he would definitely be much more troublesome than Cheng Yu.

More importantly, Xie Yun was in the air. If the Hundred Soul Banner couldn't trap Xie Yun immediately upon being unfurled, Lu Yan wouldn't be able to catch up at the speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator flying with a sword.

If he couldn't kill Xie Yun, Lu Yan's plan to silence everyone and seal off the information would be impossible. At that time, there would still be a continuous stream of Righteous Sects pursuing him.

One must know that in different world versions, there is information mapping!

Once Lu Yan was pursued by Righteous Sects in the Xianxia world, through information mapping, he would be pursued by City Council Federation Officials in the Urban Version, by Survivor Gathering Places in the Apocalypse Version, and by the True God Church in the Mysterious Version.

Thinking of such a scene, Lu Yan couldn't help but shiver in his heart.

Even if he thought his strength was strong and he had many cross-version methods, it was impossible to resist all the righteous organizations in different world versions.

Unless Lu Yan could survive for three months and choose the Urban Version in the next version update, killing all the righteous powerhouses, directly killing everyone to silence them was the worst choice.

As the rogue cultivators gradually passed the inspection, fewer and fewer cultivators remained on the scene.

Most rogue cultivators left the Azure Valley Market without looking back the moment they passed, fearing they would encounter similar trouble again.

Seeing this scene, the curve of Xie Yun's mouth became more pronounced.

When it came to the struggle for the position of Direct Disciple, the upper echelons of the sect were not fools.

Simply pinning the blame of indulging Demonic Path Cultivators was useful, but it wouldn't play a decisive role, unless he could truly capture a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator from a Demonic Path Upper Sect or a Heavenly Pride Demonic Cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage in the Azure Valley Market.

But making these rogue cultivators feel a sense of crisis and damaging the reputation of the Azure Valley Market would cause the entire cultivation market street to decline.

If the two market streets under the command of a dignified Direct Disciple could not be protected, it would inevitably cause an uproar in the sect's internal opinion. At that time, the Direct Disciple behind him could propose to the Elder Council to remove Jade Polishing Fairy from her position as Direct Disciple.

If it were three years ago, even if Jade Polishing Fairy didn't have a single market street under her command, no one would dare to make this suggestion.

But now, Jade Polishing Fairy's talent and potential were mostly exhausted, and her future promotion to Golden Core was fraught with difficulties. There were definitely people willing to push the boat along and let the sect free up the position of Direct Disciple.

With this achievement, he even had hope of becoming a Direct Disciple in the future!

Thinking of this, Xie Yun's heart was filled with fervor.

Just then, a cultivator in the crowd below suddenly moved.

The other party looked quite young. At such an age, coupled with a cultivation base of the fourth level of Qi Refining, he was already considered good among rogue cultivators.

This young man was precisely Lu Yan, who had made up his mind.

Walking below Xie Yun, Lu Yan cupped his hands towards Xie Yun in mid-air and spoke:

"My storage bag, I want to personally hand it over to Senior Brother Xie for inspection."

"Senior Brother?" Xie Yun's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze unfriendly as he sized up Lu Yan below.

What right did a mere rogue cultivator have to call him Senior Brother?

Displeasure rose in his heart, and Xie Yun was about to open his mouth to reprimand him when he heard Lu Yan say:

"The things in the storage bag are related to Senior Sister Ji."

Xie Yun's heart immediately tightened.

At this critical juncture, the only person Xie Yun could think of who could be called Senior Sister Ji was Ji Xingyao, known as the Jade Polishing Fairy.

But Ji Xingyao's name was rarely known even within the sect, let alone by a mere rogue cultivator.

A hint of seriousness rose in his heart, and Xie Yun slowly descended to the ground, his gaze looking down at the Mid-Stage Qi Refinement rogue cultivator before him. An invisible Foundation Establishment pressure quietly released.

Facing Xie Yun's pressure, Lu Yan merely smiled calmly. The Profound Yellow Merit Fire remained within his body, held back but ready to be unleashed, easily dispelling the Foundation Establishment pressure.

Such an understated action immediately made Xie Yun even more serious.

"What is it?"

Lu Yan didn't speak, but simply took out a blue storage bag from his bosom and threw it to Xie Yun.

Xie Yun could tell with just a glance that Lu Yan had other storage bags on him, but at this moment, he had no mind to bother with them. Instead, he focused his attention on the storage bag.

His divine sense probed into the storage bag, and Xie Yun's pupils suddenly contracted. The hand holding the storage bag trembled slightly.

Inside the storage bag was a half-human-sized Spirit Marrow Ore!

With Xie Yun's discerning eye, he could naturally see that the grade of this Spirit Marrow Ore was extremely high, truly a strategic resource.

Amidst his shock, Xie Yun didn't notice the slight, almost imperceptible change in Lu Yan's gaze towards him from the side.

Lu Yan's original intention was to use Ji Xingyao's name to gloss over this matter. It would naturally be the best option if both sides could remain peaceful.

But if Xie Yun was not sensible, being at such close proximity now would also be a good opportunity to use the Hundred Soul Banner to prevent Xie Yun from escaping.

Recovering from the shock of the Spirit Marrow Ore, Xie Yun waved his hand and set up a soundproofing restriction. His voice was slightly dry as he asked:

"Where did this come from?"

Lu Yan just shook his head: "That's not something Senior Brother Xie should know."

Xie Yun's eyes took on a hint of ferocity: "You don't know that the person behind me is an enemy of Senior Sister Ji?

Aren't you afraid I'll kill you here, pocket this item, and then label you as a Demonic Path Cultivator?"

Lu Yan chuckled softly, a hint of pity in his eyes:

"Senior Brother Xie, there's an old saying in my hometown: For a job worth a few hundred Spirit Stones, why are you risking your life?"

"The person behind you wants to compete for Senior Sister Ji's position and sent you to Azure Valley Market to damage the market's reputation. Although this matter is not presentable, it is still within the sect's rules, and Senior Sister Ji can't do much about you.

But the value of this item in the storage bag, you should also be aware of.

To be honest, this treasure is related to Senior Sister Ji's path.

If she loses her position as a Direct Disciple, Senior Sister Ji can still cultivate. But if her path is severed, what do you think she'll do?"

Even though Ji Xingyao's potential was mostly crippled, she was still a Great Cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, her combat power unmatched among those in the Foundation Establishment realm within the Azure Parasol Sect.

The reason they could make these small moves was because Ji Xingyao was constrained by the sect's rules.

Once Ji Xingyao's path was cut off, with her personality, she would inevitably fight back, drawing her sword to kill everyone who obstructed her.

Xie Yun was only in the early Foundation Establishment stage. If Ji Xingyao harbored killing intent, killing him would be a matter of a single sword strike.

Thinking of that terrifying scene, Xie Yun shivered and subconsciously handed the Storage Bag in his hand to Lu Yan.

But then Xie Yun's movement suddenly paused. He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Lu Yan: "You said this treasure belongs to Senior Sister Ji. What evidence do you have to prove your relationship with Senior Sister Ji?"

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow and reached his right hand into his chest pocket. For some reason, seeing Lu Yan make this gesture, an uneasy feeling arose in Xie Yun's heart.

Taking out his right hand, Lu Yan now held a photo.

Xie Yun didn't know what a photo was, but he could clearly see a woman wearing strange clothing in the picture.

Unlike the current style in the cultivation world, the woman's skirt barely reached her thighs, and her upper garment outlined her beautiful curves, its revealing nature almost comparable to the demonic women of the Joyous Union Sect.

Upon closer inspection of her appearance, this woman was identical to Ji Xingyao.

"This..."

Xie Yun was greatly shocked. No one would have thought that the high and mighty Jade Polishing Fairy would wear such indecent clothing in private.

Xie Yun, with a critical mindset, was about to take a few more glances, but the photo was casually put away by Lu Yan.

"Senior Brother Xie, how is it?"

Xie Yun's gaze returned to Lu Yan, his eyes filled with five parts astonishment, four parts admiration, and one part almost imperceptible envy.

"I didn't expect that she would like someone like you..."

Shaking his head and sighing, Xie Yun threw the Storage Bag to Lu Yan and waved his hand to remove the restriction.

"You may go!"

Lu Yan retrieved the Storage Bag, turned around, and strode into the Azure Valley Market.