On the third day after entering the Spirit Talisman Workshop, Lu Yan noticed that Shopkeeper Chu intentionally exposed the "Chang Chun Skill" to him.
Initially, Lu Yan thought it was a bait set by Shopkeeper Chu, so he pretended to be honest and reported it voluntarily, only to be severely beaten by the enraged Shopkeeper Chu.
After several days of recovering from his injuries in bed, Lu Yan began to observe in secret and finally discovered that Shopkeeper Chu often visited the abandoned backyard at night, where the sound of wailing ghosts could be heard from the dry well below.
Taking advantage of Shopkeeper Chu’s absence, Lu Yan found the basent under the dry well and saw an unfinished Demonic Soul Banner and its crafting thod.
The so-called "Chang Chun Skill" was actually a modified "Life Sacrifice and Spirit Condensation Technique," a shortcut thod that consud the practitioner’s life force to enhance the soul, making it easier to extract souls for making the Soul Banner.
After years of rituals, this Soul Banner was about to be completed.
The mont Lu Yan chose to cultivate the "Chang Chun Skill" and step into the first layer of Qi Cultivation, it would be the day Shopkeeper Chu’s Soul Banner was forged.
After discovering the demonic cultivator behind the Spirit Talisman Workshop was refining the Soul Banner, Lu Yan did not report it to the Bamboo Forest Marketplace.
Lu Yan was very clear that Shopkeeper Chu, at re Qi Cultivation Stage four, might seem like a great figure to mortals, but among actual cultivators, he was just at the bottom level.
Without backing, how could Shopkeeper Chu possibly obtain a demonic secret technique to craft such a precious Demonic Magical Artifact like the Soul Banner?
There must be a powerful demonic figure behind Shopkeeper Chu, even possibly within the Bamboo Forest Marketplace.
Using Shopkeeper Chu to refine the Soul Banner was rely to avoid tainting himself with karmic force.
Lu Yan was just a regular person; rashly reporting and getting involved in a conflict between righteous and demonic cultivators would likely lead to a grueso death.
Instead of placing hope for survival on the upper echelons of the Bamboo Forest Marketplace for a fair handling, Lu Yan preferred to trust himself.
He continued to feign ignorance, ignored the bait Shopkeeper Chu repeatedly threw out, and secretly recorded Shopkeeper Chu’s outings.
After observing, Lu Yan found that every ten days, Shopkeeper Chu would leave the Spirit Talisman Workshop for a while, seemingly to report the progress of the Soul Banner’s crafting to soone behind him, which was Lu Yan’s chance.
Lu Yan planned to take valuable items during this period and escape the Bamboo Forest Marketplace once the version update arrived.
The basent had no furnishings except for the Soul Banner crafting array and the corpses; it seed there was nothing else.
Lu Yan reached out and took out an Unranked Spirit-Seeking Talisman, tearing it to release a spiritual light that spread through the basent.
The Spirit-Seeking Talisman is the lowest-level Unranked Talisman, usable even by mortals, primarily serving to assist them in detecting Spiritual Qi traces.
As the Spirit-Seeking Talisman activated, Lu Yan’s eyes imdiately turned to a corner of the wall, where a faint trace of Spiritual Qi was swirling.
After feeling through the area, Lu Yan extracted a loose half-brick, finding a palm-sized pouch behind it.
The bag seed made of so beast’s hide, with golden threads outlining cloud patterns, appearing remarkably elegant and extraordinary.
Having been at the Bamboo Forest Marketplace for three months, Lu Yan imdiately recognized this golden pouch as a storage bag, and from its appearance, it did not seem to be a low-grade item.
"Shopkeeper Chu isn’t qualified to use such a high-grade storage bag, and since it’s hidden here, it must be of dubious origin, not daring to use it openly in the outside world. It benefits now.
This storage bag might contain the majority of Shopkeeper Chu’s possessions."
Lu Yan couldn’t help but show a smile on his lips.
Normally, mortals who haven’t entered the Qi Cultivation Stage lack magical power and cannot use storage bags.
However, within the marketplaces, there are so clever thods using Spirit Stones to open storage bags, and Lu Yan knows a bit about them; opening a storage bag is not too difficult.
Having retrieved the items, Lu Yan looked at the version update progress bar, which had already reached 99.9%, only a step away from the update.
Once the update was complete, Lu Yan could capitalize on the changes during the version switch to escape this demonic lair, but Lu Yan was in no hurry.
He just quietly stood next to the Soul Banner, seeming to be waiting for sothing.
A quarter of an hour later, a commotion ca from outside the dry well as if soone was rummaging through the courtyard.
Then a bulky figure, with agility exceeding that of ordinary people, jumped into the dry well, appearing at the doorway of the basent.
Without a doubt, the person was Shopkeeper Chu.
"How did you discover it?"
Shopkeeper Chu glared fiercely at Lu Yan, his face’s fat trembling, having shed his usual caustic deanor, and now exuding the aura of a mid-Qi Cultivation cultivator, like a beast ready to devour its prey.
In the eerie basent, wisps of black mist swirled around.
"I thought you were a hopeless fool, yet you managed to find your way here.
If I had known earlier, I should have reported to the master to have you killed, then replaced with new materials for refining the Soul Banner."
Shopkeeper Chu moved slowly towards Lu Yan, a bloodthirsty curve rising from his lips:
"But it’s not too late now; after I brutalize you first, it won’t be too late to find new materials!"
In the dark basent, the oppressive aura of the Qi Cultivation cultivator grew ever heavier.
Seeing Shopkeeper Chu able to return at the last mont, Lu Yan finally revealed a satisfied smile.
Standing next to the Soul Banner, he extended his right hand towards the incomplete Soul Banner.
Shopkeeper Chu’s pupils suddenly shrank, then he sneered:
"Fool! The Soul Banner is a Demonic Magical Artifact, even an ordinary early-Qi Cultivation cultivator would find it hard to control.
An ordinary person recklessly touching the Soul Banner will only be entirely devoured by the vengeful spirits created by the Soul Banner!"
However, Lu Yan’s expression remained unchanged. In his eyes, on the illusory interface invisible to outsiders, the version update had already reached one hundred percent.
[The version update progress is full, you can choose one of the following versions to update.
Apocalypse Version: After the end tis, what remains of the world?
Cyber Version: When the Universal Giant Corporation established the sky screen, even sunlight beca a luxury.
Urban Version: This is the best of tis, yet the most monotonous of tis.]
At the mont Lu Yan’s hand touched the Soul Banner, a soft murmur ca from his mouth.
"Update, Urban Version!"
In an instant, the surrounding world seed to freeze.
Around Lu Yan, the dark basent filled with corpses suddenly collapsed, the space expanded several tis in an instant.
Harsh white light from overhead illuminated every corner of the basent, the earthen floor replaced by hard cent, and the stacked white bones turned into cold, rigid corpses.
The once eerily magical array was now replaced by several dical beds, a nearby freezer preserving freshly removed organs.
The sinister scene of demonic artifact forging had vanished, replaced by a bloody factory extracting human organs.
Not far ahead of Lu Yan stood Shopkeeper Chu, dressed in a white coat, holding a blood-stained scalpel.
On Shopkeeper Chu’s face remained an insurmountable look of confusion.
He couldn’t understand why the prey ant to lie on the dical table awaiting organ removal was dressed in strange clothes, with a black flag on the ground beside him.
"Why not obediently offer your organs, and then die?"
Shopkeeper Chu’s expression was grim, his hefty body advancing step by step towards Lu Yan.
Faced with the advancing Shopkeeper Chu, Lu Yan only smiled.
He could distinctly sense that Shopkeeper Chu’s Qi Cultivation Stage four cultivation had vanished entirely; he was no longer a demonic cultivator but a doctor trafficking in human organs.
Under the rules change brought by the version replacent, no matter the height of cultivation, even if you wish, you can only resign yourself to the change and beco indistinguishable among others.
With a light raise of his right hand, Lu Yan shredded a Little Golden Light Talisman in his palm, and instantly, a layer of golden light appeared on Lu Yan’s body.
Little Golden Light Talisman!
The golden light renders one impervious to blades and swords, the most relied upon life-saving object for mortal dignitaries. Though an Unranked Spirit Talisman, its value exceeds that of ordinary first-grade low-level talismans.
With an astonished gaze, Shopkeeper Chu watched as the golden-glowing Lu Yan’s right fist smashed fiercely towards his skull.
The fears and frustrations of three months erupted at this mont.
"Now, it’s my turn!"
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