Oh.
The warmth that had just risen in Yunze's heart was instantly extinguished.
Playing the zither?
If you asked me to play with cotton, I might be able to play a few notes. At least I saw it when I was making winter clothes with my mother in winter, but this playing the zither...
I'm afraid if I dare to play, you won't dare to listen.
"Is it inconvenient?"
Xu Caiwan, with his discerning eyes, saw that Yunze did not agree and said with a smile, "If it's troublesome, then forget it.
It's just this zither... Daoist Tu, I will still sell it to you, but I hope you can lend me your pavilion for now, so that you can teach the playing method, and then have another person play, how about it?"
His request was not excessive, but how could Yunze dare to agree?
A zither master invited by Wanbao Pavilion to play a third-tier spirit zither could not be an unknown person.
If he really went up and babbled in front of him, he would be exposed even more easily than playing in public!
"Shopkeeper Xu, you misunderstood. I didn't intend to refuse, I was just surprised."
Yunze could only smile at Xu Caiwan, "It's just that my zither path has just begun. If I play a third-tier spirit zither, it's inevitable that..."
"Hahahaha, it's fine, it's fine!"
Xu Caiwan laughed, "It's just playing a song, not asking you to kill everyone at the auction with your music. You don't need any zither cultivation, you only need zither artistry!
So, brother, you agree?"
He had no choice but to agree!
Yunze could only grit his teeth and nod.
"Then I will listen with respect and await your zither music, little brother."
Xu Caiwan cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Then I will entrust the zither to you for now. After the Hongyu Ancient Silver auction, I will deduct the payment directly. If it's not enough..."
"I'll make up the difference," Yunze added.
The price of Hongyu Ancient Silver should be around 500,000. Now Xu Caiwan had advanced him 300,000 spirit stones and sold him Immortal Fragments for 500,000.
There was no way the spirit stones would be enough.
Fortunately.
He still had a purple treasure hidden in green ancient gold in his Sumeru ring.
When no one was around, he would open it. If it wasn't too conspicuous, he would ask Wanbao Pavilion to auction it together.
The crowd walked for another while until they reached the deepest part of the immortal gathering.
Unlike the immortal gathering in the Tangshan Dynasty, this was not a few tents, but a real yamen!
The yamen was not large, and the plaque was inscribed with only the word 'Immortal'.
The gatekeepers saw Yunze leading Gong Li over and quickly came to greet them.
He probably already knew what had happened. He didn't look at Gong Li, but cupped his hands towards Yunze and said, "Fellow Daoist, hand Gong Li over to me, and the rest will not trouble you."
Yunze did not ask any further questions and casually handed the other end of the rope to the other party.
He wanted to personally send Gong Li to prison, but with his current identity, it was impossible to do so.
After sending him here, the rest was the immortal mansion's own business.
"Then I'll trouble you, fellow Daoist."
Yunze cupped his hands in return, turned, and left.
"Kid!"
Before Yunze could take two steps, Gong Li's voice sounded from behind him.
He turned his head and saw that the guy was staring at him with a ferocious expression, his mouth grinning, like a fierce beast looking at its prey.
"Wait! I will definitely come out and find you!"
"Heh."
Facing such a threat, Yunze just smiled faintly, "Let's see if you can even come out of prison alive."
Extracting spiritual roots, abolishing cultivation.
Facing such punishment, less than one in a hundred could survive. Even if Gong Li could survive by chance, it would be impossible for him to step into the path of cultivation again.
Yunze clearly didn't take this matter to heart and walked towards Wanbao Pavilion with Xu Caiwan.
But it was this moment of carelessness.
That made him learn what it meant to... cut the grass and remove the roots!
Wanbao Pavilion was not far from here, only two streets away. After walking for a short while, they arrived at the entrance.
Brother Donkey and Yu Xian on its back were already waiting there... Oh no, they were sleeping.
Yunze stepped forward and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Not only Yu Xian, but even Brother Donkey was asleep. It seemed that pets were becoming more and more like their owners, and this was indeed true.
"Senior Yu?"
Yunze called out softly, "Senior Yu?"
"Hmm?"
Yu Xian did not open his eyes, but a trace of crystal clear liquid slid from the corner of his mouth. His lips moved as if he were saying something.
But his voice was too low, and Yunze could not hear clearly, so he had to lean closer.
This time, he heard clearly what Yu Xian was saying.
"Fish... grilled fish..."
Good heavens!
This salted fish really only knew how to sleep and eat!
If his identity were still Yunze, he would have grilled one for him, but now... he was Tu Sheng, and the relationship was not that close.
Yunze turned to Xu Caiwan, "Shopkeeper Xu, why don't we let Senior Yu sleep here first, and we go in and take a look?"
"Is this... appropriate?" Shopkeeper Xu seemed hesitant to move.
"We can't disturb his sleep, can we?"
"That's reasonable."
Shopkeeper Xu replied, then took a few steps forward, came to the entrance of Wanbao Pavilion, stepped aside, and invited, "Daoist Tu, please!"
"Shopkeeper Xu, please."
Yunze replied, then walked into Wanbao Pavilion side by side with Xu Caiwan.
As soon as he entered the pavilion, Yunze was stunned by the sight before him!
Wanbao Pavilion had a total of three floors.
The first floor was crowded with Qi Refining stage cultivators. Countless spiritual artifacts, pills, talismans, formations, and various heavenly materials and earthly treasures were neatly arranged in crystal counters!
And behind every three counters stood a beautiful female cultivator, each at least at the third level of Qi Refining.
If someone inquired about the goods in the crystal counter, the female cultivator would take out the goods for them to admire. As long as the price was right, they would use their spiritual card to pay the spirit stones.
Yunze roughly estimated that such a large first floor contained goods worth at least tens of millions of spirit stones!
And this was only the first floor!
"Fellow Daoist, this is only the first floor, selling some first-tier spiritual items. If you are interested, you can browse here."
Seeing that Yunze was not moving, Xu Caiwan came up and explained, "If you are looking for some good pills or artifacts, it is best to go to the second floor.
There, they sell second-tier spiritual items. Perhaps you can find something you like."
"Hmm, I'll browse slowly when I have time."
Yunze replied, then turned to Xu Caiwan, "By the way, fellow Daoist, when and where will the auction be held? Do I need to prepare anything in advance?"
"An hour later, on the third floor. As for preparation..."
Xu Caiwan pondered for a moment and said, "That ancient zither might need some tuning. If you have time, Daoist, you can arrive half an hour in advance."
"Okay."
Yunze replied, then cupped his hands towards Xu Caiwan, "Then I'll browse first?"
"Feel free, fellow Daoist."
After sending Xu Caiwan away, Yunze casually browsed the first floor of Wanbao Pavilion.
Although he found many novel items, he also felt something strange about this place.
Wanbao Pavilion had everything, but it lacked one thing.
Ancient Gold!
Not even a piece of white ancient gold.
Yunze did not ask directly, assuming there was a special reason, and then walked up to the second floor.
The layout of the second floor was the same as the first floor.
However, the area was about one-third smaller, and the people wandering between the counters were all Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, and he even saw a few Core Formation stage cultivators.
He brought Zi Ji to a few stalls selling spiritual artifacts and picked out two second-tier spiritual brushes.
But Zi Ji shook his head and said nothing.
Yunze had no choice but to give up and asked about the lowest price for second-tier spiritual artifacts...
A second-tier spirit sword and a second-tier spirit saber were the cheapest, priced at 12,000 and 11,000 respectively.
Of course, this was for second-grade spirit stones!
If Yunze paid with a purple spiritual card, he would only need to pay 19,500 second-grade spirit stones.
The price was slightly cheaper than outside. Yunze did not hesitate much and swiped his card to purchase it.
The spiritual artifacts were settled. Next, he needed to find a safe place to open the green ancient gold.
Otherwise, after the auction ended, he would not have spirit stones to pay the bill.
Yunze thought about it and went downstairs. As soon as he went out, he saw Yu Xian sitting up on Brother Donkey, staring at him with a smiling face.
That look made Yunze's heart skip a beat!
He was stunned for a moment, but still stepped forward and cupped his hands, "Senior Yu, you're awake?"
"Hmm, shall we find a place to chat?"
"Alright."
Yunze was just looking for a place to open the ancient gold. If Yu Xian was watching, it would be much safer.
As Brother Donkey turned around, Yunze also brought Zi Ji and followed beside it, heading west of Wanbao Pavilion.
"Senior Yu, where are we going?" Yunze couldn't help but ask.
"Ye Huan Lou. Since Gong Li has gone to prison, it's natural for me to treat you!"
"Then thank you in advance, Senior Yu!"
Yunze didn't know what Yu Xian was up to, but he had no choice but to follow.
After walking for less than half an hour, the three people and one donkey arrived outside a strangely decorated wine house.
The entire wine house was dark purple, but red lanterns were hung on every eave.
As it was completely dark now, under the illumination of these red lanterns, the dark purple building appeared even more eerie.
"Guest~!"
A cultivator in the Qi Refining stage dressed as a waiter came out and smiled at the three people, "Are you here for a meal or to stay?"
"Book a private room, bring a pot of wine, and we'll talk about the rest later."
Yu Xian said and rode Brother Donkey into the wine house.
The waiter did not stop them and just shouted into the wine house, "Three people for a private room on the second floor, and another pot of Ying Ke Chun!
Guest, please come in!"
Yunze followed in.
When everyone saw Yu Xian riding a donkey into the wine house, they only glanced a few more times, but did not say much.
It seemed that the wine houses in the cultivation world were truly casual.
The three people and one donkey followed the waiter upstairs and arrived outside a private room. He pushed open the door and smiled at Yu Xian, "Guest, Ying Ke Chun is our specialty. We'll bring it to you shortly."
"Hmm, don't open the door then, knock first."
"Don't worry, we know that!"
The waiter replied and walked downstairs.
Brother Donkey also carried Yu Xian into the private room, but just as Yunze was about to bring Zi Ji in, Yu Xian turned to Zi Ji.
"Wait outside the door, I have something to tell him."
Zi Ji was stunned and turned to look at Yunze.
"Listen to Senior."
Yunze turned to Zi Ji and instructed, "Wait until I let you in before you come in."
"I understand, Mr. Tu."
Yunze placed his hand on Zi Ji's shoulder, patted it twice, turned, and entered the private room, closing the door behind him.
Buzz!
A humming sound immediately rang out!
Yunze saw a trembling spirit sword inserted into the floor, and at the same time, a spiritual sense spread out, enveloping the entire room!
Sword domain, spiritual sense barrier!
With two methods to prevent eavesdropping deployed, before Yunze could recover, he saw Yu Xian take out another piece of talisman paper and light it.
As a puff of green smoke dispersed, Yunze could not even feel that there was a person and a donkey standing in front of him!
Yunze knew that Yu Xian would not have any ill intentions towards him, so he was not flustered and asked, "Senior Yu, what is this..."
"Don't rush, we're not done yet."
Yu Xian said, then took out two light blue crystal stones, and casually threw one to Yunze, "Infuse spiritual power."
Yunze did as he was told, and then felt his whole body enveloped by a strange barrier.
Just as he was about to speak, he heard Yu Xian's voice within the barrier.
"Four layers of protection, even if someone in the Nascent Soul stage came, they wouldn't be able to hear our conversation."
Yunze was stunned. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Yu Xian's voice walk to the table and sit down, his voice sounding in his ear.
"Let's talk, young friend Yunze."