The man had an indifferent expression as he looked at the treasures one by one. Unlike the others who showed amazement and admiration, he seemed a bit absent-minded, as if he didn't take those things seriously, yet he still looked at them carefully.

In just a short while, seven or eight treasures had been presented.

The steward of the Yongning Marquis took a small box and gently opened it.

Inside the box was a fresh green herb, with branches and leaves bearing a few bean-sized fruit that were as white as cow's milk. Around the green herb, there seemed to be a layer of solidified mist lingering, which did not dissipate even when the box was opened.

The crowd let out a sound of surprise, and someone asked, "Could this be the White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass?"

The steward said, "That's right, this is indeed the White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass. It can bring the dead back to life, turn flesh white as bone, and heal even the most difficult injuries. If a cultivator consumes it, it can even increase their cultivation. After Sir Du's appraisal, it is confirmed to be genuine. Although not a magic treasure, it is a rare spiritual medicine."

Sir Du was the Foundation Establishment cultivator who was in charge of screening at the entrance earlier, and also an honored guest invited by the Yongning Marquis.

The curtain on the second floor trembled slightly, and a maid walked out, making a gesture to the steward, who then asked, "May I ask who is the owner of the White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass?"

"It's me." A middle-aged man stood up, a cultivator at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.

"The Marquis has ordered that he is willing to offer 80 pieces of high-grade spirit stones to acquire the White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass. Is that agreeable to you, sir? If not, the item can be returned to you."

The White Jade Smoke Gauze Grass was rare, but 80 pieces of high-grade spirit stones indeed matched its value. The man naturally agreed without hesitation.

"This item here is called the Thousand Rainbow Curtain..."

The Thousand Rainbow Curtain, as the name suggests, when hung up, it was like having a thousand rainbows, a dazzling display of colorful hues. Even though it was exquisitely crafted, it was only a decorative treasure, not even qualifying as a magic treasure.

Zhou Yin looked at it for a few moments, not very interested. When he looked back to the original spot, the man was no longer there.

Zhou Yin had no interest in the subsequent treasures. In his previous life, he had seen countless rare and exotic treasures, so naturally, he didn't think much of these things. Without waiting for the treasure appraisal event to end, he went to retrieve his Lingyin Sword and spirit stone, then left the Peach Blossom Mountain Villa.

Zhou Yin found a place to stay in Luzhou City, in no hurry to return.

Even if he went back, he feared that the place would now be empty. As for the situation in the Shangxuan Sect, he had no idea. Now that he was at the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, if he went into closed-door cultivation, he could quickly advance. He might as well find a secluded place outside the city for closed-door cultivation.

Outside Luzhou City, there was a river called Willow River, named after the weeping willows lining both banks. After staying here for a few days, Zhou Yin often went to a teahouse to sit and relax.

In his previous life, he was always on the move, existing almost solely for cultivation. Now that he had a second chance, although he still valued power, he was no longer in a rush like in his previous life, and occasionally knew to stop and appreciate the scenery.

From the second floor of the teahouse, one could clearly see the river's scenery. The setting sun's afterglow shone on the city walls, light boats glided across the river surface, the water sparkling, the willows looking like smoke.

There were few customers, and those present were just ordinary tea drinkers. It had been two days since Zhou Yin left the villa, and the treasure appraisal event had not yet ended. Many people were still lingering at the Peach Blossom Mountain Villa. Cultivators who left midway like him were, after all, not many.

Zhou Yin himself could go a whole day without saying a word, but in the past, Zhou Chen was always there. No matter what it saw, it would parrot and chatter incessantly, sleeping in, being greedy, throwing tantrums, playing dumb - it was a natural at everything.

The tea fragrance was faint. He picked up the teacup and took a sip.

A commotion came from the stairwell, and four or five cultivators walked up, discussing animatedly.

One person said, "The Peach Blossom Mountain Villa has countless cultivators. How dare they choose this time to make a move, they're really bold!"

Another said, "But the one who died is Sima Liang, what does it have to do with us? It's not like we killed him, why do they have to close the city gates and set up restrictions?"

His companion hurriedly said, "Keep your voice down. Didn't you see that this matter even alarmed the Qinggu Sect? It shows that Sima Liang had a deep relationship with them. Maybe the other party was targeting the Qinggu Sect!"

The man was still resentful, "I think they're just guarding against people like us. Otherwise, why would they put up a seal to prohibit cultivators from leaving the city? I don't believe they would dare to stop those Core Formation experts!"

The cultivator who spoke first said, "Not to mention Core Formation cultivators, even Nascent Soul experts were originally honored guests of the Peach Blossom Mountain Villa. With something like this happening, unless they openly tear their faces with the Qinggu Sect and Nanju, they wouldn't leave on their own accord, right?"

His companion said with a bitter smile, "That's true. In the end, the ones who suffer are still us low-level cultivators without any backing. We thought we could take advantage of the rare opportunity of a treasure appraisal event, but who knew such an unlucky thing would happen. In my opinion, since that person could kill the Yongning Marquis, maybe he left long ago. Why would he stay and wait for people to investigate?"

As the few of them talked, they walked past Zhou Yin, glancing at him without paying much attention, and sat down on the other side, starting to discuss the strange event of a high-level demon beast appearing in Lingzhou City not long ago.

"I heard that the fire illuminated half the sky at that time, and it looked like an ancient rare beast like a qilin or phoenix."

"Don't joke around. Those high-level demon beasts have long been extinct. Even if they exist, they wouldn't easily appear in front of people. How could they show up in Lingzhou City? Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Exactly. Besides, I was also in Lingzhou at that time. How come I didn't see it?"

"I heard that all the cultivators present at the scene died, and in the entire Lingzhou City, only the nearby commoners saw it."

"Nonsense. If we cultivators didn't see it, those ignorant people always exaggerate. How can you believe it?..."

"..."

Zhou Yin got the information he wanted and no longer stayed. He got up and left the teahouse, heading towards the city gate.

As expected, he was stopped at the city gate and told that currently, Luzhou City only allowed entry, not exit, and that the imperial court had already learned about the Yongning Marquis' sudden death. An imperial envoy would soon be sent to investigate thoroughly.

With the city gate closed, ordinary people were helpless and complained a lot, but no matter how the merchants and wealthy households tried to bribe, the city guards would not budge to let people out.

Not only that, from the city gate upwards, there was a faintly glowing barrier, also restricting cultivators from leaving the city.

Zhou Yin did not attempt to break through by force. After being intercepted, he walked around the city wall and discovered that the person who set up this barrier had a cultivation level of at least the Core Formation stage. With just him alone, there was absolutely no way to leave.

If it's really as those few people said, that there are countless ties between Sima Liang and the Qinggu Sect, coupled with the intervention of the Nanju imperial court, who knows when this city lockdown will end.

However, compared to others, Zhou Yin was obviously not the most anxious one. At the moment, he didn't have any particularly important matters to attend to.

With his impending breakthrough, the inn environment was not conducive to cultivating with an unencumbered mind. So he decided to first return and fiddle with those talismans, and immediately leave the city once the gates opened.

Relative to the state of the entire city being under martial law and people's unease, Zhou Yin's mood wasn't greatly affected. He leisurely returned to the inn, first taking a hot bath, then taking out the cinnabar talisman paper and starting to draw talismans.

In his view, talismans basically had two uses: one for self-defense, the other for selling. As his cultivation gradually increased, every closed-door cultivation now required expending quite a few spirit stones, making the latter need even more pressing.

Apart from the long-lost ancient forbidden spell talismans, Zhou Yin was intimately familiar with all other talisman scripts. It's just that talisman production was also linked to spiritual power.

With his current cultivation, even if he could draw talismans possessing the power of the Core Formation stage or even Nascent Soul stage, without the corresponding spiritual power when drawing, the result would just be a useless talisman.

So even adding up the many high-grade talismans from before, they could only sell for the price of one high-grade spirit stone and a few dozen mid-grade spirit stones.

This was because the power of these high-grade talismans at most wouldn't exceed the Core Formation stage, so the price was relatively cheap. Once he formed his Golden Core, the price of the talismans he sold then might multiply several fold.

His long hair not yet dry, Zhou Yin put on a single robe, letting it drape down his back.

On the special yellow talisman paper, the tip of the cinnabar brush roamed with the wielder's fluid strokes.

Very quickly, a Raging Inferno Talisman was completed. The talisman emanated a faint flickering red light due to being imbued with his spiritual power.

He put down the brush and picked up his teacup.

The cup's rim paused at his lips, his wrist flipped, splashing the water in the cup towards the window.

Almost simultaneously, with a bang, a gust of wind rolled in fiercely from the window. Its original raging momentum slightly dodged due to this spiritually-infused cup of tea, materializing in the corner of the wall.