Three days have passed since the banquet.

Li Ming has been staying at home these days, not going out to play or cause any trouble. Instead, he has been focusing on his cultivation, as if nothing else matters to him.

The Lin family did not come knocking.

They must have suffered a loss in silence.

After all, they were the ones who were in the wrong first and were severely punished by the Qin family, so naturally they wouldn't tell anyone.

The Qin family usually treated him to good wine and meat, so he only needed to cultivate quietly, which was quite leisurely.

"Young Master Li, someone is looking for you."

A maid's voice came from outside the door.

"They're here." Li Ming walked out.

An old servant with a familiar face stood in the courtyard. These past few days, Zhou Lin, the old steward of the Qin family, had been in charge of arranging his life.

They had clearly been waiting for a long time.

Li Ming stepped forward and asked, "Steward Zhou, what is it?"

Zhou Lin bowed and said with a smile, "I'm sorry to bother you, Young Master Li. Miss would like to invite you to come over for a while."

Li Ming was taken aback upon hearing this, as he had been staying home and avoiding going out these past few days.

No one bothered him, and he was quite at ease.

Qin Yun did not make any offer to recruit him after that banquet, which surprised him a little, but also made him think that this person was not bad.

Is there something you need from him this time?

Li Ming glanced down at his slightly wrinkled clothes and said, "Wait, I'll change my clothes and then go."

"Okay, I'll wait for you here."

Butler Zhou did not show any impatience.

Li Ming returned to his room and changed into a clean and neat white shirt, which, combined with his appearance and temperament, made him look like a young sword immortal who had stepped out of a poem or painting.

However, this sword immortal carried a sword on his back, but also had a knife at his waist.

The sword was picked up from the bandits, and the knife was the Flying Cloud Knife.

Step out of the room.

Steward Zhou escorted Li Ming to the courtyard, stopped, and said respectfully, "Young Master Li, please, Miss is just ahead."

The melodious sound of the flute drifted from the courtyard, its long and lingering notes spreading in Li Ming's ears.

Did Qin Yun hire the musicians?

Li Ming felt a sense of doubt and went into the courtyard.

Qin Yun stood sideways to the doorway, holding a flute and playing intently. She wore a bright pink dress embroidered with small, light-colored flowers, the hem of which was covered with two layers of gauze that billowed in the breeze.

Hearing Li Ming's footsteps, Qin Yun met his gaze, revealing a delicate face lightly made up. Just looking at her small, round face, she seemed like a young girl, very beautiful.

However, her stunning figure also exudes the mature charm of a young married woman.

Although Li Ming had seen many online pictures in his previous life, he rarely saw such charm in reality.

However, after experiencing so much, he wouldn't actually act like a sycophant.

"I just learned that Miss Qin can play the flute." Li Ming composed himself and said seriously.

Xiao Hao, what a talented girl.

They're popular everywhere.

Qin Yun noticed where Li Ming's gaze was fixed, and felt slightly shy, thinking to herself that she was indeed quite attractive.

"I learned this in my spare time to relieve stress; it's not worth mentioning."

Li Ming joked, "I'm just a rough man, but I can tell that Miss Qin has a profound skill. If this is not worth mentioning, then how many musicians would be out of work?"

Qin Yun smiled and didn't continue on the topic. Instead, he brought up the main point: "It's good that Young Master Li is diligently practicing martial arts, but he should also relax a bit. An auction is being held in the city, featuring valuable martial arts treasures and techniques."

"I wonder if Young Master Li would be willing to accompany me?"

Qin Yun's invitation was a sudden whim. Recently, some elders in her clan had been making things difficult for her, which had bothered her quite a bit. She had originally planned to go to the auction alone to clear her head.

However, she was quite satisfied with Li Ming's performance at that banquet. If Li Ming were just a person with a hollow reputation who only cared about beautiful women, she would not have gotten too close to him.

The eldest daughter of the Qin family wouldn't stoop so low as to use her beauty to seduce others.

Li Ming's eyes flickered. A bargain... no... an auction?

Based on his years of experience, the protagonist goes to an auction, encounters a great treasure that no one cares about, snags it at a bargain, and is then ambushed on the way out.

I wonder if he'll get into trouble?

"Of course I'll participate!"

Seeing Li Ming made me feel inexplicably excited.

Although Qin Yun was puzzled, he simply assumed that Li Ming was bored from focusing on his cultivation and didn't think much of it, so he led Li Ming to the carriage.

The auction will be held in the lobby on the fourth floor of the Xiaoyao Restaurant in the city.

Although it wasn't a large auction, it still attracted quite a few people. Because the organizers frequently held such small auctions and had a good reputation, many independent martial artists would also come to buy and sell things.

When Li Ming and Qin Yun arrived at Xiaoyao Restaurant.

A row of martial artists with swords at their waists stood guard at the entrance of the restaurant. They were all dressed in blue, fitted outfits, and each of them was a martial artist at the Qi Refining stage.

Seeing Li Ming walking towards the gate, one of the disciples stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Are you here to attend the auction?"

"Yes," Li Ming replied calmly.

"Please show your auction invitation token, or pay ten taels of silver as collateral, which will be returned in full after the auction," the disciple in charge explained.

"Please understand that this is to prevent too many irrelevant people from getting involved."

The disciple in charge, aside from anything else, was quite perceptive. Seeing that Li Ming was distinguished by his appearance, elegant demeanor, and superior cultivation and aura, he treated him with great courtesy.

But the procedures still need to be followed.

Just as Li Ming was about to take out his money...

Qin Yun, who was standing behind him, stepped forward and took out a token: "Young master, may I come with you?"

The disciple in charge took the token, looked up, and immediately cupped his hands, saying, "So it's Miss Qin. Of course, please come in."

He then stepped aside and stopped blocking their way.

Li Ming paused for a moment and asked, "If you want to sell a few martial arts manuals, would you buy them?"

"Yes, the manager is in that dark room around the corner. Just look for him."

"Yes, thank you."

Li Ming nodded, then turned to Qin Yun and said, "Miss Qin, I'm going to buy some things. You go ahead first, I'll be there soon."

"good."

Qin Yun didn't say much and went ahead to the lobby on the fourth floor.

Li Ming, on the other hand, took a detour to the steward's room and knocked on the door a few times.

A middle-aged male voice came from inside.

"Come in."

Li Ming stepped forward and saw a robust middle-aged man sitting in a chair, looking through some documents, with four guards standing behind him.

"What is it?" The middle-aged man glanced at Li Ming casually.

Without wasting any words, Li Ming directly took out several secret manuals and placed them in front of the middle-aged man.

"These are a few secret manuals. I wonder if you would like to take them?"

"oh?"

The middle-aged man didn't ask where the manuals came from. Instead, he reached out and took them, then flipped through several manuals, glanced at them briefly, and nodded: "Three of them are martial arts at the Condensation Qi level, and the other one only has cultivation methods for the Qi Refining stage."

"However, only one of them is relatively rare. The other three are all widely circulated martial arts manuals, so they may not be very valuable."

Li Ming nodded: "Take that rare one for auction, will you buy the other three?"

The martial arts skills these bandits acquired were naturally not anything profound.

Although martial arts techniques are generally not widely disseminated, over time, some of them naturally come out.

Some unique martial arts techniques are kept secret, and naturally, they are priced higher.

However, some martial arts techniques have become less valuable because too many people have learned them.

It is very common in the lower three ranks of martial arts.

However, when it comes to grandmaster martial arts and even martial god-level techniques, they are basically monopolized.

Some are almost incomplete, or they were prepared for fishing.

The middle-aged man sized up Li Ming, but before he could speak, a disciple leaned in and whispered some information to him.

After pondering for a moment, the middle-aged man said, "How about this, we'll add this rare one to the auction temporarily, and we'll buy the remaining three manuals for 1200 taels each."

"Is that alright?"

Li Ming thought about it and then agreed.

One thousand two hundred taels is quite a lot.

He accepted the silver note and turned to leave.

Before coming, I talked to Qin Yun about the market prices for these items, and they were not much different.

It seems the other party recognized him and didn't deliberately offer a low price.

Li Ming stepped into the lobby on the fourth floor and saw that there were about a hundred armchairs in the lobby, each with space between it.

Many martial artists wore masks and were covered in black robes to conceal their identities.

Although the organizer has a good reputation.

However, since the participants come from all over the country, it's inevitable that some people will have ulterior motives.

Li Ming was searching for Qin Yun's location. Fortunately, her figure was still prominent, and soon...

Li Ming walked towards one of the seats at the front.

The seat next to her was empty.

It turned out that Qin Yun had reserved a seat for him long ago.