Once Yuan and Xiao Hua left the auction house, they wandered around the city aimlessly.
"What should we do now, Xiao Hua? Now that we have enough money, maybe we should better gear ourselves for the future."
However, Xiao Hua merely tilted her head in a puzzled manner and spoke, "But Xiao Hua has plenty of treasures you can use."
Yuan showed a bittersweet smile and said, "While that is true, I cannot rely on you for everything. I want to work hard and earn my own equipment, too."
Xiao Hua remained puzzled, and she asked, "Xiao Hua has noticed this for a bit now, but why does Brother Yuan want to work so hard? If it were someone else in your shoes, they would surely take advantage of the situation and not do so much work."
Yuan chuckled after hearing her words and said, "Although it may not seem like it, I have lived the majority of my life as a cripple, where I cannot even use the bathroom without help from someone else. I hate the feeling of being so powerless and useless, and despite breathing, I never felt alive. But now that I can finally use my useless body again, I want to enjoy life to the fullest and experience what it means to be alive."
"Brother Yuan… you must have lived a difficult life…"
"Past tense?" Yuan laughed in a dispirited tone, "Even though I may appear fine now, I am actually still living that pointless life."
"..."
"But Brother Yuan is no longer a cripple! He's even a cultivation genius!" Although Xiao Hua does not know his situation, she could feel a sense of loneliness and desperation within his tone.
"That may be true in this world, but once I log out, I will return to being a cripple in that dark and still world. Anyway, let's leave this depressing topic behind and enjoy ourselves with our newfound wealth." Yuan said as he continued walking around the city.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua silently stared at him with a pondering gaze, seemingly in deep thoughts.
'Maybe there's something Xiao Hua can do to relieve Brother Yuan's pain…' she thought to herself.
Sometime later, they arrived at what appears to be an equipment shop.
"Welcome to the Dragon Armory!" The middle-aged man behind the counter said to them after noticing their presence. "We have all sorts of Spirit-grade weapons and armor! If you are looking for something specific, just let me know!"
"I will," Yuan said as he began looking around.
«Bone Sword»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Quality: Medium»
«Physical Strength Required: 300»
«Mental Strength Required: 600»
«Sharpness: 300»
«Description: A sword made from the bones from a Spiritual Skeleton»
«Price: 30,000 Gold»
«Fiery Lizard Scale Armor»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Quality: High»
«Physical Strength Required: 500»
«Mental Strength Required: 250»
«Physical Defense: 5,000»
«Description: Crafted with highly durable scales from a Fiery Lizard»
«Price: 80,000 Gold»
'Good lord, the equipment here is so expensive!' Yuan's eyes widened when he saw the price for these Spirit-grade weapons. It made the 540 Gold he'd earned completely insignificant!
"It's expensive, right?" Xiao Hua could read his expression and said with a smile. "Unless you are from a noble family or have the backing of a powerful Sect, nobody would come to these places to look for equipment."
"Why didn't you tell me before we walked in here? Now I feel like a beggar walking into a jewelry store…" Yuan sighed. "Let's leave and get something to eat instead."
When the middle-aged man saw that they were leaving after looking at just two items, he sucked his teeth in disdain, "Che! To think I'd wasted my breath greeting these poor bastards."
"..."
Hearing such words, Yuan stopped walking and turned around to look at the middle-aged man with a frown.
"What? Are you going to hit me for speaking the truth?" The middle-aged man remained nonchalant and even continued to insult him. "This store is owned by the Earth Dragon Sect. Hit me if you dare."
"..."
Yuan's eyebrows twitched at the irritating tone coming from the middle-aged man, but he had nothing to say, as he was truly poor. Furthermore, he didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble inside a shop owned by an NPC because who knows what the NPC might do.
However, Xiao Hua was not as kind as Yuan, and she despised people looking down on Yuan, her beloved Master. A moment later, she retrieved her storage ring and pulled out two peak quality Heaven-grade treasure—one in each of her small hands.
When the middle-aged man realized that she was holding two Heaven-grade weapons and was even treating them as though they are mere toys, his eyes rolled back from shock, and he collapsed the next moment.
'That's what you get for bullying Brother Yuan.' Xiao Hua sneered inwardly before putting away the Heaven-grade weapons and leaving the store with a satisfied expression on her cute face.
Once they left the store, Yuan and Xiao Hua went to a nearby restaurant, where they proceeded to fill their stomach with delicious food.
'Oh my god! This food is crazy delicious! I can't believe how real it tastes inside a game!' As though he'd turned into a starving beast, Yuan stuffed food into his mouth and down his throat, and both of his hands were occupied with food at all times.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua watched him eat like an animal with her jaw hanging. This is the first time she has seen anyone eating so frantically. It was almost as though he'd never eaten anything before today.
"The food isn't going anywhere, Brother Yuan. If you don't eat slowly, you might choke to death," she said to him.
"I can't help it! My hands are moving by themselves! After all, I have eaten nothing but soup for the last few years!" Yuan said in a stuffed voice as he continued to mercilessly shove food into his mouth with tears flowing down his fat cheeks.
Xiao Hua merely shook her head before she began to eat her own plate of food with elegance.