After walking around the city for some time, Yuan and the others finally decided on an equipment store that was named 'Spring City's Spiritual Treasures'.
Once they entered the store, the middle-aged man behind the counter shouted: "Welcome to our equipment store! What kind of equipment are the young ones looking for?"
"Hmm… What kind of weapon do you want to use?" Yuan asked her.
"I'm not sure, but something light and small is preferred," she said.
"Something light and small, huh?" The middle-aged man began to ponder for a moment before speaking, "We have daggers, throwing knives, and fans. Which of these suit the young lady's taste more?"
"Fans? They are considered as weapons?" Yuan was surprised, as this is his first time hearing such a thing.
"Of course! Anything can be a weapon in the hands of a Cultivator! However, fans are not commonly used due to their fragile appearance and weak presence, and most people prefer something that looks strong or cool— something like a sword." The middle-aged man explained to him.
"Can I look at the fans?" Yu Rou then asked.
"Sure thing! These are the best fans we have in store at the moment!"
The middle-aged man then retrieved a long wooden box from the room behind and placed it on the counter.
Upon opening the box, three beautiful fans that seemed to be made of special materials were revealed to Yu Rou.
"Wow… It's beautiful…" Yu Rou quickly became fond of these fans.
However, her excitement disappeared as quickly after seeing the prices for these fans.
«Jade Fan»
«Grade: Spirit»
«Quality: High»
«Physical Strength Required: 100»
«Mental Strength Required: 250»
«Price: 60,000 Gold»
«Red Metal Fan»
«Quality: High»
«Physical Strength Required: 170»
«Mental Strength Required: 300»
«Price: 75,000 Gold»
«Spirit Weaver»
«Quality: Peak»
«Physical Strength Required: 50»
«Mental Strength Required: 300»
«Price: 200,000 Gold»
"Do you have something less expensive…? A common fan is fine, too..." Yu Rou said to the middle-aged man while sighing inwardly. There was simply no way that she could shamelessly ask her brother to buy something so expensive for her after he'd already wasted 30,000 gold on her.
"If you want something normal, you can find them on the shelves over there. Most of them are less than 5 gold coins." The middle-aged man spoke as he pointed at the wooden shelves by the window.
However, Yuan suddenly spoke as the middle-aged man prepared to close the wooden box, "Wait, I will buy the Spirit Weaver."
"Eh?"
The middle-aged man immediately stopped his movements to look at Yuan, as did Yu Rou, who stared at him with a gawking expression on her face.
"Don't look at me like that, Yu Rou. I know you want it since you were staring so intensively at it." Yuan said to her with a smile as he paid the shopkeeper.
"E-Even if I want it, you can't spend 200,000 gold just like that! Just how much money do you have, Brother!?" she said to him, wondering if he'd taken out a loan from somewhere shady.
"I have enough…" he said with a smile.
"Thank you for the purchase, Young Master!" The middle-aged man changed the way he addressed Yuan, even speaking in a more respectful voice.
After counting the money, the middle-aged man handed the beautiful white fan to him and said, "The reason this one is more expensive than the others is not only because of its peak-quality but because this treasure was born naturally, and naturally born treasures are naturally more expensive than man-made treasures."
After accepting the white fan, Yuan extended his arms at Yu Rou and said to her, "Money is meant to be spent or else it isn't worth anything, Yu Rou. Furthermore, this is only a game. Accept it."
"While that is true, you still shouldn't spend so lavishly. Who do you think you are? Player Yuan, the richest player in the game?" Yu Rou shook her head with a defeated smile on her face.
"..."
The smile on Yuan's face immediately stiffened after hearing her words, and he didn't dare to respond to her question, fearing that he might reveal his identity sooner than he'd planned.
A few moments later, Yu Rou looked at the Spirit Waver with sparkling eyes. "This fan is truly beautiful! While I still want to fight using servants in the future, I definitely won't stop using this fan, either!"
Hearing Yu Rou's words, the shopkeeper suddenly said, "If you want servants, you can simply go to the Beast Contract shop that's down the street. You can find all sorts of beasts there."
"Really?! Let's go take a look, brother!" Yu Rou quickly said to him.
"Okay," he nodded.
They left the equipment store shortly later and then went straight to the Beast Contract shop that was mentioned by the middle-aged man.
"Welcome to our Beast Contract store! Are you looking to form a contract with a beast today, young guests?" The receptionist behind the counter called out to them after seeing them enter the store.
"We're just looking around for now," Yu Rou said.
"Perhaps I can help you with what you're looking for. What kind of beasts are you looking to get? We have matured beasts, young beasts, and even ones that are waiting to hatch."
"You sell even unhatched beasts? How does that work? I thought you can only form a contract with beasts with a will." Yu Rou asked.
"We simply do what's called a Forced Contract, which will forcefully establish a relationship between the unhatched beast and the seller so that they will be contracted to you immediately after their birth. Most customers tend to go for unhatched beasts because they are much easier to train than the young ones while the mature ones are harder to control. Of course, unhatched beasts are also more expensive than the others."
"Do you want to buy a servant here, Yu Rou?" Yuan asked her sometime later.
She shook her head and said, "No, I don't think I want to form a contract in such an unhealthy manner. I'd rather not force a contract and find a beast that's willing to become my servant, which will make our relationship that much more trustworthy and real."
"I understand," Yuan nodded.