After he'd accidentally learned the Heaven-grade technique from the third floor, Yuan walked downstairs with a guilty expression on his face.
"What's the matter? You don't look so good."
The guards noticed his expression and decided to speak to him, wondering if something unpleasant had happened during his meeting with their Master.
"Uhh… I was just wondering how much this technique would cost if I were to buy it…" Yuan showed them the Demon Sealing Technique.
"The Demon Sealing Technique, huh? That's one of the rarest and more powerful techniques one can find in this store, and it's even a Heaven-grade technique, so it'll be quite costly."
Yuan immediately began sweating profusely after hearing the guards' words.
"If I recall correctly, this technique should be worth around 300,000,000 gold coins…"
"300,000,000 gold coins?!?!?!?!??!?!" Yuan cried out loud, nearly collapsing from fright.
If the Demon Sealing Technique is really worth three hundred million gold coins, he wouldn't be able to buy this technique even if he'd borrowed all of Xiao Hua's money, and it would require him to sell about 10 Heaven-grade treasures to have enough money for the purchase.
'300 million gold coins… it's impossible… I cannot pay for this…' Yuan thought to himself.
While it pains him to even think about it, he'll have to skip this purchase even if it is considered theft that he learned the technique without paying for it.
'I'm sorry, Yu Rou… Even though it was by accident and it's only a game, your brother has committed a crime and is now a criminal…' he sighed inwardly.
"A-Are you sure you're okay…?" The guards asked him again, as they were confident that something was bothering him.
"No, I'm fine, really…" Yuan sighed as he turned around and began walking back upstairs.
"Where are you going, fellow Daoist?" The guard asked.
"To return this technique— I cannot afford it," he responded in a pitiful voice.
The guards exchanged looks with each other before laughing out loud, "Hahaha! Is that what you were worried about? Then you don't have to worry, since you don't have to pay for that technique."
"What?" Yuan immediately stopped walking to look at the guards with his eyes wide with disbelief.
"W-What do you mean I don't have to pay for it?" he asked them.
"I guess our senior sister forgot to tell you about this, but those who qualified to step onto the third floor are allowed to take one cultivation technique for free."
"...Are you serious?" Yuan looked at them with a doubtful gaze.
Who in their right mind would give away something worth three hundred million gold coins for free?
"Why would we lie to you? If you don't believe us, you can ask our senior sister or whoever is at the reception," said one of the guards. "Though, they'll just tell you the same thing."
"Thank god!" Yuan suddenly released a deep sigh of relief, feeling like he'd narrowly escaped punishment after doing something bad.
"Even though it's for free, you need to make sure to check it out at the reception." The guards then warned him.
"I will! Thank you!"
Yuan left the place shortly later to look for Yu Rou and Xiao Hua.
"How large is this place...?" Yuan was at loss for words after realizing just how much larger the first and second floor was compared to the third floor.
And after walking around for a solid half an hour, Yuan was finally able to reunite with Yu Rou and Xiao Hua on the second floor.
"Brother! You're back!" Yu Rou said to him.
"Sorry for leaving you two like that," he said.
"Brother Tian, you… are you okay?" Xiao Hua was looking at him with her eyes as wide as saucers.
Yuan had only been gone for an hour at most, yet there was something vastly different about him!
"Hm? Yes, I am. Why are you asking?"
"There's something different about you…" she said.
"Oh, that's because I just removed all of the impurities in my body!" he said with an innocent smile on his face.
"You what?!" Xiao Hua exclaimed.
Cultivators can only start discharging the impurities within their body after entering the Spirit Grandmaster realm, and it usually requires years of effort before they can remove all of the purities within their body! However, Yuan had only been gone for an hour and he somehow managed to remove all of the impurities within his body?!
There is only one treasure in this world that she knows of that could possibly achieve such a miracle— the Translucent Dew of Flawlessness!
However, such a treasure should not exist in the Lower Heavens! Hell, the Translucent Dew of Flawlessness is considered a peerless treasure even in the higher realms, as it not only removes all impurities within one's body but it will also prevent their body from building up more impurities in the future, allowing one to save a magnitude of time in their life since they no longer need to manually remove their impurities anymore, which takes time and effort that could be used towards cultivating instead!
"J-Just who did Brother Yuan meet…?" Xiao Hua asked him.
"Some Senior surnamed Bai," he said.
"Was he the one who gave you the Translucent Dew of Flawlessness?"
"Yes— he said it was a small token for taking up my time." Yuan nodded.
"..."
Xiao Hua was speechless. Just who in the world would be rich enough to give away such a valuable treasure for such a reason?
"Anyway, how has your search been going? Did you find any techniques that suit your taste?" Yuan asked Yu Rou sometime later.
"Well… Although there are not many skills that can be used with a fan, I have managed to find a skill that could be useful."
Yu Rou showed him the scroll she had in her hand.
"Wind Blades? A Mortal-rank technique that summons wind blades that cut foes from a distance…" Yuan looked at the title and description, not daring to read the content inside, fearing that he might accidentally learn it.
"This way, once I get my own servant, I'll be able to support it from a distance without being in the danger zone," Yu Rou said to him.
"I see… this technique is really fitting for you," Yuan said as he handed the technique back to her.
"What about you, brother? Did you find a technique yet?" Yu Rou then asked him.
"Yeah, I did. It's a sword technique," he said.
"What about you, Xiao Hua? You have been following me the entire time so you didn't get any chance to look around." Yu Rou turned to look at her.
"Xiao Hua doesn't need any new techniques," she shook her head.
"I see… Then let's pay for our techniques and leave this place."
"Are you sure you only want one technique? I think it'll be better if you have a few more…" Yuan said to Yu Rou.
"Are you forgetting something, brother?" Yu Rou said to him with a slight frown on her face.
"What am I forgetting?" He raised an eyebrow.
Yu Rou continued, "You may be able to learn techniques very quickly, but I don't have your talent, so it'll take me days, even weeks to even learn a single technique. What am I going to do with a bunch of techniques that I don't have the time to learn?"
"And you have already spent enough money on me. I can't let you spoil me too much, or I'll really start feeling guilty about it."
"I understand…" Yuan said.
Sometime later, they approached the cashier to pay for their techniques.
"Thank you for visiting our Myriad of Techniques! How may I help you today?" A young man greeted them from behind the counter.
"Yes, I would like to purchase these techniques…"
Yuan placed his Demon Sealing Technique and Yu Rou's Wind Blade onto the table.
"Yes, right away."
The young man picked up Yu Rou's technique first and said, "This will cost 200,000 gold coins."
"200,000 gold coins?! Why is it so expensive? It's only a Mortal-rank technique!" Yu Rou exclaimed.
Even Yuan was shocked by this unexpected price. Why is this technique so expensive compared to the techniques he'd brought?
"I don't know what to tell you, young lady. Martial Techniques such as this Wind Blade are very rare and powerful and usually worth this much, and it's a technique from the second floor. In fact, our Myriad of Techniques is very affordable and cheap when compared to most stores out there with our pricing. If you went to another store, they would probably charge around 300,000 gold coins for this technique. Though, if you want something cheaper, there are many techniques that cost less than 1,000 gold coins on the first floor with some costing even less than 100 gold coins."
"No way…" Yu Rou sighed before turning to look at Yuan. "It's okay, brother. I'll just look for something cheaper on the first floor…"
However, Yuan said, "It's okay, Yu Rou. If you want this technique, I'll buy it for you. And before you say anything to me, I already know what you're going to say, but I won't change my mind, so just keep quiet and nod your head."
"..."
After hearing his words, Yu Rou, who was about to persuade him, slowly nodded her head with a dazed look on her face.
After listening to the sibling's conversation, the young man behind the counter went to pick up the technique Yuan had picked. However, when he saw the name of this technique, his eyes widened with shock, and he turned to look at Yuan with deep respect in his eyes.