After half an hour of running, Yuan and Xiao Hua could finally see the city walls.
«You have discovered ’Spirit City’»
"This place seems to be called Spirit City," said Yuan after reading the system notification.
"Spirit City is one of the four Great Cities within the Eastern Continent, and it’s ranked third in terms of influence." Xiao Hua quickly explained.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"
Yuan and Xiao Hua approached the city gate.
"What are they doing?"
As they approached, Yuan noticed the crystal ball in one of the guards’ grasp.
"It’s to inspect the visitors. Unless Brother Yuan is a wanted criminal, you don’t have to worry about it."
Yuan nodded.
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A few minutes later, they reached the guards at the gates.
"Entrance fee is 1 silver for each individual," said the guard once they got close enough.
"Uh... Xiao Hua, do you have any money?" Yuan, who was penniless, looked at her with an awkward expression, feeling slightly embarrassed to be asking such a little girl for money.
But alas, Xiao Hua shook her little head.
"What the hell. Do you want to enter this place without money? Where did such beggars come from?" The guards sneered inwardly when they realized that they were dealing with penniless people.
"If you have no money, then I cannot allow you inside," said one of the guards. "Get out of the way already! There are people behind waiting for you!"
Yuan sighed and prepared to leave.
However, before he could even take a step, the person standing behind him spoke, "If you want, I can pay for your entrance fee."
Yuan turned to look at the person who just spoke; it was a pretty young lady wearing a pair of fine robes.
"If you don’t mind..." Yuan spoke with an embarrassed face.
"Young Lady, we shouldn’t bother ourselves with these two beggars..."
The old man standing beside the young lady suddenly mumbled into her ears, unaware that his words were heard by Yuan, who has enhanced senses.
"..."
However, Yuan decided to ignore the old man’s disrespectful remarks.
"As the young lady of the Xuan Family, how could I ignore people in need of help? And it’s just two silvers."
The young lady shook her head at the old man, looking disappointed by his words.
"Excuse me, this will account for their entrance fee, too."
The young lady then handed four pieces of silver coins to the guards.
After a quick glance, the guard nodded and retrieved the crystal ball.
"Place your hands on it," said the guard.
Yuan placed his hands on the globe.
A few seconds later, it glowed a green light.
"You may pass."
The guard then turned to Xiao Hua, who also passed with a green light.
A few moments later, once they have passed the inspection and entered the city, Yuan bowed to the pretty young lady.
"Thank you. Although it’s not much, please accept this as my gratitude."
Yuan pulled out a Monster Core and placed it in front of the young lady, who immediately covered her mouth in surprise.
"B-Blood Ape Monster Core! This is simply too much for two mere silvers! I cannot accept this!" The young lady quickly refused.
Most Blood Apes are around the Eighth Level Spirit Apprentice Realm, and their monster cores would usually fetch at least 100 gold coins in the market place! If she accepted this monster core, it would make her feel guilty for taking advantage of Yuan.
"Don’t worry, I have no more use for this quality of monster core, and it’s only something I picked up during my travel here." Yuan understood the reason for the young lady’s hesitation but continued to urge her to accept it.
The pretty young lady looked at Yuan’s honest face and the shiny monster core in his hands and forcefully swallowed.
"Since you insist, I will accept it..." she accepted the Blood Ape Monster Core with trembling hands.
Once the monster core was off his hands, Yuan said to Xiao Hua, "Let’s go."
"W-Wait! What’s your name? I am called Xuan Wuhan!"
"You can call me Yuan," he responded.
"Thank you, Yuan! If you need help with anything, you can find my Xuan Family in Spring City!" Xuan Wuhan then handed Yuan a medallion made of metal and imprinted with the word ’Xuan’.
Yuan casually accepted the medallion without thinking too much about it.
«’Xuan Wuhan’ has been added to your Bond!»
«Xuan Wuhan’s Bond has increased to Acquaintance!»
"Then, I will see you around," he said before leaving with Xiao Hua.
After Yuan left, the old man beside Xuan Wuhan spoke, "Young Lady, why did you give him the family medallion? That is not something strangers should hold."
"That young man... despite his young age, there was a formidable aura around him. He’s most likely a genius cultivator from some large family. If I can be friends with him, it will benefit our Xuan Family, not to mention his honest character. I like people like him."
"Are you sure about his background? He wasn’t able to take out two silvers just now..." The old man remained doubtful.
"Were you even watching just now? He handed me a Blood Ape Monster Core worth over 100 gold coins without batting an eyelid because I gave him two silvers! That is not something even I would do! He must be testing people on purpose!"
"B-But why would he do something like that? What would he accomplish by testing others?"
Xuan Wuhan shook her head and spoke, "Just like my grandfather, the more profound and powerful the individual, the less sense they make. It is not something people like us can fathom."
"Are you saying that the young man just now is as powerful as the Ancestor, who is a Spirit Master? That’s a bit..."
"Of course, not. I am just saying." Xuan Wuhan said. "Anyway, let’s go. We cannot miss the auction, or we will have to deal with my father’s angry shouting later."
Meanwhile, Yuan and Xiao Hua wandered around the city aimlessly.
"Xiao Hua, we need to earn some money. How about we sell the monster cores we hunted on our way here? They seem quite valuable," he said.
"Un. One monster core will easily sell for over 100 gold and will last us for a while, and we still have four of them."
"Then the question now is where to sell these monster cores..."
"If you want the most money out of the monster cores, we can look for an auction house. Although it might take some time, we will get the most profit out of it. If you do not mind selling them for much cheaper, any regular store that deals with monster cores will do the job," said Xiao Hua.
"An auction house, huh? That sounds kind of fun. I have never been to one before. But where can we find one?"
"Most big cities will hold an auction every few weeks, not to mention this Spirit City, one of the four biggest cities on this continent. We should find one with relative ease if we ask around."
Yuan nodded.
"If it won’t take too long, I will use the auction house to sell my monster cores. But if we have to wait a few weeks, I’d rather just sell them for cheaper."
After deciding their next course of action, Yuan began asking around in hopes to find an auction house to sell his monster cores, as he did not want to experience today’s humiliation any more in the future.