Chapter 2667: The Union(3)

"A coincidence, huh?" The woman narrowed her eyes at Yuan, staring at him suspiciously.

Yuan nodded before walking away.

"I’ll see you later," he said.

"..."

The woman watched in silence as Yuan walked in the opposite direction and swiftly vanished from her view.

After leaving the store, Yuan browsed the techniques available on the floor. To his surprise, they were just as expensive as the weapons, with some costing considerably more.

Moreover, techniques were clearly much rarer, as most stores only had one or two available for sale.

’So techniques really are rare in this world...’

He had already suspected as much after seeing most soldiers rely solely on Limitless during the drill without using any techniques, but this all but confirmed it.

Unfortunately, the stores wouldn’t allow him to examine the contents of any technique without first paying at least ten percent of its price, leaving him with no way to judge their quality.

Since the building was structured in a circular layout, Yuan and the woman eventually crossed paths again.

"The techniques are too expensive here," he said to her. "It’s much easier to just get them at Gaia’s Sanctum."

The woman raised an eyebrow at his remark and replied, "Gaia’s Sanctum? You make it sound like getting points is easy."

"It somewhat is... for me, at least."

"Are you bragging?" she said.

Yuan chuckled. "Just telling the truth."

"Want to check out the other floors together? It’s better to have some company in a new place," he asked.

"I guess." The woman nodded before she even had a chance to think about it, surprising herself once she realized what she had done.

Not wanting to be rude, she decided to go along with him, and the two headed to the third floor together.

The atmosphere on the third floor was completely different from the previous two, with far more people wandering about.

The moment Yuan and the woman arrived, their eyes were nearly blinded by the dazzling glints shining from every store.

When they approached one of them, they saw numerous gleaming jewels displayed inside.

"These are... Unknown Ores?" Yuan muttered in confusion.

Although the jewels emitted Eternal Essence, they looked nothing like any of the Unknown Ores or Crystals he had seen before. Unlike the colorless ones he was familiar with, these came in various hues—some red like rubies, others blue like sapphires.

"You don’t know about Refined Ores and Refined Crystals?" The woman remarked.

"No, this is my first time hearing about them."

The woman raised an eyebrow at his response. There was no way Refined Ores and Crystals didn’t exist in Gaia’s Heaven, so how could he not know about them? Especially when they were such an integral part of their world?

"Refined Ores and Refined Crystals are essentially Unknown Ores and Crystals that have been processed, allowing them to be used in weapons and other devices powered by Limitless," she briefly explained.

"I see... so this is what the high-end weapons use..."

Yuan looked at the prices for these Refined Ores, and while they were expensive, they weren’t outrageous, with the cheapest ones costing several hundred thousand credits.

"I’m going to buy one," Yuan suddenly said. "Give me a moment."

He entered one of the stores and purchased the cheapest one available for three hundred thousand credits.

He then examined it closely to see how it differed from an ordinary Unknown Ore.

Unfortunately, aside from containing far more Eternal Essence, he couldn’t discern any significant difference.

Once he was satisfied, Yuan absorbed the Eternal Essence from the Refined Ore to see its reaction, and unsurprisingly, its appearance remained unchanged.

"I’m also going to buy some Refined Crystals," said the woman when Yuan returned to her.

"Sure."

Yuan proceeded to follow the woman around.

"I want this... this... and this."

The woman pointed to several Refined Crystals on display that she wanted to purchase.

Yuan didn’t think much of her actions until he saw the prices, which caused his eyes to widen.

In the blink of an eye, the woman had spent half a billion credits on three Refined Crystals.

’Looks like she’s from a wealthy family in this world as well...’ Yuan smiled inwardly.

Once they were done with the first store, the woman went to another and did the same, purchasing several Refined Crystals for another half a billion.

Of course, that was far from the end of her shopping spree, and she continued clearing out the expensive stock from every store on the floor, spending several billion credits in just half an hour.

"What... What do you plan on doing with so many Refined Crystals?" Yuan asked in a wary tone, as there were now several billion years’ worth of Eternal Essence in her possession.

"I’m not going to use them all for myself," she explained. "Since Refined Crystals are relatively cheap here compared to my city, my family asked me to purchase some while I’m here."

"I cannot even begin to fathom why your family needs so much energy..."

"My family owns a business in another city, and it’s operate costs are... not cheap."

"I see..."

"Anyways, let’s continue. I am still nowhere near my quota."

Yuan raised an eyebrow at her words but didn’t say anything and quietly followed her to the fourth floor, where even more Refined Ores and Crystals were being sold. In fact, the ones on the fourth floor were even more expensive than the previous floor.

Half an hour later, the woman spent another ten billion credits.

"I’m surprised you’re walking around without bodyguards..." Yuan remarked when he noticed that people were beginning to stare at them.

"Don’t worry, I can protect myself," she said.

They proceeded to the fifth floor, repeating the same thing, but the woman spent twice as much as she did on the previous floor.

Yuan had become numb to her crazy spending and quietly followed.

Suddenly, shortly after they arrived on the sixth floor, Yuan sensed killing intent somewhere on the floor.

"Be careful. I think you’re being targeted," Yuan warned her.

"Is that so?" The woman replied in a nonchalant manner, as if she wasn’t bothered by it in the slightest.

The killing intent became clearer and more obvious as time passed.

’Four people, huh? They must be working together...’ Yuan thought to himself.

Although he could sense their killing intent, Yuan couldn’t accurately pinpoint their location or the individuals themselves since his cultivation and divine sense were suppressed by the formation in the city, not to mention there were thousands of people wandering the floor.

Still, he could estimate the direction of the killing intent and their distance.

"Hey, there are four people targeting you, and they’re closing in," Yuan warned her as the killing intent drew closer to them.

The woman didn’t respond and quietly nodded her head in acknowledgment.

A few moments later, the source of the killing intent was only several meters away, and Yuan sensed it spike sharply—a clear sign that an attack was imminent.

Reacting instinctively, Yuan grabbed the woman’s hand, preparing to protect her.

"What are you—"

Bang!

A loud gunshot rang out before she could finish.

"Huh?"

Just as the woman turned to face Yuan, her eyes widened upon seeing a distinct fist-sized hole in his chest.

"Hm?"

Yuan looked down with a similarly surprised expression. The bullet had struck him directly in the heart.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that the woman had never been the target, and that he had been the target from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, chaos erupted shortly after the gunshot as shouts and screams filled the area. Once people realized what was happening, they began scrambling for the exits.

"Murder! Someone has been murdered!"

The people who saw Yuan’s injury shouted as they ran away, not even bothering to confirm whether he was truly dead or not.

"You..." The woman beside Yuan was too stunned to speak.

However, it wasn’t the fact that he had been shot that shocked her. What truly surprised her was watching the wound in his chest regenerate before her very eyes.

"Let’s get out of here," Yuan said, leading her out of the building while holding her hand the entire way.

"How are you still alive?" she asked once they were outside and a safe distance from the building.

Yuan glanced down at the hole in his outfit and said, "He missed my heart."

The woman stared at the hole again, which was clearly positioned directly over his heart, before looking back at him.

"That’s clearly bullshit. Also, you can let go of me now," she said, her gaze drifting to their hands.

"Oh, sorry." Yuan apologized as he let go.

The woman stared at her hands in a daze. It was the first time anyone had ever held her hand in such a manner, and by a complete stranger, no less.

Yet, for some reason, she hadn’t disliked it. If anything, she had found the sensation strangely comforting, as though it were completely natural.

"What’s your name?" she then asked.

"Yuan."

"I’m Huang Zi Han, and I’m sorry for getting you shot," she suddenly apologized, mistakenly believing that he had been shot while trying to protect her.

"You don’t have to apologize. It wasn’t your fault," Yuan said while shaking his head.

"This city is usually very safe, and I have been here several times without a single incident, so I wasn’t worried that anything might happen," Huang Zi Han sighed.

"Anyway, are you really okay? You don’t have to act tough to impress me. If you’re worried about the medical bill, I’ll pay for it."