Richard realized that this man's background was enough to cause trouble for anyone who dared oppose him.

Fortunately, he seemed to only want to show off, not actually bully others.

He and Grace were able to continue their journey without being disturbed.

Night fell, and they still hadn't arrived at the Aether Magic Shop.

DING!

(Your mastery over the Codex of Endless Flame has increased from 45% to 58%!)

Codex of Endless Flame (58%)

The System notification appeared first.

Richard was quite pleased that what increased this time was one of his Codices.

At night, the Ancient City of the Infinite simply became more magnificent, its bright lights illuminating the streets—though not to the level of daytime like the capital of the Holy Light Kingdom.

It gave off a sparkling impression, no different from the night in a modern metropolis.

As they continued flying east, Richard finally saw an area seemingly filled with all sorts of Magic Shops.

Most shops were extremely large, and one of them was so massive despite appearing to be only a single floor.

It covered an enormous area. Though not as large as the colosseum, for a shop, it was truly unimaginable.

Compared to this one shop, everything else looked insignificant.

However, business in this city was massive. Other shops didn't necessarily suffer losses just because one store was extremely dominant.

Competing in price was probably impossible against the Aether Magic Shop, but surely the other shops had their own exclusive products that Aether Magic Shop didn't have.

Richard and Grace flew toward its entrance, which appeared to have four gates facing four different directions.

Each was large enough for dozens of people walking side-by-side to enter at the same time.

Richard and Grace landed in front of the entrance facing them.

The entire wall of the shop was made of glass, allowing Richard to see everything inside clearly thanks to the bright lighting.

At this moment, he truly felt like he had returned to the modern world.

The place looked like a shopping mall, and the items on display were arranged in such a way that they resembled modern products sold in malls—though they weren't.

Richard instinctively stepped inside.

The visitors didn't look that numerous, but that was only because the place was too large. In reality, the number of visitors must have been in the thousands.

Perhaps it was also because it was already night, so fewer customers came.

He couldn't see any weapons yet—they were likely further inside.

What he saw instead were a wide variety of trees sealed inside large glass cases.

He didn't know what trees they were; they came in different colors.

"Grace, what are these trees?" Richard asked.

"Knight Trees," Grace answered.

"They can fight under the command of their master. The ones sold here are still weak, ranging from Tier 11 to 15, but they can evolve, even more easily than Beasts. Honestly, I want to buy one…"

Richard couldn't help giving her a strange look when he heard she wanted to buy one.

He looked at the price list.

The cheapest was 5 Million Nature Spirits, and the most expensive reached 15 Million Nature Spirits.

Truly an outrageous price. Even if the trees could fight, Richard felt the price seemed unreasonable.

But the shop wouldn't sell something for a price unfit for its value.

He couldn't deny he would feel uneasy paying that much for Grace.

And as a man, he actually planned to pay for her.

As he was thinking, Grace glanced at him.

"I have the money to pay for it myself," she said before stepping closer to a red-colored tree.

Richard rolled his eyes, not expecting her to read his thoughts so easily.

Even though his expression wasn't obvious, Grace still read him. Her emotional intelligence seemed very high despite often looking cold.

"Ehmm…" Richard cleared his throat as he followed her, but in the end, he couldn't say anything, so he pretended to focus on the red tree—which was priced at 7.5 Million Nature Spirits.

He couldn't say why the tree was red nor guess its abilities.

But standing before it, he could clearly sense life emanating from it.

All trees were living beings, but normally, the life they emitted was faint.

Knight Trees, on the other hand, radiated life like humans or beasts.

"Eh…"

Richard was stunned as he noticed a face formed on the tree—complete with a mouth, nose, and eyes.

Though they looked more like manifestations.

The tree's eyes stared at Grace curiously.

"Miss, are you interested in purchasing this Red Knight Tree?" a neatly dressed male attendant approached, asking Grace with a bright, professional smile.

Richard didn't feel bothered—he was clearly just doing his job.

"Can you lower the price?" Grace asked.

Richard nearly laughed.

It seemed that even though she had money, she was still lacking a bit.

Of course, if she lacked a small portion, he wouldn't mind covering it.

"Our prices are already the lowest. You may search any Magic Shop across the entire Land of Human, and I guarantee none will offer a lower price," the attendant replied.

"As far as I know, even though you offer the lowest prices, you can still lower them," Grace answered calmly, as if she needed no further explanation.

(Grace, if you're short on Nature Spirits, I can pay the rest, ) Richard said through his Sixth Sense.

(No need. I have enough—I just want a lower price!) Grace replied.

So she wasn't short on money; she simply wanted a discount.

Richard had nothing to say.

"Miss, we can indeed lower the price, but only under certain circumstances, or if you pay with a particular item that is cheaper but desired by our shop," the attendant replied.

"I see. But I still want the price lowered, and I will still pay in Nature Spirits. I want the price to be 6 Million," Grace said.

The attendant looked shocked.

He smiled wryly.

"Miss, our prices are already very low. Even if you were to ask for a small discount, it would likely leave us with no profit. But at 6 Million, not only would we not make any profit—we would suffer a loss."

Although he remained polite, his gaze toward Grace grew less enthusiastic.

(Grace, you don't need a discount. I'll pay the 1.5 Million you want to cut.) Richard insisted.

But Grace ignored him completely.

Instead, she suddenly took out a sword-shaped pendant made of a material Richard didn't recognize.

It was milky white, faintly glowing with a dim light.

The attendant was stunned the moment he saw it.

"You should call your boss," Grace said.

This time, the attendant quickly nodded.

"Please wait, Miss," he said before hurrying away.

Richard stared at the pendant, astonished.

"Grace, what is that?" he asked.

"A sign that I'm a VVIP customer who must receive special treatment," Grace replied.

"How is that possible? Where did you get it?" Richard was shocked.

Grace had only visited Aether Magic Shop once. And VVIP wasn't something one could simply obtain.

Unless Rebecca gave it to her.

But even Rebecca shouldn't qualify for VVIP. She might not even be VIP unless she had spent a tremendous amount.

And could such a status even be inherited?

Instead of answering, Grace remained silent—clearly unwilling to explain.

This meant it didn't come from Rebecca. If it did, Grace would never hide it.

Richard looked into her eyes and sensed that Grace seemed to have her own secrets.

Could this be related to her true background? he wondered.

He fell silent.

Soon, the attendant returned with a well-dressed middle-aged man—handsome, though with a noticeable belly.

His hair was so neat that he seemed extremely well-educated.

He walked in a hurry.

His eyes immediately locked onto Grace once he saw her.

"Miss…" he greeted with excessive warmth.

His smile was so wide that Richard felt it couldn't even be called a smile anymore.

However, he couldn't underestimate this man.

His instincts told him that this man was even stronger than Master Alex, despite his ordinary-looking aura.

"Miss, do you want the Red Knight Tree for 6 Million Nature Spirits?" the middle-aged man—likely the store manager—asked.

"Yes, can you do that?" Grace asked.

"Of course, we can," the man replied instantly.

He turned to the attendant.

"Hurry and hand the tree to this Miss," he ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

The attendant acted swiftly. He touched the glass case, which suddenly shrank to the size of a palm.

He took it and handed it to Grace.

"Miss, this cannot be placed inside a Storage Artifact—only a Hidden World can store it," he said.

"I know," Grace replied, accepting the now-miniature case.

"Here…" She handed a ring to the attendant, who then gave it to the manager.

"Miss, is there anything else you want to buy? We can lower the price of any item you desire," the manager said enthusiastically.

"No, but my boyfriend might want something. If you can't give him a discount, we'll just leave," Grace replied while briefly turning her face toward Richard.

And Richard couldn't help but be shocked when he heard her call him her boyfriend.

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