Sandy Rock City

At the gates of Sandy Rock City.

Under the watchful gaze of two earthen-yellow stone Constructs standing nearly five meters tall, Lu Yuan's group passed through the city gates.

The main thoroughfare stretched fifty meters wide, flanked on both sides by more of those massive stone Constructs marching on patrol. Gene Warriors of every description moved along the streets. Lining either side were rows of shops — some selling potions, others Gene Armaments, miscellaneous goods, or equipment repair services. None of them were small.

Taking in the sandy-yellow architecture of the city, Zhuo Ming let out a long breath and smiled.

"Finally back. I've been on edge the whole way."

"Didn't expect so many people to be watching for warriors coming out of the trial," someone remarked.

"Of course there are," Gelin replied with a laugh. "Everyone knows ruins are packed with treasure. Any warrior who clears a trial walks out with a haul. Kill them and you take their haul. Naturally there are people willing to make that move — Hunters especially."

The others nodded in agreement.

Liu Xi smiled. "In Sandy Rock City's territory, I still carry some weight."

She turned to Lu Yuan. "Brother Lu Yuan, now that we're back in the city, I need to return to the Tianfu Consortium's base to handle some business — I won't be able to stay with you any longer. If you need anything, feel free to drop by. Our base is at Residential Zone A042. Easy enough to find once you're in the residential district."

"Sure, will do," Lu Yuan said with a smile and a nod.

Liu Xi departed with her team.

Watching her retreating figure, Zhuo Ming clicked his tongue, his expression pure envy.

"A-grade residential zone… the Tianfu Consortium really does well for itself here. That's serious money."

"They're a major consortium," Gelin said with a rueful grin. "Different league from us."

"Lucky she was with us," someone added. "With so many of us, and with Liu Xi there, getting through the dungeon was manageable. On our own, I'm not sure we'd have made it out."

Gelin turned to Lu Yuan. "Lu Yuan, the trial took a lot out of us. We're heading to the residential zone to recuperate — want to come along?"

"I'm good," Lu Yuan said, shaking his head. "I'll wander around on my own for a bit."

"Yuan-bro, you mean you've never been to the residential zone?"

Lu Yuan looked puzzled. "Is the residential zone divided into different grades?"

Gelin shook his head. "Can't compare. Anyway, let me explain. The city's residential zone is tiered. The lowest is D-grade: shared housing, one room per person. C-grade is single or multi-bedroom suites. B-grade is townhouses. A-grade is a small private estate with a courtyard. The higher the grade, the more luxurious — and the more expensive. Our group's usual base is C-grade suites, which runs about thirty Spirit Crystals per day. An A-grade suite? I'd guess several hundred to over a thousand Spirit Crystals daily. A major faction like the Tianfu Consortium would be on a long-term lease. Do the math on what that costs."

No wonder Gelin and the others were so envious.

Lu Yuan did the math. The Tianfu Consortium's Sandy Rock City residence was burning through hundreds, maybe thousands of Spirit Crystals every single day.

"Sandy Rock City is expensive across the board," Zhuo Ming said, sighing and shaking his head. "The residential zone, the dueling arena, the bar — all massive Spirit Crystal sinks."

Zhuo Ming did just fine in the real world, but in the Land of Origin, he was genuinely broke.

"Your daily intake isn't bad though, Yuan-bro — you're basically rolling in it by now. But Sandy Rock City has no shortage of places to spend Spirit Crystals. Without them, you can barely move."

"The dueling arena — what's that, exactly?" Lu Yuan asked.

"The dueling arena is where Gene Warriors go to fight," Gelin explained. "You can't brawl freely within Sandy Rock City — the Constructs will execute you on the spot. The arena is the only sanctioned combat zone. Matches there are usually wagers, and death inside the arena space isn't permanent — you won't be ejected from the Land of Origin. So a lot of strong warriors like to spend time there."

*Interesting.* Lu Yuan filed that away. Worth a visit when he had the chance.

"There's a bar here too?" Lu Yuan said.

"Of course. Gene Warriors spend their days killing out in the wild, nerves constantly strung tight. When they come back, they need to unwind — have a drink, talk with people. Naturally there's a bar."

A sly grin spread across Zhuo Ming's face. "Strong guys with good looks tend to do really well at bars. Head in there, Yuan-bro, and I guarantee you'll have plenty of lovely ladies swarming you."

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and declared with exaggerated righteousness: "What are you implying, Zhuo Ming? I'm not that kind of person."

Everyone: "…"

*...Though — are there cat-kin girls and elf girls there?*

His brow lifted fractionally, a quiet spark of interest that he did not voice aloud.

"Also," Gelin said, "before we split up — you should pick up a communication crystal. That way you can reach people while you're in Sandy Rock City. They're not expensive, and most shops around the city carry them."

"Oh — right." Lu Yuan realized he had, in fact, been meaning to get one of those.

Then a different thought occurred to someone in the group.

"Yuan-bro, when you get tired, you do rest, right? You do sleep? You're still human?"

Lu Yuan paused. He'd always assumed everyone operated the way he did.

Apparently that wasn't the case.

"What do you mean, 'still human'? Who said I don't sleep? I specifically packed a tent and a sleeping bag."

A blond-haired young man laughed, a bit helplessly. "Even when our whole team camps outside, we rotate night watch. You're out there alone, Yuan-bro. Don't you worry about running into danger?"

"I'm probably just carefree," Lu Yuan said with an easy smile. "And my luck's been decent — never really run into a serious threat."

What he didn't mention: he kept Black Iron Body running even while he slept.

"Lu Yuan," Gelin said, "since your Awakening, you've been in the Land of Origin for over a month. And you've seriously never come back here once? Just been living outside this entire time?"

Everyone stared at him — Gelin included.

"I only spent a few hours in Sandy Rock City when I first arrived," Lu Yuan said. "After that I never came back."

Last time had been right at the start. He'd only had twenty-four hours in the city then and hadn't wanted to waste a moment of it — so he'd learned the bare minimum, and his impression of Sandy Rock City had remained shallow. Now, finally, he had time to actually explore.

"Is there a problem with that?"

Zhuo Ming was at a loss for words. He sighed deeply and shook his head.

Gelin gave a helpless laugh. "Now I think I understand why you've been improving so fast. Talent is part of it, sure. But this kind of terrifying endurance — not everyone has it. Most people get mentally ground down after spending enough time in the dangerous wild. They come back to reset, give themselves a break. But you? You never came back at all."

He paused. "Most of your combat experience is fighting beasts, isn't it? You don't have much experience against other Gene Warriors."

Lu Yuan's strength was real, but the bulk of his fighting had been against creatures, not people. That much was true.

Gelin's group said their farewells to Lu Yuan, and then there was none — just Lu Yuan, alone.

He looked around, picked a direction at random, and started walking.

His first stop was a general goods store. He picked up a communication crystal for two hundred Spirit Crystals — it was only Gelin's reminder that had made him realize he actually needed one. He added a few glowsticks and other small supplies while he was there, bringing his total to around one thousand Spirit Crystals.

For his current savings, it barely registered.

Next, he made his way to a Gene Armament shop.

A Construct stood near the entrance, its voice flat and mechanical.

"Human. Welcome. Would you like to purchase equipment, repair equipment, or sell equipment?"

The shop was three to four hundred square meters, its walls lined with Gene Armaments — longswords, greatswords, greataxes, war hammers, battle armor, a comprehensive spread of options. A number of Gene Warriors browsed the wares; others streamed in and out.

The staff were not Gene Warriors but stone Constructs. Unlike the massive patrol units outside, these shop-floor Constructs stood at roughly a meter eighty.

Most of the shop's inventory was common-rank.

But there were elite-rank pieces as well.

He spotted one in particular: a staff that boosted spiritual power and enhanced fire-type combat technique potency — elite-rank, priced at ten thousand Spirit Crystals.

Converted to Red Maple Coins at outside-world rates, that came to one and a half million.

*Questionable value.*

Lu Yuan's expression pinched. "That expensive?"

The Construct looked at him. It said nothing.

These Constructs had high intelligence but no bargaining function. He'd already discovered that the hard way at the potion shop earlier — he'd tried to negotiate, and the Construct had simply stared at him in silence, making him feel like a complete idiot. This one was exactly the same.

He made a mental note to lodge a formal complaint at some point.

As for the potions — common healing serums ran sixty Spirit Crystals a bottle here. The outside-world price was around eight thousand Red Maple Coins. At the minimum exchange rate of a hundred and fifty Red Maple Coins per Spirit Crystal, the in-city price worked out to nine thousand — already a thousand more expensive than the market outside. At the higher rate of two hundred to one, the gap was wider still.

Sixty Spirit Crystals was close to half his daily income. Not trivial.

And yet people still bought. You never knew when supplies would run out, and once inside the Land of Origin, outside resupply was impossible — Sandy Rock City was the only option.

Everything here ran above market rate. Potions, materials, Gene Armaments alike. Every item, no exceptions.

Then it occurred to him: his greatsword needed repair.

During the Genius Trial fight against the black stone man, the Beetle Claw greatsword had taken a brutal beating. The blade had nearly been destroyed outright.

He nodded to the Construct at the door. "Repair."

"Repair shop is through the back door." The Construct gestured toward a side door.

Lu Yuan went through.

The back room was much larger than the storefront. Forging stations lined the floor in rows, each blazing with roaring flame. The heat hit him as soon as he stepped in — heavy and suffocating, enough to make breathing feel like an effort. Construct smiths moved between the stations, iron mallets rising and falling against Gene Armaments in steady rhythm. Light of every color rippled and flowed across the metalwork with each strike.

A few of the Constructs glanced up at his entrance, their eyes flickering.

Lu Yuan found the Construct manning the service counter.

"Human. Do you need equipment repaired?"

"Yes. Repair."

"Please produce the equipment."

Lu Yuan set the Beetle Claw greatsword on the counter. The chipped and broken blade was obvious at a glance.

The Construct's earthen-yellow eyes pulsed with light. White scanning beams swept methodically across the sword's surface.

"This is an elite-rank armament. Damage level: moderate. Repair cost: five hundred Spirit Crystals."

Lu Yuan's expression went flat. "That expensive?"

Five hundred Spirit Crystals was enough to buy a common-rank Gene Armament outright. For a repair fee, that was steep.

The nearby Gene Warriors who'd caught the Construct's assessment looked over, eyes flickering with curiosity.

Elite-rank armaments were valuable items even by Sandy Rock City standards. The price reflected that.

He paid the five hundred Spirit Crystals. The Construct accepted them; the crystals vanished with no visible motion on its part.

"Repair time: sixteen hours. Please wait patiently."

The Construct picked up the greatsword and walked off to begin its work.

Sixteen hours. He'd be without his weapon for that stretch.

Lu Yuan wasn't worried about the Construct disappearing with it. These Constructs were native to the Land of Origin — not conventional living beings. Each one existed with a specific purpose, bound to it absolutely.

This one's purpose was to repair equipment.

He turned, walked back out to the shop floor, and began to browse.