Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 240: What is this sorcery?

The monk's lips twitched, the closest thing to a chuckle Lin Mo had seen from him. "Amitabha. You are a merchant through and through, Benefactor. I will brew your tea and seek my answers. But heed this: the foreign influence's shadow grows longer, and your store stands at its heart. Clarity may come to you unbidden and it may not be kind."

With that, the monk tucked the tea into his patched robes. Then he waited until Lin Mo handed him the Viewing Jade and the Celestial Duel Gear with his choice of starter deck.

But the monk didn't stop there.

"Amitabha, this generosity will not be forgotten. Mayhaps you can add those…"

As his voice trailed, Lin Mo followed his eyes and landed on the far-away walk-in coolers with Heavenly Dew Soda and Frosty Lotus Brew on the frame. After that, he also didn't spare the potato chips and instant noodles..

With his amiable smile already on the verge of breaking, Lin Mo picked a few for the monk and sent him on his way before he could also ask for some expensive talisman or pill. He got ripped off by the broke monk, but he vowed to make him pay for that in some other way. For example, free labor.

"Dear customer, I only wish one thing from you. Attempt the Tower first and make your judgement after."

The thin, bald monk pressed his hands together and bowed, "Yes. I shall do that. Benefactor, this one's name is Huiyin. You may refer to me as such."

Upon finishing his introduction, he turned toward the exit with his staff resuming its steady rhythm. The crowd parted for him, their whispers trailing like leaves in his wake.

Lin Mo watched him go, his wry grin fading into a thoughtful frown. While he's quite notorious with his tower-breaking shenanigans, Lin Mo couldn't see him as a threat.

In his eyes, the monk appeared to be someone on a mission, and the fact that he went to the store first rather than doing his usual thing says a lot. He can still be reasoned with.

Wu Meiyu, who had been quietly observing from the counter, sidled up when he returned, her green-and-white uniform rustling softly.

"Well, Shopkeeper, you handled him quite well at your own expense, and you didn't get your store burned down. I'd call that a win. Still think Xiaoyu's the only security you need?"

Lin Mo shot her a flat look. "Your Highness, if I need security, I'll just ask you to glare at troublemakers. Or make that monk stand guard outside. That pout of yours could possibly scare off a Bone Ash Syndicate or a Poison Demon Cult goon. Now, back to charming customers before I had you sit down on the side."

Wu Meiyu's laugh was bright, her eyes dancing with mischief as she continued tending to the customer. "As you wish, Shopkeeper. But don't blame me when that monk comes back with more questions than spirit stones."

Lin Mo shook his head, his gaze drifting to the [Tower Integration Protocol] on the Divine Interface System. The essence count ticked upward.

[Dimension Essence Collected: 13321 (108821 total)].

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

The [Lucky Essence Drop] upgrade was truly proving its worth, and the challengers continued spending the Dimension Essence while inside. After all, they wouldn't be able to bring those essences outside. Might as well spend them before they exit.

The monk's talk of Towers and divine threads nagged at him, but he pushed it aside. He had a store to run, immortal-grade previews to prepare, and a cult to keep at arm's length. Philosophy could wait until a later time.

—

"This… is the Viewing Jade?" Crown Prince Wu Tianlong asked as he picked up the tablet artifact presented by Captain Ying.

They had traveled to Fanling City under his orders and got ripped off by Lin Mo to buy more than they needed. Not to mention, the First Princess also helped in goading them.

Out of all the items they bought, only the Viewing Jade was missing from what Wu Tianlong purchased from Yu Qingyan.

"Yes, Your Highness. It's the special artifact that can allow you to access the Store Bulletin Board. I inspected it on our way back here… It is such a treasure trove of information." Captain Ying answered without raising her head.

The Dragon General and Scholar Weiwei also picked up a piece.

"A treasure trove of information? How preposterous?!" The Dragon General exclaimed. In his line of duty, information, no matter how little, is treated like treasure. For the Bulletin Board to exchange it like it was nothing of value, he couldn't believe the store allowed it.

"Indeed. It was unheard of. However… I can somehow understand the reasoning behind this." Scholar Weiwei said as he poured spiritual energy into it, binding the artifact to him.

With a sparkle in his eyes, he immediately became engrossed in the special artifact after picking his username.

Just the announcement posts on the front page alone got him too excited about what else he could find in it.

"What's their reasoning, Scholar Weiwei?" Wu Tianlong directed the question as he saw how the old scholar's face brightened at the artifact's activation.

"To create a community composed of the Divine Convenience Store's customers." The old man answered as he tapped into one of the announcement posts and saw thousands of comments below it.

The Crown Prince couldn't wrap his head around it right away, but he could tell. The artifact was the one he saw those cultivators below fiddling night and day.

Foregoing his hesitation, he activated the Viewing Jade and was instantly faced with the opening screen, telling him to pick his username.

"A name. Is this thing asking me to identify myself? Hmph!"

"Your Highness, it appears you can pick any name. This so-called Bulletin Board boasted of anonymity."

"Huh? Why?"

"To propagate the exchange of information between the community."

Wu Tianlong's brow furrowed, his imperial pride bristling at the notion of anonymity. A Crown Prince hiding behind a pseudonym? Absurd. Yet the Viewing Jade's interface pulsed with an inviting glow.

He glanced at Scholar Weiwei, whose fingers were already dancing across his own jade, eyes alight with the fervor of a child discovering a new toy.

"Anonymity to foster a community," Wu Tianlong muttered, his voice laced with skepticism. "Sounds like a merchant's trick to stir gossip and drive sales. This Shopkeeper Lin. Is he a visionary or a schemer?"

Captain Ying, standing rigidly at attention, ventured a cautious reply. "Your Highness, the Divine Convenience Store's influence is undeniable. The store itself is already treated as the most popular landmark in all of Fanling City. The Bulletin Board threads we've seen had cultivators from the Eastern Abyssal Domain to the Southern Ember Territories share strategies, boasts, even warnings. This Viewing Jade connects them all. It's… a tool for unity, in a way."

"Unity under a shopkeeper's banner," the Dragon General scoffed, his massive frame looming as he clutched his own jade. "I've seen warlords rally armies with less. If this store's wares are as potent as they say, what's to stop this Lin Mo from building a faction of his own?"

Scholar Weiwei looked up, his wrinkled face creasing into a thoughtful smile. "A fair concern, General. But consider this: the store's Bulletin Board doesn't demand loyalty, only participation. It's a marketplace of ideas, not a throne room. The Shopkeeper profits, yes, but so do the cultivators who gain knowledge. Look here."

He tilted his jade, showing a thread titled [Jade Hollow Plains Tower – Floor 3 Creature Guide].

"This post details every formation and beast on the third floor. Shared freely by someone called [InFrontOfMyTaihaoNoodles]. No sect would part with such secrets so lightly."

Wu Tianlong's eyes narrowed as he scanned the thread. The level of detail was staggering. A narration of what they encountered and experienced there.

His fingers hovered over his Viewing Jade's interface, the prompt for a username still blinking expectantly. "A community, you say. Fine. Let's see what this 'marketplace of ideas' offers a prince."

With a decisive tap, he entered a name: [ProudSkyDragon]. Simple, regal, and just vague enough to mask his identity without compromising his pride.

The jade hummed, binding to his spiritual signature, and the Bulletin Board's front page flooded his screen. Announcement posts, especially the latest one about the [Celestial Duel Platform], made his eyebrows curl. Then, below, at the Community Section, threads scrolled past; duel highlights, Tower strategies, heated debates over the Convenience Saint's true nature and more topics were being discussed.

One caught his eye: [UnrivaledGale's Challenge – Yan Wei vs. Zhou Rui Rematch]. The comment count was climbing by the second.

"Yan Wei," Wu Tianlong mused, recalling the brash young master of the Azure Gale Sect. "Still flaunting his wealth, I see. And Zhou Rui… Crimson Vale's rising star. This Celestial Duel Platform. What is it about this artifact that's got the realm in a frenzy?"

Captain Ying answered as she pulled up her own jade, her username [IronLotus] already active. "Your Highness, the platform is a summoning artifact tied to the [Celestial Duel Gear]. It creates illusions that fight alongside the user, powered by spiritual energy or spirit stones. The Awakened mode, as they call it, lets cultivators summon these units in real combat. It's like a talisman array, but dynamic, adaptive. The Bulletin Board says it's revolutionizing duels and Tower challenges."

Wu Tianlong's brows curled even further, and then he returned to the announcement, where he saw the highlights from the Celestial Duel Platform showcase. "... What is this sorcery?"