"Enemy attack! High-threat Vindicator sighted! It’s a Decanus! There’s no squad of Legionaries behind him. We can take him down easily!"
The shout went up from the squad of rogue cultivators guarding the Exit Zone. They were a ragged but well-equipped bunch, their armor plastered with [Spirit Embodint Sticker Seals] and their hands gripping weapons coated in experintal, homade versions of the Aether-Bane Polish.
While most of the cultivator groups ventured around Area 1, taking down strongholds, intercepting patrols and new reinforcents, they chose to stay at the Exit Zone. Considering there was a limit of groups that could enter the Anchor at the sa ti, the Liu Clan and the major sects offered them that job. Not only will they get Dinsion Essence and Spirit Stones, but they were also given a store product supply to ensure that everyone would have a retreat path aside from the [Ergency Escape Talisman].
Soon, spells flared to life. Fireballs, ice shards, and wind blades coalesced in the air, all aid squarely at the silver-armored figure casually walking towards them.
"Wait! Hold your fire!" Liu Xiaoyu waved her hands frantically, stepping out from behind Lin Mo. "It’s us! It’s the Shopkeeper!"
The cultivators froze, their spells sputtering out. They squinted at the towering, armored figure, then at the energetic young woman in green and white uniform beside him.
"Assistant Shopkeeper Liu?" The squad leader, a scarred man with a massive hamr, lowered his weapon slightly. "But... that’s clearly a Vindicator. The armor... the aura..."
Lin Mo sighed. He reached up and tapped the release chanism at his chest. He tested it a few tis already, so he didn’t need to take the armor pieces one by one anymore.
With a series of rhythmic clicks and hisses, the heavy plating retracted. The helt split and folded back, revealing Lin Mo’s face.
The rest of the armor followed suit, the Aether-forged steel plates sliding over each other, compressing and folding inward until they detached from his body and coalesced into the small, humming silver cube in his hand.
The squad stared, their jaws hitting the floor.
"See?" Lin Mo said, tossing the cube casually in his hand. He couldn’t help but imagine himself as one of those suit heroes on a kid’s show from Earth. "Just testing the goods we’ve gotten here. Good reaction ti, though. Keep up the vigilance."
"T-the Shopkeeper..." The squad leader stamred, his eyes glued to the cube. "You... you’ve already put it on? Why? They said it’s dangerous. Does the Divine Convenience Store find a thod to safely use it?"
"Not yet. I just tested it out since it’s safe for . But it won’t be long. Keep up the armor pieces that they’re dropping here, alright?" Lin Mo gave them an enigmatic smile before gesturing to Xiaoyu. "Let’s go. Master Liu is waiting."
They passed through the stunned defenders and stepped into the Exit Zone’s teleportation ripple.
The sensation of spatial displacent washed over them, and a mont later, they were standing back in the command tent’s designated arrival zone.
Liu Zhongzu was there, discussing logistics with the Crown Prince and Scholar Wei. When Lin Mo walked in, holding the silver cube, the conversation stopped dead.
"Shopkeeper," Liu Zhongzu greeted, eyeing the object. "You’ve returned. And... is that the armor?"
"It is," Lin Mo placed the cube on the central tactical table. "The test was a success. The ’Decanus Set’ amplifies physical strength by at least three hundred percent. It has built-in defensive skills and shock absorption. It’s a fortress you can wear. Since we don’t have people to wear the Legionary Set yet, the Aetheric Link will remain untested."
He tapped the cube. "However, Master Liu. This armor still cos with caveats, even if most negative effects have been suppressed by my Celestial Providence. Once equipped, one’s spiritual energy circulation will be suppressed, making complex spellcasting difficult. It feeds on Aether Shards like a hungry beast. And most importantly... once fully activated, it binds to the user’s soul."
"Soul-bound?" The Crown Prince, who seed to have just arrived after they left, frowned. "That is... inconvenient for military logistics. It ans the equipnt cannot be reassigned if a soldier falls or retires."
"Correct," Lin Mo nodded. "But it also ans the equipnt grows with the soldier. Look at this."
He projected the system’s appraisal of the cube for them to see, highlighting the ’Experience’ bar and the ’Evolution’ potential.
"It evolves," Scholar Wei breathed, leaning in close, his eyes shimring with enlightennt. "So it becos a symbiotic partner. And a growing artifact! An Argentum-III could theoretically beco an Argentum-IV... a Centurion-class armor? If we can mass-produce these... or rather, mass-harvest them... we could create an army that grows stronger not just through cultivation, but through battle itself. Partnering it with the store products, the Western Sacred Lands, who boasted of their higher cultivation base, would be nothing against the store patrons!"
"Exactly," Lin Mo said as he looked at the Crown Prince, understanding why he showed up now after his visit. "The Southern Wu Kingdom’s ’priority access’ ant you get to pick the first fifty candidates to bond with these. Make sure they choose wisely, Your Highness. And don’t force anyone if they cannot take the risk. This is still at an experintal stage."
He then turned to Scholar Wei. "Scholar, I have a favor. Although you’re already working on a ’converter’ that will allow us to use spiritual energy to activate it, I found that Aetheric Shards should be enough to power it up."
"I need you to work with the artificers from the Professional’s Foundry. We need to refine the usage of Aether Shards as well. Currently, the consumption rate is too high. If we can create a more efficient ’battery’ or a way to recycle the energy, it would make the Aether-Knights more sustainable."
"I will post a commission imdiately," Scholar Wei said, already pulling out his Viewing Jade. "The alchemists are already raving about the new materials. The artificers will be eager to get their hands on this ’Aether-tech’."
"Good. Now, if you’ll excuse us," Lin Mo said, suppressing a yawn. "We still have a store to open."
He signaled Xiaoyu, and they headed for the Celestial Shuttle Hub.
The return trip to Fanling City was quiet and instant. He just needed to temporarily open the hub inside the store, after all. In any case, the adrenaline of the combat test was fading, replaced by the bone-deep fatigue of a long day.
When they stepped out of the hub into the main store, it was deep into the night. The store was closed, the lights dimd to a soft, ambient glow.
Wu iyu was sitting at one of the tables in the lounge area, reviewing a stack of jade slips. She looked up as they entered, a warm smile gracing her features.
"Welco back, Shopkeeper. Sister Xiaoyu. I trust the ’assistance’ and ’field test’ were productive?"
"Mhm. Productive." Lin Mo replied as he sat down next to her. "We’ll continue having busy days. I believe you should set a day off for everyone in our store, including you and Xiaoyu."
Liu Xiaoyu dashed away and returned seconds later with cans of Heavenly Dew Soda in her arms. After handing a can to Lin Mo and Wu iyu, she plopped down next to Lin Mo, essentially sandwiching him between them.
"What about you, Shopkeeper? Are you not going to rest?"
"? Well, I don’t have to run around the store anymore, do I? I can just sit upstairs and watch over the store there. I don’t need one."
"Pfft. Do you hear him, Sister iyu? He wants us to have a day off while he’s not giving one to himself. And you said you just want to live comfortably." Liu Xiaoyu stifled a laugh as she nudged his shoulder.
"I said ’comfortable,’ not ’lazy’," Lin Mo retorted, cracking open his soda with a satisfying psshht. He took a long sip, the cold, fizzy sweetness washing away the fatigue he had accumulated from using the Decanus Set. "Managing an empire of convenience from a plush chair while drinking divine soda? That sounds pretty comfortable to . Besides, if I stop, who’s going to keep you from turning the store into a Celestial Duel arena?"
"Hey! I only did that once!" Xiaoyu protested, "And it was a very efficient way to settle a dispute over the last bag of Ghost Inferno Pepper-flavored potato chips!"
Wu iyu laughed softly, the sound lodic in the quiet store. "The Shopkeeper has a point, Xiaoyu. His version of rest is simply... a different kind of work. Strategic contemplation, perhaps?"
"But even the finest blade needs a sheath, Shopkeeper. Do not burn yourself out. The realm will not collapse if you close your eyes for a few hours. We are here. The staff is here. The system you built is now robust." She continued as she trained her eyes on him.
Lin Mo looked at her, then at Xiaoyu, who was happily munching on a snack she’d seemingly conjured from nowhere. He felt a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with cultivation.
"You’re right," He admitted, "The system is now robust. But another big day is coming. If not tomorrow, then the next day. Before informing the eligible bidders of the actual date of the Private Auction and ’Pledge of Convenience’. I need to make sure everything is perfect."
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