Hao never got this kind of reaction from Lin Yijun or the others from Sovereign City.
None of them had ever dropped to their knees in front of the cup noodles and whispered, “We meet again, o sacred broth.”
Was he severely underestimating the impact of the goods produced by the system?
Maybe Scorching Soul City cultivators just had more… creative meridian flow.
Hao shook his head and headed back behind the counter.
Meanwhile, Old Tiger Zhao was still over by the ice cream machine, babbling to it in hushed tones
Hao mentally stuffed cotton in his ears.. He’d already heard enough for one morning.
If he accidentally caught another phrase like “you’ve seen the depths of my soul” or “my tongue still remembers your touch.” he might need to shut down the ice machine for spiritual cleansing.
Eventually, the old man finally walked over to the counter.
Of course. For his beloved cone of Soft Serve Vanilla Ice Cream.
After receiving the payment, Hao silently handed him the token.
Old Tiger Zhao accepted it with both hands, as if Hao had just granted him the divine seal of an emperor himself.
This wasn’t a token. It was a passage!
A sacred talisman.
The key to unlocking the Heavenly White Spiral of Ultimate Sweetness.
Without it, his path to true enlightenment would forever be sealed.
With solemn eyes and reverent steps, the old man turned and made his way toward the machine once more.
Hao stood straight, gaze locked on the door. He didn’t want to see what came next.
He had no mood to deal with that.
Time passed.
The kind of time where one could brew tea and question their life choices.
The door finally opened.
More customers.
The disciples from Sovereign City.
As usual, they gave polite greetings. Lin Yijun stepped in first, followed by Yue Xueyan, Hua Feixue, and Xiao Lianfeng.
“Welcome.” Hao said automatically.
But Lin Yijun tilted his head.
’Why is boss kinda stiff?’
Then his gaze swept the store – until it landed on him.
Old Tiger Zhao, standing before the machine with a cone in both hands.
His posture was noble.
His expression, devout.
“I shall call you… Frost Lotus of the Nine Heavens.”
Lin Yijun almost choked on air.
“Please don’t.” Lin Yijun muttered.
But the old man was lost in bliss, lifting the ice cream slightly higher.
“I waited in front of this sacred hall at the first light of dawn. Even the fiercest demonic beasts could not have moved me from this spot.”
Yue Xueyan blinked.
Xiao Lianfeng froze mid-step.
Hao silently stared at the door again.
Was Scorching Soul City… cursed?
Why did two customers from there already seem one step away from founding a cult in honor of a snack?
How many more cracked cultivators were going to show up this week?
Hao took a deep breath and braced himself.
It was going to be a long day.
And Yue Xueyan already looked like she had enough of it.
She hadn’t said anything beyond greeting Hao – gaze cold, expression indifferent.
It wasn’t that she was unimpressed by the old man’s theatrical monologue to the ice cream machine.
She just didn’t care enough to react.
But one thing snagged her attention.
The old man said he ’waited.’
Outside the door. Since early morning.
Then why didn’t they see him?
She and Hua Feixue were also here before the store opened. They waited nearly half an hour outside – until Feixue got too restless and dragged her off to wander the city a bit.
So how come they never crossed paths with this old man?
The alley was narrow. The store only had one entrance. At least… that’s what she thought.
This wasn’t just a regular store.
Yue Xueyan’s eyes sharpened slightly.
There was no way they simply missed each other. Not in that tight space. Not with someone like him.
His attire was strange. His energy unfamiliar. He didn’t seem to belong anywhere near Sovereign City.
Which meant…
There might be more than one entrance.
Or a teleportation array.
Or some other method of instant transit that connected distant places to this single point.
That would explain his sudden appearance. It also explained why none of them – Lin Yijun included – had any idea who this old man was.
And that made her pause.
If the store’s upgrade had linked it to more locations,
Then the city where this old man came from was likely the second access point. Somehere very far away.
The first was clearly Sovereign City – their own origin.
That much was obvious.
They’d never run into an old man of that sort back when the store hadn’t opened to other places yet.
She said nothing.
But in her mind, she’d already begun mapping out possibilities.
How many places?
How many doors?
And how long until a real problem walked through one of them?
She didn’t trust people. And she trusted new variables even less.
The store had grown even more mysterious in Yue Xueyan’s mind.
If Hao knew that Yue Xueyan had already pieced together so much from just a few words from the old man, he might’ve handed her a detective award.
It was like when a girlfriend gets suspicious and suddenly knows everything about you – no matter how carefully you hide it.
It’s a level of skill you can never hope to match.
You never stand a chance!
While none of the four said a word about it, their silent agreement was perfectly clear:
Avoid the ice cream machine.
Or more accurately… avoid Old Tiger Zhao.
They scattered like leaves in the wind, each pretending to browse different shelves as they picked out their favorite products.
Not one of them approached the counter for an ice cream token.
Yue Xueyan took this moment to share what she’d deduced.
A quick mental transmission was enough.
Brief and easy to follow. No fuss.
Within seconds, Lin Yijun and Xiao Lianfeng paused, minds clicking into thought.
Hua Feixue, however, came to a suddenly halt, eyes wide. Her voice shot out like a lightning bolt.
“What?!”
All three heads turned to her in slow, synchronized horror.
“…”
Yue Xueyan’s cold stare practically said, “You only had one job Feixue.”
Hua Feixue flailed and immediately clasped both hands over her mouth. Her eyes sparkled with panic as she bowed toward Yue Xueyan with rapid-fire gestures, as if performing a mini-apology dance.
’S-sorry, Senior Sister! I didn’t mean to shout! I-I’ll buy your favorite noodles today, okay?’
Yue Xueyan blinked, then turned her gaze back to the instant noodles shelf.