‘Besides.’
‘If really tried to exploit this opportunity through underhanded means… that might provoke the store’s owner.’
The air chilled slightly.
No one spoke, but they all nodded.
Senior Hao.
That mysterious storekeeper who sold heaven-defying products and, for some reason, acted as if he were just an ordinary cultivator.
Even going so far as to restart his own cultivation from scratch.
He was kind. He was casual. But he was definitrly not someone to be used.
And if they did use him – if they took advantage of his store to run scams or cheat another realm – who knew what consequences might follow?
Would he shut them out forever?
Would he stop the supply of those miraculous items?
Or worse, would they vanish one day, only to find themselves crippled in body and soul, forgotten by the world?
No one dared imagine it.
So no. This would be handled with care.
Fairly. Properly.
And most importantly… with full respect to Senior Hao.
They were not fools.
If they wanted this opportunity to last, it had to be done right.
Old Tiger Zhao might not have a sect behind him or wear embroidered robes, but he was currently the sole gateway to Scorching Soul City and the entire Molten Ashlands.
Cutting him out would be stupid. But relying on him alone was also a gamble.
They glanced at Dou Xinshi.
That kid had potential too.
A bit too excitable, maybe. A little too dramatic. But if handled properly – and offered enough benefits he could also play a part in this connection.
They’d just have to keep an eye on him.
The discussion carried on, but now the atmosphere had taken a turn. The mood was lighter.
Everyone had something in their hands.
The old bones, once locked in serious talks, now casually crunched on potato chips and slurped their drinks.
Spirits lifted.
Words flowed smoother. Even Sect Master Jiang Xianwei had opened a Cola and looked far more human with it in his hand.
Dou Xinshi, on the other hand, was experiencing a full-blown rebirth.
He was demolishing those chips with the energy of someone who just got unsealed from a 500-year hunger arc.
Crunching so hard, the chips were filing a noise complaint!
Every few bites, he paused – not to breathe, but to savor. A can of Lime Fizz was clenched between his knees, unopened.
He didn’t want to wash the taste out yet.
On the far end of the store, things were even more lively.
At the table, Empress Shen Qianrou was on her second soft serve ice cream cone. This time, vanilla.
She had already finished her chocolate one earlier, and though both had been divine, it was the vanilla that won her heart.
This… This is the GOAT!
The empress had also taken her chips and -without hesitation – dipped one into her vanilla ice cream.
Crunch.
Cream.
A spark of delight.
The cold, milky sweetness of the vanilla wrapped around the crisp saltiness of the chip. The texture hit first – smooth on top, then a perfect brittle crunch below.
Then came the flavor combination.
The salty edge danced with the creamy cold, lifting each bite into something new. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.
The vanilla made the salt richer. The chip made the ice cream brighter. There was no logic to it, just addictive alchemy.
Princess Yunlan Qingyi followed.
One bite. Then a blink. Then five more chips went in one after another.
‘It’s weird.’ she thought. ‘But it’s genius!’
On the next table, Lin Yijun hesitated.
He, Hua Feixue, Yue Xueyan, and Xiao Lianfeng all glanced at each other. There was no pressure to follow, but… watching the empress, watching the princess, watching their faces –
Damn it. They wanted to try it too.
Yue Xueyan didn’t even blink. She dipped a chip.
Crunch.
“…Huh.”
Feixue followed. Then Xiao Lianfeng. Then Lin Yijun.
The chocolate version worked too.
Sweet and bitter and salty all collided into something unholy, but unreasonably delicious.
They didn’t understand it.
They didn’t care.
A weird craze had started in the store. A new mix, a new taste, and no one wanted to be left behind.
And at the heart of it all… was none other than the empress herself.
Empress Shen Qianrou, ruler of countless cultivators, whose palm could raise or destroy an entire province or city.
No one knew it then, not even the empress, but she had just created the first trend in the history of the Dimensional Convenience Store.
A humble dip.
A strange combo.
But something that would echo through the years to come.
No ice cream cone would ever be safe again.
By next week, someone would try it with… By next month… And years later, it would be formally known across realms as the Qianrou Crunch!
But for now, it was just an empress having a good time.
Hao leaned back behind the counter, gaze sweeping over the joyful chaos. The clink of chip bags, the hum of conversation, the unmistakable squelch of potato chips being dipped into ice cream – it all felt strangely nostalgic.
He didn’t even need to close his eyes to remember.
Back on Earth, he’d seen this before. Not in a fancy restaurant, but in internet food videos.
Fries going headfirst into sundaes.
Vanilla oozing over golden sticks. And someone proudly declaring. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
The comment section? A battlefield.
One side was all fire emojis and “this combo lowkey slaps,” while the other side was vomiting emojis, crime scene memes, and that one guy yelling.
“This should be illegal in 37 countries.”
Sweet and salty? Cold and hot? Creamy and crunchy?
To some, it looked like a culinary war crime.
And yet, for those who dared… it slapped.
That first bite, when the ice cream melted just enough and the fry stayed crispy – the combo was insane.
Now here Hao was, in another world entirely, watching something similar unfold.
There was no internet here. No viral food hacks. No “10 weird combos that actually slap.”
Just instinct.
Curiosity.
And a shared taste for weirdness.
There were no haters yet. No one had screamed “food blasphemy” or held up a sign.
But Hao had a feeling it was coming.
Some poor soul would walk in, see it, and probably cry, die a little inside, and feel like throwing up.
For the time being? It was harmony, mayhem, and a mouthful of salty-sweet confusion.