And Hao’s take on it?
He was fifty-fifty.
You could call him a coward. A fence-sitter. A man without conviction.
He didn’t care.
Sometimes it slapped. Other times? It made him question the trajectory of civilization.
If we’re talking fries and sundae… the fries better be crispy!
Crunchy. Golden. Sacred. That perfect ‘shkrrrk’ sound when you bite in.
Because soggy fries?
No. Absolutely not.
Soggy fries dipped into soft-serve ice cream were an insult to both fries and ice cream. They were the culinary equivalent of soggy socks.
Of stepping in something wet in your kitchen and not knowing what it was. Of getting out of bed and stepping on a cold floor with no slippers.
It was an offense against common sense.
Against the Dao of Dignity.
But in the end, Hao knew it all boiled down to one thing.
Preference.
Some liked sweet. Some liked salty.
Some liked both together in an unholy fusion that made your ancestors roll in their graves.
And as long as everyone kept it to verbal squabbling, side-eyes, and passive-aggressive chips crunching?
The system would let it slide.
But the moment someone started flaring their spiritual qi just to argue if vanilla-dipped chips were superior to chocolate-coated ones?
That was where Hao drew the line.
Because it wasn’t impossible. Definitely not.
If there was one universal truth Hao had learned from his life on Earth and reading a bunch of web novels across dimensions, galaxies, and flavor combinations, it was this:
Intelligent beings, no matter how powerful, always carried around a little kernel of built-in stupidity.
The kind that made them flip tables over card games.
The kind that made sect brothers duel in the courtyard over who finished the last piece of spiritual roast duck.
Hao sighed. If these customers ever went full war-for-honor over products, he was going to need them to take it outside.
Far outside.
Preferably across a few mountains, maybe toss in a foggy ravine or two. Because if they started fighting inside the store, the system might ban them.
And if they got banned… how would they buy anything again?
He wouldn’t say it out loud, but Hao sort of needed his customers alive.
At least until they finished paying.
Getting crippled was fine. They could still crawl to the shelves, grab their favorite products, and bring them to the counter.
But dying?
Now that was just bad business.
Let them beat each other senseless with bamboo swords or formation flags, he didn’t care. Just don’t die.
Hao thought that this would be the end of the day.
Until the door opened and in walked Yushou Ya’er.
The beast tamer girl who always looked like a teen but was actually an old hag.
She stopped right by the door, blinking at the sheer number of people inside.
“What the heck…?” Yushou Ya’er muttered.
Even her pet lizard, Little Liz, raised its scaly head and gave a confused hiss.
The store was different today.
Not loud. Just… crowded. Lively.
Ew.
Yushou Ya’er squinted, her expression somewhere between concern and betrayal.
“This many people?”
She wasn’t the only one confused.
Across the store, the others turned their eyes toward her… or more specifically, toward Little Liz.
Wait.
Was that… a beast?
A spiritual beast? In the store?
Is that allowed?
Was it allowed as long as the tamer was present?
Or was it just allowed in general?
Sect Master Jiang Xianwei, Sect Master Bing Xuan, and Zhao Huan, the top three dawgs from Sovereign City found themselves glancing sideways at the small beast.
Their gazes weren’t sharp, but thoughtful.
There was something unique about the creature. They couldn’t pinpoint it, and that bothered them more than they’d admit.
Meanwhile, Yushou Ya’er had already sauntered toward the shelves.
“Hmm… one bag of Original Salted Potato Chips for Little Liz, check.” she nodded, tucking it under her arm.
Then she marched straight to the counter.
The goal? Ice cream. Obviously.
She blinked when she saw something new on the screen.
Wait a second.
A different flavor?
Her eyes narrowed at the ice cream machine, suspicious but intrigued.
Should she risk it?
‘I’ve got crystals anyway.’
‘If it’s trash, I’ll just go back to my good ol’ vanilla.’
In the past, she wouldn’t have dared to waste crystals on such things.
Back then, her wallet was drier than the Molten Ashlands in midsummer.
But recently?
Things had changed.
Ever since Little Liz started going on a hunting rampage, their crystal stash had exploded.
More beasts. Stronger beasts. Faster clears. It was like Little Liz had gone full berserker mode.
Yushou Ya’er didn’t even know what triggered it.
She asked once. Got a long hiss and a slow tail slap to the face.
But she had her suspicions.
Her eyes drifted down to the bag of Original Salted Potato Chips in her arm.
She wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but every time she bought Little Liz a bag of those chips, the lizard came back stronger.
Calmer. Hungrier.
Which, honestly, worked out for them both.
Little Liz got her crunchy fix. Yushou Ya’er got enough crystals to splurge on her beloved soft serve.
Especially during these hellfire Ashlands afternoons.
That cooling effect of the ice cream that lasted for even hours?
Divine.
She never thought she’d live to feel something even close to a normal breeze again. Not in the Molten Ashlands. Not where the air cooked your lungs and the ground steamed your feet.
And yet, here she was. Shivering.
‘It’s just ice cream.’ Yushou Ya’er told herself. ‘What’s the worst that could happen? I lose a few crystals. The effects still kick in.
‘I hate the taste. I cry. I move on.’
She took a deep breath.
“Storekeeper! Let me have that new ice cream!” she shouted with the energy of someone trying to justify a financially reckless life choice.
Because in this cursed heat?
A gamble on ice cream was practically an investment.
Hao nodded and processed the payment. While Yushou Ya’er was getting her cone, Little Liz had wandered.
And now stood directly in front of Empress Shen Qianrou.
Just… staring.
Silent. Not moving. Blinking.
Just curious.
Drawn.
The empress tilted her head, eyes softening.
“Well, aren’t you a cute little lizard.” Empress Shen Qianrou said with a gentle smile.
She reached out and gave Little Liz a light scratch on the head.