The First Store System

“Store owner, what product does the store sell?” Ben asked Aakesh. His tone contained a mixture of anxiety and nervousness.

“The store currently sells four products…,” Aakesh began introducing the store products.

Aakesh had decided to introduce cultivation art later in the day. But since a new customer had arrived in the store and asked for an introduction, Aakesh had to do it.

“…, sold by the store,” Aakesh finally concluded the store items production.

Ben couldn’t help but suck a breath of cold air after listening to the introduction of the store products from Aakesh. If not for fear of the store owner in his heart, Ben would have disturbed Aakesh in between.

Ben liked all the products Aakesh introduced, but for the moment, the most significant store product was the first-grade superior Palace experience pill. It could help the peak Tao Manifestation level cultivators to have a Tao Palace for three seconds.

Ben had been stuck at this level for thousands of years, so when he heard about the pill, his excitement knew no bounds. Ben wanted to scream in joy, but he controlled himself. Finally when Aakesh had concluded the introduction, he asked, “Store owner, does the first-grade superior Palace experience pill help me experience any kind of Tao Palace for three seconds?”

The reason for Ben getting stuck at this level wasn’t due to his incompetence, but it was due to the Tao Palace he wanted to create.

The Tao was Golden Space Fire. It was the mightiest flame type Tao in the Primal dimension. As its name suggested, the Tao primarily belonged to the fire, but it also consisted of the element of metal and space. Having three elements at once resulted in the Tao of Golden Space Fire becoming one of the most difficult Tao to reach the Tao Palace level and then Immortality.

Ben considered himself talented and was also confident in it, so he decided to give it a try. But as time passed, the issue didn’t just remain an attempt, but soon it turned into an ego issue. Since it was now an ego issue, Ben wanted to have a breakthrough with it, or he would stay at peak Tao Manifestation till the point where his lifespan came to an end.

Now that Ben had been stuck in the level for thousands of years, his rigid mind finally softened a little, and he started looking for external help. But how could someone help him ascend into Tao Palace since everyone have their own interpretation of Tao?

Some considered fire as a source of destruction, while some thought of it as a source of creation. No person had the same interpretation of their respective Tao.

***

Aakesh expressionlessly nodded in response to Ben’s question. He then took a glance at Ben. He moved his eyes away as quickly as he had landed them on Ben. Aakesh found everything that was there for Ben at that time.

When Aakesh’s eyes landed on Ben, Ben felt himself standing naked in the absolute cold. Even though it was quick enough for Ben not to find out what had happened, his brain reacted later and warned him to move as far as possible from this place.

Ben then took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart down as there was no way he was going to leave the store after learning about the palace experience pill.

“Store owner, I want five first-grade superior Palace experience pills,” Ben smilingly requested. Nervousness couldn’t be hidden from his voice as his heart was still quickly beating. As for if it was for fear of the store owner or the excitement of getting the pills, Ben did not know about it.

After the quest’s completion yesterday, the quantity limit for the sale of pills had changed. Since Ben wanted superior grade pills, he could buy five of them each day.

Aakesh nodded and then stood up from his chair. He then went toward the pill counter and took five pills from one of the columns on the fourth row.

The next moment, Aakesh had five pills in his hands. Each pill was of the size of almond but weighed more than the mass of a world.

The pill was golden in color with orange-colored rings on it. There were three rings in total, and between the second and third ring, there was a pattern of a burning flame.

As soon as Ben’s eyes fell on the five pills in Aakesh’s hands, he couldn’t take them away. His soul screamed for him to snatch these out of Aakesh’s hands. His eyes started turning red like a crazy person, but in the end, his sense prevailed as the fear he had for the store owner doused a bucket of cold water on him.

Aakesh also noticed the change in Ben, but he ignored it as inside the store, the system protected him all the time. He didn’t even need to fight back. Even if Ben used all his strength, he wouldn’t even be able to make Aakesh feel an itch, but if Ben still thought of attacking, the system would destroy Ben.

“Forgive me, store owner! I couldn’t control myself,” As soon as sanity returned to Ben’s eyes, he bowed and apologized to Aakesh. At the same time, he felt a wave of relief in his heart as it was his second time doing something that could offend the person on the other side, but both times he survived without paying any consequences.

Aakesh expressionlessly nodded in response to Ben’s apology. Aakesh then extended his right hand, which held the five pills in it.

“You need to pay four billion nine hundred and ninety million superior Primal stones,” Aakesh expressionlessly told Ben the price he needed to pay.

The price of the first-grade superior Palace experience pill varied between ten thousand to one billion superior Primal stones. And since the Tao of Golden Space Fire was one of the mightiest and most difficult out there in the Primal dimension, each pill cost nine hundred and ninety-eight million superior Primal stones.

Ben couldn’t help but freeze for a second after hearing the price of the five pills, but soon he came around as he found it to be satisfying since the pill could help him experience the Tao Palace of the Golden Space Fire.

He then took out five billion superior Primal stones from his space ring, but after a moment, he raised the number to ten billion.

Aakesh understood what Ben wanted to do, so he expressionlessly added, “You only need to pay the price of the product you buy. The store doesn’t take lesser or greater Primal stones than the cost of the product.”

Ben couldn’t help but turn awkward for a moment there. He then apologized again to Aakesh and put back the amount other than what he needed to pay for the five pills.

Aakesh then waved his hands. The next moment, the mountain of Primal stones disappeared from the store. When the system told Aakesh that the payment was what it should be, Aakesh told Ben that the pills were his from now.

“Store owner, can I eat the pills in the store?” Ben suddenly asked Aakesh as he couldn’t wait anymore. He wanted to reach early Tao Palace as soon as possible.

Aakesh expressionlessly nodded. Aakesh hadn’t even taken his mouth back to where it should be when Ben, using agility impossible for his cultivation, put the pill into his mouth.

The next moment, a three-colored light emerged and covered Ben like a cocoon. At the top of the cocoon was orange color, then white in the middle, and finally in the bottom, the color was golden.

Aakesh didn’t close his eyes as he was confident that Ben would ask to use another product as soon as he got his breakthrough.

Soon, three seconds passed.

The cocoon dissolved into Ben as he opened his eyes. His eyes contained a slight hint of disappointment, but soon it turned into determination as the hand returned to his mouth and pushed another pill inside.

Time flew by, and just like that, nine more seconds had passed.

Ben’s eyes not only contained disappointment, but also desperation. He had already eaten four pills, while Ben still hadn’t achieved the breakthrough.

Ben now only had one pill left. If he failed, he would have to wait for another day to buy another pair of first-grade superior Palace experience pills. Wait for another day while knowing that there were pills that could help him succeed and he couldn’t buy them would be nothing short of cruel torture on him.

Ben then took a deep breath and raised his right hand again as it pushed the last pill.

The next moment, a similar cocoon to last time appeared and surrounded Ben.

Aakesh glanced toward Ben as he was sure that this time he would succeed and become an early Tao Palace level cultivator. The store owner needed to be ethical, so if Ben required fewer pills to reach the stage, Aakesh would have suggested it.

One second passed, two seconds passed, and when one-third of the third second had passed, the cocoon surrounding Ben started shaking.

In no time, the cocoon started breaking into shards and then falling to the floor, but before they could touch the floor, an invisible force would act and transfer the energy of the shards toward Ben.

Not long after, the cocoon entirely disintegrated as Ben appeared with his eyes closed. On his head, there was a projection of a golden palace with an orange tint.

When Ben opened his eyes, they couldn’t help but turn moist since it had taken a lot of effort for him to reach this stage.