Ch 98: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

The strongest person in the cultivation world?

Lu Yao, a non-cultivator, found this notion to be a paradox. Cultivators each had their own path, driven by their unique inner hearts. How could one determine the best or strongest among countless beings?

Still, if she truly wanted to find the strongest, there was a simple, albeit clumsy, method.

Generally, the strong stood out more than ordinary people, especially in the cultivation world. She could locate the most renowned individuals from the various sects, gather them all at the café, and the strongest would surely be among them.

However, there were many challenges in this approach. The cultivation world was vast, with countless sects of varying sizes. To gather all the notable strong ones would already be a monumental task. Moreover, those revered as the strongest would likely have unshakable resolve and would not easily be tempted to come to a café for leisure.

This needed careful consideration.

Still, compared to engaging with the celestial or underworld realms, this task seemed more feasible, and Lu Yao felt she could take her time to plan it thoroughly.

Before bed, Lu Yao once again reviewed the requirements for the celestial and underworld races.

[Requirement to light up the Celestial Race icon: Fully satisfy the guest’s wish.]

At first glance, this didn’t seem too difficult. The challenge lay in meeting celestial beings. The café was currently in the human world, and humans could only reach the celestial realm through ascension.

As a mortal with no foundation, starting cultivation now wouldn’t make her ascend in just over a month. This was impossible.

[Requirement to light up the Spirit Race icon: A ghost guest with an age of over 500 years.]

Lu Yao: “…”

She began to consider discussing with Zeyuan how to create a plausible scenario involving the Demon Emperor. That might actually be faster.

Feeling dejected for a while, Lu Yao lost her sleepiness and sat up to attempt contacting the Dream Fulfillment System.

It had been nearly two months since the system mentioned its two-month deadline. Coupled with the increasingly bizarre mission requirements, Lu Yao was certain something had happened to the Dream Fulfillment System.

The question was whether it had been destroyed or trapped.

Interestingly, even without the main system, the proxy system and Lu Yao still had to follow the rules set by the Dream Fulfillment System.

Lu Yao suspected that the system hadn’t disappeared entirely and might still be reachable.

Unfortunately, after numerous attempts with no response, she had to give up.

The next morning, Lu Yao arrived at the café and saw Xiong Pingping and Xiong An’an sitting by the counter eating.

Xiong An’an wolfed down a charsiu bun, then reached behind his ear, pulling out his storage pouch. He took out a bracelet-shaped artifact and handed it to Xiong Pingping. “Sister, I don’t need this. You take it.”

A few days prior, to lure the old woman to the mountain to “learn skills,” Xiong Pingping had spent a significant portion of her savings hiring someone to pretend to buy her homemade jianbing and spread the word.

To make up for her internet fees, she had even sold the artifact her mother left her. Now, her demonic aura was harder to conceal, and faint black-and-white fur was beginning to appear on her face.

This issue had been troubling her. Not wanting to refuse her brother’s gesture, she accepted the bracelet and put it on, then instructed him, “Once I learn to make jianbing from the store owner, I might go elsewhere. Baixian Town is still too small. You stay here at the café, listen to the owner, and wait for me to come back. Then I’ll visit you on the mountain.”

After the siblings finished their conversation, Lu Yao took out a recording jade and handed it to Xiong Pingping. “I had the master record all the ingredient proportions and instructions into this jade.”

Once Xiong Pingping received it, Lu Yao retrieved a large cardboard box from her portable storage. “This contains the ingredients we use at the café. Consider it a sample for flavor reference.”

Xiong Pingping hadn’t expected Lu Yao to be so thorough and treated the items as treasures, bowing repeatedly in gratitude.

Lu Yao smiled. “No need to be so formal. By the way, there’s one more thing I’d like your help with. I can give you a few more snack recipes in return.”

Xiong Pingping’s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, she said, “Shopkeeper, just say the word.”

Lu Yao took a puffball of dandelion seeds from her portable storage. “I heard you’re planning to go elsewhere for business. If you encounter any human cultivators on the road, give them one of these seeds.”

Xiong Pingping asked curiously, “What do these seeds do?”

Lu Yao didn’t hide the truth. “They’re just an introduction to the café, hoping to attract more customers.”

Xiong Pingping frowned. “But the café already has demons and devils. If cultivators come, how will they tolerate each other?”

Cultivators considered demons and devils as wicked beings, often slaying them on sight in human territories.

Lu Yao reassured her. “Don’t worry. No matter the realm, anyone who comes to the café can only use the internet.”

Though skeptical, Xiong Pingping didn’t refuse. She took the puffball and placed it in her storage pouch. “Shopkeeper, I can do this. But could I choose the snack recipes?”

Having watched numerous food videos the previous day, she tried replicating many recipes upon returning home. However, many seemingly simple dishes proved far more challenging to perfect. Still, she had a plan—choosing snacks that appeared straightforward but required some technique, ensuring they were tasty and marketable.

This was a small matter for Lu Yao. Xiong Pingping began listing her selections.

She asked for the recipes for taiyaki, snow skin cakes, and tiger skin chicken feet.

Xiong Pingping had a knack for business. Her idea was to mimic the street vendor videos she had seen by setting up a small cart. She’d prepare a pot of tiger skin chicken feet, two steamers of snow skin cakes, and simultaneously sell taiyaki and jianbing while helping Lu Yao promote the café.

Despite being a half-demon, Xiong Pingping had spent her early life in a human village. Her thoughts remained rooted in earning a living.

With the recipes in hand, she chatted a bit more with Xiong An’an before happily heading down the mountain.

Xiong An’an rested his little paws on the doorframe, silently watching his sister leave.

After Jiao Niang arrived at the café, she added a new universal teleportation array next to the existing magical teleportation array.

This array didn’t require the café’s specialized scrolls; ordinary fixed-point teleportation scrolls could bring users directly to the café’s entrance.

When the sparrow demons returned, they informed Lu Yao that some remote magical tool shops in Liuxian City and Ni City were now selling teleportation scrolls to the café on Baixian Mountain.

The café was gradually gaining fame among demons, humans, and devils.

Lu Yao purchased materials and had Jiao Niang craft more scrolls to stock in the café’s shop.

Customers who bought water or snacks often noticed the scrolls on the shelves and occasionally purchased a few.

Though scrolls didn’t generate significant profits, anyone buying one might share it with their demon or devil acquaintances, potentially attracting new customers.

During her break, Lu Yao, the little panda demon, and the sparrow demons squatted by the teleportation array, listening to Jiao Niang explain the principles and process of its construction.

After Xiong Pingping left, the little panda demon seemed dejected for two days. Eventually, perhaps spurred by someone’s advice, he decided to rise up and even begged Jiao Niang to teach him cultivation and demon techniques.

Jiao Niang couldn’t help but be reminded of Xie Zili as a child when she looked at Xiong An’an. Regrettably, she hadn’t been by his side back then, so she naturally showed more affection toward Xiong An’an now.

Having no elder demon to guide him, the little panda demon had already wasted several years of potential cultivation.

Jiao Niang was strict with him, meticulously teaching him demon clan fundamentals.

The sparrow demons attended the lessons uninvited, while Lu Yao, intrigued, joined them as an observer.

Just as Jiao Niang was explaining a critical point, the teleportation array suddenly lit up, and two tall, slender figures materialized moments later.

One of them, wearing a lantern hairpin, was Chi Jiumeng.

Having been politely but firmly asked to leave the café during her previous visit, she was much more obedient now.

Chi Jiumeng had developed a habit of bringing one or two new faces each time she came, indirectly helping the café attract more customers.

Lu Yao, seeing this, no longer felt the need to send her away.

This time, Chi Jiumeng was accompanied by a new face. The woman had long, slender brows and enchanting features, exuding a languid allure in her smoky purple dress.

Chi Jiumeng introduced to Lu Yao, “Li Shijun, my friend.”

Lu Yao couldn’t shake the feeling that Li Shijun looked somewhat familiar, though she couldn’t immediately recall where she’d seen her before.

It was Li Shijun who brought it up first: “So you’re the owner of the internet café. Where’s the gentleman who bought rouge from me for you that day?”

Lu Yao remembered. “You’re the proprietress who was selling rouge in Ni City?”

That day, Li Shijun had dressed as a matron, her appearance much more subdued than now. Only the allure in her gaze, impossible to conceal, remained the same, which explained why Lu Yao had found her familiar but hadn’t recognized her outright.

Li Shijun gently touched her face. “Foxes are naturally born beautiful. Human men are often superficial and like to pester me when they see me. So, when I go out for business, I use illusions to hide my true appearance.”

Ah, a fox demon—it explained her enchanting beauty.

Li Shijun gave Lu Yao a sidelong glance, her lips curving into a smile. “Your gentleman, however, is truly a rare breed. Even though he glimpsed my true form that day, he showed no reaction at all.”

Lu Yao wasn’t used to such abrupt teasing and responded with a particularly stiff expression. “…He is indeed different from others in some ways.”

Li Shijun wasn’t finished. “In fact, I subtly used a charm spell on him afterward, but he didn’t react to that either.”

Lu Yao: “…”

Seeing Lu Yao’s expression darken, Chi Jiumeng frantically pinched Li Shijun’s arm and dragged her away, fearing the café owner might ban her from the premises again. Lately, Chi Jiumeng had become rather attached to the internet café, finding joy in gaming, binge-watching dramas, and observing online arguments—each a source of endless amusement.

Chi Jiumeng led Li Shijun to the counter to open a new account, and the two headed straight to a private room on the second floor.

Lu Yao wasn’t as upset as Chi Jiumeng imagined. She was simply reminded that since her last trip to the demon realm, Zeyuan hadn’t returned to the café.

Should she reach out to him?

Zeyuan’s name was already on her communication talisman, so contacting him would be easy.

But she might not resist bringing up the Demon Prince again.

Her recent task progress had been slow, and the devil faction’s emblem seemed like the most viable breakthrough.

However, that route also seemed like a dead end—there was no way Ze Yuan could produce a Demon Prince within a month.

After some hesitation, Lu Yao dismissed the thought.

Back at the café, she didn’t see Chi Jiumeng or Li Shijun in the main hall and returned to the shopping street to check on the game project’s progress.

…

At the Internet Café, Second Floor Private Room

Li Shijun spent an hour learning how to browse the internet. She then opened a browser and repeatedly searched for terms related to “Soul Gathering Array.”

Between her gaming sessions, Chi Jiumeng glanced at Li Shijun and saw her furiously writing and sketching on paper. Curious, she asked, “Does the internet really have information about soul-gathering arrays?”

Li Shijun shook her head. “Most explanations online are shallow and unreliable. But I accidentally stumbled upon a domain that includes detailed steps.”

Chi Jiumeng peered over. Li Shijun was browsing a website called Koukou Literature City.

Chi Jiumeng: “…You’re telling me this is credible?”

Li Shijun replied, “I’m not sure. The steps are detailed, so I’ll note them down and test them one by one later.”

Chi Jiumeng had never heard of the site before. Seeing so much text, she assumed Li Shijun had truly uncovered some long-lost forbidden techniques online.

Li Shijun spent two full days and nights at the café and returned three days later without Chi Jiumeng.

After paying with spirit stones at the counter, she headed straight to her previous private room.

That night, Lu Yao was resting at the hot spring inn when she received a message from Jiao Niang at midnight:

[Storeowner, a guest has opened a “River Crossing Gate” in the café. The other guests have all fled. Please return immediately!]

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️