High above the clouds past the borders separating the Western Sacred Lands and the Eastern Abyssal Domain, three figures converged.

Their speed tore through the air, leaving trails of scorched air, shimmering jade light, and blossoming phantom roots in their wake.

Patriarch Skyflame, with his body wreathed in a corona of fire that burned so hot it appeared white, frowned as he looked at the landscape below.

"We have finally crossed the boundary," Skyflame's voice carried over to the other two figures. Halfway through their journey, they sensed each other and decided to go together. "Keep your senses sharp, Brother Jadebone, Sister Deep-Root. The Violethaven Temple claims the Eastern Abyssal Region has already been transformed by that 'store'. They might've noticed us already. Prepare for ambush arrays."

To his right, Patriarch Jadebone, a skeletal-thin man whose skin possessed the luster of polished gemstone, scoffed. "Zuo Tianqiong is a paranoid fool who covers his own incompetence with grand tales of heresy. If his Grand Elder was bested here, it is because Violethaven has grown far too arrogant, not because the East has suddenly birthed a legion of demons. We've done our investigations. That store is not malicious."

To his left, Matriarch Deep-Root, a woman whose robes seemed to be woven from living, moving vines, remained silent for a long moment, her closed eyes sensing the vibrations of the earth far below.

"Do not be so hasty to dismiss the Temple's claims, Jadebone," she finally rasped, her voice like grinding bark. "Regardless of their truthfulness, the Ancient Ones had deemed the Temple an eternal ally. And the earth here... it feels different. It is not stagnant and thrums with a bizarre, frantic rhythm. Look below."

The three Immortal Embryo experts slowed their flight, dropping below the cloud cover to inspect the terrain leading to the heart of the region.

All these years, the eastern part of the continent had been deemed wasteland for them. The spiritual veins were too weak compared to what they've been occupying in their respective domains.

Even if other cultivators took root in the region, they would never reach the full potential that the Western Sacred Lands offer.

Yet, at the moment, a new sight lay before them.

Instead of a barren, fearful wasteland, cowering under the threat of the Outer Realms, what they saw instead made them halt mid-air, their auras rippling in confusion.

A perfectly paved road stretched across the plains, wide enough to accommodate ten carriages side-by-side.

However, it wasn't the road that completely shocked them. It was the traffic.

Apart from the merchant caravans and their escorts, hundreds of cultivators were moving along it.

They weren't marching in sect formations, nor were they fighting. They were mixed. Righteous sect disciples flying on swords alongside rogue cultivators on spirit beasts, and even groups of rough-looking individuals who bore the unmistakable stench of former bandits. Together, they were pushing heavy carts filled with ores and beast carcasses.

"This… Are they under some mass illusion?" Patriarch Jadebone muttered, his gemstone eyes narrowing. "Orthodox and unorthodox, traveling together without drawing blood? What foul mind-control is this?"

"It is not mind control," Skyflame noted, his fiery aura dimming as he squinted at a passing group below. "Look at their faces. They are... cheerful. They are discussing market prices. And what is that in their hands?"

He pointed to a group of cultivators who were entirely ignoring the road ahead, their faces buried in glowing, rectangular jade tablets, their thumbs tapping furiously.

"They are distracted. Vulnerable," Matriarch Deep-Root grumbled. "A single strike could wipe out dozens of them. Yet they walk with the security of emperors in their own throne rooms. This makes no sense."

"It does make sense if… the reason is that store." Patriarch Skyflame muttered, his fiery brows knitting together. "Zuo Tianqiong claimed this 'Convenience Saint' was peddling heresy. But heresy usually breeds fanaticism and bloodlust, not... whatever this mundane diligence is."

"Let us ask them," Patriarch Jadebone decided.

With a thought, he descended, landing directly in the path of a large, reinforced cart being pushed by a dozen muscular men who bore the faded tattoos of a notorious local bandit clan.

Jadebone didn't bother to conceal his aura. A fraction of his Peak Law Integration pressure bled into the air, enough to force any normal Foundation Establishment cultivator to their knees in paralyzed terror.

"Halt," Jadebone commanded. His voice echoed like grinding stones. "We seek answers."

The men pushing the cart stopped. But they didn't fall to their knees despite his overwhelming presence. They merely blinked, looking at the thin, gemstone-skinned man with a mixture of mild annoyance and impatience.

One of the men, chewing something brightly colored, stepped forward.

"Look, Senior, we don't want any trouble," The man said, his jaw working the [Stamina Gum] vigorously. He pointed to a wooden badge pinned to his chest, depicting a stylized wheat sheaf and a pickaxe, the decided insignia of the Harvester's Guild. "We are registered members of the Harvester's Guild, currently under contract #4492-B. We have a delivery of low-grade spirit iron and Abyssal Boar pelts due at Jade Hollow Conduit Tower in eight hours. If we're late, our reputation score drops, making us less likely to be hired by those commissioners again. But if you're looking to rob us, know that this cargo is insured by the Divine Convenience Store."

Patriarch Jadebone stared, utterly dumbfounded. Rob them? For meager resources?

And what are these reputation scores? He had just projected the aura of an expert that should exceed any cultivators in their region, and yet this lowly bandit was spouting nonsense.

"We do not seek your meager scraps, fool," Skyflame said, landing beside Jadebone, his own fiery aura flaring slightly in irritation. "We seek the truth of this realm. Why do you not fear us? Why do you stare at those glowing tablets instead of the horizon?"

The Harvester sighed, pulling out his [Viewing Jade]. He tapped the screen, bringing up a glowing, red-bannered post.

Since these experts were not exactly part of the Violethaven Temple, they could still glimpse at what was being projected from the Viewing Jade. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Must we fear you? We can tell you are lofty and esteemed experts, high above our current stages. If you decide to kill us, wouldn't a snap of your fingers be enough?" The man said bluntly.

The three Immortal Embryo-level experts exchanged looks of profound, existential confusion. He might have sounded disrespectful but this was the first time in recent years that they encountered something this strange. Why do lower-stage cultivators not display fear? Are they confident in the store?

When the three experts appeared to be dumbfounded, the man looked at them as if they were village idiots. "Look, if you want to know about the store, just go to Fanling City. It's straight down this road. You literally can't miss it. Now, if you'll excuse us, time is now worth Dimension Essence."

He waved to his crew, and they resumed pushing the heavy cart, easily bypassing the three stunned patriarchs.

For a long moment, the three supreme beings of the Western Sacred Lands stood in the middle of the road, enveloped in a cloud of dust kicked up by a passing merchant caravan.

"They have lost their minds," Jadebone finally concluded, though his voice lacked its usual certainty. "The entire region has succumbed to a mass delusion."

"Or a mass awakening," Deep-Root countered quietly. "The Violethaven Temple rules through the threat of annihilation. This Shopkeeper... he rules through the promise of reward. A far more insidious, and perhaps, more permanent form of conquest."

"We shall see," Skyflame growled, igniting his aura once more. "Let us proceed to Fanling City. I want to look this 'Convenience Saint' in the eye and see if his miracles can withstand the heat of the Celestial Flame."

They resumed their flight, streaking toward the horizon.

—

Back in the Sunken Caverns, the strike team, plus Lin Mo and Patriarch Liu Tianfeng, finally exited the Anchor.

With the severance of the Dimensional Bridge and the transformation done to it, the surrounding area was now devoid of the oppressive pressure of the Highland Energy seeping out of the Anchor.

Elder Liu Jingshan and Chieftain Borok were the first to notice the shift in the atmosphere. The sickly miasma that was slowly spreading over the Graypeak Mountains like a shroud was rapidly dissipating, replaced by the cool air native to the region.

As the strike team emerged from the entrance, weary but victorious, they were met with cheers from the equally weary cultivators and barbarians.

"Shopkeeper! Patriarch!" Liu Jingshan rushed forward, clasping his hands in deep respect. "The corruption... it is fading. And the Anchor's fluctuations have stabilized. You have done it."

"Mhm, we did it, Elder Liu," Lin Mo corrected gently, gesturing to the assembled Ancestors, Sect Masters, and Xiaoyu, who was currently busy checking on the unconscious Vespera that she was dragging with the rope.

Chieftain Borok pushed through the crowd, his massive frame shaking with emotion. He dropped to one knee before Lin Mo, bowing his head.

"The Stormhowl Tribe owes you their minds and their home, Shopkeeper. Our mountains are now safe. From today onwards, we are the axe of the store."

Lin Mo stared at him and patted his shoulder, "Dear customer, your continued patronage is all our store needs."