Dimensional Storekeeper-Chapter 224: Elder Bai vs Sect Master Jiang 2

But to master it, Sect Master Jiang Xianwei needed time.

And before that?

He needed to finish this match.

It wasn’t just about defeating Elder Bai Qingshui.

It was about securing sustenance.

For the most important battle ahead - the one inside his own mind.

He couldn’t afford to lose now.

Not to Elder Bai Qingshui. Not to anyone.

Sect Master Jiang Xianwei could drop it here.

Lose with grace, walk away with two products, and still count it as a decent day.

But did he really want that?

Two cans of Lime Fizz were great, sure.

But two?

That wasn’t enough to get through even a quarter of his upcoming seclusion. He could probably down them both while warming up.

Even the grand prize, a measly ten products, store combo of his choice, wasn’t truly enough either.

But it was still the best one could get.

And right now, he had no better options.

He let out a quiet breath.

He hadn’t fought for glory in years. Let the juniors chase praise and loud victories. He’d grown past that.

But if it meant entering seclusion with a full stash of divine-grade beverages.

Then today, he’d make an exception.

Besides, Elder Bai Qingshui would never accept a half-hearted match.

That old man would call it an insult. Probably give him one of those silent, disappointed looks that somehow stung worse than a lecture.

Maybe even leave him with a passive-aggressive talisman on his door that read "Next time, try harder."

No. He had to play this properly.

If Sect Master Jiang Xianwei held back, even for a moment, that wasn’t respect.

That was mockery.

And Sect Master Jiang didn’t mock people he admired.

Not even when he was trying to beat them.

If he was going to win this, he would have to earn every point.

And he was ready.

Let Elder Bai Qingshui bring his quiet brilliance.

Today, Sect Master Jiang Xianwei would answer it with everything he had.

Across the table, his brother-in-arms, Elder Bai Qingshui didn’t share the same desperation.

His reasons ran deeper.

He had already made his decision.

He would be ascending this month!

There were no unfinished matters left in this realm. No lingering debts, no grudges, no doubts.

Except one.

He wanted the storekeeper to remember him.

Not as a name etched into some sect’s history records. Not as a title whispered across cultivation gatherings.

But as the man who, even with the end already in sight, found something worth lingering for.

It was the storekeeper who had unknowingly given him that final thread of closure.

That soft push that allowed him to face the past, to extract his revenge ahead of time, and to let go.

It wasn’t for power.

It wasn’t for pride.

But because this place, this strange, humble corner of the world, had brought him joy in the final Chapter of his journey.

A drink. A snack. A moment of peace.

So small in the grand river of time. Yet priceless, even.

He owed his benefactor more than words could say.

And what better way to repay it than to win?

To leave behind something the storekeeper would remember.

As far as Elder Bai Qingshui knew, this was the store’s first official event.

And when people spoke of it later, he wanted his name tied to it.

Not for glory.

But so that even after he was gone, this place would carry the echo of his presence.

And for Elder Bai Qingshui, there was one more reason.

A promise to his wife.

She wasn’t a cultivator of legend. She didn’t shake mountains or silence rooms. But to him, she was everything.

Calm. Grounded.

She laughed with her whole body and always knew when he needed to be scolded or spoiled. The years they spent together were simple but full.

They were supposed to have more.

But the Crimson Bone Barracuda took that from them.

It hadn’t even been a fair fight.

She didn’t die of old age, holding his hand in a quiet courtyard surrounded by flowers.

She died because of a monster. And that stole all the years that should have followed.

But before that day came, she had always left him with a promise. One she repeated whenever she caught him staring too long at the stars or lingering too long by her side.

She knew her path wouldn’t follow his forever.

She had no chance of ascending. Her talent was honest and gentle, not the kind that reached for immortality. And she knew that his path would eventually rise higher.

So she had looked him in the eye and said it softly. novelbuddy-cσ๓

"Don’t stop moving, Qing." she had told him, brushing a strand of his hair back behind his ear.

"You’re someone who looks up. Don’t let me be the thing that makes you look down forever."

He didn’t answer.

Not because he disagreed, but because his throat had closed too tightly.

So when he found the Crimson Bone Barracuda’s tracks again last month, and heard rumors of it near the Pale Lotus Foggy Sea, he made his plan.

And when he heard of the store, and its strange, boundless, miraculous products, he didn’t hesitate.

Because now that the revenge was done, and his final ties to this realm had settled, it was time.

Time to move forward.

Time to ascend.

But before he left, he wanted to take something with him.

Not a sword or a pill or an artifact.

He had his eye on the canned drinks.

And maybe, if he could find the right spiritual vessel or develop a cold-sealing talisman, he could even bring a few servings of soft serve vanilla ice cream with him. If the temperature was stabilized with a steady qi flow and wrapped in a freezing array, it might just hold.

A long shot, maybe. But worth trying.

Because when he reached the upper realms, where even memories could fade beneath the weight of endless years, he wanted something tangible.

A flavor. A sip. A moment.

Proof that this place existed.

Proof that he had been here.

And that even in his final days on this side of the heavens, there was still sweetness left to taste.

Something worth remembering.

Something worth carrying forward.

Forever.

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