Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 603: Not a Takeover

In the grand hierarchy of the Eastern Abyssal Domain, the Small Pine Sect was still an insignificant new sect.

The Core Formation Sect Master who founded it got lucky in finding the spiritual leyline before any of the major sects discovered it.

Even without Wen Xinyi finding it, someone else would've taken an interest in their territory in the future. And it would be a disaster for them.

Liu Tianfeng stroked his beard. The stormy violet lightning in his eyes churned as he stared down at the small sect. His Void Refinement aura, though heavily suppressed, still caused the clouds above them to swirl unnaturally.

"In the past, I would have simply evicted the occupants of this place," Liu Tianfeng muttered, "An emerging sect has no right to occupy a leyline convergence of this magnitude. Whoever he is, he must've been blessed by luck to discover this place."

Wen Xinyi nodded, "Indeed. It is such a shame that a small sect like this one will have to struggle to keep its place or put itself under another faction's protection. What do we do, Patriarch?"

Liu Tianfeng laughed, the boisterous sound boomed across the entire area. "Daughter-in-law, who are we? We are now partners in an enterprise of convenience. There is no reason to use force and incite resentment when we can just spread convenience for a more… efficient result."

"Spreading convenience. You're starting to sound like Shopkeeper, Patriarch." Wen Xinyi chuckled at her father-in-law's shifting perspective.

"Hmph. It's because of that young man. Anyhow, he's telling me to help in closing that one Anchor. I'll leave the negotiation here with you. Once you're done, contact the White Ember Sect and the Southern Wu Kingdom to begin the preliminary construction. We must not delay Zhenren Taihao's grand design."

Liu Tianfeng said, his stormy aura flaring as he prepared to depart.

With a deafening crack that momentarily deafened the nearby wildlife, the Patriarch transformed into a streak of violent purple lightning, tearing across the sky towards the Graypeak Mountains.

Left alone hovering above the Small Pine Sect, Wen Xinyi elegantly smoothed her robes.

Without unleashing her late Spirit Severing Stage pressure to crush the occupants below, she slowly descended, letting her aura wash over the valley like a gentle, unyielding tide.

However, despite that, panic had already erupted within the modest courtyards of the Small Pine Sect.

Disciples scrambled, clutching low-grade artifacts, their faces pale as sheets. Some were even using their Viewing Jade, most likely asking for help at the Public Channel. They thought they were being invaded, after all.

At the center of their main training ground, a middle-aged man with a neat goatee and a terrified expression was sweating profusely.

He was Song Shi, the Sect Master of the Small Pine Sect. He's an early Core Formation cultivator who felt like a mouse being stared down by a hawk.

True enough, it hadn't been a month since he got lucky enough to find the leyline and found his sect. He was previously a rogue cultivator along with his sworn brothers. When they also got the news of Divine Convenience Store appearing in Fanling City, they quickly became one of its patrons. Many of their techniques came from the manuals bought from the store. And their artifacts? Most of it came from them too.

The current system for their disciples is to gather contributions through completing tasks in the Bulletin Board. In a way, they were one of the few who had fully integrated the convenience brought by the Divine Convenience Store.

Wen Xinyi landed gracefully on the fine ground mere meters away from him.

"S-Senior!" Song Shi immediately dropped to his knees, the elders and disciples following suit in a chaotic wave of trembling bodies. "The Small Pine Sect greets the Senior! If we have offended you by occupying this land, we will pack our belongings and leave before the incense stick burns out! Please, spare my disciples!"

He had read the ancient texts. He knew how the cultivation world worked. When an expert of this caliber appeared at a minor sect's doorstep, it usually meant annihilation or forced servitude. He was ready to abandon the precious leyline he had discovered just to keep his people alive.

Wen Xinyi offered a warm, professional smile that thoroughly confused the kneeling Sect Master.

"Please, rise, Sect Master Song," She spoke in a melodic voice. "There is no need for such dramatic departures. I am Wen Xinyi of the Liu Clan, acting as a representative of the Divine Convenience Store's primary alliance. And I am not here to evict you. I am here to offer you an opportunity."

Song Shi cautiously rose to his feet, his mind reeling. The Liu Clan? The Void Refinement powerhouse that had essentially become the military arm of the Convenience Saint? And she was here… offering an opportunity?

"A... an opportunity, Senior Wen?" He stuttered as he wiped the cold sweat from his brow. His disciples remained kneeling, stealing terrified glances at the beautiful, terrifying woman who had just descended from the sky.

"Indeed," Wen Xinyi nodded with a serene smile. However, that smile carried the undeniable weight of her station. "As you are likely aware, the Liu Clan recently announced the building of the [Storm Ascension Ground]."

Song Shi nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes, of course. The entire realm knows of the 'Storm Ascension Ground' that Patriarch Liu proposed. It is a monumental undertaking for the benefit of all patrons."

"Precisely. However, such a structure cannot simply be placed in a barren field. It requires a foundation. A specific convergence of earth veins to properly maintain it with immense spiritual output and circulate it efficiently," Wen Xinyi explained, gesturing gracefully to the valley around them. "Our geomancers have surveyed the entire Eastern Abyssal Domain. This valley, the very land your Small Pine Sect currently occupies, sits atop the most perfect convergence we have found."

"I... I understand, Senior Wen," Song Shi replied, his voice trembling as a profound sense of loss washed over him. He had found this place by sheer luck, hoping to build a legacy for himself and his sworn brothers. But against the Liu Clan and the store's grand design, his dreams were less than dust. "We cannot stand in the way of the Convenience Saint's vision. We will vacate the premises immediately. We only ask for safe passage."

Wen Xinyi's smile softened slightly as she recognized the despair of a man who thought he had lost everything.

"Sect Master Song, you misunderstand," She gently said as she stepped closer. "I told you, I am not here to evict you. I am here to integrate you."

Song Shi blinked, confusion replacing his despair. "Integrate?"

"The 'Storm Ascension Ground' will be a massive facility," Wen Xinyi elaborated. The way her tone shifted into a professional cadence would have made Lin Mo proud if he heard it. "It will draw thousands of high-level cultivators. Ancestors, Sect Masters and prodigious disciples. All of them will come here to seek a way to break their bottlenecks."

"Our Liu Clan will provide the security and the primary management. The White Ember Sect will handle the alchemical refinement of the excess energies. But a facility of that scale requires... infrastructure, maintenance, and day-to-day operations. In that, I will have you work with the Southern Wu Kingdom."

She looked around at the modest wooden pavilions and the trembling disciples.

"Your sect is already here. You have established a foundation. You are patrons of the store, familiar with its systems and the flow of the Bulletin Board. Why should we displace a perfectly functional, loyal group of cultivators when we can employ them?"

"E-employ us?" One of Song Shi's sworn brothers dared to speak up. He gripped his store-bought spirit-grade mace tighter as if the pain from doing so would wake him up from their dream.

"Yes," Wen Xinyi confirmed, "I am proposing that the Small Pine Sect become the official custodial and administrative staff for the Storm Ascension Ground. Your territory will not be taken. Instead, it will be exponentially upgraded. The Liu Clan and the Southern Wu Kingdom will fund the construction of the facility around your existing sect."

She raised a finger, outlining the benefits as if reading from a prepared prospectus.

"First, your sect will receive a generous monthly stipend in spirit stones, paid directly from the Liu Clan's treasury. Second, your disciples will have priority access to the lower-tier cultivation chambers of the Ascension Ground during off-peak hours. Third, your Sect Master will be granted a permanent, albeit non-voting, seat on the facility's advisory board."

Song Shi's jaw dropped. The other elders and disciples exchanged looks of utter disbelief. They were a minor sect, barely scraping by on the fringes of the cultivation world.

They were expecting to be evicted, their sect ground taken. But now, they were being offered a contract to manage the most important cultivation facility in the realm, complete with a salary and benefits that rivaled a mid-tier sect.

It was the Dao of Convenience manifesting right in their front yard.