Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 609: Imperial Starlight Pavilion

A few minutes later, Lin Mo waited at the entrance of the Celestial Hot Spring to guide Wu Meiyu to the private suite he had picked for them.

With the store currently closed and no one around except for them, they could have the whole place to themselves. However, they stuck to what they agreed upon.

A private suite offered a different kind of tranquility, one specifically tailored by the system’s automatic configurations for themselves.

This time, Lin Mo had already accepted his fate for tonight. There’s no running away from his promise to accompany the First Princess, alone, in a private suite.

He switched to the clean set of the Celestial Hot Spring’s standard bathrobes for the patrons but unlike the plain colors, they adopted the green and white stripes of his store uniform.

At this point, he also couldn’t run from it anymore. The green and white had already become his color.

In his estimate, the store would be reaching its next tier in around a week, if nothing major happened within that timeframe. With the steady flow of income and new customers coming from different parts of the realm, the one hundred million intermediate-grade spirit stone requirements weren’t a tall order anymore.

When the time comes, the Divine Convenience Store will definitely receive new features and upgrades.

As for the limit of its growth, only Taihao and everyone at the Divine Pantheon know.

While the interior kept on expanding, the storefront remained the same. It’s like a normal structure in the city. Given the crowd it could pull every day, the City Lord had already moved the mortal family neighbors to another part of the city. This whole side of the city, except the immediate vicinity of the store, was then occupied by other establishments like inns or taverns opened by sects or merchant groups that catered to the patrons of the store.

"In the future, the Divine System Interface can probably expand the outward appearance of the store. But... I doubt it’ll be anything ordinary." Lin Mo mused while he waited.

Knowing Taihao, he would’ve copied something from Earth again, just like how the Branch Store at the Southern Wilderness looked like a modern convenience store from the inside out while keeping the bare minimum of aesthetic blend with this world’s architecture.

A skyscraper in the middle of an ancient city? That would certainly give the local ancestors a heart attack, or at least a severe qi deviation.

He chuckled softly to himself while trying to compose himself. He looked up at the polished archway of the hot spring entrance and clicked his tongue.

Clip. Clop.

Soon, the soft, rhythmic sound of wooden sandals against the polished stone floor pulled Lin Mo from his thoughts.

He turned, and for a moment, his refined will and [Stillwater Perception] seemed to have short-circuited.

Wu Meiyu was walking down the corridor. Somehow, even though she came from their quarters, she, too, had already changed from their uniform.

Looking at it, the system seemed to have recognized her status, or perhaps only her inherent elegance, providing her with the premium version of the bathrobe.

The fabric was an immaculate, pearlescent white that seemed to drink in the soft ambient light and radiate it back. It clung to her curves with a modesty that somehow managed to be infinitely more alluring than any deliberate display of skin.

If he had to describe it in one word, he would pick the word ’gorgeous’.

Her long, midnight-black hair with golden highlights, usually pinned up in an intricate, regal style that demanded authority, was completely let down. It cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall of night silk. Her face was devoid of the usual cosmetic enhancements of the royal court or the ones she bought from Xingxing’s collection, revealing a natural, breathtaking beauty that possessed a slight, rosy flush.

She looked less like the trusty Chief Operations Officer and more like a celestial fairy who had descended for a midnight stroll.

"Shopkeeper," Wu Meiyu greeted with a tone akin to a melodic murmur that sent an unbidden shiver down Lin Mo’s spine. She offered a small, graceful curtsy. "I hope I haven’t kept you waiting long. Pan Ruo woke up and insisted on reviewing the items we collected from Anchor."

"Not at all, Your Highness," Lin Mo managed to say, quickly recovering his professional demeanor, though he could feel the tips of his ears burning. "The store is secure, and time is currently our own. Shall we?"

He gestured toward the corridor of private suites.

"Lead the way, Lin Mo," She smiled, her eyes shimmering with a quiet anticipation.

Once again, she had dropped the ’Shopkeeper’ title. It was a subtle shift in the hierarchy of their interaction, a reminder that tonight, they were off the clock.

Lin Mo guided her down the hall, stopping before a set of ornate, sliding doors.

The digital panel beside it glowed, reading his spiritual signature.

[Private Suite: The Imperial Starlight Pavilion]

[Atmosphere: Synthesized Harmony (Golden Dragon/Starlight Order)]

[Status: Occupied]

The doors hissed open, revealing a space that made Lin Mo inwardly whistle. The system had truly outdone itself.

It was different from the ’Verdant-Kissed Bamboo Glade’ that the system generated for Yu Qingyan. And it’s certainly not the same as the one Venom Master Xun used.

The atmosphere within the suite appeared to be a masterful fusion of their respective auras. The room was expansive, open to an artificial night sky that was breath-takingly clear, awash with the screen of brilliant, slow-moving stars. Below this cosmic canopy lay the hot spring itself. The pool was carved from smooth, pale-gold jade, and the water within shimmered with a mesmerizing duality.

A rich, translucent amber hue laced with swirling currents of liquid silver starlight.

Around the pool, elegant golden bamboo swayed in a nonexistent, gentle breeze as their leaves rustled like wind chimes.

"This is..." Wu Meiyu stepped inside and gasped in awe. She looked up at the simulated night sky, then down at the golden-silver waters. "It is magnificent. The royal baths in the capital, crafted by generations of formation masters, look like crude mud puddles compared to this. No wonder Royal Father insists on taking a chance to dip in one of these too."

"Oh, the system has a flair for the dramatic," Lin Mo said, trying to maintain his casual demeanor as he closed the door behind them. The soft click of the lock felt incredibly loud in the quiet intimacy of the room. "As you’ve already known, it reads the primary energy signatures of the patrons and curates the environment for maximum physiological and psychological recovery. Convenience taken to the absolute extreme."

Wu Meiyu chuckled as she stretched her hand out to him.

"Mhm. Indeed, it perfectly encapsulates the combination of our essences."

"It’s that convenient." He wryly smiled before taking her hand to guide her further inside.

"Convenient, huh?" Meiyu repeated softly, a playful smile touching her lips as she turned to face him. "You use that word as a shield, Lin Mo. To hide the fact that you are fundamentally reshaping the heavens and the earth. Your humbleness is what’s making all the patrons who experienced your convenience forego the thought of betraying your cause."

Lin Mo couldn’t deny that. But there’s also the deterrent called the ’divine beings’. If the Divine Lecture didn’t happen, those who weren’t that familiar with the store would probably start plotting on how to take it over. But now, they’d been cowed thoroughly.

Still, those from the different regions still need convincing.

As his thoughts wandered there, he felt Wu Meiyu’s hand sliding off of his.

Then, with the poised grace of a woman completely comfortable in her own skin, she untied the sash of her robe. The fabric slipped from her shoulders, pooling silently on the golden jade floor.

Lin Mo immediately averted his gaze, trying to fix his eyes with intense dedication on a particularly interesting stalk of golden bamboo in the corner of the room. But he failed. He had stared down a Void Refinement Warlord and a Heavenly Tribulation without blinking, but this was an entirely different kind of peril.

And the temptation was something he couldn’t avert his gaze from.

Meanwhile, Wu Meiyu crossed her arms, but not in a way that she was embarrassed to be seen. It was simply her natural reaction to seeing how Lin Mo’s gaze became fixated on her body.

"Do you like what you see?"

"I would be lying if I answered no, Meiyu." Lin Mo scratched his cheek as he once again turned his head to the side, this time, he was successful.

Wu Meiyu chuckled again, the sound of her voice tickling his senses.

Then, he heard the soft, musical splash of water as she stepped into the spring.

"Mhm. The water is perfect," Her voice drifted up, carrying a hint of amusement. "Are you planning to guard the bamboo all night, or are you going to join me?"

"Right. Coming," Lin Mo cleared his throat. He quickly shrugged off his own green-and-white striped robe.

It’s not his first time coming into the pool naked but in Venom Master Xun’s case, it was to help her regulate her energy. This time, however, it was all for relaxation.

He glanced at his ring and then thought about Yu Qingyan. Will she feel the sensation he’s feeling at the moment?

Yeah. Most likely.