The Sun shone upon the City of Extended Delight once more, indicating that another day had passed without any big problems. Naturally, the Store of Fates welcomed the light too, for it meant that customers would once more come to visit them, giving them many spirit crystals.
However, Shou was currently neither in his room upstairs nor at the receptionist hall. Instead, he was confronting the witch herself, as he had started an instance inside the rooms with the 4 cores.
"Hey, I brought you some flowers. Sorry for almost killing you." He gave the witch in front of her a bunch of roses. It almost looked romantic, if it weren't for the masked woman looking tattered and half-dead, while the field itself had been burned from the previous fight.
The witch tilted her head, not quite understanding his intentions. She swept her hands, and the magnificent flowers in his hand instantly turned to ashes. They fell to the ground, and the wind swept them away, while the two of them watched it disappear.
Shou felt a vein on his head pop. "Alright, that is it, let's fight this out."
"Do you, like, have anger issues? [confusion] Act your age please," Si immediately interjected.
"I told you, my mind and body are still 22 years old," he shouted into the sky. "Also, if you are speaking of maturity, only those who are still immature themselves and self-conscious about their wisdom harp on about abstractions like age and seniority."
". . .Wait, did you just call me immature?"
"Huh? Well, how do we define immature?" Shou stopped complaining. He asked in confusion, "I mean judging from how you act, aren't you like, five years old or something?"
"What the fuck? How young am I in your brain," Si complained, "look, I have lived through what you humans define as generations, even centuries, okay? Though I am still in my prime youth considering a systems median age, I am not an infant, okay? Hello, are you listening?"
"Well, I don't think we are getting anywhere today either." Shou sighed, ignoring that cry-baby Si's ramblings. He opened his status window and decisively logged out. It would seem like the quest for the smashed cucumber salad would take much longer than he initially anticipated. But the youth did not worry. After all, he had all the time of the world—maybe even more.
"Completion Rate 1%." He smiled wryly. It wasn't as if he had expected anything different, but seeing that still hurt. Now he understood how it felt to be bested by the likes of Li Yinyi, who simply tried to befriend the witch as best as she could.
Technically, he could just follow what Li Yinyi did, and he would eventually reach the end point with a new kind of story, but seeing how Si opened this quest to him as a favor, he wanted to at least try his best in solving this riddle by himself. As such, he tried opening a new original way, one different from his first time, but also unique to only himself.
Suddenly, the door to the store opened, a sweet jingle rang throughout the receptionist room. The person to enter was Zhang Yong. "Boss, it is I, Zhang Yong! I wasn't able to make it yesterday, but this time I made sure to arrive early."
Shou looked at him in confusion, then realized. "Oh right, this is my store. I almost forgot." He rubbed his head. Engaged with the witch, he had forgotten that everything was a memory only, and that he had been offering his own world for everyone to enjoy. The melancholy of that visceral memory made him forget for a second.
"What do you mean, forgot?" Zhang Yong scratched his cheek. "Has this shop gotten so popular that you have begun to forget about me?"
"Not at all, in fact," Shou counted on his fingers, "It's only been 9 different people so far."
The muscular man laughed. "That means only 1 more is missing to hit the sweet 10, huh? I wish I could help you with that, but sadly me and my family aren't on the best of terms." He shook his head. "Ugh, the injustice. If I had known earlier, I'd have tried to buddy up with them much more."
"Don't worry about it," Shou said. He did not really care at all. In fact, he hadn't expected a single person to enter such shady store that resembled a bandits den. If it weren't for Li Yinyi, there truly would not have been a person at all. As such, he could not help feel elated with every customer that entered. Who knew, maybe it was because of the nature of this store after all? Per the last owner, Meng Du, this place did attract weird people after all.
Zhang Yong stared at Shou. "Anyways, I've been thinking yesterday, but can't you give us a tip?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
The man spoke, "So, you see, I am unsure on what exactly I have to do within that witch world. Sure, it is fun and interesting to explore the world and discover new pieces. But in the end, I am unsure what their relevancy is, if there exists one at all. I don't get the completion rate and how it works, and I don't know if any of the steps I take lead to the end or pull me away from it."
Shou crossed his arms. "What, so you need a walkthrough?" He leaned forward, resting his head on his hand. "You know, life itself also never offers any hints on what is right or wrong, right? That is what creates fates after all. if we knew which way to go, would it not be boring?"
"I get that, I get that," Zhang Yong stuck his tongue out and clapped his hands, as if praying. "But you have to understand, I've been thinking about the protagonist question you have offered me that other day, and I have yet to find an answer." The man grumbled, as if plagued by a mathematical formula without any satisfactory results. As Shou oberseved him more clearly, he managed to see the dark eyebags underneath that mans eyes. Truly, that last conversation must have weighted on him deeply. "I understand, we come to life without anyone ever asking whether we wished to or not. No matter what we do, even the smallest choices, will lead to a decision that shapes ones' story. Some may come to regret it forever, while others move on from their mistakes, but there exists none that can say they have from birth to death lived their life perfectly. So that is why I don't quite understand how the completion rate is calculated."
It appeared that Zhang Yong truly had put some thought into fate and karma. Shou rubbed his chin. "Say, what cultivation level are you right now?"
"What?" Zhang Yong tilted his head, confused. Nevertheless, he answered the youth turthfully. "I am at the fifth stage, Boss."
"By the way, call me Shou please, I don't like titles," the youth answered. fifth stage, per Si's system, meant the second stage of the Spirit Ascension realm. That was awfully low in his standards, but giving this backwater country, he could hardly complain. "But you ask because you are close to breaking through a bottleneck, right?"
"H-how did you know?" The musulars mans' eyes widened. How could a mere mortal tell? He had told many people that he had reached the fith rank, as it was hardly a secret, but he had never mentioned that he had been stuck at the cups of advancing to a new height. After all, it had been many years already, and he did not want to create any disappointing expectations. Thus, he could not help be astonished by that owners' astute observation. He had no choice to wonder, was that person truly a mortal, or had his cultivation reached such unfathomable heights that no one was able to discern his level?
"I suppose you wish to solve this riddle to finally enter the sixth stage," Shou asked, and by Zhang Yongs reaction, he had hit the nail on its head. "But you know, I don't think you are ready for the answer yet. This is more like an, uh," he counted the different realms. The First one, the Mortal Fortification realm had three, and the subsequent one had five, "more like an eight stage breakthrough question. You needn't worry about that."
"But then, what else am I supposed to do? I won't be stuck at this level forever, right?"
"You'd actually be complete dogshit if that were true," Shou waved his thoughts away. Second, no, first realm second stage? If that was his limit, he should have stayed mortal in the first place. "You really wish to level up? Think about getting a job then."
". . .Are you calling me a bum?"
"As if." He hit Zhang Yongs head. "The only bum I know is that system named Si."
"HEY [loud] !"
Shou continued. "Come on. You don't think that the Dao is only about fighting right? Don't you know, when you reach the last stage, you have to condense your own law consisting your own experience. That could be anything. Fighting, Swords, and Bloodshed are the most common, but there's also painting, business, swimming, loving etc. Rising in cultivation levels is all about understanding the world through your passions. Fighting and strength is only a small part of it."
"Hold on," Zhang Yong stopped him from speaking. "I feel like I am listening to something incredible. But isn't meditating just good enough?"
"What? You wouldn't expect to get good at basketball by just sitting in the corner and imagining some theories, right?"
". . .What's a basketball?"
Shou sighed, and leaned into his chair. "Anyways, if the first realm is about consolidating your mind and spirit to enter the cultivation world, the second realm is about finding your way of the Dao. It is okay to change it along your journey, but traveling without a destination at all? You won't ever reach the end, even if it was in front of you, fool?" Shou chuckled. To him, it was unbelievable that these people did not know of even such basic understanding. True, cultivation would make on stronger, but those that control fire, time and lighting, don't only use it to fight. There was more in life than duels. As such, cultivation obviously encompassed more than simply being strong.
"Uh. . ." Zhang Yong remained dazed. A job? "I will have to think about it." It couldn't be. . . was that owner short on hands and tried beguiling him to get an employee?