Van nodded.
Seeing this, Tiana and the others slowly straightened their backs.
Van swept his eyes over the three women before focusing intently on Nessa. "You seem to be disciples of the Ice Phoenix Sect?"
Tiana and the others nodded.
"Hmph! Although the Ice Phoenix Sect is one of the most powerful sects, second only to the Heroic Institutes, and is among the top forces in the Thousand Sect Alliance, which even the Great Fire Lion Kingdom might hesitate to challenge, there are certain experts who don't fear such forces." Van snorted softly
"Little girl, I must advise you not to be so quick to make enemies. That path leads only to your doom… and the doom of those around you." He shook his head with a deep sigh, his eyes drifting toward the distant clouds.
"Not even your sect would be able to protect you. They might even hand you over themselves if such an atrocity is committed. So you should exercise patience and think before you act."
A chill crept up Nessa's spine. She gulped and nodded swiftly. "I understand. Thank you for the lecture, Senior," she said, nodding again in acknowledgement.
All the contempt she'd held for the expert within the store, whom Tiana and Kafla had warned her about, vanished instantly. Now, she couldn't help but anticipate seeing whether everything they mentioned was true.
Tiana and Kafla nodded solemnly, relief washing over them. However, Van's words lingered in their minds as they processed them over and over, feeling their understanding of Jonathan shift once more.
Although they had already formed their own assumptions, hearing someone powerful like Van say something similar only solidified their thoughts.
"Since this has been settled, why don't we wait patiently for the store to open?" Van said.
Tiana, Kafla and Nessa nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, behind Van, upon seeing how much respect disciples of the famous Ice Phoenix Sect, one of the top sects in the Thousand Sect Allaince, one of the top forces on the Northern Continent were showing their grand-uncle and elder of the Mountain Cloud Clan, and how much respect he commanded in their eyes, some of the youths couldn't help but glance repeatedly at Van, wondering if this truly was the same shut-in elder they once knew.
Others simply puffed their chests proudly, displaying the crest of the Mountain Cloud Clan on their robes.
At the same time, they took the opportunity to scrutinise the seemingly extraordinary store that had taken the direct impact of an Ice Phoenix sect inner disciple's attack and remained completely unharmed.
After returning to his clan the day before, Van had revealed his breakthrough to the clan elders stationed in the city, eliciting waves of surprise, shock, and suspicion.
Although they were excited, since his advancement meant the Mountain Cloud Clan would no longer need to send their descendants to the Heroic Institute and Great Fire Lion Imperial Institute for survival, their clan would no longer be forced to flee and scatter across the continent, just as he expected, they accused him of using evil practices to raise his Ascension Realm to the Grandmaster Realm.
Because the use of such practices always left lingering traces detectable by other ascendants, he allowed them to probe his Life Vein. But even when they found nothing, their suspicions did not diminish. Instead, their doubt only deepened.
Even after he revealed his experience at the Dimensional Convenience Store, they merely scoffed at his explanation. Left with no other choice, he could only invite them to follow him to the store to prove he was telling the truth.
However, they refused to follow him, fearing it was a trap. With the most talented of the clan's current generation under their protection and watch, they still needed to continue overseeing the ongoing selection. Their words were that 'they couldn't risk following him to an imaginary store that likely didn't exist.'
Naturally, Van understood their position. If an ascendant who had spent decades attempting to advance to the Grandmaster Realm, someone the entire clan had invested in and pinned their hopes on, suddenly broke through during such a critical moment.
In such a bizarre manner, he, too, would assume that the figure had fallen to evil ways and was trying to trick them to cover up his tracks.
The only way they would choose to believe him was for him to return to the clan after the event and allow the ancestors to make their investigations. Only then would they accept the truth. Despite the elders' strange gazes, Van agreed to the plan.
However, remembering the promise he made to Jonathan to bring in more referrers and considering the long wait for the selection period to end, Van couldn't resist returning to the Dimensional Convenience Store to take advantage of the opportunity and purchase more products.
So, he decided to bring some of the Mountain Cloud Clan's descendants who had failed the registration test to the store, under the agreement and, of course, the elders' supervision.
He only managed to bring four descendants with him. They had left the inn early, along with the hidden elder he sensed monitoring them from the shadows. Van didn't call them out because he would have taken the same precautions.
Upon arriving, Van was surprised to find the three beautiful women, each exuding an icy energy, whom he swiftly recognised from their attire as disciples of the Ice Phoenix Sect standing in front of the store, with one of them attempting to break it open.
He concealed their presence, so they could not notice him. Although he was surprised to see them attacking the store door, he was even more surprised that the door held firm, neither trembling nor shaking under the attacks of an Early-rank Vein Transformation Ascendant.
Van sighed inwardly, understanding that only an expert who had transcended the mortal world could place a high-level array on something as simple as the entrance door of a store.
Suddenly, Van understood the disparity of strength and wealth between himself and a true expert.
....
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